Tuesday August 4 2009 | File under: chautauqua |
Toggle Comments (4) | comment? |
![]() One of the things that intrigues me most about this ever-morphing animal that is called Chautauqua is the way responsibilities are handled. There is no end-all buckstopper to whom you can take your questions or even figure out who you should take your question to. In general, if you start asking the questions, you become the one that has to answer them. Take "When are we going to leave?" for example. A simple question, right? Well, try asking it around a Chautauqua camp the day before a travel day. You quickly become the one to coordinate between all the people that know what else has to happen and when, such that you become the authority. This whole concept of responsibility for the taking is one that has its ups and downs. Ups: everyone is responsible for the experience, rather than being able to point to just one organizer; each year is very different (so I'm told); everyone has a say in how things go down; you can be as involved as you want; the fact that it works is just plain amazing. Downs: it is easy for people to decide not to pull their own weight since there is no one to call them on it; each year is different*, the people who care often get overworked and burnt out; personality conflicts can have a bigger impact. Sufficive to say, it is a trip, both on the performance/travel/circus side as well as the group dynamics side. |
Thursday July 30 2009 | File under: chautauqua |
Toggle Comments (1) | comment? |
![]() The reward, however, is worth it. Between the logistics of camping, food, and transportation, etc. and hanging out with awesome people, I sometimes forget that the focus of Chautauqua is on putting on a quality vaudeville show for the communities we visit. After the show, and usually until we leave the community, the people let us know how much they appreciated and enjoyed it. Hearing, "Hey, aren't you those circus guys? You were awesome!" does the whole goosebump thing for me, even though my role in getting the show to go on simply involved mathematics of erecting a trapeze set and putting oatmeal in the performers bellies. Anyway, Show Day is a good day. (Actually, they've all been good days, but show days are particularly fun.) |
Saturday July 25 2009 | File under: chautauqua |
Toggle Comments (6) | comment? |
![]() What makes the experience that much more exiting is the facilities. For the past 3 mornings, we've been camped out on Gabriola Island with an outdoor kitchen consisting of 2 propane fueled burnings, a picnic table for prep, pots and pans in totes, and food strewn about in boxes and coolers everywhere. That didn't stop us from making a kick ass sausage, potato, etc. scramble one morning, and some delicious oatmeal another. At our last stop, Lasqueti, we had a nice indoor kitchen at the community center which facilitated delicious berry pancakes among other deliciousness. Who knows what Salt Spring Island will hold breakfast-wise. The combination of cooking for a large group of people with whoever happens to be around helping out is really an inspiring experience (as long as there isn't too much griping, which there hasn't been at all). And knowing that I have the easiest meal of the day*, I have that much more respect for those putting together the other meals. Then there's the guy who plans and shops for the food we should have on hand, the people who organize the finances of it all, the people who move it and sort it, and the people who help clean up after it all*—feeding a traveling circus of 60 people ain't a small job. But like with everything here on Chautauqua, it can be a fun job. |
Thursday July 23 2009 | File under: chautauqua |
Toggle Comments (5) | comment? |
![]() ![]() Epic tent camp. "Type of Mushroom?" Mayonaisse eating contest. Pancakes for 50. Breakfast buck stop. Juggle and snuggle. Bioluminescence night swimming. Strangley's handstands happen. Magic juggling clubs*. "Hop on in."*. Load and unload. Load and unload. (Load and unload.) "Where's my beachball?" Hurry-up n wait. Fake mustaches everywhere! "Where's the coffee?"* Never grow up. |
Saturday July 18 2009 | File under: chautauqua |
Toggle Comments (4) | comment? |
![]() As for what this experience is going to be like, I don't really know. What is my role going to be? I don't really know much about that either, although on my application I said I'd do pretty much anything (except perform). Besides our itinerary (Canadian Gulf Islands), about all I know about what I am getting myself into is what I've read on the group's website. From the sounds of it, it'll be an adventure. I'll do my best to keep you all, my friends, in on the fun by posting about my adventures. The last time I went to Lasquiti Island, however, the place we stayed had only minimal solar power and not a wifi signal to be found. Point being that updates might not be as frequent as we'd all like. But when I return, at least, there will be pictures and posts and stories to tell. Yeehaw adventure! |
Tuesday July 14 2009 | File under: chautauqua |
comment? |
Sunday July 12 2009 | File under: games |
Toggle Comments (5) | comment? |
![]() Oh, and I'm thinking there is going to be a 3 week Friday Comic hiatus starting next week. I'm running away with the circus to some tiny islands in Canada so I don't think I'll have much internet/computer access and hopefully will have more exciting things to post than nerdy comics if I do. In the meantime, you can always go through the archives of the comics only page. |
Thursday July 9 2009 | File under: comic |
Toggle Comments (3) | comment? |
![]() Recalling antics from college, I decided to put together a watermelon eating contest and get as many people to play along as possible. In the end, I could only convince 3 others to join me, but we had a good time with it. As we all stood by with our first piece at the ready, the proverbial gun sounded. We all dove in and immediately burst into such hard laughter that our times suffered dramatically. Perhaps competitive eating and having a sense of humor don't go hand in hand. With the exception of me (who couldn't stop laughing long enough to get down more than 3 pieces), the competitors were neck and neck until the end. While Tone looked like he had it sealed up, judges ruled too much meat left on the bone so he had to go in for a second pass. Nater, who had been meticulously cleaning the rinds as he went, pulled ahead for the win. The whole thing was so much fun that I'm inclined to do it again next year. In the meantime, I've got some practicing to do (and that's no laughing matter). |
Wednesday July 8 2009 | File under: holidays, food |
Toggle Comments (2) | comment? |
|
Sunday July 5 2009 | File under: misc |
Toggle Comments (12) | comment? |
< Previous Page Next Page > |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 .............25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 |