"13:13 CST should have been a sign."

It is not everyday that I eat dinner on a sailboat, on a man made lake, inside a large atrium, surrounded by fish, after a crazy thunderstorm rained out my original dinner plans that were taking place on some artificial turf.  

But that is how I ended my day today. It was pretty cool, expensive, but cool. Today I had another first, I saw Jim Lovell speak about his experiences on Apollo 13. Do you need to stop and read that again? I have been to conferences and have seen lots of inspiring speakers, but today took the cake. Plus, most people did not want to sit close the front so I sat very close to the stage and did not need those jumbotron screens. In a room full of higher ed professionals, some in student affairs like myself, lots of IT folks, and people from every type of school out there he gave some great advice. Jim reminded all of us that you can never really be prepared for crisis and you should always expect the unexpected. He also told us that when Apollo 13 launched at 13:13 CST  he should have seen that as a sign! 

What an amazing story and he shared lots of humor with the audience. The kind of humor that one has after an amazingly stressful crisis that ended well. Every job has moments and stories like that, working in Student Affairs has those crisis moments for sure, but almost getting lost in space really takes the top prize!

I have ARRIVED!

Well as to be expected, this hotel is nice. It is one of those biodome hotels where you never have to leave the place and parts of it are made to look like the "outdoors."  For example, I am in the Everglade section of the place and outside my room you are walking into the swamp and you can come around 6:30 and see the alligators get fed. Oh boy!

Today was an adventure all in itself. I spent most of today driving, no hikes or cool things like that. But as my friend Gina will tell you, parts of today will "crack your ass." For starters I should supply the disclaimer that I am listening to John Grisham's The Confession as part of my drive. It is about a death row murder case where the wrong man is being put to death in a rape/murder case. Keep this in mind as you read.

I went to get gas in Georgia today, innocent enough right? As I was prepaying for my tank I came to the counter in the convenience store at the same time as a younger man, maybe my age. He waved me to go first and I prepaid, I smiled and thanked him, then I went to pump the gas. Then as I was moving my car away from the pump, he was also pulling out of his spot and waved me to go first there too. I smiled and moved my car to get some Dairy Queen (I know, I know but I am on vacation!). As I went into the restaurant/store again he showed up in line behind me. First thought- this guy is a stalker/rapist. I must give him the coldest attitude possible and intimidate him with my kung fu style so he chooses an easier victim. I placed my order and once I got it I went for a quick walk through the store and around so that he would leave first and I could escape my certain doom and because I am a well seasoned traveler I also spent some time talking to the cashier about Wisconsin and how much I loved Cherry Coke so that she would remember me. All of those years of Law and Order SVU have taught me well. 

I went out to my car and saw his truck, a tan Chevy Silverado and I noted the license plate in my phone as well. As I was writing it down, I felt a little bit guilty. I mean, I am a nice person for the most part and maybe I was freaking out over nothing. I mean I did smile at him and we all know how intoxicating my smile is when paired with these hipster glasses. 

I left the station and a few cars later, so did he. As soon as I got back onto the highway there was a traffic jam. Stopped traffic for miles. I started to dance to Suit and Tie and paid attention to the stop and go flow, trying to forget this dude. I saw his truck ahead and just stayed my distance as much as possible. Well as I was dancing like a crazy person, I looked to my right and he was stopped- holding a small yellow piece of paper with his phone number and name on it up against his driver side window. I smiled again at him (this time with a flush of red in my face) and traffic started to move so I moved with it. It was then that I realized he might actually be a nice person or at least there was a chance he was not a rapist/serial killer. He had a car seat in the back bench of the truck and there were no rust holes or anything (he did have a break light out and I wish I would have gotten his number just so I could warn him about that) and I felt super guilty about automatically assuming the worst. 

So I would like to go on record and say Drew with the Silverado and possible kid- I am sorry. You are probably a normal and nice person and it probably took some smooth operating and courage to give me your digits (or as G said- he was a "bold soldier"). Under regular circumstances I might have taken it and texted you in our shared traffic jam- but I watch too much TV. Or rather, I did when I had TV and those lessons have stuck with me. I apologize for ruining what could have been our destiny meeting at a Dairy Queen. Better luck with some someone who is not assuming every man in America is a closet maniac. 

The Second Day of Amazing

Last night there were technical difficulties in my hotel room. But I was too tired to fix them and went to sleep instead. Please disregard that this is actually Day Three.

Yesterday was great! I love my little car. The Hondog and I are mated for life and she has been good to me. Despite her slimming down on Day Uno with that piece of metal, she is getting me around and looking good while doing it.

I am not an animal person- actually I would not voluntarily live with an animal unless absolutely necessary. For the life of me, I cannot think of a reason why that would be absolutely necessary right now. I suppose if I lost my sight and needed a seeing eye dog, that would be alright with me. Anyway- I met a wiener dog/chihuahua mix at the Dairy Queen today. It was the sweetest and smallest little pup I have ever seen! Sort of like Guinness when he was a baby dog before he learned how to "yip" like that, only it looked just like a traditional wiener dog. His owner was quite nice too. 

