The Varsity Theater

When I was in high school (and even middle school, really) my favorite movie theater was the Varsity on Franklin Street. It's right in the middle of the main drag off of UNC Chapel Hill (home of the Tar Heels, that's right!) It's a small independent theater with only two screens and a vintage feel. I almost always went there rather than the big theaters. It was cheaper, they had real butter for the popcorn, and it was fun to cruise around Franklin St. before or after a show - maybe to hit up one of the ice cream joints.
I saw Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves (yes, the Kevin Costner film) there when I was all of 12 or 13 and LOVED it! I can't remember how many times we saw Pulp Fiction there when I was a teenager; I know we snuck in at least twice and paid for tickets numerous times. There's a convenient door in the back of the theater that was just too easy to prop open... However, going in with a ticket meant getting to walk down the cool hallway with the fairy lights around it like a sci-fi spaceship tunnel.
Over the years the place fell into some disrepair; the seats were pretty worn out, and the house isn't large enough for stadium seating. Of course fewer people ended up going there for movies, and sadly, it closed down.
In the past year the owners of the Chelsea theater bought, refurbished, and reopened the Varsity. They now play old school movies for cheap ticket fees ($3) and have good concessions, including bottled beer!
Last week we went to see The Goonies, my favorite movie from childhood. This week we went to see Dazed and Confused, my favorite movie from my high school days. We over-watched that film just as much; it was constantly on in the background and we listened to the classic-rock soundtrack until it barely played anymore (ahh, the days of cassette tapes).
It was great fun to once again see an old-skool favorite on the big screen. I laughed a lot and it put me in a great mood. It's also been really nice to get out of the house with Russell for a little date night! Kevin came with us the past two weeks, too. He'd never seen Dazed and Confused before, but he enjoyed it thoroughly!
Another aspect of this night that I found kind of exciting (even though Russell finds it kind of annoying) is that school started yesterday and all the students are back. There are people all over Franklin St. and that 'back to school' excitement is in the air! One of my favorite things about school is that giddy feeling at the start of the year, before you get all bogged down in work, and there are new, fun people everywhere. We saw Freshmen catching the bus with huge bags from Target - outfitting dorm rooms, no doubt. The freshmen are really my favorites because they are so balls-out excited about being at college, away from home for the first time. I just love their wide-openness! It was fun to see that as we went into a movie about the last day of school before summer vacation in 1976... Fun, youthful energy all around. It also made me excited about the possibility of being in school again soon. I do enjoy the environment.
This of course means that Jo Ann got some more quality time with our little Star Man! He did really well with us being gone for a little while again. He laughed and played like the good little goober he is, took a bottle with no trouble, and napped until we came home. He's a great baby, and we really appreciate Jo Ann's loving care for him while we're out!
And so, another good night!

Family

Uncle Colie and Laura get some good face time with nephew Orion!

What are those crazy kids up to now??

