Happy New Year’s!

It's the start of it all! Happy new year's! Hoping your's will be awesome and kick butt, full of health, love, warmth and happy people. 2007 kinda did a number on a number of dear and good friends, and kinda did a number on me. There're parts of it that were amazingly and blindingly wonderful, that I would never give up for the world. There were also parts of it hurt alot, and are now part of our history forevermore amen. The nice part is that the good moments are part of our history too. Right? Right. It's just sometimes easier to focus on the bad... so... resolution number 1!

News and radios and website are doing their year-endly best of/worst of lists of 2007. I get to possibly see Butch and his amazing family at the Museum today (if only for a brief time, I'm excited). I should figure out what I'm wearing tonight. And the cat is doing strange things in the kitchen. I hope the cat is making a quiche for me, but he's probably just trying to get into the oatmeal. (He still loves oatmeal. Weirdo.)

So - - have a blast tonight. I hope to see you today, and if not, (I'm gonna say it) see you next year! (bwahahah! cuz... get it? tomorrow is next.. yes.)

Onward!

Weepy and laughing at the Lagoon

More Science Museum. However, the crowds have been monstrous, which is both awesome and kinda exhausting. It's strange to guesstimate your audience to around 350 people for a 15 minute show.

Non-dinner afterwards, onto Bar Abilene (which was delicious, although probably illadvised, looking back), and then onto Juno at the Lagoon. Yes - - basically all you've heard is true. How the movie moves, the music (KIMYA DAWSON!!! I jumped up and down. I had no idea. This makes me happy, as Kimya as a 16 month old named Panda and a French boyfriend and I want Panda to be able to go to college, and maybe I'm a bit stalky, but you can read her blog too if you really want to... Thank you, internet, for letting me stalk strangers I hold in high regard), and the acting is choice. I'm gonna use the word choice. Everyone's amazing. Ellen Page is incredible. My eyes are still tired from being weepy at the end. whewwww...

Then to Barbette for vino and quiche. (wh00p!)

Uh... so it's back to the Science Museum in about 45 minutes. Soon, I will blog about other things, as there's some crap I've gotta do. Part of this crap is cleaning out the storage room and converting it into a bedroom.. er, my bedroom. It's gonna be tiny, but I'm gonna make it cute and hopefully comfortable. I've decided that it's gonna be a nutty shade of blue - - part of the fun of doing horribly stressful home projects is hopefully rewarding yourself with paint colors. Right? Right.

Go watch Juno. Go relax a little too. Onward!

Back = back

Back = back. I have found mysef in a snow emergency. You crazy Minneapolis - - no one told me!

Xmas was fine. My mom and sis and I were kinda himming and hawing around the whole holiday thing, not saying outright that it's sad, but just sorta... my sister got all her presents, which is awesome. Everyone else, on the other hand, will be receiving their's via the us postal service hopefully this week. I need to call my grandpa scott. I need to mail my holiday cards. You know. It was nice to sit around the dining room table and eat smoked salmon and crackers vs. a huge holiday dinner (that was awesome!). It was also nice to see adopted Aunt Heather and Uncle Craig (awesome!). And it was awesome to go to our friends, the Dorns, xmas night (as the family has done for the last five? years) and eat Papa Murphy's. My sister and I fit ourselves into what my dad would do in these occassions (eat their pizza, drink their beer, and dominate the conversation) and the Dorns were nice enough to let us. They are wonderful.

'Visited Grandpa Rauch and his girlfriend Pam in Yankton, where we ate at the Fryin' Pan. Grandpa Rauch may have to walk with a walker and a cane, but at 92, he's (to quote) sharp as a tack. And he likes to talk about money. He's honery, and Pam will say surreal things every once in a while (she's sharp as a tack too, but... things work differently in Yankton, SD), - - we did good!

