About Tree Fiddy

          Kappa Kappa Psi and an assortment of unaffiliated volunteers from band went busking at the Common this morning. We brought maybe 20 people, a big bucket to raise funds, and our A-game. After settling on a spot near the pavilion where a few paths crossed (high foot traffic!), we settled in and started to entertain the crowd. People stuck around and seemed into it, but a couple of park rangers did harass us a few times about appropriate decibel levels. They seemed to give up after enough people had gathered and were clearly enjoying the performance. After we'd collected ~$350 and closed shop for the day, I hurried home to scarf some pad thai. I also picked up a rocking chair (attn: Iris) and one of those kids' play rugs with all the town buildings on it (you know what I'm talking about.)
          A few minutes and I was off to Shillman to help Peter with his final project for Production class. We met in a studio on the second floor, which I'd never noticed in my ramblings. We'll be filming a three-person skit wherein I'm an acting teacher trying to train a couple of bratty kids to do improv; today, we just read through the script a few times and generally worked out the blocking. Post-rehearsal, I sat at a table outside Kariotis and worked on cleaning up music metadata for a little while. Before long, I went to afterHOURS to get a couple more volunteer hours.
          This event was called Perspectives on Protest, and consisted of a panel discussion and Q&A with a few sociology professors and career activists. Generation Citizen hosted the event and provided free Uno's to all attendees, which was the real draw for me given how busy the day had become. It was dark, I was full, and the buzzing voices put me to sleep for a while, but one concept caught my ear. The paradigm for youth has shifted from one of protest to one of service; in the absence of larger conflict\, almost no one my age is out raising hell at protests, but many of us are volunteering. On one hand, there is nothing wrong with community service; on the other, the lack of political action (or even interest) is disquieting.
          After a seemingly interminable length of time, the event was over and I could relax for good. Iris, Sean, Kofi, and Alaric came over for the Game of Thrones season 5 premiere. I enjoyed a glass of strongwine and the episode was over before we knew it (it felt kinda short, actually.) Jon Snow was featured heavily, at the cost of zero Arya scenes and only one or two short snippets with Littlefinger. Later, I went running and continued work on my music collection.