Deep in the Heart of Texas

I should really change the picture at the top, since it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense anymore. However, I am afraid that if I do, somehow, everything will get deleted. Plus, I need a sweet picture.

Speaking of pictures, I have failed as a maker of memories this past weekend and took ZERO pictures. I forgot my camera for the first (and only) day of games which ticked me off something fierce and I boycotted it the rest of the weekend. I know a couple people on our team took some pictures so once I get a hold of those I'll put them up here. Anyway, I went to Austin, TX this past weekend for my first club tournament, which happened to be regionals. There wasn't room for me during the regular season and I couldn't play during sectionals (Stanley = much more important) so my first tournament with this team was a one and done deal. We were ranked 10th but finished 7th which is not bad for a first year team. I had a ton of fun, met some great people, learned a lot, and got my first club experience which was faaantastic. It's great because I no longer feel like I need to continue the dream with college ultimate and can start a new chapter of my ultimate career. Rec league is great, but it is tough to satisfy my thirst all year long.

After these past couple weekend of traveling (CA, ILSTU, TX), I realize that I am working for the weekend. Traveling to a tournament was something that I dearly missed and was so relieved to experience it once again this past weekend. But the wanderlust has got me in its grips and I am quite alright with that. I have to take a break for a little while I save more money and also focus more on work since we have several big groups coming up, including performances for ESPN's Old Spice Classic (in addition to other tournaments around the U.S) and groups performing for the Macy's Day Parade, Thanksgiving Parade in Disneyland, and Christmas Parade at Walt Disney World. It's incredible how many factors go into making a trip successful. I am so happy that I work with two incredibly talented and experienced travel veterans who know the business forwards and backwards (and forwards) and impart knowledge on me everyday.

I have been getting much better at getting out of the apt. at least every other day, if only to go to the gym. They have some great classes and I am in the best shape I have been in for awhile, which feels fantastic. I am trying to also culture myself up with movies and books. I just finished 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy. It was vague and thin, using just enough words to describe the plight of the father and son. I had not read something like that in a long time. Would I say it's my favorite? Not really, but that's the point; I am trying to expand my boundaries because all too often I strike down a piece of art that is foreign to me, kind of like 20th century music. Actually, bad example; I'll never enjoy/understand 20th century music. I've also been trying to build up my movie repertoire, including 'L.A. Confidential' and 'Wall Street'. I also watched 'Big Trouble in Little China', which is one of the more hilarious movies I have ever seen.

I made a slideshow of when I went to N. CA to visit Mr. Spoden. Enjoy.

Welcome Back

So I suppose now is as good as any of a time to get back on the blog bicycle. Last time I was here I was nearing the end of my internship and had a solid plan. That plan, like most, was altered...I think it's safe to say drastically. I had big plans to go back to front-line for awhile working recreation and putting people on boats and when the time came, to enter the world of Guest Relations. Now I am working as an Operations Coordinator for MusicAmerica doing student travel. Huh. If you would like to know how that happened, well, I'm sure you already do if we talk on a regular basis. If not, then maybe we should start (or start again). I love to share, but I want to hear about you too.

I visited ISU this past weekend, and it was better than I could have imagined. Dominated my expectations. Took them out to a nice seafood and then never called them again. I would live that weekend over and over again, but coming home made me realize that is not the answer. As much as it may seem like a plausible idea, my time there is through. Living at home and going there every other weekend would just dilute weekends like I just experienced, make them seem insignificant. But what I would give to do it all again. Do it the same, do it differently, I don't care; it was the fact that I was given the opportunity to live it.

At this moment, being there seems like the best idea I could have; it's as my mind is not allowing any other thoughts to develop, and to me, it doesn't seem so crazy. Just go with what works. Crazy thoughts are going through my head. Insane thoughts. Like, is this really where I'm supposed to be, because it seems like I just left a bunch of people that I love and that love me. Something like 19 goodbyes within 20 minutes was one of the more difficult things I've had to do as of late. Should I really be doing this job? Where is right for me? I thought leaving ISU for the last time would be the toughest. Wrong. It never gets easier. At least not for an emotional roller-coaster like myself.

These are just musings that I need to get out because...well, just because I need to. I thought I was pretty self-sufficient and I think I still am. Maybe I'm still catching up on sleep (because lord knows I hardly got any last weekend) or maybe it's because I had to shave (which officially meant the weekend was over) or maybe because I just need to get settled back in. But I really loved that part of my life and can't believe it's this far away. It kills me to look at that picture.

Everyday I hear of individuals that have so many more struggles in their life and mine just pale in comparison. I was recently looking for a roommate on Craigslist and found an entry with a man who was in engineering design for 30 years and was recently laid off. His savings were gone and he just need anywhere to live, someone who would be willing to take just $30 a month. And he sounded so cheerful. Maybe he was full of crap, and I'd like to hope he was, but how can be upset with anything in my life when I've experienced nothing of the sort? We always think ours are the most important until you talk to one other person.

