R.I.P.

A couple nights ago I received some devastating news. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach; My heart felt like it had been shattered in a million pieces; I was essentially speechless for like a whole five minutes...and that's a lot for me. I found out that my all-time favorite band ever, The Format, had decided to not record a new album ever again.

The Format is more than just a band to me. They were almost like a friend I could aways go to if I needed anything. While I've explored other musical acts and have expanded my tastes over the years, I have always gone back to the Format at some point or another. It's like they were someone I could always depend on to be there whenever I needed them. So to hear that Sam and Nate will no longer make new music together is quite devastating.

In case you are not familiar with the greatness that is The Format, here are a just few examples of why they have meant so much to me these past 5 years. And trust me, these don't even do them justice.

Weddings galore!

This past weekend, I endured a 6 hour delay in a train station, in addition to 8 hours actually ON a train to come home and attend two weddings. The first one was Ryan Lane who is an old middle school/high school friend and the other was Matt Orr, a friend that I met in college through other friends. I was really excited to come back to see old friends and to celebrate. I actually cried during Ryan's slide show! That was completely unexpected. It was a traditional wedding with all the works. His bride, Kristin looked goregous. We had lunch, danced our hearts out and then waved them off in a horse-drawn carriage. Matt's wedding was more unconventional; His bride Molly wore a beautiful, shimmery green dress. Dinner was catered by Chipotle (SOOO good). Both weddings were fantastic.

That night a bunch of us old high school friends went out to the bars in Boulder and it was such a blast. We hit Conor's and the Sun Downer. It was the last time many of us were going to be in the same state for probably at least a year, so that alone was enough reason to be together. There's something about being with old friends because since there is such a history and a unique level of comfort...even if we've all changed. Good times! When it was all over and time for me to go back to Nebraska I actually felt pretty emotional. I think it was the combination of a really great weekend coming to an end and the obligation of having to switch back to work in a matter of a train-ride home. The little part of me that yearned for of stability in my life decided to spill over. I got off the train at 6:45am and when my host dad drove me home I showered, got ready and went to work. All is well again as I am now settled back in Nebraska. Bring on Cast A 2008!

The Velveteen Rabbit

I'm here in Lincoln, NE now and so far I have been very pleasantly surprised with what this city has to offer. To start off, I am staying with two wonderful host parents and tonight I got the chance to chat with them. They asked me about relationships and I briefly told them about my cynicism towards love. Well, my host dad starts talking and I just wanted to share. It went something like this:

"Have you ever heard of the "Velveteen Rabbit?" It's the story of how a stuffed toy rabbit gets shabbier and shabbier because of how much a boy loves him. His tail starts to fall off, his eyes get all scratched up, his fur starts to come off, but it doesn't matter because the boy still loves him anyway. And isn't it how we all are? We've all been in relationships that have left us shabbier, but when we find that person that loves us no matter what, that is when life is outstanding. And Linette (my host mom and his wife) really does love me like that, even though my own tail and fur is falling off. "



I couldn't help but smile and yes, it did give me a glimmer of hope with this weird thing called relationships...for a second, at least.

Viva Las Vegas!

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? Well, except for the things you brag about of course =). On New Year's day and through the 4th my sister (Helen), her two friends, (Matt and Cat), my best friend (Beth) and I visited Las Vegas for a fun trip. Beth and I stayed at the Flamingo and Helen and her friends stayed at the Monte Carlo. Upon arrival we didn't have many set plans-just to visit the hotels and see Zumanity, a Cirque du Soleil show. We wanted to go clubbing but we knew a cover was around $20-$30 so we didn't have high expectations for it.

Well, we ended up getting a connection that not only got us into one club, but THREE, and with NO cover. It was more than we could've imagined. We were the people that walked in front of the long line and said to the guy with the earpiece "Um, we're on the list." It felt awesome. Okay, enough bragging. These are the clubs we attended. To keep from boring you, I kept the reviews short and sweet:

Tuesday night: Moon and Playboy- These two clubs are located in the Palms Casino. Moon has a very outer-world quality, hence the name, with silver being the dominant color. It is two stories and has outdoor patios on both floors. The crowd was They have a very big central dance floor and the music was great.



Wednesday night: LAX- This club is located in the Luxor casino and is home to Paris Hilton's favorite club in Vegas. In fact, she was even there that night and got on the microphone and said "Hey guys, let's have a great time here in LAX tonight!" This club is very posh with red velvet curtains and black leather furniture. This club also boasts two floors with a HUGE (but still not big enough) dance floor. The crowd was really awesome and friendly, not too uptight. My favorite club of the trip.

