Unnecessary Multiple Post NYE!

The cat & I just got done playing Psycho -- he agreed to play Janet Leigh, as long I played Anthony Perkins.

Pickles didn't play with us, but is waiting for when we play Annie Hall. (I might try to talk him into Citizen Kane instead).

No kittehs were harmed in the making of this classic movie recreation.

Onward.

I declare the new world hotspot.

Buenos Aires is the new black, I tell you.

Are you a fresh, young bilingual hipster? You MIGHT live in B.A..

Onward.

Goals for ot-9 (acht-9? aut 9? urgh..)

Happy New Year's Eve!! *twweeeet!* It's been a lovely morning so far. I did dishes. I made coffee. I am hammering away on a certain laptop. Onward!

Watched Godard for the first time. I'm not much of a filmie (film buff sounds.. creepy. *grin* Like someone who whacks off in movie theaters.) (I just typed whacks off), but I like 'em. Going to most American Cinema stuff makes me cranky, but feeling all artsy and watching a snippet of how Paris might have been around 1965 appeases the wanna-be-hipster inside of me.

We watched "Masculin, féminin", and the intertitle of "The children of Marx and Coca-Cola" probably would have been a better title (you were right, Mr. Godard).

Mr. Godard (according to the great god Wiki) said things like "I mix images and sounds like a scientist, I hope. The mystery of the scientific is the same as the mystery of the artist. So is the misery." and "A tracking shot is a moral act." This gives you an idea of what the film was like.

- oooh! 21 year old boys are dumb! Even if you live in Paris, and try to pick up girls by asking them about Socialism! Dumb!

- oooh! 21 year old girls are dumb! Even if you are a cute pop star, and have 21 year old depressives following you. Dumb! Stop hanging out with him!

- oooh! That was the best eating-an-apple scene ever.

- Note: if you live in Paris in the 60s and are a girl, chances are that you're really really cute. Like adorable cute. Like a badass Amelie.

I have started the great Goal collecting of 09. Good for me.

- Work on my house. Finish bits, then have a party. Kitchen ceiling, last bits of the bathroom, and THE BIG ROOM. I've come to realize that my house is almost 100 years old! (It was born in 1917) Nice job, house! Let's treat it like it should be treated and get the stuff done that needs to get done.

I have bloggy co-conspirators (here! and here). I am pretending that we are BFFs. GenXers with messed up old houses unite! And then blog about it!

- Kick some credit card debt butt. Granted, I spent goodly chunks of 2008 creating that credit card debt. Let us attempt to pay for that.

- Kick my physical butt. I feel pretty good about what I've done, and I'll continue because I'm a vain bastard and I like the way I feel, but.. let's do something scary. Like take a dance class.

- Actually, let's make 2009 be the "Do Something Scary" year. Not stoopid, just scary. Do things I've never thought were part of my.. um.. milieu. (Surf! Go to Oktoberfest someplace far away! Take a dance class! Learn how to wire a lamp! This sounds both incredibly lame.. and kinda awesome.)

- Also, go on more auditions. Audition for that big blue box, just to see what happens.

Fell asleep after watching black and white cinema, and then reading "The Power of Now" (I will get all enlightened! Just like Oprah.) Dreamt of the world and the moon colliding (My friend Ruth and I could see it happen in the sky), the stars falling from the sky (which was rather beautiful), and basically the world was ending. It was really pretty, but also terrifying. I'm glad that Ruth was there, because she would be a good person to see the end of the world with.. and possibly put it into perspective.

(I was also going to live in Beth's basement - - but Beth now lived in a huge, 1960s style ranch house, with lots of faux stuff and green light).

Please have an awesome and safe New Year's Eve!! It's 2009!! (almost) Who thought that would happen?

Onward.

Orange door!!

I am relatively pleased. (and reeling from fumes and cheapie vino).

Onto caulk scraping!

Onward.

