January 25, 2012

All Dreams Start In The Mosh Pit

By penguinproject

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” -Paulo Coelho

Everything seems so much more vibrant when you are sixteen. Anything seems possible when the world hasn’t punched you in the face a few times. Dreaming of opening a music venue with your best friend is not unthinkable. And then you grow up and realize that it’s not impossible, but that at that moment it is just a little out of your reach. That is until God intervenes.

“Amanda, I’m partnering with a venue. It’s all ages. It’s a dry venue. I’ll be booking all of the bands. It’s been completely renovated with a ridiculous sound system. It has a capacity of over 600. It’s perfect. It’s everything that I’ve ever wanted.” I scream, “Correction! It’s everything that we’ve ever wanted! I’m just not there to share in it.”

So, as Kyle Cheleotis and Upstate Recordings and Management (http://www.upstaterecordings.com) partner with Sound Stage Music Hall (https://www.facebook.com/Soundstagemusichall?sk=info), the face of music in Boiling Springs, South Carolina will rapidly be changing. With multiple shows a week coming to our tiny town, this is truly the beginning of something amazing. And hopefully, you decide to be a part of it.

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January 23, 2012

The Ones That We’ve Been Waiting For

By penguinproject

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” -President Barack Obama

Recently, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was on “The View” and said that growing up, her role models were older white men. She went on to say that you cannot wait for role models that look like you because if she would have waited for a black female Soviet-Specialist-she would still be waiting.

I used to search for people that inspired me that had similar stories to mine, but most often, I was disappointed. There was no one person that completely emodied everything that I hoped to do-besides myself. I moved to Los Angeles to orginally pursue acting and then fell into improv and sketch writing and somehow found my way back in college to pursue an English degree. Sometimes, I felt like I would not make an impact on the world like I once thought. I would look at other people’s stories and think that their stories were better. Their stories made “more sense”. My story was a bit scattered and chaotic, or so I thought. A friend recently told me, “Amanda, one day, someone will be telling you about how you were the one that inspired them. You are paving a way for people that has never been made before. Your story is important.”

All of our stories are important. No one else can make our dreams come true. We have to be the ones to realize those dreams for ourselves. We can’t let our lives pass us by as we wait for someone else to show us the way. We really are the ones that we’ve been waiting for, and the wait is finally over.

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January 20, 2012

Silence Is Always An Answer

By penguinproject

“There are times when silence has the loudest voice.” -Leroy Brownlow

This past year, I have learned more than anything that silence is always an answer. Sometimes, silence comes after you interviewed for a job that you were certain that you would get. Sometimes, silence comes after you have been begging God to answer your long-awaited prayers. And sometimes, silence comes after you have met someone that you thought was different than all the ones before, but he proves you very wrong.

As someone who is obsessed with words and language, silence does not bode well for me. It is not something that I readily embrace. I like long conversations-not months of silence trying to figure out what went wrong. Especially, when it comes to relationships, it is hard to settle for silence. But most often, silence is the only answer that you get. It is still amazing to me that even as an adult, people choose silence over words in most occasions. If you do not want to see your friend, you can simply ignore their phone calls and pretend that you were “so busy” that you could not return their call. If you want to stop seeing someone romantically, you will do the “slow fizzle” and just stop contact completely. As much as we all seem to embrace this silence rather than a tough conversation, we all would much rather someone be open and honest with us instead of punching us in the gut with silence.

There have been rare occasions where I was okay with the silence and other times that it hurt me deeply. This year though, I want to try and break the silence and allow people the opportunity for those conversations that may not be so easy. And while some will still answer me in silence, those are the questions that I always knew the answer to, but this time I may not be around for the explanation.

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January 19, 2012

Yes, And

By penguinproject

“The best thing about improv is that no matter how bad your show is, it’s only 30 minutes, and never exists again. The worst thing is no matter how good your show is, it’s only 30 minutes, and never exists again.” -Mick Napier

If I have learned anything from my time at Second City, it is that improv is a beautiful art and is greatly misunderstood. It is something that is constantly fleeting because that audience, that energy, and those thoughts will never be there again. Each night is electric and can never be attempted to be reproduced again. And no matter what night it is, there are people on that back line that have your back. So, in the spirit of improv, there is a project that needs that same electricity and support. I met Marc Warzecha three years ago, first as my teacher and then as a boss. To say that Marc is exceptional would be putting it lightly. His passion for his art oozes out of his very being, and he believes in what he creates more than most people that I have met in Los Angeles.

Marc’s next project “Improv Legends” (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/improvlegends/improv-legends) is just a continuation of his passion and an extension of the passion of improvisers every where.

“Improv Legends is a new series of documentary shorts exploring the art of improvisation from a wide variety of angles and perspectives.

Filmmakers and long time improvisers Joel Veenstra and Marc Warzecha started this passion project as a ‘love letter to improvisation.’”

And the only thing that is missing is you. Every independent project needs supporters, and all you need to do is say, “Yes, And”.

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January 16, 2012

Superhero Dreams

By penguinproject

“Crowded classrooms and half-day sessions are a tragic waste of our greatest national resource – the minds of our children.” -Walt Disney

When I was in preschool, I would play for hours in my own imaginary world. I would create this alternate universe and be all of the characters in it. My mother asked my teacher if that was normal and my teacher grinned, “She should never stop. She has an imagination.”

I found that I thought the best when I was making up stories or playing in my room. The process of creating situations would only help me figure things out. My best inspirations happen when I am creating. I think better that way. So, I when I first saw Sir Ken Robinson’s TedTalk “Ken Robinson Says Schools Kill Creativity” (http://www.hulu.com/watch/219269/tedtalks-ken-robinson-says-schools-kill-creativity), I felt like someone finally got it.