I'm not a quote person (unless it's Anchorman) but this is one that I found stenciled into a desk at Milner years ago during a late night session, and I've tried to live by it ever since.

Live--for the day will come when you are happy, and you bless life'
-Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

Thanks friends for a fantastic weekend. You mean so much to me.

Nearing the finish line

It's been a couple days...but who knows that?!?!?!?

Anyway, t-minus 4 days till this internship is kaput. I'm pretty excited about my new posish because I'll get to be doing stuff outdoors. However, summer got here in a hurry and it's about as hot as the winter was cold. I was at club tryouts on Saturday and it felt like a weak midget was holding a off-brand ziploc over my head. Yeah, that hot. If you're wondering about that link, at was the first appropriate picture I could post with the search term of 'hot'. Take it for a ride if you don't believe me.

I've been doing a lot of research on what I can do in the next year at Disney. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll get a shot at Guest Relations until December-ish since they pull from a bench (Disney fancy word for a wait list. I'm not sure if I've talked about it before...). Anyway, I'll be doing the Rec thing and Safaris until then. There is also a TA (temporary assignment) in which I'm interested. It's with Magic Music Days and roughly has to do with what I did for Festival Disney. However, they need TAs (they pull from a bench, big surprise) because they get slammed in November and spring break times. It would be some great experience though and I feel very qualified based on my time with Festival Disney.

And the infamous RSK was here last weekend. Mandy was a trixy little hobbit and pulled off the surprise of a lifetime (she's pretty awesome). I was under the impression that she was having an epic fight with her roommates, but boy when Ryan jumped out from those cars, I had been gotten. We had a pretty swell time, doing the Disney thing a bit and relivin the old days courtesy of some Whiskey Sours and Left 4 Dead. Yes, I did get an Xbox 360 and I'm pretty sure I'm the last person on earth to have one.

I feel like I have more to say...but I can't think of it...so here's a baby gorilla!

Not the most exciting week

This week was me in the office...all week...with only about 2 other interns most of the time. Our task mostly consisted of making calls for everyone on the road and trying to setup appointments for them. We have been assigned counties for our visits but we had to research schools in those counties to see how accurate our current list is against what is out there. After that, we find out the senior class size for next year and what they did for their senior trip (Grad Nite, Grad Bash, cruise around the world, etc.). If by some luck we are able to get a hold of the correct individual, we then try to get all this information from them; however, most of the time it involves grilling the secretary to see what he/she knows. Then after 3 pm, when schools are closed, it's entering stuff into Seibel, our account tracking program. However, next week, I get to do schools in Indian River County (Vero Beach) and Orange, which is gonna be tough since that's basically in Disney's backyard so a lot of those folks have their minds made up regarding Grad Nite. I think I'm going to focus on the schools that have attended in the past to make sure we maintain a good relationship.

Mandy's family was here this past week which meant a lot of eating oot. The first day they were here, we went to Cape May at the Beach Club which is a seafood buffet. Now, in northern Illinois, seafood isn't way up there on everyone's list of favorite foods, but in Pennsylvania, it's how they roll. Mandy's self-proclaimed favorite food is crab legs, with crab cakes coming in at a close second. Apparently they go to Ocean City, MD every year which has, according to her, phenomenal seafood. She was also astounded that I have never been there. I am finally getting into crab legs since I was finally taught how to eat them.

However, Mandy went home with her parents on Thursday because her Gram was nearing the end of her life. Sadly, even though they took the earlier flight, Gram passed away before they could get back home. It was very unfortunate and a hard blow to the entire Spearly family. It's also tough when I can only be there for her electronically and she won't be getting back till this Wednesday. Life's not always quite fair as I learned with my grandmother years ago.

This weekend was pretty tame so far. We won our league game Friday, and they have it worked out at the bar across the street that the winning team gets a free pitcher. What a fantastic league I joined. My team consists of some pretty cool cats and I think we'll do real well this season. Yesterday my hangout plans fell through so I ended up cleaning basically everything I own. Washed my car, cleaned and vacuumed the interior, cleaned the bathroom, swept the porch, rearranged the TV area, blah blah blah. Super boring stuff but it needed to get done. Now today I am going over to hang with some ultimate buddies and grill and be adults and whatnot.

And finally, good news: I will HAVE a job come June 11th (end of my internship). I will be part-time (no full-time available anywhere) doing Rec at Bay Lake Marina, which is rec sport stuff for Ft. Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge. It's not super glamorous and it's a drastic decrease in pay, but it's a job and it will do until my Guest Relations plan kick in. They warned me that I would be outside all day and I assured them that was fine since I have been in an office way too much as of late. I'll also be able (allegedly) to pick up shifts at other Rec locations as well as Safaris, so I'm not too concerned about pay.

