Crafting, performance and music...

The weekend started off with me hosting my 1^st ever craft night

Yes you read that right.  Me.  Jami.  Hosted a craft night.  Now most of you that know me know I have never been much of a cook or a crafter and look at me!  I’m attempting both.  Sort of.  More so the crafting at the moment because I think I need something creative to be doing. 

Here’s how it started:

Basically I signed up for Pinterest.  I had done a craft last Halloween time with my friend Jill at Artology.  We made little Muertos altars which most of you read about in my blog back then.  Well, it made me realize – I kinda liked it!  Then Pinetrest came along and I have joined the zillions of others that got somewhat hooked into it.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I probably “Pin” less than any of my friends but I do have OCD after all and too much is just too much.  Anywhoo, I’ve “pinned” a few DIY like things and thought to myself “I want to do these but I know me and I know I will forget about them or not do them or try to do them and fail miserably and not want to do them anymore so why don’t I do them with a friend or two or ten.  And that’s how it started.

I have a lot of “crafty” friends and figured why the hell not.  We can get together, have some snacks and wine and make a craft!  Of course some of the ladies I mentioned it too leapt at the idea.  SO – I picked our 1^st craft and hosted the night.

I set up my deck with the supplies needed and posted the “how to” on the umbrella. 

 I found the craft on Pinterest and must give props to the originator so if anyone is interested, here is the blogger that posted it Magnet Craft

I told my friends to bring their own supplies and we would all share.   There were a total of 5 of us and my mom for a brief stint and between us we had just enough magnets, way more than we needed paper and fabric which was awesome, and more than enough little gems.  We had all brought enough supplies as well.  It was an absolute ball.  We talked of future crafts and craft nights and all made a nice little handful of adorable magnets!  We even kept crafting into the nighttime to which I pulled out my living room lamp, popped off the shade and BAM - Halogen.

 We also randomly ended up messing around with the fabric and turned ourselves into a mini skit of “Gangsters” called “La Crafters” (Picture this said with a heavily “gangsta” accent) and snapped these pics which I for some reason love so very much:

I’m starting to realize how much I do love handmade items and art and being creative in a new way and looking for new and unique ways to give gifts.  1^st attempt at a Craft Night – SUCCESS!

Saturday evening brought me to dinner with my friend Paul who spend almost a year in Abu Dhabi working as a game show host at “Ferrari World”.  I had wanted to get together with him and hear all about his travels.  We had plans for a Thai dinner followed by a show I had been dying to see.  The concept of this show had been living in my friend Angela’s head for about three years.  I remember sitting at bar listening to her excitedly tell me about her idea for a movement piece revolving around Alice in Wonderland.  I wanted so much to be involved, but it being a movement piece and me not moving very gracefully I instead was a very excited audience member.

The piece was amazing.  I loved loved loved the movement numbers!  I was especially a fan of the really harsh awkward ones that usually had some sort of dub step in the music.  You could easily follow along with the story even though there was not much dialogue.  The gal who played Alice (Tian Walker) was a great dancer!  I wish I could bottle up the energy she had.  The stand out for me was a gal by the name of Danielle Kaufman.  I don’t know what it was about her but my eyes were drawn to her every time she was onstage.  I loved the way she moved and the energy she brought.  The entire cast was fantastic.  The energy they had the night I saw it was spot on.  They moved together beautifully and my hips and old injuries ached watching some of the moves they pulled off.  It had Angela all over it.  Bravo girl!

Sunday evening Dad, Libby and I went and saw the Wavelength Festival put on by Pacific Symphony Orchestra at Pacific Amphitheater.  My friend hooked us up with AWESOME 4^th row seats!  I had heard that PSO was going to play Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and I was all over this.  I didn’t quite know what to expect but what I got was truly amazing.  Here is a link to the festival with all the information explaining the thought behind it. Wavelength Festival

I am now saddened I didn’t actually attend more days!  It was so great!  Our evening opened with AyseDeniz GOKCIN.  This woman was phenomenal.  She played the piano beautifully and would incorporate record scratching INSIDE THE PIANO!  She also would pick at the piano strings sometimes along with her playing.  It blew my mind.  My highlight was when she had the trippy sound scape playing then she struck the 1^st chord on the piano absolutely perfectly.  This led into a mix of Comfortably Numb and when she hit that chord tears welled up in my eyes.  I just love when music can strike and emotional chord with you.  There is absolutely no explanation except that is does just that.  My heart was gripped and tears filled up in my eyes and my breath was taken away for that moment.  Just beautiful.  This is her below:

