on the road | 2007-08-16 23:26:26 So just about everyone is gone. I am too, but I am still a "Relevant Intern" according to the staff page and the terms of RELEVANT,therefore I have an obligation to post for your entertainment.
So if you don't know yet, I am on tour still hitting up music festivals. Video and Pics will be up at the conclusion, but its been quite an adventure. I feel that the ReleVan has reached its peak and may be calling for its highway retirement in a few hours, as we hang out in Mount Pleasant (sounds great huh?), Pennsylvania. Purple Door Festival is tomorrow and Saturday in Lewisberry,PA and I am looking forward to making it there to see As Cities Burn, especially so I can grab the new cd, along with shows by Anberlin, Leeland, Family Force Five, and House of Heroes,my Columbus, Ohio homies.
I had a few days off from the tour to go out and explore before getting back on track for the last stop, so me and Cory were able to do some major traveling. Let me just give ya a sneak peak.
We drop David off at the Pittsburgh International Airport
Drive to Lexington, KY to stay with my sister and brother in law.
Drive to Richmond, KY for the now Mr. and Mrs. Alex Colston wedding. (BEAUTIFUL by the way)
Drive to Lexington to camp out with college friends for the night, including a 5AM trip to waffle house.
Drive to Cincinatti, OH to meet friends from MVNU
Drive to Columbus, OH to stay with my apartmentmate Adam and experience MudFest '07, an evening of mud wrestling, football, volleyball, and cornhole. Thats OHIO fun right there!
Drive to Mount Vernon, OH home of Mount Vernon Nazarene University to settle $6,000 in loans that I have for the upcoming semester and hang out with my "townie" friends from MVNU.
Drive to Cleveland, OH to meet my roommate and hang with friends I had made in the past year through him. This included a day on the beach, a day out on Lake Erie on our friends speedboat, and Cory about throwing up while I was driving the boat and doing some spins, jumps, and rough action... I cant forget an intense best-of-3 Euchre game I was involved in and 2 hours of storytelling.
Drive to Pittsburgh, PA to meet another friend from school and hang out until morning when we picked David and his wife up from the airport.
In other newa, I was able to stock up on Ale-8 in Kentucky, so now Cory's car has two 6-bottle packs and one 12 pack cans of Ale-8, Kentucky's pride and honor...
Final Mile Count coming to ya soon to know just how many miles I have gone this summer, but its been a LOT of fun, im "livin the dream", missing my RELEVANT intern friends, and ready to go back to school. BUT first its Purple Door, the ballad of the RELEvan, and hopefully a trip home to my fam.
If you see the RELEVANT Van on the side of the road, feel free to stop by and say hello...
Christi
An Early Farewell | 2007-08-13 10:22:49
Well. I'm the last summer intern here at Relevant. I feel like I should probably be gone now. I still have one more week, but since everyone else already said goodbye, I feel obligated as well to do so as well. I guess an early goodbye isn't that bad, and it just may make it easier in the end.
Friday was both Laura's and Kathryn's last day. After work we found ourselves at Steak 'n Shake. Neither Laura nor I had ever been; after all, there exists no such establishment on the west coast. However, we do have an In-N-Out Burger which you all lack down here.
After the glorious peanut butter milkshake and (shockingly) disappointing fries, Kathryn dropped Laura off at the house she was house sitting for, and we said our goodbyes. Soooo sad.
And then it was just Kathryn and I.
On the way home we talked about the things we always find ourselves talking about. And as I listened to my new friend of two months speak, and watched her make the gestures she makes when she's coming to a really good point in an entertaining story, it finally hit me:
This is the last time we would talk about these very things together, in person, face-to-face, for a looooooong time.
Me: "Kathryn, I think I'm gonna cry."
And the floodgates opened.
I cried.
I blubbered.
I snotted.
All over her car.
And there was grace, as she's always too gracious to me:
Her: "Awww. Don't cry; it's ok!"
Me: "I'm...getting snot ....ew....all over your car; I'm soooo sorry!"
Her: "Awww...you can totally snot all over my car!! You can even snot all over me if you don't find a tissue! Here; use my hair!! I don't care!! It's a-ok with me!!"
I will miss Kathryn.
