Zoom Boat

Sweepedit Xmas Party

2009-12-18T23:35:00.004-06:00

For the second year in a row, Sweepedit peeps got together at Guthries for our Xmas Party. It was a lot of fun although at first it looked we might have to relocate. There were nerds in the backroom playing this diplomacy game. But we were able to butt our way in there and squeeze together around a couple of tables.

Last year we had fun doing awful neck shots. That is, taking a photograph of your own neck while scrunching it up so that you can take the most awful picture of yourself as possible. We did it again this year.

We included two other theme shots:
Grade School shots

and dead-eye shots

So much fun.

Wintry Mix

2009-12-08T22:23:00.003-06:00

It started snowing yesterday. But the real showcase was today.

Now at night it's a wintry mix of snow and rain. Probably the worst mix ever.

Tomorrow is more snow. Then Thursday is lower temps and windy.

Get ready everyone, winter is here.

Caffeine Withdrawal and Show & Tell Show

2009-12-06T21:18:00.003-06:00

I went through caffeine withdrawal on Saturday. I've been having trouble sleeping for a past couple of weeks and I've been drinking coffee at work (since it's free) to compensate for it. Well, I paid the price Saturday. I could have had some coffee to have solved the headache problem but I need to go through this withdrawal cold turkey. It hurt. A lot.

Felt did some help on the Show & Tell Show's video intro on Sunday. It was fun and I wish I could do this type of shit every day.

Jelly Legs and Blue Moon

2009-12-01T18:10:00.001-06:00

My legs feel like jelly after 6.25K, which I did since I decided not to do the Turkey Trot Wednesday morning. I think I really overdid it.

~~~

We get two full moons this December. Blue moon on Dec. 31st. I think that's pretty cool and I know that makes me a dork.

Talking with People

2009-11-23T14:01:00.003-06:00

Kudos to me for being able to talk to people one-on-one. This is a skill I'm good at but if you were able to hear my thoughts would glimpse at the war going on inside my head. It's like I'm constantly on edge as to when the awkward pause is going to happen. And I'm worried that the other person is bored by me. So this weekend was good for me in that I was able to continue overly long conversations with those that I'm not around a lot.

My 1-on-1 with Kunkle for awhile at the second floor of Mullen's. We talked Iowa football and the pros and cons of having a QB that can run and pass.
Then almost immediately afterwards had a 1-on-1 with Brittain for awhile too.
Then at the BBX brunch I was talking with people long after we were all done eating our food. I kept feeling like we were overstaying our welcome.
Then I was invited to keep the face time going with playing Rock Band at Sam's place. So I went and had a good time.

Good job, me!

End of Shock Corridor

2009-11-18T14:56:00.002-06:00

Shock is getting cut. We just found out.

The funny thing is that we were just starting (for the last 3 months) having consistently good shows. I would not have been shocked had this cut come in, say June, but the cut now just seems ill timed.

Oh well.

Montreal Part of Vacation

2009-11-18T00:48:00.004-06:00

Day 4: part 2:
Settle into Montreal.
Can't recall if we went out and where to Tuesday night.

Day 5:
Wed spent hiking up Mont Royal.

Went to a pre-bar bar.
Then to the Blue Dog for drinks and karaoke - drank way too much. Had lots of fun. Double fun.

Day 6:
Thursday recovery. Read most of WWZ.
Went to a hipster bar, they were watching hockey. People watched.

Day 7:
Friday went for a bike ride. Bad bike. Biosphere.

Chat with Sylvia and Paul
Restaurant with Sylvia, Paul, Jon, & Ashley.

Day 8:
Trip to Burlington, VT. Henry's Diner - found this diner on the Google Maps app on my iPhone and then checked Yelp for reviews of the places found on Google Maps. This place was the best though the service was a little slow.
Airplanes rides - Throat getting warm; catching a cold?
Glad to be home.

Sunday was spent in recovery.

NYC part of Vacation

2009-11-11T12:28:00.006-06:00

Day 1:
Flight to PHL; flight to EWR
EWR airport and train to NYC Penn Station
Central Park - heard so many different languages being spoken and the park had a nice romantic feel to it at dusk
Dayna's group - went to go see my friend Dayna's improv group. They were great and definitely the best on of the night.
SNL writer's room/SNL experience - my friend POB is a new writer for SNL and I was able to sit in the writer's room during the live show. It was pretty neat and thankfully the show that night was a good one. Taylor Swift was the host and musical guest. I was able to go down to the floor of the show and watch her do two of her songs and that was pretty neat.
Afterparty - also got to see POB's office and then went to the afterparty at a restaurant nearby the studio. It was nice and got to talk to a few iO alums that are now apart of SNL
PATH train and Hoboken experience - rode the last PATH train to Hoboken to be picked up by my sister, who I was staying with. The train is loaded with drunk kids in their early 20s; it was like all of Clark Street were put on one train together. Later heard that these people are labeled "bridge and tunnel" people by people who live in NYC.

Day 2
Met up with a friend of a friend for a night out on the town. Went to a cool burger place before heading to UCB Theater
ASSCATT - Groz, McBrayer, Lutz, Poehler, and others were in the show. It was real good.
Houndstooth bar
View of NYC at night from NJ - later met up with my sister and her BF and they took me to this one spot in NJ where you get a wonderful view of NYC.

Day 3
Williamsburger - drove to Brooklyn with my sister and her BF for sightseeing. Went to this burger place which was pretty great.
DUMBO area - the term for the area between the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. There's a park there next to the river and it was a great place for picture taking.
Walked across Brooklyn Bridge
Staten Island Ferry
Dark, German bar with good food
Lapkus goodbye improv show at The Creek & the Cave - coincidentally my friend Lapkus was having her goodbye show that night and I was invited in apart of it in Queens. Got to see a ton of Chicago folks who now live in NYC. My sister got to see me do improv for the first time in years.

Day 4
Train to NYC
waiting for gate to be announced
On the train - super long trek. Views were decent but I was hoping for better.
Customs check - took forever. Canadian customs agents board the train and question everyone about them entering Canada and for what reason.
Montreal!

Hot Chocolate 5K

2009-11-01T17:01:00.004-06:00

Ran the Hot Chocolate 5K with Tamara, Chrissy, and Tam's friend Bryan. Natalie and Young were also there and we met up with them after the run. Jess was also there but she ran the 15K.

The run was fine. The four of us ran together for two of the three miles before my knee started to hurt due to the slow pace we were running. If I run too slow, the up and down motion of the trot pace starts to hurt my knee after awhile. So I had to quicken my pace to ease the pressure on my knee. I took off, put on my headphones, and finished the last mile at a pace I liked. I wasn't as tired this time as I was the last time I finished a 5K. So that's progress.

There was chocolate fondue and hot chocolate for the runners after the race. However, this is where the organizers failed and failed hard. By the time the 15K runners finished the race (and they started after the 5K runners took off) a number of the fondue fountains had stopped running and they soon ran out of chocolate for the fondue. And the hot chocolate was the powdered crap and it tasted so, so, so awful. I don't think I've ever had worse tasting hot chocolate.

Halloween Shopping

2009-11-01T17:00:00.006-06:00

I went to Lighthouse Place Outlet in Michigan City, IN for clothes and stuff. I got luggage, a pea coat, and a bunch of new clothes at greatly discounted prices. It was fun but a little lonely.

Pumpkin Carving

2009-11-01T17:00:00.005-06:00

Carved pumpkins with friends.

November Trip & Jersey Boys

2009-10-24T02:13:00.004-05:00

I finally made my plans concrete in going to Jersey and Montreal for a trip. My sister now lives in New Jersey, near NYC, and I'm going there for a weekend to see her. Then on a Tuesday after seeing her, I'll be taking an Amtrak train up north to Montreal from NYC. I'm going to Montreal to visit my friend Ferg.