I got a new phone. I learned that I do not know how to check the voicemail nor have I had the time yet to figure out how to get some of the pictures from it to this blog. I wanted to post a picture of the Tree Canopy Bridge I was on when I stopped for a bit of a hike yesterday. The Hondog is comfortable, my butt fits perfectly, but after being in a car for that long I needed a break. This park was quite the gem. It was right off the freeway but you could not hear anything in that park that sounded like a car. It had a lake, a million miles of trails, and some little spots like the tree canopy thing. As a tourist you walked out on this bridge that went into the tree tops and you looked out or down. I chose to look in both directions and took some pics. I was then able to hop back into the car and continue on the epic road trip. Not to shabby for a BEAUTIFUL, sunny, warm, breezy and fabulous Memorial Day. 

Day Uno

DAY UNO has been exciting. It started with some work in the office and saying goodbye to a good friend. It ended with me sharing a hotel room with my mom and her husband. In between I met a nice bartender at Red Lobster who helped me break a loose piece of metal from under my car. 

It all started with a loud noise that I heard while driving in somee serious wind. I pulled over to check it out, saw nothing then the noise stopped once my trip got going again. I stopped again to call my mom (I got a new phone and did not know how to make a call) and the noise was back. I pulled into a combo Red Lobster and a closed auto repair parking lot. I was wearing a cute skirt to drive because I was headed to the city for dinner. Well, I could not lay on the ground in a skirt so first things first, put pants on. I shimmied into some jeans and got to work. I looked under the car and found a piece of metal hanging...my instinct was to rip it off. I gave it the old College try with the hook end of my umbrella with no luck. I went into the Lobster to ask for help, Steve came out, took off his apron and together we suceeded. So now in addition to all my supplies in the car, there is a rusted part of my undercar. Steve would not accept any cash so I will have to contact corporate and thank them for hiring him.

I finally met up with Mom, had a nice meal (a free meal) and decided to take the offer of a free hotel sleep for night one. Oh yeah, and free continental breakfast. Strong start. My mom's husband snores but he paid for the room so it's cool. And a little odd to be sharing a room with them (a free room- budget first!)

The Eagle Flies at Dawn

Tomorrow starts the trip to end trips. But before I leave I had to do a couple things.

First, I had to make the BEST dip I have ever tasted. Here is the recipe: http://www.cookingclassy.com/2013/05/nutella-cheesecake-dip/. You need to click that and make it. It is delicious. I ate it with apples, graham crackers and other fruits. 

Second, I went to my friend Pam and Brandon's house for some onesie decorating and holding a VERY cute little guy. My new friend was all smiles and lots of fun rolled into an almost one year old package of 20 pounds. It was a great day. Sunny sunshine, good food, and giggles for a great couple of people who are about to have a little bambino. 

Third, I had to catch up on my second favorite Marissa Tomei movie, Only You. This is a departure from the DVD collection. This film is on VHS, not just a regular VHS. When we were kids we witnessed piracy at its finest. Two VCRs hooked up to the TV to record movies straight from video store to our shelves. Three movies to a tape and hours of stolen entertainment. Please note below that this tape includes the movie Sabrina (new one) with Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond. Not to be confused with our other tape that had Sabrina (old one) with Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. 

Tonight I am rewatching Only You for the 50th or so time and still enjoying it. It is helping me pack. The problem is that they travel to Italy in this movie and I do not own clothes that are appropriate for such a trip. I suppose my blue jeans and tshirt lifestyle will have to do.  This movie is very funny and all about two people searching for their destiny. My favorite part is when one of the characters named Larry says "Italy, my wife's in Italy!" But he pronounces Italy like this: Itlee. I giggle every time.  

Doe a Deer, a Female Deer

You guess it! We are enjoying The Sound of Music today. By far one of the best movies I own. The music, Austria, the history, nuns, curtain clothes, frauleins, being 16 going on 17, all of these things make this movie awesome.

When I was younger my mom had a record player in our basement. I am not sure if I am accurately remembering this, but this is how it goes. I would play the soundtrack of this movie, sing at the top of my lungs and dance around the basement. I looked just like Liesle and sounded just like Julie Andrews. My voice has evolved to also sound just like Celine Dion these days. I am just doing the Residence Life thing to keep myself busy while my demo circles around LA.

The Sound of Music has some great lessons in it, great lessons. I made a couple observations while enjoying this movie musical. I love when Maria is singing her song, "Confidence in Me." The lyrics to that song should maybe be posted in residence halls around the country. It might not be the song that everyone remembers from the film but it is so good. It plays well with the Baroness being so insecure with Captain VonTrapp and his feelings for Maria. I feel some sort of kindred connection with Maria. Not because I want to be a nun but because she has such a great work ethic. She is just trying to be the best governess she can be and by golly she did it.   

I also really enjoyed that in the gazebo in the yard, you know that one that is glassed in and every dancing-in-the-basement girl's dream? Well it was so great that Liesle and Rolfe's first kiss is at night in that oh so romantic rain storm in the gazebo and that is also where Maria and the Captain have their first kiss. It is like they wrote it that way on purpose, very tricky Rogers and Hammerstein. 

In the RA programming world I could not stop thinking about those play clothes that Maria made from the drapes. I think college students take play clothes to the extreme, wearing junky threads to class is not as cool as the VonTrapp kids make it look. But they are on to something there. Remember putting old flannel shirts on backwards to use a smock when creating art? I think if an RA were to plan a program where everyone had to come in their "play clothes" or backwards shirt smocks. Then you could travel as a group outside to make some floor art. A messy, splattered, fun dropcloth painted and decorated together. Having something like that on display in the hallway should brighten everyone's semester!

