People Moving

I can't believe I forgot to mention in my last post the actual main reason for my moody moods lately. My good friend Molly is moving to LA. And not just her, but half a dozen other people it seems like. My friends Tony and Mikaela are moving to LA also. In fact, they're probably on the road in Missouri right about now. And I know of two other improvisers moving to LA also. So I guess that's 5 people. Not quite half a dozen but close enough.

Anyway, I'm down because my good friends are moving away. This won't be that dramatic in the short term because I can go weeks without seeing good friends before I notice that it's been awhile since I've seen them. This is what happens to me with friends in Chicago. But with them in LA, I'll get that feeling and then realize that I can just make plans to see them next weekend. I'll probably only see them once a year. This sucks.

But I'm trying to not let it get me down because these changes are all great for the people involved. They are onto bigger and better things and I wish them all success and happiness, which I'm sure they'll get. Plus, I have the memories of hanging out with them to keep me company, and that's not half bad.

Here's a picture of Molly:

Bon voyage Molly!!

Emotions

This past week I've been more emotional that usual. This is not good since I'm acutally pretty good at showing my emotions. So I crossed over from emo pussy to "what's wrong with that dude?" I'm exaggerating. I little.

When I'm meloncholy, I'm actually pretty good at hiding it. Or at least I'm good at hiding how deep my meloncholy goes. The past mont has been a blast and every weekend has been jammed packed with awesome things. I've really enjoyed myself and I've hung out with some amazing people. I'm also making some new friends and I couldn't be more jazzed about it. But with any amount of frivolity comes the after-taste of slight emptiness. At least it did this past week. It's that old friend of mine: Mr. YouWantToBeInLoveDon'tYou.

Mr. YWTBILDY come from my childhood and my childhood expectations about my life. It's the white-bred suburban staple of wanting to get married and have kids and settle down when you're older. Though my brand comes with the "kids? geesh, that's a lot of responsibility, don't you think?" preinstalled. (Sidebar: I actually haven't named this "friend" of mine, I just came up with the name.) As I've gotten older the dream has been whittled down to its core; find someone to love for my whole life and grow old together. Awwwwwwwwww, it's that sweet?

Barf.

Well, this past week that's what I've been dwelling on. But the thing about it is that I only feel that way when I'm home alone and I've got nothing to do. If I think about dating some new lady, I immediately switch over to "I like my free time. Dating someone takes too much energy and time away from me having fun with my friends." So we're talking about wanting things selfishly. So unless I can find a woman that will do whatever activity I want to all the time and hug, kiss, and cuddle with me when I'm home doing nothing, then I've got to get over this meloncholy mood.

Also, a few weeks ago I was watching Iconoclasts on Sundance with Isabella Rossellini and Dean Kamen. Kamen is an inventor who is most known for the Segway. Rossellini is known as one of the most beautiful actresses of our time. Anyway, I needed to know more about this Kamen guy and I went to my trusted friend Wikipedia. My trusted friend also told me that Ms. Rossellini has one child and it's a daughter. I checked it out and found pictures of her daughter, Elettra Wiedemann. An example:


I became instantly smitten and during my high emotions state this week have deluded myself that I might actually have a shot at wooing her should I ever get successful at acting or film direction. It could happen, right? Le sigh.

Oh, the crest of my emotional week was Tuesday night when I stayed inside and watched the series finale of Gilmore Girls. These past two seasons I haven't caught much of the show and I've only been caught up on the show via televisionwithoutpity.com recaps. But I did catch the last two episodes of this last season. I was an super deluxe crybaby during the show. For a good 40 minues of the hour-long show, I was in tears over this silly show being over. Could somebody give me back my dick? I mean, c'mon.

Tonight I think was my last wave of this meloncholy. I spent intermission of Armando on the back stairs looking out into the alley behind iO and trying to feel at peace. I've felt stagnant again lately and I need to change something to shake things loose I feel. I have to jobs that I get paid for and that I had to report my earnings to the goverment about. I'm thinking of quitting both of them.

Organization

I actually cleaned a part of my room this past Saturday. This made me very happy even though I didn't really commit that much time to it. I wanted to start the task immediately when I woke up but I failed to motivate myself to get up before noon. And then I wasted another two hours eating breakfast, dicking around on the Internet, and watching some TV, before I started cleaning.

