Opening Night
I hate how the media is treating Ricky Williams' failed drug test as the reason why he retired. It's as if the media doesn't understand Ricky's lack of greed, and how he wants to be out of the spotlight... so they're trying to find anything as the reason why he just up and quit football. Maybe Ricky realized there's more to life than football... or maybe Ricky doesn't want to end up with the knee problems that Earl Campbell and (more recently) Jerome Bettis seem to have. You know, it's nice to be able to walk in your mid-thirties.
Thursday afternoon I had a "what am I doing" moment. I spotted Andrea and Brian walking down Wells, so I started walking with them. Andrea was going to meet her brother Adam for an early dinner, so I sat outside with them while they waited. When Adam arrived, he was introduced to Brian and asked him what Brian does for the store. Brian replied "I take care of inventory, and I order stuff from Sysco... that kind of stuff". Now if someone were to ask me what I do for the store, that's probably how I would've answered. I sat while Brian answered, agape, wondering what it is that I do now for this company. I'm still working on that, I'll let you know when I find out.
Thursday evening was the 3rd Annual World's Largest Ice Cream Social. For three years, Coldstone has used this day to raise money for the Make-A-Wish foundation. For some odd reason, I found myself setting this all up Thursday evening... and telling everyone what to do and how to do it. I really don't understand what I'm doing... but whatever. We raised a LOT of money for Make-A-Wish... and I do feel proud about that. And here's no segue...
I just got a letter slid under my door on Friday. As of Monday, August 2nd, Planned Property Management is planning on showing my apartment. And the fun news is that they're planning on showing my apartment pretty much any time of any day during the week: Monday-Friday 10-8PM, Saturday 10-7PM, and Sunday 10-6PM. I feel like a bitch... like the building somehow owns me. And, to make matters worse, they said that I had until July 20th to renew my lease. This Donna woman called me last weekend (after the 20th) to renew my lease. We talked and she said that she would call me Tuesday. Did she call me Tuesday? No... she did not. The reason I haven't called her back is this whole ComEd/electricity bill thing. I supposedly owe 10-11 months of electricity bills which I didn't know about. I'm waiting until I get those bills before I can yell at everyone involved.
I got a call from my mom and dad at around 4 today. They decided they were too tired to show up to opening night. So not only did my sister cancel on me Thursday night, my parents cancelled Friday afternoon... I went from having my whole family at opening night, to having none of them in less than a day.
Speaking of my family not coming, no one I know showed up to opening night. I was supposed to have my boss, Brian, Kat, Keith and his wife and their friends there, and Amy said she might come. So I was thinking I was going to have 7 or 8 people coming... and none of them showed. I don't think I had a single person I knew in the audience opening night. And that was hard to take... it even hurt that Andrea didn't show up, because I told her that my parents were no longer coming. Whatever...
RIP "Traveling Through". We've got four scenes that we're rotating into the show... and they're going to replace a scene called "Traveling Through". That scene was the three men in the cast, and I got to play a creepy backwoods gasoline attendant name Enus. I became very comfortable with Enus... and he will be missed. I thought it was a very good scene... but there was something about it being all the men in the cast that made it replaceable.
After the show, we had a couple "cast party" type things. We went to the Fireplace Inn (on Wells)... and I got some food. Then we went to the Ole Town Pub on North, and some chick who came to the show bought me a PBR. Nice, huh? Well... she was already drunk, so whatever.
At about 2 am, Brian called me to apologize. Turns out he and his boyfriend broke up... and he was (understandably) too upset to come to the show. It was cool that he called, which is more than I can say for my boss.
Saturday, July 31, 2004
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Time to talk sports again
You hear about Wrigley Field and the falling chunks of concrete? That's funny. Because they're talking about closing Wrigley for at least a little while. Where would the Cubbies play? US Cellular? HA! For some stupid reason, the Sox fans would probably boo the crap out of the Cubs. So I suppose the Cubs could pull something like the Bears did a few years ago and play either at U of I or some other college (maybe a closer college). They could also pull an Expos and play in some other country. How about Cubs games being played in Mexico for a while? Or who wouldn't want to see a Cubs game in Iceland? In all honesty, my guess is that the Cubs will only close certain sections of the stadium at a time, allowing the park to still stay open and the Cubs to still play at home.
Now it's time to talk basketball. Rasheed Wallace stays a Piston, signing a five year deal. Does this make the Pistons a perennial powerhouse? The Pistons have a very young and very deep team. But, keep in mind that they did lose Okur to the stupid Jazz. They have decided to replace him with Antonio McDyess (who I would have been tons more happy to get if this was 1998). My guess is that McDyess will get big minutes during the beginning of the season and will lose minutes as Darko is integrated into the lineup. I think the Pistons will definitely be good next year as well... but the East has changed.
First of all, say good-bye to the powerhouse Nets in the East. I hear that Kenyon Martin is headed to the Nuggets, and I don't think the Nets have enough without Martin to compete in the now awesome East. With Carlos Boozer leaving Cleveland (to the stupid Jazz), Drew Gooden is going to the Cavs to take Boozer's place. I think it'll take another year at least for Cleveland to be any real competition. Who does that leave? Obviously the Pistons will be there, and the Pacers will make the Central Division the best in the East; and the newly Shaq-ed Heat will make them on of the three best teams in the East. Who will come out of the Atlantic? Your guess is as good as mine. My guess is that the Knicks are ready to take the division title... but they aren't as good as the Pistons, Pacers, or Heat. We'll see.
To football now, and I start with Eddie George becoming a Cowboy. A very good move for the Cowboys... who can now give Julius Jones an easier transition into the NFL. The Cowboys also finally released Chad Hutchinson. This was the Chad Hutchinson who was supposed to be the new Troy Aikman no more than two years ago. What happened? Well... when you play baseball *Drew Henson cough*, you aren't playing football.
The big news is that Ricky Williams retires out of nowhere! Tony Kornheiser says (and I tend to agree) that running back in the NFL is the easiest position to replace. Again, I agree... except Ricky Williams is one of those backs who will carry the ball a million times a game. He's the kind of running back who carries a team... and it's a shame for his football career that he won't keep playing. But it's not a shame for Ricky Williams the person. Remember this is the player who had a team's entire draft traded to get him, so his NFL career started in the spotlight. He used to wear his helmet (with the visor) when people interviewed him, because he has that "I'm shy and can't really talk to people" thing going on. He started a website so that he could let people know more about himself without having to talk to them. He's a photographer (and a pretty good amateur one, if I do say so myself)... and a person who seems to want to be left alone. Keep in mind, this is the same Ricky Williams who had someone pull him down by his dreadlocks during a game... only to have the league tell him that his hair is part of his uniform, and is fair to be tackled by. I mean, that must've really pissed off Ricky (it obviously did, as he then shaved his hair off). So good luck to Ricky Williams in wherever his life takes him.
And, almost finally, the most incredible sports accomplishment of my lifetime: Lance Armstrong wins his sixth straight Tour de France. From what I hear, this is the most grueling three weeks in all of sports... spending six hours a day on a bike, going up and down mountains, and being pretty bored as there's nothing to do on a bike for six hours besides keep peddling. It is physically and mentally draining... and Armstrong has dominated for six straight years. Add to his dominance of his sport the fact that he was diagnosed with at least three different kinds of cancer (prostate, brain, and something else), and was giving only a 50% chance of living no more than a decade ago... his accomplishments are truly remarkable.
ESPYs
The ESPYs came and went before I even knew it (they were something like 10 days ago), and I wanted to comment on them. Brett Favre did win two! Both the awards he was nominated for he won... he is an amazing man. The Detroit Pistons won two! For best team and best upset... they deserved both of those. Larry Brown won for best coach! He deserved it, too. For some strange reason, the fans were allowed to vote and they voted (in my opinion) correctly. People actually got awards based on merit, and not based on whether or not they play for the Yankees. How does that sound, MLB All-Star voting? Sounds like something you should try? Stupid Yankees.
You hear about Wrigley Field and the falling chunks of concrete? That's funny. Because they're talking about closing Wrigley for at least a little while. Where would the Cubbies play? US Cellular? HA! For some stupid reason, the Sox fans would probably boo the crap out of the Cubs. So I suppose the Cubs could pull something like the Bears did a few years ago and play either at U of I or some other college (maybe a closer college). They could also pull an Expos and play in some other country. How about Cubs games being played in Mexico for a while? Or who wouldn't want to see a Cubs game in Iceland? In all honesty, my guess is that the Cubs will only close certain sections of the stadium at a time, allowing the park to still stay open and the Cubs to still play at home.
Now it's time to talk basketball. Rasheed Wallace stays a Piston, signing a five year deal. Does this make the Pistons a perennial powerhouse? The Pistons have a very young and very deep team. But, keep in mind that they did lose Okur to the stupid Jazz. They have decided to replace him with Antonio McDyess (who I would have been tons more happy to get if this was 1998). My guess is that McDyess will get big minutes during the beginning of the season and will lose minutes as Darko is integrated into the lineup. I think the Pistons will definitely be good next year as well... but the East has changed.
First of all, say good-bye to the powerhouse Nets in the East. I hear that Kenyon Martin is headed to the Nuggets, and I don't think the Nets have enough without Martin to compete in the now awesome East. With Carlos Boozer leaving Cleveland (to the stupid Jazz), Drew Gooden is going to the Cavs to take Boozer's place. I think it'll take another year at least for Cleveland to be any real competition. Who does that leave? Obviously the Pistons will be there, and the Pacers will make the Central Division the best in the East; and the newly Shaq-ed Heat will make them on of the three best teams in the East. Who will come out of the Atlantic? Your guess is as good as mine. My guess is that the Knicks are ready to take the division title... but they aren't as good as the Pistons, Pacers, or Heat. We'll see.
To football now, and I start with Eddie George becoming a Cowboy. A very good move for the Cowboys... who can now give Julius Jones an easier transition into the NFL. The Cowboys also finally released Chad Hutchinson. This was the Chad Hutchinson who was supposed to be the new Troy Aikman no more than two years ago. What happened? Well... when you play baseball *Drew Henson cough*, you aren't playing football.
The big news is that Ricky Williams retires out of nowhere! Tony Kornheiser says (and I tend to agree) that running back in the NFL is the easiest position to replace. Again, I agree... except Ricky Williams is one of those backs who will carry the ball a million times a game. He's the kind of running back who carries a team... and it's a shame for his football career that he won't keep playing. But it's not a shame for Ricky Williams the person. Remember this is the player who had a team's entire draft traded to get him, so his NFL career started in the spotlight. He used to wear his helmet (with the visor) when people interviewed him, because he has that "I'm shy and can't really talk to people" thing going on. He started a website so that he could let people know more about himself without having to talk to them. He's a photographer (and a pretty good amateur one, if I do say so myself)... and a person who seems to want to be left alone. Keep in mind, this is the same Ricky Williams who had someone pull him down by his dreadlocks during a game... only to have the league tell him that his hair is part of his uniform, and is fair to be tackled by. I mean, that must've really pissed off Ricky (it obviously did, as he then shaved his hair off). So good luck to Ricky Williams in wherever his life takes him.
And, almost finally, the most incredible sports accomplishment of my lifetime: Lance Armstrong wins his sixth straight Tour de France. From what I hear, this is the most grueling three weeks in all of sports... spending six hours a day on a bike, going up and down mountains, and being pretty bored as there's nothing to do on a bike for six hours besides keep peddling. It is physically and mentally draining... and Armstrong has dominated for six straight years. Add to his dominance of his sport the fact that he was diagnosed with at least three different kinds of cancer (prostate, brain, and something else), and was giving only a 50% chance of living no more than a decade ago... his accomplishments are truly remarkable.
ESPYs
The ESPYs came and went before I even knew it (they were something like 10 days ago), and I wanted to comment on them. Brett Favre did win two! Both the awards he was nominated for he won... he is an amazing man. The Detroit Pistons won two! For best team and best upset... they deserved both of those. Larry Brown won for best coach! He deserved it, too. For some strange reason, the fans were allowed to vote and they voted (in my opinion) correctly. People actually got awards based on merit, and not based on whether or not they play for the Yankees. How does that sound, MLB All-Star voting? Sounds like something you should try? Stupid Yankees.
Monday, July 26, 2004
Ice Cream Sunday
Sunday morning started early. I woke up at 7 so that I could get to rehearsal this morning. The rehearsal was from 9 to Noon, which is apparently early for everyone because it really showed. All the cast members looked groggy and tired. Even the writers looked like they were saying "I don't care if you get my lines right, just get through the f--king scene". The rehearsal went fairly well, overall, with only one or two major screw-ups. Those screw-ups, unfortunately, consist of people not being memorized.
After rehearsal I had three phone messages waiting for me... two from work and one from my son. I'll start with the two from work. We recently had to change our alarm code due to someone's fabulous awesomeness. I won't go into it, but I will say that it involves someone writing down the alarm code and the safe code on a "Coldstone Creamery 1533 North Wells" business card AND labeling the codes "alarm code" and "safe code" and then losing that business card. What an idiot. So this morning the alarm went off and the person at the store didn't know the new code, so she kept punching in the wrong code... and come 10:15 AM the cops came and gave us a ticket for a false alarm (yeah... the cops ticket that shit). I called Brian at noon and gave him the override code just as ANOTHER cop came by to give us yet ANOTHER ticket. I don't know how that's possible to give us two separate tickets on the same day for the same thing... would they have just kept coming with tickets if we couldn't get it fixed? By 10 PM would we have had 5 or 6 tickets? What the shit? So I came in and looked at the tickets... talked to Brian for a bit, and went to the gym for more fun training!
