As of yesterday I have been watching the cutest three month old puppy for one of the health and safety instructors. He's gotten a lot cuter since he stopped throwing up from yesterday. His name is Teddy Bear, unfortunately. There's not a good nickname to derive from this. TB is out for obvious reasons. Along with being a disease's name, it all got Taylor to guess Tyra Banks. This is what happens when children name animals. I wanted to name my first cat Blue Paint at the age of 4. Luckily, my parents turned me down.
Before I got the puppy, there was a pretty eventful weekend. Saturday we had our annual Red Cross volunteer recognition and picnic at the Macabee Center near the VA in Tuscaloosa. There was some excellent free food from Buffalo Phil's, Wintzell's, Steamers, and TCBY. There were around 150 people there. It was great to see a good portion of the volunteers that I have worked with over the past year. The highlight was the awards portion of the event. There were two in particular that got to me. When we gave Ro, the woman who was here coordinating volunteers when I first got here, her award, she was so surprised and looked like she might almost cry. The other one was when I got to present James with his award. When everyone in the office went to stand up at the front, James came along even though he wasn't presenting any of the awards. He got the Philos award which is about volunteering with a loving spirit. He was so surprised. He has mentioned it at the office each day since then. He was so happy that day, and I enjoyed that more than anything else.
After the event I attempted to leave for Atlanta to celebrate Karissa and Amanda's birthdays. I was held up by putting fire cases into the computer for people in other counties. The first person didn't call me until 4, and after a quick Taco Casa dinner the next person called me when I was about 20 minutes out of town. I stopped at my parents house to put it in their computer before finally making it to Atlanta at 9.
Karissa, Amanda, and I went out with Amanda's friend Shannon to a bar called One Pace Over. It was pretty fraty and similar to the bars I avoid in Tuscaloosa. We had fun, though, and even ran into someone that we had minimal contact with in high school, which is always an adventure. When we left Karissa and I shared the best street food buffalo chicken panini. Amanda said it smelled bad, but we did not care. By the time Karissa dropped us off at Amanda's I barely had time to get under the cover on the couch before Amanda passed out on top of me.
The next day was filled with good food and Amanda. She took me to a Cuban.Mexican/American restaurant called La Fonda. It's a chain that is specific to Atlanta, and the food was great. Their cheese dip was excellent, and the quesadilla with yellow rice and black beans was superb. I'll add a picture below for you to enjoy. After that we went on an adventure in H&M at Atlantic Station. We found many things we liked on display, but there were no versions for us to try on only the ones on the mannequins. We met up with Karissa and Justin and two of his friends for them to have a late lunch. Amanda and I were impatient.
We went back to her apartment and took a wonderful Sunday afternoon nap while her dog Belle(a) flopped around going inside and outside. Once the nap concluded, we went to dinner at Mirko, an pasta restaurant near Amanda's apartment. It was excellent. You picked your pasta, sauce, and meat from a very extensive menu. I got mushroom ravioli in pesto cream sauce. They also give you a warm bean dip that is hummus-esque and bread to dip it in. The atmosphere of the restaurant was really cool. My favorite thing besides the food was the glassware. It had a line around the middle of it. Above the line was printed optimista and below it pessemista. I thought it was funny. I was very well fed by the time I left Atlanta for the 3 and a half hour drive back to Tuscaloosa.
Work has been pretty slow. Knock on wood. A lot of people are out of the office, so I've just been keeping up with this little pup pup. We did have a traveling salesman offer Cody a flashlight that doubles as a taser, but that's the most exciting that's happened. My parents and brother came to visit me to bring a larger crate to keep the small puppy in while I'm out of the house. We went to Mr. G's and spent most of the time making fun of each other for our terrible drawings on Draw Something. As per usual we'll end with the James Quotes of the Week.
James Quotes of the Week
"I wanna see a dog in a baby diaper."
"Don't you do that in here." James telling Teddy Bear not to pee inside
"Wake up in the morning time doo doo in the bed." James's feelings about sharing a bed with a dog
"Look, Wesley, put a sock in your mouth."
"I bet she look good. Foxy Mama." James about Wynease in a bikini
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
May the Odds Ever Be in Your Favor
Thursday morning the odds were in my favor when a girl I had a class with posted a facebook status about how she could not longer go to the midnight premiere and needed to sell her ticket. I had lamented not buying a ticket before they sold out, so luck was on my side that no one else had offered to get her ticket before then.
I taught a very interesting Shelter Simulation Course that night with three of our strong volunteers. It's the most fun class to teach, and they enjoyed pretending to be shelter workers and joked about going to the tavern on the fake town map they were given.
After a quick dinner and watching of the Project Runway finale, I headed to the theatre where the line was not too out of control. The only person I knew was going without an IMAX ticket wasn't planning on getting there until 11:30. The lines weren't as crazy as they were for the Harry Potter premieres when I saw people there at noon, but it was still pretty crowded. Michelle and I enjoyed watching as person after person tried to get into the locked doors and also the people who dressed up. It's a little tough to dress up unless you're a person from the Capitol.
I was lucky enough to squeeze into a theatre with a few of my friends who just happened to be in line near me. I sat next to a row of Capitol look a likes with their faces tattooed and their clothes in bright colors. The movie started a little after twelve, and it was wonderful.
