LOL. I was in such a good mood after finding my globe, this conversation with my roommate ensued....


april21ish (11:34:07 PM): ARRRGHHH!!! YE LAND LUBBER!! KNOW YE WHEREABOUTS BE ME LUCKY GLOBE?!?!
april21ish (11:34:09 PM): ARRGH!
april21ish (11:34:18 PM): I use it to traverse the world, dontcha know!
umichfish (11:34:24 PM): ARRGGG
umichfish (11:34:49 PM): I'm Looking YOnDER..
april21ish (11:34:57 PM): eye off the port bow! methinks a slip of a lass wrassled it from the depths!!!
april21ish (11:35:16 PM): i thunk for sure it'd be in the depths with Davy Jones!!!
umichfish (11:35:49 PM): aye it is
april21ish (11:36:48 PM): blast and tarnation!! I'll track this lass down, wherever she be! my peg leg will not rest until i give her the black spot and she gives me back what is rightfully mine!! arrgghh!!
april21ish (11:37:09 PM): ...
april21ish (11:37:36 PM): whoa, cole, what's going on? i just saw some scary peg-legged guy going out our door!!! you know anything about that?!?!
umichfish (11:38:46 PM): hahahah
umichfish (11:39:01 PM): he was on your aim
umichfish (11:39:04 PM): i talked to him
umichfish (11:39:11 PM): he wants his effing globe back
umichfish (11:39:29 PM): you might be cursed. i wouldn't go out under the full moon if i were you.
april21ish (11:39:38 PM): oh NO!!
umichfish (11:39:48 PM): do you have an unquenchable thirst or unsatisfiable lust
umichfish (11:39:49 PM): ?
umichfish (11:39:58 PM): because those could be signs that you are half dead
april21ish (11:39:59 PM): the last thing I need is a gaggle of Johnny Depps after me!!
umichfish (11:40:10 PM): yeah actually i'd like that
april21ish (11:40:14 PM): lol

Quite pleased with myself.

You know, it's the little things in life. Like out running today (it's trash day) I found an abandoned lumiere globe. Yeah, it's old and has the USSR on it, but it's a freaking light-up globe!! I promptly stopped running and scurried home with my prize. Little things like that always make me feel quite pleased with myself, as if I've done some miraculous, unrivaled thing. So, I feel pretty good right now.

COUNTDOWN TO SUMMERFEST....five days. Confirmed: lots o' people. More information to go out soon. Write for details, aasm@umich.edu


KEEP LOVING LIFE

Hmmm...musing. If you haven't checked out Litchenheld's blog, do so. (no, really, why can't I do hyperlinks on Macs). Powerful stuff. It's been a while since I've really seen the quiet desperation, the oddly dignified begging.

It's been one year, to be exact.

Which brings me to my next adventure: recently I've been researching and writing a proposal on fair trade in coffee. Looking at the largest coffee-producing companies, the largest stockholders, the positive and negative effects fair trade brings, and comparing volume-producing countries to quality...it's quite an interesting intellectual jaunt.

I'm considering turning this into a research project. Traveling the "coffee countries" researching the effects of fair trade implementation. Sounds eye-opening enough. Yet even while we revel in the humbling/enlightening senses gained from viewing the true heartache in the world--it's true that we shrink away from it.

But I just may throw down the gauntlet for myself.

Anyone else looking at research projects?

SUMMERFEST

C'mon, gals and girls of Toyland, let's head on down to Sandusky for some serious SUMMERFEST!!!

RSVP LIST

# Wolverines = # Trainees = # Cornellians

Solid balance. Yet, Madtown is SADLY AND UNEXPECTEDLY LACKING IN STYLE. Williams, Bruni--Get on this. At least at a campsite it's a helluva lot easier to track down cell phones, jackets, shreds of your dignity, whatever.... =)

Also, Nob and Arthur--attendance is expected.

SUMMERFEST!!
WHEN: June 2nd - June 4th
WHERE: Sandusky, Ohio
WHAT: Camping and Cedar Point
WHY: Helluva good time

Hmmm..."food" for thought.