As if having a baby wasn't enough, we're also getting married in June. But that's not the big news - the next big step after the nuptials is to figure out what we want to be when we grow up!
Both Russell and I love Chapel Hill and the surrounding area. We both grew up here (him more so than me, but you get the idea) so we're invested in the community and we have a fondness for the territory. However, we both feel like we're spinning our wheels here. Not stuck in a rut so much as just not moving forward like we want to. We both have undergraduate degrees that we're not using, we both want to further our education (and maybe make a bit more money in the process), and land jobs that are more career-based, or at least centered in doing that which we love.
We're also both feeling a lack of community. We have some friends here and there, and so many people around who we love and love us, but when it comes to the day-to-day we need more people around us who have similar interests and find themselves on a similar wavelength to ours. Basically, we need to find us some more hippies!
So the research into our next big step has begun. We're getting married in June, 2011, and plan to leave the Chapel Hill area shortly after that. The question is, where to go?
Both Russell and I really want to move to the West Coast - somewhere between Santa Cruz, California, and Seattle, Washington. We want to be close to the water, of course, and somewhere that at least one of us can go back to school. Here is the list so far:
Davis, California:
Centered in the Sacramento Vally, and close to state capitol Sacramento, Davis is a cool town. And when I say "cool", I'm referring to personality only. It's HOT there - hot and dry - which sounds great to us! It's not too big and has a vibe much like Chapel Hill. It's a very bike-friendly town with a great farmer's market. It's about an hour from the Bay Area and super convenient to Burning Man. It's the most expensive place we've looked into living, but it's a lot cheaper than SF.
There are two colleges there: UC Davis and Dominican University. Russell is interested in an MBA at Dominican in Sustainability Applications. This degree would allow him to continue working in the construction industry, but instead of doing the rough work he would do more consulting and design work, helping new projects be more 'green'. At UC Davis there is an MFA in Theatrical Costume Design for me.
Next on our list is Arcata, California:
Arcata is so far north it might as well be in Oregon. Located on the coast and in the redwoods, it's a very beautiful spot. The town itself is a bit grungy and is as 'hippier-than-thou' as it's possible to get, but I suppose that's no surprise since it is in Humboldt County. Humboldt State University is perched on the hill overlooking the town, and the school buildings are interspersed with redwood trees. The school offers an interesting program for me, called an MFA in Sceneography. The program offers a triple-threat focus on lights, scenery, and costumes for theatre, with a concentration in one aspect. I've already toured the campus there and met with the head costume professor, and I liked the feeling of the department. There are also two completely unrelated programs there that I have some interest in: Environmental Education and Native American Studies/Language and Literature. I've had some experience with Environmental Education in the past, and I really enjoyed it. I've said many times that if I were to go back into teaching, I'd like to be an environmental educator. This is basically like being a really professional camp counselor (usually called a co-leader instead). I'd be working with kids, outdoors, through various environmental/parks & rec/centers through the US. The jobs would offer lots of fun experiences and are generally flexible with a lot of concentration in the summer months. The NA Lit degree is another one that would lead me to teaching again, likely at the community college level. It is also an MA that is supported by my English Ed BA, so there's a good chance I could get in to the program. I also took a class on NA Lit with an awesome professor at UNCW, and taught a whole section on NA Lit in my Junior English classes at CCHS. So Humboldt State has a lot to offer me; I might be applying to them three times over the next year!
Fortunately there are some interesting programs there for Russell, too; most of them are involved in some sort of Environmental science, like Natural Resources Planning and Interpretation. There are several degrees that he is looking into there which I can barely tell you about. However, it's awesome that this one place has a great list of opportunities for both of us. It may well be where we eventually end up!
Traveling further north, the next place on the list is Corvallis, Oregon:
Corvallis is a small hippie town with a lot of arts activities. It's close to the coast and just south of Eugene. Oregon College is based there, and they have an interesting program called "Design and the Human Environment" which includes design, textiles, sustainability, and marketing all balled into a social package. It's a neat-sounding program which would allow me to work in the design industry on a higher level, perhaps working to create more sustainable fabrics in America or something. There's also a wood science degree there that Russell is looking into. Though these degrees are attractive, Corvallis is a bit lower on the list.
Next is Eugene, Oregon:
I drove through Eugene on my big road trip a few years back, and don't remember much about it except that I stopped for lunch and had the best sushi that I'd had on the whole trip. That alone recommends it to me! The cost of living there is also pretty low - lower than Chapel Hill, even. The University of Oregon, Eugene Campus, is located there. There is another MFA in Theatrical Costume Design for me, and a couple of architecture programs (one interior, one landscaping) for Russell.
An added bonus in the Eugene option is that our friend Eric is planning on moving back there around the same time we were planning to trek west, so we might be able to help each other with the cross-country move. Not only that, but having a local friend who knows the ins and outs would be a great resource!
Finally, there's Portland, Oregon:
Portland is far enough north that it borders Washington, and is quite close to Seattle. It is a fairly big city, which isn't really our style, but it is a cool town with a lot to offer, including several colleges. There's an Oriental Medicine college and a Naturopathic Medicine college, both of which are of some interest to Russell. There's an art and craft technical college as well, which has program in textiles for me and one in wood for Russell. Again, not high on the list, but certainly an option!
The big hitch-point for both of us in this is that neither of us have exactly what we need to get accepted anywhere. Russell's last year in college wasn't the best for his GPA, and it's the last 60 credits or so that most programs look at. For me, I lack the professional experience that most MFA programs look for. Both of us struggle to get recommendation letters, and I constantly have to re-work my resume while Russell is trying hard to develop his. I also need a portfolio, and though I have one and I think it looks pretty good, I had to pull every last thread to fill it up, which also means that it's a little unfocused.
This is not to say that I don't have hope! We both do; we really want to make this happen, and we are trying our best to pull it together and focus on our goals. We're supporting each other in our endeavors and we're leaving the plan open-ended until we know what our options are. We think it would be best to switch-hit anyway, with one of us in school at a time, which would allow the other to pull together more experience before applying again. Russell believes that my chances of getting in somewhere are higher, and I tend to agree - but who knows if I'll get in to the program that is right for me? We're just going to have to be patient and trust the universe.
And of course, there's always Plan B:
In the mountains of NC, west of Asheville, there's a technical college by the name of Haywood. The school offers programs in professional crafts, with concentrations in fibers and jewelry. I'm interested in both of these. They also have a wood working program and are developing sustainability programs as well. I've been looking at the courses, and there's so much there I'd love to learn. They don't offer masters courses/programs of course, so we'd be looking at associate's degrees or even just certifications. Though it's a bummer to not have the "M", these programs might actually get us closer to what we want to do. I'd love to be self-employed and making art/clothes/jewelry whatever, and Russell is so taken with biodiesel mechanics... Not to mention that a tech college in state is going to be a million times cheaper than an MFA anywhere. And it's closer to home. But it's also further from the ocean and nowhere near the West Coast or the Burn... But it's an option, and a good one. So we're pretty happy with our choices!
Now comes the hard part, which is gathering the goods to apply. This means toiling over portfolios, resumes, entrance exams & essays, gathering recommendation letters, traveling for tours and interviews, and making some big choices about the rest of our lives. Fortunately, we both feel much more ready to make those choices than we did when we were 17 and had to make them about college. It's no wonder so many people like us aren't using their degrees; who the hell knows what they want to do at the ripe old age of 17? I didn't even know some of the things I'm interested in existed back then. We're much better prepared now!
Wish us luck on this next big aspect of our journey. I'm sure we'll figure it out, one step at a time!