One of my main concerns with any adaptation is what they choose to edit out. I know it's a necessity when it comes to film, but sometimes they remove things that I find important and replace it with something not in the book at all. Luckily, The Hunger Games did not do this. I approved of everything they left out and the things that had to change for the adaptation. With the book told in third person limited and in present tense, I wondered how things explained in Katniss's thoughts while she was alone would translate into dialogue. The filmmakers solved this one as well by having the host of the show Caesar narrate some of these portions as if the audience is watching the games on television.
I also think they did a great job casting the film. I was particularly impressed with Josh Hutcherson's portrayal of Peeta Mellark and Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket. Both of them created characters that I felt were very true to the ones in the book, and they also brought them into reality in a way that was not a caricature. I think that's a mistake many actors fall into when playing a role. Banks captured the eccentricity of Effie while also letting the character's true personality under the facade to flicker in and out. Hutcherson played the role of Peeta perfectly, in my opinion. He didn't look like many people thought he would including myself, but the subtlety in his acting choices were a pleasure to view especially when taking the whole series into account. He's laying the foundations for the character's development in the next two movies already.
The movie was also visually stunning with a great soundtrack that was both beautiful and haunting. I felt the violence was acceptable even if it was not a graphic as some people felt it should be. I think it was still unsettling to see and conveyed what it needed to about the barbaric nature of this post apocalyptic dystopia. Overall, I think all of the elements worked really well together, and I cannot think of one thing about which to complain. I'm excited to see where they go with the rest of the series and hope that their efforts are eqaully fruitful.
I taught a very interesting Shelter Simulation Course that night with three of our strong volunteers. It's the most fun class to teach, and they enjoyed pretending to be shelter workers and joked about going to the tavern on the fake town map they were given.
After a quick dinner and watching of the Project Runway finale, I headed to the theatre where the line was not too out of control. The only person I knew was going without an IMAX ticket wasn't planning on getting there until 11:30. The lines weren't as crazy as they were for the Harry Potter premieres when I saw people there at noon, but it was still pretty crowded. Michelle and I enjoyed watching as person after person tried to get into the locked doors and also the people who dressed up. It's a little tough to dress up unless you're a person from the Capitol.
I was lucky enough to squeeze into a theatre with a few of my friends who just happened to be in line near me. I sat next to a row of Capitol look a likes with their faces tattooed and their clothes in bright colors. The movie started a little after twelve, and it was wonderful.
One of my main concerns with any adaptation is what they choose to edit out. I know it's a necessity when it comes to film, but sometimes they remove things that I find important and replace it with something not in the book at all. Luckily, The Hunger Games did not do this. I approved of everything they left out and the things that had to change for the adaptation. With the book told in third person limited and in present tense, I wondered how things explained in Katniss's thoughts while she was alone would translate into dialogue. The filmmakers solved this one as well by having the host of the show Caesar narrate some of these portions as if the audience is watching the games on television.
I also think they did a great job casting the film. I was particularly impressed with Josh Hutcherson's portrayal of Peeta Mellark and Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket. Both of them created characters that I felt were very true to the ones in the book, and they also brought them into reality in a way that was not a caricature. I think that's a mistake many actors fall into when playing a role. Banks captured the eccentricity of Effie while also letting the character's true personality under the facade to flicker in and out. Hutcherson played the role of Peeta perfectly, in my opinion. He didn't look like many people thought he would including myself, but the subtlety in his acting choices were a pleasure to view especially when taking the whole series into account. He's laying the foundations for the character's development in the next two movies already.
The movie was also visually stunning with a great soundtrack that was both beautiful and haunting. I felt the violence was acceptable even if it was not a graphic as some people felt it should be. I think it was still unsettling to see and conveyed what it needed to about the barbaric nature of this post apocalyptic dystopia. Overall, I think all of the elements worked really well together, and I cannot think of one thing about which to complain. I'm excited to see where they go with the rest of the series and hope that their efforts are eqaully fruitful.
Friday, March 23, 2012
The City of Vernon...
HuNgEr GaMeS!1!1!1!1!1!1!
I'll talk about things less nerdy first and cover the movie in a separate post. I thought I would have a dearth of things to mention this week due to being Hamletless and lacking many friends in town to do things with, but I was wrong. Plenty of things happened since last Thursday, and here they are.
Thursday night Michelle and I went to trivia at Wilhagan's under the name Et Tu Brute. Apparently, Ides of March jokes are not bar material. We did fairly well with a top 10 finish and had these wonderful chili queso burgers with the heavily seasoned fries that seem to be a trademark. There was a Buffy question which I got to assign nine points to, so I would have been happy if we were in last place with just those nine points.
Friday, Stephanie and I reunited for some appetizers at Chili's and went to a traveling parking lot carnival near McFarland "Mall." I put that word in quotation marks because I really don't think a dollar general and Kip Tyner's television studio really count as a mall. The fair was just as sketchy as one might expect. The rides all make weird noises and are run by people that seem less than enthused to be there. We learned a lot about the history of the ferris wheel as we attempted to read a short paragraph posted on the ride while went around and around. It was a nice last hurrah for my super long hair to be blown around. I got it cut right after I left the fair. Anytime I get my hair cut it looks like that one scene when Bugs Bunny cuts that big orange monster's hair.