First Week of Sales Calls

So a lot changed since my last post. This past Sunday, an intern, who is also a friend of mine, discovered her grandmother had just passed away. It was very unfortunate, and I'm not sure if it was really expected. I understand they were very close and we all gave her our condolences. Needless to say, she was on the first plane back to Alabama. She was supposed to go to Georgia this week for sales calls. At the end of the day Monday, I asked our head manager if they were planning to fill her spot, and if that was the case, then I wanted to be that person. After some discussion, we decided that the schools in the area would be worth sending me to for a day and a half. I was psyched that I was going to get to do some traveling. Krista (my manager) then went into my future after the internship (big surprise for me). I had mentioned to her that I was interested in Guest Relations, and apparently she had not forgotten. I won't go into details, but she is definitely going to do everything she can to help me get into that area, as well as the Production Assistant role for the next year. She also mentioned that she thinks I would be pretty qualified/interested in a temporary role in Magic Music Days for the fall. It's awesome to have a higher-up on your side!

I just got back from Georgia/Alabama a couple hours ago. It was a lot of fun for the most part, because not every school stop went to plan. We only had a few appointments, but a couple times I did get lucky and got some unexpected face time with some decision makers. A couple of my visits also entailed follow-ups with groups who went this past year. All in all, I'm so happy I got the experience, but it was a pretty wearing experience and I'm not at all upset that I will be in the central Florida area next week. Side note: Even after all of Krista's offerings to help, I should have figured out that, no, our placement for sales calls was not based on job performance. However, it was really bothering me and I asked anyway, mostly because I'm an idiot. My suspicions were shot down, as I should have known, and I probably should not have. Oh well, hope I didn't screw myself over.

Also, ULTIMATE SUMMER LEAGUE STARTS TONIGHT. Praise Allah.

Sales Call Assignments

Hanging out with Jasmine and Aladdin

So, as promised, here are the results of the sales call assignments...and they weren't as I was hoping. Looks like I'll only be making day trips to central Florida schools. Since we have never really been told, we are just assuming that the interns that get to do the most traveling are our 'top' sales people. So following that logic, I'm at the bottom of the food chain. I bounced my placement and if I should be concerned about it off of some people on our floor and didn't really get a satisfactory answer. We are all doing the same job, which is selling Grad Nite (in addition to other youth programs), just different parts of the country, but are we considered to all have the same ability? I talked to Mandy and she gave me some good advice on how to approach my leader to discuss the issue without sounding like a turd. I think I deserve to know why I was placed where I am and if it is based on past performance, what I can do to improve myself for the future. It was just a long day in general. Luckily my laday is super amazing!

dinner at O'Hana (AWESOME)--I am overly excited

Tomorrow I work really early, 6:45. But Rene scheduled myself and Jenna and Mariah for the early shift so we can be done before because we're all (and Mandy) doing Goofy's Musical Mystery Tour! It's a big game for cast members that takes place after park closing at Hollywood Studios. There are 50 trivia questions, but they are only on the screen for 15 seconds each. That's when the game gets good. We are all bungee'ed together and have to solve different puzzles over the next 2 hours. Disney knowledge helps, but isn't 100% necessary. It should be a swell time.

Picture from Swiss Family Robinson's Treehouse

Emily J was here this week, so I got to take her and her 2 friends park hopping Sunday. We only got a couple hours, but I got to lay on them all of my Disney knowledge whilst waiting in line. We started at Studios and did Tower, Coaster, and Star Tours. Then headed over to Kingdom for some other stuff, especially fireworks. It was really good to see her though since it was my first friend to visit!

last festival is just around the corner

Hey everybody. Sorry it's been awhile, but once it gets to be over 2 weeks with no updates, I struggle to find the ambition to post when there are so many things to write about.

Both my parents were here a couple of weeks ago; my dad was here during his spring break and my mom for hers the following week. My dad was escorting for a group from the suburbs and Festival Disney was one of their stops. So in a roundabout way, I was working with my dad which I thought was pretty cool. We hung out a couple nights he was here with the final night culminating with him meeting some of my friends at Ale House.

My mom was here the following week, arriving in Orlando on Easter (side note: I kept telling everyone my parents were coming, but they would be here at different times. Mandy was telling everyone the same thing and kept getting asked if my parents were divorced. Luckily for me that is not the case). Anyway, we did various things around the state since there were black-out dates for the parks...not that my mom cares that much and has been here who knows how many times as it is. The Tuesday that she was here, we went to North Beach, which is west of St. Petersburg. Took us a little longer than we anticipated to get there, but it was a beautiful day nonetheless. Unfortunately, Mandy and I got insane sunburn. The next couple nights of sleep were rough for me. Wednesday my mom and I went to lunch at a great Greek place on international drive after I got off of work. We then tried to go to a botanical garden, but missed it by about 10 minutes (damn you, tourist traffic...). Instead we walked around Lake Eola and then came back home for some mini-golfing.

Like the title says, the end of Festival season is quickly approaching. May 7th and 8th will be our last weekend. However, I'm not officially done until June 11th, and the higher-ups have something kind of cool in store for us. For that last month, we will periodically be making sales calls, with some of us staying in the immediate area and others traveling all the way to northern Georgia. Those making the latter trip will be gone for almost two weeks. We will be finding out in a week where we will be going. Either way, it's going to be some GREAT experience.

