every second saturday of the month the mid-singles in the raleigh/durham triangle get together for some kind of fun social activity. it's been interesting coming from the california mid-singles scene, which is highly structured, church-official, and often means being in the same ward as a couple hundred other mid-singles. there are far less in this area. far, far less. the activities are completely unofficial - started by a couple of ladies who simply had a desire to try and connect people. and here's the weird thing.... i find it so much more fulfilling.
though an average activity here boasts maybe 20 people (30 on a really really banner day) and a similar activity in california could easily get 60 - 80, those 20 people are MY kind of people.
it's no secret that i struggled to make, what i felt were, depthful friendships with staying power while in california. there are a few notable exceptions, but the move has proven my suspicions. here though, maybe BECAUSE there are so many fewer of us, i feel like i am meeting people with whom i more naturally feel a kinship, and who i can see becoming truly great friends.
stephanie and jessica on ice
this month's activity was ice skating. though i'm pretty good on skates, with my biggest show of the year quickly approaching, i decided not to risk the sprained ankle i'm sure murphy (of murphy's law) had in store for me.
there were a few others who felt similarly for their own reasons, so we passed the time chatting about the holidays, italy, book recommendations, etc. met a few new people (i'm glad that's still happening) who i enjoyed getting to know before the ice skating concluded.
a few of us decided to grab dinner at the pit, a downtown raleigh establishment, where we enjoyed upscale bbq. i like my bbq a little more 'backyard' style, but the meal was good, and the company was great. there were several discussions about future plans, and i'm loving that this is a group who wants to DO things. soccer games, white water rafting, and on and on.
as dinner came to a close, we decided we weren't quite done, so we headed across the street to the videri chocolate factory where we sampled some chocolate, learned about the chocolate making process, and enjoyed some delicious hot chocolate and sipping chocolate. the sipping chocolate reminded amy and i of parisian hot chocolate and we were hard pressed to finish the 2 oz. cup between us!
erika and dan, amy and i
all in all, a lovely, engaging way to spend an afternoon/evening in raleigh.
the farewell tour has begun. which basically means that i am trying to make sure that i see all of my local friends before i move. schedules being what they are, sometimes that's easier said than done.
take, for example the group of six of us broad run high school, class of '94 alum, all residing in the los angeles area. i've had the opportunity to spend a little more time with brandon and michelle, than with bronwyn, andy, or kevin, but even with brandon and michelle, it had been a couple of years.
when i reached out to them about getting together, i had no plan, other than the intention to find a good date and put it on the calendar. so as the date got closer, bronwyn reached out to me with some ideas about activities. i honestly didn't care -- i just wanted to see them -- so i jumped at all of the ideas she and the others had batted around, and a plan was laid. but here's the truly amazing thing: i was not involved. they figured out timing, locations, transportation, everything! i feel like 90% of my life is spent planning things for other people and this simple act, unbeknownst to them, was one of the greatest going away gifts they could have given me.
they had decided, that since i was the first person they had known with a selfie-stick, that we should pretend to be tourists in our own backyard. we met at a speak-easy in culver city before piling into andy's suv, heading to la for dinner at the iconic cafe formosa.
after dinner, it was on to a couple of other stops; jim henson studios, capitol records, the roosevelt hotel, and grauman's chinese theater/walk of fame.
i've said it before, but there's just something awesome about being with people who have known you since you were a teenager. we laughed and caught up, and took photos, and laughed some more, all of us kicking ourselves that we hadn't taken more advantage of our close proximity over the last eight years.
and while i'm sad to say farewell, it looks like we'll be going out with a bang. during our tourist travels, we happened to drive by the magic castle. it's been on my bucket list since i arrived in cali, but you have to be a member, or be invoted by a member. i thought i had combed my 'friend list' carefully to see whether i might know someone who knew someone, but had always come up dry. so this night, as we were driving by the castle, i started to ask "does anyone know...? brandon immediately responded that he thought he had a connection. and two days later, he confirmed via text. we've set a date, and i'm equally excited to check this off the list as i am to see my friends one more time!
when i was a teen and visiting my grandmother's new york
lake house every summer, we usually made a stop at the local renaissance faire. there were two things that always made it
memorable. the first, was that for many
years, my cousin was one of the actors.
as a result, for two or three years, before our visit to the faire,
several of her cast-mates would come to the lake house and spend the day with
us boating, water skiing, relaxing.
typically we visited the faire the following day, and to see the change
from real person to character was truly unique.
it also always made us feel like we were part of the group...to be
interacting with characters who we had met the day before giving us a sly wink
or some small acknowledgement of our shared 'real life' day.
the second was that this particular ren faire had something
i'd never seen/done before or after.
they had a quest. so, instead of
wandering aimlessly throughout the day, we started with a clue which led us to
a character, who gave us another clue, which led us to a character, etcetera,
etcetera. usually it would take a good chunk of the day (with the leftover time
available for watching other entertainment), and of course, my family won every
time we participated (beating out other attendees also participating). it created a totally different kind of
interaction with the characters than you would otherwise get and it was super
fun to collect clues.
larysa and i spent the day walking. really. mostly walking. we signed up for the
'quest' and found the morning half extremely enjoyable. the clues were not difficult to follow and we
met and interacted with some fantastic characters. it felt 'easier' than i remembered my previous
experience, but nonetheless, we enjoyed ourselves. of course, we were the first people to turn
in our collected map pieces and with the second portion not beginning until
over an hour later, we took a break to sit and eat.
of course i had to have a giant turkey leg, sadly, it wasn't
as good as i remember them. but the
sitting was lovely and much needed. the
faire grounds aren't big, but our clue hunting had us doing a lot of back and
forth. fortunately it was a beautiful
day, which got more and more crowded as the day went on.
