Hi Friends,
I just spent the last few hours looking through my photo library. I’ve selected 20 that are my favorites from this year. Most involve in some way or another baseball, the outdoors, coffee, and big cities. Makes perfect sense, eh!?
Follow the link to check them out. Enjoy!!
It’s been so long since I’ve written in this darn thing. There is just too much to write about, so it’s time for a list. Lists = Love.
End of August
• Finished up my job as an assistant Post-Coordinator with NBC’s The Great American Road Trip
• Overall, I felt the show’s concept was good and it has room to grow. Don’t know if it will get picked up for another season.
• My coworkers were amazing. I really enjoyed spending time with them. I love being around talented, hard-working, and overall fun people.
• I blew out the tire on my car. It cost about $200 to get new tires, but I was feeling so good I didn’t even care.
• In my spare time, I rode my new bicycle as often as possible.
• Then the fires came and I couldn’t go outside because I couldn’t breathe the air.
• I’m not kidding. I would wake up and step outside my apartment and it smelled like campfire.
• I attended a concert at The Wiltern. It was amazing. The National are an incredible band.
September
• Had about a week of to chill. Wanted to ride my bike but the smoke from the fires ruined that plan.
• Started working on my next TV Show.
• Had to inventory and pack up about 4000 tapes from previous seasons and throw them in storage.
• Drove to Utah/Arizona with three people I didn’t know.
• Camped in the desert with no running water or bathrooms.
• Saw the most stars I have ever seen in my life.
• Hiked three miles in the desert to find “The Wave”
• Also saw the Horseshoe Bend and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
• Came back to LA and counted down the days until NYC.
• Left for NYC.
• Arrived in NYC.
• Set up our post-production office.
October
• First 5 nights in NYC – arrived / Yankees Game / Bayside Show / Mets game / Nabe Housewarming party
• Worked hard on location and played just as hard at night
• Caught up with old friends
• My parents and brother came to visit
• My brother and I went to game two of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium
• The game lasted over five hours and was freezing. The Yankees won. (!)
• I became totally engulfed in the MLB playoff season.
• Spent time with one of my best friends from high school.
• Enjoyed a delicious beer sampler at the Heartland Brewery.
• Missed game one of the World Series for a small small show with Gregory Alan Isakov.
• The show was bomb; the Yankees got bombed. Glad I went to the show.
• Watched the Yankees beat Pedro for game 2. (Ah, the memories)
• Watched Andy Pettitte throw a gutty performance to win game 3.
• Had to work on Halloween night for the second straight year.
• Which made this my third miserable Halloween in a row.
• Halloween is my favorite holiday.
November
• Went to the Prospect Park Zoo to visit with the aminals.
• Watched Johnny Damon steal two bases on one pitch to pretty much win game 4.
• Seriously. How amazing was that? One of the greatest plays I have ever seen…
• Went to a bar, drank a lot, and celebrated the Yankees’ 27th World Series Championship.
• Had a rough day at work the following day…
• Rented a bicycle and rode the circumference of lower Manhattan.
• And then the perimeter of Central Park.
• Had a delicious meal in Little Italy. Was accompanied by some really great people.
Which brings me to today. Nothing else too exciting going on. Less than a week left here in NYC. There’s a lot I want to do, but I’m also getting tired and ready to return to LA. Oh, and I have spent a lot of money. This place is expensive!
I can’t believe it’s mid-November already. I’m going to start working on a year-end music review. It’s been a really great year for music; it’ll be tough to determine my favorites!
Well, I am still on the East Coast. I returned to my hometown a few weeks ago to give a speech at the Orleans County Top Ten Dinner. I was quite humbled and honored to have been invited to such an event, and had a great time. A little weird – I recognized some of the kids from the baseball games I use to umpire or basketball camp I helped run.
I’ve spent the last few weeks catching up with old friends and spending time with my family. It’s almost like my home town is a time capsule. Everything stays the same. I was able to catch a concert in Buffalo with one of my best friends, and then made a long trip down to Lancaster to see another show. A few friends and I drove to Philly to see The National. One of the best shows of this year. First of all, The Electric Factory is an awesome venue, and The National had a mini orchestra with them which made the sound as full as possible. The lead singer’s voice is such a sexy, soothing, baritone…I could not believe what I was hearing.