As for me after the internship, it's one of two things (at this point): 1) go back to safari, get full-time either there or one of several other locations I would like, get on the Guest Relations bench/waitlist (in July) and then brush on my French to be able to give VIP tours after 6 months or 2) remain in Youth Programs for a little bit longer if they do offer me a sales position with other responsibilities. I don't think I would want to do the latter forever, but I also think I would be a fool to turn down the opportunity, experience, and money. With Guest Relations, it would satisfy my desire to go back to the parks and get my fill of guest interaction (which is what I miss the most) and basically have some fun before I feel the desire to remain in an office for awhile. I've had lots of meet and greets, but unfortunately, no one can make me decision for me.

Spring ultimate league is over, with our team finishing 5th out of 8, but summer starts in less than a month and I couldn't be more pumped. I liked my captain and teammates a lot and I'm hoping we get to stick together since there is a draft for our league (and now he'll know who I am). There are also club tryouts starting the beginning of June. A couple of the guys think I have a shot, so if I do make it, I'll see if I can in fact commit enough to remain with the team.

That should roughly bring you up to speed on everything. I'll let you know about the sales calls and post-internship news/job(???) when I get more of a handle on things.

Holy crap!

So...it's been awhile. But ever since these festivals started, my life has been crazy! We shoot to work four 10 hour days since we do the bulk of our work during the festival weekend. Festivals are real big these days and span 3 days; this past weekend (our biggest EVER!) I was scheduled for 29.5 hours for Thursday-Saturday. Loooong days. So we can be in the office just for one day a week, but most of us split it over 2 days because a) it helps us get our confirmation calls done (and so we're reachable) and b) make the work week a little more tolerable.

But yes, this past weekend was INsane. We had 104 ensembles (104!!!) and that's with a couple canceling. We had approx. 3500+ people at the awards ceremony. It freakin' blew my mind. If I can find someone who took pictures, I'll fer sure put those up. Here's a couple someone took this weekend:



Festival Team (minus 2)




Awards team!



Other updates include:
-Spring is taking its sweet time getting here. There will be 2-3 days of nice, and then it's back to cold and/or rain. Always on my day off.
-Mandy got part-time front desk at Ft. Wilderness. She really likes it, and not only just because she gets to see dogs on a regular basis.
-Our tournament starts this week for ultimate spring league, but it's still weekly. Kind of weird, but whatevs. I also got an email from the captain of the men's club team, so that could be promising...that is, if the practices are somewhat close.
-We have a 'regular' work week this week since it's Easter weekend. My dad is here right now with a group and I saw him yesterday for food at Epcot and tomorrow at Downtown Disney. I think the week will culminate with drinking at Ale House Thursday night.
-Mom is coming Sunday! I'm sure we'll be able to keep busy.

That should bring you roughly up to speed. Sorry my updates have been lacking and I shall try harder from now on...that is, if anyone reads this! Haha.

First Festivus! (aka, festival)

Our first festival was last weekend. It was the Disney Jazz Celebration, which is different from the other 9 weeks of festivals we do. It was a lot of fun and really something I wish I could have done in high school.

The Jazz Celebration took place over 3 days, with Thursday being the Welcoming Ceremony. There was A LOT of talent hired for this weekend: 6 adjudicators, 3 for vocal and 3 for instrumental, 3 clinicians, and 3 guest performers. We showed a short video of Louis Armstrong singing on a riverboat in Disneyland and then opened the floor to the performers. They were all quite young, between 25 and 30; the small age difference made it very easy for the students to relate to them. They could also play their butts off. Throughout the weekend, Jessy J had a consistently sized fan club. Check out her video and you might see why. But seriously, what's up with the horses?

Friday and Saturday consisted of master classes, clinics, jam sessions, and performances. If you performed one day, you did the rest on the other day. I was only assigned to performances, but we were all festival coordinators. That's our official title; we try to cut down on the use of intern because it could lose us some credibility. I had 2 groups on my own, a couple with some other interns because we were drastically overstaffed for the weekend because of the small number of bands. Come mid-March on though, we'll all be very busy.

Saturday night was the Awards Ceremony, which was a lot of fun. We give out participation awards to each school and announce their rating, giving the award to 2 student reps from each school. Then we have a jammin' concert (official title) that actually was jammin' pretty hard. Each talent hired for whatever reason got up and played for a bit. So much talent in one place...it was amazing. Too bad I didn't have my camera! After the performance, we have the directors on stage. We then give each of them a tote bag (fancier than I make it sound) and then we announce the Best in Class, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and special awards (best rhythm section, etc.). But for that...we need Mickey! Always exciting to have the big guy around. After we kicked everyone out, it was to Ale House we went. Rene said it was the smoothest a first festival had ever went. Much exciting.