A Personal Break

This week has been full of things. Summer officially started because I took some days off work. I am about to attend a conference about computer software that I am actually excited about. 

I wanted to take a minute to reflect on a couple things. Often the Hall Directors and I talk about the kind of people that are drawn to work in student affairs. You know, those kind of people people who want to make new friends and try to make everyone feel comfortable? Well I am FOR SURE one of those types of people. So I am making friends where ever I go and of course at work since that is where I spend most of my time. But I am always surprised at how sweet and wonderful my friends really are and in some way I do not feel I deserve that sweet wonderfulness.

Yesterday was an important day. I went back and forth about whether or not I should plan something specific to do and I decided to make a few flexible plans and play things by ear. Well some of the most wonderful things happened.

First, I went to Ace to get some veggies to plant. This might sound weird but I love the smell of tomato plants. I think tomatoes on the vine smell so good, so I left Ace with mulch, veggies, and great tomato smells on my hands. Oh and before that I had Mackinac Island Fudge ice cream for breakfast after a chat with my GAP ad friend Casey.

I also got to hear a baby's heartbeat from the inside of the belly. I am not one of those women who want to have loads of babies, I do not want to personally have any. But I LOVE when people I LOVE have babies. It is just great. I love it even more when they invite me to the doctor's appointment to hear little "bwumb bwumbs." That was pretty cool. Any day now I will have a new little baby to love. 

Then I had some more ice cream. Honestly- ice cream twice in one day. 

I also had dinner with a fine group of Hall Directors followed by a couple delicious beers. But those events were made even sweeter by the wonderful texts and phone calls I received. I am not ashamed to admit the tears flowed freely. It. was. nice. 

Stay Above 50 mph!

Today's selection is Speed with Keanu Reeves. My brother and I recently watched this one when he was visiting in February. We commented on the opening credits or titles, whatever they are called, and how WordArt cool they looked. It does not seem like that long ago that this movie was released but it came out in 1994! That is almost 20 years ago! Oh my goodness, my baby brother was also born in 1994. Facts like this contribute to my graying hair.

Speed remains timeless and part of my collection because of the action and twists in the story. Dennis Hopper is a great bad guy too. He has a maniacal laugh. Oh and who can forget the wonderful one liners from Mr. Reeves himself. "Shoot the hostage," "Mister, I'm already there," "Are you insured?" "I'm gonna rip your bleeping spine out." "Pop quiz ahole." "Yeah, well I'm taller."

I often quote the Sandra Bullock line when she is trying to get away from the tourist played by Cameron from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. "I got gum on my seat, gum." Just the way she says gum, it makes me smile. The way that Keanu just takes care of business makes it a great film too, he is a quick thinker. By now I know you are expecting me to tie this movie into the world of higher ed and residence life. Well here it is: I think Jack has a lot of the characteristics that a great RHD needs in times of crisis. He thinks on his feet, has to calm people who are freaking out in the bus, he has to deal with the blood, he has to also be constantly thinking of how to solve the bigger problem of the bomb, he is in contact with his backup hall director Harry in the office, he even gets pretty dirty while on duty. 

Ok, well RHDs do not usually have to deal with bombs on buses or bus drivers who have been shot, but I really see the connection. Jack is a great mediator and finds time in crisis to be kind to Annie and help keep her calm too, I would hire him in a minute. I am even going to take this one step farther and and compare myself to Lt. McMahon, Jack's boss. Like when there is a gap in the freeway and Mac tells everyone they are fired, that they are all f***ing fired because of this unforeseen snafu. That sounds like something I would say! Nowadays even with that profanity, sorry Mom. 

I love the part of this movie when Jack figures out that the bomber has a camera on the bus and can see them. You almost want to cheer out loud! But that is after your heart jumped out of your chest when he is stuck under the bus and before we get involved with the subway. The continued twists are just great. An RA could do some really fun things with a movie like this. We have this great team builder on campus that uses mouse traps to create an environment of anxiety and at the end of the activity you should learn something about how fear can affect your team. Maybe pairing that activity with this movie, to illustrate how cool and calm Jack is as the "leader" of the "team" in this movie could help an RA program about not letting fear and anxiety get in the way of your academic goals. 
Another idea, you could place bets on how many times Jack uses the F word in this movie and the one closest could win a Thesaurus. You know, so they do not make the mistake of using the same word over and over again on a resume. You could have a handout of the most overused resume words for your residents to take with them. Just like that- two great RA programming ideas and a training video for RHD staffs to learn what to expect while on duty. Speed really goes above a beyond as a Hollywood classic. 

Armadillos In Our Trousers

This is Spinal Tap is on...er...tap for tonight. I referenced this movie earlier when reviewing Waiting for Guffman as part of the Z to A project (I just named it that tonight, clever eh?). Those mockumentary or in this case Rockumentary type films crack me up. It is the deadpan delivery of this kind of comedy that takes itself so seriously that appeals to me. I love it. This great hair band called Spinal Tap falling from popularity and working through canceled gigs all while being recorded by a film crew. This movie has classic rock band drama as well, (not "classic rock" band drama because they are like a hard rock/metal band, but it is "classic" in the sense that bands have some drama- I felt the need to explain that) the band's frontmen have a bit of a falling out and we as the viewers of this documentary get to witness that relationship evolve. I wikipediaed this film too for some further information, I learned that many rock bands of the time said that this movie accurately described their lives and that viewers thought that Spinal Tap was an actual band. Who said you cannot learn from wikipedia? 

