He Might Be A Perv, But He Sure Puts On Quite A Show...

On 9/16/2009 I scratched another item off my non-bucket list: Seeing Chuck Berry at Blueberry Hill. Why Chuck Berry? Well, it's kind of a quintessential St. Louis thing to do. Plus, Chuck Berry isn't getting any younger. On my trip to S. Africa (which was totally awesome and I'll write about it later) Ryanne (my travel buddy) and I had a 3-day layover in London...which was during Michael Jackson's tour. We talked about getting tickets...and well...as we all know...that show was cancelled. RIP MJ. That being said, I knew time was of the essence and I had to see Chuck Berry ASAP.

Honestly, up until the time I started working on my list, I had no idea what a "big deal" Chuck Berry and his monthly performances at Blueberry Hill really were. As I was standing in line, the lady next to me told me people in other countries look at Chuck Berry the same way we in the USA might view Van Morrison performing in Ireland. According to Wikipedia (which is never wrong...) John Lennon once said "If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry." Who knew?!?

It was quite an ordeal getting tickets. Apparently, tickets go on sale online world wide...and they sell out in 10 minutes. To make a long story short, since it’s so hard to get tickets online, Chucks “people” give B. Hill X number of tickets which can be only be purchased in person from the bar. For those of you familiar with Seinfeld...the whole ticket buying experience was like the "Soup Nazi" episode...except it didn't involve soup...

My friend Dana came with me to get the tickets. Blueberry Hill recommends you get there an hour before the tickets go on sale. When you arrive, you’re given a ticket that basically allows you to then wait in another line to actually purchase a concert ticket. Not only that...but once I was there, I learned you can only purchase 4 tickets at a time. I was supposed to get 15 tickets. For those of you mathematicians, 2 girls x 4 tickets each = 8 tickets...which means I'm 7 tickets short. I tried befriending the bartender to see if he would let me and my friend each get 8 tickets...but alas...a wink and a smile were not enough to make him break the rules as he was afraid he'd "get in trouble" by the guy who was taking over his shift at 5:00. So...I had to make friends with two randoms who were willing to stick around and hold a line ticket until 5:30. Needless to say, it all worked out and I got the 16 tickets. Now, it was just a matter of waiting a month until the concert.

To make a long story short, I'm happy I saw Chuck Berry. That man is 82 years old and has a lot of spunk! He's kinda funny, did a lot of ad-libbing, sometimes forgot the words, and in general was highly entertaining. I forgot, or didn't realize, how many songs I knew. Johnny Be Good, Roll Over Beethoven, Maybellene, and a number of others. His son and daughter performed with him (probably to give him a break...after all he is 82). One thing I was quite surprised about was how tall he was...for some reason...I thought he was a tiny man...like Sammy Davis Jr. He wore a sparkly shirt.

At the end of the performance...he invited people to come up on stage. I'm posting pics on Facebook...so you can check them out...but I'm sure you'll agree he maybe had a little crush on my friend Dorothy. :-) There was limit to how many people could get on stage and I got to the edge of the stage a little on the late side (for those of you that know me...me being late is par for the course) but...I just kept asking the body guard to let me up on stage. I mean really...what's ONE more person going to hurt?!? All I wanted was to capture the moment on film... Needless to say, I finally got onstage too...but was mainly dancing in the greenroom which ended up working out for the best because I got really close to Chuck as he was exiting the stage...so no worries...it all worked out! It was a fun night, with good group of people, and I'm glad to say I was able to experience Chuck Berry at Blueberry Hill. If you're from St. Louis...and haven't seen him...I recommend it.

Oh, and for those of you wondering where I came up with the subject line for this entry…well…it’s because Chuck Berry really is a pervert. He’s had a few “issues” but the one that is probably most well known is he put a video camera in the women’s restroom at a restaurant he owned. Classy huh?!? I don’t support perverts…but I will give Chuck Berry’s Blueberry Hill performance two thumbs up. :)

I wish I could come up with a creative way to incorporate the word “Grand” into this subject…

I just got back from a fun long weekend in Las Vegas with my gal-pal Angie…who also turned 30 this summer. We had a great time hanging out at the pool, shopping, seeing Cirque du Solei, visiting Red Rocks, going out for great food and drinks. We even got a "job". Had we not been on vacation…we may’ve been more annoyed about spending 20+ minutes of our afternoon sitting at a desk, watching a lame movie clip, and giving feedback. Instead, we just found it amusing that we didn’t even think to ask how long it would take and how much we would get “paid”...we were rewarded with a $2 check. I'm keeping it as a momento of our trip. My highlights of that trip were:

