Getting It
Part 1
Part 2
Before reading my three cents, you should check out Tim's note, followed by Tiffany's note. I'm piggybacking onto them, and just want to reiterate one point that the speakers said all week, that anyone can be a leader.
Tim pointed out that he was the camper in the spotlight when he was in JH. In Tiffany's note, she pointed out that she was the camper on the sidelines in JH. And me? I definitely wasn’t in the spotlight, but I wasn’t necessarily on the sidelines. Perhaps I was somewhere in the middle, and I grew into the light a bit more.
Using the three of us as examples, we clearly have different paths to our leadership roles and the styles that got us there. But one thing keeps us the same, and that is at some point realizing that you’re going to get more out of your time by serving and empowering others. Somewhere and somehow along our lines of development, we started to get a taste of “getting it”. And no matter where you think you stand now as an individual, you’re somewhere in-between the shadows and the spotlight.
And that shows anyone can be a leader.
We truly do all have it within our minds and bodies and hearts. I've seen it in many of you at TAF. It is just up to you to use it. Hopefully we spark the realization of your own potential and how much promise lays ahead of you in your lives. We all have wonderful strengths and qualities to share with not just TAF, but the world, that can make positive impacts on mankind, in unique and compassionate ways. Get it?
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The Slideshow
The songs we used, in order, were:
1. Alphaville - Forever Young (Dan Hamel mix)
2. Lifehouse - First Time
3. Syntax - Pride
4. Rob Thomas - Little Wonders
5. The Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight
The version of Forever Young used was randomly heard on NPR evening radio, which I was listening to because my iPod had died that morning. This was Wednesday night before TAF. I had just started to think about the week ahead when this song came on. I took it as a sign. Some things are just meant to be.
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The TAF Video
Keep an ear out for it. Hopefully it'll be ready in a few months.
I SPELLED TORTILLA TODAY IN LITERATI. IT WAS AWESOME.
No really. I'm awkwardly incredibly happy about laying down unique words like that without having to use an S or -ERS or -ING's. (395 might be my highest point total ever too)
Also, this doubly taunts Justin because a) He has cravings for Mexican food in Shanghai and b) he can't get on Yahoo! right now to play Literati. SO MAYBE YOU SHOULD JUST MOVE BACK TO THE STATES JUSTIN.
But then again, he won't know this because China blocks Blogger sometimes...
Damn. We all lose in the end then, don't we?
(I just realized 2 of my last 3 posts with images have been about me playing word games. I'm so hot.)
GIMPING!
After 5 days I finally decided to take pictures of my left ankle. And for the first time, I looking on the outer side and it was much more bruised and purple than I imagined.
This is the inside of my left ankle, which is what I pretty much only see. Based on the deep bruises and initial swelling, I kind of just assumed it was the worst part of the sprain. Apparently not!
The outer side of my ankle. ITS SO BIG AND PURPLE. The flash from my camera might mask some if it, but yea, its sick.
And lastly, the size difference between my left foot and right foot. Let me remind you, this is after 5 days and a considerable amount of swelling has gone down. Hah. I GOT OWNED.
I had the wonderful opportunity to take part in a TAF conference call tonight. As many of you know last year was my final year as PD, so it has been a little odd for me to not be thinking about TAF and JH 24/7 this time of the year. Normally I would be having conference calls all the time, but this has been my first TAF one in well, almost a year.
I spoke to the ED and PD's about what I could potentially do this year for TAF (if I can go), and then I hung around for a bit of their conversation afterwards. It was the smallest thing that touched me, but the PD's had a conversation over which 30-minute block of the morning schedule was the right one for breakfast. That is such small and minute detail in the grand scheme of a camp focused on growth and personal development, but this is what PD's do, two months before TAF no less. They spend their nights carefully crafting and shaping your experience.
And once you're like me and done as a PD, it's great seeing the other PD's caring and planning as much as you did. Lot's of love over those telephone lines.
