Well, we've just returned from our trip with the Quinns to Canada, where we boxed Parry Sound. This was a really nice little area that I'd never gotten to see much of. The Highlander's grandpa ran a campsite up in Pointe au Baril and before he passed, he sold most of it (which became Sturgeon Bay Provincial Park) but kept one cottage for the family. We go there every once in a while and relax, but I'd never gotten to box while we were there. We picked up the Avro Arrow and the de Haviland Beaver, but couldn't find the other box that was supposed to be there. We also didn't notice that Trailfeather's series was word of mouth, so while the rest of you are enjoying yourselves in my on stomping grounds at LB Con, the Highlander and I will spend our 10th wedding anniversary back up at Pointe au Baril. I'm FINALLY going to leave a box behind, hopefully commemorating this event!
But, for now, I'm back on the road again in less than 48 hours. I'm gonna be playing for Buffalo in the ComedySportz World Championship games this Friday (wheee!). We play against Portland on Friday, and with any luck, we'll make it to the finals on Saturday. Can't wait to see how we do! While I'm there, sans Highlander again, I think I'll be boxing a bit with Wisconsin Hiker. I'm hoping to pick up and leave a box or two while I'm in town, so we'll see how it goes.
Anyway, I'm not sure if my computer will withstand the pressure of life in Milwaukee for a week, but if anyone reading this wants to see how ComedySportz Buffalo and I are doing, just follow CSzBuffalo on Twitter. If you're in Milwaukee, I'd LOVE to have you come to the games! It's like watching "Whose Line Is It?" live. We can do an exchange and you can get my CSz With Me Traveler.
Alternately, you can watch AQ for Wassa's updates on my status, since he's had my cell phone # since ComedySportz went to Portland last summer. I'm the voice of Twitter for CSz Buffalo, but I only speak for the team. However, Wassa is MY voice, yet he only speaks for the criminally insane. Follow both and you'll get SOME idea of...well, nothing, but you'll know I was in Milwaukee! ;-)
The (excited to leave, but missing the Highlander already) Sprite & the (missing the Sprite already, but looking forward to having the house to himself) Highlander
Monday, July 06, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
CSz With Me Stamp & the Improvathon
Okay, most of you know that I do improv comedy with Buffalo ComedySportz. Last year, a bunch of you donated money to help me go to the ComedySportz World Championships in Portland. This year, it's in Milwaukee. We're doing the same was we did last year...having a 30 hour improvathon where I get to choose the times I'm on based on how much money I earn (check the website for details http://www.buffalocomedysportz.com/ ) Lots of you helped me out last year, which made it possible for me to head to Portland and meet a TON of cool boxers.
Why am I saying all this? Because if ComedySportz makes enough money for me to go to Milwaukee...then the Highlander and I have a VERY decent chance at affording a trip to LBCon! I actually have an uncle that lives in St. Charles, so we could stay with them, which just means saving up for gas (and patches and Lock & Lock boxes and dinner and EEEEE...deep breaths) Yes, this is BLATANT begging, but this would be an AWESOME anniversary gift for the Highlander and myself. He needs the time away without having to worry about neck pain or getting a teaching job and I...just need the time away!
So, if you want to help, just contact the Highlander and I. We're selling wristbands for $10 that get you into the the improvathon at ANY time you want (and get you tickets to put in the raffle baskets therein). Again, the more money raised, the better my time slots are (no playing at 2 am). You also can get into our Thursday night shows for free until Labor Day with the same band.
If you DON'T live in the area, then you can always give it away, or wear it as a stylish accessory (and those of you who also geocache...here's another thing to toss in the box!) Here's the event listing http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gEventId=1264 Hope to see some of you there!
The S & H
Why am I saying all this? Because if ComedySportz makes enough money for me to go to Milwaukee...then the Highlander and I have a VERY decent chance at affording a trip to LBCon! I actually have an uncle that lives in St. Charles, so we could stay with them, which just means saving up for gas (and patches and Lock & Lock boxes and dinner and EEEEE...deep breaths) Yes, this is BLATANT begging, but this would be an AWESOME anniversary gift for the Highlander and myself. He needs the time away without having to worry about neck pain or getting a teaching job and I...just need the time away!
So, if you want to help, just contact the Highlander and I. We're selling wristbands for $10 that get you into the the improvathon at ANY time you want (and get you tickets to put in the raffle baskets therein). Again, the more money raised, the better my time slots are (no playing at 2 am). You also can get into our Thursday night shows for free until Labor Day with the same band.
If you DON'T live in the area, then you can always give it away, or wear it as a stylish accessory (and those of you who also geocache...here's another thing to toss in the box!) Here's the event listing http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gEventId=1264 Hope to see some of you there!
