“TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood…”

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Harry Brake

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When the interesting point was made by the Baker that perhaps the path had strayed from Little Red Riding Hood, the whole premise for seeing things differently is set.  In one’s life, you seem to only realize too late you have ONE, only one chance to do things in a unique way, and usually, this involves looking back wishing you would have done something differently to make a small, and sometimes, a large difference.  Many people I have found will criticize others, letting them know they feel they take on too much, or “Why do you do those when that is certainly NOT your job?” and yet – you do only have one chance and do over’s are difficult and rare to come by.  I have found in my own life, the tedious and countless projects (at first) I have taken on, said yes to, well in looking back, I am so glad I have done so.  Yes, hectic.  Yes, tired.  Yes, sometime endless. yet, God-willing, 40 years from now I will look back and see the individuals I have met, the experiences I have had, and the chances I have had to help others, and realize, yes – this is why and it meant something.

As a librarian, as a son, and as an educator, I felt the only way to survive, to break new ground, and never be placed in the category of obsolete and stereotyped as anything with the word “typical”, is to take the initiative and always approach everything with creativity.  (yes, even bankers can be creative if they want to be!)  In that lesson instilled in me from my father – who was, believe it or not, one of the quietest men ever, I realized, everything we do, if we approach it with the absolute best and creative means, the rewards come back ten-fold.  This lesson has never escaped me.

So what happens when you see a cast that has done the very same thing on and off stage as in Into the Woods?  You see individuals willing to take risks, preparing for the world behind high school with what they are doing now, and you see heart in the music, in the makeup, in the set, in the direction, in the acting, in the costumes, in the lighting, and yes, in the unexpected that occurs. Seeing every show is not a task and never has been, it has been the privilege of seeing a cast grow into roles, grow together as a family in one final hurrah of production, and see parents beaming not just because of this performance, but because of the amazing culmination of talent and creativity – and such is the case with Into the Woods.

Out of all the lines from Into the Woods, dropping the words, “Brother, someone is going to get fired today!” and “And take your dead ones too!” – what might be internal jokes to some, are very true to the laughter of those attending Friday’s performance, and the example of taking something, incorporating into part of your experience, and creating something even more powerful. THAT is the artist at work, and Friday April 10th’s performance sealed the fact that Into the Woods goes down the path many might initially avoid and yet, truly taking that path “…has made all the difference.”  Bravo Into the Woods team, bravo!

Juliana G. – From the very first preview show, Little Red Riding Hood appears with spunk, bravado and sense of strength that puts fear into many.  Yet, her gentleness and innocence is right there under the surface, and you are able feel that thanks to the power brought to tipis character Friday – easy to look forward to every time she steps onto the stage and ready to laugh when faced with confrontation. A huge impact on this musical while managing to suppress laughter when an improvised bird kicked the bucket  🙂

Alexa – While certainly will not be just remembered for her quick thinking when birds drop  from the sky in death, Alexa’s adaptability to so much, including slippers, pitch, and all the while, the ability to maintain a voice, that causes your heart to TREMOR with emotion, and tears to rise to your eyes – that is the power Alexa brings to this role and she absolutely, positively just did in to the 100th degree Friday again.  So much that the role is not simply the princess, but the navigator of our emotions throughout the play.

Alexander D – Not only as the play progresses, but in EVERY PRODUCTION, Alex is able to get stronger as a person throughout he baker, and it is impossible to miss.  You anticipate this happening thanks to the energy, the confidence and the characteristics of becoming a father past when his child gets older, he becomes a father in the here and now by the end thanks to the strength he slowly lets rise in this character as seen Friday.  Even more so, you see the Baker become a father to Jack while awaiting a dreaded confrontation, and this seals the deal of what Alex is able to bring to this role in Into the Woods.

Sofia – Expressions are everything, and Sofia no matter if a sister or Sleeping Beauty brings the reality to her character absolute.  The tendency is to stay focused on characters right in front of you, but pay careful attention to Sofia’s role in both, and you will see why she adds such a superb contribution to Into the Woods.

Ana Paula – Ana’s ability to turn the character of  Snow White or as an evil sister – into a smug and perfect match is ideal.  She matches the demeanor of Sofa G perfectly, and yet stands on her own as an individual character. You need to pay attention to her in and out of the spotlight as it adds flavor to an great production.

Tamara – Unexpected incidents, expressions, and dialogue make what you would think a secondary or mini character become much more. Paying attention to her before during, and after the attempts to win over the prince are PRICELESS and worth their merit.  You can only imagine the roles that await in the future based on her expressions, ability to make a character complement the plot, and work so well as a team character – Friday’s performance was her best yet.

Arturo – Amazing for reasons seen and not seen.  Having the ability to strut bravado in just the right way to get an audience’s reaction, saying the right words the right away for the absolute best reactions from the audience and literally, seeing Arturo the same night, appearing in front of the JV winning team talking to his teammates right after this production, this says alot about what Arturo and can willing will do on and off stage.

Sofia – Revisiting the role of Rapunzel from the preview night, her screaming scams amid running, as well as her distress over her hair being stolen, pulled, and used as a leash sometimes by her mother – she is able to get a reaction out of the prince and the audience perfectly.  You wait for her to run across the back of the stage and anticipate it – that is how good she is able to bring this role to light.

Susanne – Initially coming off as a very passive, stay at home mother who has little backbone except with her son, Susanne times moments to slowly become more and more aggressive in her role perfectly as Jack’s mother.  Standing up to the giant, as well as passing on sage words advice to the audience after her son, Susanne easily rolls out who Jack’s mother is and who you imagine her to be.

Jorge – Slapstick comedy as well as machismo – you have it all tuned to the perfect setting. Be it a microphone looking for a tongue-lashing or an audience to win over, no problem,  Jorge is able to do so and has had that ability since the first showing, and in tune with Arturo, you are listening to stereo with his role – absolutely.

Isabel – The rhythm and pace she is able to keep up with explaining the bean saga to the baker and wife, the ability to seamlessly inflict gentleness, as well as wickedness, and then turn to exasperation – yeah all in one play. Her voice is commanding, strong, and directed to the moment at hand.  You can see and hear her confidence flow as thick as the mist on stage, and as a result, it is easy to see how Isabel is a dominant force on stage and so far in all the productions.

Lucia – Truly as the grandmother of Grandmothers, Lucia has increasingly brought this  role to life at every successive show.  She is able to truly activate the Wolf scene to its fullest and continues to remind you in consequent scenes what she brings to this role and to Into the Woods as a whole.  The attention you pay to her on and off the main stage will pay itself back as she keeps the story going when she is speaking as well as through her actions.

Ana – Unless you see multiple shows, it is difficult to appreciate the quality that lies in a character’s role.  And yet, here it is and evident in Fridays show.  The growing confidence was evident in Friday’s performance and setting the narrator as an authority in Into the Woods became the fact Friday.  Expressions, slowing the dialogue down, and the fluidity of the narrator with the other characters made this character what it is Friday!