This past week was intense activity wise. Monday and Tuesday were normal. Wednesday night my grandparents were in town (with the rest of my life in tow) and we went to The Turf Club at Saratoga Springs. They liked the food, which was the most important thing, and I had the prime rib. I always wonder the big hubub is concerning prime rib, so I figured I would have it where it was gonna be "good". Well it was...still didn't like it. Way too much fat. But those potatoes and apple pie were excellent.

Thursday we went to see the Globetrotters! It was the first event of inaugural ESPN: The weekend. Well, it wasn't the first ESPN: The Weekend, but Disney's Wide World of Sports was just renamed ESPN's Wide World of Sports. Makes absolute sense in terms of branding, it just makes me wonder why they took so long to do it. Anyway, the game was awesome (as expected) and we all had a lot of fun.




























Friday, all the interns took Rene to dinner at Boma, a buffet at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Holy crap...it was good. That's basically all I have to say on that. I tried everything. No lie.

On another note, Mandy's back from here week-long excursion to Bellefonte, PA. She was getting ready to start her full-time position at Magic Kingdom, but she got a call to do part-time front desk at Ft. Wilderness. It's considered a promotion, and it's a bit of a bummer it's only full-time for now, but it will give her a better chance to get full-time sooner and also to get out of the parks (trust me, I've heard no one wants to work at MK).

Boy I dropped the ball on this thing...

Sorry I've fallen to pieces everyone. The more I wait to update, the more I have to and the more I'm figuring you're just gonna skim and look for pictures, haha.

Let's start with my birthday. My lovely laday friend took me to the California Grill for an excellent dinner. But if you don't know, the Grill is no ordinary restaurant; the Grill sits atop the Contemporary, one of the first resorts on property. It is also the closest to the Magic Kingdom AND has the monorail run right through it. Brilliant. Anyway, we get there just a couple minutes before 8, checked in, got me a birthday button, and that's when I realized...THE FIREWORKS ARE AT 8. Mandy might be the smartest person ever. So we watched those (the music is played in the restaurant in time with the fireworks) and of course they were awesome; I mean, it's Wishes. Come on.

We then had some dinner, and just like every dinner I've had at Disney, it blew my mind. My mind has been blown so many times, I feel like a Vietnamese mine field. That was probably inappropriate, but what are you gonna do. We shared a flatbread pizza which had roasted red peppers, some sort of greens, and duck. Yes, it was definitely duck season on our flatbread pizza. And it was as awesome as it sounds. For dinner, I had the beef tenderloin, which is becoming a habit when I eat out. I'm pretty sure they cut out the very middle of the cow and throw the rest away cause it tastes so good. Mandy had the scallops and they were butter in my mouth...cause I got to finish them. Awesome. It was the best birthday dinner ever. Hands freakin' down.

Everyone at the office brought a little something to the table for my birthday too. A couple people decorated my cubicle area and two people baked treats. It was a really great surprise. Then that Saturday I had people come out to Ale House to celebrate, mostly because it's the cheapest place around to drink.

The first couple weeks of work, not gonna lie, were pretty boring. Since a lot of what we were gearing up to do was already taken care of (tickets sold, forms sent and received, etc.)
we just assisted others on the floor. A LOT of nonsense for the not-yet-created Gospel Choir Event, filing contracts, straightening up the sully closest, learning how to use Outlook, reading our handbook, and a fair amount of feeling useless. We did get to do a couple of neat things here and there. Like when I start at Disney's Animal Kingdom and had my park orientation, we participated in orientations at Hollywood Studios and Epcot. It was interesting, but we learned a lot of what we already knew and once again, had The Basics drilled into our heads.

BUT, we just had our first festival this past weekend. The Disney Jazz Celebration to be more specific. It was a good time and went pretty close to schedule. Let me tell you, it was a lot more fun than sitting in the office. However, I am tired and this post is already too long, so if you've made it this far, congratulations. I wish I had a prize for you. Crap, I didn't even get to ultimate yet! Le sigh, next time.

My Return Home

I got to go home a couple weeks ago, from the 5th-13th. I WOULD have stayed longer, since I found out I didn't actually start my job until the 19th, but I found out too late and to change your plane ticket that late costs like $234261.61 and I don't have nearly that much. Maybe like half.

A lot of home was catching up with people from my recent past. I saw my grandparents, my old boss at Camille's (who's still not doing so well), old co-workers at school, and favorite professors. It was really great to see my parents as well (obviously). Dad made some stellar king crab legs my first night back, and I got to go out on the town with my Mom to good ole Lino's ($6 dinner meal, you seriously can't beat that. Not even with a stick). Mom and I also had a date to go see Princess and the Frog (which was just as awesome the second time around). It was a bummer Dad had stuff to do on the last two nights I was there, but luckily I'll be seeing him soon.

As prolly most people know, I went to ISU Friday and Saturday, leaving Sunday. It was a lot of fun, some would say too much...but I wouldn't venture to say that. Friday we hit up the bars, with a trip to Mulligan's (standard) and then to Fat Jack's. We didn't make it any farther than that. But I will say two words: LeBomb James. It was epic.









