The Last Minute Adventuress

It has happened again- an email, a phone call, a plane ticket for tomorrow to Cleveland. A week there, then a tour bus to Minneapolis. A week there, then a plane back to Chicago.

Details later.

As a side note, I think the universe has convinced me it does not want me to cut my hair.

Link Madness, God, and Starbuck, Oh My!

We have much to talk about. But first- some new links to the right, check them out.

Have I told you about Worship Club? It is the brainchild of my friend Brian and I- we visit different places of worship and religious locations/situations, not because we are shopping for a new faith but because religion is a dominant force in our culture and we believe experiencing other religions firsthand is the best way to learn about them.

Last weekend we visited a mega-church in downtown Chicago called Willow Creek. The sermon was given via a giant projection screen suspended above the stage because the pastor/minister wasn't there- he is based at the main Willow Creek church out in the suburbs. His talk was all about amending relationships as a way to become closer to God. There was a lot of quoting from the New Testament. Before and after the sermon there was singing with a live band, as well as announcements about their current charity project of filling donated backpacks with school supplies for local underprivileged kids.

It was an interesting experience but not as intense or theatrical as what I imagined. There was also a lot less mention of Jesus than I predicted, though his name was certainly mentioned many times- more often the focus was on God however. Which to some people is the same thing I suppose.

Next we hope to attend a Jews for Jesus service.

In other religious news, I have signed up for a Jewish education class this fall through the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School. The class meets for two hours each Thursday evening September-May to study various aspects of Jewish living. I am actually very excited about it and looking forward to doing some religious study with a group.

In other non-religious news, there have been several young women attacked in my neighborhood lately, including one on my block. Obviously this is unsettling. I don't like it one bit. Today there was a news crew filming outside, and I stopped to chat with my building's maintenance guy who was standing nearby. He is young-ish, maybe around 28 or so. He said that he couldn't wait for the day the attacking bastard was caught, and that every guy in the neighborhood would love to beat him to a pulp. Awwww, it is cute when guys get protective.

This weekend is the Chicago Breast Cancer 3 Day. While I am not "officially" working the event (though I am traveling for a month this fall to staff three others in Dallas, Arizona and San Diego) I will definitely be visiting the camp site, hanging out with walkers and helping staff wherever I'm needed. This is the event I work on year-round so it's very exciting to see it all happening.

One of my dreams is to one day attend Comic-Con. This year there was a "Ladies of Battlestar Galactica" panel with Tricia Helfer, Lucy Lawless, Mary McDonnell and KATEE SACKHOFF. In other BSG news, I have been re-watching season 2 with Courtney and I totally forgot how good it is.

Life is kind of busy just now. There are many people coming to visit, or I am going to visit them; fundraising events, classes, worship club, dog sitting; bridesmaid dresses to buy, trips home for the Lobster-Q and up north for fall colors; gearing up for my stint with the 3 Day tour in October; the Jewish holidays coming up, and continuing to masquerade as an artist by getting bold with color and paint all over my apartment. I also plan to do some volunteer work soon with Chicago Cares. Want to join me?

Something As True

Sometimes there is nothing so scary as a blank page. Are you a writer? Then you know what I'm talking about. A blank page represents everything you should be writing but aren't, because you are too busy doing whatever it is people do when they're not doing what they should be doing. A blank page is every story you didn't submit, every idea you never fleshed out, every note of inspiration you scribbled on restaurant napkins or gum wrappers or your hand until you could spill it out onto a page and give it a little more time and attention.

It can be brutal and guilt-inducing to look at a blank page and feel at such a loss, because while all the other ants were gathering inspiration for winter you were whiling away your time seeing movies and hanging out at your favorite bars with outdoor patios and mindlessly going about the motions of work and living without really paying enough attention. So that now, when you want to write, when you deign to sit down with just your own head and a fresh page, you come up empty. Empty! And how can a writer without things to say be any kind of writer at all?

What does it mean when you ignore the gifts God gave you- is he insulted, does he understand and wait patiently until you realize what an idiot you are, or do you think at some point he intervenes? And how? Maybe talent has an expiration date, and if you don't use and appreciate your gifts, one day they up and leave (probably while you're too busy having a martini outside on some nice summer night to notice).

Ew ew ew ew ew

Times I love living alone: practically always

Times I wish I didn't live alone: when I find a bug

I Heart Sunset Colors

I painted this on the wall above my couch. I am not an artist but it was fun.

NO Spoilers, just wide open spaces

Last weekend I went Up North (that's northern Michigan in case you didn't know) with Courtney and Meryl and had a fabulous time. We went to Mackinac Island and rented bikes and rode the perimeter of the island, about seven miles. Also we ate fudge, Guiness-battered fish and then some more fudge. Many pictures were taken, which you can find on my Flickr page (still haven't decided whether to post that link here, but most of you probably have it anyway).

Casa Reed is beautiful and worthy of its own spread in Martha Stewart Living. One night we all sat around playing with brain teaser puzzles. There are at least five showers but no bathtubs because Dr Reed says they dry out your skin, however there was a hot tub which was lovely.

On Saturday evening I dragged my friends to the Wal-Mart in Petoskey so we could await Harry Potter. There were about 150 other nerds there waiting, nearly all adults, and there was a big group countdown- "TEN! NINE! EIGHT!...." You get the idea. After "ONE!" everybody cheered and the Wal-Mart lackeys slashed the plastic wrap off the pallet of books and there was a surge of energy as we all rushed to get our hands on a copy. I stayed awake til 4 a.m. reading- if we hadn't gotten up early and been traipsing around Mackinac Island I think I would have been awake all night, but I was sleepy. On Saturday I looked like this:


I shall refrain from commenting on the book itself since I have multiple friends who haven't finished. Right now I will just say that I really love the yellow orangey color of the sky on the cover.

