Happy New Year!

Really 2007? You're done? Wow. Crazy.

Happy New Year to everyone at home and otherwise. I'll be celebrating on the boat with my best friend, Erin. He's coming onboard today!! I may not blog for the rest of this week as a result. So to all I can't be with this year, I wish you a very happy 2008.

Wishing you Joy and Love from the Crescent City! This picture isn't great, but I only had my phone to take it.

It's a fast-food daquiri place. The same place is featured in the mall food court. God bless New Orleans.

Christmas Spirit

Not just a clever (?) blog title, but also the title of our Christmas production.

Oh boy! This is my Christmas morning face. I previewed it at our party the night of our Christmas show. It was technically Christmas morning.

I'm not saying Santa isn't real. But I am saying that's Peter under there. He's the best Santa on record.
This is the Spirit of Christmas family. Dad Shawn, Mom Tab, Annoying "Gangsta" Son James, and More Annoying Little Sister Natalie (Stickers and ponies and myspace.com!)
What a fun albeit crazy weird Christmas. Doing a show on Christmas Eve = odd. Doing a show on Christmas Day for the crew where the goal is swearing and drinking onstage as much as possible = awesome...?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Yule Blog

My Christmas gift to myself is that blog title.

Merry Christmas!!! I’m sitting in my current home, cabin 10601, enjoying some Christmas music and some Ghirardelli Peppermint Chocolate coffee (courtesy of World Market in New Orleans and the tiny coffee maker I took from the boys’ room). But how did I get here? Let’s review the last 48 hours or so of this Christmas cruise adventure….

December 23: A whirlwind of a day that ended with many a full shopping bag and still not every single thing I intended to get. Christmas, even at sea, is so much pressure! This week was exciting because I took the bus out to the Best Buy, World Market, B&N and to the Oakwood Mall. Oh boy, seeing the mall was even more exciting than seeing the Wal-Mart a few weeks back. Bath & Body Works alone was worth the trip. My Pumpkin Spice wallflower has made this a real holiday. Oh and I will add too that we began the day at the seafarer center, which is the best place ever. Global Ministries provides this place for crew members to use internet, make phone calls, send and receive mail and have treats! This week there were homemade Christmas things. Yes, please. Back on the ship, we attended our weekly family dinner featuring James’ parents. Tabetha’s fiancé Greg and his family came aboard as well. At midnight, we had a rehearsal for our Christmas show in the Stardust. Big Day.

December 24, Christmas Eve: Despite having gone to sleep around 3am, I wake up a little after 8 to eat and go to 9am mass in the Stardust. Yes, MASS! There is a priest onboard this week to celebrate masses. About 20 or so super-Catholics were in attendance for this morning mass. Msgr. Fitzgerald introduced himself and then asked us all where we were from, and he seemed to know everything about every diocese anyone was a part of. Impressive. Mass aboard a ship is comical (Kelly, Vinnie, Anthony, I wish you could’ve seen it). There was a table with a sleeve of hosts (in the style of Ritz crackers) and a bottle of wine and a bottle of Evian water. When the cruise staff girl came to open the wine before mass began, the priest asked her if he had to pay a corkage fee. Bits! After mass I talked a bit with the priest and then proceeded to the gym, where I realized that crowded ship + sea day = no machines for me. Fast forward to two full rehearsals for the Christmas show. They went fairly well and then it was nearly show time. After some scrambling for final Secret Santa arrangements, the cast was ready. It was odd and awesome to be doing a full show all together with the NCL company and all guest entertainers. Everyone is amazing and Ruben pulled us together in such a great way. First show could’ve been smoother…but was still good. We had a better audience (and a little more fun) in the second show. Just standing backstage with everyone and sharing our little rituals was so much fun. Although I learned that I hesitate before saying the improv standard of “Got your back” to a family of acrobats. Let’s be honest…I can’t catch any of them.

Post-show: party!! Ruben & Co once again come through and provide us with some awesome food and drinks. After more sugar overload, we pause the festivity for Midnight Mass to happen. Once again, it’s odd, but very nice. In my life I have only missed Midnight Mass once. I thought for sure this year would be twice. Thanks, NCL. Our party got rolling again once Mass ended. But we were all pretty exhausted. In an hour or so we wrapped up. Pictures of the evening were immediately put onto my computer. They will be shared this Friday, I hope. Peter makes an amazing Santa Claus.

Note on the Christmas show: I probably haven’t mentioned exactly what it is. Basically, they put all of the entertainers into one Christmas variety show, each of us doing whatever we do best. The singers and dancers (guess what) sang and danced to Christmas music, the tumbling family, Cameo Rascale, did some fun stuff like acrobatically putting a star on top of the Christmas tree, among other things, and Chantz, our resident musical wunderkind, sang and tapped. Second City wrote the throughline of a family reading The Night Before Christmas, leading into the music numbers. Tab and Shawn were mom and dad and James and I were the annoying young teen kids. Katy scored us of course…but what about Peter?? He was the best Santa Claus ever. Wait for the pictures!