Saturday was a kickin party at Emily, Amy, Jess, and Colleen's apartment (BIG thank you once again). It was great to see all the youngins, some who came back a day early to see me (I'm pretty sure my mom paid them). As much fun as it was, it was a bit weird being out of the loop. But I'm glad I made the visit because it was so great to relive some great memories while making some new ones.









In conclusion, my trip home was too short. I'm pretty sure I was able to see as many people as possible, which was the main goal, and I didn't feel like I was running all over the place at the same time. But the snow did remind me why I'm choosing to stay here...well, at least one of the reasons. What I do know is that I didn't leave home for lack of good people in my life. Note to all friends: make some money asap and come visit me! I now have a place to stay and I can get you in the parks fo free! Think about it.

Update on the job (what I actually do) coming soon. I miss safari though, especially since they have 2 new baby giraffes and a baby rhino!!!

Apt. Pics

Here's my apt., in no particular order. We should have a couch come Wednesday; then I'll have a place to sit!

Apt./Car Pic

This is my car. It's a pretty swell car with only about 65,000 miles. It's red. I like it.












Another picture. It's a 2005 Hyundai Elantra. I just got about 29 miles to the gallon. Needless to say, it made me ecstatic.








Last picture, in case you need to hunt me down.













I'll post apt. pictures either tonight or tomorrow.

I Have Returned

Jambo everyone. I know it has been weeks, but let me tell you, I'm surprised I was able to keep up as long as I did. This coming post will be broken into a couple different ones since I have so much catching up to do.

So after my last post, my life was consumed with post-College Program decisions. I first found a place to live, with pictures of said place coming soon. It's about 1.5 miles from I was just living and literally across the street from Vista Way, one of the housing complexes and also the oldest. Pros on this place: 15 minutes away from work and I-4, 24-gym, reasonably priced (I pay $300 for the smallest bedroom, before utilities), and 20 minutes from the parks. Cons: 100% unfurnished and it's on the 3rd floor. Okay, so that second reason isn't a biggie, but the first one surely is. I walked in and I was like, I'm paying for what? First on the list was a mattress, and as RSK says, box springs are one of the biggest scams around. However, I was able to buy a full mattress with box spring and frame for about $247. So not too bad, and that thing had better last me 3-4 years. I made the mistake of laying on the more expensive mattresses...poor choice. Natural memory form mattress, I'll be seeing you soon...

After the apt. but before the mattress, I needed a vehicle. It was around the 20th of December that I started sweating. You see, I only had about $2500 to spend on a car, because I knew that there is A TON of nonsense you have to get that goes with the car. So after about a month of dealing with some pretty sketchy people, my parents basically forced me to borrow money from them, a no interest-loan (sweeeet) and suddenly, everyone seemed more reputable. I found a 2005 Hyundai Elantra (burgandy) for $5500. I'm pretty pleased with the decision, even if it I did buy it Dec. 23rd.

Like I said pictures to come!

Visit from the Uncle

A couple weeks ago my Uncle came to visit. My Uncle Joe, more specifically, along with his nephew Russel, whom I've known for years but haven't seen for just as many. Neither had taken a vacation very recently, with my Uncle working his ass off at his new position for the last 2ish years and Russel basically supporting himself at the age of 21. I didn't get to hang with them the whole time they were here, but I did get to hang with them for a decent amount of time.

I believe it was Friday where we went to Hollywood Studios for dinner at Hollywood & Vine (I missed Germany the night before! Shame on me). We were actually able to catch Fantasmic beforehand, which was clutch since I believe that's the best night show. Even though I saw Illuminations for like the 4th time here the other night, and it's really starting to grow on me. They also had some extra holiday fireworks after and they were real epic. Like, my face melted off. Anyway, Hollywood & Vine was a buffet and it was pretty good. Standard American fare.

I was able to give away a shift and hang out with them all of Sunday. We did Hollywood Studios all day. My Uncle had been there a couple times and Russel never, but neither one had ever seen any of the shows at the Studios. We saw both Indiana Jones and the car stunt show (no Beauty and the Beast; Russel said it would make him too emotional). I believe we managed to do everything except for Tower and Rock'n Rollercoaster. My Uncle isn't a fan of inside coasters and Russel doesn't like big drops. Oh well, no one's perfect.

Dinner that night was amazing though. We went to Shula's Steakhouse (restaurant of the great NFL coach Don Shula) and let me tell you, I don't think I've ever had a dining experience like that one. They start by rolling out the steaks on a cart so you can learn a little about each one and make an educated decisions. We all The Cowboy, a type of T-bone I believe, a couple sides, a cocktail, and dessert. It was, in a word, exquisite. Maybe one day I'll make enough money to pay for a meal like that.

Herro all. It's been a couple days and I've been up to some stuff, believe it or not.