Alcohol may be the road to nowhere, but at least it's the scenic route.

Drinks Well With Others.

Slammed I Am!
"I would drink beer with a goat, on a boat, in a box, in my sox, in a car, at a bar. I do, I do, I do like beer!"

I'm NOT an Alcoholic.
I'm a Drunk.
Alcoholics go to meetings.

I Have a Beer Problem...
Joe and John split a quarter keg of beer. There are (approx.) 41 mugs of beer to be drank from the keg, and each mug contains 12oz of beer. After one hour and 4 mugs, Joe has to take a leak. John however needs to take a leak after only 2 mugs during this time. If both Joe and John continue drinking for six hours... How many leaks will be taken during this period by each and how many mugs will remain in the quarter of keg?


While I heartily believe in all of the above, probably the funniest thing about them is that I've seen Rickesh wear/say most of these... ;)

Points to anyone who actually hypothesizes an answer to the Beer Problem.

" You only get to know people when you've had a jolly good row with them. Then and then only can you judge their true characters!"
---
Anne Frank

So...that's actually Hana's (http://uaespirit.nomadlife.org/...why can't I do hyperlinks on Macs?!) signature on her emails, and I thought it was pretty great. Then, in general, one could say I try to know MANY people's true characters.

What, what, SUMMERFEST?!?! That's right. June 2-4, Cedar Point and Tent Camping, @ Michigan crowd & Co. (Madtown, get back to me if you're down...) We're looking at about $33 for the camping (two nights, Fri and Sat) and the cost of Cedar Point ticket. ($40 normally, but Pepsi always gives those $10-$15 discounts on the cans....)

Contact me ASAP at aprilannsmith@gmail.com if you so wish to join the festivities..... 8)

No pasa nada. I had forgetten about the phrase almost as soon as I left Latin American, and there's a good reason why.

"No pasa nada!" literally translates to, "It didn't happen!" "Nothing happens!" but what it really means is,

"Don't Worry About It!"

A bit easier said than done back here in the 50 Nifty.

I miss the laid-back, Latin ways of last summer.

Raise your tequila/Pisco/Chilean wine-drinking hand in the air for adopting a 3-hour lunch break and partying til 6:00 AM.

No pasa nada.

Lights, Camera, Freshmen!

That's the name we wanted for our orientation troupe. Unfortunately, the implication of replacing 'action' with 'freshmen' didn't fly.

Some great AIESEC moments lately....

1) Randomly meeting an alum in the airport!! Walking by us at a reception, he stopped and said, Is this an AIESEC Group? I was in AIESEC in the 70s, in Paris, for two years. Great to see it's still going.

2) Meeting with an old friend and mentor, Sarah Bostwick, for a few hours. She's back from MC Panama, and looking at TNs...oh, to be a fly on the wall in @ MI these days, she said, and I take that as a challenge.


Besides these, I've just been keeping busy with life. Working alot, musing about some things. Tired mostly, in many ways.

Et spes inanes, et velut somnia quaedam, vigilantium.

Dear Life,


Although I appreciate the irony, it's really not that funny.

Once again, thanks for keeping things interesting.


Love,

April

Dear Life,


Please kick me in the ass some more.




Love,
April

Una Fiesta....

A handle of Cuervo. A handle of Vodka. 24 beers. One deck of cards. $1.99 for a child's game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Noise makers. Balloons. Salsa music. An empty house, no roommates in sight.

I can post only this, because this is all I remember.

8)

The Rules of Improv...

I have to do improv about 3 hours a day, 4 days a week for this theater job I'm doing... my director gave this to us the other day...

RULES OF IMPROV

1) "Yes, and..." Never negate anything. Accept what's given.
2) It's about the other person--you're there to make THEM be funny.
3) Don't go for the laugh
4) Don't pimp (don't expect other people to do something for you that you should be doing, i/e, 'Hey, Joe, where are we?")
5) ALWAYS establish the who, what, when, where, and why ASAP
6) Listen!
7) Don't evaluate, just jump in
8) Play to solve the problem, not for the clever line
9) Remove preconceptions and plans
10) EVERYONE is a supporting actor

So--we play imiprov games for about 2-3 hours every night at rehearsal. That's because 20% of our script will NEVER be written, and will change every night--it's strictly improv. Hence the practice.

