Wedding, Tick Tocks, and Storm Chasing

On Saturday I ventured up to Sayre to meet up with my brother. His roommate was getting married at the Calvary Baptist Church, and Nick kindly invited me to attend. In typical Muth style, we arrived at the church with five minutes to spare, parking in one of my brother's clinical instructors in the process. The ceremony was beautiful and I particularly liked how Pastor Kurt stated that love was first a decision, then a commitment, and then an emotion. After the ceremony we chatted with the bride and groom, along with the other members of the family. Being Nick's sister makes talking to people a lot easier because everybody thinks he is fantastic and want to get to know me because of that. We chatted with the Day's about their recent trip to England while we waited to see the newlyweds off.
The reception was held at Pine Cradle Lake. The route was lined with green helium balloons that my brother, Chip, and a few others had put up that morning. Nick of course still had the helium tank in his trunk to prove it. Since we were early, I sat outside and read a bit from Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and watched the caterers roast the pig for the reception. Nick and I sat at a table with one of his co-workers and Chip's former roommate. We chatted about comedians among other topics. I spent the evening enjoying the food, slice of cake, avoiding the bouquet, and dancing. It was definitely a great evening!
Last night I decided to have a beer, along with chips and salsa at Tick Tocks in Honesdale. Some of you may think that going back to the town isn't really worth counting as travel, but in typical Kayla style, I ran into some interesting individuals. As I was paying my check, a man in his 60s came over to me asking if I wanted to join he and his friend because a "beautiful girl shouldn't be sitting alone." I wasn't going to agree, but then he asked if I liked Jeopardy, so I opted to stay and chat. Little did I know that this chat would last an hour, but I really enjoyed myself. The man who invited me over was named Rich and apparently is a retired firefighter and police officer from the Bronx. He bought me a glass of cabernet and toasted me saying, "Here's to you kid." Any evening is complete with a reference to Casablanca! I met his friend Clinton, who apparently is the new owner of The Fireside. He was born in Brooklyn, but now lives in Tyler Hill. They were joking that the people with money are smart enough to live up on a hill as opposed to down by the river. Rich apparently enjoys kayaking and kayaks the Delaware River and the East River. I jokingly said I hoped that he hadn't come across any bodies, and of course he said that when he was at the beach once, he saw one floating for the lifeguards to retrieve. Clinton left, but Rich and I continued to chat. He apparently retired a year before the World Trade Center attack, but since he used to be a chief in Lower Manhattan, he knew 34 men that died that day, which led to alcoholism that he has since gotten under control. He said that his former driver on the squad left his wallet and keys behind because he assumed he wouldn't survive that day. This encounter taught me to always take the time to talk with my elders because they always have intriguing stories to share.
Today on my way home from work I could tell I was driving into a really bad storm. I actually felt more like a storm chaser than anything else. It wasn't nearly as bad as the weather I encountered in Denver two summers ago, but it was still crazy nonetheless. The skies blackened quickly, and the cloud formations were cone-like at times. Soon the pouring rain began and was almost blinding in spots. I could also see flashes of lightning in the distance up in Stroudsburg. Thankfully I made it home safely and in time for the season finale of NCIS.

York

So I'm currently relaxing in a Starbucks in York, PA. I've been in travel mode the past two weeks because I became quite restless with the monotony of my life. All I would do was go to work, drive home, and search for jobs online in vain. I've sent out so many applications that I've lost track. I got a call a couple weeks ago asking me some pre-screening questions. I forget the name of the hospital, but I remember panicking in my mind when the woman said the name and I had no bloody clue where the hospital was. Thankfully part of her questioning was to determine if I was okay that the hospital was in Greenwood, Indiana, as opposed to Indianapolis.
But I digress. My mind has been wandering a lot, which goes along great with all of the actual wandering that I have been doing. If you've been keeping up with my latest posts, you'll know that I'm on a bit of a concert kick. I've seen four concerts in the past two weeks, ranging from popcore to jazz to hardcore. Tonight I am seeing yet another concert. This time I'm in York to see The Rocket Summer and Switchfoot play at the Pullo Performing Center at Penn State York. I'm pretty excited, though I'm sure nobody would be able to tell. I'm rather good at internalizing emotions such as excitement, but that's just because I have an all around mellow personality. I think seeing Icon for Hire the other night was the first time I really let loose and didn't really care what people thought. I jumped around, sang, and headbanged to all of the songs and had a blast. I guess my neon yellow shirt made me a bit noticeable because when I asked the members for a picture, they were like, "Oh yea we saw you out there singing along with us." Awesome! My goal in life isn't really to get noticed, but I'm glad that my enthusiasm was appreciated.
Tonight I doubt I'll be jumping around because unlike all of the other concerts I've been too, not counting the jazz at the bar, this concert has seating. I am in row J seat 4, which is actually a pretty decent spot. I feel like I've heard The Rocket Summer before somewhere, possibly at the Bamboozle way back in the day, and by that, I mean 2008. Scary how time flies by so fast! Regardless, it'll be cool to hear them open for Switchfoot. Last time I saw Switchfoot was November 2007 when I went to New York City with my brother. I'm really looking forward to hearing them play songs off of their new album, Vice Verses, because it is probably my favorite album that they have made. I can really relate to all of the songs, especially "War Inside," "Thrive," "Souvenirs," and "Where I Belong." Hopefully it's a good set all around so that I'm amped for my 2+ hr car ride back to the Burg tonight.

