#26 See Starkid Live

It's Sunday.  The last day of summer.  The last 30 before 30 post of the summer.  I have to say this one might be the favorite from the summer!  Although if you don't know who Starkid is you might not be as excited that this happened as I am.  So let's start with the basics ;)

Starkid is a group from the University of Michigan...yes Michigan :( (Go Buckeyes!!!!!!!!!!).  In 2009, while still in school, they produced and preformed A Very Potter Musical. It was a musical adaption of the Potter books meshed together in a hilarious and thought-provoking way.  They put the production online and it was only a matter of time before it went viral.  Since then they have preformed and put online more original pieces of work as well as A Very Potter Sequel and most recently Holy Musical B@tman.

Part of BSE (Best Summer Ever) 2012 Ashely and I decided to make a return visit to Leakycon.  About a couple months before the event we were told that Starkid was going to be doing a stage reading of the third and last installment of the the Potter musicals: A Very Potter 3D: A Very Potter Senior Year.  I can't put into words how excited I was for this!  Even if it was just going to be a stage reading I was going to get to see Starkid live and I couldn't wait.

On the day of the event it was crazy.  They were pulling people in small groups at a time.  I was lucky and ended up being one of the first groups in and got okay seats.  And for those of you who don't know... "Okay is WONDERFUL!!"  But in all seriousness my seats were awesome!  When the show started they informed us that they decided they were going to do the full show...not just a stage reading!  Yes they had scripts in their hands (since they were only all together 3 days before they preformed).  Yes it was 4 1/2 hours long.  Yes it wasn't perfect.  But to me and everyone else in that room it was "All that I love and all that I need."  There were parts that I was laughing so hard it made me cry.  The end was so sweet and thoughtful that I found myself crying real tears.

I don't know how this group of amazing women and men think of shows and music and are able to put it all together in a way that makes you laugh and think.  I also don't know why more people don't know more about them!  So for those of you who have never heard of Starkid or for those of you who love them, check out the video below.  It is the very first scene from A Very Potter Musical.  It is "Totally Awesome!"

Ps- I forgot to tell you!  While at Leakycon I was able to meet them all and get their autographs.  So I was able to add them to my autograph wall in my classroom.  Also on my plane back to LA one of the members of Starkid was on it.  At baggage claim I went up to him just to say thank you for everything they did this weekend.  I don't know why I was so nervous but he was really sweet and didn't make me feel like a loser for approaching him.  And the biggie was that Tom Felton (who plays Draco Malfoy in the real Potter films) was also on my plane.  I wanted to yell out "Did someone say Draco Malfoy?" to him but I didn't...although that would have been a story, no?  

        

#28 Mother/Daughter Date

One of my mama's favorite stories about me is when people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up.  Of course there was the normal answers (teacher, work for NASA, be a mailman...well normal for me) but the one that always got adults was when I would say, "I want to be Michael Eisner when I grow up!"  I think this always threw people off guard!  I mean really...what kind of answer is that?  But if you think about it from a kid's point of view he had THE COOLEST JOB EVER!!  Yes he was the CEO of the Disney corporation when I was growing up but I didn't know that!  All I knew was that once a week before the start of the The Disney Sunday Movie he would come out and get to play with different Disney characters and then introduce the movie of the week.  Coolest job ever, right?
 

When we heard that the Ronald Regan Presidential Library was going to open a Disney exhibit we were both very excited!  We couldn't wait to go!  My friend Alison's mom is a docent of the Library and suggested that we all go together.  So not only would I get to complete my mother/daughter date I was going to get to have a double mother/daughter date!  And we had so much fun!  We met for lunch then made our way to the Library.  When we entered the exhibit I got that fun feeling that I always get when I enter Disneyland.  It was so cool and magical to see EVERYTHING!  From Walt's office to the books from the opening of Cinderella and Snow White, to the costumes from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, I loved it all!  My only complaint was I wish there was MORE!! 

Although I love my job, a part of me wishes that I could still work for Disney in some aspect!!  Maybe someone out there will find this blog and offer me a job as a voice of a Disney character!  That would be epic!

#7 Clean Out Closet

So I've said this journey is all about things I have always wanted to do, to relive, or have been putting off.  This post is about something that I have been putting off for a long time...cleaning out my closet!  You think it would have happened by now since I have moved EVERY year since 2001, but it hasn't.  So it is funny that 11 years later during a time when for the first time I am not moving that I decide to attack the closet!

It was a hard task and I found myself thinking that I might need that shirt that I haven't worn in 3 years so I should keep it.  But once I started I couldn't stop.  It was awesome!!  Now I have a clean and organized closet and I'm ready for the new school year!!

Before

Before

Before

After

After

After

In all I donated 4 bags of clothes and 1 bag of shoes.  It's a nice feeling to get rid of it and know that it will go to helping someone who needs it.

#13 See Someone New in Concert

Nothing beats live music.  But when I go to a concert I usually find myself seeing the same people over and over again (ie Kelly Clarkson).  The reason I keep seeing the same people time and time again is because they are good shows!  But the whole idea of this blog is to branch and and do things that I have always wanted to do or have been putting off!

