Well, this post took long enough considering my lack of daily activity, but so much of my job search and studying for my licensing exam was on the computer so I just couldn't do it anymore. Now, however, I have a job and am studied out until closer to the exam date. That can all be included in a later post. This is about Dragon*Con, which I attended at the beginning of September in Atlanta.
As the title would suggest, this event is filled with quite the assortment of costumes worn by attendees. If you don't know, Dragon*Con is a convention held every year in Atlanta celebrating the different areas of Science Fiction and Fantasy in film, television, literature, etc. My family has been going for years, but I've always had something else to do over Labor Day weekend. This time they were able to lure me with the promise of attending an acting class with Amber Benson for two days. I totally Buffy fanboyed out at that suggestion and had to go.
I stayed with my friends Karissa and Justin at their apartment in Candler Park east of downtown. I really love staying with friends as opposed to hotels because I feel like I actually get to know a city when I use its public transit and am away from the touristy areas. Enough about my lame travel habits.
The acting class with Amber Benson was AMAZING. Not really in terms of learning new things because my acting classes in college had covered all of these things, but it was just fun to meet ten new people and play improv games for two days. We also worked on cold reads and preparing for a television audition. Amber was so nice and encouraging of everyone, and she even went out with us for drinks the second night! I got to meet her mom and talk about being from Birmingham because that's where Amber and her family are from as well.
The rest of the convention was spent going to panels in the different "verses." A verse is a universe of science fiction or fantasy like Harry Potter, Doctor Who, or all things Joss Whedon. Actors, directors, writers, and fans all sit down and answer fan questions. It was really interesting getting to see all of these people talk passionately about acting and writing.
There were also some fun events. My mom and I competed with my friends Ben and April on a Game of Thrones trivia team. I have seen 0 episodes of the show, so I was a real asset... Actutally, though, I nerdily studied plot lines on Wikipedia and new some of the answers! Unfortunately, most of the score was given due to style points in little mini challenges between question rounds. One involved me pushing my mother at a running speed in her wheel chair for her to tackle a bobo clown and Tebow. There are pictures depicting this or I wouldn't believe it myself.
Karissa and I went to two dance parties the last night that were so much fun. If I go again or go to a similar conference in another city, I'll definitely dress up. If you have an ounce of nerd in you, you have to go. Just don't depend on the MARTA to get you anywhere because it sucks and will stop taking credit cards or require you to walk up the largest escalator in the South because it's broken. I even got super touristy and went to The Varsity for the first time with Amanda and Karissa to be unimpressed McKayla Muroney style. If you're looking for good food in Atlanta, go to Mary Mac's. It is a wonderful Southern style restaurant with some of the best sweet tea in the world. Believe me. I'm a connoisseur.
Coming up next my trip to DC and subsequent job offer!
Friday, October 12, 2012
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
How We Do Things in Second Samuel
I have never been more uncertain about being a part of a show in my life. Please don't hate me for this part. I read the script for Second Samuel and almost died of the morbid sentiment. It was so cutesy that I didn't know if it really fit my acing style and was worth putting time into. Even after the read thru I wasn't convinced. My previous experience with Park Players had not served me well in the friend department even though I loved doing the show. I came in with the fear that this show would go the same way. Luckily for me my first impressions were incorrect.
I can't exactly pinpoint it, but along the way I fell in love with the show and the people in it sometime near the discovery of the spider backstage. What I had taken for cheesiness was transformed into quaintness. I found the beauty in the show that the script itself cannot convey alone. It needs humanity breathed into it, and I was fortunate enough to be grouped with an amazing assortment of actors and a director that gave me everything I needed to pull off my performance.
B Flat could have easily been an overdone narrator with an obvious mental disability and no depth. For me at least, the script gave very little in terms oh character development, so all of that was discovered in working with these other incredible people. It became one of the shows I will miss the most and one of the roles I will always cherish. It challenged me in ways that I could not imagine.
Clay, thank you so much for picking me because I ran around that outdoor stage two years ago. I would not have auditioned otherwise. You saw a role that was perfect for me and my abilities even if I didn't. You gave me the freedom to do what I needed and never pressured me into doing any vision you had of the character. Thank you so much for that ability to grow and work, and I hope I met expectations.
Brad, Nicole, and Mike, thank you all so much for the time you put into the show either in advertising and promotion, learning light boards, or giving me a high five and keeping up with props backstage. You are all greatly appreciated for your work that made the show possible.
Ken, due to your reclusiveness I don't even know if you'll read this, but you were an amazing person with which to work. I feel like you had a handle on your character so quickly and only grew from there. When I wasn't talking to myself onstage, it was often directed at you, and I could not have chosen a better scene partner. Connecting with you was easy and necessary for my angry monologue at the end to have any weight. The preparation you put into getting into character is admirable, and it definitely showed in your performance.
David Coker, you just have one of those names where I have to include the last name or leave out the first. I guess that works for a teacher. Anyway, thank you for how extremely positive you were about my work throughout the process. I don't need praise to feel like my effort is working, but your kind words after mediocre rehearsals were very welcomed.
Dianne, finally we work together! After years of a vague awareness of each other's existence, we actually got to know one another. I hate it took this long. I was so impressed with your ability to get emotionally invested in the show every night. I tend to get desensitized especially if I'm the one talking, but you were able to connect to it without fail.
Greg, I don't know if you felt this way or even would have considered it, but I realized the last week of rehearsal how important the scene between Doc and B Flat is. It's where B Flat decides for himself how he feels about Ms Gertrude being a man. Because of that, I started to play with the nickel you flicked, given it landed on the bar, before the first of many emotional monologues because it gave B Flat the strength to stand up for what was right. Thank you for that and for becoming such a wonderful, supportive friend.
Scott, you were the only person I had acted with before, but I don't think we really shared much stage time in Taming. It's not easy to play a character that everyone hates because you rarely hear if you're doing a good job, especially when your blocking involves sitting. Thus I want to tell you that you did an amazing job. I needed your bigoted lines to get worked up at the end, and you delivered.
Howard, OMG... . We may have never cleaned glasses in sync, but you had to be one of the funniest parts of the show. I laughed every time you said "toot" for the first few weeks, and your ad libs were as funny as your given lines. Even if you looked like a Solid Gold dancer, you delivered a great performance worth being proud of.
Steven, I'm glad I got to see you onstage for once instead of taking pictures. Mansel was a perfect part for you. You kept a character relevant that could easily have strayed into overdone randomness. I will always laugh when I think of the rehearsal when I couldn't open the bottle under the bar in order to sip and spit in time.
Becky, I think we need to look for some synchronized acting competitions, or if you ever get famous enough to have someone do you in drag I might consider impersonating you for money. Except not all. I'm glad you got to be the "hero" of the show and gave me a character worth reacting to. I'm also thankful that you laughed at my joke regardless of appropriateness and that you accepted my beer pong invitation.
Amy, I will never drink a Coke again! I could not imagine doing what you did, being one role and changing halfway through to another role that is completely different in personality. You did a great job challenging yourself to be someone that is so far from yourself, which is what acting is meant to be. Keep it up!
Karen, I will be eternally grateful that you got brought into this show. Our friendship grew with a dinner of Indian food and general life talk, and it's been all gifs from there. I hope we can work together even more and it won't involve you sending me to get bags of hair from the back. Thanks to me you didn't really have a full rehearsal until the end of July, and that's impressive. I'm glad you were able to conquer, at least momentarily, your insecurity with crying onstage.
Yes, that was in reverse curtain call order. Be impressed. I love and miss you all. Thank you for everything you taught me and helping me learn that people make a show more than a script does. It's rare in a show that you get to have moments with every actor on stage, so I am glad that I was blessed with that. I am honored to have worked with you, shared gifs with you, worn overalls and the tightest jeans in front of you, and made you cry with my stuttering of simple truths. It said on the cover of the script something like "laugh cry but don't leave unchanged." Even though the lack of punctuation and capitalization killed me, this statement could not be more true. I laughed everyday from something one of you did. I cried onstage that last night because of what it meant to me. I have not left the experience unchanged. o.O
I can't exactly pinpoint it, but along the way I fell in love with the show and the people in it sometime near the discovery of the spider backstage. What I had taken for cheesiness was transformed into quaintness. I found the beauty in the show that the script itself cannot convey alone. It needs humanity breathed into it, and I was fortunate enough to be grouped with an amazing assortment of actors and a director that gave me everything I needed to pull off my performance.
B Flat could have easily been an overdone narrator with an obvious mental disability and no depth. For me at least, the script gave very little in terms oh character development, so all of that was discovered in working with these other incredible people. It became one of the shows I will miss the most and one of the roles I will always cherish. It challenged me in ways that I could not imagine.
Clay, thank you so much for picking me because I ran around that outdoor stage two years ago. I would not have auditioned otherwise. You saw a role that was perfect for me and my abilities even if I didn't. You gave me the freedom to do what I needed and never pressured me into doing any vision you had of the character. Thank you so much for that ability to grow and work, and I hope I met expectations.
Brad, Nicole, and Mike, thank you all so much for the time you put into the show either in advertising and promotion, learning light boards, or giving me a high five and keeping up with props backstage. You are all greatly appreciated for your work that made the show possible.
Ken, due to your reclusiveness I don't even know if you'll read this, but you were an amazing person with which to work. I feel like you had a handle on your character so quickly and only grew from there. When I wasn't talking to myself onstage, it was often directed at you, and I could not have chosen a better scene partner. Connecting with you was easy and necessary for my angry monologue at the end to have any weight. The preparation you put into getting into character is admirable, and it definitely showed in your performance.
David Coker, you just have one of those names where I have to include the last name or leave out the first. I guess that works for a teacher. Anyway, thank you for how extremely positive you were about my work throughout the process. I don't need praise to feel like my effort is working, but your kind words after mediocre rehearsals were very welcomed.
Dianne, finally we work together! After years of a vague awareness of each other's existence, we actually got to know one another. I hate it took this long. I was so impressed with your ability to get emotionally invested in the show every night. I tend to get desensitized especially if I'm the one talking, but you were able to connect to it without fail.
Greg, I don't know if you felt this way or even would have considered it, but I realized the last week of rehearsal how important the scene between Doc and B Flat is. It's where B Flat decides for himself how he feels about Ms Gertrude being a man. Because of that, I started to play with the nickel you flicked, given it landed on the bar, before the first of many emotional monologues because it gave B Flat the strength to stand up for what was right. Thank you for that and for becoming such a wonderful, supportive friend.
Scott, you were the only person I had acted with before, but I don't think we really shared much stage time in Taming. It's not easy to play a character that everyone hates because you rarely hear if you're doing a good job, especially when your blocking involves sitting. Thus I want to tell you that you did an amazing job. I needed your bigoted lines to get worked up at the end, and you delivered.
Howard, OMG... . We may have never cleaned glasses in sync, but you had to be one of the funniest parts of the show. I laughed every time you said "toot" for the first few weeks, and your ad libs were as funny as your given lines. Even if you looked like a Solid Gold dancer, you delivered a great performance worth being proud of.
Steven, I'm glad I got to see you onstage for once instead of taking pictures. Mansel was a perfect part for you. You kept a character relevant that could easily have strayed into overdone randomness. I will always laugh when I think of the rehearsal when I couldn't open the bottle under the bar in order to sip and spit in time.
Becky, I think we need to look for some synchronized acting competitions, or if you ever get famous enough to have someone do you in drag I might consider impersonating you for money. Except not all. I'm glad you got to be the "hero" of the show and gave me a character worth reacting to. I'm also thankful that you laughed at my joke regardless of appropriateness and that you accepted my beer pong invitation.
Amy, I will never drink a Coke again! I could not imagine doing what you did, being one role and changing halfway through to another role that is completely different in personality. You did a great job challenging yourself to be someone that is so far from yourself, which is what acting is meant to be. Keep it up!
Karen, I will be eternally grateful that you got brought into this show. Our friendship grew with a dinner of Indian food and general life talk, and it's been all gifs from there. I hope we can work together even more and it won't involve you sending me to get bags of hair from the back. Thanks to me you didn't really have a full rehearsal until the end of July, and that's impressive. I'm glad you were able to conquer, at least momentarily, your insecurity with crying onstage.
Yes, that was in reverse curtain call order. Be impressed. I love and miss you all. Thank you for everything you taught me and helping me learn that people make a show more than a script does. It's rare in a show that you get to have moments with every actor on stage, so I am glad that I was blessed with that. I am honored to have worked with you, shared gifs with you, worn overalls and the tightest jeans in front of you, and made you cry with my stuttering of simple truths. It said on the cover of the script something like "laugh cry but don't leave unchanged." Even though the lack of punctuation and capitalization killed me, this statement could not be more true. I laughed everyday from something one of you did. I cried onstage that last night because of what it meant to me. I have not left the experience unchanged. o.O
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Off on a Toot
I can't believe I've been back from San Francisco for two weeks now. I had to wait that long for enough interesting things to happen to making posting worth it. We'll start with "professional" updates and go on to the more ridiculous.
I have a job like offer! I was getting nervous just because I had sent out a dozen resumes and heard NOTHING besides one company telling me that they only hire in destination countries. To which I replied, "How's that Antarctica trip working out for you?" Then a week ago I heard from Smithsonian Student Tours. They have partnered with EF Tours, a company with which I have traveled three times. After a phone interview, I am excited to announce that I'll be attending their three day orientation and final interview in Washington D.C. to hopefully work a tour during the Inauguration with hopes of full season employment after that. Someone else in my San Francisco class will be there as well, so I'm excited to catch up and hopefully impress them with more success than impressing McKayla Maroney.
Speaking of McKayla, I am doing my best to educate my fellow cast members of Second Samuel on the ways of the internet generally through the usage of abbreviations, emoticons, and memes. o.O has become a popular one due to the amount of awkward situations we find ourselves in. I am so glad I was given the opportunity to do this show. It's filled with great people, and I don't even mind wearing the overalls at this point. We're having an audience for our final dress tonight, so I hope it goes well especially since it's Greg's birthday and all....
In the Health and Wellness are of my life, Sarah Rogers and I are on top of our game. We recently discovered that both of our families purchased memberships to the YMCA near our homes. We decided to take advantage of this membership because we doubt either one of us will actually pay for a membership on our own. Today we thought it would be a good idea to get a total body work out by taking the Y Cross class at 8:30 this morning. In true mature fashion, we laughed through the entire thing because we are ridiculously out of shape and barely made it through the hour and half. There are no water breaks! The instructor encouraged us to stay for the second class immediately after. I would have been dead on the push-up ball.
To fill up some of my time, I have started volunteering at the Birmingham Jefferson Red Cross downtown. My first day there was quite an interesting one. It started with discovering a squished plum in my backpack that I had placed there on July 21st. I had been seeing all these fruit flies upstairs and internally blaming it on my brother for leaving food in his room. I guess that was karmic. Then I rush downtown to meet with the woman who will show me where everything is in the office, and she had left hours earlier. After thirty minutes of waiting for another staff member to come back, the woman answering the phones left and promised another man was coming to take her place. JK He never showed up, so I attempted to answer the phones, but they were much fancier than the Tuscaloosa model. I eventually figured it out, and boy am I glad I did. I called someone to ask them to complete a survey. They didn't answer, but their voicemail was as thus in the automated voice "You have reached the voicemail box of..." and in her voice "Baby Child."
Well, now I am really engrossed in finding out if Scooby and the gang will be able to capture the Snow Ghost and still enjoy their skiing weekend. If your in Birmingham, come see my show this weekend or next!
I have a job like offer! I was getting nervous just because I had sent out a dozen resumes and heard NOTHING besides one company telling me that they only hire in destination countries. To which I replied, "How's that Antarctica trip working out for you?" Then a week ago I heard from Smithsonian Student Tours. They have partnered with EF Tours, a company with which I have traveled three times. After a phone interview, I am excited to announce that I'll be attending their three day orientation and final interview in Washington D.C. to hopefully work a tour during the Inauguration with hopes of full season employment after that. Someone else in my San Francisco class will be there as well, so I'm excited to catch up and hopefully impress them with more success than impressing McKayla Maroney.
Speaking of McKayla, I am doing my best to educate my fellow cast members of Second Samuel on the ways of the internet generally through the usage of abbreviations, emoticons, and memes. o.O has become a popular one due to the amount of awkward situations we find ourselves in. I am so glad I was given the opportunity to do this show. It's filled with great people, and I don't even mind wearing the overalls at this point. We're having an audience for our final dress tonight, so I hope it goes well especially since it's Greg's birthday and all....
In the Health and Wellness are of my life, Sarah Rogers and I are on top of our game. We recently discovered that both of our families purchased memberships to the YMCA near our homes. We decided to take advantage of this membership because we doubt either one of us will actually pay for a membership on our own. Today we thought it would be a good idea to get a total body work out by taking the Y Cross class at 8:30 this morning. In true mature fashion, we laughed through the entire thing because we are ridiculously out of shape and barely made it through the hour and half. There are no water breaks! The instructor encouraged us to stay for the second class immediately after. I would have been dead on the push-up ball.
