My Undergrad Graduation Ceremony – Part 2 (The Morning)

May 8, 2022

Picking up from yesterday –

It was kind of interesting coming in as someone who hadn’t actually been on campus in many years. I’d been away since 2010, and I’d finished wholly remotely over the pandemic, and hadn’t been in undergrad for 9 months.

It’s a big enough school that there were enough people who didn’t know each other, that I didn’t feel I was completely unique in that… But we were separated my major, so many people knew at least someone else in our little groups.

Not me though!

I did have fun chatting people up though. And then, as I am balancing on the intersection of wanting tons of representation of women everywhere, but also wanting to be ‘so special’ since barely any women dual major in Music Production & Engineering and Electronic Production & Design, I was curious if perhaps I’d be the only girl in the small group of people who are dual majors in such technical things.

And there was one other girl.

Considering I lean more toward the side of wanting more representation than wanting to be ‘special,’ I was happy for her.

So, we were all led back to this kind of ‘holding area’ place, and then someone with a clipboard came through and was like “tassels on the left! Tassels on the left everybody!”

Now, I’d looked it up, and everything I saw said tassels are supposed to start on the right and be moved to the left. And all of us were kind of looking at each other unsure as some voices kind of murmured that.

It is sort of funny to me that it could’ve been literally anyone telling us that. Like, just because someone has a clipboard doesn’t necessarily mean they’re an authority.

I stubbornly kept mine on the right and was like “I’ll figure this out later.”

So, anyway, we were all led into the seating.

As soon as I saw my dad, I waved like a 5-year-old at kindergarten graduation.

We sat, and you know, it was a graduation ceremony, as you’d expect. Speeches (which my dad seemed to love, as he kept quoting the jokes and things later, which I found endearing) were given.

It was cute because they kept referring to us as “Gen Z,” and it’s like, “yep. Mmm hmmm. This is me. Part of the new generation. Absolutely definitely not some graduate in my 30s hahaha.”

So, I liked feeling young for a hot second, and feeling all the hope around me.

As we walked up, they’d given us buttons with our numbers on them to stay in line. We had to have them attached to our robes. I’d taken mine off when I sat down, as we were clearly in order at that point.

But someone at the side of the stage was there to collect them. So, I guess I didn’t have to worry that they were gonna have me go on stage with a button, but oh well, I got rid of mine early.

And then I kept my tassel on the right for a long side, but the stage configuration was ‘backwards’ from how you’d expect it to be at a graduation, like we walked the opposite way it would usually be set-up. (I don’t know why. I’m assuming there was a reason, but who knows.)

Anyway, we’d pass official Berklee people along the way and they would tell everyone to put the tassel on the right. The person at the last station would physically move it if you had it on the right. So, I just put it in the back.

I didn’t want it on the left early! That doesn’t make any sense. (I may be too much of a stubborn person, but whatever.

Anyway, I’ll pick up here tomorrow!

My Undergrad Graduation Ceremony – Part 1 (The Morning)

May 7, 2022

(I technically already graduated in August, but) here we are!

When I walked out of my hotel, I saw this other girl in the same regalia, so we decided to jump in the uber together, which I thought was fun!

One thing I thought was kind of hilarious was that all of our paperwork said over and over that basically we BETTER NOT be late. And we had to be there something like two ish hours(?) early to the venue. And if we were even a MINUTE late to that time, they were going to close and lock the doors and it was game over for us.

Now, realistically, I knew that wasn’t gonna happen. Let’s get real.

Life happens. Traffic. Also, in that whole two hours, nobody’s gonna sneak away to use the bathroom or something? Why couldn’t a late person come in with them?

They’re not gonna let someone not graduate just because they’re not absurdly early.

My guess was, they asked us to be absurdly early, so that they could be absolutely certain that even IF things happened, we’d still be more than on time.

So, even though my logical mind knew they were gonna let us in…

I wasn’t taking any chances.

I got there before the ‘deadline’. And of COURSE I saw a ton more people coming in over the next hour and a half or whatever it was, before we moved everybody back to the holding area.

Like, dang. If I’d been this confident things would’ve been okay, I would’ve stayed at the hotel and gotten my hair done.

Over the years, I hadn’t thought all *that* much about my graduation ceremony. I hadn’t had giant dreams about what I would wear and everything. So, I wasn’t too wrapped up in those details.

I had considered it a little. And I had looked into getting a graduation cap done up all cutely. (I had thought maybe like a Kanye-West-Graduation-album thing… I mean, he’s maybe ‘problematic’ in some ways, but I loved him for a time, and his first album titles are college themed.)

I also, as time got closer, thought about getting something like “Women’s rights are human rights,” since I looooove Hillary Rodham Clinton, and all of the rumors are swirling real hard that Roe v Wade is gonna be overturned.

But alas, I just couldn’t get it together. I even tried to do it myself while I was hanging at a hotel in Boston, but maaaaaan am I not the type of crafty needed to make my own graduation cap.

I also kinda wanted some perfect dress, but my weight’s been fluctuating during the pandemic, and I’m living out of a suitcase, coming from Egypt, and New York, and on my way to Morocco after this.

So, I didn’t have some perfectly coiffed thing.

On the one hand, I should have, because this has been like ~ 13 years in the making. On the other hand, it’s just cool to be done. I think I could’ve showed up wrapped in a potato sack and my family would’ve still probably lost their minds with happiness. They were just happy to be there, even if I’d had spiders in my hair. Like, it literally didn’t matter what I looked like to them.

And I had a cute little outfit on anyway. Maybe not a full on grad dress-up thing, but I had my go-to pink sweater and white skirt.

So, anyway, I throw on clothes that are good enough and make-up that’s good enough, and I don’t really do anything with my hair, since it’s in a grad cap.

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow!

‘Sneaking In’ [Not Really] to the 2022 Graduation Ceremony – Part 2 (My Sweet, Sweet Technicality)

May 6, 2022

Picking up from last time –

So, at Berklee, they state about a billion times over that if you don’t fill out paperwork in time, you won’t be going to the graduation ceremony. They say they’re never gonna assume anything. You have to fill out your intent to graduate.

Well, I definitely made sure not to fill out an intent to go to graduation in 2021, because I wanted the 2022 in-person ceremony.

And then I filled things out as soon as they came out for 2022’s ceremony. But then I got an email that I should’ve already walked.

Well, I knew I had a little technicality in my pocket, which I relied on, and thankfully got by on.

So, the rule is as long as you have 16 credits or fewer in the summer, you can apply to walk in May’s ceremony.

WELL!

Going into summer of 2022, I *barely* didn’t reach the threshold.

I had my 3-credit community college class that still hadn’t finished, so that didn’t count yet. I still had ~ 10 credits left of actual schooling I needed, AND, potentially the most important part of this technicality to work – I had a couple of “incompletes” that still needed to be accounted for, for some of my current grades.

(For instance, I had taken two saxophone lessons in one semester, because it was necessary to have two more to graduate. And I knew with final projects in my major, I didn’t want to have my toughest jury of the final level of an instrument I don’t play religiously anymore.

And the chair thought the best idea was to go ahead and take them both in the same semester, but not do both of the juries in the final week, and wait until the summer, so I had a little extra time for the final level (which I was happy to get on board with).)

[I also had an incomplete in a physical computing class, because there had been some issues trying to do all the physical computing stuff while remote. I ultimately did obviously finish and pass, but I was given a little extra time, just because of the nature of the pandemic, and a new skill, and shipping delay times, etc.]

So… yeah, some things in the incomplete world, a community college class not yet accounted for, plus the actual credits I needed.

Now, when you look at my transcript, you see I didn’t take 16 credits in the summer, and I still graduated. So at first glance, it looks like I met the threshold. But if you look at what was happening at the time, I just barely didn’t.

And my argument was basically, “you can’t have it both ways. You can have it so that had I applied at the time, I had more than 16 credits, so I did not meet the requirements and would have to walk in 2022, to tell me now that I was supposed to walk in 2021.”

Their argument was sort of “*light grumble grumble* I mean, obviously in this case, you were an exception and as long as you were passing your community college class and your professors expected that your incompletes would be successfully completed, you could’ve walked.”

Welp! I followed the rules! I didn’t ask for an exception because I didn’t want one. the rules say what the rules say. Where’s my cap and gown, baaaaaabyyyyyyyy?

(Obviously I was not that obnoxious.)

But yeah, I beat the system! I got my 2022 in-person graduation like 9 months later. And here we are! I’m sure I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow!

‘Sneaking In’ [Not Really] to the 2022 Graduation Ceremony [This Is An Over-explanation, But I Care About All These Silly Technical Details] – Part 1 (Setting the Scene)

May 5, 2022

Okay, so I’m definitely not actually ‘sneaking in’. I am actually officially in tomorrow’s ceremony.

But I’m just doing this little explainer as to why, really fast.

Because I officially graduated in August 2021 (at the end of summer 2021), teeeechnically, I was supposed to graduate in May 2021 ceremony.

BUT… it was virtual and I didn’t want to do that.

Also, virtualness aside, I had SO. MUCH. WORK. to do in the summer of 2021. I had to take the ‘capstone’ class in BOTH of my majors and BOTH of my minors.

How anti-climatic would it have felt to get to go to graduation, just to then have to do all that WORK?

I wanted to be done, done, done and have graduation be a *celebration*. Tbh, I think they should let people pick which one they’d rather choose if they’re a summer graduate. I don’t think anyone should have their only option, if they want to attend a graduation, to be attending the ceremony before the degree is actually granted, especially as anything could happen that could make you not finish in the summer (family emergency, heath emergency, you end up stuck out of the country, etc etc etc).

But I digress. I don’t make the policies. I don’t work for Berklee. All I can do is try to get the policies to work for me.

A long time ago, when I was in college the first time around, I took CLEP tests for every liberal arts class you could pass out of. And I passed them all – except one.

I was sick one of the weeks I was taking one of the classes, but I didn’t want to not to it, because I was doing so well at knocking them out. So, I went anyway, but was just tired and foggy brain and whatever (also, it was world history – something I’m not nearly as strong in as say English – something which I did pass), so maybe I wouldn’t have passed even had I not been sick!

Either way, whatever the reason, I didn’t pass it. You can take the CLEP again (in, I think 6 months from your original test), but I ultimately didn’t at the time… I think because I had started the whole heart-problem, in-and-out-of-the-hospital thing. Then I quit school. And then it didn’t matter anymore. So, 3 credits, or one CLEP test was unspoken for.

And instead of studying for a test, I ultimately decided to just take a class at a local LA community college. It was super cheap, since I’m a resident. I got to take a class focused in the history of racism (as it just had to be a history class), which was something worthwhile to study.

So, I was slated to finish that class in June 2021. (The LA Community College schedule was different from Berklee, so I was finishing that one after summer Berklee semester had already started.)

For various reasons, I sorta kinda wanted to hold back officially transferring that class onto my transcript.

I was afraid to lose out on certain perks of being an ‘undergrad student’ (various things you could apply to), and so I wanted to wait and not ‘officially’ graduate until like May 2022 – and I knew someone [not Berklee related, but another school] who did go to a program for college graduates, but didn’t get college ‘officially’ squared away until later.

And so I thought maybe that could be me! I could move to the next program, and as long as it’s all worked out before I actually graduate grad school, it’ll be fine, right?

Well, no. Berklee was having none of that haha. So, I would have to make sure everything was squared away by the end of the summer, which is fine and reasonable. Of course in general, you should actually have to fully finish your undergrad before you start your master’s.

But if I wanted to not qualify for graduation, I was going to have to fall in a special sort of ‘golden window,’ where everything was squared away by August but NOT by early June. And luckily(!) that’s exactly what happened!

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow!

My 1st Egypt Trip – Day 2 – Exhausted, But Back At The Hotel in Giza

May 4, 2022

Picking up from yesterday –

I did mention to them that I don’t have a lot of clothes that actually cover me head to toe, and so really all I had pants-wise that was acceptable in Egypt was one pair of black pants. And it was oh so hot.

So, they also took me to a store where I bought 3 new skirts I liked in different colors.

(To my knowledge, they got a kickback on anything I bought at any place they took me to, as that’s the gist of how Egypt works. And I actually think that’s maybe part of the reason they didn’t want to go to the Africa Safari Park place, because that’s like a main tourist attraction, not a little mom & pop place, so I don’t think they would get a kickback on that? Anyway, whatever. Maybe I’m too paranoid, or as we’ll see from what a mark I was on this trip, I’m never paranoid enough.)

Aaaaaaaaaaaanyway, I get back to the hotel.

He asks me at some point if I liked the tour and I’m like “yep, great, thanks!” because I don’t want to cause trouble, or get a woman in trouble. Like, realistically it wasn’t great. I felt super pressured at the perfume place. They blew off the idea of riding around the safari, even though I was supposed to have the car for a day and we got back early enough (and they picked me up late enough) that we definitely should’ve had more time. I didn’t like how there had to be a huge discussion about masks, after they’d already agreed to it prior to me booking the day (because I always asked before I booked or paid for anything, as being with guides who wore masks was very important to me).

So then after I try to put on a smiley face and not complain at all, the woman sees me again and is like “are you happy? [The guy] says you look tired. And I’m like “all is fine. I’m fine, thanks.”

I dunno. There’s like this super pressure to be happy all the time. A running theme of my trip to Egypt is that I’m always depleted by the time I get back to the hotel, because a) it’s super hot and b) it feels like over and over people take me on tours full of pressure and not adventure, but then ask me 14,000 times if I’m happy because they’re obsessed with being happy, but they don’t do anything to really make people happy – or at least that was my experience on this specific tour, but we’ll get to that more later.

(Oh, also, one random thing. So many people tell you to say you’re not American, because they say it opens up a lot more issues for you. Everyone’s always like “if the cops stop you, say you’re Canadian.” But like… then what am I gonna do, if they ask for my passport?!)

So, anyone one other detail of the day, I tell the hotel guy I want to pay for everything before I check out. I just want to get it all done now, because I’m not gonna have access to any more cash. (And this tiny place of course wants me to use cash.)

I still haven’t exchanged all my Euros, because some places take Euros in Egypt, and there’s an exchange fee and everything. So, it’d be easier to not exchange it all, if I don’t have to.

So, me and the guy who runs this hotel sit down and he does the math of my nights of stay, the guide/driver from Alexandria, and the car ride to the hotel from the airport, and what the car ride will be back. And I verify “we haven’t forgotten anything, right? I want to make sure I’m fully paid.”

He says out loud everything one more time. It includes everything for the stay, including getting back to the airport. We convert part of it to Euros (to get rid of my Euros). We’re looking at it on google conversion. We count the Euros and Egyptian pounds together, out loud. We agree he has all the money for my entire stay, the drive from Alexandria, and the airport rides to and from. Everything is good. And then I’m in my room for the night for sleep and zoom class.

[I bring up this money story because it will be important later. Obviously, as I’m sure you can see, something goes wrong. Don’t worry. It’s not as bad as you think. But it’s not the best.]

And this is where I’ll pick up soon – after we get through stuff about undergrad graduation!

My 1st Egypt Trip – Day 2 – The Perfume Store Trap

May 3, 2022

Picking up from last time –

Also, sorry because the trip to Egypt was overall a total mess, and I can’t tell if these posts are coming off as like negative/annoyed/bad, or like silly/ridiculous/boy-what-a-ride.

Like, I’m hoping we’re enjoying them and it seems bad in a crazy way, not in a “grrrrrr, ‘Karen’ way or whatever.

But anyway, let the craziness continue!

So, we get back to Giza.

And on the way from Alexandria to Giza, the woman who was the guide was sort of making fun of me a little for making sure her and the driver would wear masks before I booked. (I’m still trying to be Covid safe, and if we’re gonna be in the care for a few hours or more, like let’s be safe, right?!)

So, anyway, she’s making fun of my affinity for masks WHILE she’s like coughing up a lung.

Then she says she’s sure she’s only coughing because she’s wearing a mask and isn’t used to it, and somehow it’s making her cough.

So, we end up getting on the subject of her cough and allergies, and somehow that transitions to talking about this amazing place she knows that has oils and stuff, and it’s ‘so good for your sinuses’ and whatever, and so helpful.

So, she said they were gonna take me to the shop, so I could see what she was talking about

Now, I didn’t have anything special to do/get to. I was just chillin’ in Egypt. So, I was fine to go. And I thought we were mainly going for her.

No. I was stupid.

That’s really the headline of the Egypt trip, I think. “I was stupid” haha

Just over and over again. But you’ll certainly see more as the trip goes on.

So, I think we’re just like going in this store, where we’ll have a look around. But it’s not a “store” in the sense of how I think of the word store. You can’t just look around and then walk out.

They sit you down. They give you tea (even when I said I didn’t want to drink any, as I didn’t want to take my mask off indoors). They give you a whole presentation and explain everything to you.

I really didn’t want to buy anything. I’ve never had a good sense of smell my whole life. So, buying scents doesn’t make any sense.

They said a normal bottle was like $200 [US]. And these bottles were not big! It’s like $200, for smells?! So, I said no thanks. They offered a discount. I said no. They offered half a bottle, then, for I think like $75?

I finally just tried to tip them $10, so I could get out of there. But then they launched into this whole thing of how they absolutely couldn’t accept tips. It wasn’t in the culture. So, like, it was rude to not give them anything for their time. But they said I couldn’t give them just a tip – even though it seemed like literally their store they owned, so not a rule from a manager.

But I don’t want to be like uncaring about other countries’ cultures. But I’m also confused. So, I finally break down and buy the smallest thing I can convince them to sell me – a small bottle that’s maybe what we would think of as like a large sample size for $25.

Just an absolute unbelievable waste of money, but whatever. I just want to get out of there. And it’s ‘only’ $25 (even though obviously money can add up and who wants to spend $25 on something they absolutely will never use)?

Anyway, this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow!

My 1st Egypt Trip – Day 2 – Last Day in Alexandria

May 1, 2022

Picking up from yesterday –

So, after scuba diving, a different person picked me up. (I’m gonna get into all that when we tell the wild story about the hotel.)

Sadly, the library of Alexandria, which is like the most famous thing there, was closed. So, we went to the last main tourist side I hadn’t seen yet, which was Kom el-Dikka, which is like an amphitheater.

There was nothing really to write home about about that, we just kinda walked out. The woman who was taking me around was telling me what it was like to grow up in a Muslim country, and how she didn’t go to school with boys, etc.

And I asked if it felt stifling to have so many rules, but she said it didn’t bother her at all. I guess so often we just compare things to what we’re used to. It’s hard to have a truly just blank canvas of what life could be or what we want. I think we’re all kinda like “yeah, it was totally fine.” Like when people from Asia or Europe talk to us (Americans) about things that they’d be bothered by, it’s kinda like “I dunno, I’m used to [xyz].”

But anyway, yeah, so after the amphitheater, she wanted to stop by this dessert place that she says she always stops in, anytime she’s in Alexandria, as it’s the best. So, that was cool. And while we were there, I got $3 shoes from a street vendor that were awesome. They did fall apart right after the trip, but how long can you really expect $3 shoes to last?

Then we rode back to Giza. And we passed this giant fancy building. When I asked what it was, it was a prion! I’d love to know what Egyptian prison looks like inside, because outside it looks super fancy.

We also passed “Africa Safari Park.” And I asked if we could go, but they didn’t want to.

Now, I think this is probably important to be clear about what you’re buying/getting anywhere you go, but I think *especially* in Egypt where everything felt too fluid or weird, in many ways (at least for me, on this specific trip), you really have to be like very specific in what you’re buying.

Because I had paid for day with a car and guide. And the plan was for them to come to Alexandria and show me around Alexandria, and then we make our way back to Giza, and maybe see some things in Giza, if there’s time.

I had paid like a flat fee for the ‘day’. But what does day mean? Like, is it a number of hours? If we find something cool, can we stop off and do it? We hadn’t completely decided on what things we’d do in Alexandria, but considering I’d done most of them and one was closed, we spent less time in Alexandria then they thought. So, I didn’t push going to the safari, but I would’ve liked to, and I think we should’ve gotten to!

Like, they were supposed to be a driver and guide I had for the *day* to take me around – not just a service to get me from Alexandria to Giza (which the fancy hotel in Alexandria actually offered for less money, and tbh, I should’ve just done that, looking back, but whatever).

[We’ll get there later, but I ultimately got my Covid test to go back to the States at a Ritz Carlton, and they had cars you could rent by a specific number of hours, and I wish I would’ve done that rather than this unspecific ‘for the day’ stuff.]

So, anyway, we skipped the safari in favor of… shopping. Shopping in Giza.

And I’ll pick up here next tim!

My 1st Egypt Trip – Day 2 – Scuba Diving In Alexandria

April 30, 2022

Picking up from yesterday –

Okay, so thus far, every time I’ve gone scuba diving, the beginning part has been super chill.

And it’s not that this was specifically super un-chill –

But did you know that in Alexandria, when you go scuba diving, you have to stop the boat on this little dock-type place where the police are set up and you have to give paperwork and IDs for everyone in the boat.

They’re trying to make sure you don’t escape Egypt!