And she frustrated me in a good way. In a way I want to frustrate people. I didn't have a car this entire summer and she gave me rides everywhere. And she would never take any money for all the gas the journey to my house drank from her tank; her response to my ever-constant inquiry about needing gas money was:
"You don't owe me anything! Your friendship is payment enough."
And the thing is. I think she may not have been joking, as I'd previously assumed the first 12 times she said it. I think she may have actually meant it. And I think I wanted to die when I realized that she was serious the thirteenth time she said it, and I wanted to die two times over when it struck me that once again, God is good, and I don't deserve the many things I have.
I told her I'd see her on Monday.
That's not true.
She's not here today.
No one is.
Except me.
I don't mean in any way to leave out this other interns in this posting. I'll miss all of them dearly. I just so happened to share my last moment with Kathryn, but I also don't mean to downplay the importance of our friendship this summer. Hopefully this won't come off as offensive.
This has been an amazing summer annnnnd it was too short. Thanks Relevant, and all my new friends who've made it so memorable.
-Christi
Summertime Images:
Louis. See last blogpost
The Group.
LauraR
Goodbye everyone! | 2007-08-10 17:06:43 There seems to be a common theme with these "last day" posts: we're all so sad to leave. And I'm not about to break the trend here. I completely agree with Kathryn's #1 favorite from Orlando. This group of interns has been incredible, and we have all promised each other that we will plan a reunion soon enough!
This summer has exceeded my expectations and everything just felt right. I felt at home here at RELEVANT and all of us interns clicked...ugh, I'm going to get all sappy and sad here, so I'll just stop.
If I could be as funny as Jim, I would give it a shot. But sadly, I am not. So instead, I will just say goodbye for now and take care everyone. It's been real.
-Laura
kathrynd
time | 2007-08-10 10:51:38 for the obligatory "last day" intern blog post.
it has been, by far, the most interesting and eventful summer i've ever had. i'm still not sure i can digest it all quite yet. i've had the greatest time here at RELEVANT. as far as offices go, this one has been pretty fun.
and not to boast (okay, so maybe a little), but the staff was SO fortunate to have acquired the BEST group of interns yet (i mean, this is what they tell us). seriously, i got to know some of the most talented, hilarious, genuine, creative, and kind-hearted people i've ever had the pleasure of coming across. i will sincerely miss them. maybe it's cheesy to say, but i really feel that we were all brought to florida this summer on purpose and that God was expressing His care for us through each other.
and since i usually am just a follower, and i do love a list, here are my "favorites" from the summer of 2007:
10. all the orlando crazies
09. the days we packed RELEVANT network boxes in the warehouse (although i think i stand alone on this one)
08. staff meetings
07. jason's deli
06. itunes share
05. beaches (even if they are entirely too sandy)
04. lunchtime nonsense
03. the key west experience
02. the blog!
01. ashley, christi, hannah, jason, jen, jim, kelly, kristen, laura, lauren, meredith, nate, steven
Skeletons, closets; you know the drill. | 2007-08-09 10:34:02 Well, now.
Here it is.
My last day as a Relevant intern.
Rather than give you the usual positively-peppy favorite-things post I'm inclined to, I'm going to go to the dark side of things.
That's right, folks, with my impending departure there's not a whole lot the suits can do to stop me. I'm about to dole out a double-dose of bitter truth. This is going to be like the day you found out there was no Santa Claus. Allow me to be blunt as I tell you...
What Relevant Doesn't Want You To Know:
First of all, I've been sleeping underneath my desk every night. I sneak in when everyone's gone, and catch a few winks tangled in the power cords underneath it. Then, before anyone gets here, I'm out like DADDY DAY CAMP (IN THEATERS TOMORROW!!) The funny thing is, Jesse does it, too, and he doesn't know that I know.
Roughly 90% of the work here is done by monkeys on typewriters and interns (and much of the time, it's hard to tell the difference.) The other 10% of work consists of cleaning up after us.
Issue no. 28 will be exactly identical to issue no. 17.
No less than 14 interns have gone missing since we started the summer. When I ask the bosses about this, they shrug and say "What interns?" When I press the question, goons appear and ask "What's it to you?" Then, everyone goes back to playing dice.
If you press the button for Diet Vernor's Ginger Ale on the vending machine, you'll get Colt 45. I do this everyday.
I found this in the back room one day*
That shiny thing is a penny, to give you some scale of how ginormous this beast was.