To fill up some of my time, I have started volunteering at the Birmingham Jefferson Red Cross downtown. My first day there was quite an interesting one. It started with discovering a squished plum in my backpack that I had placed there on July 21st. I had been seeing all these fruit flies upstairs and internally blaming it on my brother for leaving food in his room. I guess that was karmic. Then I rush downtown to meet with the woman who will show me where everything is in the office, and she had left hours earlier. After thirty minutes of waiting for another staff member to come back, the woman answering the phones left and promised another man was coming to take her place. JK He never showed up, so I attempted to answer the phones, but they were much fancier than the Tuscaloosa model. I eventually figured it out, and boy am I glad I did. I called someone to ask them to complete a survey. They didn't answer, but their voicemail was as thus in the automated voice "You have reached the voicemail box of..." and in her voice "Baby Child."
Well, now I am really engrossed in finding out if Scooby and the gang will be able to capture the Snow Ghost and still enjoy their skiing weekend. If your in Birmingham, come see my show this weekend or next!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
I Left My Heart in San Francisco
I have no idea how I am going to compile a little over two weeks of an experience into one post, but I'm going to try.
Firstly, leaving LA involved a bit of foreshadowing into leaving San Francisco. The slider broke off of the zipper on my suitcase. Luckily, I was able to reattach it before my 6 hour bus ride up the Golden Coast.
For the entire time I stayed in a lovely home near the corner of Rivera and 44th Avenue only four blocks away from the Pacific Ocean. The first night after having Indian food delivered for dinner, I met my fellow housemate and soon to be friend Clare. She is a teacher from New Hampshire around my age. We hit it off very quickly, and thank goodness because we had a 30-40 minute commute into downtown everyday!
The number one thing I have to say for San Francisco in terms of convenience is that the public transportation is PHENOMENAL. The MUNI is the subway system that reaches through the center part of the peninsula from the Pacific Coast to Bayside. The subway cars are emition free and run on electricity once they get above ground as do some of the buses. There's also a bus system under MUNI that goes to all the other parts of the peninsula. It's only $2 a ride, but stops running around midnight. This dashed my dreams of any club action on a night off, but that was probably for the best.
BART, or Bay Area Rapid Transit, goes all the way from the airport across the Bay and into Oakland and Berkley. It's more expensive to ride but has nicer seats and less stops. Both of these systems played a key role in my carless adventures around the city. I'm the kind of person who hates driving, so this city was a dream. It's actually rather expensive to have a car because some places require you to pay to park it per month along with rent, and that charge can be as high as $500 or more.
I am going to have to be careful not to ramble on because I want to say so many things about this city I fell in love with so quickly. I'll just have to take you there to divulge all the information that wants to spill from my fingers.
For the entire two weeks, I was enrolled in a program called ITMI, or the International Tour Management Institute. It was started by Ted Bravos and his friend Bill. Ted is still an instructor along with Randy and a few guest instructors throughout the two week program. I had no idea what I was getting into. I thought it might just be a $3000+ referral agency, but it's so much more. I now feel confident in doing something I never realized was the perfect career option for me. It mixes a love of people, theatre, and traveling into one job. I have to thank Ted, Randy, Reggie, Sandi, and Korey so much for everything. I also have to give a shout out to my 20 female classmates. I was class 277, and it was the first time there was only one guy ever.
Back to San Francisco, originally called Yerba Buena, or "Good Herb" after a peppermint like plant in the area. It was one of the last missions established by the Spanish born Franciscan monk Junipero Serra on his Camino Real up the coast of California. Due to its geographical location, it tends to be on the cooler side temperature wise, especially during the summer months. The heat from the Eastern side of the state pulls the cold wet air mass of the Pacific over the city enveloping it in a beautiful fog. You can literally see it roll into the city in the morning and come back again before the sunsets. It's gorgeous.
Another thing I love about San Francisco is the diversity. There are over 90 distinct neighborhoods with individual personalities. From the Latin American Mission to the LGBTQ friendly Castro, there's something for everyone. The food as well spans the many types of cuisine. Here are some highlights:
1. Homeroom: gourmet mac and cheese in Oakland for less than $10 a entree. I WANT TO EAT IT ALL. I ended up getting the garlic with two types of cheese. It was phenomenal.
2. Bristol Farms: San Francisco is all about eating healthy and organically. This market has multiple locations and serves the freshest foods. I had their Tomato Basil soup more times than I care to admit in a sourdough bread bowl.
3. Lefty O'Doul's: named for a San Franciscan baseball legend, this cafeteria style restaurant and bar serves freshly carved sandwiches and daily specials for a crazy affordable price. I had their spaghetti, which was magnificent.
I hope to return to the city often. It will always have a special place in my heart because of it's promise of a new career, the new family I have in that career, and of all the things I learned and experienced there. Standing before Frida y Diego at SFMOMA was one of the highlights of this summer along with seeing the beauty of Burney Falls and realizing that there is a career out there for me in which I can find success and still be happy. I don't know if I'll ever be able to sit at a desk again, and I don't plan to find out. I do know that I will always have a good suit case so that I never again struggle up to the plastic wrap station at the airport because my bag has no sliders on the zipper and is held together with two belts and a trail of painters tape spanning two MUNI rides and one BART commute. If you're ever bored, please let me talk your ear off about this wonderful experience. Taylor got plenty of it after he picked me up from the airport at 1 in the morning. I can't wait to get started, so I already called and am visiting the department of tourism for Birmingham and hopefully getting a job as a local guide to save up some money for DC!
Firstly, leaving LA involved a bit of foreshadowing into leaving San Francisco. The slider broke off of the zipper on my suitcase. Luckily, I was able to reattach it before my 6 hour bus ride up the Golden Coast.
For the entire time I stayed in a lovely home near the corner of Rivera and 44th Avenue only four blocks away from the Pacific Ocean. The first night after having Indian food delivered for dinner, I met my fellow housemate and soon to be friend Clare. She is a teacher from New Hampshire around my age. We hit it off very quickly, and thank goodness because we had a 30-40 minute commute into downtown everyday!
The number one thing I have to say for San Francisco in terms of convenience is that the public transportation is PHENOMENAL. The MUNI is the subway system that reaches through the center part of the peninsula from the Pacific Coast to Bayside. The subway cars are emition free and run on electricity once they get above ground as do some of the buses. There's also a bus system under MUNI that goes to all the other parts of the peninsula. It's only $2 a ride, but stops running around midnight. This dashed my dreams of any club action on a night off, but that was probably for the best.
BART, or Bay Area Rapid Transit, goes all the way from the airport across the Bay and into Oakland and Berkley. It's more expensive to ride but has nicer seats and less stops. Both of these systems played a key role in my carless adventures around the city. I'm the kind of person who hates driving, so this city was a dream. It's actually rather expensive to have a car because some places require you to pay to park it per month along with rent, and that charge can be as high as $500 or more.
I am going to have to be careful not to ramble on because I want to say so many things about this city I fell in love with so quickly. I'll just have to take you there to divulge all the information that wants to spill from my fingers.
For the entire two weeks, I was enrolled in a program called ITMI, or the International Tour Management Institute. It was started by Ted Bravos and his friend Bill. Ted is still an instructor along with Randy and a few guest instructors throughout the two week program. I had no idea what I was getting into. I thought it might just be a $3000+ referral agency, but it's so much more. I now feel confident in doing something I never realized was the perfect career option for me. It mixes a love of people, theatre, and traveling into one job. I have to thank Ted, Randy, Reggie, Sandi, and Korey so much for everything. I also have to give a shout out to my 20 female classmates. I was class 277, and it was the first time there was only one guy ever.
Back to San Francisco, originally called Yerba Buena, or "Good Herb" after a peppermint like plant in the area. It was one of the last missions established by the Spanish born Franciscan monk Junipero Serra on his Camino Real up the coast of California. Due to its geographical location, it tends to be on the cooler side temperature wise, especially during the summer months. The heat from the Eastern side of the state pulls the cold wet air mass of the Pacific over the city enveloping it in a beautiful fog. You can literally see it roll into the city in the morning and come back again before the sunsets. It's gorgeous.
Another thing I love about San Francisco is the diversity. There are over 90 distinct neighborhoods with individual personalities. From the Latin American Mission to the LGBTQ friendly Castro, there's something for everyone. The food as well spans the many types of cuisine. Here are some highlights:
1. Homeroom: gourmet mac and cheese in Oakland for less than $10 a entree. I WANT TO EAT IT ALL. I ended up getting the garlic with two types of cheese. It was phenomenal.
2. Bristol Farms: San Francisco is all about eating healthy and organically. This market has multiple locations and serves the freshest foods. I had their Tomato Basil soup more times than I care to admit in a sourdough bread bowl.
3. Lefty O'Doul's: named for a San Franciscan baseball legend, this cafeteria style restaurant and bar serves freshly carved sandwiches and daily specials for a crazy affordable price. I had their spaghetti, which was magnificent.
I hope to return to the city often. It will always have a special place in my heart because of it's promise of a new career, the new family I have in that career, and of all the things I learned and experienced there. Standing before Frida y Diego at SFMOMA was one of the highlights of this summer along with seeing the beauty of Burney Falls and realizing that there is a career out there for me in which I can find success and still be happy. I don't know if I'll ever be able to sit at a desk again, and I don't plan to find out. I do know that I will always have a good suit case so that I never again struggle up to the plastic wrap station at the airport because my bag has no sliders on the zipper and is held together with two belts and a trail of painters tape spanning two MUNI rides and one BART commute. If you're ever bored, please let me talk your ear off about this wonderful experience. Taylor got plenty of it after he picked me up from the airport at 1 in the morning. I can't wait to get started, so I already called and am visiting the department of tourism for Birmingham and hopefully getting a job as a local guide to save up some money for DC!
All I Wanna Do is Have Some Fun
My life was a Cheryl Crow for a day. My family moved out of our Disneyland hotel, which was also The Disneyland hotel, and checked in at the Holiday Inn Express just off of Hollywood Blvd and near the Dolby Theatre, where the Academy Awards are held and where currently there is a Cirque du Soleil show called IRIS.
We had big plans for Saturday, so my family wanted to rest the day before to have enough energy. I luckily spied on facebook that three of my friends from college were going to spend the day at Santa Monica pier. My friend Phoebe moved out to LA a few months ago, so she had a car. This made traveling to Santa Monica rather easy even if she refuses to use highways and freeways. It just meant that we were able to see more of he city as we drove there.
Phoebe had never been to the beach so we were happy to share that with her. Before we got to the water, we went to a burger place on the famous pier. It wasn't as grandiose as I was expecting. There were a few restaurants and a small fair like park. I don't know why I thought it would be a bigger deal. It was still an enjoyable day, though!
After the burger, we went down to the very crowded beach to get in the water. It was FREEZING. That's to be expected with the Pacific Ocean. Watching Phoebe feel water and sand for the first time was excellent. I think that's one of the reasons I'm most excited about being a tour director. I want to be there when people experience new things and see how they react to them.
After the dip in the water, we found a play ground area near the beach on the other side of the pier. It has a good amount of different exercise apparatuses that let you display your strength or lack of strength in my case. The most popular one was a set of hanging rings. People used their upper body strength to propel them selves forward to the next ring without letting their feet touch the ground. It was quite the spectacle to behold. We sat for a long time cheering people on from far enough away that they couldn't actually hear us.
Sarah joined us to go for a bite to eat in the actual city portion of Santa Monica. We found a great inexpensive fusion Mediterranean place where I got some awesome tacos. We spent the entire meal and time after singing old 90s songs while looking up the music videos to them. Phoebe mentioned liking Nickleback, and it all went downhill from there.
The next day my family did a very interesting tour of Los Angeles. Using the commonly seen hop on hop off bus tour. For each stop, we had a set list of instructions and clues to follow to figure out an answer which was worth so many points. We had so much fun getting off the bus and solving most of the puzzles. We even got a free milkshake! It was fun interacting with their placed actors along the way and solving the puzzles even if we were racing alone. It's all based on points and not time finished. Also, at the end we were given gold medals for getting enough points. I believe the company is called the Amazing Los Angeles Race, and they have these races in multiple locations like New Orleans and NYC. It's definitely worth the money.
Another highlight of the area was the El Capitan theatre on Hollywood Blvd. It's owned by Disney and has the Egyptian style architecture that was popular after the discovery of King Tut's tomb. The theatre is gorgeous and multitiered on the inside. I thought the ticket was a little pricey, but it was 3D and in LA so that balances out. Before the show classic Disney songs are played on an organ. Then, to my surprise, the people you thought were ushers do a twenty minute Broadway style song and dance medley intermingled with costumed Disney characters and ending with confetti and a large American flag being dropped from the ceiling. Finally, after all of this Brave started. The movie was great, and I recommend that everybody see it when it comes out.
We had big plans for Saturday, so my family wanted to rest the day before to have enough energy. I luckily spied on facebook that three of my friends from college were going to spend the day at Santa Monica pier. My friend Phoebe moved out to LA a few months ago, so she had a car. This made traveling to Santa Monica rather easy even if she refuses to use highways and freeways. It just meant that we were able to see more of he city as we drove there.
Phoebe had never been to the beach so we were happy to share that with her. Before we got to the water, we went to a burger place on the famous pier. It wasn't as grandiose as I was expecting. There were a few restaurants and a small fair like park. I don't know why I thought it would be a bigger deal. It was still an enjoyable day, though!
After the burger, we went down to the very crowded beach to get in the water. It was FREEZING. That's to be expected with the Pacific Ocean. Watching Phoebe feel water and sand for the first time was excellent. I think that's one of the reasons I'm most excited about being a tour director. I want to be there when people experience new things and see how they react to them.
After the dip in the water, we found a play ground area near the beach on the other side of the pier. It has a good amount of different exercise apparatuses that let you display your strength or lack of strength in my case. The most popular one was a set of hanging rings. People used their upper body strength to propel them selves forward to the next ring without letting their feet touch the ground. It was quite the spectacle to behold. We sat for a long time cheering people on from far enough away that they couldn't actually hear us.
Sarah joined us to go for a bite to eat in the actual city portion of Santa Monica. We found a great inexpensive fusion Mediterranean place where I got some awesome tacos. We spent the entire meal and time after singing old 90s songs while looking up the music videos to them. Phoebe mentioned liking Nickleback, and it all went downhill from there.
The next day my family did a very interesting tour of Los Angeles. Using the commonly seen hop on hop off bus tour. For each stop, we had a set list of instructions and clues to follow to figure out an answer which was worth so many points. We had so much fun getting off the bus and solving most of the puzzles. We even got a free milkshake! It was fun interacting with their placed actors along the way and solving the puzzles even if we were racing alone. It's all based on points and not time finished. Also, at the end we were given gold medals for getting enough points. I believe the company is called the Amazing Los Angeles Race, and they have these races in multiple locations like New Orleans and NYC. It's definitely worth the money.
Another highlight of the area was the El Capitan theatre on Hollywood Blvd. It's owned by Disney and has the Egyptian style architecture that was popular after the discovery of King Tut's tomb. The theatre is gorgeous and multitiered on the inside. I thought the ticket was a little pricey, but it was 3D and in LA so that balances out. Before the show classic Disney songs are played on an organ. Then, to my surprise, the people you thought were ushers do a twenty minute Broadway style song and dance medley intermingled with costumed Disney characters and ending with confetti and a large American flag being dropped from the ceiling. Finally, after all of this Brave started. The movie was great, and I recommend that everybody see it when it comes out.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Part of that World
Well, as I sadly knew, photos I post via my Macbook never stay loaded on the page. I may just be doing it wrong, but it is the ONE thing that is easier on a PC. So until I figure this out my travel blog will be lacking photographic evidence of my trips.
After the lengthy trip to and from San Diego, I met my parents and brother at LAX to begin our Disneyland adventure. If you know me for longer than a minute, you discover that my family has an obsession with Disney World. I'm not lying when I say that I can't tell you how many times I've been to the parks.
To mix it up, we decided to go to Disneyland since I had to be in California anyway a week later. We spent only three days in the two parks, which was plenty. If you have the endurance, you can really do the parks in just two days, but if you like to take your time or wake up later in the day it may take you more time.
The two parks are Disneyland and California Adventure, and they are situated across from one another with barely a football field between them. This makes it easy to go from park to park if you've purchased the Park Hopper option on your ticket. Another convenience it that all three Disney hotels are within walking distance, so you'll be able to go back to your room and rest if you need.
My overall rating is unimpressed. I'm glad we went as a onetime thing, but I would not likely return. Disney World just spoiled me. Four parks with a myriad of restaurants and attractions that can keep you engaged for days. I did enjoy myself, but it just wasn't the same I was glad to experience some of the new rides in Carsland and the rest of California Adventure. Also, many of the rides that are in both parks were actually better at Disneyland! It lacked the same caliber of restaurants and that feeling of magical escape because it is so close to the major roads of Anaheim.
Now I'll get a little more specific about each park and some suggestions. Firstly, Californians share something in common with me. They love to sleep in and take their time getting somewhere. Because of this, the best time to go to either park is first thing in the morning and staying late. The parks are open as late as midnight. On our first day, we were almost finished with everything at Disneyland by lunch because the lines were so short. This was partly due to the new attractions opening in Carsland at California Adventure. The line to get a FASTPASS for the Radiator Springs Racers is just as lengthy as the line for the ride itself.