I am thinking again about moving. I know, I know, when I got back from tour I was all "Oh how I missed you, Chicago! I am so in love with you again, Chicago!" But. But but but. It's possible I spoke too soon, for the wanderlust is setting in again and Montana (and Portland, and SoCal, and Boulder) is calling my name. You should know this about me; I am almost always thinking of being somewhere else.

I ordered a new rug and it's arriving tomorrow and it makes me want to paint more color onto my walls. Which isn't really what one should do when one is considering moving. I should get my head on straight.

I Heart Harry

Thirty-one and a half hours until Harry Potter! Do you understand how exciting this is?

For the record, 65% of me thinks Trevor is the animagus of R.A.B.

(I am currently in the Eastern time zone, this way I get to read it one hour sooner than if I were in Chicago)

A Flickr of This, a Flickr of That

I'm wondering if I should I post a link to my Flickr account here. It makes me a little nervous, and yet I've already posted photos with myself in them so pretty much anyone could see what I looked like. Not much different, I suppose. What do you think? Would you do it?



This weekend my friend Russell was in town and while walking the streets we came across this sign advertising a pretty huge reward for a money tree. We debated whether it was some kind of sarcastic social commentary, or whether there was an actual species of tree named "money tree." Turns out there is! But wow, what a hefty reward.

Here is a funny link to a short Will Ferrell video where a cute baby plays his landlord: Pearl the Landlord

You would not believe the fantastic bracelet I bought at the Rock Around the Block festival. It has ten antiqued gold links on it, each one a tiny engraved COMMANDMENT. Yes! A bracelet of the ten commandments! It cost less than one dollar per commandment, what a deal. I think it's basically the coolest/funniest thing ever. The Ten Commandments! On a bracelet!


On Saturday I took Russell to the Lincoln Park Zoo and on the way back to Clark Street, somewhere below Fullerton in a grassy green area, we came across a large statue of Hans Christian Andersen facing a nice wood and cast iron bench. I remarked how awesome/funny it would be to pass by this statue and see a person sitting on the bench reading a book of Hans Christian Andersen tales, but he did not think that was really funny at all. Seriously? If I saw that I would laugh out loud, possibly strike up a conversation with the person, and giggle about it to myself for several days between telling the story to everyone I knew.

Tomorrow I am going to see The Light in the Piazza at the Auditorium Theatre. The Chicago Tribune gave it a totally stellar review, but it's only in town until July 22 so go see it soon. The soundtrack is lovely and melancholy, and tickets are affordable. My favorite line from the soundtrack so far: "I can see the winter in your eyes/" I just like it.

I need to stop going out so much and remember how to stay in.

Kerouac and The Quibbler

I just met a hippie boy named Corey who walked me home, because a semi-creepy guy who semi-creepily hit on me at a neighborhood bar last night was parked in his mini-van near my building, and I didn't want him to see where I lived or see me go home alone. So this boy Corey, when he saw me sitting alone at Argo Tea, asked what I was up to and when I explained offered to walk me home. He is 22 and has been cris-crossing the country via trains for 4 years, working odd jobs here and there. Today he spent hours holding up a cardboard sign that said "I Love You" on Broadway, no donations please.

Life is just full of interestingness lately.

I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and I loved Luna Lovegood. I'm contemplating re-reading books five and six before the big book 7/Deathly Hallows release a week from tomorrow night. But I'd have to press pause on my two current books, Cross Country and Watership Down.

It's okay, Harry Potter is worth it.

I need to do laundry and clean tomorrow because a friend is coming to visit from LA for the weekend and my apartment is kind of messy and I am kind of out of clothes. This part is not so interesting. Good night!

Tectonic plates, rumble rumble/crash crash

I love being home.

Welcome to the new world, that is, my pink blog beyond the Komen on the Go tour. Part of the reason its taken me this long to update is I’m not sure what to write about now that I’m not schlepping up and down the East coast with jesus music listeners and a big pink trailer. I guess regular life will have to suffice, boring as its bound to be.

Here are pictures I took of my nieces Anna (older) and Molly (red) because they are cute.

Do you know what’s coming on July 21st? Arguably the biggest literary event in modern history, that’s what! The final Harry Potter book will go on sale at midnight and you can bet I will be waiting in line, ready to stay up alllll night reading it. The only hitch is I’m going to be in Boyne City (remote town in Northern Michigan) with my friends Courtney and Meryl, so we'll be driving 45 minutes into Petosky to hang out and then hit up the 24-hour Wal-Mart that will be selling Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at midnight. Do you think Harry’s going to die? Do you think you know what all the horcruxes are? Are you going to stay up all night too?

On a lesser HP note, the movie of Order of the Phoenix is coming out Wednesday and I just bought tickets to see the 6:45 show that day with a friend.

Yes, I am an 11-year-old trapped in a 25-year-old's body.

I have been feeling sort of displaced lately. Do you know what I mean? Kind of a disorienting, unsure-of-my-surroundings, odd feeling of not being in exactly the right place or with the right people or doing the right things. Does this make any sense to you? For example, I am back from tour, and so happy to be home, but am also having an odd sort of separation anxiety from the whole thing- like I keep waiting to pick up and go to the next town, or something. And in general I am not a social butterfly type. But since coming home, I've been out more days and nights in two weeks than is normal for me in a whole month. I keep wondering if maybe I got so used to always being around people on the road that now I'm bored with my own company. Would that be sad, or progress?

And I'm sure its not helping that today I went to camp. I love camp, and it was great to see some friends, but after everything that happened with the documentary I feel oddly removed from that entire place and time in my life. My connection to camp and everything and everyone I associate with it feels tenuous at best and dessicated at worst, so being in the physical place as an onlooker who was told to make sure I left before dinner was an odd thing that gave me a chilly, isolated feeling.