we then began the second part of the quest, and it didn't
take long for us to figure out that it was kind of lame. i don't really know how it came to be at the
new york festival, but in this case, it's a seperate company than the ren faire
folks who run it. it appears that they
have coordinated with the faire enough to involve their cast for the morning
portion, but not for the afternoon portion, so the people that we were trying to
interact with in the afternoon seemed kind of lazy. and frankly, at that point
we had clocked 7 miles and just didn't appreciate being given tasks that would
take us from one end of the grounds to the other, only to do the same over
again. we called it.
it was fun, but i'm not sure that i would do it again. it certainly wasn't as memorable as my
earlier experiences. maybe with kids or
a big group? but even then... i felt
like new york was so much better because, aside from the quest part, the faire
itself was better. the stage shows were pretty amazing, and you could see a lot
of genuinely good shakespeare comedy all throughout the day. the characters
were more involved with the patrons. i
don't know, just seems better. now i kind of really want to go back to the ny
one to see if that all still holds true.
sadly, with my grandmother's passing, i may never have another
opportunity. so instead, it will stay this perfect little memory in my head.
i don't know what i was thinking, but back in november i signed up for my first 5k ever, created a team, and began inviting my friends. one of my co-workers designed the team logo (a purple people eater), and another embroidered headbands for me, while the team grew. i was excited about the event, but back then i couldn't have anticipated just how exhausted i would be, having just returned from two wewks of travel -- some of which included a lot of physical activities, leaving my body even weaker and more torqued than normal.
i arrived home from costa rica at 1:30am on friday morning, and headed into work that day, sure that the 4am wake-up call on saturday morning would just about kill me. but i underestimated the power of color and good friends. the purple people eaters had grown to a group of about 25 people. some were friends, and some were friends of friends who i had never met. and though we all came with different levels of abilities, and expectations, somehow this casual run (or walk, in my case) exceeded all of them!
i'm pretty much nowhere near ready for the 5k i'm 'running' in february (two days after i get back from costa rica), but at least i'll be geared up and lookin' cute while i suffer!
i may be a lot of things, but a runner i am not. in fact, my bum knee is as bum as ever. but the idea of a 'color run' was something i was drawn to. i think i fell in love with the idea of creating a team and having some great photographic opportunities.
a graphic designer i work with created a logo for our team, the purple people eaters, and another co-worker volunteered to embroider headbands.
today, the temporary tattoos i ordered arrived and i just had to do some quality control!
i wish i actually had a bucket list. an official one. where items on said list had numbers, and could be crossed off or check-marked, providing the immense satisfaction that us virgos can only get by crossing things off lists. sadly, i don't.
i should add that to my 'to do' list.
suffice it to say that even though it's very unofficial and does not require ink or a keypad to log completion, i do have a running list of things i want to do, try, see, in my head. one of those things was to see one of the summertime movie screenings in the hollywood forever cemetery.
check.
having removed myself from a work trip to vancouver canada due to sheer travel exhaustion, i was home for an entire weekend. when my friend jami asked if i'd be interested in seeing 'dawn of the dead' at the hollywood cemetery, i jumped at the chance.
we were joined by a newish (to me) friend, whitney, and came prepared with our chairs, snacks, and mst3k (mystery science theater 3,000) style commentary. having never seen the movie before, i was fascinated to learn how many story lines from my current obsession, the walking dead, seemed very similar to its zombie predecessor.
we enjoyed the movie, the people watching, and the cemetery itself. we wandered the portions of the ground that the security guards would allow, enjoying the sheer grandeur of site.
we also wandered into a line that turned out to be a themed 'photo booth' with a professional photographer, and assistants carefully directing the smoke, providing a perfectly eerie setting for our group photo.
it was a perfect way to cross this one off the intangible but completely real, bucket list.
it's probably fair to say that halloween gives christmas a run for it's money in the 'favorite holiday' category. i love everything about it; the costumes, the spooks, the (usually) chill in the air signifying the changing seasons. and there is something eternally child-like about halloween.
conversely, october is typically a difficult month for me personally, because a heavy work-travel schedule means i don't have a lot of time to enjoy those things. so, when an invitation came my way to join a group at the universal studios halloween horror nights, and i was going to be in town, i simply couldn't pass up the opportunity.
california does halloween right. i've 'discovered' and loved other haunts during my time here, but had not ventured up to la la land for what i had heard, was a 'premiere' experience. so, i took a deep breath and sucked it up to pay the exorbitant 'front of the line' ticket price (hopefully) ensuring quick entrance to the various mazes.
when saturday finally rolled around, i wasn't sure i was going to be up for it, having flown in from boston the night before, but i couldn't justify bailing when i had paid so much for a ticket. thankfully, the financial commitment saved me from missing a truly fun-filled night!
me, rick, kristina, dean
my house was the meeting point and we split up into two groups to head north. in my car were a couple of people i have 'sort of known' for awhile, and a new face (to me). we intended to join up with the other group for a meal before heading in to the park, but wait times in local restaurants were long, so when we discovered they were behind us, we opted for a quick bite (which turned out to be delicious) at a citywalk creperie before heading in.
i was particularly excited about the walking dead infiltration at this year's event, and i got my first taste on the 'terror tram'. while the other group ate, we were off and running!
or so we thought.
dean, kristina, me, rick
because we had made it on the tram quite speedily, we didn't need to use our front of line passes. it wasn't until we met up with the rest of the group at the next ride that we realized i was the only one of our foursome who had been given the special pass.
ultimately what that meant was that we had to head back to the opposite side of the park to pick them up. even though i had mine, i opted to stay with my foursome as i was really enjoying the company.
