Paparazzi

“A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.” -Eudora Welty

I admit: I haven’t owned a properly functioning camera in at least 10 years.  I’ve just never been very good at the whole photo thing.  I mean, what a pain – you have to carry the thing around all day, if it falls and breaks you have to buy a new one and somehow mine always used to be liquid magnets.  Where’s my camera?  Oh.  Sitting in that pile of juice that spilled all over the table.  Not to mention, I always hated being that annoying person who, in the middle of a fun moment, said “Don’t move, let me get my camera”.  The real reason I stopped carrying a camera? I always forgot to take pictures.  Here I am, lugging this obnoxious flashing contraption and I don’t do anything with it.  I tend to be an  “in the moment” kind of person… I’m there, I’m having fun… I just… forget.  Bottom line… I’ve just never been very good at the whole photo thing.  Which is unfortunate.  It’s nice to document the good times – to look back and see the fun had with friends.  So you know what I say?? Thank goodness for Facebook.  No frills, no fuss, just right click and copy and those babies are mine.  No papa-paparazzi -ing for me.

So for the last two weeks, I’ve been bombarded with Ukrainian-ness.  In one weekend, my dance group performed four shows – a private wedding, the Cleveland Cultural Gardens “One World Day”, and two shows at the St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Festival in Parma.  We had some great performances and gorged on some delicious Ukrainian delicacies.

Me and Serhiy before our performance at a wedding.

Some of Kashtan Dance Ensemble’s beautiful dancers performing at the Cleveland Cultural Garden’s “One World Day”

The return to the weekly grind didn’t last too long, as our caravan of Clevelanders shipped out to Upstate New York to enjoy the Labor Day weekend.  You see, for Ukrainians, Labor Day is not just a day off of work for barbecues and air shows.  A weekend comprised of good friends, hundreds of Ukrainians from all over the country, music, dancing and singing until all hours of the night for four days straight.  For Ukrainians, Labor Day can be described in one word: Epic.

So magical, we’d be so fantastical

The Cleveland Sunday Extravaganza at Kyiv.

So the moral of this story is that I love my friends, I love my Ukrainian-ness and I love the paparazzi that snapped these photos.   These pictures aren’t just worth a thousand – they’re worth a million words.  Wouldn’t miss these gorgeous momentos for the world.

Eat, Pray, Love

The Feast – Cleveland’s Feast of the Assumption, held each year in mid-August in Little Italy, is a four-day street fair that celebrates the Catholic Day of Assumption (August 15), when the Virgin Mary died and assumed her place beside Jesus. The Feast is a fun-filled Italian street party with rides, food, live music, a procession, and lots of fun. August 12-14 starting Friday at 6pm on Murray Hill in Little Italy.    I’ll be there – if you want to find me, I’ll be the one with a tray full of cannoli shoved in my bocca.

Broadway-Slavic Village Walk and Roll –  Grab your walking shoes, bike, stilts, skateboard, or anything else that gets you moving and join us on the streets of Slavic Village for our third annual Walk+Roll!  Three miles of neighborhood streets (E. 65^th, Fleet, E. 49^th, Kenyon, and Ackley) will be open to pedestrians for a unique way to actively explore the community. Saturday, August 13, 1pm-6pm at E. 65^th Street and Osmond Ct.

The Jewish Food and Culture Festival – The fourth annual food and cultural festival features fare from restaurants such as Corky and Lenny’s, Jack’s Deli, Aladdin’s, Chef Dave’s Catering, Hermann’s and more.  Admission to museum galleries is free and includes special entertainment.  Sunday, August 14 from 11am – 4pm at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, 2929 Richmond Road, Beachwood.

The 37^th Annual North Ridgeville Corn Festival – August 12-14^th

Great Food Truck Race Viewing Party – In support of Chris Hodgson’s appearance on Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race, Happy Dog will be hosting viewing parties during the show’s original air time, Sundays at 10pm. Beginning August 14, 9:30pm at the Happy Dog, 5801 Detroit Avenue.  http://www.dimanddensum.com/pages/chefs

The 115^th Annual Cuyahoga County Fair – There’s nothing else to say… it’s the fair! August 8-14 at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds in Berea

Tremont Art Walk – Take a walk through one of Cleveland’s best neighborhoods and check out the great art galleries that stay open extra long for this great monthly event.  Then grab some delicious food and drinks at some of Cleveland’s best restaurants.  Friday, August 12 and every 2^nd Friday of the month from 6pm – 10pm

Rockin’ On the River – It’s the 25th Anniversary of NE Ohio’s longest running and highest attended outdoor concert series. In Cuyahoga Falls this and every Friday from 5-11:30pm.