My weekend was not super eventful compared to last year's Saint Patrick's Day, which involved trying to find a random bar and ending up on Christopher Street (Go figure). This year I got a new phone for a due date birthday present. My dad ushered me into 2007 by finally getting me a Smart Phone. Now I am addicted to Draw Something. I tried to get it on facebook previously but accidentally added an application called Draw My Thing. Abby, Alyce, and I had dinner Sunday to catch up after Will and I had a day full of Marion Party 9. While we ate, Abby, Alyce and I spent an equal amount of time talking about a possible Hunger Games Parody and also drawing things for each other. We took a brief break to go look at preteen puberty books in Barnes and Nobel. This was actually an accident and not our intended purpose with going into the store.
That night as I attempted to come back to Tuscaloosa before driving to Sulligent the next morning, I was approached by a drunk woman with a broken down car to drive her to Bessemer. Luckily, she ended up just having me drive her across the street to wait for AAA. I was so afraid of it turning into one of those situations in which you are rewarded for kindness with being murdered.
I went to Sulligent Monday morning to talk to a group of Senior Citizens before their daily lunch at a Community Center. They were all so nice and are really interested in becoming disaster volunteers and more importantly buying t-shirts. They also gave me a free saltless lunch that was really good. I can't say no to english peas. I also can't say no to Bento. Casey and I went there to catch up and enjoy some excellent America Japanese food.
Tuesday was another Hispanic Service Providers meeting. Brazos Abiertos is quickly approaching, and we are scrambling to get it all together. I know it well all happen, but it's stressful being the fall guy for an event that has been a large success in the past. It may be sloppy, but I'm sure it'll serve its purpose to educate people of the Latin American Population about what resources are available to them and how they can get more involved.
Mike, Bev, Joe, and I also met with the University students planning our Volunteer Recognition Event and our bar crawl fundraiser. They are doing a really great professional job. I'm really excited to go to the picnic Saturday and MORE excited about the bar crawl.
Wednesday T-T-T-Tebow and the Jets did the best job at trivia! We were in 3rd place before the final question after getting some really obscure answers. We sadly missed the final ordering of some movies from the 40s. The only thing I contributed was that I knew Wizard of Oz was before Casablanca because of the Great Movie Ride at Disney World.
Well, the next blog will be all about the Hunger Games premiere. I'll leave you with some James Quotes.
"Do people in Hell want cold water?" James's equivalent of "Is the Pope Catholic?"
"Why are you slapping your paws?" James asking me why I was clapping
"f***" No explanation
I'll talk about things less nerdy first and cover the movie in a separate post. I thought I would have a dearth of things to mention this week due to being Hamletless and lacking many friends in town to do things with, but I was wrong. Plenty of things happened since last Thursday, and here they are.
Thursday night Michelle and I went to trivia at Wilhagan's under the name Et Tu Brute. Apparently, Ides of March jokes are not bar material. We did fairly well with a top 10 finish and had these wonderful chili queso burgers with the heavily seasoned fries that seem to be a trademark. There was a Buffy question which I got to assign nine points to, so I would have been happy if we were in last place with just those nine points.
Friday, Stephanie and I reunited for some appetizers at Chili's and went to a traveling parking lot carnival near McFarland "Mall." I put that word in quotation marks because I really don't think a dollar general and Kip Tyner's television studio really count as a mall. The fair was just as sketchy as one might expect. The rides all make weird noises and are run by people that seem less than enthused to be there. We learned a lot about the history of the ferris wheel as we attempted to read a short paragraph posted on the ride while went around and around. It was a nice last hurrah for my super long hair to be blown around. I got it cut right after I left the fair. Anytime I get my hair cut it looks like that one scene when Bugs Bunny cuts that big orange monster's hair.
My weekend was not super eventful compared to last year's Saint Patrick's Day, which involved trying to find a random bar and ending up on Christopher Street (Go figure). This year I got a new phone for a due date birthday present. My dad ushered me into 2007 by finally getting me a Smart Phone. Now I am addicted to Draw Something. I tried to get it on facebook previously but accidentally added an application called Draw My Thing. Abby, Alyce, and I had dinner Sunday to catch up after Will and I had a day full of Marion Party 9. While we ate, Abby, Alyce and I spent an equal amount of time talking about a possible Hunger Games Parody and also drawing things for each other. We took a brief break to go look at preteen puberty books in Barnes and Nobel. This was actually an accident and not our intended purpose with going into the store.
That night as I attempted to come back to Tuscaloosa before driving to Sulligent the next morning, I was approached by a drunk woman with a broken down car to drive her to Bessemer. Luckily, she ended up just having me drive her across the street to wait for AAA. I was so afraid of it turning into one of those situations in which you are rewarded for kindness with being murdered.
I went to Sulligent Monday morning to talk to a group of Senior Citizens before their daily lunch at a Community Center. They were all so nice and are really interested in becoming disaster volunteers and more importantly buying t-shirts. They also gave me a free saltless lunch that was really good. I can't say no to english peas. I also can't say no to Bento. Casey and I went there to catch up and enjoy some excellent America Japanese food.
Tuesday was another Hispanic Service Providers meeting. Brazos Abiertos is quickly approaching, and we are scrambling to get it all together. I know it well all happen, but it's stressful being the fall guy for an event that has been a large success in the past. It may be sloppy, but I'm sure it'll serve its purpose to educate people of the Latin American Population about what resources are available to them and how they can get more involved.
Mike, Bev, Joe, and I also met with the University students planning our Volunteer Recognition Event and our bar crawl fundraiser. They are doing a really great professional job. I'm really excited to go to the picnic Saturday and MORE excited about the bar crawl.