The S & H
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Coming out of the closet!
Okay...I can now publically admit it.
I voted for Barack Obama!
Man, what a relief to finally get to SAY that! For those of you wondering why I kept it a secret, there's a ton of reasons. First of all, I'm a teacher, so I never tell the kids who I plan to vote for. They're always trying to gauge their own thoughts with my own and I want them to decide for themselves.
The biggest, though, was the subject of one of my earlier blogs and where the title for this one came from. I didn't want people throwing away my political opinion just because I was black. With some of the folks I know, just saying that I was voting for him would have made them decide to not listen to anything I had to say about ANYthing. They would have been disgusted, thinking I only voted for him because of his race and that "we all stick together".
This is patently NOT true. There are about as many divides in the black community as there are in the white community, so looking like someone does not automatically mean I'll be casting a vote for them. I was ready to vote for either of them back in the primaries, but in the end, I really just paid attention to what the candidates had to say and felt like Obama was the most likely candidate for CHANGE.
Watching the returns was amazing. I was completely overjoyed until I listened to McCain's concession speech.
And then, right in the middle, I started to cry.
All this time and I had truly forgotten that he was the FIRST (frankly, I forgot he was black at ALL!). He did such an amazing job of making this NOT about race that people of ALL races truly forgot. Personally, I really only cared about CHANGE, not making history or anything else. Even before I walked into the polling booth, the Highlander nudged my elbow and whispered "Go make history." And it still didn't hit me.
But once I remembered, really understood, I wished that my (and Obama's) grandmother had lived to see the day. My own parents (who never voted in their lives until 2000) even said they really had never expected to see this in their lifetime. Dad said he'd just never thought that far ahead. I liken it to the way one doesn't think of marrying flowers. It's not that they can't be pretty and sweet, but the idea of marriage to a plant just seems so farfetched as to never occur to you.
My favorite saying from all this was on a t-shirt:
Rosa sat so Martin could walk
Martin walked so Barack could run
Barack is running so our children can FLY.
Speaking of children, despite my attempts to NOT discuss my personal political views and stick to the basic facts of the American election process, this whole thing held my class in its thrall. I was so proud! Last week was Kids Voting, but I had NO info on the candidates. I was very disappointed because NO one should vote without finding out the FACTS about the people involved. So, without my telling them to, many of them went and did research on their own. When I mentioned that the US president is a world leader, one of my boys asked "How can we be so popular if our economy is so bad?" They kept asking great questions, so instead of sticking to the basics, we went deep into everything that's been hitting the US (war, economy, etc.). We even talked about what a patriot really is (ANYone who defends their country against outside influences). On Tuesday, we kept an electoral college map that refreshed every 10 minutes up on the tv with kid votes from all over the US. They were excited when they checked the real map and saw how well the kids mirrored their parents in voting (which led to the discussion of why kids AREN'T allowed to vote).
Anyway, it was one amazing race...now I'm just praying for the man's safety and hoping people aren't looking at me now and thinking I'm gloating. I'm not, I promise. I'm just glad to see that something NEW is happening. The world can FINALLY look at us and think we're good people again, not selfish brats that like to bully our way into whatever financially benefits us.
So, I'm all full of national pride again...and not in that "holier-than-thou-'cause-I'm-a-bigger-patriot-than-you" kind of way, either. Just the "glad-we're-back-to-normal-with-a-HUGE-sigh-of-relief" kinda way!
The "quiet and proud" Sprite & the "I'll be vocal FOR you this time, babe!" Highlander
I voted for Barack Obama!
Man, what a relief to finally get to SAY that! For those of you wondering why I kept it a secret, there's a ton of reasons. First of all, I'm a teacher, so I never tell the kids who I plan to vote for. They're always trying to gauge their own thoughts with my own and I want them to decide for themselves.
The biggest, though, was the subject of one of my earlier blogs and where the title for this one came from. I didn't want people throwing away my political opinion just because I was black. With some of the folks I know, just saying that I was voting for him would have made them decide to not listen to anything I had to say about ANYthing. They would have been disgusted, thinking I only voted for him because of his race and that "we all stick together".
This is patently NOT true. There are about as many divides in the black community as there are in the white community, so looking like someone does not automatically mean I'll be casting a vote for them. I was ready to vote for either of them back in the primaries, but in the end, I really just paid attention to what the candidates had to say and felt like Obama was the most likely candidate for CHANGE.
Watching the returns was amazing. I was completely overjoyed until I listened to McCain's concession speech.
And then, right in the middle, I started to cry.