Super Baby!

Flying through the house in his tie-dyed cape!

3 Month Check In!

Here we are, almost three months into being our own little family unit! Orion will be 12 weeks old tomorrow; I can scarcely believe it. A lot has happened in that time.
Orion has nearly doubled in weight: he started at 7lbs. 8.5ozs and is now somewhere around 12lbs.
We had a rough start with nursing, but now he's a champion on the boob.
Instead of sleeping all the time, then all day and not at night, Orion now mostly sleeps at night.
He smiles all the time and we have a couple of silly games we like to play. The funniest one right now is the 'comfy blanket game' in which I smoosh a fleece blanket on his cheeks. He makes hilarious faces!
Orion is starting to laugh - he does this funny inhalation shriek and will sometimes pant quickly when he's excited.
He has loved music since before his birth!
In the past few days he has suddenly recognized his hands and has spent some amusing time starting at them and moving them around. This has been coupled with a sudden increase in the amount that he grasps things. He especially likes to hold my fingers or shirt while he's nursing.
He slept for a record of 6 hours in his bassinet last night! This is a big deal for me, because even if he sleeps for a long while in the bed with us, I don't sleep as deeply. When he does sleep with us, he likes to sleep in the middle with a hand on each of us.
Over the past three days Orion has been in a growth spurt; he ate almost constantly for the previous two days and spent a lot of today sleeping. He also has not pooped in about 3 days; I'm sure I'm in for a fun diapering experience sometime really soon! In a day or two I'll wake up in the morning, take a look at him, and realize he's grown suddenly in the night!
Today is the third time I've gone through his clothes and culled out the items he's grown out of while cycling things in that he's grown into.
I do a lot of laundry, and most of it is not mine.
Bibs are a necessity - he goes through a few of those before an outfit change is needed.
I shower a lot less often than I used to, and at weird times.
I'm really proud of myself if I manage to accomplish a lot of chores or sewing during the day.
My "gross-out" meter has gone way down. Bodily functions are now a common part of everyday conversation, with cutsie nicknames for everything: burpies, pukies, poopies, pee-pee, and pooties (farts).
There are cotton cloth diapers on everything as 'puppy pads' for Orion to lay on, which are instrumental in keeping furniture items pukie-free.
We both love it when Russell comes home. I'm so thankful that he likes to cook! He also does most of the diapering and burping in the evenings, leading us to say I'm in charge of input and he's in charge of output! Russell is really a good daddy and enjoys carrying Orion around and playing with him. It's always a fun day when daddy's home!
Nursing can often be boring, so I found endless mindless entertainment in Netflix watch instantly and DVD's, Facebook, Stumbleupon, and countless numbers of novels.
A trip to the library by myself it amazing. Going to the movies while Orion stayed home with Jo Ann felt like an adventure!
We're very proud of using cloth diapers and cloth wipes. That coupled with breastfeeding means our weekly baby costs are nearly 0 until we need to buy him new clothes and baby food.
Kiwi is totally unabashed by the baby. Caspian is still a little bummed out and acts needy and mopey sometimes. However, they really have nothing to complain about. I am currently in a turf war with both of them over the bassinet; I have to cover it with a sheet when Orion's not in it or one of them will sleep in it. It's better than a cat butt in my face in the wee hours of the morning, but it leads to too much laundry!
Orion himself is a great baby. He's cute, sweet, fun, and easy to adore. He's a popular little guy with the crowd at Weaver St. and has been a great audience member at all the shows we've gone to. He's a keeper!