‘Cause you’re at the edge of the country, baby! If you just keep going, you’re in Asia!

And they don’t want people who aren’t supposed to be leaving to be leaving.

So, then, we went diving in the underwater ruins.

The visibility there is so rough that the diver I was with held onto me the whole time so we didn’t lose each other. (It was really hard to see.)

But we did get to see some of the ruins of the old lighthouse/ancient city.

And I was able to get another pic on a boat with the castle in the background (since the castle was blurry in the other one).

And that’s pretty much it. Not a ton to write home about for this one. I couldn’t find a single woman scuba diving instructor in Alexandria, and I’m trying to get all my new certifications from women. (So, no new certifications.) So, we just had a lil’ dive, went back and grabbed our IDs and called it a day.

I headed back to the hotel, and then it was back to Giza!

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

My 1st Egypt Trip – Day 2 – The Scuba Diving Adventure Begins

April 29, 2022

Picking up from yesterday –

So, the main reason I even went up Alexandria is because if I was going all the way to Africa for the first time, I wanted to scuba dive in another continent.

Also, just in general, if I’m going to a country with water around, i wanna dive.

I heard the best diving is in Dahab, but with a 4-day trip, the time constraints were kinda hard (since Dahab is farther). So, Alexandria it was.

I was told they would pick me up in the morning and take me to the dive place.

That’s super nice of them – picking me up from my hotel.

I’d been warned many times that Egypt is a Muslim country and you’re gonna wanna cover up.

But I was leaving early in the morning before anyone was really awake. And I figured, “it’s just the scuba people, and obviously we’re all gonna be in swimsuits. So, I’m just gonna wear my swimsuit and a towel wrapped around me. I’ll jump in van/car/whatever, and then as soon as we get to the dive shop, I’ll put on a wetsuit. I won’t really be anywhere out in the wild where I’m being sort of ‘revealing’.”

Welp.

I was wrong.

They were waiting in the lobby and I walked outside with them, thinking we were about to get in a vehicle, but no.

When they came to “pick me up,” it was a guy who was going to grab an uber, but I guess had trouble finding one at that time in the morning.

So, they walked me across this super major busy street to where we could try to hail a cab.

And cars were honking like wild, and men were hollering out of their windows. I felt preeeeeetty uncomfortable

And it was sort of crazy, because I didn’t even think I was showing all THAT much. I had a giant towel wrapped around me. From my knees to my underarms were covered in towel. (And I obv had a bathing suit on beneath that, which you could see above the towel.)

But in Egypt where I never saw women showing skin (or hair, really, and of course I wasn’t wearing a hijab to go scuba diving), I was like giving a show I guess, on the side of the road.

Then we got in this JANKY cab where like the seatbelts were broken and the seats had padding come out of them. And the cab driver was seemingly saying stuff about me just based on his inflection and looks and hand gestures, and the person who came to pick me up verified the guy was talking about me and what I was/wasn’t wearing.

And then we finally got to the scuba shop, and this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

My 1st Egypt Trip – Day 1 Continued – The Tourist Stuff in Alexandria

April 28, 2022

Picking up from last time –

Okay, I’ve been kinda down on Egypt, so before we get to anything else that wasn’t great, let’s start with my favorite attraction which was Pompey’s Pillar.

It’s not that the pillar itself had any special significance to me. It’s more just that I met this SUPER nice couple there. They were celebrating the husband’s 40th birthday. They seemed so fun and I loved their vibe.

We talked for a little while about their trip and everything. And I tried to take the perfect photo of them, using the panorama (up and down) and everything, so I could get the whole pillar in there. They seemed to really like it, so I hope they did!

I also stopped at Fort Qaitbey, which was sprawling and nice.

Then I took a little boat ride around it. And then it was funny because one of the guys offered to take my picture, but he put it on portrait mode, so the castle in the background is like extraordinarily blurry.

And I guess it was nice of him to offer to take a pic at all (although I was paying him to take me around haha), but yeah, just practically everything in this Egypt trip went a little wrong.

I also went to the Catacombs. (Side note: I’m lucky I’m very able-bodied. Egypt has a ton of unstable surfaces and winding places. I don’t know how I would’ve gotten around had I had any issues walking.

I’m sure people figure it out. But just FYI, the better health you are, the better, in Egypt, it seems to me.)

Also, I’d been warned before I went that there were gonna be dogs everywhere, and to maybe even get a rabies shot.

I planned the trip so last minute, I ultimately didn’t have time for a rabies shot. But man were there absolutely dogs EVERYWHERE.

Dogs outside my hotel in Giza. Dogs on the street. Dogs in the catacombs (everywhere you turned in the catacombs).

(Dogs are like my worst nightmare.)

Egypt is not my country, really, I don’t think…

Nonetheless, I’m there for a few more days!

BUT I did, at my hotel, have awesome food at the hotel restaurant. So, that was really nice.

(And they had these cool fancy old hotel elevators on some kind of pulley(?) system or something.)

The night, overall was pretty good [except for arguing with the company who’d sent me the driver, but we’ll get into that later].

And I’ll talk about scuba diving (what I went to Alexandria for) tomorrow!

My 1st Egypt Trip – Day 1 Continued – The First Country Where I Felt I Truly Struggled

April 27, 2022

Picking up from yesterday –

I don’t know if this post is necessary, and you can skip it. (I mean, you can skip any you want haha). But, it was really kinda lonely in Egypt feeling SO like I didn’t know what was going on.

It made me imagine what it must be like for little toddlers running around the world having no idea what’s going on. No wonder they’re on edge all the time.

As I mentioned, I was being carted from tourist attraction to tourist attraction, really having no great sense of where I was. Just kind of like park and point.

I feeeeeeeel like I’ve done a fair amount of international travel. Like it sort of feels that way in my heart haha.

So, I’m like “yeah, I know how to navigate the world.” But I don’t know if that’s true, really.

Sure, I hung out in Mexico for a few months, but staffed on a TV crew. So, like everyone I was with spoke English. And we mainly stayed in areas that had tons of English speaking people.

And for the most part, even in other countries, I went to places that had a lot of English speaking people.

So, even though I like independence of going around and seeing stuff, it felt kind of isolating walking around seeing some signs without English translations, and not having an English-speaking guide.

I was just guessing, using google, and sometimes finding people who did speak English.

All that to say, I maybe wish I would’ve booked a tour or something (but in my defense, I was supposed to have an English speaking driver!).

Anyway, I’ll finally get into the tourist stuff I did tomorrow.

My 1st Egypt Trip – Day 1 Continued – Just One Last Crazy Thing About The Drive To Alexandria

April 26, 2022

Picking up from yesterday –

I just had to tell one last wild thing, which is –

So, I’m in this car with someone with whom I basically cannot communicate. None of my questions are being answered, ostensibly because he can’t understand me.

It’s hard to convince him to go on any path except the one he has (which luckily was tourist destinations, but like to convince him to go to the hotel so I could exchange money was a whole thing).

I didn’t have much local currency at all, as money usually helps most situations, and I didn’t have it. (But I also did? Because I had Euros, so not to say he’d be trying to kidnap me, but I better not get kidnapped haha.)

And I’d seen some people on Tik Tok talking about how dangerous Egypt is. (Now clearly, I didn’t take those random account of dangerousness seriously enough to not go, but still.)

And THEN on top of all of that, the driver kept getting lost in Alexandria and talking to strangers. And he rolled down the window, and started talking in Arabic with this local man.

And then the man GOT IN THE CAR to help this dude navigate around.

So, it’s just now these two strange men, and when I’m trying to ask kinda like “hi, who are you?” Neither of them speak English.

I mean, I was in an area with a lot of people. I didn’t actually think I was in any real, true danger.

But like what a ride that we’re just picking up strangers on the street and I can’t communicate with anybody.

And here’s where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

My 1st Egypt Trip – Day 1 Continued – It Continues To Be Hard To Navigate

April 25, 2022

Picking up from yesterday –

So, he just keeps trying to drive me around. I can’t find a way to explain to him the concept that I need to exchange my money.

So, I finally just start showing him the address of the hotel where I’m gonna be staying that night.

And I just keep pointing at it, and ultimately he takes me there.

That hotel in Alexandria was the only ‘luxurious’ thing I really ‘splurged’ on during the trip. And I specifically did that because I wanted a place that if anything happened would probably be able to help me, and that there probably would be people who spoke English there.

There WERE people who spoke English there, and asked if they could tell me where to exchange my money. And they could.

I tried to explain to the driver, but he still didn’t understand. So, I just typed the name of the place they told me to go into google maps, and we made it there.

By the time all of this happened, everything was actually closed for the day.

So, the driver left, and I settled in for the night at Paradise Inn Windsor Plaza Hotel, which was awesome!

And I’ll pick up here tomorrow.

My 1st Egypt Trip – Day 1 Continued – Also My Debit Card Doesn’t Work

April 24, 2022

Picking up from yesterday –

Literally AS I was boarding the plane from the States to Paris (my layover), I got a call from my bank that there had been fraud on my card.

I had hoped it was just going to be buying international plane tickets, and that I could say “oh that’s me!”

But no. Somehow someone did get my number and spent it on like android stuff (which obviously this iPhone girl would never use) in a state I’ve never spent any time in.

I don’t generally take cash with me to foreign countries, because it seems much easier, and like you lose less money if you just take it out of the ATMs when you get there, rather than trying to exchange.

So, I have NO cash on me. And they have to close my card. And I can’t even ask them to keep it open long enough for me to get American dollars at some ATM in the airport, because I am like boarding the plane as this is happening. There’s no running around LAX for me.

What they were able to do was put the info for my new one in my Apple Wallet. So, at my layover in Paris, I was able to get some cash out of an ATM. (Tbh, looking back, I wish I would’ve taken a little more out just to be totally sure I could cover every single thing I did in that country, if I wanted… I guess I just wasn’t thinking of the number of things that wouldn’t take cards, or that there would be no ATMs (in any of the places I went) that had the touch thing.)

So, anyway, I had practically only Euros, is basically what I’m saying with all this.

(I say practically, because you do have to get a little sticker thing for your passport when you get there. It costs something like $25. I paid in Euros and got change in Egyptian pounds.)

So, I had a LITTLE money in Egyptian currency, but like… not a lot.

Granted, many things in Egypt don’t cost much at all. But, still. I wanted to have more money.

So, we went to a few small museum-y type things that I had enough cash to get through. And I’m trying so hard to explain to him through like a google translate app or something that I want to go to a place that can exchange my money into local currency, but apparently he still doesn’t get it, because maybe that’s a hard concept to explain.

So, I’m getting more stressed and exhausted with every place we go because I’m running into less and less cash and I don’t know what’s next or if I’ll have enough to get in. (Also, it’s lonely, but I’ll get to that in another part).

And I’ll pick up here tomorrow.

My 1st Egypt Trip – Day 1 – The First Of 1,000 Issues – First, The 1st Driver

April 23, 2022

Okay, so what a wild/day night this was.

Truly, what a wild day/night the whole trip was, but that’s beside the point.

[Also, side note: In case it’s not clear, I’m calling this Day 1, as I originally got in super late at night, so this was the first official actual ‘day’.]

So, the main place I stayed in Giza through this trip was a little hole-in-the-wall spot, which I won’t name, because I wouldn’t recommend staying there (and I don’t want them to see me talking about them, because I don’t want them to ever talk to me again, but we’ll get to that later).

Anyway, at the time, the small red flags I saw weren’t wild yet. So, I’ll round those up later.

And let’s just start with the morning. I had booked a car from a place recommended by one of my travel books to take me up to Alexandria and show me the sights, and then leave me there for a night.

(I’ll get to why I wanted to go to Alexandria tomorrow.)

I verified multiple times that the driver would speak English. I don’t speak any Arabic, and the drive is a couple of hours. And I really like to be able to talk with people and learn things.

So, I wanted an English speaking driver.

I was promised I would get an English speaking driver.

In the morning, I was a little jet lagged, so I got in the car with not much more than a “Hello!” And then I took a nap.

Once we were like an hour from my hotel, I woke up and asked if we could stop for water.

He spoke such little English, he couldn’t even understand me when I asked if we could stop for water.

Now, to be clear, I absolutely do not expect people in other countries to know English. But when I very specifically book something (e.g. a driver) and am paying for it, and verify many times they will speak English… then I do.

(Just like if I were in America and needed an interpreter of any kind. If I booked someone who told me they’d speak in that language, I would expect they would.)

So, anyway, we make it up to Alexandria, and then he starts taking me around to some sights.

I try to ask questions like where we are/what we’re going to see. He doesn’t understand me and can’t help me.

Okay, and then you kind of have to know this weird story about my debit card for context, so I’ll tell that tomorrow.

My 1st Egypt Trip – Night 1 – Arrival (Giza)

April 22, 2022

Okay, so here we are in Egypt, baby!

I’d been warned, I dunno, approximately a million times from Tik Tok and the internet at large to be careful as a solo female traveler. And never EVER accept a ride from a stranger at the airport.

So, I booked a ride with my hotel before I got to the airport.

And I was STEADFAST that I would wait for them (even though it took over an hour from when they were supposed to pick me up). And there were, oh, I dunno, a BILLION people who asked to give me a ride.

The hotel charged $20 [US] for an airport ride, which to me was a total steal, as I don’t know that I’ve ever taken a cab from a major city to a destination for under $20.

But I later learned that rides from the airport to Giza are only supposed to cost like $5. So, already I’m not doing great in Egypt. But like just wait, because it’s gonna get wilder throughout the trip.

So anyway, I got in the car with my hotel people. And I was pretty hungry after all that travel. So, I was like “hey, uh, any chance y’all are hungry? Like… would you perhaps have a fast food place where we might be able to stop”

And they were like “it doesn’t really matter if WE’RE hungry… are YOU hungry?

And then when I got to this tiny little hole-in-the-wall hotel, they opened the kitchen just to make me food and I ate on the rooftop overlooking the pyramids.

Then it was bedtime, and we’ll get back into more Egypt tomorrow!

The Semi-Silly, But Semi-Super-Serious Reason I’m Taking A Trip To Egypt!

April 21, 2022

[Hi everyone. I’m sorry because I’m trying SO hard to just bust through all the Wheel of Fortune posts, so at least that’s all done and over with, but I am Wheel-of-Fortuned out in this moment. So, I just need to talk about something else for like a hot second, if you don’t mind haha. I still have SO MANY THINGS to catch up on, so I’m just moving on to one of the trips I’ve been meaning to write about! This says “taking a trip” because I’m back-dating it, but I already took it haha]

The mask mandates on American planes dropped!!!

As I’m sure you’ve probably heard, the mask mandate dropped – WHILE PEOPLE WERE IN THE AIR – which just sounds like a horror movie to me.

I am in Los Angeles, chilling out.

As I’m sure you’re probably aware of, living in the world the past couple of years, the pandemic has gotten safer and less safe over and over and over again. It’s hard to really know where you stand/what’s going on.

Much of school was in-person in the fall. Then, when Omicron hit, I’ve been doing a lot of it remotely, because my cardiologist recommended I take a step back during the surge(s), to doing as much remotely [in life in general, not just school] as possible.

(And yes, I went to Barbados haha, but I had JUST gotten the booster. And rates were low. And there were tons of precautions in place. So, why not, right?)

Anyway, I landed back in New York for a few weeks, and for various reasons, I came home to Los Angeles.

But now I do have to go back to the east coast, because there are some things for finals week (in early May) that I have to do in person, and I’m going to undergrad graduation after all this time.

So, I was just going to take a flight like normal BUT I’m so worried about masks no longer being mandated on airplanes that I started thinking about other options.

I could drive… But that has various issues of its own.

I could take a train, but it’s SO expensive if you want to have a sleeper car – which basically you need if the whole point is to stay safe. It’s more expensive than what I landed on doing, which is…

I could take an international flight(!) with a “forced layover.” I can fly myself to some international destination that seems reasonably safe, and then fly out of there.

So, what’s the point of doing that? Like, how is it markedly different from just flying LA > NYC?

Well, *international* flights still require negative tests, proof of vaccinations, AND masks.

So, yes, even though there will be MORE people on board, and even though people will take masks off to eat, it’s a safer group of people who will be wearing masks the majority of the time (including take-off and landing when CO2 levels are at their worst on flights).

So, it feels safer to me.

First, I looked into going to Canada (on Air Canada)…. good airline. Our neighbor. Right next door. And Canada seems like a safe country. The flights were kind of expensive, so for funsies, I went to see on Air France’s website what the cheapest destinations were.

It was cheaper to fly LA to Cairo to New York than LA, [a number of Canadian cities I tried] to New York!

Then I wondered if I should really do this, as it seemed a little wild.

And I muttered to myself “don’t threaten me with a good time” to the internet, as I spun my credit card around in my hands…

And then I did it!

So, there you have it! Egypt it is. Off we go!

I Really Feel Like We Should Be Nicer To Will Smith? – Part 5 (We Just Have To Acknowledge The Racist Element As Well)

April 19, 2022

Picking up from yesterday –

I would be remiss if I also didn’t mention the racist element of it.

As people have stated MANY times, white men in the Academy have gotten away with SO many worse things – SO MANY WORSE THINGS.

So, the fact that we’re putting a black man with a STELLAR record under a microscope for one slap while white men are out here being serial criminals and keeping their Oscar and Academy membership and everything… Ugh.

I don’t have much more to say on this than that. Other people have said it all I’m sure more eloquently. But it’s really unfair to hold black men to a higher standard than white men.

I Really Feel Like We Should Be Nicer To Will Smith? – Part 4 (Who Is a “Bully,” and How Do We ‘Handle’ Them? Part B)

April 18, 2022

Picking up from yesterday –

We left off with:

  • What do you do with bullies?

There are people in a camp that bullies should get physical punishments – that kids should punch someone on the playground to lay down the law or whatever. I don’t personally agree with that, but if we frame it as Will ‘fighting back against a bully’, there are some people who think that’s appropriate.

Since I don’t think it’s appropriate – and since I don’t think Rock is the bully, more of just a representation of how much people have been on the Smith family’s butt extra recently – if for a second, we entertain the idea that Will is being bullied (no matter who the bully is), what is his ‘correct’ response then?

Obviously there were lots of responses. While Rock became this symbol of so many other things, in that moment, he didn’t have to be that. Had Will let the joke roll off his back, I don’t think anything Chris Rock said would’ve gotten twirled up in everything.

But since all that did happen… it’s like… I don’t know who people want Will Smith to be. Some people thought it was very ‘attractive’ that he was aggressive and ‘stood up for his wife’. I don’t think that.

But people also make fun of him if he just takes all the insults hurled at him/his family.

So yes, there were lots of different things he could’ve done in that moment. But overall, there’ve been so many times where he’s kind of been damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. He’s supposed to be a kind, loving, empathetic man. But also, not take any crap. But also not be mean…

Like, it’s just a lot. I think we ask a lot of Will Smith. And I think we’re SUPER mean to mean whose wives sleep with someone else, as though that somehow makes them less than, when oftentimes it doesn’t have to be a reflection of them at all.

And while I know probably no one cares about this as much as I do, I’ll finish this out tomorrow.

I Really Feel Like We Should Be Nicer To Will Smith? – Part 3 (Who Is a “Bully,” and How Do We ‘Handle’ Them? Part A)

April 17, 2022

As this post title says, I’m interested in exploring two questions [and already, I think ‘victim’ and ‘bully’, in general, is probably too reductive. But let’s explore in a semi-reductive way]:

1) Who is ‘the bully’?
2)  What do you do with bullies?

  • Who is the bully?

In this sense, I don’t mean of Will Smith or Chris Rock. I mean, in a broader sense.

Will has been being ‘bullied’ by the internet ever since it came out that his wife had slept with someone else. The internet just will not let him live it down, which as I’ve already stated seems very cruel.

Also, Chris Rock has been joking about Jada since the ’90s… There are rumors it’s because she wouldn’t date him. I don’t know if that’s true. I don’t know how much his jokes are ‘jokes’ [digs/cruelty wrapped in a way people will say she should laugh at], vs how many are true good-natured jokes.

But, there is conceivably a narrative where he is a bit of a bully to a woman for like 30 years.

*Usually* in narratives, people like it when people stand up to the bully, or when a ‘victim’ (or nerd, or whatever you want to call the person getting bullied) gets a big moment. [We’ll touch on this in a second.]

I think there is a possibility that Will could be viewed as someone who’s been bullied, perhaps standing up for someone who’d been bullied. So, I’m not saying we should label Chris Rock per se himself as a ‘bully’, but was he more of a straw-that-broke-the-camel’s-back to bullying Will Smith endured?

  • What do you do with bullies?

And this is where we’ll pick up tomorrow!

I Really Feel Like We Should Be Nicer To Will Smith? – Part 3 (I Don’t Believe The Violent Action Itself Was Good [Though Overall, I Am Still Very Empathetic To Will])

April 16, 2022

I have some things I want to get into, but I do think that making it very clear I think the violence is wrong is important.

I was just putting it at the top of the next post, but since it was kind of long, I thought I’d make it its own thing. So, here it is!