Thursday Night: Tao- This club was an experience. It is easily the most popular and talked about club in Vegas and it is not hard to see why. It has a sensual Asian theme and draws a very sophisticated crowd. The go-go dancers and models shocked me with their attire and dance moves. They even have girls that lay on beds and give each other back massages! The dance floor was very small though and I didn't care for the DJ as much.









We also saw Zumanity on Wednesday night and that was fantastic. Yes, the racy, sexually-themed one. To be honest, while it was probably more sexy than your average show, the acts are very stylized, choreographed and calculated that it doesn't arouse the feelings you might imagine. You are just more in awe of the skills and the level of athleticism it takes to do something like bend your body so that you don't hit your head when you dive into a human-sized fishbowl. The audience interaction was HILARIOUS because they would pull people on stage and embarrass the heck out of them. I haven't seen the other Cirque shows, but apparently this one has a much smaller cast and is extensively less acrobatic than the other shows in Vegas. Still, I enjoyed it very much and I highly recommend it!

Back to reality now though and I will be heading out to Nebraska in two days to resume my adventure as a Field Marketing and Operations Manager (we had a title change) for Up With People. I am going to try to blog once a week so if you read this, stay on my case to make sure I do. If anything, it's good for keeping up my writing skills that I feel like I'm rapidly losing. Feel free to comment and keep in touch. Happy 2008 to you all!

Home at last!

I am finally home and on a break after 5 months of being on the road. Since my last post I helped set up the second to last city for Cast C, Bernardsville, NJ. It was an interesting set-up because Jessica (the other CRC) and I worked directly with a sponsor contact. It was interesting to work with someone that wanted so much direct say in what happened for the cast's stay. It was a good learning experience and I hope to take it with me for next semester.

Okay, on to the stuff I've been missing SO badly being on the road: MOVIES! I've seen two that are absolutely amazing.

ONCE

Why this movie is so good is hard to describe because it is so simple. The plot follows an Irish man in his 30's, living in Dublin and keeping his dreams of making it as a musician under the surface by keeping himself as a street act. He meets a young woman from the Czech Republic while he is performing one day and they develop a friendship through their shared love of music. Their relationship becomes somewhat ambiguous as he starts to take practical steps in pursuing his musical career. The plot is really nothing complicated, but what is so great about this movie is the connection between the two main characters have. The music throughout the movie serves as a reflection of the characters' transformation and discoveries. Just watch it already!


JUNO
Fantastic film. Ellen Page plays Juno, a 16-year old girl knocked up by her guy best friend and decides to give up her baby for adoption. The movie follows the journey through her pregnancy, her relationship with Bleeker (the father of the baby, played by the adorable Michael Cera), and her own realizations about life. The dialogue is extremely smart and witty, mostly because Juno hides behind it to cover up her true feelings about everything. What I like so much about this movies is its honestesy. There isn't a single line uttered by Juno that is necessarily grammatically or politically correct but she is so genuine that she makes more sense than the best orator around. One of the best I've seen in a loooooooooong time.

Cast C 2007 in Easton, MD

Cast C 2007 has come and gone through my city. This stay was a week-long and packed with many exciting things. Here is how the week played out:

Monday, October 29:
-The cast arrived at Easton High School and was welcomed by the mayor. All the students figured out who their host families were by saying the first part of a quote or song and then the host family who had the matching phrase would finish it (my student intern, Jonathan's idea). It was like a mini show and a fun way to start out the week.

Tuesday, October 30:
-This was an education/internal day. The Education Staff presented a workshop on wealth distribution in the world and the World Bank in Washington DC. This was a prelude to the our day on Friday. In the afternoon, we all did rehearsal for the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade. Yup, I am going to be appearing in the parade with the cast! It's going to be craziness. After rehearsal, we dropped off the cast at 5 different locations around town to promote the show. They visited 3 grocery store shopping centers, downtown Easton and a senior citizen home. It was a rather successful promotion time, which felt good because I really dislike making the cast promote their own show. They even started their own contest to see which group could get the most confirmations for coming to our show. It was a good day.

Wednesday, October 31:
-The fist Community Impact day. The cast worked at 4 different sites around Talbot and Dorchester County for Habitat for Humanity. The students worked mainly on painting, spackling and interior wall design. After their day of work, we had a Halloween party!
We held it in the Parish Hall of a church and we decorated it to the nines. There was a costume party, food, lots of dancing and limbo. It was fun for the cast to just let loose and have fun and not have to worry about being in the "fishbowl." This is a term that Up With People uses for the students to understand that they must be aware of their actions and the image they are portraying because who knows who may be judging the organization with how you are representing yourself. I mean, our cast manager dressed in drag!