Right after lunch both parks fill up and lines are just as long as you'd expect them to be in the middle of summer. You can't let yourself get too distracted or you might miss a celebrity or two. On the way out of the Haunted Mansion, my mother's wheelchair was pushed up to a chain that needed to be unclipped, so a nice boy unclipped it for us and let as pass. We look back only to discover that the four sisterwives and children along with Kody were waiting to get on, and one of the kids had been the one to help us out.
While Disneyland is pretty comparable to Magic Kingdom at Disney World, there is one feature worth visiting the park for. That is the Indiana Jones adventure ride. A group of twelve sit in a jeep that is going into a tomb to explore but end up invoking a curse. The jeep speeds through the temple escaping fire, bugs, snakes, and boulders. The ride is beautifully crafted and involves impressive special effects and ride technology. It's a similar experience to the Dinosaur ride, formerly known as Countdown to Extinction, at Disney's Animal Kingdom, but it is infinitely better.
California Adventure was filled with new things to experience. Some highlights were their pier style "wooden " roller coaster and the Little Mermaid ride. I loved them both for different reasons. One was a great thrill ride and the other went through all of the music of one of my favorite movies. It's definitely good for a one time visit. The ride in Carsland is even worth the wait if it isn't constantly breaking down. It'll be much better once the novelty of it being new wears off.
My personal favorite part of the trip was beating will and the Toy Story Mania attraction. It's a ride where you play carnival style games via a 3D video game. You accumulate points based on how many targets you hit. Will tends to KILL me at these games, but one time I was able to win. It's on my top ten lists of accomplishments.
More information about all Disney parks can be found here. http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/ If you have any specific questions or want recommendations, let me know!
After the lengthy trip to and from San Diego, I met my parents and brother at LAX to begin our Disneyland adventure. If you know me for longer than a minute, you discover that my family has an obsession with Disney World. I'm not lying when I say that I can't tell you how many times I've been to the parks.
To mix it up, we decided to go to Disneyland since I had to be in California anyway a week later. We spent only three days in the two parks, which was plenty. If you have the endurance, you can really do the parks in just two days, but if you like to take your time or wake up later in the day it may take you more time.
The two parks are Disneyland and California Adventure, and they are situated across from one another with barely a football field between them. This makes it easy to go from park to park if you've purchased the Park Hopper option on your ticket. Another convenience it that all three Disney hotels are within walking distance, so you'll be able to go back to your room and rest if you need.
My overall rating is unimpressed. I'm glad we went as a onetime thing, but I would not likely return. Disney World just spoiled me. Four parks with a myriad of restaurants and attractions that can keep you engaged for days. I did enjoy myself, but it just wasn't the same I was glad to experience some of the new rides in Carsland and the rest of California Adventure. Also, many of the rides that are in both parks were actually better at Disneyland! It lacked the same caliber of restaurants and that feeling of magical escape because it is so close to the major roads of Anaheim.
Now I'll get a little more specific about each park and some suggestions. Firstly, Californians share something in common with me. They love to sleep in and take their time getting somewhere. Because of this, the best time to go to either park is first thing in the morning and staying late. The parks are open as late as midnight. On our first day, we were almost finished with everything at Disneyland by lunch because the lines were so short. This was partly due to the new attractions opening in Carsland at California Adventure. The line to get a FASTPASS for the Radiator Springs Racers is just as lengthy as the line for the ride itself.
Right after lunch both parks fill up and lines are just as long as you'd expect them to be in the middle of summer. You can't let yourself get too distracted or you might miss a celebrity or two. On the way out of the Haunted Mansion, my mother's wheelchair was pushed up to a chain that needed to be unclipped, so a nice boy unclipped it for us and let as pass. We look back only to discover that the four sisterwives and children along with Kody were waiting to get on, and one of the kids had been the one to help us out.
While Disneyland is pretty comparable to Magic Kingdom at Disney World, there is one feature worth visiting the park for. That is the Indiana Jones adventure ride. A group of twelve sit in a jeep that is going into a tomb to explore but end up invoking a curse. The jeep speeds through the temple escaping fire, bugs, snakes, and boulders. The ride is beautifully crafted and involves impressive special effects and ride technology. It's a similar experience to the Dinosaur ride, formerly known as Countdown to Extinction, at Disney's Animal Kingdom, but it is infinitely better.
California Adventure was filled with new things to experience. Some highlights were their pier style "wooden " roller coaster and the Little Mermaid ride. I loved them both for different reasons. One was a great thrill ride and the other went through all of the music of one of my favorite movies. It's definitely good for a one time visit. The ride in Carsland is even worth the wait if it isn't constantly breaking down. It'll be much better once the novelty of it being new wears off.
My personal favorite part of the trip was beating will and the Toy Story Mania attraction. It's a ride where you play carnival style games via a 3D video game. You accumulate points based on how many targets you hit. Will tends to KILL me at these games, but one time I was able to win. It's on my top ten lists of accomplishments.
More information about all Disney parks can be found here. http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/ If you have any specific questions or want recommendations, let me know!
Where is the World is San Diego?
I actually didn't realize how far south it was in California, but that's a different, less interesting story. For the next few weeks, I plan on attempting to make this more of a travel blog and less about the banalities of my life, though I'm sure you enjoyed those as well.
I spent the past week in Los Angeles with my family but made a few side trips to different cities and attractions in the area. I'll go chronologically, so my first focus will be the lovely San Diego. If you're wanting to travel to San Diego from Los Angeles, the trip should take around two to two and a half hours. Notice the word "should." I got to LA two days early so that I could spend some time with my friend Sarah before the intense family vacation began, and she really wanted to go to the world famous San Diego Zoo. We slept in a little Saturday due to my late arrival time and got on the road around 11.
Don't do that. If you want to make a day trip over the weekend, leave early. LA traffic pretty much never ends, but leaving during lunch hours is not intelligent. This decision along with her car refusing to accelerate at one point resulted in it taking us five hours to arrive in San Diego. It's a fairly easy drive. There were just a plethora of people making the same one. Luckily, we broke up the driving with a nice trip to a fast food Mexican chain called Del Taco. It's a big step up from Taco Bell and still rather cheap, but nothing can compare to my love of Taco Casa, especially when there's not even sweet tea.
Once we finally got to San Diego, Sarah and I parked in the zoo parking lot FOR FREE, which was a nice surprise. It was just to get our guards down before we had to pay admission. A general admission ticket runs around $42 for an adult, and it only goes up from there if you want any of the special tours or the 3D show. This price is well worth the amount of money. The zoo seems to be as large as some theme parks. The land is expansive enough that some guests choose to pay a small extra fee to ride a double decker bus around the property to see all of the exhibits in a timely manner without having to walk up and down all of the steep hills. So if you dislike walking or have someone in your group that has trouble with steep hills or walking for long periods of time, this might be the option for you.
We arrived, due to our out of the ordinary travel time, around 4 in the afternoon. The Zoo stays open until 9 and has a great light show at night. Unfortunately, it doesn't get dark until late during the summer, so the lights aren't as enjoyable as they might be during other times of the year. We stayed at the zoo four for hours and were able to see all of the major attractions while walking all of the trails, so if you arrive early in the day it's easy to walk and get everything done.
Just a note, most animals are really active in the morning and the late afternoon and evening, so during lunch time when it's really hot outside most of them are rather lethargic. It's a good idea to plan around this time if you want to see the animals do more than lie down. While the pandas are the main draw of the zoo and unlike some zoos viewing them is included in admission, the portion I loved most was the aviary. There are actually a couple of aviaries on the grounds. All of them are enclosed but have fresh, open air and are multi-leveled. This means that you can walk across a bridge at different levels in the trees to see the many species of birds as they fly around you and in front of you. It's beautiful and one of the most natural experiences that you can get in a zoo. I generally hate seeing animals being caged in, but the San Diego Zoo does a good job of giving the animals larger habitats, though not as impressive as Disney's Animal Kingdom. I am glad I was able to go, but I do not think I would go again just because of the cost. It is an excellent onetime experience! Here's their website if you want ore information about admission prices and the different exhibits. http://www.sandiegozoo.org/
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Hasta La VISTA from a Place of Rest and Vision
I have been unemployed after my VISTA year at Red Cross and homeless for one week now. I am currently sitting in the Birmingham "Internaltional" (jajajajajaja) Airport where there is ZERO air conditioning. Luckily Sumatanga has built up my resistance to such a problem over the past week, so it's like I brought camp with me.
This week has been incredible. This post is going to delve into faith, which I haven't really talked about over the past year. I've thought that my loneliness in Tuscaloosa had to do with a lack of friends and a stressful job, but what I didn't realize is how large a role a faith community has played in my life up until this point. The Wesley Foundation served that purpose throughout college, but once that was no longer an option I just became a sporadic church attendee without forming bonds with anyone at the churches I attended.
Whilst in a service at one of the aforementioned churches, I was struck with the idea of going to camp during my one transitionary week. In order to do this, I cancelled my previously planned beach excursion, and I knew I'd have to drive back and forth to go to rehearsals. I was so excited for the opportunity that it didn't matter. Oddly, I was more excited about going to camp than I was about going to California a week later.
When I went to fill out the counselor application, I discovered that the directors were two people with whom I have been friends for a long time, Mary and Timmy Collins, so that made me even more excited. After my going away party last Friday, I woke up and drove straight to camp with a small pit stop in Hoover to pack and bathe in less than an hour.
The first day was awkward since there was no one I knew really well, and the scholarship counselors that are there all summer already had such a strong bond. By the end of the week, I felt like I had been there the entire summer with them. I made the realization that Sumatanga is so much more than a place. I've missed camp for two years, but I visited to bring friends from college there. This week made me see that it wasn't the place I missed it was the people and the community that they created. There are so few opportunities to spend a week in Alabama heat and humidity where your appearance doesn't matter nor do your love for crafts, lack of softball abilities, and love for singing parodies of Disney songs.
The theme of the week was Just Add Water, which was a perfect metaphor for camp. I went in there parched but was able to pour myself out into making a beautiful week for all of the campers, but I was also refilled with a new revitalization of my faith. This is exactly what I was hoping for and desperately needed. I hated leaving early today, especially with my flight changing to 7:25.
I don't want to bore you with all the details, but I'll include some highlights in the form of a Top 10 List that has no ranking importance, a combination rather than a permutation, if you will.
1. I sang my original lyrics to "Part of Your World" to be "That Craft Hut Girl." Only a few campers didn't recognize it as a song from The Little Mermaid and thought I was just constantly forgetting the words.
2. I met some great people. My co-counselor, Carmen and her beautiful imperfections, Mason and his handlebar mustache, Holly and her broken leg, Jennifer and her ability to lead multiple groups over the week, and a great band are just a few.
3. I got to revisit old friendships with Tom, Mary, Timmy, Jenny, Cary, Sami, et al while I was there. Some of these people I hadn't seen in years, but it didn't seem that way at all.
4. I had the loudest cabin, which seems to always happen. They end up growing on you by the end of the week, especially when they quietest they are is when they request you to sing a song or when you're reading Alexander and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
5. Apparently I look like Frodo, Rick Astley, and Alexander from the previously mentioned book.
6. There was an evening program about finding God in the chaos of life, which really spoke to me because of the year I've had with the tornado, three different apartments, and a job that consisted of dealing with disasters. The program involved a labyrinth of chairs all in odd positions that just brought me back to the devastation I saw in Tuscaloosa, Phil Campbell, and Centerpoint.
7. I love making nametags for people especially when I can theme them after Disney movies. I made a pretty good one with Mason's name being a mustache on a face and a Cinderella one for Emalee with the "a" as a pumpkin and the rest of the letters as vines coming off of it.
8. The kids were so great this week. I love playing games with them, trying to make them think in small groups, and interacting with them in meals and services. I'm still in the age range in which junior high students find you cool just by existing, so that makes it even better.
9. I actually scored two runs and caught an out in the camper counselor softball game. That almost makes up for the 15 or so pitches it took for me to hit the ball one time...
10. I overcame my competitive nature and allowed a child to stay in a round of ships and sailors. I only did this after I had bumped them out of the four men eating circle and let them take my place instead. At least it's improvement?
Camp was wonderful, and I cannot wait until I can call Sumatanga my home again. Hopefully, next summer I'll be able to be there a little longer. I have too many nametags to make and too many songs to sing for just one week.
This week has been incredible. This post is going to delve into faith, which I haven't really talked about over the past year. I've thought that my loneliness in Tuscaloosa had to do with a lack of friends and a stressful job, but what I didn't realize is how large a role a faith community has played in my life up until this point. The Wesley Foundation served that purpose throughout college, but once that was no longer an option I just became a sporadic church attendee without forming bonds with anyone at the churches I attended.
Whilst in a service at one of the aforementioned churches, I was struck with the idea of going to camp during my one transitionary week. In order to do this, I cancelled my previously planned beach excursion, and I knew I'd have to drive back and forth to go to rehearsals. I was so excited for the opportunity that it didn't matter. Oddly, I was more excited about going to camp than I was about going to California a week later.
When I went to fill out the counselor application, I discovered that the directors were two people with whom I have been friends for a long time, Mary and Timmy Collins, so that made me even more excited. After my going away party last Friday, I woke up and drove straight to camp with a small pit stop in Hoover to pack and bathe in less than an hour.
The first day was awkward since there was no one I knew really well, and the scholarship counselors that are there all summer already had such a strong bond. By the end of the week, I felt like I had been there the entire summer with them. I made the realization that Sumatanga is so much more than a place. I've missed camp for two years, but I visited to bring friends from college there. This week made me see that it wasn't the place I missed it was the people and the community that they created. There are so few opportunities to spend a week in Alabama heat and humidity where your appearance doesn't matter nor do your love for crafts, lack of softball abilities, and love for singing parodies of Disney songs.
The theme of the week was Just Add Water, which was a perfect metaphor for camp. I went in there parched but was able to pour myself out into making a beautiful week for all of the campers, but I was also refilled with a new revitalization of my faith. This is exactly what I was hoping for and desperately needed. I hated leaving early today, especially with my flight changing to 7:25.
I don't want to bore you with all the details, but I'll include some highlights in the form of a Top 10 List that has no ranking importance, a combination rather than a permutation, if you will.
1. I sang my original lyrics to "Part of Your World" to be "That Craft Hut Girl." Only a few campers didn't recognize it as a song from The Little Mermaid and thought I was just constantly forgetting the words.
2. I met some great people. My co-counselor, Carmen and her beautiful imperfections, Mason and his handlebar mustache, Holly and her broken leg, Jennifer and her ability to lead multiple groups over the week, and a great band are just a few.
3. I got to revisit old friendships with Tom, Mary, Timmy, Jenny, Cary, Sami, et al while I was there. Some of these people I hadn't seen in years, but it didn't seem that way at all.
4. I had the loudest cabin, which seems to always happen. They end up growing on you by the end of the week, especially when they quietest they are is when they request you to sing a song or when you're reading Alexander and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
5. Apparently I look like Frodo, Rick Astley, and Alexander from the previously mentioned book.
6. There was an evening program about finding God in the chaos of life, which really spoke to me because of the year I've had with the tornado, three different apartments, and a job that consisted of dealing with disasters. The program involved a labyrinth of chairs all in odd positions that just brought me back to the devastation I saw in Tuscaloosa, Phil Campbell, and Centerpoint.
7. I love making nametags for people especially when I can theme them after Disney movies. I made a pretty good one with Mason's name being a mustache on a face and a Cinderella one for Emalee with the "a" as a pumpkin and the rest of the letters as vines coming off of it.
8. The kids were so great this week. I love playing games with them, trying to make them think in small groups, and interacting with them in meals and services. I'm still in the age range in which junior high students find you cool just by existing, so that makes it even better.
9. I actually scored two runs and caught an out in the camper counselor softball game. That almost makes up for the 15 or so pitches it took for me to hit the ball one time...
10. I overcame my competitive nature and allowed a child to stay in a round of ships and sailors. I only did this after I had bumped them out of the four men eating circle and let them take my place instead. At least it's improvement?
Camp was wonderful, and I cannot wait until I can call Sumatanga my home again. Hopefully, next summer I'll be able to be there a little longer. I have too many nametags to make and too many songs to sing for just one week.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Red Crossed Out
Well, it's my last day as a VISTA for the American Red Cross of West Alabama, so I thought I'd do a compilation list of things I learned during my year here.
1. Don't expect someone to tell you how to do your job. While it would be nice to have a supervisor get you started on the right track, it's not always going to happen. Sometimes you'll just be handed a bag of keys and get told to find out where they go because your supervisor got fired and no one knows what to do with you.
2. Things change quickly. In the time that I have been here so many volunteers and staff members have cycled out or moved on. This is where I wish I had a compilation video of all of them smiling with some dramatic music in the background while we all reminisce.
3. If you don't like something, fix it. If you live with a cracked out, high, wasted twenty-eight year old ex-marine, then find somewhere else to live. Don't endure months of stolen food, forgotten vibrators, and loud but thankfully short sex acts.
4. Have more than one thing to do with your life. Even if you love your job, you've got to find something else to do with your time or you will get worn out. So whether it's a healthy competitive addiction to trivia or a weekly voice lesson, have something that gets you out of a work mindset. Just avoid getting in the middle of fights at Waffle House unless you want to be a background youtube sensation.