Next up was Windborne . I have since learned this is a group of musicians that does collaborations it looks like of “Music of…”  The lead singer was Randy Jackson. Not a fan.  He could not hit the notes sometimes, would mess up lyrics and actually sang the echoes or re verb from Pink Floyd songs.  I wanted to smack him.  He was the only one I disliked though.  The lead guitarist was George Cintron.  This guy was f-ing awesome.  My dad and I both just had one beef – TURN IT UP!!  The sound guy must have been asleep because the levels on this guy’s guitar were way too low.  But man could he shred!!!  I was also a fan of the sax player Eddie Williams.  He of course was no Lenny Picket but was damn good.  They put on a great set and at one point brought up some volunteers from the crowd to help sing “We Don’t Need No Education”.  Hilarious.  Great set for sure!

Then we had storytelling with Uncle Joe Benson, a very well known DJ from 100.3’s The Sound.  He gave us a nice tid bit of trivia and kept the audience laughing.  I learned quite a bit about 1973 and was reminded yet again I grew up in the wrong era.

Then the highlight of the evening.

PSO came out and was let by the conductor Brent Havens.  Brent was awesome to watch.  Energetic and brilliant.  The PSO of course was at its best and made me realize that Dark Side of the Moon was seriously meant to be backed by a full blown orchestra.  I was a little sad when Randy came back out to sing, but the orchestra drowned him out mostly so it was too painful.  There was the vocalist Kathryn Key who when it was time to sing her heart out did just that.  She wasn’t as soulful as the gal on the album rather more of an opera singer and it was a lovely take.   The entire night was just stunning.  The orchestra was perfection.  The violins and cellos seriously made an already brilliant album just that much better.  I absolutely loved the performance and do hope that this Wavelength isn’t just a one time thing!

Yup.  Another damn good weekend to add to many.

Competitve Reading...

This is a blog about Chapman's Community Reading Summer Program.

I participated in the program last summer because I was in recovery and very sad that I couldn’t be very active for a while.  You see – I was one of the top performers in the Chapman iCount program.  Yes I’m competitive but usually only with myself and I don't freak out anymore if I perform poorly.  And yes I love to get random free shit wherever and whenever I can.  So yes – of course I sign up for stuff that has a competitive feel and gets you prizes!!!

So, last summer I returned to work in July and a co-worker told me about the Community Readers Summer Program.  She said you read a book from the library, review it (a tiny blurb on their blog) and you get prizes!  Um hello…I’m so in!  I contacted the woman in charge and explained to her that I had been on leave and had actually read a few books that were in the library and could they count.

“Of course!” she said.  I was super excited because that already gave me some prizes.  Now I never considered myself a fan of finger puppets but they have AMAZING finger puppets.  They also have mugs, notecards, and all kinds of random goodies!  They also do a little party at the end of the summer for all those who participated.

So – I signed up immediately when they announced it this summer and decided to write about it here!

My 1^st book I chose was The Dude and the Zen Master by Jeff Bridges and Bernie Glassman.  Here was my review:

I'm a fan of The Big Lebowski and I've also been moving into the Zen/Buddhist direction so what better book to pick up than this one! Basically the book is Jeff and Bernie chatting with each other about Zen, living in the now, letting go, etc. "The Dude" comes in because they reference him a lot and the character was actually very Zen-like. The Zen Master portion is Bernie who is a Zen teacher. I really enjoyed the book because I felt I was a third person in their many conversations. It gets a little rambly and long at times, but it's exactly how it would be had I been sitting there with these two dudes myself! 

This got me a bookmark and a pencil.  They have these fabulous bookmarks by Mike Caplanis Mike's Website.  I chose Oscar Wilde.

My 2^nd book I was actually already reading when the contest started and it was in the library so I finished that.  This was Telling of the Bees by Peggy Hesketh.  I’m good friends with her son and went to her book signing a while back to support.  Here’s my review:

I went to Peggy's book signing awhile back because I happen to be good friends with her son, so I was mainly there to support a friend. I'm so glad I did because Telling of the Bees is a great read! You follow Albert Honig as he struggles with the murders of his neighbors "The Bee Ladies". As the story unfolds and you start to follow along in the mystery of their murder, you find out more and more about the relationship between the neighbors. There are all kinds of interesting twists and turns as you travel along with Albert. Peggy also intertwines the art of beekeeping along with the story and they meld together perfectly! It was a great mystery novel and a great lesson on bees!