Once I was doing it, it wasn't that bad. Still, I only lasted about two hours before I "needed a break." I then watched Jodie Foster do a guest role on Kung Fu in the '70s when she was a kid (the Internet is awesome) and then watched some more TV. After that it was time to get ready for my improv show.

I also wanted to keep at it every day - to clean a small portion of my room everyday - so that after a week or so my room would actually be clean. But I didn't feel like it yesterday. Oh well.

I'm feeling the same lack of energy at work. Work is not fun. I procrastinate like crazy and I'm on the Internet way too much. I've got the awful condition of wanting the good life without having to work for it.

Spider Man 3

I went to Evanston to check out Spider Man 3 with my friend Jonny, seen above spacing out. He thought the movie was a mixed bag and I rather enjoyed the movie. I thought they did a good job of developing characters and juggling all the villains although if they had decided to cut the amount of villains down from 3 to 2, it could have been a fantastic movie. Also, Toby Maguire strutting down New York sidewalks was hilarious.

Also at the movie were a bunch of Jonny's friends who I hadn't ever met before and it was cool to meet non-improv people and still be able to be my funny self. I'm patting myself on the back for that.

Sleepy Time at IHOP

Awhile ago it was Marla's birthday. She had the celebration at Ten Cat and that was a fun time. The art of mingling is a tricky thing to get the handle of but I'm getting a little better at it. Or more accurately, I'm getting more comfortable in being in the conversation I'm having at the time. Less looking around for a better conversation.

After we closed Ten Cat, a few of us went to IHOP for some much needed food to help digest the beer we had consumed. We were also tired. It was that odd mix of half tired, half hungry. The kind that where you know you need to eat but you are so tired you grow weary of waiting for the food to arrive but also too hungry to actually fall asleep.

The funniest thing happened though, and I'm sure it's a "you had to be there" kind of thing. Danny here ordered his food and then I asked the waiters (we got 2!, a master and apprentice) why it was so cold in our section. They didn't know why. Then we looked back at Danny because the waiter needed to ask him about what side he wanted (or somethings similar) and Danny was asleep. Just 10 seconds earlier he was awake. One of the waiters leaned in to Danny sheepishly and Danny awoke to all of us looking at him. It was very, very funny.

Roller Derby

The last two weekend I've gone to Cicero for the Windy City Rollers derby action. This picture is from the first weekend I went. It's really cool and I really get into the games. The picture shows the Hell's Belles versus XX (Double Crossers) and it was a really close match. Hell's Belles came from behind to win by one point on the final jam. The other game the first weekend was a blowout by the Furies against the Manic Attackers. But the Attackers have the best player ever, Malice with Chains. She's ridiculously good.

When we went, we had to pick our roller girlfriend for the night. Gilley and I both wanted to pick Gun Show Poe the first weekend. The second weekend I went with Athena DeCrime. Oh, and we had to figure out our roller derby names.

Names:
Ann = Ann O'War
Molly = Maul-y Ringwauld
Me = Excessive Forsythe
Tara = Tara'ble or Tara Ferma
I forget some of the others we came up with.

Ben's Back

My friend Ben is back from his stint on a Norwegian Cruise Line boat with Second City. He was on it for 4 months. He kept a blog about it and it was neat to read it and be able to hear his voice speak the words he wrote.

During the time he was on the boat, not a lot of things have changed in Chicago although I've had a lot of things happen to me. I've been in and out of two relationships during that time span. All three teams that I'm involved with (playing with or coaching) have had a roster change-up. I've gotten new headshots, a new iPod, a digital camera, and a new messenger bag. But overall, I'm still in the exact same situation as I was before Ben left.

March Madness Bracket Fun

It's been awhile since I've updated this blog. I think I'll try to take bite sized attempts at updating what's going on in my life.

March Madness was a neat time although I didn't get to see as many games as I would have liked. I even entered a bracket pool. My alma matter Florida won the whole thing and because I picked them to win the whole thing again, my bracket won the pool. But as far as picking the right teams, many other people did much better than I did. I watched the finals with Strike Force friends and that was nice. Even though Florida was consistently up by at least 8 points throughout the game, it was still a little nerve racking to watch.