Lucia S. – Truly a storybook role, Lucia is able to take all the elements of emotion, control, feeling neglected, being manipulated or being the manipulator, to the highest level and bring the audience with her.  Add into the mix a voice that adds a level of emotion hat can;t be registered, and you have a carrying force of the success of Into the Woods.

Natalia – Holy step mother….exactly.  Her attitude, yet a gentleness she brings to this role while being completely infuriating – it works well.  The expressions that go beyond her attire and makeup reinforce that she is a survivor and is hauling her daughters along too for the survival trip.  There is a reason she is no one of the offerings to the giant!

Nicolas– The spontaneous feeling you get from his reactions to Little Red Riding Hood, and as the Giant are done so well – and are a guarantee you will walk away with moments of hilarity, even at the end sucking in as much applause is possible.  Nicolass’ very personality on stage sets his roles to be anticipated; the salute he will issue as the giant and complementing as many characters around him appears easy due to his comfortable appearance on stage, none more evident than in Friday’s show.

Pablo – His ability to hit you sideways with talent is uncanny and powerful.  Between his presence when he is not speaking, the ability to project his voice to your very heart and ears, as well as transforming into wanting to be a man and still playing the role of a son wanting a father, then a mother, his ability to multiply his presence was very much evident in Friday’s performance.  His presence only enhances the depth of Into the Woods.

Pablo – It is easy to write off this character as a here and there narrator to push the characters along.  Pablo did not let the character do this in Friday’s performance and in the culminating scenes, he becomes the father that Alex has become, and he has done so with emphasis on the points he gets to to Alex.  His slow and methodic spirit-like movements work to accompany this role across to the audience.

Pedro – Not failing the role he has in this character, he takes charge of being in control when the prince is not around. Since the first show, he is gaining and exerting more authority as the man in charge when the “man in charge” is not around, inflicting results on Jack’s mother and serving as gate keeper to the princess. He will be so interesting to see what roles he will take in the future, from eyeing how he breathes life into his current role as steward.

Ximena V. – Again, playing Florinda, you look at the role of sister and think, okay, secondary role.  Her comments, attitude, and yes, even head rolling while having hair braided – all make this anything but a secondary role thanks to her energy and detail to every action, expression, and how she carries herself on stage.  This continues to grow and was very easy to see in Friday’s performance.

What you see on stage is a reflection, and then some, of the work the makeup led by Paloma, costumes, Tech Club, Director Alvaro Cervino, and Managers Teruhi Yoshioka, Hugo Cabrera, Rosana Cesarman, a great lighting company,  all have decided to place their lives for the last 5-6 months on hold and move foreword with letting the spotlight on so many amazing cast members, and it was truly 100% authentic in gratitude how the Into the Woods cast recognize those members and those that can’t step onto the stage at the end of the show.  Creativity abounds but it definitely abounds on the set of Into the Woods thanks to the family that was created through creativity and inspiration.  You can see all the shows of Into the Woods, and should and still will not be able to grab enough!  Grab your seat for April 16th at 5:00 PM and hold on!

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Into the Woods Gala – GIANT Realizations Brought Front Stage and Center

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Harry Brake

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Anyone attending the preview show yesterday for Into the Woods, AND the Gala on April 9th would know there was something a mist (sorry, bad joke, AMIDST really) .   Yet, as the mist did reel in, you could almost feel the confidence that yes, this was a creation that would show the cast of Into the Woods was confident, was creative, and told not only a story of what can occur in your life when you wish for something, but when you make that wish a reality, as every cast member did BOTH Wednesday and Thursday.  As I tend to do with roll call, let’s try that again and you will see the power of creativity flowing from every cast member –

Alejandra D – EVERY SINGLE TIME you thought you had her figured out as a shy Little Red Riding Hood, she turned a corner and even without brandishing a knife, you couldn’t help but love the spunk and feistiness she brought to what it meant to be defending your “hood” as she easily owned this character – and yes, she packs a plenty loud scream  🙂

Alexa – I have said it before and will not be afraid to say it again, when you have a voice that flows then dives right through you, touches your heart and leaves you for more – what more could you want?  Alexa’s powerful, mesmerizing, and absolutely stunning voice does not disappoint in bringing out what you want, being able to feel this musical – and feel it you do when you let yourself grab onto every note Alexa is willing to share and enchant the audience with – a showstopper absolutely and leaving you hungry for just one more song, please.

Alexander D – He certainly transforms right in front of you and lets you journey with him on that transformation, from visiting his past, present, and future, the second half combines what you thought you knew about the baker and “mixes” it up and created a brand new character.  Alex’s ability to steer this character to increasingly become stronger is only one of many talents you will see in Into the Woods, this is what great memories are made of.

Ana P – As a young actress Ana Paula brings on the determination, the forwardness, and the perfect mixture of haughtiness to make sure this character, when reappearing, will not stop putting a smile on her face.  Wishing I could FORGET her ability to consume part of her foot (you have to see it) she is perfect as Florinda and brings this character to light in just the way you would want to see her.

Arturo  – In an old series called Happy Days, the black leather jacket made The Fonz.  Arturo’s glasses and his perfect and sometimes predicted Dukes of Hazzard jump through the structures to announce his handsomeness?  – He owns this character and as a result many bouts of laughter will ensue as he easily takes this character and shows what it means to go through bouts of agony and figure out how to deal with Rapunzel  (he does try).

Caroline – Her golden hair fits her to a “T” – and I had to laugh when she stood up to her mother when she was challenged about why she was so upset – I felt Caroline has more ability to come out bolder as this character and believe in the next shows you are going to see Rapunzel continue to take on increasingly more character and definition as Caroline, who is quite capable as what I thought was a quiet young lady, (who knew?!) gets more comfortable with how well she can represent Rapunzel to a pretty funny degree.

Ingrid – You sometimes want to reach out and shake the stepmother’s hair and attitude right out of her – Ingrid is GREAT – she started out softly then you can literally see her own this character by the end of the play and pretty much state, even through tragedy, “Yeah, I’m royalty and you are?…..”  – She was able to haul her daughters back and forth all over the place while still showing – where she walked – was where everyone needed to recognize, 🙂

Isabel  – Remember that comment about a voice that is able to flow right though you?  I am almost positive I saw either Isabel or her twin singing in several venues  in a place somewhere, that is the sense you receive when you hear the maturity, strength, and power Isabel, brings to her character and the stage – also leaving you for much much more for your ears.

Jorge – I promise, if this was a modern day Dukes of Hazzard, you have the brothers right here with Jorge and Arturo – feeding off each other, pushing each other in confidence that buds to just an absolute all out “I am Prince and I RULE!” – his moves, smiles, and demeanor are nothing less that absolute – a perfect complement to all you’d expect in a prince.

