Back from a Cathartic Journey

I knew my month-long trip was going to be awesome, but I didn’t really expect it to be as life-changing as it was. I just got home today, and I’ve got a lot more processing to do on the entire trip from LA to North Carolina to New York and then Miami, but let’s just say it was a cathartic and freeing adventure.

I’ll write more about it later, once I get some proper sleep in my own bed (instead of 4 hours a night on a mushy hotel pillow).

For now I’ll leave you with this short review from Steve Schalchlin on our GALA performance of USS Metaphor in Miami: GALA and the Fabulous USS Metaphor.

All I can say is the house was rockin’! It’s an sharply satirical look at the military’s insidiously ridiculous “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and it’s available on DVD. I really recommend it for anyone who enjoys a great show, enjoys Gilbert & Sullivan and who understands how stupid the whole policy is.

Picturing Excess

It’s 3 am, and for some reason I cannot fall asleep. Well I suppose it has something to do with the month-long, action-packed, 8,000-mile, cross-country trip that I’m starting tomorrow… first to Sausalito for a BUILD work retreat.

As a parting gift, here’s a fascinating TED talk by artist Chris Jordan, who blends visual art with unimaginable statistics to uncover the excesses and truth in American culture.

1 million plastic cups are used on airline flights every 6 hours and virtually none of them are reused. What? Insane. I’ll definitely be using my travel mug on my flights.

Catch you all in July!

Upcoming: Elaborate tour of the South and East Coast

I’m really looking forward to a crazy, fun, and travel-filled summer filled with multiple trips to the South, a quick visit to NYC, and a full-circle trip to USC to facilitate a workshop with Karla at our alma mater. I signed up for this new Twitter-like social-networking site called Dopplr, which touts itself as an online tool for frequent travelers. Anyway, if you’re on it, add me, and I’ll see about posting my Dopplr badge on my website (I’ve added the application to my Facebook already, but we’ll see how long it stays on there). It’s a good way to keep track of where I am at any given moment, and to see if there are any locational overlaps between you and your friends (Oh, you’re going to New York then, too? Let’s meet up at Hiro on Sunday!).

Till then, you can see what I’ll be doing / going in the next few months in the table below:

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank College Summit, and particularly Oudete, for rocking out and allowing me the immense privilege and opportunity to be a Rap Director at USC and UNC Asheville. I can’t wait!

Efficient Travelling

Years ago, a fortune teller told me that spring is my best season, and I have no reason to not believe that because who would not love the blooming flora and the renewed sun of the season? But spring also marks the beginning of my favorite activity: traveling.

And I surely have been been traveling a lot over the last month–I went to Hawaii for a week and then Los Angeles with my students this past week–and it’s not ending soon! Here’s a quick list of where I’m headed this season:

• April 9-13 – St. Louis, MO for College Summit Workshop Staff Training
• Some weekend in April- Las Vegas, NV to visit the family
• Last weekend in June – Miami, FL for a College Summit Workshop
• Fourth of July weekend – Charleston, South Carolina for a College Summit Workshop
• Second weekend in July – New York, NY to visit Tony
• July 11- 20 – Back to Miami for a GALA Chorus Festival

And with all of this traveling (especially for month-long jaunt to the South in June and July), I am striving to travel as lightly and efficiently as possible. Here’s a neat blog post with 36 tips on efficient traveling:

• Pack just a few clothes with only a couple complimentary, solid colors — no patterns. Black is a good idea if you need to be able to dress up and be casual.
• Pack only what you can carry on to the flight.
• Leave the laptop behind, as well as blackberry and any other tech gadget. For computer addicts, being away from the internet’s constant flow of data for a few days recharges and relaxes you in ways that you never experience at home.

And here are my own tips about passing through that sometimes dreadfully slow Security Checkpoint

1. Put your shoes on the conveyor belt first - I usually only travel with a carry-on bag and backpack/”personal” item. This can sometimes get bulky, especially if I bring a laptop. By putting my shoes on the conveyor belt first, obviously it will come out first, and I can put my shoes on first as they scan my bags, laptop, toiletries, etc.
2. Put all pocket items inside your jacket pockets - Generally, you will need to take off your jacket and place it on the conveyor belt as well. If you already have your wallet, cellphone, keys, etc. in your jacket, you save yourself some time and confusion.

Alone in Hawaii

Here’s a sneak peek of last week’s trip to Hawaii, which, by the way, was one of the best vacations I have ever taken!

Vegas for Thanksgiving Week

I had a great time in Vegas for Thanksgiving, and I have a few pictures that my brother took from the week. What did I do you in Vegas, you ask? Well, I slept, relaxed, watched cable (caught up on “Top Chef” and watched some hilarious “America’s Most Smartest Model”), and played Xbox and Wii. On a side note, I played this excellent 360 game called Portal, which was super enjoyable and super original. Check it out!!!

Anyway, here are some select pictures from my week off; they are mostly of me and my family eating dinner, and playing at Lake Las Vegas. Click this link to see the rest of this set from flickr.

Click this link to see the rest of the photos on flickr.

Back to DC

I’m flying back to DC on Thursday… and guess what. This time I’m going there for fun!

Shock of all shocks, I know.

I’ll be back on Monday after touring our nation’s capitol for more than a day or two. And I’ll get to see a host of fun people that I miss.

Busy next few weeks

I am going to be having a crazy next few weeks with all sorts of traveling. Wish me luck as I try not to go insane while living out of a suitcase.

April 6-8 – Las Vegas for family Easter weekend
April 9-13 – San Diego for BUILD college tour
April 27-29 – Washington DC for College Summit core staff retreat
April 30 – Concert at Davies Symphony Hall
May 1-4 – Boston for Merrill Lynch’s Growing Up CEO (I’m chaperoning for 4 BUILD students)
May 12 – BUILD’s 8th Annual Business Plan Competition

Thailand Retrospective

• Country of contrasts

• Trip of gastronomic proportions

• White people wanting to be brown and brown people wanting to be white

Think about that…

Pictures from Thailand

If you’ve noticed on the right column, I have new pictures up from Thailand on my flickr page. You can also easily view the entire set by clicking on the picture below: