Skeptically Drunk Mr. Elyse!

I am rather sad I will miss The Amazing Meeting this year - last year was so much fun! I made some really incredible friends and got to meet some really awesome famous skeptics. Then when I found out the Skepchicks we're Drinking Skeptically in Chicago this past Saturday, I started to get all EMO - but then... Skepchicks to the rescue! Sunday morning I woke up to a message from my favorite skeptical hubby, Mr. Elyse! I feel so warm and fuzzy inside that I got my own personal drunk dial from Chicago and now my (metaphorical) spirits have been lifted! How can I repay you, Mr. Elyse? Well, perhaps I will download the voicemail, gank a Facebook photo, splice it into a video and post your drunken message for all the interwebs to hear!

I heart New York

A few weeks ago I took a trip to New York City and it was by far my favorite trip there. It was my fifth time visiting but it was the first time that I felt like NYC was a place I could actually inhabit. This was made possible by the fact that I was shown the city by someone who grew up there. My boyfriend Sal grew up in Brooklyn and he told me stories about living there as a child, taking the subway to school in the mornings. I laughed, imagining my mother ever being ok with me taking the subway anywhere - as an adult - much less as a young teenager on my way to school. What a different lifestyle. We got tickets to Broadway shows and ate at this delicious sushi place - we even stayed one night in this fantastically swanky hotel we got for a discount. We traveled out to Brooklyn and Queens to meet his friends and family. It was so fantastic to not feel like a tourist. If you have the chance, I highly recommend visiting New York with a native. It's a whole different experience. Here are some pictures below, mostly of Time Square - we had so much fun that we forgot to take pictures.

Student

I have been reticent to update my blog for a number of reasons. Primarily being that I don't want to seem like I'm bragging. Since my blog is about me and my life and how I see myself, I worry sometimes that do a bit too much navel-gazing, too much talking and not enough living. Well, these past few months I've been off living - and working - to improve the quality of my life. And it's paying off.

A few months ago I decided to apply to graduate school. For a long time I was wandering around in my head trying to imagine a future life for myself, and if that life included higher education. I considered a number of programs, but it wasn't until after I returned from the AWP Conference that I decided to research grad schools again. Number one on my list was Chatham and the more I researched, the more I longed to apply. I began to envision a life for myself that included doing the work I do with Weave, the work I do with my writing, the work I do with my friends at workshop, the work I do with readings - but having that as my life work. Having that life, an artists life, is something I had dreamed about, but for the first time ever I felt that it was not only possible, but that it was essential to my happiness and fulfillment as a human being.

I have sold myself short in the past. I did not grow up with a keen sense of what I wanted to do with my life. I thought teaching and working with young children was my path, but I soon realized that while I enjoy children, I do not enjoy the politics of teaching. After finishing my undergradate degree, I needed time to wonder and wander, to consider what life might be like if I just had a job and found my fulfillment elsewhere. This worked for a while and I grew so much - I took time to grow up more, to get to know myself, my desires - to fall in love, to live on my own, to be a grown-up, to eat ice cream for dinner, to make new friends, to fall out of love, to travel, to laugh, to stub my toes, to get depressed, to crawl out of depression, to camp, to learn to knit, to write, to read, to sleep and wake up and do it all over again.

But eventually I realized I wanted more.

I am the kind of person who always needs more. I saw so many opportunities for me at Chatham - opportunities to be the person I am when I'm not working all the time. To have my work and my life intersect in the best possible way. I threw myself into my application while working two jobs and working on the release of issue 02 of Weave. When I got my acceptance letter in the mail though, I knew it was all worth it. My hard work paid off. My reward is more hard work. But at least it's work I know I love.

So this fall I humble myself again to become a student. I will be working toward my MFA in Creative Writing. There is something significant about how I started my undergrad exactly 10 years ago this fall. Next month I'll be 28. It's amazing to me how much better I know myself now than I did at 18. It's been a lot of work, but again - it's a labor of love.

Event Planner Extraordinaire

I realized that I have four events in the next two weeks and for some reason it doesn't phase me. I come from a long line of event planners. My mom and her mom are both excellent entertainers. I love having guests over and hosting parties and event nights either at my place or elsewhere. For me, it's not work - I'm good at it and I like being in charge. Because if I'm in charge, I know it will get done. For example, the Weave Magazine Issue 01 release party was a huge event. Margaret and I worked really hard to make sure that night went off without a hitch. I remember preparing the night before and I had everything organized. I had all the stuff I needed for the event set out in bags and boxes, beer was purchased and in the car, volunteers secured, event space confirmed - everything was ready. So I was calm. It's a great feeling.

This month I have a few public events and one private social event. I'm very excited about all of them, but I'm particularly excited for the private event: Margaret is getting married next month and I'm throwing her a bridal shower. We have discussed the shower and the theme as well. Poetry. Yes, I'm throwing a poetry themed shower. It's going to be a simple, afternoon shower with close friends and family. I like hosting things in my home. It's a nice change of pace because I'm usually planning events in venues, so this gives me an excuse to dust and scrub the kitchen floor.

The public events that I'm hosting are as follows:

Friday, April 17th: Drinking Skeptically!

I love my monthly dose of skepticism. It seems I've got some regulars and each month we get a few new folks. I'm predicting that we'll see more new people turn out over the summer. If you are thinking of coming, you should and then RSVP on Facebook or Meetup. Or both if you like. The fun starts at 7:30pm.

Thursday, April 23rd: POETSBURGH @ Zany Umbrella Circus!