This is Spinal Tap is also chock full of super stars, there are so many guest stars in addition to the Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer as Spinal Tap there is a little bit of Rob Reiner, Fran Dresher, Angelica Houston, Paul Schaffer, Howard Hesseman, Bruno Kirby, Billy Crystal, Fred Willard, Paul Benedict, just so many people! Interesting side note, this is the second movie in my collection with Bruno Kirby and Billy Crystal, the first was When Harry met Sally, come to think of it Rob Reiner directed that film...I wonder if all three men are friends in real life and that is how they ended up working together. Hollywood must be just as small of a world as higher ed. It makes sense though, that folks in higher ed would have lots of connections, we are the facilitators of millions of ice breakers and make a living by building relationships with others. If we did not make friends at every conference or on the shuttle from the airport, well just about anywhere, we die a little on the inside. 

Spinal Tap also highlights how it the band has trouble keeping a drummer, you know because "dozens of people spontaneously combust each year, it is just not widely recorded." Or the drummer that died choking on someone else's vomit, because you cannot dust vomit for prints to determine who it belonged too.  Lines like that and when they are describing a new type of music that is a "combination of Mozart and Bach called Mach," really just make me smile. This was a great movie selection for tonight. I even love in the special feature as we catch up with Marty DiBergi the man behind the creation of this rockumentary, comes back and then the members of Spinal Tap are appalled that people laugh at this movie. If you have not seen this film, I recommend it.

How can we use this movie on campus? I am not sure. That was a hard one to think of a way to program with it. There might be a little bit of roommate education in this film. Nigel and David start the film as best friends and great collaborators and they go through a falling out. You could watch this movie and see how not communicating about what is wrong with you, or letting a third party (like someone's girlfriend) get involved in your argument could ruin your roomieship. Ok, I will acknowledge that is a rotten idea but it is an idea! Mission of blog post accomplished. 

Locked In!

Today was that fateful day when the RHDs, Plant Department and I walk through the halls to assess room damages. It is a long day and today it was full of fire and brimstone, as per the usual for a final checkout day.

My usual walk around buddy is named Mark. We do not always see eye to eye on things, but we usually have a good time on the Monday after Commencement. Today Mark and I were speeding through the Campus Apartments and then tackling Scott Hall. Usually we head straight to Brockway once the CA are complete, but our mission today was to check out Scott. We had a little bit too much fun. Often Mark and I try to solve some of the bigger mysteries of working in Residence Halls together, like how can we logistically get the tile replaced in those stairwells and install carpet in Tri Dorms the same day? How can we set up the deferred maintenance of the individual room heaters and still be ready for Badger Boys? How can we convince five more students to work for us (when we have no money to offer) to get their help with things on days like this? 

Today we were pondering those big life questions, when we walked into room 232B. Innocently checking the blinds for bends, the screens for holes, the walls for damage, and discussing how it was possible that the door handle on the inside of this room was missing. How did those residents survive without a door handle? Well I am sure you all can imagine what happened next...we realized we were sitting on the inside of the room with the door closed. There was no way out. The door cannot open without a handle. Mark asked if I had pliers or something like that along with me, I gave him the "eyes above the rim of the glasses" are you kidding me look and we started to laugh uncontrollably. We were stuck. In an almost empty residence hall. In the middle of the day. Even though I had a ruler to measure things, a camera to document things, a pencil and Room Condition Sheet we could not McGyver our way out of that room. It was almost too embarrassing to think about asking for help, we did not want to face the shame that we knowingly entered the room and allowed the door to close without a handle. Eventually we did have to call for help. A kindly RA (and All American Track Star) was close enough to come to our rescue. But Mark's strict instructions were to not tell this student of our situation until after he opened the door. Mark's instincts were right, we were sure to have been declined assistance for the sheer humor of it had the truth been out there. Whew, we dodged a bullet there.

Days like today are long and by the end of checking hundreds of mattresses for tears and doors for splits most of us are ready to quit our jobs. Some of those rooms are fragrant to say the least and others still have damage that cannot even be imagined. But it is all part of the Residence Lifecycle and comes with the territory. With that task behind us, summer starts now folks. Thank goodness!

Love Your Ascot!

Today I chose an uplifting film, well actually it chose me. You know, because Toy Story 3 comes after Twilight. You are probably wondering if we have another trilogy of movies on our hands. As in are you to be expected to read through posts about Toy Story 3, 2, and the original? Well "reach for the sky," and "there's a snake in my boot" no! You are all benefiting from the technology that is the DVD. My other Toy Story videos are just that, VHS videos. 

I will save all of VHS videos for the DAY DAY DAY OF OF OF DISNEY! That is right folks, this summer will be host to the largest Disney festival this town has ever seen. All Disney movies, all day with the only interruptions involving los banos. This wonderful day will take place later this summer, maybe when it is rainy.