RIP Kurt Vonnegut

I'm not the type of person to have personal heroes. I have people that I admire and think very highly of, but to label them a hero just seems so... I don't know... lofty. I've heard that I'm part of a generation that's without any heroes, and I'd generally agree with that. But Kurt Vonnegut? If I were to have any heroes, he'd be the top candidate.

His influence on the world of comedy and sci-fi was huge. As such, his influence on me is definite. I've only read Welcome to the Monkeyhouse - and I've always wanted to read more of his stuff - but that book is one of my all time favorites. So smart. So funny.

A great light in this world has just be snuffed out.

How I Feel

Bye bye, love.
Bye bye, happiness.
Hello, loneliness.
I think I'm a-gonna cry-y.

Bye bye, love.
Bye bye, sweet caress.
Hello, emptiness.
I feel like I could di-ie.
Bye bye, my love, goodby-ye.

There goes my baby
With-a someone new.
She sure looks happy.
I sure am blue.
She was my baby
'Til he stepped in.
Goodbye to romance
That might have been.

Bye bye, love.
Bye bye, happiness.
Hello, loneliness.
I think I'm a-gonna cry-y.

Bye bye, love.
Bye bye, sweet caress.
Hello, emptiness.
I feel like I could di-ie.
Bye bye, my love, goodby-ye.

I'm a-through with romance.
I'm a-through with love.
I'm through with-a countin'
The stars above
And here's reason
That I'm so free:
My lovin' baby
Is a-through with me.

Bye bye, love.
Bye bye, happiness.
Hello, loneliness.
I think I'm a-gonna cry-y.

Bye bye, love.
Bye bye, sweet caress.
Hello, emptiness.
I feel like I could di-ie.
Bye bye, my love, goodby-ye.
Bye bye, my love, goodby-ye.
Bye bye, my love, goodby-ye.

This Past Week

Things that have happened in the last week:

I got a slap on the wrist at work for my Internet usage. At work I leave the browser window open but minimized for most of the day. But this makes it seem that I'm on the Internet all day. So they had me down as using the Internet for 6 hours of my 8-hour work day. That's crazy. My actual usage was probably closer to 2 hours, which is still horribly awful. I've been waiting for this talk from my boss for about 6 months now. I needed the talk.

I also need a job that I care about. (fingers crossed for paid acting gigs)

I had to kick off a member from the team I coach. Said person wasn't as committed to the team as the rest of the team. Said person is a great person and a really good player but missed 6 weeks of rehearsal and during this period the team was made incredible strides in coming into their own. Said person coming back would have felt like a newly added person coming onto the team. So I had said person taken off the team and now we'll have an actual new person added to the team. They have a show this Sunday and this new person will probably be forced to play with the team without ever rehearsing with them, which is actually cool and good. So each group I'm involved with has had a change in roster. Wow.

Rattlesnake had another really great show this past week. Yay us!

I couldn't think of ideas for scenes until just before class on Saturday. I had two germ of ideas and I got to present both of them. Both were drastically changed and improved by Jim. Both went over very well in the show last night. We're supposed to know by Thursday which scenes made it into the show and which did not. I'm curious to find out what our show will look like. Our group came up with a total of x scenes. Scene names: Pot Sedan, Border, Canadian Coyote, Lunch Ladies, Hamburger Pussy, Breakdown, Pot Experiment, Security Guards, Hell Cab, Airport, Trivial Pursuit, Mouth Pussy, Road Trip, Fart Car, Decembermints, Cougar Scouts, 5 out of 9, Secrets, and a few others I can't remember the names of. Our show could look like so many things depending on which scenes are kept. Also, aren't some of the names just awful? I love it.

There was a fire at an apartment a few doors north of us on Sunday morning. A 28-yr old guy was killed in the fire. There's a mini memorial of the guy on the front door of the apartment building. There's a few pictures of the guy, a couple of letters, and some flowers taped to the door frame. It's weird to think that death was so close to our apartment.

My neighborhood was crazy during St. Patrick's Day. Crazier than normal. I take it as a sign that this Cubs season will also be crazier than normal and the Cubs fans, who are already repugnant to me, will become even more of a headache.