~~~

I saw Jersey Boys with some CSz peeps - Jess, Chrissy, Tara, Tamara, and Prouty. It was a good show and I had no idea how tough the guys in the group were. And the songs were great and the guys playing the parts sounded very much like the Four Seasons.

~~~

PS. My hand is okay now!

Busy Weekend

2009-10-11T21:27:00.005-05:00

This weekend was a busy weekend. I had shows Friday and Saturday night. Then on Sunday morning I got up early to watch the Chicago Marathon. Andre and Jessica were running it and a bunch of fellow CSzers walked over to Belmont and Broadway to watch the runners go by. First to go by were the guys in wheelchairs that zipped by super fast. Then came the super fast men runners. Soon afterwards the guy above came running by on his metal legs. About 10 minutes later the lead women's group came by. Then about 15 minutes later the road reached it's peak for the amount of marathoners. Eventually we got to see Andre and Jess run by.

It was colder than we were expecting that day and after we saw our friends run by, a few of us went to Ann Sather's for breakfast. I hadn't planned on seeing any more of the marathon by then I decided to join James and Marla, who were going down to Chinatown to see the runners go by at the 22 mile mark. I got there first and was able to see Andre run by. Then James and Marla met up with me and we didn't have to wait too long before Jessica ran by. Then we walked to the finish and waiting for Andre and Jessica to run by again.

We were hungry for dinner so James, Marla, and I went to FoodLife for some grub. It was good. I gobbled by food up fast because I needed to be at the CSz back parking lot to meet a group for Whirelyball and laser tag. Both were a lot of fun.

Then it was back at our apartment for Dexter viewing! Definitely an exhausting but fun day.

5K

2009-10-04T23:59:00.005-05:00

My knee hurts (though no bruising) and my legs are pretty sore after the 5K. But I did it! My time was a little over 30 minutes. Not bad.

The above picture is me doing a bit in wondering where my running partners are at.

New Shoes & Olympics

2009-10-03T19:36:00.003-05:00

Olympics for 2016 will be in Rio de Janeiro. Chicago was eliminated in the first round.

I've decided to get my butt in gear and actually start exercising. So I signed up for the Bucktown 5K. I'm sad to say, though, that it was the goodie bag treats that actually made me commit to signing up. The goodie bag treats were running gloves, a water bottle, and a messenger bag. Yes, I messenger bag! I'm sure it will be a cheapo bag but still, that's a pretty great.

Years ago I meekly trained for the Chicago Marathon and hurt my knee during the training. In the years afterward, I would try to run again but the underside of my right knee (the leg that is curved outward) kept getting bruised. This had never happened before. The only variable that I could detect: the running shoes I bought that supposedly corrected bad foot stepping. Fuck you old shoes.

So I bought new running shoes. They don't try to correct pronation. They feel nice.

Eyeglasses Manfunction

2009-09-29T21:47:00.001-05:00

My glasses broke at the nose. Dammit.

So I had to get new frames. I tried to get something close to my old frames. I really liked those frames.

RIP Old Frames.

Speed Dating

2009-09-21T00:15:00.002-05:00

What began as a bit steamrolled into actual action. My roommates were talking about how hilarious it would be for all of us to do speed dating. Soon enough we found an event and signed up for it. In the end it was me, Tara, Chrissy, and Jess.

The event was at a bar in the Wicker Park area and at a cute bar with an interesting Spanish flair. There weren't as many people there as I was expecting. And the ladies that I met during the event were pretty normal. I was hoping for some crazy lady that would make a great story but there was none. The craziest it got was that one lady had kind of crazy eyes but she wasn't really all that crazy. Since that was a bust then I was hoping for at least one connection/potential lady but there were none. So for me this adventure was a bust.

But afterwards I had fun having some drinks with my speed date buddies. Practically everybody else that participated in the event took off the second it ended.

CSz 2009 Banquet

2009-09-11T09:55:00.003-05:00

Fun times.

End of Summer Run

2009-09-02T18:08:00.002-05:00

uniFormless and other $5 long-form shows had our last shows of our summer runs. Our show was a fun show and I'll miss playing with these guys in this show format. Something about playing at CSz and starting off the show with a short-form game unlocked me and allowed me to have fun and do some really great improv. I've been feeling like I've been in an improv funk for awhile, so it was really great to have this show.

I also got up early to watch Tamara finish her Sprint Triathlon. I got the rest of the Phase 10 gang (Alison & Erin) to come down with me. We arrived earlier than we planned and good that we did, because we only waited a few minutes before Tamara came running by. We all got breakfast afterward and it was neat to be out and about so early in the day.

Nice job Tamara!

CSz Kickball & Injury

2009-08-31T13:40:00.006-05:00

CSz played kickball instead of rehearsing on a Tuesday night. It was a lot of fun. I was on the Blue team and we ended up killing the Red team. I got on base twice and scored both times. I also jammed my ring and pinkie fingers on the ball during the 2nd inning. It wasn't even during a play, it was during the changeover. We took the field and threw the ball around to keep ourselves warmed up. Ryder threw it to me, I let it bounce and then it jammed my fingers. It hurt a lot.

Afterward we hung out at Carol's Pub and I did a good job of talking to people and not bailing on the hangout fun.

Once I got home I immediately iced my hand though it was pretty swollen at this point. By Saturday the swelling hadn't gone down enough to my liking so I had it checked out at the Hand Surgery Specialty Doctor. HSSD had it x-rayed. It's just a jammed finger, right? I've jammed my fingers in basketball during middle school before. This is just like that, right?

Well, guess what? I found out today it was a small fracture of the pinky finger. Another broken bone!? God damn what's wrong with my bones?!

So I get to wear this bad boy (see picture above) for 6 weeks. Life is great.

Food Poisoning & Weekend with Family

2009-08-21T11:39:00.006-05:00

I got food poisoning the night before I traveled to Minneapolis for my other grandpa's 80th birthday party. It was awful.

I went to a ribs restaurant after Shock Corridor rehearsal and the dinner was great. But then I got home and soon after I felt a great pain in my stomach. Cut to 15 minutes later and I'm holding onto the toilet bowl for dear life as my stomach contents tumble out. I had the shakes, I was sweating, it was really bad. After the worst of it was over, I cleaned myself up and then went to bed. I had to get some sleep before catching my plane the next day.

I wake up at 4am. Something's wrong. I go to the bathroom and discover that my body has decided to get rid of the rest of its contents but this time using the opposite end of the gastrointestinal tract. If it wasn't clear to me during the puking it became crystal clear now, sitting atop the toilet, that I had food poisoning.

This made my trip to my Grandpa's 80 birthday party just about the worst trip I've been on this year. I had no appetite and my whole body felt really weak and frail. My first night in Minneapolis I could have spent it hanging out with my sister, her boyfriend, my cousin, and her boyfriend, but I was still too sickly feeling to go out. The next day was my grandpa's (Grandpa K.) 80's birthday party. It was good to see a lot of my relatives and we out an about. But I still was pretty weak and had to take it easy during the party.

Happy birthday, Grandpa K!

Loilla 2009 Day 3

2009-08-10T00:41:00.012-05:00

Lolla Day 3 notes:

Yuto Miyazawa - 9yr old Japanese kid guitar god. Shredded his flying V guitar like a pro. Guinness Book of World Record youngest professional guitarist. Played cover songs and sang the lyrics too, in his high pitched, 9yr old voice. Very cute.
Care Bears on Fire - Three girls from Brooklyn, 13, 14, and 15, play punk songs of their own creation. Good musicians, but beyond their gimmick, they are an average band. But there is definite potential there. Perhaps they will grow as song writers and go the route of The Donnas and become a great band.
Food - lines still short. The Lolla organizers really got this down pat.
Carney - so hot out today. So-so band except for the last song, which is great.
Ra Ra Riot - again, so hot out. Using umbrella as a shade. Average band.
Bat for Lashes - "it's SO HOT!" Good stuff, maybe appreciate it more perhaps in a better setting.

The Greencards - Bluegrass in the shade. From Australia. Nice people it seems.

Met up with others; food
Kaiser Chiefs - bored with them.
Free water!! - so needed and great to have. Temps in the 90s and in the sun it feels a lot hotter. Again, hat off to the organizers for the decision to give out free water.
The Raveonettes - good music to have in the background while you are cleaning or sitting outside on a porch with friends.
Neko Case - just okay.

Passion Pit - super crowded; crowd looked to be having an awesome time. Liked their sound. Need to listen to more of their stuff. Cool breeze happened at the end - so nice.

Snoop Dog - entertaining the white people.
Band of Horses - 20 minutes late due to Lou Reed. Audience into it.
The Killers - those that knew them said they started slow and then ramped it up so by the end it was a great show. I knew 3 songs and they sounded pretty great. The rest of the stuff I'm not really a fan.

Like most Sundays of Lolla, it was the weakest of the days music-wise. Overall this year's Lolla was better than last year's. I ended up at this year's festival for 31.5 out of the 33 hours of the festival, which I find amazing. I didn't plan on being to most of it but that's how it played out this year.

Hopefully next year's lineup will be even better.

Lolla 2009 Day 2

2009-08-09T00:07:00.004-05:00

Lolla day 2 notes:

I got in line early; before it opened. Finally opened at 11:07am

Band of Skulls - Blew me away! - just might be my favorite new band. Rockin' set; ended 7 min early. (not enough songs?) So much fun.

Ezra Furman & the Harpoons - good stuff; hilariously awkward talking to the audience between songs. Pretty hot already.

Walked around looking at stuff:

Honda Eco Zone - car stuff
Green Street - environmental stuff
Hammock Haven - resting place

Miike Snow - came on with weird white masks; took them off 1-2 songs later. Not quite into them.

Food - lobster corndog from Graham Elliot booth. Sooooooo good.

Ida Maria - Pretty good. Probably would be have been better had I known the songs first. Wonderful showman, front woman.

Chairlift - probably would dig their stuff, but just like Fleet Foxes, wasn't quite in the mood. A little too low energy/quiet stuff for an outdoor concert.
Arctic Monkeys - didn't care for them. Took a nap.

Santigold - Started 10 minutes late, but made up for it with awesome show. Really great songs. Backup singers/dancers were incredible.

More food
Heard last song of TV on the Radio's set, which was the only song I really know. So perfect timing.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - A-ma-zing show.
I've seen them 3-4 times before and this one was by far the best show. So awesome. Great spot, could see over everyone's head.

Got a little dehydrated at the end. Got a little sunburned. Pretty darn exhausted. But what a great day. Definitely best day out of the festival this year. Possibly the best day out of the 4 years I've been going to Lolla. Day 1 of Lolla 2007 comes pretty close [The Rapture & Daft Punk]. (Don't worry 2007, you're still my favorite Lolla overall so far) I also biked down this day so I biked back and was covered in sweat when I got home. Ridiculously exhausted at this point.

Will I be able to wake up early enough for Day 3?

Lolla 2009 Day 1

2009-08-08T23:03:00.009-05:00

Lolla day 1 notes:

Got to the gates around 12:30pm and met up with Marla. It just started raining at 11am and was pretty steady by the time I arrived at Grant Park. I had an umbrella so we were fine.

Zap Mama no show; but ran into Natalie and her friends Ali & Camelia. Decided to all be concert buddies for the rest of Lollapalooza. We all went to UF, too.

The Builders & the Butchers - pretty great. Loved the two dudes on drums at once, side by side.

The Gaslight Anthem - didn't care for them.
Heartless Bastards - sounded good but wasn't really listening because we were talking to people who just joined us.
Kidzapalooza - rumor that Leann Rhimes was there. Went there, didn't see her, left. Found out about an hour later that she indeed eventually showed up.

Ben Folds - good show but I guess it was mostly new stuff. I didn't know much of it but those that did seemed to be having a great time.

Fleet Foxes - their harmonies were sort of lulling me to sleep. I'm sure I'll like their stuff but I was not in the right mood for their sound.

The Decemberists - great show. Will get their new album. Loved the song with five drum kits being played at once on stage. Rain finally stopped just after their show.

Food - super short lines for most of the day.
Of Montreal - didn't really listen to them - looking for bathrooms and more food.
Depeche Mode - boring show. Knew only a couple songs and the rest were boresville. Very little talking to the audience. Kind of just going through the paces.

So I stayed until the end and wandered around Michigan Ave trying to find a bus that would take me close to home. A very long and damp first day but good. Not great, but good. Average I'd say.

Parents on Facebook

2009-08-08T00:13:00.004-05:00

My mom joined Facebook.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Exercise

2009-08-06T23:01:00.004-05:00

I was able to do sit ups on a hard floor yesterday!

My lower back is still sore but much more milder. I also did crunches and push-ups. Not only that, but I felt the need for a short run so I ran around the block after work! And did yoga stretches! High five self!

Note about my gut: I do have a bit of flab around my midsection. This is a fact. Is it that noticeable? No. Is it that bad compared to others? No. I agree that I'm fortunate and over-all I'm still a thin guy. But when I tell people that I'm trying to get in shape, trying to tone up, trying to get healthier, and mention my wish to trim my gut, they laugh at my gut complaint. I get what they are saying, but it also feels like they're laughing off my attempt to get healthier. Sometimes your friends are your biggest obstacle for change.

It's August Already

2009-08-04T00:24:00.006-05:00

I'm kind of amazed it's August already. Seems like the summer went by so fast. Considering we've only had 2 days this summer where the temperature was 90 or above; it's been a relatively cooler summer. Probably the coldest summer since I've been living in Chicago.