The Chameleon Club

Last night I went on another adventure to Lancaster for a night of music. Instead of the Convention Center, though, this time I found myself at the Chameleon Club. I was very thankful for the parking garage right across the street from the venue because of the convenience. After paying the $5, I wandered over to the sidewalk to stand in line. Across the street from where we stood was the tour van for Icon for Hire, and the lead singer, Ariel Bloomer, made a quick run out to it while I was chilling on the sidewalk. I ended up having a conversation with the people in front of me. Apparently they are slowly becoming well known for Gilbert the Fish, the giant trout pillow that they bring to concerts. I guess it all started at Creation last year and one of the performers mentioned seeing it, so they have started just taking pictures with bands and this stuffed fish in order to promote Gilbert on Facebook. I heard a bit about their lives before they left to get their will-call tickets.
After about a 45 minute wait, I was finally in the Chameleon and got an excellent spot right in front of the stage. I was super excited to see Icon for Hire because their music really speaks to the broken and downtrodden. Also, it's awesome workout/headbanging music, which I always find to be a great time. The energy that they put into the performance was amazing, and they even did their own variation on "Jump Around." Following Icon for Hire was Love and Death, the band that features Brian "Head" Welch, formerly of Korn. I didn't understand many of the lyrics, but I enjoyed myself all the same.

After Love and Death, I decided to make my way to the Icon for Hire merch table. There happened to be a lot of people there, so I went and stood against the bar and ended up talking to this guy who is a CPA and a girl who has a wide array of skills ranging from mortician's assistant to psychology. We chatted about everything from music to minimum wage and rent costs to whether or not attending classes in college is really all that important. Also, we determined that we need to invent a fiberoptic wig in order to have glow-in-the-dark hair for shows in dark clubs.
The Gilbert the Fish people found me again so I chilled with them for a while by the bar. We each got our pictures taken with Icon for Hire amidst our talking. I stayed in the back while Red and POD played, but I could still see and hear fine since the venue was so small. I ended up getting a poster, button, and bracelet from the Icon merch table and had a great chat with the girl who was manning it. She enjoys traveling around at this point in her life, so I told her all about the cross country trip I did two years ago. I chatted a bit with another friend of hers about fast food and what to eat while on the road. After POD finished their set, I got all of the members of Icon for Hire to sign my poster. I chatted a bit with the drummer and guitarist about The Avengers movie and how we have high hopes for the Batman movie when it comes out in July. I'm really glad that I' getting more into the music scene because it's helping me meet some really awesome people along the road of life.