Now, I'm back (after yelling at a friend in the car next to me on hwy 169 north of Mankato - - funny!). It's off to work and off to errands and my god, it's technically Thursday, and oh c'mon now. Hoping to see the last half of the BNW mainstage show (pssssttt... dear mainstage friends. You're funny. teeeee) and do laundry, and I should buy some groceries, and so much for puttin' out the recycling (oh well), and my phrase for the week is "Sense of Urgency". Cause right now I really don't have one. But if I construct one, I might get things done, right? Right. Happy Holidays! Hey look, New Year's.. (agh!)

Onward!!

P.S. Stuff I find over the top beautiful. Geeking out. Again, awesome!

It might be the 24th..

It might. I kinda doubt it, but people tell me.

On Saturday, whoopidy times were had, with a trip to Matt's for Jucy Lucy's (delish), a trip to the Red Dragon (good god I know better. Hell, I wrote a song about this particular experience six years ago. DAMN YOU RED DRAGON! I'm getting too damn old. However, it turns out their wonton soup is delicious), and then into a stranger's neato pad in Northeast for a "Solstice Party". I think this means that they have fancy cheese and a talking drum. Beautiful apartment-housy thingie, with windows overlooking the Mississippi. Even better than a dog named Ursa and dreadlocks? Why, a path to the Mississippi annnnddd a huge bonfire which made us feel very primal. Awesome! My orange coat stinks like burning pallets (I mean that in a good way), and I got to walk on the Mississippi. Cool. Sometimes, frozen embittered Minnesota gifts you some neat stuff. And nice conversation with nice people (or, by the bonfire, grunting conversation and treating your body like a rotisserie chicken... always turning).

I then paid for this neat stuff for the majority of Sunday. Got drafted by Davey to work at the Workshop, which was chock a block of the best people in the world. I was coatcheck girl. I hope I did not f up, as someone else got to handle the returning of 100 or so coats. Then a Bingo show (nice people), and watching Vikings football at Kincaids. This was more entertaining than expected. Um, I would hate it if a billion or so people cried out in pain everytime I made a mistake in improv, but I guess these guys are getting paid alot of money to be really good. I mean, they're doing the best they can, right? (John Haynes, this is how I watch football) ;) I understand the concept of downs, so watching the teams run back and forth along the field was entertaining. The conversation held by my compatriots went mostly over my head, but I did learn the name Tarvaris. (which, to me, is only a couple degrees away from Turd Ferguson... I'm just sayin'.)

I think I'm gonna drive to Iowa, and try on some xmas spirit. HAPPY HOLIDAYS, everyone!!! :) Please take care of yourself, and tell the people you love that you love them. They probably know it, but it's always nice to hear. Onward!

just not that interesting...

Indeedy do, no. Very little to report. Back at the Science Museum today, BUT no shows tonight! Whoop! Could use the $$, but nice to have a Saturday night off.

- Had some of those fine Schindler Nachoes at Eli's last night. Seriously - - if you like nachoes, take yourself to Eli's on Hennepin and get thee some of these finest of Nach-es. (single form of Nachoes - - the nach)
- Sweetest crowd at the show last night. Very lucky. Even the butt-touching dad was generally ooookay and just trying to show off for his kids, causing his kids to be a little bit mortified. Ahh, xmas stories for years to come. People are silly, truly. :)
- Met a sweet and awesome couple named Ginger and Dick. I have no clue why I find this funny, except that I may be a 15 year old boy.
- Work - - go back to work.
- Meeting other lovely, vaguely grinchy people. All that xmas push (the xmas surge?) has kind of pushed me aside this year - - not dissing on xmas, but... my sister and I have already cleared with each other that we can't afford much and it's not a big deal, and mom will understand. .. yeah. It'll just be good to be home. Someday, I'll be buying vacations for everyone, but until then...
- I really don't call it xmas. I'm just a lazy typer.
- LRM had her baby!!! That baby's name is Lydia!!! This is incredible and so awesome. Congratulations!!! (I can't wait to get me some toe tickling!! :) )

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Onward!!
EDIT: well.. hells bells, I just saw the Dark Knight trailer and I'm actually excited. I'm all muh about Christian Bale, but the trailer actually shows him smiling! (I have an issue with Christian Bale and all the $i!!head characters he seems to play. I ain't sayin' he's bad. I'm just sayin, I tend not to enjoy his performance as much as I should, cuz he's obviously talented... bah. - - muh.) But I love me some Gary Oldman, boy howdy, do I love me some Heath Ledger! I was fine with Batman Begins (it was fine...), but.. this. This looks vaguely kickass. I hope they didn't show all the good parts in the trailer....