~~~

My back is slowly getting better. But it's still sore in the lower back and it really pains me to try to do a sit up on a hardwood floor. I can do crunches, though, so at least I'm getting some exercise. But trying to sit up farther than a crunch position causes my lower back muscles to be employed and it just hurts too much. It's like those muscles are baby muscles - too weak and feeble to do the work. I should probably get it checked out by a doctor but my faith in my current doctor isn't that strong.

Bachelor Party Weekend

2009-07-27T10:44:00.003-05:00

I went to Traverse City, MI for my friend Rex's bachelor party. I rented a car for a one-way car rental and drove there. It was my first time in the state of Michigan and the drive was pretty normal - although I did get lost halfway there when I somehow got off the highway.

We goofed around on a baseball field and played an accuracy game: throw 10 balls from center field to home plate and see who can knock over the most beer cans set up at home plate. We had 10 beer cans set up around home plate - 9 were worth 1 point and 1 was worth 2 points. I got 5 points. Three tied for first place with 6 points. The playoff was for them to throw from 2nd base at 1 beer can left at home plate. I forget who won.

Then it was hanging out before dinner. Dinner was at Hooters of all places. There were families there with their kids. With their kids! So weird.

The rest of the night is none of your business. I had a good time hanging out with Rex, Ben, Paul, Rex's brother, and the rest of Rex's TC friends.

The next day I got a ride back to Chicago from Ben and Paul in their rental car. All in all it was a good weekend.

Buehrle's Perfect Game

2009-07-23T23:53:00.002-05:00

This is pretty awesome.

Happy 80th Birthday Grandpa F

2009-07-22T18:04:00.002-05:00

It's his 80th birthday today.

Happy birthday Grandpa!

Pitchfork 2009 (Saturday)

2009-07-20T11:25:00.003-05:00

Went to Pitchfork Music Festival on Saturday. Saw a bunch of bands.

Bowerbirds - they were okay.
Ponytail - weird. Band plays fast paced music while their lead "singer" lady does chirps, beeps, and other odd sounds into the mic instead of actual word lyrics.
Lindstrøm - guy played electronic dance music off a mixer board and a laptop. Good grooves but sometimes way, way too much bass.
Matt & Kim - The band I came to the festival to see. I only got to see half their set since they went on 20 minutes late, but it was pretty great. Infectious energy and cool, fast paced songs.