The Goonies!

We had an epic evening!
The Varsity theater, a historic movie theater on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, closed a while back, much to the dismay of folks like us who saw many a movie there through the years. Fortunately, the owners of the Chelsea Theater, another independent movie theater across town, re-opened the Varsity with a new purpose. Old-school movies or films that are slightly past their release dates are shown, and tickets are cheap. The concessions are good (real butter!) and they even have beer (Russell says Yay!)
They've played some great flicks in the past few months - we went to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which was way fun! But last week I noticed the current weeks' line-up included my all-time favorite movie from childhood:
The Goonies!
For those of you who haven't seen it, The Goonies is an adventure film directed by Richard Donner and produced by Stephen Spielberg. It came out in 1985 and includes young actors like Sean Astin and Corey Feldman. It's about a group of misfit kids in Astoria, Oregon, who are about to lose their community to the evil rich folks who want to build a golf course. The kids find a treasure map in the attic, and go after the lost pirate ship in hopes of saving their homes. Along they way they get tangled up with a group of bumbling villains who are also after the treasure. Adventure and high-jinks ensue.
I saw it in the theatre when it came out, and I even remember that event fairly well. We loved this movie as kids; we rented it every weekend, to the point that I wonder now why no one just bought us a copy of it on VHS - we certainly spent at least as much renting it from the local grocery store. We even used to organize the neighborhood kids into 'playing Goonies' wherein we'd choose characters and run around the neighborhood looking for pirate treasure and quoting lines from the film. We all used to fight over who got to play Mouth, the character played by Corey Feldman, because we all thought he was the funniest character. In fact, I still think that. Though Chunk is absolutely hilarious, too!
It was poignant for me to see The Goonies on the big screen again, as it really brought me back to childhood, and made me think of my best friend Amy from my elementary years. I recently found out that Amy was murdered at age 21 by some idiot criminals in a car jacking, and have been thinking about her a lot lately. Granted, she's been gone for many years now and I hadn't spoken to her in even longer, but one always remembers their childhood friends with fondness. Though I had already grieved the loss of her in my own life when we moved to NC, I also had to grieve the loss of her in the world - even ten years later when I heard of her death. She and I used to spend the night at each others' houses every weekend (we lived next door to one another) and a typical sleep-over night involved watching The Goonies and quoting lines, planning the next neighborhood adventure game. She was my first "BFF" and I was very sad to hear that she had been taken from us in such a violent way. When we sat down in the Varsity as The Goonies started, I thought to myself, "This one is for Amy."
On a lighter note, this was the first time that we left Orion with someone other than us! Russell's mom Jo Ann was kind enough to come to our place to take care of him while we were gone. She played baby olympics to keep him occupied and they had a good night together! I'm glad that it went well; though I thought about him a few times, I wasn't anxious like people might expect. Partially that's because I know Jo Ann's got the 'magic touch' with babies and I was leaving him with someone who loves him so much. And it was really nice for Russell and I to get out together and have a little break. My dad Kevin also joined us, so it was a good night and a lot of fun. I definitely left the theatre with a big smile on my face.
So here's to The Goonies, childhood friends, family, and of course: PIRATES!

A little gift from SCI

While at the first night of the SCI shows at the Red Rocks, a girl in the crowd nearby caught me near the end of the show and read the following off of a small laminated blue card:
You are Beautiful OUTSIDE and INSIDE!
You are Pure Love, Light and Joy!
Let your Love Light SHINE!
You are Amazing Just the Way You Are and Wonderful for Who You Are!
SMILE, Be Fabulous, and Make a JOYFUL SOUND!

