Volvo Update 19 days into Leg 1

19 days at sea the teams have faced dead calm in the doldrums, crossed the equator, raced before the wind down the African coast, grazed the coast of BRAZIL,  and are now heading far south catch the right breeze to turn the fleet east. Oh and now they might have to look out for icebergs...no big deal.

Prospect New Orleans...

In response to inquires the schedule to Prospect New Orleans (P.3) can be found Here.

Bring Your Own doesn't seem to have a calendar but they have an email list Here.

enjoy

Stories With Strangers...

So we found an awesome new babysitter and took her out for a test drive Sunday. We had ourselves a little date night and went to see Bring Your Own, which is described as "New Orleans pop-up storytelling." I know, sounds weird but intriguing right? Let me tell you, this was easily one of the most enjoyable experiences we've had in this town. Here's the premise, a theme is chosen and people volunteer to tell their stories that are in some way related to this theme. These people may or may not have ever stood on a stage before, they may or may not have practiced their story, and they may or may not have had a bit of liquid courage. They are also timed (7 minutes) and judged, and the best told story is recorded and played on the radio. My mom would love it, public speaking is her thing, but I dare her to keep any story to 7 minutes. I digress...

The backdrop for this event is behind a nondescript door on Magazine that I have literally gone past hundreds of times. The door opens to a dimly lit stairwell and at the top there's a couple selling...BBQ! Turn a corner and the space opens into a massive loft with twenty foot ceilings made of ornate and decaying copper tiles. The walls are bare and exposed brick except in places where the hand painted wall paper desperately clings still. The floor is turn of the century milled hardwood and remains dusty and unfinished.  There were large art installations sporadically and reasonably placed around the room, chairs for guest and god bless her, a girl "trading" beer for donations.

 Lost In The Holler was playing on the stage in the front corner of the room. They set the tone of the night and played the intermission.  Dear reader if you have a chance to see them play please do so.

The stories were great, and ran the gamut of hilarious, pleasant, heartbreaking, shocking and even political. They also kept to the theme of the night, "Labyrinths", spectacularly.  I wish I had written every ones names down but instead I tried to get my favorite plots and summarize them. As follows in no particular order:

-The story of getting lost in the Jersey woods at night with a sibling and being chased down by a bunch of townies.

-Dave- Being lost in the Tennessee farm land, at night, in the snow, as a child. Relying on two dogs to get you home safe and sound...spoiler alert he lived. It was a sweet story.

-Getting job as an intern and being able to rub shoulders with personal heroes at a company party. Accidentally eating meat after abstaining for over a decade....which led to defecating in public on the Duke University campus. Vegetarians be warned. She was hilarious. 

-Soul searching in Lao after being left by a spouse of 5 years, lover of 12. Impressive on stage presence and a captivating story.

-Emily- I remember her name because I nearly cried. If she had cried on stage I would have lost it for sure. She has very recently made the discovery that a loved one is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. This was a heart wrenching story. She displayed true bravery in just telling it, on top of the fact that she had volunteered that night to fill in for a no-show.

There were a few other stories that were told and each was good in it's own respect but these were the ones that stood out for me, for whatever reason they struck a cord. I admire these people for speaking from their hearts in a room full of strangers. Bring Your Own did a great job of making the event really awesome and powerful. From what I understand this was their first time holding the event indoors, I think this as a result of the collaboration with Prospect New Orleans ( P.3). 

"Prospect New Orleans was conceived in the tradition of the great international exhibitions, such as the Venice Biennale and the Bienal de São Paulo, to showcasenew artistic practices from around the world in settings that are both historic and culturally exceptional, and contribute to the cultural economy of New Orleans and the Louisiana Gulf region."

-Prospect New Orleans

I am pretty excited to see what other interesting events P. 3 has on the schedule. Hopefully more to come on that.

Anyways a great time was had by all and when we got home there were no signs of chaos or havoc and both kids were sleeping. Heaven. If you are in New Orleans try and make it out to a Bring Your Own event.

Our Children Share Our Genetics, Here's The Proof

My buddy, Mr. Kibler posted a picture of his daughters homework. This is proud parenting

I would have loved to see what the teacher's face was like as she/he read this.

The sailors meet King Neptune | Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15

This is what makes sailing awesome. When was the last time you saw this sort of shenanigans in a sporting event. Oh wait you don't, ever. And if they did do this in basketball or football it would get waaaaay out of control and they would call it hazing. But sailing we keep it civilized, like baked beans to the face.

The Sailing Season is Ending...

This week is the last "in season" race. Am I bummed? Oh yea. This marks the time of year when I completely lose focus and start doing weird stuff to compensate for not being on the water. My phsyical activity runs the gamut from hybernating couch potatoe to manic all nighters. I probably have mood swings too, but that's not your freaking business gosh! I'll read, cook, study, sleep, bike, maybe even run....and who knows what else. All on top of a regular work, husband, father schedule. Wish me luck.

Oh by the way have you looked at Volvo Ocean Race today?

Here's some photos from our race this week. Epic sunset that only water can buy.