Today is the one-week anniversary of me and my apartment. I've already had 5 overnight visitors, the Yang's, Roger, and Carolyn. It's been busy with work and hosting, but whatevs. I AM THE HOCHIE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. YES.
Also, it took about four weeks, but Michelle and I finally solved the Bill Clinton Sunday Crossword from the New York Times. BALLER.
For my own memory, I would just like to note that tonight was the night that Lebron James got ridiculous all over the Detroit Pistons. And that my uncle fell asleep, didn't see the game, and still is not impressed by Lebron.
But oh my. Lebron. You crazy.
I played a lot of Text Twist today.
I was originally aiming to break 200,000 points but I guess I overachieved. I think it is funny that I lost on the word "STYMIE". I thought it was that, but I kept hopelessly punching in STIMEY or STEIMY repeatedly to no avail, as the seconds ticked away. For those of you who don't know what it means -
sty·mie /ˈstaɪmi/[stahy-mee]
2. a situation or problem presenting such difficulties as to discourage or defeat any attempt to deal with or resolve it.
–verb (used with object)
3. to hinder, block, or thwart.
Perhaps the game was telling me to stop playing and sleep.
Tonight (in between rounds of Text Twist) I went to the Gilbert Ping Pong center in LA, because Will really wanted to play. On the drive there, I noticed my impending dilemna; Do I play hard and beat my boss in ping pong, or do I let him win and set him up for slams so he can feel even better?
I have played Will before, who is apparently good, and I beat him fairly well. But he really must have been rusty back then, so luckily my dilemna was solved in the fact that Will easily beat me all night. Yea. I'm a great employee.
Lastly, I am moving into my new apartment this weekend. In the shower just now, I realized that my life here in California so far has been akin to...The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air! Disregard the fact that I'm not from West Philly nor did I get into a fight with shady characters, but Uncle Terry is definitly an Uncle Carl, Aunt Lily is not only the Aunt BUT ALSO Jeffrey, and Mei Mei could be Tatyana Ali! What fun. Though I must say, Andrew is a little cooler than Carlton. So I guess these last two days are like the series finale. Though I'll be back for holiday specials (and laundry!).
I go to a great church in Orange County. It's called Rock Harbor, and it is pretty darn tootin' sweet.
This was a great sermon.
Today was a blogworthy day. But I begin with yesterday, or actually, the day before yesterday, Thursday. The production team I was working with all week was for a Walmart commercial. Now most people do not like Walmart already for the way they treat employees and whatnot, and so maybe this will not be surprising.
On days when we are filming, the hours usually start early, around 7AM-8AM, maybe 6AM in some cases. But oh no, not for mega-corporation Walmart. They wanted us to have our first shots going at 2AM, because any later in the day might cut into the business of ONE Walmart in the middle of nowhere and into the $100,000,000 they make daily as a company.
And so with first shot scheduled for 2AM, we had to arrive on set at 11PM. That means I had to wake up at 9PM, and drive 66 miles north of Los Angeles to the middle of nowhere Walmart, and start my day. So in order to do this, production went home early at 2pm on Thursday, so we could go home and "get some rest". I struggled to take a 3 hour nap.
And so the "day" started and we filmed at Walmart, and then had a company move a few miles away to the desert where we filmed all day. I got some serious raccoon eye-age from my sunglasses right now. All in all, I finally got home at 530PM, so for those of you keeping track at home, that was twenty hours from the time I left home and came back. I was even too tired to take pictures of food and message them to KLai to taunt her. What a shame. I managed to keep my sleep schedule intact and stayed up till 8PM, and then I slept for the most sound and solid 12 hours I have ever slept in my life.
