The Year in Review

Why not a bit of a survey for a change...ha right::


1-Did you kiss anyone?
Certainly

2-Did you date anyone?
Nopers.

3-Are you going to have someone to kiss when the ball drops?
I did, her name is Beth and she's the bestest buddy a gal could ask for.

5-Did you gain any friends?
More than I could have prayed for.

6-Did you do something new?
I did, a triathlon as well as breaking bones/teeth...

7-Did anyone important to you die?
Some semi-close people

8-Did you change?
Gosh, I hope so

9-Are you happy with the year over all?
It was a tough year for me. Tough in the way that I feel like I've grown a lot and tough in that my body took a beating.

10-Whats the best thing that happen to you ?
Completing that triathlon was a major triumph for me both physically and mentally. So was getting a promotion at the theatre.

11-Did you fall in or out of love?
I fell in love with some friends in the friend way

12-Are you happy the years almost over?
I am looking forward, always forward

13-Are you going to change something about yourself next year?
My first tattoo is in the works and I have a goal: don't get hurt

14-Do you think 2008 will be a better year then 2007?
I'm hoping it isn't so filled with constant life trials

16-How many things did you screw up in 2007?
A couple of times on my bike (ha) and a few hundred times financially and maybe once or twice in the world of boys

17-Did you go to an amusement park?
sadly, no.

18-Did you go to a concert?
not enough.

19-Did you go to any parties?
South Philly summer 2007!

20-Did you go on a summer vacation?
I suppose so. I stayed in Michigan with the fam for 2 weeks.

22-Did you get into a fight?
A few close calls but no punches thrown. My daddy says to use my words.

23-Did you leave the country?
no

24-Did you have a good birthday?
I had a lovely birthday and am looking forward to another one next week!

25-Did anyone in your family get married?
Nopers. I've married off almost all the older siblings already!

26-Do you think you grew?
Honestly, yes. I think I charted another 1/8 inch which is really strange considering I'm nearly 24.

29-Did you dye your hair?
Just this weekend in fact.

28-Who do you think you were on the phone with the most?
My mom, Aunt Suz, Beth, Arizona

29-Did anyone sing to you?
Rachel and I sang to each other at a bar once and Beth sometimes leaves me singing voicemails.

30-Did you sing to anyone?
Whenever possible.

31-Did anyone tell you they loved you?
Yes, friends n family.

32-Did you ever go to the hospital?
More than I'd care to admit!

33-What did you drink and eat the most?
Water
Coffee
Bourbon
PBR
spaghetti
sammiches
cereal

34-Did you change your Myspace top friends atleast 8 times?
Probably.

35-Did you change your Myspace profile over 10 times?
Certainly

36-Did you change your Myspace default photo at least 20 times?
probably, I had a lot of photographic moments with my gals this year

37-Did you get a tattoo?
Not yet.

38-Did you vote?
No

39-Are you going to make a new years resolution?
I did ("Don't Get Hurt")

40-Did you stick to your new years resolution from last year?
Yes! I did that triathlon like nobody's business!

Just Beachy!

So we went to the beach. It was pretty great. But Jersey really isn't so pretty...

ReBalanced

Well, Thursday night my friend Chris re-balanced my wheel free of charge so the ole bike is back in working order and so am I. I have a bit of a bruise on my leg where the car hit but nothing major. Today I had a good workout invovling 30 minutes of drills on a stationary bike and swimming 1/4 mile. It felt good and I'm feeling better about the race.
I have a lot on my mind but mostly I just keep thinking about kicking that triathlon's butt, I mean I have taken a beating for it so I might as well beat it back.

In other news Andy is in town for the weekend. I've only seen him for like 2.5 seconds but hopefully I'll see him a bit today and tomorrow. There's plans to go to a buddy's bbq tonight so that should be fun.
Next weekend I'm off to Boston to see my brother and his family. I can't wait to hang out with him and his wife and play with my niece and nephew.

I'm turning into a jet-setter...I've been on a plane at least once every 2 months for the past year. That's weird for me. I won't be able to do such things once I start at the theatre but it will be SO worth it.