Lara  – A narrator is one thing, but having the confidence to be a storyteller and still be absolutely into the story around her when she is not in the spotlight, she is ON.  Watch Lara when she is not in the spotlight and you will ABSOLUTELY SEE IT TOO – I love she is one of the main ingredients for a successful tale.

Lucia E – She is able to go through many a complicated scene gracefully and turning those scenes into making us as an audience ask, “How the heck will this work?” and she makes every scene work – she is perfect in moving the actions of a very strange experience with a quilt hysterical and absolutely life-like.

Lucia S – I would absolutely be lying if I said I did not anticipate every scene I could grab onto hearing Lucia in – I immediately think of Lucia, Alexa, and Isabel C. never ever leaving the stage and always being able to turn to a new selection for us say, for three more hours? – You can easily pass three hours after hearing Lucia combine emotions, anger, and a voice that works out so many situations, and during all of this, you anticipate every next note – you will see…

Natalia– Holy mother….exactly, MOTHER.  She plays this role of mother and you feel it as if your mother is right there beside you nagging you and – loving you.  She does not hold back on making sure everyone knows she is the mother to remind, sometimes harass, and not to forget about the emotion of caring for each other.  How does she get the curls that tight by the way?

Nicolas  – Absolutely only getting better at bringing the house down since the very first show, and bringing it down from tall heights to shady corners of the woods, Nicolas is absolutely essential to that laugh that STILL is riding in your stomach from the woods to the skies  – and fits into the nontraditional roles of Into the Woods and makes then seem ABSOLUTELY the way they should be!

Pablo G- So far there has always been, in every single musical, that one young and maybe formerly unfamiliar talent that completely takes hold you you, shakes you, and leaves you asking, “Who the heck is HE and how can we see and hear more?”  This is the one, and believe me, nothing more will be needed to be said, from his expressions, stares, and sense of being comfortable – he owned this position before he even stepped on the stage.

Pablo Gu – Seeing Pablo become even more stern and important to get his sage advice across to his son since the very first production, Pablo believes in the very pat h he is on in this story, and he will easily lead you to believe there is a way to make amends.  I am not sure I could see anyone else being able to do so like Pablo does with this role.

Pedro  – Again, part of the amazing thing of seeing multiple shows is seeing the confidence that builds in characters from the beginning.  I thought Pedro was a little meek as the steward in the initial preview and BAM! – here came Pedro with the confidence of a prince in waiting in the Gala – it is exciting to see the growth in confidence of an actor like Pedro as the shows go on and you will see this for sure – showing his talent on the stage.

Sofia –  There is this element that some actresses can being on and off the stage and Sofia DOES.  Watch her when the spotlight is not on her all the time and you will see she is truly living the part as Lucinda, on and off the “camera” so to speak, and she does it was a perfect match to the personality of her character. Add in her sister and mother, and you have a role that is filled out completely thanks to her personality on stage.

Tamara – No matter, played as Lucinda or the new love of the prince, Tamara demonstrates why she is on stage.  She embodies the commitment to a stage presence and will move any character in the direction it needs to go, capable and beyond so – and an absolute pleasure to see in show after show  🙂

Ximena  – Again, whether playing the prince’s new love interest or Florinda, you sense Ximena’s energy, enthusiasm and smile and auditorium easily.  She shines in any role she is given because she HAS THAT PERSONALITY – and pretty much everyone realizes they are glad she is on that stage.

Oh there is PLENTY so say about the role of the Director Alvaro Cervino, an amazing Tech Club and Makeup Staff, an AMAZING and patient costume staff, and the leadership of Teruhi Yoshioka, Rosana Cesarman, and Hugo Cabrera that put in an amazing unrecorded number of hours, all combined that make this family and theatre a place you just WANT TO BE on the off hours and of course during the shows.  Without knowing every one of them, you fall in love with the families of each and every one of these contributors, as you realize the beauty that must lie in the families after seeing the beauty in their very own sons and daughters. You realize, Into the Woods is a must.  That says everything, doesn’t it?  Good thing this is only the second post on what is will be another stage burning and heartwarming experience thanks to the above mentioned.

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Tenderness, Creativity, and Inspiration Found Into the Woods

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Harry Brake

“There is a tenderness just below the surface and the production team, cast, tech, directors, producers, all, manage to help you through it all in this production.”

Okay, I admit, it. I was afraid my own mind, emotions, and experience from Les Miserables last year would not let me see anything except a comparison. Very few times I am truly, originally surprised. My heart showed me I would be and I was so very excited to be surprised.

I am so tempted to start dropping names and standout moments, yet there is no need to do so yet. No, what I found this night, was one of the biggest and proudest moments of this preview show, for the benefit of those around me that work so hard day in and day out on our campus around everyone, was a personalized message of thanks, and received with hearts open to all who were there. No names were needed to receive the feelings everyone felt by the end of this initial preview run.

You will find the one true gift you receive from Into the Woods is discovering a little about what it means to see the world with open eyes, the good, the bad, the scary. Each member of this production team allows you a moment to reflect on that, to laugh at just the right moment to let off the pressure of coming face to face with some tough realities that is just simply life, and finding out what type of person you are as a result.

Not maybe, but definitely, I realized, through talking with some of the think tank creators for this production, yes, Les Miserables has the theme that grabs you and no matter what, it will take you to a place you can never forget. Add a cast last year that took that and multiplied that and there is no way you can set aside the emotions you felt through every production. However, with Into the Woods, you see an empty canvas painted in from of you, the interpretation being revealed character by character, scene by scene, and the whole while your heart keeps absorbing the creativity, intensity, and momentum of emotions that you do not even realize the height of, until you find yourself out of the woods among friends – all thanks to the creativity that you will witness in so many scenes, voices, emotions, and individuals.

Truly, I was skeptical and worried about how I could separate what I have expected in the past to what I would see and witness with Into the Woods. There is no need to be skeptical and definitely no need to be worry, you will walk away from the “woods” in this production truly instilled with knowing, “There is a tenderness just below the surface and the production team, cast, tech, directors, producers, all, walk with you, every step of the way, through it all in this production.”

Don’t miss this show – just don’t. See you at the Gala tomorrow!