The festival seemed more crowded this year, which wasn't a good thing. I was probably due to the cool temps. The two previous years the temperature was in the 90s and that must have kept people away. Between this and the Pritzker Pavilion I've sampled enough outdoor concerts this summer. Which means when I go to Lollapalooza in a few weeks, I'll try to stay relatively away from the stages so that the crowds don't get to me.

~~~

PS. Friday was another Phase 10 Friday. That's 4 in a row!

Sears Tower

2009-07-16T08:39:00.002-05:00

The name change of the Sears Tower became official. But like most Chicagoans, I'm bitterly against the name change.

It will always be the Sears Tower to me.

CSz National Tournament in Milwaukee

2009-07-12T22:49:00.003-05:00

Went there to see the last night of the tournament. I went up there with Chrissy, Jessica, Tamara, and Natalie - all in one car. I got to see CSz Chicago battle CSz LA and we won! It was cool being up there to see what tournament is like but it was also a little odd because everyone else there had been there for several days. They had all bonded and I felt like the odd man out; looking in from the outside. The ladies I traveled with felt the same.

I'm glad I went but I learned an important lesson as far as tournaments go: either go for the whole thing or don't go at all.

Phase 10 Fridays

2009-07-11T13:17:00.003-05:00

3rd Phase 10 Friday in a row.

Two weeks ago Erin, Tamara, and I were done with a 10pm CSz show. Some building mates of Tamara's were having a party in the backyard of her building. So we all biked down there and played two games of Cornhole before retiring to Tamara and her roommate Alison's porch. We started playing Phase 10 around 1am and didn't get done until about 5 or 6 (I can't remember) in the morning. One thing I am sure about: the sky was light and the birds were chirping.

A week ago it was Tamara's BBQ party and after helping to clean up the backyard area of party things, Alison, Tamara, Erin, and I again started playing Phase 10 around 1am. This time I think Erin and I left around 4am.

This Friday was another round of Phase 10. It's now being called Phase 10 Fridays. And I love it. This Friday was the first time I lost the game. It was also the quickest game: Erin and I leaving around 3am I believe.

Back Pain

2009-07-07T21:46:00.003-05:00

I have back pain. This, coupled with seeing a friend of mine who has lost a lot of weight, makes me body conscious. I need to get healthy.

Now.

3rd of July BBQ

2009-07-04T03:48:00.002-05:00

Fun times at Nolte's BBQ.

Hipster Indifference

2009-07-02T17:48:00.001-05:00

I got my friend Mikaela's prank letter (above) in the mail today. I first heard about this from my friend Marla back at the outdoor Dirty Projectors concert at the Pitzker Pavilion. Marla pulled out a letter she received in the mail. It was simply a picture of some weird, ugly person; the type of picture probably only found on odd Google searches. She had no idea who it was from. I asked to see the envelope's stamp - the USPS puts a stamp over these indicating which zip code the letter was mailed from. In this case it was 60606, which is the same zip code my work's building is in. I told Marla the person who sent it was probably working down in the Loop. This produced a light bulb above Marla's head: Mikaela.

Mikaela apparently has been doing this prank quite a bit lately. She's done similar things to a number of our mutual friends. About a week later I ran into her at a Chipotle near my work and told her about finding about her weird pranks. She's bored at work sometimes and likes doing it.

It was only a matter of time, I guess, before I got mine in the mail. And it made me smile and feel included.

Bullitt & The Edge

2009-06-30T00:28:00.011-05:00

Went over to my friend Ben's house to hang out after work. We were supposed to ironically watch "A River Runs Through It" with our friend Bill but he couldn't make it and we decided to watch two other movies ironically instead. Before I go on, the reason it was going to be ironic was because three dudes sitting around watching a sweepingly dramatic movie that stars good looking actors is hilarious. The three of us did this once before - actually going to the movie theater to watch Brokeback Mountain together.

Anyway, we watched Steve McQueen in "Bullitt" and then Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins in "The Edge." Both were perfect for the evening. I won't go into what I thought of the movies (you can ask me about it in real life and I'll be sure to bore you with my reviews) but I will say the chase sequence in "Bullitt" is the best car chase sequence ever filmed. I've seen a ton of car chases and this one is by far the best.

Better than "The French Connection?" Oh yeah.
Better than "Ronin?" Yep.
Better than "The Blues Brothers?" Yes. Though "The Blues Brothers" one is much funnier.
Better than "The Bourne Identity?" Sadly, yes.

The car chase in "Bullitt" is pure muscle, pure adrenaline, pure amazingness. There is no underlining soundtrack to make you feel the energy of the chase - just sound effects; the most amazingly real sound effects out there. If this sequence doesn't make you feel the power of those muscle car engines, then I don't know what will short of actually riding in one. You feel the speed too. The cars sometimes wobble a bit due to the high speeds they are going and you can feel the danger. Man it is so good.

Though I'm not sure just watching it on Youtube will help you understand it. You need to see it on a TV with quality speakers. And you need to be primed first - you have to sit through half of the really slow, really odd movie before you get to the chase scene.

Fun Dancing Guy Video

2009-06-29T12:49:00.002-05:00

Dancing guy at Sasquatch Music Festival 2009 during "Unstoppable" by Santigold.

It's neat how you can discover a new band in the most odd ways. I saw the above video posted on Facebook. I loved it and watched it over and over again. Then I found other videos from this festival with the same dude dancing like this during other bands. And then I found that the event above was caught from three different angles! Was this planned? My research has made me come to the conclusion that no, this was not planned. The artist he's dancing to in the video is Santigold, who performed on the 3rd day of the festival. Another video he's dancing to NIN who played on the 2nd night. In another video he's dancing to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who played on the 1st night. So this dude had already made a name for himself during the first two days of this festival. By the third day I'm sure many people had become aware of this guy. The Dancing Guy. So I think it was just lucky that three people happened to be videotaping this guy when this event occurred spontaneously. It's pretty cool.

Anyway, I liked the song playing in the background of the video so I bought it off of iTunes. Then I listened to more of her songs online and really dug them. So I bought the whole album. It's become one of my favorite albums that I've discovered this year. [Note: her album came out in 2008] She'll be at Lolla this year and that's good. I'll definitely check her out live at the festival.

Check her out online if you get a chance.

Pre-Wedding Party

2009-06-28T16:34:00.006-05:00

My friend Rex is getting married in September. So what better time than late June to have a pre-wedding party, right? Yeah, I don't get why it's months before either, but a party's a party and I like parties.

It was at the Grafton in Lincoln Square and it was quite nice. A lot of friends to talk to and some old friends who I haven't seen in awhile. Levin flew in from LA and it was great to see him. Rex and his bride-to-be, Jen, looked great and it was nice to see so many of their friends gathered to celebrate their upcoming nuptials.

At first I was quickly feeling the affects of my age - getting tired early on in the party, but I stuck it out until the end. And I got a second wind at 1am. From the Grafton it was on to the Tiny Lounge and from there it was the goth dance club Neo. I didn't plan on staying out until 4am but that's what happened. And it's especially noteworthy since I stayed up until 6am the previous night. I haven't done that in years.

Newly Painted Room

2009-06-26T01:12:00.003-05:00

Soon-to-be-roomie had her room painted.

Sold!

2009-06-25T10:17:00.004-05:00

Finally sold my air conditioning window unit through Craigslist. I'm slowly getting stuff done!

The Dirty Projectors

2009-06-24T10:17:00.004-05:00

Went to the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park on Monday night after work with James & Marla. There were two bands there but I only cared about the first band - the Dirty Projectors. They sounded pretty good but the atmosphere on the grass was one of a picnic that happpened to have a live band at it. So not too many people really paid any attention to the stage.

After the Dirty Projectors were done, we went for a walk around downtown and got some ice cream. It was a nice day and the weather was great. All in all, a pretty great day.

Color Test

2009-06-22T23:13:00.009-05:00

Soon-to-be-roomie tests out colors.

Protests in Iran

2009-06-21T23:59:00.004-05:00

The Iran election protests and riots - this is what I've been fascinated with lately; frequently going to Huffingtonpost's live-blog of the event by Nico Pitney.

Empty Room

2009-06-20T01:47:00.005-05:00

Tim's empty room. Sad face.

ComedySportz RACE

2009-06-19T01:15:00.003-05:00

Tuesday night instead of a normal CSz rehearsal, we had Comedysportz RACE, which was basically The Amazing RACE but at CSz. And the invitation went out to anyone involved at all with any show currently at CSz (Battleprov, Rec Leagues, reserve players, Black Out, People in your Neighborhood, uniFormless, the ensemble, etc) and the groups would be a mix of people you don't know. So when I showed up I was given my name tag and assigned to group B. Most group were a pretty good mix of people, but my group was made of three ensemble members; Kate, Jess, and me.

Sam Super was the organizer of this event and he created 10 rounds of challenges what we had to get past. The first group to get all 10 would get a nice prize. The challenges were pretty good. When we finally found our first clue, it had a name and a date on it. Kate's smart phone had better reception than mine (sorry AT&T, it's true; you guys suck) and we found that the unknown dude was the inventor of the microwave. To the microwave!

Once there, we found our first round challenge: one of the group had to go to the stairwell and try to remember as much customization info as possible. All around the stairwell were pieces of paper, each with one customization note. The challenge person would then have to run backstage and answer 3 random questions asked by Mike Enriquez. If you got one wrong, you had to go back and try again - but once you came back, you weren't guaranteed to be asked the same questions. Kate got them right on the third try and it was onto the next clue, which was a ticket for a show. To the box office!

At the box office our challenge was again a solo challenge. One of us had to go in the theater area and count how many reserved seats there were for a show. Each table had a number on it - be it 0 or 11. After counting in my head (I decided to do this one) I had to race downstairs and tell Monty the number I thought it was. I was wrong! Back upstairs to recount! I finally got it on the third try.

Other challenges were just like this. One was to find the number of animals on a mosaic on a building 4 blocks over. Another was how many E's are on the Playground Theater's wall next to the bus turn-around. Another was the number of green awning on our block of Belmont Ave. One was to create a show line-up based on certain parameters. One really hard challenge involved a code board that took us and many groups tens of minutes to figure out. The challenge in the bar was to stack up plastic cups into a pyramid with the base level having 11 cups.

It was a lot of fun and exhausting. I did most of the running since I felt like I needed to out of gentlemanly feeling - outside it was pouring rain. By the end of the night I was pretty well soaked. In the end we got 5th place - out of 14 groups. Not bad.

After you were done you could stay and party, which many people did. I stayed for a bit but left well before the party got warmed up. So I missed most of the fun that FB pictures documented, but at least I was home, dry, and in bed early to catch up on some missed sleep.

Ribfest

2009-06-16T23:36:00.006-05:00

Went to Ribfest late Sunday night and they were out of ribs... until....

We were walking and talking and either - wait, I need to back up. Sunday night we had another canceled show. So Nathan, Sean, Erin, Tara, and I went to Ribfest up near Lincoln Square. When we got there there was a sign up at the ticket booth saying that most places were sold out of food! Ugh, can you believe that? I decided to take my chances and bought a bunch of tickets. Most places had food, but were sold out of ribs. No ribs at Ribfest, WTF!? So after trying in vain to see if any of the booths had ribs left, I decided to abandon the cause and get myself some food that wasn't ribs.

So, we're walking and talking and either Nathan, Sean, or Tara, I'm not sure which, spots this dude that just walked by carrying a huge Tupperware bin on his shoulder. Through the semi-clear plastic we can see inside - IT'S RIBS!