our 30 minute detour left us a little frustrated, as we hadn't yet realized just how much time those passes would save us (seriously, if you are going to do horror nights, spend the money), but we headed back from whence we came and began the serious business of ridin' rides and gettin' scared.
i turned out to be the obvious mark. fortunately, new friend rick was a gentleman and offered his arm as my 'stress ball', while dean and kristina mostly laughed at how ridiculously easy i was to scare. what can i say? i like to be scared, so i allow myself to be scared. that's what makes it fun!
we gave up trying to meet up with the other group for awhile as we played in the lower half of the park, taking a small break from the spooks to try out some rides. our passes were amazing and we walked right on to the mummy, transformers 3d, and jurassic park rides.
we did a little screamin', got a little wet, and decided to head back to the haunts. the surprise hit was the texas chainsaw massacre maze, which may or may not have inspired a little pants-peeing action. after finishing up the lower park, we headed up to try to meet up with the other half of the group.
on our way, we stopped at mazes and rides we knew the others had already done, and eventually the entire group was back together. i was excited to go through the walking dead maze with the two organizers--sisters--who share my obsession with the show. and it absolutely did not disappoint.
with only a couple of mazes remaining, we took the opportunity to take some photos, grab some treats, and slow it down a bit.
but, after eventually finishing with all the haunted festivities, our groups said farewell, and we slowly made our way out of the park. the evening was happily concluded with an in-n-out stop and some iphone app video making in the back seat on the way home.
i'm not often able to take advantage of social opportunities on home turf, so it's hard for me to accurately explain just how excited i get when i can. while i don't know that i would do horror nights again (i thought knott's scary farm was better, and for less $$), the fact that i got to spend my night with a fellow native easterner (rick) and also discovered that someone (kristina) i've sort of known for a while is someone i really like, made it worth every penny.
what i love most about my job is that every time i think things are getting a little 'routine' something comes along to shake things up. in this case, a visit to a taping of the price is right.
my team has had an unprecedented amount of success this year. we are collectively responsible for the company's traditional media, social media, and event presence, and we've hit some major milestones in 2012. my boss wanted to celebrate, but with some restrictions coming from our parent company --the insurance company that is on the side of you, always (can't decode that? i'm happy to disclose in a less public forum), we weren't allowed to go to disneyland.
we were however, greenlighted for a trip to tpir. admittedly some were more excited than others (i like disneyland!), but all were down to make it a positive experience.
the 12 of us met at a diner near the studio and enjoyed a delicious breakfast before heading over at about 10:30am. and thus began the waiting.
at 11:30, we were allowed inside the gates, sat down on benches, and handed some forms to fill out. we followed instructions, being careful to stay highly energized and excited, as we had been told that 'they are always watching'. we turned in our forms, did some more waiting, got a group photo taken (below) did some more waiting, were ushered to a different area, did some more waiting. all the while being 'pumped'.
in this second to last 'holding area', we were told that the producer was going to come out and interview us in groups, and finally it was our turn. we were pretty certain that someone from our group would be chosen. there were a lot of us, wearing cool matching tees, and we had a high enthusiasm level. the only question was who.
this photo was taken in a bathroom stall, since we were supposed to have ditched our cameras!
and during the interview, it was pretty obvious to everyone in my group that it was going to be me. he started by greeting me as darlin' (which further proves that i am one of those people who strangers must refer to as honey, sweetie, sugar, darlin', etc.) and he asked me about a dozen questions when everyone else in my group got one or two.
usually when cool things happen to me, it's a total surprise. but i saw this one coming...or so i thought.
At nearly 4pm, we were finally taken in to the studio and the taping began shortly thereafter. and lo and behold, it was not my name, but my boss' name that was called out to 'come on down' to be the third contestant. for reasons i discovered later, my boss had made an unexpected connection with the producer as we were being ushered out, at which point, he was pretty certain it would be him.
i was of two minds. on one hand, my boss loves the show. he watches it regularly and he's good at the games (which we discovered during our many hours of waiting as they played old episodes). on the other, of all of us, he was least in need of a new car. i tried to push the thought about how much i'd like one out of my mind and celebrate the genuine joy he was feeling at having the opportunity.
and boy did he make the most of it. he ended up winning a car in his game, AND in his showcase. and in fact, he was only $34 shy of winning both showcases. he truly was an exemplary contestant.
and we were exemplary audience members! in fact, sitting in the second row behind the bid podiums, you could see me in almost every audience shot there was. and of course, the whole team had to rush on stage at the end of the show to congratulate him. i got my drew carey hug, and all in all, it was a good day!
i made my own 'highlight reel' of the episode by videoing my tv with my phone, but if you missed it and you're interested, you can check it out here.
every year 100,000+ people converge on san diego in a celebration of comic books, tv and movies based on comic-books, tv and movies that have turned into comic books, tv and movies that maybe could have been somehow related to comic-books, tv and movies that have nothing to do with comic books (glee, for instance?) and basically all things followed, interested in, or obsessed about by the citizens of nerdlandia.
since moving to california, attendance at said celebration has been high on my bucket list. not only have i considered myself a nerd, for, well, as long as i've had a concept of what a nerd is, but i also genuinely wondered what it would feel like to be among so many like-minded people. kind of like the olympics for nerds.
it was a miracle that i even managed to secure tickets. as i've previously mentioned, the tickets sold out almost immediately, and i consider it a testament to my nerdiness that i prevailed, since doing so required having multiple browser windows running with click through and copy/paste address bars simultaneously working hard to get me through to the 'purchase portal.' in fact, that alone earned me my right to be there.
my participation this year was intended to be a one time deal, but, what can i say? i drank the kool-aid, and the kool-aid was goooood.
