Busy Tuesday

First news first... I got hired at Comedy Sportz!!! The two nights of auditions were actually fun and I actually did a really good job in them. I was able to remain calm (somewhat) throughout the process and I was able to subconsciously make really neat decisions. I even didn't suck at the singing exercises. Good for me.

My fellow inductees:
Jess Ring (fellow Strike Force alum)
Josh Breit (fellow Strike Force alum)
Erin Pallesen (he's a guy)
Erin Carr (she's a girl)
Sarah Maher
Megan Green

Two out of 3 of my roommates are also Comedy Sportz members so our apartment just went from 50% Comedy Sportz to 75% Comedy Sportz. My roomies are promising to haze us newbies real harsh-like. I'm kind of nervous about that. I hope it's nothing like Vincent DeNofrio gets in Full Metal Jacket.

~~~

But mostly on my mind is my trip. I was able to get the rewrite done, call my uncle, get my checks on the common room table for the bills, and get in touch with Paul.

What I still need to do:
Fix my flat front tire on my bike (Kozy's; first find my wheel lock key)
Write the Care Bears sketch.
get travel sized toiletries (Jewel)
Clean my bathroom
clean out my portion of the kitchen closet
call Mikaela/Tony to see what they are doing Thursday
get video from Paul (DVD malfunctions prevented a hand-off last night)
check 5-day forecasts in LA and Montana
buy a zip-up black track sweater to replace the one I have that's missing the zipper
Say goodbye to my co-worker Justin whose last day is this Friday, which I'll miss since I'll be in MT
Get a hair cut.

Comedy Sportz Call Back

I had a Comedy Sportz audition last night and I got a call back. That's pretty cool. I've never gotten a call back before. Nice. The call back is tonight and I'll try not to suck.

But my mind's mainly on the Montana trip. Here's a list of things I need/want to do before my flight Wednesday morning.

Fix my flat front tire on my bike (Kozy's; possibly fit between work and call back)
Do the rewrite on the Toilet Seat sketch I wrote. (try to do tonight after call back)
Write the Care Bears sketch. (same as above)
get travel sized toiletries (Jewel; tonight or tomorrow)
Clean my bathroom (tomorrow)
clean out my portion of the kitchen closet (tomorrow)
pay bill/put checks out on the common room table (do this after work today)
call Mikaela/Tony and Uncle Joel for seeing which night I can visit them when I'm in LA (tonight or tomorrow)
get video from Paul for Levin's dad, Harrison (need to contract Paul first)
check 5-day forecasts in LA and Montana (tomorrow)
buy a zip-up black track sweater to replace the one I have that's missing the zipper (tomorrow)
Say goodbye to my co-worker Justin whose last day is this Friday, which I'll miss since I'll be in MT (tomorrow)
Get a hair cut (has to be tomorrow after work)

To-Do lists help.

Creativity at Work

My job is pretty boring and mundane. I scan documents into a database, make sure the scanned images go into the files they are supposed to be in, and then bind the documents together and but them in boxes to be shipped off to a storage facility.

On the tops of the boxes I write the box number. After awhile I started being a little more creative with the ways I wrote it. I basically create or proximate fonts for the numbers. This past week, though, I've been more creative than usual.

Ticket to Paradise

Another reason Monday was a good day was that I got permission from my boss to take the last 3 business days of June off so that I could combine them with the first two business days of July that I have off and have time to go to Montana again this year. Since no one from Chicago is going this year (save for me) renting a car would be too expensive and I'd never be able to get there as fast since I'd be the only driver. Flying in and out of Montana is muy expensive. To make a long explanation short - I will be flying into LA, driving to Montana with the LA crew in a 12-seater van, and then after 5 beautiful days in Montana I'll be flying out of Great Falls, Montana back to Chicago.


I'm really, really looking forward to this trip. I feel like I NEED it more this year than the previous two years. I'm not sure exactly why the need is stronger this year but I think it may be because I'm feeling a little trapped and/or stagnant in Chicago/my job.

Good Signs

Last night, Monday, was my first officially free Monday night in years. Because I had all the time in the world (or 15 hours before work the next day) I decided to get on the 22 Clark bus to get back home. The idea was to be able to sit and read a book my friend gave me a month ago to read. And to occasionally look out the window and marvel at the beauty of Chicago in the summer. But the bus was packed and I stood the whole ride up.

I took the bus also because I wanted to go to Best Buy and buy Guitar Hero II. I played it all night and it was a ton of fun.

I took a break from Guitar Hero for dinner and that meant going to the corner store for some bread, cookies, and cereal. As I walked outside, the feeling of freedom swept over me. I felt like a normal person with all their weeknights free. I could do anything! Hang out at a bar, go to a pool hall with a friend, go see a movie, bike on the lake front path. It was like I had just moved to Chicago and I had no commitments at all. It was just like the feeling I got at the start of summer vacation when I was in school. I felt great.

And as I walked back home with the groceries in hand, I saw this:


A complete rainbow arch. It was so great. I'll take that as a good sign that good things are coming to me.

Taste of Randolph Street

This past weekend was Jonny's birthday weekend. He wanted to spend it at the Taste of Randolph Street and at a bar called Johnny's. I had a Cage Match show later that night so I knew I couldn't do Johnny's so instead I met up with him and a few of his friends at the Taste of Randolph Street. I biked down there, which was great, and it started to pour as I did, not so great but a ton of fun.

I got to catch the last 2 songs of The Changes when I got there. I also saw The Walkmen and then later the Smoking Popes. I didn't care for the Popes and I saw only so-so on The Walkmen. What I did love was the drummer of The Walkmen. Jonny is right in saying this guy is the living personification of Animal the muppet.


