Sketchism

Well I’m one tired son of a gun. For the past two weeks it has been non-stop fun. I shall go chronologically. On the weekend of May 13 through 15 I trekked up to Orlando with my crew of 11 other friends for the music festival that is Cornerstone. I honestly can’t think of where to begin. Maybe some pictures will help. The five folks I travelled in the jeep with were a great bunch. We rocked out to plenty of cd’s (never repeating one) and had a slew of trivia games to keep us entertained as we headed north on the turnpike. Four hours later we were at our destination, satisfying our cravings for Arby’s. The other group met up with us at the fast food joint and we laughed about how they took the wrong turn which cost them two hours of driving. Once our bodies were nourished with roast beef sandwiches, curly fries, jalapeo poppers, and sodas we headed to our hotel for an early check in. The Red Carpet Inn, or as we refered to it “The Armpit Inn” was better than we expected, well at least better than I expected.

I did my research on the hotel one day before the trip and discovered that it had the worst reviews possible. Cockroaches, stained floors, holes in walls, broken doors, terrible service. We discovered all this was true except for the service, they were actually quite responsive to our requests once we got there.

“Umm, my friend in room 127 found the room infest with roaches. Is it possible to switch her to another room?” And it was done. Also, the next morning the manager would here my next request…

“My friend in room 126 woke up this morning and found that her table was covered with wet pieces of the popcorn roof. Apparently there is some kind of flood in the room above that caused pieces of the roof to fall in her room.” And so he sent someone to check it out, and when we returned for the day it was all better. Asking for a little customer service can be painless and productive if you do it with a smile.

Then we were off to the festival, which was literally 3 minutes away. Our hotel was about 5 blocks away from the Central Florida Fairgrounds and parking was easy and free. From the moment we stepped out of our cars we were greeted by smiling, tattooed covered, pierced up people. I knew the adventure was just beginning and began anticipating 48 hours of fun. We came equipped with bottles of water, sunblock, shades, daily band schedules and highlighters so we could coordinate when and where we would meet each other for the performances.

I am proud to say I saw about 95% of the bands I wanted to see. The bands I missed were purely of conflicting schedules with other events. For example, I missed the Lovedrug set and the Brandtson set due to a Youth Leadership Only conference with the members of Relient K. I also missed a performance by Forever Changed due to a performance by the amazing Sleeping At Last which played at the indoor stage. My justification for this decision was based on the knowledge that Forever Changed was also scheduled to perform a month later in Miami. Email me if you’re interested in going to that show.

Other than that, I saw all the bands I wanted to see. They Included:

Mourning September, Mat Kearney, Mutemath, Roper, Over the Rhine, The O.C. Supertones, Bernard, Copeland, Emery, UnderOATH, Anberlin, Relient K, David Bazaan (of Pedro the Lion), and Sleeping At Last. I have photos of most of these bands. It was neat to talk to the different people at this event, from Anti-abortion activists, to nomads, to media groups, to clothing companies, and of course band members.

Cornerstone Florida is definitely going to be an annual experience for me. What a way to begin my life as a twentysomething. The Lord protected us and provided an incredible time. I want to thank all of you who were praying for us while we were gone and rocking out. We were fortunate enough to avoid car troubles except for one small incident where Yannick’s car battery stalled due to an apparent alarm malfunction. We were puzzled for a few good minutes trying to figure out how to get it going when suddenly Ely Marie suggested we pray. I prayed the Lord would provide someone who could help us get the car going. Sure enough, two minutes later there was a small group of dudes who were heading to their car at the end of the night and I recognized one of them. Mike, an active youth leader at Flamingo Road Church, had a set of jumper cables he attached to both cars and then we were good. Bam. Answered prayer is an experience worth reciting. Praise be to God.

Our ride home was as pleasant as the ride to Orlando. Great music, lots of joking, lots of laughs. The fatigue when I arrived home was an enjoyable one. As much as I enjoy independence and traveling with friends, there’s nothing quite like coming home to open arms and a warm bed. All good trips end with a nap.

I’ll be writing about my second prom experience tomorrow. Peace, y’all.