Well, when examining today in light of yesterday, the word “ditto” seems applicable. I did pretty much the same thing. I got up at 7, had a bowl of Apple Jacks, made a sandwich, and headed to work at the good ol’ Animal Kingdom. Despite getting rear-ended, the morning went very well. I pulled my costume, clock in, changed, and headed to warm ups. Today when we were warming up, I think I freaked the warm up instructor out a little bit. So picture this if you can. The warm up room is filled with big red rubber balls, weights, and elastic. To add to the excitement, they’ve covered one entire wall with mirrors, so that the out of shape people like me, can realize just how pathetic they are whilst they attempt to warm up next to elastic-girl. So I’m in this room with about five girls and our burly warm up instructor. He turns on “Just Dance” (this wonderful techno song) and we begin marching in place, then we do some punches, then we start overhead punches, then we start moving our arms in and out. It looked choreographed! I started smiling ridiculously because we all looked like we were straight out of a Jane Fonda work out video. Well, with my luck, this ridiculous, almost psychotic smile, was being reflected back to the entire room and the instructor by those mirrors. I got some weird looks to say the least.
After warm ups, we headed out to our set locations and set up shop. We did four sets, had lunch, and then did three more sets. It went really well, though it was hot outside today for sure. We had some awesome children though. They just loved it! It really does make all of the heat and pain you’re going through so much better when you see kids enjoying themselves so much. After our final set, we headed back to costume department to drop off our stuff. I ended up clocking out around 5:20. I walked back to Roxanne (my ’95 Honda Civic) and drove home. Once home, I started to make dinner but realized I was going to have more than enough, so I decided to call Jessica and see if she wanted to pop over and eat, since I hadn’t seen her in a couple of days. She came over around 6 and stayed until about 8. It was great. Ya know, you don’t really realize how much you miss home, until you get a taste of something from home and it’s at that point that all those memories and emotions come rushing to the forefront of your mind. So thanks for that, Jessica ☺.
Today I realized something else that will cause me to appear separate from those around me. Not only must I stay positive, but also I must seek to be faithful to each of those who are closer to me. I know this is important in everyday life, but I mean it rises to a new level here. I must be beyond reproach. See, our bus driver today was talking about how he’s been continually stabbed in the back by those closest to him and it made me think back to other incidents that have transpired throughout the past couple of days. There has been a good amount of backbiting and gossiping. Remaining above that down here will be something that draws me out from the crowd. For those of you who have been praying for me, thank you so so much! It means so much! I just ask you now to continue to pray for the hearts of those I’ll come in contact with, that they may remain soft.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
"U + GOD"
I had to drag myself out of bed this morning. I got up, had my bowel of cereal, and dove into 1 Timothy. I decided that’s the next book I’m going to read. Stern suggest reading a book in its entirety and not reading it with the mindset that it must contain something that is applicable to you today (though most times, it does). He challenges students to read books while understanding the target audience and time period. Doing so allows you to get important context on the scripture. 1 Timothy 1:15B-17 really stood out to me today. I love the way the CEV puts it. It says,
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. But I was given mercy so that in me, the worst of all sinners, Christ Jesus could show that he has patience without limit. His patience with me made me an example for those who would believe in him and have life forever. To the King that rules forever, who will never die, who cannot be seen, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
I love this! My epic fails in life can totally be used by God as something that can aid in bringing someone to salvation! This doesn’t mean go and make a bigger fool of yourself, it is just reassuring to know that God’s power is really seen through my mistakes and shortcomings.
After breakfast, I headed to Animal Kingdom. I got there early so I went ahead and pulled my costume and got things all set. I changed into my basics and headed to warm ups. After that, I threw my stuff in the back of a van and headed to my set location. Again, felt the presence of God—I look up and it says “U + GOD” in the sky. I’m not even kidding. I actually said that! Apparently, it’s a pilot’s way of witnessing—very creative! So I headed to my first set. It went really well, though it was hot as blazes today. It was one of those days when you walk outside and immediately look for shade. I’m surprised no one could hear me panting in my costume! The day went swimmingly, and I wrapped up around 5 p.m. I headed back, cleaned up, started to cook dinner, realized I stuck the olive oil in the fridge, defrosted olive oil, finish up dinner, and just chilled. It was a good day today, but I am straight up exhausted and already ready for bed, and it’s only 8 p.m. What’s wrong with me?
I figured out today what I think is one of the most effective ways of witnessing here. Stay positive. Some of my fellow cast mates are so negative about everything. Everything out of their mouth is bad, and when a person continues to smile and stay positive it really stands out in contrast. Not only staying positive, but being genuine about it. Letting people know that you will remain positive and optimistic, despite their attempts at bringing you down. I know it might sounds ridiculous, but I think that will get people’s attention and cause them to ask deeper questions.
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. But I was given mercy so that in me, the worst of all sinners, Christ Jesus could show that he has patience without limit. His patience with me made me an example for those who would believe in him and have life forever. To the King that rules forever, who will never die, who cannot be seen, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
I love this! My epic fails in life can totally be used by God as something that can aid in bringing someone to salvation! This doesn’t mean go and make a bigger fool of yourself, it is just reassuring to know that God’s power is really seen through my mistakes and shortcomings.
After breakfast, I headed to Animal Kingdom. I got there early so I went ahead and pulled my costume and got things all set. I changed into my basics and headed to warm ups. After that, I threw my stuff in the back of a van and headed to my set location. Again, felt the presence of God—I look up and it says “U + GOD” in the sky. I’m not even kidding. I actually said that! Apparently, it’s a pilot’s way of witnessing—very creative! So I headed to my first set. It went really well, though it was hot as blazes today. It was one of those days when you walk outside and immediately look for shade. I’m surprised no one could hear me panting in my costume! The day went swimmingly, and I wrapped up around 5 p.m. I headed back, cleaned up, started to cook dinner, realized I stuck the olive oil in the fridge, defrosted olive oil, finish up dinner, and just chilled. It was a good day today, but I am straight up exhausted and already ready for bed, and it’s only 8 p.m. What’s wrong with me?
I figured out today what I think is one of the most effective ways of witnessing here. Stay positive. Some of my fellow cast mates are so negative about everything. Everything out of their mouth is bad, and when a person continues to smile and stay positive it really stands out in contrast. Not only staying positive, but being genuine about it. Letting people know that you will remain positive and optimistic, despite their attempts at bringing you down. I know it might sounds ridiculous, but I think that will get people’s attention and cause them to ask deeper questions.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
"THE Palace"
Today was a little special. I went in as a spare at the Magic Kingdom about noon. I went and got comfortable in my little designated loser corner of the tunnel, ready for a long day. After killing some time working in the costume department, I headed back to check in with the duty captain. He told me he had a job for me. It was at this point, I was praying to myself, “Please not dining. Oh, Lord, if you’re merciful, please not dining.”
“We’re gonna send you, David, to Crystal Palace.”
For those of you who don’t know, Crystal Palace is one of the most difficult dining locations at Disney. So, it was a bittersweet moment for me—I was getting a job and leaving my sparing spot behind, but at the same time, I was walking into Gettysburg unarmed so to speak. I hurried down to Crystal Palace and tried to memorize the dining rotation. Fortunately, the manager, Alejandro, was awesome and more than willing to take me upstairs and walk me through it. After that, I ran back down to the cafeteria to each a quick lunch (made mostly of my Fatoosh salad…mmmmhmmmm). After lunch, I ran, pulled my costume, tether it to a pulley, and hurried to my location. I got there about an hour early so, it gave me time just to breath and meet the cast members I’d be working with. All of them were great and more than willing to give me a hand to ease my work schedule. So I put on my armor so to speak, jumped into the elevator, and ascended to the battlefield. The first rotation went fairly well. My costume had a tail, so that became the highlight of every child’s night. There were multiple instances where I thought it had been ripped off—oh the joy of working with children ☺.
One of the hard parts about dining is being on stage for 45 minutes at a time. By the time your manager tells you to head back to the base, you want to get on the ground and start kissing his feet (though at that point, you’re so tired, to bend over that far would result in a character unable to get back up).
I did enjoy working in dining. The only difficult thing is that, you really have to be so careful not to bump into things, at least at Crystal Palace. Everything is very close together and to turn around quickly, means some child will have an elbow to the eye or a lap full of macaroni. When I work outside, I can feel free to animate, but inside I have to tone it down.
Today, I felt the Lord’s presence. It was just one of those days where it seems like the Lord continually does random things to remind you of him. For instance, the tunnels under the Magic Kingdom are continually filled with music. Today, they had it on the Christian radio station! The company that has a gay week, and it’s on the Christian radio station?! Then I find out that in mid-September, Disney is hosting it’s annual “Night of Joy” where they pack out the parks with Christian contemporary bands and singers and its just like two massive days of worship. Huh? Then I find “I can do all things through Christ” etched in the wall of the bathroom stall. That might be pushing it, but hey, I choose to look at it as a smile from God. Overall, it was a comforting day.
“We’re gonna send you, David, to Crystal Palace.”
