Update 2: First Rehearsal Antics

Alas, late again. I'll have to get better at this. I guess I should say I will get better at this. Maybe the free schedule is going to my head.

So, on Friday, we had our first rehearsal with 3 of our 4 cast members and Gary! Lena, Bryce, and I were all a little nervous going in since we had never heard them all sing in real life. Suffice it to say, we all breathed a deep sigh of relief when it sounded alright. More than alright, really. Especially for a first sing-through.

Despite all the good, there were inevitably a few kinks, but nothing that should be a major problem. First of all, even though Lena told us that Mrs. Libbey confirmed we were able to use the Chapel as long as there was a faculty member present (in this case, Gary), one of the janitors questioned our presence. Apparently there was paperwork that never got filled out or never found its way to his desk, but he eventually seemed to recognize Gary and left us alone after that. I don't know what the problem was, since Lena said she talked with two different people about using the space and they both said we were good to go. C'est la vie, I guess.

Secondly, there's a minor problem with doing an "underground" show like Edges. Since it's not hugely popular and not widely done, there are several different versions of the show with different songs which all have variations lyrically. It's just been a bit of a hassle trying to make sure that we're all using the same version or figuring out which one we want to use. Other than that, things are going rather smoothly, although sometimes it's hard to remember to eat when we're so focused on project. *Cough* Lena *Cough*

That's it for today, folks.

Day 2:5-16-14

Today I had the pleasure of participating at this meeting that Bishop Cosgrove has every Wednesday called the Homeless Congress. This is where some of the homeless people from Bishop Cosgrove go to voice their opinions and issues on their current situations with their shelter. Their problems range from theft from people’s personal lockers or trying to find a home or trying to understand how CMHA housing works. CMHA stands for Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority and they help provide housing for low-income families in the Cleveland area. CMHA partners with different landlords around Cleveland so that the rent for the housing is affordable for particular families who need the aid. I was happy to see that Cosgrove allows these meetings to take place since in today’s society; the homeless usually don’t have a voice because society tends to devalue the homeless as people.  We often forget homelessness does not have one single face. Homelessness shares hundreds of faces; this could be you or me at any giving moment. I was proud to see one of my friends that I made last time named Silk able to find a house through the CMHA program. When I talked to him in the winter Silk seemed defeated as if he was going to always live at 2100 Lakeside Men’s shelter but to see him overcome this obstacle inspired me.  

Jaffe Update 2: The Layover

I'm currently in Boston on my 12-hour layover, hanging out with my cousin Hal and aunt Susie (on my mother's side). Despite only having almost three hours of sleep (up packing/writing my blog post for last night) and  waking up at 04:30 to catch a 06:30 flight out of Akron, I have to say that I am fairly awake. Then again, that might just be the delicious latte that I drank a couple hours ago.

Seeing as the UK is 6 hour bumb up from EST (or rather, EST is -06:00 and GMT is 00:00), I'm doing my best to prepare myself for the time change. I plan on eating dinner around 6 instead of the usual 8 or 9; I have four nyquil at the ready (two for each of us) to take right before we board; and I refuse to sleep when it isn't nighttime in the UK.

Last night, I stayed up with my mother until midnight packing everything. I feel as though our packing strategies were just a little too convoluted: I took one (1) large dufflebag, in which we stuffed two pairs (total 4) of panniers; in two (2) of the panniers, we put one waterproof camping bag (total of 2), in which we stuff all our clothes--some of which were, themselves, compressed into ziplock bags. Only a Matryoshka doll manufacturer could've packaged it better.

All that is in the past, though. Susie is on her way to pick up Jacob from the train station (coming in from Providence), and when they get back, we're all going for a walk. For the moment, however, I will just relax.

P.S.-You can read my daily blog here: http://hellersteinrecursionexcursion.blogspot.com
(Warning: overlap is inevitable)

Starts and Turns

Today, coach Tim sends me over to lanes 7 and 8, where the youngest kids and most inexperienced swimmers of this practice are.  “Perhaps they’ll actually listen to advice from a young person,” he says, and we both laugh.