All this time and I had truly forgotten that he was the FIRST (frankly, I forgot he was black at ALL!). He did such an amazing job of making this NOT about race that people of ALL races truly forgot. Personally, I really only cared about CHANGE, not making history or anything else. Even before I walked into the polling booth, the Highlander nudged my elbow and whispered "Go make history." And it still didn't hit me.
But once I remembered, really understood, I wished that my (and Obama's) grandmother had lived to see the day. My own parents (who never voted in their lives until 2000) even said they really had never expected to see this in their lifetime. Dad said he'd just never thought that far ahead. I liken it to the way one doesn't think of marrying flowers. It's not that they can't be pretty and sweet, but the idea of marriage to a plant just seems so farfetched as to never occur to you.
My favorite saying from all this was on a t-shirt:
Rosa sat so Martin could walk
Martin walked so Barack could run
Barack is running so our children can FLY.
Speaking of children, despite my attempts to NOT discuss my personal political views and stick to the basic facts of the American election process, this whole thing held my class in its thrall. I was so proud! Last week was Kids Voting, but I had NO info on the candidates. I was very disappointed because NO one should vote without finding out the FACTS about the people involved. So, without my telling them to, many of them went and did research on their own. When I mentioned that the US president is a world leader, one of my boys asked "How can we be so popular if our economy is so bad?" They kept asking great questions, so instead of sticking to the basics, we went deep into everything that's been hitting the US (war, economy, etc.). We even talked about what a patriot really is (ANYone who defends their country against outside influences). On Tuesday, we kept an electoral college map that refreshed every 10 minutes up on the tv with kid votes from all over the US. They were excited when they checked the real map and saw how well the kids mirrored their parents in voting (which led to the discussion of why kids AREN'T allowed to vote).
Anyway, it was one amazing race...now I'm just praying for the man's safety and hoping people aren't looking at me now and thinking I'm gloating. I'm not, I promise. I'm just glad to see that something NEW is happening. The world can FINALLY look at us and think we're good people again, not selfish brats that like to bully our way into whatever financially benefits us.
So, I'm all full of national pride again...and not in that "holier-than-thou-'cause-I'm-a-bigger-patriot-than-you" kind of way, either. Just the "glad-we're-back-to-normal-with-a-HUGE-sigh-of-relief" kinda way!
The "quiet and proud" Sprite & the "I'll be vocal FOR you this time, babe!" Highlander
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Final Info on Hallowed Grounds
Okay, it's all done! The clues are here http://thesprite.orgfree.com/letterboxing/hgtour2.htm
Also, the first map had trouble, but some folks have been able to get it here: http://thesprite.orgfree.com/letterboxing/hgtour2map.htm
You can log your finds here: http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gBoxId=94529 and here: http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gBoxId=94530
Hope to see everyone this weekend!
The S & H
Also, the first map had trouble, but some folks have been able to get it here: http://thesprite.orgfree.com/letterboxing/hgtour2map.htm
You can log your finds here: http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gBoxId=94529 and here: http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gBoxId=94530
Hope to see everyone this weekend!
The S & H
Monday, October 13, 2008
Hallowed Grounds Tour update & Map
Just letting everyone know that the clues are taking a little long to type up than we'd hoped, so they won't officially be posted until Wednesday (the map is already posted here: http://thesprite.orgfree.com/letterboxing/hgtour2map.htm). However, we can give you THIS much info for now:
· With the exception of the event stamp (which will ONLY be around on the 18th and 19th aka this weekend), all these boxes are permanent placements, so don’t worry if you can’t get them all in one weekend…you’ve got the rest of your life (or until the muggles find them, whichever comes first!)
· On that note, be sure to look around carefully, since even out in the sticks where many of these stamps are, there are farmhouses that can see RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE! We recommend carrying a camera or camera phone of some sort (or paper so you look like you’re doing tombstone rubbings). Tell any muggles that you’re following a “Cemeteries of Genesee County” tour instead of boxing.
· The boxes are simply the stamps on about an inch square piece of pink carving material and hidden inside medicine bottles, so don’t look for anything big (or a logbook until you reach our place).
· There are two different stamp sets this time. The Green Route takes you northeast of the I-90 from the Thruway Exit 48a (Pembroke/Corfu Route 77/63) to Thruway Exit 47 (Leroy/Route 19). When you finish, you’ll have 12 pieces that create one tombstone with the center missing (the center is the event stamp). The Orange Route takes you southwest of the I-90 from the Leroy exit back to Pembroke and makes an obelisk with its 11 stamps (print the map out so you can see what these should look like).
· Both routes at once total up to about 90 miles, plus you can add another 10 to get to our house when you’re ready. Needless to say, we do NOT recommend doing these all at once!
