my tribute to rocket star

Dear Rocketstar,

I was there the day you opened. I remember I was incredibly happy when Bill and Dan asked me to work for them. I liked how they set up the place, I liked the atmosphere they were going for and they seemed like awesome people to work for.
I remember the first day I worked and how nervous I was that I would screw up, Bill would realize he made a bad choice and tell me not to come back (and then I'd have to go work at Ali Baba's again).

I remember when Dave B. put in the glass between the smoking and non-smoking rooms and how paranoid I was about breaking it.

I remember when this room was clean.

I remember working many midnight to 6 AM shifts and only seeing Scott (who always kept me laughing and had some sort of obsession at times. Does anyone remember when he would say "touche" to everything?), Mischa (who drew really interesting things in the Rocket Log and scared off creepy dudes for me) and Radiohead Dave (no explanation needed).

and then many 6 AM to noon shifts, where I saw Ms. McKenna a lot, but was too intimidated to talk to her.

I remember when a helicopter landed across the street.

And when Dan dropped a box or two of China Cola.

Dan also once told me that I had to own a moped and be a member of the Moped Army to continue working at Rocketstar, so I got this:

(hahaha. Just kidding. I got it cause mopeds are awesome, duh.)
I remember one day I got a special message on the sign outside.

And I remember when 2 of the 3 Hanson brothers were hanging out, drinking coffee in Rocket Star. And when Bill was convinced that Edward Norton came in, but was in ~disguise~.

I've met many people because of Rocket Star.

Erin M.


Miss Kim

Dan

Chris!!

Joeybearrrrr

Bill (I think this was during his dance off with Mikey O)

Mikey Ohio (winning the dance off)


Emily!
Beth.

Lauren (Petro's in that pic too, but I already knew him!) I believe this picture was taken at an 80s night. Ugh, I miss those! They were so fun!
Franta

Jordan

DVG
Abe and Kyle. (Abe once recorded a version of Elvis Costello's "Alison" for my birthday. It was awesome and I still have it.)

Chad
Dave B

Amanda.
Some of them I'm still very close with, a lot of them came to our wedding, but (sadly) some of them I don't talk to much or at all for various reasons. A lot of us are now living in different places, some I see when I go back to Kalamazoo and hopefully I'll see some of them within the next year.
BUT
We had lots of fun together! LOTS. I have a lot of good memories both inside and out of Rocket Star.















With lots of love and memories, (and sad I couldn't see you as Rocket Star one last time)

Alison

**There are a lot of people I don't have pictures of on my computer (like Miguel, Clay, Mike, April, Neil, Mary, etc., to name a few) that I got to know through Rocketstar. Also, I didn't take all of these pictures posted, but I'm glad that somebody captured the moment.

first few days

So, we've moved 98% of our stuff to Richmond. We still need to go back to pick up some small stuff and clean the apartment. We still need to buy and install some shelves for the bathroom and the kitchen. We're waiting on our sofa and wardrobe (for me) to be delivered. Whew. Moving is awesome and crappy at the same time. It's settling down now, though. I still need a job... (that "..." is a hint to keep me in your thoughts/prayers/positive chi/energy to envision me getting an amazing teaching job, ok? Please? When I asked people to do that before we moved to VA, it worked out great! Do it again, okay? Thanks.) Yeah, that whole not having a set job thing is kiiiiind of making me anxious. Not all the time, but I do have moments where I stop and start thinking "OH NO! YOU HAVE NO JOB! NOOOO JOB AT ALL!" and then I miss GHS, my colleagues and my students.... and the security of knowing where I'm going to be teaching next year. This is the point in the summer where all the negative memories go away, I start to remember all the good things and I start to miss all my crazy students and their energy.
Aaaanyway, I love our new apartment. It's smaller, but the space has a lot of potential. It reminds me of friends' apartments back in Kzoo and what we wanted our Davis St. apartment to be like. I have some pictures of the mess we have going on right now, but I'm lazy because today is the first day in about a week that I haven't had to run around from sun up to sun down.
Speaking of Kzoo, Rocket Star is closing on the 13th and the last show is tomorrow. If you are still there, go! I'm sad to see it close and sad not to be able to go one last time, but I know that something else will pop up- Kzoo always does that.

I have a lot of good memories there, so it makes me a little sad to see it go.
Oh and P.S.: I hate all y'all for getting me hooked on John and Kate Plus 8. I hate you. Really. But at the same time: I thank you. Also, I got D hooked. HA!