For those of you who don’t know, Crystal Palace is one of the most difficult dining locations at Disney. So, it was a bittersweet moment for me—I was getting a job and leaving my sparing spot behind, but at the same time, I was walking into Gettysburg unarmed so to speak. I hurried down to Crystal Palace and tried to memorize the dining rotation. Fortunately, the manager, Alejandro, was awesome and more than willing to take me upstairs and walk me through it. After that, I ran back down to the cafeteria to each a quick lunch (made mostly of my Fatoosh salad…mmmmhmmmm). After lunch, I ran, pulled my costume, tether it to a pulley, and hurried to my location. I got there about an hour early so, it gave me time just to breath and meet the cast members I’d be working with. All of them were great and more than willing to give me a hand to ease my work schedule. So I put on my armor so to speak, jumped into the elevator, and ascended to the battlefield. The first rotation went fairly well. My costume had a tail, so that became the highlight of every child’s night. There were multiple instances where I thought it had been ripped off—oh the joy of working with children ☺.
One of the hard parts about dining is being on stage for 45 minutes at a time. By the time your manager tells you to head back to the base, you want to get on the ground and start kissing his feet (though at that point, you’re so tired, to bend over that far would result in a character unable to get back up).
I did enjoy working in dining. The only difficult thing is that, you really have to be so careful not to bump into things, at least at Crystal Palace. Everything is very close together and to turn around quickly, means some child will have an elbow to the eye or a lap full of macaroni. When I work outside, I can feel free to animate, but inside I have to tone it down.
Today, I felt the Lord’s presence. It was just one of those days where it seems like the Lord continually does random things to remind you of him. For instance, the tunnels under the Magic Kingdom are continually filled with music. Today, they had it on the Christian radio station! The company that has a gay week, and it’s on the Christian radio station?! Then I find out that in mid-September, Disney is hosting it’s annual “Night of Joy” where they pack out the parks with Christian contemporary bands and singers and its just like two massive days of worship. Huh? Then I find “I can do all things through Christ” etched in the wall of the bathroom stall. That might be pushing it, but hey, I choose to look at it as a smile from God. Overall, it was a comforting day.
Friday, August 28, 2009
"Pepto, Anyone?"
(And here they are…my roommate Mike and the wonderful Shower Sprayer from Scrubbing Bubbles, a must for every college student. This is Jessica—we share convictions.)
I actually got to do a character today! I got up this morning made myself a huge bowel of Apple Jacks (they were fantastic!) and got ready for my shift at Animal Kingdom. I got there, and warmed up to Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was great. My warm up instructor even felt it necessary to add her own little old man grunts to her favorite parts of the song—it was wonderful! After warm ups, I got placed so I ran (quite literally) to the costume department to try and throw my outfit together because my first set began at 9:20 and at this point it was 8:50ish and I had a walk ahead of me. As I’m sure you can image, I was running around the place like a chicken with my head cut off. I finally managed to cram all my costume pieces together, and I headed out to my location. I got there out of breathe and panicking because I only had like 15 minutes to put together this outfit that I’d never worn before…no pressure. ☺ With the help of a friendly foreigner (the only words I could make out from his montage of ramblings was choice cuss words. Needless to say, he used them often), I finally got my costume set and headed out to shift number one. After those twenty minutes, I got to head back to the trailer and just relax for forty—it was heavenly. On my next shift, I’m standing there with this little girl doing my thing and hear this odd noise, I look up, and her little brother is puking his guts out about ten feet away. I’m sure they could hear my dry heaving inside my costume. Dare say, I broke character. Then I hear it again, only this time it’s coming from behind me. At this point I’m thinking to myself, “Goodness, that spread quickly.” I turn around and see my photopass photographer gripping the side of the fence because he’s about to hurl himself. It was a great set. After that adventure, everything else seemed incomparable. The rest of the day went by in a flash and before I knew it, I was back in the costume department, helping to turn sweaty animal furs inside out. Disney can quickly lose its magic, when your nostrils are overcome with the smell of Baloo back sweat.
After work, I headed back home, took a nap and a shower, and got dinner ready because Jessica was coming over to eat. Since, she made me pancakes the other day, I agreed to make her dinner tonight because today was her first official day of work. And as I’m sure most of you know, that can be a tad bit exhausting. So I cooked us up some Italian Ham sandwiches and some Fatoosh salad (for those of you who haven’t experienced the wonder that is Fatoosh, you are missing out on life. I’m just saying). After that, we spent some time just hanging out with my roommate Mike and then just talking. It really is so great to have a person with a similar level of conviction down here with me. It can get a tad bit lonesome. Though today was long and hard, it went by quickly and I did enjoy it. My character development is continuing to grow which is enabling me to give the guest a better experience at Disney, which they love. So all, in all, it was a good day!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
"Rain, Rain Go Away"
Today was my second day off, which translates to I got nothing accomplished. I woke up about noon, made lunch, took a nap, watched some movies, and did the dishes (which is saying a lot). I thought I had a pretty strong stomach, but these dishes were my roommates. He had some people over for a potluck the other night and left all the dishes to do later. Well, me being Mr. Proactive ☺, I decided to help him out since I was home all day and he had to work. So I set about cleaning. Let me just say, the smell from these dishes made you want to barf! I was gagging almost every time I would wash one because the smell would waft up. There were about four times I thought I was gonna have to rewash vomit off the dishes. I finally got all the dishes and silverware done, however, there was a pot of nastiness still left on the stove (it looked like they had just opened up a container of tomato soup, mixed it with some ketchup, and poured it into a bowl). That remains in the sink. I wasn’t man enough to tackle that one.
After doing the dishes, I got ready to meet up with some friends for Fantasmic. I got all ready and headed out to the bus stop to wait for them. It was a beautiful night! I just sat there, soaking it all in. Once they got to Chatham (my housing complex for those of you who haven’t sent me something in the mail ☺), we headed on down to Hollywood Studios. When we pulled into the parking lot it started to rain, but we were determined. We ended up sitting through the entire show! We left soaking wet, but this wasn’t going to beat us! The rain’s kept us from seeing this show all week, for goodness sake. It was great despite the weather. The last scene with Mickey Mouse on the mountain top makes you just want to jump up and scream, “I WORK FOR HIM! I KNOW HIM!”
Today I finished up the book of James. In chapter 6, James encourages Christians to stay encouraged because the Lord is coming back for them. He tells them just to be patient and not allow little things under your skin. He uses the analogy of a farmer anxiously waiting for his crops to grow and be harvested. I love this analogy because when you dig down into it, you realize that there is a lot of work that the farmer must do in order to reap that harvest. He must remain faithful daily. He must put in the hard work now because he knows that it will all benefit his crops in the end. It can be so difficult to be overwhelmed and frustrated with life, but when you look at the big picture, Christians can have joy because, though we working hard right now, the day is coming where we can enjoy the fruits of our labor and a much needed rest. Amen to that!
After doing the dishes, I got ready to meet up with some friends for Fantasmic. I got all ready and headed out to the bus stop to wait for them. It was a beautiful night! I just sat there, soaking it all in. Once they got to Chatham (my housing complex for those of you who haven’t sent me something in the mail ☺), we headed on down to Hollywood Studios. When we pulled into the parking lot it started to rain, but we were determined. We ended up sitting through the entire show! We left soaking wet, but this wasn’t going to beat us! The rain’s kept us from seeing this show all week, for goodness sake. It was great despite the weather. The last scene with Mickey Mouse on the mountain top makes you just want to jump up and scream, “I WORK FOR HIM! I KNOW HIM!”
Today I finished up the book of James. In chapter 6, James encourages Christians to stay encouraged because the Lord is coming back for them. He tells them just to be patient and not allow little things under your skin. He uses the analogy of a farmer anxiously waiting for his crops to grow and be harvested. I love this analogy because when you dig down into it, you realize that there is a lot of work that the farmer must do in order to reap that harvest. He must remain faithful daily. He must put in the hard work now because he knows that it will all benefit his crops in the end. It can be so difficult to be overwhelmed and frustrated with life, but when you look at the big picture, Christians can have joy because, though we working hard right now, the day is coming where we can enjoy the fruits of our labor and a much needed rest. Amen to that!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
"Recharging Batteries"
Today I got to sleep in, relax (sort of), and recharge the batteries. I got up about 10 and headed over to Jessica Ellens’ apartment because she had made pancakes. After a hearty breakfast, we jumped in my little Honda Civic, a.k.a “The White Phantom” or “Roxanne” (either is permissible) and headed to Animal Kingdom. It was nice today, a tad bit muggy, but nice. We headed inside to the ride Dinosaur. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been on that one. I forgot how freaky it is! Our expedition picture was hilarious. There I am, an almost 21 year old guy in the back seat with my ears plugged and a terrified look on my face, and right in front of me, sits a four year old girl having the time of her life. Needless to say, I felt a little ashamed. After that, we got a little snack and headed over to Finding Nemo the Musical. It was wonderful! I highly recommend it! Again, take that recommendation with a grain of salt—I also adore Dolly Parton. ☺ After that, we rode some water ride. I got off looking like I had peed myself, so that was fantastic. Then, I talked Jessica into riding Expedition Everest. It’s probably the greatest ride at Animal Kingdom! Though she doesn’t like roller coasters, she admitted after that she liked it.
