No wonder I have allergies

Yes, Spring is beautiful in Amarillo but with flowering trees like this all over, it's no wonder my allergies (yes, allergies) have been acting up.

This fine specimen greets me as I walk in and out of my office every day.

Beatboxing Flute Player - or another excuse to brag on a cool member of my family

I had to take a moment to share this video of a beatboxing flute player? Why did I have to? Well, I learned that late last week my cousin Meg was able to jam with Greg Patillo at a workshop. Learning this, I wanted to brag about my cousin a wee bit, but how fun is it to brag without a multi-media component? That's all i'm sayin. So, way to go Miss Meg.

About Greg, he's a classically trained flute player who plays in the ensemble, the Project. Cool stuff.

The tale of Mr. Potato Head

This post has been composed and posted at the request of my dear friend Jackie. Jackie the guilty one is seen to the left posing with the one and only Mr. Potato Head.

Ok, truth be told I did trigger the trip down memory lane - to elicit a much needed smile. However, Jackie did support this trip down memory lane - because, well, heck everyone needs a laugh. Truth be told, I support the telling of such stories because it emphasizes that projects like the elephant are not one time adventures, oh no - such goofiness is a regular part of my existence. Now does that make me more or less crazy? Eh, what does it really matter. I have fun and it does not take much to amuse me. If I get really ambitious I might share the story of Henry the lobster on this blog. I'm sure Chiara would appreciate that trip down memory lane. Ok, yeah, maybe I am a wee bit crazy. Isn't there paperwork around to support that theory?

A little background information for this story is probably necessary. While a student at Loras College I was also employed as an RA (that's resident assistant) and eventually a CA (that's a community advisor, the same thing as an RA except that older students did not like the stigma of having an RA.) At the time of this adventure I was a CA in the Visitation Complex. My co-CA's were Jackie and Che and our supervisor was Ryan. (Our names are in the picture to the left - the sign was outside of our Viz Office). As residence life staff members we were asked to plan a staff development activity.

Being a highly evolved staff with years of RA experience amongst ourselves we decided to recreate the Mr. Potato Head game on our non-existent budget. The parallel between Mr. Potato Head and life as an RA would be complete as we would take the opportunity to explain the Mr. Potato Head is only complete when he has all of his parts; likewise an RA is complete only when he or she incorporates all aspects of his or her life - that no component is neglected. (On a side note, I seem to recall a Mr. Potato Head game that incorporated dice and pieces of the Tater Man; however, now that I google the game I can find nothing of the sort. Perhaps we were really creative and made the game up. In our version of the game each number on the dice let the player and a certain part of the potato man - eyes, ears, arms, feet, nose, mouth, hats. We were very creative folks afterall.)

In an effort to promote over very creative staff development activity, Jackie, Che and I took off on a photo spree with Mr. Potato Head around the Loras Campus. Mr. Potato Head found his way into many areas that the average DuHawk could not - thanks in part to our relationship with the security staffers. The photos were used in posters that magically found their way into key RA locations. The following pictures are only a sampling of the moments we captured that evening. (In the picture to the left, Mr. Potato Head finds his way into a tree in Rohlman Hall. I guess this event happened in late October after the haunted hall competition - Jacks, do you remember?)

Here Mr. Potato Head expresses his affection for a nun pumpkin. My, she has a cute dimple.

Oh no! Mr. Potato Head expresses extreme dismay as he believes his nun companion has met an ill-fated death (is there any other kind?) Perhaps the death was caused by her lack of attendance at the very important Viz CA led staff development session?
Shhh! Mr. Potato Head thinks those taters are his relatives. Shortly after this encounter we assured him that they were only fake spuds and not blood relatives.

Oh no! We were too late, he found his way to his relatives final resting place (well, almost final - I'm sure a dinner plate was in their future). It was too late, the sighting could not be prevented.

Clearly, if one saw a poster with such amusing graphical components they could not resist smiling. Yeah, crazy we were, but much fun we had.

On behalf of my cousin Kate

Can you help my cousin Kate out? She has submitted an audition video for Big Shot Live. She needs votes from lots of people to make the trek. Here's how you can help with her quest:

My name is Kathryn E. Hein, and I’m an amateur actress looking to make it in the big time… and you can help me get there! Log onto Big Shot Live and enter your zip code to get started. Then, create an account if you don’t have one already. In the search box, look for either “Aladdin” or “kehein” to locate my profile. It will show you my audition video (the opening monologue from Disney’s motion picture “Aladdin”) and then you can vote to send me to Hollywood! Although Thursday is acting day, you can log on and vote EVERYDAY. The more votes I get, the more likely I am to get sent to Hollywood for my Big Shot at being in a movie or TV show. Thanks for all of your help!

Women in Art

Because it made a few people smile, I'll share it here in hopes that you might smile as well.

Moulin Rouge Ball

Two weeks ago the symphony guild hosted the annual ball. (Yes, two weeks ago - go ahead and bust my chops for being a slacker and slow to post pics. If only I could use the excuse that I was waiting for the pictures to be developed, but sadly one cannot use that excuse when one is taking digital photos. Again, I digress. I just beg for your forgiveness oh loyal and few readers.)

The theme for the ball was Moulin Rouge and us crazy symphony pranksters were delighted to see an elephant in the entryway. Elephants Yeah! So, of course the friendly elephant had to be the site for our few pictures we took to capture the evening. An elephant and Moulin Rouge? Ok, we will go with it. (On a side note, I think our elephant had more character. What do you think?)

As at any ball, the event is best compared to Prom - but for grown-ups. Good food, good drinks, fun, crazy dancing, and a chance to dress up in your finest threads.




Kelly and Kevin show off their pearly whites and finest duds.


Jenny and LJ enjoyed the ball but wished they were at Mardi Gras.

And that's it, the symphony ball recap. There is no more story. That's all folks. Goodnight.

What?

You say there is more you want? Something is missing from the description? Nah. You must be mistaken. There is no more story.

What? You say you want to see a picture of Sue. Hmm, did you not read the beginning of the post there clearly was a picture of Sue.

Oh, you want to know if Single Sue had a date?

Well, wait for it, wait for it, wait for it....


Yep, that's right. Sue has a smile on her face. What? That's not the shocking aspect of the photo?
Well, there is an elephant in the background.

Clearly that is the shocking photo element.

No, that's not it either?

Hmm, then it must be the necklace. I hear the necklace was a memorable element to the evening.

What? That's not it either.

Drat!

Ahh, you must be referring to the dapper lad escorting me to the ball. The gent to my right (does that make him my right hand man?) is Bryan.

So, there you have it, the answer to your questions.