Sweepedit Xmas Party

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Carved pumpkins with friends.

November Trip & Jersey Boys

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

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

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

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.