More Changes

This week is the week for major cast changes.

In one group, Group A, person Q decided to leave the group because of personal reasons. It is sad that we can't make Q want to stay. Q is a great player and my best friend in Chicago. I adore Q and hope Q plays with us at least once more before Q leaves town. Q's leaving has lit a fire under a lot of the members of Group A to stop talking and get things done. I hope to use the lessons I'm learning from the Jim Carlson class to help spearhead a great project for Group A.

Group A is also looking to add a new member to the group. We've got a few likely candidates but there are larger forces at work that decide who we get.

Another group I'm in, Group One, person Three is being forced out. Three is a great person, we all love Three as a person. I won't go into the details but the decision to kick out Three was a business decision and not a personal decision. This has come as a complete shock to Three and I'm sure Three is deeply hurt. Person Eight broke the news to Three in person and Eight said Three felt like they were stabbed in the back. It really sucks.

The Jim Carlson Class show this past Monday went over okay, but we have yet to get notes since he had to dash out right when our show ended. We are supposed to get notes via email today and I'm looking forward to what he has to say about the scenes we presented to the audience. Our next assignment is to try to cover any theme or issue that hasn't been covered yet. A few themes and issues have plenty of scenes that deals with them already, so we don't need anymore scenes that deal with that stuff.

I'm also noting that my level of focus in doing scripted work isn't as clear as it is when I'm doing improv. I'm a much better actor when I improvise, I think, and I'm trying hard to be a good actor when it comes to scripted work. This class is working two different muscles in me that I haven't worked in some time: sketch writing and acting off a script. If I have any hope in being an employable actor, I need to really work on the scripted acting thing.

This Past Week.

Tonight is the 4th Jim Carlson's Elective Class Show. We won't be doing any of the source scenes tonight. I was almost right about the commentary scenes assignment. Jim wanted to assign us that but I think because too many hands went into the air asking questions about what really is a commentary scene, he changed it to a tangential scene assignment. I went ahead and took a stab at a commentary scene anyways. It went over pretty well in class and I get to try it out in front of an audience this evening, which I'm excited and nervous about at the same time.

Each group is going to show off the scenes we presented in class Saturday. I also get the sense that Jim is changing the format of the show from what he had going into the class. Since some of our scenes that we just pitched are much better than anything we've pitched so far, it just might be that our sources scenes get tossed all together. The carrot dangling in front of us is the prospect of getting a run if we put together a quality show worthy of a run. The problem is that it makes the class have two goals that can be at odds with each other - getting a show together and giving everyone in the class the experience of working on their material. It's hard to explain... so I won't go into further detail.

Rattlesnake had a really great show Friday night. We had six including sit-in Dan Carr and we really brought it that night. Quincy went before us and they had a fabulous show. The audience was also with them right from the start. I was a little worried that we might feel too much pressure to pick up where Quincy left off but we delivered and then some. Our suggestion was Pearl Harbor and we really created a whole world of pre-war American in Hawaii.

My friend Nora was in town this weekend and it was good to see her. I beat her in darts and also got the added benefit of witnessing how crazy her life is at the moment. She got her heart broken in Toronto and then the tables were turned in Chicago when she had to let down this guy named Tony who said he'd fly anywhere in the world for her. So awfully hilarious.

Felt had to cancel a puppet-making project, which sucked, but hopefully soon it will get done.

Picky Eater

I'm a picky eater.

But, I've expanded the things I can eat by a huge amount since I left home after high school graduation. Most of it is stubbornness in not even trying foods that look disgusting or healthy. Also note that I'm a big texture person.

