Bring it On brought it

At the beginning of this year, I decided to change my New Year’s resolution to taking a class every month and attending live events every other month. Well, guess what? I didn’t like it! So, I am going back to my 2011 resolution, because that is what makes me happy! I am going to try to attend an event each month, but at the very least every other month.

Anyway, for the month of April, I returned to the theater! My friend Cheryl and I went to Blumenthal Theater to see Bring It On the Musical.

For those of you that aren’t initiated into the wonderful world of cheerleading movies, Bring It On was a movie starring Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union in the early 2000s as rival cheerleaders. A sequel came out later and apparently there have been 9 Bring it On Movies since then, most of them straight to DVD.

Anyway, on Friday the 13, my dear friend Cheryl and I headed to uptown Charlotte for the show. And what a show it was. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. When the lights went down, a high school gymnasium style Jumbotron counted down the last few minutes until the show began. You could feel the anticipation in the theater.

I don’t think I have ever ooed, ahhed and gasped as much in my entire life as I did for those few hours during the musical. The show was breathtaking. The dancing, cheers and stunts were out-of-this world amazing. The play’s story takes pieces from each of the Bring it On Movies to create two new main characters: Campbell and Danielle. Rich white girl is captain of the cheerleading squad at rich Truman High School. She thinks her life is over when she is transferred her senior year due to redistricting to urban Jackson High School. She struggles to fit in with the Jackson High dance crew. The musical adds its own characters and a 2011 touch. There certainly wasn’t Facebook and Skype chats in Kirsten Dunst’s day! The movie was not only about cheerleading but about loyalty, ethics, acceptance and most importantly friendship.

The soundtrack for this show is being released next week and I can’t wait to download my favorite song from the show, “Cross the line.”

When Ran met Cam

As anyone who knows me personally certainly knows by now, I met Panthers quarterback Cam Newton on Friday, April 13. I wanted to write about this experience while it is still freshly in my mind so I can remember all the details as time goes by while sharing it on my blog for those that are interested.

First, let me say that my love for the Panthers knows no bounds. Even in the final Jake years, I stayed faithful. I've endured taunts for the flag that's up at my desk at work or the Panther on the back of my car. It takes a lot of strength to be a Panthers fan.

So, naturally, I was excited the Panthers grabbed Number 1 draft pick Cam Newton in an attempt to rebuild the team's offense. I was lucky enough to attend Cam's first NFL game last August and I even blogged about that experience. A few minutes in, Clausen was already being booed for his poor performance and the crowd started chanting, "Cam, Cam, Cam!" It was pretty awesome to be there as he took the QB position as a player in the NFL for the first time. And I saw some amazing things. And even though the season didn't go as well as all faithful Panthers fans hoped, there were some amazing moments. We might not have earned a lot of Ws, but the games were fun to watch again.

Of course, I was disappointed with the losses, but what really struck me about Cam Newton is that he seemed disappointed too. Of course, all football players want to win, but most of them lose a game, shake their heads, then smile for the cameras. Not Cam. Cam Newton is a man that is not used to losing. Cam got mad. Cam got frustrated. He was the first quarterback who seemed as frustrated as I was. That, combined with his repeatedly outstanding performances, earned my respect.

So, on Friday, my co-worker and friend Micah and I were sitting on the patio at the Salsa's restaurant in Arsley, having some Mexican food and talking about football. "Did you hear that Cam is a finalist to be on the cover of the new Madden?" Micah asked. I nodded. "You know about the Madden curse, right?" she asked.

Of course, I do. But I don't really believe in curses either. Apparently, Cam doesn't either. Anyway, just minutes after our football discussion, we saw two waitresses come running out of the restaurant with a cell phone, heading towards the parking deck at top speed. "What the hell?" Micah asked.

"Probably a customer left their cell phone and they are trying to catch up with him," I said, unfazed.