While standing over both lanes, looking for significant areas of improvement, I notice something that would be beneficial to ask Tim about.  “I’ve been noticing across the board that the kids are flipturning crookedly and as a result are pushing off the wall at a diagonal as opposed to on their back, then turning over onto their stomach.  Is this developmental or is this a serious issue I should talk to them about?”

“Ideally they should be moving to the center of the lane to minimize this issue so yes, please do tell them about it,” Tim responds.

Filming is one of the best ways for younger kids to visually see what they’re doing incorrectly.  When both lanes are done with a set, I pull the leader of lane 8, a little blonde girl named Mandy, out of the water and ask her to watch her flipturn that I had just filmed.  “See how your feet touch the wall at different times?  This means that you’ll push off the wall crookedly, so it’s hard to realign yourself and then you’re moving in a curve as instead of a straight line.”  I jump off the ground using one foot, then using two feet, as an example.  “Which way do you think would be more powerful, using one foot, or two feet?”

“Probably two, because you’re more balanced,” Mandy says.  She then eagerly gets back in the water, ready to start a kick set.  It’s a great feeling, knowing you’re helping out a possible future Olympic swimmer!

Mandy, the leader of the lane.  Watch the separation of her feet as she does her flip.

Nova's Project 1

I apologize for not posting sooner; here is a recap of my first few days:

On Wednesday morning, I kicked my project off by speaking to the Parkside Elementary School's K-4.  The kids made for a surprisingly good crowd, reacting well to the information and to Nova's tricks, and asking some pretty funny questions. I talked about why I got Nova, what service dogs can do for people in general, and the do's and don't's of interacting with service dogs.

I called up volunteers throughout the presentation to get hands-on experience with service dog training.

After the presentation, I sat in on a class with my mentor, Amy Gutmann. The dogs were learning basic agility and using the equipment.

Thursday, after seeing the exciting agility equipment, I started the day with a private lesson from Amy on agility. Nova zoomed around the facility, learning where to crawl through tunnels, scale and descend an A-Frame, and jump through tires. He had a blast and learned a lot. After the agility lesson, I went with Amy to a private lesson-- she is trying to teach a dog American Sign Language for a deaf client. The dog was still very young, but it was catching on to basic hand gestures, which was very cool.

Friday morning, I woke up and presented to my second school, Roxbury Elementary School. This was especially cool because this is where I attended for years K-4. Unfortunately, only the kindergarten and first grade classes could attend, so the presentation was much smaller. I went over the same material as in the first one, adding more demonstrations and chances for the kids to interact because I saw how they liked it at Parkside.

Finally, I ended my Friday by sitting in on another lesson with Amy and a client, ending in a long walk around the Polo Field working on Nova and the client's dogs' heeling and obedience.

The project has been great so far!

Update 1: The First Meeting

Off to a bit of a late start on project, but everything should work out in the end. What with track still being in season and me not having a car, my schedule is just a little busy and transportation is tricky. Our first meeting went pretty well in my opinion. We went to Peet's and worked out a bunch of little things. To help stay organized, we made Google Doc with a list of things to do. We also created a rough version of the poster we're hoping to use to publicize the show. In addition to creating a working poster, we came up with a list of places in the area we might be able to leave them once they are printed.

Other than working on publicity, we started to contact people who might be able to help us out along the way. We spoke with Mr. L about set and lighting and we sent our rough poster to Phillip to see if he could tweak and polish it and he promptly responded with a shiny new design!

While Hawken has always provided a certain amount of freedom, it's a little strange to have so much autonomy, so much independence throughout the day. Like, basically, we're able to create our own schedule due to the nature of our project and it's kind of surreal. Looking forward to the rest of the project!