1. Hanging out with Angie
2. Randomly seeing Flava-Flav at our hotel
3. Our Mustang convertible "mid-1980's" photo shoot at Red Rocks that resulted in probably 30 minutes of straight laughing
4. Seeing the Grand Canyon

I could comment on all the trip highlights…however…I’ll stick to the Grand Canyon since that was one of the things on my list. Some of my favorite things were:

1. It was big and neat.

2. We visited the West Rim—closest to Vegas. This area is more “desert-ish”…apparently not nearly as green as the south rim. The West Rim is pretty much owned by some Indians, they built the big glass skywalk you’ve probably seen in pictures. Basically, it’s a glass “bridge” that is hanging over the canyon. It’s a really weird feeling to walk and look straight down into the canyon. (http://www.grandcanyonskywalk.com/index.html) You feel a lot more nervous walking and looking down vs. just standing there and looking down. Most people didn’t walk on the glass; instead they walked closer to the sides which was not see through.

3. At the top, we had to take a shuttle from point A to point B to point C. I liked that Jarvis was at our first stop. He was such a nice lil’ Indian man. I liked that he really enjoyed his job.

4. I liked that our shuttle driver listed off about 25 different creatures one might find at the Grand Canyon in the same way Bubba Gump lists all the ways one can cook shrimp. You probably had to be there, but it was funny. Oh, and for the record, our bus driver wasn’t trying to be funny.

5. We rented a convertible and drove ourselves to the Grand Canyon vs. taking a tour bus from Las Vegas…even that was fun and scenic…but really long. And Hot. It was about 110* the whole drive—there and back!

6. I liked that I left thinking, “The Grand Canyon is a really massive reflection of God and his creation." We saw the West Rim...which apparently has a different feel than the South Rim. For some reason, I liked knowing there are still other things to see and do at the Grand Canyon…hike down, kayak, camp, helicopter ride, etc.” Despite the fact that on 8/30/09 I could scratch something off my list…I left knowing there was still so much more to see and do and I could go back and still have a chance to experience something new. All of that reminded me of when Paul prayed for the Ephesians:

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

So, those are my thoughts on the Grand Canyon. Since it’s such an impressive part of creation…I thought it was appropriate for me to end this post on a serious note.

#18—Meet a Celebrity

Ok, ladies, if you are one who easily becomes jealous, you maybe should stop reading this blog entry. I’ll use ellipses to create a pause so you can close this page before you read any further…

As many of you know, St. Louis hosted the 2009 All-Star game. With a nationally recognized event come celebrities. A couple days before the game, I was invited to an All-Star themed RCGA lunch through one of our carrier representatives. There were two speakers at the lunch: Bob Costas and Cedric the Entertainer. After much thought (and an informal vote at our lunch table) it was clear that because it was my birthday I needed to:
1. Accomplish the first item/an item on my list and
2. Meet Cedric the Entertainer

The great thing about checking #18 off the list first was it not only took place on my actual birthday but I considered not including it on the list because I wasn’t too sure how I would go about doing it. I honestly didn’t care who I met, but I will say, when I envisioned meeting a celebrity meeting one of the Original Kings of Comedy did not cross my mind…not even a little bit.

I’m sure you’re sitting at your computer thinking, “Holley. That must’ve been amazing! Please tell me everything. What was it like?” Well, let me tell you…From beginning, it was nothing short of magical. Maureen (the woman who invited me to the lunch) tapped The Entertainer on the shoulder after he stepped off the stage, and explained it was my 30th birthday and I would like to take a picture with him. The introduction set the stage for a beautiful relationship. He obviously obliged. We made eye contact across the room. He smiled and motioned for me to come over. I said “Haaaaaay Ceddy…” Actually, I put my arm around that big goofy guy and said “Hi. Thanks. Today’s my birthday. My friend Angie will be jealous I’m meeting you because she has a crush on you. She’s cute.” As we stood there for about 10 seconds posing for our photo…I found myself thinking, “hmmm, he’s a large man and I'm amazed that even through his three piece suit I can tell he’s kind of clammy…”

Ok, well, maybe it wasn’t magical, nor was it amazing. But I checked it off the list. And it was random…and I very much appreciate random. 1 down…29 to go. :)

Strictly Business--The Official List

Disclaimer: I'm not so sure this blog will be funny or entertaining, but it will be informative and informative is good.

