EXPERIENCE MUSIC PROJECT FIELDTRIPFebruary 22, 2008 What fun!  This was a great idea for a field day…I mean field “trip”.  Being turned loose in the city of Seattle with no one on board but other friends, and no one to tattle on us!  Wahoo!!!!

The E.M.P. was a classic.  Everyone loves music and that’s what all of this was about.  I searched every floor, every room, like a little kid in Charlie’s Chocolate Factory.  The ‘tornado’ of guitars that greeted us when we came in the door was really fascinating.  As I went up to the second and third floors I was able to see all the different types of guitars that have been made throughout time and it captured my attention.  In another room it was explained why guitars were made a particular way, the sound that came out of each shape, the type of strings, the volume of the guitar and why.  It was education at it’s best.

I also enjoyed the sound booth.  I felt like a little kid going into kindergarten.  “What does that button do, Jacob?  Push it.  Push it again.  Push it harder.  Hold the damn button down…stupid thing won’t work right!”  Jacob, Sue, Kricket and I, all sitting there on the bench, laughing our heads off as we waited for the camera to work and to film us and what we wanted to say.  Kricket got irritated with Jacob because he wasn’t pushing the button “right” in her opinion!  “What’s the matter?  Can’t you read?”, she snapped at Jacob.  He could read just fine.  The button wasn’t fast about working.  Maybe the machine was checking the I.Q. of it’s four inhabitants.

Jacob quickly told us our topics.  I wasn’t quick to understand when he said my topic was “country”.  He meant country music.  My brain registered, “oh, talk about the United States”.  Well, thank goodness I caught on to what he meant by the time it was my turn to talk.  It recorded all of us talking except the camera cut me off so there was this voice coming out of no where while Jacob, Sue, and Kricket all smiled at the camera. Looked hilarious!  I said that we were from the Positive Psychology class at Evergreen with our Professor Dr. Mark Hurst.  “We flip cars”, is what I said and we all laughed.  I’m sure it won’t be one of the museum ‘keepers’ to show other tourists that come through.  It was fun just the same and I enjoyed my few minutes in that little sound booth with my friends.  My family’s mouths would have been gaping open seeing their wife or mom behaving like a little kid.  We’re all young inside.  This was a chance to demonstrate it.

The Sci-Fi rooms were great!  I was able to remember many of the movies and television shows that they had presented in art form, comic books, short movie clips, and the wild costumes.  E.T., Star Trek, Star Wars, and My Favorite Martian.  I had forgotten that show.  I watched it as a kid with my dad and I loved the Martian antennas.  What great memories those rooms contained.  I also learned that the first television interracial kiss happened on Star Trek.  The guy with the pointy ears…I never got those names right…was supposed to kiss the beautiful black woman.  But, Captain Kirk…I got that one right…said that if anyone was going to kiss the black lady it was going to be him!  He even asked her to practice kissing with him!  They did.  As a matter of fact, the director and producer weren’t sure about the kiss so they wanted the two actors to just embrace for a another ‘take’.  Captain Kirk crossed his eyes during that ‘take’ and therefore the only shots they had were with the kiss.  He changed the future of interracial love on television for evermore after that.  Amazing stuff.

The Beatles were playing in the theater and I wanted to sit for hours and watch them.  That was fun.  Paul Revere and the Raiders were a crack up.  That was back in the day when they wore costumes as a group.  Their hats and jackets looked like they were ready to invade America all over again.  The pictures they had on display were when the group was young and vibrant.  Some of my very favorite songs are by Paul Revere and the Raiders.  Indian Reservation being one of them.  I found it on YouTube later and played it again, nice and loud. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsMQbedCZj0  That was fun.

I also, of course, found Stevie Wonder there in the museum.  You can’t say music without mentioning Stevie Wonder.  They had a video of him working with the computers and his music.  Amazing, all those buttons and he knows which button does what.  The man is a gift to the world.  His music moves my heart like none other….except Barry White, of course.  But, we won’t discuss him here.  I didn’t find him at E.M.P.  I am shocked.  J

We went outside for a break and I looked up.  I’ve never been close to the Space Needle before.  I didn’t realize we were that close to it!  I-yi-yi-yi-yiiiii.  They charge $16.00 to go up and come down again, just riding the elevator in it. 

Of course, where ever there is chocolate, I can track it down.  Seattle Chocolates was there with pounds and pounds of that luscious chocolate fudge.  With nuts, without nuts.  Pure heaven.  They had a taffy pull machine going and that was a lot of fun to watch.  They have a window there in front of the taffy pull for a reason.  It’s to keep people like me from playing with the taffy.  I wanted to smash my face up against the glass and stand there mesmerized for hours. I was a kid again. 

In the area of the Seattle Center we got to watch a yo-yo competition.  These were not the simple yo-yos that I grew up with.  These were free yo-yos.  They weren’t attached to strings.  These yo-yos were thrown into the air and were caught again on the strings, they danced on the string, and all kinds of other tricks.  It was fabulous to watch.  We enjoyed it tremendously and we clapped enthusiastically for the competitors.  There was a large crowd observing the fun.

After that we returned to the E.M.P. once again and I went back to my favorite areas of the museum.  I enjoyed it very much.  It was a fun filled day and I appreciate it very much that Dr. Hurst took us on an outing and he gave us an opportunity to witness this novel environment and to enjoy the experience as a group.  I saw children of all ages and sizes and it was fun to be able to let our hair down and just…play!

I also enjoyed the homework that we were assigned before the fieldtrip began.  The handout contained the signature strengths and each of the subtopics that can be found within those strengths.  I was amazed at how much I gleaned from the day.  Each of the strengths could be seen, felt, smelled, heard, and tasted!  Yum.  It truly affected the way I felt that day.  We ARE happier when we have good social contacts.  We proved it as a group.  What a wonderful day.  Thanks, friends, for the good times we shared together!  We truly belong together in Positive Psychology.