Glee: Don't Stop Believin'

Every once in awhile Hollywood produces something that reminds me a little bit of my life, but mostly not. Usually, when people in Hollywood get together and try to make something about smalltown midwestern life, it's just a little bit off. Tthe weather's a bit too "sunny all the time," the people are a little bit too pretty and skinny, and the towns are a little bit too fake. I used to watch "Ed," which took place in Stuckyville, Ohio, and I'd constantly complain that no Ohio smalltown had that many beautiful single people in it. I'd also complain that there's no way you could make a fool of yourself in a restaurant without knowing at least one person in that restaurant. In Hollywood smalltowns, people don't run into people they know enough, and the general populace's skin is way too clear.

But last night as I was watching "Glee," I was pretty much glued in from the moment they zoomed in on the Ohio license plate and declared the setting as "William McKinley High School." I say to Clay, "There's a McKinley High School in Canton." Then later in the show when the guy mentions his "long-distance girlfriend in Cleveland," I laugh, saying, "Those towns are only an hour away from each other. hahaha."

Pretty much, there was so much about "Glee" that was reminiscent of my High School Show Choir days. I realized that the only people I know, for the most part, who've been in Show Choir, are other people from Ohio. It make me excitedly speculate that Ohio is the Show Choir capital of the world. I even complained that the show is called "Glee," because we all called it "Show Choir." To which Clay pointed out, "Glee," is a much better name for a show than, "The S.C." True dat.

Anyways, in our high school show choir, we constantly looked up to the "amazing" choirs: St. Clairsville, Marysville, Medina. And we gloated about how we were one of the few groups that still sang in 4-8 parts instead of 1-2.

And being in Show Choir didn't make us cool at all, but we loved it. Loved it.

While certainly the students at William McKinley High are way more talented and stereotyped than any of my "Essence" buddies, I could see enough of us in them to feel like Hollywood finally made a show for me. I laughed a lot. One year we even recruited a few football players to join, and they dropped out two weeks into rehearsal...we got super angry that they couldn't make show choir rehearsals a priority. We got super frustrated that in our high school, everything seemed to revolve around football and cheerleading and no one seemed to give a rip about the music department. This show is so not made up.

After the show, Clay and I turned on "Big River," jumped up on the couch/raft with our poles in hand and sang (Clay as Jim, Me as Huck Finn). Glee definitely increased the level of glee in my life. This morning I listened to "Seasons of Love" on the way to work, remembering how much I loved playing the piano parts for our love set, which included Seasons of Love (Rent), Everlasting Love (Gloria Estafan), Where is Love (Oliver)...

Watch Glee next fall. It's the happiest thing on TV.

We're #2!

Being a sports fan in Ohio is pretty thankless. We rarely get to celebrate the big victories, and we cling to the close calls. (i.e. the time the Browns almost beat Denver in the AFC Championship, the times the Indians almost won the World Series in 95 and 97...)

2007-2008 was really been our banner year:

NCAA Football: Ohio State loses championship game to Florida (2007).
NCAA Football: Ohio State loses championship game to LSU (2008).
NCAA Basketball: Ohio State loses championship game to Florida.
ArenaBowl XXI: Columbus Destroyers lose to the San Jose SaberCats.
MLB ALCS: Cleveland Indians lose to the Boston Red Sox.

All of that to say, Ohio's Major League Soccer Team (the Columbus Crew) is playing in the championship game this weekend for the MLS cup. So...hope for the best, prepare for what's more likely.

I mean...Go Crew!

Beware of Ike!

Since I have lived outside the Midwest for 4+ years now, I'm rather acclimated to boring weather. 300 days of gray days of high's in the 60's. It's not much to write home about really. (Not that I want a tsunami or volcanic eruption to spice things up, anyways.)

But it never ceases to amaze me how much the people of Ohio get impacted by hurricanes. As you may already know, Ohio does not border any hurricane-ridden ocean. Coshocton, Ohio is, in fact, 484 miles from Atlantic City, on the eastern seaboard, and 900 miles from the gulf coast.