But back to Toy Story 3-this movie has ultimate appeal. Moms and Dads can relate, kids love it, and college students everywhere can fall in love with this story as they see some of themselves in Andy. Or at least they can appreciate the old, fat, family dog :) 

Woody, Buzz and pals find themselves in an adventure that takes them all over town. The toys feel unappreciated and discarded when Andy packs for College but they might have found a paradise in Sunnyside Daycare. The dangers that ensue are almost too scary for me let alone the kids who might watch this program, but they really help you make a connection with these characters. Pixar does it again with their attention to detail. For example the dirt on Lotso's face when he is in the Daycare scenes but it is clean in the flashbacks where he is newer. That detail makes all the difference. And all the funny lines that just fit so perfect, like when Barbie tells Ken she loves his ascot, or when Lotso says "FAO my Schwartz." Or when the peas in the pods are hiding in the Mr. Potato Head's rear cavity and he exclaims, "Hey kids! I told you to stay out of my butt!" Classic Disney and Pixar humor that makes these kind of movies fun for adults and children alike. Well ok, that last quote is funny for kids and I am just kid enough to still laugh at things like butt.

But I swear all these movies I have with that gut wrenching scenes that make me cry are going to be the end of me! When Andy and Bonnie are playing with all the toys I needed a tissue! When I first saw this movie I thought of my little brothers, who are not so little anymore. But they are sweet like that, they would both just get on the ground and play with a little kid and some toys in a moment like that. They are sweet and kind just like Andy, oh boy, I miss those little buggers.

Well as we continue in thinking of RA programming ideas that tie in with these wonderful films, I assure you that there are a few gems with this movie. I think one theme is that you are never too old to play with some quality toys. It is a confirmed fact that college students love forts. I think the best way to make this movie successful with that crowd is for everyone to bring their pillows, blankets and sheets to the lounge and to build a fort from the furniture and their pillows. It is a good idea to get permission from the RHD first so that they are not shocked with they see all the furniture a mess in a lounge and everyone is hiding among the pillow force fields. Maybe even have everyone share stories about their favorite toys growing up, if this program is held around the Christmas Holiday then as a floor you could also purchase some toys to donate or participate in a Toys for Tots fundraiser to help local kids make memories with toys too!

It is also clear that Andy had a variety of toys, ones that cost lots of money like Buzz with many different buttons and lasers. Or those little claw aliens from the CLAW game that might have cost $.25 and probably also smelled like funky plastic. Rex the dinosaur and Slinky Dog are made into the most interesting toys just using our imagination. I am not sure that college students are ready to revisit their imagination quite yet, but maybe a program where they design their ideal residence hall might trigger those creative juices. It is kind of interesting to hear what students wish they had at their fingertips. What you usually find is everything they want is within reach on campus, just maybe outside of their specific hall. Or they can take their wish list to Hall Council to see if those projects can become a reality! You can take your Hall to Infinity and Beyond!

50 Shades of Green

Last night was the End of the Year Banquet for the RA staff. It is one of my favorite nights of the year. I love the warmth in the room and the laughter. Our staff has much laughter and can be a real riot when we are together.

 

I was initially apprehensive about the evening, you know those knuckleheads that sometimes ruin the fun for everyone? They are eager for things to get started, for them to end, and for them to get the heck out of there. But last night, those naysayers were silenced by a good time. The RHDs got into it and they had fun and overall, despite my emotional outbursts, things went great.

We had five seniors who made it to the Banquet and I got this great photo of them! Look how cute they are and how excited they are for their Ripon throws!

Every year I write some sort of poetry for the Student Assistant Hall Directors and this year was no exception. They are the first three students pictured to the right here. Adam, Darcie and Molly are their names and being SAHDs is their game!

I titled their poem 50 Shades of Green. The poem is sort of a riddle about the programming sheets that RAs have to fill out for each program they plan.  

50 Shades of Green
For years they have been part of your day.
Sometimes they were sitting on a desk,

sometimes in the trash.
Impossible to avoid like a bad skin rash.

At times they were in your backpack,

surely increasing the weight of that sack

The dread as another several days had passed

since you had turned one in last.
A public display of your thoughts and ideas,

whether proposed or approved.
Comments written to behoove.
Then one day these pages of prose
Became one of your larger foes.

The SAHD position came with an

apartment furnished,

but also a brow that would always look sternish.

Your task was now to hold the pen

responsible for evaluation and then

comments for others to read

(at least that is what you wanted to believe.)

Hours in the office were spent each day

to guide and advise and for others to hear you say,

"You can find that in Mapes" or

 "Let's check with our RHD"

or even "Are you kidding me?"

But now the day has come

where these pages no longer can make you glum.

But do not fret! Lest you forget

what they look, smell or feel like

You have some pieces here,

So no need for a Ripon hike.

But please, please visit us if you like!

The year never really feels close to finished until the Banquet. Now we can close the halls this weekend after sending our Seniors off in style on Sunday. Summertime is right around the corner!

Lions, and Tigers and Vampires, Oh My!

With my pledge to watch my movies in reverse alpha order means I have to watch Twilight in reverse order too. So I stated with New Moon...I know it is not even in the correct order! It is not the last movie in the series or correctly alphabetized! Just the other day I tried to explain how my alphabetization is not off, I was just watching them in two different locations. But today I must admit I just honestly did not have them in any logical order in the cabinet. 