Later Kilgore Trout did a show for the Cage Match of Fallen Teams. We actually had a good show. We did a kind of Four Square-esque show with transitional edits and it made for a sort of wacky, yet still grounded, super-fun show. I had so much fun that I wanted to win so that we could play again in a month in the second round. But we lost by 5 votes to Rumpus. Good job Rumpus.

Quick Notes

Katy, Terry, Andy, and I (from Rattlesnake) got to play with POB and Eddie Pina in a Reckoning show slot. We did the form The Reckoning have been playing with recently and although the first part of it was a little wonky, after a certain point it became really good. I got to do a fun scene with POB that was classic Captain of police and his loose cannon detective. Mondo fun.

The BBQ at Duffy's place was nice. The corn was super spicy hot from the cayenne pepper and I got to eat some nice meat on a stick, which was the source of many dumb but fun jokes.

The Rattlesnake show with 5 peeps was fun but also a little weird. It was a lot more game-y and odd at times than normal. But in a good way.

There wasn't enough people in the audience at midnight for a Cage Match so instead it was postponed for next week where there will be a double header. But since there was enough people to warrant giving them a show for their money, the two teams combined and played as one. It was dumb and I don't think funny at all but it was fun for us players to be bad improv.

Last night I was Armando and gave monologues as well as pulled lights. I asked the audience to ask me a question about something they might want to know about me and I got "are you drunk?" "No," I said back. So I talked about alcohol and my experiences with it and my thoughts on the subject. The deconstruction scenes off the monologues were really good and fun. Hardly any literal things were taken but a lot of tangential and thematic stuff, which is always the best.

Today the Lollapalooza schedule was released and I'm excited about seeing shows this summer.

Activities

My weekends have been pretty busy recently and I've been having a lot of fun. I'm having so much fun that I think it's pushed me into being selfish with my fun time. No more doing of things that I only partially enjoy. I recently started to only partially enjoy doing lights for Armando. So I decided to quit doing lights. I have one last lights duty and then I have my Monday nights free. I'm excited about that. More time to have fun. Or time to organize my life. I've been doing lights for that show since late February of 2003!

When I've told friends that I'm quiting lights for Armando, they tell me that I ought to be playing in the show. While that is nice to hear, I don't really think I'm at that level yet. Honestly. Two days ago I did the Lottery for the first time and my individual performance was not so good. I was hesitant and in my head and definitely not at a veteran level. I'm also not going to hang around iO on Mondays nights in the hopes that I get to play. I'm going to enjoy my Mondays nights for at least this summer. Besides, like most players, I'm hoping that one day Noah will tell me I'm now good enough to play with Armando any time I want.

Another cool aspect of being super busy during the weekends is that when I think about dating some lady it starts to feel like a weight around my neck; an obstacle to having fun with my friends. This is a good place for me to be in. I want to enjoy being free and single.

Three weeks ago a bunch of people that are all on the same message board decided to meet together at this German bar for fun times. It sure was fun times. I can't believe it's only been three weeks since that time. I've done so much stuff that my memories of the time in the German bar seem like they happened 3 months ago.

My last three weeks:
Tues 5/15 - German Bar; too much fun until way too late at night for me.

Wed - Felt and a Skeleton Attack show. Both were great.
Thurs - Atticus Finch reunion show at the Playground for it's 10th anniversary. Hang out with Tony who's leaving for LA
Fri - a writers' meeting on a new sketch project at iO. Afterwards went to see Maria Bamford at the Lakeshore Theater with Manley and Facklis. Bamford is hilarious, I love her.

Sat - Molly's huge birthday/going away party.

skip over 5 boring days to the following Thurs - hang out time with Rattlesnake and one last time with Molly. Pizza and hanging out at Gilley's place of employment eating weird candy.

Fri - kick-ass RHS show.
Sat - early morning helping Molly move stuff into her moving van. Eat lunch afterward and say good-bye to Molly.

Sun - Pennybear (sketch group) rehearsal. This has been more fun than I thought it would be. Skeleton Attack has good show. Later I go to Carol's with the team and friends Thea and The Ferg join me.

Mon - Memorial Day: sleep late and go to BBQ party at Brett's. Play ping pong, Guitar Hero II, and an invented-on-the-spot game dubbed "32" that involves frisbees, 8'x4' sheets of drywall, and box defenders that are literally in boxes. (you had to be there)

skip forward 4 boring days to Fri - I think I saw the movie "Once" (pretty good) and later went to Shott's b-day party at a way too-overcrowded and hot&humid Johnny's bar.
Sat - RHS show (so-so) and later bike down with Thea to the Hideout for a band's album release party but mostly to see Ben Johnson open for the band with some comedy stylings.
Sun - super early morning Penny Bear rehearsal. Followed by noon writers' meeting for iO sketch project at Charna's house. (better than I thought it would be; the meeting, not Charna's house)
This past Mon - Jamie Swise does Armando and his stories are all awesome.

Tonight the Snakes that are still in town (Topaz is in LA for LA Festival) are getting to play with still-in-town members of The Reckoning (just POB as I understand it). Then Saturday there's a welcome-back-to-Chicago BBQ for Erica & Ryan, a RHS show, and then Kilgore Trout (4-person show since people are out of town) has a show in the Cage Match of Fallen Teams.