So why is it that the state is continually affected by hurricanes?? Seriously! Why are 110,000 homes without power in Ohio after a hurricane!? (Please don't respond to that with a comment about how big hurricanes are...duh!) What I mean is, isn't it amazing that any storm could be that insanely huge that it can pummel Galveston and continue its wake of destruction across an entire country?

I'm just saying--hurricanes are crazy. And you can't live in Ohio and be safe from hurricanes, believe it or not...so now you know.

P.S. An unrelated cyclone ripped through Clay and I's apartment yesterday, spilling most of the contents of the previously named "Junk Room" throughout the rest of the house. This was an intentional effort to reclaim the Junk Room for more noble purposes, and not caused by wind. Although happy things will result from this reorganization, I severely miss my days of obliviousness when all mess was confined to the Junk Room.

Too Funny!

This morning Dad sent me an email to let me know that Danielle Peck, rising Country star from my hometown of Coshocton, is singing the national anthem tonight in Cleveland.

What he did not tell me, that I found out later from my boss, is that Danielle also used to date Josh Beckett, the starting pitcher for the Red Sox! No way!

So, the Indians apparently didn't know that Danielle and Josh had dated, but the end result of having the starting pitcher for the Red Sox having to hold his hand over his heart while his ex-girlfriends sings our beloved National Anthem in what could be an ALCS Championship Game for the Indians is...well...dang funny.

Uh-oh

I'm a little concerned that I might have placed a jinx on the Cleveland Indians already...

I'm referring to this post where I claim, "If the Indians could lose the World Series and the Browns could lose the Super Bowl, it would be a very well-rounded year, I think." I was referring to Ohio's string of Championship losses this year... OSU Football, OSU Basketball, Cleveland Cavaliers, Columbus Destroyers, and now...

But there's no bone in my body that wants this to be true, so I'm retracting my formerly stated coy and sarcastic comment. Because seriously, I think this streak needs to break, and I think the Indians are the team to do it. Two nights in a row they have shut down Ortiz and Ramirez from doing what they're capable of doing. They can do it. This is the team...not easily shaken, young and exuberant...and they have Kenny Lofton, who makes it all seem right and good.

Go Tribe!

So it's official! The Indians are back in the Playoffs and ready to kick some booty. Woo woo!

Last week, Clay and I were able to soak in a final regular season game when the Indians took on the Mariners at Safeco field in Seattle. Fortunately, even though there were only like 2500 people at the game, we were not the only Indians fans. Someone had to be there to remind Kenny Lofton of how sweet a pennant victory for Cleveland in '97 and '95 tasted!

Actually I was pretty embarrassed that I didn't even know that Kenny Lofton was back in Cleveland until he came up to bat. Clay was shouting, "That's Kenny Lofton! That's Kenny Lofton!" and I was like, "No way! He's too old! We used to watch him play ten years ago!" And then his face appeared on the jumbotron, and we said, "Oh! It IS Kenny Lofton." (This is on par with the same obliviousness I experienced last November while sharing an elevator ride with first-round-draft-pick-to-be James Laurinaitis at the Charlotte Westin while he was on his way to the Bronco Nagorski Awards Ceremony.)

So far, it hasn't been too difficult to keep Clay rooting for the Indians, since he actually was a fan of the Indians back in the day. In fact, on one of our first dates, we had an extended conversation about Cleveland's last glory days with Jim Thome, Omar Vizquel, Kenny Lofton, Carlos Baerga, Sandy Alomar Jr., Manny Ramirez and Albert Belle. It's also made easier by the fact that the Texas Rangers rarely give him anything to root for.

So from the West Coast, we give a big shout out to the Indians. We are with you, friends. Do well, make Ohio proud, and please break this 2nd place streak that the Buckeyes and Cavs have set the precedent for this year.

Goodbye George.

For the past fifteen years, he's always called me Missionary Heather.