First, I think it’s important to state that I think unequivocally, violence is oh so RARELY the answer – only when it is pure self-defense. I don’t think laying your hands on someone as a ‘punishment,’ or ‘out of anger,’ or anything in that arena is justified. Ever.

So, even though I’m absolutely on the side of “the violent action was wrong,” I don’t think we need to vilify Will Smith for life. [But I am against the violent action, in case that’s not clear.]

[Also, violence is a spectrum, of course. Again, not trying to downplay what Will Smith did, but some people are acting like he shot Chris Rock and gave him serious injuries or something. Violence is wrong, And I know maybe the embarrassment of it (Chris getting slapped on such a visible stage) probably hurts worse than the physical injury. I do think emotional undertones are often worse than physical things themselves, for SURE.

I know I’d MUCH rather someone give one slap or punch than hurt me emotionally. So, since emotions are wrapped in there, I’m not saying he suffered no injuries, as some injuries aren’t visible. But still. There has to be a way to take what Chris Rock is going through seriously without acting like Will Smith shot a man in vital organs or something.]

And I’ll get into some more nuances about the whole thing tomorrow.

I Really Feel Like We Should Be Nicer To Will Smith? – Part 2 (So Much Context Continued)

April 15, 2022

Picking up from yesterday –

It’s just mean, for reasons I can’t seem to understand. I get that some people say if they air their business publicly, we have a right. But for one thing, I think a high power celebrity couple choosing to try to own their own ‘brand’, and realize that if people are always talking and speculating, they may as well open their hearts and lives to really share them publicly… I don’t think that does give us the right to throw things back in their face forever.

And even if it did, why would we want to? Why would we WANT to throw something that seemingly hurt Will Smith (based on the way his eyes looked on the Red Table Talk special where they talked about it) in his face all the time?

For all the people who are viewing that as cheating, do they realize then, that HE would be the injured party there? Making fun of the injured party is the MEAN thing to do? It’s punching down, which is the opposite of what comedy is supposed to do.

I’m not justifying him slapping someone on live television. But the internet has been SO cruel to him. And he has generally taken it fairly in stride for SO long. How could this man not be ready to snap, at least a little?

Also, as far as the slap goes, I am also a pretty big believer that when someone makes what seems to be a true mistake – (such as things not premeditated and/or things that are rare occurrences as opposed to the person’s majority of their body of work) – and especially when the injured party (which is geeeeenerally the party I think we should look to on how to proceed) – doesn’t press charges or make a big deal and is willing to chalk it up to a mistake, AND the person issues an apology… like, what else do we want, really?

What’s the point of just continuing to punish him, to what end?

I really think we should be nicer to Will Smith. [Also, I actually think I’m gonna have more to say on this tomorrow.]

I Really Feel Like We Should Be Nicer To Will Smith? – Part 1 (So Much Context)

April 14, 2022

Will smith with his family at the oscars
(photo from the BBC)

(I know we’ve kinda missed the moment, as I originally drafted this a couple weeks ago, but we were busy talking about Barbados haha. Still might as well talk about this now, I suppose! As… even though the moment has passed… it’s still being talked about a fair amount!)

This is way more about the public reaction than about the slap itself.

Everyone seems to be dog-piling on him in a really mean way.

And I’ve seen WAY too many jokes that are like “when you sleep with Will Smith’s wife [calm, happy pic]”. “When you make fun of Will Smith’s wife [angry pic, or ‘the slap’].”

First off, there’s a HUGE difference in choosing to try to forgive someone you love for hurting you (and why would you start something with someone they chose to get involved with? That person didn’t directly hurt you. Your problem is with your spouse, not the other party), and someone hurting someone you love.

I am a firm believer that (usually) cheating scandals should not define people (any of the parties involved).

Like, there needs to be a statute of limitations on jokes about it. It’s not funny years after the fact. In fact, I would say usually it’s not that funny even one full year after the fact.

(Also, I think it’s a little unclear whether there was any actual cheating involved as both Will and Jada seem to make it sound like they were separated at the time she got “entangled” with August.)

Either way! Whether it was “officially” cheating, it was still clearly a painful time in their relationship. Even if there were separated at the time, there was clearly a reason for that. I’m sure whatever it was, was probably pretty painful if you’re separating from your spouse whom you have kids with.

But, because everyone on the internet keeps likening it to cheating, I’ll talk about it within that general vicinity.

I imagine that for many couples, when there is infidelity that it takes a LOT of time and energy and effort to move through that with each other – if they ever do fully move through that/heal. If they have somehow already done that long and hard journey alone/together, why should we dogpile on to where they’re constantly reminded of such a hard time in their life?

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow – 

“I Hope Wheel of Fortune Isn’t Ultimately What I’m Known For”

April 10, 2022

When I was in Barbados with Alex, we had a lot of really deep and meaningful conversations.

It was a really magical time where I got to know him even better than I already do. And I skipped most of those in this blog [away from being too much for public consumption], and just kept them in my heart.

But I will tell one that’s relevant to the Wheel stuff.

Obviously Wheel came up a number of times, since that was like… the whole reason we were on the trip.

And one thing that came up was he didn’t realize how much backlash there’d been and how I had a mini-viral moment and everything. And he was like “what? I didn’t even know this at the time!”

Then at one point I talked about how I did have a small fear that that was how I’d be known or remembered – as that ‘weird girl’ on Wheel of Fortune who pretty much embarrassed herself.

He was like “it’s not what you’re known for now. And if it’s not what you’re known for now, it’s unlikely that’s what you’ll be known for.”

And, I dunno, it gave me a little sense of peace. Not that I’m “known” for anything… But yeah, even the stuff I am ‘known for’ in whatever circles I run in (so like, 52 half marathons after open-heart surgery), even that has really fallen away over the years.

For most people, the good and the bad will fall away, or will meld into a mush over the years, as long as you don’t have something suuuuuper sticky.

And I don’t think this was suuuuuper sticky for me. So, hopefully it’s not defining. And here’s looking forward to more game shows, and more paintballs on the canvas of my life, and this being mushed in with the other things! 🙂

If I Were To Visit Barbados Again –

April 9, 2022

I think I’m gonna start doing a thing with my travels where I say what I would do if I were to ever go back, so that that way I have a quick go-to-thing for stuff I missed out on or want to do again [without having to scour notes, etc.]

For Barbados specifically, I had the trip of a LIFETIME. I don’t know that I EVER want to go back, because it was so, so perfect, I sort of just want to leave it be.

There are many other places in the world I want to visit. And in Barbados, I went to every parish. I saw the things I wanted to see. I fulfilled my “Barbados bucket list.”

But IF I were ever to go back, here are things I’d either want to experience for the first time, or want more of:

  1. The observatory (assuming it’s open again), on a Friday night
  2. Harrison’s Cave, to see all the things they’re adding – ziplining, etc., and if they offer it, I’d take the adventurous tour, crawling around the cave 
  3. I’d visit the official Barbados museum in Bridgetown. We just never got around to seeing it.

Those are the things I didn’t get to, that I’d want to. For things I did do that I’d just want more of:

  1. The sunset catamaran cruise is awesome. I LOVED it so much, I’d want to do it again – wearing something on my feet, so I’m less scared of the turtles haha.
  2. I liked diving with Aimee at Barbados Blue Watersports, and would be happy to dive with her again.
  3. Hot sauce, hot sauce. I’d just get more. You can never have enough hot sauce. 
  4. (I love the Club Barbados, and even though I like to try new hotels, I’d probably stay there again, because it is DOPE.)

Those are all the things I can think of. Let me know, since you read the blog posts, if there’s anything you can think of that I’m missing! And thanks for following along! 

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 19 (And Then We Flew Home)

April 8, 2022

We made it to the airport. It was super easy to check my bag again. (Upgrading to first class was sooooooo the right choice for this trip. It saved us SO much time/headache/hassle in this pretty crowded season. But also, I would’ve been able to check bags in a priority anyway, because I’m Mint status, baby!)

I do this sort of silly thing in foreign countries where, depending on the exchange rate, I try to save one of every bill thats like $50 (or maybe $100) or less (US).

And I had set aside all my Barbados bills…. but at the airport, I was double checking, and didn’t see a beautiful purple $20! ($10 US).

[I realized later I did have it. I had just put it in the wrong spot of my wallet. But at the time, we were on a new adventure!]

It felt like I couldn’t get one to save my life. I asked in a store. I asked at a dessert place. I tried an ATM. (I forget the problem was with the ATM. It may have only been giving $50s.) But eventually, right back where we started, at Chefette, I got change and had a beautiful Barbados 20.

(Writing this out, it seems stupid to hoard foreign money haha. Because I don’t travel that much, it seems like cool souvenirs, but if I start traveling all the time, I may not want to waste money on just having foreign money – but then again, it’s a souvenir you could always ‘return’ by getting it changed at a bank!)

After that short bit of tiny, silly adventure, we went to our gate and played some more Wordle games, and then we got on the plane.

During the plane ride, I slept for a lot of it. He watched TV for a lot of it. But when we were talking, I was kind of making half-jokes about how I’d never see him again. And then the guy on the aisle, toward the end of the flight, started making conversation with us and saying we seemed to have such great rapport he literally couldn’t believe we had just met.

And we were like “we haven’t.” And he was like “why are you never gonna see each other again, then?” And it was like “It’s a long story, but he lives in Singapore now, blah blah blah. We’re also half-joking, but maybe serious.”

And Alex is like “she’s half-joking/half-serious. I believe I’ll see her again.”

And then – oh my gosh, I can’t believe I didn’t mention this earlier on the blog – every time someone asked what we were doing there, Alex would always be like “she won this trip on Wheel of Fortune!”

So he told that to the guy on the aisle – this part of the conversation was happening after we’d landed. And the guy was so impressed and was like “whoa! I wish I would’ve asked earlier in the flight! I have so many questions!”

It was so funny to me that Alex always teed that up. And everyone always wanted to know more.

And for the last time, as we went through customs in the States, when they asked what we’d been doing, he was like “she won this trip.” And I got my last little questions about it from people being encouraged by my personal hype man yet again.

And then once we made it through customs, I hugged him tighter than I maybe have ever hugged anyone for like maybe a full minute.

And that was it. He went to Los Angeles. I went to my apartment in New York.

(In the end, it probably was better that I asked Wheel to just fly me from NYC, ’cause even though I met him in Los Angeles, once I got to NY, my bags were there, and I didn’t have to worry about them going to LA, as they would’ve been had that been my official airport.)

What a trip. Truly, the trip of a lifetime. hopefully it won’t be the end of the Sky Team, but as we told each other in the dramatic airport goodbye, if it is the end, it’s been an absolutely amazing 8 1/2 year run.

Barbados for life!

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 18 (The Final Morning In Barbados)

April 7, 2022

*Exasperated sigh of someone who’s sad the trip is over*

In the morning, at breakfast, when I was asking someone who seemed so happy to work there what she loved about her job, one of the workers at the buffet mentioned that she loves this banana flambé thing they had at the Monday huge dinner.

Now, I didn’t realize on Monday when we got there that there were things you could only get on Monday, so I missed out on the flambé.

I mentioned it’s too bad I didn’t get to taste her favorite thing to make. And she mentioned she might be able to make it.

I had actually already heard this was an amazing dish. So, this was like my third time hearing it. So, I really did sorta want to try it.

And I got to! They were able to make it for me. (Yes, obviously I tipped them extra for that.)

And then, Alex said this thing about how he was happy for me that I really was marking off every single thing on my Barbados bucket list – even down to the minuscule things of bananas flambé.

And he was like “the squeaky wheel really does always get the grease.”

And I was all “oh, no. I’m not trying to be a squeaky wheel. I think I’m nice.” And he’s like “oh, no, no, no. A squeaky wheel doesn’t mean annoying. It just means persistent. I’m not being passive aggressive. This is a trait I admire in you. You get what you want.

And it’s just really sweet that he’s always seeing the best in me – even in traits that may be traditionally considered annoying, maybe.

They had free watersports at the hotel, so he hung out to waterski in the morning.

And I went to check out one final thing – Shark’s Hole (another beach in Barbados).

The night prior, I’d been wandering around for a hot second while Alex had to take a work call. And I stopped at the front desk just to chat (while drinking yet another signature hotel drink).

They’d asked about everything I’d done. And as always, when I’m leaving a place, I like to make it so that when a local says “have you done ____?” my answer is yes.

I try to get it all in! [I know there will ALWAYS be something else, but as long as I hit the main things, I feel pretty good.]

And the person at the front desk said, “the only thing I can really think of that you’re missing is Shark’s Hole. It’s a beautiful beach and tourists don’t normally go there.”

So, I had to get in one last thing.

I went to Shark’s Hole, which was in St. Philip Parish – the only Parish I hadn’t visited, so yet another thing checked off the ol’ Barbados bucket list!

It was indeed really gorgeous. I was happy to hang out there! But just for a bit. Then I had to get back.

Alex had a great time waterskiing, and even saw a monkey on our little porch of our room!

When I got back, we grabbed our bags, and *tears* headed to the airport.

And this is where I’ll finish tomorrow.

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 17 (The Last Night In Barbados)

April 6, 2022

After I got back, Alex and I had a quick dinner in the upstairs restaurant at the hotel! We finally tried the other secret restaurant choice. And it was really delicious!

I had a goal to drink every signature drink at the hotel, and I still had 3 or 4 left. So, it was time to get cracking! I had one at dinner.

Then, back in the room, we had a semi-little sad talk as we were getting ready to go drink (just at the hotel) on the last night.

He lives in Singapore now. And for various reasons (such as living continents away, which isn’t always a barrier to everything, as we were in Barbados together, but still…), we’re not gonna do my new birthday thing together this year.

So… this trip is the last time the “Sky Team” gets to be together in who knows how long – which is really sad to think about. So… we weren’t allowed to think about it too much, because then I’d cry. (I was already a little drunk, as I was on me second drink from dinner at that point.)

Side note about all the drinks: I did think it was kind of hilarious that you could just bring drinks like wherever you wanted, basically. We had one of our glasses from the hotel in our hands at the grocery store!

Basically, if you’re in Barbados, there’s a drink in your hand.

And then after shedding a few tears, we went and met up with Jamie – the guy we met in the first couple of nights!

We all drank, and laughed, and had a great time. Jamie told us about cricket (what he was there for). I finished all the signature drinks.

Alex was a little jealous that I had the most adventurous day. He’s like “I should’ve gone with you…but if I had you wouldn’t have gone to cricket, and you wouldn’t have had this adventure without me.”

(And of course I reminded hi that I don’t have some kind of magic adventure dust and the day could’ve equally gone in his favor, you just never know.)

(In the sweetness of sort of ‘saying goodbye’, he was like ‘maybe your best day here didn’t even include me. You’re always gonna be fine. You’re the most adventurous person I know… which made me want to cry even more, because I always tell him he’s the most adventurous person *I* know. And then he always says “I’m like that around you, because of you.”)

So so sad to be saying goodbye.

We stayed until the bar closed. And then we went to bed.

And I’ll get to the next morning tomorrow.

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 16 (It’s Parliament, Baby!)

April 5, 2022

Aurora De Lucia leaning on a pole in the parliament of Barbados

Aaaaagh! Parliament!

So, being Barbados, obviously they welcome me in a bar, because in what universe would they not?

And they gift me a drink. Then Ruth takes me around!

I’m her first tour since the pandemic! So, I feel super special.

She takes me around and explain how the Bajan government works.

I really hope I’m explaining this correctly, because I’m going off of what I retained and remember, not like official things haha. So… if this information is super important to you, like, fact check me, just to be sure.

My understanding is that you only vote for your local representative. And whatever party wins the majority gets the Prime Minister. And then, the prime minister appoints the majority of senators (and the minority party gets to appoint some other ones).

So, the winning party will always have all the branches.

On the one hand, this is so awesome, because you could actually do things in power. On the other hand, this is scary because imagine all another party could do.

But, in Barbados, apparently all parties believe in things we argue about here – healthcare for all, abortion access, etc.

So, you’re just voting for more nuanced things, and also how you tackle the issues that basically everyone agrees on.

Anyway, Parliament was gorgeous. I got to see both chambers and the cute walkway between.

I was so so grateful to Ruth and Wilfred and everyone. What an incredibly special day!

And then I’ll get back to the rest of the trip tomorrow!

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 15 (The Best, Most Surprising Day)

April 4, 2022

I didn’t list in the title what actually happened, because I want you to come on the adventure with me!

So, I headed to the cricket game. Tickets were a little pricey, but since the game was almost over, I thought maybe a scalper would be dying to get rid of their’s, and they WERE!

I bought a ticket for like $10 (US). 

I headed on in. I got some food (a little macaroni pie), and some water. And of course when I was buying the water, they said I absolutely had to take a rum punch. Yeah, okay, sure. Why not?

Then, I went to the game itself.

Side note: I did see three cheerleaders. And then I had all sorts of questions about the cheering world in Barbados, but alas, I don’t know anything about that. Maybe another time, I’ll learn all about it!

There was a big group of rowdy guys to my right who were doing chants for Johnny Barstow. And then, to my left (and in front of me) was a local Bajan who was talking to two people with him about the game.

I leaned forward and was like “hey, I don’t want to butt in too much, but might it be possible I can get in on this explanation? I don’t know anything about cricket.”

They very much welcomed me in! They were so nice. (Tbh, I still don’t know that much about cricket, because they just started making conversation with me. But that’s okay. I can always learn.)

When they were asking me all about my trip, i was saying how it had just been the absolute most magical things. I loved Barbados so very much, and had such an amazing time!

I talked about diving with that shipwreck, and going on the Catamaran Cruise, the amazing hot sauce, how gorgeous Hunte’s Garden was, the beautiful island safari and Animal Flower Cave – all of it.

And as we were talking, I mentioned in passing that the only bummer was I’d really wanted to tour Parliament. 

I love government, and was interested in learning more about how it worked. But alas, Parliament was closed to the public, because of renovations.

And then they kind of had this tiny laugh. And I asked why they were laughing…. Then I asked “do you work at Parliament?”

And they’re like “oh, something like that.”

Then they started asking when I’d be leaving Barbados. I said the next morning. They’re like “oh, you’d have to tour it tonight then. Could you do that?”

And it’s like “Could I do that?! Is that a possibility?! Let’s GO!” 

So THEN, this guy gets on the phone, and boom. One phone call, I have a PRIVATE TOUR OF PARLIAMENT.

TURNS OUT this was Wilfred Abrahams – the equivalent of if I’d met the Director of Homeland Security!

He says a clerk is just hanging out and will take me around whenever I’m ready, and I’m even welcome to stay for the end of the game if I want. 

But no, forget cricket. I thank him profusely, and am on my way!

I jump in the cab, and we race to the hotel so I can put a real dress on, instead of bathing suit bottoms and a t-shirt.

I’m messaging Alex like “let me know if you want to come!” 

He wanted to, but he was tied up on the other side of the island with his old roommate’s friend. So, I made a super quick stop at the hotel, grabbed my dress, and made my way down to Parliament!

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow! 

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 14 (Saturday Single Day)

April 3, 2022

So, Alex and I part ways for most of Saturday.

It starts in the morning, because I only have to get a rapid test to get back in the states, but he has to get a PCR. The difference in how much it costs to get a rapid at the hotel vs the main gymnasium place of Barbados is negligible, especially when you factor in cab fare.

But, for a PCR, the difference in money could be argued to be worth it. And it’s not like he’s stingy with money at all. (He paid for basically every single thing we did, since the trip itself was free for him. So, he got us that sweet private tour with Island Safari, and all our touristy stuff. At the end, he ultimately even paid for my Covid test when we were checking out, which was really sweet!)

But maybe because he’d paid for so many things, might as well save a little where you can, especially since he didn’t have any giant things he wanted to do on the last day, and he was already going into town anyway to meet up with his old roommate’s friend who happens to live in Barbados. So, why not just go early and get a Covid test?

Well, okay. I have other ideas haha. So, I’m gonna grab my test very quickly at the hotel, and then get on the road!

I got the sense that Alex wanted a semi-low-key last full day. And I wanted more like a last hoorah – trying to fit in everything recommended from tourist books etc., just checking off that list! So, we happily went separate ways for the morning/afternoon, with the idea that we would meet up for dinner.

I hired a driver for a handful of hours. (Thank you Wheel of Fortune for that extra spending cash.) And I told him all the things I hadn’t yet gotten to hit, and asked if we could try our best to do it all. And we did!

We headed up to Archer’s Bay, which was a fun little beach (covered in… seaweed, maybe? Definitely covered in something!).

It was cute though, and relatively empty/serene.

Then we went to Hunte’s Garden, which was actually really gorgeous. Someone had recommended Hunte’s Garden, and I was sort of thinking, “I’m from LA, where we have Huntington Gardens, which is sprawling and gorgeous, and has stuff from so many areas of the world. I wonder how unique this garden will be.” But it was unique!

It was reeeeally peaceful. Barely anyone was there. It was a perfect spot if you wanted to clear your head or read a book or something. The air felt so fresh. It was small, but mighty.