i won't play-by-play the experience, but i will mention that i had done A LOT of research before making the southward journey. when you by your tickets, you have no idea who will be there or when, and in fact, the schedule is only released a couple of weeks before the event. it's a bit of a crap shoot, but i, being the planner i am, didn't want to leave anything to chance. i can't even begin to count the number of forums and websites i've visited or the people i talked to, and fortunately, the research paid off.
my #1 priority (after meeting nathan fillion and having him propose to me) was attending the firefly 10 year anniversary panel, and i was successful (on the panel, not the other thing)! there has been a lot of wonderful coverage about that panel (i've also got some video on my smugmug) and it was a really unexpectedly moving experience. my favorite encapsulation would be geek god joss' whedon's answer to an mtv reporters question: was there something extra special
in the air for you this time around?
whedon: yeah there really was. i would describe it as 5,000 people all
tearing up about the same thing at the same time. that's a little weird. one
has fantasies of success but that isn't what it is, it's so intimate, that's a
one-on-one, we had an entire hall full of people having a one-on-one
experience, including us with each other. i looked over at nathan and i didn't
know if i could look at nathan because i was getting too emotional
it was a genuine privilege to be in the same room as joss whedon and nathan fillion and to have that experience. it required a 4am wake-up call, waiting in line for 4 hours, sitting through two earlier panels (though one of them included joel mchale - so that was fine), and it was worth all of it.
now to the rest of the highlights!
favorite moments of the weekend, in quotes:
random guy on bus
leaving a message on his own voice mail: “hello future
self. this is a message to see if there is a cell connection. ps you're having
a great time”.
me:words i never thought i'd say: i'll be on the
lookout for tall skinny ghostbusters.
random guy in line to
other random guy:you know how star wars
is like a space samurai movie? that's kind of like how firefly is a space
western.
random girl in line
(in reference to 'community'): i love how we can refer to that as the first
paintball episode.
joss whedon (answer
to audience question: many of us in this room camped out last night to get into
this panel. i wondered if you've ever camped out for anything?):yeah. camping.
astrophysicist neil
degrasse tyson: pluto had it coming.
me:i feel like i'm in line with my high school
drama department.
sam huntington (on sam
witwer's character in being human):maybe aidan can flash back to pirate days and he can be a
vampirate.
my friend jamie
(during a discussion in a hot tub with two random guys about stan lee's recent
penchant for hiring young pretty girls):so what you're saying is, stan lee is hugh hefner now?
and that is just a tiny sampling of the many overheard quotes and conversations that made me so happy. up next: the comic-con experience in photos!
i think that the nature of my job has made me increasingly commitment-phobic. because i have to be away so often, when i am home, i have come to need the luxury of changing my mind at the last minute, and with inconsequential fallout. i might want to participate in that particular activity or event you invited me to, or i might just want to watch tv and go to bed early. and, since i won't know which of those things i actually want to do until up to two minutes before a decision is required, i find that i have become less and less likely to commit to activities and events which require a firm decision in some advanced time frame.
i give you this background primarily to emphasize what a big day today was. it was the day that comic-con tickets went on sale - an event that takes place in july. and i wanted in!
and, if only it were that easy! but no. comic-con is the largest comic related conference in the world, and it is huge. over the years it has evolved and become more and more popular, which i think that can be attributed largely to the presence of well-known celebrities.
while i am not a particular lover of actual comic books, i have long been enamored of the film versions of their print predecessors...with a plethora of superhero tv and movies growing up (x-men has always been a favorite), it is hard not to relate to the genre. in fact, when i think about all the ties i have to this comic con world, there are far to many to count. like the stars. star wars and trek that is. and my long time love of fantasy fiction. and syfy televison. and most things nerdy and or geeky.
couple that 'traditional' comic con legacy with the fact that more and more often popular tv shows and movies are creating comic book versions of themselves, which gives so many more people an excuse to put on their nerd hats, or their storm trooper costumes, as the case may be. some of last year's panels (all of which included the stars of the show), other panelists, and screenings included: castle (helloooo nathan fillion), dr. who, true blood, chuck, torchwood, big bang theory, the river, eureka, being human (hey sam huntington, let's hang out!), lost girl, stan lee, terra nova, sanctuary, joel mchale, joss flippin' whedon, once upon a time, vampire diaries (how YOU doin'? ian somerhalder), snow white and the huntsman, colin farrell, grimm, fringe, alcatraz, nikita, person of interest, and mythbusters.
and you wonder why i am geeking out? needless to say, since moving to california, attending comic con has been on my bucket list. it takes place in july in san diego - a mere hour and a half from my current home, and it just seemed silly not to take advantage of it. i got on the bandwagon way to late last year, so this year, i started my research early - which paid off.
because it is such a hugely popular event, which without fail, sells out, you have to register for a member id. anyone can register for a member id, and it doesn't cost anything to do so, but you HAVE to have one in order to have the RIGHT to purchase actual tickets. and you can only purchase tickets for those with a member id.
i registered my member id a few months ago and i knew that the cut-off for ids was coming soon, so i solicited a few friends i thought might be interested in participating and got one firm taker. she registered for her id, the registration closed, and on thursday i received an email saying that tickets would be going on sale this morning.
nothing like short notice! the email announcement included my user id and last name, for ticket purchasing purposes. they had dropped the 'van', no doubt because of the space, but at least i had the 'correct' information. my friend also provided me her user id so that we wouldn't both have to be sitting at our computer first thing on a saturday morning.
the alarm went off at 7:45 am this morning, giving me just enough time to wake up before putting my happy fingers to work. the registration link had been provided in the email, so in one window i 'loaded it' and refreshed it a couple of times while in another i copy/pasted it and did the same thing. at 8:01 am i was in.