 I had to read 3 for my next prize.  So book 3 was Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins. Review:

I was looking for another humor author since I have read most of Sedaris, Moore and Burroughs and was referred Tom Robbins. Villa Incognito was funny but it was a bit scattered. I had a hard time following it but did enjoy the story lines. It seemed it needed a bit of tightening in the writing. When I went and read other reviews on Tom Robbins most have said that this was his weakest book. I did enjoy the humor, but it wasn’t one of my favorite reads.

This got me a tin of mints!  The tins are fun little designs that look like something out of the 50’s.  I chose Buddha as mine.  The mints were nasty, but the tin is perfect to carry my vitamins!

Book 4 was The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom.  Review:

This was written in very short snippets, so if you are looking for a quick read this is perfect. Mitch Albom writes beautifully. He captures moments so precious and you feel as if you are there watching his words come to life. I loved reading this particular take on how Father Time came about. Your heart will break and swell and smile. If you don't already value every second of every day, you will after reading this book!

We got a notice that the contest was coming to an end and I had to read 5 to get the next prize so I chose: Let’s Pretend this Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson.  Review:

This book was HILARIOUS! I found myself sporadically laughing out loud so many times I can't count. Jenny writes about all sorts of things from her father (who owned a taxidermy shop) waking her and her sister up in the middle of the night with a dead squirrel made into a hand puppet to the epic comically enriched arguments she and her husband used to have. She touches on some very dark times with humor and some very uneventful times that turned brilliant. She inspires me to write my own book because it reminds me that people do love to read hilarious anecdotes from people's lives.

This got me a finger puppet!  I chose Buddha.  He’s so happy!

I dig this program for 2 reasons – the free goodies of course but it also gets me to read books I probably wouldn’t normally pick up.  The library has a decent selection but of course it doesn’t hold all books everywhere so I have to be creative in choosing.  The Jenny Lawson book was my favorite.  She reminded me of me.  She’s a blogger and she’s hilarious and then made a book.  I’m thinking about it…

So the day of the party came and just like last year we were asked to bring something sweet to share. I'd like to say the highlight was the berry rhubarb oatmeal homemade thing that a dude from Facilities brought. AWESOME!  I was the 1^st to arrive and it was lucky I did, because I didn’t win any of the drawings but I got a prize for being the 1^st to arrive!  The gal in charge asked 3 of us to read an excerpt from one of the books we read.  This was something new they added.  I was flattered they asked me but have a feeling they figured I was the obnoxious animated nerd who got super excited over little freebies would be entertaining.  I was actually a bit nervous because us actors actually don’t like to be ourselves in front of people.  I of course chose an excerpt from the Jenny Lawson book and had the small crowd laughing at my reading.  Love it.  My friend Becks who also joined in said that made her whole day. 

We got these for free just for coming:

They were coasters that had some sort of literary drinking message on there (I chose 2 Shakespeare ones) and then magnets that had Shakespearean insults.  Hilarious. 

They also had the guy who runs the special collections come in and show some of their really cool stuff.  This of course was my favorite.  It’s from 1805!!!

Here is Charlene Baldwin our Dean of the Library reading an excerpt from her book – Book Thief.  She was charming and lovely.  She sat at my table and I got to chat with her a bit.  She didn’t know me but recognized my name from the daily emails she gets from me.  
 

Then of course here is my friend Becks and I with our goodies.  I chose an Edgar Allan Poe finger puppet for my showing up early prize.  He's very emo.
 

And here is all my puppets.  Oh yes.  You will see Anton Chekhov, Gandhi, Buddha and Edgar Allan Poe.  The tiger is just a random puppet from a vendor but I love him.

So all in all it was another very successful reading program that I partook in.  They have mentioned maybe having one during the January inter-term and I sure hope they do!  This program gets me to read more books and get adorable little prizes and of course satisfy my competitive nature.  

A huge thank you to the ladies in the library that put this on.  I do love where I work!

Moments...