Monday Yea

Yesterday, I found the most OCD of all home repairs.. Scraping off old caulk with a razor blade. Scrape. Scrape. Instant gross gratification.

PG is back! Yea!! Went to Lunds to purchase a celebratory dinner...

- Lunds is where the 42 year former-graphic-designer-now-teacher goes to shop. Such expensive hip coats! And glasses! And cars!

- I was swayed by the cheese man. I am easily swayed by the cheese man. He took super good care of me.

Now I am home, after attempting to purchase coffee at Matchbox Coffee in NE.

- It is aptly named.

- The two people in the shop just stared at me when I walked in. Much like many bars in Nordeast. But I can't justify that staring when you're 27 and drinking coffee.

- The homeless kids in Berlin circa '96 seem to have set the look for the last 12 years. I'm sorry, coffeeshop girl, the homeless kids in Berlin did it first and did it for reals. I'm sorry I interrupted whatever you were doing. I'm a little sorry I tipped you a dollar. But you made eye-contact: step one of human-being-ness. Good for you.

- I attempt to put cream in my coffee to find that the cream has curdled. There are squishy yogurty icebergs floating in my coffee.

- Coffeeshop girl has disappeared to the back. Do I yell for coffeeshop girl and ask for new coffee? Did I use the wrong creamer? Do I wrangle past the gentleman at the bar? *sigh* Do I say fuck it, dump out my coffee in front of their shop, and then passive-agressively blog about it later?

I paid $3 for the learning: a) save yer money & make yer own damn coffee, b) I wouldn't recommend Matchbox Coffee, even if the art on the walls are by a 3 year old and for sale. If the cream's so old that it's curdled, they're probably not getting many customers, and there might be a reason for that. Which makes me sad.

I could have fought for my coffee or my $3, but.. It was $3 I shouldn't have spent in the first place. Make yer own damn coffee. Lesson taken.

That old familiar feeling of perceived instant judgement, of not being the cool one in the room. Hah! It's one I really don't have time for, one that doesn't do well in Minneapolis (even if we're all guilty of it. We live in Minnesota, not Amsterdam.. We're cool, but not that cool.), and tend to avoid (I do improv theater and work in informal science education. Serioisly not cool.) I wasn't prepared for it in getting my coffee. Maybe back when coffeeshops were 'alternative' (say, the 90's), I would expect to prove myself to get my coffee, somehow mentally prepare. But, it's 2008. Obama's going to be president. Baby boomers are retiring. Skinny Puppy's disbanded. Dear god, I'm 33, and... truly appreciate a Starbux. (health care, you can use a debit card, and free samples! I am old.)

Last of the xmas online purchases have arrived: I purchased a headband for my sister off of etsy. l purchased one for myself too. I love it. My hair and head are super happy. Thank you, patient British lady, for knitting what I could not.

To vaccuum!! To dust!! To..um...

Onward.

Welcome back to the fray...

The picture is of my brother in law and the family, driving to Yankton SD. My BIL is funny. Period. :)

- Drove to Grandpa Rauch's and his girlfriend Pam's place for lunch on Friday. Homemade pickles! Sweet slaw! Pot roast! Apple pie! Um. Grandma-aged South Dakotan ladies can cook.

- Grandpa is sharp as a tack. His hands shake, and he uses a walker.. But he's also 92.

- Likes to tell us how much he lost on the stockmarket. Perhaps to drive my mom slowly nuts.

- Pam sent us home with frozen homemade pies. Grandpa sent us home with apple butter and dehydrated apple slices. My grandpa can do things with apples that blow my mind. Yum.

- My sister turned 30. We played Cranium. She's still processing this triple decade thing. I would laugh, but I turn 40 before she does. Hrmph.

- Woke up at 5:30 a.m. yesterday to make it to work by noon-ish.. I did it!

- Museum was full of adorableness! Oh my goodness! Holidays tend to bring out the families, and some of these families have some pretty awesome four year old's.