We went out to the car, and over to Hollywood Studios. It started to rain once we got there so, we booked it back to the Toy Story Mania ride. But before jumping into line, Jessica had to see Prince Capsian—she’s a tad bit obsessed. ☺ Think me with Ariel, she’s worse. I know, I know, but I’m not exaggerating. After watching her drool on him (love ya Jessica), we headed over to the Toy Story Mania ride. It was great! (*cough* I won). We also checked out the American Idol show. Bianca brought the house down!
After that, we headed to Chick-Fil-A, got some dinner, and then made our way to Wal-Mart for a little grocery shopping. Jessica was quite the champ for hiking around town with me today. Once done, I dropped her off and made my way back to apartment to unpack. Overall, it was a fun but tiresome day. With that being said, I’m going to bed. Goodnight all!
We went out to the car, and over to Hollywood Studios. It started to rain once we got there so, we booked it back to the Toy Story Mania ride. But before jumping into line, Jessica had to see Prince Capsian—she’s a tad bit obsessed. ☺ Think me with Ariel, she’s worse. I know, I know, but I’m not exaggerating. After watching her drool on him (love ya Jessica), we headed over to the Toy Story Mania ride. It was great! (*cough* I won). We also checked out the American Idol show. Bianca brought the house down!
After that, we headed to Chick-Fil-A, got some dinner, and then made our way to Wal-Mart for a little grocery shopping. Jessica was quite the champ for hiking around town with me today. Once done, I dropped her off and made my way back to apartment to unpack. Overall, it was a fun but tiresome day. With that being said, I’m going to bed. Goodnight all!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
"The Character Reject"
Got another early start today—I had to be at work again at 7 a.m. Joy! This time I decided to take my chances and drive to work rather than take the bus. So when my alarm went off at 5, I made a lovely breakfast of whatever I had left in the fridge (I believe it was an egg and a piece of bacon), did some reading, and headed out. Whoever created the GPS deserves to have a statue erected in their honor. Thank God for that device! I got me safely to the cast parking lot, and with about ten minutes to spare. After clocking in, I did my warm ups and was again reminded that I’m about as flexible as an eighty year old man in a full body cast. After that, I became reacquainted with my friend, the cafeteria bench. After checking in a couple of times, I decided it was time for a change of scenery, so I headed to another waiting location with all the other character rejects ☺. I sat there for about two hours and did some homework; every now and then I would stop and gape at the characters that were actually in a costume. Today I believe it was Anastasia, Drisella, Lady Tremain, the Fairy Godmother, and Peter Pan. At about 11, the duty captain sent me out to lunch. After lunch, they consented to give me an e.r. (or early release). I took advantage of it.
I got home about 12:30 and just spent the afternoon relaxing and immersing myself in a few episodes of I Love Lucy. At about 4, Jessica came over and we went to get dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Mmmmm honey barbeque boneless wings. After dinner, I headed out with a group of friends to see Fantasmic; however, upon our arrival, it began to pour. We made our way into a restaurant in hopes it would lighten up. Yeah, it didn’t. So we ran to “Voyage of the Little Mermaid.” After 17 minutes in heaven, we headed over to the Tower of Terror for an insanely awesome ride! At this point, the rain had started to lighten up considerably. After getting off the Tower, we chose to ride more rides as opposed to seeing a soggy Fantasmic. We headed over to Rockin’ Rollercoaster and back to the Tower for one incredible ride. It was a pretty great night. I got to spend some time with my friend Jill and her cousin Josh. It was a blast! It was a great day, but I am ready for some shuteye now! Goodnight all!
I got home about 12:30 and just spent the afternoon relaxing and immersing myself in a few episodes of I Love Lucy. At about 4, Jessica came over and we went to get dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Mmmmm honey barbeque boneless wings. After dinner, I headed out with a group of friends to see Fantasmic; however, upon our arrival, it began to pour. We made our way into a restaurant in hopes it would lighten up. Yeah, it didn’t. So we ran to “Voyage of the Little Mermaid.” After 17 minutes in heaven, we headed over to the Tower of Terror for an insanely awesome ride! At this point, the rain had started to lighten up considerably. After getting off the Tower, we chose to ride more rides as opposed to seeing a soggy Fantasmic. We headed over to Rockin’ Rollercoaster and back to the Tower for one incredible ride. It was a pretty great night. I got to spend some time with my friend Jill and her cousin Josh. It was a blast! It was a great day, but I am ready for some shuteye now! Goodnight all!
Monday, August 24, 2009
"Life in Agraba"
Today was different. My shift started at 7, which is code for the alarm goes off at 4. Can’t say I’ve ever gotten up for a 4 a.m. shift before. But by the grace of God, I managed to pull myself out of bed. Because of the weird bus route, I got to the Kingdom about an hour early so I just chilled—I took a shelf-lead tour of the underground tunnels at Disney, just to familiarize myself with them. One back, I clocked in and headed to warm ups. I was a spare again today, however at the Magic Kingdom they simply tell you to come back and check in for canceled shifts, they don’t send you to work in other departments to just kill time, so I spent about six hours this morning listening to my ipod in the Mousecateria. It was a tad bit on the boring side. About noon, they sent me to lunch (can you guess where…the Mousecateria.) After that I headed back the duty captain’s window (at this point we were the best of friends). She said to head down to Agraba and help Aladdin and Jasmine. So, I pack my stuff up and did that. Now let me just preface this by saying, being in the presence of a face character is like being back in high school again. I felt like a freshman walking into a room of seniors (though I was probably older than Aladdin). It was so awkward for me. However, the first set went pretty well (though I had my outfit on completely backwards). The second two were pretty great too! I enjoyed my time with Prince Ali and Jasmine. Both were kind, welcoming, and sarcastic (which made me feel right at home). Overall, it was a great shift. Then I headed back down to costuming around 4:30 to unpack my costume and such. After that, the duty captain told me to just sit and chill for the last hour before clocking out. I headed back to the Mousecateria with the same gait as the one child that isn’t picked for the kickball team.
After work, I got to spend some time with Jessica Ellens, my friend from SAU. She is the one that actually suggested this internship to me, so it was beyond great to get to go out to dinner with her. I told her, I feel like I’m still coming into my own down at Disney. I haven’t become comfortable enough yet to just be myself. Having dinner tonight with her, let me just loosen up. I didn’t have to worry about making a good impression or living up to expectations. Those few hours were some of the nicest, most relaxing one’s I’ve had since I’ve been down here.
Today I had ubber amounts of time to spare, so I checked back in with Sternie boy and listened to the next sermon in the Jimmy series. Today he was talking about being a friend of either the world or of God. James makes it very clear that you can’t be both! In fact, he calls those people in love with the world adulterers. That’s some pretty strong language James! But it conveys to the reader the significance of our relationship with God. Our relationship is a loving relationship, similar to that of a marriage. When we accept Christ as our savior, we say yes to him, and no to all others. “Others” being the world and ourselves. In the same way, when I get married, I am telling my wife yes and all those other women no (I mean let’s face it, there won’t be others, but for the sake of argument, lets consider me a playa). I promise my commitment to her will rise before that of any other, even my commitment to myself. That’s a promise to take seriously!
After work, I got to spend some time with Jessica Ellens, my friend from SAU. She is the one that actually suggested this internship to me, so it was beyond great to get to go out to dinner with her. I told her, I feel like I’m still coming into my own down at Disney. I haven’t become comfortable enough yet to just be myself. Having dinner tonight with her, let me just loosen up. I didn’t have to worry about making a good impression or living up to expectations. Those few hours were some of the nicest, most relaxing one’s I’ve had since I’ve been down here.
Today I had ubber amounts of time to spare, so I checked back in with Sternie boy and listened to the next sermon in the Jimmy series. Today he was talking about being a friend of either the world or of God. James makes it very clear that you can’t be both! In fact, he calls those people in love with the world adulterers. That’s some pretty strong language James! But it conveys to the reader the significance of our relationship with God. Our relationship is a loving relationship, similar to that of a marriage. When we accept Christ as our savior, we say yes to him, and no to all others. “Others” being the world and ourselves. In the same way, when I get married, I am telling my wife yes and all those other women no (I mean let’s face it, there won’t be others, but for the sake of argument, lets consider me a playa). I promise my commitment to her will rise before that of any other, even my commitment to myself. That’s a promise to take seriously!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
"Drop Your Drawers!"
It was time to get pushed from the coupe today. I work up this morning about 6 o’clock and had to be at the bus stop at 6:45. I hopped on the bus, and thankfully got to sit with some friends from my training class because being out on your own can be a little bit depressing. After getting to Animal Kingdom, I had lots of time to kill so I just sat and chilled. When my clock in time rolled around, I did that and checked in with the duty captain, however, because I was simply a spare today (spare means they book an additional character to cover themselves in case someone calls in sick) they put me to work in the costume department. It was actually pretty fun. I had to de-fat-ring body padding. Doesn’t sound glamorous but it was cool. I got to work with this older lady named Millie I believe. She was one of those sweet older women that call everybody “baby” or “sugie.” So, needless to say, she was awesome. We de-fat-ringed together. When a guy came in all ticked off about something she told him that she had lost a child and it made her realize how precious life is. She said to let it just roll of your back, tomorrow is a brand new day. She was a pretty awesome lady! After my costuming shift finished up, I headed back to the duty office and got assigned a character, a hoss of a character! This costume was MASSIVE! Like seriously walking was difficult! Because I had never been this particular character before, I held the bus up about five minutes and when I got in the driver reamed us all out for being late (kinda dropped the ball on that one.) I got to my work location, apologized to the driver, got ignored by the driver, watched the driver smoke a cigarette, and lugged my costume inside.