Twilight: I might be a weirdo but I like the love story in Twilight just for the simple love story. I try not to read into the symbolism and such because it is just a story. With three films I did not want this post to be too long, but there is just too much good stuff in these three movies. First, it drives me crazy that Charlie parks on his grass and it is nothing but mudtracks. Honestly, in one of the wettest climates he would not have a larger driveway put in? This film tells the story of Bella and Edward from the beginning all with a long haired Jacob and plenty of drama. Also there is classic new girl in school and outcast vampires. Lots of RA programming about those topics in this film. Maybe even hygiene if you work the angle of Edward being obsessed with Bella's scent but she thinks it is because she has BO. RAs often have trouble programming around the topic of hygiene. Maybe this movie could help to program if we spotlight that some people's scent might be beautiful and to others repulsive, so maybe let's find a happy medium!   


Twilight New Moon: I just laughed out loud as Edward walked toward Bella to wish her a happy birthday in the parking lot in this movie. The music, his shirt flapping in the wind...it is great and perfect for this movie which is my least favorite of the three I own. Then after all the moping and silly Bella business, things get funny again. When Jacob, Bella and Mike go to the movies and both Jacob and Mike have their hands out waiting for Bella to hold them I laughed out loud again. There are little gems in this movies and books that make the sappy stuff worth it. 

Sometimes I get worked up and express a little bit of hate that I want Bella to stop starting to kiss Jacob and stay true to Edward. I even said it out loud and then said "Crap, now I have to honest about that in the blog." But all in all I enjoy this movie too. I think the books are better, as they usually are, but the movies follow the story line quite well and it makes it it easier to enjoy.

Twilight Eclipse: I actually think that I like Bella in this movie. Kristen Stewart looks almost normal and she has a range of emotion. So much better than sad and sadder in New Moon. This movie has a lot of suspense too. I do not know why but I really enjoy the wolf versus vampire drama. I like the battle between Edward and Jacob, then how that progresses through the film until the camping scene where it is clear that they could be friends. Edward always angrily peeling away in the Volvo in this movie is my favorite part of this movie. Another thing I like about the Twilight series is you can always tell who is coupled up with who because they are always holding hands or standing next to each other. I also love Bryce Dallas Howard as Victoria. She is unbelievably beautiful and in this film where the vampires have the palest skin she is even more beautiful. It gives women like me confidence that pale, pale, pale white is gorgeous. 

You know how a song or a movie can bring back a certain memory or time in your life? It is maybe a little silly and also a little sad but I have wonderful memories of watching these movies and laughing at the parts that were probably not meant to be funny. 

Programming around the Twilight series could go really well or really bad. The movie just polarizes some student audiences and could be risky. But you could take the more political angle and talk about healthy relationships as it relates to Bella and Edward. There is plenty of conversation to have around these movies. RAs could also program about the history of things like werewolves and vampires. That is a program I would attend. I love that kind of stuff, maybe even pull in a little R.L. Stine to help relate it to the 90s. My favorite was Christopher Pike and his vampire books. You might say I have had a long love affair with vampire novels, but they have never sparkled so much until I discovered Twilight. #secretobsession #pleasedon'ttellmymom

Techno Tuesday

We interrupt our normally scheduled blog to bring you a special edition of Techno Tuesday. I learned some things over the last few days that I think deserve some attention. And I liked the sound of Techno Tuesday. This may be its only edition. 

First- I used my skype account for probably the 10th time ever this past weekend. I wonder why I do not use this option more often? I had a free almost two hour conversation with my BFFFF (best friend forever from France) and I got to see her great ombre hair and she got to see my hipster glasses. She really liked them by the way! I suppose that being a PC user that does not have a built in camera on my laptop I am using archaic hardware with my camera and microphone combination and that makes my experience already less cool. 

I had to skype in my grad classes with other people in my class, actually I think I downloaded skype for the first time for that program. I have learned that some #highered people are using skype to interview people rather than phone interviews. I have decided I like this video chat option much more than I originally did. I liked to see Coco's laughter at my hilarious jokes and all of those familiar things like her great jewelry and outfit. Those things made the chat even better. So now that I am twitter bandwagoner and blogger I am officially going to conduct a lot more of my business over skype. Those of you in the inner circle- be prepared. Download skype now. 

Two- Today I discovered this guy: http://www.youtube.com/MrArturoTrejo. He is HILARIOUS. His kid is funny, his wife is funny. I like this guy. I am a bit behind the times, apparently his vlog has been around a while. (Oh- for those of you who are not so "seasoned" at the technology as I am, a vlog is a video blog, I looked it up). I laughed so hard that I was distracted from my real task tonight. I had actual work to finish but I don't care because I loved it. 

Thirdly- I received an e-vite to a wedding today. It was via Google docs- and I did not have to login or anything to see it. I am also a relatively new user to the Google Doc universe. I really wonder what I have been doing for the last few years when everyone else was techo-ing it up. But it looked just like a real wedding invite, but it had drop down menus and text boxes that required my response and such. It was really cool. It was like filling out an incident report form to get invited and RSVP to a wedding. Maybe that is the key to becoming more technologically competent- using Residence Life lingo to get me there. Let's experiment:

1. Skype could be compared to a 1:1. Similar to conversations you have with students in that one on one setting but with your more constant companion as well, your laptop. 
2. A vlog is like a weekly report you have to write for your RHD but just using a phone or computer to document it so you do not have to laboriously type or write. RAs on campus here do not have to do weekly reports (lucky) but I had to when I was a student. Just to report the residents I had seen that week and what I learned about them. I also had to include things that were upcoming in my life and things I heard around the building. If smart phones existed back then- it would have been easy to record a quick video that included that information and isn't that what blogging and vlogging is kind of about? Telling people who may or may not be interested in what you have to say all of your thoughts about something. 
3. We have a space on the network on campus called "Shari." She is a folder that contains all of these documents and such that we have accumulated over the years. I believe sharing a word document here is the same concept as Google docs but you can edit these and share these with some sort of interaction in real time with other people. I was recently invited to share a Google doc with a coworker and we are cutting our teeth on learning things about it. But in order for me to understand what I was doing- I decided to refer to this process as Shirley, Shari's sister. 

