projectSERAPHIC’s blog

130 mph winds.
Two dead, thirty injured.
$150 million to $200 million dollars worth of damage.
The first to touch ground in Atlanta in 30 years.

What was I doing?

Going between a drumline day camp
and a Palm Sunday Mass lectoring rehearsal.

Hail, darkness, and Taco Bell. :)
Half an hour in the boys locker room for evacuation.
Desperate attempts to overbalance raining baseballs on the gym.

Ahhhhh, but then it was clear.
The rest of the day spent facing another storm....of toddlers.
Parker and I's only weapon? Rockband.
But we took hostage -- Chloe, of the canine sorts,
and they surrendered.

boy. :)

5 months ago,

      this boy
didn't just change my life,
he gave me life.

 A life where
music
art
love
family
and life...
are everything.

Parker Hyde
is my
everything. <3

WGI logo

WGI  - Roebuck, South Carolina Regional:
Forsyth Central Drumline, Prelims: 1st place: 82.5
                                          Finals:   1st Place: 83.7

Chilling winds toppled over an entire pit in the lot, and almost blew one drumline's floor away.
FORSYTH CENTRAL DRUMLINE TO THE RESCUE.
Teamwork -- the only way to get things done.
      Too bad the only teamwork we had was with other drumlines, not our own.
Time penalties resulted in our battery kids screaming and pushing the pit off the floor.

The rehearsal inbetween started off with a seizurely collapse on my part.
A rigid fall straight back from my keyboard to the floor.
Mr. Tucker, the parents, the drumline. My biggest audience, my biggest fear -- realized.
Twitching, sweating, shaking, unconcsciousness, forgetfullness.
Parker dropped his drum, but was not permitted to come to my aid.
Glucose tablets had no effect, the only thing to do was wait.

Otherwise it ws standard trip of drumline nonsense.
I-Spy books. Mountain Dew Lime Wire. House via Parker's iPod.

What's next for us?
A couple of day camps for the couple of weekends we have off.
Then, it's off to Tennessee for the WGI Nashville Regional.
Out first full show with props and actors.

Woo.

...and you always know when you're going down.

Just when you think you've beat it, it beats you.
Conscious failing, you freeze --
                                 you fall --
                                       you forget.

BLACKOUT.

You come to, centered in the circle of awe-struck faces.
Get out.
       Get up.
             Get a grip.
Stand up, shake it out, smile it off.

DISTRACTION.

Don't let them think it wasn't just another mere mishap.
Don't let them see that you're losing the will to fight the pain.
Don't let them know that it's eating away at you from the inside, out.

Uh Oh

How much longer now? 

SAPA logo

Our SAPA standings so far:

2-2-08: Pope H.S. Competition
Score - 80.10 [1st Place]

2-23-08: Chattahoochee Competition
Score - 84.00 [1st Place]

3-1-08: Sawnee Mountain Invitational [HOSTED!]
Score - 87.02 [1st Place]

      Next SAPA performance? ... CHAMPIONSHIPS on 4/5/08!

Next stop?

WGI Spartanburg Regional @ Roebuck, SC.
The
big
stuff.

FC Drumline logo

Pills Left

The Diagnosis:
Bacterial Flu.
and...
STOMACH ULCER.

The Treatment:
Z-Pak.
Tessalon.
Randinitine.

The Side Effects:
Dizziness.
Drowsiness.
Confusion.
and...
The usual hell of having a stomach ulcer.

[day seven.]

blehhhhh.

...down
with
the
sickness.

my head throbs.
my vision blurs.
my throat screams.
my chest heaves.
my stomach closes.
my limbs crumble.

tylenol.
advil.
iburofen.
zyrtec.
mucinex.
midol.

flu.
bronchitis?
upper respiratory infection?
menstration.
HELL.

[day three.]

What a peculiar invention, know?
 