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New Title – Internalizing Stories Amid Educational Pursuits in the 21st Century

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Harry Brake

As I made my way to a coffee area known as Joe Coffee on the corner of 12oth, I kept thinking back to seeing Screen Shot 2015-03-20 at 4.26.58 PMErick Gordon, who had spoke the day I left for New York – at our own American School Foundation.   His message was clear, he used a hands-on project-based initiative to reach all of his students.  Of course I was intrigued because in this particular case it had to do with publishing, he started with a magazine, then elevated to creating a student press, but the processes that occurred in-between were exciting and modeled what No Child left Behind and Common Core has seemingly yet to do – infuse every day in the classroom as exciting for the teacher and the student.  I also muddled in my mind as I made my way through the snowy sidewalks to the front of the Columbia Science Building, it might have looked like his presentation and initiative had to deal with just publishing.  It didn’t.  We had discussed at the beginning of the year in the Upper School how we could begin to reach outside of the school and impact the community so much more based on things we studied within the school.  I thought of so many ways his initiative could occur in so many different areas.  From using math to redesign parks that badly needed it in neighboring communities, to having lower school students develop poetry that expressed what they saw and felt in areas around Mexico and their published works as part of a park, to enabling students to improve the skills of neighboring students via a summer arts workshop, writing workshop, art workshop and so much more, it just happened that Mr. Gordon’s area was writing. (Check out this RadioLab Article! – you will LOVE)   I felt this is what occurred with the Repentino. magazine, in wanting to bring a renewed sense of energy to the library, and happening at the same time, a student wanting to turn the publication into something more representative of the skills at ASF, we used the literary magazine as a vehicle to create motivation. In Mr. Gordon’s case, the chance to impact, develop, and enhance curriculums became the focus of establishing a student press, a press that dipped into various areas of the curriculum and enhanced them, all the while more learning coming out from that process.  It seemed amazing that a project like the original student-based magazine could lend itself to developing yet another branch of learning that would bud into the student press, known as SPI.

I thought, wow, every teacher, at every level, could create one project they do and make it become global if you will, something that could impact others outside of our school, and all of a sudden, a lesson becomes an interactive one that students can see how they can make a difference not only on an assignment, but using this particular project to grow and improve the word around them, be it a new way to look at things, literally dipping into projects and applying the lesson to the world, to people, to communities around them, or even making sure that what they learn is internalized and not just memorized.

I was grateful to meet with Mr. Gordon mainly because I wanted to present to him what we have done as a publication and see where it could go from there.  In taking with him, I realized the steps he made from classroom teacher to a pivotal initiator of the student press.  I could only hope my past would continue to create steps towards connected projects that would make a lasting impact on continuing the path education could take.

In listening to the RadioLab Article that ties writing to Erick Gordon, and an AMAZING – A M A Z I N G story that ties my own experience with a certain ring round my neck – and a story of finding something so incredibly valuable beside the road and wow – my inner soul that loves writing – connected with the power of words – and hence, the whole lesson of writing and how it can touch lives – is a superb lesson in learning and what paths it can take if allowed to grow, and it could all start within a classroom!

Yet, the story of the last day of Columba’s CSPA Conference, believe it or NOT – does NOT stop here – it continues to grow so stay tuned for one more post  🙂

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Final Days, New Perspectives, Anita and Gold Crowns, Oh MY!

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Harry Brake

As with much, at the beginning of an adventure, you seemingly have all the time in the world.  By the passing of days that seem like minutes. the end of the week arrives and you wonder. whoa.  I missed much of it and it seemed like seconds!  Such was the feeling on Friday, knowing on Saturday I’d be headed in the late afternoon via Amtrak to Takoma Park, then the next day to Mexico.  No regrets in the least of any of it, just wonderment of how fast all had moved past me and grateful that I was able to receive so much information and meet so many amazing people.  Yet, today would also hold many surprises for me.  Being very excited to see 2013-2014 staffer Nina Sachdev, who had moved to New Jersey and was the only staff member that would be present physically to celebrate the recognition, I was looking forward to this culminating day at Columbia and a bit nervous to say the least.

I spent a portion of the time in the AM fine tuning the details needed for a 9:45 presentation we would give in (guess where?!  – 517 Hamilton Hall! )  It’s funny, almost all the workshops I had given in the last at Columbia involved this room, so I was also grateful to have the same room, as well as the same Columbia student tech representative with me the whole time, it made everything feel perfect.

I arrived at Columbia, sipping my dose of Chair from Oren’s, and lone behold spied Nina and her Dad!  YEAH!  It was so good to act as if we were still at the same school and seeing her was really a great morning.  I didn’t realize until we started looking through the program that I had missed a 8:45 session,thinking all the session actually started at 9:45.  In looking at the offerings, a few stood out to me, “CSPAA : Annual Meeting of members”, “Tips and Tricks in Photoshop and InDesign”, “Get Engaged: Social Media Beyond Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram”, “Just Hashtag It: Social Media and Your Publication”, and “45 Tips in 45 Minutes” – I was like what?  All of these – and I wondered if this allowed people to really come and stay for the last day – yet we did see schools coming for just the last day to accept the awards or to be present.  I was grateful that I had obtained an arsenal of good tips so far from some fairly good workshops up to this point.

We made our way for out last day in Hamilton Hall, room 517, and had roughly 45- 50 attendees come in which from all our workshops, we realized we had a total from four workshops, of about 150 people, maybe a little more but that was GREAT !   For the presentation titled Moving Up, we used the medium of a blog, to show how information could be presented as well as linked.   It also felt right starting with a line that one of our staff sent me, as the whole experience became internalized to her, and I feel that is the purpose of being involved with something where your heart lies.  We also strived to show how Repentino. uses PR and becomes involved in other activities that might not seem related to that of a publication, but actually widens our audience, and in turn widens the roles and the tasks that new staff will be needed for, creating new positions and moving staff up to positions that might not have existed before, and helped promote the magazine from many different skills needed.

This reminded me of the Utube Video, Did you Know?  which does state that students are receiving education and training for jobs that don’t even  exist yet, the same rings true with publications.  The workshop was great, having Nina’s Dad help capture the workshop, as well as seeing along list of emails from attendees wanting to obtain the information, we felt this week, and thanks to Nina’s time and interest – all had been a great representation of being motivated and gong the extra mile to be successful.

In looking at the 10:45 – 11:30 time slot, the workshop Wiser Adviser seemed appealing and it was a GREAT pick!  Speaker John Cutsinger was energetic and presented ideas that at first challenged the way many people always ran publications, but by looking on the flip-side made sense.  One main tenet he pointed out was this – Do not always pick the best photographer/writer/layout person/technical staff to be your editor!  He knew that was what we all did but he said, doesn’t it make sense to keep them in the verity field of expertise they are good at, instead of taking them out and then changing the position titles up to say, first chair, second chair, etc. like an orchestra, so they are doing what they do best?  Although advice like that seems minuscule, it truly changes the dynamics of how successful a team is from year to year.  I walked away with alot of positive and good approaches to staff and procedures, despite thinking I knew much of them and all that I needed!

