Drink With Me

It's been almost a month since my last post, and I finally have the time to sit down and just write. Truthfully there's no way I could tell you everything that's been happening, so I'll pick out the good stuff and give you that. To start, when last I was in blog world I made two video-blogs (vlogs) which went over quite well. I thought about doing this one as a vlog, but decided there was too much ground to cover. Though, I have to give kudos to my brother Joey for helping me out. He had some great ideas which eventually formed into what the second video blog is. If I'm not mistaken, that took place during Tech weekend of Hansel & Gretel, the opera in which I was running the light board for. If you didn't know, I recently learned how to program the board and have since become a board operator here at school. In fact, something no one really knows yet, is that not only will I be programming the board for a lighting designer in our Tommy, one of our mainstage productions, I recently found out that I'm going to be doing a large portion of the actual lighting design for the freshman revue. I could not deliver this news with a more happy refrain. As soon as I arrived at school, it was a goal of mine to be able to design a show on the mainstage by the time I graduate, which was something that was very far out of reach because most of the time the school hires lighting designers from outside. Freshman revue, however hectic, will truly be a dream come true for me. I'll be performing and designing the show, so I can't wait to get started with all that. 

I also found out that I am going to have the opportunity to perform in a benefit cabaret called "miscast". It's essentially a cast of 12 or so kids performing songs and numbers that they could never perform in shows. Opposite sex, gender, race, type, all that stuff. The rehearsals have been fun to say the least, and I'm looking forward to our performances this weekend. In the show, I'm in a number of trios and group songs like "She's In Love" from The Little Mermaid, as well as an acoustic disney princess medley with 4 other boys. I'm sure they'll be videos to see, so keep your eyes peeled. I was lucky enough to have my mom come out to boston to visit me and my uncle, who was in Rhode Island at the time, and have her watch some rehearsals. If you ask anyone who's a performer, rehearsals are of course fun, but they are work, it's like a job. To see my mom sit in a room and smile at just the thought of hearing us sing is something that I hold close to my heart. It makes me happy to see how happy she gets when she's sitting in a simple rehearsal that we sort of take for granted. She was really blown away by the talent, and we were marking! Truthfully, every time she comes she's blown away, but she told me it was like all the leads from Glenbrook Musicals had come together and formed these people that were "fierce" as she would say. We had an amazing time driving around, sitting around, walking around, and just hanging around boston for a few days. I even got to stay in the hotel with her! 

The highlight of the trip had to be BoCo's annual Drag Show which she insisted on seeing. I have to admit I was fairly hesitant because it's not every day that your date to the show where all the boys are dressing up as women, is your mom. Nevertheless, we went and had an amazing time. She also, while visiting, had the chance to see the apartment that I am hoping to live in next year. It's currently occupied by a BoCo senior, but I can't give away any details or pictures until the deal is done. As soon as it happens, I'll be sure to post pictures and all that! To be honest, I think that's the most exciting things that have happened in the past 3 weeks. I've been working hard on posters and logos, freelance and now that I am officially apart of the student government here at school, I've been doing their stuff too. 

With all this going on, I have had some time to reflect on things and look at the big picture. Coming back to school was in fact very difficult for me. The adjustment back in to college life was harder than expected. I am more than happy to be here, of course, but sometimes your mind has a chance to slip back in to home mode, and you realize how much you left behind coming here. But that was revelation I made, I hadn't truly left anything behind. Everything that has happened up till now, is a large part of who I am. I am 18 years old for gosh sakes! I don't need to be worrying about the rest of my life when today's not even over. I realize I've said that before, but it's so important to know. With every day comes new opportunities, and new challenges, and new likes and gripes, and it's all part of it. There's been this terrible flu like thing sweeping school and I was working so hard not to get it, but even with all my efforts, I did attain the virus, the plague some are calling it. I was lucky enough not to have an awful case of it, but I still had to miss about a day of school. As much it sucked sitting in bed all day looking outside at the 50 degree weather and wishing I was out there, I knew that tomorrow was a new day. In fact, that next day I ended up helping out the Musical Theatre auditions and meeting a ton of extremely cool people. As corny or cheesy as it sounds, I have to sit back and say that I had no clue Friday morning, that Saturday not only would I be meeting prospective students, I'd be seeing the Justin Bieber movie with two of my lovely friends.

(If you didn't know I'm a huge Bieber fan!) No one can predict what tomorrow, or even today will bring. Embrace it all. Let the people around you continue to inspire and challenge and fuel every emotion conjured up in that chamber that we call our hearts. We are stronger and in more control than we think. A good friend once told me that we can only feel comfortable with others, once we are comfortable with ourselves. That doesn't necessarily mean like your sexuality, or political opinions, it means being comfortable with hanging out with you. Yourself. He gave me the advice to take some time for me and do something I loved. So I whipped out my guitar, and it felt better than I could have ever imagined it. That's not to say that now I am all comfortable with me, and I can live happily ever after. We are all a work in progress, always. For every single action we take there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you give, you will get. And if not today, than maybe tomorrow, or maybe in while, but you will get. So I'm going to keep on giving and soak in every little thing I get. The people who give to me, mean more than they know and have a really special place in my heard. You know who you are, and if you don't than you'll know by the fact that when I say I love you, I truly mean it. 