Ok, I feel a little bit better now about understanding these concepts now that I have explained them to you. Residence Life makes everything better, they always have the answer or a simply way of explaining things so I can understand. It is my mission for all students to understand the wonder that is ResLife even if that means I am also #TechnoforLife. #reslifeforlife 

I Just Met You and I Love You!

Some of you might have noticed that in the W's I got a little bit out of order. Allow me to explain. I have two DVD players, one in the living room and one in the bedroom (the one upstairs is a DVD/VCR so that I can watch the VHS videos I have accumulated). Sometimes I start a film upstairs and then I get the urge to watch something from the sectional sofa. There you have it, it is not because I am unable to alphabetize, it is simply a location problem. 

Today I am enjoying a quality animated flick Up. Pixar has yet to disappoint me in film form and Up is no exception. I love this movie. It is just so sweet. Ellie and Carl are the sweetest and in a famously dialogless scene they tell all of us about their love. I am not ashamed to admit I cry each and every time I see this movie. Especially in the scene towards the end with Ellie's adventure book is revisited. 

As Carl becomes Mr. Fredricksen and helps out Russell you come to love him even more. He seems like a mean old man but melts faster than an ice cream cone in Phoenix. Their relationship is just the best. The characters in this movie are all lovable, Kevin, Dug, even Alpha is lovable. I could do without Charles Muntz but all movies need a bad guy right? 

It is kind of odd that Charles Muntz has so many dogs and all of them seem to be male. How did he continue to make more dogs? Did Pixar forget that female dogs are essential to making new dogs? Maybe the Pixar people were trying to say something about women in general in this movie. Carl, Russell, the construction guys are all men, the nurses that come to take him to Shady Pines, both male. Only Ellie, Russell's mom and Kevin are female. Wait a minute- there might be real significance to this, please hold while I Google...well I have never been good at keyword searching on Google, no luck. Well I will let that one go for today, but I am onto you Pixar and I will continue to purchase all of your movies so I can investigate this theory. Oh you clever Pixar, that is what you wanted all along isn't it? That must be Steve Jobs' influence. 

You know all of those dogs have smart collars that help them speak so we humans can understand them and clearly so they can understand us as well. They speak English and if they were native species (as we have already established since there were no females does to continue the species) we could expect that they would speak a language native to South America, like Spanish or Portuguese (or English, French or Dutch if count all of the dominant languages- I learned that today). But maybe those fancy collars can translate too. Or I am possibly over thinking the quirks of this delightful film. 

Mr. Muntz turns out to be so nasty and really makes the second half of the movie hard to enjoy. There is so much suspense as they fight in the skies and Russell almost falls to his doom. We all remember that horrible noise as his face was wiped along the window of the blimp. And the sword fighting! Oh my goodness. I was sweating during this part and forever grateful for the company that manufactured Carl's cane as it saved his life many a time. 

Let us lighten the mood, remember when Dug tells his funny joke: "A squirrel walks up to a tree and says 'Oh no I have forgotten to stores nuts for the winter and now I am dead,' it is funny because the squirrel is dead." Who writes this stuff!? It is gold, pure gold! I am always amazed at Pixar's ability to animate hair so well but also how they have story lines that are so full of emotion that keeps the viewers attention for the entire film. I am sure the thousands of you who are now reading and subscribing to my blog cannot wait to find out if any other Pixar films are included in my illustrious movie collection. I will leave you in suspense. 

RAs could have a field day with an adventurous film like this one. While the scavenger hunt is over done on College campuses, it can be useful in times like this. For example, it might be fun to have a semester long adventure scavenger hunt. The places to find could be things like:

• Visiting the nurse like Ellie and Carl visited the doctor many times in the film
• Learning how to splint a sprain like Russel did with Kevin 
• Eating chocolate on walk around campus
• Sitting outside in the rain
• Hanging out with a dog
• Sitting on the curb to watch for red cars
• Saving money in a glass jar for bigger adventures
• Trying to fly with just balloons (although helium is expensive these days so that might have to be an optional one, imagine if Carl had to pay for all that helium!)
• Picnicing under a tree

There are lots of options, but when your floor is finished with their hunts you can give them Ellie badges and treat them to ice cream. Wow, this program is good. I want to participate in this one! 

Stools! Stools!

I am not a willy nilly movie purchaser. Movies that I purchase with my hard earned money are always high quality. I also only purchase movies I have seen before, I have to know I like them before I spend money on them! 

Well Waiting For Guffman is one of those films that I really like. The mockumentary style film that Christopher Guest helped make famous starting with This is Spinal Tap and a great gang of characters. Stay tuned in this alphabet waiting game of greatness that is this blog for some reviews of other films by this funny group of folks. But tonight Waiting for Guffman was featured at Chez-Moi Cinema. 