"Follow that guy!" I yell out.

So we do and wait in line for our turn at some late night ribs. We only had to wait 40 minutes and the ribs were in our hands. Worth the wait? Probably not, but at least I had ribs at Ribfest.

You would think that's where the story ends, right? Right. But no! As I'm throwing away my rib tray and napkins, I see a good friend (identity hidden to protect her) working the beer tent booth. Boom, I get 2 free beers! I tell the gang and they all get free beers too! So we cobble squat at a table and go a ton of bits over free beer. It was a great time and I didn't want it to end.

The Ditty Bops show

2009-06-15T00:39:00.002-05:00

I went to the Ditty Bops show at the Old Town School of Folk Music. I had heard that their live shows are awesome and mix in vaudeville and other theater elements into their music presentations. Apparently that's what it was like when they came through Chicago a couple years ago during their bike-across-America-with-all-their-gear-and-their-full-band tour. But the show I saw was just the two girls sitting in chairs and playing their songs. So basically like most music concerts. A little disappointing but what we got was also a delight.

They sounded great live and I really liked some of their new songs. They didn't do too much banter between songs but when they did it was great and super cute. And during one banter moment we the audience got a peek into their private lives - when Amanda (the tall one) mentioned how Abby (the shorter one) almost didn't go out with Amanda on their first date because Amanda picked their first date to be at a Renaissance fair. They also spoke about what the songs were about or what inspired them to write the songs. This, combined with their songs, was quite inspiring and I left the building feeling like I should create my own work of art.

The Ryder/Hanson Wedding

2009-06-14T12:02:00.002-05:00

Went to it, it was great.

Roommates Hang Out

2009-06-07T11:49:00.004-05:00

Our dear roommate Tim is getting married within a week. Once that happens, he moves in with his wife and we lose a roomie. This called for a final roomie hang out*. We decided on going to see the movie Up together.

It is a great movie. All of us were crying at some point in the first 15 minutes of this movie. It was moving and powerful and funny and just a joy to watch. It just might have been my favorite Pixar** movie, and that's saying something.

* Roomies Win!
** Pixar Win!

PS. Friday night the CSz team I was on won the show. Week of Win!

Grado SR60i**

2009-06-04T11:04:00.007-05:00

Me want this**. Me will get this soon*.

* soon=tonight.
** Hi-Fi Win!***
*** Wednesday night was a 4-person Felt show and it rocked! Felt Win!

Week of Win

2009-06-03T14:31:00.003-05:00

I'm calling this week the Week of Win.

Monday: saw the White Sox win!
Baseball win!

On Facebook I finally beat the high score of an acquaintance (gf of a friend) on Geo Challenge. I'm now the #1 score among my friends on FB.
Geography win!

Tuesday: my group won first place in the pub quiz!
Pub quiz win!

So no matter what happens the rest of the week, I'm gonna find a way to turn whatever happens into a win. After all, it's the week of win!

Finally the White Sox game

2009-06-02T00:33:00.006-05:00

About a month ago people from a message board I'm apart of tried to go to a White Sox game but it got rained out. Last night was the rescheduled night. Once again the weather forecasts did not look good. There was a pretty good chance it was going to get rained out.

After work I trained it to the stadium and met up with the group in the parking lot. We tailgated for a good while. There was no rain thus far although it was rather chilly for a June day. Unfortunately I wasn't quite prepared enough for the chill so I bought myself a discount Sox T-shirt with ex-Sox player Joe Crede's name and number on it. (He was my favorite player on the Sox)

Out seats were in left field but only 13 rows back. The game turned out to be quite a good game and the weather was perfect up to the last batter. The White Sox beat the Oakland A's 6-2. Oakland scored 2 in the first inning before we even sat down. It was tied up late in the game until the 8th inning. We hit a 3-run homer in the 8th and got an extra run later on. While we were cheering the pitcher for his final out, it finally started to lightly sprinkle. When I checked the Weather Channel app on my iPhone, it showed that a massive rainstorm just passed us by to the south of the stadium.

Mayfest

2009-05-31T16:21:00.004-05:00

Went to Mayfest.

I'm not a big street festival goer but Saturday afternoon I had free so after rehearsal I went to Mayfest with Rachel and Mark. Once there we ate German food and drank many beers. I also got to hang out with people from the sketch group Brick and they are great people. While sitting on a curb and talking, we periodically played a game called "Guess If That Woman Has Dyed Her Hair." Surprisingly (to me anyway), most of the time the answer was yes.

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T22:53:00.005-05:00

Today I went to the Lincoln Park Zoo with James & Marla. We saw a few of the animals and ducked into the penguins building when a downpour started. Despite the weather, it was a nice trip and I was glad to be out and about with friends.

Coolest thing: meerkats
Grossest thing: fish eating the poop of a hippo

Baby Shower

2009-05-25T02:24:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I went to the Ries baby shower. It was held at ComedySportz and was a nice mix of improvisers and regular people. There were nice foodstuff for people to nibble on and some cool activities to keep people occupied. One was decorating onesie jumpers with puffy paint. Another one was cutting up headshot photos of the parents-to-be and create what-will-their-baby-look-like images. The results in both of these arts and crafts activities were pretty amazing. Before the opening of the presents, the Rieses deemed one of each of these things the "winner" and they got a small prize.

Another game played throughout the baby shower was this Words-You-Cannot-Say game. When we got to the shower we were all given one necklace with a pacifier on the end. We were also given a small slip of paper that told us the list of words we could not say during the shower. If someone slipped up and said one of the words then whoever heard them say it could take their pacifier. The person with the most pacifiers before the opening of the gifts would get a prize.

The words were: baby, boy, girl, Dave, Jen, pregnant, belly, improv, show.

I won the Pacifier Game with 6 pacifiers (next closest was 4) and got a $10 iTunes giftcard.

Even if I hadn't won anything, I still would have said I had a really good time at the shower. But winning something made it extra nice.

The Power Outage

2009-05-12T22:34:00.003-05:00

Our apartment has had a power outage problem for past 3 days. Today the problem was finally solved.

Late Saturday night (wee hours of Sunday) we experienced a couple temporary power outages. I wasn't there for it, I was at an unemployment party (not mine, the host of the party). When I got home my roommates informed me of this odd problem. Sure enough, an hour later the power went out again. I was at my laptop computer when it happened and it was pretty strange to experience my entire room going dark at once while the laptop screen be unaffected. But I was limited to what I could do since the wireless router for the Internet needs electricity. The past two outages had power back on within 10 or 15 minutes. It was not so this time.

I awoke Sunday morning and found the situation unchanged. That day we noticed that the microwave and toaster were still on. So every outlet except one had no power. This was quite odd. We called our landlord and he sent out a handyman. The handyman said it must be ComEd's problem. We called ComEd. They said it was a problem with the building. And this time I was on the side of ComEd; the people across the hall had power so it must be a problem within the building. Thus, the landlord's issue to solve.

Cut to Monday after work and the situation wasn't improved. I was ticked off. We had no electricity for almost 48 hours. At this point my more genius roommates had used an extension cord to connect the one outlet with power to our fridge, so at least our food was safe. But I was still mad. My barking voice mail made our landlord send an electrician this time.

The electrician came and assured us that, yes, the problem was within the building. He thought it must be at the main fuse in the basement. The problem was that the basement was part of the downstairs cleaners and we couldn't get in there without their permission since they were a tenant too. Fortunately, the electrician was able to give us a temporary fix. In the fuse box in our actual unit, there were three fuses. It looked like all but one of our unit outlets were tied into two out of the three fuses. The third fuse powered just that one lone outlet that was powering our microwave and toaster (and now the fridge). So the electrician made a bypass at the fuse box that gave us power. But we would need to be very economic with our lights usage otherwise that fuse would blow.

Tuesday after work the electrician came by along with our landlord with the keys for the basement. The owner of the cleaners were also there. Sure enough, the main fuse in the basement was the problem and all was better. The electrician came back up to our apartment and undid the temporary fix. Finally the problem was officially fixed.

Allergies

2009-05-06T10:41:00.004-05:00

I've been hit with allergies again this week. Usually after a few days of using my over-the-counter antihistamine of choice my allergies subside and I'm okay. Not this week. A normal pack of 24 will last me around 3 months or so. I've gone through half in a week.

Derby Party

2009-05-04T23:23:00.003-05:00

My friend Tony invited "the guys" over to his apartment to watch the Kentucky Derby. We'd make a party of it, bring things to eat and drink over, bet on the horses, and drink mint juleps. It was a nice time and the mint juleps were pretty great. Bill brought his girlfriend, Megan, over and they both dressed up for the occasion.

But we kicked her out since she was a girl.

No, not really. She stayed and it was fine. Pad won the betting pool on the derby, fyi.

Bike Flat & Stand Up

2009-05-01T14:26:00.004-05:00

I went to see my friend Vanessa do stand-up at Zanies. She had two sets that night and I had an obstacle in getting to the earlier one. As I was trying to get the bike tire pump hose off of the nozzle, I wiggled the nozzle too far to one side and the tire tube ruptured at the nozzle. So I chose to go to the later set and get my bike tire fixed.

I did learn how to do this last year but I haven't bought any of the needed tools for this nor have I bought any extra tubes to store at my place just in case. Perhaps I will soon.

Vanessa went second out of three in the show I saw. The guy that went first was a guy I saw open for Maria Bamford awhile back. I liked him more this time than I did the other time. As for Vanessa, I liked her set and I thought she handled the crowd pretty well. The crowd was really antsy and prone to not pay attention for whatever reason. Perhaps it was because this was the night the Bulls won a game in triple overtime? Maybe, but if they were just big basketball fans, they wouldn't have been at a comedy club during the game. Anyway, I was glad to have finally seen her do stand-up. It's a tough thing to do.

Rain Out & Concert

2009-04-29T12:58:00.004-05:00

Monday night I went to Comisky Field (yeah, I stubbornly still call it that) to catch a White Sox game. I met with a bunch of people and we tailgated in the parking lot before the game. As we walked into the park, it started raining and wouldn't let up. The game was called 30 minutes later and so we had to leave.

A few of us decided to hangout anyways and it was quite fun.

Tuesday night I went to the Flight of the Conchords concert with my friend Ferg. Bret & Jermaine were great although I wished they had played more songs. But then again, they played for close to 2 hours so I'm obviously being selfish.

Hand, Puppets, Experience, & Seafood

2009-04-21T00:57:00.005-05:00

Hand status: out of splint.
Puppet Cagematch: We won it!
Marla's birthday experience: Fun (see picture)
Rattlesnake guy dinner: Good.

Eggs & Wardrobe

2009-04-14T00:43:00.006-05:00

Sunday was Easter and I went to my friend Tamara's apartment for an Easter potluck brunch. I made Tuna Colby Quickie, which is called Tuna Colby Pie on the Internet. The name I know it by is what my mom called it. I didn't have the right sized pan and used one that was slightly bigger. As a result the casserole (which is what it basically is) was much shallower. But magically it didn't affect the taste of it; it tasted pretty much the same, which is delicious. Thankfully those that tried it at the brunch also liked it.

All the food was quite good and we entertained ourselves by dying eggs and doing an egg hunt in the apartment. The turnout was also better than I thought it was going to be: 8-9 people during different times. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately I forgot to take any picture while there.