Wednesday T-T-T-Tebow and the Jets did the best job at trivia! We were in 3rd place before the final question after getting some really obscure answers. We sadly missed the final ordering of some movies from the 40s. The only thing I contributed was that I knew Wizard of Oz was before Casablanca because of the Great Movie Ride at Disney World.
Well, the next blog will be all about the Hunger Games premiere. I'll leave you with some James Quotes.
"Do people in Hell want cold water?" James's equivalent of "Is the Pope Catholic?"
"Why are you slapping your paws?" James asking me why I was clapping
"f***" No explanation
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Goodnight, Sweet Ladies
Sadly, this week saw the close of Hamlet with Theatre Downtown in Birmingham. It had been over a year since my last show, so I was glad that the experience was a very positive one. I got to work with some of my favorite people and some new ones that have quickly become my favorites. It was a beautiful show that had a high level of professionalism that can quite often be missing in community theatre and life in general.
Before I get into the show’s final weekend and my birthday, I’ll talk about the few things that have happened at work recently. Firstly, Mike got a job as the Station Manager for Service to Armed Forces with the Red Cross at the Marine Corps base in Twenty-nine Palms, California. We’re all so excited for him, but it’ll leave a big void in the office. I don’t know what I’ll do when I only have to share this tiny room with one other person. Thursday, we had a national conference call with Gail McGovern, the head of the American Red Cross. This call provided a plethora of meme material for me as we listened to someone at the very top level of management talk about things that are not applicable or true for us on a chapter level. She said some awesome things like talking about this being a naked year and Red Cross getting cool on facebook. Regardless, it was cool, in a nerdy way, to be on the phone knowing that people across the country were listening to the same thing at the same time. I guess television and radio work the same way, but it’s not as entertaining.
Friday was a wonderful day in Tuscaloosa for many reasons. The first thing was Cody getting me a birthday card that everyone eventually signed and a flower in a can that is now growing on a desk. We had another conference call that was nationwide as well but only specific to volunteer services. I spoke in the call. While I only said “Yes,” when prompted, it was still one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. After reaching this milestone, the rest of the office surprised me with a cake, chips, and most importantly sweet tea. While we were eating these treats, the main staff got together to choose winners for the volunteer recognition awards. Since the awards haven’t been given out yet, I don’t want to leak any spoilers since I’m sure SOOOOOOOO many people involved in the event read this.
Now I’ll move on to the closing weekend and my birthday adventures. Thursday night was a small crowd, but Jessie and Tommy came to see the show on their way home for spring break. They got to see it the night I fell up the stairs in my Player Queen outfit because Taylor decided that the final weekend was the time to mix things up and add a new little bit with the recorders. His idea worked and got quite a few laughs. My tripping actually can’t be blamed on that, but I’ll go with it anyway. Friday night was the slated evening for my party, which Julie agreed to host at her house on Clairmont. My friends Alex, Karissa, Ashley, and Amanda all came to the show that night. I only had one little mess up that night during which I said that Laeretes’s ferret was unfellowed instead of his merit. This also could have been one of the many nights I died in front of the door Susan has to enter and exit through or the pin holding my pants together popped undone. After the show we went to Julie’s house with a cookie cake provided by me, dips provided by Julie’s mom, and leftover beer via Bates. Thankfully, the ninety people Julie invited did not all show up. The people who were there were perfect. Even GOP Martha took a break from primary season to join us, and Samuel, the beer thief mentioned in a post this summer, brought me yet another six bottles of Wild Blue. The party involved a lot of nostalgia, drinking, laughing on the floor, table tennis skillz, and food. My college friends laughed at old stories spanning five years of knowing each other. Taylor realized that my table tennis abilities are routed in solid tennis ground strokes. Julie’s house was a great venue, so I hope she’ll continue to have people over. I am thankful for all the people that were involved in making that portion of the day so special. It didn’t end until 3:30 or so when Julie finally found Taylor’s glasses that he had lost as he walked up to the party hours before. I wasn’t being too helpful due to both my insistence that he didn’t wear his glasses in and also my inability to not freeze while looking outside. I was stranded until he could drive, so I suppose I could have been more helpful.
Amanda Maddox
Karissa
Taylor
Saturday I was tricked yet again into another rendition of “happy Birthday” right after I got out of the shower. My mom asked me to come and reach something for her in her room. Luckily, I decided to put some pant son before I did that, or else my family would have sung to me wet and in my underwear. After that Amanda Coppock and I had an early dinner at Rojo. It was a little too early because even after walking around the park across the street and seeing all of the dogs enjoying the beautiful weather we got to the theatre fifty minutes early. We filled this time with watching old youtube videos from yesteryear including Kittens Inspired by Kittens, Show Me Your Genitals, and Brorape.
Natalie
Amanda Coppock
The show was one of the best runs we ever had, in my opinion. Sarah, Natalie, and Jordan Dewitt all came to see it. Before we started, JJ and Jason gave me some chocolates, and Susan, the other summer beer thief, got me six bottles of the same blueberry beer. This will last me months with my drinking habits. Sarah changed her twitter name to @myfriendsarah just for my birthday. The show was also particularly exciting for the cast because before everyone showed up one member of the theatre community stopped up a toilet in the most major way. It was described as yoohoo, corn, and beef tips. Instead of having a word of the night, Billy Ray chose a moment to work that person’s name into the play within a play scene. I won’t be so crass as to reveal his or her name. After the show, Sarah and her family gave me a wonderful birthday card that played the Mexican Hat Dance song, and Amanda, Natalie, and I went to midnight sushi at the restaurant formerly known as Pacific Rim. We really liked the new format they have. The servers come around with trays that have a three, five, and seven dollar roll on it. Then your table selects which if any you want from the tray. We split three rolls and edamame for less than ten dollars each.