After the training, I rushed back to my apartment, changed and ate, and headed back to the store to pick up Brian. We needed to go to CostCo again, and Brian (being the manager now) should be in on this whole process. I told him I would be willing to go to CostCo for his store... but that once the other stores opened, it was going to be impossible for me to do the CostCo runs for all three stores. On the way back from CostCo, we stopped by the only Taco Bell I know of in the greater Chicago area. Brian misses Taco Bell too, so this is the second time we've stopped there together (hot boy-on-boy action at the Taco Bell). I talked to him about everything my dad and I had talked about Saturday afternoon... and he listened. It was nice to be able to talk to someone about feelings again. It's just different than when you're on the phone... being face to face is so much better. I don't know... it was nice. I also told Brian not to burn himself out, as he's come back from ICU with all sorts of energy... ready to pull ice cream and sing and make his store the greatest Coldstone in the country. All these things are good... but I just warned him to pace himself.
Speaking of pace and no segue, it was "Ice Cream Sunday" on Food Network. They had an evening of ice cream related stuff... and I taped most of it. I was lying on my futon, half watching the tv and half wanting to be asleep or dead. It was supposed to be relaxing, I think, but it kind of wasn't. I've got so much to do in the next two weeks that I might as well have just gone to sleep at about 8 last night and woke up insanely early this morning. Too late now, I guess. Enjoy your Monday.
Sunday morning started early. I woke up at 7 so that I could get to rehearsal this morning. The rehearsal was from 9 to Noon, which is apparently early for everyone because it really showed. All the cast members looked groggy and tired. Even the writers looked like they were saying "I don't care if you get my lines right, just get through the f--king scene". The rehearsal went fairly well, overall, with only one or two major screw-ups. Those screw-ups, unfortunately, consist of people not being memorized.
After rehearsal I had three phone messages waiting for me... two from work and one from my son. I'll start with the two from work. We recently had to change our alarm code due to someone's fabulous awesomeness. I won't go into it, but I will say that it involves someone writing down the alarm code and the safe code on a "Coldstone Creamery 1533 North Wells" business card AND labeling the codes "alarm code" and "safe code" and then losing that business card. What an idiot. So this morning the alarm went off and the person at the store didn't know the new code, so she kept punching in the wrong code... and come 10:15 AM the cops came and gave us a ticket for a false alarm (yeah... the cops ticket that shit). I called Brian at noon and gave him the override code just as ANOTHER cop came by to give us yet ANOTHER ticket. I don't know how that's possible to give us two separate tickets on the same day for the same thing... would they have just kept coming with tickets if we couldn't get it fixed? By 10 PM would we have had 5 or 6 tickets? What the shit? So I came in and looked at the tickets... talked to Brian for a bit, and went to the gym for more fun training!
After the training, I rushed back to my apartment, changed and ate, and headed back to the store to pick up Brian. We needed to go to CostCo again, and Brian (being the manager now) should be in on this whole process. I told him I would be willing to go to CostCo for his store... but that once the other stores opened, it was going to be impossible for me to do the CostCo runs for all three stores. On the way back from CostCo, we stopped by the only Taco Bell I know of in the greater Chicago area. Brian misses Taco Bell too, so this is the second time we've stopped there together (hot boy-on-boy action at the Taco Bell). I talked to him about everything my dad and I had talked about Saturday afternoon... and he listened. It was nice to be able to talk to someone about feelings again. It's just different than when you're on the phone... being face to face is so much better. I don't know... it was nice. I also told Brian not to burn himself out, as he's come back from ICU with all sorts of energy... ready to pull ice cream and sing and make his store the greatest Coldstone in the country. All these things are good... but I just warned him to pace himself.
Speaking of pace and no segue, it was "Ice Cream Sunday" on Food Network. They had an evening of ice cream related stuff... and I taped most of it. I was lying on my futon, half watching the tv and half wanting to be asleep or dead. It was supposed to be relaxing, I think, but it kind of wasn't. I've got so much to do in the next two weeks that I might as well have just gone to sleep at about 8 last night and woke up insanely early this morning. Too late now, I guess. Enjoy your Monday.
Sunday, July 25, 2004
Wow... why do things keep sucking? Do YOU know why? Because I don't
Saturday didn't start out that badly. I didn't set an alarm for the first time in weeks (maybe months), and woke up to (probably) a wrong number at 9:30. But that didn't matter because it was still almost two full hours later than I normally wake up. When I woke up, I turned on the tv and looked around for something to watch... and I came across a Miami/Florida State football game on ESPN Classic from 2002, which I started watching. For some reason (perhaps the impending football season) I just became flooded with Fall memories... sitting on a Saturday afternoon watching football, going to St. John's Cider Mill and getting apple cider and doughnuts, the smell of the leaves, going to Ferris State games with Nate and Jase and sitting in the student section or the opposite endzone and talking football/playing football/enjoying each other's company all afternoon. I was flooded by such a nostalgia that I wanted it to be fall and I wanted to be home... and I missed everything about the fall in Big Rapids, Michigan. If I didn't have this writing 5 show, and a rehearsal Sunday morning, I probably would've driven home. But it's not fall... and I would've been disappointed if I went home because nothing's the same.
Saturday afternoon I got a call from the renewal agent at Planned Property Management (the company that owns my apartment building). She gave me an offer at a rate a little higher than this past year's rate to stay in my apartment. But the rate she gave me was significantly less than the I told her that I was looking to maybe move into a one bedroom apartment in my same apartment complex... because I've decided that my studio is really too small to spend another year in. And it is... it's a small room and not a place I could bring friends over if I ever decided to have friends. Or even, heaven forbid, I try to date someone. Although, the more I think about it, the more I think that I just can't afford putting up the extra cash to have an apartment that I can have people visit. Y'all may just have to put up with the floor.
I then called my parents to tell them about the offer to stay in my apartment, and just generally to catch up on what happened to me since we last talked (probably last weekend sometime). My dad and I talked for a while, and I'm not going to get into it... but my dad and I basically argued about money. Long story short, I think I've got one year to make myself pretty much self-sufficient. Thusly, I'm having to re-adjust my thinking on a lot of things (as I honestly can't afford to live in this city without help). Say good-bye to Thad. Say good-bye to lots of other things, and say hello to an even more frugal (if it's possible) Mr. J. Steeno.
At night I went to dinner with Andrea and Brian at Salpicon on Wells. It's a very expensive Mexican restaurant and, in my opinion, wasn't worth the price. But, as with all business dinners, I didn't pay, so I guess it was worth it(?). No... even if you don't pay, overpriced food will always be overpriced. That made sense.
After dinner, the three of us went up to the sun deck of Andrea's apartment complex. It's been surprisingly cold in Chicago for late July... I think it didn't get any higher than the mid 70s today, and there was a wind all day which made it seem even colder. Anyway, we went through all the applications for crew members from the Wells Coldstone. The applications included one from a guy who I do improv with, Jerry. I don't really want to go into this, but I don't really think he'd fit into the Coldstone atmosphere. Unless we want our new thing to be yelling really loudly and swearing almost every second. If that were the case, he could most certainly be our poster child. And it's not like I don't think he's funny, because he is... he just isn't a team player in a team game... and it really shows. I do feel bad, though, because he's asked me twice about it and I'm going to have to say either "I don't know" or "It looks like you're not Coldstone material" or "You're a fucker, shut your mouth". All of those things are difficult to tell someone, so I don't look forward to it.
Saturday didn't start out that badly. I didn't set an alarm for the first time in weeks (maybe months), and woke up to (probably) a wrong number at 9:30. But that didn't matter because it was still almost two full hours later than I normally wake up. When I woke up, I turned on the tv and looked around for something to watch... and I came across a Miami/Florida State football game on ESPN Classic from 2002, which I started watching. For some reason (perhaps the impending football season) I just became flooded with Fall memories... sitting on a Saturday afternoon watching football, going to St. John's Cider Mill and getting apple cider and doughnuts, the smell of the leaves, going to Ferris State games with Nate and Jase and sitting in the student section or the opposite endzone and talking football/playing football/enjoying each other's company all afternoon. I was flooded by such a nostalgia that I wanted it to be fall and I wanted to be home... and I missed everything about the fall in Big Rapids, Michigan. If I didn't have this writing 5 show, and a rehearsal Sunday morning, I probably would've driven home. But it's not fall... and I would've been disappointed if I went home because nothing's the same.
Saturday afternoon I got a call from the renewal agent at Planned Property Management (the company that owns my apartment building). She gave me an offer at a rate a little higher than this past year's rate to stay in my apartment. But the rate she gave me was significantly less than the I told her that I was looking to maybe move into a one bedroom apartment in my same apartment complex... because I've decided that my studio is really too small to spend another year in. And it is... it's a small room and not a place I could bring friends over if I ever decided to have friends. Or even, heaven forbid, I try to date someone. Although, the more I think about it, the more I think that I just can't afford putting up the extra cash to have an apartment that I can have people visit. Y'all may just have to put up with the floor.
I then called my parents to tell them about the offer to stay in my apartment, and just generally to catch up on what happened to me since we last talked (probably last weekend sometime). My dad and I talked for a while, and I'm not going to get into it... but my dad and I basically argued about money. Long story short, I think I've got one year to make myself pretty much self-sufficient. Thusly, I'm having to re-adjust my thinking on a lot of things (as I honestly can't afford to live in this city without help). Say good-bye to Thad. Say good-bye to lots of other things, and say hello to an even more frugal (if it's possible) Mr. J. Steeno.
At night I went to dinner with Andrea and Brian at Salpicon on Wells. It's a very expensive Mexican restaurant and, in my opinion, wasn't worth the price. But, as with all business dinners, I didn't pay, so I guess it was worth it(?). No... even if you don't pay, overpriced food will always be overpriced. That made sense.
After dinner, the three of us went up to the sun deck of Andrea's apartment complex. It's been surprisingly cold in Chicago for late July... I think it didn't get any higher than the mid 70s today, and there was a wind all day which made it seem even colder. Anyway, we went through all the applications for crew members from the Wells Coldstone. The applications included one from a guy who I do improv with, Jerry. I don't really want to go into this, but I don't really think he'd fit into the Coldstone atmosphere. Unless we want our new thing to be yelling really loudly and swearing almost every second. If that were the case, he could most certainly be our poster child. And it's not like I don't think he's funny, because he is... he just isn't a team player in a team game... and it really shows. I do feel bad, though, because he's asked me twice about it and I'm going to have to say either "I don't know" or "It looks like you're not Coldstone material" or "You're a fucker, shut your mouth". All of those things are difficult to tell someone, so I don't look forward to it.
Saturday, July 24, 2004
Phone Calls... lots and lots of phone calls
Thursday morning I spent making phone calls. I got a notice from ComEd (an electricity company) that there has been electricity used at my apartment (obviously), and I haven't set up service. This is true, as I was almost positive that my building took care of all utilities. This is not the case. What does that mean? Well... I basically owe 10 months of electric. In case you don't know, that's a lot of money. So I called ComEd, and I called my building, and I called all manner of companies for work. I was basically on the phone all morning and a little bit of the afternoon.
Then, in the afternoon, I got a call from Coldstone that they were out of credit card paper. My job is interesting, indeed. So I drove to Office Max and purchased the necessary credit card paper. I also bought myself some new pants for the Level 5 show (some Dickies... just because Ken thinks I look hot, I mean, because Ken likes Dickies, I mean... um... Ken and stuff).
On my way back from my errands, there was a fire at Cabrini Green. It was filling the air with a brown (not black) smoke... and it smelled awful. I looked around on the different Chicago News websites to link something to the fire (because I was right there when it happened)... but, unfortunately, a fire in the projects isn't newsworthy enough. Apparently no one died, otherwise I would've been able to show you at least a little article about it. Here's the point of today: No one cares about poor people.
After that enlightening experience, I had an evening of running lines. I met up with 5 of the 6 cast members of my Level 5 show. We went over a lot of the scenes and did all kinds of speed throughs. It was good, I suppose, because there are a lot of people in the cast who don't know their lines as well as I do (the consummate professional, as always). After running lines, we went across the street to Corcorans and got some drinks and some food. We must have spent a couple hours sitting and talking. It was very nice.
After that, I went to Cobblers square and spent another hour or so talkin' to the Big Boss Lady. I basically told her I'm going to be in Chicago for at least another year... and that it's time to take the next big step in our relationship: I'm buying us a dog. I'm kidding. I'm not buying us a dog.
Friday morning looked a lot like Thursday morning. I spent the whole morning on the phone. I called SBC to set up service for the new store on North Ave. Speaking of Coldstone (I can put this anywhere in my blog, because, chances are I'm talking about Coldstone), Andrea called me. The reason I've been having so much trouble ordering stuff is that our bank account is a little light. So she wanted me to make a deposit this afternoon. Three hours later, and I'm done with the deposit and back at my apartment eating lunch.
The lunch was short lived, as Andrea called again. We've got signs to put up at the new store locations, and she thought that today was the perfect afternoon to do that. Andrea drove me to the new store... for the first time. It's "bigger" than the store on Wells, but it doesn't have as much space for storage. Andrea and I had a "fun time" putting up the 'Coming Soon' sign. I'm not even lying, I loved every second of people constantly asking when it was opening, I loved that weird guy who thought he would help us by telling us where the sign could go and how to put it up, AND especially I loved the dust and stuff that was getting in my eyes while I was in the construction zone. Fun fun fun.
At any rate, about half-way through the day I got this feeling that I should be somewhere safe... that I should be in my apartment, just playing video games and basically hiding from the world. It was a weird feeling, but something I couldn't deny all day. I felt like I should be somewhere hidden all day. It was so odd... and it wasn't like anything happened yesterday that made me think that I should have listened to myself. It was very weird.
Thursday morning I spent making phone calls. I got a notice from ComEd (an electricity company) that there has been electricity used at my apartment (obviously), and I haven't set up service. This is true, as I was almost positive that my building took care of all utilities. This is not the case. What does that mean? Well... I basically owe 10 months of electric. In case you don't know, that's a lot of money. So I called ComEd, and I called my building, and I called all manner of companies for work. I was basically on the phone all morning and a little bit of the afternoon.