2nd EDIT: Creepy and awesome and lovely!! Like the book!

My lymph nodes have attitude...

I am a whiny brat of a sick person. I'm on the mend (huzzah), but... seriously. I threw a mini-tantrum infront of Davey and Harry. I didn't mean to. I'm just a whiny brat of sickiness.

I went to the doctor that checks to see if you are still a girl, and I am. Success! I also had a disappointment at the Salvation Army. This is no reason to get poopy, but in the moment, I said "shoot" and walked away. Mer.

You know what, everyone? It's almost Friday. Which means it's almost xmas break. That -- is nice. I'm looking forward to not working. To dying my hair. To giving myself permission to get a hair cut. To... Getting onto January. I don't know much about January (like how it's going to work $$-wise or any of the rest of it), but I'm still looking forward to it. Thanks, January. December 2007 - - we'll talk later.

Things I currently like - -
- Going to sleep early.
- My cat.
- My dog.
- Not teaching anything for a couple of days. (I'm lucky and blessed and I love teaching, in whatever form it comes in. But.. however.. right now... this is kinda awesome. I don't have to tell anyone anything in an authoritative tone, or stop them from talking, or force others to do my bidding. Whoop.)
- When my CD burner accepts a new shiny CD as "Blank"

Things I'm tired of - -
- Phlegm (yuck but true)
- Feeling tired around my eyes
- Feeling a little beat up

Things I might do - -
- Buy xmas cards
- Write xmas cards
- Send xmas cards

If this gets accomplished, that shall be pretty sweet. Well see. ONWARD!

Things I Like (a general list)

Good morning, Tuesday. I DEED it. I did the weekend. The weekend, in return, gave me a soar throat that won't go away. bah.

Things I like:
- I like that they're releasing a new fancy re-release of Bladerunner, cuz it was all of the things that people said it was, and also, I like seeing young, nervous, vunerable Harrison Ford greet me when I open my myspace page (as opposed to old, jaded, mean Harrison Ford who did films like... oh... that one with Josh Hartnett. Or the one where he played the president. Such an angry man.)
- I like shopping online for late xmas gifts. Thank you, magic void of the internet!
- I like auditions where you don't have to prepare a monologue. You just do an open read. Those are fun. I also like seeing someone for the first time, and being absolutely delighted with them. (Jason, from those Three Sticks people, is a crazily funny man.)
- I like dinners with old friends. I don't like when I have to cut it short, and all the conversation wasn't used up yet.
- I currently like planning small things, and that's weird (what shall I eat for lunch..? hmmm... What color should my hair be? hmmmm... much brain space devoted to trivial little things)

Those are things I like. I don't feel like listing things I don't like, cuz it might take a bit. 'Went to a friend's Xmas party last night, and everyone looked lovely and festive. We actually sang xmas carols as a group, which is a little singing the National Anthem, except easier and not as inclusive to other cultures. Also, everyone, whatever your American-based background, seems to know at least the first verse. People (especially grown ups doing it by choice) singing together is pretty rockin', as far as universal human experiences go. Almost as good as little kids singing in a group, which is just over the top. (I give much credit to Pink Floyd for taking full advantage of this. Well played!)

Today is the last Six Ring Circus of 2007. Nutty!! Also, today holds another Science Outreach, except it's about Race (bwaha!). Wish us luck. Onward!

(Oh! Oh! I also like MIA's Paper Planes.)