Do you ever sense things shifting inside your own skin? Not even necessarily in your head, because maybe these shifts aren't things you consciously decided on; more like your very own inner jigsaw puzzle being undone and put back a different way. I think that's happening to me. In a good way, I believe, but right now the pieces are still finding their places and I'm displaced.

(in case you couldn't tell, I have a tendency to be melodramatic in writing)

The End of (this) Road

So here we are at the end of the rainbow- ok, not really a rainbow, more like a really long road trip. We had our last event yesterday at a local mall and made use of the slow times to get a lot of end-of-tour tasks checked off, like cleaning and inventory. We took this group photo yesterday, which was actually the first one we'd taken with everyone in it.

Tomorrow morning my flight leaves for Michigan where i'll spend a couple days before heading back to Chicago Wednesday morning.

It seems like I should have some eloquent and illuminating closing thoughts. I don't know about eloquent or illuminating, but here's a few possibly interesting end-of-tour musings:

My family is more intact than I thought. Here's why I say that- despite the conservatism of my teammates, and the bible reading and the jesus music listening and the no swearing (though in the past couple weeks there have been a handful of swear words that were not uttered by me, hallelujah), it turns out they all come from sadly fractured homes. Rasheedah never knew her father and has been estranged from her schizophrenic mother for five years. Nick hardly speaks to his Dad, hates his stepfather and has a whole host of stepsiblings he dislikes. Kim's brother committed suicide two years ago.

It doesn't make me feel superior, more like surprised. You'd think after a couple of divorces, detestable and slimy ex- step-family members and a law-breaking older brother I'd be right up there in the "crazy family" club but I talk to my parents and brothers all the time, and see them, and email and text message them. We are together for all major holidays and often birthdays, and we often hang out with each other just because we like to. I like both my step-parents (the slimy ones are gone). And there are two super cute nieces the whole family adores and dotes on.

Obviously, I am lucky.

I have a lot of stuff. The second photo above is all things I've collected while out on the road. Yes, seriously! A lot of it was free, like Komen t-shirts hats and mouse pads, and gifts from the Fond-du-Lac Indian reservation, but I bought a lot too. So much so that I had to buy an extra duffel to get it all home! (Duffel not pictured)

I have discovered the divinity of Luna. No, this is not a new religion, it is a fabulous nutrition bar for women that actually tastes good and has lots of nutrients. It didn't take too long to learn that subsisting on snack food and Applebee's wasn't giving me a lot of energy, so I started buying Luna bars about 6 weeks ago and they have been lifesavers. I highly recommend them, especially the peanut butter cookie and lemon zest varieties. I will continue to buy and consume these when I get home from the tour; it's such a better on-the-go snack than pretzels or crackers.

I love Chicago. Before being called out for this tour, and especially after my camp documentary evaporated into thin air, I was feeling very restless and very seriously looking into moving out West. While I won't be surprised if I make that move happen eventually, for now I am missing my windy city and my friends and Lake Michigan in a bad way. Being away for two solid months has made me appreciate much more everything Chicago has to offer and I plan on soaking it up blissfully when I return.

I miss camp. Komen on the Go has functioned partly as the world's best distraction from the fact that my camp documentary no longer exists, but in quiet times, like riding in the van or at night in my hotel room, I think about camp and wonder whats going on in Mukwonago and if I'll ever have the chance to go back. And I think probably not. And I am still mourning that fact.

Breast cancer is everywhere; no one is safe. I mean this. It didn't matter where we went, or how many people there were, or how old the people were. Breast cancer survivors found us everywhere. So did the family members of the women who weren't so lucky. We met women who were diagnosed at 19, and children whose mothers had died of it, and ladies who were in their eighties and had fought it (and won) multiple times. There were definitely times when it was hard to hear the same type of stories over and over, but not a single day passed where I questioned the validity of devoting my time and energy to this work. It is amazing to wonder how many lives we may have helped save just by showing up with a big pink truck and showing women how to do a self-exam.

I like my teammates. Even if I don't have much in common with some of them, I respect them all and for the most part enjoy their company and am glad to call them friends. I remember a similar feeling when AmeriCorps ended; my team had been together ten months and I spent much of that time strongly disliking a few. But at the end, on that first night home, I was so sad to not be in their company. Even if we don't get along all the time, these long-term live together/eat together/work together/hang out together experiences sure create some strong bonds. And I like that. In a way it feels like we all fought a battle together, and won.

I am so glad and grateful I was given the surprise opportunity to hit the road with Komen on the Go back at the beginning of May. It has been hard, and grueling, and amazing and fabulous all at the same time. I will miss it. There's a chance I may get to come back when the tour heads out again in the fall, have I told you that?

In the meantime, I think I will keep this blog and update about regular life things now that the tour is done. I kind of like being a blogger. Maybe one day soon I'll get a little more ambitious with the writing and subject matter in this space. Thanks for reading along through the KOTG tour, and I hope you stick around :)

A Tree Grows in Savannah

I have been promising updates all over the place and then it gets late and i'm tired and it's a new hotel and maybe they put me in a handicap room without a tub so I have to switch, and so on. But here, now, this is an update! Just for you. And you and you and you.

Savannah was lovely. It has the best trees of anywhere, including the scary one whose partial picture I took (see above) in a very old cemetery. There were gravestones you could barely read from the early 1700s through the late 1800s. If Scarlettt O'Hara were a real person, she would have relatives in this cemetery.

The whole city of Savannah is beautifully preserved, and all the pre-Civil War architecture is gorgeous and a little haunted looking. My Dad told me that when the Yankee troops got to Savannah the city surrendered, versus Atlanta where they fought. So Atlanta was burned, and Savannah was spared.