My first set began at 10:20 so I basically put my bag down and started getting dressed. My character location was right at the front of the park. However, given the size of my costume, I needed a shoulder brace, so as I’m sure you can imagine, getting dressed was a little more challenging than usual. I finally got that done, and headed out to my set (which went fairly well, though I really couldn’t see where I was going).
Right after lunch, I figured out that if I hiked my costume to my mid thigh, I could walk much easier, so that’s what I did, I hiked it up. Well, unbeknown to me, I was actually entering the theme park so this is what the guest saw—hairy boots, pearly white scrawny Blackburn legs, hairy costume. Thank goodness my manager was behind me. He promptly let out a “Drop your drawers!” command and explained later. Other than that, it all went pretty well. I got put on water decal today for the parade. What that means is I serve the parade drivers water before the parade, open up the gate, close the gate, move the water stuff, open up the gate again, close the gate, and clean up all the empty cups and sweaty towels. Mmmm good stuff. Watching the parade go out and in was fun though! I headed back to do a little more costuming work. This time, I got to change all the nasty sweaty padding suits. I was praying the Lord would turn my nose hairs into an Airwick candle. He chose not to answer that one.
When I had some down time today, I checked out the next Aaron Stern podcast in the Jimmy series. This one was about chapter 3: Guarding your Tongue. Stern began with by explaining that Americans are so deeply engrained in this consumer mindset that we approach the Bible the same way. He said there is a real problem with that. He said that when we do that, we just look at how the Bible can benefit us. What can I get out of this? And when we don’t feel like we got something, we say “It’s dry.” or “I’m just not getting anything out of it!” And then use that as an excuse to not read it.
He then went on to address the issue of the tongue. James 3:5 says, “Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.” Stern said that three factors that contribute to the tongues deadly power are gossip, our tone, and sarcasm. Gossip is listed with very intensive sins elsewhere in the Bible. This conveys the level of disgust the Lord has for it. It falls in line with murder. Most would agree that’s a big deal, yet we don’t treat it like it is one.
Secondly, he said our tone can communicate. He said it doesn’t matter how great the words are, people interpret our words based on our tone. Think about it, we know this to be true. Telling someone you love, “I love you.” is way different sounding than when you get spanked and your parents make you tell your siblings that you love them. When put side by side, most could see they are very different things being communicated here.
Finally, he addressed sarcasm. This is a really difficult one for me. He said that there is truth to sarcasm and too often it’s a way for us to get in those little jabs then cover it up with a “I’m just sarcastic” bandage. Not only that, but we get on to people when they don’t respond well to sarcasm by telling them to “Lighten up! It was only a joke!” The podcast was great and much needed inside of Christianity. Mastering the tongue is a hard one, however, it’s mandatory for a Christian that wants to be maturing.
My first set began at 10:20 so I basically put my bag down and started getting dressed. My character location was right at the front of the park. However, given the size of my costume, I needed a shoulder brace, so as I’m sure you can imagine, getting dressed was a little more challenging than usual. I finally got that done, and headed out to my set (which went fairly well, though I really couldn’t see where I was going).
Right after lunch, I figured out that if I hiked my costume to my mid thigh, I could walk much easier, so that’s what I did, I hiked it up. Well, unbeknown to me, I was actually entering the theme park so this is what the guest saw—hairy boots, pearly white scrawny Blackburn legs, hairy costume. Thank goodness my manager was behind me. He promptly let out a “Drop your drawers!” command and explained later. Other than that, it all went pretty well. I got put on water decal today for the parade. What that means is I serve the parade drivers water before the parade, open up the gate, close the gate, move the water stuff, open up the gate again, close the gate, and clean up all the empty cups and sweaty towels. Mmmm good stuff. Watching the parade go out and in was fun though! I headed back to do a little more costuming work. This time, I got to change all the nasty sweaty padding suits. I was praying the Lord would turn my nose hairs into an Airwick candle. He chose not to answer that one.
When I had some down time today, I checked out the next Aaron Stern podcast in the Jimmy series. This one was about chapter 3: Guarding your Tongue. Stern began with by explaining that Americans are so deeply engrained in this consumer mindset that we approach the Bible the same way. He said there is a real problem with that. He said that when we do that, we just look at how the Bible can benefit us. What can I get out of this? And when we don’t feel like we got something, we say “It’s dry.” or “I’m just not getting anything out of it!” And then use that as an excuse to not read it.
He then went on to address the issue of the tongue. James 3:5 says, “Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.” Stern said that three factors that contribute to the tongues deadly power are gossip, our tone, and sarcasm. Gossip is listed with very intensive sins elsewhere in the Bible. This conveys the level of disgust the Lord has for it. It falls in line with murder. Most would agree that’s a big deal, yet we don’t treat it like it is one.
Secondly, he said our tone can communicate. He said it doesn’t matter how great the words are, people interpret our words based on our tone. Think about it, we know this to be true. Telling someone you love, “I love you.” is way different sounding than when you get spanked and your parents make you tell your siblings that you love them. When put side by side, most could see they are very different things being communicated here.
Finally, he addressed sarcasm. This is a really difficult one for me. He said that there is truth to sarcasm and too often it’s a way for us to get in those little jabs then cover it up with a “I’m just sarcastic” bandage. Not only that, but we get on to people when they don’t respond well to sarcasm by telling them to “Lighten up! It was only a joke!” The podcast was great and much needed inside of Christianity. Mastering the tongue is a hard one, however, it’s mandatory for a Christian that wants to be maturing.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
"Prepare to Die, Beast!" *Sparkle* *Sparkle*
Today was my first day off in about a week, and boy did I take advantage of it. I slept in until about noon (oh, and it was good). Then I got up and just kinda moped around the apartment for about an hour or so and watched some I Love Lucy and Youtube videos. I got some laundry done, which by the way let me take this opportunity to plug the 3-in-1 Laundry Sheets-a must for every college student. Oh so easy! They work wonderfully! If I could give each of my readers a free box of them, I would, but unfortunately my paycheck doesn’t come til Thursday. Just know that I my heart wants to, that should be enough ☺. After that, I got ready and headed to Hollywood Studios with some friends from my training class—it was our “congrats on graduation” party (though only four of us showed up). We had fun though. Our trainer got us V.I.P. seats for the Beauty and the Beast show. It was hilarious if any of you have seen that show you’ll understand this, for those of you who haven’t, it’s a great show, it’s just definitely geared for children. I.e. Gaston’s hard core dagger has glitter on the handle. Anyway, I look over during the show and my little Asian friend, Eiko, is balling her eyes out when the beast died. I mean this beast who can’t even move his mouth when he talks, and she’s crying harder than most people do at a funeral. It was great. Then we jumped on Tower of Terror and Rockin’ Rollercoaster (both insanely awesome rides).
That was pretty much my day. Not too much going on. Another plus, my friend Jessica, the one that suggested this internship to me, is coming down here to start her second year of interning. She’ll be here Monday so it’ll be great to see a familiar face! Until tomorrow TTYL (sorry, I just got back from the High School Musical Block Party—what do you expect?!)
That was pretty much my day. Not too much going on. Another plus, my friend Jessica, the one that suggested this internship to me, is coming down here to start her second year of interning. She’ll be here Monday so it’ll be great to see a familiar face! Until tomorrow TTYL (sorry, I just got back from the High School Musical Block Party—what do you expect?!)
Friday, August 21, 2009
A Mad Hatter
Today was and is a very special day. Today I finished up my character training process. I AM NOW AN OFFICAL CHARACTER! (insert jazz hands here) Yeah, it was much flashy and exiting in my head! Anyway, all that means is that I am no longer in a group, I’ll be working as an individual now, though Disney has people that check up on you at random times while you’re working, sort of a surprise evaluation, so there will be no slacking (not that there would be even if they weren’t checking, I’m just sayin’).
Today was an early morning! I had to be at the bus stop at 6:15 A.M. When I left my apartment the sun still wasn’t up. I knew right then it was going to be a good day ☺. However, the day really did rock because we got to the Magic Kingdom around 7:15 so we had a ton of time to kill before our shift began at 8, so what better way to kill time than to go romping through the costume department! We headed in there acting like we were looking for something in particular so as not to arouse attention (remember I’m from D-Town people. I know tricks.) I got to see the Mad Hatter costume, which made me so envious I need to ask for forgiveness. It was so sweet looking! But thanks to my cursed sycamore tree legs, I’m too tall for that role! I also found Ariel’s fin! Needless to say, I was freaking out! I figured, hey, this would probably be the only chance I’d get to touch it. Can’t you just see me walking into her grotto: “Would you like a picture?”