So, today, I’m officially 30…which means I get to start doing things vs. planning them. Over the past few months, I have received a lot of great ideas. That being said…with so many great ideas, I kind of switched things up a little bit.

I originally planned on 15 categories with 2 things in each category. For those of you non-math people 15 categories x 2 = 30 things. :) I also tossed around the idea of having the contributor actually do the suggestion with me. For example, if Joe suggested I go skydiving, and I opted to sky dive, then Joe goes sky diving with me. Basically…all those ideas had a baby which resulted in:

1. No categories, just 30 ideas. What was nice about the 15 categories is they created diversity. Though the formal categories are gone the general idea stuck. I ended up with a big variety of things to do/try.

2. I opted against having the contributor participate in the suggestion, mainly because as I talked about my list with people, I found that a lot of people want to do the same thing. So, I decided there is an open invite on any of the below items. Continuing with the skydiving example…before I go skydiving…I’ll send out an open invite to go skydiving. So if you're interested, or know someone who is, let me know. Who knows, maybe we could rent out the whole plane. Not only does it give people an opportunity to scratch something off their own list, but I always have fun doing things with friends and making new friends.

So, here’s my list:
1. Purchase energy efficient products like CFL light bulbs and faucet aerators
2. Grand Canyon
3. South Africa
4. Read “Tipping Point”
5. Cooking class
6. Dance Class (Salsa? Swing?)
7. Self Defense Class
8. Kentucky Derby
9. Complete a Marathon
10. Cardinals Cubs Game at Wrigley
11. Chuck Berry at Blueberry Hill
12. Memorize a Chapter of the Bible (not just a few verses)
13. Weekend of Silence
14. Fast Eddie’s
15. Melting Pot
16. Sky Dive
17. Match.com
18. Meet a Celebrity
19. Loose a pants size
20. Watch the Alfred Hitchcock movie “The Birds”
21. Visit the NYC for a weekend of Art and History. I’d also like to visit two churches in particular: Redeemer and the Brooklyn Tabernacle.
22. Book #2: A few pending suggestions, I’ll fill this soon. Open to suggestions…
23. Watch “Juno”
24. Keep a personal journal of experiences between 30-31
25. Learn to snowboard
26. Ice Skate at Forest Park/a Local Park.
27. Take a road trip to see at least one out of town college friend
28. Visit a missionary my church supports
29. Buy a tiny dog and name it Beyonce
30. Buy a car

And, this idea just came to me, but I’m creating a short list of “alternates”. Since my main objective is to do 30 new things, IF there is something on the above list that I’m not 100% ready for (like getting a dog) then I’ll replace it with one of the below:
*Charlie Gittos.
*Misc. idea that comes to me.
*Take 1-2 month’s off work to travel (start before I turn 31, but can still be traveling at 31).
*Memphis in May and/or Jazz Fest
*Ride on a motorcycle
*Watch Casablanca
*Misc #2 idea…just in case…

Ok, that’s my official “update”. Oh, and stay tuned because I actually was able to scratch one of the items above off my list today! But, I’m too tired to type about it…

It's been a LONG time since I've posted anything. BUT for those of you that care. (this is where you think/contact me with the phrase: "Yes Holley...of course I care"...) ...my friend Ryanne and I have OFFICIALLY booked our trip to S. Africa. The plan thus far is:
*Leave STL Sept. 2009...
*Spend 2 nights and 3 days in London...about a week in Cape Town (1 of those nights in the wine lands)...and...
*4 days on Safari.

...VERY much looking forward to that trip! If you ever need a recommendation to a great Travel Co. in S. Africa...let me know. So far, this agency has been great, BUT I will not be 100% certain of this until I've actually gone on the trip and can officially confirm they are not affiliated with the S. African sex trade. One may think I'm being sarcastic...but notsomuch.

Note: All capital letters used to emphasize passion, transition 'betwixt' sentences, and emotion. :) My mom and dad were nice enough to share some of their American Express travel points with us...that was a FANTASTIC gift and deserves a HUGE thanks!!