Elsewhere in Georgia (the last state of the tour), we exhibited at Wal-Marts in New Brunswick and Macon. Wal-Mart stops are always tough because people think Big Pink is pretty and all, but they are there to shop and don't necessarily want to take time to haul their groceries inside and sit down at a computer while the popsicles melt. Speaking of popsicles melting, the heat has been intense. And so humid! I don't know how Southerners handle this. Give me snow over heatstroke any day.

Another interesting thing about Georgia has been the real live Southern hospitality. All of the local Komen affiliates who have shown up to volunteer with us (and there have been many more here than in any other state) have brought food. Pizza, fried chicken, even ice cream cake! All incredibly unhealthy of course. Speaking of which, at Wal-Mart yesterday a young mother was feeding her 7 month old ice cream while visiting our trailer. And not like a spoonful or two- the entire ice cream portion of her piece of ice cream cake went into her infant's mouth. Hello, childhood obesity.

And here's an alarming story from New Brunswick. A thirty-ish woman with a baby watched our self-exam video, and afterward while I handed her literature and promise rings and asked what she thought, she said it was "eye-opening." Then she explained that she's had a lump in her breast for two years but has no insurance and so hasn't done anything about it. No doctors, nothing. Whoa. So I tell her to call Komen right away, there are free services, etc etc. She thanks me and leaves. Then she comes back to ask,

"If it was cancer, would it hurt?"

I told her no, usually not. Then she noticed the two breast models with cancer-like lumps on the counter, so I had her feel them up to get the idea. So then she tells me to feel HER lump- which was at the top of her breast tissue, sort of where you would put your hand over your heart to say the national anthem. So I think what the heck, and I feel it, and whoa. It was huge, like a golf ball, and just as hard. How scary is that? She can't have been more than 32 years old, she had a tiny baby with her and has been carrying this lump around for two years. How incredibly eye opening indeed.

In other photo news, pictured is one of the postcards we hand out frequently to under 40 women and sometimes men. I love it and have the 8.5x11 version on my refrigerator. I think it's an incredibly relevant statement and find it empowering and edgy. What do you think?

Tonight we're in Atlanta/Hotlanta, in our last hotel in our last city in our last state. Tomorrow Renee somebody from the Today show is coming to see us. There will be more updates before I fly to Michigan on Monday, at least one of which will be a recap of the books I've been reading while on tour. Yay books!

In case I don't talk to you tomorrow, happy Summer Solstice, and happy pre-anniversary to my brother Adam and sister-in-law-to-be Kelly.

Right now I have to go to sleep because I must rise by 5:30 a.m. Goodnight, Moon.

Trappings

I am watching The Parent Trap starring Linsday Lohan, and I love it. Does this mean I have horrible taste? Don't answer that. I especially love how the original evil stepmother-to-be, Vicki, now plays the mother of the evil stepmother-to-be. Genius!

Today we are in Charlotte, North Carolina. It has a nice (small) skyline with a lot of modern-without-being-annoyingly-trendy architecture. I have a nice view from my hotel room on the 14th floor but the picture I took with photo booth only sort of turned out.

In other photo news, I am immeasurably sad that next season with be the last for Battlestar Galactica. Oh how I love thee Starbuck and Apollo! Adama and Roslin! Even Gaius and Six! It might be my favorite show ever. (This also means that I have no other interesting photos to share from the past few days)

After arriving last night Nick, Kim and I decided to venture out in search of food. We ended up at a local bar/pub called The Graduate, but not before venturing through "The Depot," where all the buses arrive in town. I didn't know depots existed anymore but there it was, and surprisingly busy at 9 o'clock at night. I guess Charlotte is a happenin' bus stop.

Tomorrow we are exhibiting at the Wachovia Bank headquarters, which is a big deal because Komen is wooing them to become one of their national sponsors (a million dollar plus commitment). So we will be showing off the Komen stripes, so to speak.

I think I am going to have to buy another piece of luggage to get all my stuff home. Here is a partial list of what I've acquired since being on the road with KOTG:

12 t-shirts
2 hoodies
1 pair shoes
1 digital camera plus case
3 tank tops
1 pair pajama pants
1 board game
1 iPod accessory
4 books
1 Pillow

Ridiculous! I am an awful walking talking example of American consumerism, right? Oh dear. My apartment building put in brand-new windows while I've been away and I can't wait to see them.

I read blogs that talk about weight loss surgery and losing 200 pounds and God and genocide, and I talk about The Parent Trap and my urgent need to buy extra luggage. Is that a problem?

In other news, The Phantom of the Opera is coming to Chicago this fall/winter! I cannot explain how happy this makes me. I love Love LOVE Phantom and I haven't seen it since my Dad took me to Toronto for my birthday when I was about 13. Good lord that was TWELVE YEARS AGO, boy am I old.

this started out short, really

Everything you have heard about West Virginia is true.

I am a chronic chronicler- that is, my blogs are good at chronicling my various adventures but I don't devote much time or space to thoughtful writing. This has been the case with every single blog, journal and diary I have ever kept. I am thinking of changing this. I'll re-visit once I return to normal living and have some more time to think and be thoughtful and write well.

Did you know I was making a movie? Past tense. A documentary. About camp. If that were still happening, today is the day I'd begin filming staff training. This is sad and there is nothing you or I can do about it. Unless the Beber Camp board of directors happens to be reading; in which case I say, you kind of suck.

I made Chex muddy buddies today, or puppy chow, whatever you want to call it. It is yummy and so so addicting. It's like the crack of desserts. It's also fun and kind of easy to make- I think it'd be fun to make with my niece Anna. She would flip out (in a good way). I need to do that with her. Today's picture is of me and Anna when she was about 6 months old. Now she's almost 4. Wowzers those little tykes grow fast.