Dabbling in and Around Doylestown

Yesterday I ventured down to Doylestown to visit my long lost friend, Justine. We haven't seen each other in almost four years, so we definitely had a lot to catch up on. When I arrived at her quaint housing complex, we went for a stroll around the block with her three dogs. It was very fitting because the first time I met Justine, she took my brother and I and a walking loop in NYC from Battery Park to Little Italy and China Town, back downtown to the Brooklyn, into Brooklyn to the Transit Museum, finishing in Park Slope at her dad's brownstone. All in all, that loop was about 6 miles, which isn't bad until you consider that it was the absolute hottest day of the summer that year. I distinctly remember ordering a gelato and it immediately starting to melt all over my shoes before I took a bite.
But I digress. Justine gave me a tour of her lovely home. I loved her wall of photos at the base of the staircase because it captured so many great moments and people in her life. I particularly loved the picture of her dad when he had a bit of a fro. A side of him I never saw in his lifetime. There was also a picture upstairs of her father sitting in the woods that she likes to call, "The Thinker." It's amusing knowing the background behind it. I also got to see the Green Changes inventory (organic t-shirts) that she keeps in her basement to take to showings and demos at Whole Foods and other events. I came away with three; one made out of beer bottles and says "ask me what i'm made out of", one that says "got green?", and another that says "green is the new black." We sat in the kitchen for the majority of the two hour visit chatting about life and her dad. Justine also made a fruit smoothie with her Vitamax that I tried, but passed up for grape juice and seltzer. I had some warm cereal with organic vanilla yogurt while she enjoyed a veggie burrito. I was so grateful to be able to spend some quality time with Justine after so many years.

As per usual, Justine sent me off on a loop, but this time it was a driving loop as opposed to a walking loop. My first stop was a famous Polish shrine, the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, which was about two miles from Justine's house. Apparently many people make a pilgrimage there every year (about 40,000 on the designated weekend), according to Justine. Pope John Paul II also made a trek to this shrine, and there happens to be a statue of him right in front of the main church. I wandered the grounds and poked my head into the main sanctuary to have a look. The architecture was quite intricate, but I think the bell tower was my favorite part of the establishment. I attempted to go to the Candle Chapel to light a candle in memory of the DZO (Justine's dad and her suggestion), but unfortunately there was a sign on the door that said, "Candle Chapel closed indefinitely due to fire." What are the odds?
I chose to make a side trip to Peace Valley park to get a run in and to lay out in the sun to read. After my hour detour, I made my way into downtown Doylestown. I quickly browsed the Buck's County Running Company and then went to Starbucks for a frappucino, which happened to be half off when I arrived. I dabbled on the internet briefly and then made my way to the used bookstore. I love used book stores. The smell of old pages and book bindings is very comforting to me. I found a few books that I liked, but I decided to only get The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. My next stop was Owowcow, which is a homemade creamery in Wrightstown. Justine likes to call it Oh Holy Cow because the owners go to her church. I opted for a sampling of the vanilla chocolate chip icecream and then drove like mad to Buck's County Community College in order to catch the Improv show: The Games Within the Games. It was a good way to finish out my long day. I laughed plenty throughout the entire production. I made it home around midnight and stayed awake awhile longer in order to let my brother into my apartment so he could crash for the night.

New Jersey and All That Jazz

Since I've grown restless lately and I appreciate music, since I have no musical talent, I decided to go to Shanghai Jazz in Madison, NJ, this evening to see my dear friend, Matt Hoffmann play drums. He was accompanying Dan Levinson, who played the clarinet and tenor saxophone, and Mark Shane, on piano. The place had  a nice laid back atmosphere so that I felt comfortable instead of out of place. I chose to sit at the bar so that I could also watch the Yankee game that was playing, though the owner also switched on the Rangers playoff game.
I really enjoyed getting to sit back and relax and listen to jazz. I've always felt drawn to the Roaring 20s, so it should really not come as a surprise that I enjoy jazz. Plus, thanks to my brother and Matt, I've been listening to it in some shape or form since I was about 12. The group of course played the jazz staple "Night & Day" by Cole Porter, along with a number of other tunes. I was amused by Mark's comment of, "I tried to learn this in pig latin, but it didn't work out," before one of the few songs he sang. He also took the time to thank the owners for letting him play the gong after years of practice, and one of them responded with, "Yea it was that time in the cave with Yoda." As you can tell, everybody was all laid back, which I think is what I like about jazz and jazz musicians. I think one of my favorite moments of the evening was when Dan Levinson introduced Matt and said, "He comes from way up in the mountains, almost like 'Deliverance,' but I guess it's okay if you have a banjo." I found this statement to be completely accurate.
At intermission and after the show, I had a chance to chat with Matt, which was great considering I haven't seen him in four months. He reintroduced me to Mark Shane who remembered me after he was reminded that I'm Nick's sister. Glad that's always an "in" with everybody :) We caught up on life and discussed our frustrations with the job searching in today's economy. I think his best piece of advice, though, was when he told me, "It's who you are, not where you are." He's completely right with that. No matter where I end up, I will always be me and that will help me enjoy whatever situation God places me in.
You dig! (it's a jazz thing, don't ask)