Dippin Dots

"Dippin' Dots is an ice cream snack, invented by Southern Illinois University Carbondale graduate Curt Jones in 1987. The confection is created by flash freezing ice cream mix in liquid nitrogen; consequently, Dippin' Dots contain less air than conventional ice cream. The resulting small spheres of ice cream are stored at temperatures ranging from 20 to 70 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (from -29°C to -57°C). The marketing slogan is "Ice Cream of the Future".

The company, headquartered in Paducah, Kentucky, does not sell its product in stores such as supermarkets. On its official website, the company notes that its product requires storage at temperatures below 20 degrees Fahrenheit (about -18°C), which is considerably colder than standard home freezers. Dippin' Dots are sold in individual servings at franchised outlets, many in stadiums, shopping malls, and in vending machines. Many theme parks such as Six Flags, Cedar Fair, PARC Management, SeaWorld, stadiums and arenas also sell Dippin' Dots. The ice cream is also sold over the Internet for delivery to homes and businesses. Despite predictions of becoming the "Ice Cream of the Future," Dippin' Dots has yet to make a significant dent in the market share of standard ice cream companies.

Several competing beaded ice-cream lines have been introduced in recent years, including Mini Melts (sold at their stores) and Molli-Coolz (available through retail stores, such as Costco, and as "Z-Bops" through Schwan's delivery service). Some of these competing brands are similar to Dippin' Dots in shape or size, and differ in that they use specific ingredients to keep the beads from adhering to one another, in contrast to Dippin' Dots, which are kept at sub-zero temperatures to keep the beads separate and free-flowing.

The company has a line of novelties called Dot Delicacies made by combining the Dippin' Dots ice cream with other snack foods. A dotwich is an icecream sandwhich made by combining Dippin' Dots and fudge and placing between two cookies. Milk shakes, sundaes and ice cream floats are also sold at many locations. The company also has a line of ice cream cakes sold only at its franchised retail stores.

Dippin' Dots Franchising, Inc. is the franchise division of the company. The company sells franchise rights to sell Dippin' Dots ice cream at retail stores in the U.S.

Dippin' Dots Global, Inc. represents the company in markets outside the U.S. and its territories. Dippin' Dots are produced in Seoul, South Korea for distribution throughout the Pacific Rim. The company maintains a distribution center in Melbourne, Australia as well.

Dippin' Dots were patented, but the patent was found to be fraudulent in February of 2007. Dippin' Dots had sued other competitors (most former Dippin' Dots dealers) alleging trade dress infringement on the shape of the multicolored ice cream bits, and that lawsuit, Dippin' Dots, Inc. v. Frosty Bites Distribution, LLC aka Mini Melts, was also unsuccessful. The jury found for the defendants more on the validity of the original patent than on the actual infringement accusations. The jury's decision was primarily based on a finer point of patent law. The defense alleged that Jones attempted patent fraud by not disclosing that he sold the ice cream prior to a year before applying for the patent, despite IRS instruction that Jones' sales were done for research purposes only. The litigation continues to be in the appeals process.

Dippin' Dots, as the originators of the beaded ice cream concept, are featured quite often in the media. The ice cream has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey show, Food TV, and The Travel Channel. It was most recently featured on Gene Simmons Family Jewels on A&E Network. Dippin' Dots was recently the title sponsor for the "Celebrity Grand Slam Paddle Jam" celebrity ping pong tournament in Hollywood. Proceeds went to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. The company is also a contributor to the charity Give Kids the World Village in Kissimmee, Florida."
[Wikipedia...I know, not the most reliable of sources]

Le Voyage

 Your answers are
nowhere far from me,
Now come and see,
come to me.
Oh, why do you leave?
What do you need?
You're already home.
Where do you go?
How will I know
if I can follow you there?
So your answers will always be
nowhere far from me.
[:

They find us standing here under the curtain of uncertaintity
And they're telling us that all the world's a stage
And while they forget their lines, we know how to improvise
And baby, us together gives them a show

Because we can face the crowd, dance around, sing aloud
And still know who we are.

Grow

.