{"id":2541,"date":"2010-07-04T04:45:09","date_gmt":"2010-07-04T08:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=2541"},"modified":"2010-07-04T04:45:09","modified_gmt":"2010-07-04T08:45:09","slug":"the-hazy-crazy-days-of-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=2541","title":{"rendered":"The Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer is here, and what an odd, mixed up, mess it is. In a few days I\u2019m going to be visiting a shiny new specialist conveniently located 4 hours away. The constant bummer that is my health, paired with the huge amount of stress this appointment is laying on me, is making me distinctly un-fun to be around. However, for you guys I\u2019m mustering up my best Pollyanna because yes, my health sucks, but there is still a whole lot of generally awesome stuff I want to share with you.<\/p>\n

First, in August I’m going to see Public Enemy live! Never as a teenager listening to “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” did I imagine there would be a day when I would get to hear, in person, Chuck D say, “Bass, how low can you<\/a>?” Perhaps there will be some zany antics to write about after the event. <\/p>\n

While discussing zany antics, my friends at the Northern New York Paranormal Research Society <\/a>have got a film crew following them around for a documentary! A trailer just went live on You Tube for it.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"<\/a>As you\u2019re aware, if you read this site regularly, my friend and partner-in-crime for the \u201cA Magical Buffet of Authors\u201d event at the Saratoga Springs, NY Barnes and Noble, Crystal, passed away. It\u2019s been a challenge to wrap my brain around the idea of this event happening without her support and guidance. That said, I am pleased to reassure everyone that Barnes and Noble has confirmed that the event will still be happening! <\/p>\n

For those of you unfamiliar with event, go here to see me break it down for you<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re on Facebook, join the event here<\/a>, and be sure to invite any of your Facebook friends that you think would be interested.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re on My Space, the first online home away from home for The Buffet, join the event here<\/a>, and again, invite any of your My Space friends that you think would be interested.<\/p>\n

Hopefully soon I\u2019ll be touching base with Barnes and Noble to see what the promotional plans are like, and how the event is firming up. Count on me to share it all with you guys as we rapidly approach September 11, 2010.<\/p>\n

As Crystal\u2019s death pointed out to me, the friendships forged on the retail sales floor can be pretty potent stuff. Whether it\u2019s loaning a spot on your website<\/a> to a former retail cohort, or writing an overly sentimental essay<\/a> on the nature of said relationships, the cat is out of the bag; us current and former retail workers have a sentimental streak and can be prone to nostalgia. Perhaps knowing all of that, you won\u2019t find this a surprising statement, but I certainly can\u2019t believe I\u2019m about to make it.<\/p>\n

This summer I am officiating not one, but TWO weddings. Yep, your read that right. Not one, but TWO different couples have decided that I am qualified to oversee the beginning of their new lives as couples. With the lead in, I doubt it will surprise you that I know both couples from different tours of retail duty. So yes, if you are so inclined, you may call me Reverend Rebecca (Let\u2019s give it up to my home state of Illinois for hooking me up!). Of course, what\u2019s funny about this is that I\u2019ve attended very few weddings in my life. Also, I\u2019m not chained to a formal religious text for wedding ceremonies, so writing a ceremony has proven to be a pretty big challenge. It doesn\u2019t help that my husband offers such gems of wisdom as, \u201cYou should wear a name tag at the wedding that says, \u2018Hi! My Name is Officiant!\u2019\u201d Then I get caught up in whatever silly stuff I can get away with, and then I realize this has offered nothing productive to the process. Funnier still, when my hair stylist found out I was now a Reverend her immediate response was, \u201cYou totally have to do my funeral! That would be a riot!\u201d That is I, spiritual shepard to those in service industries. Perhaps I should start my own church? A spiritual movement could certainly help move along my plans for global domination.<\/p>\n

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Design by Than Saffel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While on the topic of religion, The Pluralism Project<\/a> at Harvard University is having a photo and video contest! The Pluralism Project\u2019s mission is to help Americans engage with the realities of religious diversity through research, outreach, and the active dissemination of resources. They invite you to participate in their first-ever Pluralism Project Photo & Video contest! They are looking for high-resolution (300 dpi) digital images and digital videos (max. 3 min.) that convey the vibrancy of religious diversity in the USA.<\/p>\n

Photos\/videos might feature: religious practices and rituals, religious centers, including festivals and center openings, participation of religious groups in American civic life, interfaith encounter or social action, and women\u2019s leadership and participation.<\/p>\n

One photographer and one videographer will be selected as grand prize winners, each receiving a $250 cash prize. The winning photograph and video will be spotlighted on the Pluralism Project homepage, www.pluralism.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Additionally, 50 photos and 10 videos will be selected from the submissions to be featured on the homepage. The photo\/videographer\u2019s name, as well as the location of the image\/video will be included as a caption. The winning photos\/videos will be featured over the course of one year, beginning September 1, 2010.<\/p>\n

For contest details and how to enter, visit their site here<\/a>. It would make my day if some Magical Buffet readers contributed, and I\u2019d be extra super happy if any of you guys won! Go forth and photograph!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s summer time and there is a lot of stuff going on!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,31,32,21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2541"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2541\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}