Two weeks from tomorrow and I fly to Michigan. Which reminds me, I need to call my Mom to see if she can pick me up at the airport (hi Mom!). Right after I find out when my flight gets in.

A couple things to add to my To Do When I Get to Chicago list:

See Wicked via the daily raffle (I will try a bunch of days if I have to)
See Ratatouille, the newest Pixar movie for which I am immeasurably excited

Also, I have done some more considering about what nice thing I can do for myself and come up with two interesting options- taking up painting and buying a Wii. A Wii is a purchase, yet also an experience. Thoughts, votes?

I cannot spend enough time singing the praises of the Residence Inn. I think my hotel room is larger and about 27 times nicer than the studio apartment I had for a hot second at 540 Briar- you remember, the cockroach-infested one? Shivers.

I might be kind of burned out on breast cancer, which sounds awful, but we hear these heavy stories every day and they are starting to sound the same- over and over there is a surprise diagnosis, treatment, no hair, remission, sometimes death or more cancer, and sometimes a gut-check and metamorphosis into activism and Racing for the Cure. It's like a two month loop of war stories. That said, all the stories have immense value and are recounted by unique and strong women who have fought something beastly and awful that I can't begin to contemplate.

A huge shoutout to Brett, who represents my international audience via Australia, for the cool comments. More of you should comment. Brett, I totally owe you an email but I have to ask- have you gotten into Battlestar Galactica yet? Because you would totally LOVE it. I took up Firefly because of you, therefore you must at least try BSG for me ;). When are we going to Montana?!

I miss my apartment. I miss you. Will you still be there when I get back?

(location: Columbia, South Carolina)

It's too early for creative titles

I have been getting requests for more blog updates. This can only mean one thing- I have fans! Hello, fans, how are you?

Today I bid you good morning from Huntington, West Virginia. There is not much to be said for Huntington, other than it has a good Tex-Mex restaurant called Chili Willi's, which is cute because my dog's name is Chile and we call him Chilly Willy a lot. Also at this restaurant, they have a lot of tequila. I know because I drank it. Which is why it's only 6:30 a.m. and I've been awake since 4 a.m. Yikes! Alcohol robs me of sleep.

So. We last left of in Washington, D.C., just before the National Race for the Cure. It was amazing. The city, the Race, everything. Big Pink was placed right in the middle of the National Mall, with an amazing view of the Capitol building on our right and the Washington monument on our left. In the middle were 40,000 people running, walking or volunteering for the Race for the Cure. Forty thousand! It was a sea of pink. Katie Couric was there. So was Ronald McDonald, who is obviously the bigger celebrity.

On our way out of town the big boss Kari took us to a BBQ restaurant in Georgetown called Old Glory. It was the best meal I've had since being on the road. It sort of reminded me of Memphis Smoke back in Royal Oak, but more authentic and just better overall. They had a rack of six BBQ sauces on the table and a basket of jalapeno corn muffins with honey peach butter as appetizers. Yum. Next time you are in DC, you should go there.

After one last stop in Virginia at a free clinic in Richmond, we headed to Charleston, West Virginia for an incredibly luxurious THREE days off in a row. At the Residence Inn. Residence Inns are our favorite hotel, because they have full kitchens and living rooms too. So we grocery shopped and cooked and grilled and played Apples to Apples, my new favorite game. Have you played it? It's so fun! Board game night when I get back in Chicago- who's in?!

Speaking of getting back to Chicago, I received the fantastic news this week that after flying into Detroit (where my car is stashed) on June 25th, I don't have to report back to work until JULY 5TH. How incredible is that? Here is a partial list of things I want to do in the city during my time off:

Museum of Science and Industry
Art Institute
Movie day in Oak Park
Visit the trumpeter swans at the Lincoln Park Zoo
Lots and lots of red tea caramel lattes
Sushi Toro
Board game night (Meryl, Bryan, Courtney, who's in?!)

Also, I am trying to think of something nice to do for myself when I get back as a sort of reward for being on the road for two months and not going insane. I thought about taking a trip, but I am sick of living out of a suitcase so that's out. I also thought about some sort of spa thing but I've never been really into that, though maybe I should consider it. And then I've thought about buying myself something nice, which is fun and all, but I kind of want to DO something rather than just pick something out. You know? Any suggestions?

Ok, it's time to take advantage of the continental breakfast before checking out and heading over to the hospital where we're exhibiting Big Pink today. I promise more updates- maybe even another one tonight. Ciao for now.

A Capital Time

I am in Washington, D.C. I love Washington, D.C.! Therefore I am happy. Two really wonderful things are happening today (a day off)- first, I am having lunch with one of my Virtual Team co-workers which is fantastic for so many reasons, not the least of which it means I will get a healthy dose of sarcasm and cynicism since, as she put it, I've been in the sarcasm Sahara for the last month.

Then tonight, I am having dinner with one of my most favorite AmeriCorps friends whom I haven't seen in FIVE YEARS. She was my saving grace throughout much of that year and is just one of those few female peers whom I have always admired and respected on every level. So I am beyond excited to catch up with her at last.

(Today's photo was taken a few weeks ago in Chicago, on the day of the Y-Me Breast Cancer Walk. Yet another reason why Chicago is such a fantastic city- they do fun things with the lights in their high-rise buildings!)

The last two days were low-key ones for KOTG. Yesterday we exhibited at a free clinic in Richmond, VA which is a great thing, but very low-traffic; I think we only had about 30 people come through all day. The day before we were at a grocery store called Ukrops, where it was also quite slow, maybe about 50 people.