My friend Jennifer asked me a couple of months ago if I would be interested in seeing Brad Paisley in concert at the Midstate Fair.  I love country music and have always wanted to see Brad so I said yes in a heartbeat!  Jen got us great tickets, we were half way back center on the floor.  Easton Corbin and The Band Perry were the opening acts.  They were fabulous and a concert in themselves, but Brad.  Brad puts on one hell of a show.  It was nonstop action; all his best songs!  The best part was that half way through the show Brad ran into the crowd and jumped up on this box that was four rows in front of us!  He preformed two songs there and it was so crazy that he was that close to us!  Oh and now could I forget...Carrie Underwood came out to perform "Remind Me" with Brad!  Such an amazing and unforgettable show!!  Thanks Jen for making #13 come true!

Easton Corbin

The Band Perry

Trust me...that's Carrie

#25 Visit the Peter Pan Statue

I have always loved the story of Peter Pan (that is probably obvious if you just look at this blog)!  What kid wouldn't?  The idea of never growing up and having an adventure everyday is every kids' dream!  The thing is that most kids do grow up and that is great.  But the sad thing is that when they grow up they forget that it is okay to still have an imagination and to still have fun.  So that is where I differ from most kids.  I "grew up" but not completely!  When we were planning our trip to the UK Ashley asked me what I wanted to do and see.  I told her that I the only thing we HAD to do was visit the Peter Pan statue at Kensington Gardens.  When I visited a couple of years ago with my sister I didn't get the opportunity and I was sad that we didn't.  So I'm glad that I made it this trip!

#1 Sew Something

*This post is a bit late (as I completed the task on June 13th) but because what I was making was a surprise for a friend I couldn't blog about it until she got the present!*

I wouldn't consider myself a crafty person.  I just don't have that gene.  But I am always coming up with ideas, especially for awesome Halloween costumes, that I want to make.  The job always falls to my mama to make what I have envisioned.  So when doing a 30 list what better item to put on then sew something (notice that it was the first idea that I came up with)!

My friend Ashley (who is pretty amazing with a sewing machine) gave me the perfect opportunity to complete #1.  We were leaving for the UK in a couple of weeks and we had planned to spend the first week with our friend Maggie.  We wanted to bring her little gifts to thank her for letting us take over her house!  Ashley found this pattern for a super cute apron.  Since we are all BIG Dr. Who fans we decided to change it a bit and morph it into a Tardis!

Ashley walked me through the basics of the sewing machine and then put me to work.  I was a bit nervous that I would ruin it and we would have to start all over, but Ashley is a good teacher and was very patient with me and it started to look like a Tardis apron!  I let Ashley do the more complicated parts but I am very proud at how it turned out!   

#14 Do something EPIC at school

I may be bias but I work at one of the BEST places with the BEST coworkers!  Alice C. Stelle is a great school with such a supportive staff and we all get along really well.  They also put up with my crazy antics daily!  Last year when I receive my pink slip for like the 100th time, I was tired of being sad and upset about it.  So I created a bucket list of everything that I had to do before I could possible have to leave Stelle forever :(  And my fabulous staff went along with it and helped me complete it.  From doing a science experiment to helping at the crosswalk and being the voice of the morning announcements they helped turn the stressful time into fun!

So when I started to put together this 30 before 30 list I knew that I wanted to include my work family into my celebration of my last year in my 20s!  And what better way to do that then do the most epic and exciting thing that Stelle has ever seen?  The only question was...what could that possibly be?  Since my birthday is in May I didn't see this item getting done before the end of the school year...Then I talked to my friend Lisa.  Lisa is my yearbook counterpart at A.E. Wright middle school.  We were talking about the end of the year slideshows that we have to put on for our schools when she said that she was going to try to get some of her guy teachers to pretend to be the boy band One Direction and make a music video.  For those of you who aren't a teenage girl or don't work at a middle school One Direction is like the *Nsync or Backstreet Boys of the time and SUPER popular (but don't tell the girls that...they like to think this whole boy band thing is something they discovered)!  I knew this was something that had to be done at Stelle as well and with Lisa's blessing I set out to recruit the guys.




Remember how I said that I have the best coworkers?  They guys all signed on without me having to do much convincing and what started out as "I'll just come to your classroom and film you singing a couple lines at your desk" quickly turned into much more!  They guys soon took over and before I knew it we were going to do it all at lunch in the MPR after Renaissance Faire.  There would be a green screen to make it look like we were at the ocean like the actual music video and we would have to be in costume.

We filmed the whole thing in 45 minutes on May 16th and then came the hard part...keeping it a secret from the kids until June 8th when the 8th graders would be the first to see it.  And I have to say how proud I am of everyone...It was a total surprise to EVERYONE!!!  Even my yearbook students.  After the 30 minute slideshow ended the 8th graders were cheering and then came the surprise.  I started with a bunch of slides to try to quiet the students down from the cheering so they could hear the surprise.  It was so cute to see the students interacting with the slides.  One said, "are you ready?" and the whole 8th grade class yelled..."Yes!"  Then the music video started and it was so funny, the students really didn't know how to react.  This is the first time in the history of these slideshows that we have done anything like this.  They went from not knowing what was going on to laughter and cheers.  At the end of the video I have never heard cheers as loud as I did then.  I am so proud that we pulled it off and the response from the students was priceless.  All the guys and myself were having students come up to us telling us how cool it was and what a surprise it was.  In the words of one student, "That, Ms. Dickinson, was EPIC!"  Mission Accomplished!!


*As of now we are not putting the video up online.  But...they guys are thinking about it and if they all decide that it is okay, I'll put the video up!  For now here is the video of the student's reactions!!  Enjoy!