A couple of things stuck out to me, first of all with the recent passing of a member of Kris Kross I have been reliving some middle school memories. Like the times I would go into the bathroom and put my overalls on backwards once I got to school in homage to Kris Kross. But there would be no way I could leave the house like that with my mother watching. There is a great seen in Waiting where Corky (played by Guest and is a Director in this movie) is working on some choreography for the small town Blaine, Missouri local theater production and his clothes are all on backward. His jeans, his tshirt and his vest are all on backward and I laughed pretty loud at that part today.

Basically the entire film is about a group of people who try out and act in a local play about the 150 year anniversary of the founding of Blaine, Missouri. But the characters are so well created and funny- it is just a high quality experience to watch this movie! Catherine O'Hara (who played Kevin's mom in Home Alone) plays the wife of Fred Willard's character and they are the "veteran" actors in this production. I have two quick stories about Ms. O'Hara and they both have to do with hair. First of all when I was in 7th grade I started to get my hair cut and dyed at a fancy pantsy salon in downtown Birmingham, MI. It was a posh area of Metro Detroit and in the beginning I was getting these haircuts for free so I felt awesome. Later when I paid for them myself it was much less frequently that I went. Anyway- my hairdresser there Joan looked just like Catherine O'Hara and I thought that was so cool. She also was the first person to tell me my unibrow had to go. I am forever grateful to her. Second, in this movie Catherine O'Hara has a unique hairstyle. Well not too unique, my cousin Rachel in the early 90s had the same do. First take your bangs and back comb them until they are standing straight up, spray with too much hair spray, then finally arc them to form one half of the letter M with bottom of the M resting on your cheekbone. Ahhh it brings back memories.

I bet you are wondering what the "Waiting for Guffman" refers to, aren't you? I do not want to ruin the film for you, so all I will say is that the cast is waiting for one of Corky's New York connections that could propel this production of "Red, White and Blaine" right to Broadway. That connection's name is Mr. Guffman. Needless to say this movie has some quality, small town community theater stereotypes and quite a bit of funny. 

It is odd how so many things connect, today at lunch there was some discussion of the summer theater production that faculty, staff and people from the surrounding area audition for and produced on campus. I wonder if that would have any of the same feel as Waiting? This was a challenging film to think of program ideas for- but nonetheless the blog must go on! RAs could take this movie and plan a program based on self esteem. Yeah, yeah! Self esteem. At one point in the film Corky is quite upset when he feels like a failure as a director. The rest of the cast is quick to run over to his house and help him feel better about himself. The case is much like your floor members, if you trust one another and lean on one another they will always be there to help pick you up when you fall. One thing that helps to build this trust is giving away your secrets to each other. That is always easier when no one can tell who's secret belongs to who. There are two ways to do this- in the dark or with a teambuilder! Or...wait for it...do both! RAs are so cool. 

Tonight, Tonight!

The film I enjoyed today was West Side Story. There are some uplifting parts of this film, but its overall powerful message is perfect for a rainy day. When I was a kid and we stayed home from school sick we got to watch old movies with Mom. I loved musicals. I still do and mostly because I got to watch them back then, secretly I think my mom just put them in because she knew we would fall asleep faster when it was not a cartoon. And in a movie like this, I would fall asleep before the sad and more serious parts in this film.

I learned a lot for rewatching West Side Story. I did not know before today that the original theater production was loosely based on Romeo and Juliet. It makes sense when you watch the film about Puerto Rican kids and Polish kids living in New York City that are torn apart by racism and hate and there are two lovers in the center of the conflict. Duh! I cannot believe I never connected those dots before now!

As in most theatrical musicals that were made into films in this era the songs are AWESOME. I feel as though "I'm So Pretty" sung by Maria is one of my favorite songs in this movie, and in Dirty Dancing when Lisa sings it as they are preparing for the final show at Kellerman's. And the classics like "Tonight" and "America" are quite catchy. When I was thinking about RA programs in this film I knew that the core message of this film is still a message that young people need to hear. Messages about hate, racism, gangs, etc. are still be taught all over the place and certainly would make an excellent floor program. So I challenged myself a bit further to stretch some other areas of the film. 

One topic I thought that could be addressed is Group Think. When a group of people make sometimes questionable decisions because the group mentality has diminished individual thought and critical thinking that is a sign that group think has taken over. Especially when the desire to be loyal to a group or being desperate to be part of a group take over in someone's thought process. This can happen all over on a college campus, in sports teams, Greek life, student orgs. Even RAs can form quite the group. Even though RAs are paid to not make questionable decisions...once training ends who knows! They start taking pens and masking tape from the office or each other, they start showing films without purchasing the movie rights, even at times leaving FERPA protected information out in the open on their desks! I shudder at the thought. 

But West Side Story highlights what can happen with Group Think goes wrong. Peer pressure and the power of groups can start great conversations. (Maybe even bring in that activity with the brown eyes and blue eyes that was highlighted on PBS to add to the program.) I think this could even be accomplished in RA training, after spending a week building team on each individual staff we could facilitate this type of activity on one of the last days. As long as there is a well facilitated discussion (and the RAs are unaware of the exercise) it could be a sweet program!

Just typing this post reignited my excitement for August and RA Training! #reslife