It really is striking how universal breast cancer is. I always knew this; in my "regular" job on the virtual team I sometimes conduct what we call Focus meetings, where I cite statistics: one in 8 women will get breast cancer in their lifetime. A new diagnoses is made every 3 minutes. Someone will die from breast cancer every 20 minutes.

But somehow, being out here on the road has made those stats live and breathe in a way they never did when I recited them on those phone meetings. Every single day we talk to so many people who are survivors of breast cancer, or they lost a loved one, or they had a scare...the connections go on and on. In the last few days I've spoken to many women with close friends who just got diagnosed or just underwent a mastectomy. Sometimes they are very young and just got married or have small children. Sometimes they are old and have a high-risk lifestyle or family history. Either way, the stories wear on me after awhile. Even after a month of doing this on the road and a year and a half of doing it over the phone, it is hard to know how to respond.

There really isn't a good answer.

Tomorrow we are exhibiting on the National Mall for the National Race for the Cure- a huge HUGE deal. Our CEO is flying in and all the highest people from the Komen foundation will be there as well. We have to be up and running by 7 a.m. so that means we'll probably need to leave the hotel around 5 a.m. to go set up, which means 4:30 wake up. Crazy! But it'll be a great day.

Right now I am sitting on my bed in my hotel room, which has a humongous window overlooking a runway at Reagan International Airport. So I get to see all these planes take off, which is actually really cool and semi-hypnotic.

I met Virginia. She's hot.

Here is a picture of me since some of you have been requesting one. This is what I look like! Remember?

This might be a cranky post, it was a cranky long weekend. We were exhibiting at the Af'ram Fest in Norfolk, VA, an African American festival that's been happening annually for more than 20 years. The festival itself was fine, but the weather was hotter than hot. Low to mid-90s and intensely sunny with little breeze, and our trailer was placed on blacktop which just magnified the heat. Our only relief was in the mall across the street where there was actual air conditioning, but our breaks were few and far between- only 30 minutes each day, and on Saturday and Sunday we worked for more than 12 hours and were on our feet the entire time. Ouchy. I got sunsick or heatstroke or whatever its called on Sunday and stopped being able to keep food down so they sent me back to the hotel for a few hours. Overall it was not my favorite weekend.

There were over 100,000 visistors to the festival over the three days. Our trailer was placed across from some art and tshirt vendors, and next to an U.S. Army trailer where they gave out free personalized dog tags if you gave them your address and phone number, but I sweet-talked the Army guys and scored tags for my team and I (see photo). Over 500 festival patrons visited Big Pink which is huge, so despite the extreme discomfort it was successful numbers-wise.

The thing about working such a huge crowd is, I'm actually not so much a people person. I can be when it's required, but days of dealing with that volume of people, especially combined with the constant loud music and noise, wore me down in a hurry. I think there is a certain point at which people begin to take up more than just physical space; its like their personalities and their voices take up even more space. And even when you are outside and maintaining your personal "bubble" it can start to feel very very crowded and squished and even oppressive. That is when I get very overloaded and crave nothing more than stillness and silence.

So right now I am homesick and I miss my apartment and my bed and my neighborhood and my books and red tea caramel lattes and my friends and Midwest weather and my car (so new! so shiny! so lonely!) and salads from Veg Out and Toro Sushi and board game nights and making my own cosmopolitans and Lake Michigan a block away and so many other things Chicago has that (insert random small town here) doesn't. Who needs anonymous hotel rooms with slow internet, bad pillows and boring old HBO when you can have Chicago and everything wonderful and exciting in it?

I'm just crabby. In 26 days the tour will be done. Tomorrow we are exhibiting at a pharmacy in Richmond, VA. This weekend we'll be in D.C. for the national Race for the Cure on the national mall, which is our highest-profile appearance of our entire tour. I am very excited for it and I love Washington D.C., so it's something good to look forward to. After that we go to Charleston, West Virginia where we have an unbelievable THREE days off in a row. Like whoa.

You should all download the song "Golden Days" by the Damnwells. It is my song-of-the-moment and you might love it too.

OH and I enabled comments due to my brother Adam's (heeeeey itch) request so you should leave a comment to say hello. I am pretty sure you can do it even if you're not a blogger member.

Notebook

I hereby call to order this extremely tardy blog update. The first order of business is an apology for no updates in 8 days. The second order of business is for me to say, HOLY COW, I just watched the LOST finale and IT WAS TOTALLY INSANE.

This entry is called "Notebook" because it will be a random collection of notes and anecdotes Bob Talbert-style (remember him, all you Michigan readers?) from the past week or so that may or may not be coherent but which are hopefully semi-interesting. You can find picture descriptions in italics.

Indians: Let's go back to the Fond-du-Lac reservation in Cloquet. They had a casino on the reservation, and we learned that on the 15th of every month, every single member of the tribe gets $400 automatically loaded on a Visa card. The money they receive comes directly from casino profits. AND- children don't receive the money, until they turn 18. At that point they are given a lump sum of $40,000. Forty thousand dollars! Insane. Unfortunately there is no financial counseling or advising options, and much gets spent on drugs or alcohol. Seriously, what would you do if someone handed you a free $40,000 when you were 18 and still in high school?

I've included a pic of our team with two ladies from the reservation plus Amos, our truck driver. Some day you will hear much more about Amos.

Jersey: After Minnesota we spent two days driving to New Jersey. Now, I know Bon Jovi is from there and all, but New Jersey is HORRIBLE. Specifically the roads and drivers are the absolute worst I have ever experienced. And rude and loud and obnoxious. Ugh Ugh Ugh. I will die happy if I never have to go back to New Jersey.