The Working List (updated 4/7/09)

Purchase:
Holley Idea(s): Car. Dog. New couches.
Suggestion(s):
1. New refrigerator (Abby D)
2.*Purchase energy efficient products like CFL light bulbs and faucet aerators (Dave C.)
3. A new little black dress (Erin S)

Travel:
Holley Idea(s): Grand Canyon. Cruise.
Suggestion(s):
1. Alaska (Hans M)
2. Machu Picchu (Betsy C, Jake S)
3. *South Africa (Betsey C…also supported by Ryanne T and Erin S)
4. Combine South Africa trip with volunteer work in neighboring country (Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, etc.) (Kathy M.)
http://mail.mrctbp.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/
http://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en/index.html
Think South America (Peru--macchu Picchu and beyond--Peru is ideal because you can visit desert, mountain, Amazon in a relatively small country), Ecuador, Patagonia in Chile, Argentina. Also, definitely consider India and southeast Asia.

Book:
Holley Idea(s):Bible. Tipping Point.
Suggestion(s):
1. Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller (Erin S)


Learn Something:
Holley Idea(s): Snowboard. Cooking class.
Suggestion(s):
1. Photography Class (Angie C)
2. Self Defense Class (Barb, trainer at my gym…and my sister...and Emily F.)
3. Cooking Class (Erin S)
4. Knitting Class (Erin S)
5. **Learn to play Soccer (Bill B…a prospect I met for the first time today)
6. Art history, studio art, creative writing, medieval history, economics (?!), middle eastern studies (Kathy M)

Activity/Fitness:
Holley Idea(s): Complete a marathon. Lose a pound for every category. A mini-triathlon.
Suggestion(s):
1. Hike in (4) local state park(s) (Erin S)


Concert/Sporting Event:
Holley Idea(s): Neil Diamond
Suggestion(s):
1. Cardinal/s Cubs game at Wrigley (Sarah/Justin)
2. Rodeo (not sure who this was from…)
3. Masters (Erin S)

STL/MO Experience:
Holley Idea(s): Ice skating at Forest Park.
Suggestion(s):
1. *Chuck Berry at Blueberry Hill (Bob/Maggie)
*Note: thinking about moving this to 'concert' because Wendy W. reminded me of the newly added point "5"...
2. Sledding on Art Hill (unknown)
3. Crown Candy downtown (Erin S)
4. BB's Jazz Blues and Soups (Erin S)
5. Visit Big Cedar Lodge

Spiritual Experience:
Holley Idea(s): A weekend of silence. A missions trip.
Suggestion(s):
1. *Memorize a chapter in the Bible (Darrin P…in a sermon on 2/1/09)
2. *Interactive Good Friday or thanksgiving experience (Erin S)
3. Living Water International trip to build/repair fresh water wells or educate about fresh water (Erin S)
4. If weekend of silence—no clocks/formal way to track time (Bill C)

Restaurants to Try:
Holley Idea(s): Niche (Also mentioned below)
Suggestion(s):
1. Fast Eddies (Bob/Maggie)
2. Melting Pot (Justin/Sarah)
3. Niche (unknown)
4. Sydney Street Café (Dave C)
5. Charlie Gitto's
6. Bevo Mill

Community Service/Volunteer:
Holley Idea(s): Serve food at a soup kitchen on a holiday.
Suggestion(s):
1. Second Saturday (service from 8:00-2:00) with serving widows, immigrants, poor, and refugees (Erin S)
2. Christmas Store (a service project where the widows/refugees. etc are invited to shop before Christmas for their families. They purchase NEW toys etc that have been donated by other churches (Erin S)
3. Include S. Africa trip a volunteer portion of the trip (Kathy M.)

Movie to See:
Holley Idea(s): Juno.
Suggestion(s):

Catch-all/Misc Category:
Holley Idea(s): Get a job as a waitress. Meet w/ a Financial planner.
Suggestion(s):
1. Hot Air Balloon Ride (Michelle P)
2. *Keep a personal (non blog) journal of my life between 30 and 31 (Stacy K & Wendy W)
3. The big texan steak ranch challenge (Angie S)

Road Trip:
Holley Idea(s): Visit Meredith , Memphis in May
Suggestion(s):
1. Visit Meredith (Meredith W)
2. US road trip after reading Through Painted Deserts

A little bit...or a lot bit...Uncomfortable:
Holley Idea(s): Travel on my own.
Suggestion(s):
1. Skydive (Amanda B, Bob C, Krista B)
2. Match.com (Ryan M)
3. Consider something really extreme and devote the entire year to this venture. Take a year off from work. I would suggest that you volunteer in some interesting place in the world for a few months and then travel and do whatever you want. (Kathy M)

Something Famous "ish":
Holley Idea(s): Meet someone famous. Sit in the audience of a TV show.
Suggestion(s):
1. Be an extra in a movie (George Clooney movie coming to STL http://www.missouribusiness.net/film/hotline.asp) (Sarah S)

Professional Development
Holley Idea(s): Attend 3 networking events with the chamber of commerce
Suggestion(s):
1. Write your own Code of Ethics (Erin S)
2. Read a book on customer service (Erin S)

Category Suggestion(s).
1. Pampering (Erica).
-Massage. Expensive perfume.

