A break

So, not that most of you will mind, since SOME bloggers (who will remain nameless- coughcoughChrisTreyandLauren) rarely update... BUT I'll be out of town next week. Which means no blog entries.
What's been up with me? Working in Paradise. Cheeseburger in Paradise, that is. Jimmy Buffett, who owns the whole chain, will be in Cincy tomorrow night, and so the restaurant is having a huge Buffett party. Tomorrow I'll be working from 6pm till 2am. How ridiculous is that??? Anyway, last year at the same event, there was a constant 2-hour wait. Should be fun for me.
But on Saturday, I'm heading down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Should be great to get away from work and whatnot.

I also wanted to share this song. It's off Continuum by John Mayer. The title is "Heart of Life." I love John Mayer's description: "This next one... whatever you're going through, this song is for you. Everybody." In other words, you can get something out of it no matter what your current situation. It's a song of hope, of the power of friends, and the human nature.
As for my favorite line: "Then the circle of your friends will defend the silver lining." I think my experience at VI has embodied that. My friends have kept optimism alive. Here's the whole song:



Summer seems to be winding down rather rapidly. That's really all I got for now. Leave some comments, I love that kind of stuff.

Live big, stay classy.

I'm a nerd... but I'm a grown-up nerd.

You know, I find it interesting that no one really knows when adulthood sets in. My sophomore English class reading list (heads up Annie, Katie, Keller, etc- this is your future) was entirely comprised of books about adolesence, and we would constantly discuss the idea of crossing the threshold between childhood and adulthood.
In the Jewish faith, it's customary to declare boys as men and girls as women when they reach the age of 13. I was just telling my brother how jealous I am that in the next year he'll get to go to his friend's Bar Mitzvah, because I never went to one. In the US, legally I'll be an adult in 166 days on my 18th birthday.
But is that standard for everyone?
Do some people grow up at 15? Do some wait until they're in their twenties to truly mature to adulthood?
I've been thinking about this for a long time now. I guess it started the first time I got behind the wheel of a car alone as a licensed driver. And that was a year and a half ago.
Those of you who were on Elevation know that Little Miss Sunshine is one of my favorite movies of all time. It's technically a comedy, but it has a lot of profound themes in it. I love the scene where Uncle Frank is telling Dwayne how being a teenager is all about the difficult experiences. To paraphrase, he says that you don't have to have your life in order. You can be messed up and a social outcast, but you can still grow. In fact, it's the people who suffer who grow up most. In Frank's words... "High School? Those are your prime suffering years, man! Think about all the growing you'd miss out on if you didn't have to go through it all."
I'm not claiming that I've suffered any great injustice, or that my life as any more bleak and unfair than anyone else's. I'm just musing that maybe it's our experiences - both good and bad - that make us adults.
Change is inevitable, and growing up is unpredictable. But no one wants to miss out on living life. Get out there and experience it.
Live big. Stay classy.

I'm a nerd.

I have officially found the dumbest video on the internet.
Which is saying something, since the net is full of videos that can literally lower your IQ as you watch them.
Check this out.



And while I'm posting YouTube videos of silly animals, I thought I'd share this one. I was in Washington DC last week, and the zoo there has some pandas, so that's what reminded me of this amusing clip. I bet you can't watch it just once.



Live big, and stay classy. Classier than these clips, anyway.

For some reason, I can't type a title for this entry. So here it is:

A Loss for Words

My English teacher once told me that sometimes it's ok to not know what to say. She told me that even the brightest people are sometimes so overcome with inspiration, so saturated with emotions and ideas, that they don't even know where to begin with writing down what they feel. I am having that sensation right now.
Elevation was absolutely fantastic. I could write a list of superlatives and talk about the amazing activities, but that would seem inadequate. So I'll just do the wise thing... say very little. I'm going to shelf this entry for the time being.
I love each and every one of you guys. I know I make you crazy, and I know there's a lot of imperfection in my relationships... but I hope every person reading this knows how deeply I care for them.

Live big. Stay classy.