It's Getting Better All the Time

Today the swelling in my face has gone down and the road rash is looking less ooooozy but the other areas of my body aching has begun. My right shoulder, specifically my tricep are rather sore, I've got a nice bruise on my inner thigh where my saddle dug into my leg, my neck is achy and my right leg is a little tender. Ultimately I'm doing just fine and am optimistic about the speed of my healing thus far.

Yesterday my beautiful neighbors Rachel and Nate brought me a care package of potato leek soup, fresh apple cider and mint fudge ice cream (my favorite!). They also brought me some wonderful organic muscle rub and the first season of Twin Peaks because I started watching it with them at our neighbor dinner on Thursday and Rachel has gotten me hooked. They stuck around and watched 2 episodes with me before they had to go get ready for their dinner reservations but the company was so wonderful and the fact that they brought me dinner was just above and beyond.


Also, Mister Oscar Allen is doing just fine. He just currently looks like a proper court jester...

Fountains and Such

After the dissapointing loss in double overtime last night Beth and I felt it necessary to drown our sorrows...well, I wasn't expecting that to be a literal reference but it turned into one when Rafiq, Chris, Beth and myself got caught in the major downpour monsoon on our walk back to Fiq & Chris' apartment. On the way we passed the Philadelphian where Beth felt that it was necessary to take a dip in the front fountain, so I joined her. Above is the fountain we graced with our presence.
Despite the loss (LeBron James is officially not human) the night was a blast. After piling our soaked clothes in the bathroom and changing into basketball shorts and t-shirts we hung about chatting and slurring and then it finally dawned on me that I needed to go to sleep since I knew I'd be getting up before 7 in order to get back to West Philly, shower and get to work on time.
I haven't had that much ridiculousness in one evening in a long time and I hope there's more to come but, I definitely need more than 3 hours of sleep tonight so that might have to wait until tomorrow.

A Thunderstorm to Clear the Air

It's been tough moving for me lately. My head has been reeling without an end in sight and my heart uncertain of what risks it is willing to partake in but Friday Aunt Suzie came to town and helped to clear the air along with a beautiful Saturday night Thunderstorm.
There was food: Melting Pot, Vic Sushi, Hard Rock Cafe, Marathon Grill, room service, Reading Terminal Market

There was drinks: Lager, Gin&Tonic, Margarita, Bloody Mary, Mimosa, Pinot Grigio

There was fun: Philadelphia Zoo, ShopsNShopsNShops!, Reading Terminal Market, Hanging out on the 22nd floor of the downtown Marriott, Mid afternoon cocktails, Pistons, chatsNchatsNchatsNchats

Ultimately the goal of the weekend was achieved, enjoying my time with Aunt Suzie and clearing my head of the gunk that's been weighing it down for weeks.

Plays and Pistons

Opening night at the Walnut Street Theatre is somewhat epic, at least we make sure it's epic. We get fancy, filled with alcohol and prance around the theatre like we own the place.
The opening for Carousel was no different than the rest minus the fact that most of my friends who are apprentices there were experiencing their final opening night. I on the otherhand was merely enjoying my last night there as a patron. The next opening I will experience as an apprentice.
There was whiskey and wine, beer and bouncing, smiles and frowns and the occassional well played flirtation. The show itself was forgettable, at no fault of the actors. They merely had a shit script to work with. As bad as this sounds, my two favorite scenes involved no dialogue, that gives you an idea of how mind-numbing the script indeed is, damn Rodgers & Hammerstein fluff. The most impressive moment is a mere five minutes into the show when a carousel literally comes down for the ceiling, bravo to the carpenters and scenic designers for that triumph of the evening.
Last night was another opening at the theatre but on a smaller scale. This was the opening for Side by Side by Sondhiem in the Studio 3 theatre space. I really enjoyed the show. It was a show much more than a play, in fact it was four actors and two pianists entertaining the audience with some of Sondhiem's most enjoyable musical pieces. It was kind of like going to a cabaret and even though I'm not familiar with most of his songs it was highly entertaining nonetheless.
The opening party for Studio 3 is always smaller but I have fun at them anyway because some of my closest friends at the theatre work exclusively at that venue.
Because the show was happening at the same time as game two in the Pistons series vs. the Cavs I had Beth texting me the score at the end of each quarter. I kept my phone in my hand on vibrate, it was kind of hilarious actually. And all I have to say about that is....GO PISTONS!
I also apparently met one of the actors the prior night at the Carousel opening and I felt a bit of a jerk when he came up and said "Amanda right" and I looked at him with a blank stare and no response except "Yes, have we met?". That's what happens when you introduce yourself to me later in the evening on an opening, I'll probably not be able to recall you, oops. He was obviously hitting on me and fit the standard age of I'd guess about 40, you know, the age men who hit on me usually are...