Then, I went to the animal sanctuary during monkey feeding time. There were a lot of monkeys! I always talk a big game with monkeys, like “oh yeah! I wanna be monkeys friends! I wanna hold a monkey!”

But then when I see a million monkeys running around in the wild, I’m like “aaaaagh! Monkeys!” haha 

One of these days, I plan to hold a monkey! Today was not that day. (But you’re not supposed to hold them there anyway. You’re supposed to look at them.)

I also stopped at the “Hot Pot” which is a little makeshift natural hot tub on a beach in Barbados. It was kinda warm, and I’m glad I got to see it in its glory.

I also stopped at this bar I’d kept seeing every time we went to Bridgetown, which had this blow-up obstacle course in the ocean. Sadly, I didn’t have time with all I wanted to do to go to the obstacle course, but they did tell me about it. And if you feel like it, they’ll boat you out there and let you play!

If ever I were to go back to Barbados, this would absolutely be on my list of things to do.

So, then!

While I’d been scuba diving earlier in the week, Alex went to the cricket game and had an amazing time!

I’d never been to a game of cricket. And I think I mentioned, maybe, that while we were there, there was this HUGE tournament that happens only once every four years for cricket. 

Basically everyone in our hotel was there for cricket.

Cricket, cricket, everywhere.

So, why not? I headed over to the stadium to see if I could get a ticket.

And this(!!!!) – this A+++++ such a memorable Barbados experience is where I’ll pick up tomorrow!

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 13 (Oisten’s Fish Fry)

April 2, 2022

So, first we stop by the the Harry Bayley Observatory, because I love space and science. And it’s also a ‘little known’ thing in Barbados, and I like getting off the beaten path.

So, from everything we can gather, every Friday night, the observatory is open to the public.

Well, our trip has been largely unaffected by Covid. And we’re very lucky! Practically everything is reopened. Rates are low right now. The world seems fairly safe and accessible in this moment. But alas, the observatory was still closed.

And the person who was there when we got there was SO nice. He wanted so badly for us to be able to look through the telescope, but he said for various sanitation reasons, he just couldn’t make it work.

But at least we got to head up there and see the big telescope. Then on down to Oisten’s we went.

Oisten’s is a HUGE fish fry of a bunch of restaurants that happens every Friday night.

Alex and I took quite a long walk around the area, which was really nice – walking by the water and everything.

It was really sweet because his original plan was to stop by the hotel after Mount Gay, but ultimately we didn’t. And he noticed I was carrying my sort of heavy purse and our souvenirs from Mount Gay. (I didn’t say anything. He just noticed before I even really clocked that it was heavy or anything.) And he carried my bright pink purse, like the manly man he is, not afraid of carrying a girly purse!

I thought that was really nice. We waited in a long line for some food, and played some games in the line. It was super crowded and hard to find a place to eat, but we found one more out toward the water.

Then we walked around the fish fry, which by this point was in full swing. There were dancers on a stage. Overall, it was pretty fun. It was maybe the most touristy thing we did. (We were told later if you want to hang with locals, don’t go until after 10pm.)

I could sense there was a little exhaustion in the air, but it was fun. We got home and went to bed.

(And one random cute thing was that I woke up for a second in the middle of the night, and we were two little matchy-matchy people. We had the same t-shirts on (from Mount Gay), and we were sleeping in the same position with one leg up like we were flamingos, and we had the same eye masks from JetBlue. It was so funny, and it was just such a special trip!)

And tomorrow, I’ll talk about our A+++++ Saturday! 

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 12 (Mount Gay Rum Cocktail Making Class)

April 1, 2022

So, if you’ve been reading the whole story, you remember that we made all of our final plans pretty late in the game (at the layover, on the way to Barbados haha).

The only thing I had locked down early was scuba diving, because I didn’t want to leave it to chance, since I couldn’t go to Barbados without scuba diving.

All that being said, we knew we had to go to Mount Gay. Everyone said so. It’s the ‘birthplace of rum’ – which is like, Barbados’ thing.

And they have lots of different options for what you can do there, but the only thing that still had tickets when we were planning was the cocktail making class – which I was totally cool with, because of all the things we could do there, I thought cocktail making would be the most fun, since it’s so hands-on, and maybe even a small little skill.

But man oh man oh man were we drinked-out at this point.

The first part of the class, they kept giving all these samples to explain the differences between the rums. It was so hard to drink them all! We were suffering a little.

Alex only then told me that he had originally wanted to go to Saint Lawrence Gap on Friday night (if you remember, we moved it up because nothing was happening in Holetown), because he didn’t want us all drinked-out before Mount Gay. But it was a little too late to late for me to learn that now haha.

So we just made it through.

Now, the people at Mount Gay were super nice. It was a lovely place. So, nothing against them or any of that, but it’s crazy how much Alex and I were consistently on the same page.

We ‘graded’ everything we did, just for funsies. And everything had gotten an A so far – even the cave that just had the trolly thing through it, because it was cool and they had the greatest drinks of all time.

But, he said that he’s never been an alcohol-tour kinda guy, and I agree! I don’t really super dig that stuff either.

And I thought maybe if they taught us really specific cool Barbados cocktails, we might feel a little differently. But we ultimately just made two pretty simple, known drinks.

It was cool. But it was the first thing that didn’t get an “A.” (Actually, in general, Friday doesn’t get an A, as you’ll see with the rest of the stuff. But it’s okay because spoiler alert, Saturday gets an A+++++.)

It was funny that we kept trying to super water down our drinks and hide that we weren’t using the correct amount of alcohol, but there’s only so much people can drink – even in Barbados!

After we made our drinks, we chatted up a couple who seemed fun, who happened to be from where Alex was from. So, that was pretty lovely.

And I can’t even believe this, but after all these years, I didn’t know why Alex had gotten into working in television, and his story was INCREDIBLE (but I’ll leave that for him to tell, as this isn’t his blog, so I don’t need to be airing all his incredible stories on it). But if you run into him, ask him! It’s so good. And he’s such a good storyteller (which makes sense, since that’s what he does for a living).

After that couple had left, we hung out on a bench while we waited for our cab and we talked a little more about the new info I’d just learned about Alex. And it was really special, continuing to get to know him even better after all these years.

And then we were off to the observatory! (Again, just warning you, Friday doesn’t get an A. (Spoiler alert: the observatory is closed because of Covid.)) But we’ll get to the rest of Friday tomorrow!)

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 11 (Friday Morning, Post Office, Etc. (AND BARBADOS HOT SAUCE))

March 31, 2022

Okay, so the part that I forgot to mention yesterday is that while we were waiting for nightlife time to start, we walked to the local grocery store!

One thing I really like doing in foreign countries is going to grocery stores, because it’s cool to just kinda see what the local stuff is all about.

And specifically, we went to that grocery store because I’m absolutely obsessed with Barbados hot sauce.

So, there’s this random unlabeled bottle of spicy sauce at every meal of the hotel. And I’ve been pouring it on everything.

Because it’s random and unlabled and I’ve never tasted exactly anything like it, I just assumed it was something special and unique that the hotel made.

But THEN there was something incredibly similar on the Catamaran Cruise. And then we had to know – what is that?!

And apparently, there’s just special Barbados hot sauce, in all sorts of brands! It’s like the local thing down there. So, we walked to the grocery store to grab some. And in the store, Alex asked a man who was walking in the aisle what brand he recommended.

And he was so super helpful! He recommended “One Drop,” but none of us could find it anywhere on the shelf. So, Alex and I picked a random one and moved on.

So, Friday morning, Alex and I had a little time before we went to Mount Gay. So, I made a little run to the post office.

One thing I loved about the post office was when I looked up, the tubes for air conditioning or whatever were green! Everything is so bright and wonderful in Barbados! Even random tubes in the post office.

I sent some hot sauce home, and to my dad. I also stopped by a little store where I got some souvenirs.

Everyone was so incredibly sweet. I was fatter than I wanted to be, going to Barbados, but people were always commenting me on my ‘curvy body’, like it was the ‘perfect Barbados body,’ so that was something! haha (I mention that here because specifically the sweet woman at the shop said I had the perfect Barbados body.) Even though I was heavier than I wanted, everyone always made me feel like one of the prettiest people on earth. So, if you’re fat, but you’re curvy, go to Barbados and they’ll make you feel loved.

(Everyone was SUPER nice. I didn’t meet a mean person in all of Barbados.)

So, after my errand running, it was time to go to a cocktail-making class with Alex. And that’s what we’ll talk about tomorrow.

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 10 (St. Lawrence Gap!)

March 30, 2022

There are no pictures of us getting super drunk (which is for the best haha), so enjoy some more pics from our safari!

After we got back from Harrison’s Cave, we had a delicious dinner at the good ol’ hotel that we loved. (The Club Barbados. xoxoxo to them!)

And now that scuba diving was over, and there were no more early mornings or important things you had to have a right mind for, it was time to see the nightlife side of Barbados.

Originally, since we thought the weekend would be more happening than weekdays, we were going to wait for St. Lawrence Gap until Friday.

But we still wanted to do something, so we thought we’d check out Holetown (the area where we were)!

Well, we went to the area/intersection that was suggested to us… Every bar was a ghost town. There was nothing going on.

But at this point, we’d already dressed up for going out. We’d already pregamed at the hotel where drinks were free (and where I was trying to eventually get through their whole list of special suggested/signature cocktails, and knocked down a couple that night). We were already out and about. We didn’t want to call the night a bust… So we went to St. Lawrence Gap, because we’d heard it was the place to go for drinking/nightlife…

And it was.

All the bars were popping. There were a bunch of outdoor bars, which was great.

The most memorable thing – I don’t even know if I’m supposed to say this, or if I’m gonna get in trouble somehow (but obv this guy’s nickname is not his real name, so it’s probably fine), but this guy walked up to us at one bar, and introduced himself as “The Pharmacist.”

Now, I had no idea what this meant and started asking genuine questions about what made him want to get into medicine, when Alex had to be like “it’s a code word. He’s a drug dealer.”

And the dude was like “yeah, I sell coke.” And then he asked us if we wanted to buy coke.

Now… I will say, Alex made a promise to me before we left that he would not let anything bad happen to me.

[I don’t normally go out and get drunk. I’m not scared of Barbados. I love the people there. But I was hit on a lot at that point, throughout the week (especially whenever Alex wasn’t around), and in general going to bars as a woman is dodgy. You always have to keep guarded and everything. But Alex was very much ready to be a protector, there for me, to be sure nothing bad would happen. He just nicely promised that before we left the hotel.]

I don’t really wanna do coke, BUT there was a small part of me that wanted to challenge him on his offer/promise to take care of me and make sure I got home safe.

“Oh yeah? Is that so? What if I start taking strange drugs from strange men in the middle of the night? You gonna be able to keep up with keeping my safe?” hahaha

But no, my desire to challenge him didn’t override my desire to not get caught up doing drugs in a foreign country. I was about to say my streak of never doing coke continues [which is true], but it’s hard to say it’s a real ‘streak’ when this was literally the first time in my life I’ve ever been offered the opportunity to buy coke.

Finally when I was drunk enough that I was doing the whole can’t-stand-straight/support yourself thing, Alex got us a cab and got us home safely.

It was the cutest cab ride. I’m sure the driver thought we were nuts. We were just being sentimental and telling each other how special we were and sharing random small secrets. It was silly and adorable… And of course I only remember pieces of it hahahahaha. And I’m sure it looked ridiculous from the outside, but from the inside living it, I loved it.

Off to bed we went, as the next day we had a day at My Gay Rum… Oh yeah, that’s correct. More alcohol! I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow.

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 9 (Harrison’s Cave!)

March 29, 2022

Welp, it wouldn’t be Barbados if I didn’t start out by talking about the alcohol haha.

When we were welcomed in, of course we were shown to the bar to wait. I was still hungry, but was worried we didn’t quite have enough time for me to order real food. So… obviously the smartest idea on an empty stomach is to drink some alcohol, as that’s gotta make you feel full right?

(Don’t worry. I didn’t get overly drunk (at Harrison’s Cave at least, wait until we get to St. Lawrence Gap, but that’s for later). So, everything was fine. But I did finally partake in the drinking! Scuba diving was over. I didn’t have to be responsible for anything else! So, I got a “green monkey tail,” and I think it might’ve been my favorite drink I ever had.

I wrote down the ingredients, but I have no idea about the amounts. But if you want to make your own Green Monkey Tail at home, it’s:

  • Blue Curaçao
  • Watermelon Liquer
  • Mount Gay Silver Rum
  • Passion Fruit Juice
  • Lime Juice
  • Simple Syrup (sweetener)

I thought it was ironic that once I finally started drinking, no one on this tour drank but me! I’d been to a number of events where people constantly had a drink in their hand. But not this one. Aye, aye aye.

[This was the only time this happened in Barbados. At every other place I mention (except scuba), just imagine everyone is drinking… though you probably won’t have to imagine it, because I will probably remind you.]

So, anyway, if you’re reading these posts, and you don’t know who Alex is, he is my Sky Team co-captain for life.

[The Sky Team is something we made up. It’s not a real thing. (I actually do think it’s a real thing, in the sense that Delta and Air France and all those airlines that work together call themselves the “Sky Team,” but we didn’t know that when we started using the phrase, and for our purposes it’s a made-up, not-real thing.]

All it means is that Alex is my best friend. And for many years, he’s done my “new birthday thing” with me. I like to do things in the sky. And many of the birthday experiences we’ve done together have been in the sky (e.g. hot air ballooning, bungee jumping, helicopter flying class). So, we are the “Sky Team” aka, Alex is my super adventure buddy, and anytime something can be more adventurous, I try to make it so with him, because I don’t know if I know anyone in my personal circles who’s more game for stuff/ready for adventure than Alex.

All that to say, there used to be a tour through Harrison’s Cave where you could crawl around, do the tight spaces thing, swim, just explore that cave fully and get a full experience.

Alas, because of Covid (which I’ve been trying to gloss over, so it’s not remembered as a big part of this magical trip), it was deemed as too close of contact with people. So, for now, you can’t do that tour.

We did still get to go in the cave! We just had to ride a tram through it instead. (They always had the tram tour as an option for people who didn’t want to do the active cave tour. That’s not something that was started as a pandemic response, though that would’ve been impressive had they revamped all the cave stuff in such a short time.)

So yeah, we got a tour where we learned a bit about the cave and saw some parts of it. (You had to wear hair nets and helmets, so the pictures aren’t the prettiest anyone’s ever seen haha.) But it was fun!

So, I was sad I couldn’t do the version of the tour that lives up to his adventure level. But he didn’t seem bothered! Our driver was so funny and fun! It was completely a good time still! And it was fun to see how they were building things out. They’re making a ziplining course, and it seems like it’s gonna be a place you can do many things.

[Sorry I don’t have that much to write about the cave itself. but yeah, get yourself a green monkey tail. Mmmm mmmm mmm.]

[If we were to ever go back to Barbados for any reason, while I do feel like we saw the whole island and I’m incredibly happy with how things turned out, IF I randomly had the opportunity to go back, doing the intense-r tour of Harrison’s Cave would be toward the top of the list of things I’d do – and I’d do the zip-lining, and obstacle course, and whatever else they’re building. I think things would be a lot different by the time we got back!]

And speaking of alcohol, I’ll talk about Thursday night tomorrow.

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 8 (A Little More Scuba Diving And Just Some Wonky Stuff)

March 28, 2022

So, now we’re up to Thursday, March 17th.

I started with my second day of scuba diving, which we’ve already talked about in another post.

But one little part I forgot to mention – we did our deep dive, we used this rope to help us descend. And as you can see, there’s a bunch of stuff on it.

As I went down, I accidentally cut my thumb, and it looked crazy, because if you pressed my thumb, weird green stuff was coming out of the cut, just bloop, blooping out since it was going into the water.

Ultimately, no weird moss grew out of me or anything, but it looked slightly crazy.

So, after scuba diving, I was fairly starving. I’d skipped breakfast. I didn’t want to be deep diving on a full stomach or anything. (I just wanted to make sure my stomach had no issues during an awesome dive.)

And then I’d gone scuba diving, which can be somewhat tiring, carrying your gear to the boat, doing the deep dive itself (and the shallower one afterward, etc.). So, I was happy that I was getting to the hotel with about 35 minutes, give or take, to spare before the van was coming for us (as Alex said it was supposed to come at 3pm).

I thought that’d be enough time – if I hurried – to eat pretty quickly, and change into something cute.

Now, for whatever reason, even though my phone is usually so reliable and wonderful, and usually works overall pretty great internationally, for whatever reason, it was failing me.

I forget if we’d noticed it the night before, or in the morning. Either way, we noticed my phone was just absolutely not working to save our lives. No service. No matter where I went. It was just kaput. (This was actually never really explained other than ‘things get weird internationally sometimes, and it was working a few days later.)

But anyway, since I couldn’t use my phone, he was unable to reach me, and I promised to come back right after scuba diving and meet him in the room, so we could meet up and have lunch and then go to this cave together.

And I worked out with the cab driver I had to scuba in the morning to to come get me at 2. And I told him if for some reason the boat is not back to please, please wait for me, and I’d pay extra. Because I had to leave as soon as I could to get back to Alex, and I had no form of communication on me.

(Obviously had the cab driver not pulled through, we weren’t far from a Hilton. I could’ve asked them to call a cab, or probably the scuba place would’ve. I could’ve used another diver’s phone. I wasn’t like in the wilderness. But I just wanted to make sure there was as little room as possible for error.)

Oh, also! A silly little cab story! So, I’d pre-booked a cab through the hotel, on my first day of scuba diving (Wednesday), to come at whatever time I needed it in the morning. And when I got to the lobby, there were approximately a billion people there. (I may be exaggerating a little, but you get it.)

And I was like “uuuuuh, do you by chance know where my cab is?”

And some wires had accidentally gotten crossed and the cab wasn’t there. But then the hotel was like, “it doesn’t matter. Take any of them. Everyone is going to the game, so you can jump in one of these vans with other people.”

It felt hilarious to be the one person not going to the cricket game. And when they realized, “oh you’re not going to the game?!”, they immediately got to scuba just fine, and all was right with the world… But that was kind of hilarious to me.

(We’ll get more into the cricket game later.) So, back to where we are now on Thursday –

I jumped in the cab after scuba. I went straight to the room. And Alex was like, “I’m sorry. I made a mistake. I thought it said the shuttle was coming at 3, but we are supposed to be there at 3.”

No worries!

So, we skipped the food. (It’s all right. We could always pig out later!) I literally just threw a kind of flower over-wrap dress thing over my bathing suit, so it looked like I was wearing somewhat normal clothes as there was no time to change.

We whatsapped the cab I’d just been in, asking him to come right back, which he did. We booked it to the front to meet him.

And then we got to Harrison’s Cave. And we ultimately did have time once we got there, but it was a race to do it!

And Alex’s prediction had come true. The one and only bump in the road we ran into was handled like a team (the Sky Team, as we call ourselves). And we were indeed very chill. And we made it!

And I’ll talk about Harrison’s Cave tomorrow!

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 7 (Catamaran Cruise (Part B)!)

March 27, 2022

(I know everyone always says don’t give out free feet pics on the internet haha, but I didn’t take a ton of photos on the cruise, so here’s one of our feet.)

So, anyway, we got to have a nice, long boat ride back and watched all of sunset, which was beyond gorgeous.

We spent most of the time together, and he told me some stories of his childhood I didn’t know, which was nice to learn.

We also spent some time talking to our new friends (me with the girl, and him with the guy), and Curtis showed me a little about navigating the boat.

It was just so calm, and the ocean air felt great, and the views were beautiful. It was, like most of Barbados, perfect in every way.

And THEN, as if the day couldn’t get any more perfect, to get back to the hotel, we got to ride the party bus!

And it was really just so special and magical. Perfection. (Sorry, I know I use a lot of the same flowery words and phrases. I just loooooved Barbados so much.)

So, anyway, we get on this party bus. Everyone is slamming rum, because… it’s Barbados!

I’m still taking it super easy, and didn’t even drink 1/4 of a drink on the boat. (I’ve gotta get up early and go scuba diving the next day! So, I’m trying to be responsible, plus, I’m not a big drinker to begin with.)

But it is fun and cute to see everybody loving everything so deeply, and everyone just singing the party songs so loudly.

And Alex and I had talked about this adorable family that was there, having so much fun, and he kind of talked wistfully about how cool it would be to be one of those kids, having such a laid-back super-fun time with your parents.

And as we’d been talking about how fun it would be to be on this trip with your family, as we looked at each other, while we were singing and dancing at/with each other on this bus, I realized… I am here with my family. He is family to me.

And so this silly little party bus just meant so much.

[I didn’t post the video of us singing to each other, because you gotta keep some things private haha, but there he is looking out the window when there was a break in the singing.]

So, anyway, there was another absolutely perfect day in Barbados, and then we roll into the next one!

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 6 (Catamaran Cruise (Part A)!)

March 26, 2022

Outside of scuba diving [which is obv only for people with a specific hobby] (and a VERY special surprise you’ll hear about toward the end of the week), this is the number one like “normal” thing I’d recommend doing in Barbados.