i closed the secondary window as the instructions made it clear that if the system found duplicate ip addresses logged on at the same time, you would be kicked off. but i was in. sort of.
i attempted to enter my log in information and was told that something was not correct. i was copy/pasting it directly from the email sent to me, and it was not working. while quashing a major panic attack, just for kicks, i entered my whole last name, space included, and voila, i was the 3,537 person in the virtual line, and boy was i relieved!
am i being over-dramatic? probably. but i had done my research, and i knew that by 20,000 people, the 'good' days of the conference would likely be sold out. i also knew that those 20k people would probably be processed through the system in a matter of two hours or less. the comic-con folks had communicated that if your place in line was under 40,000 you would probbaly be able to get 'some' type of ticket, but since you have to purchase for each day you want to attend, the implication was that only the craap days would be left by then. they had also warned that once you were in 'line' you were going to want to stay there, and depending on your number, you could be 'staying there' for 3-4 hours. what the heck, i had nothing else pressing this morning. but perhaps you can see why that '3,537' number was such a relief!
i had selected and purchased tickets for myself and my friend by 8:11am. mission accomplished!
what i would later learn is that the link provided in the email was passing through an analytics site, which got completely bottle-necked. but, because i had copied the direct link into my browser, i bypassed the analytics and went straight to the registration. this is still causing major web drama and a lot of complaining, but i don't have a ton of sympathy. my feeling is that if it's important to you, and you want it badly, you look for alternatives, and, in the immortal words of tim gunn, you make it work.
fortunately, i WAS able to make it work. it turns out, every ticket was sold out in an hour and twenty-three minutes. there were roughly 40,000 tickets available, and the last i heard, in that hour and twenty-three minutes, some 210,000 people attempted to get a ticket before they closed the system for good. needless to say, i am excited!
i wasn't originally planning on dressing up, but since my friend will be going as the tardis from dr.who, i may pull out my own version of amy pond. we shall see. but the best news is that i didn't die. committing to something nearly five months from now did not cause me to burst into flames. so, maybe i will try it again sometime...
the end of august will mark a big milestone for me - my 35th birthday. that's right, the birthday that forces you to admit that you are in your 'mid' thirties, no longer sliding by in your early thirties like 34 agreeably let's you do.
while i wrestle with the number and not having yet turned some of my hopes into reality, i decided that instead of getting gloomy and despondent (like i did when i turned 30), i am going to spend the entire month of august CELEBRATING and pampering and laughing and loving and dreaming and learning.
i learned (months ago) that this year's theme was 'only make believe,' and i couldn't help but wonder if they chose it just for me, somehow knowing that my birthday was coming! yea or nay, it was ideally suited for me and my friend vicki and I met up in laguna beach for dinner before the show.
laguna tends to be overly auto-congested with challenging parking, so the evening was off to a good start when i found a space about to open up in an otherwise full lot, and the driver of the departing car offered me his parking ticket, so i could avoid the hefty lot fee. happy birthday to me:)
i had chosen a restaurant, based on my friend yelp's high marks, called the lumberyard, and we were more than pleased with the selection. reasonably priced, dimly lit cozy atmosphere, and blue cheese & bacon mac and cheese to DIE for.
after dinner, we headed over to the art festival to peruse the various works before making our way into the bowl for the event.
the pageant is an annual event, taking place june-august every year, for, i think, the last some 70 or 80 years, and is best described as a series of 'living pictures.' works of art are recreated in larger than life size, with living people standing in as the subjects of the sculpture or painting. looking at the works of art, you'd have no idea you were looking at actual people unless you had binoculars and could watch them blink!
the evening was full of fairies and dragons and myths and legends, and i was certain that this had been the perfect way to begin the birthday month o' fun celebration!
and to continue it, last weekend, i scheduled a facial and massage at a local spa. i had purchased a groupon for the treatments, and though i'm not usually one to spend money on those types of indulgences (my indulgences usually lean towards the gadgety and blingy), it was such a good deal, and the offer so tempting, i decided that the birthday month 'o fun needed some pampering. A LOT of pampering!
i arrived at the spa, pleased to find that while it was small, it had a nice atmosphere and the staff was friendly. i spent the first hour enjoying my chocolate facial and the second, my cocoa massage. and yes, the 'chocolate factor' was what made it solo deliciously tempting!
i was especially glad i had taken care of my weekend errands BEFORE the appointment, since the mellow blissful haze lingered (and was allowed to do so) for the rest of the day.
i'm now hershey, pa bound for work, and there are a couple birthday month o' fun events already locked in for the coming week, at least one of which will involve the chocolate spa at hershey hotel. let the celebration continue!
by popular demand, the following virtual retelling will be extremely detailed, in fact, it's probably going to read like a 15 year old's diary entry, because truthfully, that's kind of how it made me feel. i find no shame and will harbor no embarrassment about reconnecting with my inner 15 year old!
the cast: me - an event planner for a pet insurance company who frequently attends conferences
vicki - my co-worker and friend, a veterinary technician who was asked to attend one of our human resource conferences (normally only goes to veterinary conferences) and bring her dogs to entice attendees to visit our booth
mike - a colleague and friend
terry - an event planner for another company, whom i met a year and a half (ish) ago standing in a very unnecessarily long long for onsite show services.
reed - a co-worker of terry's
the setting:
the society for human resource management (shrm) annual conference
las vegas convention center, las vegas, nv, 105 degrees (if you're wondering)
the background:
-with nearly 50 events on my annual event calendar, i don't always pay attention to each conference program, so just a few days before the start of the event, i discovered that the sponsored (meaning large and recognizable companies pay for a well-known performer to entertain conference attendees in exchange for marketing opportunities) performer, was grammy award winning country superstar and all around hot aussie, keith urban.
