Atlantic City

So here's the story... I know I've taken too long to tell it.

On Saturday, I drove to Atlantic City to see Carol Burnett. The whole time that I was driving, it wasn't exactly real to me. I had my ticket, I had my hotel reservation, I even had snacks for the 160 mile trip.

It took 4.5 hours because I hit Delaware beach traffic, not once, but three times. But I eventually made it to the hotel room in Pleasantville, just outside of Atlantic City. It wasn't black and white like the movie and I didn't see Tobey Macguire nor Reese Witherspoon. The hotel, The Best Western was AWESOME. It had a full kitchen and a great king size bed.

I arrived around 3pm and got settled in quickly. I grabbed a bite to eat at the Burger King next door and then took a nap. My mom suggested taking a nap so that I would be awake for Carol. I woke up at 5:30, took a shower, and got dressed for the evening. I decided that I would leave at 7pm so that I could walk around the boardwalk a while before the show. At 8pm I went the theatre, the Circus Maximus, which was inside Caesar's Palace. At that point, it still wasn't completely real to me.

Then it happened... the lights went down, the screens came down and the video montage began.



After the montage, Carol emerged from behind the curtain and it finally hit me: I'm in the same room as my childhood hero. I was excited and numb at the same time. Carol was great and funny. She started the show with a tribute to Harvey Korman. He passed away a few weeks ago. He was arguably one of the funniest men on television of all time. I could tell that it was hard, but it was necessary for her to get it out and for us to hear it. I was reading an article afterwards, that it the first time she spoke publicly about his death.

For me, watching Carol on stage was incredible. So many people talked about how she influenced their lives and some people asked questions that I'm sure that Carol is asked all the time. I was sitting next to two guys, Sunny and Dwayne. Dwayne raised his hand and told his story and asked if he could get a hug. Carol told him that he could come backstage after the show.

So during the last few questions of the night, the usher was furiously trying to get Carol's attention so she would call me. Finally, Carol looks over in my direction and I'm the only with an arm raised. Carol looks over and says, "yes ma'am" and points to me. OH BOY, OH BOY, it's my turn, stand up and ask the question... this is what I said to myself. Then out of no where the man in front of me stands up and asks a question. The usher looks at me apologetically and says that she's going to get the mike from him and give it straight to me. OK,OK, it'll be ok...

Then Carol says that it's time to go and the famous closing music starts... I was never so sorry to hear her closing theme song in my life. I didn't get to ask my question :(

After the show and curtain call, Dwayne heads over to the stage to find out where he needs to go to backstage. When we get to security, the guard tells him that he can take one person back with him. He looks at me and Sunny and Sunny tells him to take me backstage with him. I'm forever grateful to Sunny for that because I needed to go backstage to meet Carol. I couldn't envision myself leaving without meeting her.

So we get backstage and for a few minutes, it feels like an eternity... I felt like we were waiting forever. But then Carol emerges and the line starts to move. My turn came and I handed my book to her assistant. After that, Carol tells me to come on over and she gives me a great big hug... well, I hugged her and she hugged me back. All I could say is that I was so happy to finally meet her. I had so much more to tell her, but then she asked me a question: "What is your name?". Once she asked me that, my mind went blank. I could barely get my name out. But I think I played it off well.

I remember taking the picture with her, but it went so fast. I wanted to tell her how much she influenced my life... how my earliest memories are from her watching her show as a child and how watching her show helped me develop my sense of humor. I wanted to tell her that reading her book encouraged me to move through my problems, it helped me through depression as a teenager, and how it gave me the inspiration to write.

Lastly, I wanted to tell her about a passage from the bible that I think epitomizes how many people feel about her. The passage says, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God kept making it grow". In the broadest sense, it talks about how there are things that we do in life that influence people...we plant a seed. The person may or may not decided to act on that seed, sometimes we never know and sometimes, people will come from all around to tell you just how much of an impact you had on them. Saturday was just such a night. Carol got to see first hand the amazing growth of the seedlings she has planted throughout the years. We all had benefitted from her activities in some way or another and we all gave her back that love on Saturday.

Carol sets a good example for all of us. She uses her life to help others and entertain us. I loved being there and loved meeting her even more.

Carol and Me

I'm not sure what else needs to be said about this.

Carol and Me in Atlantic City

Well folks, the day is finally here :)

Laughter and Reflection with Carol Burnett
Caesars Atlantic City, Atlantic City, NJ
Sat, Jun 21, 2008 09:00 PM
This is a non-televised event.
This is a lecture, question and answer event.
"LAUGHTER AND REFLECTION WITH CAROL BURNETT"
A Conversation with Carol where the Audience asks the Questions.

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0200407C14855A03

Facebook

I've decided that Facebook isn't the complete and total nuisance that I made it out to be all along. On Friday, thanks to the new chat feature in Facebook, I was able to reconnect two people I haven't talked to since I was a child. One friend was a childhood friend and neighbor from elementary school, the other a Friend from middle school and high school. Each have led interesting lives that have taken them to new places.