O(+>)

So between the last post on Jan. 15 and now I’ve received some great suggestions (and here’s where I’d like to give Miss Erin S a shout out for taking the time to email me her fantastic ideas!). My list is growing at an incredible rate of speed and that is fun…at least for me.

Onto some logistical stuff…

Layout: If anyone has any ideas on how to format this blog—let me know. Since, by trade, I’m just an insurance sales lady…I’m not very “tech savvy”. Specifically, I want to find a way to update the list w/o having to cut and paste a new list everytime. I'm sure there's a way.

The *: I decided I’m going to use a * next to different ideas to note the ideas that are either making progress(*) or are a uniquely good fit(**). I figure it’ll help me in my planning and it will hopefully make this process of creating “the list” a little more interesting. In each post/blog update, I’ll explain why a particular *’d item struck my fancy. Since I received so many great ideas over the past few weeks…this may be a long entry…but we shall see. Side-note: I wish my computer had a wing-ding that represented the symbol Prince used when he went through that phase of not having a name…but it doesn’t…so we’re stuck with the *. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_(musician) …just in case you want to catch up on your Prince knowledge…that link will also explain the title of this entry.

The *’s...

*Purchase: I think purchasing energy efficient products is a fantastic idea and it’s actually an idea I think I’m going to commit to. Why? B/c the idea in and of itself is efficient...a double entendre of you will..
1. I have to purchase light bulbs anyway
2. It’s better for the environment (you and your loved ones/future children are welcome…)
3. Apparently they last longer
4. Saves $$ on electricity.
Practically speaking…purchasing CFL light bulbs is something I can easily commit to…partly because I probably only buy 4 light bulbs a year anyway and apparently I’ll buy even less when I purchase CFL bulbs. Faucet aerators were also recommended…however those are a little intimidating…I am not opposed…but my shower pressure is fantastic right now…and why mess with a good thing? When I asked Dave C what a “faucet aerator” was all I remember him saying, is, “It creates somewhat of ‘Carbonated shower’”…which in and of itself is somewhat intriguing. Perhaps I could add some other contraption to the shower head…fill it with gin…and start my morning with a lil’ gin and tonic cocktail…A morning pick me up of sorts.

*Travel: I originally got the S. Africa suggestion at my office’s last Christmas party. Betsey and her husband Bill have traveled all over the world…so I knew her travel suggestions would be quality. Last month when skiing in CO I talked w/ other travelers and I heard similar comments about how wonderful S. Africa is. I also was told the US dollar is really strong in S.A. Considering I can sometimes be Cheapycheaperson…the low cost/high quality/amazing scenery combo is a beautiful thing to me. My friend Ryanne has been itching to take a trip of international proportions for a while now—naturally she was the first person I went to as a potential “travel buddy”. To make a long story short: she was interested, we both have FF miles, the timing is good, and we could go in the fall.

**Learn Something: One thing I love about creating this list is how I never know who, or what, will trigger a new idea. I met a potential client for the first time today who was a volunteer soccer coach for 15 years. But before I go on, here’s a little background info on hollsmaher: For some reason, I had this weird complex when I was 5 that I was “too old and washed up” to learn ballet/tap/jazz…why I thought I was a 85 yr old woman trapped in a 5 yr old’s girls body…I have NO idea. That being said, despite the fact that I’m fairly athletic…I didn’t play too many sports except tennis in high school and college…my parents had to practically force me to try out for the tennis team. OK, back to today Feb. 2, 2009: Because of my conversation with Bill B this afternoon, I am considering learning how to play soccer/joining some sort of community league. I have zero information on this idea…so if anyone has any thoughts on how I can learn me some mad soccer playin’ skillz…let me know. I just liked the idea because it’s something I’ve always wanted to do…plus…interestingly enough…Bill didn’t start playing until he was in his late 20’s/early 30’s.