Thursday, November 1
-The cast was split into three groups for their Community Impact projects on this day. A group went to Pickering Creek Audubon Center, a 400-acre nature preserve. They worked on trail maintenance, painting and construction work on a historic house.
Some of the cast worked with Special Olympics Maryland, where they helped introduce the game of bocce ball to students from Easton Middle School and High School and to clients from a center for adults with disabilities. Our students did things like show them how to play, cheer them on, keep score and guide them safely from location to location. Lastly, a small group of students spent the day at a rehabilitation center for adults dealing with mental illnesses and substance abuse. In the morning, there are about 15 clients that come in and do group work and our students sat in with them. During that time, they visited, sang for each other and shared stories with each other. In the afternoon they played games and worked with the staff. The feedback that the students gave about this community service project was very powerful. They felt that they were truly making an impact by visiting with these clients; they felt very inspired by the patience of the staff and the quality of the facility. Some of the students had personal connections to some of the maladies that affected these clients, so that also made this visit very meaningful.

Friday, November 2
-Regional Learning Day in Washington DC. This was a rather stressful day for me because there were some logistical things that I didn't anticipate. It all worked out in the end like it always does, but man was it stressful until then! I won't go into those details but I thought I should mention it anyway. We started out the day with a visit to the IFC, a private sector of the World Bank, where we had several speakers that spoke on their roles. This included Lars Thunell (CEO of the World Bank), Corrie Shanahan (Chief of Marketing), Rachel Kyte (Director of Environment and Social Development Department), Janet Li (works with Grassroots Businesses). All our presenters work in the IFC in different positions, all with the purpose of fulfilling IFC’s mission. The mission is to reduce poverty in developing countries by providing necessary tools to communities and individuals, like a water supply, more accessible energy-saving products, etc. My student intern has a connection to the CEO and we were able to make a connection so that we could get these presentations. In the afternoon, the cast went through the Holocaust Museum. I wish I would have had less on my mind so that I could fully take in the powerful displays. The whole exhibit was very explicit, giving a very moving representation of the tragedy. I definitely want to go back to see it again to more fully grasp the magnitude of this part of history. Afterwards, we had dinner at a Law Firm that some alumni and I coordinated. This was a great chance for us to interact with some alumni and for our cast manager to express the urge for alumni to become more involved to possibly bring a future cast to the DC area as part of an official tour stop. The last part of the day brought us to all the war memorials where the cast was given time to look at the WWII, WWI, Korean and Vietnam memorials. It was a laaaaaaaaate night when we finally returned to Easton.

Saturday, November 3
-Show day! The cast did set-ups, workshops and rehearsal while I ran around and made sure meals were in, programs were ready to go, change was ready for at-door ticket sales, etc. We weren't really sure how many people would show up at the show. In the end, about 800 people came to the show, about 35 alumni came to our after-show alumni reception and we gave 7 admission's interviews for potential students.

And that was the end of the week (with the exception of the free day with host families the next day). It was a long week and in the end it all worked out just fine. Another city down!

What It's All About

Last night, some devastating news hit my hometown in Broomfield, CO. A close friend of my best friend's little brother was killed in a car accident. They were part of a close group of friends so, as you can imagine, it is horribly devastating. My best friend just held her little brother and one of his friends in her arms while they sobbed. The girl that just died was so very loved by her community. There is a facebook group that is dedicated in memory of her and it is heartbreaking and at the same time, heartwarming to read how much she means to everyone. Even though I didn't know her personally, I'm hit with some hard thoughts about life and relationships.

I am so fucking lucky. I have the most amazing support in the world...and I'm not just saying that. After hearing this news, I received a package tonight that was marked from my sister. I knew she was sending my replacement debit card, but this package was a filled shoebox so I was a little confused. Well, in this shoebox was not only my debit card but brownies, Orbit gum, a decorated coffee mug, a beaded bracelet, some footie slippers, a Starbucks card and 2 cards from my sister and my best friend. Needless to say, I've been crying myself since I've gotten this package. How I'm so undeserving to have the love of two amazing people is unexplainable.

Life is too short. In the end, it is just all about your relationships. Those are what matter. Period. There is no important enough excuse to make that can keep you from telling and showing the people in your life that you love them. Don't let it pass because you don't know when you might lose that chance forever. I hope I don't sound preachy or cheesy because it's just truly how I feel right now. Please tell someone that you love them and make sure they understand it. That's all I need to say about that because it can't be much simpler. Good night...