~~~

Last night I decided to start on my wardrobe project. This project is basically going through my current wardrobe, editing out clothes I don't wear, and then buying items that are essential. Step 1 was tonight.

This involved me grabbing every piece of clothing I own and piling it onto the living room couch. Then I went through each piece and put then into one of three categories: keep, donate, or throw away. With the clothes piled high and covering the couch, it looked like a large project. But it didn't really take more than an hour out of my time! So congrats to me.

Dinner With Friends

2009-04-08T09:07:00.003-05:00

Had a potluck dinner with a few friends. The dinner was good and it was good to hang out with people I rarely get to see. Afterwards we played Settlers of Catan. I was up to my eyeballs in wheat and sheep but I needed brick and wood.

Odds & Ends

2009-04-07T00:36:00.002-05:00

Weather - freakin' awful

Hand - getting better; healing

Got some more steps forward in my wardrobe project.

Pub Quiz

2009-03-24T22:29:00.004-05:00

Another win.

Team members this time: Me, Manley, Jen & Len. Won by one point over team Hojos: Brett, Pad, Paul, and Ferg.

Our team name is too awful to publish on the Internet.

1.5 Terabytes

2009-03-23T19:14:00.002-05:00

I bought an external hard drive finally and it came in the mail today.

iPhone

2009-03-21T17:14:00.005-05:00

Got one.

Pollen

2009-03-18T08:55:00.004-05:00

Last night's nice, warm weather seems to have released the flood gates of the pollen dam.

Do Be Doobie Do

2009-03-17T23:30:00.004-05:00

Come Softly To Me - The Fleetwoods

This song has been in my head today for some reason.

More Organization

2009-03-15T22:43:00.008-05:00

Bought a new printer, scanner, copier
Opened a savings account to go along with my checking account.
Exchanged all my loose change - you'd be surprised by the amount.
Made appointment for purchasing an iPhone.

Sister Moving

2009-03-13T16:02:00.001-05:00

My sister, Amy, is moving to Jersey. The past year she was in the middle of nowhere Minnesota, so I guess Jersey is a step up.

She sold most of her worldly possessions and is getting to Jersey via Amtrak. She had to change trains at Union Station here in Chicago and her lay over (can that term be applied to non-air travel?) was 3 hours. During a part of that time, which was right after work for me, I was able to hang out with her and eat some dinner. It was good to see her and I'm hopeful that this move works out. Over the past 2 years I was kind of shut out of her life for reasons I won't go into. But during dinner she let me back in and that was great.

Best dinner of 2009.

Dell Awards

2009-03-11T09:19:00.002-05:00

Went there.

23 Steps Forward, 22 Steps Back

2009-03-10T07:37:00.007-05:00

Progress is a slow process. Classic three steps forward, two steps back. A good day feels like 2 steps back and 5 steps forward. A bad day feels like 1 step forward and 7 steps back. Or 1 step back and 3 more steps back. But then there's the 4 steps forward and 1 more step forward. Don't forget the more complicated day of 3 steps forward, 2 steps back, 1 step forward, 4 steps back, and then 3 steps forward. So a week is typically 23 steps forward and 22 steps back.

As far my room, I've made a lot of improvement. I'd say it's 80% clean, which is super better. My desk is clean now and it makes me very happy. I've still got more to clean and organize, but I like the direction and pace I've been going at. Sure, I take way too many breaks, but at least I'm getting shit done.

My skin under my splint is super dry. I've broken out into a horrible eczema rash and it itches like crazy. I've been moisturizing like crazy the skin under the splint but it's not really doing anything to control the dryness. I'm gonna try that Norwegian moisturizer and see if that helps at all.

I sold my hybrid bike. I put it up on Craigslist late Sunday night and by Monday night it was sold. I was real pleased with the amount of replies it got despite my lack of bike specifics. I tried to do the same with the air conditioner I never use but it's obviously too early in the year for that since I haven't gotten peep out of that ad.

Thems The Breaks

2009-03-04T18:25:00.004-06:00

I broke my hand at work. The story of how is dumb and if I know you in real life then I've probably already told you it. If you know me but haven't heard the story yet, then you'll have to wait until I actually see you in person. If you don't know me then just get comfortable with the fact that you'll never know. Too bad.

I can still work but worker's compensation covers all medical fees. Above is a splint and I didn't need a cast or surgery. I have to have it on for 6 to 8 weeks.

Cleaning & Sleep Over without the Sleeping Over Part

2009-03-02T08:45:00.003-06:00

Besides meeting my fellow CSz inductees, this past weekend also starts my campaign to get my room cleaned at organized. I specifically made sure Monday through Thursday this week I have nothing going on after work. No rehearsals, no shows. That way I can focus on the work that needs to be done.

And to my credit, I started early on Saturday. Already three full garbage bags of crap have been cleaned out of my room. The closet area is clean. I assembled the dresser I bought awhile ago. I cleaned my bathroom. And my room is already noticably cleaner. And my spirits are risen and I'm feeling good about myself.

I did take some breaks. And one break was rather large in time. The large one was spending a good portion of Saturday with Tam and Nat. We tried to go to a movie but it was sold out. So instead we hung out for most of the day. We went from place to place, doing errands, and generally keeping each other from being bored. I bought a pillow. We also walked around in the nearly empty Linens & Things store. They're basically selling everything that isn't nailed down. It was really sad and a real wake up call about how bad this economy is. Is this just a sign of things to come? Scary if it is.

Sunday morning we went to see the movie we tried to see the previous day. It was a French movie called The Class and it was good but definitely not a feel good movie. It basically showed how screwed up the modern public education system really is. The movie made me tense. After a quick meal after the movie, I finally ended my break and got back to cleaning.

It also snowed yesterday and that kind of sucked.

Another Newbies of Summer of 2007 Brunch

2009-03-01T18:50:00.002-06:00

We had brunch. It was fun.

Weather's Cold & I Got A Cold

2009-02-19T09:37:00.003-06:00

I was home sick yesterday. I'm at work today but I'm still sick. It sucks. Fortunately I hear that I'm not alone; a lot of people I know are sick this week.

The weather's cold again, also.

Epiphany? Fall In Love With Myself?

2009-02-16T15:01:00.005-06:00

I'm sure you, dear reader, have heard of the fact that you have to love yourself before you can fall in love with someone else. I've heard it, too. And I get it. But today I think the lesson finally really hit home.

Instead of wanting someone to fall in love with me, perhaps I should fall in love with myself first. In that, work on being the version of myself that I like. Not adopt a completely different personality, but get off my ass on certain aspects of my life, take control of my life's direction, and start loving the person I am instead of focusing on the parts about me that I'd like to change.

I do like myself, but I do often look at what I don't have instead of focusing on what I do have. And don't wait around for someone else's love to provide the stable base I think I need in conquering the world. No brainer stuff, for sure, but an area that I think I'm finally able to walk the walk, instead of talking the talk.

Valentine's Depression

2009-02-10T22:04:00.003-06:00

Valentine's Day affects me more than I'd like it to. I think it affects the chronically single people more than others. Most people that I know that are in relationships don't give Valentine's Day much weight. But as the holiday approaches, with more and more Valentines decorations around town, it forces me to face the fact that I don't have a special someone to share my life with. Or that the various possible special someones aren't looking at me as a possible candidate.

Fullan Brunch

2009-02-08T18:41:00.003-06:00

My good friend and fellow Rattlesnake, Katy, is moving tomorrow. She'll be driving to Los Angeles in her new car. To help send her off in style, the Snakes had a Fullan Brunch. It was pot-luck style, too. We got pretty damn full on some great stuff and the weather today was pretty nice as well. Towards the end of the event Katy had to leave because she still had a lot of packing to do. We all gave her hugs and wished her good luck in this new chapter in her life. There were tears towards this part of the party, but mostly smiles. It's not like we'll never see her again after all.

Good luck, Katy!

My 32nd Birthday

2009-01-29T01:44:00.002-06:00

I had my birthday celebration last night, the night of my actual birthday, and it was low key. After Felt I went next door to the back room of Bar Louie. Throughout the night people came by and wished me happy birthday. It was a nice size of people and I was really glad to see the people that came.