Sarah
Sunday was our last show. I have really enjoyed this production so it was sad to see it go. I got to wear some great costumes and have fun on stage with four different characters. It was definitely a challenge, and I am so grateful that JJ gave me the opportunity to tackle it. The cast and crew were so professional with just the right amount of fun. Good night, sweet ladies.
Tuesday night Sean Randall and I went trivia at Steamers under the name Electric Mayhem. We did well enough to get us into third place going into the last round but fell from grace with a question about putting 80s songs in order. They had a really good Buffalo Chicken Po-boy. Michelle and I are trying or hand at Willhagen’s tonight. I would love to win some free food.
Last night I taught a class to forty college students who chose to go on an alternative spring break to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They were from Texas, Indiana, and Iowa. Two of the groups had helped us out during the week to completely clean out and re inventory our old building and the pods in the parking lot. They also made hundreds of comfort kits with supplies we had over there. I had dinner with them last night and then trained them all to be Red Cross shelter workers. I tried to make it as fun as possible even though the air conditioner was out and the subject matter isn’t thrilling. There were plenty of them that seemed to really appreciate it. I think it’s cool to become a certified shelter worker. I wish that I had known about it in college so that I could have been more involved. I hope they enjoyed sitting in a room that epitomized an Alabama summer while learning the dos and don’ts of sheltering.
It’s currently spring break, so most of my friends are out of town. Stephanie Spires, a friend from high school, and I are going to the fair in McFarland Mall parking lot tomorrow night. I’ll write about that next week as long as I am not stabbed or shot. There are precedents.
10 Important March 10th Facts:
1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered in 1997 in the United States with its first episode "Welcome to the Hellmouth."
2.Harriet Tubman died in 1913.
3. Volver starring Penelope Cruz premiered in Spain.
4. Chuck Norris was born in 1940.
5. It's the 69th day of the year in non leap years.
6. In 1804, the official ceremony passing over the Lousiana Purchase from France to The United States took place in Sain Louis, Missouri.
7. In 1977, astronomers discovered rings around Uranus.
8. In 1922, Mahatma Ghandi was arrested in India and tried for sedition.
9. In 1969, James Earl Ray plead guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr.
10. It's Tibetan Uprising Day!
Cutting the cake with Martha
Before I get into the show’s final weekend and my birthday, I’ll talk about the few things that have happened at work recently. Firstly, Mike got a job as the Station Manager for Service to Armed Forces with the Red Cross at the Marine Corps base in Twenty-nine Palms, California. We’re all so excited for him, but it’ll leave a big void in the office. I don’t know what I’ll do when I only have to share this tiny room with one other person. Thursday, we had a national conference call with Gail McGovern, the head of the American Red Cross. This call provided a plethora of meme material for me as we listened to someone at the very top level of management talk about things that are not applicable or true for us on a chapter level. She said some awesome things like talking about this being a naked year and Red Cross getting cool on facebook. Regardless, it was cool, in a nerdy way, to be on the phone knowing that people across the country were listening to the same thing at the same time. I guess television and radio work the same way, but it’s not as entertaining.
Friday was a wonderful day in Tuscaloosa for many reasons. The first thing was Cody getting me a birthday card that everyone eventually signed and a flower in a can that is now growing on a desk. We had another conference call that was nationwide as well but only specific to volunteer services. I spoke in the call. While I only said “Yes,” when prompted, it was still one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. After reaching this milestone, the rest of the office surprised me with a cake, chips, and most importantly sweet tea. While we were eating these treats, the main staff got together to choose winners for the volunteer recognition awards. Since the awards haven’t been given out yet, I don’t want to leak any spoilers since I’m sure SOOOOOOOO many people involved in the event read this.
Now I’ll move on to the closing weekend and my birthday adventures. Thursday night was a small crowd, but Jessie and Tommy came to see the show on their way home for spring break. They got to see it the night I fell up the stairs in my Player Queen outfit because Taylor decided that the final weekend was the time to mix things up and add a new little bit with the recorders. His idea worked and got quite a few laughs. My tripping actually can’t be blamed on that, but I’ll go with it anyway. Friday night was the slated evening for my party, which Julie agreed to host at her house on Clairmont. My friends Alex, Karissa, Ashley, and Amanda all came to the show that night. I only had one little mess up that night during which I said that Laeretes’s ferret was unfellowed instead of his merit. This also could have been one of the many nights I died in front of the door Susan has to enter and exit through or the pin holding my pants together popped undone. After the show we went to Julie’s house with a cookie cake provided by me, dips provided by Julie’s mom, and leftover beer via Bates. Thankfully, the ninety people Julie invited did not all show up. The people who were there were perfect. Even GOP Martha took a break from primary season to join us, and Samuel, the beer thief mentioned in a post this summer, brought me yet another six bottles of Wild Blue. The party involved a lot of nostalgia, drinking, laughing on the floor, table tennis skillz, and food. My college friends laughed at old stories spanning five years of knowing each other. Taylor realized that my table tennis abilities are routed in solid tennis ground strokes. Julie’s house was a great venue, so I hope she’ll continue to have people over. I am thankful for all the people that were involved in making that portion of the day so special. It didn’t end until 3:30 or so when Julie finally found Taylor’s glasses that he had lost as he walked up to the party hours before. I wasn’t being too helpful due to both my insistence that he didn’t wear his glasses in and also my inability to not freeze while looking outside. I was stranded until he could drive, so I suppose I could have been more helpful.
