Turtlenecks & Paradise
2016 has started and it has been filled with media, travel, and turtlenecks.
The Year Of The Turtlenecks.
New Years Eve was an exceptional way to end the year for me. The only words I can fathom to describe the absurdity of this night would be turtlenecks, farming, O'doul's. That basically was the key essentials to make that night what it was.
It started off with Kim and I planning where we were going to spend the last night of 2015 together. My close compadre James was in town visiting from Vermont. He invited us to his older cousin Dan's farm, which was way out in the middle of nowhere. We were surrounded by horses, emus, and a pig named Garth Brooks. We were all sitting by the bonfire drinking and chatting away the hours. The countdown started and we were standing in the field waiting for the fireworks. It all went down with a big celebration Dan, James, Kim, and I walked in the house. Dan's nextstore neighbor (the landlard) came over informing us we somehow shut off his water which I have no clue how that happened. He invited us next store and that's where the turtleneck massacre began.
The house was jam packed with people young and old. Unlimited amounts of delicious food, and a coolers filled with alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages (such as O'doul). The house was massive and even had a table in resemblance to The Last Supper. Where I prayed to a holy mountain dew bottle. We all hung around and enjoyed the fun. Immediately I recognized a large sum of the attendees were dressed in turtlenecks and blazers. I never witnessed such a unique combination of threads. We observed these gentlemen for the rest of the evening. I stumbled upon the living room where all the liquid courage and wet beverage was waiting for me to consume. Although that was quickly interrupted by a karaoke machine that was calling my name. I went up to the head chief karaoke man and requested my signature cover Jimmy Buffett's - Margaritaville. In a setting such as the one we were in, you would think that song would be in the top 10 songs they would have on the list. However that wasn't the case, this was surprising to me being they had a pig named Garth Brooks. It couldn't get more country than that right? I requested We Are Scientists - After Hours, thinking they wouldn't have this, they did. As the music hit, and I started singing the lyrics to a song of a band I've seen more than 10 times. I felt it would only be appropriate to double-hand Natty Bohs, and show off to the turtlenecks my dance moves. The song ended and the party people were more weirded out than ever!
James and I walked down stairs where frat guys were playing pool and starting to possibly feel a buzz become a drunken mess. The reason why I say this is because I went up to one of the turtlenecks and told him "I need to drip the drop" (meaning I need to pee). He replied "You serious? I'll take you", assuming he was showing me where the bathroom was. He took me out the house, through the backyard and into the cellar. He than said "pull it out". I replied "I'm not showing you anything, I need to pee dude". He said "WHAT? Are you serious man? I thought you had coke". I had no idea dripping the drop was symbolic to drugs. I thought it was some lame term my friends and I made up. He stormed off pissed, as I was enjoying finally being able to urinate. I came back inside to have a few more drinks with James and by then him and I became the life of the party obnoxious yelling back and forth to each other "Dude did you say that guy's turtleneck?" knowing everyone was wearing turtlenecks. We laughed it all off, within a few minutes later I discovered an empty box of O'douls. I asked just about all the turtlenecks if I could take a picture with them holding the box. The pictures were hilarious but I decided to delete them in fear of getting in trouble for posting them. I guess you have to have some boundaries with a night like this. As soon as the group started catching on we headed back to the farmhouse and called it a night.
The next morning Kim and I went out to hangout with the farm animals and say goodbye to Garth Brooks the pig that was running throughout the house all night. We left with the memories of an amazing night, only to head to Lancaster, PA. It started off the first day of January where we hung out in amish town, got dinner, and explored the history. It was a great way to bring in the New Year and have an everlasting memory of the night before.
Amazing karaoke video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-_kwRCCnZU
.......................................................................................................................................................
Two Tickets To Paradise (Orlando, FL)
My best friend Mike reached out to recently letting me know Spirit Airlines was giving away two free round trip tickets from BWI - to Orlando with a 5 star hotel included as a promotional way to introduce their new direct flights to Orlando. However, there was a catch. The catch is you have to be at BWI at 5 pm for the raffle drawling and have to catch the next plane heading to Orlando which was 7 pm the same day. Basically you have to have everything packed and ready to go with the chance of possibly not winning, which happened to just about everyone.