5. Working for a nonprofit is hard. It's not a nine to five desk job. You have to work nights and weekends and sometimes at a moment's notice. Even if you complain, you know it's what has to be done, so you do it regardless of any Volunteer Assignment Description or regional supervisor's sour face. Seriously, why won't she smile? It can also involve a lot of getting thrown under the bus.
6. Unfortunately, the only way to get things done the way you want them is to do them yourself or to be less anal about them. Waiting around for someone to fix the server or figure out why the lanyard people are continuing to call you from New Delhi isn't going to do any good. If a group is complaining about a health fair not getting planned, you might as well take on the project so that it happens. Even if it completely stresses you out, you do the work because you know it's needed. I am so proud of Brazos Abiertos and the help it brings to the Latin American community every year.
7. Post college friend creation is a difficult process even with living in a town full of people you know. I have noticed that the quality of my friendships have increased as the quantity has decreased. Who would have thought? Along with this, age and intelligence are not factors to be considered in making friends. This was something I had already picked up on a little bit, but nothing proved it more to me than my friendship with James.
8. Life is too ridiculous not to laugh. With my living situations and fire clients pretending to be kidnapped or using their money for parties at Surin, I would not have survived this year without a sense of humor and a coping mechanism of making memes. You also need people that you can talk to about cows being in trees, trying to find a non existent Birmingham office, Clara Barton wearing hot pants, getting the runaround, picking up ferns, and crazy ERV teachers.
9. I LOVE food especially when it's free. My weight gain can attest to that. I will eat anything, and it will not mess up my stomach. I also apparently love chicken more than anyone else and really need to give chitlins a chance.
10. I HATE DESK JOBS. In a year, I never developed a proper sleep schedule due to reading fanfiction and watching episodes upon episodes of television shows. I am not meant to sit at a desk for hours and be up before 8 in the morning. My coworkers will agree that it generally takes me an hour or so to fully wake up, and even after that I'll fall asleep if I'm not doing something.
11. You can't do work like this without it's mark on you. Sometimes this is literally after you run into a trailer hitch, but luckily when you work at the Red Cross everyone is first aid trained your injuries are well taken care of.
12. Working at poverty level is one of those character building experiences. In this year, I have personally worked with close to sixty families who have been affected by single family house fires and a larger number who were affected in the Centrepoint tornado. These experiences have reminded me what things are important, so it's hopefully limited my complaining about money issues and led to me being even less materialistic.
13. Life is all about relationships regardless of their length. I have gleaned so much from month long friendships with community service volunteers that I hope to see again as well as from people I have known all year. None of these people are very similar to me. Military veterans, Montanans, former gospel singers, senior college students, random people at improv shows who end up being your stage manager, sassy special needs adults, family caregivers, old volunteers who make blunts out of pipe cleaners, and ambien lovers have made my family this year.
14. Give back to what's important to you. For me that was my beautiful hometown of Tuscaloosa. When I left after senior year came to an abrupt end because of the tornado, I felt terrible even worse when I went to Phil Campbell and saw my grandmother and aunt's destroyed homes. This year has allowed me the opportunity to see my city get back on its feet, and I got to help in that process. It also made me not be Tuscaloosa centric. There are eight counties I now call my own, and I care deeply about the plights of each of them. Find what's important to you and help make it better.
That's all I have for now. Maybe I'll expand on it later, but I've got some free food to eat in a little bit. Thank you for reading and being a part of this experience. I can't wait to share the next ones with you!
1. Don't expect someone to tell you how to do your job. While it would be nice to have a supervisor get you started on the right track, it's not always going to happen. Sometimes you'll just be handed a bag of keys and get told to find out where they go because your supervisor got fired and no one knows what to do with you.
2. Things change quickly. In the time that I have been here so many volunteers and staff members have cycled out or moved on. This is where I wish I had a compilation video of all of them smiling with some dramatic music in the background while we all reminisce.
3. If you don't like something, fix it. If you live with a cracked out, high, wasted twenty-eight year old ex-marine, then find somewhere else to live. Don't endure months of stolen food, forgotten vibrators, and loud but thankfully short sex acts.
4. Have more than one thing to do with your life. Even if you love your job, you've got to find something else to do with your time or you will get worn out. So whether it's a healthy competitive addiction to trivia or a weekly voice lesson, have something that gets you out of a work mindset. Just avoid getting in the middle of fights at Waffle House unless you want to be a background youtube sensation.
5. Working for a nonprofit is hard. It's not a nine to five desk job. You have to work nights and weekends and sometimes at a moment's notice. Even if you complain, you know it's what has to be done, so you do it regardless of any Volunteer Assignment Description or regional supervisor's sour face. Seriously, why won't she smile? It can also involve a lot of getting thrown under the bus.
6. Unfortunately, the only way to get things done the way you want them is to do them yourself or to be less anal about them. Waiting around for someone to fix the server or figure out why the lanyard people are continuing to call you from New Delhi isn't going to do any good. If a group is complaining about a health fair not getting planned, you might as well take on the project so that it happens. Even if it completely stresses you out, you do the work because you know it's needed. I am so proud of Brazos Abiertos and the help it brings to the Latin American community every year.
7. Post college friend creation is a difficult process even with living in a town full of people you know. I have noticed that the quality of my friendships have increased as the quantity has decreased. Who would have thought? Along with this, age and intelligence are not factors to be considered in making friends. This was something I had already picked up on a little bit, but nothing proved it more to me than my friendship with James.
8. Life is too ridiculous not to laugh. With my living situations and fire clients pretending to be kidnapped or using their money for parties at Surin, I would not have survived this year without a sense of humor and a coping mechanism of making memes. You also need people that you can talk to about cows being in trees, trying to find a non existent Birmingham office, Clara Barton wearing hot pants, getting the runaround, picking up ferns, and crazy ERV teachers.
9. I LOVE food especially when it's free. My weight gain can attest to that. I will eat anything, and it will not mess up my stomach. I also apparently love chicken more than anyone else and really need to give chitlins a chance.
10. I HATE DESK JOBS. In a year, I never developed a proper sleep schedule due to reading fanfiction and watching episodes upon episodes of television shows. I am not meant to sit at a desk for hours and be up before 8 in the morning. My coworkers will agree that it generally takes me an hour or so to fully wake up, and even after that I'll fall asleep if I'm not doing something.
11. You can't do work like this without it's mark on you. Sometimes this is literally after you run into a trailer hitch, but luckily when you work at the Red Cross everyone is first aid trained your injuries are well taken care of.
12. Working at poverty level is one of those character building experiences. In this year, I have personally worked with close to sixty families who have been affected by single family house fires and a larger number who were affected in the Centrepoint tornado. These experiences have reminded me what things are important, so it's hopefully limited my complaining about money issues and led to me being even less materialistic.
13. Life is all about relationships regardless of their length. I have gleaned so much from month long friendships with community service volunteers that I hope to see again as well as from people I have known all year. None of these people are very similar to me. Military veterans, Montanans, former gospel singers, senior college students, random people at improv shows who end up being your stage manager, sassy special needs adults, family caregivers, old volunteers who make blunts out of pipe cleaners, and ambien lovers have made my family this year.
14. Give back to what's important to you. For me that was my beautiful hometown of Tuscaloosa. When I left after senior year came to an abrupt end because of the tornado, I felt terrible even worse when I went to Phil Campbell and saw my grandmother and aunt's destroyed homes. This year has allowed me the opportunity to see my city get back on its feet, and I got to help in that process. It also made me not be Tuscaloosa centric. There are eight counties I now call my own, and I care deeply about the plights of each of them. Find what's important to you and help make it better.
That's all I have for now. Maybe I'll expand on it later, but I've got some free food to eat in a little bit. Thank you for reading and being a part of this experience. I can't wait to share the next ones with you!
Monday, June 18, 2012
The Final Countdown
Well, it's my last Monday in the office and hopefully any office for a while. Where I'm going, we don't need desks. That was a strained reference to Back to the Future. I am still in disbelief that I have actually been here this long. What's crazier is how much just this office has changed in that time. I'll save all of that for a reflecting post at the end of the week. For now, we'll focus on my next to last week at work.
If I just talked about that, however, it would be a very short post because things have calmed down recently. KNOCK ON THE WOOD OF CLARA BARTON'S COFFIN.
I mentioned that two Fridays ago we were going to the house dedication for one of our volunteers. I was in tears most of the time just out of complete happiness for Pam Nero and her husband. It definitely represented a full cycle of things for me. When I left Tuscaloosa last May, Alberta City was devastated beyond recognition as my childhood home. Now over a year later, I got to see a family move into their new and well deserved home. Tuscaloosa is really coming around, and I am so happy that I was able to be here to see the process. As things pop back up, it's become the town I recognize, and my love for it has only grown deeper.
Over the weekend, I had the joy of communicating with the replacement campus minister at the Wesley Foundation. He texted me to discuss a group picking up cots to stay at Wesley Foundation over the week. I was just surprised that someone I have not interacted with in over a year decided that texting me was the most professional way to get in touch. It was a big mess getting in touch with the church. Mike, a volunteer, wanted to meet me to get his last hours in, so I told him to be at the office at 6:50 PM because the people from the church were going to get there after seven and call me before they got there. I drove up as it was raining at 6:45 and in the parking lot was a tour bus blocking every single car from leaving. WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY?????????? Luckily, the rain subsided long enough to load 120 cots on to their bus. Once they left, Mike and I had to inventory the cots left so we knew how many they took. The humidity made me realize that it was a bad idea to take a shower before getting there just to stand in a trailer or ankle deep water.
The rest of the week went pretty smoothly. There were a couple of fire cases bringing my total for the year up to 50 out of 150 at one point. Other than that, nothing really happened. We have so may community service volunteers right now that Cody and I are just trying to make up stuff for them to do. I hate when the ones we like finish up, though, because then we never see them again. It's been a year of temporary friends and oddities. There are all kinds. This will again be touched on in a reflection post at the end of this week.
Cody and I went to trivia on Tuesday last week and Lexi and I on Thursday. We had good performances at both as Green Eggs and Ham and Huffalumps and Woozles. Obviously, I chose to regress a little in my team name inspiration. There was a terrible discussion Cody and I had about a question regarding a train. I just made a guest appearance explaining it in his blog.
Our old building that was damaged in the storm was finally bulldozed last week. It is completely flat now, though, I've yet to see it. I didn't have any emotional attachment to it since my only time inside was for my interview, but I know a lot of other people were sad to see it go. It's actually been more of a pain for me with the numerous times we've had to move things around and take things out. Those desks volunteer Mike and I moved were about the DEATH of me. Well, the mold would have killed me if the desks didn't.
This weekend was relaxing with a coloring of fun. Friday, I went to El Rincon with some friends, and while I was overcharged we had an enlightening conversation about the Illuminati and its members including Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Hudson, and Mark Ingram... You shouldn't be too surprised that I played the role of he sceptic. Saturday after getting a few things moved out and a set of tennis with my dad, Cody and I went to dinner for his birthday since Wynease and Toya both bailed on us, with good reason I'm sure.
I also made the exciting decision to go to Camp Sumatanga next week as a counselor. It just hit me in church of all places that it fits perfectly into my schedule and I may not be able to go again for a while. I was delighted to discover that two friends are the directors. I know this week will pass by even more quickly now that I have the promise of immediate fresh air and lack of technology come Saturday.
If I just talked about that, however, it would be a very short post because things have calmed down recently. KNOCK ON THE WOOD OF CLARA BARTON'S COFFIN.
I mentioned that two Fridays ago we were going to the house dedication for one of our volunteers. I was in tears most of the time just out of complete happiness for Pam Nero and her husband. It definitely represented a full cycle of things for me. When I left Tuscaloosa last May, Alberta City was devastated beyond recognition as my childhood home. Now over a year later, I got to see a family move into their new and well deserved home. Tuscaloosa is really coming around, and I am so happy that I was able to be here to see the process. As things pop back up, it's become the town I recognize, and my love for it has only grown deeper.
Over the weekend, I had the joy of communicating with the replacement campus minister at the Wesley Foundation. He texted me to discuss a group picking up cots to stay at Wesley Foundation over the week. I was just surprised that someone I have not interacted with in over a year decided that texting me was the most professional way to get in touch. It was a big mess getting in touch with the church. Mike, a volunteer, wanted to meet me to get his last hours in, so I told him to be at the office at 6:50 PM because the people from the church were going to get there after seven and call me before they got there. I drove up as it was raining at 6:45 and in the parking lot was a tour bus blocking every single car from leaving. WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY?????????? Luckily, the rain subsided long enough to load 120 cots on to their bus. Once they left, Mike and I had to inventory the cots left so we knew how many they took. The humidity made me realize that it was a bad idea to take a shower before getting there just to stand in a trailer or ankle deep water.
The rest of the week went pretty smoothly. There were a couple of fire cases bringing my total for the year up to 50 out of 150 at one point. Other than that, nothing really happened. We have so may community service volunteers right now that Cody and I are just trying to make up stuff for them to do. I hate when the ones we like finish up, though, because then we never see them again. It's been a year of temporary friends and oddities. There are all kinds. This will again be touched on in a reflection post at the end of this week.
Cody and I went to trivia on Tuesday last week and Lexi and I on Thursday. We had good performances at both as Green Eggs and Ham and Huffalumps and Woozles. Obviously, I chose to regress a little in my team name inspiration. There was a terrible discussion Cody and I had about a question regarding a train. I just made a guest appearance explaining it in his blog.
Our old building that was damaged in the storm was finally bulldozed last week. It is completely flat now, though, I've yet to see it. I didn't have any emotional attachment to it since my only time inside was for my interview, but I know a lot of other people were sad to see it go. It's actually been more of a pain for me with the numerous times we've had to move things around and take things out. Those desks volunteer Mike and I moved were about the DEATH of me. Well, the mold would have killed me if the desks didn't.
This weekend was relaxing with a coloring of fun. Friday, I went to El Rincon with some friends, and while I was overcharged we had an enlightening conversation about the Illuminati and its members including Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Hudson, and Mark Ingram... You shouldn't be too surprised that I played the role of he sceptic. Saturday after getting a few things moved out and a set of tennis with my dad, Cody and I went to dinner for his birthday since Wynease and Toya both bailed on us, with good reason I'm sure.
I also made the exciting decision to go to Camp Sumatanga next week as a counselor. It just hit me in church of all places that it fits perfectly into my schedule and I may not be able to go again for a while. I was delighted to discover that two friends are the directors. I know this week will pass by even more quickly now that I have the promise of immediate fresh air and lack of technology come Saturday.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Topanga, I'd F*** Her
Thank you, drunk girl at trivia for a lot of quotable moments. She also actually gave us a couple of right answers that I may not have trusted if the question for which she named "Czechoslovakia"as a current country had come earlier in the game... Cody and I did fairly well this week, though his team name choice "Porn on the Cob" did not get the laughs he thought it would.
I only have two full weeks left at work, which borderlines ridiculously unbelievable. I stare at where I've written "Last Day" in purple on the white board calendar and don't comprehend that it is so quickly approaching. Not too much has gone on at work this week for me personally. With the loss of Bev, we are extremely short staffed, so my role has been working as the in office person for the entire day while others are running around to meetings or classes. I've spent a lot of that time creating jobs for community service volunteers to do because we allowed ourself to get way too many at one time. One such job was moving old desks out of our old building that is getting demolished. I went to go help this guy move them, and it was one of the most strenuous things I have done in my life. The first desk was solid wood and too wide to fit out the back door. We turned it as many ways as we could in that narrow hallway and eventually had to take the legs off and pulls the drawer out. I did something incorrectly because I couldn't grip anything for a few hours after that.
In a more productive light, Holli and I met with Jacqueline Morgan of the Honors College at the University to discuss the possibility of an internship or honors seminar to replace the whole created by the VISTA grant running out and the lack of in house volunteer coordinator. We have people that can fill these needs, but they need a coordinator. She was very optimistic and thinks we may even be able to get someone for the fall. I hope this works out because once I leave there will only be two staff members and one VISTA to serve eight counties in daily office activities.
In a couple of hours, we're going to the Habitat house dedication for one of our volunteers who lost her home in last year's tornado. After losing her home, she has a heart attack and a stroke within a matter of months. I've seen her multiple times this year, and she is always smiling and in a good mood. With so many people out there complaining, it really does something to see this woman who has been through so much to be positive. I cannot wait to see her get her new house in Alberta City.
Culturally speaking, we had our first rehearsal for Second Samuel this week. It looks like it'll be a good show! We blocked the entire first act and ran it a second time, so it looks like we'll be doing a lot of full act runs starting the last week of June. We'll do the same for the shorter second act tonight, and the continuous runs through August should help with the line memorization. I have quite a few lengthy monologues directed to the audience that I'll need to work on.
Also, I have two new show obsessions, but I'm already completely caught up on both of them. I've been avoiding it for sometime, but I finally watched Downton Abbey. I knew I'd like it but never made myself watch it. I've now seen both seasons and the Christmas special in a matter of three days. It's very well done and and interesting period drama. The passage of time is not documented too well, but I may just not be paying attention as closely as I should. I just love seeing Maggie Smith in anything. The other show I've been watching is HBO's Girls. While I am not a girl, I think the plight of these twenty-somethings in the city is comparable to my own. Not all of them, of course. I've never accidentally smoked crack at a warehouse party in Brooklyn, but never say never. I think the show could have some great things to say about gender roles if it shies away from making each character fit a stereotypical mold. I like the British girl, Jessa, and her non traditional views on relationships. It's refreshing to see a character not following the same romantic formula that is in every movie or show. I'm looking forward to the season continuing!