Food list:
Orange - had my first orange at the age of 29 in Montana. Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Texture is a little odd so I won't race to eat another one soon.
Grapes - first grape at age of 28. The skins are odd and I don't like the texture of the skins. I don't know why I was surprised that the juice inside it tasted like grape flavoring. Maybe I thought the real thing would be different than synthetic flavoring, like they could never match it exactly.
Spinach - first had it in college around the age of 21 or 22. I like it but I can't handle a lot of it in my mouth at once. I'll eat a spinach pizza slice, no problem.
Sushi - this was also in college. I love sushi now. Probably the only way I'll ever eat cucumber ever, if it's in a sushi roll. Upon eating my first sushi roll, I counted that there were 7 new things I hadn't tried yet up to that point: cucumber, fish eggs, seaweed, and eel were among them.
Broccoli - age 29. Was at a Thai restaurant and it was a garnish. On a whim (food whims are very rare for me) I decided to try it. Very crunchy, no taste, more of a workout for the mouth.
Cantelope/Melon - pretty good. Mostly water, with a sweet after taste. Reminds me of watermelon, which I'm cool with.
Bananas - this is an exception in this list, because I first tried it when I was in grade school, but I didn't like them growing up. But now I'm fine with them. I've even ordered them on purpose as a side dish. They are pretty good.

I've tried hummus and I didn't like it at all. The grainy texture was a total turn off. Same thing with grits, which I tried for the first time in college.

I haven't tried a tomato since kindergarten (the texture of it made me throw up) and I've never felt adventurous enough to tackle a strawberry. I have a feeling that pears, peaches, and nectarines will be horrible.

Fruits and Vegetables - my personal food enemy. I'm trying to force myself to try them and like them so that if I ever date another vegetarian, finding a restaurant we both can go to won't be such a difficult task.


PS. I almost forgot about mushrooms. I had mushrooms for the first time in high school and I like them. But just like spinach, I can't handle too many in my mouth at once. Sometimes I'll order the vegetarian sandwich at Pot Belly's, which is just bread, cheese, and mushrooms.

What's New? Nothing Really

I did not win the Mega Millions Illinois lottery. But no one else did too. Last I checked, it was up to 340 million dollars. 40% of that would be 136 million. The web site says you have 30 days until the option to take it in one lump sum expires. After that I guess you are forced to receive the winnings in 26-annual sums. The web site also said they'd take out 51% if you opt for the one lump sum option. I guessing that's not including the taxes the state and the federal government would take out of the winnings.

Anyway, life is still the same. Recently a lot of people have been asking me "what's new?" Other than the iO elective, nothing. I guess my life is boring. Did I mention that I put the wheels in motion to get new headshots? Well I did. I get them taken at the end of this month. My friend Nora is coming into town for the weekend and I'm looking forward to playing her in pool and darts. Just before she left for San Fran, she and I were getting to be hang-out buddies, which I don't have much of.

Tonight is the 3rd show for the iO elective. We do our source scene - Pot Sedan (which hasn't really progressed that much at all since the first time we did it) and then 4 or 5 theme scenes. Jim already said that Border (Camille's) is for sure in as a theme scene. Tonight the reconfiguring of Pot Experiment (mine) goes up and I really hope it makes it as a theme scene. It's much better now. All of the exposition is gone and we really get to the core of what the scene is: two nerds literally experimenting with pot. I get to do some funny space object work, which I love to do. Our other potential theme scenes are Airport (DeWalt's; good), Girls Lunch (Linke's; great), Security Guards (Eric's; so so), Connection (Matt's; not going up because it's too complicated); and Hell Cab (Jen's; good; and yes, we know there was a show with that name).

My prediction is that the four theme scenes of our group will be: Border, Pot Experiment, Girls Lunch, and Hell Cab. My guess is that next Saturday our assignment will be to come up with commentary scenes. I love this elective class.

Feeling Lucky?

I bought a Lotto ticket yesterday. Actually, I bought 5 tickets. I set my alarm clock radio to wake me up in the mornings and so when it goes off, I get a radio station in my ears to wake me up. I have it set to a morning radio show and the topic they were talking about when the radio came on was about the millions of dollars of unclaimed Lotto winnings because people forget to check their tickets. This one guy was at work and heard his co-worker calling these people idiots. He checked the story and saw that the store that sold a winning ticket was one that he went to. He found an old Lotto ticket and sure enough this guy was the winner. He got $100,000.

I also have a habit of eating my cereal at work. I have a couple of cereal boxes at my desk and Silo cups that I use instead of bowls. I went to a corner grocery store near my work and bought a box of Cheerios and some milk. While I was paying for them, I noticed a sign on the register about the current Lotto jackpot up to 216 millions dollars. I took it was a sign that maybe I should buy some Lotto tickets. So I did.