It was SO fun. There were a million highlights of the trip, but this was a huge bright spot, and if I could only do one “normal” thing, it’d be this.

[Just to keep orienting us, this was Wednesday, March 16.]

So, we got on the boat (the Tiami Sunset Dinner Cruise), and we could already tell it was gonna be amazing, because the vibe of the people was amazing.

He came from the cricket game that he went to that morning, since I was scuba diving. And… I’m sure you’ll never be able to guess what happened as soon as got on the boat.

(Alcohol. Obviously alcohol. It’s always alcohol in Barbados haha.)

And the boat partied and had a good time until we reached the first destination for a swim.

They gave people snorkel masks (but I already had mine, since I’d just come from scuba diving). The first swim was cool, and chill, just a little fun.

I thought that was gonna be our only swim. And it’s funny because everything I’d read/seen said there were ALWAYS turtles and you would see turtles. But we didn’t. And I didn’t think too much of it, because animals can’t be guaranteed. But it turns out, we absolutely DID see turtles. We just had to wait ’til the second swim.

In between the two swims, we met this cool couple, that we later had dinner with on the boat. They were fun and nice and interesting, and it’s always lovely to meet people, of course.

Also, in between the swims, when I was offered alcohol again (always, there’s always rum in Barbados) by one of the crew mates. I thought I’d have just a little.

When he was telling about the special rums they had, and asked what I wanted with the rum I chose, I said “I don’t know? What goes well with it?” He reached out his hand and said “Hi, my name is Curtis.”

(Get it? He’s what goes well with it.) I thought that was so funny.

(Also, this was my first experience having Mt Gay rum, and it really was delicious. I don’t really drunk rum, so I don’t have a ton to compare it to, but I believe the people of Barbados that Mt Gay rum is great.)

So, we went on the second swim and saw the turtles! It was magical. I was so happy.

I didn’t wear my fins, since it was just snorkeling and no one else was. (Even though one of our new friends suggested I do, and just be fun and different – and he was RIGHT.)

I was fine, but those turtles get pretty close to your feet, which is VERY cool, but their little snapping mouths get a little scary! So, if I had fins I wouldn’t have been doing my silly push/pull of getting close to them to see them up close, just to sneak away to try not to get bit.

After the second swim, we got on the boat and had dinner. They had SO much food. You could definitely get full on it.

Also, I wouldn’t think of Barbados as like the French dressing capital of the world, but the French dressing was PERFECT. Amazing. Probably the best French dressing I ever had.

Speaking of the best sauces in the world, I could not get ENOUGH Barbados hot sauce. (We’ll get to that tomorrow, but it was so very awesome.)

And since this post is getting a little long, I’ll pick up here with the rest of the perfect sunset cruise tomorrow!

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 5 (Scuba Diving – Shipwreck Certified!)

March 25, 2022

So obviously, if I was going to an island, I needed to go scuba diving!

[Sadly, Alex is not certified (though I hope to convince him one of these days).]

I looked around for scuba places, and luckily, I found a great one!

Oh my gosh! Also, this is the part I found super cool!!!

So, I got my Open Water and Advanced certs done by a woman (Chrissy). And I thought it would be super cool if all my certifications from here on out are done by women!

Women are the minority when it comes to scuba divers, and it would be cool to sort of swim on the shoulders of women in the field.

So, I thought it would be cool, but it wasn’t an absolute requirement. And when I was calling around to dive shops most of them had male instructors.

And even this one I thought I might! I wasn’t sure exactly who my instructor would be, but when I got to Barbados Blue Watersports… it was Aimee!!!

And then began the two-day journey of getting my scuba certification!

Wednesday and Thursday morning, I headed out early to dive.

I chose to get a shipwreck specialty, because if I’m going to be diving anyway, I really want to rack up some more certifications!

So, when I was looking up the best/most interesting certifications to do in Barbados, shipwrecks was the thing! Every book/website/etc. said so!

And they were right. We started in this bay full of shipwrecks, looked around, and did the basic shipwreck stuff (mapping it and that kind of stuff you have to do to get your certification).

When we left the first day, we were told that if conditions were right(!), we’d get to check out the Stavronikita, and the conditions were right!!!

I was so happy the stars aligned. We got to dive down to this deep ship, and even go inside! It was a little scary, but in a fun way.

Boom. Certification done.

So, Wednesday, after the first day of diving, I headed over to the Catamaran Cruise to meet up with Alex!

I did have a little time in between, so I walked about Bridgetown a bit, stopped and walked around a mall, and asked a cab driver what’s a good truly local place for food (since I didn’t plan on doing much eating outside of the hotel, but there wasn’t quite enough time to get all the way to the hotel and back to the Catamaran Cruise, plus the expense of getting there would’ve been more than stopping for food).

But while I was out, he took me to a little hole in the wall place, that didn’t even have a sign/name, or I’d drop it here. My favorite local Barbados cuisine was macaroni pie (which is probably the most American thing of the local Barbados cuisine, but what can I say, I have the simplest palette of all time).

So, after the quick stop off, it was time to meet up with Alex, and that’s where I’ll pick up tomorrow!

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 4 (Island Safari!)

March 24, 2022

Aurora-and-Alex-on-the-lion-on-Gun-Hill

On Tuesday morning, we woke up first thing and went on a 6-hour “Island Safari.” (So fun!)

We had fantastic guides – that’s right. Guides. Plural, because we had Cory on his last training before he was about to be a grown-up guide by himself the next day.

They started by offering us rum punch. We quickly learned that you will be offered alcohol everywhere you go, always, all the time, in Barbados.

They took us up to Gun Hill where we sat on the famous lion statue. And they took us to every parish in Barbados – except for St. Philip (but I’ll get there later in the week).

We stopped by Bathsheba – which is like a famous beach/rock area.

And we off-roaded many times, tumbling around as much as possible being all thrown around in the back, which Alex couldn’t get enough of, because he loves rollercoasters and things of the like. (I obviously loved it too, but in part I just loved how much he loved it.)

We stopped off at Hackleton’s Cliff, which I think is maybe the 2nd highest point in Barbados? It’s a really nice view of the east coast!

We also stopped by Little Bay, which is VERY cool! It had all these little “blowholes” because of the shapes of the rocks, so the water would sort of bloop bloop up out of the ocean. Very cool!

We saw a lot of beautiful views, and a number of beaches.

Both of our favorite parts were going to Animal Flower Cave.

It’s all the way at the top of the island. It’s like this gorgeous little cove. We actually got there just in time to be last group who got to go down in the cove, as the weather was getting weird. It was cool, looked cool, felt cool, got cool pictures.

And then we made our way back down our side of the island, ending in Holetown (where we were staying).

Once we got back, we hung out a little at the pool again. I finished some scuba diving lessons on my phone, as I had to pass all the modules before I started a speciality certification the next day.

Also, I forgot to put this in our first day, so I’ll just put it here, that we met our new friend Jamie. He was sitting alone at dinner, so we invited him to sit with us. (He had just finished eating, so he didn’t take us up on it then, but later in the week he saw me and we exchanged instagram handles, and we all drank on our last night there… but we’ll get there.)

Anyway, I learned that the GIANT buffet was only a Monday night thing… which was fine, because all buffets were still FULL of options. But the big over-the-top, tons of cooking stations etc., that was a Monday night thing.

(There also was a whole upstairs restaurant we didn’t realize was it’s own special thing until later in the week, but we got there! The main buffet usually had a couple Barbados staples peppered in, but upstairs was all about local cuisine.)

[For anyone tracking my Barbados drinking haha, at this point, I’d barely drank anything… Just a few sips of the welcome drink from the hotel, and a few from the island guys. But I was mostly staying away from alcohol, because I had to be ready to scuba!]

After dinner, we just headed to bed. And then it was time to get up bright and early the next day!

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 3 (Arrival & First Night!)

March 23, 2022

Okay, for whatever reason, I’m having trouble with the media, so you may not be able to see that video, but trust me, it is magical haha.

So, we hop in the cab, and the driver tells us a bit about life in Barbados, and points out some things like a famous statue we pass and everything, until –

Something like 24 hours from when we arrived at LAX we arrived at the Barbados hotel (on March 14)! The Club Barbados. Everyone was SO nice.

(And they handed us welcome drinks. This is the beginning of a long line of everyone offering us drinks all the time.)

We had the BEST room. It was incredible. We could open the door and be ON the beach. And we were just steps away from the bar and dining room. Wanna be drunk at 9am? or midnight? Or really whenever you feel like it? Great news. Take 10 steps and all the free alcohol you could ever want is at your fingertips.

The hotel also gave us a calendar of all the little things we could do everyday! It was pretty cool.

Wheel of Fortune gives you $500 as spending money for your trip, and you absolutely could’ve gone to Barbados, stayed busy completely never leaving the resort, and gotten by on that $500, since the resort was all-inclusive, so it just would’ve had to cover tips [and like airport transport] for the week.

But alas, we didn’t do any of the hotel stuff, because there just wasn’t time! (I mean, maybe there was time that very first day, because you’re about to hear how lazy were were on night one haha, but overall, we had a lot to do!)

Basically, we just unpacked, showered, changed clothes, ate dinner, and then fell asleep at like 7:30 pm, or something insane (after all the travel and time zone hopping – especially, obviously for him, and staying up all night [even though we did sleep some on the plane], etc.).

We did spend a small bit of time at the pool before dinner, and it was really lovely and sweet. And we were playing this question game on my phone. And when one of the questions was what are 3 things you had in common, one of his that came quickly to mind was he thought we were both very chill about everything on vacation and we wouldn’t run into any issues (and boy was he correct). I don’t think of myself as a chill person, but perhaps I’m chill in times, or perhaps I’m chill with him. But it was a chill, amazing week.

The dinner on the first night was amazing! It was the HUGE buffet with everything you could ever imagine. And there were outside stations of people cooking various meals and deserts. It was so decadent.

I truly loved everything about everything – Barbados, the hotel, the room, the food, Alex, the workers the hotel. It was magical. And it just keeps getting more magical after that. So, stick around for part 4!

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 2 (Flying NYC to Bridgetown, Barbados!)

March 22, 2022

So, we sat in JFK and made our itinerary. We actually ended up being thankful for the random very long layover [which originally, we weren’t even supposed to have. The flight for some reason was moved way up and was going to be landing not until 6am, so yay for changes and our layover], because it just took a long time to kind of go through everything and sort out what we wanted to do and compare when various tours and stuff were available vs other places, so we could puzzle piece it all together.

I don’t need to lay out the itinerary for you right now, because you’ll see it as the week unfolds!

As we were completing the itinerary, we had some breakfast – breakfast strombolis, to be exact – which were delicious.

Then we walked around a little, waited for our flight, played some more word games online – any iteration of Wordle we could find, including the math one.

And then it was time… to fly to Barbados!!!

Which… I slept through. (And I think he did too.)

Here comes the part that was most hilarious to me.

Barbados was very strict about Covid entrance requirements. The place where I normally get my PCR tests done didn’t even qualify. I forget exactly why, but like an actual doctor had to do it or something… Whatever the stringent requirements were, I read them very carefully, and I confirmed about 8 million times that I was getting the correct test at the correct place, and it would work.

And Alex asked me a bunch of times if I was sure I was getting it done correctly. He’s been living in Singapore for most of the pandemic, so he made this big deal about how strict international travel is during the pandemic, and I really needed to be careful, etc.

And I was like “I would never mess up our trip to Barbados. I have checked this a billion times.” And then I told him, like “hey, I know you know what you’re doing and you’ve travelled internationally during the pandemic. So, I don’t mean to question you… but… You’re definitely getting the right one, right? Because in reading the Barbados requirements, they are strict. My normal PCR place doesn’t count, and it’s a legit setup with nurses, and it’s good, and accepted by my workplace, school, and doctors offices… but not Barbados. So, it’s tricky.”

And he’s like “I have it under control. Don’t worry.”

And he even made some jokes on the way there about what if I’d messed up.

Well, as you perhaps have guessed from this story, HE’S the one who had a test they didn’t take hahahahaha. It was… so funny to me.

So, he had to get a test done at the airport. So, he was taken to an area I wasn’t allowed to go to, for people who didn’t have the correct test (to get it re-done). So, in the meantime, I went ahead and picked up the bags and started walking around the airport.

Then I found a little Chefette, which is the fast food restaurant of Barbados. (They call KFC Keep From Chefette, because Chefette is the thing out there.) I’d read about it in tourist books, so since I was waiting anyway, figured I might as well go get some Chefette. And it was totally fine. Nothing to super write home about (even though in some ways that’s what I’m literally doing right now), but certainly not bad! I was glad I got the random chance to try to the Barbados staple.

Soon enough, Alex was out of Covid jail. We had a big ol’ laugh about it, but I didn’t want to rub it in his face too much. I wanted him to laugh, not be annoyed or feel embarrassed, so we had a laugh, forgot about Covid tests, and hopped in cab to go to our sweet hotel!

Spring Braedos! (Barbados) – Part 1 (Flying LAX to NYC (first leg)!)

March 21, 2022

Oh my goodness gracious!!!!

I’m gonna tell every little detail because I care too much, and sorry because I’m sure none of you care as much as I do, but for you, you can just skip to the parts strangers might find more interesting.

So, anyway, I’ll start by saying, I never took a traditional “spring break” in all of college or young adulthood, etc. So, it was really cool that this lined up with spring break!

Originally, I was supposed to be flying from New York, but forget that. Blah, blah, blah many reasons, but also, I wanted to fly with Alex, so he didn’t have to be alone for 6 hours!

We were texting on the way to LAX, like “What time do you think you’ll get there?” “What time do you think you’ll get there?”

And then I thought we weren’t on the same schedules, that I’d just meat him at the gate, but I was checking in, he came up behind me and I wanted to cry!

He’d been trying to throw me off slightly, so he could surprise me like that, because he’s quite literally the best.

It felt like forever since I’ve seen him, and when I turned to see who was tapping me, and saw him, my eyes got SO wide, and I gave him the most giant hug.

We checked in for the flight and headed to the gate.

At LAX, we just kind of caught up a bit. We walked around.

We went into the F.A.O. Schwartz there and saw the most GIANT stuffed animal – which was like over $1,000.

I’m think it might’ve been LAX where our Wordle/Octordle/etc excitement first happened. (We definitely played in New York when we had so much time at the layover, but we’ll get there.

So, anyway, we headed to first class, baby!

[Wheel of Fortune did not pay for first class, but they did fly us Jet Blue(!) without us even asking, which was amazing because it’s my favorite airline for life. And your girl has 80 billion points, so I upgraded myself and Alex, because I wanted to surprise him and have this trip be absolutely perfect, and I’m glad because a perfect trip did indeed start of perfectly.]

The pilot came and talked to us! He told us all about where we’d be flying and the weather looked great and all that. We felt like celebrities. Neither of us had ever had a pilot come just say hi for funsies on a flight before.

We talked a little at the start of the flight – especially with some ideas about what we were gonna do in Barbados, and ultimately, we fell asleep for the end of the flight, because we knew we had a long night ahead of us in NYC, and I’m sure his body was super confused about what time it was, since he had come from Singapore and was on his way to yet a new time zone.

We got to New York around 1am, and our next flight left at 8am.

I actually had an apartment in midtown because of grad school! So, we shortly considered going there, but because of how long we thought it would take and the expense, and how much time we’d actually get to spend there, it didn’t seem worth it. So, we stayed at the airport.

I had to pick up my bags, since I tacked on the LA > NY flight, since I told Wheel I wanted to go from New York [because that’s what I thought at the time].

Then there was this HUGE hours-long line forming for people to check their bags. We heard from someone the ETA was something like 3 hours. But thankfully we did not have to wait in it, since we got to go straight to the Jet Blue Mint (first class) area, and they re-checked my bags immediately with no hassle. Boom. Taken care of.

(Seriously. I love JetBlue. They don’t sponsor me in any way, but man would it be great if they did.)

Then security for some reason opened earlier than normal (maybe just because of the sheer amount of people there on apparently a very busy travel weekend). So, we went through and set up shop at a table and chairs to plan out the next week.

(Yes, perhaps we should’ve done this before, but we were both mega busy and on different timezones, so this was the easiest time to do this together, and thankfully we’d both done a fair amount of independent research, so we were ready to combine forces and figure things out!)

And this is where I’ll pick up next time!

It Was Potentially For The Best That I Didn’t Win Toooooo Much Money on Wheel of Fortune

March 14, 2022

[Imagine this posted on March 14, 2022. I’m so sorry everything is continuing to come so, so very out of order. I’m doing the best I can!]

This is posting while we’re in Barbados. And I thought I might as well do a little post about Wheel since we’re taking the trip and everything! (So this is a time to think about it.)

I talked a lot at the time about how much I had wanted the money for plastic surgery to put my body back together after years of weight fluctuations. Well, first off, my weight ended up (for a number of reasons) fluctuating during this pandemic as well.

Maybe, as much I believe I can be someone who’s fit and thin and maintains it, maybe I’m someone who’ll be struggling her whole life. Who knows. (Maybe had I gotten plastic surgery, my pandemic would’ve been different and things would be different. I dunno.)

But anyway, I talked about how I was sure that if I’d won a lot of money, I was going to use it for plastic surgery. And here are the two good things that came out of not winning the money.

  1. Since we went into a pandemic, I ended up having the opportunity to go back to school. And since my parents wanted to pay for it the first time, they went ahead and helped tremendously with me going back to finish. And they made it super clear that had I had a LOT more Wheel money, and not wanted to spend it on school? They would’ve respected that, but they wouldn’t have helped with school at all, in that case.

    So, had I won more (including the bonus round), I would’ve absolutely used it for plastic surgery. My parents would not have paid for school. I wouldn’t have had enough for school and plastic surgery. So, I wouldn’t have gone to school. And now, not only am I done with my Bachelor’s. I rolled right into grad school!

    I don’t know if my education will ever mean anything. But now I’ll have a Master’s degree, when I wouldn’t have otherwise. And hopefully that will do something for me, at some point!

  2. I started teaching private lessons, and I really liked it!

    I felt bad that I had ‘lost’ so much money. (I mean, it’s hard to lose when it wasn’t yours to begin with.) But I wanted to figure out some way to ‘get it back’. So, I started looking at every little way I could to earn extra money.

    Now, I haven’t made anywhere near the $37,000 (bonus round money) from teaching. But! I’ve met some really cool students, and figured out new ways to share my love of music and dance!

    It’s really been a good addition to my life, and I highly doubt I would’ve done it otherwise.

So, in the end, everything always works out. You can almost always find silver lining to things. And these were my silver linings about not winning more money on Wheel!

2 Years After My “Wheel of Fortune” Episode

March 13, 2022

Well, I can’t believe exactly two years after I taped my episode, I’m at an airport waiting to fly on the trip I won.

(Normally, it would’ve been one year. But… you know. Pandemic.)

Anyway, I recently re-watched the episode. And you know what? It kinda held up way better than I thought.

At the time of the original airing, I was so embarrassed, I wanted to crawl into a hole. I was just really super wildly embarrassed. And I was a little bit catastrophizing.

But looking back on it now? Still not the best day. Some of my little fake laughing when I’m trying to play the game, but trying to also play nice is a little cringey and annoying still. But at the time, it just felt like such an overwhelming failure and embarrassment, that seeing it as just a little cringey feels like a win to me.

I’ll take it! And I CAN’T WAIT to tell you all about Barbados, as I’m positive Alex and I are already having the best time as you’re reading this!

SPRING BRAEDOS! (Barbados on Spring Break ;))

March 12, 2022

It’s time for the trip I won on Wheel of Fortune!

I am taking my best friend in the world, Alex.

I have no idea how busy we’ll be, if there will be time to blog. So, I’ll just posting random nonsense on autopost while we’re gone, and on the 21st… get ready for all of the tales!!!

I’m beyond excited!

Spring Braedos. Here we go baby!

So What Do I Hope For In The Next 10 Years of This Blog/My Life?

January 19, 2022

Blogging is already slightly ‘out of fashion’.

Most people have moved on to videos. In the last 10 years, Vine came and went. YouTube is still kind of around. TikTok seems to be the thing of the moment now.

So, I don’t know if this blog will still exist. I hope it does! I hope as long as wordpress keeps existing, I keep writing. And if wordpress doesn’t exist, I hope I’m able to move this blog to a different website. So, okay, let’s assume that somehow in whatever crazy future we’re living in with holograms and chips implanted in our hands and stuff, that somehow, someway this blog is still existing, and I’m still writing in it –

Well, I would actually, from my first blog post, still like to run a marathon in every state. So, I’d love to be at least halfway done with this. So, if right now I’m at 7 states, I’d like to get 18 more, so I can be at 25 states.

I’d also in general like to do a marathon on every continent, so it’d be nice if I could be halfway (or over halfway) done with that. So, maybe marathons on 3 more continents (since I obviously already have North America).

I want to visit every country in the world. I don’t know that I need to be halfway done, per se – though I would love to be! But even if I can be somewhere in the vicinity of 60 or so countries (total, not just in the next 10 years, but including ones I’ve already been to), I would call that a huge win, as international travel can be somewhat hard to make happen.