Then, in the afternoon, I got a call from Coldstone that they were out of credit card paper. My job is interesting, indeed. So I drove to Office Max and purchased the necessary credit card paper. I also bought myself some new pants for the Level 5 show (some Dickies... just because Ken thinks I look hot, I mean, because Ken likes Dickies, I mean... um... Ken and stuff).
On my way back from my errands, there was a fire at Cabrini Green. It was filling the air with a brown (not black) smoke... and it smelled awful. I looked around on the different Chicago News websites to link something to the fire (because I was right there when it happened)... but, unfortunately, a fire in the projects isn't newsworthy enough. Apparently no one died, otherwise I would've been able to show you at least a little article about it. Here's the point of today: No one cares about poor people.
After that enlightening experience, I had an evening of running lines. I met up with 5 of the 6 cast members of my Level 5 show. We went over a lot of the scenes and did all kinds of speed throughs. It was good, I suppose, because there are a lot of people in the cast who don't know their lines as well as I do (the consummate professional, as always). After running lines, we went across the street to Corcorans and got some drinks and some food. We must have spent a couple hours sitting and talking. It was very nice.
After that, I went to Cobblers square and spent another hour or so talkin' to the Big Boss Lady. I basically told her I'm going to be in Chicago for at least another year... and that it's time to take the next big step in our relationship: I'm buying us a dog. I'm kidding. I'm not buying us a dog.
Friday morning looked a lot like Thursday morning. I spent the whole morning on the phone. I called SBC to set up service for the new store on North Ave. Speaking of Coldstone (I can put this anywhere in my blog, because, chances are I'm talking about Coldstone), Andrea called me. The reason I've been having so much trouble ordering stuff is that our bank account is a little light. So she wanted me to make a deposit this afternoon. Three hours later, and I'm done with the deposit and back at my apartment eating lunch.
The lunch was short lived, as Andrea called again. We've got signs to put up at the new store locations, and she thought that today was the perfect afternoon to do that. Andrea drove me to the new store... for the first time. It's "bigger" than the store on Wells, but it doesn't have as much space for storage. Andrea and I had a "fun time" putting up the 'Coming Soon' sign. I'm not even lying, I loved every second of people constantly asking when it was opening, I loved that weird guy who thought he would help us by telling us where the sign could go and how to put it up, AND especially I loved the dust and stuff that was getting in my eyes while I was in the construction zone. Fun fun fun.
At any rate, about half-way through the day I got this feeling that I should be somewhere safe... that I should be in my apartment, just playing video games and basically hiding from the world. It was a weird feeling, but something I couldn't deny all day. I felt like I should be somewhere hidden all day. It was so odd... and it wasn't like anything happened yesterday that made me think that I should have listened to myself. It was very weird.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
It never ends
Last night I went to a "student-lead" Improv class. I put student lead in quotes because that phrase seems to connote that someone was actually leading... which was not the case. I got so upset at how much of a waste of time it was, that I almost just left. Nobody seems interested in playing along... and, what's worse, there are definitely people who just want to do their own thing and they really aren't interested in what you're saying or trying to do. That just burns me up inside. Regardless, it was really well "put together" by someone from the class... who basically figured we'd all be adult enough to lead ourselves. Still, not the case. Then everyone went out for drinks afterwards, and I couldn't stand being around them long enough to drink anything, so I didn't go. On top of the behavior of the students, the instructors didn't cast me in any good games. I'm in SLSR (shift left, shift right), which could be a good game, but it's not. And I'm also in a game called City Bus, which ranks up as one of my least favorite games ever. It easily lends itself to having 8 people (it's a large game) all on stage at the same time talking all at once with no one listening. This is KILLER because half my class does that anyway.
After that crappy rehearsal, I went and saw Dodgeball with Andrea @ the AMC River East. The interesting part about the location is that Andrea had never been to the River East, even though she's lived in Chicago her whole life. I guess I just can't imagine not going someplace like a movie theatre in your hometown, as my hometown was so ridiculously small. Furthermore, she said she didn't even know the AMC existed... and I really can't imagine that. The movie had it's moments... and it definitely had great lines. It's one of those movies where you could be talking to someone about the movie and go back and forth with funny lines... how did that not make sense? It made so much sense in my head. And then, reading it, I'm thinking "What am I trying to say THERE?" It doesn't matter... what I mean is that Dodgeball is the kind of movie that I could be in. I could be in it right now, if I were in LA and cast in that movie, I would have fit right in.
I wasn't able to work out today. I went to XSport, and they were unable to print out the ticket I needed. They said that I had worked ahead of my payment schedule, and that I would be unable to train until I had been billed for it. I guess that's okay, as it's been a long time since I lifted, and I was really tired. But it sucked, because I was prepared to lift. I did get a chance to talk more to Julie, who seems to be the only staff member at XSport who knows my name. And she's cute, so that's a plus. Knows my name, cute, has a pulse... my kinda lady.
Last night I went to a "student-lead" Improv class. I put student lead in quotes because that phrase seems to connote that someone was actually leading... which was not the case. I got so upset at how much of a waste of time it was, that I almost just left. Nobody seems interested in playing along... and, what's worse, there are definitely people who just want to do their own thing and they really aren't interested in what you're saying or trying to do. That just burns me up inside. Regardless, it was really well "put together" by someone from the class... who basically figured we'd all be adult enough to lead ourselves. Still, not the case. Then everyone went out for drinks afterwards, and I couldn't stand being around them long enough to drink anything, so I didn't go. On top of the behavior of the students, the instructors didn't cast me in any good games. I'm in SLSR (shift left, shift right), which could be a good game, but it's not. And I'm also in a game called City Bus, which ranks up as one of my least favorite games ever. It easily lends itself to having 8 people (it's a large game) all on stage at the same time talking all at once with no one listening. This is KILLER because half my class does that anyway.
After that crappy rehearsal, I went and saw Dodgeball with Andrea @ the AMC River East. The interesting part about the location is that Andrea had never been to the River East, even though she's lived in Chicago her whole life. I guess I just can't imagine not going someplace like a movie theatre in your hometown, as my hometown was so ridiculously small. Furthermore, she said she didn't even know the AMC existed... and I really can't imagine that. The movie had it's moments... and it definitely had great lines. It's one of those movies where you could be talking to someone about the movie and go back and forth with funny lines... how did that not make sense? It made so much sense in my head. And then, reading it, I'm thinking "What am I trying to say THERE?" It doesn't matter... what I mean is that Dodgeball is the kind of movie that I could be in. I could be in it right now, if I were in LA and cast in that movie, I would have fit right in.
I wasn't able to work out today. I went to XSport, and they were unable to print out the ticket I needed. They said that I had worked ahead of my payment schedule, and that I would be unable to train until I had been billed for it. I guess that's okay, as it's been a long time since I lifted, and I was really tired. But it sucked, because I was prepared to lift. I did get a chance to talk more to Julie, who seems to be the only staff member at XSport who knows my name. And she's cute, so that's a plus. Knows my name, cute, has a pulse... my kinda lady.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson
Thursday: Ken got into Chicago a little after 5 AM and he called me around quarter to 6. I met him near the Sedgewick L stop and we proceeded to Mitchell's/Michael's for breakfast. Imagine Mitchell's as a more expensive Denny's, and you've got it. I think we had a really pleasant chat and breakfast. A general nervousness over the next few days was the overall theme, but it's always nice to be able to catch up with someone face-to-face. After our breakfast, we headed back to my apartment and warmed up for the weekend with a little Halo. We're still as awesome a team as we ever were... he runs head-first into danger and I stand around and pick off the distracted enemies one-by-one. That's f--king teamwork! After Halo, we watched some TV and waited for Best Buy to open (at 10). We then proceeded to Best Buy to buy ourselves lots of electronic stuff that we don't really need: Ken got Conflict Desert Storm and a RHH CD, and I got a GCN Sonic collection (it's like 9 old Sonic the Hedgehog games on one disc. Awesome!), Prince of Persia (which I hear is an awesome platform/adventure game for only $20), and NCAA Football 2005! >sigh< I'll be buying those games for the rest of my life. We then drove out to CostCo, the most magical place on the planet. Ken and I walked around for a while and I eventually bought some socks (how lame am I?) and some workout pants. Then it was back to my place for some Conflict: Desert Storm action! I was plesantly surprised. For a tactical shooting game (which I don't really like) it played very accessibly. It reminded me a lot of Brute Force, in that every member of the four-person team has a special job and specific abilities... but there was some added fun in that it was very realistic AND that if a member of your team was "knocked unconscious" you had to get to them with a med-pack to continue the mission. Every member of the team has to survive. It was a pretty cool game. Unfortunately, I think it'll be too boring and long, like Brute Force, to play with just one player. So it's a fun game for me and Ken to play together, but I don't think I'd buy it just for me. I then went to work out with Thad (Ken stayed and took a nap)... and I had one of the hardest workouts so far. Thad keeps increasing weights... and I was already SUPER-tired when I got there, so it was a hard workout. When I came back to the apartment, Ken and I went out to Lou Malnati's for pizza. It's a fun-tacular place... and I was starving by the time we got our pizza at like 8:30 or 9. It was good... and we were about to head back to my place when I texted my boss, and Andrea called back. Ken, being the stupid bastard that he is, wanted to meet her so we did. We went to Cobbler Square and hung out on the benches outside the building. We talked for over an hour... and I think everyone enjoyed the conversation. And Ken's probably in love with my boss... but who can blame him, really?
Friday: Ken and I woke up at 6 AM, and got ready to leave for BR. Then it was to the Crazy Mobile and off on a four hour fun filled drive! We listened to the radio for a bit... both hesitant to start practicing the songs, probably because we were both really worried about them. When we did start singing the songs, I realized very quickly that I should have warmed up my voice first. I strained my voice while we were practicing, and he and I didn't get the amount of time we would have liked. No matter... we got to BR around Noon and each had lunch at our respective houses until we got back together about 2:30 for rehearsal. Ken and I drove out to Nate's and rehearsed for a couple hours. Then Ken and I went back to our respective houses to change for the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner was slightly weird, as I had to wait until they were done rehearsing before I was allowed to practice with the accompanist, Lois. Lois told me that she was going to stick to me "like glue" and that she's be "right behind" me. And she didn't disappoint. Unfortunately for me, she was consistently half a beat or more behind me. Ergo, I basically felt unsupported by the accompanist whilst I was singing. I then went into the gym where everyone else was having dinner and was given a Packer's mug with my name on it (I know!) as a gift for singing in the wedding. After dinner, Karen and I headed back to our house to change, and then it was off to Jean's grandparents' house for the "traditional" bonfire. I don't know who has this tradition, but it's apparently traditional. I got to sit by the campfire for about five minutes before Jean said "Anyone who wants to consider themselves my friend in the morning is going on the hayride right now". She then proceeded to pull me out of my chair, probably because she knew that threatening to lose a friend will never make me do anything (as I don't care about people). I walked Katie down to the tractor, hitting on her the whole way. Katie's fun to hit on... know why? Because she's hot, that's why. And she laughs at me being stupid and hitting on her. That's a good feeling. I love hitting on someone all cheesily and having them laugh. I don't care if it's "working" or not... all I need is the laugh. Anyway, so the hayride happened... and it rained on us. I turned to Ken and said something to the effect of "You know those times in your life where you don't look back with fondness, and you don't look back with sadness, you just look back and remember? This is one of those times". That's only partially true, I'm already looking back on it with a sense of fondness... as how many more times will Ken, Nate, and I be on one vehicle at one time? >shrug< Your guess is as good as mine. But the hayride in the rain was pretty much the end of the day.
Saturday: Ken, Nate, and I went to the VFW first thing in the morning (11 instead of 6 today). We ran through the songs a few more times and got used to the acoustics of the room. There's lots of video of us walking around talking about the music (just lots of video of us in general)... but since there was no one there yet, Bridget got some footage of us rehearsing. After we rehearsed for about an hour and a half, I drove Ken home and I went home to shower, shave, and get ready for the wedding. I then picked Nate and Ken up and went to the church. We were pretty much the first non-wedding party people there. I think we got there before the Reverend. So Nate and I had lots of time to talk and goof around. I'm sure he could sense how nervous I was about singing in the actual wedding... so he kept me in good spirits and thinking about other things. He's an amazing friend. The wedding started and was finished before I knew it. It was a short ceremony (only about 22 minutes), and almost 20% of the time was me singing. Afterwards I asked everyone who would give it to me straight how they thought it went. Nate seemed to be the only one to really be honest. It wasn't the worst singing of a song in the history of man-kind, but the higher notes were out of my range. Everyone else I talked to said I did a great job, etc. I think that they were all just so happy it wasn't them singing, that I did a great job in comparison... that or the emotions of the moment kept them so involved in the wedding, that they didn't really remember, they only couldn't remember it being BAD. This is why taping the wedding is going to kill the memory of that song. The more people listen to it outside of the emotions of the ceremony, the worse I'm sure it will be. In short: don't watch the tape. Nate and I snuck out right after the ceremony ended because we wanted to get a mic check with the DJs equipment and the VFW Hall. Unfortunately, the DJ wasn't there... so we just talked for a while longer. I also had some kegged root beer which was unbelievably good. I guess root beer belongs in kegs. Who knew? It seemed like it took a very long time for Ken and the rest of the wedding party to get there, but they eventually did. When they did, we talked to the DJ about mics and sound check. Basically, we couldn't do a sound check at the time, so we had to do it on the fly. This made Ken totally uneasy... but I really didn't care. I had already ruined the wedding once that day, this wasn't a big deal to me. At any rate, the Nervous Band and I ate, watched the first dance, watched the wedding party dance, and danced in the "short set" before we played. Then it was time... finally. We started with Almost Paradise, which we had changed a bit because I wasn't able to sing very high. It went well enough, and the crowd (read: Jean) looked like they were having a good time. Then we played Kelly's Girl... which was just a lot of fun. Every young lady in the wedding party seemed to be into it. I'm almost sure some of the choruses were off-key, but that is because I had to drop them down an octave, and I'm not very good at singing something unless I've heard it exactly the way I'm singing it. Regardless, Jean loved it and Kelly was very cool about the lyrics, he played along and that was awesome. That was it... I danced provocatively with many many young ladies, and went home with Nate, Allison, and Ken and we all talked for a while. That's really it for the wedding and reception. I may have teared up a little when Jean walked down the aisle, as it had finally hit me... seeing her in THE dress. I was too worried about the singing to really pay attention to the ceremony after that. Then the reception was fun... I was able to hit on Katie, both before and after her boyfriend showed up. And I was able to dance with everyone I wanted to dance with, including Kelly (during the $1 dance). I also watched Kelly and Jean dance together from up close (I was dancing with Rhea), and I could sense a lot of love... it made me happy to see them just so in love. It was nice, I promise.