I realize now how long this post is probably going to seem, and how I sort of just ranted for a while, but hey, it felt good. And, if you don't want to read it, you don't have to! Thus, you have reached the end, and have read the whole thing, or at least skimmed it. Whatever works. I appreciate you taking time out of your day to read about my life, which sounds sort of odd. Before I go, I will send my love to all my friends back at home and in colleges and cities around the country, because now more than ever, I realize how important each and every one of you is. Thanks for everything so far, and here's to many more (I raise my bottle of smart water to you). 

Cheers mate.

Matt

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Easy as Life

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted this week was unexpectedly busy. Saturday was a fun-filled day starting with a 3 hour brunch lunch with some old camp friends. I don't think any of us planned on sitting in Cosi for 3 hours and telling camp stories, but that's what happens sometimes...I guess. It's always nice to be able to talk to people who you don't see very often and maybe even don't talk to much. Camp, as some of you know, is like my home away from home (it's my 10th time going back in fact!) and the people there have become almost family for me. Some of them know me better than I know myself and I know that I can always call or text or whatever someone from camp if I need help with anything. They're always there, and there's a lot of them too! So, shout out to Jake, Colby, and Aaron for making my Saturday afternoon a blast. What a cheesy word. "Blast!" Who thought it would be a good idea to substitute "Blast" for "fun" or something. Who knows. And if you thought my Saturday couldn't get better, it did, in a BIG way. 

I had a once in a lifetime (or once every time I'm home) opportunity to join my Mom and making some Jewish parent's dream come true. Their son's Bar-Mitzvah party. "Ben's Field of Dreams" was a hit and much in part to the hard work of my mother and her crew (aka me and JB). The party, of course, has some bumps, but not enough to keep my mom from dancing a little bit (she could have been a Solid Gold dancer...for those of you who have any idea what that is). But seriously, my mom is amazing at what she does. It's astounding to me that she has only been doing this for a few years and now she is a big kahuna in the Bar-Mitzvah world. Much love Momma, you rock. 

Sunday was a little slower but that night was my cousin's birthday party. When I say birthday party I do not mean pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, dance around in circles, eat ice cream cake and watch home videos 10 years later and laugh birthday party. I mean the type where both sides of her family are there and we sit, watch football, and tell stories...not to mention the 5 children running around entertaining us. Needless to say, it was a fun night and it was the last chance to see my cousin Jordan before we both headed back to school. Miss you already Jord! Monday was uneventful and Tuesday I flew out to Arizona to visit some family. I spent just about 48 hours there, and I have to say that it was an amazing trip that I wish had been longer. This is partially do to the fact that the weather there was much better than at home or at school, but it more because I had the chance to really get to spend some one on one time with my amazing uncle Jon, wife Kate, daughter Maddy, and doggie Josie. 

Arizona

Chicago

We didn't do anything extremely exciting per-say, but that was not the point of me going. I was happy to sit at a table in the house with any of them for 2 hours and just talk. I figured out that you can learn a lot over just one cup of coffee, or one car ride. It meant a lot to me that they sort of let me sit in on their life for two days, and I cannot say how proud I am of my family. Now that I'm a mature adult (some may argue otherwise) I can really appreciate my family members for who they are and talk to them like I'm not a kid. The flights were quite easy and once I returned home I immediately had to start getting ready to head back to school. I spent my last days at home visiting with more friends and hanging out with family. Sunday, my flight back, was eventful to say the least. First off, my first flight was cancelled which resulted in me having to sit and watch the Bears game with my mother. Loud doesn't describe it. In case you didn't know, the players can hear her through the TV so it makes perfect sense that she yells at them like they are her players. After that, I headed back to the airport to give it a second go. This time I was successful in getting on to the plane, though I had no idea what I was in store for. First, the family sitting across from me thought it would be a good idea to bring their dog on the plane. I am semi-allergic and I'm sure the man sitting next to me got quite annoyed with my sneezing. Not to mention the crying child behind me who screamed almost the entire flight. Other than that, it was lovely. Once I landed in Boston I learned that people have an extreme craze about their baggage. I had no idea that the closer you stand to the luggage carousel, the faster YOUR luggage comes. After pushing my way through the hoards of people I got both my bags and hopped a cab back to the BoCo. Sometimes I forget that we live in old brownstones and that there are no elevators. Two bags, a guitar, and carry-on later, I was on my bed almost asleep when I was alerted that my friends were heading to the cafeteria for their evening meal. I decided to join them and enjoy my first meal back at school. It was, as always, lovely. I was exhausted by the end of the night and decided it would be a bad idea for me to go and party before I unpacked. So, I unpacked, and by the time that was done, I was just ready for bed. I hit the hay early but it was much needed. Today was wonderful in that I received a new iPhone and spent 2 hours at the apple store. I could have spent all day, but I had to resist. Now I'm back in the dorm relaxing, reading, web surfing, and figuring things out for later tonight. As more and more kids filter into school, I slowly am remembering why I loved this place so much. For this semester I plan on really appreciating every person and every moment because it's all quite precious. The things we learn now are the things that we'll use for the rest of our lives, but we don't have to worry about that today, because today's not even over. One at a time, it's important to keep everything in perspective. Break was four weeks over mental cleansing and detoxing, it's time to get back to doing what I love; learning about what I love. But with all that, we have to take it one day at a time. I hope that everyone had an amazing break from whatever you were doing, and if you didn't have one, take some time and watch a movie or eat ice cream or something. Rest your mind, everyone needs to sometimes, and don't plan on having a break tomorrow, today's not even over yet!

-Matt

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