The sign up for the raffle started at 3 pm. Mike and I took the light rail there and arrived at 2 pm to secure our spot as the first sign ups as well as to see all the competition first. As soon as we got there the man running the raffle said to us "Wow I didn't think anyone was going to show up, you guys have a very good chance". We didn't think anyone was going to show up either being it was a Thursday 3-5 pm. We thought what slacker would leave work for this, besides this was announced through email just a few days ago. Usually people have this type of mail sent to their spam folder and now that the man working for Spirit said to us we have a good chance, it felt out victory was certain.
We hung around chatting and joking around with each other. It was such a great time, it felt destine we were suppose to be there, being we have won big competitions in the past. As we sat around waiting to claim our tickets, more competition arrived, then more after that arrived. It was about 40 people who had their suitcases packed testing their luck for a chance to go to Florida. I knew Mike and I were the luckiest, most entertaining people in that room. People had their eyes on us the whole time probably think we had some type of upper hand.
Around 4:30 pm we noticed a camera crew arrived and went to the table where the Spirit representatives were standing. The reps pointed to us and the camera crew started heading in our direction we had no idea what was going on. It was a news anchor for ABC 2 News, she said "I hear you two are the lucky guys around here. One of you won a Mercedes? The other won The Price Is Right? Can we interview you". We agreed, she interviewed us separately. It was suppose to be a PG interview, however Mike and I quickly turned it rated R. She asked us normal questions like "What did you pack?" replying "This everything I own this bag, I pack all that I own daily". She asked Mike "What was in his bag?" He replied "I packed light, so I didn't bring any underwear or socks with me". She asked Mike "Will you be bringing your friend James with you?" He replied "Uhm... Maybe, unless you want to go with me" referring to the interviewer. We all laughed, she knew we were awesome and ready to win these tickets. It turned out ABC 2 edited the hell out of our interviews and didn't even use any of Mike's segment. It's still really good, I highly recommend watching it.
Before we knew it 5 pm was here and the winners were ready to get picked. All eyes were on us and that's when they announced Connie Yang and her friend as the winner. She got there at 4:30 pm! I remembered her coming in. That guy barely shook up that raffle big. We had no chance, being our names were at the bottom of that bag and her's was at the top. My jaw dropped (which you can see the News video). I was pissed, Mike thought it was hilarious. I got over it quickly and realized it was a fun experience. We also got a hilarious News interview out of it. I'm glad I got to do it with my best friend and happy I got the chance to be a part of something as fun as it was.
Here's the ABC 2 News interview Mike and I did.
http://www.abc2news.com/lifestyle/travel/spirit-airlines-gives-away-two-tickets-to-orlando-fl-in-contest
...........................................................................................................................................................
A few travel notes:
I hung out in Lancaster, PA January 1st, that was cool to explore the Amish town. I explored the Arboretum in DC which was a cool historical sight seeing day with my gal pal. I hiked Harper's Ferry w/ Kim and the dog, it was super freezing but a delightful hike. I have plenty of other traveling to do this year. Some bigger plans are visit Burlington, Denver, Mexico, and move back to LA.
Media & Stuff:
I hosted the first hostel show of 2016!
The line up was Slam & Wallace, Pelvis Presley, Taylor & Kyndal, and Jack from the band Princess Reason. The show went super well, everyone was pleased. The turn out was great and the performances were wonderful. I'm glad I'm able to continue to host such awesome hostel shows.
I also participated in this years Polar Bear Plunge. It was the 20th year anniversary 1/30/16. I jumped in the freezing water surrounded by other fun participates for the great cause of raising funds for the Special Olympics of Maryland. It was a ton of fun with a very cold ending.
Video from the hostel show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHBiRs0dl_4
I got to see Dan Deacon dj at The Crown this month. I got to talk to him a little bit telling him about The BNote and the hostel shows. He seemed intrigued and it was cool just saying hello. His set was fantastic playing lots of 90's hits, it was a great night.