So from Buffalo, to Philly, to Lancaster, I also swung by my college and said hello to a few familiar faces. Good times! Then I got the flu and there was no way I could get on an airplane. Now I’m stuck in the middle of nowhere for a few more days.
At any rate, I’m ready to return to Los Angeles. First order of business is getting my bike fixed and then Venice Beach bike riding time!
**Transcript of my speech**
Good evening. First of all, I would like thank you for inviting me to speak here tonight. It is an absolute honor and privilege to share my thoughts and experiences with the very place and community that has helped shape who I am.
A few years ago, I was backpacking around Southeast Asia. Me, small town American girl, was wandering around Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore like it was no big deal. This was after the fact that I had been living, speaking, and breathing in Japan for a few months. I was a little more than halfway through my year long term as an exchange student. Traveling had become as natural to me as throwing a baseball or driving a car. Get on a plane, fly to a foreign country, mill around. Be the minority. Eat strange foods. Figure out the transit system. Sleep on night trains. Sleep in hostels with strangers. Talk to strangers. Ride in taxis. Walk until you bleed.
After I returned to Japan from my not-so-typical spring break, everything started to hit me. Everyday, I would open my eyes and not believe what I saw in front of me. Funny to think, that not too long ago, I had never been further west than Buffalo. I grew up in a town where there is only one traffic light, a couple of sidewalks, and where most of our neighbors happen to be cornstalks. So, along with taking pictures, and making a documentary about my experiences, I began to reflect on a more personal level in a journal. And so, I’d like to share a little bit of what I wrote a few years ago.
March 25, 2007. “Journeys.”
There is this imaginary path in which we all flow along. The words that exit our mouths, the thoughts that enter our brains, the decision to go for it or to stay behind. Everything, everything, effects the path we take. The path is not violent, the path is not kind. The path merits no feelings or judgment. It just is. It is the vein through which our soul flows through. It is an infinite footprint. It is not one hundred percent controllable. It is a mystery. The path that got you here today is set in stone, forged with steel, and secured with the strongest force possible – time. However, the future’s path is a little more flexible. You may need to cross the river, but perhaps you don’t have the materials yet to build the bridge or raft. Maybe, you’ve lost the map. (It’s OK!) Maybe you can’t read it. Maybe you can’t find North. But that doesn’t stop you. And that shouldn’t stop you. You keep going because you have to. You keep going because you want to. You keep going because you are alive. The path is your life. Wandering to, or destined for, believe or not, you will always find your way there. Sometimes you look back; you may made a wrong turn. As hard as it is, you mustn’t dwell on the mistakes, but rather move forward. And those good times…oh boy, you just sit back for a second, take a deep breath, and put on a smile on that beautiful face of yours.
Sometimes I sit back and I laugh at myself. Is this really happening? It this is a joke? Is this a dream? How on earth, did I get here. And where on earth am I going?
Where am I going? I’m sure you’ve been asking yourself that question a lot lately. And oh my gosh, what am I going to be when I grow up. You’re going to college, or the workforce, or the military. You’re going to new places and meeting new faces.
You might be a little scared, a little excited, probably both. And you guys are smart, driven, talented people. And you’re going to grow up to be doctors, and lawyers, and business executives. And that’s great. Having goals is important. Academics are important. But, having fun is important too. Know that, if you find some great people and just live, the rest will come. If you have an opportunity to explore, take it. And you can go and you can hate it. And that’s OK. This place will still be here. And it probably won’t change too much. But, I think it’s important that you at least try. Step outside of your comfort zone. All you need is an open heart and an open mind. You’d be surprised at what you’re going to find.
One of my closest friends is an older man from Egypt. He has a wife and two wonderful kids. Oddly enough, we connected instantly. Our conversations would range from silly things like, how poorly we performed on our last Japanese exam, to very real things. He would tell me about the traditions involved in a Muslim wedding, his time in the Egyptian army, how his world viewed September 11th and so fourth. I shared what it was like to grow up in a small town, my thoughts on racial profiling in airports, and what I saw in both my future and the world as a whole. You can’t learn that in a classroom. That can’t happen through Facebook, or chatting online, or through watching TV. You have to go out and experience that for yourself.
Class of 2009, I wish you the very best of luck in your future endeavors. You’re going to work hard and you’re going to continue to excel above and beyond your wildest dreams. The world is waiting for you.