Sunday: I woke up from a very very odd dream. I'm not sure how this worked, but I'm pretty sure that I was LeBron James in my dream... and my team was playing against: Cleveland and LeBron James. I don't know how that works, but I know my team was down by four with only a few seconds left and I got a full-court pass to me wide open under the basket and I fumbled the ball out of bounds. My team eventually lost... and I felt very responsible. Another weird part of the dream was that women still wanted to sleep with me, and I was disgusted by the thought, after having just lost the game for my team. I'm weird. I then had breakfast with my family. It was really the only time I was able to spend with them the entire weekend, and it went incredibly quickly. Before I knew it, I was rushing out the door to be able to make it to Chicago on time for my Writing 5 rehearsal. The drive back to Chicago always seems longer than the drive to BR... which I blame on the speed limits. It's 70 in MI, 65 through Indiana, and a ridiculous 55 near Chicago; so as I get closer, I have to go slower. Or perhaps it's because I'd rather be staying in Michigan with my family than here in Chicago by myself. Regardless, I got into Chicago with just enough time to run to play rehearsal (I ended up being about five minutes late). Rehearsal was long, and very tiring... but I got through it, and the lines are still coming along 'famously'. After play rehearsal, I called a few people (including Andrea) to catch up on what I had missed the past four days. My voice had gotten progressively worse after play practice and almost all of my energy was gone due to the rehearsal... so it was interesting to hear people asking me if I was sick or if I had died. Wait... only one of those things happened. And, they were disappointed as I hadn't died. I then relaxed and watched the Bourne Identity (my father lent it to me) before bed.
Monday: I spent most of the morning writing my scene for class. It was a deconstruction scene... and it turned out fairly well. I turned it in tonight and got good feedback on it. I am going to be able to move on to the Writing 4 class... which means sometime in December, they will be performing stuff that I wrote. Neat, huh?
Wanna see why Jackson, Michigan is full of idiots? Go here: http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Midwest/07/19/sticky.situation.ap/index.html.
Thursday: Ken got into Chicago a little after 5 AM and he called me around quarter to 6. I met him near the Sedgewick L stop and we proceeded to Mitchell's/Michael's for breakfast. Imagine Mitchell's as a more expensive Denny's, and you've got it. I think we had a really pleasant chat and breakfast. A general nervousness over the next few days was the overall theme, but it's always nice to be able to catch up with someone face-to-face. After our breakfast, we headed back to my apartment and warmed up for the weekend with a little Halo. We're still as awesome a team as we ever were... he runs head-first into danger and I stand around and pick off the distracted enemies one-by-one. That's f--king teamwork! After Halo, we watched some TV and waited for Best Buy to open (at 10). We then proceeded to Best Buy to buy ourselves lots of electronic stuff that we don't really need: Ken got Conflict Desert Storm and a RHH CD, and I got a GCN Sonic collection (it's like 9 old Sonic the Hedgehog games on one disc. Awesome!), Prince of Persia (which I hear is an awesome platform/adventure game for only $20), and NCAA Football 2005! >sigh< I'll be buying those games for the rest of my life. We then drove out to CostCo, the most magical place on the planet. Ken and I walked around for a while and I eventually bought some socks (how lame am I?) and some workout pants. Then it was back to my place for some Conflict: Desert Storm action! I was plesantly surprised. For a tactical shooting game (which I don't really like) it played very accessibly. It reminded me a lot of Brute Force, in that every member of the four-person team has a special job and specific abilities... but there was some added fun in that it was very realistic AND that if a member of your team was "knocked unconscious" you had to get to them with a med-pack to continue the mission. Every member of the team has to survive. It was a pretty cool game. Unfortunately, I think it'll be too boring and long, like Brute Force, to play with just one player. So it's a fun game for me and Ken to play together, but I don't think I'd buy it just for me. I then went to work out with Thad (Ken stayed and took a nap)... and I had one of the hardest workouts so far. Thad keeps increasing weights... and I was already SUPER-tired when I got there, so it was a hard workout. When I came back to the apartment, Ken and I went out to Lou Malnati's for pizza. It's a fun-tacular place... and I was starving by the time we got our pizza at like 8:30 or 9. It was good... and we were about to head back to my place when I texted my boss, and Andrea called back. Ken, being the stupid bastard that he is, wanted to meet her so we did. We went to Cobbler Square and hung out on the benches outside the building. We talked for over an hour... and I think everyone enjoyed the conversation. And Ken's probably in love with my boss... but who can blame him, really?
Friday: Ken and I woke up at 6 AM, and got ready to leave for BR. Then it was to the Crazy Mobile and off on a four hour fun filled drive! We listened to the radio for a bit... both hesitant to start practicing the songs, probably because we were both really worried about them. When we did start singing the songs, I realized very quickly that I should have warmed up my voice first. I strained my voice while we were practicing, and he and I didn't get the amount of time we would have liked. No matter... we got to BR around Noon and each had lunch at our respective houses until we got back together about 2:30 for rehearsal. Ken and I drove out to Nate's and rehearsed for a couple hours. Then Ken and I went back to our respective houses to change for the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner was slightly weird, as I had to wait until they were done rehearsing before I was allowed to practice with the accompanist, Lois. Lois told me that she was going to stick to me "like glue" and that she's be "right behind" me. And she didn't disappoint. Unfortunately for me, she was consistently half a beat or more behind me. Ergo, I basically felt unsupported by the accompanist whilst I was singing. I then went into the gym where everyone else was having dinner and was given a Packer's mug with my name on it (I know!) as a gift for singing in the wedding. After dinner, Karen and I headed back to our house to change, and then it was off to Jean's grandparents' house for the "traditional" bonfire. I don't know who has this tradition, but it's apparently traditional. I got to sit by the campfire for about five minutes before Jean said "Anyone who wants to consider themselves my friend in the morning is going on the hayride right now". She then proceeded to pull me out of my chair, probably because she knew that threatening to lose a friend will never make me do anything (as I don't care about people). I walked Katie down to the tractor, hitting on her the whole way. Katie's fun to hit on... know why? Because she's hot, that's why. And she laughs at me being stupid and hitting on her. That's a good feeling. I love hitting on someone all cheesily and having them laugh. I don't care if it's "working" or not... all I need is the laugh. Anyway, so the hayride happened... and it rained on us. I turned to Ken and said something to the effect of "You know those times in your life where you don't look back with fondness, and you don't look back with sadness, you just look back and remember? This is one of those times". That's only partially true, I'm already looking back on it with a sense of fondness... as how many more times will Ken, Nate, and I be on one vehicle at one time? >shrug< Your guess is as good as mine. But the hayride in the rain was pretty much the end of the day.
Saturday: Ken, Nate, and I went to the VFW first thing in the morning (11 instead of 6 today). We ran through the songs a few more times and got used to the acoustics of the room. There's lots of video of us walking around talking about the music (just lots of video of us in general)... but since there was no one there yet, Bridget got some footage of us rehearsing. After we rehearsed for about an hour and a half, I drove Ken home and I went home to shower, shave, and get ready for the wedding. I then picked Nate and Ken up and went to the church. We were pretty much the first non-wedding party people there. I think we got there before the Reverend. So Nate and I had lots of time to talk and goof around. I'm sure he could sense how nervous I was about singing in the actual wedding... so he kept me in good spirits and thinking about other things. He's an amazing friend. The wedding started and was finished before I knew it. It was a short ceremony (only about 22 minutes), and almost 20% of the time was me singing. Afterwards I asked everyone who would give it to me straight how they thought it went. Nate seemed to be the only one to really be honest. It wasn't the worst singing of a song in the history of man-kind, but the higher notes were out of my range. Everyone else I talked to said I did a great job, etc. I think that they were all just so happy it wasn't them singing, that I did a great job in comparison... that or the emotions of the moment kept them so involved in the wedding, that they didn't really remember, they only couldn't remember it being BAD. This is why taping the wedding is going to kill the memory of that song. The more people listen to it outside of the emotions of the ceremony, the worse I'm sure it will be. In short: don't watch the tape. Nate and I snuck out right after the ceremony ended because we wanted to get a mic check with the DJs equipment and the VFW Hall. Unfortunately, the DJ wasn't there... so we just talked for a while longer. I also had some kegged root beer which was unbelievably good. I guess root beer belongs in kegs. Who knew? It seemed like it took a very long time for Ken and the rest of the wedding party to get there, but they eventually did. When they did, we talked to the DJ about mics and sound check. Basically, we couldn't do a sound check at the time, so we had to do it on the fly. This made Ken totally uneasy... but I really didn't care. I had already ruined the wedding once that day, this wasn't a big deal to me. At any rate, the Nervous Band and I ate, watched the first dance, watched the wedding party dance, and danced in the "short set" before we played. Then it was time... finally. We started with Almost Paradise, which we had changed a bit because I wasn't able to sing very high. It went well enough, and the crowd (read: Jean) looked like they were having a good time. Then we played Kelly's Girl... which was just a lot of fun. Every young lady in the wedding party seemed to be into it. I'm almost sure some of the choruses were off-key, but that is because I had to drop them down an octave, and I'm not very good at singing something unless I've heard it exactly the way I'm singing it. Regardless, Jean loved it and Kelly was very cool about the lyrics, he played along and that was awesome. That was it... I danced provocatively with many many young ladies, and went home with Nate, Allison, and Ken and we all talked for a while. That's really it for the wedding and reception. I may have teared up a little when Jean walked down the aisle, as it had finally hit me... seeing her in THE dress. I was too worried about the singing to really pay attention to the ceremony after that. Then the reception was fun... I was able to hit on Katie, both before and after her boyfriend showed up. And I was able to dance with everyone I wanted to dance with, including Kelly (during the $1 dance). I also watched Kelly and Jean dance together from up close (I was dancing with Rhea), and I could sense a lot of love... it made me happy to see them just so in love. It was nice, I promise.
Sunday: I woke up from a very very odd dream. I'm not sure how this worked, but I'm pretty sure that I was LeBron James in my dream... and my team was playing against: Cleveland and LeBron James. I don't know how that works, but I know my team was down by four with only a few seconds left and I got a full-court pass to me wide open under the basket and I fumbled the ball out of bounds. My team eventually lost... and I felt very responsible. Another weird part of the dream was that women still wanted to sleep with me, and I was disgusted by the thought, after having just lost the game for my team. I'm weird. I then had breakfast with my family. It was really the only time I was able to spend with them the entire weekend, and it went incredibly quickly. Before I knew it, I was rushing out the door to be able to make it to Chicago on time for my Writing 5 rehearsal. The drive back to Chicago always seems longer than the drive to BR... which I blame on the speed limits. It's 70 in MI, 65 through Indiana, and a ridiculous 55 near Chicago; so as I get closer, I have to go slower. Or perhaps it's because I'd rather be staying in Michigan with my family than here in Chicago by myself. Regardless, I got into Chicago with just enough time to run to play rehearsal (I ended up being about five minutes late). Rehearsal was long, and very tiring... but I got through it, and the lines are still coming along 'famously'. After play rehearsal, I called a few people (including Andrea) to catch up on what I had missed the past four days. My voice had gotten progressively worse after play practice and almost all of my energy was gone due to the rehearsal... so it was interesting to hear people asking me if I was sick or if I had died. Wait... only one of those things happened. And, they were disappointed as I hadn't died. I then relaxed and watched the Bourne Identity (my father lent it to me) before bed.
Monday: I spent most of the morning writing my scene for class. It was a deconstruction scene... and it turned out fairly well. I turned it in tonight and got good feedback on it. I am going to be able to move on to the Writing 4 class... which means sometime in December, they will be performing stuff that I wrote. Neat, huh?
Wanna see why Jackson, Michigan is full of idiots? Go here: http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Midwest/07/19/sticky.situation.ap/index.html.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Yesterday sucked ass... and here's why
Yesterday started early in the morning... I've been trying to wake up earlier and earlier so as not to be completely shocked when Ken comes tomorrow morning at like 5 AM. I then proceeded to listen to the three wedding songs for about two hours straight... while I was trying to make up the schedule for next week at Coldstone. I've never done the schedule before... Andrea's always done it. But she was still in Arizona, so I was put in charge of doing the schedule. Let me tell you, doing the schedule sucks ass. It's way too hard, because it takes into account everyone's own personal schedule and tries to accommodate everyone. What I really wanted to do was write a schedule and just let everyone deal with it if it's wrong. That's the way scheduling should work. But it, apparently, is not the way we work. Whatever. I don't really care. I was just having a poopy time trying to accommodate everyone.
