Rootwire Arts & Music Festival 2010

Well, friends, we have reached the end of the first Rootwire Arts and Music Festival hosted by Papadosio. My only regret is that I didn't take more photos. I suppose I was having too good of a time absorbing the experiences firsthand to hide behind a camera documenting said experiences all weekend.

I am ecstatic to say that I was able to participate in the festivities as a volunteer this year. I started out flyering and spreading the word about Papadosio and Rootwire during Camp Bisco and in Columbus in the weeks leading up to the festival. I joined other volunteers the Thursday before liftoff to make signs and Tshirts, and perform other odd jobs that were necessary to bring it all together before Friday. I sporadically (wo)manned the Happy Helping (first aid and lost & found) Tent along with the front gate, and participated in other odd jobs such as errands to the outside world and trash duty. And in everything that I did, I was thanked, appreciated, and rewarded. There was nothing thankless at all about the work I put in this weekend, which made the work I did that much more enjoyable.

Although the weekend was exhausting, it was a rewarding experience full of love, dedication and community. The musical and visual artists, performers, participants, and organizers all came together to share a glorious weekend, and everyone played a role in making this festival memorable. The installations, decorations, performances, and art showed all festival-goers that this festival was for their pleasure and enjoyment. I'll probably never successfully remember all of the activities going on over the weekend, but they included guided morning yoga, environmental workshops, glass-blowing demonstrations, hoopers, fire dancers, acrobats, knife-jugglers, star gazing with telescopes, user-friendly and hands-on art installations, and lots of badass music all weekend long. It wasn't a Lollapalooza or even a Bonnarroo, bent ultimately on the bottom-line and the almighty dollar.

The most positive aspect of Rootwire was the feeling of community it created. Everyone was working for the benefit of everyone else, and that is a feeling you don't get at the big festivals and shows. I think this moment was solidified for me when I saw Jessy on the first night, and Alyese on the second night, tirelessly carrying the heavy flaming lanterns from one end of Kaeppner's pond to the other, just so we could look at their beauty floating on the water. Every person who was able to lend a helping hand did so, often times even if they were not technically a volunteer. Things would get stressful, tasks would pile up, chaos would ensue, but by the end of the night I would see Annie, Kim, Jess, Alyese, Grace, Katie, Jessy, Ed, Julia and others smiling, dancing and soaking in the positivity that the festival had to offer "by the light of the stars."

I know that because of the overwhelming positive feedback from this year's festival goers, attendance next year is going to go up. Those of us who were lucky enough to be a part of Rootwire's first go are always going to look back fondly at this year's festival and talk nostalgically "remember when..." about the vibes of the 2010 experience and about how close-knit the community became. So many faces at each show were familiar ones, and walking from the front stage back through Magreenery Woods felt like walking through a forest planted with friends. By the end of the weekend, those you didn't know before became new friends, and the bonds between old acquaintances were solidified, whether it was at the front gate at 9am or the dance tent at 5am. I am truly, truly grateful to have been a part of it all. Rootwire 2010 and its workers and participants will remain in my heart forever. I cannot wait for 2011 and the chance to make this festival happen once again.

Thank you guys for making this possible, especially Ed (pictured left) who put this all together from the get-go. I will miss everyone who heads out to Asheville, NC to continue pursuing the dream.

And now I am off to sleep for an entire weekend's worth of hours, because I have never been so exhausted in my life and I already started my new waitressing job at the sushi joint yesterday right after the festival. Needless to say, that was a little rough, and tomorrow they might have to train me from scratch all over again.

Obligatory Unemployment Update

This is not going to be an insightful post, but I want to get back in the habit of posting in response to articles, politics, books, etc., so check back later if that is what you're into. If you want to hear an update of my life, just keep reading faithful friends...

Festies
I have been having dreams about festivals nearly nightly. I did get to go to Camp Bisco after all, and it was the best festival I have ever been to, despite the fact that none of my close friends were in attendance. I got to know my travel buddies (Jessy and Ed) right quick. Jessy and I spend most of the sleep-deprived 12-hour car ride bonding over our similarities and differences. So hooray for new friends! And hooray for awesome music! I missed a couple of performances I really wanted to see, but I did get to catch Pretty Lights, Beats Antique, Major Lazer, Eskmo, Bassnectar, Thievery Corporation, Orchard Lounge, LCD Soundsystem, some Album Leaf and of course was rocking Silent Disco nightly.
So Camp Bisco did really satisfy my festival needs, although my dreams seem to suggest otherwise, and I still will be going to Papadosio's Rootwire Music Festival next weekend. That might have to be it for the summer, as my funds are dwindling away to nothing. Perhaps I will make it to SummerDance at Nelson's Ledges though, I love that venue, and I know many of my friends will be there. Will you?

The Job Hunt
Yes, it rages on. My CV is my most-opened document on my computer and I have nauseated myself with endless cover letters. I have gotten more and more desperate to find something, anything, that will be reasonable for employment. I have not yet closed the door on the possibility for the San Diego Americorps/USPIRG position, but as I said in a previous entry, it doesn't pay enough to sustain California life. Today I have applied to a sushi restaurant in Columbus, and the Ohio branch of the Universal Health Care Action Network. I emailed some OU folk to express my interest in returning to teach (I would probably only get 1 or 2 classes, if I'm lucky, and there might not be available openings even every quarter). Things are getting desperate.

