leaps and bounds

the end of another month
a blog is due

unable to hold myself to writing
exactly
once a week

i try
to ROUGHLY fit one in

so, here it goes...


it's been a difficult 29 days to get past
and with leap year
i believe it's like bill maher says
"if there's one thing we don't need more of...
it's february"

-valentine's day
two years ago i was in florida with matt
one year ago i had just traveled to london alone
this year i'm simply getting by

-matt's birthday on february 8th
that 24th birthday he somehow never lived to see
a date his family and i have been dreading since his death
like the rest of him, come and gone

-and then there's the cold
hell, i'm ready to move past that too

survival of the fittest
feels more like survival of the least prepared


i shot an mtv promo
for the band one republic last week
at a medieval times restaurant
somewhere in new jersey

it was a LOOOONG
and very disorganized day
but somehow completely worth it

if you're not familiar with the medieval times premise
it's essentially dinner and a show
housed in a giant arena
with jousting, horse tricks, pre-rehearsed battles
and food without silverware
(you know, just like those real medievals did it)

i hadn't stepped foot in one of these tacky "dining" establishments
in years
so was completely shocked at how excited it got me

over the course of the day
(as usual) there was a lot of time to kill
so i snuck in to watch some of the rehearsals
for that evenings performance

long haired jersey boys on horseback
with faux british accents

and replacement princesses
who would stop mid-speech
when they'd forgotten their lines

"Good Day Fair Sir! It Will Be Of Greatest Pri-vi-lege!"
would be announced
in sing-song, scenery-chewing, brit-esque verse

but immediately followed by
"NEOW HOOLD UP DE-AH, IS MUY LOIN FE-AH SIR? O-UH FE-AH MISTAH?"
in an unmistakable jersey whine

it
was
mesmerizing

some TEN HOURS later
when that evening's performance had actually begun
i snuck back inside
just in time to catch The Official Medieval Times Falconer

a bearded man
in full chain-mail attire
with a REAL LIVE FALCON trained to fly around the massive space

over and over
the falcon flew above our heads

no net
no leash
no guarantee he wouldn't dive into any one of those alluring jersey hair-do's
or fly straight through the exit, never to be seen again

time after time
the falcon cut through the air

it was his moment
he was an actor bird, and this was his greatest scene

i for one, was enthralled
and grateful to share the space with such a dedicated performer

in flight
this magic circus bird made me smile
brought me back to myself
reminded me that you can inspire
anyone
anywhere

even a bird can do it

even a bird
at a medieval times restaurant, of all places
on just another ice cold day
at the very end of february