And so I woke up and began my Saturday. A Cubs vs. Dodgers game was in the mix here, but before that, I had some important apartment matters to take care of. There was one really great candidate and I went back and checked it out this morning to take some photo's of because I forgot to the first time. I spoke to the managers a little bit, and during my tour, two other girls came in to look at the apartment too. GASP! I left soon after, and I was already seriously considering this place before I even came in the morning. So I had to act fast. I found out the girls were also very interested, and that they wanted to be told if I made any moves so they could out move me...but I was already in line waiting to make my money order for a deposit. And so I did it. I made the money order and took it back to the building managers and got it. So hooray. It is a two bedroom apartment, so I might be annoucing a roommate search soon. I'll post pictures some time as well.
So while this was all kind of rushed, and made me quite flustered, I think I'll be okay. The managers are really nice (an older Bulgarian couple), and the apartment is spacious and located well near the Los Feliz village, with trendy shops, a wide variety of cheap to good restaurants and cafes, and a Pinkberry. And LF is next to Hollywood, so my morning commutes are going to be easier.
And so I celeberated with my first Cub's game of the season, as they were visiting the Dodgers here in LA. The Cub's won 4-2, with back to back homers from Aramis and DeRosa hit near us. Combine that with a quick 2:30 hour game, and it was a great time. But more sun, and now my skin is even more tingly, and my raccoon face is even more apparent.
But yea. Apartment. Woohoo! Alex is coming to live with me for the summer next week. And then the visits begin with Roger! No really, all of you, come visit! Pictures later?
I recently spent two wonderful weeks in Illinois, splitting my time between Springfield and Champaign. It was one of my most rewarding trips in a long time if I don't count TAF's. Funnily enough though, I did feel a certain pre-TAF anxiousness and excitement prior to my arrival. TAF has always felt like "going home" to me, and I guess it should be no surprise that with the number of close friends at UIUC, it is another home.
It was good to be in Springfield and to spend time with my dad and my sister. Cheryl and I watched Spiderman 3 together (which was only okay), but the chance to go to the theatres with my sister was worth it. We used to go all the time together when we were younger, and I hope we can start again when we live in the same city. I got to see Steve and Adrienne too. It's nice to be able to just pick up where we left off, even if things have not always ended well or whatever and ever. Theres a lot of love there, and unlike most other things, I believe that will last.
And then a week in Champaign-Urbana. I basically lived it up and just spent as much quality time as I could with close friends. Everything worked out well in that I was able to see everyone I wanted to see often (though only one Erika playtime, boo Erika). Finals schedules seemed to work out and I got to just be around those I've missed being around. I hung out at the RSO, piano-ed with Marg, threw the baseball around with B-Roy, did crosswords on the Quad with Michelle, talked about Heart Motives with Lester, went to a CRH4 small group reunion, ate at Mandarin Wok and Woori Jib, made fun of Tina and Keelin, went to Grainger with Jessica, massaged Alex, Hello Hello Hello'd with Angie, listened to Jamie complain (and noticed that my darling also has a big head...) So you know, pretty much everything I did last year but packed into one week. So it was a very restoring and heartfelt few days. I even got to do some stuff for ITASA Remix! Though not as fun.
And when I left Champaign this time around, I really felt a sadness that I didn't feel when I left last Fall. I think it finally hit me this time because my image of the University of Illinois won't ever be the same with people gone. Jamie, Tina, Michelle, Marg, Ming, Keelin, they won't be there anymore, as well as other familiar faces in the crowd that made up my UIUC experience. But hey, that's how it is. But it's also why those times should be stored in memory to look back on. How often can you really live within walking distance of so many great friends? I guess that's why some people say college was the greatest time of their lives, though I still disagree. But it is a wonderful wonderful place and I hope I can visit again soon before all of my other close friends graduate and leave. And I hope all of you move to Los Angeles. Right now. Seriously. Do it. Live near me. We'll play and be all Hollywoodish.
I don't have any pictures that do justice to how wonderful my trip was (but I do have pictures of food that will soon be up on www.foodasaurs.com!). And to all of my friends that graduated last week, Congratulations! And to all of you who are not moving close to me in Los Angeles, you suck. I hope I can see you back at Illinois at least one more time in our lives, but for sure we will see each other outside of Illinois. Because of course, it is not where we are, but merely just being together anywhere, that matters.