We have a snack shelf. For everything you take off of it without replacing it, you lose a finger. I should have seven fingers, now, but I still have ten. Don't tell anyone.
Outbound emails are closely monitored and changed to reflect the company in a positive light. I sent my mom an email that said this:
"Dear mom: Send help. No food. Slave drivers. Might lose some fingers. Monkeys. Colt 45."
The one she received said this:
"Dearest mother: I'm fine. No cause for alarm. I am always treated fairly by my supervisors. They rule justly. My co-workers are competent and I enjoy Diet Vernor's Ginger Ale."
Sometimes, when someone flushes a toilet, the drinking fountain doesn't work very well.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I should probably get going.
Best of Luck,
Jim
*I did not really find this in the back room one day.
Kellyd
I don\'t wanna goooo | 2007-08-08 15:37:30 I really don't want to have to write this. Today, sadly, is my last day here. My summer in Orlando (even though I don't care for the city) has probably been my best summer...ever. I have learned so much about myself, and what I want to do, and what I'm passionate about. I've learned that, yes, I can survive on my own. And that, yes, I can do this whole journalism thing. And that I can like it. I can love it, even.
To all of the interns: you have made this summer quite memorable. I have enjoyed getting to know all of you. We have had so much fun. But we have also become somewhat of a family down here, I think, which was really really cool.
Is this making anyone cry yet?
Hopefully all of you intern blog readers will see my byline again someday. I don't know where, I don't know when, and I don't know how. But I know, someday, you will.
So sappy?
From here I will go home to Bowling Green, Ohio. I will do some editing. I will do some singing. I will do some serving. And I will spend one more year hanging out with my Bowling Green friends, doing Bowling Green things like spending countless hours at the "Dirty" Dairy Queen -- a place where the blizzards are twice the size of the average DQ blizzard and the servers always have long hair, scruffy facial hair, ear gauges and major attitudes. I will see Thursday night movies at "The Small" for $2. And I will sit around for many more hours with friends trying to figure out what we can do besides go to Dirty DQ or watch movies.
I will not miss Orlando's traffic or its crazy people -- like "Wife-Beater-Exposed Beer Belly-Leaning-Up-Against-a-Pole Man," or "Ashley's Foaming At The Mouth Homeless Guy," or "PT Cruiser Kissy Face Guy," or "Christi's-Obsessed-I-Want-to-Caress-Your-Face-Like-The-Wind Bus Driver."
I will not miss the extreme heat and humidity a.k.a. the "Every Day is a Bad Hair Day" climate.
I will miss the periodic RELEVANT staff meetings, the editorial meetings, Adam and Jesse's funny conversations and sudden outbursts of laughter while watching YouTube Videos, and our ridiculous conversations at the lunch table (including our unbelievably frequent Chipotle discussions).
But most of all I will miss all of the wonderful people I've met here. Thank you for making this such a wonderful experience for me.
Blog readers, keep in touch over MySpace (www.myspace.com/relevantinterns). Hopefully the next batch of interns won't take us off of the top friends.
Thanks for reading, take care, and God bless.
Kelly
meredithln
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye | 2007-08-07 11:19:48 well, this is my last post as a relevant intern. i can't believe it's been over two months since i first arrived. it's been crazy getting lost, making friends and sitting in on meetings. i leave tomorrow morning and it's not as easy as i would like. i'm excited to get back to school and finish college and graduate, but i don't want to miss out on all the fun that will continue (ps i hope the game night is a bust, and for if our friendship means anything to you, leave the apples to apples at home!!) because i am lame and not creative i will conclude my post with everything that i love about orlando:
10. laughing at christi
9. creepy bus drivers
8. tijuana flats (sorry moe's)
7. simpsonizing
6. corene's ap stylebook (i promise to buy my own someday)
5. girls' weekend trips to the beach!!
4. early morning starbucks trips
3. alecia's coffee making skills
2. instant messaging
1.lunchtime chitchat (did i miss the chocolate covered pretzels?)
well, it's been real...
kathrynd
| 2007-08-07 08:51:56 "Florida Keys"
A narrative by Jason Starbird
(the intern you never knew)
There is a place, they say, that exists unbridled by the rules and laws of other lands. A place surrounded by tropical beaches where everything can be had by one road and where Russians and Englishmen coexist in wonderful, tropical climates. Let me tell you of this place; a place called the Florida Keys.