-vicki would not have normally attended this conference as she is strictly veterinary, but the hr channel folks requested her presence (with her dogs) at the show. truthfully, i think her attendance was one of many pieces that fell into place in just the right way to make for a surprising night
-terry and i bonded over frustration, and have enjoyed seeing each other a few times over the last year+. during show setup we crossed paths and swapped numbers and made plans to connect later and to connect at the 'main event'.
-this type of performance is very different from a 'regular' concert. they are usually held in an exhibit hall, which is one level of concrete floor. there are no stadium seats, and the seats available are first-come-first-serve. it is also much more intimate, since a performer like keith urban regularly sells out entire stadiums, and the exhibit halls hold far fewer people. in this case, an estimated 5,000 people attended, which, for a keith urban concert, is 'intimate'
-also in attendance at the event were two co-workers and a spouse, and my sister's boss and co-worker from virginia
the story:
vicki, mike and i arranged to meet at the show at 6:45. since the show was scheduled to start at 8pm, i figured we would have decent seats and enjoy a nice evening.
since i had the wristbands required for entry, i first met mike, and we found and saved seats, before i headed back outside to meet vicki and bring her in. it had been my intention to save a few seats for terry and his co-workers, just in case, as we had tossed around the idea of meeting up.
mike, me, and vicki
when i returned with vicki, the entire row (other than our seats + 1) had been 'saved' by someone else, and shortly thereafter, terry texted me to see what/where we were. i told him we had an extra seat, but that i understood if he wanted to stay with his group. he decided to do so, but shortly after his arrival at the center, he texted again to tell me to come meet him at the stage.
our seats were in the front of the second section, and since the concert hadn't yet started, when i scanned the stage, i saw him easily. i told vicki and mike i'd be right back after saying hello, and when i got up to the stage, i asked if he planned on staying there. he said he absolutely was, but since the seating was open, i suspected he (we) might not be allowed, since it clearly obstructed the view of those sitting in the front rows -- but he said that he had confirmed with the contact at one of the main sponsors that it would be alright. so, of course, i decided to stay with him.
i just kept thinking that i wouldn't be able to afford tickets like that at a 'real' concert, and even if i could, how early would i have to be standing in a ticket line before the show sold out, and i couldn't pass up the opportunity to be that close. i texted vicki and told her to join me, and texted mike to ask him if he minded staying with the seats and the bags for a bit. this may sound lame but mike is not a big country fan, and truthfully, i just knew he wouldn't care.
while vicki was making her way to the front, we were joined by terry's co-workers, one of whom was reid. he had to ignore a few comments while making his way up to join us, as he is probably 6'3" and nobody likes a tall guy in front of them. but as it would turn out, i think his height was a huge factor in the evening's events.
and as we waited for the show to start, i told reed the story of hanging out with jason aldean and his band many years ago, and was fully confident that that would be the coolest band encounter story that i would ever have to tell. wow, was i wrong!
the show started and keith instantly had the audience rapt. his stage presence was incredible as was his ability to entertain. he performed three or four favorites from center stage (we were stage left) before moving to a microphone at stage right to perform another. at that point, we knew that he would find his way over to our side of the stage eventually, and we were all anticipating it eagerly!
an example of his engagement with the audience--he left the stage at one point, traveling around the room, before landing on a platform in the middle of the giant hall, where he proceeded to sing a couple of songs so that the people at the back of the room could actually SEE him. in that moment, i fell a little in love with him:)
there were a couple of other great moments before it got really exciting for me, including an on-stage stumble that he made light of, via song (happens at about 1:05 in the clip):
finally, it was our turn. he had started the song 'kiss a girl' and during a musical interlude in the song, he made his way to our side of the stage. we were all excited to be within a couple feet of him and i was very focused on getting some good photos. so focused, in fact, that i was completely oblivious to what was about to happen until out of the corner of my eye, i realized that terry and reed were pointing emphatically at me.
there was a brief flicker of understanding, followed by a brief flickr of panic, and i quite literally tried to melt into reed and become invisible. my long time friends and blog readers know how terrified i am of being in front of people, and while i know how crazy this sounds, in that split second, if there had been enough room for me to run, i would have done it and not looked back. but instead, reed gave me a gentle push, and suddenly, keith urban was holding my hand and walking me around the barricade to the security guard, who then escorted me onto the stage.
he told me to go to center stage and wait for a minute, and when i got there, i made the mistake of looking up and seeing the, literally, thousands of people looking at me! i also had NO IDEA what i was going to be doing up there, and truthfully, if i had known, i probably would have taken a stage dive then to get out of it, but it all happened so fast, i was saved from myself.
the next thing i knew, keith had chosen a guy from the center section and a girl from the right, and the microphone was in front of my mouth and he was asking me what my name was and where i was from.
i do not know what happened in that moment. i was possessed or something because i YELLED "im tara from huntington beach, california!' and the crowd went wild.
you know how people say that? 'the crowd went wild'? and it's usually tongue in cheek? well, the crowd literally went wild. i don't know if they all just really like california or what, but they were clapping and cheering and hooting and i understood why rock stars like being rock stars!
keith then asked the same questions of the guy and other girl, and the crowd was... supportive. i still don't know why they reacted to me the way i did, but even in that moment, i knew i was the crowd favorite. of course, what i didn't know is that that would dictate the rest of my onstage experience.
i still didn't know what we were going to be asked to do, but i suspected there would be some sort of keith urban trivia game going on, and i knew without a shadow of a doubt that i would completely blow it. the pressure was just too high.