Now, I'm resurrecting a parody song I wrote of "Part of Your World" for Camp Sumatanga about wanting to be the craft chick. They apparently want to use it this year. I didn't keep a record of it, so I'm just making it up again.
I only have two full weeks left at work, which borderlines ridiculously unbelievable. I stare at where I've written "Last Day" in purple on the white board calendar and don't comprehend that it is so quickly approaching. Not too much has gone on at work this week for me personally. With the loss of Bev, we are extremely short staffed, so my role has been working as the in office person for the entire day while others are running around to meetings or classes. I've spent a lot of that time creating jobs for community service volunteers to do because we allowed ourself to get way too many at one time. One such job was moving old desks out of our old building that is getting demolished. I went to go help this guy move them, and it was one of the most strenuous things I have done in my life. The first desk was solid wood and too wide to fit out the back door. We turned it as many ways as we could in that narrow hallway and eventually had to take the legs off and pulls the drawer out. I did something incorrectly because I couldn't grip anything for a few hours after that.
In a more productive light, Holli and I met with Jacqueline Morgan of the Honors College at the University to discuss the possibility of an internship or honors seminar to replace the whole created by the VISTA grant running out and the lack of in house volunteer coordinator. We have people that can fill these needs, but they need a coordinator. She was very optimistic and thinks we may even be able to get someone for the fall. I hope this works out because once I leave there will only be two staff members and one VISTA to serve eight counties in daily office activities.
In a couple of hours, we're going to the Habitat house dedication for one of our volunteers who lost her home in last year's tornado. After losing her home, she has a heart attack and a stroke within a matter of months. I've seen her multiple times this year, and she is always smiling and in a good mood. With so many people out there complaining, it really does something to see this woman who has been through so much to be positive. I cannot wait to see her get her new house in Alberta City.
Culturally speaking, we had our first rehearsal for Second Samuel this week. It looks like it'll be a good show! We blocked the entire first act and ran it a second time, so it looks like we'll be doing a lot of full act runs starting the last week of June. We'll do the same for the shorter second act tonight, and the continuous runs through August should help with the line memorization. I have quite a few lengthy monologues directed to the audience that I'll need to work on.
Also, I have two new show obsessions, but I'm already completely caught up on both of them. I've been avoiding it for sometime, but I finally watched Downton Abbey. I knew I'd like it but never made myself watch it. I've now seen both seasons and the Christmas special in a matter of three days. It's very well done and and interesting period drama. The passage of time is not documented too well, but I may just not be paying attention as closely as I should. I just love seeing Maggie Smith in anything. The other show I've been watching is HBO's Girls. While I am not a girl, I think the plight of these twenty-somethings in the city is comparable to my own. Not all of them, of course. I've never accidentally smoked crack at a warehouse party in Brooklyn, but never say never. I think the show could have some great things to say about gender roles if it shies away from making each character fit a stereotypical mold. I like the British girl, Jessa, and her non traditional views on relationships. It's refreshing to see a character not following the same romantic formula that is in every movie or show. I'm looking forward to the season continuing!
Now, I'm resurrecting a parody song I wrote of "Part of Your World" for Camp Sumatanga about wanting to be the craft chick. They apparently want to use it this year. I didn't keep a record of it, so I'm just making it up again.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
For Such a Time as This
At times like this it's hard to think about doing a weekly recap, but I haven't missed one yet. I named this post for a song that was always sung at camp, but I can' seem to find it anywhere, which probably means that it was either not very popular or it was an original piece.
Someone I went to college with died in a car accident his weekend on her way home from a wedding that some of my very close friends were attending. I didn't know her too well, but she had at least been a presence I was aware of for the passed three years. I had actually interacted with her more recently because I met her mother at the regional Red Cross office. My only college memories of Laura involve her being crazy, making people laugh, slipping down hills at Halloween parties, but recently she had really grown up. She still had her intense joy, but she had funneled it into a passion for social work and had begun her job at AIDS Alabama.
As an offshoot of this, it's made me realize that I need to actively pursue my ever changing goals. The way last year ended put me in a kind of rut that resulted in me staying in Tuscaloosa for another year. I do not regret the decision nor the work I've done in that time, but I need to get out and do other things because you just never know what will happen.
With that being said, my time in Tuscaloosa is quickly coming to a close. I only have thirteen days left in the office. I can't believe that almost a year ago I was desperately trying to get in touch with my would be supervisor about my pre service orientation. Now I'm here sitting at a desk covered in schedules, lists, and forms. It is definitely not what I pictured I would be doing and has taught me a plethora of things. The main one being that I cannot for the life of me develop a good enough sleep schedule to support an 8(ish) to 4:30 job.
On the less introspective side of things, I decided to be all hip this weekend and try two new places in Homewood's SoHo area. The first was The Little Donkey. It's a taquería that uses all natural and fresh ingredients. They make everything from scratch, which I think is pretty impressive. Amanda Coppock and I went Saturday afternoon. The cheese dip and guacamole were both really good as was the burrito with black beans and chicken I got for my entree. I really wish I had gotten the concoción as my side because it sounded so much like gallo pinto, which was my favorite breakfast dish in Costa Rica. They had some interesting specialty drink options that are also made from natural ingredients. I did not order any of them, but I hear that they can be on the bitter side. It was a great restaurant with a good atmosphere. It's a little on the pricey side for Mexican food, but the quality is much better than a standard Americanized Mexican restaurant.
We only had to travel two doors down for the other newly opened food place, Steel City Pops. For $3, you can get any of an array of flavored popsicles. They have the traditional chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, but they also have balsamic strawberry and blood orange. I was safe and got the chocolate one and was well rewarded. Just like Little Donkey, they make everything they sell for the day fresh. In the morning they make all of the popsicles and even experiment with flavors. Then they sell them until they're gone. I'll definitely be going back.
I'm really glad that Birmingham is continuing to develop little areas like this. It gives it the feel of a larger city with different neighborhoods. If I hadn't already lived there too long, it would definitely be somewhere worth looking into moving. Rehearsals for Second Samuel start tonight! And not last night like I thought and foolishly drove all the way to Birmingham just to turn around and come back...
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Movin' Out
Thanks, Billy Joel, for this week's title. As it suggests, I'm movin' out. All of my things have been officially moved out of my apartment on Watermelon Road with the craziest roommate of all time. I will soon draft an email to his step-mother detailing all of the food he ate so that my utility bill for this month doesn't have to be paid or is reduced.
Before we get to that joyous occasion, though, we have to explain the happenings of the weekend that involved driving to and from Hoover three times. Friday night Mallory Porter was visiting Hoover after taking a few days off from her jobs at Disney World and Bush Gardens. She, Natalie, Sarah Carlson and I went to La Fiesta, which was one of our usual hangouts in high school. We followed our Mexican food with some cookies from Great American Cookie Company from the Galleria. If only our parents had driven us there, it would have been very 9th grade.
I had to come back to Tuscaloosa to co-teach an ERV class, which trains people to drive the Emergency Response Vehicle, and by "co-teach" I meant sitting in the back where the air conditioning doesn't efficiently cool the stainless steel that covers the floor and parts of the walls. I was literally getting cooked. At least it was in good company, and any day with Taco Casa for lunch can't go badly unless you aren't a Tuscaloosa native with a strong enough stomach to handle their food.
My plan Saturday night was to go home and see my friend Sarah Rogers for drinks downtown while she was home on a quick visit from LA. What actually happened was a twenty-eight unit apartment fire in Tuscaloosa. While the drive back was inconvenient and we were there until almost twelve, this was the night I felt the most useful. I never would have thought a year ago that I would be in charge of casework for a multifamily fire with zero notice. While Holli was responding to the scene to get more information, I called volunteers, got the ERV loaded and ready to drive with the help of Cody, made enough casework folders for twenty families, and set our office up to do multiple casework sessions at once.
I'm glad that this is something I can continue to do once my job ends because my skill set is perfect for supervisory roles in disaster response. We were able to help six of the families that night and eight more over the past week. That has made portions of the week a little hectic, but it gave me faith in West Alabama being able to respond to smaller level disasters. The volunteers did all of the actual work like driving the ERV and client interviews.
The other big event this week after the fire was my moving out from my terrible living situation. I may miss the vibrators, dearth of communication, stolen food, small bugs, and abundant drugs, but I think it's better off this way. I moved into a house that has been owned by theatre people for the past two year. I am very happy to announce my acceptance into The Kingdom. Some people like to name their homes or apartments to make them cooler. People assumed I had done this last year when I invited them to come to Wesley Foundation when in fact the building I lived in was the Wesley Foundation.
Since moving in, I've spent so much more time with people eating at Waffle House, watching movies, cooking out, doing dismally at trivia, and getting far too inebriated. I think this will be the perfect fit for my last month in Tuscaloosa for a long while, hopefully ever as a resident. I am beyond ready to be in the District of Colombia. Michelle is on her way there right now, and Jenae is already there. I just skyped with my friend Krishna who lives there. I need to get there soon and start leading tours, but I will enjoy the time I have left in Alabama.
Lastly, I had the read thru for Second Samuel, which I am doing with Park Players in August. I think this show could be exceptionally enjoyable, but it could also border on stereotypical and cheesy. I'll try to avoid the latter. My character is the narrator in the setting of a small 1940s Georgia. He has a learning disability, which will be a challenge to undertake. I am looking forward to this and hopefully to bringing a sense of realism to a character that can be all about typical behaviors. If you're in Birmingham, come see it in August!
Before we get to that joyous occasion, though, we have to explain the happenings of the weekend that involved driving to and from Hoover three times. Friday night Mallory Porter was visiting Hoover after taking a few days off from her jobs at Disney World and Bush Gardens. She, Natalie, Sarah Carlson and I went to La Fiesta, which was one of our usual hangouts in high school. We followed our Mexican food with some cookies from Great American Cookie Company from the Galleria. If only our parents had driven us there, it would have been very 9th grade.
I had to come back to Tuscaloosa to co-teach an ERV class, which trains people to drive the Emergency Response Vehicle, and by "co-teach" I meant sitting in the back where the air conditioning doesn't efficiently cool the stainless steel that covers the floor and parts of the walls. I was literally getting cooked. At least it was in good company, and any day with Taco Casa for lunch can't go badly unless you aren't a Tuscaloosa native with a strong enough stomach to handle their food.
My plan Saturday night was to go home and see my friend Sarah Rogers for drinks downtown while she was home on a quick visit from LA. What actually happened was a twenty-eight unit apartment fire in Tuscaloosa. While the drive back was inconvenient and we were there until almost twelve, this was the night I felt the most useful. I never would have thought a year ago that I would be in charge of casework for a multifamily fire with zero notice. While Holli was responding to the scene to get more information, I called volunteers, got the ERV loaded and ready to drive with the help of Cody, made enough casework folders for twenty families, and set our office up to do multiple casework sessions at once.
I'm glad that this is something I can continue to do once my job ends because my skill set is perfect for supervisory roles in disaster response. We were able to help six of the families that night and eight more over the past week. That has made portions of the week a little hectic, but it gave me faith in West Alabama being able to respond to smaller level disasters. The volunteers did all of the actual work like driving the ERV and client interviews.
The other big event this week after the fire was my moving out from my terrible living situation. I may miss the vibrators, dearth of communication, stolen food, small bugs, and abundant drugs, but I think it's better off this way. I moved into a house that has been owned by theatre people for the past two year. I am very happy to announce my acceptance into The Kingdom. Some people like to name their homes or apartments to make them cooler. People assumed I had done this last year when I invited them to come to Wesley Foundation when in fact the building I lived in was the Wesley Foundation.
Since moving in, I've spent so much more time with people eating at Waffle House, watching movies, cooking out, doing dismally at trivia, and getting far too inebriated. I think this will be the perfect fit for my last month in Tuscaloosa for a long while, hopefully ever as a resident. I am beyond ready to be in the District of Colombia. Michelle is on her way there right now, and Jenae is already there. I just skyped with my friend Krishna who lives there. I need to get there soon and start leading tours, but I will enjoy the time I have left in Alabama.
Lastly, I had the read thru for Second Samuel, which I am doing with Park Players in August. I think this show could be exceptionally enjoyable, but it could also border on stereotypical and cheesy. I'll try to avoid the latter. My character is the narrator in the setting of a small 1940s Georgia. He has a learning disability, which will be a challenge to undertake. I am looking forward to this and hopefully to bringing a sense of realism to a character that can be all about typical behaviors. If you're in Birmingham, come see it in August!
Friday, May 18, 2012
The Ghost Pepper Initiative
The Ghost Pepper Initiative is a plan Michelle, Amber, and I have concocted to get my soon to be former roommate back for the amount of my food he has eaten. Now that I am officially moving out Tuesday I would feel fine leaving laxative a ghost pepper laced lasagna in the refrigerator for him.
I was lucky enough to have my apartment alone for most of last week, so I got to buy my groceries and actually eat them! He got back on Tuesday, though, and since then no frozen burrito or home cooked pasta dish has been safe.
Last weekend began with cookie making, ribbon cutting, and wedding movie watching with Michelle.I'm getting too close to the age of the characters in these movies. I guess I can just hope that I'll break up a friend's engagement while we're spending summer weekends in the Hamptons...
Not likely, so in the meantime I've been focusing, probably too much, on work. Some friends are trickling back into town, so I'm hoping that will result in offsetting the large amount of work I'm doing at times. The weekend was nice and relaxing. After two months apart, Taylor and I finally saw each other in person at On Tap by the Galleria. I pretended to like some different beers while also enjoy some Irish Nachos. These were french fries with white cheese dip on them. How that's Irish I'll never know.
That night Rachel Folsom and I had a reuniting/ good-bye dinner at Waffle House. She's going to graduate school for counseling at the University of North Texas in Denton, and for some reason she moved on Monday! Thus squeezing in a last minute hang out was imperative. Our parents live only a few blocks from each other, so we often ride together to the Waffle House down the street and sit in the same booth.We chatted long after our food was gone about a range of things, the most important being how odd it is to be doing such adult things. Now I just need to do some of those things. It still kind of feels like I'm doing a victory lap of college. It's time to say, "Good-bye," to Alabama.
Then work this week has been all kinds of crazy. I was supposed to teach Monday night, but there was a fire and hour before class, so Cody had to teach and I responded to the fire with Elise. Then Tuesday there was a call for a fire in York as I was on my way out the door. I drove the hour down there, did the case work, came back, put it in the computer, and went home to discover my roommate was there and had eaten three of my frozen burritos in less than 12 hours. I quickly left my apartment to regain some sanity while watching Glee with Corey Rives. It was two hours of mediocrity with some brilliance sprinkled in.
Wednesday, I spent the day teaching in Sulligent followed by a quick lunch with Nanny in Yampertown, which was accompanied with the trying on of clothes and receiving of hand me downs that I will most likely never wear. I just indulge her. I got back in time just for things at the office to get crazy, so trivia was a much needed release that night. Cody and I did really well! IF ONLY HE HAD LOOKED THE HINT UP CORRECTLY This is the last time I'll mention it or I might damage our friendship. I'm just glad he didn't wait outside Wings U all night thinking it was Buffalo Wild Wings.
Thursday was thankfully quiet and ended with an upsetting trivia performance. It was Michelle's last one! I can't believe it. She's moving to my dream city in a few weeks, and I couldn't be happier for her. I just need to get my butt up there too as quickly as I can.
Today, James and I went on an adventure to take a picture of a generator at the old building. No one told me it was the one outside they wanted a picture of, so we looked in every pod, conex box, and in the moldy chapter itself for the small generators. I made him pose with them for the pictures. I will be very sad to leave him here when I go. If I ever need to be kept in check with some incoherent insults, I'll give him a call. He'll tell me I look like a voice lesson or make fun of my friends, my love of chicken, and my short pants.
I was lucky enough to have my apartment alone for most of last week, so I got to buy my groceries and actually eat them! He got back on Tuesday, though, and since then no frozen burrito or home cooked pasta dish has been safe.
Last weekend began with cookie making, ribbon cutting, and wedding movie watching with Michelle.I'm getting too close to the age of the characters in these movies. I guess I can just hope that I'll break up a friend's engagement while we're spending summer weekends in the Hamptons...
Not likely, so in the meantime I've been focusing, probably too much, on work. Some friends are trickling back into town, so I'm hoping that will result in offsetting the large amount of work I'm doing at times. The weekend was nice and relaxing. After two months apart, Taylor and I finally saw each other in person at On Tap by the Galleria. I pretended to like some different beers while also enjoy some Irish Nachos. These were french fries with white cheese dip on them. How that's Irish I'll never know.
That night Rachel Folsom and I had a reuniting/ good-bye dinner at Waffle House. She's going to graduate school for counseling at the University of North Texas in Denton, and for some reason she moved on Monday! Thus squeezing in a last minute hang out was imperative. Our parents live only a few blocks from each other, so we often ride together to the Waffle House down the street and sit in the same booth.We chatted long after our food was gone about a range of things, the most important being how odd it is to be doing such adult things. Now I just need to do some of those things. It still kind of feels like I'm doing a victory lap of college. It's time to say, "Good-bye," to Alabama.