Looking at the 11:45 time slot, I was intrigued with a workshop titled, “Branding your publication”  I trekked to the Jerome Green law School Building and began to take in this session, presented by Daniel M Haygood from Elon University. I loved the points he made about how others advertise and get us to know the difference between a logo and the quality of an item.  We associate logos but then there is a slight difference between what we associate with the brand.  I liked that.   What I also lied was the part where he provided is a Tokyo snack I have never even seen before let alone heard of named Pocky.   The ideas he had were amazingly cool and it seemed he never quite got us to the point of allowing us to test our publications with how we would brand it the best.  As I think about it now, I wonder, could we have done that in a 45 minute session?  I am thinking not, it is just that I wanted to walk away with SOMETHING, like a an example of something we haven;t tried as far as a logo, or something that solidifies even more who we are as a  magazine – that was frustrating to me, but at the same time, in reflecting on that a week later, the topic he presented is a hard sell to talk to an audience the whole time about, yet it certainly was a starting point to do something with down the road to personalize who publications are and what they strive to be.

LUNCH!

Nina, her Dad and I met in Lerner, headed out to lunch immediately, and as we did, wow, SNOW.  Lots of it, BUNCHES of snow was coming down, so much so, you could not see to the other side of campus – wow.  I am not sure I am ready to talk about THAT, so we headed a cross the street and ate at Amir’s.  I know this was the second time, however, that was AOKAY, the sweet potato fries, the schwarma, it all was THAT GOOD.  It also was nice to NOT have to fight for a place to find, in the NOW coming down and accumulating SNOW.  😉

After lunch, we headed back to Columbia, and noticed there was almost everyone that had attended the conference, in the front of the soon-to-be-awards auditorium. I realized, I had never been to the whole awards ceremony – EVER.  I was a little excited because frankly, I did not know what to expect.  AT ALL.  Finally, doors opened and we are lucky enough to get seats close to the doors we came in, no fuss!

As the ceremony started, we began to see every publication that had won awards being called alphabetically. I was nervous, absolutely, positively.  When we finally came to the R’s we were AMAZED as how many R’s there were – mainly because we were waiting but we watched to see how this all went, name announced, award received, picture taken with Mr. Sullivan – got it  !

“Repentino. Magazine from the American School Foundation in Mexico City!” – there we were on the big screen!!  Cover, spreads, wow! We walked up and accepted a large framed award, that was to say the least AWESOME – then we proceeded to get our picture taken (We’re picture  # 46 on the page !)    with Mr. Sullivan,  and we could not stop staring at the award!    This is quite humorous, we noticed it said Silver on it, and we were like, what?  We thought we won the gold?  Now was the weird, I mean, we didn’t want to say anything because it would look like were were not grateful but – then AFTER (of course!) we brought it up to them following the ceremony, we realized, holy cow!  We won a SILVER and a GOLD award, TWO!   One for the critique of our publication and one for Overall all song publications we were like  NO WAY  – funny way to find out and kind of embarrassing, but, we won big !!!!!

In order to avoid the potential blizzard worsening, as fast as it seemed Nina came and we were reunited, they need to head back to New Jersey for obvious reasons.  It was so amazing to see such a talented young lady “back in the fold” so to say, but it seemed like we have never be apart that long, which was kind of great too!

Coming down off of cloud 9, I still have some exciting appointments, one with Erick Gordon who had spoken at our PD Workshop on the Friday I left for the states, and wow, some amazing things to explain and then, something not even Nina knew – and of course Scott Westerfeld and many other authors as well – stay tuned for the next post!

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Thursday, Dow Jones Teacher of the Year, Scott Westerfeld, and more!

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Harry Brake

Thursday morning did arrive faster than I believed in New York, however I was ready for it!  I was somehow able to get up way before 7:00 AM, around 6:30 AM, spent a good hour perfecting some details for this morning’s workshop, Moving Up, and was able to get out of the hostel, stop at Oren’s for the usual morning fix, and into Hamilton Room 517 with plenty of time to spare.  In today’s case, we were using the medium of     since we have already used Trello as a medium for presentation, then used Google docs as a tool, then moved onto today using a blog to further explain how various different tools can be used to get the information out and across to many!   I thought it was great to see familiar faces in the audience form previous workshops, and I realized, tomorrow’s workshop would have last year’s magian staffer, Nina here for our workshop – YEAH!   it had been a year since I had seen her!

The workshop breezed through without a hitch, and again, this time we had close to 55+ attendees, and tons of emails left behind for further info to be shared from the various presentations – so it seems by choosing the topic of PR this was a great choice for our magazine at this year’s workshops!

Looking for the next workshop and returning as an attendee, I spied Magazine Mania March 19 2015, Room 417 of the International Affairs Building.  Yep – across the street from the main campus and I was there!  Many cool tips of what to do start the year but also, the comparison between yearbooks and magazines helped put into perspective what we are trying to do as a magazine.  Having been a yearbook advisor, I realized always has helped to differentiate goals and attempts at what to do between two different publications.

Looking at the time leading to the 11:00, it was great to see this workshop, The Art Of Suggestion:  Visual and Literary Metaphors Working Together, which featured a student magazine, Agape, from Oyster Bay High School, and how they made decisions on the art that went into their magazine!  I think it is important that we go to as many other magazines that do workshops to get perspectives outside of ourselves, and this was truly the case and helpful.  One of the interactive workshops here (yes!) they handed out art and asked attendees to write about the picture using a choice of various forms, (Haiku or other forms) and then read aloud, having the audience decide which art piece it was about.  I was thinking this was a good exercise to do with the staff as well, in order to have the decisions be more constructive and a win win on both side, the art department gets to write their own pieces while judging a piece – I love this approach to maybe deciding on art going into the magazine!

At noon was one of my favorite parts of Columbia, the Adviser’s Luncheon.  Despite getting some great food as an advisor, the Dow Jones National Journalism Teacher of the Year is always recognized, and this year it was Chris Waugaman, whose topic was “Telling Great Stories.”  The notes from his questions, (March 19 12-00 Edmund Sullivan and Chris Dow Jones of the Year) answers, Screen Shot 2015-04-05 at 3.54.41 PMand insights do let you see how much journalism, the arts, expression, and working and encouraging students towards a common goal can cover so many areas needed for students to go on and face the world and the possibilities that exist behind the classroom.

Moving into the 1:30 – 2:15 time slot, I need a small break to take in all this information, collect my notes from sessions, and just organize my thoughts!  However, at the 2:30 time slot, I did want to see the CSPA Crown Award and Overview for Magazines and Yearbooks.  I had a hunch, since we had submitted spreads for this DVD, we would be in there.  I have to say, there is something exhilarating seeing our Repentino. put up on the big screen

Screen Shot 2015-04-05 at 3.54.52 PMin front of so many magazines, and yes, the thrill was there for me seeing them!  Seeing the trends of the magazines as well as the things we can improve upon as well as what others do, this is everything in learning what there are doing in publication!