I’d loooooove to be at least two awards into an EGOT. Sadly, a fair amount of that is out of my control. But some of it also is! So, I can try my best, and cross my fingers. I really do want that EGOT – although as I get older I realize both how much harder it is than I thought, and seeing peers win a number of those, I see how winning awards never actually fulfills people in any meaningful way. But still. I think I would love it nonetheless.

On a personal note, I’d like to be a lot better at being a thermostat, not a thermometer [a great things Cory Booker always says], and setting the tone in my life rather than letting other people set it, or responding so hard to what they do – and I mean this micro and macro, to be good and emotionally regulated in close relationships, and also in small things or with people I don’t know at all – e.g. to not to so exasperatedly exclaim “representative!!” when I’m in an annoying robot menu of some business.

I’d like to feel more deeply connected to people, and I’d like to have more connections in general. Pre-pandemic, one of my friends always joked about how I knew everyone, and if he needed access to an astronaut, he’d come to me, because he’d know I would know someone who could get him an astronaut.

I think I’ve let a lot of people fall away during the pandemic, but I like being that ultra-connected person. So, I’d like to be that connected, but also having deeper connections with people, and really try to prioritize that instead of just clearly measurable goals (such as number of countries and marathons and that type of thing).

I’d love to be on at least 5 more game shows. Technically, you can be on one a year, and I’d like to try to be on a bunch (with the idea being that just due to tape schedules and stuff, you’ll probably never be in a perfect rotation of as soon as a year passes, immediately getting on your next one). But 5 is assuming every other year. So, while I know you don’t always get cast in every game show, I’m gonna do my best.

I really want to be on a dance team for a professional sports team – preferably in the NBA, but practically any sport will do. I have always wanted to do this. And if I don’t do it in the next 10 years, it is extraordinarily unlikely I ever will. (I mean, there have been cheerleaders in their 40s, but they are VERY rare. And I guess you could be in that group for seniors that dances for the New York Liberty, but that’s not really what I’m after.) So, in the next 10 years, I’d LOVE to be on a professional dance team for some team, somewhere. Even just a season would scratch the itch of that urge.

I want to finally give my freaking kidney to a stranger! How long has it been that I’ve been trying to do that?! Geeeeeez haha. So, if I get 10 more years, that BETTER happen.

I’d love to raise $35,000 more dollars for charity/political causes I believe in, in the next 10 years. I’ve done a little over $15,000 through various charity stuff so far, and it’d be nice to get up to $50,000 that I’d done in my lifetime. (It’d be great if it could even be more.)

I want to learn to ride a bike already haha. That’s something I talk about doing all the time. And then I want to use it to enjoy more athletic events – century bike rides, triathlons, just some cool stuff!

I’d like to have another advanced degree (besides my MA, which I’ve already done). And I won’t pick now, because I think a lot of them could be super interesting, but whatever one I get (if I do get one), I want it to be something I’m SUPER passionate to learn about. I don’t want to do it for another bullet point on a resume, but I want to get things out of it, truly – to expand my brain.

I’d like to do at least 5 more “52 in 52 projects,” outside of the one I’m currently doing. And I’d love if at least 3 of them felt truly worthwhile. The ones I’ve done thus far have kind of run the gamut. And the one I’m currently doing (52 yoga poses) is basically just to remember to stretch, and something that was doable in the pandemic without breaking my streak. So, I’d love for them to be things that that feel worthwhile, and not just “time for a project.”

I guess all that to say, I think I want to try to like overall live a little more meaningfully in the next 10 years. While a lot of the “stuff” might be the same I want to live more to do the things I want – not just the things that will look good, but the things I really want. And I want to try to really enjoy them instead of always wondering what’s next, and looking to the next thing…

It’s good, of course to always want more, to want to do more, achieve more, grow more. But my ability to truly enjoy the present moment has waned back and forth throughout the years. And I hope I’m fairly successfully at that over these next 10 years.

If you have anything you think I missed, any other ideas, etc, please let me know in the comments. And I check on this in 2032, and see how things worked out!

10 Years Since The Blog Started!

January 18, 2022

Wow. I can’t really believe it’s been 10 whole years, can you?

I’ve been trying to update the blog lately, so I’ve been going back to the archive, to keep looking to find my blank spots in the calendars.

And I noticed that when you look at the years up top, it’s been 10 whole years.

So, I went back and read the first post.

In that post I say I want to continue to have a lot of adventures, and make the world a better place, and become more of a well-rounded person.

I say I want to have an adventure-filled life, and that my life and the blog will hopefully encompass a lot of things.

I also say I have plenty of goals. I lay some of them out in the post, and then I say I’ll talk about some of them as time goes on.

Well, let’s see how things have turned out over the past 10 years.

As far as having varied adventures and hitting goals –

  • I was on three more games shows. (I’d already been on one before the blog started.)
  • I worked for Jon Stewart, which was dope! (In fact, I worked on a number of interesting shows – including with the Jacksons!!!)
  • I finished undergrad, and will be finishing grad school within the next 6 months [edited to add: I finished].
  • I lived in LA and New York multiple times each, and I even did a few-month stint in Mexico for a job.
  • I hadn’t visited Europe yet, and now I’ve been multiple times. And I went to Africa for the first (and second!) time as well.
  • I tackled multiple “52 in 52 projects” – the half marathons, the volunteer activities, the performances, and more.
  • I got back into dance, which I missed a lot. And started doing ballet en pointe!
  • I said on that blog post that I wanted to run a marathon in every state, and I did 7 of them so far. (Would be nice to have more, but not so bad, especially considering we’ve been in a pandemic for the last 3 years).

If I’m forgetting things, please, of course feel free to tell me (if somehow you remember something about my own life I don’t, which would be funny, but also possible).

And overall, I’m sort of doing it. I’m lived a fairly varied life. I’ve had adventures. I’ve let you in on most of it.

And it’s wild to think 10 years have gone by.

I did say in the first post that I wanted to win an EGOT and be a neurosurgeon. And man, let me tell you… I am not even one award into that EGOT. I am not even one *nomination* into that EGOT. So, I don’t know what’s gonna happen with that, if anything, ever. I’ve been on the pre-ballot – to get to the nomination round 4 times. And yet!

And the neurosurgeon thing, that was mainly tongue-and-cheek silliness, but I don’t know how anyone would’ve possible known that on a first blog post, so it was a bit of a silly thing to say, but also part of me still actually thinks I might be a neurosurgeon someday. So who knows! Anything is possible!

Sometimes An Ethical Maze, Working In TV

January 16, 2022

I hardly even know where to start.

I think this is one of the reason I loved The Good Place so much. Everything is just so sticky, and hard to pick apart, and nuanced.

When I was growing up, I think I loved to believe that there weren’t a million ethical quandaries in working in entertainment. But as I’ve gotten older, that’s clearly changed.

I think working in reality shows at all [the ones based on ‘real’ people, not already famous people, or people who have a ‘reality show persona’] in and of itself had a million ethical issues.

But now, with the rise of Trump – who came from reality TV (oof), I can imagine someone who worked on The Apprentice, AT THE TIME, thinking “mmm, not a great show, a little overly fake, this dude is a blowhard,” but it not seeming like the end of the world.

And now… a Trump show is on their resume. (I mean, maybe not. Maybe they’ve taken it off, unless they worked on it for many, many seasons so it’s a big part; or if they use it as an insane conversation starter.)

But like who would’ve POSSIBLY known the full extent to how bad Trump was? (Maybe a lot of people, and I’m naive. But, back pre-2015… I don’t think(?) we all knew? I didn’t know!)

So, working on The Dr. Oz show was kind of a dream. He was so nice when I was a guest on his show. Great when I worked on his show. He tried to keep people in the loop about their futures, as he was gonna give up the show. They paid good money. We had VERY reasonable work/life balance (or, at least my job did).

So it’s hard to work at such a cool place with such cool people, but it feel weird… I mean, I knew he was a peddler of things we were all reasonably sure didn’t work. But I didn’t feel that was too crazy, because it’s a daytime talk show. I sort of think that’s just part of the daytime talk/beauty/diet/etc industry that you expect people to tune out a bit (maybe?).

Plus, I mainly did the digital side. So, just editing yoga videos and stuff that just seemed like ‘whatever, how could this possibly be bad?’

But. Now that he’s gone SO red, SO vocally, SO fast… like… being against vaccines?! (And as a doctor, no less?!)

I feel like in some ways, it’s almost silly and funny to work for a ‘known charlatan’ but it’s a whole different thing when it’s like… a Trump surrogate. And now it’s like (eeeeeep… what are people gonna think when they see my IMDb page?)

And in this case, I worked with him CLOSE to him going and being a Trumper. So like… that’s probably worse than had it been 10 years later or something.

It’s a minefield out there (as The Good Place let us know – if only I could work on shows like that)!

How Did I Ethically Feel, Working For Dr. Oz?

January 15, 2022

It’s kinda weird…

I don’t think I fully understood the extent of who he was, or at least who he is now, before he started running for Senate.

When I went on the show, it was an episode about sexual assault. He seemed reasonably informed and empathetic. He had pictures of him with many democrats in the dressing rooms and the halls – including Michelle Obama!

I met a number of people who worked on the shows who were democrats.

I never knew him to be this super red, gun-loving, science-hating dude.

I mean, I did know some people thought of him as a bit of a charlatan. And I didn’t think all of his weight loss tips and tricks probably worked. But I didn’t imagine that to be that harmful. Lots of people give meh weight loss advice.

Also, I mainly did stuff for “OzTube,” which meant I was just editing yoga videos and stuff, and that’s simple enough. That didn’t seem too harmful.

So, it’s really interesting how people can ultimately seem to be far more harmful than you initially realized.

And I don’t know if that means they just were more harmful to begin with, and hid it. Or if I’m a little pollyanna. Or if people change. Or if it’s mixes of all those things. Who knows!

But yeah, I was unaware of the full extent of everything while working for an arm of the Dr. Oz show [and while being taped as a guest!] And that’s why I did those things.

I’m surprised to see how he’s acting now. And obviously, just because I worked there, I, in no way, endorse his Senate campaign.

Our Final Episode of The Dr Oz Show

January 14, 2022

Well, what a whirlwind it’s been…

From taping an episode of his show as a guest, to it not airing, to be a digital editor working for the show, to now the show ending, it feels like I’ve had a lot of interaction with something I ultimately haven’t been super connected with. I’ve only been to the studio one time!

The people I worked with there were incredible. Super nice. I didn’t meet one mean person there, or one person who didn’t pull their weight.

They had super reasonable hours. A nice work/life balance. They even gave us 5 paid days off!!! I don’t know that I’ve ever had a job that gives you paid time off. They even offered insurance(!).

Also, Dr. Oz himself was really good about keeping us updated with what his plans were gonna be, and that we should be preparing for the show to end. So, he’s tried to be very human about it all.

It was really a great job in every way.

Now, how I ethically felt about working there – I’ll cover it in another post. But overall, it was a good job. Now we’re done, and they’re rolling us all over to The Good Dish, which I’m excited about!

I Finally WATCHED The Ball Drop! – Part 2 (Okay, The Actual Ball Drop Part)

January 4, 2022

Picking up from yesterday –

So, the actual ball drop was pretty cool.

It was cool immediately before to see the Times Square screens turned into TV screens to watch all the happenings of New Years Rockin’ Eve.

And then the ball drop was so dramatic. I don’t know why I didn’t remember from the televised event the super loud clicking for the whole 60 seconds.

I also didn’t realize it was a whole 60 second thing. I thought it basically just the last 10 seconds. And for some reason I expected the ball to go so fast.

You would’ve thought I’d never watched it, based on how surprised I was.

Anyway, it was SO cool to see in person. Like, truly, pretty amazing.

I will say though, that back when I lived on 46th, it felt a lot more “in the action.”

It’s crazy how much literally just a couple of blocks (still being in the 40s!) can affect how much you’re in the middle of it/how much confetti rains down on you (well, also there were fewer people all over this year, so that could’ve been part of it).

One thing I thought was kind of cute was how when I looked around, the cops were in awe and a few were taking video themselves.

I feel like it’d be easy to be jaded about the magic of Times Square New Years. So, I was happy to see them seemingly enjoying it.

I darted back in and was one of the first on the elevators, before everything got crazy and things got crowded inside – trying to evade the deadly virus and everything.

As far as my main person Times Square “FAQ” I had going into it – I thought living in Times Square would basically allow me sooooo much access all around Times Square. Like, I thought maybe I’d go check out the delicatessen up a few blocks because I’ve always been curious if people wait to watch the ball there.

Well, I couldn’t find out. Once you’re in, you’re in. There were barricades at the top, bottom, and both sides of my block. I guess I could’ve left, but it seemed super hard to get in, so I just stayed right on put.

So, yeah, I suppose that covers it. If you have any questions for me, please let me know! And I will take another Covid test in a couple of days to be sure [I hope!] that I didn’t get it 🙂

I Finally WATCHED The Ball Drop! – Part 1 (So Scared of Covid)

January 3, 2022

Okay, first off, I know it’s so easy for the first reaction to be “omg, how could you with the Omicron surge? And I totally get it. I was kind of judgmental of it all happening still. But, please know that I spent *literally* 2 minutes outside. I was double masked with an N95 and a face shield. I was outside of the barricade, outside of the crowd. I literally live here haha. So, let’s hope that precaution was enough! Now, let’s get into it!

If you’ve been a long time reader of the blog, you might know that I have been JUST off the edge of the ball drop 2 years. I used to live in the mid 40s between 6th and 7th, and I was SO close. I might even argue officially ‘closer’ than I am now – but no view of the ball.

And when I moved back for grad school, I very specifically picked a building where I could SEE the ball. So, it became this whole internal struggle of whether I should watch the ball drop. I picked this apartment in large part for the ONE night.

But I also am hardcore being intense to people about being responsible in the pandemic.

All that being said, I went up to the roof a couple of times during the day. There were signs saying all of our public terraces/rooftops in the building were closing at 8, due to New Years.

So, I went to take some videos of the ball – and the crowd – from an above view, to get a sense of it and update my curious friends.

At 7:45 I went back up to the roof to get one last look at things before they were gonna shut it down. (I also wanted to see if it was possible I might be able to secretly stay up there… I could not.)

There were cops and NYC transportation people and all these official people all around my building. They did a full on sweep of the roof at 8 – every little nook and cranny you could think of, and they completely locked it up. And I even asked “had I somehow been able to hide, would I have been able to chill here for the next 4 hours to watch the ball drop?” and they were like “no. We have snipers there, there, there [pointing], and they’d call in there was someone on this roof who needed to be swept.”

So, the roof was a no go. Weirdly, the roof seemed more dangerous than just being downstairs, since too many maskless people were up there. So, I fairly quickly got out of there.

And then I kept seeing everyone’s tweets of how irresponsible it was to be in Times Square. And I thought “oof, I don’t know if I can do this. I can’t be the worst.”

So, I went down around 11pm.

[I can’t directly see the ball from my apartment window, but you can see it right outside my door.]

So, I went down and the whole entire sidewalk was open and the crowds were herded in the middle of the street.

I sat on this big rectangle on the sidewalk until a cop was like “nobody can hang out here until 15 minutes ’til. This area is locked down.”

So, I went back upstairs, and around 11:45, I heard a huge group of people from the apartment next to mine laughing and going down the hall. I remembered how many people were on the roof and how many people live here and just thought “oh boy this might be dangerous!”

I was just gonna skip it so as not to press my luck. I even got in bed, like “just go to sleep.”

But then around 5 minutes ’til or so, I put on masks, goggles, and face shield, slipped on shoes, and ran down the stairs. My doorman was like “geez, just a minutes to spare!”

As soon as I got outside, I was filming another little video of how I wasn’t at all *in* the crowd, and I was just on the sidewalk far behind everyone – even the people who’d come out from my building.

But as SOON as I’d started, the 60 second countdown started and we were off to the races.

2021 In Review – Part 4 (Nov/Dec – Conclusion)

January 2, 2022

Picking up from yesterday –

November – Marched in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. So cool, right?!

I also re-passed Advanced at The Groundlings (over zoom). You only get 2 years to take Writer’s Lab after you pass advanced, and I passed in the fall of 2019. So, in the fall of 2021, since I couldn’t take writer’s lab (as it still wasn’t being offered [pandemic – shots, shots, shots, shots, shots], and I was in NYC), I retook it online.

[Note: The Groundlings is allowing people to extend their results because of how long people haven’t been able to take classes in person. But since we don’t know for sure how long that’s gonna last, best to just get this done.]

And I was in class with the coolest people. I had SO much fun!

December – Finished my first semester of grad school (getting an MA in Creative Media & Technology specializing in Writing & Design for Musical Theatre). And got a 4.0! I also got to watch the ball drop live in Times Square, which was pretty darn cool.

Overview: As you can tell, this year was very much wrapped up in… school? Music? Writing? All of the above. A few side musical theater projects, and going to school – that had a lot of writing for lots of musical theater elements. Yeah… a lot of work…

A lot of being indoors… I mean, some not. This didn’t all make it in the things by month review, but I did go to Florida and scuba dive a bit before grad school, as things seemed safer. And I did travel back to LA and do all the theme park stuff. It wasn’t like zero adventures happened. Or like I never went outside. (I marched in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and saw the ball drop! haha)

But yeah… I guess it was a lot of school and projects, ultimately – especially in the first half. What a surreal year that both flew by and also took 1,000 years. But I suppose that’s how time works in general.

2021 In Review – Part 3 (August – October)

January 1, 2022

Picking up from yesterday –

July – Built a video game. We were going really hard toward the end of the semester/end of undergrad completely. So, pretty much all I did was work on projects. And one of those projects was for one of my minors – Sound Design for Video Games.

My game was overall based on a template, and it was fairly simple. So, it’s not like I built something that’s gonna change the world. But it was cool to be flexing the really technical muscles in my brain and know that I built a video game!

August – I freaking somehow did it. Finished undergrad after all these billions of years. Double major in Music Production & Engineering, and Electronic Production & Design with a double minor in Sound Design for Video Games, and Creative Coding. I also technically finished all the requirements for Music Business, even though Berklee doesn’t officially offer 3 majors.

September – Started working at The Drew Barrymore Show. Loved getting another talk show under my belt, and having a job in New York, while in grad school.

(Oh, I also ‘moved’ to New York [LA is always home base, but for the year], and started grad school.

October – The Ava DuVernay reality show I worked on aired! That was cool. (I don’t generally do reality anymore, but working for her is an obvious exception.) I felt lucky to be a part of it!

Also in New York, I did my first live performance since the pandemic started. (I know, I know, a pandemic mention. Take a shot.)

My friends had a comedy show, and asked me to come do a couple comedy songs. So happy they included me!

Also, in October, I did aaaaaaaall the Halloween things in LA. I’d always wanted to see what the various theme parks and things were like in LA. For various reasons, I spent weeks in October here. So, I got it all in!

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow!

52 Yoga Poses in 52 Weeks!

December 31, 2021

Welp. Like many many things in the last 2 years, this is yet another one that’s changing.

I do a new “52 in 52” thing ever 2 or so years, and I HAD to start one before 2021 ended, because I wanted to have one in the 2021-2022 year frame.

Originally, it was supposed to be “52 New York things in 52 weeks,” and I decided to make a last second change before it was too late to change!

I got about 6 deep into the New York things, and then this new surge of Covid hit like wild and I just don’t know what the rest of the year holds. So, I’m gonna still do some New York things [ball drop in Times Square coming tomorrow!] but, I’m switching it up!

The “official” project for this year is going to be 52 yoga poses in 52 weeks.

This one will be interesting, because it feels like the first one that will have a lot of work on the front end for a lot of results on the back end.

But yeah, I was looking for something that realistically can be done from anywhere because who knows if we go remote and I’m in LA again, or wherever I am if I’m kinda stuck at home. And I wanted something I felt was really going to add to my life – and help build up something that felt like it was missing.

Over the pandemic, I’ve been sitting more than I’d like and my body’s getting a little more creaky. I need to stretch more. Flexibility will help with dance and fitness and my confidence. So, what seemed to be the easiest way to measure flexibility? 52 yoga poses!

I don’t know if I have to have an “official” one “done” in 2021 for it to count as me “starting” right now. [I did stretch today!]

But if I do, rest assured, I know child’s pose perfectly!

I look forward to learning more this year!

2021 In Review – Part 2 (April – July)

December 30, 2021

April – Fully vaxxed, baby! I know I’m trying not to over-mention the pandemic in this blog. If we already can’t escape it, no sense in talking about it all the time – especially in the sort of ‘record’ of my life I’m keeping. It’s something I don’t imagine I’m going to want to deeply remember. But anyway! I guess I don’t always have to give that preamble haha.

Thank goodness for science. Thank goodness for the vaccine. And I was finally able to get my shot in April!

May – Started up at Westside ballet again – virtually, since we are in a pandemic and everything. But last year, I had broken my foot. It took forEVER to heal. Tbh, I’m not even 100% sure it is 100% healed even still. But I LOVED taking ballet there when I had a job on the west side in 2019. I always miss ballet when I’m not doing it. So, I’m stoked to be taking some virtual classes there. And I’m so happy they offer virtual as an option!