Then work this week has been all kinds of crazy. I was supposed to teach Monday night, but there was a fire and hour before class, so Cody had to teach and I responded to the fire with Elise. Then Tuesday there was a call for a fire in York as I was on my way out the door. I drove the hour down there, did the case work, came back, put it in the computer, and went home to discover my roommate was there and had eaten three of my frozen burritos in less than 12 hours. I quickly left my apartment to regain some sanity while watching Glee with Corey Rives. It was two hours of mediocrity with some brilliance sprinkled in.
Wednesday, I spent the day teaching in Sulligent followed by a quick lunch with Nanny in Yampertown, which was accompanied with the trying on of clothes and receiving of hand me downs that I will most likely never wear. I just indulge her. I got back in time just for things at the office to get crazy, so trivia was a much needed release that night. Cody and I did really well! IF ONLY HE HAD LOOKED THE HINT UP CORRECTLY This is the last time I'll mention it or I might damage our friendship. I'm just glad he didn't wait outside Wings U all night thinking it was Buffalo Wild Wings.
Thursday was thankfully quiet and ended with an upsetting trivia performance. It was Michelle's last one! I can't believe it. She's moving to my dream city in a few weeks, and I couldn't be happier for her. I just need to get my butt up there too as quickly as I can.
Today, James and I went on an adventure to take a picture of a generator at the old building. No one told me it was the one outside they wanted a picture of, so we looked in every pod, conex box, and in the moldy chapter itself for the small generators. I made him pose with them for the pictures. I will be very sad to leave him here when I go. If I ever need to be kept in check with some incoherent insults, I'll give him a call. He'll tell me I look like a voice lesson or make fun of my friends, my love of chicken, and my short pants.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Mike Check
This week we have been officially Mike-less, and it shows. Two days now I have been the only person in the office for Disaster Services, and I have done the casework for five fire cases this week alone. WHY?!?!?!? While I have enjoyed my time here, it is really starting to wear me down because I work a lot and sleep a little. Both are my fault, obviously. I think this feeling is similar to when you have all this energy and stress during the last week of classes and then as soon as it's over you just fall apart. As soon as I finished with Brazos Abiertos two weeks ago, I have just felt so unmotivated because I don't have anything large I'm working toward. I'm just trying to get volunteers trained to perform my different functions, which has proved less than easy with the abounding amounts of apathy in the world.
Well, now I'll stop complaining because who wants to read that? This week has been filled with good-byes. It's odd because I haven't been preparing for not seeing people again. It just hadn't crossed my mind until a few weeks ago. I'm so glad people will be here for portions of the summer. This will hopefully help balance out the amount of work...
Another thing that might help is that I have finally decided to move out of my apartment and live somewhere else for my last month of VISTA. I'm surprised I didn't break before now, but I tend to be able to put up with more than I should. It wasn't the drug use, the vibrator in my bed, or the stealing food from my closet that pushed me over the edge. No, it was him eating my leftover lasagna from Tut's. I am just a surprised as you that it is something so small. Finding it missing when I went to eat dinner really pissed me off, and he wasn't even home for me to get angry! He's out of town somewhere for who knows how long. So what do I do with my storming anger? I go to the grocery store. Logically. While soothing my anger with the purchasing of food, I made the realization that I have plenty of friends who have gone home and have leases that don't end until August. Thus, I took advantage of one of those and will hopefully be moving into Michelle's room for the month of June. Now I can live closer to work, eat the groceries I buy, and live with friends. It sounds like a good way to spend my last weeks in Tuscaloosa.
Karissa came into town Friday for a quick but immensely fun visit. We went to Midnight Sushi at Surin with a lot of APO people and then went to Icon for the drag show and ended up dancing by ourselves until 3 in the morning. I love how Karissa can make me just have care free fun. The bartender gave us two or three free shots (we can't remember how many...) that were purple in color and excellent in taste. Then we had lunch at Wings the next morning before going to the tornado play. Karissa has forgiven me for making her watch the first act, luckily.
Saturday was the last performance of the tornado play. I'm glad I was given the opportunity to be a apart of an event that, but I am even more ecstatic that I never have to sing "Our Bama Song" again. The last day the band couldn't be there, so we had to sing along to a CD with vocal tracks on it. I cried I was laughing so hard. I felt SO bad, but I couldn't control myself. It didn't help that Jessica was laughing next to me and Natalie, Chris, and Ben were all in my sight line. If anyone had a serious face, I lost it.
Our going away party for Mike was that night. It was also for me, but that was not as important since I am still here. I was happy to see Oscar and Ro again along with everyone from the office. Cody had gotten engraved gifts for us, so now I have a globe to take with me on my travels from my friends at Red Cross. The highlight of the night for most people was at my expense. James and I decided to play a game of pool, and he beat me! No one was watching the first half of the game when I was winning. They just all showed up for the end and made fun of me using the small stick when I had to make shots to close to the wall. James swears he never plays pool, but I know better.
I don't know how to transition to this, but I love Tuscaloosa summers. Michelle and I were discussing this at trivia the other night. Somehow drama gets eliminated over the summer, and it's just easy living. You hang out with a small group of friends to whom you become really close. I'm glad that's how my time in Tuscaloosa will end.
Wednesday, Jake, Michelle, and I went to City Cafe because Jake had never been. It's a good meat and three, and it was the last time I saw Jake before her left! It doesn't feel like it'll be a while before I see these people again, but it could be months or years! Too surreal.
At trivia, Michelle and I were "Let Them Eat Cake" in reference to that stupid celebration people had in North Carolina after Amendment 1 passed. People are entitled to their view, but having a party with wedding cake to celebrate denying human rights to other Americans? It lacks tact, in my opinion. Anyway, Michelle and I were able to come from being in 18th place after the first half to finishing in 4th place overall. We even got the final question right! It was a proud moment in trivia history. If we had gotten one more question right, we could have been in third. Michelle is such an easy person to hang out with. I am so glad we'll be in DC together by 2013! Unless the Mayans have something to say about it...
I'll end with just brief statement of happiness in reference to Barack Obama. I know that his statement could have and should have been said much sooner than it was. I also realize he took a political risk in bringing the issue of gay marriage to the forefront of the election at this point. I am so grateful for him as a president. I listened to his interview on NPR the other morning and had tears in my eyes listening to his reasoning and why his personal view had evolved. I don't think this means at all that there will be a definite decision on this issue in the near future, but I do think that if re-elected he will continue to fight for the rights of all people regardless of gender and sexuality. This link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2012/may/08/gay-rights-united-states?ref=nf shows a comparison of rights for people of different sexuality and gender identity in every state, and looking at The South upsets me so much. Well, that's my political soapbox, I suppose. Here's a picture about how I feel about Barack Obama.
Well, now I'll stop complaining because who wants to read that? This week has been filled with good-byes. It's odd because I haven't been preparing for not seeing people again. It just hadn't crossed my mind until a few weeks ago. I'm so glad people will be here for portions of the summer. This will hopefully help balance out the amount of work...
Another thing that might help is that I have finally decided to move out of my apartment and live somewhere else for my last month of VISTA. I'm surprised I didn't break before now, but I tend to be able to put up with more than I should. It wasn't the drug use, the vibrator in my bed, or the stealing food from my closet that pushed me over the edge. No, it was him eating my leftover lasagna from Tut's. I am just a surprised as you that it is something so small. Finding it missing when I went to eat dinner really pissed me off, and he wasn't even home for me to get angry! He's out of town somewhere for who knows how long. So what do I do with my storming anger? I go to the grocery store. Logically. While soothing my anger with the purchasing of food, I made the realization that I have plenty of friends who have gone home and have leases that don't end until August. Thus, I took advantage of one of those and will hopefully be moving into Michelle's room for the month of June. Now I can live closer to work, eat the groceries I buy, and live with friends. It sounds like a good way to spend my last weeks in Tuscaloosa.
Karissa came into town Friday for a quick but immensely fun visit. We went to Midnight Sushi at Surin with a lot of APO people and then went to Icon for the drag show and ended up dancing by ourselves until 3 in the morning. I love how Karissa can make me just have care free fun. The bartender gave us two or three free shots (we can't remember how many...) that were purple in color and excellent in taste. Then we had lunch at Wings the next morning before going to the tornado play. Karissa has forgiven me for making her watch the first act, luckily.
Saturday was the last performance of the tornado play. I'm glad I was given the opportunity to be a apart of an event that, but I am even more ecstatic that I never have to sing "Our Bama Song" again. The last day the band couldn't be there, so we had to sing along to a CD with vocal tracks on it. I cried I was laughing so hard. I felt SO bad, but I couldn't control myself. It didn't help that Jessica was laughing next to me and Natalie, Chris, and Ben were all in my sight line. If anyone had a serious face, I lost it.
Our going away party for Mike was that night. It was also for me, but that was not as important since I am still here. I was happy to see Oscar and Ro again along with everyone from the office. Cody had gotten engraved gifts for us, so now I have a globe to take with me on my travels from my friends at Red Cross. The highlight of the night for most people was at my expense. James and I decided to play a game of pool, and he beat me! No one was watching the first half of the game when I was winning. They just all showed up for the end and made fun of me using the small stick when I had to make shots to close to the wall. James swears he never plays pool, but I know better.
I don't know how to transition to this, but I love Tuscaloosa summers. Michelle and I were discussing this at trivia the other night. Somehow drama gets eliminated over the summer, and it's just easy living. You hang out with a small group of friends to whom you become really close. I'm glad that's how my time in Tuscaloosa will end.
Wednesday, Jake, Michelle, and I went to City Cafe because Jake had never been. It's a good meat and three, and it was the last time I saw Jake before her left! It doesn't feel like it'll be a while before I see these people again, but it could be months or years! Too surreal.
At trivia, Michelle and I were "Let Them Eat Cake" in reference to that stupid celebration people had in North Carolina after Amendment 1 passed. People are entitled to their view, but having a party with wedding cake to celebrate denying human rights to other Americans? It lacks tact, in my opinion. Anyway, Michelle and I were able to come from being in 18th place after the first half to finishing in 4th place overall. We even got the final question right! It was a proud moment in trivia history. If we had gotten one more question right, we could have been in third. Michelle is such an easy person to hang out with. I am so glad we'll be in DC together by 2013! Unless the Mayans have something to say about it...
I'll end with just brief statement of happiness in reference to Barack Obama. I know that his statement could have and should have been said much sooner than it was. I also realize he took a political risk in bringing the issue of gay marriage to the forefront of the election at this point. I am so grateful for him as a president. I listened to his interview on NPR the other morning and had tears in my eyes listening to his reasoning and why his personal view had evolved. I don't think this means at all that there will be a definite decision on this issue in the near future, but I do think that if re-elected he will continue to fight for the rights of all people regardless of gender and sexuality. This link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2012/may/08/gay-rights-united-states?ref=nf shows a comparison of rights for people of different sexuality and gender identity in every state, and looking at The South upsets me so much. Well, that's my political soapbox, I suppose. Here's a picture about how I feel about Barack Obama.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Your System Can Handle Any Member
This was legitimately said in a conference call Cody and I were on yesterday about the new volunteer database.
Other than accidental sexual jokes, the office has been pretty quiet. Today is Mike's last day, which is beyond crazy. We all knew it was coming, but it got here way too quickly. I was supposed to leave first. I was always ready to leave first. That was just a Steel Magnolias reference. I just threw a fit when he tried to leave an hour early, so we're playing facebook games while the clock ticks down. Family Feud is a VISTA tradition.
Along with Mike's departure, we also found out that Bev has decided to retire at the end of this month and marry his girlfriend. This means that in my time at Red Cross only one employee will remain when I leave that was here when I got here. I really don't blame Bev for leaving. I love Red Cross and what we do, but the inner politics between the regional and the chapter office are just ridiculous. Can we really not just work things out and work well together? Maybe someone new will be exactly what we need. It is just really tiresome to try and do work on the grassroots level without cooperation between all of the levels of organization.
Last weekend was Senior Guerrilla weekend, which was really odd to be a part of. This time last year was supposed to be my fun week of going to Alphies and roasts, but I didn't get it. It made me think a lot about my fellow seniors who are mostly gone and spread out across the world. I've already mentioned that too many times, so I'll leave at that. I miss you seniors! I'm so proud of what everyone is doing with their lives.
Sunday was Brazos Abiertos! I know you'll be so excited that I will never mention this health fair again unless I want to brag on myself. The event was a big success, I think. We had almost 300 participants, 25 vendors, and 60 volunteers. The largest of burdens has been lifted off of my shoulders. I was walking around the fair the entire day trying to move everything along. I collapsed at my parents' house when it was over. When this job started, I never thought I would be planning an event for that many people and have them show up and have enough food for them and everything. I am so proud I was able to do something for the Latin American community like that. Yes, it's cool that I took such a leadership role, but I care more that this event happened for the eighth year in a row and provided a marginalized group with information about resources available to them in one of the most unfriendly states in the country regardless of immigration status.
Since Sunday the rest of this week has been mostly filled with two things. 1. Teddy Bear 2. Inside the Tornado.
Teddy Bear is ridiculous. He has a poodle hair cut now, which fills me with sadness. I am so glad so many people have babysat him. I always get him when I am so busy. He has been better about going to the bathroom. He did poop in my apartment once when I was doing laundry, so my roommate woke me up at three in the morning to pick it. I'm really bitter about this because I love sleep too much for a 28-year-old to not be able to pick up two pieces of poop on his own. Yet again, Teddy Bear has taught me that I cannot handle a needy pet all the time. I think I'll be stuck with cat and fish for the rest of my life ( a little irony there) until someone else comes along to share dog duty.
The tornado play has been quite the experience. The rehearsal process has been terrible just because of how much time it ate up for only doing one scene. I am very glad I did it, though. It's a beautiful reflection of what has happened and is happening. Are all of the scenes great? No, but it is an impressive effort that ten pieces written by ten different people have been put together in a cohesive collection to present audiences. I've also gotten to meet some great people doing the show even though it's kind of late in my time in Tuscaloosa to make new friends. Why couldn't this have happened months ago????
Today Karissa is coming for the play and to go to the drag show and out on the town! I'm excited for Mike's going away party tomorrow and for starting Second Samuel with Park Players in a few weeks. It'll be a fun show and a challenge to play a character with a learning disability. It's a short post this week, but I was running out of time! I couldn't let a week go by without posting. I have tens of fans to answer to!
Other than accidental sexual jokes, the office has been pretty quiet. Today is Mike's last day, which is beyond crazy. We all knew it was coming, but it got here way too quickly. I was supposed to leave first. I was always ready to leave first. That was just a Steel Magnolias reference. I just threw a fit when he tried to leave an hour early, so we're playing facebook games while the clock ticks down. Family Feud is a VISTA tradition.
Along with Mike's departure, we also found out that Bev has decided to retire at the end of this month and marry his girlfriend. This means that in my time at Red Cross only one employee will remain when I leave that was here when I got here. I really don't blame Bev for leaving. I love Red Cross and what we do, but the inner politics between the regional and the chapter office are just ridiculous. Can we really not just work things out and work well together? Maybe someone new will be exactly what we need. It is just really tiresome to try and do work on the grassroots level without cooperation between all of the levels of organization.
Last weekend was Senior Guerrilla weekend, which was really odd to be a part of. This time last year was supposed to be my fun week of going to Alphies and roasts, but I didn't get it. It made me think a lot about my fellow seniors who are mostly gone and spread out across the world. I've already mentioned that too many times, so I'll leave at that. I miss you seniors! I'm so proud of what everyone is doing with their lives.
Sunday was Brazos Abiertos! I know you'll be so excited that I will never mention this health fair again unless I want to brag on myself. The event was a big success, I think. We had almost 300 participants, 25 vendors, and 60 volunteers. The largest of burdens has been lifted off of my shoulders. I was walking around the fair the entire day trying to move everything along. I collapsed at my parents' house when it was over. When this job started, I never thought I would be planning an event for that many people and have them show up and have enough food for them and everything. I am so proud I was able to do something for the Latin American community like that. Yes, it's cool that I took such a leadership role, but I care more that this event happened for the eighth year in a row and provided a marginalized group with information about resources available to them in one of the most unfriendly states in the country regardless of immigration status.
Since Sunday the rest of this week has been mostly filled with two things. 1. Teddy Bear 2. Inside the Tornado.
Teddy Bear is ridiculous. He has a poodle hair cut now, which fills me with sadness. I am so glad so many people have babysat him. I always get him when I am so busy. He has been better about going to the bathroom. He did poop in my apartment once when I was doing laundry, so my roommate woke me up at three in the morning to pick it. I'm really bitter about this because I love sleep too much for a 28-year-old to not be able to pick up two pieces of poop on his own. Yet again, Teddy Bear has taught me that I cannot handle a needy pet all the time. I think I'll be stuck with cat and fish for the rest of my life ( a little irony there) until someone else comes along to share dog duty.