About the driving. Our hotel was located across a highway from a mall, where I decided to go on a day off. According to the front desk however, there was no way to get there on foot, only by driving. In the course of trying to cross the street, I ended up getting on the Garden State Parkway; then some other highway; then some OTHER highway. Finally I managed to exit and was about to turn onto a side street to collect my bearings when I got rear ended! Good lord. It was this guy in a Honda, about my age, which just hadn't been paying attention. His car was messed up but the van had not a scratch, thank heaven. Otherwise it would have meant hours spent on the phone, making a police report, accident reports for the company, paperwork, etc etc. Since the van wasn't hurt I elected not to tell.....anyone. Ha! So, one of the pics o'the week is my reflection in the bumper while taking precautionary pictures of the "damage" while Eddie, the guy who hit me, stands in the background.

New York City: We stayed at a hotel just ten miles outside NYC and had some time off so I went in for an afternoon to be a tourist. It was my second time there and I can still honestly say I prefer Chicago any day. Give me clean streets! Give me space to actually walk on the sidewalk! Give me Michigan Avenue! Give me above-ground public transportation!

LPGA Pros: On Monday we brought Big Pink to a country club in north Jersey to exhibit at the LIFE event, an annual golf tournament benefitting the Val Skinner Foundation, which is actually the founding sponsor of Komen on the Go. At the tourney we had dozens of LPGA pro players in the trailer checking out our resources. They were all very nice. I think there is a high percentage that are lesbians. Because of the way our trailer gets set up, with a "faux hedge" around the bottom, it literally looked like it was rising up out of the golf course.

Team: Our work ensemble of six has simultaneously begun to bond and fracture more. Fracture in the sense that the four of us who don't work on this project year-round have discovered we're all basically on the same page with the "Nick and Kim are getting really obnoxious with their overzealous optimism" train of thought. So a bit of an Us vs Them is beginning to form. The most annoying thing for me is the way they will make statements about how "We can do better!" or "We've got to really step it up today!", but they cannot give us any specific things to improve or change. I cannot even express how frustrating this is. They get all broad and philosophical about "stepping up our game" but when asked are completely unable to provide specifics. Ugh Ugh. I miss my REAL boss!

However, we have begun to bond more in the sense that we're getting to know each other better and have been hanging out and telling stories that are non-work-related. Yesterday we found out that Rasheedah, who it turns out is 30, has been estranged from her mother (a paranoid schizophrenic) for five years. They have had no contact and have no idea where each other is or what each other is doing. And her father has never been in her life, so she's sort of orphaned in a way. Also, Kim told us that her she lost her younger brother to suicide two years ago. He was 18.

90210: I picked up season two of Beverly Hills, 90210. It is pretty bad. How did I never realize how horrible the acting is?! And yet it's still so fun to watch...I just yell at the screen a lot more now than I did when I watched in middle school and was so caught up in the "drama" of it all...

Podcast: I talked with some company people and have received the ok to record interviews with women (and men) who come through Big Pink so that I can put together some experimental podcasts. As of now it's just something that would be shared within Event 360, but they are interested in potentially pitching the idea to Komen as a regular thing for the fall leg of this tour. I think there is a real possibilty of really making a name for myself with this podcasting project. I'll keep ya'll updated.

On the Horizon: Tomorrow we are exhibiting at an Apple Discount Drugstore in Salisbury, Maryland. I am fully prepared for it to be a lame day. Then we drive to Norfolk, Virginia where we'll be settling in for four days to exhibit at the Af'ram Fest (read: african american) over Memorial Day weekend. It will be interesting to be in the racial minority of such a large group (100,000 visitors to the festival expected over three days).

More updates soon, for real! Night ;)

Baggage

One post tonight wasn't really enough, because I still want to give background on this tour and my co-workers and the stops we've already made before I began this blog, but I also don't want to write an entry that's 8 miles long. So separate entries is how I will break things into manageable pieces. Plus I don't want to go to sleep yet.

So this pic is of three of my co-workers. Our team is like this: We have 6 people, plus our semi driver (as in, semi-truck, not someone who only sort of drives).

Two guys, Jeremy and Tim, drive in a big white truck that pulls our generator and satellite. They handle the mechanical, technical and IT aspects of our daily setup and breakdown. During the days they hang out in their truck napping and watching movies, and stepping in to help if something technical or mechanical goes wrong.

Then there are four of us that travel in a 12 passenger van. We are the customer service people, the ones who interact with the public, and we also handle many aspects of setup and breakdown that aren't so intricate like signage, tables, chairs, cleaning, etc.

The three in the picture are the other customer service folks, from left to right: Rasheedah, Kim and Nick.

Rasheedah is from San Franscisco and has done lots of marketing tours before, including one with Nike where she would go with a team to soccer events to promote Nike shoes. She says "hella" a lot and sometimes reads the bible in the van. You can see she's not overweight at all and yet she eats more and more often than almost anyone I know. Lots of power bars in between meals and snacks in the van, including a jar of Vlasic pickles, that is currently open but not being refrigerated. She listens to techno music and gospel. I think she is around 28 or 29.

Kim is from Chicago and actually lives about 3 blocks away from me. She used to work on the Out of the Darkness suicide overnight walk for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention that our company used to handle; when we lost that project last September, she moved over to Komen on the Go. I don't know much about her other than she had a brother who died, and she has a tatoo on her lower back that honors him. She hates debating and does not participate in debates or spirited discussions at all. Also, she and Nick are dating. She is 26.

Nick is from Minnesota and considers it the most beautiful and best place on earth. At restaurants he always asks the servers for their recommendations. He has good music taste, though he sometimes listens to Jesus music in the van (not the subtle Creed kind, the straight up "He is our savior, Jesus died for our sins" kind). He used to be very overweight. He considers each and every purchase very thoroughly and agonized in particular over a recent luggage purchase hence the photo in the luggage department taken in a TJ Maxx in Rutland, Vermont. He is 26.