“Yeah! Sure.” (awkward pause)
“What are you doing, little prince?”
“Just feeling your tail. It’s awesome!”
Yeah not so much—so I took advantage while the opportunity presented itself. After that, we did some touring down in the infamous Magic Kingdom tunnels and learned the ins and outs of Character dining. It’s pretty hardcore, but I think will be a lot of fun. After that, we headed back to the costume department to grab our costumes for the day. Once finished there, we made our way to Toon Town for round 2. My costume today was a beast. There were so many parts that had to be tucked in and Velcroed—I liked to have never got the fiend on. Anyway, we headed out, did our first set, and then headed to lunch. Once we finished up with lunch we headed back to TT (that’s Disney slang for Toon Town, actually it’s not, I just feel sweet having these insider names). So, we get back, do two more sets and finish up. Once done, we took our assessment, figured out our talent rating, and headed back to costume return. I have to throw this in too, when the majority of our group was done with costumes, we were waiting in the hall, when who should walk by, the Mad Hatter himself. I finally got up the nerve to talk to him (thank the Lord my voice didn’t crack). He let me try on his hat…it. was. awesome.
I headed back to the apartment and decided to make dinner. Hmmm…what should I burn tonight? I decided on steak. So I gave mom a call and asked for directions. And surprisingly enough, the steak was great, the bake potato was a little crunchy, but, hey, beggars can’t be choosers.
I realized today that something’s happened within the past day or so, I really am starting to love my character job. Before all I could think about was the heat, but now that really only comes to mind, once I start dripping sweat or as I’m on my way back inside. Working with the guests, really makes the twenty minutes fly by; I feel like I’ve only been out there half the time. I love the job and looking forward to hopping into work next week!
This morning I read James 2 to go along with the podcast I’ve been listening to. James talks about favoritism and how it stems out of a selfish, judgmental heart. We have to have a standard with which we compare those we deem less than par. What is it? Ourselves (normally). When I look at the sin in my life and the things I struggle with, I have no business being that measuring stick. My measuring stick should be scripture and its picture of Christ, and both those sources reached out to those that would fall “below par” in today’s society. That was one of their primary targets, yet I continually sit back on my comfy high horse and judge people as less than worth it. It was some great stuff to mull over!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
"Mary Poppins' Ipod"
Well, friends today was great! We had to meet at Disney’s Hollywood studios at 7:45 a.m. and do our warm ups. I’ve become aware of the fact that God didn’t design our bodies to do that much moving at such an early time. I thought my legs were gonna fall off. Anyhow I made it, so we moved along to picking up our costumes. Unfortunately because Hollywood Studios has very limited character space, we moved to the Magic Kingdom, more specifically Toon Town. We got all suited up and headed out for our first set of the day (remember a set is normally 20 minutes where we’re in front of the guest). After we finished up number one, we headed back stage to change, cool down (a.k.a. wipe our back sweat off on the nearest couch), and get some notes about things we needed to improve on. During our critiquing period, the door behind us opened and who should come walking in…TINKERBELL!!! Now I’m not usually the kinda guy that’s into sassy girls, but let me be frank, Tink was b-e-a-utiful! She just snuck in to use the little faries room, followed by Belle, Cinderella, and Aurora (all of which were in their bloomers! I felt like such a Disney perv seeing all these beauties in their bloomers and stockings.) Anyway, we wrapped up the meeting and headed back out for set number two. At this point, the heat index was flirting with 90°. I’m not saying that to claim I’m hard-core, but I’m hard-core ☺.
Anyhow, we ended up finishing up that set and heading out to lunch. As we headed into the tunnel where the food court was, I spotted Cinderella on her cell phone, obviously reaming Charming out for standing her up at their lunch date. We got to the food court, got our lunch, and sat down. Once inside, we saw all the princesses and their boos come in and sit down. Talk about intimidating. Each of them looks like they just unwrapped themselves from a Barbie and Ken box. The princes look like they could bench me about 1000 times while the princesses’ skin looked like God had taken 10 extra minutes fine tooning it. So, they were intimidating at a distance, then comes the point that I realize, I have to walk by them. So I make my way over there and as I pass, I start staring, like bad obviously. I was just waiting to bite it!
The day finished up well. I got to see, Mary Poppins, Jasmine, Jafar, and the Evil Queen before clocking out today. This seriously is like living inside one of the my childhood dreams: eating lunch with the prince and princesses, watching Mary Poppins enjoy some R&B on her ipod, and clocking out with Jafar right behind me. Who could ask for anything more!
Anyhow, we ended up finishing up that set and heading out to lunch. As we headed into the tunnel where the food court was, I spotted Cinderella on her cell phone, obviously reaming Charming out for standing her up at their lunch date. We got to the food court, got our lunch, and sat down. Once inside, we saw all the princesses and their boos come in and sit down. Talk about intimidating. Each of them looks like they just unwrapped themselves from a Barbie and Ken box. The princes look like they could bench me about 1000 times while the princesses’ skin looked like God had taken 10 extra minutes fine tooning it. So, they were intimidating at a distance, then comes the point that I realize, I have to walk by them. So I make my way over there and as I pass, I start staring, like bad obviously. I was just waiting to bite it!
The day finished up well. I got to see, Mary Poppins, Jasmine, Jafar, and the Evil Queen before clocking out today. This seriously is like living inside one of the my childhood dreams: eating lunch with the prince and princesses, watching Mary Poppins enjoy some R&B on her ipod, and clocking out with Jafar right behind me. Who could ask for anything more!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
"Waaaaarmmmmma!"
That’s the phrase that was echoing throughout my brain as I finally went out before the guest today in full costume! Seriously, I know I’ve said this in previous blogs, but you have no idea how hard being a character is! By the time you hear your attendant yell, “5 Minutes!” You’re about to finish sweating off the last drop of fluid your body has inside of it!
Today was fun, though challenging. My group got to Epcot about 7:45 a.m. to get ready for the day—we pulled our costumes, did some warm-ups, and headed to our location to get ready. It was quite the experience! I had so much rushing through my head that when I saw the first kid, I probably could of peed myself (though I was so sweaty at that point, it would have made no difference). The first set (a set is 20 minutes) was a blur—a bad, frustrating, this child-will-never-want-to-come-back-to-Disney-because-of-me blur. I didn’t do too to horrible, though I totally smoked a couple of children right in the face with my outfit! I mean like go in for a hug, and WHAM! and trust me when I tell you, you know you’ve done it because the sound reverberates throughout your entire outfit. So, other than a few bumps and bruises (on the guest mostly) I got through the first set. When I came back inside the trailer to change into another t-shirt I literally had to peel the first one off my back. Your welcome for that mental image! I’m not saying all of this to say, I hated it; I just didn’t realize how hard it would be. There are so many regulations that must be followed. I know that once I get into the flow of things, get the regulations down, and get used to the heat, I’m going to love it, because guest being there really helps to keep the day moving quickly.
I came home tonight and decided to cook a healthy dinner…chicken (or so I thought). I get the frying pan filled with oil and figured I’d just take a couple frozen chicken breasts out of the freezer and plop them down in the oil and let them cook. It was an eruption of hot oils! I’m screaming and running around the kitchen because grease it hitting me like demon spit. With Mike, my roommate’s help, we finally got it under control…until I had to flip the thing! I got hot grease in my eye! Multiple times! Not only would it not flip, but I’m standing there in oven mitts with a spatula and a party serving spoon attacking this frozen meat like it’s a deadly animal. Finally got dinner done and clean up and headed to my room to do some reading.
I read in James tonight because that’s what Aaron Stern is doing his podcast on. He encouraged his listeners to read a long so that’s what I’m doing. One key point in the first chapter is this idea of letting your actions communicate to others you believe in God. Stern made the claim that you truly don’t believe in what you refuse to act on. I wasn’t sure whether or not I bought that one, but the more I think about it, I agree. If I said I believe in gravity yet refused to let go of a tree for fear I might float away, it’s very clear my beliefs aren’t solid. In the same way, how can I say, yeah I’m a Christian but allow my mouth and actions to communicate something to completely different to others. Survey says, “I can’t.” Think about it. Hopefully that gives ya something to mull over until we can talk again.
Today was fun, though challenging. My group got to Epcot about 7:45 a.m. to get ready for the day—we pulled our costumes, did some warm-ups, and headed to our location to get ready. It was quite the experience! I had so much rushing through my head that when I saw the first kid, I probably could of peed myself (though I was so sweaty at that point, it would have made no difference). The first set (a set is 20 minutes) was a blur—a bad, frustrating, this child-will-never-want-to-come-back-to-Disney-because-of-me blur. I didn’t do too to horrible, though I totally smoked a couple of children right in the face with my outfit! I mean like go in for a hug, and WHAM! and trust me when I tell you, you know you’ve done it because the sound reverberates throughout your entire outfit. So, other than a few bumps and bruises (on the guest mostly) I got through the first set. When I came back inside the trailer to change into another t-shirt I literally had to peel the first one off my back. Your welcome for that mental image! I’m not saying all of this to say, I hated it; I just didn’t realize how hard it would be. There are so many regulations that must be followed. I know that once I get into the flow of things, get the regulations down, and get used to the heat, I’m going to love it, because guest being there really helps to keep the day moving quickly.