Some interesting games we've played? Pretty much everything you've ever seen on Who's Line. The "If you know what I mean" game, where each person uses that phrase in suggestive ways as often as possible. The prop game. The "Who's Line" game, where each actor draws 2 lines from a hat, doesn't look at them, and has to work them into the given situation. The criminal game (trying to get the murdered to confess, when he doesn't know what he's done).

WHO'S LINE

Where are they? A Basketball game! Ok, basketball game it is.

Wooo!! (runs down court) Shoots. YEEAYY!!! Whistle blows. WHAT?!?! Aw, man, that is bullshit! Man, don't you remember what I told you about fouling me?! I said......"You make me feel like dancing"......THAT'S RIGHT, MUTHA FUCKER! You make me feel like dancing all over your punk ass!!!


CRIMINAL GAME (who, where, with what)

Why'd ya do it, huh?! Why him?! The second-up? He's not even in charge! And he's got a horrible aim anyway! He couldn't have come after you!

Umm....if you guys are saying I killed...Dick Cheney, then you're totally off. (Applause)

And why there, of all places? People were BUSY! They were trying to CONCENTRATE!

Hey, I'm telling you, I wasn't in any university classroom last night! (No applause)....and I sure as HELL wasn't in a library!! (Applause)


HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket?

It's too damn hard to get driver's licenses for trainees these days. It's an unbroken circle of "you have to have this before you can do this" but that leads to something else, to something else, to back to the original thing. Christ.

I had one Chinese trainee write me today and said he's just going to drive illegally because the process is too hard. Yeah, I told him that DEFINITELY wasn't an option. But I don't blame him for his sentiments. I'm SO damn tired of calling these government offices and hearing 20 different things from 20 different people. Too much red tape bullshit.

ANYWAY...I hear that I missed a SOLID time at Slope Weekend, which is sad. But good to hear all the new drama and happenings, as is unavoidable whenever many AIESECers get together.

Speaking of which, AIESEC Michigan is looking at June 2nd-4th to be SUMMERFEST, in which we will camp out in tents in Sandusky with various amusements and beverages, arise the next morning for an early start at the AWESOMENESS that is Cedar Point, spend all day there until its closure at midnight, and then it's back to the campsite for a debauchary & fun -filled night at the campsite.

Set your watches to: roughly 7 or 8 pm Friday June 2, when we will be leaving Ann Arbor for Sandusky.

PS--anyone have any ideas for free-range camping? Although it's relatively cheap to rent a campsite in a camping ground, I can already see through the medium of AIESEC experience that this will herald complaints from families/young children, etc. as it always is with our presence. Sooo....maybe I will find an AIESECer in Ohio that will volunteer services...mwua ha ha!

I think it is GREAT that I have nothing to do at this moment besides sit here and drink wine, while typing quietly.

Remind me of this feeling one month from now when I am beginning Intensive Chinese.

Great Kunqu performance tonight.

Tomorrow it is HOME for an old friend's Welcome Home party from 6 months in Spain. I'll be so jealous of ANY international exposure (even if it is a Westernized country) that I might cry with envy.

Wish me luck.

(And pity me because I'm not at slope day)

Cafe...

COFFEE is on my mind and occupying my waking moments.

This, in relation to fair trade practices and enforcement, is what I have chosen (in response to the preceding entry).

Furthermore, I expect coffee will be on quite a few others's minds as well, as they recover from Slope Weekend.

PS--Going to a traditional Chinese play tonight. Too bad all my Asian friends go home for the summer... =P

DIME

Tell me, what would you write about?

If you had to write a huge research project on an issue that affects multiple countries across many regions...

You'd have to spend your waking hours on this.

Pour money, tears and time into it.

Child soldiers? Religious persecution? World Hunger and Food Aid issues?

I have to make this decision fairly soon...what do I write about???