After quite a complete day of workshops and information, wow.  We still had one big day tomorrow, the Awards Ceremony, a morning workshop where Nina from last year’s staff in Mexico would be coming in! – and a denouement to the week experience.  As I walked off campus I just wanted to walk and see some of the local places in and around Broadway.  Also, I happened to flip through my papers and in fact did see that Friday, at Barnes & Noble, no less that SCOTT WESTERFELD would be at the Union Square Barnes & Noble – (it still amazes me how often authors come to New York and it seems so natural to just appear at bookstores).  Scott Westerfeld and more in New YorkWhat was even great was Mr. Westerfeld would be coming to ASF on March 20th!  In doing so, I thought, I HAVE TO GO SEE HIM, coincidences abound!  I would not be disappointed, and either will you when you read what occurred.  🙂

I was able to spend a great rest of the day wrapping up items for the workshop tomorrow, titled, Powerful PR – and ate at a Great Diner known as the Metro Diner.  It was perfect for a getting colder evening, with the Matzoh Ball soup, hot chocolate, and the Hot Open Turkey Sandwich – whoa.  It was G R E A T.  As I was back at the hostel and knocked of another 150 pages of Afterworlds – I felt the pace, the amount of activity, the people, the overall connections that were being made – this was one heck of a New York experience!

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Wednesday – leading to Thursday – Three days in New York Fly Like Madness…

Posted on April 4, 2015 by Harry Brake

Upon successfully presenting two workshops back to back at Columbia on Wednesday -(previous post)  it was LUNCH!   YES!   LUNCH!  Knowing there would be masses of people “exodusing” out of Columbia on Broadway to lunch always poses a challenge – so I didn’t have much optimism and yet, – there is was optimism as  clear open window! – Amir’s Grill – yes it was busy but – SEATS!  – I wandered in and it was jut the right kind of busy – just the feel felt right so – Amir’s it was and a great choice -I ordered the # 2- Shawarma Chicken Pita + 1 sm side (Fries please!) + Boylans Soda $8.75 – DELICIOUS!  I liked watching the crowd come in and out as I nestled in the corner and took in the frenzy of many at lunch in New York City, it was nice to see the city alive and humming around me.

1:30.  One particular workshop caught my attention.  March 18 1:30 No repeat Staff No Problem  seemed to call out to me as I realized for the first time, in a long time, we would be in fact losing alot of our staff this year due to graduation and certainly ideas couldn’t hurt.  Some really great ideas came out of this, despite it being geared towards yearbooks, may, many of the ideas and processes they implemented could word for any publication, and the energy these teachers infused into the presentation and their publications, despite one being at high school and one being at middle school, was contagious.

As the 2:30 hour came, I scanned the CSPA program booklet as an attending member to see what there was – and sadly I didn’t see much remaining for today.  A workshop on celebrating our staff achievements, but we did that pretty well I thought? Ah, A Student Swap Shop WOULD be great if we hadn’t had our magazines taken in the first session  😦   but alas, literally nothing in this remaining afternoon round.  I headed back to Lerner Hall and talked to individuals from PlayOn Sports, showing new innovations in streaming sports online for schools.  Just a hunch that maybe in the future, students could have an outlet for producing highlights related to sports, etc.. You never know…

I headed back to eat at Mama’s Pizzeria – ordered a Stromboli and took in the students out of school for the day.  It still seemed surreal to me seeing the young children in the morning and their routes is traversing blocks of New York City to their school and seeing students have as their favorite hangout restaurants in New York City that we visit as tourists, it seems there always is a flip side to where you go – 🙂    I enjoyed the family atmosphere and accents that pervade a meal in New York and wonder what my accent is like as well from someone else’s ears?

I was able to drop items off at a nearby Cleaners to get ironed for tomorrow’s workshop, as well as mended, and this happened to be Carlton Cleaners, but the one on 2766 Broadway, right beside 106th Street – the owner, the service great.  It felt just different being able to drop my clothes off, as I never do, and then the owner asking me questions about Mexico, and each time I went in, (about 3 times while there this week) – we talked like we always knew each other.  This was a great service mainly due to the owner and his personality – memorable for sure and welcoming !

As I went back to the hostel, and again napping to catch up on the nervousness I had going into the day – I remember tonight was the night of the Nuyorican Cafe!  YES!  I napped, then woke up a little later than I wanted, but after some more planning for tomorrow’s workshop, I headed out to East Village of New York.  After several stops along the way to make sure I was on the right path – I received a text from Charlotte, the Swedish visitor I met and she said was in front!  I was like, agh!  I am a few blocks away!  I passed all the familiar places, (Two Boots Pizza) and got there and what?  NO LINE?  There ALWAYS is a line, and there was no line !!!  then I saw Charlotte and we decided since no line, lets find a close place to get a warm drink then we could head beck as the line began to form – great idea as I noticed the temperature was dropping – (now becoming typical New York-like weather).  We ended up at Cafe Cortadito – turns out this was the best place for Cuban food but, we weren’t there to eat!  LOL – we got hot coffee and tea, but the smallness of the places was just, well downright cool.  It felt like we ran into a corner, that opened into a hidden hideaway that was a treasure of atmosphere.  It wasn’t anything posh by any means but yet, it had a class all of its own and was ideal!

After we warmed back up we headed out and YEAH!  LINES!  We ended up being about 15th in line, and yes, I felt justified in seeing an actual line or wondering why I decided to be there 2 hours early based on knowing there USUALLY is a line, and wouldn’t be this time?  (Whew!)  lol. As always it seems it takes forever to be let in with the cold now dropping but we were finally IN! – and seat on the ground floor, and here we go!  Judges were asked for, and before we knew it surrounded by people – and people sitting on the stage as well!  The same MC, that hosted appeared as was there last year (YEAH!) and the show began, with roughly 15 presenters.  WHOA.  I mean, every time I come I think W H O A due to the deep references, the allusions, the absolute soul that goes into the pieces and the JAMMED  J A M M E D number of people here.  If you ever wanted an inspirational event to highlight an event, this has always been the place!  This write up does it justice, but being there is just truly beyond words based on the emotions, issues, and side of life you experience by being there.  VERY few times have I been there when we actually stayed and got through the whole list of performers but we did!  TONIGHT!  The champion would have a chance this Friday to compete to go to California for the championships – and the usual booing and applauding of the judges around us, and just EVERYTHING – it was dynamite.  🙂

As we taxied home, I KNEW I still had work to do on tomorrow’s workshop before presentation but also, knew, I needed to gal into my bed and sleep knowing, so far?  This was the New York I hoped it to be and riding out the excitement of an amazing week so far.

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Into the Thick…

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Harry Brake

Ever start reading a novel and find yourself total overcome? Hence that is what occurred when I cracked open Scott Westerfeld’s Afterworlds.  Several times now the books I have chosen take place in locations where I am currently reading them, and yes – New York references seemed to grab me on top of the complexity of the action and characters.