Thesis
It's available online! Check it out here!

Other Happenings
I am not at liberty to share all of my current activities here at this time. I have been visiting various friends and I want to especially plug Alix Reese here, who is such a trooper, and such a joy to visit, despite how sad her current situation is. She is still full of life, totally with it, and funny as ever. She is at the Cleveland Clinic now, getting a pacer put in so that hopefully she will be able to get her voice back up and running again. Lip reading has been challenging, but Alix and her family are very encouraging, telling me that I am actually really good at it. I wish Alix all the best of luck in her upcoming operations, and I hope you will too. If you are a friend of Alix, please take some time to visit her at the Regency Hospital when she is back. Morning visits are the best. We could even go together!
I'm still working on that article with my advisor, and my part of the deal is almost over. So I went through with it, and some day soon people may be citing me! (Whitson and Myers 2011). Hell yes....

Old Friends

...as in friends I have had for a long time, not 60-year-old companions.

Isn't it great when you spend years apart from an old friend, and when you finally reunite, you pick up right where you left off? Sometimes you meet up with someone you haven't seen in a while, and it is just awkward. You interests have taken dramatic turns away from one another, your lifestyle or beliefs have drifted worlds apart, and trying to recap the years in between becomes more of a chore than a natural-flowing conversation. Luckily, I have had a couple of long-lasting friendships that emulate the former.

I am not always the best at keeping up with friends. I do enjoy talking on the phone and catching up with people, but more often than not, one has to call me for that to happen. Maybe it is part of being an only child that doesn't have me itching form immediate human communication when I find myself alone for an extended period of time. Luckily, I think many of my friends are the same way, so it isn't taken as a big offense when I haven't contacted them in a while. Plus, it makes for great conversation fodder when we do reunite. Blogging has also been a way to keep in touch with people, especially when they have blogs I can follow as well. In fact, that is definitely the number two perk of blogging, next to the cathartic experience it provides.

When I went to Lollapalloza last year, I met up with Jessica, a friend from High School who was living in Chicago for the summer. Despite the radically different surroundings we both found ourselves in, and despite the fact that we certainly have changed, I found myself slipping back into old mannerisms and cracking the same kind of jokes I would have 6 years ago. The conversation just rolled between us as we talked about everything we might have in the past. It had probably only been a short time since our last visit, but every time we are separated, we seem to go right back to where we left off.

Last week I went to Akron with Kim to visit Lizzy, one of my closest friends and former roomates from undergrad who has been jetsetting about the world, making it hard to always maintain contact. She moved to Washington for and internship, and it feels like she has been gone ever since, moving to Portland, OR, then Costa Rica and now Colorado. I got to visit her last spring break in Portland, and just like these other cases, it was like we were never apart. She met me at the airport with a hot chai, and took me around Portland to show me her life there. I spent time with Audrey as well, another good friend and roomate from college. It is so refreshing to know that these friendships can continue to thrive, despite time and distance apart. Visiting Lizzy in Akron-well, technically Bath, OH- felt just like it did when I went there all those years ago. Lizzy played the part of the ever-so-capable-stick-shift-driving-chauffeur, and even though we had never previously been to a Cleveland Indians game together before, she, Kim and I rehashed things just like old times.

Yesterday I met up with another friend from middle/high school, Leslie. I hadn't seen Leslie for about 3 years, and that was only one evening. Before that, it had certainly been another 3 years since we had really been together. She greeted me by saying that I looked the exact same as 3 years ago (and I get that a lot), and I would have to say she hadn't really changed either. It took a minute to negotiate where we would go, now that we're all grown up and back in Columbus. We decided to head to Surly Girl Saloon in the Short North, a place we had both been introduced to only recently. Go there, by the way, it is incredible. Definitely has a feel like the cantina Dandy del Sur I visited in Tijuana, (here's a song about it by Nortec Collective) but obviously a bit more high brow. A local street fest rendered that space insane, and we found ourselves wandering around, looking for another place to go. We ended up at Bodega, a bar/cafe in the Short North that serves a scrumptious beer selection. After one glass of liquid courage, we were chatting away like old friends once again, about anything and everything. While we tried to steer our conversations about the new happenings in our lives, we would inevitably make connections to the old times, which led to a lot of laughs. Leslie and I came together in our formative years, and I believe that we had a lot of influence on one another and how we have turned out to this day. It was so nice to feel at ease with her, instead of sitting awkwardly, searching for things to say. And since I am trying to make my way out west, it looks as though we might end up closer than we thought if her LA and my San Diego plans pan out.

And speaking of old friends, I will be going with Leslie tomorrow to see Alix in the hospital. Alix is still in similar conditions that I described in an earlier post, after stray gunfire hit her in the neck and spinal cord. But I keep hearing that she is in good spirits, and I am excited to go visit. I know it will be emotionally draining, but it will be good to see her. I hope I can come up with something nice to bring for her.