Cancer Sucks

Pretty simple. Nearly everyone has been affected by cancer and we are no exception. Both of us have family members that bear the scars of the battles they have fought with this disease. I'm very proud of my wife for doing what she can to help find a cure. She ran in the Susan G. Komen Race for a Cure 5K  in City Park here in New Orleans. She finished in the first 1000, which is no easy task considering the massive amount of people that participated in this event.  On top of that I'm pretty sure she managed to raise twice as much in donations as the rest of the team she ran with...just saying. Fund raising isn't a contest...cough....it's a team effort. Tomorrow my mom and dad are running in Baltimore and I wish them all the best.

Where Yat?

I am alive. I know you've been deeply concerned. I wanted to try a little blog experiment, "what happens when I don't post anything...for a week,or more?"

Well the answer turns out to be, "not much". The blog doesn't do much, people still stop by to see if anything has been posted but otherwise nothing happens. It's not like when you leave food in the microwave for a week or two by accident, you know when things just suddenly exist.

That said I have quite a few posts to make that have more or less been stock piled over the last week or so.
-Birthday stuff
-fitness stuff
-sailing stuff
-volvo ocean race stuff
-new orleans stuff

So this is the New Orleans stuff.  I took the girls to the BBQ and Blues Festival in the CBD. I LOVE events that are sponsored by WWOZ. They rarely disappoint. The girls had a pretty good time....until they didn't. The melt down was a full blown tantrum that only Team Terrible can produce. Imagine this, one minute everything is rainbows and BBQ and the next it's laid out in the street screaming and kicking. Why, I can't be entirely sure but its is related to using the lobby potty and an elevator.

Oh well it was still nice to get out and hear some music. We almost saw Valerie June.

Almost.

Maybe next time

Pro dad tip: When it is necessary to take your girl children to the potty in public avoid a portapot and find a hotel lobby. They will find sincere sympathy in your probably quickly devolving situation and point you in the direction of their cleanest throne. Hasn't failed me yet.

The Center of the Universe

If you aren't listening to the the OZ right now you are wrong

get your mind right

Listen to the OZ

In-Port Race Alicante | Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15

Also I made it thru the entire wedding without looking at my phone once for the in-port race results. Leg 1 starts in 1 day 7 hours and counting...get excited!

Home Is Where The Hangover Is....

I had a great post written for this trip but I accidentally deleted it on the flight back to Gulfport. I could try and re-write it but I really doubt any effort to resurrect it would be worth your time in reading so I'm going to give you a bunch of photos and captions and hopefully the story will develop organically from there. Like a real life cartoon strip.

Last weekend we flew home for our friends Lord Lady Socks and Betty's wedding. It was definitely worth the trip.

 When your flight is delayed at 6 am on the tarmac due to weather (note the rain in the window) this is the best way to keep your kids calm. Only the most well behaved children and the most Saintly patient parents  can fly without some form of audio visual stimulation for their kids. Obviously ours are not the most well behaved...yet... and we absolutely do not have the level of calm required at times like this.

After having our dear friend Jamie pick us up in Baltimore we dropped the girls off with Grandma (my mother) and went to York to my Dad's house. I got in some guy time with the boys. Mrs. Standby got to drink with the girls. The evening eventually degraded into a bit too much Scotch and a dare that lead to me and another poor soul eating these Ghost Peppers. 

Look, I ate one. I thought I could probably die, I considered calling 911. At one point I hoped the pain would cause me to pass out. People... don't do this unless you really want to know God's creative genius. These peppers....just don't.

The next morning we got up...a bit floggy from the nights bad decisions and drove down to the wedding. Let me just say we've done a lot of weddings this year. This place wins the award for best wedding venue. A beautiful family farm in Montgomery County. The property is huge and stunning... and rumor has it that it might be for sale in the near future (in case anyone wants to go in on it with us). It was amazing getting see old friends, I love these guys dearly.

Face it, if you invite us to your wedding you will be guaranteed a few things...

   -we will look good

   -we will dance shamelessly

   -we will drink as much of your open bar  as we possibly can

   -we will pass out before the after party

   - we will be at the family brunch, because we love brunch

The lovely couple cutting the cake. I would like to add, I am a man, I am quite confident in my hetero-sexuality so I can say "Betty your dress was amazing! You rocked it girl."  Sadly,  I never had any cake, we were too busy dancing. Besides I'm pretty sure I saw Charlie (one of the absolutely adorable kids at the party) lick the icing off the bottom. BUT the food truck was a pretty baller move!

When it gets cold, grab your lady, take her scarf, wrap it on your head and take a nap.- Boson's words of wisdom ( eventually this will be a Dadism, I'm sure)

The morning after in the boudoir, feeling a bit slow. We drank a lot of Bourbon and didn't stretch properly before wedding dancing. Had to get up since there was brunch to be had. Pro Tip- Never Miss Post Wedding Brunch--EVER

Absolutely awesome weekend. Our travel struggles were nil and the love made everything worthwhile!

Shout out to the lovely bride and groom

MR. & MRS BULLOUGH

             BETTY                                                                                              LORD LADY SOCKS

 Bourbon is the most effective way to cure writers block that I've found thus far....

Its 3:50am...do you know where your blogger is?

Packing the car with strollers and luggage. First flight out of gulfport means up before the sun...before breakfast...before anything of reason.