- Hung with with my friends' Ahna & Rick's kids after that. They were super super super good! No one cried, no one fought, no one attempted to fall asleep in a toybox. They shared like crazy, and we had fun.

- When playing boat, Scooter is a good nickname. So is Light Plant.

- "Garfield and Friends" - still funny!

- Little kids who swap the k or hard c sound for a t sound rock. Twistmas? Yes please. Also, if they smile with their eyes. Like a kittycat does.

- Grandma showed up and had the much more challenging task of getting them to bed.

- Grandma also gave me some homemade jam and cookies! I do not deserve these... Thank you!

- Drank red wine and slept and slept and slept.

- It's Sunday!! And tomorrow's Monday!! (both official Jen Day Offs... usually...) Awesome!! ...where did the vacation and family time go? Ah well... Going to the airport today to do some picking up, and 'am very excited. :)

Onward.

MERRY STUFF!!! Christmas and such!! :)

Happy Holidays!! Hoping yours is treating you beautifully, whatever you are up to..

Pickles and I made the Great Trek South and West - - the weather was lovely and Pickles is a fab traveling companion. We both explored an alleyway in the classy Windom, MN. We listened to talk radio. We shared a cheeseburger. Good stuff.

- It's snowy here. Big kerfluffing piles of icy snow.

- Operation Recognize Anyone still not successful - - which is just fine.

- Braved the JC Penny's side of the mall, and then braved Target twice... It wasn't bad..

- Brother in Law Ben and sister Kay are here... yea!

- Kay and I took our obligatory drive-around-Sioux-City. It takes a fair amount of time to drive around Sux. We got through our MUSTYELLATEACHOTHERTOSHARETHISMOMENT, which is also good.

- Mom made stew last night (awwwesome). We watched Cars and Flight of the Conchords. There was wine and wine. I took a walk over unshoveled sidewalks and then dyed my hair.

Now presents have been shared (we are a small family, and there are just not that many presents to share - - which is also fine), mom made pear muffins (yum), the turkey's in the oven (thanks, mom). I'm gonna get cleaned up and try working on the house a little.

It's just a funny thing. What do we do? Um.. Now? There's so many things that should be done. The house is full of stuff, my mom is tired, my sister is continually my sister (both incredibly sensitive and yet fond of making broad-over-generalizing-aggravating statements), and my brother in law is very sweet for being here. But really - - despite all that - - we're just pretty stinkin' happy to be together. The edges are all at the surface, but underneath the edges is a big bath of love. If only we knew what to do with each other at times.. (the Scott family has no activities beside eating and random chatting... Kay and I bought Cramium.. I mentioned to Mom regarding doing a 'vacation Christmas' next year.. this may be possible! And possibly fun! Activities!)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, ALL YOU WONDERFUL PEOPLE!!! :) Be safe, have fun, enjoy...

Onward.

Jam!! JAMMM! Jammm!!!!

Making my way through Muppet Show season 1 disc 2. The Electric Mayhem just, well, jammed. Animal was screaming JAM!!!! the entire time. This is the only way jams should be done.

Two show day on Saturday.. Lovely shows, honestly (barring the man in pink and his very loud wife during the second show... They would not shut up, and were frustrating the rest of their company... I don't think they noticed...)

Got out to my car to find that it was a little frozen icicle and would not turn over. The amazing Mr. Winner gave me a ride home, and Partner In Crime drove me back to Minnetonka on Sunday. After 10 minutes of coaxing and some pushing, it started!!! Yea!!!! Many thanks for so much help..

Whew. This cold bullshit is exactly that. It is staved off, however, with improv rehearsal, cinnamon rolls (they came out great!), getting the drive shoveled (go me), catered leftovers, cleaning around the house, Muppet show, and the knowledge that I have 6 hours of work tomorrow and then nothin' for three whole days. Take that! Thanks, baby jesus and you crazy Gregorian calendar makers.