Then, while I was doing the schedule, Andrea called from Arizona. We started talking and she wanted me to make sure that I did something on the schedule (which basically would have made me have to re-write the whole thing), and I matter-of-factly told her that I was going to do it a different way and she could fix it when she got back. That was apparently not the thing to tell your boss. Not your boss per se... but "ones" boss. She told me that she did not appreciate the tone with which I was speaking to her; and I sat, listened, and felt very scolded. This is the second time in as many weeks that Andrea has scolded me for something I don't really see as all that important. I'm hoping that she's just stressed (as I am) with the opening of new stores... but I'm finding this very weird and difficult to continue being professional when it honestly feels like being scolded or accused. I guess that's business? I'm Ron Burgundy?
After the verbal phone scolding, I proceeded to run to work to see if the schedule I made up actually works with people's availability. Emily, the young lady who works at Coldstone who I'm sure I've talked about before, was working. She was effectively fired last week before Andrea left, except it sounds like they didn't really communicate... it sounds really complicated and I don't know how to explain it. But Emily came downstairs to tell me something and she asked if I was alright and I stood up and I said "No, dear, it's not", and she said "I know... I know" and started crying a little. To which she said "I should go back upstairs" and left. That sucked... but it gets better.
I went to the gym to workout... and Thad had me use this incline chest press machine. This machine totally kicked my ass. I mean, kicked my ass. I struggled to do 10 reps of (basically) no weight. When we were done, I said "stupid machine" and Thad thought that was pretty funny. But he would, because the machine doesn't kick his ass. Additionally, I couldn't finish my knee lifts because we did lower back during the workout and it was so weak that I couldn't hold myself up to do the lifts. I basically got it handed to me the whole workout, probably because I suck.
When I came back from the gym, Emily wanted to talk. She and I sat and talked about the whole situation for about an hour and 40 minutes. Do I understand it better? No. Am I even more confused about this whole thing? Yep. The fun part about such a long conversation was that it brought me to 6:40 PM, twenty minutes before my Improv class. I hadn't showered after the gym, because I assumed I would be able to go home and eat something and shower. So I basically decided to skip my class. This is not a huge deal, in that I've been bitching about hating that class for a few weeks now. But it was a big deal in that we were "casting" for the Level D show. What's that mean? That means I might not really be in my Level D show (August 1st). Am I upset about this? A bit... just in that I've been to every class except one, and that performing is the only part of all this bullshit that I actually enjoy. So if I can't perform, why am I even doing it? I don't know. I might just skip the Level D show altogether if I hear that I'm not going to be in any of the games/scenes.
I called my parents and talked to them for a while. I told them that I felt really bad about missing class and that I just wanted them to cheer me up. They told me not to get too emotional about this... that I'm almost done with the beginning improv levels at Second City (which is true) and that I should just stick it out until the end. They're right, of course. I'm ridiculously close to being done with this first year... and I just need to keep my head down and keep plowing through it. I guess I'm just really frustrated because I'm really enjoying the Level 5 Writing show, but not enjoying the actual improv classes at all. I just lose focus. That's all this is. >sigh< Hope you're having a focus-filled Wednesday.
Yesterday started early in the morning... I've been trying to wake up earlier and earlier so as not to be completely shocked when Ken comes tomorrow morning at like 5 AM. I then proceeded to listen to the three wedding songs for about two hours straight... while I was trying to make up the schedule for next week at Coldstone. I've never done the schedule before... Andrea's always done it. But she was still in Arizona, so I was put in charge of doing the schedule. Let me tell you, doing the schedule sucks ass. It's way too hard, because it takes into account everyone's own personal schedule and tries to accommodate everyone. What I really wanted to do was write a schedule and just let everyone deal with it if it's wrong. That's the way scheduling should work. But it, apparently, is not the way we work. Whatever. I don't really care. I was just having a poopy time trying to accommodate everyone.
Then, while I was doing the schedule, Andrea called from Arizona. We started talking and she wanted me to make sure that I did something on the schedule (which basically would have made me have to re-write the whole thing), and I matter-of-factly told her that I was going to do it a different way and she could fix it when she got back. That was apparently not the thing to tell your boss. Not your boss per se... but "ones" boss. She told me that she did not appreciate the tone with which I was speaking to her; and I sat, listened, and felt very scolded. This is the second time in as many weeks that Andrea has scolded me for something I don't really see as all that important. I'm hoping that she's just stressed (as I am) with the opening of new stores... but I'm finding this very weird and difficult to continue being professional when it honestly feels like being scolded or accused. I guess that's business? I'm Ron Burgundy?
After the verbal phone scolding, I proceeded to run to work to see if the schedule I made up actually works with people's availability. Emily, the young lady who works at Coldstone who I'm sure I've talked about before, was working. She was effectively fired last week before Andrea left, except it sounds like they didn't really communicate... it sounds really complicated and I don't know how to explain it. But Emily came downstairs to tell me something and she asked if I was alright and I stood up and I said "No, dear, it's not", and she said "I know... I know" and started crying a little. To which she said "I should go back upstairs" and left. That sucked... but it gets better.
I went to the gym to workout... and Thad had me use this incline chest press machine. This machine totally kicked my ass. I mean, kicked my ass. I struggled to do 10 reps of (basically) no weight. When we were done, I said "stupid machine" and Thad thought that was pretty funny. But he would, because the machine doesn't kick his ass. Additionally, I couldn't finish my knee lifts because we did lower back during the workout and it was so weak that I couldn't hold myself up to do the lifts. I basically got it handed to me the whole workout, probably because I suck.
When I came back from the gym, Emily wanted to talk. She and I sat and talked about the whole situation for about an hour and 40 minutes. Do I understand it better? No. Am I even more confused about this whole thing? Yep. The fun part about such a long conversation was that it brought me to 6:40 PM, twenty minutes before my Improv class. I hadn't showered after the gym, because I assumed I would be able to go home and eat something and shower. So I basically decided to skip my class. This is not a huge deal, in that I've been bitching about hating that class for a few weeks now. But it was a big deal in that we were "casting" for the Level D show. What's that mean? That means I might not really be in my Level D show (August 1st). Am I upset about this? A bit... just in that I've been to every class except one, and that performing is the only part of all this bullshit that I actually enjoy. So if I can't perform, why am I even doing it? I don't know. I might just skip the Level D show altogether if I hear that I'm not going to be in any of the games/scenes.
I called my parents and talked to them for a while. I told them that I felt really bad about missing class and that I just wanted them to cheer me up. They told me not to get too emotional about this... that I'm almost done with the beginning improv levels at Second City (which is true) and that I should just stick it out until the end. They're right, of course. I'm ridiculously close to being done with this first year... and I just need to keep my head down and keep plowing through it. I guess I'm just really frustrated because I'm really enjoying the Level 5 Writing show, but not enjoying the actual improv classes at all. I just lose focus. That's all this is. >sigh< Hope you're having a focus-filled Wednesday.
Monday, July 12, 2004
The Home Run Derby
I started watching the home run derby tonight... and the "sideline" reporter ESPN has covering this, Sam Ryan I think is her name, is terrible. The questions she's asking are stupid and her interviews are totally uninteresting.
In other news, Barry Bonds did really well in the first round. But his pants clashed with his shirt SO MUCH that I really couldn't even pay attention. They let you wear your own pants... so he was wearing cream colored pants and it looked terrible with his white shirt. I wanted to puke.
Mah boy Sammy didn't do well a'tall. He looked pretty bad, actually. Once he got to his 8 out, he hit a few in a row... but he really didn't look good.
But, speaking of looking good... look into that mirror. That's the hotness.
I started watching the home run derby tonight... and the "sideline" reporter ESPN has covering this, Sam Ryan I think is her name, is terrible. The questions she's asking are stupid and her interviews are totally uninteresting.
In other news, Barry Bonds did really well in the first round. But his pants clashed with his shirt SO MUCH that I really couldn't even pay attention. They let you wear your own pants... so he was wearing cream colored pants and it looked terrible with his white shirt. I wanted to puke.
Mah boy Sammy didn't do well a'tall. He looked pretty bad, actually. Once he got to his 8 out, he hit a few in a row... but he really didn't look good.
But, speaking of looking good... look into that mirror. That's the hotness.
My first salaried paycheck
I just got my first paycheck on my new salary last Friday. I can't tell you how good it feels to be able to have a little breathing room financially. It feels (or maybe "will feel" is better in this situation) good to be able to pay my regular monthly bills with basically just one paycheck. This is instead of needing both paychecks and maybe even some extra help from my parents to be able to pay for things. For example, my parents always ask me if I'm "eating all right" whenever we talk. Before I had to say "I need to get groceries" because I needed to wait until I got paid again to buy food. Now I can say "I need to get groceries" because I'm lazy and haven't gotten them yet. But yeah... I went to the movie yesterday night with Jim (because now I have the money free to be able to do fun things), and I even took Andrea out to dinner Friday to thank her for getting me salaried. So the good news is that I'm actually being able to look around and see what I want/need to buy and I'll be able to purchase it. The bad news is that all that free time I used to have to enjoy the things I purchased is now almost entirely gone. For instance, I mentioned that I joined Gamefly.com, right? It's a video game rental website... they send you the game in the mail. Anyway, I joined it... and I don't even really have time to play the games when they come. They just kind of sit around my apartment until I say to myself "I should probably send that back and see if I like the next game better". And it honestly takes about four or five business days for the game to arrive back in California... and then four or five more days for the next one to arrive here. So, for a monthly service, a quarter of the time I'm paying for is easily spent just in shipping.
Wow... how did you let me end up there? Where even was I? Oh... I was probably talking about being able to buy stuff. Yeah... I'm thinking about getting a Gameboy Advance with my extra money. They're re-releasing all sorts of old NES games, like all the Mario Bros games, some Zelda games, Excitebike (I know! Excitebike!!!), and others. There's even a "retro" looking GBA which looks pretty sweet. I'm old... leave me alone!
Speaking of stuff to buy... NCAA Football 2005 comes out on someone's birthday this week. It's interesting because Ken will be here, so I doubt I'll be able to run to a store and buy the game, and the certain someone whose birthday it is will be in New York, so I won't be able to wish her a happy birthday. Not that that's a problem, she told me not to get her anything... but I would call and say "Hey... you're closer to death than you were yesterday!" or something else festive like that.
And on that cheerful note, I'm going to get going on my script. It's due tonight and I've got a ton of work to do at work today. So have a great day all! (Stupid Monday)
I just got my first paycheck on my new salary last Friday. I can't tell you how good it feels to be able to have a little breathing room financially. It feels (or maybe "will feel" is better in this situation) good to be able to pay my regular monthly bills with basically just one paycheck. This is instead of needing both paychecks and maybe even some extra help from my parents to be able to pay for things. For example, my parents always ask me if I'm "eating all right" whenever we talk. Before I had to say "I need to get groceries" because I needed to wait until I got paid again to buy food. Now I can say "I need to get groceries" because I'm lazy and haven't gotten them yet. But yeah... I went to the movie yesterday night with Jim (because now I have the money free to be able to do fun things), and I even took Andrea out to dinner Friday to thank her for getting me salaried. So the good news is that I'm actually being able to look around and see what I want/need to buy and I'll be able to purchase it. The bad news is that all that free time I used to have to enjoy the things I purchased is now almost entirely gone. For instance, I mentioned that I joined Gamefly.com, right? It's a video game rental website... they send you the game in the mail. Anyway, I joined it... and I don't even really have time to play the games when they come. They just kind of sit around my apartment until I say to myself "I should probably send that back and see if I like the next game better". And it honestly takes about four or five business days for the game to arrive back in California... and then four or five more days for the next one to arrive here. So, for a monthly service, a quarter of the time I'm paying for is easily spent just in shipping.
Wow... how did you let me end up there? Where even was I? Oh... I was probably talking about being able to buy stuff. Yeah... I'm thinking about getting a Gameboy Advance with my extra money. They're re-releasing all sorts of old NES games, like all the Mario Bros games, some Zelda games, Excitebike (I know! Excitebike!!!), and others. There's even a "retro" looking GBA which looks pretty sweet. I'm old... leave me alone!
Speaking of stuff to buy... NCAA Football 2005 comes out on someone's birthday this week. It's interesting because Ken will be here, so I doubt I'll be able to run to a store and buy the game, and the certain someone whose birthday it is will be in New York, so I won't be able to wish her a happy birthday. Not that that's a problem, she told me not to get her anything... but I would call and say "Hey... you're closer to death than you were yesterday!" or something else festive like that.
And on that cheerful note, I'm going to get going on my script. It's due tonight and I've got a ton of work to do at work today. So have a great day all! (Stupid Monday)
Anchorman and Memorization
Today was actually a good day, which is becoming increasingly rare. After spending much of the morning worrying about memorizing the entire Writing 5 show for today, rehearsal actually went pretty well. I had more of it memorized than most... which is both good and bad. The bad news is that I probably won't even pick up the scripts again this week (deciding, instead, to worry about memorizing songs for Jean's wedding).
I saw Anchorman with Jim tonight. It was a good and mindless comedy, with some completely ridiculous parts... and perhaps the funniest scene I have ever seen in a movie. I'm not going to spoil it, but I'll just say that there are a few cameos that are just hilarious. And the use of a trident. That's all I'm saying.
Today was actually a good day, which is becoming increasingly rare. After spending much of the morning worrying about memorizing the entire Writing 5 show for today, rehearsal actually went pretty well. I had more of it memorized than most... which is both good and bad. The bad news is that I probably won't even pick up the scripts again this week (deciding, instead, to worry about memorizing songs for Jean's wedding).
I saw Anchorman with Jim tonight. It was a good and mindless comedy, with some completely ridiculous parts... and perhaps the funniest scene I have ever seen in a movie. I'm not going to spoil it, but I'll just say that there are a few cameos that are just hilarious. And the use of a trident. That's all I'm saying.
