My 32nd Birthday

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

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

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

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

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

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.