· Finally, don’t forget to come by our place for snacks and the event stamp when you’re finished (you can do this on Saturday OR Sunday)! You can send us AQ-mail and we'll give you the directions. Keep in mind that folks will be coming at different times, so don't feel like you need to bring something to eat (unless you'll be one of the first folks coming on Saturday and just want to leave it there). If you want to DEFINITELY meet with people, just come at 5pm on Saturday and you'll be sure to find some folks to hang with!
More on the clues soon, we promise!
· With the exception of the event stamp (which will ONLY be around on the 18th and 19th aka this weekend), all these boxes are permanent placements, so don’t worry if you can’t get them all in one weekend…you’ve got the rest of your life (or until the muggles find them, whichever comes first!)
· On that note, be sure to look around carefully, since even out in the sticks where many of these stamps are, there are farmhouses that can see RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE! We recommend carrying a camera or camera phone of some sort (or paper so you look like you’re doing tombstone rubbings). Tell any muggles that you’re following a “Cemeteries of Genesee County” tour instead of boxing.
· The boxes are simply the stamps on about an inch square piece of pink carving material and hidden inside medicine bottles, so don’t look for anything big (or a logbook until you reach our place).
· There are two different stamp sets this time. The Green Route takes you northeast of the I-90 from the Thruway Exit 48a (Pembroke/Corfu Route 77/63) to Thruway Exit 47 (Leroy/Route 19). When you finish, you’ll have 12 pieces that create one tombstone with the center missing (the center is the event stamp). The Orange Route takes you southwest of the I-90 from the Leroy exit back to Pembroke and makes an obelisk with its 11 stamps (print the map out so you can see what these should look like).
· Both routes at once total up to about 90 miles, plus you can add another 10 to get to our house when you’re ready. Needless to say, we do NOT recommend doing these all at once!
· Finally, don’t forget to come by our place for snacks and the event stamp when you’re finished (you can do this on Saturday OR Sunday)! You can send us AQ-mail and we'll give you the directions. Keep in mind that folks will be coming at different times, so don't feel like you need to bring something to eat (unless you'll be one of the first folks coming on Saturday and just want to leave it there). If you want to DEFINITELY meet with people, just come at 5pm on Saturday and you'll be sure to find some folks to hang with!
More on the clues soon, we promise!
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Hallowed Grounds Tour coming soon!
Just a reminder that our October event, the Hallowed Grounds Tour, is happening soon! This is a driving tour of several old cemeteries in Genesee County that you'll be able to do, then return to join us for some cider and doughnuts once you're done. We won't really start meeting and greeting until around 5pm, but if you can't come, you can just swing by for that final stamp between 10 and 7 that day. It's a GREAT event for new boxers and kids, since all the stamps are literally drive-bys!
Here's the link to the sign up page...hope to see you there! http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gEventId=785
The S & H
Here's the link to the sign up page...hope to see you there! http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gEventId=785
The S & H
Sunday, September 21, 2008
And the band Boxed ON...!
OUR first time boxing in Canada...EVER. We've made commitments every year to do it and had to back out every time due to financial issues. In fact, we'dve backed out again if not for the fact that the hotel folks were going to charge us anyway! :-P
But, despite the fact that we will be dumpster diving and living in a cardboard box for the rest of our lives, we had a ball at Box ON this year! The park was beautiful, plus Fiddleheads, Landmark Leapsters, Jiggs, Lone R and all the other Ontarions (?) were super cool and good to us, even when we held up dinner for an hour and a half to find one more box in the park. I think we ended up with about 30 stamps total, which is more stamps in a day than we've done in YEARS. Plus, the hotel really WAS nice, with full breakfast included, a microwave and fridge in the room, pool, etc. Our only down side was getting a speeding ticket on our way back to the park today to get that box we missed. Still, it wasn't enough to ruin a wonderful weekend!
So, that said, who's up for going/backing out/going anyway to Ontario NEXT year??? ;-)
The (home and relaxing) Sprite & Highlander
But, despite the fact that we will be dumpster diving and living in a cardboard box for the rest of our lives, we had a ball at Box ON this year! The park was beautiful, plus Fiddleheads, Landmark Leapsters, Jiggs, Lone R and all the other Ontarions (?) were super cool and good to us, even when we held up dinner for an hour and a half to find one more box in the park. I think we ended up with about 30 stamps total, which is more stamps in a day than we've done in YEARS. Plus, the hotel really WAS nice, with full breakfast included, a microwave and fridge in the room, pool, etc. Our only down side was getting a speeding ticket on our way back to the park today to get that box we missed. Still, it wasn't enough to ruin a wonderful weekend!
So, that said, who's up for going/backing out/going anyway to Ontario NEXT year??? ;-)
The (home and relaxing) Sprite & Highlander
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