I wanted to expand on a post I shared today and try to blog more often about precious moments that come and go too fast.  Our minds start to drift as we get older and memories are not as strong.  I'm finding such joy in going back and reading past posts, blogs, letters and remembering all over again great things that happened as if it's a brand new memory and you have that moment of joy all over again.  My memory scares me sometimes how bad it can be but I'm gently reminded with humor that I am indeed getting older and it's ok not to remember every damn thing.

So - I write them - to remember.

Today I went to my grandparents at lunch as I sometimes do.  Papa is still on hospice care and gramma has almost totally lost her hearing.  I try to go on a Tue or Thur since that's when my mom is there so I can see her too.  Sometimes Shane too will pop by as he did today.  Our weekday caregiver for Papa is this wonderful man named Noelle.  He's so loving and wonderful and takes great care of my Papa.  My lunches there usually consist of mom running around and me shouting at gramma so she can hear and trying to make sense of my Papa's jumbles. 

The past few months Papa's mind has gotten a lot worse.  He does usually seem to know who I am but he doesn't make much sense anymore and is usually rambling about things he's seeing or sometimes complete nonsense.  I used to try to follow his thoughts and talk with him but it's all for not.  He doesn't know.

Today was a good day.

Mom had an appt. and was going to pick us up lunch on the way back.  She forgot her cellphone so there was a lot of wondering if we were going to eat or not because I have to take my lunch at a certain time.  I arrived, starving, to find Noelle standing next to my Papa's bed with a stick and a claw like thing at the end.  He was laughing and waving it above Papa.

"What the hell?!" I said walking in the door.  Noelle turned laughing and explained to me in his broken and sporatic laughs that he dropped his glasses in the neighbors yard while he was trying to pick oranges and he created this contraption to retrieve them.  He then picked up his glasses and proudly shouted "It worked!!".
I died laughing.
Papa looked over when he heard my laughter and reached for me.
I walked up to his bedside and took his hand.  I could tell he was with me and I said "Hi Papa!"
"Hi honey!  I love you so much!"
"I love you too Papa!" I said smiling.
"You just get prettier every day." he said.
"Well thank you."
"Where were you?" he asked.
"I came from work.  I work at Chapman, remember?  Summer is coming to an end and all the kids are coming back already" I said.
"Wow, time does fly" he said.
I was excited because this was unusual to have a normal conversation.  He squeezed my hand and I said "It's August already!  Can you believe it?"
"No."  He then started saying something about painting.
"We painted this weekend." I said "We painted some stuff for mom's kid party.  We made a pirate ship with a wheel and a flag and Shane built some bean bag toss games"
"I wish I could have been there to help you" Papa said.  He truly always loved to paint and build.
"Me too Papa, me too." I said trying to hide the sadness in my voice.
He then turned his head to look outside and when he turned back to me he was gone.  The rambling started.

But those few moments we perfect.  I had Papa for a minute and it was wonderful.

When Shane came in holding this stupid owl statue my gramma had wanted back (She loaned to Shane) we both snuck around the corner and appeared in her den with just the owl, hooting.  Noelle was laughing and trying to explain to Papa what we were doing.  It was like we were kids again.  Grandma jumped then laughed.

Mom came in with lunch.  We all cheered.

Grandma gave me the clipping about Chapman she had cut out of the paper.  She always does.

Shane and I joked back and forth about indie films and I smacked him on the cheek saying he's all grown up and gramma just laughed and laughed.  Everyone was in a good mood.  Everyone was smiling.  I pretty much inhaled my lunch and headed out.

But that was a good day.  A day of a happy family.  A day of laughter.  Another moment to cherish.

Below is one of my favorite pictures I ever took of my grandparents when they were doing much better.  This was probably about 3 or 4 years ago.

Cherish those moments.

A funny date...

Random memory for you readers that may give you a giggle.

So I tried online dating a while back.  Just wanted to dip my toes into the pool a bit and see what it was like.  Many friends/family have encouraged me to try it so I figured why not.

Obviously I didn’t last very long, I didn’t really care for it and it’s pretty much exactly like I thought it would be.  Yes I know it seems to be the way now days to meet your significant other or to find your local hookup but I’m just too damn old skool.  I want to meet someone organically, or through a mutual friend or at a gathering of the same interest.  You know – talk.  Like in person.  Like have a connection.  Those still exist right?  I haven’t had one in so long, that I honestly don’t know if they do still exist.  But – here’s to hoping.

In the meantime, I have funny tidbit to share.

