Sumpin' Witty

I just returned from Southern California, where I stayed with my sister, who lives in Irvine, so that I could participate in the family celebration of Thanksgiving. The majority of my Dad's family lives in Southern California, from Fullerton to Duarte, Irvine to San Gabriel, the whole lot is there, pretty much. As a child, I spent a few weeks every summer in Fullerton, staying at my Grandma and Grandpa's house. I loved those trips down there. What kid wouldn't? They owned their own theater company, The Fullerton Civic Light Opera , so the trip was always filled with musicals and shows. Being so close to Disneyland, Magic Mountain, Universal Studios, and Knott's Berry Farm, and having connections to people who worked at all the parks, we always got to hit up at least one theme park per trip. Then, there are the aunts and uncles who would spoil us with the Orange Country Fair, movies, eating out, can you think of a better vacation?! So, it's no surprise that when ...

My head is swimming now. It  is with many, mixed emotions that I write this. Today is November 1st, which to me signifies a few things. Fall is in full effect, Halloween, probably my favorite holiday is now 364 days away, and tomorrow, I turn another year older. These facts are true every November 1st. But this year, November 1st holds more significance. It's our Thursday night show of The Fantastiks, as we always have a Thursday night show during closing weekend, but I am not working. Elaine, the new Box Office Manager of The Altarena Playhouse is working her first solo shift to see if I have trained her well. See, she will be taking over my job, now that I am leaving for Costa Rica. So, in a way, tonight marks the end of an era for me. Even though I will work the rest of the weekend and close the show on November 4th with my Altarena family, tonight I feel the reality of this chapter ending, and a new one beginning. Another significant thing about today being November 1st is ...

I finally figured out what I'm good at. No, not just good at, great at. I'm a great host. Whether it's at work, where ever I'm working, or at my house, sometimes even other people's houses, I'm good at taking care of people and making them feel welcome. It's what I really like doing, and it turns out, I'm better at it than most people. So that's it, after 27 years on this planet, I've found my talent, hospitality. What a relief. It's hard to not know what you're good at. Especially when you see other people excelling and succeeding in various other skill sets. One can become quite down on life. But to know, to really know you have found something that you can do well, it's a great feeling. This recent discovery has come from my return to restaurant work. I've taken a part-time job as a hostess at a restaurant in North Oakland, a rather high-end, American Brasserie. I only have two or three shifts a week, which is perfect as I...

In 2010 I attended my first, and hopefully not only, Burning Man . I won't go into the details of that experience, mainly because a lot of those memories are rather blurry and not for sharing on public forums. But one thing that I will always remember from that trip was the advice that my friend Sarah shared with me. She had been to several Burns prior, not sure how many, but she was savy. And Burning Man wasn't her only festival experience. So, she decided to share some important information with me. She informed me of FOMO, or Fear Of Missing Out, and the potenial dangers of suffering from FOMO. See, at something like Burning Man, there are over 50,000 other people doing all kinds of things that you cannont ever imagine. Theme camps, music camps, thousands of art exibits, all scattered around the desert. In one week, you have the chance to see as much of that as possible, or you can never leave the block you pitched you tent on. Either way, you will have an incredible, lif...

I've been working a lot lately. One might say, I've been getting my hustle on. Picking up any last odd job that I can, stashing up for winter like a little squirrel. And it's been great. A lot of my friends are off having summer vacations and enjoying the warm, lazy days of August, the last hurrah of summer. But I have been working. And in direct correlation to working a lot, I have been watching a lot of T.V.. Now, I don't actually have cable, and I don't watch current T.V., but after a long day's work, coming home and putting on Law and Order is about all my brain can handle. It's like as soon as I hear that theme song, Duh duh , my mind shuts down and I can start to unwind. I do not enjoy the fact that this has become my routine. African Sunset Piggy Bank For the past two school years, not calender years, I have worked at a middle school in Oakland. That job, drained me. As much as I enjoyed some of the kids I worked with, the Monday through Friday...

I just dropped my friend Kat off at Bart in West Oakland. Her flight from San Francisco to Rwanda leaves at 10:30am. I'm usually all for airport runs. Pick ups, drop offs, trips to get lost luggage. But this time, it just made sense for her to take Bart. The traffic on the way to the city during commute time would have added an extra hour or two to her whole travel day, which is long enough as is. I do love going to the airport though, even if I'm not flying. Almost more actually because I'm not a big fan of flying, I just like being in that travel vibe. I feel like I've had my fill of airplane hours. Hearing Kat run through her flight itineray, I went through a strange wave of emotions. Four hours from SFO to Chicago, eight hours to Brussles, another eight hours to Rwanda. A few hours for layovers, that's a lot of plane time. I do love that sleep deprived, semi-delirious, strung out feeling from all those hours in tiny seats, malnourished by airplane food, if you...

I realize I've been ranting and raving a little bit and stuck in a bit of a depressed place for the past few days. This is something I struggle with as I am always wanting to be somewhere else, traveling, experiencing something new, but financially, I am tied to my current situation. I know patience is a virtue and I am working on reminding myself that everything happens when it is meant to, not when we want it to. I think I've been a little testier than usual since I'm suffering from a bit of jealousy towards two of my friend's upcoming plans and adventures. My friend Joanna is going to Spain for six weeks to visit her dad. She goes to Spain about once a year and it's not a huge deal because she travels a lot, so I'm pretty used to saying goodbye and seeing her in a few months. She has already been in Colombia, Ecuador, and Ghana this year. She gets around. She was in the Peace Core in Ecuador and just finished her masters in Public Health at UC Berkeley so...

Well, it's summer break and I should be ecstatic. At least, that's the way I always remembered summer break as a kid. Back then I was on my local swim team, which meant I got up even earlier than when school was in session, but I didn't mind that at all. I had a great group of friends, that I predominantly only saw during the summer as they attended different middle and high schools than I did. But man, those were the days. This past year, I worked at a middle school so on June 15th when the kids were celebrating their freedom, I was doing the same. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying not working at the middle school. I feel like can hear all you people who are at work reading this right now groaning and telling me to appreciate my down time. Relish in it, make the most of it. I know, I know, I should be grateful to have a summer break as a 27 year old. But when you think about it, it's depressing as all hell. What this really means is I still have no idea w...