My 2 year anniversary since the airing of The Price Is Right which was January 17th, 2016. It's exciting to think that actually happened. I won prizes, hung out with Drew Carey all day, spun the infamous wheel, and had a dance battle with Aisha Tyler.
BNote
I read somewhere Sheila Dixon was doing a speech at Mt Vernon Market Place. I saw this as a great opportunity to approach her about Baltimore local currency. After the speech she stepped into the crowd and I was the first one to talk to her. I gave her a BNote's and told her how it helps the community. She saw it as a great idea and introduced me to her good friends Glenard and Sharon Middleton. They also thought it was a wonderful organization and told me to stay in touch. They insisted on making it bigger than what it already was. I wrote Sheila through Facebook the next day and she replied:
"The BNote is an excellent way to support small businesses in Baltimore. I will spread the word about Baltimore's local currency. We have great people doing extraordinary things to make Baltimore better."
This was a real pat on the back for me. Knowing I was able to teach former mayor of Baltimore about local economics and the great impacts it makes on a community warmed my heart. The fact that she was so supportive of it to was phenomenal. I plan on taking her up on her offer into broadening the BNote more than what it already is.
I am on the front cover of The Daily Record newspaper! The article is about the hard work I've been putting into The BNote and how we're preparing for the launch of the $10 and $20 BNote to be released in Spring 2016. It's very exciting, I've put a lot of work into reaching out to businesses, coordinating events, and marketing. It's been a long journey but it makes me proud to see Baltimore's local currency succeeding.
Here's my interview with The Daily Record
http://thedailyrecord.com/2016/01/04/bnote-baltimores-local-currency-aims-to-raise-profile-in-year-five/
Final Thoughts!
I have a bunch of exciting plans for this year. I'm going to Mexico for a friend's wedding. I'm applying to jobs to move back to Los Angeles. I'm finishing up classes to get financial aid back for school. I also plan to do plenty more acting jobs, play music live much more, and entertain as much as possible. I'm at a great start and am looking forward to whatever this year offers me. Hopefully lots and lots of adventure and travel.
The Year Of The Turtlenecks.
New Years Eve was an exceptional way to end the year for me. The only words I can fathom to describe the absurdity of this night would be turtlenecks, farming, O'doul's. That basically was the key essentials to make that night what it was.
It started off with Kim and I planning where we were going to spend the last night of 2015 together. My close compadre James was in town visiting from Vermont. He invited us to his older cousin Dan's farm, which was way out in the middle of nowhere. We were surrounded by horses, emus, and a pig named Garth Brooks. We were all sitting by the bonfire drinking and chatting away the hours. The countdown started and we were standing in the field waiting for the fireworks. It all went down with a big celebration Dan, James, Kim, and I walked in the house. Dan's nextstore neighbor (the landlard) came over informing us we somehow shut off his water which I have no clue how that happened. He invited us next store and that's where the turtleneck massacre began.
The house was jam packed with people young and old. Unlimited amounts of delicious food, and a coolers filled with alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages (such as O'doul). The house was massive and even had a table in resemblance to The Last Supper. Where I prayed to a holy mountain dew bottle. We all hung around and enjoyed the fun. Immediately I recognized a large sum of the attendees were dressed in turtlenecks and blazers. I never witnessed such a unique combination of threads. We observed these gentlemen for the rest of the evening. I stumbled upon the living room where all the liquid courage and wet beverage was waiting for me to consume. Although that was quickly interrupted by a karaoke machine that was calling my name. I went up to the head chief karaoke man and requested my signature cover Jimmy Buffett's - Margaritaville. In a setting such as the one we were in, you would think that song would be in the top 10 songs they would have on the list. However that wasn't the case, this was surprising to me being they had a pig named Garth Brooks. It couldn't get more country than that right? I requested We Are Scientists - After Hours, thinking they wouldn't have this, they did. As the music hit, and I started singing the lyrics to a song of a band I've seen more than 10 times. I felt it would only be appropriate to double-hand Natty Bohs, and show off to the turtlenecks my dance moves. The song ended and the party people were more weirded out than ever!