Today, December 25, CHRISTMAS!! Here I sit, with half of my coffee gone, and The Christmas Song playing through my laptop speakers. I admit I’m a little misty. It’s not as though I have a home to think about missing. My parents have long since left my childhood residences. I may have even longed for Reno this year, but the only person left there is my sister and I’ve never seen her new home. This would’ve been my first Christmas in my new Chicago apartment, so all Christmas memories lie in the places that came before it (or on Michigan Ave or at Zoo Lights). So what is that I’m missing this year? Well…Erin, of course. He is in Wisconsin today, undoubtedly enjoying copious amounts of holiday fare and family. My parents are likely playing Santa to their residents, being family to those who have none. My sister might be working a very busy Keno counter (I don’t know if today is her usual day off or not) but only after opening presents with her husband and two young step-children. My aunts and uncles are spread out, my grandma is in Phoenix, where I spent a delightful Christmas two years ago, my closest friends are in Chicago, New York, LA and Florida, and my last several Christmases have been spent in different places each year. So the point of this long story is, I have no traditions. Well…except for music, food, and trees. But I can’t call any one locale my Christmas home. So this year, the Spirit is my home and the people are my family. And although I miss Erin, mom, dad, Amy and Meredith terribly, I am extremely lucky to have the people I have here.

In one hour, our Secret Santas will reveal themselves. We’ve had a lot of fun over the last week sneaking around and outsourcing our gift-giving to our cabin stewards and the production company so as not to be discovered. And as creative we’ve been, nothing compares to the lengths the production company went to for their SS operation. Those guys are nuts. Although I was incredibly proud of how I snuck a gift for my Secret Santee into James’ Ship n Males performance. There’s nothing like getting a jar of sprinkles from a guy in his underwear.

To close out this Yule Blog (yes!), here is the Night Before Christmas I wrote for my friends aboard the Spirit. It may not make sense to anyone else, but at least you’ll all know the names of my boat family….

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the Spirit
A party was starting but no one could hear it
Just beyond Windows, aft on deck five
In the crew bar the holiday was coming alive

And I in my boxers, retired to my quarters
Flipping past Larry King and Law & Order
Katie was equally ready for snoozing
Six months is a while to be freestyle cruising

Tab was with Greg, James with his folks
Bethany laughing at Shawn’s gross jokes
And then there was Peter, to everyone’s delight
Starting a new drawing that would take all night

When to our surprise, we heard our phones’ ringers
Who was it? Our friends, the NCL singers
Kwame and Nick, Jenna and Chantal
What reason could they have for this late night call?

“Ombres in the Stardust! Games of Taboo!
If only you could hang out with all of the crew
But the Gaswirth Mansion has an open door
You can’t get in trouble for being on deck 4”

We sprang out of bed and put on our pants
On the way down the hall we ran into Chantz
We told him about our plans for night capping
I don’t know if he heard over all of his tapping

As we continued down the starboard hall
We spied something shiny: Cameo Rascale!
Gayle jumped the broomstick, while we heard Steve sing
Nicole hoola-hooped then tossed James a fifth ring

Down the elevator, on deck four we landed
Wait, it’s not cool to show up empty handed
We need something to show our thanks to Nick
We needed some beer and we needed it quick

Off to the crew bar as fast as we could
“I don’t know, guys, I don’t think we should
Even with our heads down and our nametags on
We don’t have the freedom they do on the Dawn.”

Then in a moment, we all knew the answer
Let’s call on our escorts, the NCL dancers!
On Katrina, on Joe, on Ruben and Bree
Katherine and April, Topher and Bobby

With you we can venture without any fear
Hooray! We can have one dollar beer
We gathered some bottles and also some cans
And thanked Ruben, our real-life Superman

Off to the party we finally fly
And hope we haven’t missed much Family Guy
Into Nick’s room the lot of us barge
Good thing his place is ridiculously large

Our Christmas adventure has ended this way
It may seem like just another sea day
It may not be tradition, but it’s something near it
Merry Christmas to my family aboard the Spirit

Senor BLOG

YES!!! Pun intended!! We're at Senor Frog's in Cozumel and these pictures actually loaded. I love it.

This blog is dedicated to representing. Check it out. In Belize, there is a bar with a bunch of random sports team stuff. Below, you will see me claiming the Gator National Champion shirt.

This one below is for my friend Brooke. You apparently have family in Barbados.
This one is from Bar Harbor and is dedicated to the best harold team ever. Oh memories.
On a related note, Sean Kelly, this one is for you, courtesy of the Crescent City of New Orleans.

I love you all. These little things keep you with me.

I just had a really weak shot forced into my face by a crazy Mexican girl with a whistle. Thanks, Production Company.