Our story begins on an early Friday morning. The air was already heavy and sultry by 8 o'clock, nothing new for Orlando. One-by-one the small Corolla filled up with five interns and all their gear for a camping trip. Declaring the tight fit in the car just part of the adventure, they began the long drive southward.
And southward they went. Despite a few obstacles (car bombs and wrong turns) the assemblage reached Key Largo that afternoon greeted by the enchanting tune of Kokomo thanks to the Beach Boys. Traveling down route 1 (the only road that spans the entire length of the keys) the interns smiled at the obscure shops, cooed at the breathtaking beaches, and guffawed at the manatee mailboxes along the road.
The key of Bahia Honda couldn't come soon enough, and a cry of jubilation erupted at the end of the seven-mile bridge as the weary group landed at their destination. Camp was set up with ease at their beachfront campsite. Not wanting to miss an amazing sunset, they ventured back across the seven-mile bridge in search of food which was easily spotted, especially because one in the group had been to every restaurant in the keys already and new every menu inside and out. After a delicious outdoor meal accompanied by guitar, harmonica, and the sweet vocals only 40 years of smoking can procure, the party hastily rushed back for the sunset only after picking up items for s'mores.
Unfortunately the clouds blotted out the sunset. Their hopes not easily snuffed out, the interns broke out s'mores and engaged themselves in merry conversation the rest of the evening, pausing only to gaze at the beauty of God casting lightning into the dense clouds; breathing life into the otherwise lethargic sky.
They decided to turn in early and by morning reported differing experiences while sleeping. Some, it seems sweated nonstop and found slumber most difficult. Others felt the cool ocean breeze sweep through the tent and found sleep peaceful. It appeared that one intern could not be kept track of that morning as he vanished only to return sweaty and carrying a mighty coconut. He disappeared again only to show up later in swim trunks announcing he would be back after a shower.
After packing up, the group traveled to the glorious city of Key West with plans of spending an entire day exploring the historic establishment. At this point, a curious thing happened. As the team ventured into the city, it was as if the bowels of hell with all its fury and might hurled itself upon the little city consequently blanketing our fivesome with an intense heat that escorted them wherever they went. They found only temporary relief in small shops; never had air conditioning been so favorable than at this moment.
If you didnt already know, the southernmost point in the continental United States is in Key West. After an exhausting walk in the harsh sun, the group reached this southern point marked with a large...marker. With thoughts of ice water running through their minds, the interns frankly could not have cared less about the monument to southdom. The walk was not fruitless however; joy was brought to the weary travelers in the form of a nautically themed goddess. She stood at this sacred southern ground in an enchanting pose that said, "I am at the southernmost point of the U.S., I will now be sexy." Her husband, behind the camera lens, snapped away clearly thrilled with his wife's public sexiness.
Lunch was found sometime after this. The name of the eatery went unnoticed by the exhausted group; only rest and nourishment inundated their minds. Fresh water was enjoyed by all and a filling lunch followed. One would assume this phenomenon of falling into any restaurant due to possible dehydration occurs frequently in Key West, and one might further assume this is an expected behavior. Just, for crying out loud, do not fall into the Conch Republic Seafood Company; they import their seafood when there is a whole freaking seafood industry right under their nose!
Abandoning any thoughts of spending the entire day in the city, the group departed Key West in the middle of the afternoon. Charred by the heat and fatigued by the walk, the car was deathly silent as people rested. It is true that the driver even nodded off several times, unobserved by his passengers. Luckily, the mood shifted and the group once again came to life with laughter and conversation.
The legend of the intern Florida Key's trip remains, to this day, shrouded in mystery and intrigue. No doubt, the events and happenings that took place on that trip will live on for weeks in the hearts of almost half a dozen.
meredithln
this looks nothing like me | 2007-08-06 16:45:52
so i guess if i became a simpson i would be a tv anchor. good times...
illuminateo
Update | 2007-08-03 23:51:29 New vid from my last weekend in Orlando.. Coming up from the RELEVANT music festival tour, an INCREDIBLE Guitar Hero player with a special skill, a short Matisyahu cover song, and more fun stuff from the visitors of the RELEVANT booth at SoulFest 2007...