James and I walked down stairs where frat guys were playing pool and starting to possibly feel a buzz become a drunken mess. The reason why I say this is because I went up to one of the turtlenecks and told him "I need to drip the drop" (meaning I need to pee). He replied "You serious? I'll take you", assuming he was showing me where the bathroom was. He took me out the house, through the backyard and into the cellar. He than said "pull it out". I replied "I'm not showing you anything, I need to pee dude". He said "WHAT? Are you serious man? I thought you had coke". I had no idea dripping the drop was symbolic to drugs. I thought it was some lame term my friends and I made up. He stormed off pissed, as I was enjoying finally being able to urinate. I came back inside to have a few more drinks with James and by then him and I became the life of the party obnoxious yelling back and forth to each other "Dude did you say that guy's turtleneck?" knowing everyone was wearing turtlenecks. We laughed it all off, within a few minutes later I discovered an empty box of O'douls. I asked just about all the turtlenecks if I could take a picture with them holding the box. The pictures were hilarious but I decided to delete them in fear of getting in trouble for posting them. I guess you have to have some boundaries with a night like this. As soon as the group started catching on we headed back to the farmhouse and called it a night.The next morning Kim and I went out to hangout with the farm animals and say goodbye to Garth Brooks the pig that was running throughout the house all night. We left with the memories of an amazing night, only to head to Lancaster, PA. It started off the first day of January where we hung out in amish town, got dinner, and explored the history. It was a great way to bring in the New Year and have an everlasting memory of the night before.
Amazing karaoke video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-_kwRCCnZU
.......................................................................................................................................................
Two Tickets To Paradise (Orlando, FL)
My best friend Mike reached out to recently letting me know Spirit Airlines was giving away two free round trip tickets from BWI - to Orlando with a 5 star hotel included as a promotional way to introduce their new direct flights to Orlando. However, there was a catch. The catch is you have to be at BWI at 5 pm for the raffle drawling and have to catch the next plane heading to Orlando which was 7 pm the same day. Basically you have to have everything packed and ready to go with the chance of possibly not winning, which happened to just about everyone.
The sign up for the raffle started at 3 pm. Mike and I took the light rail there and arrived at 2 pm to secure our spot as the first sign ups as well as to see all the competition first. As soon as we got there the man running the raffle said to us "Wow I didn't think anyone was going to show up, you guys have a very good chance". We didn't think anyone was going to show up either being it was a Thursday 3-5 pm. We thought what slacker would leave work for this, besides this was announced through email just a few days ago. Usually people have this type of mail sent to their spam folder and now that the man working for Spirit said to us we have a good chance, it felt out victory was certain.
We hung around chatting and joking around with each other. It was such a great time, it felt destine we were suppose to be there, being we have won big competitions in the past. As we sat around waiting to claim our tickets, more competition arrived, then more after that arrived. It was about 40 people who had their suitcases packed testing their luck for a chance to go to Florida. I knew Mike and I were the luckiest, most entertaining people in that room. People had their eyes on us the whole time probably think we had some type of upper hand.
Around 4:30 pm we noticed a camera crew arrived and went to the table where the Spirit representatives were standing. The reps pointed to us and the camera crew started heading in our direction we had no idea what was going on. It was a news anchor for ABC 2 News, she said "I hear you two are the lucky guys around here. One of you won a Mercedes? The other won The Price Is Right? Can we interview you". We agreed, she interviewed us separately. It was suppose to be a PG interview, however Mike and I quickly turned it rated R. She asked us normal questions like "What did you pack?" replying "This everything I own this bag, I pack all that I own daily". She asked Mike "What was in his bag?" He replied "I packed light, so I didn't bring any underwear or socks with me". She asked Mike "Will you be bringing your friend James with you?" He replied "Uhm... Maybe, unless you want to go with me" referring to the interviewer. We all laughed, she knew we were awesome and ready to win these tickets. It turned out ABC 2 edited the hell out of our interviews and didn't even use any of Mike's segment. It's still really good, I highly recommend watching it.Before we knew it 5 pm was here and the winners were ready to get picked. All eyes were on us and that's when they announced Connie Yang and her friend as the winner. She got there at 4:30 pm! I remembered her coming in. That guy barely shook up that raffle big. We had no chance, being our names were at the bottom of that bag and her's was at the top. My jaw dropped (which you can see the News video). I was pissed, Mike thought it was hilarious. I got over it quickly and realized it was a fun experience. We also got a hilarious News interview out of it. I'm glad I got to do it with my best friend and happy I got the chance to be a part of something as fun as it was.