June – Fire breathing, baby! That was my new birthday thing. It was very, very cool. I love that I got to experience that.

July – Finished another sketch class at the Groundlings. (I know. It’s not a big year. I guess keep in mind most stuff is still happening virtually at this point. Plus, it just felt like I was always doing homework. I was in SO many classes, and hard classes for undergrad. And the world was still not open for the first part of this year. So… I know finishing a sketch class isn’t a huge deal or anything. But it is something I did in July. And it was nice to get more sketches in the book!

This is where I’ll pick up tomorrow!

2021 In Review – Part 1 (January – March)

December 29, 2021

Every year, I say there has to be a better way to do this than by month…
And every year, I do it by month anyway! haha

So, I had a little trouble doing these first couple months, but I suppose here’s what I’ll go with.

January – This was one of the many months I was working on and off with the New York Public Library “Across a Crowded Room” event where people (oftentimes, including this time for me, strangers) write a mini-musical together. So, that was cool to work with new people, including the NYPL.

February – Pretty deep into undergrad here, in my second-to-last (and a very tough) semester. I was learning stuff about physical computing, soldering, and all that crazy stuff. Let’s go!

March – “Between Us Productions” (a place where I’d put on the mini-version of my domestic violence show years ago) reached out to me and asked if I’d be up for being in a virtual festival they were doing – raising money for Black Girls Code. Of course! Any excuse to write music and be in another festival. (Plus, I love Black Girls Code, and am so happy to support them.)

The mini-musical I wrote was called “Can’t Wait For Next June.” It’s about a person never fully taking in the moment, because they’re always too excited about what comes next.It didn’t turn out exactly how I thought about it in my mind back then, but I was happy with how it turned out, and I think they were too!

They hit their financial goal for Black Girls Code, so it was a nice night overall!

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow!

So How Did Undergrad Shake Out?

August 28, 2021

It was kinda hard!

But if you can believe it, I finished!

I definitely did feel at the end that I was so ready to be done, after such a hard push for what felt like a really long time.

It was a weird dichotomy. I felt kinda sad in the spring that it would all be ending. Felt like a chapter closing that in many ways I liked having open – as though there were always possibilities as long as the book was open.

I had so many great professors, and I was really gonna miss them! Plus, I loved making friends with tutors and some classmates. So, the idea of leaving was kinda sad!

But… a bunch of them were graduating. A bunch of people were already gone by the time I started summer, which made it easier.

Also, there was a lot of pressure on the summer classes. They were the big final classes for both my majors and both my minors, so just very project-full. And I was pretty beyond exhausted – which also made it easier to let go of the bittersweet ‘I don’t want to leave’ feeling.

So yeah, I did successfully finish. I did learn a lot!

Some things that stick out (that I don’t think I’ve mentioned too much yet) are:

  • how to make a personal sound library and good personal sound effects
  • how to use a turntable/techniques for that
  • how to use the program Max
  • how to do basic programming in multiple computer languages
  • the basics of how to make a video game

And I increased skills in understanding ProTools and things I had some knowledge of before. But those come to mind as things basically brand new, within the last year, if not the last semester or two.

Very happy to end with Prince Charles as my last professor in undergrad. He’s a gem. I will miss him, but I’m sure I’ll still bug him sometimes.

So… yeah, I don’t know much else to say [unless anyone leaves any specific questions or anything in the comments] except… I’m done! 🙂

[…And now we’re about to start grad school!]

The Ten Year(?!) Anniversary Of Open-Heart Surgery (What?!) [P.s. I guess now it’s the 11th]

March 22, 2021

Wow, 10 years. Crazy, huh? It seemed like this all-encompassing thing while it was happening. But now, it’s basically just a distant memory.

Originally, I had tickets to the east coast this weekend. I was going to go up to Boston and give care packages to the two main doctors on my case (the cardiac surgeon and the electrocardiologist), but alas, here we are in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis. So, it doesn’t look like anybody gets to travel anywhere!

It is weird how similar these times are to some extent – being tied to one place, not being allowed to travel, not really knowing how long the thing you’re going through will last, not being able to physically go to school or work anymore. Now everybody’s experiencing what it’s like to have a long-term heart problem! Sorta… I know they’re obviously different, but for me, it feels like a lot of similarities! Maybe that’s why I actually feel like overall I’m handling the pandemic okay (I think).

I mean… it could be privilege. I’m sure a lot of it is that. But it’s also (maybe?) emotional/muscle/neuron memory of like “okay. Life’s been thrown upside down before due to weird medical stuff, with lots of unanswerable questions in the right now. I’m ready.”

What’s The Update On Undergrad, Now That We’re In a New Semester? – Part 3 (I’ll Finish It All!)

March 12, 2021

Picking up from yesterday –

I have tutoring every week with an EPD tutor, plus standing time with another tutor in the Creative Technology Center. Plus a saxophone tutor.

Basically, anything they offer, I’m trying to take them up on it.

(I’m also taking a class at LA community college that I need to transfer over for my one remaining history class needed…. meaning, I’m actually basically in 22 credits instead of 19. I did pass my conducting test out, but I still have to do my arranging one. [Edited to add: I passed the test out!])

So… it’s just a lot.

And there is so much really specific technical homework. I’m trying to have a fun time getting creative with as much of it as I can.

I am busting my butt to have as many classes with As as I can. I’d love to finish out my undergrad career at least somewhat strong.

[Edited to add: 8 of 11 classes [16 of 19 credits] were As! Could be a lot worse!]

One thing I think is super cute is that I got to have my old saxophone professor from when I was ‘actually’ in undergrad (all young and in-person and such). And he’s retiring this year! So, I will be in his final class!

It’s SO fun to be with him. He’s unbelievably cool. His name is Jackie Beard. And I feel really luck to have gotten to/get to play saxophone with him!

So yeah, I’ve made actual friends with some of the tutors and that’s been cool. I’m still getting an incredible amount out of it, even online.

The physical computing class is pretty hard… Even just learning to solder (and spell that haha) felt like such an accomplishment. If I get anything I build in this class to work well this semester, I’m gonna call it a win!

So, I think that covers it!

Things are falling in place, and going to plan. It’s all happening.

What’s The Update On Undergrad, Now That We’re In a New Semester? – Part 2 (It’s a Lot, But It’s an Abundance of Good)

March 11, 2021

Picking up from yesterday –

Professors are great again. At first I sat here and started listing them. I don’t know if you need a whole list, but I guess for anyone looking for good teachers, here is a handful (though I have even more great professors this semester!):

Radar for turntable is amazing. Thavius Beck has been fantastic for one of our senior-level classes. Jennifer Hruska is a genius. Rachel Rome is incredible at explaining programming.

And yes, as you might be able to guess, I made my slate of teachers as diverse as I could. This is my last full semester. I want to squeeze as much as I can out of it, and be taught by different voices!

I’m enjoying it, even though it’s very busy to have this many credits – especially when a fair amount of homework is involved….

Including saxophone lessons/practice. I’m in two lessons right now, because I have to pass two more levels of proficiencies to graduate.

I love to joke about what a great musician I am or whatever [and in some ways, it’s true]. But my brightest saxophone days were a while ago. I haven’t touched it much in years…

In fact, my uncle had it for the longest time, since I didn’t think I needed it anymore!

He very sweetly left me have it back. (He’d literally bought it from me, and was like “I’ve had it long it enough. You have reason you need it. You don’t need to pay me back anything for it” – which was SO kind!)

So, I got my saxophone back and now am trying to get through! You wouldn’t think it’s that much, but it feels like a lot. The songs are technical. And the SCALES! You have to play not just major and minor, but all your modes. And all your modes in 3rds. Arpeggios. Just all the – everything.

A lot of memorization. Just… a lot

What’s The Update On Undergrad, Now That We’re In a New Semester? – Part 1 (Overview of the Spread of Classes I’m Taking)

March 10, 2021

It’s still going well! I think. Depends how you define well. I got a 3.462 in the fall, which, while it could be better (of course) I don’t think it’s so bad.

I did have a great time. My teachers rocked. Susan Rogers was everything I was hoping she was gonna be and more.

So, now we’re in the spring!

I’m taking 19*(!) credits in total – 15 of which are for EPD or EPD electives. 2 of which are instrumental labs, also of the EPD bent that can count for some of the minors (Remix & Mashup Lab and Turntable Technique).

[*And it’s actually more like 22, because of a 3-credit liberal arts class at community college, but I mention that a little more later.]

Basically, I am trying to shove in everything as much as humanly possible. It’s unclear whether Berklee will still have an online option in the summer. (Right now they’re hybird for this semester, after two semesters (summer/fall) of remote only.)

My understanding is EPD will do whatever necessary to help people who are very close to finishing. So, I wanted to be as close to finishing as humanly possible, so that hopefully even if there is no ‘official’ remote option, maybe I can do something in the ‘degree completion’ vein where we can work something out, if I’m just a few credits shy.

You’ll notice I’m not taking an MP&E class. It’s because I only have one left – it’s basically the portfolio class to make sure you have a great handful of songs.

I didn’t want to take that when I’m already taking kinda way too many classes. I want space to really try to make the best thing I can, and to enjoy it to the fullest extent.

Prince Charles has already stated I can take independent study with him over zoom even if the school goes fully in-person again. I’m not in danger of losing my major.

So, let’s get EPD as muuuuuch taken care of as possible.

(The other credits not mentioned for anyone doing the math are private instruction credits.)

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow!

My Jobs Just After The Nightly Show (2016 – 2017)

February 24, 2021

Picking up from yesterday –

Soon after Nightly, I got to work on Dancing with the Stars while they were in New York. That was awesome. And as you can see, you have posts all about that from real-time.

Then I worked on Greatest Ever, which was quite lovely. Still friends with a few cast members/writers. My boss couldn’t have been nicer to me.

The show was funny. The money was good ($3,500/week). The environment was SO relaxed. 5 out of 5 star experience, no question.

Then I got The Daily Show, which has been covered at length in here. I don’t know how much I truly covered the ‘downfall’ of it all. [I actually kind of covered this in a post around the time of my birthday.]

But yeah, we had that whole money issue toward the beginning of it. And from someone I’d talked to, they said their hypothesis as to why The Daily Show was so annoyed that I was annoyed at them asking me to take so much less money was because most people who worked there were dying for stability because it’s so hard to get stability in New York.

But I come from California. So, I just didn’t care that much.

Anyway, eeeeeverything was a fight after that. It was just old working there (which was sad because I loved it so much before that).

I think I both started isolating myself, and I felt like they were isolating me. And it just got worse and things got torn up. And I ended up working a union job downtown instead, which I will talk about the day after tomorrow!

(And tomorrow I’ll talk about another thing that was a big example of why I was ultimately happier to not be at The Daily Show.)

Learning to Let Go of a Few Thousand Dollars (2014)

February 22, 2021

I’ve kept alluding to the fact that we never got paid for our last ~2 1/2 weeks of work on Living with the Jacksons. Obviously we all wanted to be paid. (And should’ve been!)

Different people went about it in different ways – small claims court, trying to use the channels of the state and labor-law-type things.

It was a very long drawn-out process for ~ $4,000 – $5,000.

But, I’m stubborn. And that’s a good amount of money!

I did push for the money with the channels of government(?) that deal with that. Got a hearing. I forget all the rules now, but I think basically I had to show up, even if they didn’t. And they got a second chance. (I think?)

Also, a small corp had been opened just to pay for this show, and I’m pretty sure they were filing bankruptcy for it. So, all the money that was chase-able was gonna be non-existent.

I got the notice for another hearing while I was already on The Nightly Show.

Between the plane ticket, and the time off work, I was gonna end up spending so much money in the hopes of getting money back that it just wasn’t worth it.

My life had become so wonderful. I had a dream job, was in my dream writing program, living alone in midtown Manhattan. I might be stubborn, but in this case, it was just better to let it go.

No sense in letting this money anchor me to a thing in the past when everything forward looked so much prettier. The money would’ve been nice (especially with how expensive moving is), but life moves on!

Producing on Living with the Jacksons (2014) – “And Jermaine Is Gonna Hate, Hate, Hate, Hate, Hate”

February 19, 2021

Oh boy oh boy oh boy.

Okay, one of my favorite memories is this incredibly silly thing, which is that Jermaine Jackson is my nemesis. Like, in the most playful and silly way ever. But still. 😉

I don’t even know if he knows I’m his nemesis haha.

But basically, he wasn’t on our show (though he would’ve been welcome to be, to my understanding). But he wanted his own show, and he didn’t necessarily want a show that followed his ex-wife.

So, he would learn (usually from his kids) what place(s) we’d be filming. And then he’d poach them! He’d offer more money or access/fame, etc. And I’d have to scramble at the last minute to find a different car dealership, etc.

I’d be waking up in cold sweats at 2:30 in the morning, reaching over for my phone lighting up, wondering what Jermaine had done now. Chloe and I never slept.

Anyway, there were other small things. But I don’t need to make this sound like a complete Jermaine Jackson hate post. I don’t hate him. I laugh about our rivalry that to him was probably a rivalry with a completely nameless stranger. Well, hello strange nemesis. It was me 🙂

Producing on Living with the Jacksons (2014) – Trying To Stay Cool As Michael Jackson’s Biggest Fan

February 18, 2021

I think overall, I was good at doing my job, and just keeping it together. And treating the Jacksons like people… as that is exactly what they are.

But this was the first time I can remember ever working on something where I was like a true super-fan.

So, some of the moments that were so crazy for me:

  • Katherine Jackson coming by for dinner. (Michael Jacksons mom?!!?)
  • Prince Jackson accidentally bumping into me. I was sitting at the kitchen table. He was playing with his cousins. When he bumped into me, he was like “oh, sorry.” And I’m like “omg, of course no worries.” Then he goes, “I’m Prince, by the way.” And I said “nice to meet you. I’m Aurora.” But in my head, I’m like ‘duh!’ Haha
  • The Jacksons talking about Michael. Anytime they reminisced about him being a loving, great family member, etc., I wanted to ask a MILLION follow-up questions. And I’m sure I could’ve asked some. But I didn’t want to impose.

I somehow did make it through the show without everybody being like “this weirdo?”

Surreal experience!

Producing on Living with the Jacksons (2014) – A Funny Story About Ringback Tones

February 17, 2021

This is just a silly little story, but one of the stories that was a little funny was before working there, I had so many things themed with Michael Jackson.

He used to be the background picture on my phone and computer and everything. And I was like, ‘hmmm, better change all this. Which is probably for the best anyway. I’m not like teenybopper mega fan anymore. (Or at least, I shouldn’t be.)’ So, I changed everything out.

BUT the thing I FORGOT was my ringback tone.

For anyone who doesn’t know, a ringback tone was where the person calling you would hear a little song instead of the sound effect of the phone ringing.

Mine was set to P.Y.T.!

One of the Jacksons called me for something. And they commented, “oh, you have Mike on the ringback tone! That’s so nice you’re getting in the spirit!”

And it’s like… yep. That’s me… Getting in the spirit. Definitely did that because I’m excited about the show, not because I’ve loved Michael Jackson from before I could speak.” Tehehehe

Producing on Living with the Jacksons (2014) – Some Things I Just Truly Loved About Producing On That Show

February 16, 2021

As I think I’ve stated many times, this was overall a great experience.

I didn’t mind the insane amount of hours, or even really that we never got paid for the last few weeks, because it was a dream to produce and to have the opportunity to do so much – especially with the Jacksons.

Plus to work with friends of mine. There were definitely things that weren’t the best (e.g. they never paid some of the vendors *I* was the point person with, and that was super annoying, and I do feel bad for those vendors).

But if we push aside that guilt, overall, it was a great time.

I’ve talked in some of the other posts (and have more coming up) about some of the things I loved.

Well, I really loved all the stuff I just mentioned – feeling like I was really contributing, working with friends, all that stuff.

Another thing I loved was just how kind the Jacksons were.

I even had a Flat Stanley for part of my time there, and they were so nice and took pictures with it, so I could send it back to the elementary school class.

I loved all the long drives with Chloe (but I will talk about that in a future post).

Producing on Living with the Jacksons (2014) – A Few Highlights

February 14, 2021

Even though this show was absolutely crazy and we had to change a lot of things semi-last minute, I loved so many things. So, here are some of the highlights:

  • Going to see the Batmobile!
  • Hanging out at a cool dance studio
  • Recording studio
  • With a vocal coach

[And hopefully I update this with specific names and pictures when I actually find them all. Aye aye aye aye aye aye aye aye aye aye]

Producing on “Living With The Jacksons” (2014) – (Overview)

February 13, 2021

Picking up from last time –

So, I went back to StaffMeUp, and got a job producing on Living with the Jacksons. That’s right. The Jacksons. Jermaine’s ex-wife and the kids she has with Jermaine, and the kids she has with Randy, and the son she adopted.

If you been around this blog at all, you probably know I loooove Michael Jackson. Love him. So when I had the opportunity to work with his family I was like *giant-eyes-surprised-face*.

They were having a very skeleton crew on this show. So, I think they wanted someone hungry – which I was. Ready to take on this next level by storm!

I was the only producer other than the EP, and an AP who helped with cast stuff. So, I booked every venue and every guest.

It was SO much work in such an exciting (but also insane) way. I was given so many tasks that seemed next-to-impossible, and completed them all.

Also, I was able to get my friend Chloe a job! She came out to LA, stayed with me, and had her first job in TV. She was a SUPER star.

Ultimately, the show ran out of money. We never got paid for our final weeks of work. And it never saw air. But I have a number of pictures, and there are all the articles saying we were gonna have a show… But we didn’t.

And I’ll talk about a few of my favorite stories from the show over the days!

Attending a Taping of “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” (Date Goes Here)

January 26, 2021

Speaking of Samantha Bee, I got to go to a taping!

She’s funny as all get out, but we already knew that from watching her on TV.

There was a time for audience questions and I asked her something along the lines of how if working on other shows completely prepared her, or if there were still things she was learning now with her own.

And I think her answer was basically that in your own show there’s just a lot more pressure on you – even if you’re a KEY player on another show, it’s never gonna be the same as your own.

Also, on your own, you can always play to your strengths/favorites. [E.g. if you love field stories, you can rely heavier on field stories, etc.]  And you can do the stories you want.

At least, I’m pretty sure that’s how it went down! I hate how much I’ve forgotten! Aye aye aye. Moving on!

FYC (Spring 2019)

January 25, 2021

And speaking of the Television Academy, FYC season of 2019!

I feel bad and sometimes wonder if there is even any point to these posts of things I don’t remember. But FYC was fun indeed. I always love going to little events.

[Media to come of Sam Bee FYC even and more if I can find it]

Attending Television Academy’s Visit With NASA (Date Goes Here)

January 24, 2021

Speaking of science, The Television Academy got to go visit JPL. I’ve already been (and talked about it on this blog). But I went again, because when am I gonna turn down a chance to hang out with NASA?

They had all these cool demonstrations and such for us to encourage our use of space and science in TV. I’m in! Let’s make a documentary! haha

Yuri’s Night (April 2019)

January 23, 2021

Science!

There was a science-y part silent disco thing happening at a science museum in Los Angeles. I always heard it was super cool. So, I went to check it out myself.

I made pals with Gary Anthony Williams. So, that was lovely.

And sadly, on brand, I don’t remember enough since I didn’t blog about it at the time! So, this is all I’ve got!

You Wanna Be A Dancer, Be A Dancer

January 12, 2021

Sometimes I try to distill things (like when I said “you are who you decide to be” on this blog (and on The Price is Right haha)). And sometimes it feels like I then don’t take into account nuance.

I know there is a lot of nuance and things aren’t so simple all the time.

BUT… OVERALL… it seems to be true that if you want to do something/be something change something, if you just start to change it, before you know it, it’ll be something you are/do/have/etc.

[I know. I know it doesn’t work with everything haha. And also, obviously I’m not a professional dancer. So maybe it’s sillier than ever to say “if you want to be a dancer, be a dancer” and to imply I’m a dancer!]

But one thing that has been nice is… I oftentimes wonder what are the top 10 things people think about me – like that’s potentially a good sign of how I’m coming off, and are the things that I think are important to me, or that I hope to do – are those things how I’m coming off to other people?

And I think the tide has already turned that most people are thinking of me as a dancer!

You audition for a few things, and start to take a few classes and then boom. You get invites to other auditions and classes and things. Your friends ask you how dance is going.

Before you know it, it’s folded in – it’s a part of your life!

Sparks Dance Team Workshop (Fall 2019)

January 11, 2021

This was a little hard, but overall wonderful.

You had to learn the dance faster than at the Clippers audition, and it was more fast paced.

But the people there were SO nice and supportive. Loved that.

Again, this is why(!!!) I need to be better at blogging in real-time. I’m sorry I don’t really have more details to give, except I loved the vibes, and loved getting to dance with the Sparks Dance Team members!

Auditioning For The Clippers Hoop Troop! (Fall 2019)

January 10, 2021

Since I didn’t make the actual Clippers dancers, they had *another* team you could audition for – The Hoop Troop.