Sunday, July 11, 2004
I wish that I had Kelly's girl
Man... dude... where can I find a woman like that?
That had nothing to do with anything, besides the fact that I've got less than a week to memorize three songs. Unfortunately for me, I've got less than 6 hours to memorize 14 5-page scenes (that's 70 pages, kids). The scenes should go okay, though. I mean, it's just rehearsal. It's not as if I'm going to have to perform them in front of hundreds of people I don't know at someone's wedding. Come correct!
I don't know what that meant, but I do know I'm listening to the best of House of Pain/Everlast... so mayhaps I'm Jumping Around. You'll never know.
This is a totally random post... and for that, I apologize. I guess I'm in a really weird mood. I've been busting my ass for weeks, and today is a 'test' of sorts: off book for the entire show. I don't feel ready, so I'm nervous. And, just to add gratuitous pressure, I've got to write a script for tomorrow night. Tomorrow should be fun, too, because Stephan (soon-to-be manager of the North Avenue Coldstone) and I are going to order stuff from Sysco AND we get to figure out the schedule for next week. I've never done the schedule before... and I fully anticipate a flurry of calls saying "I can't work on such and such a day" and me saying "Wow... I really don't give a shit. Switch with someone, you idiot". Andrea and I talked about this before she left. Apparently lots of people just want someone to listen to their situation or their problems or whatever... and I could care less. This is work. I don't care why you can't work Saturday night, don't tell me about it, just get someone to switch with you. >massive sigh< People! Geez!
Well... I'm looking forward to this week, even though today, tomorrow, and possibly even Tuesday might all suck. Oh... and Saturday might suck from a "forgot lyrics to a song in front of people" kind of way. But I've been looking forward to Ken's visit and seeing Nate for over a month. I can't wait to leave Coldstone and all the "new stores" crap behind for a few days.
I think I've stalled enough. I've gotta go through my scripts another time, shower and eat, and go through them once more before rehearsal. Hope everyone's having a more relaxing weekend than I am.
Man... dude... where can I find a woman like that?
That had nothing to do with anything, besides the fact that I've got less than a week to memorize three songs. Unfortunately for me, I've got less than 6 hours to memorize 14 5-page scenes (that's 70 pages, kids). The scenes should go okay, though. I mean, it's just rehearsal. It's not as if I'm going to have to perform them in front of hundreds of people I don't know at someone's wedding. Come correct!
I don't know what that meant, but I do know I'm listening to the best of House of Pain/Everlast... so mayhaps I'm Jumping Around. You'll never know.
This is a totally random post... and for that, I apologize. I guess I'm in a really weird mood. I've been busting my ass for weeks, and today is a 'test' of sorts: off book for the entire show. I don't feel ready, so I'm nervous. And, just to add gratuitous pressure, I've got to write a script for tomorrow night. Tomorrow should be fun, too, because Stephan (soon-to-be manager of the North Avenue Coldstone) and I are going to order stuff from Sysco AND we get to figure out the schedule for next week. I've never done the schedule before... and I fully anticipate a flurry of calls saying "I can't work on such and such a day" and me saying "Wow... I really don't give a shit. Switch with someone, you idiot". Andrea and I talked about this before she left. Apparently lots of people just want someone to listen to their situation or their problems or whatever... and I could care less. This is work. I don't care why you can't work Saturday night, don't tell me about it, just get someone to switch with you. >massive sigh< People! Geez!
Well... I'm looking forward to this week, even though today, tomorrow, and possibly even Tuesday might all suck. Oh... and Saturday might suck from a "forgot lyrics to a song in front of people" kind of way. But I've been looking forward to Ken's visit and seeing Nate for over a month. I can't wait to leave Coldstone and all the "new stores" crap behind for a few days.
I think I've stalled enough. I've gotta go through my scripts another time, shower and eat, and go through them once more before rehearsal. Hope everyone's having a more relaxing weekend than I am.
Saturday, July 10, 2004
Saturday morning... the update
I've been desperately trying to catch back up with everyone who's called and emailed me... and I'm actually making strides. I've made a couple calls today, and sent a few emails today... but it still doesn't feel like I'm doing enough. There are just so many people... and too much to do here in Chicago. Gah... and then I think about people who I want to talk to who haven't called, and who haven't emailed... and I just get very easily overwhelmed.
This has nothing to do with anything, but just sos y'all knows, the name of my Level 5 show is "Maybe This Isn't The Right Forum For This, But Please Stop Making Your Dog Wear Hats". It's a long name, but I still think it's hilarious.
Onto a real issue. I just saw here that Bush is supporting a possible amendment to the constitution that would define marriage as a "union between a man and a woman". Here we go...
The president went on to say (according to a "Major News Website" which, by the way, doesn't mean that I pulled it from the biased bastards at Fox News): "For ages, in every culture, human beings have understood that traditional marriage is critical to the well-being of families." What the shit does that statement even mean? First of all, define ages. Did the people in feudal Europe believe that marriage was critical to the well-being of families? I suppose you could argue they did... but most people were more worried about keeping themselves and their families alive to really care about "traditional" marriage leading the their well-being. You know, now that I think about it, the President is probably right, I suppose. It was just 'understood' by every culture that what you do is get married and have children and die and that's life. But, as everyone who reads this blog has enthusiastically told me, time's have changed and it's no longer a societal necessity for everyone to get married and have children. We, as a society, can explore other life-paths. So, while the Prez may be correct, the answer to this question does not lie in the past... we, our generation, will have the freedom to re-invent the family and the family structure. We have to come up with new solutions to new problems... and reinventing the Constitution should be the last option.
He went on to say: "And because families pass along values and shape character, traditional marriage is also critical to the health of society. Our policies should aim to strengthen families, not undermine them. And changing the definition of traditional marriage will undermine the family structure." That, at least, is an argument. Albeit, a weak argument and possibly a logically invalid argument, but an argument none-the-less. This argument is predicated on the (I believe) false believe that a man/woman marriage is the most healthy kind of marriage for all parties involved. And, let's face it, there are plenty of man/woman marriages that we can all point to that are worse off than if we let two men start a family together (or two women). That kind of blanket belief system is something that can only come from someone who is unwilling to acknowledge the complexity of the situation.
In summation, this issue (to me) is along the same lines as banning abortions. We are a nation of opportunity, a nation that boasts itself as a "melting pot" of different cultures and ideas; we are not and SHOULD NOT be a nation that tells people what they can and cannot do. I understand that we have tons of "laws" saying what we can't do... but the Bill of Rights and the Constitution is all about what we as a people have the RIGHTS to, not what we don't have the rights to. I realize that our system is not perfect, but the Constitution is about what we aspire to be... what are ideals are. Let's face it, restricting freedoms isn't what we aspire to do (at least not publicly).
I've been desperately trying to catch back up with everyone who's called and emailed me... and I'm actually making strides. I've made a couple calls today, and sent a few emails today... but it still doesn't feel like I'm doing enough. There are just so many people... and too much to do here in Chicago. Gah... and then I think about people who I want to talk to who haven't called, and who haven't emailed... and I just get very easily overwhelmed.
This has nothing to do with anything, but just sos y'all knows, the name of my Level 5 show is "Maybe This Isn't The Right Forum For This, But Please Stop Making Your Dog Wear Hats". It's a long name, but I still think it's hilarious.
Onto a real issue. I just saw here that Bush is supporting a possible amendment to the constitution that would define marriage as a "union between a man and a woman". Here we go...
The president went on to say (according to a "Major News Website" which, by the way, doesn't mean that I pulled it from the biased bastards at Fox News): "For ages, in every culture, human beings have understood that traditional marriage is critical to the well-being of families." What the shit does that statement even mean? First of all, define ages. Did the people in feudal Europe believe that marriage was critical to the well-being of families? I suppose you could argue they did... but most people were more worried about keeping themselves and their families alive to really care about "traditional" marriage leading the their well-being. You know, now that I think about it, the President is probably right, I suppose. It was just 'understood' by every culture that what you do is get married and have children and die and that's life. But, as everyone who reads this blog has enthusiastically told me, time's have changed and it's no longer a societal necessity for everyone to get married and have children. We, as a society, can explore other life-paths. So, while the Prez may be correct, the answer to this question does not lie in the past... we, our generation, will have the freedom to re-invent the family and the family structure. We have to come up with new solutions to new problems... and reinventing the Constitution should be the last option.
He went on to say: "And because families pass along values and shape character, traditional marriage is also critical to the health of society. Our policies should aim to strengthen families, not undermine them. And changing the definition of traditional marriage will undermine the family structure." That, at least, is an argument. Albeit, a weak argument and possibly a logically invalid argument, but an argument none-the-less. This argument is predicated on the (I believe) false believe that a man/woman marriage is the most healthy kind of marriage for all parties involved. And, let's face it, there are plenty of man/woman marriages that we can all point to that are worse off than if we let two men start a family together (or two women). That kind of blanket belief system is something that can only come from someone who is unwilling to acknowledge the complexity of the situation.
In summation, this issue (to me) is along the same lines as banning abortions. We are a nation of opportunity, a nation that boasts itself as a "melting pot" of different cultures and ideas; we are not and SHOULD NOT be a nation that tells people what they can and cannot do. I understand that we have tons of "laws" saying what we can't do... but the Bill of Rights and the Constitution is all about what we as a people have the RIGHTS to, not what we don't have the rights to. I realize that our system is not perfect, but the Constitution is about what we aspire to be... what are ideals are. Let's face it, restricting freedoms isn't what we aspire to do (at least not publicly).
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Holy crap... get me out of this week
I now can say nothing more than I hate my improv class. I still love lots of people in my class... and my instructors I don't even mind (Jen Bills is awesome!). But it's just the amount of people in that class and the format... whatever. We just learned this week that we ARE going to perform as a large group of 15 or 16 instead of two classes of 8. We'll actually decide who is going to play what games for the show next Tuesday. I am NOT looking forward to this performance, and I suggest that you don't waste your time by trying to come to it.
However, I'm very excited about my Level 5 show which opens July 30th at 10 PM. I think I might be willing to even buy people tickets... but I'm not dealing with parking this time. There's a parking garage near The Second City... and I think it's like twenty-some dollars to stay 12-24 hours. It's easier and cheaper for me to buy everyone tickets than to try to figure out where everyone's going to park. You could pull a Randi/Sarah/Amber and get yourself a hotel with a parking garage... then I'd probably even pay for your CTA pass for the evening. I'm just sick of dealing with parking in this f--king city. But it's going to be a really good show and I'll be in lots of it... so a good opportunity to see what I've been up to for a year. I'll probably be sending a few mass emails as soon as I get enough time to respond to those emails I already have to respond to (to which I already have to respond). Hooray for grammar! But, yeah, basically I have to email people back first (which may take awhile, since I haven't emailed back some people in weeks).
Yesterday, during my personal training, Thad told me that he can tell that I'm getting stronger. He even said it as if it was obvious. It totally made me want to celebrate... which I did by doin' some skull crushers and some v-bar pull-downs. You know how we do.
Speaking of kicking ass... I kicked that virus' ass (hopefully)! I actually restarted the computer in the command prompt and figured out how to find and delete the file that was infected. The good news: no virus. The bad news: I have no idea what the file which I deleted does. I wrote down the name of it, and I might see if I can copy it from another computer and just put it right where the other one was... I don't know. It's my guess that a .dll file doesn't do a whole lot besides supplement a larger file or program. But, then again, I'm just making that up.
The North Avenue Coldstone now opens on August 7th... instead of sometime in July. This is good news, in that it gives us another week or two to open the store. Unfortunately, August 7th is also my parent's wedding anniversary. Be in two places at once? Even I'm not that good... but I think this means I won't be able to see my parents on their anniversary. Hopefully I'll get to call them, but I don't even think that will be the case. My guess is that I'll be running around like a stupid bastard all morning and then pretending to be nice to ice cream eaters all evening. Poop on that day. I guess the good news is that I'll be 2/5 done with my Writing five shows, so a lot of my stress should be gone. We'll see.
I now can say nothing more than I hate my improv class. I still love lots of people in my class... and my instructors I don't even mind (Jen Bills is awesome!). But it's just the amount of people in that class and the format... whatever. We just learned this week that we ARE going to perform as a large group of 15 or 16 instead of two classes of 8. We'll actually decide who is going to play what games for the show next Tuesday. I am NOT looking forward to this performance, and I suggest that you don't waste your time by trying to come to it.
However, I'm very excited about my Level 5 show which opens July 30th at 10 PM. I think I might be willing to even buy people tickets... but I'm not dealing with parking this time. There's a parking garage near The Second City... and I think it's like twenty-some dollars to stay 12-24 hours. It's easier and cheaper for me to buy everyone tickets than to try to figure out where everyone's going to park. You could pull a Randi/Sarah/Amber and get yourself a hotel with a parking garage... then I'd probably even pay for your CTA pass for the evening. I'm just sick of dealing with parking in this f--king city. But it's going to be a really good show and I'll be in lots of it... so a good opportunity to see what I've been up to for a year. I'll probably be sending a few mass emails as soon as I get enough time to respond to those emails I already have to respond to (to which I already have to respond). Hooray for grammar! But, yeah, basically I have to email people back first (which may take awhile, since I haven't emailed back some people in weeks).
Yesterday, during my personal training, Thad told me that he can tell that I'm getting stronger. He even said it as if it was obvious. It totally made me want to celebrate... which I did by doin' some skull crushers and some v-bar pull-downs. You know how we do.
Speaking of kicking ass... I kicked that virus' ass (hopefully)! I actually restarted the computer in the command prompt and figured out how to find and delete the file that was infected. The good news: no virus. The bad news: I have no idea what the file which I deleted does. I wrote down the name of it, and I might see if I can copy it from another computer and just put it right where the other one was... I don't know. It's my guess that a .dll file doesn't do a whole lot besides supplement a larger file or program. But, then again, I'm just making that up.