Make that, make it Monday

Trip to McGregor MN was full of adorable children waiting to go see Santa, and a room full of people who didn't know what to do with us. Did the Circus Minimus show with friends Chris and Shari (Chris plays a chef, Shari plays a lobster, I poorly play accordion). They were AWESOME! However, about half of McGregor was ready for a show about a rebellious lobster. The other half were ready for their free natural-casing hotdogs (which were very tasty). Mystery Cafe show in Bloomington went well after that. Attempts to see DanceBand were foiled by DanceBand's success at selling out the Varsity. Landed at the Otter Stop Inn, where a team of cute women (dressed in ugly christmas sweaters) were prepping to reek their revenge on the Block E Jimmy John's. One of them had imitation crab and silly string in her purse. These women were not f'ing around.

Fun night. Back to work. Don't give up. Sunday isn't done yet.

Onward!

Edit for no apparent reason:
- I think I broke up a fight last night. (i.e. there was the possibility of a fight happening. I don't know if it would have had I not stepped in, but... I'm vaguely proud)
- My diet yesterday blew. An egg on toast, coffee, a cream-filled bismark, coffee, a hot dog (natural casing!), a cup of minnestrone (a plus), a latte, and ending in White Castle (with jalapenos!) that smelled like old boiling water.

March for fun march for fun! or If I make it through Sunday, I’ll have done OK!

That's the plan. Sunday. Sunday is the last big day of stuff. Things quiet to a buzz vs. a roar after Sunday. And suddenly, a week after Sunday, it's xmas. dang. I've sort of given up this MUSTGETXMASPRESENTSIN ONTIME, which sucks. Maybe, after Sunday, I will be a present-sending fiend. It remains to be seen.

'Did a my first Mystery Cafe show last night, and I think it went well and I feel pretty good and boy was it alot of yelling. And that was fine. :) Nice people, and an adorable older man named Larry who referred to his wife of 35 years as his bride. My dad did the same thing. You get big points for that. :)

Sleeping for 8 hours seems to help outlooks a great deal. Today involves white elephant gifts / potluck / accordion practice / work / driving down to Rochester for a show. Today is two days from Sunday. Doing okay, wish me luck, and luck back at you.

Onward!

What I originally wanted to say...

So, I originally wanted to title this "Taking one up the a$$ for science" but deemed it not appropriate, but... I still wanted to share.

I've realized that I communicate, in general, like this:
GRANDIOSE STATEMENT
But...... / although.... /

Hrm. This doesn't please me, although I like the rhythm of it (see?).

Tuesday was ass kickin', and the butt in question was mine. I was almost late for an early workshop, and then onto the Science Museum, and then onto a Science Outreach thingie (which actually went pretty well. But, I'm still having flashbacks... more on that later) and then onto Six Ring, and then onto the Green Mill, where everything is fine and Milly.

Dear Middle Schoolers of the World,
I'm sorry I'm getting old and jaded and impatient. I may have to stop teaching your age group, cuz I'm starting to hate you. That's not quite right - - I find you all lovely and smart and talented in person. However, in groups, you become a reflection of your age. And that age can be rough.

We were all you once, and I recognize this. Still, I'm going to snap at you in an adult tone of voice while saying something about "respect" (even if this is totally inappropriate and not my place and I've never been to this school before and good god did I just snap at a kid that I have no background with) and asking you to leave the room and saying things like "I'm done." Cuz chances are, I am done. I am now a collection of my middle school teachers - - quirky awesome 50 year old women and insane embittered ex-marines. Again, I'm sorry.

Love,
Jen

P.S. We'll have fun on Wednesday.

Dear Fourth Graders of the world,
You rock my socks. Please stay in the 4th grade, or just move from 4th grade to college so we can have tea. Thanks!
Love,
Jen

Christmas break may be good for me.

I need to put on work clothes and feign adulthood now. Onward!!!!

I’m baaccck!

Flights from Boston to Milwaukee to Minneapolis went just fine. Very lucky. Midwest Airlines is like flying a chocolate sundae (big fake leathery seats? yes please! TWO warm cookies? Well, why not!). Happy travelers are those on Midwest.

Made it to Bingo on time. (yea!) Two beat-you-up-drunky-audience-but-happy-audience shows, followed by some exhaustion.