Amanda Maddox KarissaTaylorSaturday I was tricked yet again into another rendition of “happy Birthday” right after I got out of the shower. My mom asked me to come and reach something for her in her room. Luckily, I decided to put some pant son before I did that, or else my family would have sung to me wet and in my underwear. After that Amanda Coppock and I had an early dinner at Rojo. It was a little too early because even after walking around the park across the street and seeing all of the dogs enjoying the beautiful weather we got to the theatre fifty minutes early. We filled this time with watching old youtube videos from yesteryear including Kittens Inspired by Kittens, Show Me Your Genitals, and Brorape.
NatalieAmanda CoppockThe show was one of the best runs we ever had, in my opinion. Sarah, Natalie, and Jordan Dewitt all came to see it. Before we started, JJ and Jason gave me some chocolates, and Susan, the other summer beer thief, got me six bottles of the same blueberry beer. This will last me months with my drinking habits. Sarah changed her twitter name to @myfriendsarah just for my birthday. The show was also particularly exciting for the cast because before everyone showed up one member of the theatre community stopped up a toilet in the most major way. It was described as yoohoo, corn, and beef tips. Instead of having a word of the night, Billy Ray chose a moment to work that person’s name into the play within a play scene. I won’t be so crass as to reveal his or her name. After the show, Sarah and her family gave me a wonderful birthday card that played the Mexican Hat Dance song, and Amanda, Natalie, and I went to midnight sushi at the restaurant formerly known as Pacific Rim. We really liked the new format they have. The servers come around with trays that have a three, five, and seven dollar roll on it. Then your table selects which if any you want from the tray. We split three rolls and edamame for less than ten dollars each.
SarahSunday was our last show. I have really enjoyed this production so it was sad to see it go. I got to wear some great costumes and have fun on stage with four different characters. It was definitely a challenge, and I am so grateful that JJ gave me the opportunity to tackle it. The cast and crew were so professional with just the right amount of fun. Good night, sweet ladies.
Tuesday night Sean Randall and I went trivia at Steamers under the name Electric Mayhem. We did well enough to get us into third place going into the last round but fell from grace with a question about putting 80s songs in order. They had a really good Buffalo Chicken Po-boy. Michelle and I are trying or hand at Willhagen’s tonight. I would love to win some free food.
Last night I taught a class to forty college students who chose to go on an alternative spring break to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They were from Texas, Indiana, and Iowa. Two of the groups had helped us out during the week to completely clean out and re inventory our old building and the pods in the parking lot. They also made hundreds of comfort kits with supplies we had over there. I had dinner with them last night and then trained them all to be Red Cross shelter workers. I tried to make it as fun as possible even though the air conditioner was out and the subject matter isn’t thrilling. There were plenty of them that seemed to really appreciate it. I think it’s cool to become a certified shelter worker. I wish that I had known about it in college so that I could have been more involved. I hope they enjoyed sitting in a room that epitomized an Alabama summer while learning the dos and don’ts of sheltering.
It’s currently spring break, so most of my friends are out of town. Stephanie Spires, a friend from high school, and I are going to the fair in McFarland Mall parking lot tomorrow night. I’ll write about that next week as long as I am not stabbed or shot. There are precedents.
10 Important March 10th Facts:
1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered in 1997 in the United States with its first episode "Welcome to the Hellmouth."
2.Harriet Tubman died in 1913.
3. Volver starring Penelope Cruz premiered in Spain.
4. Chuck Norris was born in 1940.
5. It's the 69th day of the year in non leap years.
6. In 1804, the official ceremony passing over the Lousiana Purchase from France to The United States took place in Sain Louis, Missouri.
7. In 1977, astronomers discovered rings around Uranus.
8. In 1922, Mahatma Ghandi was arrested in India and tried for sedition.
9. In 1969, James Earl Ray plead guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr.
10. It's Tibetan Uprising Day!
Cutting the cake with MarthaThursday, March 8, 2012
You say Clamayto. I say Clamahto.
This week has included the perfect mixture of work and fun. This balance has been sadly missing during a large portion of my VISTA year, which can only be expected when you work ten to twelve hour days three or more times a month.
In Red Cross Land, we’ve been fairly busy. The funny thing about working for an organization that is all about disaster preparation is that we often hope that the work is for nothing. Before Friday I would have said there was no way our office could have handled even a medium scale disaster. After one of the most exhausting days, I think we have finally crawled out of our April 27th rut and gotten ourselves close to a fully functional level. Until we get a new building this won’t be completely possible because our resources are so spread out. We spent the day calling hundreds of volunteers to get them on call, updating the Chapter Disaster Response Plan, taking an inventory of resources, and securing vendor agreements with restaurants to provide food for clients and volunteers. We were also somehow able to have a casserole day during all of this. My chicken casserole was spot on even if I spilled half of the original on my foot before I was even able to get it in the oven… We finished all of our work around 3. Holli had to leave to go to the EOC, and our office was officially “closed” for the weather. Mike and I stayed around and played bezzerwizzer while I waited for the news about canceling the show and as we watched James Spann’s latest update. Thankfully our 8 counties made it through the night with only minor amounts of damage and no tornadoes. If you want to donate money to the Red Cross’s recovery effort in North Alabama you can visit redcrossal.org for more information.