The North Avenue Coldstone now opens on August 7th... instead of sometime in July. This is good news, in that it gives us another week or two to open the store. Unfortunately, August 7th is also my parent's wedding anniversary. Be in two places at once? Even I'm not that good... but I think this means I won't be able to see my parents on their anniversary. Hopefully I'll get to call them, but I don't even think that will be the case. My guess is that I'll be running around like a stupid bastard all morning and then pretending to be nice to ice cream eaters all evening. Poop on that day. I guess the good news is that I'll be 2/5 done with my Writing five shows, so a lot of my stress should be gone. We'll see.
Monday, July 05, 2004
From bad to worse...
Is basically how my day went. I woke up with my alarm at 8:30 and then promptly hit the snooze (as is my custom... hey! I live alone! I'm not bothering anyone, shut up!). But, today instead of hitting the snooze, I accidentally turned the alarm off. I realized this when my boss text messaged me at 10:30 to say that the Noon meeting with the area developer had been cancelled (again... second time in two weeks this guy has cancelled. So not a real shock). After sleeping in way too long, I decided to hit my emails and see what was happening. As is customary, Andrea emailed me something from corporate to look at. I opened it. My computer got infected with a virus. The viruses name is Backdoor.Coreflood (or just Coreflood)... and it is a Trojan Horse virus. I'm sure I could tell you everything there is to know about this virus, because I spent the next 3 hours trying to get it off my computer. My Norton Antivirus (which is by far the best anti-virus software on the market) cannot quarantine, repair, nor delete the infected file. It can only tell me it's infected. I followed the instructions on the Norton Antivirus software on how to remove the virus... and it still will not delete the file (yes, even in safe mode). This made me very very angry, upset, and frustrated. I know everything there is to know about this virus (it implants itself in your Windows system file [for WIN XP that's the System32 folder]... changes a line of code, and proceeds to work in conjunction with the explorer.exe program. Since explorer.exe is a very basic program, it's always on when you're computer's on... it's basically one of the fundamental programs of your OS [if you've got a PC, I think Mac users are fine {except they suck}]). And I used to do just this for two summers... getting viruses off computers was my job for 40 hours a week for two summers... I can do it with my eyes closed. But I can't get this stupid file to go away. I'm basically going to have to break down and call someone at Dell or maybe even Norton to get this fixed.
At any rate, this whole virus thing put me in a piss-poor mood all day. I went in to work and Andrea wasn't there and all sorts of shit needed to be done and I just kind of snapped. I called her on my way back to my apartment (sidenote... I really wanted Thai tonight, but my place was closed because it was July 5th... what a crock of shit! You people are Taiwanese... do you even care about America's independence?) and told her that there was a line to the door [which there was] and that she should probably call someone to get them to come into work. She called me back fifteen to twenty minutes later, said she saw the line and didn't think it was anything that the people in the store couldn't handle. Furthermore, what she was doing was "too important" to leave to go into the store. Now I fully understand that she's the president of a growing company which is looking to triple its businesses in less than a month, but she's also the manager of an ice cream store... and the managing is not getting done. I understand that she's got more important things to do now, but I also know that shit at the store isn't getting done and that's because there isn't someone there to make sure it gets done. If she's going to have someone else manage that store, now is the time to have them start. Frankly, I'm tired of going into that store and having to worry about everything that needs to be done. I want to feel like there's someone who's going to make sure it gets f--king done... and I don't want that person to be me. If that person IS me, than I want that to be my job... and not all this other shit.
After that conversation, I turned my phone off (a more and more common occurrence) and I went grocery shopping. I spent around $130 at CostCo just getting stupid stuff that I needed, but that were supplemental to my REAL groceries at Dominicks. Just to complete the shittiness of my day, Dominicks' bread aisle looked like a Russian grocery store after the fall of communism. I mean, there was NOTHING... which means I'm going to have to f--king go back there later just to get bread. I honestly had to stop myself from crying or grabbing a Dominicks' employee by the throat and saying "Where are my fucking bagels?!"... and it's ridiculous, in a city this size, to ever run out of something as essential as bread in a grocery store. I damn near hopped in my car and drove to KZoo for the night. But it was already pretty late here, and it would have been REALLY late by the time I got there... but I just want to be someplace that has bread... I need bread, and I need someone there to say "it's okay... here's some bread. Go make yourself a sandwich, you overly-dramatic piece of shit", and I'll say "Thanks Father... nice sermon last Sunday". And scene...
Is basically how my day went. I woke up with my alarm at 8:30 and then promptly hit the snooze (as is my custom... hey! I live alone! I'm not bothering anyone, shut up!). But, today instead of hitting the snooze, I accidentally turned the alarm off. I realized this when my boss text messaged me at 10:30 to say that the Noon meeting with the area developer had been cancelled (again... second time in two weeks this guy has cancelled. So not a real shock). After sleeping in way too long, I decided to hit my emails and see what was happening. As is customary, Andrea emailed me something from corporate to look at. I opened it. My computer got infected with a virus. The viruses name is Backdoor.Coreflood (or just Coreflood)... and it is a Trojan Horse virus. I'm sure I could tell you everything there is to know about this virus, because I spent the next 3 hours trying to get it off my computer. My Norton Antivirus (which is by far the best anti-virus software on the market) cannot quarantine, repair, nor delete the infected file. It can only tell me it's infected. I followed the instructions on the Norton Antivirus software on how to remove the virus... and it still will not delete the file (yes, even in safe mode). This made me very very angry, upset, and frustrated. I know everything there is to know about this virus (it implants itself in your Windows system file [for WIN XP that's the System32 folder]... changes a line of code, and proceeds to work in conjunction with the explorer.exe program. Since explorer.exe is a very basic program, it's always on when you're computer's on... it's basically one of the fundamental programs of your OS [if you've got a PC, I think Mac users are fine {except they suck}]). And I used to do just this for two summers... getting viruses off computers was my job for 40 hours a week for two summers... I can do it with my eyes closed. But I can't get this stupid file to go away. I'm basically going to have to break down and call someone at Dell or maybe even Norton to get this fixed.
At any rate, this whole virus thing put me in a piss-poor mood all day. I went in to work and Andrea wasn't there and all sorts of shit needed to be done and I just kind of snapped. I called her on my way back to my apartment (sidenote... I really wanted Thai tonight, but my place was closed because it was July 5th... what a crock of shit! You people are Taiwanese... do you even care about America's independence?) and told her that there was a line to the door [which there was] and that she should probably call someone to get them to come into work. She called me back fifteen to twenty minutes later, said she saw the line and didn't think it was anything that the people in the store couldn't handle. Furthermore, what she was doing was "too important" to leave to go into the store. Now I fully understand that she's the president of a growing company which is looking to triple its businesses in less than a month, but she's also the manager of an ice cream store... and the managing is not getting done. I understand that she's got more important things to do now, but I also know that shit at the store isn't getting done and that's because there isn't someone there to make sure it gets done. If she's going to have someone else manage that store, now is the time to have them start. Frankly, I'm tired of going into that store and having to worry about everything that needs to be done. I want to feel like there's someone who's going to make sure it gets f--king done... and I don't want that person to be me. If that person IS me, than I want that to be my job... and not all this other shit.
After that conversation, I turned my phone off (a more and more common occurrence) and I went grocery shopping. I spent around $130 at CostCo just getting stupid stuff that I needed, but that were supplemental to my REAL groceries at Dominicks. Just to complete the shittiness of my day, Dominicks' bread aisle looked like a Russian grocery store after the fall of communism. I mean, there was NOTHING... which means I'm going to have to f--king go back there later just to get bread. I honestly had to stop myself from crying or grabbing a Dominicks' employee by the throat and saying "Where are my fucking bagels?!"... and it's ridiculous, in a city this size, to ever run out of something as essential as bread in a grocery store. I damn near hopped in my car and drove to KZoo for the night. But it was already pretty late here, and it would have been REALLY late by the time I got there... but I just want to be someplace that has bread... I need bread, and I need someone there to say "it's okay... here's some bread. Go make yourself a sandwich, you overly-dramatic piece of shit", and I'll say "Thanks Father... nice sermon last Sunday". And scene...
Sunday, July 04, 2004
A lost poem found... For Laura
Once upon a time, I promised Laura that I would write her a poem, because she said she never had someone write her a poem before. Today, as I was searching through old notebooks for inspiration, I came across the unfinished poem which I had started writing for her. As I was read it, I rewrote and finished it. Yes, it is still dedicated to Laura (and I think I'm keeping the title the way it is), but it's really no longer about Laura and I, but rather about a fictional relationship between two people. It's a villanelle for some reason (maybe they're Laura's favorite) (maybe I'm just crazy)... but, yeah, it's trying desperately to be a villanelle. Regardless... Enjoy
For Laura
I know that my poems are trivial
I say to her across the Denny's booth
All I wanted was a Diet Coke refill
She had a western omelet, I ate pancakes till I was full
I have always used food to sooth
I know that my poems are trivial
We both try to avoid it because we know the drill
Late night conversations always bring out the truth
All I wanted was a Diet Coke refill
With the food gone, the space between us longs to be filled
So we talk car trouble, the problem with my tooth
I know that my poems are trivial
All stalling ends, against my will
She has moved on, that was her news
All I wanted was a Diet Coke refill
Fine then, I'll go pay the bill
I want her to see that I can leave too
I know that my poems are trivial
All I wanted was a Diet Coke refill
Once upon a time, I promised Laura that I would write her a poem, because she said she never had someone write her a poem before. Today, as I was searching through old notebooks for inspiration, I came across the unfinished poem which I had started writing for her. As I was read it, I rewrote and finished it. Yes, it is still dedicated to Laura (and I think I'm keeping the title the way it is), but it's really no longer about Laura and I, but rather about a fictional relationship between two people. It's a villanelle for some reason (maybe they're Laura's favorite) (maybe I'm just crazy)... but, yeah, it's trying desperately to be a villanelle. Regardless... Enjoy
For Laura
I know that my poems are trivial
I say to her across the Denny's booth
All I wanted was a Diet Coke refill
She had a western omelet, I ate pancakes till I was full
I have always used food to sooth
I know that my poems are trivial
We both try to avoid it because we know the drill
Late night conversations always bring out the truth
All I wanted was a Diet Coke refill
With the food gone, the space between us longs to be filled
So we talk car trouble, the problem with my tooth
I know that my poems are trivial
All stalling ends, against my will
She has moved on, that was her news
All I wanted was a Diet Coke refill
Fine then, I'll go pay the bill
I want her to see that I can leave too
I know that my poems are trivial
All I wanted was a Diet Coke refill
Happy Independence Day!
While I would really like to talk about Independence and what it means to me... I HAVE to talk sports (I know, collective sigh from audience).
Let's talk basketball: The Los Angeles Lakers are courting Mike Krzyzewski. A good move on the Lakers' part... as Krzyzewski is a fabulous coach. I don't think it would be a good move on Coach K's part... as college coaches don't necessarily have the best track record coaching in the pros. But, there are definitely reasons why I think Coach K might make the leap: 1.) Kobe. If the NBA's biggest star (arguably) wants you as his coach... and is willing to be coached by you for years to come, that's worth looking into. 2.) Deng and Livingston. Until a few years ago, Coach K never lost a player early to the draft. This draft, he not only lost (arguably) the best Freshman in the country in Luol Deng, but he also lost his top high school prospect Shaun Livingston, who skipped college altogether to go into the draft. I'm sure that Coach K is frustrated at the current state of college basketball. As a college coach, you can't rely on your players to stay... and the better they are, the more likely they are to leave early. If I were a college coach, I would be frustrated as well. You can't build a dynasty in college basketball anymore, because your team will leave as soon as their agents and fathers think they're good enough. 3.) Money. He would be the highest paid coach in the league if he went to the Lakers. And, let's face it, the money matters. They're talking 5 years at $8 million per year... even I would coach the Lakers for that price, and I don't like the Lakers. 4.) It's the Lakers. Yes... it's the Lakers, the Yankees of basketball. No NBA job will ever be more enticing than the Lakers. Coach K's got a big decision ahead of him... and I think he just might make the leap.
The US Olympic team very recently (maybe even today or yesterday) asked Carmelo Anthony to join the team. Anthony was thrilled to be invited and is going to Greece with Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, Starbury, and LeBron James (among others). It's my hope that Anthony and James will continue to amaze and perhaps even make all those players who passed up this opportunity jealous that they didn't go when they had the chance. Go USA (hooray for patriotism!)!
ESPY voting has started online. Go to http://espn.go.com/espy2004/index.html to cast your vote. Brett Favre is up for two awards. Both of them are for his spectacular Monday Night game against the Raiders the day after his father passed away. One of the awards is for Best Moment and the other is the Under Armor Undeniable Performance award. I strongly urge you all to take the time to vote for Brett... what a spectacular performance it was. I think I said at the time, I can't imagine doing anything the day after my father dies... much less control a professional football game the way he controlled that game. It was incredible, and I'm sure his father was proud to see his son succeed...
Enough of sports... last night, after a day of 'meetings', I took Andrea to see "There's No I in Improv" at The Second City. I knew half the cast (WOW... I know!) and it was opening night, so I wanted to go. Andrea said she had a good time... but I'm not sure about that. I think I have problems reading her because she's not a very expressive person. Even her eyes don't tell you what she's thinking about. Sometimes it doesn't even look like she's really even thinking when she is or vice versa. Very odd... I'm not used to not being able to tell what people are thinking or feeling. At any rate, she said that she had a good time. I was disappointed in the scripts, but all my friends did well. And then, on the way back from the show, someone on top of Bistro Margot (I think that was the building) started setting off fireworks. They shot straight into the night sky and exploded right above us. It was spectacular. Happy July Fourth everyone.