The tornado play has been quite the experience. The rehearsal process has been terrible just because of how much time it ate up for only doing one scene. I am very glad I did it, though. It's a beautiful reflection of what has happened and is happening. Are all of the scenes great? No, but it is an impressive effort that ten pieces written by ten different people have been put together in a cohesive collection to present audiences. I've also gotten to meet some great people doing the show even though it's kind of late in my time in Tuscaloosa to make new friends. Why couldn't this have happened months ago????
Today Karissa is coming for the play and to go to the drag show and out on the town! I'm excited for Mike's going away party tomorrow and for starting Second Samuel with Park Players in a few weeks. It'll be a fun show and a challenge to play a character with a learning disability. It's a short post this week, but I was running out of time! I couldn't let a week go by without posting. I have tens of fans to answer to!
Friday, April 27, 2012
You're a Blessing
This day last year I was going to some of my last classes for Careers in Professional Theatre and Comparative Politics. I was trying to figure out how I was going to have time to finish my zine for Queer Culture and rehearse for my senior Guerrilla act. I was planning on accepting a position in the Memphis Teaching Fellowship starting a the end of May, but I had a job interview the day before at the Red Cross which was making the decision a little more difficult. I just didn't know if I wanted to stay in Tuscaloosa for another year.
Well, we can see how much all of that mattered now. Within a matter of hours, all of those things got pushed from my mind, and I was suddenly a college graduate a week and a half early and had to go home without the good-byes I longed for. It's a terrible was to end your senior year, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Since then, though, I have seen how much stronger it made us. I already knew that Alpha Psi Omega was part of my college family. We talk about it all the time, but I don't think it has ever been better exemplified than it was that day. Everyone flocked to Rowand Johnson even after the storm had come and gone because we just knew everyone would be there. I knew the majority of my friends were okay because they were with me.
Many of you know my grandmother's and aunt's homes were hit and received major damage in Phil Campbell, Alabama. I went up there a couple of times to help them get things out of their wrecked homes, and on that Saturday after the tornado was when I received the call that changed my life. There was barely any cell phone service up there, but I was some how able to receive one call while I was in my grandmother's dining room alone. It was from my would be supervisor offering me a job in Disaster Services at the American Red Cross of West Alabama. I knew it was what I needed to do and readily accepted. Then I stood there and cried out of pure happiness.
I don't regret the decision to say in Tuscaloosa for the extra year. Working at the Red Cross has meant the world to me. I have been able to give back to a community that has given me so much, and I was also able to help even more people than I ever anticipated. For the rest of my life I will refer to the area of West Alabama as my counties. I've remembered why I love being from the South by meeting all of these people in rural towns who are genuinely happy just for me to come and talk to them. It hasn't all been easy, but I know that I can leave Tuscaloosa at the end of June and feel good about it. I'm leaving after a year of understanding the counties more than I ever thought I would. I'm not leaving with a heart filled with regret as I did last May. I felt so helpless last year not knowing how to help, but now I will always be able to respond to natural disasters even if the don't affect me directly. There's my plug for free Red Cross training. I was able to respond to the January tornadoes in Center Point and no what I wasn't able to do for Tuscaloosa. The feeling cannot be described nor compared to anything else.
I'm going to give a special mention to my fellow APO seniors and my friend Sarah. I thought that our class of seniors was pretty close, but I think that we have been forced into having an even stronger relationship because of last year. We all went home shellshocked and had no one that completely understood what we were going through. I could cry at moment's notice in those first few weeks, not that I didn't already have a reputation for getting emotional. Thanks to social media I got to see that we were all going through the same thing. The one thing that gave me closure on college and the way it ended was my senior Guerrilla in December. A few people got to come back and do there performances as well. It was so cathartic, an dI am so grateful we were given that opportunity. I know that I can always talk to these people even if we haven't spoken in months, and it'll be like we saw each other yesterday, I am so proud of all of them.
Now my friend Sarah. We had become closer and closer over the last two years of school. My senior year we hung out at the Wesley Foundation EVERYDAY watching terrible yet wonderful television and making leftover cookies from the goody bags. I was lucky enough to be able to have Sarah with me that day. We left the Wesley Foundation since it was one floor and in the projected storm path to go to Rowand Johnson and spent the night in Wesley Foundation with no electricity watching Harry Potter on my iTunes until the computer died. I don't think I could have slept the little I did that night if I hadn't gotten to be there with one of my best friends.
I took a Red Cross car the other day to get some breakfast because I am notoriously always eating at the office. When I drove up to pay, the woman saw the Red Cross sticker in the back window. She asked me if I worked there, and I told her I did. Then she said, "You're a blessing." It's odd that something so simple could have such a large impact, but it did. So I want you all to know, you're a blessing to me and many others. Nothing can change that. Especially not a tornado. Tuscaloosa, I love you, and it makes me so proud to call you my hometown. Roll Tide.
Well, we can see how much all of that mattered now. Within a matter of hours, all of those things got pushed from my mind, and I was suddenly a college graduate a week and a half early and had to go home without the good-byes I longed for. It's a terrible was to end your senior year, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Since then, though, I have seen how much stronger it made us. I already knew that Alpha Psi Omega was part of my college family. We talk about it all the time, but I don't think it has ever been better exemplified than it was that day. Everyone flocked to Rowand Johnson even after the storm had come and gone because we just knew everyone would be there. I knew the majority of my friends were okay because they were with me.
Many of you know my grandmother's and aunt's homes were hit and received major damage in Phil Campbell, Alabama. I went up there a couple of times to help them get things out of their wrecked homes, and on that Saturday after the tornado was when I received the call that changed my life. There was barely any cell phone service up there, but I was some how able to receive one call while I was in my grandmother's dining room alone. It was from my would be supervisor offering me a job in Disaster Services at the American Red Cross of West Alabama. I knew it was what I needed to do and readily accepted. Then I stood there and cried out of pure happiness.
I don't regret the decision to say in Tuscaloosa for the extra year. Working at the Red Cross has meant the world to me. I have been able to give back to a community that has given me so much, and I was also able to help even more people than I ever anticipated. For the rest of my life I will refer to the area of West Alabama as my counties. I've remembered why I love being from the South by meeting all of these people in rural towns who are genuinely happy just for me to come and talk to them. It hasn't all been easy, but I know that I can leave Tuscaloosa at the end of June and feel good about it. I'm leaving after a year of understanding the counties more than I ever thought I would. I'm not leaving with a heart filled with regret as I did last May. I felt so helpless last year not knowing how to help, but now I will always be able to respond to natural disasters even if the don't affect me directly. There's my plug for free Red Cross training. I was able to respond to the January tornadoes in Center Point and no what I wasn't able to do for Tuscaloosa. The feeling cannot be described nor compared to anything else.
I'm going to give a special mention to my fellow APO seniors and my friend Sarah. I thought that our class of seniors was pretty close, but I think that we have been forced into having an even stronger relationship because of last year. We all went home shellshocked and had no one that completely understood what we were going through. I could cry at moment's notice in those first few weeks, not that I didn't already have a reputation for getting emotional. Thanks to social media I got to see that we were all going through the same thing. The one thing that gave me closure on college and the way it ended was my senior Guerrilla in December. A few people got to come back and do there performances as well. It was so cathartic, an dI am so grateful we were given that opportunity. I know that I can always talk to these people even if we haven't spoken in months, and it'll be like we saw each other yesterday, I am so proud of all of them.
Now my friend Sarah. We had become closer and closer over the last two years of school. My senior year we hung out at the Wesley Foundation EVERYDAY watching terrible yet wonderful television and making leftover cookies from the goody bags. I was lucky enough to be able to have Sarah with me that day. We left the Wesley Foundation since it was one floor and in the projected storm path to go to Rowand Johnson and spent the night in Wesley Foundation with no electricity watching Harry Potter on my iTunes until the computer died. I don't think I could have slept the little I did that night if I hadn't gotten to be there with one of my best friends.
I took a Red Cross car the other day to get some breakfast because I am notoriously always eating at the office. When I drove up to pay, the woman saw the Red Cross sticker in the back window. She asked me if I worked there, and I told her I did. Then she said, "You're a blessing." It's odd that something so simple could have such a large impact, but it did. So I want you all to know, you're a blessing to me and many others. Nothing can change that. Especially not a tornado. Tuscaloosa, I love you, and it makes me so proud to call you my hometown. Roll Tide.
Friday, April 20, 2012
I Can't Say No to Mexican
This week has been a hodgepodge of events. Most of them leading to little sleep, which is why I am struggling to stay awake at my desk today. I'm watching the minutes slowly tick by until lunch.
Friday was one of the longest days. Like always I needed a serious nap. I've decided that I need a job where I can wake up at ten. That afternoon I left early to pick up some client assistance cards from the REGIONAL office in Hoover. Apparently , calling it the state office is incorrect and highly offensive. After visiting with my friend Lee, I drove to my parents' house to have dinner with them before heading back to be on call for house fires that evening. I went on call at 4:30. I got a call at 4:34. Thus my dinner sadly never took place. This was my first call to respond to after hours, so I was a bit nervous. Luckily, the team in Greene County was very prepared to respond. All I had to do was help them over the phone and get the information put into the computer for them. They did a great job. Now hopefully Tuscaloosa will be able to step up and do that as well, or I'm going to be very busy once Mike leaves in a couple of weeks. While it is more rewarding to respond to fires yourself, I think it really demonstrated the importance of volunteerism in this organization. We're on our way to working ourselves out of a job, which is the point during the last year of the contract.
I got done putting the information into the computer just in time to make it to Ashley Frazier's birthday dinner at Surin. I could eat that tofu coconut soup multiple times a week. It is too good. Alex Lann and Sarah Langcuster both came into town for the event. It was nice having a group of people from Wesley Foundation together again. It made Tuscaloosa feel a little homier than it has in some of the past few months. All of my friends that have moved to other cities have explained how difficult it has been for them to meet new people. and I can't agree more, which is odd since I didn't actually move anywhere yet. The twenties are just such an odd transitional stage during which there are so many possibilities. People get married and have children, go to grad school, move home, get jobs across the country, travel, etc. Now that my one year deferment for making a major life decision is almost over, I am back to the uncertainty with which my life was plagued last year around this time.
After a short sit in The Houndstooth and at Waffle House, Casey wanted to go out, and I obliged since I hardly ever go out anymore. This was made evident by me realizing that after five years of living in Tuscaloosa again I discovered that the bars say open until three on Fridays. I enjoyed myself, but I was too tired to be extrovertedly social. That is too often the case. If I weren't so tired maybe my roommate and I could bond more... I'm sure he'd love for me to join his porn video club in the living room with his friends. I wish I were kidding.
Saturday, Cody and I saw Cabin in the Woods. I am a Joss Wheedon fan and could easily see his style in the movie. It was a very intelligent satire of the American horror movie industry. It points out how similar all of the formulas are with stock characters that lack depth and die in the same order. This made some of the dialogue vapid and seemingly terribly written, but it was on purpose. I knew pretty early on what was happening, but I was surprised the directions it took to the ending. It's a pretty high body count with a scene very reminiscent of a scene from season 4 of Angel in which a very large beast slaughters a lawfirm with direct connections to evil demensions. #recycling
Sunday, I went to see Natalie and others in Fefu and Her Friends by Maria Irene Fornes at the University. It was definitely a cerebral play giving the audience something to think about. It lacked a central plot and action, but I don't think the playwright intended it to have those things. The open endedness leaves it up for discussion and thought, which is one of the things I enjoy most about theatre. I love when it challenges conventions and makes you consider why you believe what you do and gives insight into what situations were like in the time the show was written. Natalie was wonderful, as always. I don't know when I'll get to see her in a show again, so I'm glad I got to hear her giggle on stage before I go wherever I go.
That night Sydney and I went to Iguana Grill and Gleeked out a bit. This is what she brings out in me. I'm trying as much as possible to spend time with people and not sit in my room watching Veronica Mars and Buffy the Vampire Slayer over and over again regardless of how much I love them.
Monday, I went to see the University's production of Chicago. It was wonderful. The entire cast was enjoyable to watch. The choreography was interesting and very well done. Caroline Schmidt portrayed a very different version of Roxie Hart, the show's protagonist, as she tries to get off for killing her lover. The show plays a lot with the role of the media and how it can form and shape opinions of the masses about certain people or events. If it was true in 1920s Chicago, it's even truer now. Any show that has an unorthodox main character provides an intriguing dilemma. Do we cheer for her to avoid the death penalty even though she's a terrible person and completely guilty? We do, which is why Schmidt's character choices are so important. If Roxie isn't likeable, then the audience would not be invested in her journey from poor adulteress to ex inmate Vaudeville performer. It has three more shows if you haven't seen it yet. Even if tickets are sold out, you can still do standby! Zacc, Emmie, and Drew all did amazingly as their principle roles as well.
Tuesday, I had my last Hispanic Service Providers meeting before our Brazos Abiertos health fair. The closer we get the more it seems like it will actually happen, but I am still so scared it will fail. I've never been in charge of something this large and planning it in so little time with so little guidance has been stressful. I will be so glad once it has finished. I know it will do great things for the Latin American community in Tuscaloosa, and I hope that HSP can get back on its feet for next year's fair. If we hadn't have done this year's I'm afraid they would have fallen apart. Now more than ever the Hispanic community needs help in determining where they can receive the help they need without fear. I also am doing the introduction for the event, so I hope my Spanish is up to par... He practicado cosas cuales quiero decir pero estoy nervioso. Nunca he hablado en frente de dos cientos personas en español.
After the meeting, I headed to Nashville to see my friend Tim Rosko's senior music composition recital at Belmont. It was FANTASTIC. I could not have been more impressed. He composed nine original pieces: three choral arrangements, three piano selections, and three pieces for a string quartet. I took my first day off since Presidents' Day, so it had to be worth seeing! Afterward I went with him and some of his friends to a Mexican restaurant close to campus called Chago's. They have a Pollo Gringo dish that includes I can't say no to Mexican. When I tried to dictate a text message to Tim saying that, my phone interpreted as "I can't say no to sex again." I wanted to make that this blog's title but chickened out.
Wednesday I drove back after staying up until three watching Tim write a paper... Too good of a friend. I picked up Dianna Duffy, a UA graduate and friend, from the train station. I had lunch, dinner, and Grey Lady time with her and some other people. I have this tendency to think that if I don't constantly stay in touch with people that it will cause the relationship to fade, but I've come to learn that it isn't really true with most of the people who were in Alpha Psi Omega. It's easy just to pick right up with them. I was so glad to get to spend time with her before she starts law school at Loyola in the fall.
The trivia world, both my teams had respectable performances: The Midnight Society on Wednesday and Terell's Going to College on Thursday. Now I am sitting in the office and slowly awaiting the weekend. Only 13 minutes away! We have been fireless all week. Knock on wood. Next week will be pretty busy and maybe emotional as we approach the one year anniversary of the tornado. I cannot believe it has been a year or that I've been at Red Cross for 10 months. I tried to make this post a good mixture of introspection, commentary, and daily details, so I hope at least a portion of it was up your alley, as they say.
Friday was one of the longest days. Like always I needed a serious nap. I've decided that I need a job where I can wake up at ten. That afternoon I left early to pick up some client assistance cards from the REGIONAL office in Hoover. Apparently , calling it the state office is incorrect and highly offensive. After visiting with my friend Lee, I drove to my parents' house to have dinner with them before heading back to be on call for house fires that evening. I went on call at 4:30. I got a call at 4:34. Thus my dinner sadly never took place. This was my first call to respond to after hours, so I was a bit nervous. Luckily, the team in Greene County was very prepared to respond. All I had to do was help them over the phone and get the information put into the computer for them. They did a great job. Now hopefully Tuscaloosa will be able to step up and do that as well, or I'm going to be very busy once Mike leaves in a couple of weeks. While it is more rewarding to respond to fires yourself, I think it really demonstrated the importance of volunteerism in this organization. We're on our way to working ourselves out of a job, which is the point during the last year of the contract.
I got done putting the information into the computer just in time to make it to Ashley Frazier's birthday dinner at Surin. I could eat that tofu coconut soup multiple times a week. It is too good. Alex Lann and Sarah Langcuster both came into town for the event. It was nice having a group of people from Wesley Foundation together again. It made Tuscaloosa feel a little homier than it has in some of the past few months. All of my friends that have moved to other cities have explained how difficult it has been for them to meet new people. and I can't agree more, which is odd since I didn't actually move anywhere yet. The twenties are just such an odd transitional stage during which there are so many possibilities. People get married and have children, go to grad school, move home, get jobs across the country, travel, etc. Now that my one year deferment for making a major life decision is almost over, I am back to the uncertainty with which my life was plagued last year around this time.
After a short sit in The Houndstooth and at Waffle House, Casey wanted to go out, and I obliged since I hardly ever go out anymore. This was made evident by me realizing that after five years of living in Tuscaloosa again I discovered that the bars say open until three on Fridays. I enjoyed myself, but I was too tired to be extrovertedly social. That is too often the case. If I weren't so tired maybe my roommate and I could bond more... I'm sure he'd love for me to join his porn video club in the living room with his friends. I wish I were kidding.