MINDFREAKED.
After a conversation with Alex on Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and an argument of who is dreamier, him or jmraz, Alex posted this info about Mr. Levine:
Levine's major influences include The Beatles and Stevie Wonder, as well as The Police. His ex-girlfriend, model Kelly McKee, was featured in Maroon 5's This Love video. He has been friends with Jake Gyllenhaal since he was in kindergarten. He resides in the Hollywood Hills with close friend Gene Hong.[4]
quaggo rama: HE'S DOWN WITH ASIANS
No major reaction at first until I noticed the name Kelly McKee. AND THEN I REALIZED IT WAS THE HOT GIRL WHO HIT MY CAR A FEW MONTHS AGO. WHAT?! I REMEMBER THINKING SHE WAS A MODEL BECAUSE SHE WAS TALL AND SKINNY AND HOT BUT SHE REALLY IS A MODEL AND I FIND THIS ALL OUT MONTHS AFTER THE FACT AND...MINDFREAKED.
Anyways, I hope to write a long post on my recent and wonderful trip back to Illinois soon. Toodles.
Here at home sits my old and dusty desktop computer. The screensaver is every picture that I have taken or accumulated since the year 2000. While I type away on my newer laptop, some photos and faces catch my eye in the background on my old monitor, and I'll find myself staring at picture after picture and recalling old names, old faces, and old places.
It's a great personal joy for me, as these pictures are a visual timeline of my youth. The quality of the photos changed as technology did, and along with that, the faces of the people I spent the most time with changed, from group to group and place to place, as I grew older myself. I'll see pictures of friends who I haven't seen in years and I'll be sad. I'll see pictures of friends who I still know now and laugh at how young and thin we looked. I'll see pictures of my JH campers who have grown taller, older, and are turning into fine young men and women and feel old myself. And I'll see the many, many, many, MANY pictures of all the girls I have loved/liked/had crushes on, and I'll laugh (for being a creep and taking so many pictures of them). And I think it is good for someone to see all of these. To see who they spent time with, who used to be their closest friends in the world, who they used to be in love with, the different countries they went to, and how much youthfulness we all once had. Because the way I view things, we are all the products of what we were, where we were at, what we felt, and most importantly, who we were with.
This is one of those good times when I look back on a part of my life and am grateful for the decision I made to snap away. I slowed down when friends kept yelling at me for taking bad pictures of them all the time. But whatever, in seven years you'll laugh about these pictures and be glad I took them. So this is a warning that I am going to try to take many many photos in Illinois this upcoming week. Yes, I will try to give you warnings so you'll be ready. And hey, I'm even starting to think about upgrading yet again to an digital SLR. ISNT THAT EXCITING BRIAN?!?!!
I've missed out on a solid two years that could have been part of my digital timeline, so I am eager to start again. There have been too many lovely people and memorable places that I have been to just keep all the photographs and stillframes in my mind. I'm getting old. It's time to (again) record all of these things on (digital) film.
I saw Matt Leinart at Nordstroms today. I got really excited, and it was probably the first time I have felt really star-struck in LA.
I think most guys like me WOULD be more star struck by athletes though. We have a closer connection to them, ie: watching them all the time in games, on Sportscenter, reading about their bio's for fantasy sport purposes, etc, than we would for movie stars (usually).
So yea. Matt Leinart. He really is a lot dreamier in person too. Dreamy dreamy dreamy. Except Grace doesnt like his hairy armpits. Hah.
quagg o ram a: he is a good looking man
I agree.