I came home tonight and decided to cook a healthy dinner…chicken (or so I thought). I get the frying pan filled with oil and figured I’d just take a couple frozen chicken breasts out of the freezer and plop them down in the oil and let them cook. It was an eruption of hot oils! I’m screaming and running around the kitchen because grease it hitting me like demon spit. With Mike, my roommate’s help, we finally got it under control…until I had to flip the thing! I got hot grease in my eye! Multiple times! Not only would it not flip, but I’m standing there in oven mitts with a spatula and a party serving spoon attacking this frozen meat like it’s a deadly animal. Finally got dinner done and clean up and headed to my room to do some reading.
I read in James tonight because that’s what Aaron Stern is doing his podcast on. He encouraged his listeners to read a long so that’s what I’m doing. One key point in the first chapter is this idea of letting your actions communicate to others you believe in God. Stern made the claim that you truly don’t believe in what you refuse to act on. I wasn’t sure whether or not I bought that one, but the more I think about it, I agree. If I said I believe in gravity yet refused to let go of a tree for fear I might float away, it’s very clear my beliefs aren’t solid. In the same way, how can I say, yeah I’m a Christian but allow my mouth and actions to communicate something to completely different to others. Survey says, “I can’t.” Think about it. Hopefully that gives ya something to mull over until we can talk again.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
"A Sweaty Pillowcase"
I can now attest to what it feels like to be a Disney character. Today, we rehearsed in full costume! It was fun (for the most part). Let me just start with this, if you ever head down to Disney, give some mad mental props to those characters (especially the ones performing in the stage shows because my goodness…it is). Imagine stuffing your head inside a pillowcase and trying to breathe, that’s similar to being in character. All of that is code for W-A-R-M. Bare in mind friends, this was in an air-conditioned room. Tomorrow we separate the men from the boys when we take it outside (judging on today’s rehearsal, I’ll probably sitting at the far end of that boy’s category.
One of the things that scared me about doing this internship was losing my sense of awe when I come to Disney. I mean goodness, seeing the good ol’ Mic getting “dressed” can scare anyone for life. However, the minute the entire cast was in costume, I was inwardly freaking out! “I’m standing next to Mickey!” was the first thing to pop in my head I believe. So have no fear, I’ll still be quite the Disney freak when I return! Animating wasn’t too bad. One you get the costume on and get the feel for it, the animation just kinda comes. You can’t help but make the movement big and crazy. We got to watch a tape of our rehearsal and I looked pretty great, though there are for sure areas that need improving.
I finished up my "Crazy Love" book today! Bittersweet. It seriously was a great book, that I would highly recommend, though I don’t know how much weight my recommendations carry. I didn’t do any reading yesterday and I could tell how it affected my day today. I became lax and let my guard down. I missed prime opportunities to direct glory to God. That just isn’t okay, especially when you want your unsaved friends and roommates to see something more in you—that something more can’t be inconsistency. Chan made some great points in the last chapter of the book, but the one I want to touch on is this: “I’ve [Chan] made it a commitment to consistently put myself in situations that scare me and require God to come through. When I survey my life, I realize that those times have been the most meaningful and satisfying of my life. They were times when I truly experienced life and God” (pg. 169). We sacrifice our comfort for those that we love. Think about it? When have you been sitting down relaxing but gotten up because someone you so deeply loved asked you for something? Why is it that we are unwilling to do the same for God? I’m probably one of the worst at this. I choose to be safe and secure and deprive God of being God. When I think about it, the times I’ve felt closest to God are when he has answered prayer. This experience has been filled with those. I’ve begged God time and time again for something, probably because I had no control over the situation. It was completely up to God. But when he came through for me, I just remember being so assured of his presence and love. Try putting yourself out there in a scary situation that forces you to depend on prayer and the power of your God, the one you claim is all-powerful and all knowing! Trust me, he really is all that AND a bag of chips!
One of the things that scared me about doing this internship was losing my sense of awe when I come to Disney. I mean goodness, seeing the good ol’ Mic getting “dressed” can scare anyone for life. However, the minute the entire cast was in costume, I was inwardly freaking out! “I’m standing next to Mickey!” was the first thing to pop in my head I believe. So have no fear, I’ll still be quite the Disney freak when I return! Animating wasn’t too bad. One you get the costume on and get the feel for it, the animation just kinda comes. You can’t help but make the movement big and crazy. We got to watch a tape of our rehearsal and I looked pretty great, though there are for sure areas that need improving.
I finished up my "Crazy Love" book today! Bittersweet. It seriously was a great book, that I would highly recommend, though I don’t know how much weight my recommendations carry. I didn’t do any reading yesterday and I could tell how it affected my day today. I became lax and let my guard down. I missed prime opportunities to direct glory to God. That just isn’t okay, especially when you want your unsaved friends and roommates to see something more in you—that something more can’t be inconsistency. Chan made some great points in the last chapter of the book, but the one I want to touch on is this: “I’ve [Chan] made it a commitment to consistently put myself in situations that scare me and require God to come through. When I survey my life, I realize that those times have been the most meaningful and satisfying of my life. They were times when I truly experienced life and God” (pg. 169). We sacrifice our comfort for those that we love. Think about it? When have you been sitting down relaxing but gotten up because someone you so deeply loved asked you for something? Why is it that we are unwilling to do the same for God? I’m probably one of the worst at this. I choose to be safe and secure and deprive God of being God. When I think about it, the times I’ve felt closest to God are when he has answered prayer. This experience has been filled with those. I’ve begged God time and time again for something, probably because I had no control over the situation. It was completely up to God. But when he came through for me, I just remember being so assured of his presence and love. Try putting yourself out there in a scary situation that forces you to depend on prayer and the power of your God, the one you claim is all-powerful and all knowing! Trust me, he really is all that AND a bag of chips!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Filling Some Pretty BIG Shoes!
So today began training. I got up ea-rly and headed to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I ended up working there for 9 hours. Though it was a long day, the training was so much fun! We learned the characters “do’s and don’ts” (let me just tell you Mickey has a lot of rules he must abide by when he’s interacting with the guests. Things you’d NEVER think about!). We learned how to play both guy and girl characters. In order to better prepare ourselves we did some a model walk off. It was hard-core! We went and did some character watching, which was pretty great, then we had lunch at the “Pride Rock Café,” which is an awesome cafeteria/library for cast members. After lunch we headed back to the training room and got fitted for our characters. I can’t tell you which characters I’m friends with online, ya know protecting the Disney magic and all, so I’m sorry about that. Gawrsh ☺ just think of tall characters!
Got home today, exhausted. I’m feeling a little sickly so I’m gonna just chill inside for tonight. Sorry about the short blog, I’m exhausted and ready for bed (I know what you’re thinking…it’s 8pm?) Being a character is hard work!
Got home today, exhausted. I’m feeling a little sickly so I’m gonna just chill inside for tonight. Sorry about the short blog, I’m exhausted and ready for bed (I know what you’re thinking…it’s 8pm?) Being a character is hard work!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
"Hi, I'm Huggy!"
Hello there friends! Today was great. Got up early and headed to the church I found online, The First Christian Church of Orlando. The church was great! It was definitely a Godsend. I have a great story that will help communicate how great his church was! So I walk in the front door and the first thing I see is this little old woman. She got this big eyes and this crazy white hair and she’s passing out the bulletins. I go walk past her and she says, “I’m Huggy!” So I turn around with this puzzled look on my face. Her nametag says “Barbara.” “The people ‘round here call me Huggy.”
“Do they?” I said.
“Cause I love hugs.” It was at this point she went in for the kill—right around my waist, head buried in my chest. Now I know I’m attractive but goodness, this was a little unexpected ☺ (these smiley faces are looking like frowning faces…just f.y.i. they’re smiling). I can’t lie, I definitely hugged her back. She pulled back and said, “My name’s actually Barbara.”
As I walked away I knew I was gonna love this church! As for the service, it was really solid. The doctrinal statements online were great. The worship pastor looks about my age, but the senior past, Shan, had been in the navy—when he shook my hand I thought he was gonna break it off. I loved the service, though I had to continually stop myself from comparing it to Kirby and let it stand alone. Pastor Shan Wood spoke about the Bible being our guide on life’s journey. He said that there are definitely going to be things in that book that you don’t want to hear, but are necessary to life. He drew scripture from Hebrews 4:6-16. He spent a lot of time on verse 12 where it says the Bible is “living and active.” He compared the scriptures to a GPS. He said that when you get off course your GPS will recalculate according to the error you’ve made. He said the Bible’s the same way. When we choose our own paths sometimes the Bible is right there to meet us where we’re at and bring us back to the correct path.