Managers and Music

Today's topic is managers and their musical choices.
So I work at a retail store. We sell very specific products. We are a hot commodity in the city because we fit a niche that no one else does. We have crazy employees because most of us are highly overqualified for our positions but hired for this exact reason---the president of the company only hires people he knows are very awesome at working with people and incredibly smart so he can offer his customers very good service and advice. This is, however, a deadly combination.
Imagine a store full of creative, mildly crazy in the artistic sense, highly under-challenged people. Do you see where I'm going with this? None of us have enough to do and those of us who don't play video games are just generally ready to go stand in a corner and rebound our heads off the wall in an attempt to reach a higher level of consciousness.
Now getting to managers. Well, there is really only one manager that drives me wild and we will call him "wildly overpowering, needs to know all of your work and non-work business, wants everyone to include him in everything even when it doesn't make sense, did I mention overpowering manager." He needs more to do and when he doesn't have things to do he walks back and forth across the store nit-picking at his employees. I understand using down time to tidy up things around the store that otherwise are put on the back burner but his approach is wickedly off base and always comes off as condescending and rude.
The worst situation involves a slow day and his deciding to put his iPod on over the speaker system because no one in the store likes his music. He gets immediately huffy and angry like it's a personal attack, which is never the case when it comes to music but rather a simple difference in opinion. And since overpowering manager likes to be the marter he then proceeds to mope around the store and mumble, yes, mumble. Part of his moping involves no longer annunciates words but rather slurring them together in a low tone like a small child pouting about not getting to have a piece of chocolate cake. Mixing this behavior with a fleet of employees who are overqualified for their positions and wildly bored is a bad mix. Everyone just gets a little snarky and the moping gets worse while the nit picking gets more ridiculous and what started as merely a statement of dislike about music turns into full-on ridicule.
Ah, the joys of working in retail.

Well, The Ice Caps Are Going To Melt.

So says Beth on this fine Sunday morning.
We were going to take a night off but then our drunk friend came along and whined and whined until we finally went with him to the Good Dog. We managed to get a table which is always a tough feat on a Saturday night. Taylor joined the team and our line-up was complete.
There's nothing like sitting in a booth with good friends, laughing like crazy and feeling like you are home. Kids dropped by the table to say hello and introdcutions were made. More faces, more smiles, less scene-dance-crap, more person-to-person chitchat.

The rest of the night was drunken banter at Taylor's amazing apartment on Rittenhouse Square. I dream of having a view of the skyline the way he does but unless I become a famous wrtier or something like that...it's just not going to happen. Beth and I said our farewells around 3:30am and headed to the bus stop, and that my friends, is when the magic happened. A cab pulled up, we said we didn't need a ride, he said he'd give us a free one, he was on his way home. "Well, where do you live?" "I'm going to 48th and Walnut." I look at Beth wondering if this could really be true. Is this guy actually driving to his home, a home that happens to be 2 blocks from our apartment. A few more inquiring questions to make sure we weren't about to be kidnapped and killed and we were on our way home in minutes. It was glorious.
Tonight I am actually taking the night off. I have a quad muscle that desperately needs some water rather than alcohol flowing through it in order to repair it's already torn fibers.

Headaches and Sun

It is beautiful outside and I am sitting in my darkened garden-level apartment on the internet trying to pretend I don't have a headache from three nights of debauchery. I have a sundress on with a bikini underneath and a good plan to go be in this beautiful day as much as possible but I'm definitely moving slow.