These are the moments when I envy this generation of teenagers who grew up with instant messenger and email. They will have an easier time maintaining friendships with people after graduation. The internet has really changed the fabric of our society.

Anxiety

Jesus' advice about dealing with anxiety.
Matthew 6:25-33

25 “On this account I say to YOU: Stop being anxious about YOUR souls as to what YOU will eat or what YOU will drink, or about YOUR bodies as to what YOU will wear. Does not the soul mean more than food and the body than clothing? 26 Observe intently the birds of heaven, because they do not sow seed or reap or gather into storehouses; still YOUR heavenly Father feeds them. Are YOU not worth more than they are? 27 Who of YOU by being anxious can add one cubit to his life span? 28 Also, on the matter of clothing, why are YOU anxious? Take a lesson from the lilies of the field, how they are growing; they do not toil, nor do they spin; 29 but I say to YOU that not even Sol´o·mon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. 30 If, now, God thus clothes the vegetation of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much rather clothe YOU, YOU with little faith? 31 So never be anxious and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or, ‘What are we to drink?’ or, ‘What are we to put on?’ 32 For all these are the things the nations are eagerly pursuing. For YOUR heavenly Father knows YOU need all these things.

33 “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these [other] things will be added to YOU. 34 So, never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Sufficient for each day is its own badness.

Small steps

I don't know why doing my laundry feels like a small achievement. I've needed to do it since I got home from Orlando over a week ago. The magic kingdom managed to rob me of my energy. I haven't felt the same since I got home.

I haven't felt myself in a while. I'm feeling super nostalgic for the past month, but in a way that makes me pensive...not always in a good way, but sometimes in a great and joy-filled way. I have had a lot of joy in the past few years, but also moments of difficulty.

But now, I find myself at a turning point in my life. I find myself at an open door that leads to new existence. Who I have been for the past few years is changing... evolving. I find myself concerned about different things; things that matter more now than they did in years past. It's so unbelievably scary. Yet, I'm not afraid... OK, I am...but I think it's OK.

Orlando, finally

Now is the time when I detail all the wild things that happened in Orlando during the NCORE conference.

Now, if you believed that... I have a bridge to sell you ;)

Actually, nothing really wild happened. But we did agree that what happened in Orlando would stay in Orlando. That being said, here's the abridged version.

We arrived in Orlando on May 25th, two days early, which was news to Kim. I think I was the only one who realized how early we were going. I wasn't going to say a word because after all, we were going to the most magical place on earth (*sigh*) right?

On Sunday, we arrived and get checked into the Disney Coronado Springs Resort and spent the day just resting. Here's the thing about the Coronado Springs Resort. This is Disney's description of the resort:

"Embrace the legendary cultures of Mexico and the American Southwest amidst Mayan architectural flourishes at this lakeside Resort hotel."

While Disney gave it a try with the whole Mexican theme, somethings are just a little bit off... like the pyramid that doubles as a water slide. Nevermind the fact that pyramids of that sort were used to sacrifice the village virgins in honor of pagan gods. Nevermind that the food which is supposed to be mexican taste only about one step better than taco bell at four times the price. Throughout the week, I kept for the magic to rear its head.

On to the conference. NCORE stands for National Conference on Race and Ethnicity. So it was a conference on diversity, cultural competence and all the things that go with that. I went to so many workshops, I can't possibly tell you about them all. So I'll stick to the extracurricular stuff.

Downtown Disney, it's interesting... it actually reminded me of the Inner Harbor, except with a bunch of Disney stores. We went to the Wolfgang Puck Cafe, which was wonderful. We walked around for a while each time we went, but didn't do any real shopping. After all, it is Disney - Downtown Disney, which means Disney junk at inflated Disney prices.

One cool thing that we discovered was the water slide at the main pool at the resort. I wasn't going to get on the water slide because I had just gotten my hair done. But after some serious peer pressure from Kim and Carol, I decided to just go for it. The water slide is the best thing ever invented :)

On Wednesday, we went to Epcot for a welcome reception which turned out to be one big party. Even though we didn't get to roam around Epcot, it was still a fun time. Here's the part where I leave out the rest of the story to protect the not-so-innocent.

The remainder of the week consisted of conferences, trips to the pool, and conversations with Anton, a black british guy who couldn't dance. We inadvertantly took him under our wings and taught him how to do some basic steps...at least all the ones that he should've already known, like the electric slide.

Mixed in with the week was a loose bear at the Hard Rock Cafe resort, wild fires, and gas prices that rose to over $4/gallon. All that and no internet :(

I've grown tired now. I'll have to tell you my adventure when I was attempting to come home from Orlando.

Capital Jazz Festival

I went to the Capital Jazz festival today and listened to jazz for 10 hours.

I'm going to write more about this tomorrow.

I'm too tired right now.