Update 1: Meeting the Agent

Today I met with my sponsor, Mr. Simms, at Panera to talk about what he does on a day-to-day basis and what he will generally have me doing for the next three weeks.  It was incredible to hear about all the cool people he meets, all the cool places he goes, and what he does in order to attract clients to his business.  What really struck me as interesting was that he said the most important thing to being a successful sports agent was being personable, as that can take you a long way in life.  As we went over the legal, financial, and marketing aspects of his job, it was crazy when the director of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys called Mr. Simms to negotiate a contract for one of they players the Cowboys had drafted in the NFL draft one week ago, a player whom Mr. Simms represents.  The Cowboys just so happen to be my favorite football team, and I was awestruck at how casual the conversation between the two sides was while trying to determine how much Mr. Simms’ client would be paid over the next few years.  Mr. Simms also talked about how he was already beginning to prepare for next year’s draft, as he had to start recruiting players to his agency who were going into their final season’s in college before they tried their luck in the NFL.  He explained that over the next week or so he will have me doing background research on some of the prospects he hopes to represent, in order to gain a better understanding of both their familial and athletic background.  I can’t wait to get started.

In the Restaurant

Today I worked in Cedar Creek Grille.  At the beginning of my shift I worked with the manager to open up the restaurant.  We started by going around and making sure all workers were there.  After that i was given the bar registers to count the cash to make sure there was an exact amount of money in the box for the beginning of the shift.  Finally before we opened, we went around each table to check all tables to verify that they were set properly, and had no stains on the tablecloth.  When we opened the doors to the public, I was positioned as a host.  I enjoyed my day hosting very much.  The other two hosts that I worked with were very helpful and taught me a lot.  I learned how each table is numbered, and in what order to place the guests.  The hosts taught me to stager the amount of guests you are allowing in even if there are open tables, to make sure the kitchen does not get backed up with orders.  They also taught me how to decide which waiter/waitress gets the most guests in their waiting area.  Tomorrow, I will be working at Mr. Doody's office with one of his business partners, and will be learning about all the choices that go into where they place the restaurant, and all the negations they must go through before making the deal permanent.

Jaffe Update 1: Just a little research

The past two days, all I have done is a little research at the Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS). I am looking into my family history on my mother's mother's side of the family. Thus far, I have found two relevant sources for the project.

I found a book that we actually own called "In Between the Lines," in which there is a chapter about my great-aunt's and great-uncle's trip throughout Europe. I haven't yet read it, but I have it digitized and will read it during my trip. 
The other document I discovered at the WRHS is (who I believe to be) my great-great-uncle Paul Rosenwasser's (oft called Rosewater) travel diary, also throughout Europe, in 1904-05.

 At the WRHS library, the librarian (whose name I will write down for tomorrow/Saturday's entry) is very sweet, and told me that she grew up down the street from my grandmother Mary Feil's former place of residence. Like I hear my mother say more often than one might expect, what a small world!

I am leaving on Saturday morning for Boston, where I will meet my brother Jacob, and then we will hop on a plane that stops halfway there in Iceland, and will arrive Sunday morning in London. I plan to write an update during the layover on Saturday.

Day 1: Explode off those walls

6:00 AM.  Location: weight room.  The combination of the rain and humidity make my athletic shorts and Hawken Swimming 2013-14 t-shirt glue on to my sticky skin.  My coach, John, instructs us to do the usual.  I grab the 45-pound bar and attach five-pound weights to each side.

“Today we’ll be doing hang power cleans,” he says.  “Ten sets of ten, with a minute rest in between each set.  Explode!  Work like you work every flipturn in the pool.”

I pick up the bar to test its weight.  It feels lighter than usual – perhaps I am becoming better at these.  Explode, I think as I pull the bar from my shins to over my shoulders, flicking my wrists back in the process.  Explode.

In between practices, I delve into Craig Townsend’s Mind Training For Swimmers.  Townsend describes something he dubs “The Zone” and I am intrigued.  Did you know that when a swimmer is in “The Zone,” or of the correct mentality, swimming becomes virtually effortless?  The subconscious drives each stroke, each kick, each breath of air, as opposed to the conscious mind.  When a swimmer doesn’t consciously think about perfecting his or her stroke, but lets it happen naturally, it will become much easier for the swimmer to develop good stroke technique long-term.  I keep this in the back of my mind and start to develop ideas about what I want to focus on with my swimmers.