She read it to me, passed it on, and told me to do the same. Since the show was about over, I figured I'd pass it on the next night. I stuck it in a pocket on the Ergo Carrier and then completely forgot about it. I'm sort of glad that I still have it, because it's a nice little gift, but I also feel bad that I forgot about it. This is my way of passing it on, to you. Maybe you could pass it on, too... If you feel like it.
Love...

Old Skool

I found this pic of my Aunt Holly and myself from several years ago while I was uploading some newer stuff. I thought it worth sharing again!

Some Live SCI

A short video of a bit of "Home", a Talking Heads song that String Cheese often covers, and is one of my favorites! Russell couldn't stop dancing initially, sot the video is shaky at first. You can tell the moment that I pointed out it would be unwatchable unless he held still!
The sound quality also improves as the crowd quiets down and gets into the song...

More photos from SCI

Orion's First Incident!

For those of you who have no idea what I'm referring to, Russell, Orion and I attended three nights of The String Cheese Incident at the Red Rocks amphitheatre in Colorado.
String Cheese (or SCI) is one of our favorite bands. They are a 'jam band', meaning that they have a very free-form style of play in which they will 'jam' or freestyle during songs, so their shows are always different from one to the next and song arrangements vary wildly from their studio-recorded albums. They also might start one song, jam into another one, and then loop back to the original tune. Another typical quality of jam bands is that they rarely pause between songs, so shows are often made up of continuous play with only occasional chatter. Other famous jam bands are The Grateful Dead, Phish, Widespread Panic, and a few more up-and-coming groups. String Cheese and the ones listed here also boast followings, meaning that crazy kids like Russell and I love them so much that they devote their time and energy to following the band around the country on their various tours, going to many of the shows and supporting themselves by selling goods like clothes or food in the parking lots of each venue.
SCI has been on hiatus for about three years now, taking a break so that the members could work on their side projects and get some rest from the constant touring. They came out of hiatus last year to play the Rothbury Music Festival in Michigan, which was one of the best shows I've ever seen - and that's saying a lot. They had such a good time playing at Rothbury that they decided to do a select number of shows in 2010 - the first three being at the Red Rocks. They also did three sets at the Horning's Hideout festival in Oregon this past weekend, and are doing two nights before Halloween (dubbed "Hulaween") at the Hampton Coliseum in Virginia (we're going to those shows, too, so we'll have seen 5 out of 8 of their shows this year).
The shows at the Red Rocks were destined to be awesome. SCI hails from Colorado, and most bands put on great shows when they're on their home turf for obvious reasons. Not to mention that the Red Rocks is an absolutely incredible venue! It's a natural amphitheatre formed by red sandstone walls on a mountaintop that overlooks Denver at an elevation of 6,450 feet. Absolutely incredible at night... I've been there a few times before, once during the day just to play around in the park, and another time some years ago for a rave. Russell had never been, so it was fun to watch his amazement at the awesome views and beautiful sandstone forms surrounding us as we danced the nights away!
All three shows were awesome, but as I predicted the second night was the best. SCI played a lot of the crowd favorites, so the sold-out audience of 9,450 people were all singing along! They also had stunt sky divers come swooping down over the crowd at a couple different intervals, trailing colored smoke during the day and sparklers at night. Some of them came very close over our heads before skimming over the edge and down to the ground outside the amphitheatre.
The third night was special, too, in that they had a bubble machine going that spread thousands of bubbles over the crowd. Just at that happened they also released a pile of large clear beach balls for the audience to bat around, echoing the bubble effect. Add the colorful stage lights to the mix and you have an epic visual show! The last night was also the full moon, which rose right over the stage in plain view. When the band finished the final set, it was about midnight, and they came out to do the encore - which was "Midnight Moonlight" an Old and In the Way tune that fit the moment perfectly.
Orion was awesome through all three shows. He slept a lot in the Ergo carrier, but when we had him out of it and he was awake he was completely unperturbed by the crowds. He got a lot of love and attention from the other Cheese Heads - all of whom were really helpful in protecting him and us from folks who were unaware that we had a baby with us. That's one of the things I love the most about the crowds at Cheese shows - they are easily the best group. Kind, conscious, and fun - and way less sketchy than most.
I wish SCI were on tour, and I wish we were following them... It's been a life-long dream of ours to run away on tour. It still may happen, one of these days!