There are a couple interesting things to note. One is, in the three people above whom I travel with and work with most, no one EVER swears. Seriously! Most of you know how infrequently I swear, yet somehow in this group I feel like a potty mouth for saying "shit" when my thumb gets smashed by a metal bar. It's very odd.

And there is never any mention of sex. Not that I am advocating dirty jokes or sitting around having detailed discussions- but I also cannot recall a time since 6th grade I was around a group of people of similar age when nothing sexual was EVER mentioned. Also very odd.

I must mention I was very surprised when the Jesus music started playing in the van, especially b/c I had mentioned during my first night with the group that I am Jewish. To me it's like, here's yet another instance of Christians being assumptive and dominating religious culture. Does that sound too harsh? Probably because I considered myself agnostic until I was about 21, I have always been very sensitive to when religion, any religion, is being forced on me. But ESPECIALLY when they already knew I am Jewish!

Also, there is never any sarcasm. Ever! And no, I'm not just being sarcastic about that. Everyone is very chipper and upbeat and go get 'em, to the point of syrupy obnixousness at times. Lots of "Definitely!" and "Perfect!" and "Awesome!" Oh how I miss the cynicism and biting wit of my virtual team co-workers....honest to God, this is what being in Pleasantville must be like. Remember that movie?

Ok, that's enough for tonight, I think its bath time. Tomorrow we are back on the rez for a second day before driving down to spend the night in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Then we have a couple travel days and a couple days off before a major Major event in Paramus, New Jersey with an LPGA breast cancer charity event. So look forward to more writings soon!

Ojib-what?

"Would you like to say your thoughts and prayers over the tobacco?"

Not a phrase you hear every day. But today at the Fond-du-Lac Indian reservation in Cloquet, Minnesota, that's exactly what the spiritual woman with the long gray hair and suede moccasins said as she walked in front of me and the rest of the KOTG team, brandishing a small plastic bag of pungent, shredded tobacco leaves. Most of us took pinches and were instructed to hold them in our left hands, which are closer to our hearts. After awhile the woman collected them all in a bowl and stuffed the tobacco in her pipe, which she smoked while singing prayers in the native language and turning to face the North, South, East and West separately.

Today we took Big Pink to the reservation (or "rez" as the natives call it) to take part in a ceremony honoring the tribe's recent partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure and their newly active mission of cancer education and prevention, and to exhibit at their tribal community center. We learned that the mortality rate for the Ojibwe tribe is so low, members are considered elders at 52. Cancer is the leading cause of death, followed by diabetes.

Yikes, right? The craziest thing is, after this big ceremony highlighting all the reasons why women NEEDED to come through our trailer, needed to educate themselves about breast cancer- we had a very dismal turnout. And the weather was gray and often rainy; most of the day we scurried around covering or uncovering computers with tarps, rather than interacting with locals. Big Pink was almost empty for hours on end.

But it wasn't all bad. Everyone who did stop in and all the people who worked to arrange our stop on the rez were extremely warm and expressed profuse gratitude that we visited. They even presented us with gifts, including a long sleeved t-shirt that says "NO METH ON MY REZ!" on the back. Ha?

Amy on the Go

Hi! So, wow. I have a blog. Neat. I'm actually sort of surprised it's taken me this long to jump on the blog wagon. Back in my AmeriCorps days I had a livejournal but that was so 2002.

While I've been thinking about starting this up for awhile, the reason I'm choosing now is that I've hit the road again, this time working on an educational tour sponsored by Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Basically, we take our big pink trailer all around the country and educate people about breast cancer, breast health and self exams. We are in a different town nearly every day, staying in hotels and exhibiting "Big Pink" (our trailer's nickname) at community health fairs, festivals, charity events and even Wal-Mart parking lots.

It's interesting how I got hooked into this tour, which is called "Komen on the Go," or KOTG for short.

I work for an event production company that handles mostly large-scale fundraising events for nonprofits. But Event 360 has their hands in some other pies too, like consulting, smaller fundraising events and this mobile educational tour. Our biggest event is the Breast Cancer 3 Day, which benefits Komen for the Cure, and I've spent the last 1.5 years as a recruitment coordinator for the 3 Day.

Just over a week ago I was back in Chicago in my home office when I received a phone call from Event 360's director of recruitment. She let me know that someone had unexpectedly left the KOTG tour and they were wondering if I'd be willing to fill in for a week or two. Face-to-face interaction with the public, breast cancer education and travel? I jumped at the chance! They put me on a plane and in less than 24 hours I met up with Big Pink and the rest of the tour staff in Albany, NY.

Yesterday my company asked me to stay with the tour for the duration of this first leg (there will be a second one in the fall). I accepted, which means i'll be on the road til June 25th. Wow!

Already we've been to some great places- a quaint little town in Vermont called Rutland; Exeter, New Hampshire; Manchester, Connecticut; York, Maine; Elmira, New York....

Right now I'm in a hotel room in Erie, Pennsylvania- we are exhibiting at the local Wal-Mart tomorrow before heading to Toledo tomorrow night. After that we'll be in Chicago for a couple days (just a stopover, no exhibit there) before heading up to an Indian reservation in Cloquet, Minnesota.

My hope is to update every few days with anecdotes, pictures, and whatever else strikes my fancy. For now here's a couple pictures of Big Pink- a pretty incredible feat of engineering featuring 5 large flatscreen monitors, 4 mobile computer kiosks with looping video, and about 16 laptop computer stations where guests can access the Komen website and its infinite resources on breast cancer and breast health.

Until next time...have you done your self-exam this month?