and while i began to dread what was to come, all of the sudden, there was a microphone in my hand and keith said 'it's really easy, just sing the chorus.' and the music to 'kiss a girl' started back up and i didn't even take a breath before belting out:
I wanna kiss a girl I wanna hold her tight And maybe make a little magic in the moonlight
(so far so good)
Don't wanna go to far Just to take it slow
(oops, a memory lapse, but fortunately keith was on the ground next to me mouthing the lyrics)
But I shouldn't be lonely in this big ol' world I wanna kiss a girl!
and the crowd went ballISTIC! now keep in mind, i was not focusing on vocal quality or vibrato or anything, really. something just clicked in my mind when i started singing and a little voice said 'go big or go home - if you're gonna fail, fail spectacularly.'
so i was truly, legitimately surprised, when the audience reacted the way they did.
keith moved on to the guy and the other girl, and again, i could tell that the response was not as strong. but i didn't see what was coming, which was that he asked the audience to pick the best performance.
now despite the fact that the audience SEEMED to have thought i did the best job, just about every insecurity i have (and some i don't have) ran through my head. the guy was cute, the girl cuter, and i was pretty sure i didn't have a shot at 'winning'. i was preparing myself for the ego blow, when he put his hand over my head and the audience erupted. he did the same with the other two, and again the response was supportive but not as frenzied. i knew i had taken it, and couldn't believe that the girl who was taller than and weighs more than the country superstar had somehow won over the audience.
he came back over to me, put his arm around me and announced that there was a clear winner. the crowd cheered and clapped. at some point in this quickly passing moment, (maybe he also gave me a hug??) i whispered 'nothing like stage fright, right?' and he responded, saying 'you did awesome (how do you spell that with an australian accent?), you can SING!' and i basked. had the experience stopped there, it would still be the coolest experience of my life. but it didn't.
i know it's blurry, but it's also proof :)
of course, it took me a second to realize it...in fact i actually started walking off the stage, and he grabbed my shirt and said 'stay here'. so i stayed while he took the girl over to the guitar player and the guy over to the bass player and grabbed me and took me up to the center stage mic, and the two of us began singing the rest of the song.
even in the retelling, i can't help but wonder if it was all a dream. i kept trying not to crowd him since we were sharing the same mic, so he kept moving it closer to me until i finally just accepted the insane fact that i was going to be four inches from his face for the rest of the song.
the audience was so supportive and so into it, and i found my friends who, really, i owe the whole experience to, and gave them a 'can you believe this???' look, which turned out to be photo documented.
i also thought about the couple of co-workers i knew were in the audience (who i later found out had gotten their whole section chanting my name), as well as my sister's boss and co-worker from virginia, and just how cool it was that there were people there who would tell the story. as excited as i am to tell it, it is also pretty cool knowing that other people are telling it. does that make sense? does it seem vain? trust me, it's not vanity, but pure gratitude.
i have had a life FULL of amazing experiences. and every single time, i wonder why. why i am so lucky. i'm no more special than in the ways that we are all special and unique, and i have no idea why a guy (reed) who i had literally met a couple hours before would make such an effort to put ME in a spotlight, or why keith urban decided to take him up on his suggestion, or why an audience of 5,000 people decided that they liked me...and while i still find myself pretty mindblown by the why's, i am immensely grateful and unbelievably humbled.
towards the end of the song, keith interrupted himself to say/sing "maybe you wanna kiss a man, but i don't want to kiss a man', and during the last chorus, he changed the last line to 'i wanna kiss a man' for my benefit:) as we finished, he gave me a warm and surprisingly genuine hug and whispered ' you were so great.' and i told him how amazing an experience it had been and thanked him before making my way off stage.
and what was probably a 6 or 7 minute experience? came to an end. or, almost, anyway. i was surprised at the reaction i got when i returned to the crowd and my friends. people were touching my arms and grabbing my hands, and telling me how awesome i was. and when i got back to my group, reed gave me a big hug and said 'i didn't know you could actually sing.' yeah? me neither. at least, not like that.
yes, i've sung in choirs and small groups and i know that i have a decent voice, but you cannot prepare for something like that--it is so completely different from anything any normal person like me would ever experience in my life. and i was sooo not trying to sing WELL, i was just trying to 'fail spectacularly'.
keith ended up playing for just over two hours, and even that endeared me to him. as i understand it, that's about the length of his regular concert, and i felt certain since it was a relatively small group for him and a different kind of group, and because sheryl crow (a couple years before) had performed a short set, that he might be on stage for an hour-ish. but boy did he give us a show. and me in particular!
when the show ended, it took us about an hour to get out because people kept stopping me. my co-workers found me and were as stunned and excited as i was, and every few feet someone would recognize me and tell me how good i was and how lucky, and the look on some of their faces was pure awe. again i thought i could understand the appeal of superstardom, just a little:)
the experience was such a whirlwind, i didn't have much time to think, just react. i know there are things i've forgotten because they were so quick (ie were there two hugs or just one?) so i'm grateful that there were so many people taking photos (since i had none of my own), and that my colleague mike, ended up taking video of the entire thing (which i'm still waiting on). i've talked to my contact at the show, who emailed me to tell me that it 'couldnt have happened to a better person.', about getting a copy of whatever footage they have as well, and my only complaint is that they were all from the wrong angle, so of course, my chin and arms are terrible in all of them;) oh, and by the way, you know how they say you should always wear clean underwear in case you're in an accident? my new motto is 'always wear black in case keith urban pulls you on stage.' after all, black is far more forgiving and flattering...and SLIMMING!
