Don't Be a Square...

2014 has been an incredibly exciting year for me so far: if you follow me on twitter, then you know that this is my last week doing my day job for a while. Starting Monday, I'm taking a six month sabbatical from my normal work to help run the intern program for my employer. I cannot even describe how  excited I am to have to this opportunity-- its going to be a complete 180 from what I'm doing now, and an incredible way to develop some new skills! 

But if you thought that was the only change I've had this year, then you would be wrong. In early February, I joined the Board of the very newly founded Young Professionals group of The Cleveland Orchestra- The Circle. 

The premise of The Circle is very simple: For $15/month ($20 for 2 people), your membership includes tickets to 6 concerts a year (one every other month). On the non-concert months, you will have a unique opportunity to network or volunteer and generally get to know other young professionals in the area. While the 6 concerts a year are intriguing and appealing on their own, its the non-concert months that offer a really unique experience.

February was a non-concert month, and our unique experience was a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming presentation of the opera The Cunning Little Vixen. Yeah, you read that right--- THE OPERA IS BEING PRESENTED IN CLEVELAND IN MAY!!! The evening began with a short discussion led my Mark Williams, Director of Artistic Planning at the Orchestra. Mark told the story of how one night at a bar, he and director Yval Sharon  came up with the idea to bring The Cunning Little Vixen to Cleveland. Performed in Czech, The Cunning Little Vixen is a challenging, yet quick (only 90 minutes!) piece, the examines the transience of nature. 

Mark Williams (far right), Yval Sharon (immediately to his left) and the rest of The Cunning Little Vixen conceptual team. 

Then came an interesting piece of news--- this will not be a typical operatic presentation-- this one will be a multimedia presentation featuring live music and singing, video AND animation!! And THEN we got a peek of what that would look like, and I pretty much died and went to heaven.

Here are some screen shots from the presentation. The pictures don't really do it justice, but the best way I can describe it is this: the end result with have live performers of course, but the set itself will be animated and presented across three massive video screens, creating a panoramic video. The animation is a combination of digital animation and hand-drawing, creating a semi-3D experience. Its sorta like 80s Saturday morning cartoons + Pixar + live musical. And yes, there will be subtitles. 

The presentation and sneak peek was then following by drinks + snacks, and an opportunity to actually meet and talk to the director, animators and artists, who are incidentally really young, impossibly cool, interesting people. One of the artist/animators is actually going to have a show on adult swim in the next few months! I also spent some time chatting with some of the young musicians, who are incidentally all also members of The Circle and frequent its events! Who knew the Orchestra was this fun and approachable?!?!

Needless to say, I am SUPER excited to see this presentation live in May--- did I mention that TICKETS ARE INCLUDED WITH THE CIRCLE MEMBERSHIP?!?!?!? Some of the upcoming events include a Fridays@7 concert on March 7th, and a behind-the-scenes tour of Severance Hall on April 8th! Additional details on the upcoming events available here and while there's still work to be done on online membership, you can join (you can do a 6 month trial membership) The Circle by calling 216-231-1111. 

So if you're looking to experience something unique in Cleveland, or are looking to expand your current circle of friends and meet other interesting young professionals with similar interests, I hope you will consider joining The Circle. 

Disclosure: I am a paying member of The Circle. I am also a Board Member for The Circle. All opinions, as always, are 100% my own. 

A weekend recap... on a Tuesday night

Yes, I'm recapping the weekend today. I realize its a little late for that, but I was so tired from my weekend that I fell asleep on the couch at 7:30 last night. I'm turning 31 this weekend (gag), but seriously, some days I feel like a much older person!!! Anyway, this past weekend was incredibly busy. Sunday, I joined thousands of people at the Taste of Tremont.I don't know what it is, but I swear that every year the Taste seems like THE HOTTEST DAY of the year. This year the Taste was a little different for me. I kicked off the event with a 2-hour volunteer spot at the Secondhand Mutts booth where I chaperoned the SUPERCUTE Frida Marie (she's still available for adoption btw. She's really cute and sweet, but she is a puppy and has puppy energy. She'd make a great addition to an active home that has the time to take her to obedience school to help her focus).

Anyway, after my shift, I made my way over to our usual spot on the Flying Monkey Patio, where I got the one and only thing I ate at Taste, the PBLT at Dim and Den Sum. Yes, I fully recognize I could have gotten this at any time, but I was REALLY craving a PBLT.

Saturday, I took the pups for a long walk, and ran some errands, before I RAN the Winking Lizard Shot in the Dark 2-mile race. I know its only 2 miles, really not that big a deal, but honestly, I've run maybe 10 times ALL YEAR!! Needless to say, I hurt BAD all day Sunday and Monday. Saturday evening N and I headed over to the Wolstein to watch the Burning River Roller Girls in action, and cheer own our very own Rolling Pin-Up Lulu, who just so happened to be celebrating her birthday. The night continued with drinks at Garage Bar, fun times with friends, and late-night Gyros at Nikos Greek Grille (don't ask. I was REALLY hungry).

Lulu in the Zebra pants. I can't even tell you how much admiration I have for these ladies!! They KICK ASS!!

Lulu's so fast she's just a blur

Sara, AJP, Lulu, JV, and me!

Which brings me to Friday night. N and I headed over to the Ingenuity Fest Speakeasy, an event we absolutely LUUURVED last year. This year, not so much. And I'm not sure it had to do with the event itself, I think it had more to do with the numbers of people. This year was not as well attended as last year, and that made it less fun. I think part of it has to do with the fact that us Clevelander's may be suffering from a touch of event fatigue. There have been so many FABULOUS events this year, and I end every weekend absolutely exhausted. I guess this is where Cleveland's relatively small population is a negative: you can't always fill an event! On the plus side, there were WAAY more people in costume this year, so people-watching was way more fun! 

There would've been way more people in this picture last year. 

N walking the shadowy tunnels!!

N and I on some 3D plotter thing. This was really cool.

We were joined by more people!!! Who also thought it was cool!!

Old Subway sign. This would look awesome in my house btw. *sigh*

Vintage subway!

Fabulous 20s attire!!

I really hope that you attend Ingenuity Fest this year! They had the whole bridge open for this last year, and since its a September event, I'm hoping there's no event fatigue this time around. If for nothing else, come for the VIEW!! Look how fabulous!!!

I LURVE CLEVELAND!!!

Forest City Portage: great gifts for men and women

Until a few years ago, I had no idea that Cleveland had such a vibrant art scene. Since that discovery, I've been fortunate to meet some incredibly talented Clevelanders. One of those people is Michael Hudecek, the enterpreneur and artist behind Forest City Portage.

If you live/work/drive around downtown/Ohio City/Tremont/Lakewood (I'm sure there's similar spots on the east side too), you may have noticed an increase in the amount of bicycles around town. Forest City Portage has a number of bags specially suited to bike riders, but they work for pretty much anyone looking for a cool, unique bag.

The products above are available at Forest City Portage's etsy site.

 

In addition to the work featured on his new site (still in soft-launch), Michael does custom work, so feel free to contact him if you're looking to give someone a super special, personalized gift!

You know you want one!