Micah, though, ever observant, followed the ladies with her eyes. She said the first thing she noticed were two INCREDIBLY large men. As they turned around to address the waitresses, Micah gasped. "OH MY GOD, RANDI. THAT'S CAM NEWTON!"

I did not even turn around to verify. I just grabbed my phone out of my purse, yelled at Micah to grab a pen and paper as I had none and took off running. We left our purses, our food, everything at our seats and started running across cobblestone. My purple heels were making my trek across the cobblestone difficult so I shouted out to flat-wearing Micah ahead of me, "Grab him! It's up to you!"

Later, Micah would describe herself as shouting at Cam like she "went to high school with him." As she got into the parking deck, she was temporarily out of my sight, but I could hear her yelling, "Cam! Cam! Cam!"

As I came around the corner, trying to catch my breath, I realized the other man with Cam was Panthers offensive tackle Jordan Gross, who had an amused look on his face. I am sure that hanging out with Cam is always quite an experience.

"Hi, there," Micah said, breathless. "I am sorry to bother you. Would you guys take a picture with us?"

"Absolutely not," said Cam.

Micah and I looked at each other, not sure of what to do. "Oh, OK," we both said nervously. "Thanks anyway."

Cam laughed. "Girls, I am just kidding. Get over here!"

After an awkward moment of finding a stranger's car for Cam to place his leftovers, we took a couple of photos. Of course, the quality wasn't great in a dark parking deck with a camera phone operated by two shaking girls, but having the opportunity to meet him and have my photo taken was a priceless experience.

Reliving the moment over and over afterwards, I asked Micah what she would have done if I had in fact fallen on the cobblestone as I feared. "No offense, Ran, but I would've grabbed your phone and kept going."

I nodded agreeably. "Good answer."

It's true: This white girl can't dance

Do you have fond memories of hula hooping as a child? Letting the hoop go round and round your waist, over and over again?

Yeah, I don’t. My only memories of hula-hooping involve me desperately trying to find some kind of rhythm and constantly bending down to pick up the hula-hoop.

With all those fond hula-hooping memories, it only makes sense that my friend Alisa and I would take a dance class that involved a lot of hula-hooping! A few weeks ago, we purchased a Living Social deal for a dance studio right around the corner from house, bRisque. It was a great deal with $19 getting us five classes. We figured we’d try it out some different classes and see what we liked.

We chose a class that our friend Jean had described as low impact. Did Jean warn us that we were about to assault ourselves with hula-hoops? Hell to the no!

So, we walked into class and were warmly greeted by our instructor Issis and the other classmates. We quickly grabbed a spot in the back of the class. As we’ve previously discussed on this blog, I am rhythmically challenged in ways that can’t even be described through the written word. Issis rolled out these weighted hula-hoops nonchalantly.

Alisa looked at me with what can only be described as panic. “I can’t hula-hoop,” she whispered.

And I had to laugh. Because the way she said it indicated that she though maybe I had some hidden hula-hooping skills I was about to bust out. “Me neither, “ I assured her.

“Alright,” said Issis. “If you’ve never used a weighted hula-hoop before, I must warn you. It is going to hurt. These little ridges here will hit your abs and it hurts.”

Awesome.

Fellow white people, I have to admit that Alisa and I managed to fulfill every white person stereotype as we rocked and swayed and flopped around, trying to keep our hula-hoops up. Did I mention we were the only two white people in the class? Everyone else swished their hips as the hula-hoops rolled effortlessly around their waists.

After a good five minutes of hula hoop assault, we moved on to the dancing portion. Again, we tried our best but failed to match the instructor’s smooth moves. However, each time I looked at us in the mirror, Alisa and I were laughing hysterically. I don’t think I have ever enjoyed a workout so much.

We went back to the hula-hoops. As I was concentrating on getting my hula-hoop going, I heard Alisa yelling, “Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!” She had a good 45 seconds of constant hula-hoop motion going. That’s the best two rhythmically challenged girls could ask for.

