In retrospect…

It’s that time isn’t it? Time to run down the top whatever of 2006. Top movies, best sports plays, best photos, memorable moments and such. Time to gather it all together and press forward into a new year…2007. FYI, 2007 you better watch out cos I’ve got your number and I’m coming after you!!! You’ve been warned. So, following in suit, here’s my long overdue message to you regarding the happenings of 2006. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to gather it all up for you (I’ve started this Lynsee update about 3x already, but just can’t seem to finish it). Better late than never right?

2006 was actually a pretty tough year for me. I’m pretty relieved that the year is over and will hopefully be taking some of its negative madness w/it. I was in Champaign-Urbana for most of the year and just moved in August back up north to Waukegan/Chicago. I’m anchored in Waukegan/Chicago right now as I bop around saying my last goodbyes, sipping one more beer w/friends, eating as many steak tacos as I can to tide me over for the next 2 years, and generally soaking up “the USA” before I leave it in my rearview.

The year popped off w/my grandfather dying and going to his funeral in Iowa. I think this really set off a bunch of emotions in me that were lying dormant. I wasn’t super close to Pappy, but did send him many cards and letters in his later years. A gesture that my Aunt Jolene said he really valued. It was a great feeling to know that something I started doing just for the heck of it created smiles. So I was pretty upset about my grandfather passing, but I never necessarily understood why. This was followed up by a pretty stressful living situation (at least for me) that eventually ended with my roommate/friend for like 5 years and I going our respective ways. That was really tough and I’ve never really “lost” a friend like that ever. It was sad and stressful, but ultimately I think for the best. In hindsight, we had really been moving apart on our own respective paths for some time and I think this rupture was in the cards. It was just a matter of when. I don’t begrudge her at all and actually am quite proud of the way that she has started to shine in the last year or so. She has really started to find her stride in life and that’s always something to be proud of. I guess though that I just recognize that we can’t really be friends right now.

Whew, heavy things. On the radio tip…WRFU: Radio Free Urbana turned 1 year old on Nov 13, 2006 at 5pm. I really can’t express the joy that I felt about that. I can’t believe I am a part of creating something like a radio station that will hopefully grow to serve Urbana-Champaign's radio needs. I feel so lucky. I guess it’s really the first thing I’ve voluntarily worked on (at least that I can think of) where I can truly say that I was a part of something way bigger than myself. (Dad that phrase was for you…) It’s a pretty awesome feeling. I could get used to this.

The road has been rough as far as managing the station and it will be a lot of work to mold it into a proper tool for the community to use and enjoy, but it’s so worth it. And the possibilities are nearly endless…what a fantastic project to play with and develop. I’m going to miss it so much. I was doing lots and lots for the station because I just loved it. It was my hobby I guess…and an addictive one at that. In 2006 I made my first public service announcement, learned how to edit music, did my first hard-hitting interview (in Spanish, to boot) and probably a million other tiny tasks. I was still doing publicity/fundraising/outreach for the station, a natural position for me, and also took on many other small tasks like gathering music for our library, creating radio spots/Public Service Announcements, editing music for the radio, and (like I said) probably 105 million other tiny tasks that just needed a person to do them. Curse the fact that I need to be gainfully employed so I can eat, drink beer, and make money for going places cos otherwise I would have spent 24/7 at that station just tinkering. I would turn into a true radio goddess. Oh also I was doing a weekly radio show called “More Fire!” More Fire! was a show that my friend/roommate Kai, and my friend Dan, and I put together each week. A testament to silliness and getting you on the radio. Our show was very late at night and so we’d play all kinds of crazy music and banter about random subjects. We had fun ;) Hope the listeners did too. The main aspect of our show was to get other people onto the radio. So we’d have guests like local bands, our friends, people coming to share information about some topic (like meditation). One time we even got a caller to come down to the station just after he called to hang w/us. Part of the spirit of our radio station, and indymedia as a whole, is that media making isn’t scary or unattainable. Anyone can do it. And the best way to prove that is by involving newcomers. Our show wasn’t some hard-hitting journalistic masterpiece, but I think as far as involving radio newbies…we were quite successful. It was really incredible to do a radio show each week and with stresses and emotions building up in me gradually over the year, More Fire! was crucial in that it provided a fun pressure release. Oh my do I miss my weekly radio show!!! Sometimes I was even doing like 2 or 3 extra shows a week just cos it’s so great to be on the radio. I will be doing my last More Fire! on Mon Jan 8th at 11pm Central. You can probably tune in over the internet if you go to:

www.wrfu.net.