It’s basically the people who do the t-shirt cannons and that type of thing. You just have to help the crowd get hype, without needing all the super technicalness technique of dancing or anything like that.

I thoooought I killed it. I thought for sure I was gonna get a callback to the interviews.

I did not haha.

I gave a ton of energy (I thought). But I dunno. I guess there could be a million reasons they didn’t like me and whatever one there was, I didn’t get a callback.

But(!) I did give it my all. I had a good time, and I’m sure there’ll be more fun teams to come!

Back in Ballet, Baby! (Fall 2019)

January 9, 2021

As I said, while I was there, my confidence grew in my looks, flexibility, ability to learn quickly, and ability to do the ‘simple moves. But there are a few technique specific things that need to be better.

So, I’m going about trying to fix it!

I haven’t been in ballet for a while, and now I’m studying with Jenny.

Love her. Love being back in the dance studio/at the ballet bar. Excited for everything the future holds!

Trying Out To Be A Clippers Dancer! – Part 2 (The Audition) (Summer 2019)

January 8, 2021

Picking up from yesterday –

So, I check in. And I feel like my confidence grew a little more the whole day.

Well, I suppose until I was cut haha. But, tbh, even being cut felt fine, because the day went so much better than I expected!

Starting off by just walking in, I think I expected every single woman to be like a literal perfect specimen. But there were plenty of women of various sizes. I was worried I’d stick out like a sore thumb without a perfect body, but I didn’t stick out as abnormally large or anything.

Then we got to stretching. And I was able to hold my own! It thought I was gonna be with a bunch of Cirque Du Soleil people or something. But no. I kept up!

Then we learned a routine to do down the floor. I was afraid I wouldn’t keep up. Perhaps they’d teach it so fast, I wouldn’t be able to learn it.

But no! They did it multiple times over.

It was such a great day where I was so comfortable and kept up every step of the way – until I got cut that afternoon haha.

But they were super nice!

They didn’t give the exact reason I was cut. But based off what I could guess, I thought my technical skills weren’t up to par. Specifically, there was a leap I don’t think I executed well. But perhaps if I work on the technicalities, maybe just maybe I could make it in the future!

We’ll see!

Trying Out To Be A Clippers Dancer! – Part 1 (What To Wear) (Summer 2019)

January 7, 2021

I showed up at a gym.

Lesson #1 – and really one of the biggest takeaways – I clearly knew to come like at least cute-ish. So, I put on some make-up, wore a little bathing suit bottom (so, a skirt with built-in underwear. Perfect to jump around and kick in and such).

But I think you shouldn’t make them do any imagining at all. The make-up needs to be hella made up. Glitter, colors, the whole thing.

And I don’t think you should wear a cute-ish outfit that can give an idea of what you look like. You should wear something as close as you can to a game-day outfit.

So, just… go further. Which, is probably life advice for many things. Dance harder, have more confidence, go further!

And dress… not just to impress, because like I looked cute. But dress to… perform? I dunno. There as to be a good saying for that. You get it.

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow!

 

Why I Tried Out To Be A Clippers Dancer! (Summer 2019)

January 6, 2021

Tomorrow, I’m gonna talk a bit about auditioning for the Clippers dancers, and I thought I’d open with why I finally decided to do it!

I’ll put in the video here I put on instagram that day, once I figure out the media upload stuff.

But for now, I’ll just say basically I’ve always wanted to do it. And every year, I say I’ll do it ‘once I’m skinny enough,’ ‘once I have more tumbling skills,’ once whatever.

But why do the judges jobs for them? Let THEM cut me. Let THEM decide if I’m not whatever enough. So, I went! And we’ll talk about that tomorrow!

Working With Nancy Meyers! (Fall 2019)

January 3, 2021

You know Nancy Meyers – famous American filmmaker (Father of the Bride, Something’s Gotta Give, It’s Complicated, and more).

Well, she was being given a Lifetime Achievement Honor from the Writers Guild Awards.

Quite luckily, I was recommended to help edit her intro package, that looks over her entire career. And it was so cool to sit there for multiple days, talking to her, hearing her amazing stories.

It was just so surreal to sit with this famous person and watch her kind of process her career right in front of me. Only the two of us in the room for a few days on end.

One fun story was Dustin Hoffman’s cameo in The Holiday happening because he happened to be there at a restaurant next door.

And yet again, this is why I need to blog in real-time because I’ve already forgotten some of the fun little things. But, she and I are still friendly! We text and stuff haha.

Anyway, great time. She’s really lovely!

2020 in Review – Part 3 (Sept – Dec/Conclusion)

January 1, 2021

Picking up from last time –

September – Broke my first bone! This was so wild. And kind of stupid. I broke my foot by having a chair missing a screw, sitting in it wrong, and falling in a bad way. So, this certainly wasn’t a ‘good’ thing, but it probably was the biggest thing that happened in September. I got to wear a cast for the first time, and have way too many doctor’s appointments. And somehow I survived all those visits to medical places without getting Covid!

October – Taught music & dance lessons online.
I don’t remember exactly what month I started this, but I had a pretty full slate of students in October. It’s wild to think of myself in that light, as a teacher, ’cause you know, my teachers are my *spotlight/angels sound* teachers. But I’m like… just a young little student or whatever. But no, now I have tiny students, and I’m the teacher.  It’s exciting to share the wonders of music and dance with people!

November – Worked on a documentary by LeBron James’ company. The people were very cool. The doc was very cool. This was lovely. 

December – Accepted to Berklee grad school! So, in the fall, I’ll be starting my Master of Arts in Creative Technology & Media, specializing in Writing for Musical Theatre. Man, I’m really starting to sound like a grown-up in some ways, aren’t I?

Overview: It was a crazy year, as we all know. I try not to talk about the pandemic toooooo crazy much on here because… it’s everywhere. It’s suffocating.

I get it. It’s what happening. We can’t get away from it. But there’s like no escape. Most TV shows are set in the pandemic, and again, I get it. People think they have to address it. But it’s suffocating. And when (if) we ever look back on these years, I hope it’s not just pandemic, pandemic all the time in my writing and everything. That being said, for a year in which nearly 3/4 of it was spent not really being able to go many places or do many things (physically in person, at least)… a fair amount got done.

Moving forward in school, having some interesting professional experiences, another game show RIGHT under the wire (the last day most people went to work before the pandemic took over), some novel things (to some extent going back to full-time undergrad was novel, breaking a bone was novel experience.

Considering the circumstances, I think it was quite a reasonably all right year [overall]!

2020 in Review – Part 2 (May – August)

December 31, 2020

Picking up from yesterday –

May – Went back to college after SO MUCH time off. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with college, ’cause it’s kind of like ‘do I really need it? So many people work successfully in this industry without school’. And it’s true that they do. So, I guess I don’t need it.

But it was cool to find a way when we were in the deepest depths of the pandemic to somehow feel like I was doing something or bettering myself in some way. Obviously you couldn’t go out and do much, so I’m glad I was able to find something at least seemingly somewhat worthwhile while we have to play indoors.

Also, I had some great professors and great tutors. So, yeah, went back to school!

May was also a month of a ton of Black Lives Matter protests. And I shouldn’t say I’m particularly ‘proud’ of doing them, since they’re kind of the least I could do as a white person. But I got pretty involved and went to a number of them. And in some ways, it is good to do the things you should do. And it did give me a sense of… maybe not pride, per se. But at least happiness!

June – Played harp for the first time! It was my new birthday thing. I met a cool harp teacher who was brilliant about music theory. I really enjoyed the experiences.

July – Episodes of the first cartoon I ever worked on started airing! I’d been working on a show called “Your Daily Horoscope” for Quibi. Of course, Quibi is no more, and neither is the show. But it was cool to be able to say I’d worked on a cartoon!

August – Started worked on The Carlos Watson Show. This was dope. There were things that were semi-crazy about this. Sometimes the hours would be super long. But! Usually, when they were, it was my own doing, because I was trying to go above and beyond with producing responsibilities as well. (And who cares how long the hours are, when you can’t go anywhere?) But I loved the shows we made and a lot of the people I worked with! I was super happy to find this job, and I’m really proud of the episodes I made!

2020 in Review – Part 1 (January – April)

December 30, 2020

This was a weird year, because simultaneously nothing and somehow lots of things happened?

So, let’s get into it.

January – Attend the Producers Guild Awards as a guest of Nancy Meyers where I got to see a package all about her life and career that we edited together! It was so wild and cool to work with her!

February – First ballet lesson in pointe shoes! It went SO well.  Jenny was super impressed. She had planned on not doing much of the lesson in pointe shoes, and we ended up doing the majority of it in pointe! Yay for strong feet!

I also got to play a test contestant for a game show that was being pitched! So, I went to Fox and Netflix with the company to play a fake game which was very, very fun. Still haven’t seen this game show on air in the US. I was sure they were gonna sell it. But I’m wondering if they did!

Another random fun February thing is I campaigned for Elizabeth Warren. Basically everyone I wanted was out of the race at that time. So, it’s not like I was campaigning for her over Cory Booker or Kamala Harris. But I genuinely did like Warren, and I felt she was the best of the people remaining. So, I was really happy to campaign for her.

March – Taped my episode of Wheel of Fortune. Not sure if this is actually a good or bad thing haha. But… the year in review doesn’t always have to be completely good, either way.

April – Volunteered with senior citizens, calling and checking in on them (from a list, not just calling random senior citizens in the world; I got a list), to make sure they had reliable access to food during the pandemic. It was nice to do something helpful, and to try to keep busy as the world shut down.

And I’ll pick up here tomorrow!

2019 in Review! – Part 2 (June – October)

December 28, 2020

Picking up from last time –

June – I went freaking bungee jumping (What?!) Alex and I had the best time!

July – Ran the San Francisco half marathon! I used to do this race every single year. Then some crazy life stuff got wonky, and I got away from it for a bit. But, one of my birthday goals this year was to get back into my old habits – including my yearly running of this race, and here I am!

August – tried out to perform for the Clippers [I tried out for two different opportunities – one earlier in the summer, and one in August. I didn’t make either hahaha]. But I love that I started auditioning again/putting myself out there! Dance, dance, dance!

September – Kept getting more and more serious about dance. At the ballet bar multiple times a week. Even took a workshop with the Sparks halftime dancers, and all that good stuff! Professional cheerleading, here I come!
Oh, and I filled in for a hot second at Will Smith’s company, which was very cool!

October – Put on a little reading of my full-length musical in Los Angeles (thanks to an amazing group of people who helped me out!) I had an amazing time! It was so sweet to see my friends come support me (both the people who were in it, and the watchers).
One thing that was very cool was that people talked about it for hours afterward – which was exactly what I wanted. Something thought provoking enough to get people talking, talking!

And this is where we’ll finish up tomorrow!

2019 in Review! – Part 1 (January – May)

December 27, 2020

All right, well, here we go again. Trying to wrap up another year, as we catch up. So, let’s give it a go!

January – Had my work performed in New York city for the first time, doing a mini-musical on domestic violence in a festival! That show was in 3 little festivals that year… But we’ll get there in a sec.

February – Went hiking a lot, and saw a lot of friends. After just having been in a bad place for so long, and having been out of LA for much of that [though I was still partially in New York at this point], I felt good enough to allow my world to kind of open up again. And it was so great to start to see my friends again.

March – continued working around the mini-musical circuit – even getting nominated for ‘best actress’ in one of them! It’s always cool when I see stuff moving forward in my creative endeavors, instead of just sort of my personal ones.

April – Passed the first parts of my scuba exam! I went to Mexico (again, we’ll get to that haha). Before I went, I passed my written exam and swim test (after cramming a bunch!). So, I was all set up for diving in Mexico!

May – I lived and worked in Mexico! (I got there in April, and didn’t leave ’til June. But we have plenty to talk about in June, so let’s put Mexico here! It was very cool. Paid for (yippee!). Got my advanced scuba certification, dove with bull sharks, swam with whale sharks, went ziplining, took a cooking class, hiked everywhere, camped at a gorgeous, serene national park/island. What an adventure!

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow!

2018 In Review – Part 4 (Nov/Dec & Overview)

December 26, 2020

Picking up from last time!

November – The midterms, baby! Just trying to get word out, get people to vote, get some democrats elected. Obviously, I voted as well. I went canvassing for Aftab Pureval, and he actually stopped in while I was there. So, that was super cool!

December – I got to experience the ball drop in* Times Square for the first time. [*I was really very directly outside of Times Square for most of it.] But I got to dance with the huge crowds, and have the confetti rain down on me and everything. It was fantastic.
And then… I’m preeeeeeeetty certain this was a year I worked as an elf at Macy’s. [Again, the years sort of run together. So, I’m doing the best I can! haha. But I think I went back to Macy’s this year, and it was cool because I was grandfathered in to using my elf name ‘Vixen,’ as they’ve disallowed reindeer names for anyone new – but not me, an old timer from back in the day (when I was in college)!

So, yeah, that basically wraps up the year. It was a transitional-ish year, just kind of exploring new (or sometimes old, in new ways) things – trying to expand athletic stuff [though I still don’t super know how to ride a bike], trying to move forward on improv/performing stuff, working to get in the pool of another game show, getting more involved in politics [necessary in 2018].

You know just… I dunno, making it through, maybe trying to be a ‘rebuilding’ year of sorts.

We’ll move on to 2019 tomorrow!

2018 In Review – Part 1 (January – March)

December 23, 2020

Since we missed so many years in review, I thought we’d try to get back to them now!

Every year, I say I should figure out a way to do the years in review that isn’t by month. And every year, I just do them by month anyway haha.

So, let’s do it!

January – Finished project 882. It was real rough haha. I was just craaaaaawling toward the finish line (not quite literally, but almost). I definitely wished this had ended more excitedly. But I was running low on health and money and everything needed to end this with a bang. But hopefully there are more athletic charity projects in the future. And at least the project was finished!

February – Won a bicycle in a raffle! This was really cool. I’d gone back mainly to Los Angeles instead of New York. And I wanted to kind of jump back into LA life. (Plus, I’d just finished my most recent project, so I wanted to jump into whatever’s next!) So, I went around looking for things. And I was looking into doing the AIDSLifeCycle ride – which I’ve always said I wanted to do(!) – I went to an info event. Entered the raffle on a whim. And won the bike!!! I have a bicycle!

March – Did some cool volunteery things this month. I volunteered at the LA science fair (with one of my favorite people on earth, my high school theater teacher).
(And I guess another one is I volunteered with HeadCount, getting people registered to vote, at the anti-gun march (March for Our Lives).

And I’m gonna go ahead and pick up here tomorrow!

“We Did It, Joe”

November 7, 2020

[Obviously this is a very old 2 year old post, as I still TRY to catch up. We’ll see if I’m actually able to do it!]

Welp, the words heard round the world. We did it. We freaking finally did it.

Trump’s reign is over. Let’s hope things get better! 🙂

Noooooooooo, Not The Election Being Too Close To Call!

November 3, 2020

[Obviously this is a very old 2 year old post, as I still TRY to catch up. We’ll see if I’m actually able to do it!]

Nev-ADD-a better ADD up those votes. I cannot beLIEVE… We have waited so long. SO. LONG. to have a new president.

And you know, part of my knew it. I knew of course something like this would happen. And I knew Trump would get too many votes.

Upsetting, nonetheless!

How many election nights in my lifetime is there gonna be at least a semi-shocking outcome that leads to a pit in my stomach?

Aye, aye, aye, aye, aye.

The silver lining of the night was I got to be on a call with Cory Booker and the rest of the finance team. As always, he injects hope into everything – which I love!

So, I’m gonna keep that hope alive!

A Takeaway From The 52 Interviews (1st Incarnation)

October 12, 2020

Yesterday, I talked about this weird, kind of hodgepodged together project that I’m trying to pivot.

And I guess I just thought I’d talk about a takeaway I have from this version.

Basically, I said when I started this that there was a thing about my life I wasn’t happy with. I was getting distracted by it, getting in my own head, un-connecting from people, etc.

And if there’s one thing I feel like I’ve potentially learned, it’s that yes, sure, attitude is a lot of how you view the world. And it absolutely WILL help things.

BUT if there’s a main part of your life you’re REAAAAAALLY unhappy with – if you loathe your job, or if you can’t stand your living situation, or whatever it might be in life that’s driving you mad… if it’s something you deal with every single (or nearly every) day, and you hate it – you gotta change it.

You can change the things around it all you want. You can work out more. You can work on your hobbies. You can try to keep connecting with people and pushing it out of your mind. But it just won’t go away.

Trying to manage ‘symptoms’ doesn’t help a ‘disease’ or ‘tumor’ or whatever in your life. So, if something is taking your life force – if you can, you have to fix that.

And I know sometimes you can’t, because you need money or what have you. And maybe you’re better about dividing your life than I am, and truly leaving whatever is bugging you at wherever that is [so if it’s work, not thinking about it outside of work; if it’s home, not thinking about it outside of home, etc.].

But for me, I’ve learned that while managing symptoms might help somewhat, you gotta deal with what you’ve gotta deal with when/if you can.

I mentioned yesterday I wasn’t able to retain things and I’d talk about it more today. And I don’t have some brilliant deep dive. It’s just that if I’m distracted by a problem in my life, I stay a little distracted. That’s at least part of why I wasn’t retaining things.

So, yeah, that’s my main takeaway from this project, I suppose – you can run from your problems, but you can’t hide from them.

(I have no idea if any of that makes sense, but hopefully it does, at least a little!)

The 52 Interviews In 52 Weeks Is Pivoting

October 11, 2020

[Yes, this is a VERY old post!. Sorry; still always trying to make my way through, if i can. We’ll see!]

So, basically, I think I need a little pivot. And I’m not quite sure what that pivot is going to be, completely…

I don’t think I’m getting out of it what I want to, really? I don’t feel as zeroed in when I talk to people as I want. And I’m trying, but it doesn’t feel as connected as I want…

It’s also kinda weird/awkward, because of the public-facing part of it. I mean… I know that’s part of the whole thing about the blog. It is public-facing. And people do do vulnerable awesome interviews in public (on various podcasts, etc.). But not everybody wants to. And especially if I want to ‘interview’ people I’m close with, that’s a more personal thing that is weirder to talk about publicly.

I also haven’t been good at retaining the information long-term, or even semi-long term. And maybe that’s an issue with me (quite possibly), and there has to be a way to get better at it. But things aren’t sticking. I can’t recall the stuff.  [I will talk more about this tomorrow.]

So, it doesn’t feel like it’s working, or at least working the way I want. So, I need to pivot to something that better defines this or helps it be better toward what I want it to be.

One thing I was sort of thinking about was having 52 conversations where I don’t ever talk about myself and always pivot back to them. [I guess that’s what an interview is, but an interview can feel a little stilted]. But, as much as people do like talking about themselves, most don’t like conversations that are truly only about them. So… I dunno.

I dunno! I’m sounding like a robot who doesn’t understand how people work. I don’t think I’m in the groups of people who truly don’t understand people. Like, I don’t think I have a diagnosis of an actual disorder or something.

I definitely have the ability to feel empathy (too much, sometimes, it seems). But I dunno. I’m not good at the truly deep connections and retention of conversations. And maybe that’s something that can’t be done 52 times in 52 weeks. I dunno.

I will make sure I ‘technically’ finish this project in that I have 52 conversations (hopefully interesting ones) with people before the end of the year [because I can’t bear for it to not be finished], but I’m not gonna write about them all.

Instead, I’m gonna leave a bunch of empty space in the next few months for me to fill it with whatever hopefully similar but better take on the project I decide to do.

I hope that makes sense. What a mess. haha xoxoxo

Interview #4 – B

October 8, 2020

Well, well, well. I’ve spent about 8 years telling you how I love and adore every single thing about B, my high school theater teacher. Did you think she wouldn’t be one of the first people I interviewed? How would that possibly be possible?

I had the great joy of spending hours on the phone with one of the most fascinating people on the planet. And I feel so very lucky.

Some of the interesting takeaways for me were

  • She’s a musician! I can’t believe I didn’t know that after all these years. I knew she’s been an accomplished dancer, and of course dancers are extremely musical. But she also plays multiple instruments! She plays piano and clarinet. She even played in the marching band! And her mom was a music teacher!
  • Her dad was a scientist, and now it makes even more sense how her oldest daughter is both an accomplished ballet dancer and a graduate in science from an Ivy League school – it all runs in the family.
  • She worked at a prison between undergrad and grad school! (What?!)
  • She described raising a family as “hypnotic,” which I found extremely endearing.
  • She said that she basically kind of just followed life as it was presented to her – that there were a bunch of different twists and turns she never saw coming, and she loved every one.

And when I asked the question I asked everyone – which is what’s the point of life, her answer was: to make the most of what we’ve got, and to be grateful for it – to spread positive energy, accept change, make the most of it all as you go along, live in the moment, and most importantly – always *love the moment you’re in* right this second.

Then, of course, as was so fitting for her, she tied it all together with a theater reference and told me how much she loved Our Town and the idea of honoring the small moments in our lives.