After church, I headed home and spent a little bit of the afternoon just chilling. Then I got an opportunity to go to “Give Kids the World.” It’s a program Disney is affiliated with. “Give Kids the World” targets children with life altering diseases. They bring the kids and their families down to Florida for a week, keep them at a beautiful resort, and pay for them to go to all the theme parks and stuff. It’s really awesome! I’ve got to share this story, they said a little girl was on her way down for the program but when she landed in Orlando she got sick and had to immediately be rushed to the hospital. Well, come to find out, her favorite princess was Cinderella. So Disney had Cinderella head over to the hospital. People say all the sudden they see Cinderella booking it through the halls of this hospital looking for the little girl. She ended being able to spend an hour with the girl and her family. The next morning, Disney got a call saying the little girl had passed away. So, I didn’t say that to depress you, simply to give you an idea of what this organization does for these kids. So we went and played a larger-than-life game of Candyland with the kids, we made gingerbread houses, and had a dance party. All in all, it was a fantastic way to spend a Sunday!
“Do they?” I said.
“Cause I love hugs.” It was at this point she went in for the kill—right around my waist, head buried in my chest. Now I know I’m attractive but goodness, this was a little unexpected ☺ (these smiley faces are looking like frowning faces…just f.y.i. they’re smiling). I can’t lie, I definitely hugged her back. She pulled back and said, “My name’s actually Barbara.”
As I walked away I knew I was gonna love this church! As for the service, it was really solid. The doctrinal statements online were great. The worship pastor looks about my age, but the senior past, Shan, had been in the navy—when he shook my hand I thought he was gonna break it off. I loved the service, though I had to continually stop myself from comparing it to Kirby and let it stand alone. Pastor Shan Wood spoke about the Bible being our guide on life’s journey. He said that there are definitely going to be things in that book that you don’t want to hear, but are necessary to life. He drew scripture from Hebrews 4:6-16. He spent a lot of time on verse 12 where it says the Bible is “living and active.” He compared the scriptures to a GPS. He said that when you get off course your GPS will recalculate according to the error you’ve made. He said the Bible’s the same way. When we choose our own paths sometimes the Bible is right there to meet us where we’re at and bring us back to the correct path.
After church, I headed home and spent a little bit of the afternoon just chilling. Then I got an opportunity to go to “Give Kids the World.” It’s a program Disney is affiliated with. “Give Kids the World” targets children with life altering diseases. They bring the kids and their families down to Florida for a week, keep them at a beautiful resort, and pay for them to go to all the theme parks and stuff. It’s really awesome! I’ve got to share this story, they said a little girl was on her way down for the program but when she landed in Orlando she got sick and had to immediately be rushed to the hospital. Well, come to find out, her favorite princess was Cinderella. So Disney had Cinderella head over to the hospital. People say all the sudden they see Cinderella booking it through the halls of this hospital looking for the little girl. She ended being able to spend an hour with the girl and her family. The next morning, Disney got a call saying the little girl had passed away. So, I didn’t say that to depress you, simply to give you an idea of what this organization does for these kids. So we went and played a larger-than-life game of Candyland with the kids, we made gingerbread houses, and had a dance party. All in all, it was a fantastic way to spend a Sunday!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
"My Cup Runneth Over"
I had yet another day off today, but I’m not complaining. Woke up late since Wishes kept me up last night (again let me just restate, epic). Got up and kinda had a lazy morning. I took care of some internship things like activating my Disney debit card, almost ordering books for classes, ya know, the basics. Did some more reading, caught up on some I Love Lucy, which oddly enough has become my coping technique when I’m feeling homesick. Odd? Tonight, I headed to Hollywood Studios with the friends I made at my “Traditions” class to catch the Fantasmic show; however, epic fail, it wasn’t playing tonight, so we decided to just hop on a bus and head over to the Magic Kingdom again (oh, the perks that come with being an internship student ☺). We rode some rides, ate some dinner, and watched some “SpectroMagic.” We got a little rained on, but it only made the night better!
Another great piece of answered prayer. I’ve been praying that God would supply me with some Christian friends while I’m down here. Well, “my cup runneth over.” My friend Jill from “Traditions” brought two friends with her tonight for our Fantasmic excursion. Kayla and Jenn are both Christian girls. Kayla is Baptist and Jenn, Presbyterian. We got to talking and I think we might try to head to church together whenever we can. Seriously, we have one awesome God!
As far as reading goes, I jumped into chapter nine in my book. It was filled with stories about Christians that live or have lived obsessed lives. It talked about Rich Mullins, Rachel Saint, and Shane Claiborne just to mention a few. Chan makes the statement, “I hope [these stories] have eliminated every excuse for not living a radical, love-motivated life. I hope they have challenged the multitude who ‘feel called to the rich’ and ignore the poor” (Crazy Love, p.164). This is such a bold statement that brings with it heavy amounts of conviction for someone like me. I have been blessed my entire life (I’m at Disney World for goodness sake), and I get nervous thinking about how much I haven’t really given back to the Lord. After all, all these blessing have been given to me from his gracious hands, I need to not hoard them for myself, but give them back to Him by giving them to others. Most people look at this as just giving their money, and like Chan said, that’s definitely a part of it, but it comes with the giving of your time and abilities too. There are some tremendous volunteer programs offered me while I’m down here and I need to take advantage of them.
Also something else, in Aaron Stern’s podcast last night, he touched on the subject of demonstrating you have faith by living it out. He made the claim that you really don’t believe in what you don’t act out. I thought that was pretty bold! I’m not sure exactly how I feel about that one yet, still sorting through it—just something to think about my few BUT BELOVED readers ☺.
Another great piece of answered prayer. I’ve been praying that God would supply me with some Christian friends while I’m down here. Well, “my cup runneth over.” My friend Jill from “Traditions” brought two friends with her tonight for our Fantasmic excursion. Kayla and Jenn are both Christian girls. Kayla is Baptist and Jenn, Presbyterian. We got to talking and I think we might try to head to church together whenever we can. Seriously, we have one awesome God!
As far as reading goes, I jumped into chapter nine in my book. It was filled with stories about Christians that live or have lived obsessed lives. It talked about Rich Mullins, Rachel Saint, and Shane Claiborne just to mention a few. Chan makes the statement, “I hope [these stories] have eliminated every excuse for not living a radical, love-motivated life. I hope they have challenged the multitude who ‘feel called to the rich’ and ignore the poor” (Crazy Love, p.164). This is such a bold statement that brings with it heavy amounts of conviction for someone like me. I have been blessed my entire life (I’m at Disney World for goodness sake), and I get nervous thinking about how much I haven’t really given back to the Lord. After all, all these blessing have been given to me from his gracious hands, I need to not hoard them for myself, but give them back to Him by giving them to others. Most people look at this as just giving their money, and like Chan said, that’s definitely a part of it, but it comes with the giving of your time and abilities too. There are some tremendous volunteer programs offered me while I’m down here and I need to take advantage of them.
Also something else, in Aaron Stern’s podcast last night, he touched on the subject of demonstrating you have faith by living it out. He made the claim that you really don’t believe in what you don’t act out. I thought that was pretty bold! I’m not sure exactly how I feel about that one yet, still sorting through it—just something to think about my few BUT BELOVED readers ☺.
Friday, August 14, 2009
"Traditions"
Traditions are “the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). This simple word, “traditions,” was the quite the appropriate title for today. I had my first early morning at Disney—I needed to be at the bus stop at 6:30 A.M., which meant I had to be up by 5:30 A.M.! It really wasn’t bad though. So I boarded the bus, met a girl named Meghan who is going to be from Washington, and arrived at “Traditions.” My first paid day’s work. “Traditions” is basically what is sounds like; it’s a seminar for new employees designed to give them a brief history of their beloved company and then to instruct them in the qualities that the company holds to be important. That ended up being about four hours long but during the coarse of those four hours, I met some great people at my table: Jill, Scott, and Chelsea (I think we’re gonna hit up Fantasmic tomorrow night), got my personalized (we’re talking custom made here) nametag (I. am. legit. ☺), and finally got my pass that will get me into the parks for free. All in all, it was a great morning!
This afternoon, I got to just spend some time in the room by myself. I did some reading and ate lunch; however, tonight is where the party started. I waited around all afternoon to see if Mike wanted to go to a park tonight, but when he got in, he said that he had made dinner plans with his parents, so I decided to go by myself. Magic Kingdom. Seriously, it was one of the few moments in life, where you have to physically restrain yourself from jumping up and down and screaming at the top of your lungs. Tonight completely reaffirmed my love for Disney and why I accepted this job. I made my way up Main Street USA with Cinderella’s castle waiting for me at the end of the boulevard. Seriously, epic chills. Any of you who have been to Disney World at nighttime will be able to attest to that feeling, there really isn’t another like it. So, I got to spend tonight enjoying the oldest of the Disney World theme parks. The night was made complete when I saw Tinkerbell come flying out of Cinderella’s castle to begin the fireworks show, Wishes.