We are streaming over the internet now and so you can hear archived shows as well as listen in to what’s happening live. So check me out or check out the other programs we have to offer!!! I can’t promise I’ll be couth (well I will be w/in the FCC’s guidelines) but I can promise you great music and laughs. I started my prospective playlist weeks ago ;)

So I left all that behind in Urbana in August and packed it home. I was actually pretty sad when I left CU but mostly I think I was (and am) just mentally exhausted. On top of breaking with my friend/roommate, my baby radio station, and my home of 7 years…I had another situation go down w/a friend of mine that I fell for (it was an accident, I swear!). I (eventually…I’m such a coward) told him about my feelings for him. He wasn’t interested, we talked a bit, and then we went our separate ways (me north, he south). It hurt to be rejected. Besides a scant scrap of communication between us he basically hasn’t spoken to me in like 2 months. It really upsets me because I took him (and still do) as a close friend and it really hurts that he’s not talking to me. I guess mostly I just hope that he’s okay, but if he is…I’m kind of mad at him for being such a weiner. Things have been so stressful up here for me and I really just miss my friend, regardless of all the extra drama. Oh well, life I say, life. So, needless to say, it was a pretty dramatic break I had w/my beloved Urbana.

As you probably can see from my past posts, I’m going to be moving to South Africa pretty soon (2 weeks today to be exact) thanks to an incredible scholarship I have received from Rotary International. Although it’s a gigantic blessing…it has been lots of work to get all my affairs together (argh! I still don’t have my passport OR visa and I leave in 14 days!) as well as just a completely mental experience. Today as I was waiting for the train and watching the sunrise (oh thank goodness I only have to work for 1 more day!!!!!) I just thought to myself “Lynsee in 2 weeks you will be doing all these little life tasks (eating, waiting for trains, brushing my teeth) on a totally different continent.” That blew my mind. And will continue to blow my mind until I’m safely in the thick of it. I guess once I can get past all this waiting for something to happen, once I can get my hands really dirty w/this experience, then maybe I can even out a bit. And even then I still probably won’t believe it. ;)

Since I moved to Chicago I have been transient at best. I have lived in like 6 different places and had about a billion odd jobs. I got fired from one job…my first firing ever. That was a trip to say the least, but honestly I’m glad I got fired. That job was in hospitality and it was sort of starting to stress me out. So when I got fired I called my old boss in Champaign who called our old boss in Chicago who gave me a job. Nice! W/in 24 hours I had a new job and a pay raise. Take that job that fired me! Yeah! You tossed a good girl to the curb...

I started to volunteer at the Field Museum (in all my infinite extra time, right? I swear I sleep!!) for a researcher that studies small mammals (mice, shrews, bats, etc) in Southern Africa. He also does predator/prey stuff and one of his focuses is the man-eating Tsavo lions…yes the Ghost in the Darkness lions. I am helping him to organize a collection of small mammals he has from Malawi. Mostly I just organize data, but soon I will be helping him process the specimens (removing the skulls and stuff) and catalog them further. I don’t know how far I’ll get before I leave though. I found this guy randomly by emailing everyone at the Field Museum that studies animals. The crazy thing is that he is a really close friend with my old bosses in Champaign, the fish folks. It IS a small world. The volunteering is fun and I am secretly hoping that the next time he goes to Southern Africa that he will need a helpful student to like carry his bags or something. We’ll see.

So I guess that’s the year in review. A hard year. A stressful year. But ultimately, a year that is over. Here’s to 2007! A year where I hope to find more grace and joy in my entropic life on this earth. May you find the same...

So this takes place of my big fat email, but just cos it’s up on a blog site doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear from you!!! Please email me and let me know what’s going on w/YOU! I have been talking soooooooo much about S Africa that my mouth is tired (sometimes I have to tell my “story” like 5 times per day, especially if I meet new folks). Enough about me…how about you?

All the best in 2007. Big ups to those rocking the house and taking names! And to those idling in the driveway…get that car in gear!

Much Love
Lynsee