First things first, I got a professional internship! I applied for it on a whim per an email that I received from a meet and greet contact. I think I actually applied for it the day before the deadline. There were some marketing internships available, but most were in sales, which I'm going to try to avoid as much as possible. This internship is in youth events, so all my work will center around two events: the Disney Youth Jazz Festival and Festival Disney. The first takes place over one weekend, towards the end of February I believe, and is open to high school and middle school jazz bands, choirs, and combos. Festival Disney happens over nine weekends, from March to May, skipping Easter weekend. It's open to all performing groups, not just bands...I think.

There is a bit of sales involved, when times are slow, but most will be coordinating and troubleshooting, leading around groups, and presenting awards at the end. They'll perform at Saratoga Springs , Hollywood Studios, or a couple other places. Awards will usually be given out at Indiana Jones amphitheater, but if there are that many groups, it will take place at Lights! Motor! Action! arena, which can hold something like 5,000 people. I guess they can get that big. I'm SO excited. It will last from Jan. 14th to June 2nd and will pay a lot more, $11.15/hour, aka, there's a chance of overtime. Nice. Since my college program ends Jan. 2nd, I think I'm gonna make an appearance at home!

I think it's good that I'm going to be able to move on in just a couple months. I can already feel myself falling into some sort of a rut with safari. However, it could be because I know I will be moving on soon to another project, because don't get me wrong, I LOVE where I ended up and always thank my lucky stars when I go into parks and watch other CPs slave away at incredibly thankless jobs. I just can see myself getting a little bored somewhere down the line.

I've also started looking for apartments...again. But I pretty much know who I'm going to live with: another safari guy with the same internship and his current roommate. Should be pretty sweet and real cheap too, surprisingly. They found a 3-bedroom for $280 + utilities. I am pretty sure it's in the heart of the ghetto, but they assure me it's not. I need to start the car hunt again full force. It's gonna be rough to part with that much money, but it's gotta be done.

After my parents left, it was time to focus on Halloween. A few days before my parents came, a bunch of us went to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. It's a huge celebration that takes place like 18 different nights between the end of September and Halloween. There's a completely different parade, trick-or-treating throughout the entire park, characters decked out in costume, and EPIC fireworks. It was so much. A bunch of us went as Peter Pan characters, with me going as Michael Darling, brother of Wendy. Yes, that is a woman's nighty. It was a challenge to find one not overwhelmingly gay. Who would have foreseen that as a problem?

I also went to another Halloween party, and for this one, I was Marty McFly. Most people got it, so that was good. I was considering Duffman from The Simpsons, but that would have been a) more involved and b) not sure how many people would have gotten it. But still, being Marty in the Florida warmth = poor choice. I guess I'm used to it being cold on Halloween. Silly me.

The other part of my life that is hectic is making sure I have some good contacts going on before the end of my program. It is ALL about networking 'round these parts. Luckily, it's very easy to do. We have fantastic management at Safaris who are so willing to help anyone that is wanting and deserving. I've spoken with at least two managers, and the most recent meeting was with Kevin. He told me that he sees a great cast member who comes to work everyday, does a good job, and then goes home. He told me I need to start going that extra mile and that he needs more Eric in his face. I told him I'm honestly afraid of stepping on toes around here and he told me not to be. If I get like that, he'll tell me to calm down, since he's already relayed that message to some cast members and they haven't taken the hint. Unfortunately, we all know who he's talking about.

I also had a meet and greet with Tami, someone who works with Magic Music Days. However, that program is getting a name change. To appeal to a more broad spectrum than just bands, like dancers, it will now be called Disney Performing Arts. The name change also brings more credibility to the program. Unfortunately, it's challenging to get into that position, but after my discussion with her, it sounds like the role of Production Assistant would be great for me. I would assist Production Managers with the day-to-day activities of a live show, like Indiana Jones or Lights! Motor! Action! Stunt Show. She gave me all the info on how to get into that.

In my marketing class, we met with an individual who does handles all the special events that Disney does, like Not-So-Scary, Very Merry Christmas, Food and Wine, etc. Her job sounds AWESOME. It's even harder to get into that select group, but most of them have come from Guest Relations. Guest Relations puts you through a lot of situations where anything can occur. They want someone who can really think on their toes. So maybe that's the role for me...

Oh! And I got to ride Rock'n Roller Coaster with the lights on. That was, if anything, more intense than with the lights off. The housing structure is surprisingly small. We got a backstage tour on everything there as well as at Tower of Terror. We didn't get to ride TOT with the lights on, but I think that's better for me since it's my favorite ride and the magic remains preserved.

That basically brings you up to speed. I just had an interview for the Youth Events Professional Internship which would have me directly working with the Disney Jazz Festival and Festival Disney, also a music festival. I think I would be perfect for this internship, plus it pays waaaay better than safaris. Like twice better ($13/hour). Miss everyone!

Good news: I'm still alive

Remember how I said no time? So true. This is really the first opportunity I've had to write since...well, in awhile.

My parents came last week and that was fun...you know, after I found my ID and went back for my main entrance pass. I think I was subconsciously testing their love, just to let them know that I can still do that stuff that would drive them crazy. We went to Epcot the first day to test the waters at the Food and Wine festival which was good because it was very busy. All the local yuppies coming to Disney on the weekend to spend their 'hard' earned money. That night we ate at the Animal Kingdom lodge at Jiko and let me tell, I'm pretty sure that's the best meal I've ever had in my life. SO GOOD.