Here's the ABC 2 News interview Mike and I did.
http://www.abc2news.com/lifestyle/travel/spirit-airlines-gives-away-two-tickets-to-orlando-fl-in-contest
...........................................................................................................................................................
A few travel notes:
I hung out in Lancaster, PA January 1st, that was cool to explore the Amish town. I explored the Arboretum in DC which was a cool historical sight seeing day with my gal pal. I hiked Harper's Ferry w/ Kim and the dog, it was super freezing but a delightful hike. I have plenty of other traveling to do this year. Some bigger plans are visit Burlington, Denver, Mexico, and move back to LA.Media & Stuff:
I hosted the first hostel show of 2016!
The line up was Slam & Wallace, Pelvis Presley, Taylor & Kyndal, and Jack from the band Princess Reason. The show went super well, everyone was pleased. The turn out was great and the performances were wonderful. I'm glad I'm able to continue to host such awesome hostel shows.
I also participated in this years Polar Bear Plunge. It was the 20th year anniversary 1/30/16. I jumped in the freezing water surrounded by other fun participates for the great cause of raising funds for the Special Olympics of Maryland. It was a ton of fun with a very cold ending.
Video from the hostel show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHBiRs0dl_4
I got to see Dan Deacon dj at The Crown this month. I got to talk to him a little bit telling him about The BNote and the hostel shows. He seemed intrigued and it was cool just saying hello. His set was fantastic playing lots of 90's hits, it was a great night.
My 2 year anniversary since the airing of The Price Is Right which was January 17th, 2016. It's exciting to think that actually happened. I won prizes, hung out with Drew Carey all day, spun the infamous wheel, and had a dance battle with Aisha Tyler.
BNote
I read somewhere Sheila Dixon was doing a speech at Mt Vernon Market Place. I saw this as a great opportunity to approach her about Baltimore local currency. After the speech she stepped into the crowd and I was the first one to talk to her. I gave her a BNote's and told her how it helps the community. She saw it as a great idea and introduced me to her good friends Glenard and Sharon Middleton. They also thought it was a wonderful organization and told me to stay in touch. They insisted on making it bigger than what it already was. I wrote Sheila through Facebook the next day and she replied:
"The BNote is an excellent way to support small businesses in Baltimore. I will spread the word about Baltimore's local currency. We have great people doing extraordinary things to make Baltimore better."
This was a real pat on the back for me. Knowing I was able to teach former mayor of Baltimore about local economics and the great impacts it makes on a community warmed my heart. The fact that she was so supportive of it to was phenomenal. I plan on taking her up on her offer into broadening the BNote more than what it already is.
I am on the front cover of The Daily Record newspaper! The article is about the hard work I've been putting into The BNote and how we're preparing for the launch of the $10 and $20 BNote to be released in Spring 2016. It's very exciting, I've put a lot of work into reaching out to businesses, coordinating events, and marketing. It's been a long journey but it makes me proud to see Baltimore's local currency succeeding.
Here's my interview with The Daily Record
http://thedailyrecord.com/2016/01/04/bnote-baltimores-local-currency-aims-to-raise-profile-in-year-five/
Final Thoughts!
I have a bunch of exciting plans for this year. I'm going to Mexico for a friend's wedding. I'm applying to jobs to move back to Los Angeles. I'm finishing up classes to get financial aid back for school. I also plan to do plenty more acting jobs, play music live much more, and entertain as much as possible. I'm at a great start and am looking forward to whatever this year offers me. Hopefully lots and lots of adventure and travel.
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