My parents sent me some money for presents that I want. That's how it is these days, mostly because I'm lax in emailing my parents what I want as presents for Christmas and my birthday.

Also two things of note: one was that I must be getting old because halfway through my birthday get-together I was fighting the urge of sleep. The second is that I again forgot to take pictures.

Gainesville Improv Festival

2009-01-27T21:55:00.005-06:00

PennyBear went to the Gainesville Improv Festival. I'm sure a big reason we got in is because 4 out of 5 of us went to the University of Florida, which, for those that don't know, is located in Gainesville, Florida. The amazing thing about this trip? We got our air fare and hotel stay paid for! What's more, those of us who taught workshops were paid for them! Big time, here I come.

Most of the time down there was spent asking "what used to be here?" or stating "I can't believe this is still here!" It was neat seeing the changes around campus and having familiar spots trigger a memory or two. Overall much was at it was before, which was comforting. I do think there were more cyclists around, though. Which was interesting to note now that I've become quite a bicycle enthusiast. All the bikes made many of us go "ah man, I should have biked everywhere around campus. Why didn't I? So stupid."

It was also unseasonably cold for most of our trip. But the last two days the temperature got to the high 60s.

PennyBear's show was the first night were got there. It went really well and it appeared that everyone in the audience really, really liked our show. The rest of the festival was spent teaching the writing workshop and seeing other groups' shows. I hadn't been to an improv festival in ages and it was odd looking at it from more experienced eyes. It was also the first time I've seen short form performed by a group in a long time that wasn't a Comedy Sportz group.

We didn't go to many parties, mainly because we're already over improv parties in Chicago and going to festival parties where many of the people there are a decade or more younger than you is just odd. When you're talking to an attractive woman for awhile and then you realize just how young she is you start to feel gross. "Oh shit, am I that gross old man at an improv party?" Luckily I look young so that feeling is only on the inside of my brain and not in the brain of anyone else at the party. But the creepy feeling is there so instead of mingling with the youth of America, you stay close to the other people who are as old as you. So I stayed pretty much with other PennyBear people. Or World News Tonight people once they got to the festival. The only time I was talking significantly to non-Chicago people was at a party at this bar across the street from campus. I was with current Theatre Strike Force (TSF - the on-campus improv group) member talking about the old days of TSF and how we did things back then. They ate that shit up and I was happily playing the part of the drunken alum given the stage to speak about the glory days of TSF. That was a fun time.

Unfortunately I never dug out my camera for pictures. But there were people at the festival that took show pictures and they got some nice ones of PennyBear.

To-Do List

2009-01-11T23:30:00.004-06:00

So anyone who knows me knows that my room tends to be messy. In an effort to actually make progress in the area in my life, I've written out all the things I need to do. Each chore is broken down into manageable tasks. I wrote these down on paper and cut the paper into strips so that each strip only has one task on it.

I've put the tasks in one of the small pockets of my messenger bag and when I know I'll have time to do a task that night after work, I reach into the pocket and pull out a task slip.

Recently the slip was:
Put lamp on night stand.

A couple weeks before pulling this task out, I bought a lamp at Home Depot for my bedside table. The thing was that that bedside table wasn't assembled yet. A month before purchasing the lamp, I went to IKEA and bought the bedside table. I also bought a second dresser for clothes.

So in order to put a lamp on a night stand, I had to assemble the night stand. And I did it. That's the point. That the tasks-on-slips-of-paper idea is working for me. If I keep this up, I'll have a clean and organized room in no time. If I keep this up is the big assumption. Otherwise "in no time" will become "at no time."

PS. The second dresser isn't out of its box yet. But it's acting, in the meantime, as a nice place to put cups and bowls while I'm eating at the computer.

Odd & Ends

2009-01-06T22:12:00.005-06:00

Pennybear was named one of the Top 5 Comedy Shows in 2008 according to New City. We're in with some great company also:

