Towel Day, Volunteering, and ISTP

First off: Happy Towel Day!   Particularly for all you Hitchhikers of the Galaxy.

Second this whole volunteer thing is still pretty dern interesting.  I'm always finding events or finally getting around to just signing up for stuff.  Finally signed up for the St. Louis Bluesweek Festival.  I've known about it for a while back when it was the Rib America thing that went all Memorial Day weekend long.  Stuff happened and it became Bluesweek.  I've always been a little torn about volunteering for it in the past few years because I'm always got a boomerang tournament to attend on Memorial Day weekend.  Specifically the Gateway Classic; going on 26 consecutive years thus far.

Anyways the St. Louis Blues week is a good event.  Good music and food.  They still do the whole BBQ and ribs thing.  Tasty for mouth and ears.  Yeah I was working it but I do fit in time to hang out and enjoy stuff.  I probably enjoy it that much more because I'm volunteering for it.

Not really that odd I think.  I am an ISTP.  It's interesting to think about everyonce and a while to think about the whole Brigs Meyers personality things sometimes.  Sure they are generic and cover lots of people like horoscope.  I do think I fit in with the various descriptions of the ISTP (link and other link and another other link) out there.  I'm an adventurer that likes to tinker and understand enough for me to get good at doing stuff.  But also don't like getting stuck into routines and following strict rules.

 But it's late and I probably should proof read but I just wanted to get it out there.

Some Photos of Summer/Fall 2012 (Part 3)

More shenanigans.  The upper two are some images from Loufest.  While I was only there for the second half of the first day, it was a pretty cool event.  Lots of great music.  Would of been there longer but I did have the Tie Dye event just before this one.  Long day though.  You should check it out.

Next handful are from the U City Jazz Festival It was a good event with a few minor tweaks that could be made.  Lots of great jazz going on and good food.  It was also slim picking on food as well.

Should be caught up with photo's at this point.  If you got this far, I hope you enjoyed my summer.

Wine, DIne, and Jazz 2012

Past weekend was the Wine, DIne, and Jazz Festival.  Pretty good event.  Unfortunately the weather didn't fully cooperate.  Friday night (Oct 19th) was cold and the St. Louis Cardinals were in the NLCS playoff series.  But we did have a screen out there to watch part of the game that night.

Saturday (Oct 20) was busier.  Loads more people relative to the night before.  Seemed to taper off during the night.  The night went smooth though.  Certainly kept busy throughout the night helping folks out.  That's the way it goes sometimes.

KDHX Fall 2012 Membership Drive

Helped out with the KDHX membership drive this past weekend.  If you haven't donated yet, you should.  KDHX plays such a wide variety of music that you are guaranteed to find something you like on there.  You want electronic, you got Beep Beep, Boop Boop on Wednesday nights from 9pm to 11pm.  You want blues, you got:  Soul Selector,  Blursday,  Blues in the Night to name a very few. International music:  Radio Rio,  Folks of the World, or  Reggae Reunion.  Check out the show schedule.  There is so much to explore at KDHX.

Seriously check out the show schedule page and find some great music.  There is seriously lots of good stuff there.  If you can't afford to send in money but happen to be be in St. Louis, you can volunteer with the station and do lots of cool stuff there.  

Balloons, Peanuts, Jazz, and Sound Cloud

2nd weekend of selling peanuts for the Kiwanis but also made balloon animals for the kids.  Pretty good times.  Still much to learn in terms of making art with balloons.

Helped out at the  U City Jazz Festival with KDHX.  Overall a good event for it's second year.  Lots of jazz to be had there and giving out stickers.  Just needed a few more food vendors and lights at sunset.

Also can't forget to listen to Sound Cloud.  You should listen to the KDHX Sound Cloud Page.  Lots of hardworking people uploading 25 years worth of live performances recorded at the KDHX studio/station.

I'm up to 275.5 hours of volunteering.  It's not about numbers but still interesting number.

Twangfest 16

Got to work late into the night with Twangfest 16 Day 2 with line up of Kelly Hogan, Wussy, Deano & the Purvs, Pretty Little Empire.  Amazing line of acts. KDHX sure knows how to pick them with music.  Still two nights left if you guys are in the area to check it out.

First time in the Duck Room at Blueberry Hill.  There is a lot of references to ducks down there.  It's also where Chuck Berry plays once a month in St. Louis.  You can definitely say I found my thrills.

KDHX is an awesome radio station.  Glad I'm one of the kick butt volunteers.

KDHX Concert Series with Guster

Volunteering at a radio station has it's perks.  Got to usher and see Guster with Golden Bloom as the opening act at the Sheldon Concert Hall over in St. Louis, MO.  It was a good show.  Lots of energy flowing with the band and the crowd.  Great random funny stories.  There was even great art.  Michael Landon holding a squid.     Whoa.  There was even a Demon fire drill where the fellas had to play an instrument they were not familiar with.  It was funny.  You should give these guys a listen sometime.

Three out of four is not bad....

Busy day for March 31, 2012.... Started at 7:15am with a Kiwanis Blood Drive.  Got the room all set up and situated for the drive. Food table was stocked with snacks, food, and coffee.  The problem was that the supply truck for the Red Cross never showed up.  GRRRRR.  Don't know the details of what happened yet but I will let you know when I find out.  Early April Fools Joke?

Next up Toastmasters Division 6 contest.  Got to be the Sergeant at Arms and Ballot counter.  Escorted contestants to the sound proof booth and preparation areas.  Interesting experience for doing both duties for the first time for the Toastmasters at a contest.  The after contest hang out was cool at the IHOP too.  Tasty.

Also helping KDHX with their phone drive to collect funds for the station.  It's a 10 day process biannually.  It's a great station.  Member supported.  They can play pretty much anything, as long as it complies with the rules of broadcasting stuff.  You should give it a listen.  I'd bet there is something there for you, if you give it a sufficiently long listen.

Three out of four events that happened successfully is not bad at all.

Great concert at Sheldon Concert Hall with Hayes Carll

Got to hang out at the Sheldon Concert Hall with KDHX on March 18, 2012.  Neat show.  Got to see Hayes Carll and the opening act of Honey Honey.  Not a bad gig to put in a few hours of work for a show with awesome music.  There were funny stories, great music, and great people.

Should be an interesting start to the volunteering season.  Coming up next weekend is the FIRST Robotics Regional completion.  The following weekend of March 31, 2012 there is going to be a Kiwanis Blood Drive at the Public Safety Building in O'Fallon, from 9am to 1pm.  I then run over to the Toastmasters Regional Contest later that afternoon and a KDHX phone drive.  Looking forward to the madness.

Strange Folk Festival 2011

Another volunteer opportunity in the can from the Strange Folk Festival. Lots of interesting art and Strange People. Got to hangout backstage of the music and help with the setup of bands. Watched over booths for an artist and sold a few pieces of art in the process. Even helped out KDHX on the street team. Gave away CDs, stickers, temporary tattoos, and a few t-shirts.

There is a certain aspect to these events that really draw me in. It hits a nerve just right where I think I am almost maximally optimal. Being in the moment, making things happen. Its this idea that is where I think a part of my ISTP mindset just comes alive. Need to figure a way to possibly monetize this idea that I like being part of the action hands on. There is the short term purpose that drives me there but I get to walk away and do something different at the end of the day or the next weekend. Really like the hands on aspect of these events,the chance to see some cool "stuff" (not really always stuff but could be ideas or a neat product or food). The people, they are always pretty cool at these events and always out to make the event really work out.

It's all just a really neat adventure at these events. I've really only just started.

On a side note, let me know you're out there and post a comment about something or a question.