The Hispanic Service Providers are quickly getting everything together for the Brazos Abierots Health and Information Fair in April. It seems like it will all come together, but I just have no idea. We’re planning an event in four months that is normally planned in twelve, and I can’t seem to get the same people to show up to two meetings in a row. The person being my biggest help is my age and has also never been to the event. How do things like this happen? I actually talked to one of my friends recently about activism and how some people prefer spreading awareness just by clicking share on facebook but never actually do anything or become well versed in the cause. I much prefer being a part of making the change. That’s why some people’s lackluster attitude about planning this event is so annoying. If we are going to have any chance at all at helping combat HB56, we have to help educate the community in an active way so they can know what their rights are under the law and how different organizations can help them in spite of it.
In the less serious realm of my life, the second weekend of Hamlet went really well. Our Saturday night crowd was nicely sized. Friday was a lot smaller because of the weather. Wednesday after our quick line through, Taylor and I went to see The Secret World of Arrietty because if I was going to drive all the way up to Birmingham I wanted to make the gas worth it. The movie was visually very enjoyable, but I wish the ending had not been so Disneyfied. A more tragic ending would have made the move more interesting. It made me wonder how much changed in the translation from the original Japanese. Ever since I began reading the Harry Potter series in Spanish I find myself constantly wondering about these things. I guess a Bill Murray movie title wasn’t enough to make me think about it earlier.
Friday was a pretty small crowd, but the show was solid even if I was constantly waiting to hear that I’d be leaving the show to go open a shelter in the middle of nowhere. We really wanted to get sushi afterward, but that failed so we got stuck at JClyde. You get better service at a Waffle House. It was the first time I got food there, and I was not impressed. It may be a great place for a beer connoisseur but not a hungry party of eight. I need to write down all the things that happen backstage, but this week was mostly devoted to Susan’s urban dictionary education. She learned about pearl necklaces, Alabama Hot Pockets, furries, and Alaskan Pipelines all in exchange for giving Taylor hypothetical piano lessons. Someone got the short end of the deal on this one. We had our second cast party Saturday night at Bates’s house. Sadly, he won’t be in the show at all this coming weekend. He knows how to have a good party, though. He had fresh fruit, goat cheese ball spread thing, and vegetarian chili with mushrooms. The mushrooms were a big hit. The other interesting feature of this party was a cooler filled with abandoned beer he had collected over a few months. Whichever beer you drew, you were required to drink. Most of them were pretty mediocre in quality, but one should not complain about free drinks. There was, however, one DISGUSTING beer that I had never heard of before. It’s called Chelada or something. It’s a mixture of beer and calmato juice aka clam and tomato juice. No one drew it, but at the end of the night Susan, Taylor, Bates, and I were the only ones left. Taylor suggested that we all just taste one anyway. It was very teenage pact to not mention we killed someone. Everyone took a sip and regretted it. It coats your throat in the most disgusting way. We’re all better for it.
Even with all of this going on, I was able to go to dinner with my friend Jessie on Tuesday night. We were going to try out the restaurant that took Café Venice’s place on University, but it looks like it has already closed. We’ll just never know about that one, I guess. We then decided to go to 5 because neither of us had ever eaten there. We’re about a year late to be trendy by going here, but I think that’s okay. Jessie and I shared conversation about sundry topics as well as some Olive Cheese Bites. This may sound odd, but they were delicious. They stuff olives with cheese, fry them, and serve them to you with a spicy ranch dressing. I also had an alcoholic strawberry lemonade that I question whether or not there was actually alcohol in it. If there wasn’t, the waitress must have just humored me in looking at my ID to order a child’s beverage. The table we sat at is actually in the bottom right hand corner of this photo. It is really well decorate, though lacking a theme. Also, stools are not the most comfortable of chairs to be sitting in for a long period of time, but there are worse things in the world.
Last night was my triumphant return to trivia with Maggie, William, and others. Our team name was “We’ll Have What She’s Having.” We were in fifth place going into the last question, but sadly we didn’t know the chronology of Whitney Houston songs as well as we should. Tonight begins the final weekend of Hamlet and includes my birthday and party. Next week’s installment of my blog should hopefully be eventful then.
James Quotes of the Week
“Here comes Clara Barton with a baseball bat.”- James on haints
“Have you ever taken a picture with him?”- Me
“Shit, hell no.”- James on the Ronald McDonald on the bench at Walmart
“Yabbadabbadoo.”- James being happy
“That didn’t fill you up. You greedy thing.”- James on me only eating a sandwich for lunch
“Police told me don’t say nothing.”- James when I asked him a question
“You actin like he on cloud nine.”- James describing Joe’s good mood
“Everyday he got a different one that’s a different color.”- James on Cody’s Community Education volunteers
In Red Cross Land, we’ve been fairly busy. The funny thing about working for an organization that is all about disaster preparation is that we often hope that the work is for nothing. Before Friday I would have said there was no way our office could have handled even a medium scale disaster. After one of the most exhausting days, I think we have finally crawled out of our April 27th rut and gotten ourselves close to a fully functional level. Until we get a new building this won’t be completely possible because our resources are so spread out. We spent the day calling hundreds of volunteers to get them on call, updating the Chapter Disaster Response Plan, taking an inventory of resources, and securing vendor agreements with restaurants to provide food for clients and volunteers. We were also somehow able to have a casserole day during all of this. My chicken casserole was spot on even if I spilled half of the original on my foot before I was even able to get it in the oven… We finished all of our work around 3. Holli had to leave to go to the EOC, and our office was officially “closed” for the weather. Mike and I stayed around and played bezzerwizzer while I waited for the news about canceling the show and as we watched James Spann’s latest update. Thankfully our 8 counties made it through the night with only minor amounts of damage and no tornadoes. If you want to donate money to the Red Cross’s recovery effort in North Alabama you can visit redcrossal.org for more information.