5:15 PM.  Location: pool, 10-meter mark.  My second coach, Tim, tells the group we will be working on flipturns today.  Tim tells me that the most common mistake developing swimmers make is to push off with their toes as opposed to a flat foot.  Pushing off with a flat foot maximizes efficiency.  Often, I do a demonstration for the younger kids.  Without kicking and using pointed toes to push off the wall, I am only able to get past the flags, which are five meters away from the wall.  I try doing a freestyle turn again, this time with flat feet, and am able to explode off the wall and get to the red marker on the lane line, 10 meters away from the wall.  Once the kids understand and push off the wall with flat feet, all of them are able to get to the red marker as well. 

Day 1, learning the ropes

Senior project began with a jolt for me. Never before have I had the freedom or opportunity to manage my school time. It's very exciting to finally get started with this project, after months of planning. In just the few hours so far I learned just how much planning will have to go into each day. Sure, we already had a schedule, but when the time comes to organize people's schedules there are always last minute changes.  Bryce, Rose, and I all met to discuss our plan for the week. We went to look at the schedule, and realized that our current rehearsals would not work for all of our cast members. So we had to make some quick switches. I am discovering how important it is to be able to make changes and reschedule without losing time. We have also chosen a home base for planning and meeting every day.  Mostly day 1 was just exciting because it made us realize that the fun part is about to begin. Now we get to move forward with our project with a more detailed plan. We are also beginning work on the designs for our posters and programs, and we hope to work with some connections and friends in order to make the finished products look as professional as possible.

Day 1

The first day of project was a shocker. No not because I have never been to this place or no not because I didn't know the people but because I saw some of the same people there who were there before. First to get everything into context, my project is at the Bishop Cosgrove center where I have worked previously during the last intensive. The Bishop Cosgrove center is Cleveland's largest day center where homeless or people in need are welcomed to come in for free meals such as breakfast or lunch. When I made my return to Bishop Cosgrove I was shocked to see some of these people in need still there. I was really impacted once I saw this, this let me know that poverty is a real issue in Cleveland. I saw numerous people who told me back in December that they had this set plan to leave the center but yet months later they are still here. Seeing this kind of hurt me considering the fact that this can be any of us in a matter of one bad decision. As people we can choose to look at this situation negatively or positively. We can use this situation to inspire us to try our best in everything that we do and to give back to our community when help is needed.

Day 1: An Interesting Start

Today Lena, Rose, and I set up a google hangout to discuss our plan of attack for this week and next week. Even though our project doesn't seem like a lot of work and it will be all fun and games there is a lot that we have to get done very quickly for this to work. Rose and I have already gone through the process of putting together a musical in 3 weeks, but then we had the whole cast together all day everyday. Now we have the cast a few days a week for 2 hours. We are putting a lot of trust into our actors. Hopefully by now they will be familiar with the music since they've had it for a month. Despite our limited time decided to cancel rehearsal today because we felt we needed to have a plan of what we needed to do behind the scenes before we jumped right into rehearsals. We we have our first rehearsal on Friday with 3 out of our 4 cast members, I'm excited and scared because I've only heard 2 of those people sing. I've heard good things about the 3rd person though, Mr. Larochelle has actually been able to work with him before. The next three weeks are definitely going to be a balancing act with all the things we have to do. One of the most important things we have to do right now is start working on publicity. We created a Facebook event but that's nothing compared all the rest of the things we have to do. We need a solid poster, a social media campaign, and we need to reach out to local news stations. In all of my years in the theatre I have never seen any one of these things get done earlier than the last month before a show is set to open. In case we would have had to do that last Friday. This is going to be a wild ride. I have my fingers crossed though that one very important contact will get back to me. In February I was lucky enough to meet John Hart, a Hawken alum who produced the wildly successful musical Once. I doubt he'll be in town to actually see our production but if he responds to my email with any words of advice I'd be extremely happy.

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Get ready!

Get ready, Seniors! Your projects will be starting soon. Make sure to contact your sponsor(s) this week to touch base and make sure that everything is on track. Be in touch with me about any last-minute issues or changes. Above all, have a great time and remember to represent yourselves and the school well. I'm excited to see and hear all about it in your first blog entries!

Image credit: Christian Mayrhofer via Flickr