Math and science were never passions of mine, and I never understood the importance. I just wanted to create and write and perform, but those were the programs that did not carry much weight in school. Those were the programs that were the first to get cut. They were the first programs to be misunderstood. They were the places though where I felt free. I was surrounded by people that felt and lived the same. To be around like minded people allowed me to think, dream, and take bigger risks than ever before. It is not within the boxes that the world thinks are fitting that ideas and dreams are born. It is in movement and freedom that imagination and creativity are truly set free. I think that as we grow older that we lose that feeling. We lose ourselves in routine and responsibilities.

I think that Paula Poundstone said it best, “Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they’re looking for ideas.” Because honestly, who doesn’t want to be a superhero when they grow up?

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January 15, 2012

What The Locals Don’t Even Know

By penguinproject

“It’s not necessary to go far and wide. I mean, you can really find exciting and inspiring things within your hometown.” -Daryl Hannah

It’s easy to think that you know your hometown like the back of your hand. You feel like you have driven down every street a million times, and nothing has really changed in all of the years that you have lived in that tiny town. But in the quiet and the distance are the echoes of things undercover. There is that small bakery on the other side of town that you pass by every time that you go to your grandmother’s, but you are always too busy to notice. It’s easy to assume that there is not a really awesome thrift store in town that you haven’t ravaged through yet. It’s after midnight and you are starving for something other than Waffle House, but where do you go? Chances are if you live in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the answers can be found in “The Underground Guide to Spartanburg” (the-underground-guide-to-spartanburg). Just when you think that you’ve seen it all, I bet that there are things that have been hiding in plain sight even in your own town. So, I dare you to take a road that you’ve taken a thousand times before and find something new-something that you can make your own-something lovely that the locals don’t even know.

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January 12, 2012

Our Foolish Hearts

By penguinproject

“I believe the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil but rather have us wasting time. This is why the devil tries so hard to get Christians to be religious. If he can sink a man’s mind into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God.” -Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz)

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January 9, 2012

Yay for the Yay

By penguinproject

Sometimes, at the beginning of January, I become antsy for the baseball season to start. Sometimes, I will already have tickets for the upcoming season. Sometimes, I will re-watch highlights from last season or even re-watch the winning moment of 2010. And chances are if I am doing any of the above, I am dancing around my apartment to this video. Ya-did-I-Mean, bruh, bruh?

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January 6, 2012

To Whom It May Concern

By penguinproject

“But it’s the life I dreamed I have/ The love I find in my grasp/ The words I could share with someone/ Those thoughts keep the breath in my lungs/ That tomorrow my hope will become to feel a love that can’t be undone/ And save a wretch like me” -Emery (I Never Got To See The West Coast)

The lights were cloudy and, and the energy was intoxicating. The entire night was more vivid than anything that I had encountered in so long. A former simple band that became larger than life and a tad embarrassing swept the stage of the Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte, North Carolina for an evening to not be forgotten. The bass player stepped forward and spoke words directly into my heart, “I know that some of you are really struggling right now. I know that right now that you think this is it. You think that it doesn’t get any better than right now, but I promise that it does get better. And if you hold on, in a few years, you will look back and be so glad that you stayed.”

That night in Charlotte was a serious turning point for me. I was sixteen and so confused. I never thought about taking my own life, but I remember being depressed and feeling like I was falling into a big black hole. I was trying to figure out life, and who I was in relationship to it all. I just didn’t know what to do or who to talk to. If you ever mentioned depression to adults or classmates, most of the time, they would think that you were crazy. But that night, I felt like I was not so alone, and that someone had been there before. Someone knew my pain.

I found To Write Love On Her Arms (http://www.twloha.com/) almost six years ago through a friend. I remembering reading The Story (http://www.twloha.com/vision/story/) and wishing that this non-profit could have existed when I was sixteen. Their mission statement is simply, “To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.” A huge part of the explosion of TWLOHA has been the large support of many bands. Because at it always does, it starts with music. Music changes lives.

I just read an article about a fifteen year old girl that committed suicide because of bullies at her school. It shattered my heart that some people who will be greatly insignificant in a few years to this girl were able to destroy a life. I wish that she could have held on longer, so that she could see that tomorrow is another day-a day that she could take back and make her own.

You never know the people’s lives that you will change or effect. So, as we move around, meet new friends, say good-bye to old loves, and follow our dreams, we should make sure that we are always leaving people better off than when we found them; we should be writing love on everyone’s arms.

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December 27, 2011

Southern Sweetness

By penguinproject

“Went away, holiday/ Wish they’d linger on/ They’ll think what they will/ We’ll stay where we have gone” -Local Natives (Stranger Things)

The blistery November morning in Toronto finally gave way to the slightest ray of sunshine. The bustling coffee shop was buzzing and my words were flowing like they hadn’t in quite awhile. I refilled my tea once or twice and sometimes would find myself relishing in the moment of creative bliss. There was something magical about being in a completely foreign city and feeling at home. The lack of familiarity offered a familiarness all the same. I was not worried about bills, or meetings that I had with people later, or catching up on e-mails and phone calls. Time expanded as I was sitting in that coffee shop in Toronto. It was freeing and, I imagine myself there often.

So, the time has come again for another holiday, and the words are flowing again. Even if it is just waking up in my mother’s house in the South, it is new and refreshing. It is without stress or strain of work, school, or life. It is a precious time when time again expands and waking up to a quiet house is the sweetest sound. The coffee is delicious, the rain is vanishing, and the music is moving my words. So, excuse me as I get lost in this southern sweetness and don’t mind me as I stay gone for just a little while longer.

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