Thursday, May 26, 2011

Ohh Floorydah.

I am now back from Miami. It was a great tour. The perfect place for me to be sent to for where my life is right now. By that, I mean somewhere warm with a beach.

My sister visited for the weekend, we had a blast. We beached. We clubbed. We drag showed. We Miamied. It was a really good time, and really cool to have someone from my real life get an idea to what my tour life is like. Minus the performing yo-yo shows part...that one I don't really throw off on to other people. Much.

The greatest thing is to get super sweaty performing something meaningful and changing people's lives- then to drive directly to the ocean and swim in it. I would like to keep this practice in Boston, and the weather is finally helping me reach that dream.

I drove to the Keys my second week. It was unbelievable. If driving the one road to the Florida Keys at sunrise isn't the best drive ever, what is? Well, driving through the deserts of Arizona was pretty cool too. But back to the Keys. It was great, I didn't want to leave. I was in Florida, but it was all of a sudden the Caribbean. I couldn't help but wonder- how did all of these people get here? It had a very ex-pat feel. I wanted to ask everyone what made them leave their lives somewhere else, and just go to Key Largo. I could see myself doing it. For a little while anyway, then I'd probably want to end up someplace a little more like London or L.A., but it would be a nice escape. For a little while.

I also visited one of my bestest ladies on the planet in West Palm Beach. News flash. West Palm Beach is like a real city. Lots of people live there. There are tall buildings. I did not know this.
She works for Florida Stage, I'm proud of her. We went to see the show she's been working on. It was great to see an original show. And even better to see a date.

After my fill of happy hour drinks and drag queens (I could never reach my fill of beach), I return home. To Boston. It took a bit, but luckily the weather followed me here. I only hope it stays. Until my next journey anyway. Soon, across the pond to England....





Saturday, May 14, 2011

Bienvenidos a Miami...

Yes please.

So the weather's been great.
The beach is beautiful.
The water is warm.

I've been in Miami since Monday, on my first two week yo yo extravaganza tour for work. It's been good. I have a nice hotel, it's kind of in the hood, but hey, who's counting? It's expected that everyone speaks Spanish here. I'm kind of into that, because I'm in the club. If I did not speak Spanish, I might be quite confused. A guy at a toll booth told me I looked like a princesa. He had on a Hawaiian shirt. The whole encounter made me smile.

The work part has been good. I finally have a new outfit!!! I get to wear orange Chuck Taylor's now, and I feel so much more like myself. It's great. The shows have been good- I've been visiting places with names like "Caribbean Elementary", with mascots like dolphins and stingrays. These things also make me smile. It's hot though, very hot. I fear my dripping sweat is scaring the children, but they seem cool with it. It might have something to do with the fact that I sound a little bit like a Disney princess when I use a microphone.

My first free afternoon I went to the beach. I finished a book that my friend had leant me. I really enjoyed it. I swam. I rented a bike and went for a ride. It was a lovely day.

My sister came to visit for the weekend. It's been awesome so far, more beach, and tonight we're headed to Gloria Estefan's club, where, apparently, the rhythm really will get you. Hasta pronto.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Vancouver, BC



Dear Readers,

I apologize this post is so overdue! Life has gotten in the way of blogging for a little while, but as I am about to embark on a two week yo yo adventure, you can be sure to be hearing a lot more about it.

Anyways, just about two weeks ago, I got home from Vancouver. It was my first international experience as a yo-yoer. Or yo-yo-ist. Or whatever. It was awesome. I also had another yoyo lady with me there! It was a dream. There is something so nice about NOT having to go out for dinner every night, and as for a table for one. Seriously. Try it sometime. See how the hostess looks at you.

We had some trouble getting across the border. Apparently the Canadian border patrol does not see a lot of soundsystems passing through- they asked A LOT of questions. The fact that I landed in Vancouver at 1:00am did not put any ease to their questioning as I may have hoped. But nonetheless, I made it through!

This awaited me:


Vancouver was beautiful. I arrived in darkness and I had no idea what to expect in the morning. I expected it to be like Seattle, because it was so close.

The next morning as I drove to work, I couldn't have asked for a better road to travel. Monsterous mountains arose around me- covered in snow. I literally screamed out loud when I first noticed them. I drove through downtown Vancouver and over the bridge to West Van, which was really to be my favorite part of the city.

I had my first show, which went well, but was difficult. Why you ask? Well, the word "yo-yo" is trademarked in Canada. What does that mean? That means I have to do a 45 minute show about yo-yos without saying the word "yo-yo". And also, the general public in Canada does not know about this little fun fact, so they can say "yo-yo" as much as they want to- and find it a little weird that I have to say "yo" or "yo-top". But hey, if that's the hardest part of the day, how bad can it really be? I'm not too upset about it. Also, the children I saw in Canada were overall more mature and polite than most American kids I've seen. Buuuut we have rock n' roll. So eat that Canada.

Anyway, I only had one show that day and was done by 10:00am. So I explored West Van a little bit. It was great. Canada had a much more European feel than I expected it to. I really felt like I was in a different country. I strolled along the streets past the little markets, the butcheries, the cafes. Oh, the cafes. There were cafes galore. I picked one called "Savory Pie" (obviously). I went inside and loved it. It reminded me of a place I'd find in Western Massachusetts or Vermont. Farm fresh. All organic. Mason jars. I bought myself a pumpkin spice muffin and a coffee. I went for a walk.

I took my breakfast down to the water. There was a beautiful park with a beach on the coast. I could see mountains, I could see the Lion's Gate bridge. There were dogs, and old people walking along the water. I sat in the sun and ate my breakfast and wished that I had my camera. This was my favorite part of the whole trip.

I explored what West Van had to offer and headed back to my hotel. It was like Seattle, or a small town outside of it, Edmonds, but to the max.

I spent the rest of the time exploring with my yoyo buddy. It was great. We had delicious sushi. We found a great bookstore. I bought another Paolo Cohelo book, and I hope I love it as much as I love The Alchemist. We also thoroughly enjoyed The Old Spaghetti Factory, and though it may be a chain it's still yummy. It was so great to have someone to explore with.

I write this to you as I sit in my second home, Logan Airport. I'm waiting to board a flight to Miami. I'll be there for two weeks, with a lot of free time, and a lot of beaches to go to. You know where to find me.