Crewsing

Crew pun! So now that I'm seeing the same ports every week, my blog has turned far more to shiplife. One ship inevitability is the insanity of the periodic crew party. Last night an infamous crew party occured and no one was disappointed, save for maybe the security guards who have to repeatedly tell the drunken masses to get to bed, lest a wayward passenger witness the craziness. After a guitar performance by our cruise director, the vocal stylings of the head chef, and some rockin' DJ work, we retired to the dancers' hallway, a part of the crew area we are allowed (now) to visit but only at the discretion of our prodcution company escorts. There ensued activities that I can only imagine would mimic those of a secondary boarding school...too nuts for high school, but not quite at the advanced level of college debauchery. Guitar Hero, Family Guy, and even an acoustic sing along featuring the incomparable Oasis. Yes, drama ran rampant as did Bobby and Katrina. Those young dancers...They are trouble. delightful, adorable trouble. I have a picture or two of the evening, but again, Belize is not friendly to picture posting. I'll be lucky if I can get this blog loaded at all. Here goes....

Spirits of the Spirit

I can’t really report on my parents’ visit until I can properly post pictures. In light of this, I will instead have to report on the goings-on of last night…GHOST HUNT!!!!! Apparently the ship formerly known as the Star Leo harbors some haunters, primarily in the Stardust theatre. So five brave souls set out on a journey for the departed. At midnight we met in the girls’ dressing room. Chantal was sorely disappointed that I had not brought along my computer to show her pictures that my mother had taken which appeared to include “ombres” (Chantal-speak for orbs). So I went back to my room to collect my evidence. Upon my return Chantal, Nick, Peter and James were sitting back stage amid the band set-up, enjoying the darkness and the creepy ship noises that come along with moving at minimal speed in choppy waters. I showed my pictures and Chantal confirmed, yep those are certified ombres. After Nick repeatedly told me to kill my laptop because the light as scaring the spirits away (really, Nick??), we sat in the dark until the vacuuming was done in the house (spoooooky vacuuming). We then moved into the house, and Nick the techmaster turned the lights out and we moved from seat to seat taking photos (try without your flash, Chantal!) and seeing if we could feel any cold breezes or mysterious taps on the shoulder. I admit a cold spot or two were felt, but I never went running. Ultimately, the darkened quiet Stardust was extremely peaceful. After much scientific experimentation (e.g. sitting and waiting), our ghosthunters retired one by one. In the wee hours before we finally packed it in, a group of very drunk passengers burst into the theatre to take pictures and be a-holes on our stage. Nick thought quickly and turned the houselights on, sending them running. That alone was worth the whole evening of waiting.

Our conclusions:
- Orbs exist but they hate really high-tech cameras
- Ghosts are people who don’t realize they’re dead…and really love On Broadway
- If the ghosts date all the way back to when the Star Leo was born, then we’re talking spooks from ’97…they probably don’t even carry cell phones!
- Sitting in an empty theatre late at night is decidedly something we won’t regularly do on land
- Demi Moore and Cameron Diaz were much hotter with longer hair

Stay tuned for our next installment of Ghost Hunters….

Where Have I Been?

It has been brought to my attention that my blog is lagging. Well, dear reader, it’s true. My regular day to upload pictures was the day my parents arrived to come aboard the Spirit and see what I’m doing for a living. They are enjoying their time away from work and away from their tiny town in California. In fact, the population of this boat may very well rival Hanford.

The scripted show this week was a huge success…two of the best performances we’ve done thus far. Tonight’s improv set was fun and very well attended, albeit a little wonky due to the fact that James has caught the plague and was not able to play with us. By plague I mean whatever it is that has been going around the ProdCo of late. It’s a respiratory infection. I’m more than a little concerned that it will land on me too, so I will have to stop sneaking into Joe and Katrina’s room and making out with Joe while he’s sleeping. I mean, that’s just unhealthy, right?

So to recap…mom and dad and I have been playing bingo, eating and shopping. You know, all the things that I make fun of the people who cruise for doing. My parents are these people. YIKES.

If I can’t get to a good internet connection until next week, I apologize for the lack of images to go along with my color commentary. But oh well, I’m really tired right now, so it wasn’t all that colorful anyway.

I promise to be a lot more exciting next time. In fact, I will be devoting an entry to the NCL Production Company. Take that, Peter…

Saints and Sailors

Hold one moment. I'm quietly congratulating myself for that subject line. And....we're clear. Here are some pictures from this past week.

What James, You've never heard of a birthday punch in the face before?

We were surprised with a cake. Thanks, Ruben and Tabetha!!
I'm singing the crap out of something.Here's a random sampling of our karaoke room party. From left: Nick, Joe, Ruben, Bree, Peter, Katherine, Bobby and partially seen Tabetha and Katy.
Actual birthday night, Beer Fest. The Beer Fest is by far the most entertaining event of the week during a regular cruise. For many reasons. The three of us tend to dance more than others. Beer Fest is an exception though. Even Tabetha joined a conga line. WHAT?

Through the legs of our Coyote Ugly dancer, Bobby, Peter shows his party spirit.

Look up. Wow.

Our first time in Belize City, and this is what we find. Scariest Santa Claus ever. And the guy in the red suit. ZING! Just kidding, Peter. Seriously. Terrifying.

This week was a whirlwind. Stats: Year gained - 1; Drinks had - more than enough; Cake eaten - just enough; Songs sung - too many; Birthday text messages unreadable until today - 6; Days until mom and dad arrive - 7; Days until Erin arrives - 28.

Happy First Sunday of Advent!!