This week looks to be a wee bit nutty. How are you?

A little sad, a little fine, a little unknown...

Maybe it's just the season, but I'm all of those things...

Boston has been fine. Good to see good people, yet again. 'Worked our tucuses off, trying to make programs about nanoscale science accessible to all audiences. It's been good, but exhausting, and the merry group of informal educators were, by tonight, just tired.

Last night was nutty fun. Before we all got exhausted and worked through...
a) A day in the Museum of Science, hiding in classrooms
b) Happy hour at our swanky hotel. Free wine tasting, and a magician who does card tricks, whom the hotel actually hires to keep conversation at said wine tasting lively. He was lovely.
c) Subway! I do like the smell of a subway. This is not a pleasant smell per se, but it tells me I am someplace different, and yet reminds me of places I've been. I like that.
d) McCormick and Schmidt's. Oysters for the first time ("They taste like the sea, but if the sea tasted good" - Karen). They do. A sensory experience. Delightful.
d.5) Going outside before dinner arrives, and a group of college-y Boston boys offer to strip for us 30+ year old women. This is surreal and just odd and funny. They make $5.
e) New England bay scallops. Lots of chitter chatter. Many bottles of wine. We're partying like Informal Science Educators.
d) Following our leader Tim, over cobblestone and around strange corners, to a bar called "The Bell in Hand". The Bell in Hand has a live hip hop band. DANCING! This... is brilliant.
e) I don't remember paying for anything. I owe.
f) Sometime during the night (I think at Mc Cormick and Schmidt's), I bang my thigh on some table. I have a large purple goose egg on my right thigh.
g) Dancing!!!! Dancingdancingdancing.. wha?
h) Brad and Elizabeth get my sorry butt to a train station. Crash at swanky hotel.
i) Back to hiding in classrooms.
j) Complete long day of talk and performance. I watch some Cartoon Network in the "Fitness Room" of said swanky hotel.
k) Walk to Thai restaurant with HUGE menu. I order something called "Two Buddys One Pot". Gigantimous prawns and small black crabs. I have no idea how to eat this meal.
k.5) Walk through mall to get back to hotel. It's crowded and christmas-y. We had kinda forgot about the rest of the world.
l) Back in bed, leaving on airplane almost as soon as I get up.

Business travel runs one through the paces. We're lucky to be doing it with such nice, fun, smart smart people. I didn't see much of Boston or Cambridge. I didn't see much of the Museum of Science. :( But... We did what we came to do, and that's nice.

Now, just tired, and okay and a little sad and everything under the sun. Very lucky. Can't complain. Just seeped in the unknowning of it all.

See you later, alligators. Onward!

Pahking cahs by cah-nahs

Helloooo, Boston. I don't have much to report. Got in around 11 p.m. last night and took a taxi to my hotel. All I could see of Boston was its tunnels. So many tiled tunnels. Like a continual array of bathrooms to the hotel.

Today was spent in the museum, in small little classrooms, learning about accessibility in museum programming. I haven't seen anything of the Museum of Science itself, excepting perhaps the lobby (and a rooster! Live animals! There's a rooster!)

I'm beginning to learn that animal print is hotel-speak for swank. My room is decorated in brown, reds, and golds - separated into stripes, nautical-themed furniture pieces, a gigantimous mirror, Declaration of Independence curtains (wha?), and leopard print carpet. All mixed together, I think, means SWANK!

Tonight we eat. Tomorrow we go hide in classrooms again.

I think I like Boston, the little iddy biddy bit I've seen (look! a train! look! nannies! look! a rooster!) More to report later.

Hoping things are well.

Onward!!!

I find that black eyed peas make me feel old (the legume, not the band)

It's Minnesota! I may be snow-obsessing. I got stuck trying to billy goat into my alleyway last night, and was helped out by awesome neighbors. I owe so many people so many snow pushes and shovelings, it's ridiculous. (I swear - - I'm a really good snow driver! I just tend to drive small foreign 4-cylinder vehicles, and live in neighborhoods that take a little bit to plow out. And drive highways at scary times. Mer.)