He gave me and Havaleh the title "Missionary" after our first youth Mission Trip to Henderson Settlement in Frakes, Kentucky. Fifteen years later, when we're both in full-time ministry--me to Northwest youth, her to North Carolina college students--it's still so fitting.

This morning, when I read Havaleh's email that said he had passed, I immediately wanted to go tell someone about George Stalter. No one in Washington knows George. It's so weird to have someone significant leave your life and realize there's no one to share that with. So I ran upstairs and told my coworker Teci a little bit about him. I told her that he had an incredible heart for outreach and missions...I told her that he loved people unconditionally...I told her he's been an incredible support and encouragement to me being on the mission field in Washington. I called Clay and told him about the tool belt George gave me for high school graduation. I told him that George is the heart of Grace United Methodist Church.

It struck me as slightly funny that the minute I heard that George is no longer with us, I wanted to share him with others. I wanted them to know that the kingdom of God here on earth lost someone significant today--but that we now have an incredible man on our side in the great cloud of witnesses. As I talk about him, it's like he's alive, and I'm so joy-filled to have known this great man.

Clay said, "George must have been so proud of you." He was. He was one of the first people to sign up to be a supporter of my ministry work, and whenever I'm home, he can't wait to give me a hug and a kiss and encourage me forward in my work for Christ. I have a twinge of regret that I didn't call George up to tell him I loved him during these past few months. Yet I'm so hope-filled and confident that I will see him again soon.

In honor of George, a stalwart of Grace UMC, I dedicate Sandra McCracken's tune Goodbye George. She wrote it for the passing of George Harrison, but it so well captures the mood saying goodbye to another George, one of my heroes. I would love it if you listen to this song today in memory of a saint, George Stalter of Coshocton, OH and remember his wife Pauline and his children and grandchildren, and Grace UMC, who will miss him so much.

Yet Another Ohio Championship?

Dad just informed me that Ohio is in yet another sports championship this year. This time: ArenaBowl XXI starring the Columbus Destroyers vs. the San Jose SaberCats. This is rather impressive considering the Destroyers had a losing record going into the post-season and won four games on the road. If you've never heard of Arena Football or have never considered its immense value, then you've probably never seen this commercial, in which Bon Jovi and John Elway attempt to lend a much-needed suave/cool/celebrity hype aura to Arena Football:

Anyways, Ohio has the opportunity to lose another Championship game in 2007...let's see if we can continue our streak of shut outs...

Half-Mast.

Steve the Counselor just walked by my office. Even though he's from Washington, he supports and loves OSU...in fact, his mom was OSU's homecoming queen back in the 40's or something crazy like that...

He just walked by my office and recommended I fly a flag at half-mast in front of my office door...drape it in a way that communicates, "Don't talk to me, I'm in mourning."

My coworker Stuart didn't understand this grief this morning, when he showed up in an orange and blue t-shirt with a Gators logo taped to his chest. I took the logo, ran it through the shredder, and returned it to him in pieces.

Somehow, even the shredder and the half-masted flag doesn't make the sadness go away.

I love you Ohio...I love you Buckeyes... we are allowed to be sad today.

It's just one of those days...

One of those days when your team is playing in a little game called the National Champion- ship!

I'll be cheering especially hard for James Laurainitis, since I once said two words to him in an elevator in Charlotte and all...you best be cheering too...

(Please note the jersey--#10 Troy Smith...2006 Heisman Trophy Winner. It ain't no thang.)

Photojournalistic Highlights from the Tour 'o the Midwest...

So...my photojournalistic highlights from this last trip are sparse. Even though I was in seven different states on four separate trips over 20 days, I took exactly 8 photographs. So, in your mind, pretend that I'm sharing photos of these important events that I didn't take pictures of: Cincinnati YS, Muncie, Taylor, my immediate family, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, and my meetings with following famous people... Lauren Winner, the Detroit Pistons, Leigh Nash, and James Laurinaitis. (Imagine specifically, lots of pictures of me smiling next to dear friends and family that I haven't seen in ages...and imagine YD staff recruiting 70 staff leads.)

