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A Year in my Life

A Year in my Life

Like a caterpillar preparing for its radical metamorphosis, I devoured 2018 with zeal. Over four hundred twenty singing telegrams were delivered via my singing telegram agency this year, the majority of which I personally performed (though mad love to my whole roster). I entertained in China for the first time (then returned a mere six months later), visited the Indonesian island of Bali and finalized my upcoming single “Butterflies” at Colorado’s Grammy-winning Airshow Mastering. Below is a smattering of highlights (words and images) cherry-picked from a bliss-filled year of playing dress up, enabling joy through music and hopscotching around Earth's curvaceous body.

Bathing elephants at Thailand elephant sanctuary

Booking world-famous belly dancer Sadie for a holiday samba gig

Carving Godzilla-shaped “Orangami” for fellow performers in Tokyo

Celebrating ten years of performing with world-renowned music promoter Insomniac Events

Character performance at Colorado’s legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater for Seven Lions

Climbing Sticky Waterfall near Chiang Mai, Thailand

Clowning on stilts in China (twice) and Japan

Dancing on stilts at Washington state's stunning Gorge Amphitheatre for Paradiso Festival

Delivering singing resume to iHeartMedia office on behalf of creative job applicant

Driving camper van to California's Lightning in a Bottle festival with Suze Q

Experiencing Fungineers' Ice Cream Truck show with Alexandria Baker

Exploring bioluminescence exhibit at Denver Museum of Nature & Science with my nephew Kai

Filming EDC China trailer on seventh floor balcony of Shanghai's W Hotel

Facilitating 420 plus singing telegrams through my singing telegram agency:)

Finalizing my upcoming single “Butterflies” at Colorado’s Grammy-winning Airshow Mastering

Floating above the heads of Mexico City festival goers as a stilt-elevated fish

Greeting Denver Dia de los Muertos revelers - on stilts - at Los Muertos Fantasticos

Hovering six to eight feet above Bali’s Tanjung Benoa Bay on a water-propelled Flyboard

Impersonating Hunter S. Thompson at Cannabition Cannabis Museum in Vegas

Impressing Insomniac CEO Pasquale Rotella on the dance floor with Angelique

Imbibing bug bites in a cave restaurant near Mexican pyramid complex Teotihuacan

Imbibing dragonfruit in both Bali and China

Insomniac Thanksgiving banquet at China’s Chimelong Ocean Kingdom

Landing the cover of The Vail Daily as a stilt-enhanced Uncle Sam

Meeting Portland singing telegram / stilt performer / kindred spirit Jon Dutch in Aspen

Musically ambushing Fox 21 news anchors as singer Barry Manilow

Musically ambushing 9 News anchor Liz Kotalik as Cupid

Nicknaming Mexico's Chichen Itza Mayan ruins “Chicken Pizza”

Organizing nine singing telegrams in a single night for Colorado chapter of Young Presidents

Parasailing above Patong Beach in Thailand

People watching at Lefthand Brewery's voodoo-themed Nitro Fest

Playing EDM Unplugged in VIP speakeasy at Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas

Practicing AcroYoga with my Flight Club family

Pretending to defecate on the dance floor at Bassnectar with Michelle

Rapping Cypress Hill at AEG Live Rocky Mountain offices as a tutu-clad gorilla

Seeing both Janelle Monae and Lauryn Hill live in concert

Singing Janelle Monae's “Yoga” for Buti yoga teacher Ashton August and her class

Shooting “Butterflies” imagery with longtime photographer friend Jonathan Shoup

Snorkeling in both Bali and Mexico

Taking my four-legged stilt unicorn on the road with Unicorn Whisperer Anastasia

Terrifying Escape Halloween haunted house visitors as faceless giant Slender Man

Three person ukulele jam session on The Great Wall of China

Winning Temple Nightclub's $500 Halloween costume contest with Future

Zip-lining through the jungle at Tarzan Adventure Phuket in Thailand

Follow along with future adventures via Instagram

Diary of a Unicorn - Part 1

Diary of a Unicorn - Part 1

Last week, I was a nine-foot tall unicorn. Allow me to explain:)

Lifestylez, a travel agency that organizes winter resort trips for college students, is one of my clients. A few years ago, they booked a pair of parkour athletes and myself to provide roving entertainment for three of their Colorado SnoDaze events: Breckenridge, Copper Mountain and Keystone. Each night, as the headlining DJ filled the dance floor, I roamed through the crowd in my four-legged stilt unicorn costume. Mariah, my then-Unicorn Whisperer, occasionally rode atop the silver saddle strapped to my back. If what's left of my memory serves me correctly, I skied a half day at Breck with my dad in between show dates.

When Lifestylez' owner Steve Smolinski inquired if I'd join SnoDaze for another jaunt in early January, my interest was piqued. Having gotten tired of the awkward posture necessary for performing Unicorn version 1.0, I was chomping at the bit to upgrade. Also, I needed to enlist a new Unicorn Whisperer, as Mariah had recently moved to California. I commissioned a white bodysuit from my seamstress friend Sophie, and tasked my longtime fabricator/performance buddy Nate with fashioning new fur stilt covers and a unicorn head designed to sit atop a bike helmet. Michelle, a lovely go-go dancer I'd grown to know through Denver's Team Ez Entertainment, was invited to play Unicorn Whisperer on the week long mountain tour featuring sibling EDM duo Hippie Sabotage. The trek would include four stops: Crested Butte, Telluride, Breckenridge and Steamboat Springs.

Departure day dawned. With my gun metal grey Toyota Corolla Tetris'd to the brim with stilts, food, costumes and makeup, Michelle and I set our sights on Crested Butte. Although I've been skiing since I was a wee kumquat, I don't recall ever having been to the tiny Colorado resort town before. I enjoy driving long distances even when I sometimes have the option of flying instead – many of my best ideas come to me while my body is fully engaged with motor vehicle operation. Case and point: a unicorn name brainstorm produced a great new contender – Hornelius. My transmission gave me a little trouble on the trip, but we arrived alive, checked into our digs and set about applying makeup and shimmying into costume. Michelle's Unicorn Whisperer wardrobe consisted of white boots, a bellydance hip scarf, a fur shrug, fingerless gloves and a long blonde wig. I wore a spandex bodysuit with a tail, fur covered leg and arm stilts and the aforementioned unicorn head.

TO BE CONTINUED