Crazy New York dreams last night.. Staying at a fancy NYC hotel with college friend Kelly. (we were on, like the 6th floor. The fifth floor was like a cruise ship--restaurants and spas and pool, all white and rickety) Ended up at a friend's room (Mpls friends!), drinking and laughing. Lovely!! And it almost turned into a sexy dream (yes, with you.. And you. I know!), but then I had to go back to our room, and ended up going to dinner, warning socialites about the dangers of Pillsbury Baked goods. (except I had forgot my script, and had to improvise it.. And rhyme, for some reason. It wasn't coming easily.. I may have been dream-drunk.)

Anywhoo, it was a mix of going to a Museum conference (nice hotel, drinking), Mpls peeps, and I'm usually warning people about the dangers of Nanoparticles, not 'duck cakes' (one of the socialites mentioned this.) All of this pleasantness was interrupted by a 9 a.m. call from a teen, seeing if I would be a reference for them. All teens --especially those in the arts -- need to learn that calling, unless emergency, should be done after 10 am. College will teach this. But I may say something also. (9 a.m. on a Monday is, truly, not early.. But sleep is sometimes rare and nice.)

Stay warm! It's stupid out.

Onward.

Y'know what's pleasant?

Watching movie trailers on the superfancy Museum internet connection.. It's Saturday, it's a snow day, the museum is very quiet, I have things I will be doing very soon.. but first.. just a few cookie sized movie bites please..

- "Inkheart" - Hey, Brendan Fraser is actually a really funny guy. Hey, look, Helen Mirren! Hey look, Andy Serkis making "my precious" faces! Hey look, lots of British accents! And a ferret! This looks pretty!

- "Star Trek" - Man, I love trailers. I totally drank the kool aid. I adore the supporting cast.. *sigh*

- "The Spirit" - I'm a little torn. I truly enjoy what Frank Miller does with movies (horrible and beautiful and graphic and amazing), but I also adore the original Spirit comic. Will Eisner was amazing, and I have no idea if Miller will keep at all to the original spirit of the.. er.. Spirit. He doesn't have to, but.. you know. Boyhowdy, I like Scarlett Johannsen. I have no idea why, except for.. uh... she's hot. Yep. That about sums that up, I guess. Go with your hotness, Miss Scarlett.

- oh look.. more!!!

Last night was a party! It was a hoot.

- Rope light is a $1.39 at the Salvation Army on Dale & University!! I curled it in a fireplace. It looked super cool. I felt super cool and design-y.

- Dance dance dance.. I think I broke my dance muscle. Can I feel cool dancing to Kanye? SHOULD I feel cool dancing to Kanye? mrrr..

- Friend Jess (who works at Gasthof's) brought her cute work dress and spring-loaded snuff cannon. I know it's gross, but... ooooh!

- We were surrounded by an amazing number of Springsteen fans. Honestly. Some of party had met each other through their mutual love of the Boss. I dig some Springsteen, yes, but.. wow.

- I have a new fuzzy $6 coat. It makes me either feel like a bond girl or a bear. Or perhaps a bear that just happens to be a bond girl. It held up well against the snow snow snow that continues to fall. Nice job, $6 coat!!

- Muppets in the morning rocks. Thanks, Netflix.

Two shows tonight, if I can keep the energy train going. More coffee, more solid food, more exercise tomorrow (I might try this running in the snow thing again.. if I can keep my tummy warm.)

Onward.

I have a little notch in my thumb nail...

It's developed after tapping away at my Palm Centro's "control oval". Yes, I could just file it away, but.. It works really well. Creepy. I feel bionic, but bionic from a lab that had no money.

Holiday countdown is officially underway. I put cinnamon and raisins in my oatmeal to celebrate. I work straight into the new year and beyond, but looking forward to 'forced vacation (super short week next week!)