Next day we all went to Animal Kingdom and rode a couple rides before I clocked in to work. I was only working so they could ride my safari. That was a lot of fun and didn't make me nervous. I've become very comfortable in that job and could really perform well regardless of my passengers. I met them at the Boardwalk later for food and then we went back to Port Orleans - French Quarter to see one of the more interesting performances at a jazz club that I've ever seen. Let's just say that 'Axel F.' was played. On an EWI. Awesome.


Next day we took on Epcot with full force. Did most of Future World in the morning and realized how flippin' lame Journey Into Imagination has now become. Effing Eric Idle! Anyway, we tried A LOT of food during the course of the rest of the day. It was very awesome. Everything was very delicious with the only disliked dish being the Potato and Lentil Crepe. Not that it was bad, it's just that none of us are crazy about Indian food. I'm just glad I finally like food and have gotten away from the bland roots that was my palette.

More to come soon!

No Time!

I really have so little time to do anything. I work at least 40 hours a week, and even worked 52 last week. However, that was some sick overtime and resulted in a $300 paycheck, even after they take out $92 for my rent. Big score there. I picked up a shift to get to that much overtime, but I don't think that's gonna be happening again anytime soon. I always have 2 days off, but now I have 2 classes on one of those days off, back-to-back, from 1-5:30, and I REALLY don't want to work on my other full day off. It's mostly for my sanity and I want to continue enjoying my job. I have a fellow CP working 17 days in a row. What a fool.

My classes seem like they're going to be a lot of fun, though. They're not really classes, more like seminars/lectures. The first is Exploring Marketing at Disney. It's 8 weeks long and each week focuses on different aspects of Disney marketing while bringing in higher ups from within the company to speak. The other class is a bit more personal, for me at least: Exploring Disney Heritage. For 8 weeks, we will basically review everything that one could possible want to know about the history of the company, beginning with Walt and Roy to where the company stands in the present. One of the weeks we get to do a scavenger hunt at Hollywood Studios! I'm really pumped about that. I have the same facilitator for both classes and has been with the company for 17 years, working all types of jobs and is the recipient of the Partners in Excellence award, a very prestigious award, the highest award a Disney cast member can receive. Just another contact in my ever-growing list.

Speaking of contacts, I have another meet and greet setup with a representative from Magic Music Days, more specifically, Performing Arts and Education Programs. However, the meeting is taking place in Celebration, about a 15 minutes drive. I have absolutely no idea how I'm gonna get there, but I have a few ideas. I really don't want to cancel. On another note, I've been searching cars here and there, starting as just a small fantasy, but it's becoming more of a need everyday.

A quick thought I had the other day: I feel like people listen to music in 2 different ways, at least initially. An individual listens first either for the words or the music. Both have the ability to evoke a flurry of emotions. I've always found myself to be a music person, or how the music makes me feel on a purely 'noise' level. I've been trying to add to that by really listening to those words, looking them up and deciphering meanings if needed (the internet is awesome). Some of the time, it completely transforms the song for me. Just a thought. Miss everyone. My parents will be here in 6 days! And I saw giraffes running! Amazing.

Boy I Need a Car

I'll tell you what...yes, I need a car. I thought I wasn't going to really have a problem getting around while I'm down here, but boy, not having a car reeeeally blows. As you know, we have a bus system, but then you end up spending most of your day commuting. For instance, I went to the Polynesian with a friend the other day because they show movies outside at the different resorts. I saw Bolt at Fort Wilderness and it was really fun. It's like a 20 ft. screen and they have a small fire going to toast marshmallows...fo free! Well, the supplies aren't, but at least the fire be there. Anyway, the times for the movie on the website were different then when we got to the resort. We thought it started at 9 but it was actually 8. This turned out to not really be a problem, mostly because they were showing 'Beverly Hills Chihuahua'. No thanks. Neither of us were very upset about missing it.

Up to this point, I've been getting around without a car. I go grocery shopping less frequently and I don't mind. I also haven't had to take the bus to work more than a handful of times. The worst part is that you're just so restricted to what the person with the car wants to do. But if I'm going to stay here, I gots to get me a car, no question. Weird thing is, a couple weeks ago, I went apartment hunting. Seriously, what the eff. I've found a couple prospects for roommates, so I'm not worried about that. And the cost of living down here isn't terrible, despite the affluence that is Orlando. Of the couple places we looked, it was between $400-450 for everything. I'll pick up shifts from time to time and HATE it. However, I gotta be a semi-responsible adult and start saving.

In reality, the only thing I really want to spend money on is good food. The older I get, the more I appreciate good food. And down here, there are a ton of good places to eat. We get a 20% discount on table service anywhere on the property.

I'm just gonna post this since it's been sitting here for 2 days now. Things are CRAZY busy.