While I would really like to talk about Independence and what it means to me... I HAVE to talk sports (I know, collective sigh from audience).
Let's talk basketball: The Los Angeles Lakers are courting Mike Krzyzewski. A good move on the Lakers' part... as Krzyzewski is a fabulous coach. I don't think it would be a good move on Coach K's part... as college coaches don't necessarily have the best track record coaching in the pros. But, there are definitely reasons why I think Coach K might make the leap: 1.) Kobe. If the NBA's biggest star (arguably) wants you as his coach... and is willing to be coached by you for years to come, that's worth looking into. 2.) Deng and Livingston. Until a few years ago, Coach K never lost a player early to the draft. This draft, he not only lost (arguably) the best Freshman in the country in Luol Deng, but he also lost his top high school prospect Shaun Livingston, who skipped college altogether to go into the draft. I'm sure that Coach K is frustrated at the current state of college basketball. As a college coach, you can't rely on your players to stay... and the better they are, the more likely they are to leave early. If I were a college coach, I would be frustrated as well. You can't build a dynasty in college basketball anymore, because your team will leave as soon as their agents and fathers think they're good enough. 3.) Money. He would be the highest paid coach in the league if he went to the Lakers. And, let's face it, the money matters. They're talking 5 years at $8 million per year... even I would coach the Lakers for that price, and I don't like the Lakers. 4.) It's the Lakers. Yes... it's the Lakers, the Yankees of basketball. No NBA job will ever be more enticing than the Lakers. Coach K's got a big decision ahead of him... and I think he just might make the leap.
The US Olympic team very recently (maybe even today or yesterday) asked Carmelo Anthony to join the team. Anthony was thrilled to be invited and is going to Greece with Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, Starbury, and LeBron James (among others). It's my hope that Anthony and James will continue to amaze and perhaps even make all those players who passed up this opportunity jealous that they didn't go when they had the chance. Go USA (hooray for patriotism!)!
ESPY voting has started online. Go to http://espn.go.com/espy2004/index.html to cast your vote. Brett Favre is up for two awards. Both of them are for his spectacular Monday Night game against the Raiders the day after his father passed away. One of the awards is for Best Moment and the other is the Under Armor Undeniable Performance award. I strongly urge you all to take the time to vote for Brett... what a spectacular performance it was. I think I said at the time, I can't imagine doing anything the day after my father dies... much less control a professional football game the way he controlled that game. It was incredible, and I'm sure his father was proud to see his son succeed...
Enough of sports... last night, after a day of 'meetings', I took Andrea to see "There's No I in Improv" at The Second City. I knew half the cast (WOW... I know!) and it was opening night, so I wanted to go. Andrea said she had a good time... but I'm not sure about that. I think I have problems reading her because she's not a very expressive person. Even her eyes don't tell you what she's thinking about. Sometimes it doesn't even look like she's really even thinking when she is or vice versa. Very odd... I'm not used to not being able to tell what people are thinking or feeling. At any rate, she said that she had a good time. I was disappointed in the scripts, but all my friends did well. And then, on the way back from the show, someone on top of Bistro Margot (I think that was the building) started setting off fireworks. They shot straight into the night sky and exploded right above us. It was spectacular. Happy July Fourth everyone.
Saturday, July 03, 2004
If this post doesn't send me to hell... I've got something that will coming up
Yesterday Marlon Brando passed away. Do not get me wrong, I rather enjoyed his performance in "The Godfather", and I think that it takes a special performance to create such an iconic character. Brandon didn't do it all himself, lest we forget the writing of Puzo and the directing of Coppala. However, I watched "On the Waterfront" in college as part of my actor's homework (I don't remember which play it was for, but I do remember having to watch it). Regarded as one of Brando's greatest three movies (along with "Streetcar named Desire" and "The Godfather"), "On the Waterfront" is a horrific performance. At times, you can quite literally watch Brando reading his lines from someplace off camera. His performance is broodish and raw, perhaps why everyone said it fit his character so well... but, in fact, it was simply a poor performance which matched the simplistic and one dimensional character, Terry Malloy.
Which brings me to a popular debate in the world of CrazyJohn: Nostalgia versus Fact. We see this in entertainment all the time: People who say that Cassablanca is still the greatest movie ever made obviously haven't seen a movie in over forty years. The acting, editing, and scripts have dramatically (no pun intended) improved even in the last fifteen years. This same debate somehow finds itself in the world of sports ALL THE TIME. Could the current Yankees beat Babe Ruth's Yankees? Who's better, Shaq's Lakers or Russell's Celtics? Could the Patriots beat the 85 Bears? I'm sorry, but this is a no brainer to me. The athletes are so much bigger, stronger, and faster that the Clippers could probably beat Russell's Celtics... last year's Tigers could be Ruth's Yankees... and the Columbus Blue Jackets could probably take the Montreal Canadians of late 1950s.
Does that mean that you can't like old movies? NO... I still love the original Star Wars movies, even though the special effects aren't that special and some of the acting is suspect. In addition, some of my favorite video games are old/original Nintendo games. But I like them because they're simple and they remind me of my youth... not because I'm under some false belief that Contra is a superior game to Halo.
Alright... enough of that... let's talk about how my company is run by crazy insane people. Not my High Focus company, Coldstone itself. You know how some people have signatures on their emails that say some neato quote and it makes everyone a better person? Well, Coldstone people include their favorite Originals on their signatures. What's more, Andrea told me that when she was down in Arizona for Ice Cream University, they used to get fifteen minute breaks during "classroom" time... and during these fifteen minute breaks, someone would come in and serve them all the pre-made Coldstone Ice Cream they could eat. And then they would TALK about their favorite creations, during the breaks... no wonder it drove Andrea nuts. It's like there's an entire sub-culture of people who just worship this ice cream. It's ridiculous... It's just ice cream. It's not like ice cream is something important like...
According to ESPN this morning, the Packers are 7/1 to win this year's Super Bowl, even though they did not even make the Top 10 NFL Power Rankings on ESPN. Unfortunately, I think the latter makes more sense. I can understand the Patriots, the Eagles, and the Colts being numbers one, two, and three in the power rankings... but I guess I don't understand the Seahawks being a higher ranking than the Packers. And I REALLY don't understand the Lions being 25 and the Bears at 21. The Jags and Raiders suck and everyone on Tampa Bay that was any good is gone. No, trust me... the Eagles will be good, but will have a hell of a time getting out of their own division. AND all the Packers, Bears, and Lions will have to worry about is each other.
Speaking of sports, this weekend is the cross-town rivalry between the White Sox and the Cubs up at Wrigley. (The games at US Cellular have been played... I think the Sox won). This is apparently a bigger deal than I understand. Even though the Sox and the Cubs are in completely different Leagues (which in Baseball is HUGE), everyone in this city seems to have ONE team and they stick with that team. >shrug< I think I'll probably just root for both >collective gasp from everyone around me<. Oh shut up... it's been a million years since a World Series came to Chicago... I would just love to see it. And why not root for both... they're in different leagues, you bastards! Whatever! Hope you're all having a great July 4th weekend. Take care and enjoy your fireworks.
Yesterday Marlon Brando passed away. Do not get me wrong, I rather enjoyed his performance in "The Godfather", and I think that it takes a special performance to create such an iconic character. Brandon didn't do it all himself, lest we forget the writing of Puzo and the directing of Coppala. However, I watched "On the Waterfront" in college as part of my actor's homework (I don't remember which play it was for, but I do remember having to watch it). Regarded as one of Brando's greatest three movies (along with "Streetcar named Desire" and "The Godfather"), "On the Waterfront" is a horrific performance. At times, you can quite literally watch Brando reading his lines from someplace off camera. His performance is broodish and raw, perhaps why everyone said it fit his character so well... but, in fact, it was simply a poor performance which matched the simplistic and one dimensional character, Terry Malloy.
Which brings me to a popular debate in the world of CrazyJohn: Nostalgia versus Fact. We see this in entertainment all the time: People who say that Cassablanca is still the greatest movie ever made obviously haven't seen a movie in over forty years. The acting, editing, and scripts have dramatically (no pun intended) improved even in the last fifteen years. This same debate somehow finds itself in the world of sports ALL THE TIME. Could the current Yankees beat Babe Ruth's Yankees? Who's better, Shaq's Lakers or Russell's Celtics? Could the Patriots beat the 85 Bears? I'm sorry, but this is a no brainer to me. The athletes are so much bigger, stronger, and faster that the Clippers could probably beat Russell's Celtics... last year's Tigers could be Ruth's Yankees... and the Columbus Blue Jackets could probably take the Montreal Canadians of late 1950s.
Does that mean that you can't like old movies? NO... I still love the original Star Wars movies, even though the special effects aren't that special and some of the acting is suspect. In addition, some of my favorite video games are old/original Nintendo games. But I like them because they're simple and they remind me of my youth... not because I'm under some false belief that Contra is a superior game to Halo.
Alright... enough of that... let's talk about how my company is run by crazy insane people. Not my High Focus company, Coldstone itself. You know how some people have signatures on their emails that say some neato quote and it makes everyone a better person? Well, Coldstone people include their favorite Originals on their signatures. What's more, Andrea told me that when she was down in Arizona for Ice Cream University, they used to get fifteen minute breaks during "classroom" time... and during these fifteen minute breaks, someone would come in and serve them all the pre-made Coldstone Ice Cream they could eat. And then they would TALK about their favorite creations, during the breaks... no wonder it drove Andrea nuts. It's like there's an entire sub-culture of people who just worship this ice cream. It's ridiculous... It's just ice cream. It's not like ice cream is something important like...
According to ESPN this morning, the Packers are 7/1 to win this year's Super Bowl, even though they did not even make the Top 10 NFL Power Rankings on ESPN. Unfortunately, I think the latter makes more sense. I can understand the Patriots, the Eagles, and the Colts being numbers one, two, and three in the power rankings... but I guess I don't understand the Seahawks being a higher ranking than the Packers. And I REALLY don't understand the Lions being 25 and the Bears at 21. The Jags and Raiders suck and everyone on Tampa Bay that was any good is gone. No, trust me... the Eagles will be good, but will have a hell of a time getting out of their own division. AND all the Packers, Bears, and Lions will have to worry about is each other.
Speaking of sports, this weekend is the cross-town rivalry between the White Sox and the Cubs up at Wrigley. (The games at US Cellular have been played... I think the Sox won). This is apparently a bigger deal than I understand. Even though the Sox and the Cubs are in completely different Leagues (which in Baseball is HUGE), everyone in this city seems to have ONE team and they stick with that team. >shrug< I think I'll probably just root for both >collective gasp from everyone around me<. Oh shut up... it's been a million years since a World Series came to Chicago... I would just love to see it. And why not root for both... they're in different leagues, you bastards! Whatever! Hope you're all having a great July 4th weekend. Take care and enjoy your fireworks.
Friday, July 02, 2004
Random Thoughts
I think I'm currently watching what I think is the pilot episode of MacGuyver. And it is a show that I would love to see come out on DVD. I'd buy every season. Why? Because MacGuyver's cool... that's why. And it's a totally funny show. The token random women he's saving said "Don't tell me you know how to make a bomb out of a stick of chewing gum" and MacGuyver says "Why? Do you have a piece?" Ha ha! He also called the token women "dumb" when she got shot by the "bad guy". Nothing says sensitivity like calling someone who just got shot dumb. Isn't that awesome. And he kissed the girl in this episode! Something that I think they didn't let him do in future episodes. That's why MacGuyver's awesome... he's got 99 problems, but a bitch ain't one.
This has nothing to do with anything, but Franz Ferdinand and Modest Mouse are the same sucky, sucky band. Good... glad you're coming with me on that.
I think I'm currently watching what I think is the pilot episode of MacGuyver. And it is a show that I would love to see come out on DVD. I'd buy every season. Why? Because MacGuyver's cool... that's why. And it's a totally funny show. The token random women he's saving said "Don't tell me you know how to make a bomb out of a stick of chewing gum" and MacGuyver says "Why? Do you have a piece?" Ha ha! He also called the token women "dumb" when she got shot by the "bad guy". Nothing says sensitivity like calling someone who just got shot dumb. Isn't that awesome. And he kissed the girl in this episode! Something that I think they didn't let him do in future episodes. That's why MacGuyver's awesome... he's got 99 problems, but a bitch ain't one.
This has nothing to do with anything, but Franz Ferdinand and Modest Mouse are the same sucky, sucky band. Good... glad you're coming with me on that.
Thursday, July 01, 2004
Welcome to July 2004: It's a great month for Ice Cream
During July, Coldstone is working to raise money for the Make-A-Wish foundation. The culminating event is the 3rd Annual World's Largest Ice Cream Social on July 29th from 5-8 PM. Find a Coldstone Creamery and be willing to stand in line, because that night, from 5-8, every Coldstone Creamery is giving away free slices of cake. We ARE asking for donations for Make-A-Wish... but I know that YOU'RE poor and cheap, so don't worry about it. I, personally, bought a MAW star (they go up in the Coldstone on the wall, and ALL proceeds from the stars go to the MAW Foundation)... so I feel like I'm helping in my own little way. Head to Coldstone and support the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
During July, Coldstone is working to raise money for the Make-A-Wish foundation. The culminating event is the 3rd Annual World's Largest Ice Cream Social on July 29th from 5-8 PM. Find a Coldstone Creamery and be willing to stand in line, because that night, from 5-8, every Coldstone Creamery is giving away free slices of cake. We ARE asking for donations for Make-A-Wish... but I know that YOU'RE poor and cheap, so don't worry about it. I, personally, bought a MAW star (they go up in the Coldstone on the wall, and ALL proceeds from the stars go to the MAW Foundation)... so I feel like I'm helping in my own little way. Head to Coldstone and support the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
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