Carpe Dime

The other day I was watching What Not To Wear (aka The Pinnacle of Daytime Television) and there was this girl on who was truly a complete disaster.  Aside from her strangled-rodent nasal voice and her ability to identify matching color combinations almost as well as Ray Charles, she also was unable to make a decision on buying anything without first calling her mom.  This would have been fine if only someone had told her mother that the Cold War was over and she could finally come out of her bomb shelter.  Fortunately, no one did and so I got a good laugh at three-blind-mice lady and her mom's expense.  

On a completely unrelated note, I went shopping the other day for some clothes I that could take to NYO.  Shopping isn't exactly my favorite activity.  The only time I can remember having fun while shopping is when I hid from my parents behind a jeans rack in Wal-Mart for half an hour.  Ironically, that's the only time my mom hasn't had fun while shopping.  Since I couldn't exactly repeat that today, I brought my sister along to make the trip as quick and painless as possible.  Unfortunately, we were having trouble deciding between these two blouses that I had chosen. So I called my mom to--

Oh no.  I called my mom.  This can't be.  I am three-blind-mice lady.  Dang it.

But there has to be some differences right?  I can usually match clothes better than my colorblind dog.  My mom usually knows what decade it is, although the 80's do like to call from time to time.  But if I'm being honest with myself, I'm really not a very decisive person.  I can't decide which shirt to wear to school, which breakfast cereal to eat in the morning, or even what to put as the third item in this list.  And frankly, it's usually not too much of a problem.  If I'm already tardy, what's the difference between five minutes late and ten minutes late, right?  

Needless to say, I try to take all the advice I can get.  Other people usually make decisions better than I can.  I think this is because it's much easier to decide something when you're not emotionally involved.  Like on the Bachelor last year, Sean should have totally picked--I mean I totally don't watch the Bachelor so I'm just going to stop with this analogy.  

So, when I saw on the National Youth Orchestra of the USA Fan Page (shameless self promotion) that some of our supporters had been asked to give us some advice for our tour, I took out my notepad.  Reading through them, I found that my personal favorite was the "Carpe Dime" post.  For those of you who don't know, it roughly means "Seize the loose change".  Thanks Wikipedia.  Regardless, the woman who posted it, despite her lack of proofreading, was getting at something.  She wasn't exactly alone either.  Many of the comments were about enjoying "each moment" and having the "time of your lives" and getting "a credit card with a chip in it".  In short, Carpe Diem.

And I will.  Despite the fact that traveling entails a migraine of worries, a J.K. Rowling novel of documents to verify, and an entire Russian pocket dictionary to memorize, I'm so excited.  I'll be constantly gaping at the incredible architecture, marveling at the rich cultural traditions around me, and breathing in the history of where I am at that moment.  I'll try to send some of it home.  I'll try to stuff my emotions and happiness into a suitcase, try to sew all my memories into a T-shirt, try to shove all the places I travel into a snowglobe that I can throw in my bag.  But I know that some of them won't fit into these containers.  Some of them will only be able to exist within my memory. 

So I'll try to recount everything in perfect detail.  But I may leave something out.  I know that there will be many stories to tell other than the ones I can describe.  Unfortunately, that means I'll have to decide between the ones I can express in words and the ones I cannot.

There's only one problem.  Because of international calling rates, I won't be able to call my mom for help.  I only have one solution.  My foolproof last resort.  

Eenie Meenie Miney Mo.