I did the online thing only for a few months, and yes that was probably not long enough but it was long enough to remind me why it just isn’t my thing.  The types of emails I would get were absurd.  The way the system would “match” me up with people seemed to be a joke.  I would see someone who may be of interest, we would email, maybe even hit it off.  Then nothing.  Or it would go weird.  Or icky.  But there was this one particular interesting dude.  He was persistent, charming, and patient and seemed pretty cool.  We emailed for a while.  Then I grew a pair and gave him my phone number and we chatted on the phone a bit.  I wasn’t super interested but wanted to be open.  I figured this would be a good test run.  I will actually go on a date with this guy.  I won’t be too nervous because I’m not awe struck by him but he was interesting enough for me to think about it.  And who knows, maybe turn into something.  I’m trying to be casual about this.  Plus he just seems like a nice guy.  I’ll do it.  We set a date.

We agreed to meet at Black Angus in the bar section for a friendly drink.  Harmless right?  Public good.  I chose a pair of jeans a cute top that hugged me just right.  I arrived early (as I always do) and grabbed a table at the bar.  I saw him walk in.

Oh my lord.

The boy wore a suit with a black T-shirt.  And – a bowler hat.  The suit was also a few sizes too big as was the bowler hat.  Amazing.  I don’t remember that last time I saw someone wear a bowler hat that wasn’t in a 1940’s gangster movie.

We ordered drinks (Vodka straight up for him. When the bartender suggested vodkas he chose Smirnoff.  Bleck. )  and chatted, we decided to order snacks.  He ordered Buffalo wings and I haven’t seen a boy suck on wings that hard since my old roomie.  I opted for fries since they were easy. 

Our conversation felt like I was on an interview.  He told me about all these other dating sites he had tried, and even mentioned an escort service.  Um WTF?!  He assured me after my eyebrow rise that it was a dating escort, not the escort I’m thinking.  Out loud chuckle.  In my head WTF!  He was very intelligent, very political, kind of arrogant, and had weird vampire teeth when he smiled.  D, you are not alone.  The boy was weird.

I rambled on as I do and probably talked too much as I do but near the end of our snacks/drinks he proceeded to tell me I was exactly what he was looking for.  I fit all the criteria.  He said that – “You fit all my criteria in a mate.”  And then he said mate!  I smiled politely and said “Well thanks!”

He paid the tab and we headed out.

He offered to walk me to my car, I warned him I parked in another country, (Which I did!  Seriously Black Angus is apparently the happening spot) but he didn’t mind.

Here’s the best part.

I’m going to try my best to describe this via words and not actions.

So we’re walking towards the country my car is in and we are walking in between cars so we’re single fine.  He behind me.

Those concrete parking lot things are there – the ones at the top of the spot? And we’re stepping over them.

That’s when I hear him go down.

I turn around to find this poor fellow in his oversized suit and hat, on his back, feet facing me, flailing, like an upside down turtle.

I gasp and ask if he’s ok as I offer him my hand to help him up.

He says he is, and doesn’t want my hand and I can tell the poor guy is mortified so I turn around and try not to look at him while he gets up.

I try to make light of the situation and say “Ha!  Usually I’m the one that’s falling over something!  I’m so clumsy! “

He tried to laugh as he brushed off his knees which now had small holes and dirt in the oversized pants.

Now…If you are thinking what I’m thinking, this is the point I had WISHED I had seen him go down.

You see, the position he was in when I turned around was on his back – feet facing me.  I had originally thought he slipped (like on a banana peel or something) and landed on his back in that position.

No.

Dude must have tripped and SOMERSAULTED into the position he was in.  Because his knees and hands had the most damage.  And yes ladies and gentleman, when he was brushing off his knees there was gravel on his hat.  The mechanics of it all only left that SOMERLAUTLING was the answer to how he went down.

It took everything in my power not to burst out laughing at this point.

He walked me to my truck, I shook his hand and let him kiss me on the cheek and off I went.

2 blocks down the road where I pull over and proceed to die laughing.

Who falls like that!?

It was amazing.

When he text me later, and tried to schedule a date #2 I told him I just didn’t have the time to date as I had thought and promptly deleted my online dating account.

So – there’s my online dating date.  Just one.  That was enough.  The amount of douchebags I had to field through just isn’t worth it.  But this cat certainly made for an interesting tale to tell.

He may have looked a little like this...