Highlight #1: Baby Caedmon Rider Barth's First Flight.

He did very well...slept the whole time...and Heather and Jade did really well on 'first travels with a baby.' We discovered lots of cool perks of traveling with babies:
1. You get to go to the front of lines.
2. Flight attendants are reeally nice.
3. TSA officials smile at you.

We also discovered lots of non-cool perks of traveling with babies:
1. You have to find elevators, many of which are unmarked or hard-to-find, or out-of-the-way (especially the one in S-Terminal at Sea-Tac, which is conveniently located through a huge glass door marked "Customs and International Travel" and down a long hallway filled with security officials.)
2. You are expected by TSA to simultaneously break down the stroller, put it on the belt, and hold the baby, boarding pass, and ID. They offer no assistance and required that I come back through the metal detector to carry the baby for Jade so that Jade could put all the luggage on the belt herself.
3. You nearly miss flights because sometimes the baggage people take a bazillion years to give you your gate-checked stroller back...and then you, Jade, and baby have to run at top speeds, gear-in-tow to the opposite sides of the Minneapolis airport, including crashing into business men as you run at top speeds on moving sidewalks. As you can see, though, this did not phase Caedmon. He slept the whole time.

Highlight #2: The Casey Family National Championship

On Thanksgiving Day, Cousin Randi and I began reflecting on Thanksgiving Friends' episodes. Since it was a beautiful, sunny 65 degrees outside, we specifically waxed nostalgic about "The One With The Football," and Randi started giggling over the thought of "The Geller Trophy" (which was a troll doll nailed to a 2x4) during that episode. Then someone cried out, "We could make a Casey Cup!" (Casey being my mom's maiden name...the side of the family with whom we were gathered.)

The idea was too amazing to pass up--and the idea of competing for a ridiculous trophy inspired us all to really play an actual game of family football. So...I crept into the attic, dug through boxes, pulled out the hot glue gun, and 20 minutes later emerged with the official "Casey Cup."

The Cup itself actually holds a lot of sentimental value. It's comprised of of homages to the OSU Buckeyes, the Cleveland Browns, and the Cleveland Indians (of extreme importance to the Casey Clan.) It also includes the shark-on-a-stick puppet I bought on the 8th grade trip to DC, Sean's trophy from being the "Top Selling 6th Grader" in the Lincoln Elementary PTO Fundraiser, a small piece of PinArt I once purchased at COSI, and Sparky Pig (the running family joke, who makes recurring appearances in luggage, Christmas presents, and trunks of cars.)

The game itself was pretty intense: the competitive Welch/Schilling clan vs. Me/Sean/Rachel (and Aunt Angie at all-time Center...guest appearance by Aunt Danie and Dad as our sneak illegal receiver.) The Bakers were really at a disadvantage from the start considering the Welch/Schilling clan was comprised of Cousin Paul (Air Force,) Cousin Randi (played high school volleyball and softball,) and Cousin-in-Law Warren (Contractor and extremely buff.) Team Baker was me (retired ballerina,) Brother Sean (speaks Chinese,) and Brother's Girlfriend Rachel (chemist.)

But--in the first half, Team Baker put 14 points on the board (including one major reception by hmb that resulted in me being the defense's player to stop! Woo!) The second half was less pretty...because I think we were shut out....

But--we rejoiced at the end of it all that several hours of fun happened. And--that we've started--in our 20's--a new family tradition. So, the Casey Cup will be up for grabs again at Christmas when the Welch- Schillings battle it out with the Whitings... (p.s. notice all the red eyes? in my entire extended family, both sides, everyone has blue eyes...crazy, non?!)

...and Sean and I determined that at some point we're going to need a Triwizard tournament of sorts in which the Casey Cup is occasionally attainable via Trivial Pursuit victories...otherwise the Baker clan may never see the beloved Casey Cup again.

AAAAAHHHH! And I'm going to be in Ohio. What more is there to say, really?