Nothing much too terrible to report. Adorable went up at the Beat last Monday (yea!) and I think we were Adorable. (We started strong and kinda coffee-crashed, but it was still damned fun.) My friend Sam totally blew my mind, as he a) looks way different in a comb over, b) didn't break character the entire time he was there, c) I'm still telling people of his horrible horrible jokes. Funny. :) I, also, may need to start wearing glasses.

The next weeks have things spaced out in calm, four hour intervals, which is fine. I fly to Boston today - - I haven't been to Boston since 1998 (and I was too dumb to know what to do then. Thank goodness for adorable traveling buddies). Traveling for business, I'm learning, you're never sure how much free time you'll actually have (ranging from NONE!goodluck! to LosAngelesWhyAren'tYouDrinkingMore?). But... I think our evenings are relatively free. We're staying at a swanky hotel in Cambridge. I'm on the search for chowder and a quoahog. I'm only going to eat clam-based foods while in Massachusettes. (Also, I'm going to order a coffee, and it's gonna come pre-creamed and sugared - - thrilling!)

Being in an active state of either wanting or making things change. Right? RIGHT! It's sad stressful sucky but also exciting good and unknowning. :( <--- but I'll still put a little frowny face after it.

Everyone go see the Neutrino Project this Thursday (after improv at Jitters)! The Brave New Workshop mainstage show Friday! Fat Man Crying and It's a Meaningless Life Saturday! Good stuff, maynard.

Hrm. I wanna hold a piano bar party. Or maybe just go to Nye's. Hrm. ONWARD!!!

"When going through hell, just keep going"

I have heard Winston Churchill be attributed to a quote such as that or something. This was the quote that I was repeating to myself for most of the day.

I'm not sure how I feel about "snow". Yes, it is pretty, and I like how queer and strange it makes downtown Minneapolis. I like the sound snow makes, and I like how it sucks sound up. I also like catching snowflakes on my tongue. However, snow can also suck my ass. Bengal tigers are pretty, but they can also eat you. I am sure that quicksand ponds are also pretty in some way.

The last 48 have been chock a block full of poor decisions. Like ignoring "Winter Storm Warnings". Like pickling myself in Iowa City. (It was absolutely wonderful to see my sister, and great Iowa City fun was had. In fact, so much fun was had that I don't remember parts of it, and that is not good. That... is just embarassing.)

I left Iowa City at 9:30 a.m. this morning - - the ice storm had started and continued. My Kia look like it had been slimed, and then the slimed hardened. It took me 30 minutes to drive 3 miles. Iowa roads were messy and full of cars and semis in ditches. Iowa ended up being nothing compared to the stretch just north of Albert Lea. I did two full 360s and landed in the ditch. All in all, I'm suuuper lucky. No semi came by and smucked me. Four people stopped to check on me. It took two hours for AAA to come get me, but after two hours, they did. And then, after ice pellets and black ice and ice making my wipers worthless and being hunched over just to be able to see the road, there's snow in Minneapolis. I would be at a comedy show right now, if not for the fact that parking my car on the street (and then coming back to shovel it out) literally makes me want to cry. I feel like I handled alot today, even if on the grand scale of things, it's fairly small. But if I can take a break from handling more, that would be a fine thing.

And, truly on positive notes, the things that matter are aokay - - I made it to the show I was supposed to be at late for call, but on time for performance! (And the client fed us! Unexpected and lovely!) I am safe and my car is hopefully not too fucked up. Just... tiring...

So - - if you like snow, go out there and enjoy it! It's lovely. I, however, cannot give snow all of my love. Snow is a bitchy mistress, and my car and life and livelihood are threatened by it. Plus, it makes birdies cold.

Hoping your Sunday is safe (the fact that the weather can actively make things possibly life threatening is sucky. I know it's been that way for.. um. .. a long time, but... it's still sucky.)

Onward!

[edit: I can't be crabby anymore. One of the most amazing people in the world just had a baby boy. Snow, you're totally forgiven.] :)