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Hahaha...from Wikipedia:
"Leinart was born with strabismus (“crossed eyes”), as his left eye was not aligned correctly with his right. He underwent surgery when he was three years old and was fitted with special glasses to correct the problem, but the eyewear combined with Leinart's already-overweight frame to make him an easy target for ridicule at the hands of other children.[1] “I used to get made fun of for being cross-eyed. It's just a terrible thing because kids are so cruel to the fat kid, to the kid with the glasses. So I turned to sports,” he would later say.[2]"
I think I love him more now...
Another good Augustana concert tonight here in LA.
Off to ITASA tomorrow, where I will get to see some of my dear Illinois friends. That'll take place at Stanford, which will be followed by fundraisers in the Bay Area Sunday and Monday. Then I get two "down" days, where I will just probably work hardcore for Will, because Thursday and Friday will be spent filming an ESPN commercial (yes!). And then the next week might already be booked on another commercial project, followed soon after by a long due trip back to the Springfield for family and to the Champaign-Urbana to see more Illinois friends before they graduate.
Let's roll.
I was sent to do a pickup today at NBC-Universal Studios. I few good stories came from this. First, like all studios, security is pretty tight so I had to give my drivers license at the guard gate and wait for a pass, etc. Unfortunately, my Coordinator had yet to call to inform them that I was coming, so the security guard, and older gentleman about 60 years old, looked at me with a dead blank stare and said, "I can't let you in, you don't have a pass." And because my Coordinator Paul likes to mess with me, and has been for the past few days, I thought the security guard was messing with me too.
So I just smiled at him with a silly little grin. And he kept staring back at me with a dead blank. And I kind of giggled. And then 10 seconds ticked by. And I realized he was not kidding. And so I called Paul and got the clearance etc etc etc. The guard must have thought I was an idiot.
So anyways, I drove into the lot to find the building I needed to go to, and when I saw it, I just pulled into the first open spot I saw. But as I turned into the parking spot, I saw a sign that said, "RESERVED FOR J. CAMERON". Oops. I probably shouldn't park in his spot. He might be kind of important.
The building itself was also a maze of hallways, but in my lost confusion, I walked by the office for the production/writing staff of The Black Donnellys. It was cool. But then I came home and found out the show had been cancelled. Which sucks.
So yea, that was my trip to NBC-Universal Studios. As I left, I was tempted to go into the Studio Store to snag some Friday Night Lights and The Office gear, but it was across from the security guard station and I didnt want the old man to see me again.
Day 2 of 2 for filming T-Mobile commercials. I've always said that there is food aplenty in film production. To express this better, I kept track of what I ate today (in the form of text messages to Klai to mock her for not being able to eat everything I was able to eat, wahahahaha!).
8:30- A plate of corned beef hash, two eggs, side of bacon, side of sausage, half of a danish from the catering service.
10:00- Craft service guy comes around with Odwalla juices and vitamin juice shots.
10:45- Getting hungry again, head to craft service trailer for a blueberry muffin and some nuts. time
11:30- Craft makes yogurt parfaits. And remember, it's only 11:30. We're not even close to our scheduled lunch break.
12:45- Turkey and salami sandwich on wheat with provolone, made in craft service trailer. This was probably a mistake because fifteen minutes later...
1:00- Crafty comes around with a Greek tray! Complete with falafels, dolmas, pita bread, pita chips, hummus, tzatzki sauce, etc. I ate a lot of falafels. They were good.
2:15- Deli tray! Complete with gourmet meats and cheeses. The highlight for the crew usually. I held back though, and only had a few crackers, spicy pepperoni slices, and grilled salmon strips.
3:15- Feeling really full, it was lunch time. Catering offered up some skirt steak kabobs, steamed vegetables, and a small salad. I passed on the chicken and salmon and all of desserts because well, I'm not a pig, geez. But yea no really, I ate about 1/10th of what they served.
We finished filming about 2 and a half hours later. So no more food. But yea, all of that, in a span of seven hours. Film production is awesome.
To add, I think the caterers are pretty mindful of not wasting the food, so don't worry. They know there are hungry people out there.
Anyways, tonight for dinner I only ate half of an apple. Good for me.