We stayed after class to talk to Issis about some of the other classes and what they entail. She was so nice and kind. We told her we have no rhythm and she kindly explained that society has a lot of stereotypes of what certain people can do and that it’s important to ignore that and find our own rhythm. I think that was the nicest way to say white girls can’t dance!

While we aren’t going to be entering hula-hooping contests anytime soon, Alisa and I had a great time. The bRisque environment is very welcoming. Even one of my fellow classmates came over to try to help me. I am sure we looked like absolute idiots, but certainly no one made us feel that way. I can’t wait to go back and try some other classes.

As far as my February beer sampling goes, I went no further than my own fridge to try a new beer this month. My friend Michelle brought me a sampling of different beers from Trader Joe’s for the Super Bowl and I had a few left over. This month’s selection was a Stockyard Oatmeal Stout. What does an Oatmeal Beer taste like? It was sort of a roasted malt and oatmeal flavor. It was also a little bitter, but a good bitter. More of a dark chocolate bitter. It was delicious. Thanks, Michelle!

Four bottles of beer on the wall and why I can't move

Well, unbelievably, the first month of 2012 is coming to a close. I can only imagine that this year is going to go by as quickly as the last. And now I officially sound like an old person!

When I said that I would be taking a class this year, I was imagining fun things like learning to shoot a gun, cooking, etc. And there is definitely still time for those things, but for the month of January, my class was a personal training class.

A friend told me about a personal trainer who works out of his home and is very reasonably priced, so I decided to sign up for a session with Nick. Beforehand, I warned Nick that I am incredibly out of shape.

I did some warming up on the elliptical machine and then got busy doing squats, lunges and weight exercises. “You certainly didn’t give yourself enough credit,” said Nick. I was only able to grunt a response.

For a half hour, he worked me over. Today, I can barely move. But hey, it was a new, bloggable experience and will hopefully help me improve my health and finally reach some of my weight loss goals. I’m down significantly, but struggling to lose anymore.

Now, on to the more important resolution of 2012: Trying new beer. Earlier this month, I visited Taco Mac to try new beers and watch some football.

Here is what I tried so far:

Abita Purple Haze, Fruit/Herbed/Spice Beer

North Coast Pranqster, Belgian Pale

Wild Blue, Fruit/Herbed/Spice Beer

Woodchuck Pear, Cider

I would have to say the Wild Blue was my favorite. It was delicious! It tasted like berries and brew, two of my favorite combinations. Do you have any beers you think I should try?

Randi resolves....

Well, unbelievably, 2012 is here.

I can’t believe that it’s been one year since I decided to begin my 2011 resolution of attending one live event a year. Over the last few months, I've been struggling to figure out what my resolution would be for 2012. I wanted to do something in the same vein as my 2011 resolution, that I enjoyed and that would be fun to write about.

I've gone back and forth with a couple of different ideas. After I went sky diving, I even considered doing an extreme sport each month. Thanks to the friend who talked me down from that one!

I really wanted to try something new, but I have also really enjoyed the live events. So, this year, I've decided to do a hybrid resolution. I will continue to attend live events every other month. On opposing months, I will take a class to learn how to do something I don’t know how to do. That should be pretty easy since there are A LOT of things that I don’t know how to do. This could range from a dance class to a gun class. The gun class is definitely at the top of my list!

There is also a third part to my New Year’s Resolution that I am pretty excited about: Beer! Anyone who knows me well knows I have never been a beer drinker. I tried it in high school, was disgusted and never really went back. Last summer, beer became quite the friend at some live events and soon I found myself eager to try different kinds. So, I recently enrolled in the Taco Mac Brewnversity, which is a customer loyalty program designed to help you try new beers. I am very excited about this adventure and am looking for friends to help me find new beers!

Thanks to my readers for following along with me this year. I hope you’ll stick with me for 2012!