Open Thread and Weave have teamed up again for another installment of POETSBURGH. This month we have a fantastic line up of folks in a rather unusual space; the Zany Umbrella Circus Training Studio. Show starts at 8pm, $5 cover.

Sunday, April 26th: Weave Magazine Issue 02 Release Event!

Can you believe Issue 02 is out already? Well, almost. We are scaling it back a bit from our original event since we have so many awesome readers. We'll have complimentary beer and wine of course and YIV makes some mean tapas and guests are welcome to order their own. Come and purchase a copy of issue 02 and pick up issue 01 while you're at it. Reading begins at 6pm.

Also I have to gush about the new spring-themed Weave website! Thanks Heidi :)

Liar!

Remember my extremely productive post yesterday about how busy people (like me) are so productive and amazing!? Remember how I told you I read in the car while solving world peace, listening to NPR and making a grocery list?!?! Remember how I bragged about my 800 calendars and my expert social planning skills?!??!!!??11! Remember how I said I hate wasting 5 minutes, much less 5 HOURS?!

Yeah, that's what I did tonight.

Got home from job one and had the night off from job two. I ate WAY too much junk food - breakfast for dinner, Doritos and rice pudding. I'm oddly hungry again.... then I got really tired from having ate all that food so I laid down to watch the end of my favorite makeover show What Not to Wear. Then I puttered around on Facebook, emailed some people, talked with my cousin for a bit, talked to my boyfriend for 45 minutes (did I mention him yet? He's awesometastic!), then I tried to nap, but then got up and brushed my teeth, washed my face and put on comfy clothes. This was in the hopes that if I was comfy I'd actually accomplish something productive tonight. Instead, I got back onto Facebook, uploaded some videos, posted some links for Weave, was generally all up in your social network. Now here I am blogging instead of doing what it is I should be, which is editing my essay for grad school. Oh yeah, I'm applying to grad school.

I've been so busy lately. Technically I've accomplished a lot. Ok, I'm so full of it. I played on Facebook. I caught up with some people. I've laid around.

You know what though? It feels really really good. I must have needed a night off.

Productive Laura:

Busy.

That word is an understatement. I've never been so busy - or so happy about being busy - in my life. I used to wonder how people with two jobs ever got anything done. Turns out, there are lots of usable hours in the day if you can cut the fat or make the most of small opportunities. Here are some ways I've found to make the most of my time:

• Rush Hour Poetry Reading! This is not super duper safe, but I sit in traffic outside the Liberty Tunnels for a good 10-15 minutes every morning. So I read poetry. It's short, I can put it down easily when traffic inches forward and then easily get back to reading. I always have something to read with me as well just in case.
• Group Friend Outings. I have a few crowds I run with. I see them in bunches usually. I see my poetry ladies at our workshops. I see my south hills friends at dinner all at once. I see my skeptics at Drinking Skeptically. Sometimes its fun to mix it up and invite my poet friends to the skeptic meetings and see what happens. Usually debauchery.
• Lots O' Calendars. I use a calendar on my computer at home, one at my day job with my schedule for my night job, Facebook event calendar and a large desk top calendar in my dining room. The desk top calendar gets color-coded for different event types like work and friends or poetry and skeptic events. I've gotten my weeks mixed up a few times and been late for my second job, so this calendar has been very helpful.
• Phone Internet Access. I can check email and Facebook from my phone now. Upgraded my plan slightly for data. Much simpler than using my iPod which I can only get online with if there is wireless, which means I'd probably just use my computer anyway.
• Regular Sleep. I'm still getting good at this one. I'm not totally perfect at it, but my days go so much better and I'm so much more productive if I get an average of 7 hours a night. I try not to sleep too much more on weekends either because that makes me groggy and less productive. I also learned how to power-nap in my car or on my lunch break at work for 5-10 minutes.

I think busy people have to learn to manage their time - you have to be organized and a planner. I have lunches prepared and packed for the week, I have cell phone chargers everywhere, I try to have cash on me always so I can pick up a soda or coffee for a boost. Little things like that can make life so much simpler and you can avoid wasting time. A side-effect of this kind of lifestyle can be burnout and impatience. I hate when I waste an hour or even 5 minutes - when 5 minutes could mean a nap. But I'm trying to make time for doing nothing as well - like just watching some TV or reading a magazine. Scheduling free time is just as important.

Anyone else have any tips? It's easy for me to be super productive when it's just me taking care of myself.I'm sure my experiences with busyness are different from others who have families and children.

Art & Science Intersection - The 15 Minutes Gallery

I'm continually impressed with the awesome things I still discover about my city. I received a notice from the Pittsburgh Council on the Arts about the 15 Minutes Gallery, a gallery in downtown Pittsburgh that strives to showcase the intersection of art and technology.

The Pittsburgh Technology Council's 15 Minutes Gallery is Southwestern Pennsylvania's foremost conduit for artists and businesses to come together and proactively promote culture and commerce. Focused on exploring the intersection of art and technology, the works of art in the Gallery span the gamut of artistic mediums and expression all while magnifying Pittsburgh’s unique cultural lexicon. Invest in our region's future, and rich cultural heritage: Invest in Art.

They are currently sponsoring an initiative The BurghBot Project! along with The Pittsburgh Technology Council and CREATE Lab. They are currently seeking artists and roboticists to participate in the 2009 Annual Art and Technology Exhibition. They are still open for submissions until April 1, 2009. Check it out! You can also hook up with 15 Minutes Gallery on Facebook and Myspace.