The Hispanic Service Providers are quickly getting everything together for the Brazos Abierots Health and Information Fair in April. It seems like it will all come together, but I just have no idea. We’re planning an event in four months that is normally planned in twelve, and I can’t seem to get the same people to show up to two meetings in a row. The person being my biggest help is my age and has also never been to the event. How do things like this happen? I actually talked to one of my friends recently about activism and how some people prefer spreading awareness just by clicking share on facebook but never actually do anything or become well versed in the cause. I much prefer being a part of making the change. That’s why some people’s lackluster attitude about planning this event is so annoying. If we are going to have any chance at all at helping combat HB56, we have to help educate the community in an active way so they can know what their rights are under the law and how different organizations can help them in spite of it.
In the less serious realm of my life, the second weekend of Hamlet went really well. Our Saturday night crowd was nicely sized. Friday was a lot smaller because of the weather. Wednesday after our quick line through, Taylor and I went to see The Secret World of Arrietty because if I was going to drive all the way up to Birmingham I wanted to make the gas worth it. The movie was visually very enjoyable, but I wish the ending had not been so Disneyfied. A more tragic ending would have made the move more interesting. It made me wonder how much changed in the translation from the original Japanese. Ever since I began reading the Harry Potter series in Spanish I find myself constantly wondering about these things. I guess a Bill Murray movie title wasn’t enough to make me think about it earlier.
Friday was a pretty small crowd, but the show was solid even if I was constantly waiting to hear that I’d be leaving the show to go open a shelter in the middle of nowhere. We really wanted to get sushi afterward, but that failed so we got stuck at JClyde. You get better service at a Waffle House. It was the first time I got food there, and I was not impressed. It may be a great place for a beer connoisseur but not a hungry party of eight. I need to write down all the things that happen backstage, but this week was mostly devoted to Susan’s urban dictionary education. She learned about pearl necklaces, Alabama Hot Pockets, furries, and Alaskan Pipelines all in exchange for giving Taylor hypothetical piano lessons. Someone got the short end of the deal on this one. We had our second cast party Saturday night at Bates’s house. Sadly, he won’t be in the show at all this coming weekend. He knows how to have a good party, though. He had fresh fruit, goat cheese ball spread thing, and vegetarian chili with mushrooms. The mushrooms were a big hit. The other interesting feature of this party was a cooler filled with abandoned beer he had collected over a few months. Whichever beer you drew, you were required to drink. Most of them were pretty mediocre in quality, but one should not complain about free drinks. There was, however, one DISGUSTING beer that I had never heard of before. It’s called Chelada or something. It’s a mixture of beer and calmato juice aka clam and tomato juice. No one drew it, but at the end of the night Susan, Taylor, Bates, and I were the only ones left. Taylor suggested that we all just taste one anyway. It was very teenage pact to not mention we killed someone. Everyone took a sip and regretted it. It coats your throat in the most disgusting way. We’re all better for it.
Even with all of this going on, I was able to go to dinner with my friend Jessie on Tuesday night. We were going to try out the restaurant that took Café Venice’s place on University, but it looks like it has already closed. We’ll just never know about that one, I guess. We then decided to go to 5 because neither of us had ever eaten there. We’re about a year late to be trendy by going here, but I think that’s okay. Jessie and I shared conversation about sundry topics as well as some Olive Cheese Bites. This may sound odd, but they were delicious. They stuff olives with cheese, fry them, and serve them to you with a spicy ranch dressing. I also had an alcoholic strawberry lemonade that I question whether or not there was actually alcohol in it. If there wasn’t, the waitress must have just humored me in looking at my ID to order a child’s beverage. The table we sat at is actually in the bottom right hand corner of this photo. It is really well decorate, though lacking a theme. Also, stools are not the most comfortable of chairs to be sitting in for a long period of time, but there are worse things in the world.
Last night was my triumphant return to trivia with Maggie, William, and others. Our team name was “We’ll Have What She’s Having.” We were in fifth place going into the last question, but sadly we didn’t know the chronology of Whitney Houston songs as well as we should. Tonight begins the final weekend of Hamlet and includes my birthday and party. Next week’s installment of my blog should hopefully be eventful then.
James Quotes of the Week
“Here comes Clara Barton with a baseball bat.”- James on haints
“Have you ever taken a picture with him?”- Me
“Shit, hell no.”- James on the Ronald McDonald on the bench at Walmart
“Yabbadabbadoo.”- James being happy
“That didn’t fill you up. You greedy thing.”- James on me only eating a sandwich for lunch
“Police told me don’t say nothing.”- James when I asked him a question
“You actin like he on cloud nine.”- James describing Joe’s good mood
“Everyday he got a different one that’s a different color.”- James on Cody’s Community Education volunteers
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