Busy Tuesday

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

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

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

~~~

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

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

Comedy Sportz Call Back

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

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

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

To-Do lists help.

Creativity at Work

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

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

Ticket to Paradise

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


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

Good Signs

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

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

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

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


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

Taste of Randolph Street

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

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


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

Quick Notes

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

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

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

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

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

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

Activities

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.