as you might imagine, i'm still 'high' from the experience and i expect to be for awhile. if you're in the car with me anytime in the near future, you'll be listening to keith urban. and if you call me, your ringtone will be 'kiss a girl'.
there are many many many photos of the experience, some of them mine, some of them from friends and strangers, but all the ones in my possession are located HERE. when i have the video(s) i'll try and post, but i understand at least one of them is a huge file:)
lastly, i'll say one more time how grateful i am. every once in a while i get discouraged because my life is so far from what i thought it would be and wanted it to be at this stage in my life, but i also know and recognize often, just how blessed i am, that while i'm waiting for those dreams to come true, i get to have unbelievable experiences like this.
i. sang. with a grammy winner. on stage. in front of thousands of people.
alright, alright, i realize that it's november (how'd THAT happen?!) but i've been thinking about this post since september and just didn't quite make it to the posting stage in time.
october, you see, has become my own personal new year's. a time for reflection, reconnection, and resolutions. two years ago in october i moved to california and life changed more drastically than in any of my previous 31 years. october has had its share of other mile markers, so it seems like a good jumping off point for self-evaluation.
you may remember that last year at this time, i posted about some of the things i'd seen, done, and participated in in the prior year. well, it's that time again. this year's list seems different, but it's probably due mostly to the varied locations in which some of these things occurred:) i've categorized the highlights ('cuz i'm anal like that):
athletics baseball - multiple angels games, including alcs game 6 in NY and two mariners games at safeco field (may and july) basketball - cousin spencer comes to town with the utah jazz to play against the la clippers hockey - oh i enjoy the mighty ducks! soccer - i finally get to see david beckham play, and he scores two goals, winning the game (just for me) horse racing - breeders cup
milestonesand big stuff got a dog! moved three times celebrated two years of living california (october 12) marked the one year anniversary of my current job (october 20)
so there you have it. it's been a busy year. i didn't get to check many things off my 'hot list' this year, but i saw and did so many things i could have never foreseen. here's hoping for more of the same in the upcoming year...wih maybe just a bit more time in my own bed!
i am so grateful! i got to see massachusetts in the fall.
my only disappointment is that thanks mostly to the terrible awful no good very bad (seriously nightmarish) traffic in eastern massachusetts, i didn't get to spend any time in salem, other than my quick stop to pick up a national park stamp. aside from that however, it was an absolutely fantastic couple of days, with my sightseeing centered largely in the concord area.
i got to reflect on walden pond, literally and figuratively, taking in the incredible beauty and variation in the turning leaves.
after walden pond, i headed back to the city to have dinner with my co-workers, and wouldn't you know, i happened to notice a big gold statue off the freeway and had to inestigate further. lo and behold, it was exactly as i suspected - the boston temple!
can you conceive a better pairing to inspire awe and gratitude, than walden pond and the temple?!
the following day, i got to visit louisa may alcott's orchard house, and it was an absolute highlight.
little women was written here, and i learned just how much of the book was based on her life. i also appreciated that aside from the rugs and wall coverings, 95% of the furnishings, art, trinkets, etc. were original. i can't tell you how many 'recreations' i've seen in my life, so to see the melodian 'beth' played, and 'amy's' artwork hanging on, or directly drawn/painted on the walls, was quite special.
last but not least, i finally had a question answered that i've asked myself for years. what was up with the professor?!
well, apparently little women was written in two parts. louisa may absolutely did not want jo to marry, but rather to remain a strong, independent woman. however, after the first part was published, she received overwhelming feedback requesting the next part of jo's story - her marriage. as a way of satisfying her readers, she created the professor character, but because it was so incongruous with the rest of the story, she felt that she was having the last laugh afterall.
so now i understand why the professor never made sense:)
and after leaving the alcott home, i also understood for the first time that alcott and thoreau and emerson and hawthorne were true contemporaries. i had never envisioned them in the same timeline or social circles before, so hearing that thoreau attended jo's sister's wedding jarred a little reality into me. what a rich literary history that time and place has!
after the alcott home, i stopped by emerson's. the story about this house is actually quite endearing.
On July 24, 1872, the house caught fire and was heavily damaged. Luckily there was no serious injury, all of the Emersons escaped, and Emerson's papers were not lost.
Without consulting Emerson, his neighbors took up a collection to pay for repairs. This allowed Emerson to journey to Europe and to Egypt—as he had always dreamed of doing—while repairs were being made. In 1873 the Emersons returned to live in the house, surprised by a town-wide celebration of the event.
following the emerson home, it was on to sleepy hollow cemetery. this was another high highlight.
i enjoy cemeteries to begin with, but one with a name like 'sleepy hollow' is bound to be excellent.
what was most excellent about it was author's ridge - where the alcott, hawthorne, emerson, and thoreau plots are literally adjacent to and across the sidewalk from one another. in addition to the close proximity, i was so impressed with how unassuming and accessible each of the graves were.
no barriers or fences, in fact i was literally standing on the graves of emerson and thoreau to get my self-portraits, taken, of course, with absolute respect and appropriate humility.
emerson's was the largest of the bunch, a giante slab of granite serving as the headstone. thoreau, hawthorne, and alcott however, had tiny little headstones no different from those of the rest of their families.
at thoreau's headstone, preceding visitors have left pine cones and stones in homage to the transcendentalist nature lover.
before making my way to the airport to head home, i also made a stop at minuteman national historic park to wander across the old north bridge and visit the old manse.
the old manse was built by ralph waldo's grandfather and served as a witness to 'the shot heard round the world'. it was a hotbed of activity during concord's political and literary revolutions, and also served as nathaniel hawthorne's home for a time.
though it was a short visit, i was able to deeply enjoy both the natural beauty of massachusetts in the fall, and some wonderful historic sites.
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