'Went to PIC's house last night, and his new roommate was giving away clothes. Clean, new, possibly this or last season Target/Ishtak clothes. In my size. Holy crap! I have a New Year's dress! I have very useful sweaters! Thanks, 23 year old stranger.

The lovely Amanda Palmer's (who's now being inundated with blogs who say her name) blog continues to make me happy, as she tends to write like I do, but instead of rolly unrelated sentences about monkey puppet show & commuting, she writes about good people and rockness and touring and f'ing record companies. I like her. And today she wrote: "...thinking about how everything, everything, everything, is used to further the goal of not simply not being alone, but not FEELING alone". And I think this is true. And it leaves me with cabbage-sized things to ponder.

Love and good things to you and your's.

Onward.

Super short..

- Commute from St. Paul to Uptown took over 2 hrs. I contemplated which beach to live on, and thought about the west coast.

- I ate too much today.

- However, the fried chicken/mac n' cheese dinner might have been necessary.

- Had super fun at Six Ring... Whew. You's people are funny.

- Got to play a little too. That was super nice.

- Now in bed. I am in (possible) PMS-dramticus mode. Feeling lonely (unnecessarily so!), schizo (how does one spell that?) & okay.

And sleepy. I get to sleep past 8 a.m. tomorrow. W00t!

Onward.

I'll be that idiot.. just give me time...

Yes. For the sake of full-on avoidance, I'm ignoring certain parts of last week. And I probably owe you an apology, for those parts of last week. I'm no longer apologizing to myself, because Instant Karma got me, and got me hard. Just re-reminding myself that there is a price to pay for being an idiot. But to you.. I'm sorry. :(

For now, we're going to focus on the nice stuff, of which there was a lot.

- Shopping trip success! PG not only has underwear, but also very cool green jeans. Karen at Macy's not only made our day, but while making our day, also gave us chocolates. Oh. :)

- REI was also full of loveliness. The boy got me the coolest jacket. Very very lucky. I love it. It protects me from wind and snow and will be awesome to sled in.

- We wake up and go jogging... Remember when it was, like, 36 degrees? And rainy. And warm. Remember Saturday? It was.. lovely.

- Mystery Cafe show. This time for a battery company. We did it!

- Talked with my sister, who fills me with love and worry all at the same time.

- Sunday involved some hard core short form with the Youth, who had all taken squirrel-crack. Don't give your teens squirrel-crack. Dug out the piano. Sean dug out his tuba. We traded off underscoring scenes, me with my "this sounds like Jen doing I-IV-V again" accompaniment, and him with his rhythmic tuba farts. Good stuff. :)

- Onto St. Paul, in the beginnings of the Great Sky Crap of December 2008. More playing good music with cool people!! We played some Brubeck. I practice counting to five over and over. So much fun. :)

- Good people then offered veggie anchovy soup. Veggie anchovy soup makes me do little Dave Brubeck dances.

- Good morning, Monday... WHOLLY CRAP WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WORLD!? Wake up with a face full of Minnesota. Icey bitter. Everyone questions their choice of location.

- Have a plumber over to fix my tub. Ben the Plumber is awesome!! He says it's not the pipes, but the (moldy gross) seal between the tub and the tile. I can fix that!!! He charges me $49. I wish I carried cash, as this plumber deserved a tip, and I had none to give. Thank you, Ben!! :)

- Got to take PG to the airport.. Arghh.. But it's lovely in France, and he gets back in 12 days. :)

- Hang out with friend Sue for a couple of hours. Friend Sue is awesome. :) We trade gifts that we purchased in thrift stores or antique malls. Very lucky. Sue has put up her tree full of antique and aged ornaments -- it suddenly feels, unexpectedly, a lot like Christmas.

- I complete a St. Paul/Mpls Green Mill tour, and grab a beer with Fotis... yeaa!! Winnings!!!

