an inspired monday

somewhere in the deep gears of the universe, things are slowly grinding forward. i can feel it. change is afoot. good things are about to happen.

now, i've said this before, after which not much happened. but in the last few days, i've hung with an extremely cool (even though she technically isn't) person. i've watched talent from the sidelines, but been no less awed. and i've witnessed an event that i'm still not sure how to describe, but me being me, i'll try.

first up, if you've followed my blog you know i have a fabulous crit partner named ellen.

what you don't know is that she's a nerd.

no, it's true. i didn't believe it before yesterday, but she proved me wrong. without giving too much away, ellen heard about a tv show that's looking for nerds. she emailed them. a short while later, a casting director called her and asked her to send in a video.

yesterday we made said video.

not only can the girl recite Pi to 50 some numbers (at motormouth speed), but she owns a Lord of the Rings cloak, evenstar necklace, elf pin thingy, and a one ring. i don't want to give too much away (when she's allowed to blog about it, i'll post the video), but after all the filming, after she pulled crazy outfit after crazy outfit from a giant suitcase "this is my ren fair outfit.." "this is my steampunk outfit..." "harry potter..." "vampire goth..." i realized: nerdiness is AWESOME.

not that i hadn't previously know this, but watching ellen perform an entire scene from Princess Bride drove it home. "nerdiness" is a uniquely pursued, thoroughly enjoyed, totally geeky, passion for life. it made me regret all the times i've felt shiftless or bored. why wasn't i watching Red vs Blue, the online video series that's set in Halo? or getting lost in online vampire roll playing games? why wasn't i wearing costumes and going to weird gatherings with other costume clad people?

well, because that's what made Ellen's inner nerd shine. it felt like time to unearth mine.

speaking about passion for life, how better to observe it than by watching someone practice their craft and be really freakin' excellent at it? remember my friend kevin?

kevin's best friend, Sam, is in this acapella competition on NBC called The Sing Off. Sam's group is comprised of solo artists from Nashville. in real life, he's half of the group Sam and Ruby. i saw them live in NYC. the performance floored me.

now, behind the scenes alert, sam didn't want to be on The Sing Off. maybe the world breaks down into two kinds of people, those that would like to be on reality television (go get 'em, crit partner. whoop whoop) and those that wouldn't like to be on reality television (hi sam).  but last night after work, i watched sam's group's performances. they're called The Collective on the show. and squeamishness about reality tv or not, their voices need to be heard.

here's Ruby killing it:

here's Sam soloing in the middle. i forgot how much i love his voice:

if only we all had platforms where what we do best is seen and heard. watching sam and ruby bring it on tv made me long for that publication date. for sending out a draft that doesn't come back requiring massive edits. for finally having people read my words and inhabit my stories.

but you know what? it's not all about me. GASP! that's right. i saw it first hand when i wandered down to Zuccotti Park to take a look at the Occupy Wall Street protesters.

i was away when the protest began. my friend read a little bit about it to me from a facebook post. she said, "it looks like a bunch of rich kids who can't get jobs are protesting on wall street." we both scoffed and then went off to have more drinks and tapas. gotta love self-indulgent scoffing.

when i came home, another friend told me she marched with the protesters. she said it was mind blowing, the most important movement and protest to date of our lives so far. huh. i needed to see for myself.

i came away with mixed feelings. on one hand, it is rich kids that can't find jobs:

lobbying to end lobbying.

on the other it is a massive, messy, broadly missioned, energetic collective that isn't happy with the way things work. instead of just privately bellyaching, they're trying to change things. will it work? who knows. but it's grass roots, it's persistent and it's, i hope, for the good of all of us.  (yes, i fell pray to that 99% sloganism.)

all three of these events have left me with that butterflies in the stomach feeling. i'm interpreting it as change is a comin'. though maybe the correct read is: corrie, you can make change a come.

either way. it felt terrific to be around these all very different, very inspiring worlds and people.