I came back to the hostel with an urge to rest after the Tuesday St. Patty’s Day parade, and then crashed slept, woke, and begin drilling into the novel.  100 pages a day 5 days – that took of Tuesday night and I rested and prepared nervously for two workshops tomorrow at Columbia.  So let’s get into the thick of it immediately!

Tuesday! – Yes, very nervous, VERY.  Yet in a good way.  Here was the first day I had a chance to represent our school at Columbia and make sure the workshop gave something back to everyone attending.  What were the topics?  Great you asked!

But wait.  DEFINITELY worth mentioning.  Not because it is elaborate, NOT because it is crazy fancy, but BECAUSE the staff are CRAZY great, accommodating, warming, and friendly, HANDS DOWN, my favorite coffee shop every year, on the way to Columbia, Oren’s Daily Roast, on Broadway, EVERY YEAR since I have attended New York, whether from Mexico or from the states – yes THE BEST feeling and best Chai tea, best muffins, just everything, because it is their own style and own taste and awesome friendliness that IMG_0104comes out in waves – THE BEST.  I bought a replacement mug for the one that broke at my place and know as long as I came there every morn, no matter how nervous I was, things would be amazing.  Their commitment? – “To provide our customers with the finest specialty coffees in the world, perfectly roasted to order, at reasonable prices.”  They do, an are the reason why New York can feel like home so easily.

IMG_0096As I made my way to Columbia, I was greeted by the Annual Welcome to Columbia outside of Lerner Hall, excitedly was early, so waited outside for bit for the doors to open at 9:00 – enjoying the taste of Chair and an Oren’s blueberry muffin, then entered and grabbed my materials for the workshop, badges for Nina and her Dad arriving Friday (YEAH!), and thanked the awesome team at CSPA for getting this all together, Mr. Rodriguez and Ms. Castillo – who always make sure thanks to their planning and their support team of student tech, IMG_0080things run smoothly amid breakdowns, if they occur, in technology. I made my way to Hamilton Hall, room 702, say about an hour early, lol.

The first workshop  – from 10:00 – 10:45 –  Trello Super Tool – I felt at ease with because we use Trello to help organize our lives.  Last year – which I have to say made me feel good though it should have made me feel bad – my workshop – badly attended, a sprinkling, the staff that presented, PACKED – and that is the way it really is supposed to be – but this time i was solo and I water it to be crowded.  No kidding – crowded in the room of Lerner.  It IS worth mentioning, the tech student who was assigned my workshops, EXCELLENT.  She was cool, relaxed, an expert in figuring out everything, and was easily a model of what excellence in publications are at Columbia, she was part of the reason all went off without a hitch.   Having 11 people immediately add their name was comforting and a total of around 35 coming in made me feel much better by the end!  Overall, I was excited for how many came up to me afterwords and stated this was a tool that would save them countless posts, what a good start to the workshop, and that this was very helpful for them – which was the whole reason for having people attend, not to brag, but to assist, help, and share knowledge, it seemed to work GREAT!  Also, the six magazines I brought for display, yeah, that lasted 5 minutes, GONE!

Luckily, the next workshop – was at 11:00 – back to back, but in the same room – YES!  YES!  That was great!  Again, I had roughly 27 attendees leave their emails, and attending was about 45 minimum, trying to count while also getting set up.  This workshop, Social Media That Gets You There, purposely started on a Google form, thanks to the idea of Tracy Bryan at ASF, and this allows us to show the results of a google survey

Screen Shot 2015-04-03 at 8.51.54 AM that attendees were filling out as they waited in the workshop – allowing them to realize, the medium I am using in the workshop is a medium they can use to improve their publications, AND – we went on to show the various social medias we use, turning them from single use into multiple use and how – ultimately improving our publication and networking as a staff together.  Screen Shot 2015-04-05 at 8.51.29 AM

Using real life examples of how we use our social media with our publication accented just telling what media can be used for and this seemed to be an upbeat and effective workshop in that individuals were writing down tips and ways we have implemented social media not just in our publication, but how we use this as a library as well – which is a GREAT way of reshaping how people view librarians as a whole!

This was only half the day, and as my second workshop ended and I could finally play attendee, it was exciting to see that this second workshop ended in success, and I realized it was because the use of the tools I exhibited that we all used as a staff, 🙂

More to come on the second half of the CSPA Conference day!

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St. Patrick’s Day – New York 2015 – Bring on the Irish!

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Harry Brake

Of course I remember catching glimpses of the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade last year through museum windows – yet this year I was determined.  I wanted to throw myself into the thick of things and experience the jostling, bustling, impenetrable craziness of the people dragging themselves through the parade without, me actually feeling that way.  I wanted to SEE the impact but not FEEL the impact that apparently so many in the parade were experiencing!

It is definitely worth mentioning how awesome it is when you are in New York and you meet the people you meet – you never know.  Monday night as I was prepping for one of four workshops to present at Columbia University – I met a lady named Charlotte Kjellgren from Sweden.  She was looking through things to plan for New York, and I ended up sending her on Tuesday a list of events that we had done last year when we as a staff had visited New York.  In doing so – I hoped to provide her some inside tips that had been provided to me and that I came to love about New York.  In addition, I told her about the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and we made plans to see the Wednesday version of it – and I was STOKED.  I love the Cafe, and had purchased tickets online, but it is always better to share such a cool experience with someone and this worked out to be a great Wednesday revisiting some of the BEST comedy ever – and I was sure this would not be disappointing.

I headed out immediately to Fifth Avenue  and 42nd Street to actually catch the beginning of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  I knew enough to know – that it would be a MESS – however, even knowing it would be better to catch the parade further north to avoid the tangles of craziness, I decided to do it anyway right at the beginning of the parade.

I need up a little south right in Times Square, but figured all I had to do was go over a few streets and the hints were following the people some sober, some absolutely not, and sure enough it took me to St. Patrick’s Cathedral where what has been small trickles of green bearing parade individuals turned into hundreds, maybe thousands of St. Patrick’s Day parade fans.  I say St. Patrick’s Day parade fans instead of St. Patrick’s Day fans, since some I really am not sure they know what day it was.  In fact I am almost positive.  Perhaps the funniest was the group and one guy, that had a photo copy of someone that was his friend ( I hope it was his friend) and right beside him, was the guy that he was holding up a picture of, and he was asking everyone around him, “Have you see this man?!”  “Have you see this man?!” in his best voice as a police officer, and while yes strange, absolutely hysterical.  When I really got to the St. Patrick’s Cathedral, I could not move.  Really. So many people squished against each other, and we moved many one foot every 5 minutes.  I realized I had experienced in 30 minutes moving 5 feet all I cared to on the “experience.”  The police were amazing, they just rolled with it, trying constantly to move people in SOME direction, and the patience they had, seeing this every year and dealing with crazy, drunk, young, old, sane, not so sane, and every combination between of people, whoa.  Major Kudos.   I realized you could also see a live webcast of the parade – which is good to note, but being in the city, it would deb hard to recognize the advent of one of my favorite holidays and not be there to see it live.