Top 5 Comedy Shows
“Impress These Apes,” Blewt!
“Shatter,” Pat O’Brien’s solo show at Second City e.t.c.
“Steve and Jordan, Respectively” i.O. Theater
“Brother, Can You Spare Some Change?” Second City e.t.c.
“PennyBear: A Collection of Miniature Plays and Curious Diversions,” Apollo Theater Studio

~~~

Once again I've started push-up and sit up programs. I know I won't be that committed to these at the start, but hopefully these programs will pick up some momentum and by Spring I'll be doing these more regularly.

PennyBear iO Run

2009-01-05T00:12:00.004-06:00

We opened our show at iO this past Friday night. The show was sold out and it was by far the largest crowd we've ever had. Here's a promo video our director put together from the show which we taped.

Happy New Years 2009

2009-01-01T23:19:00.006-06:00

For the second year in a row I went to Kate Duffy's New Years Eve party. I got there at a time that I thought was fashionably late (10:30pm) only to find I was among the early-to-arrive people. The place wasn't totally empty, but it wasn't packed either. An hour later and the place was packed. Most of my conversations with people at the party included a comment from someone that they were glad 2008 was over. It would appear that 2008 was not great for many people. Mine was a mix of good and bad. I did go through some personal growth periods and that was good.

Resolutions for 2009:
Get up before noon for the whole year.
Not check any online personal ads for the whole year.
Continue on the personal growth kick I started on last year.

One last thing, I biked to and from the party and that made me happy. Actually, as I was on my way to the party, I passed a bunch of guys and one of them said "man, that guy's serious" in regards to me biking in the cold winter weather. That got me pumped up.

Rest of Christmas Vacation

2008-12-30T00:13:00.003-06:00

What I did on my Christmas vacation.

The day before Christmas my family drove down to the Twin Cities to visit my mom's side of the family. We went to Grandpa K's house, which is where the gathering was. Since I had been there last, an addition to the house had been put in and it was quite amazing to see. That house had remained unchanged for my whole life and to a huge room added to the back of it was quite strange. But it was good because we had ample room to gather. Before the house always felt crazy cramped with the huge family gatherings. I got to see a bunch of relatives and that was nice. Then I got to drive the family car back to Brainerd and that was fun.

Christmas day was fine. I got my presents and that's always cool. Christmas dinner was good. The rest of the day was spent watching a ton of movies. My family loves to watch movies.

The day after Christmas I went shopping for the rest of my Christmas presents. Then, before I knew it, it was time to leave and head back to Chicago. This time my flights back were uneventful and without delay, which was probably the best present I could have gotten.

Stuck at the Airport

2008-12-23T16:41:00.004-06:00

I'm at the Minneapolis airport right now waiting for my connecting flight. I should have been at my parent's place 3 hours ago. Here's what went down.

1. took the brown line to the orange line to midway at 7am and the trip was fine. Not crowded at all. When I got to Midway it was snowing very lightly.

2. got through security super fast and although the monitors around Midway showed that my flight was "on time" the screen at the gate said my flight was delayed 15 minutes. No biggie. My flight was scheduled originally for 9:10am, and now it was scheduled for 9:25.

3. At 9am the plane arrived at the gate and everything looked like it was fine. I board the plane later and that is when I noticed that it was now snowing more heavily.

4. I had to turn off my phone and I don't where a watch so I cannot be certain of the time we spent waiting for the plane to be de-iced, but I'd reckon 30 minutes. So I'd guess it was around 10:10am when we pulled away from the gate.

5. Midway looks like a winter wonderland. I saw three snow plods, each behind each other, going pretty fast while plowing a runway. Visibility at this point was pretty bad.

6. The pilot got on the speaker after sitting out on the tarmac for 40 minutes and told us that we expired the de-icing wait period of 40 minutes and that we had to head back to the gate for the plane to be inspected and perhaps de-iced again. He also said that visibility at Midway was so bad that planes could no longer land. Visibility minimum at Midway is 1 mile and apparently it was less than that at Midway. He mentioned the visibility minimum at O'Hare is 1/4 mile so planes were still landing and taking off at O'Hare. So at Midway, planes couldn't land but planes already there could take off. So our plane could take off but should anything wrong happen, we would need to land at the closest airport. Under normal conditions this would be the same airport you just took off from. But because we couldn't land at Midway, O'Hare was the alternative. But for some reason the digital data about the weather conditions weren't being transmitted to our plane and that's why we were out on the tarmac for 40 minutes and that's why we had to go back to the gate to de-ice again.

7. After about 40 minutes of whatever, we pulled away from the gate again. The airport was deserted. There were no other planes at the airport. All the gates were empty. It was a crazy winter wonderland out there and the storm so bad it looked like the planet Hoth. It was so eerie but also kind of cool.

8. I arrived at Minneapolis at 1:30pm; my connection flight to Brainerd took off at noon. So I missed my connecting flight. The kick in the butt is that Brainerd's airport is so small that they only schedule two flight to Brainerd from Minneapolis per day. The first one being at noon. The next flight to Brainerd is at 9:20pm.

9. So I've been at this airport for 3 hours now and I've got a little less than 5 more hours of waiting ahead of me. If I rented a car, I could have been home by now. But that would mean calling Northwest Airlines to make sure they don't cancel my reservations on the return flights due to not being on the flight to Brainerd. It's a headache I didn't want to deal with; also with renting a car I'd have to drive back down to Minneapolis to return it and my return flight on Saturday are also super early so...

10. But I'm safe and warm in the airport and I'm able to surf the Internet and entertain myself while I wait.

Happy holidays everybody!

Why is it so Cold?

2008-12-23T00:25:00.004-06:00

I did Armando last night. I showed up at the theater to get a bag out of the Felt cabinet for my Christmas travels and got talked into sitting in with the cast since they had so little people for the show. Because of this I felt the impetus to volunteer myself for the monologist.

I've taken a thing Shad Kunkle does when he does the monologues. He asks the audience to ask him a question about himself that they might want to know. It's a great way to jump into the monologues. Instead of asking for a personal question, I ask for any generic question. The question I got was "Why is it so cold?"

So almost all of my monologues where about being in the cold weather or dealing with things of that nature. I also had on these huge moon boots because I had come straight from a rehearsal which I had gotten to straight from work. (I keep my work shoes at work and I left my regular shoes at home) So I talked about my moon boots, too.

The cool thing about being the monologist of Armando is that you really don't have to be funny. The players who riff off of your monologues have to be funny. I'm sure it would help the show as a whole if you could deliver monologues that were also funny, but I don't have that power. Some of my monologues were funny but definitely not all. I wish I was at the place were I could give funny monologue after funny monologue but I'm not. I'm no Mike Birbiglia, that's for sure. And that's why I don't do stand-up.

Holiday Party

2008-12-21T23:46:00.004-06:00

I'm on an improv message board that gets a lot of flack for being an invite-only message board. The amount of people on it is very small and it allows us that are on it to feel like a nice secondary family. I use it during the boredom of the workday to entertain myself. We do various bits during the day and we root each other on in each other's creative projects. It's a supportive environment even though at various time the biting comments can be a little mean.

Anyway, we had a holiday party on Thursday night. It was a fun time and I was glad to talk to people. These types of outings bring out my social awkwardness. I usually fail to use the time to connect with people. If I'm in a conversation, my focus is on the topic on hand rather than strengthening personal bonds. And I get the strong feeling that the conversation I'm in isn't that great and that the conversation one table over is much more interesting and I want nothing more than to join them. These are aspects that I'm aware of and I'm trying to work on. I'm trying to be more content with the conversations I'm currently in. I'm also trying to work on maintaining friendships. It's a hard task when I'm feeling quite introverted.

Bruised

2008-12-17T16:23:00.003-06:00

I've gotten injured quite often this past week.

I fell off my bike last Wednesday, hurting my left forearm and hip. Then Sunday I had unexpected pain in my back shoulder region. This then transformed into an aching left pectoral muscle and whatever muscle is your armpit muscle. Then last night at the iO Holiday party I slipped on the wet dance floor and bruised my right knee pretty bad.

Perhaps I'm going through another growth spurt?

Fun Packed Weekend

2008-12-14T22:27:00.005-06:00

My weekend was jam packed with fun times.

I played in the 8pm CSz show on Friday. It was a blast and my teams was super fun. We tried out Musical New Choice and it went pretty darn good. 5 Thing was fun even though my teammates tried and failed so hard in trying to get me to guess Twinkies. I did the sound for the 10pm show and their first half was really rough due to a drunk asshole who was there with a group from his company. He was so bad that we kicked him out and he took his whole group with him. Then the second half of the show was pretty great.

I got talked into playing in the Beatbox that night. I wasn't scheduled but I played. It was a fun show and I got a little tipsy on a beer right before the show.

The next day I battled a headache the whole day but I was able to keep it on a low simmer throughout most of it. In the early afternoon I played Whirlyball with the Beatbox crew. I hadn't played Whirlyball in years and it was nice to play it again. This time I was able to avoid getting nasty bruises which you wouldn't think you get but you can get them. Then I got myself one of the ugliest sweaters I could find for the DSI Holiday party later in the eve. I biked around town during this day, which was pretty warm for winter. This was also the first day I was able to really test out the new balaclava I bought on Thursday. It works very well and I'm glad I purchased it.

Before I went to the DSI Holiday party, I went to my friend Tony's birthday party in Edgewater. It was at a fancy wine bar called In Fine Spirits. They have quite the wine and mixed drinks menu. I got myself a Pinot Gris that was very tasty. It was a nice time and I got to have some nice conversations.

Then, in the 11th hour of the afternoon, I went to the DSI Holiday party. I missed most of it and really only came for the gradual and slow decline part of the party, but it was still nice to see people in the holiday spirit. I ended up with a funny white elephant gift and was glad that my gift, a Threadless T-shirt, went to an appreciative person.

Today I had two rehearsals and a show. First was a Shock Corridor rehearsal that went as well as could be expected for a rehearsal at 1pm. Then it was a PennyBear rehearsal. We got to work on some stuff and we made some progress on some new material that we're trying to create for our new run and for our Playground show this Friday.

Shock Corridor had a show tonight. It was a great show and I felt really good about it afterwards. I even got to do some longer scenes where the give and take was pretty great. For some reason I'm hardly ever in those types of scenes and it was good to be in a few of them.

All in all, it was a great weekend with lots of activities and a modicum of sleep.

Koren Karaoke

2008-12-11T02:19:00.003-06:00

Late last night, after the Sketchfest meeting and Felt, I went to my friend Ben's birthday karaoke party. It was up at the Korean karaoke place on Lincoln, just up the street from The Hidden Cove. It's the type of place that has private small rooms for your party and all your friends can sing the songs you want and you don't have to wait for some dumb asshole stranger to get done with their attempt at Sweet Home Alabama before you get to sing.

It was a fun party and I had a fun time singing songs like "My Life" by Billy Joel out of tune and in front of friends who didn't care how out of tune it was. Good times.

A Hitch in Winterizing

2008-12-10T15:54:00.006-06:00

Today was an orientation meeting for the upcoming 2009 SketchFest. It was pretty much the same as last year's orientation meeting but in the South stage instead of being in the North stage.

While listening to the organizers talk about specifics, I decided to get a picture of the meeting for this blog. As I was taking a picture, Brian Posen called me out for taking a picture. I turned to Martin Wilson, who was sitting next to me, as if he did it. Martin pointed me out for all to see. I'm hoping those there thought that his pointing to me made people think it was actually him.

The real story is about my wipe out on my bike as I was on my way to the theater. I was biking down Roscoe and as I turned to go south on Racine, my bike slid out from under me as I tried to turn through a slushy part of the street, and I fell down sort of hard on the asphalt. My bike slid a good 6 feet away from me. And my phone popped out of my messenger bag holder. Afraid for my bike, which was in the middle of the intersection, I quickly sprang back up. "Are you all right?" asked a man in his car which was stopped at the stop sign on Racine. "Yeah, I'm fine" I said in a manly voice that surely showed how tough I was. A lady in car stopped at a stop sign on Roscoe leaned out of her window and asked "are you sure you're okay." "Yeah, I'm sure," this time said in a slightly embarrassed tone.

I've been biking around this city a lot and this was the first time I was thrown off my bike. I thought me and the street had a pretty cool relationship. I trusted the street and felt safe and fine in taking corners at high speeds. Now I'm a little wary of the street. I'm not so cocksure about taking corners in the wintertime.

P.S. My right hip and right forearm are a little bruised. My helmet also protected my head in the fall. My head didn't hit the street all that hard, but the point is that I did hit my head and the helmet protected me.

Snowy Day

2008-12-09T22:55:00.005-06:00

It was a snowy day today.

Went To See A Play

2008-12-08T10:04:00.002-06:00

I went to the theatre this eve.

I went to see 7 plays, one of which was my friend James wrote. It was an evening of 7 short plays, all under 10 minutes in length. James' play was called A Cab Honks Outside and I really liked it. The writing was pretty darn good and the actors in it were great. The direction was simple but good. It was funny and moving and it had heart without being hokey.

Well done James!

PennyBear News

2008-12-07T21:41:00.002-06:00

The story behind how we got a new run is pretty funny to me but unfortunately one that I cannot publish on the Internet.

The point of this post, though, is to inform you few readers who read this that PennyBear has a new run. This time at iO. It will be in the Del Close Theater stage on Fridays at 10:30pm in January. We may get extended but that will be entirely dependent on getting an audience to come to our show. So we get at least 5 shows and a chance to show our stuff to the iO scene. We also hope to use this chance to get good quality video of our live performances.

Insomnia

2008-12-04T12:01:00.002-06:00

I've got insomnia. Or at least I think I do.

This past week I've been having trouble falling to sleep when I'm in bed. In addition to that, in the past few days I've been going to bed later and later because I'm just not tired. And I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong to prevent me from falling asleep. I'm not drinking caffeine at late hours in the day so that's not it. I try to lull myself to a tired state by checking sites on the Internet but my eyes never seen to get tired.

I'm super tired after work. When I'm on the train going home, I feel really tired and I would love nothing better than going to bed right when I get home. But I've got rehearsals or shows to do. So I eat dinner and then head out for those things. When I get back home late at night I should be even more tired. But I guess I've got my second wind and that wind won't wane even past midnight.