I learned some great stuff today too! In Crazy Love, Francis Chan talks about how Christians can be guaranteed to stand out from the crowd, which is something I really am trying to hone and develop these days. He said, “True faith is loving a person after he has hurt you. True love makes you stand out” (Crazy Love, p. 130). He based this thought off of Luke 6:32-36. I’ve known this, but hearing it again was great. In order to stand out down here, I’m going to have to look at the positive, work hard at being joyful. There are seriously some great people down here. What’s going to make me stand out as having something more? Something that truly is different about me? Loving others when they are cruel to me. Seeking the good in people and circumstances. Chooses patience over anger and frustration. That’s what it’s going to take. I’ve got a lot of work to do. ☺ I also got to enjoy another Aaron Stern podcast. Continuing in his series about James, he addressed chapter 2 and the topic of not showing favoritism. More specifically, he addressed the heart behind favoritism—one of judgment and self-righteousness. Again something that I’m going to have to work on while I’m down here.
Today was great! I truly am loving my experience down here, and who would of thunk it, growing closer to God though I am seemingly alone, as far as other Christians go. He has again answered another prayer and become my strength so much more so over the past few days. To him be the utmost praise and glory.
This afternoon, I got to just spend some time in the room by myself. I did some reading and ate lunch; however, tonight is where the party started. I waited around all afternoon to see if Mike wanted to go to a park tonight, but when he got in, he said that he had made dinner plans with his parents, so I decided to go by myself. Magic Kingdom. Seriously, it was one of the few moments in life, where you have to physically restrain yourself from jumping up and down and screaming at the top of your lungs. Tonight completely reaffirmed my love for Disney and why I accepted this job. I made my way up Main Street USA with Cinderella’s castle waiting for me at the end of the boulevard. Seriously, epic chills. Any of you who have been to Disney World at nighttime will be able to attest to that feeling, there really isn’t another like it. So, I got to spend tonight enjoying the oldest of the Disney World theme parks. The night was made complete when I saw Tinkerbell come flying out of Cinderella’s castle to begin the fireworks show, Wishes.
I learned some great stuff today too! In Crazy Love, Francis Chan talks about how Christians can be guaranteed to stand out from the crowd, which is something I really am trying to hone and develop these days. He said, “True faith is loving a person after he has hurt you. True love makes you stand out” (Crazy Love, p. 130). He based this thought off of Luke 6:32-36. I’ve known this, but hearing it again was great. In order to stand out down here, I’m going to have to look at the positive, work hard at being joyful. There are seriously some great people down here. What’s going to make me stand out as having something more? Something that truly is different about me? Loving others when they are cruel to me. Seeking the good in people and circumstances. Chooses patience over anger and frustration. That’s what it’s going to take. I’ve got a lot of work to do. ☺ I also got to enjoy another Aaron Stern podcast. Continuing in his series about James, he addressed chapter 2 and the topic of not showing favoritism. More specifically, he addressed the heart behind favoritism—one of judgment and self-righteousness. Again something that I’m going to have to work on while I’m down here.
Today was great! I truly am loving my experience down here, and who would of thunk it, growing closer to God though I am seemingly alone, as far as other Christians go. He has again answered another prayer and become my strength so much more so over the past few days. To him be the utmost praise and glory.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Pool Party, sort of.
I officially had my first down day today. Got up about noon and basically just chilled. All of my roommates were gone so I did some reading about crazy love and what that looks like. I had to run to Wal-Mart and pick up my Scrubbing Bubbles Shower Cleaner (a must I hear when you’re having quarterly inspections). While I was out, I got to listen to an Aaron Stern podcast about the book of James. He dealt with Christian maturity and how that comes to fruition within the life of a believer. FAN-TAS-TIC! Headed back to the room, ate some dinner, and headed out once again, this time with Mike, to the Toy Story Pool Party. However, the pool part was quickly voided as a heavy thunderstorm set in. So, we enjoyed the Toy Story Under-The-Tent-With-Sweaty-Disney-Lovers Party (much better). Not only were Buzz and Woody there, but there was a an insane game of Twister, and a lot of college students getting “low, low, low, low.”
Some great stuff happened today too. On the way back from the party I got a chance to talk with Mike about drinking. It gave me a great opportunity to show him where I stand and just to lay my cards out on the table. I’ve already seen him try and be cautious of the language he uses around me, so that’s a big kudos God moment. Kevin and Orlando, have kinda been absent today, though I did have to explain to them what a plugged shower drain was this afternoon. I told them to call the front desk and have someone come out and look at it. When I left the room I could hear them reciting it to themselves, “How did he say, ‘Plugged?’ ‘Plu-gg-ed.’ Yeah, ‘plugged.’” Good times, good times. Well, tomorrow begins my first official day as a Disney employee. YEAH!
Also, I just wanted to give you a little heads up. I’m going to have to be very particular with the things that I can release while blogging. Disney works very hard to keep the magic magical, and I don’t want to ruin that by giving away stuff online. So, just make a mental note, I’m going to be doing some censoring while I’m writing.
Some great stuff happened today too. On the way back from the party I got a chance to talk with Mike about drinking. It gave me a great opportunity to show him where I stand and just to lay my cards out on the table. I’ve already seen him try and be cautious of the language he uses around me, so that’s a big kudos God moment. Kevin and Orlando, have kinda been absent today, though I did have to explain to them what a plugged shower drain was this afternoon. I told them to call the front desk and have someone come out and look at it. When I left the room I could hear them reciting it to themselves, “How did he say, ‘Plugged?’ ‘Plu-gg-ed.’ Yeah, ‘plugged.’” Good times, good times. Well, tomorrow begins my first official day as a Disney employee. YEAH!
Also, I just wanted to give you a little heads up. I’m going to have to be very particular with the things that I can release while blogging. Disney works very hard to keep the magic magical, and I don’t want to ruin that by giving away stuff online. So, just make a mental note, I’m going to be doing some censoring while I’m writing.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Move In Day-I'm Gonna Barf!!!
I have to journal for SAU whilst I’m down at Disney, so I decided, what the heck, why not keep a blog. That way I can kill two birds with one stone. Not only can I keep all my friends back home updated, but I can get some homework done too! It’s the best of both worlds (I’ve been here for one day and I’m already quoting Hannah Montana song lyrics)!
Today’s theme song was “All by Myself.” After not sleeping because of my nerves, I got up excited yet trudged along like I was walking to the gallows. New experiences, though wonderful, really can be so scary. Move in day was no exception.
Today’s theme song was “All by Myself.” After not sleeping because of my nerves, I got up excited yet trudged along like I was walking to the gallows. New experiences, though wonderful, really can be so scary. Move in day was no exception.
I got to the Disney grounds and was divided into my housing complex. I am now a proud member of Chatham Square! The grounds themselves are beautiful. I know this sounds cliché but it really is so much sweeter than the pictures! I quickly threw my stuff in a room and headed to the casting department to pick up my mounds and mounds of move-in-day paperwork. Being the first one there, that process went by very quickly. After that I had a seminar discussing the various rules that go along with being a college internship member. They’re stricter than SAU.
My biggest request of God is that he would provide me with the right roommate and suitemates. Though he has proven himself throughout this entire process, I still found myself pleading with him minutes before I moved my stuff in. As you might have guessed, he again answered my prayers. I’m rooming with a guy name Mike from Illinois who is also going to be a character performer. My suitemates are Orlando and Kevin, both of whom are from Puerto Rico. This was a twist I was not prepared for. Both Orlando and Kevin speak very broken English and have very thick Puerto Rican roots; however, they both seem to be awesome guys and so this is going to be a great way to hone up not only on my patience, but my Spanish as well.
Today’s big kuddo God moment is the fact that he takes care of his children. This rooming/friend situation is one that I pleaded with God to take care of, and he did—in such a tremendous way! Oh and I forgot to mention that I have this Friday off so I’m going be able to check out a local church. I think I’m going to First Christian Church of Orlando. From it’s doctrinal statements online, it seems pretty solid.
Please pray for Mike, Kevin, and Orlando. Ask that God would make their hearts soft and receptive to his gospel message. To all of you who have prayed for me, I appreciate it more than you know—thank you for your love, but more importantly, for lifting me up to the one that continues to validate his omniscience and goodness.
See ya real soon! (I can’t help myself). ☺
My biggest request of God is that he would provide me with the right roommate and suitemates. Though he has proven himself throughout this entire process, I still found myself pleading with him minutes before I moved my stuff in. As you might have guessed, he again answered my prayers. I’m rooming with a guy name Mike from Illinois who is also going to be a character performer. My suitemates are Orlando and Kevin, both of whom are from Puerto Rico. This was a twist I was not prepared for. Both Orlando and Kevin speak very broken English and have very thick Puerto Rican roots; however, they both seem to be awesome guys and so this is going to be a great way to hone up not only on my patience, but my Spanish as well.
Today’s big kuddo God moment is the fact that he takes care of his children. This rooming/friend situation is one that I pleaded with God to take care of, and he did—in such a tremendous way! Oh and I forgot to mention that I have this Friday off so I’m going be able to check out a local church. I think I’m going to First Christian Church of Orlando. From it’s doctrinal statements online, it seems pretty solid.
Please pray for Mike, Kevin, and Orlando. Ask that God would make their hearts soft and receptive to his gospel message. To all of you who have prayed for me, I appreciate it more than you know—thank you for your love, but more importantly, for lifting me up to the one that continues to validate his omniscience and goodness.
See ya real soon! (I can’t help myself). ☺
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