Lock 3 Akron – Akron’s hottest destination for outdoor entertainment is in full swing with it’s family friendly concerts.  Lock 3 features a dynamic variety of entertainment and on weekend nights the amphitheater hosts FREE Rock the Lock concerts featuring the country’s best tribute bands.  This weekend’s features: The ONE, A Celebration of U-2, Friday August 12  and Terry Lee Goffee (The Real Johnny Cash Experience on Saturday, August 13.

Foreign Policy

The Ukrainian Festival turned out to be a great success… I even managed to snap one photo of my dance group before we went on…

Helllooooo gorgeous!

Anyway… I mentioned in my first post how Mario has a “funny little accent”.  It turns out… my whole life is pretty much a “funny little accent” – I can’t tell that I have one until I start speaking to someone that doesn’t.  My life is quite Ukrainian once I start explaining it to other people.  When people ask what I do in my spare time it sounds something like this: Well… there’s the Ukrainian dance, and the Ukrainian singing group, and… oh yeah, I work for the Ukrainian museum… most people get that glazy look in their eyes before asking if there’s anything I do that’s not Ukrainian.  So often times when I come in to work on a Monday after a big Ukrainian weekend the conversations go something like this:

Co-Worker: Good morning, how was your weekend?

Diana: Oh it was fine.  

Co-Worker: Do anything interesting?

Diana: Ummm… nope.  

It’s my policy to keep my foreign-ness under wraps as much as possible.  Trust me, it’s easier this way.

I Dreamed a Dream

So I dreamed about a blog post that I could write.  It was really interesting.  Funny thing about dreams, I always forget them.  So instead, below is a list of totally awesome things going on in Greater Cleveland this weekend.  Probably much better than anything I can dream.

Pokrova Parish Ukrainian Festival 2011 – I mean… I can just stop here.  This is one of the my favorite events of the year – along with fun entertainment like Kashtan Ukrainian Dance Ensemble and Zorya Vocal Ensemble (shameless plug, I’m in both groups…), great music and amazingly delicious Ukrainian food.  The one time of year that everyone is Ukrainian -oh, and it’s FREE! You just can’t lose.  At Pokrova Parish on Broadview in Parma, August 5, 6-11pm, August 6 2pm-12am and August 7 12pm-11pm.

If perogies aren’t your thing, you a very strange person – but here are some other fun events:

Puerto Rican Parade and Latino Festival –  Cleveland celebrates Latino traditions including food, music, dancing, and more. At Cleveland Municipal Parking Lot, August 6, 2pm.

Rockin’ On the River – aaaannnd…. it’s the 25th Anniversary of NE Ohio’s longest running and highest attended outdoor concert series. In Cuyahoga Falls this and every Friday from 5-11:30pm.

Twilight at the Zoo – An awesome music event at the zoo with an assortment of complimentary food, beer, wine and soft drinks. Dance under the stars to the rhythms of 17 bands playing Motown, rock, salsa, swing, country and blues. At the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, August 5 from 7pm to midnight.

Vintage Ohio Festival – Lots and lots of wine.  Need I say more? In Kirkland, August 5 and 6 from 1pm – 10pm.

Blues and Brews – NE Ohio’s largest craft brew events – sample more than 200 beers and enjoy live music and food from Winking Lizard.  At Lock 3 in Akron,  August 6 from 2pm-6pm.

Krusty’s Summer Sauce Camp – The 20th anniversary of this great event to benefit the Malachi House.  Live music, food and drinks.  At Whiskey Island, August 6, noon to dusk.

Lakewood Arts Festival – The 24th Annual event featuring a Beck Center of the Arts stage as well as tall puppets, jugglers and a mime.   In downtown Lakewood, August 6, 10am-6pm.

Huntington Beach Summer Beach Party – A free party featuring beach games and activities including sand castle building, Steel Drum Show, fishing and kayak demonstrations, and a featured movie – Free Willy – at 8:45pm.  At Cleveland Metroparks Huntington Reservation in Bay Village, August 6 from 5pm – 11pm.

Woah, that’s a lot of stuff, and I’m not even skimming the surface.  It’s great to be a Clevelander.  🙂  Have fun this weekend!