IMG_0030

I slipped over two streets, keeping the parade path on 5th in sight and quickly kept pushing north, north, north, until reached the tip of Central Park and no kidding, air, space room, places to see – yep, 100% on the money and there I planted myself of the next two hours.  Amazingly, even after TWO HOURS – the parade was not even close to being finished, but after 60+ pictures and videos, I felt I had seen and felt the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day.  The people I had seen come by my path during that two hours, not including the impressive high school bands, the clans of Irish from in and all around New York, the bagpiping groups, the policeman from so many division, it was just – it totally was worth it even though I though, eh, maybe it will be cool.  IT was super great!  I love the fact this is the oldest parade for St. Patrick’s Day, since 1762 – and that made the experience all the more worth it amid the excitement and so many participants.

This is the difficult thing about writing afterwards a week an a half later – what else did I do that day?  I remember hitting up Barnes & Noble – grabbing copies of Scott Westerfeld’s newest novel Afterworlds preparing for his visit to ASF on April 20th – as well as making sure I grabbed an Shamrock Shake (YES!) – and heck – I am pretty sure I actually had to return to the hostel because my feet were NUMB- and I had some worry abut making sure I had all the loose ends for the first workshop for tomorrow ready – actually TWO workshops on the first day of Columbia, so you can imagine how uneasy I was – and I wanted to make sure it was enticing for everyone.

in fact, the whole reason I saved my receipts was to make sure I actually remembered what I couldn’t remember a week late day by day, so heck, let me check – be right back.

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Not an April Fool’s joke – Life is good…for over a thousand others that have made it that way. New York starting March 16, 2015.

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Harry Brake

As the fountains start in Plaza Cabrera in Roma Norte’s Mexico City, the dogs sidle up to my lap and enjoy the sun beginning to show itself, the restaurant owners slowly waking up the gates that guard their tiendas, and the book The Bone Clocks effortlessly revealing it’s intriguing twists and turns through the character Hershey’s life, I realize, life is SO good.

I look back on my past year, and look as a year full of criticisms of what I do with others. accomplishments that counter those very criticisms, the strength I have gain from both inside and outside, as well as developing a tough skin and seeing the results of sticking with my beliefs and transition as a librarian that tries to involve much more than a librarian normally has been stereotyped in doing, I find the links to education growing an growing, and love my choice as a librarian and to mold that position into the 21st Century needs of providing a model that students can use to further the world’s need for a diverse learner in all areas.

Yet, I digress, I realize more than anything, life is good because the countless friends and family that continue to lend me some of their wisdom, trust, and knowledge.  I have found who people say I am too humble in accepting thanks for various accomplishments, I continue to know 100% every accomplishment that others see is a result of all my friends and family that have allowed me to share their moments and expertise and morph that into acts and seeking out new accomplishments that simply thank the above-mentioned groups, I try to seek out as many accomplishments to thank those that have allowed me to grow, and the list is very long.

With that being said, on an amazing beautiful April 1st (and my Dad’s Birthday) – and no tricks here – I will attempt to go back and point out how magical a trek to New York was on March 16th, 2015, yes as always, my birthday.

As always my birthday was magical, receiving over 160 thanks on Facebook, I realize how lucky I was again, to have the best birthday thanks to the BEST friends and family due to an amazing visit to Delaware where I was able to truly visit and catch up with so many of them many of them sacrificing their time to do so with me ( more on that after the New York series’ posts).  Heading to the Amtrak station in Union Station, D.C., I was excited to see how the trip via Amtrak would be and just had vision of the romantic notions of riding the rails to New York.   The cool thing was I just nabbed the first day, March 16th, that all miles earned on Amtrak earned double miles, so it seems like a birthday gift of sorts 🙂

Departing at 3:02 PM on the 148 train, costing $86.00 took me one way – and the seats, whoa, similar to the Polar Express and so much I did not venture out to any other cars, I slept!  In less than 3 hours I found myself at Penn Station, I have to say, this was relaxing, smooth and was just pretty awesome!  It was surreal seeing myself pass through Delaware again, Pennsylvania, onto New Jersey, then Pennsylvania and voila!  Penn Station – LOVED it.

Glad I had packed a smaller suitcase – I found my way to the subway, grabbing the MTA card, and reliving the excitement of New York from last year’s experience with the staff of Repentino. yet determined to seek out some experiences in honor of our staff that enabled us to be here in the first place!

I made my way to the Jazz on the Park hostel, where I have stayed for the last 7+years and it was like home 🙂  I love staying at a place that does not have to be a four star hotel and yet, everyone you know, you feel the urge to maintain the cleanliness of the place when you can while there, and while not feeling obligated, you just like the place you stay – coming there I agreed to a room that shared with another and when I arrived, grabbed my room card, the bottom bunk had been taken but no sign of my roommate, but it was okay as I settle in with my belongings.

I found myself wandering over to Broadway and while it was chilly, it was not the winter I expected in New York – hands were cold, but not needing to bring out the terrible mohawk- blue and gold hat YET  🙂   I saw the familiar IMG_9945

WestSide Market that has the classic vegetables and fruits just like Mexico lined in front, Tom’s Restaurant, the familiar restaurants where I remember going into with amazing staff last year, and yes, while so missed them being here – I realized going to these same places was not boring, it was just celebrating their accomplishments!  I need up going into IMG_9946Chipotle no less and had a GREAT GREAT reception as you can tell fem the attached note I wrote to the company letting them know how great their service was (the company’s response in RED, and my original email in blue).  Chipotle of course

This is the thing, the very BAG IMG_9960of Chipotle was a tale and lesson in Spanglish!  I LOVED IT and a written portion from Julia Alavarez’s book!  Why do not all companies take this chance to promote literacy?  I had a PLATE, (with two tortilla’s used) to contain the BEST meal I had outside of Mexico, so this was totally a perfect pick!  The whole time I thought, I hear Monica in my ear ( A staff-crazed Chipotle believer and follower).  With the generosity and kindness of the employee at Chiptole, I realized, – funny, there are all sorts of good things you can do that can “fly under the radar” that help others out, wouldn’t it be great to do one of these a day, be it a secret recommendation for work done well, or just volunteering an hour every day to help someone?  🙂  I think it could change the world if everyone picked one thing a day to do 🙂 

By just simply enjoying a stroll through familiar places along Broadway, it felt soooo good to be in New York and I was anticipating what would be an amazing week of celebrating alot of things that occurred over the course of the past week – it looked to be an exciting week in New York  🙂   I was finding I was able to take with me the gifts of friendship students, friends, and my Dad had given me, this day, as I look back on what occurred in this first day of New York, on this day, today, of my Dad’s Birthday!

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