It was a nice night last night. Caught up with Arizona. We did our traditional wings and beer at Moriarty's and then Beth, Rafiq and Taylor joined us for more beer and being "those people" at the bar, it was lovely. Tara stopped by in her fancy dress. She was on her way to chaperone the prom of the high school where she works.
The rest of the night was a blur of Colt 45 (bad idea) and PBR (not as bad of an idea) and sitting at Tara's apartment in a haze unable to really converse because I was so exhaused. At one point Beth had to help me up because my right quad was flaring up pretty badly. I strained it again. I am tired of the injuries. The triathlon is less than 2 months away and it makes me nervous that I've re-injured it 3 times in the last 4 months. I am taking the next 4 days off and hopefully it heals up okay. Speaking of which, I must ice it now.

Summer Fun Times

Some Photos to Catch You Up on Summer Fun 2007

Summer Subway Fun

No Relation

The Delaware River on a solo walk along Penn's Landing

See you in August

The newest addition to the McKenna Clan, Jack William and my pops

Swept like Spring Cleaning

Pistons sweep the series, awesome. I got to see most of game 3 in the Philadelphia Airport while my delayed flight took its time getting to our gate. During that time I also got to chat for a good long time with my lovely Trish the Delish Dish. I miss her so much. It was nice to compare notes, feelings, and general understanding in regards to trying to make it as a writer and artist in the world of day jobs and dreams. She'll always understand and that's what makes it so great to have her in my life. There's talk of a trip to Philly after she hits her 90 days and gets some vacation time.
Friday afternoon I spent in Kalamazoo. My wonderful little sister Ali B was my chauffuer because I am no longer carried on any sort of car insurance and my parents have been having bad enough luck with cars that they just wouldn't risk my driving anything they owned. Our first stop was the administration building where I caught up with my old co-workers in a sea of hugs and hellos and how are you's mixed in with a few "I know that laugh"'s. Those people were my family when I was at Western and it's always nice to visit family. Following my WMU meeting was an afternoon romp through heaven with my favorite Leah. There's something to be said about the people God puts in the way of your life. We spent three hours catching up, talking about the future, helping hammer out the present and enjoying each others' presence. Soon Kim Gold joined and then we set out to see the Erins at the Copy Cup. Stephanie picked up Ali and I from there and the three of us enjoyed a dinner of Bilbo's Pizza where I purchased a t-shirt for a co-worker back in Philly who grew up in Kzoo and requested one if I ended up going to the beloved pizza place. Stephanie dropped Ali and I off back at the car where Andy met us to "send us off." We had a quick 10 minute catch up session. I would have liked to spend more time with him but he was busy with Moped BBQ things and Ali and I needed to get back home to see the fam. He says he's planning on visiting at the beginning of June. It will be fun to show him around the city and to hang out.
The rest of the weekend is a blur of family and hoping for a few moments of holding my baby nephew Jack. It was great to see everyone. On Saturday I enjoyed the company of almost my entire family. My brother Duane and his wife and 2 kids couldn't make it but we did say hello to them via a web cam which was better than nothing. Kirk visited Saturday night as well. He got a small dose of the craziness that is the McKenna Clan and enjoyed being bad at basketball with my older brothers.
Sunday night came all too quickly. I had to bid farewell to open spaces, open arms and Michigan in the Springtime which is always a shame to leave. Summer is going to be tough here. I hope I make many trips to the shore and out of the city because this body is already thinking that it needs some nature to stay sane.

Game One

So game one goes to Detroit (92-100).
Go Pistons!

This week I am vowing to chill it out a bit because after a 3-day run of going out, taking off Saturday night, and then basically drinking from 11:30am until 1am yesterday. It was all quite fun and enjoyable and totally unexpected. Friday's danceparty with ADEN was top notch as well Sunday's impromptu Beth/MCK danceparty in our livingroom. The Spoon show was fun. The crowd really didn't move much, besides Beth and I, but man did they cheer so loud it was deafening. Good times.
I go home to Bath this weekend to see my fam and on Friday I'm visiting Kalamazoo. It should be a totally lovely weekend. I can't wait.