Great story, huh?

What would I do if I won? Well, I figure 60% of it goes to taxes, leaving 86.4 million dollars. What would I do with 86.4 million dollars? I think I'd do the following

1. invest some of it. I hear how some of the crazy rich earn so much money on the interest of their investments that they can live off the interest. I don't know if that's possible with this amount, but I'd consult an accountant to see if I could. It's kind of like wishing for unlimited wishes.
2. Give some to my parents and sister.
3. Travel the world.
4. Quit my job.
5. built myself a nice brownstone to live in. Maybe rehab an existing one and make it "green" to feel better about myself and doing my part for the environment.
6. get Final Cut pro and great film equipment.
7. finance my own independent movie. Cast it with my friends.

Other than that, nothing would change.

Go Bears!

Go Bears!, originally uploaded by ehtysrofnahtanoj.

Testing

Testing

This is a test to see if I managed to figure out how to increase the size of the pictures.

Forced into Change

To continue using this service, I was forced to create a Google account. I don't really like having email accounts I don't use. Back around 1993, when the world was first starting to hear about this interesting thing called the Internet, my parents signed us up with AOL. I've had the same AOL email account since then and I like that my email address hasn't changed.

I hate it when friends change their email accounts. Partly because I know I'll never write the new account down and when I want to get a hold of them my emails will get bounced back to me saying their email address no longer exists. It also seems that people that were changing their servers were doing so all the time. It was a pain and I didn't want to be like them. Also, it gives a since of stability to my life that I really don't have. I like illusions. Since graduating from high school, I've moved around a ton, having never stayed in one spot longer than two years. That's a lot of moving around and address changes. Since high school my parents moved to their home state and so now even the crap home in Florida that I was against all along in calling home is no longer my home. I've lost the sense of Home Sweet Home. So when I visit my parents it doesn't feel like home and I always feel adrift. I've had to adopt the adage that "any place I hang my hat is home."

I don't like having too many credit cards and I sure don't like having email accounts I never use. Just two weeks ago I had to sign up for a Yahoo.com account to use Flickr for pictures and that was a hard decision. Now I have to sign up for a second account I'll never use? C'mon world, stop making me crazy!

Also, I'm having problems figuring out how to make my pictures on my blog appear bigger. There are two blogs that I frequent a lot and both of them have their pictures appear large and I want mine to be that big also but for some reason they aren't as big. Someday I'll figure this out.

~~~~~~

Last night was our first show and it was fun. I wasn't nervous before the show but afterwards I realized I was physically drained from the adrenaline rush, which I haven't experienced in a long time. The show itself when by so fast. Group Alpha when first and they did a good job. Prayer Circle narrowly beat out Hospital for the source scene. My group, Group One, went second and I really had no idea on how our scenes went over. I felt they all went over the same, which was kind of blah, but a couple of them were fun to do. Our source scene is going to be Pot Sedan, which narrowly beat out Jury Lunch. Our task for Saturday is to write a thematic scene off one of the themes of Pot Sedan. After presenting our scenes on Saturday, we will have two days to memorize them as best as we can for our next show Monday. This is such a great experience.

I also got to play live poker for the first time in months and I ended $14 up, which isn't great but at least I wasn't down.

Ambition Difference

During the weekdays, I have lots of plans. Plans for the weekend. Things I'm going to accomplish and things I'm going to implement.

Things:
Get up earlier (around 9am sounds nice).
Do my French lessons
Listen to Podcasts
Do the "ups."
Clean my room
Expand my wardrobe
Get headshots duplicated
Get an agent

During the weekend, however... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I have gotten some minor things done. I got a new phone. I got a new iPod - now with video capability. I got two new sneakers and 1 pair of moon boots; the boots I got the night before the blizzard and it was worth every penny.

I started the Jim Carlson workshop/elective at iO and it's a blast. We have our first show tonight and we pick our source scene from it. Right now the 7 scenes my group has to choose from are: Family Dinner (meh), Border Car Ride (fun), Poker (fun), Basketball (meh), Block Party (meh), Church Pew (fun), Jury Lunch (so so). The other group has some quality group scenes as well.