Saturday, Cody and I saw Cabin in the Woods. I am a Joss Wheedon fan and could easily see his style in the movie. It was a very intelligent satire of the American horror movie industry. It points out how similar all of the formulas are with stock characters that lack depth and die in the same order. This made some of the dialogue vapid and seemingly terribly written, but it was on purpose. I knew pretty early on what was happening, but I was surprised the directions it took to the ending. It's a pretty high body count with a scene very reminiscent of a scene from season 4 of Angel in which a very large beast slaughters a lawfirm with direct connections to evil demensions. #recycling
Sunday, I went to see Natalie and others in Fefu and Her Friends by Maria Irene Fornes at the University. It was definitely a cerebral play giving the audience something to think about. It lacked a central plot and action, but I don't think the playwright intended it to have those things. The open endedness leaves it up for discussion and thought, which is one of the things I enjoy most about theatre. I love when it challenges conventions and makes you consider why you believe what you do and gives insight into what situations were like in the time the show was written. Natalie was wonderful, as always. I don't know when I'll get to see her in a show again, so I'm glad I got to hear her giggle on stage before I go wherever I go.
That night Sydney and I went to Iguana Grill and Gleeked out a bit. This is what she brings out in me. I'm trying as much as possible to spend time with people and not sit in my room watching Veronica Mars and Buffy the Vampire Slayer over and over again regardless of how much I love them.
Monday, I went to see the University's production of Chicago. It was wonderful. The entire cast was enjoyable to watch. The choreography was interesting and very well done. Caroline Schmidt portrayed a very different version of Roxie Hart, the show's protagonist, as she tries to get off for killing her lover. The show plays a lot with the role of the media and how it can form and shape opinions of the masses about certain people or events. If it was true in 1920s Chicago, it's even truer now. Any show that has an unorthodox main character provides an intriguing dilemma. Do we cheer for her to avoid the death penalty even though she's a terrible person and completely guilty? We do, which is why Schmidt's character choices are so important. If Roxie isn't likeable, then the audience would not be invested in her journey from poor adulteress to ex inmate Vaudeville performer. It has three more shows if you haven't seen it yet. Even if tickets are sold out, you can still do standby! Zacc, Emmie, and Drew all did amazingly as their principle roles as well.
Tuesday, I had my last Hispanic Service Providers meeting before our Brazos Abiertos health fair. The closer we get the more it seems like it will actually happen, but I am still so scared it will fail. I've never been in charge of something this large and planning it in so little time with so little guidance has been stressful. I will be so glad once it has finished. I know it will do great things for the Latin American community in Tuscaloosa, and I hope that HSP can get back on its feet for next year's fair. If we hadn't have done this year's I'm afraid they would have fallen apart. Now more than ever the Hispanic community needs help in determining where they can receive the help they need without fear. I also am doing the introduction for the event, so I hope my Spanish is up to par... He practicado cosas cuales quiero decir pero estoy nervioso. Nunca he hablado en frente de dos cientos personas en español.
After the meeting, I headed to Nashville to see my friend Tim Rosko's senior music composition recital at Belmont. It was FANTASTIC. I could not have been more impressed. He composed nine original pieces: three choral arrangements, three piano selections, and three pieces for a string quartet. I took my first day off since Presidents' Day, so it had to be worth seeing! Afterward I went with him and some of his friends to a Mexican restaurant close to campus called Chago's. They have a Pollo Gringo dish that includes I can't say no to Mexican. When I tried to dictate a text message to Tim saying that, my phone interpreted as "I can't say no to sex again." I wanted to make that this blog's title but chickened out.
Wednesday I drove back after staying up until three watching Tim write a paper... Too good of a friend. I picked up Dianna Duffy, a UA graduate and friend, from the train station. I had lunch, dinner, and Grey Lady time with her and some other people. I have this tendency to think that if I don't constantly stay in touch with people that it will cause the relationship to fade, but I've come to learn that it isn't really true with most of the people who were in Alpha Psi Omega. It's easy just to pick right up with them. I was so glad to get to spend time with her before she starts law school at Loyola in the fall.
The trivia world, both my teams had respectable performances: The Midnight Society on Wednesday and Terell's Going to College on Thursday. Now I am sitting in the office and slowly awaiting the weekend. Only 13 minutes away! We have been fireless all week. Knock on wood. Next week will be pretty busy and maybe emotional as we approach the one year anniversary of the tornado. I cannot believe it has been a year or that I've been at Red Cross for 10 months. I tried to make this post a good mixture of introspection, commentary, and daily details, so I hope at least a portion of it was up your alley, as they say.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Did I Really Audition for the Real World?
Yes, in fact, I did. We'll get into more specifics about the process later, but it was definitely worth doing.
I have been a part of three trivia teams since I last blogged with varying levels of success. Michelle, Jake, Amber and I were setting our selves up to sink when we picked a Titanic themed name last Thursday. Rose Let Go yielded one of the lowest scores I have ever been a part of. This Wednesday, Maggie, William, Sean, and I put up a good fight as Lolita 2: Lolita Harder but fell short due to our lack of knowledge about the movie Singles. Last night, Barrett, Michelle, Sean, and I had a respectable showing as Whatever, I'm Getting Cheese Fries. Our downfall was not knowing when Oklahoma entered statehood. I did, however, know that a signet was a baby swan.
After work last week, my family came to go eat at Longhorn and go see The Hunger Games. I have now seen it three times, and the fourth time has already been planned. I was pretty much at a constant state of almost crying the ENTIRE time as a single stream of tears was going down my face. Also, when they came to visit me at work Rachel told my parents that I was the poster boy. This was after she asked them who they wanted to see in a really weird way, I have a video on my phone but have no idea how to get that here. My dad did an impression of her, and I laugh every single time that I watch it.
Last weekend was really enjoyable. The weather was perfect for Good Friday through Easter. Friday, I went over to Natalie's apartment to play a really fun game that is too difficult to describe called Rounds. The boys beat out the girls pretty handily. The game involves getting people to guess words or phrases by first using words and movement, then one word and movement, and finally only movement. Saturday night I filled my ever constant hunger for Fingers of Fire with Stephanie at Buffalo Phil's. The Kaitlin, her roommate, Casey, and I went to spend time with the clientele of Brown's Corner. The people that go out on Easter Weekend are an interesting bunch. One woman was paid by the bar to dance to get other people out there. She told Casey that she was 19... She was definitely 28 or older and danced in an interesting manor. She told Casey that he danced like he knew how to f***. Sunday was one of the best Easters I can remember since I got Hippity, Hoppity, and Floppity in my basket as a child. Kaitlin and I went to Forest Lake for the contemporary service. It was pretty mediocre, but at least it was funny when an older man said, "Happy Easter!" to Kaitlin, and she responded with, "I'm Kaitlin." Also, all the kids received non breakable butterfly ornaments during the children's moment, which they proceeded to drop on the tile floor as many times as possible during the sermon. Here are Hippity, Hoppity, and Floppity for those of you who are not Beanie Baby connoisseurs.
After church, Michelle and the other Kingdom dwellers, as their home has been named, hosted a potluck brunch for the APO people. It was a nice calm way to spend a Sunday afternoon, which was followed by lazing on the quad in the sunlight and a dinner at Swen with Natalie, Will Cotton, Gia, and partially Michael Vine. He didn't actually eat because he was too busy watching Bubba in the Masters on his and Gia's phones.
Work has been just plain silly this week. One woman came in with a fake bun on her head that fell off and rolled across the ground. I misread a link in an email, which led to a volunteer looking at a bondage porn site in our office. One of the interns from Shelton State, who is rather old, called our Executive Director "Dimples." We quite literally burned through all of our Client Assistance Cards with in a matter of days. It's just been crazy in many ways. Dave Murray and I went on our first official DAT call to a mobile home fire in Northport. I'm glad that Mike and Robin have put so much work into getting the teams started back up. Our hope is that it'll transition into being completely volunteer led by the time we leave. I'll include the things that James has done here instead of at the end. After months of talking about people shaking their legs in reference to dancing, James finally shook his leg. It was brief, so only a few people got to enjoy it. Now he refuses to acknowledge the event. He also told us he saw Clara Barton, our founder and resident ghost, wearing hot pants.
I think now I can move on to the main event: my audition for The Real World. I just happened to catch a tweet by The Tuscaloosa News about the open call being set up for the next day at Mellow Mushroom from 11 until 6. I watched the show religiously from Hawaii through San Diego (the first time) or so. I started watching season 8, and I just auditioned for 28. After a busy morning and early afternoon at work, I took off early to go wait in line because I had no idea how many people might possibly show up. I ended up being 109, and I think only about 200 people showed up in the end. While I filled out my application, I ended up having a great conversation with a girl who works at Plato's Closet. I know her name started with a J... I cannot remember the name of one person I met that day, which is out of character. Anyway, I was glad to have someone to talk to since I waited an hour and half outside. The application had some interesting questions on it. The first question is asked before anything else was "Have you ever acted outside of school?" There goes the naive belief in "reality" television not that I still held to that. There was not a lot of variety in the people there. It was mostly stereotypical Alabama students with good old Southern boys and sorority girls. It seems hypocritical to talk about people's motives for being there, but it seemed as though everyone was just interested in the television aspect of it. While that is exciting, I don't think it's the main reason you should want to do the show. I would enjoy being on the show because I think I have a different combination of view points than what I have previously seen. I like the psychology of the whole thing, which is what the show was once more centrally focused on. In recent viewings, it seems as though the crazy hook ups and drinking portions of the drama are more followed, but to be fair I haven't watched it all too much.
After my hour and a halfish of waiting, I went inside the upstairs room of Mellow Mushroom with seven other people. We waited and made small talk at the on deck table before the casting director called for the next eight people to join her. I knew it was important to make a good first impression, so I got up immediately and walked over to her. She wasn't shaking hands to avoid getting sick, but I was able to snag a seat right next to her. Then all 8 people played two truths and a lie as our interview after we had handed in our applications. The other people in my group were not super interesting in their choice of truths and lies. One guy completely blanked on being able to say anything while other people made their lies so crazy that the truth made them appear lame i.e. the girl who said she lost her virginity on a plane but really lost it at her parents' house. Luckily I was able to think quickly because I knew it needed to be things that would reveal enough about me that the casting director would want to hear more. My truths were about being a virgin, because they always want to know about sex, and about my interview for my Red Cross job being the day before the tornado. I figured if they came especially to Tuscaloosa that they might want a tornado story. Then my lie was that I had lived in Tuscaloosa my whole life so that I could mention having lived in Costa Rica for three months. Everyone at the table called out the virgin one for being a lie, which I guess is a compliment? Anyway, the casting director asked me about whether or not it was for religious reasons, so I got to quickly discuss the progression of my faith from blind following into a belief system I developed on my own. She also really liked my picture which I have to give credit to Teddy Bear and Rae for making happen. They're calling people within 48 hours. I'm not expecting anything, but I don't think it could have gone much better. Who knows what she's looking for? She might have been told to find one specific archetype or maybe a couple or it could have been completely open to just finding interesting people. We'll see. It was just fun to do, and now I will always be able to say I tried out.
I have been a part of three trivia teams since I last blogged with varying levels of success. Michelle, Jake, Amber and I were setting our selves up to sink when we picked a Titanic themed name last Thursday. Rose Let Go yielded one of the lowest scores I have ever been a part of. This Wednesday, Maggie, William, Sean, and I put up a good fight as Lolita 2: Lolita Harder but fell short due to our lack of knowledge about the movie Singles. Last night, Barrett, Michelle, Sean, and I had a respectable showing as Whatever, I'm Getting Cheese Fries. Our downfall was not knowing when Oklahoma entered statehood. I did, however, know that a signet was a baby swan.
After work last week, my family came to go eat at Longhorn and go see The Hunger Games. I have now seen it three times, and the fourth time has already been planned. I was pretty much at a constant state of almost crying the ENTIRE time as a single stream of tears was going down my face. Also, when they came to visit me at work Rachel told my parents that I was the poster boy. This was after she asked them who they wanted to see in a really weird way, I have a video on my phone but have no idea how to get that here. My dad did an impression of her, and I laugh every single time that I watch it.
Last weekend was really enjoyable. The weather was perfect for Good Friday through Easter. Friday, I went over to Natalie's apartment to play a really fun game that is too difficult to describe called Rounds. The boys beat out the girls pretty handily. The game involves getting people to guess words or phrases by first using words and movement, then one word and movement, and finally only movement. Saturday night I filled my ever constant hunger for Fingers of Fire with Stephanie at Buffalo Phil's. The Kaitlin, her roommate, Casey, and I went to spend time with the clientele of Brown's Corner. The people that go out on Easter Weekend are an interesting bunch. One woman was paid by the bar to dance to get other people out there. She told Casey that she was 19... She was definitely 28 or older and danced in an interesting manor. She told Casey that he danced like he knew how to f***. Sunday was one of the best Easters I can remember since I got Hippity, Hoppity, and Floppity in my basket as a child. Kaitlin and I went to Forest Lake for the contemporary service. It was pretty mediocre, but at least it was funny when an older man said, "Happy Easter!" to Kaitlin, and she responded with, "I'm Kaitlin." Also, all the kids received non breakable butterfly ornaments during the children's moment, which they proceeded to drop on the tile floor as many times as possible during the sermon. Here are Hippity, Hoppity, and Floppity for those of you who are not Beanie Baby connoisseurs.
After church, Michelle and the other Kingdom dwellers, as their home has been named, hosted a potluck brunch for the APO people. It was a nice calm way to spend a Sunday afternoon, which was followed by lazing on the quad in the sunlight and a dinner at Swen with Natalie, Will Cotton, Gia, and partially Michael Vine. He didn't actually eat because he was too busy watching Bubba in the Masters on his and Gia's phones.
Work has been just plain silly this week. One woman came in with a fake bun on her head that fell off and rolled across the ground. I misread a link in an email, which led to a volunteer looking at a bondage porn site in our office. One of the interns from Shelton State, who is rather old, called our Executive Director "Dimples." We quite literally burned through all of our Client Assistance Cards with in a matter of days. It's just been crazy in many ways. Dave Murray and I went on our first official DAT call to a mobile home fire in Northport. I'm glad that Mike and Robin have put so much work into getting the teams started back up. Our hope is that it'll transition into being completely volunteer led by the time we leave. I'll include the things that James has done here instead of at the end. After months of talking about people shaking their legs in reference to dancing, James finally shook his leg. It was brief, so only a few people got to enjoy it. Now he refuses to acknowledge the event. He also told us he saw Clara Barton, our founder and resident ghost, wearing hot pants.
I think now I can move on to the main event: my audition for The Real World. I just happened to catch a tweet by The Tuscaloosa News about the open call being set up for the next day at Mellow Mushroom from 11 until 6. I watched the show religiously from Hawaii through San Diego (the first time) or so. I started watching season 8, and I just auditioned for 28. After a busy morning and early afternoon at work, I took off early to go wait in line because I had no idea how many people might possibly show up. I ended up being 109, and I think only about 200 people showed up in the end. While I filled out my application, I ended up having a great conversation with a girl who works at Plato's Closet. I know her name started with a J... I cannot remember the name of one person I met that day, which is out of character. Anyway, I was glad to have someone to talk to since I waited an hour and half outside. The application had some interesting questions on it. The first question is asked before anything else was "Have you ever acted outside of school?" There goes the naive belief in "reality" television not that I still held to that. There was not a lot of variety in the people there. It was mostly stereotypical Alabama students with good old Southern boys and sorority girls. It seems hypocritical to talk about people's motives for being there, but it seemed as though everyone was just interested in the television aspect of it. While that is exciting, I don't think it's the main reason you should want to do the show. I would enjoy being on the show because I think I have a different combination of view points than what I have previously seen. I like the psychology of the whole thing, which is what the show was once more centrally focused on. In recent viewings, it seems as though the crazy hook ups and drinking portions of the drama are more followed, but to be fair I haven't watched it all too much.
After my hour and a halfish of waiting, I went inside the upstairs room of Mellow Mushroom with seven other people. We waited and made small talk at the on deck table before the casting director called for the next eight people to join her. I knew it was important to make a good first impression, so I got up immediately and walked over to her. She wasn't shaking hands to avoid getting sick, but I was able to snag a seat right next to her. Then all 8 people played two truths and a lie as our interview after we had handed in our applications. The other people in my group were not super interesting in their choice of truths and lies. One guy completely blanked on being able to say anything while other people made their lies so crazy that the truth made them appear lame i.e. the girl who said she lost her virginity on a plane but really lost it at her parents' house. Luckily I was able to think quickly because I knew it needed to be things that would reveal enough about me that the casting director would want to hear more. My truths were about being a virgin, because they always want to know about sex, and about my interview for my Red Cross job being the day before the tornado. I figured if they came especially to Tuscaloosa that they might want a tornado story. Then my lie was that I had lived in Tuscaloosa my whole life so that I could mention having lived in Costa Rica for three months. Everyone at the table called out the virgin one for being a lie, which I guess is a compliment? Anyway, the casting director asked me about whether or not it was for religious reasons, so I got to quickly discuss the progression of my faith from blind following into a belief system I developed on my own. She also really liked my picture which I have to give credit to Teddy Bear and Rae for making happen. They're calling people within 48 hours. I'm not expecting anything, but I don't think it could have gone much better. Who knows what she's looking for? She might have been told to find one specific archetype or maybe a couple or it could have been completely open to just finding interesting people. We'll see. It was just fun to do, and now I will always be able to say I tried out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