It really was the loveliest of weekends, despite it becoming amazingly artic-like. This is Minnesota, yes. And many many grateful thanks to the awesome boy who not only pulls over the car, but takes care of you when you're suffering through your instant karma.. almost 24 hours later.

Onward.

Sleepies...

Yep. Sleepies. I bounced around way too early this morning and am soon to bounce around some more this afternoon, after bouncing around last night. Bounce bounce bounce.

Pleased with my call back last night. This means I probably don't have the part. (per what I've heard from very wise people. If you like what you did, you didn't get it. If you felt you did horribly, you'll not only be called back but probably offered the presidency. See?)

What was even nicer than having a nice call back-which-you-will-not-get? Having dinner with Jim! Jim and I went to Perkins, and it felt weird not to say "Non-smoking" when ushered in by the hostess. I don't think I've gone to Perkins a great deal since high school. Remember the smoking section? Remember requesting non-smoking? Ah.

The internet and I are about done with Xmas. This is exciting. All that remains is some wine shopping, picture printing and a trip to Target. Go me. Also, the burning of many many Jen's Xmas Mix 2008!!! It's coming!! (And there's an unintentional crossover with the Beukemix 2008. Our first!)

I may imbibe in a holiday beverage tonight. Why, that sounds lovely! We'll see.

Onward.

swimming through today...

In a dumb'd down, semi-consious fog. Either I got enough sleep last night, or not enough, or my body's fighting off a cold, or maybe I've just vanquished one. Anywhoo, I'm not on my toes today. I'm on my lizard-brain heels. Jen like coffee. Jen like sugar. Jen talks for more people. merrrrrr...

The Science Museum's lobby was empty this morning. It was beeeauuuutiful.

A very relaxing Sunday morning got complimented by Youth (good youth! good performance! Awesome!) and going over to a somewhat-new-ish friend's house to play music. It's been a long time since I've dabbled away on the upright bass, a long time since I've played charts (look! A Real Book! Or, more appropriately, a Fake book), and a long time since I've bumbled over chords with like-minded musicians. It felt good! And it also felt natural -- no pressure. Very familiar. Like stepping into your dad's old pick up. Good stuff. (Plus, they're awesome musicians and good guys. Fun!)

After the jam session, 'got treated to the loveliest spinach lasagna, wine and conversation. Yes, these are the people I want to be in 10 or so years. Gosh. Very lucky to be able to play with them right now.

Monday was Get-Ready-For-Your-Next-Audition day. I've done three auditions in the last week, which is more than I've done in probably the last six months.

First one: so happy! I did a real monologue and sang 16 bars acappella. I'm a big girl. They liked it!

Second one: happily surprised! w00t! I did a "classical" piece. 0oof! They complimented my choice! I am happy!

Third one: good god, I'm a smelly human being with no business being on stage, much less pretending to talk as someone else. I am a sorry waste of your time, and since I'm feeling defensive, I must bash in my head every bit...

After the third one, I went to Menards and purchased potting soil and a growing lamp. That actually made me feel a bit better.

(Growing lamps are great! The light is beautiful and sun-like. I believe most winter-bearing people might need a growing lamp... and it doesn't look like I'm growing pot in my house either. Second score!)

In the realm of Chill-the-f-out lessons (I am currently taking self-imposed Chill-the-f-out lessons), I got called back for the third one. That's very generous of them. I hope I do good. (Jim Robinson might be there! I better do good!!!)

It's Six Ring tonight, and then hopefully relax into loveliness..

Onward.

10 years...

It's officially official. I have passed my ten year mark of living in the Twin Cities. I never expected to live here for that long, but also, I never had a clear push to pull up stakes and leave*. Which is to say, if you don't make plans to leave, much less follow those non-existent plans, you will stay in one place.

This also means I'm 33, which is both young and old -- I get to hear 25 year olds remark at how old they are, but I also remember being that 25 year old. Strange stuff.

This has been a heckuva week, all professionally rollercoaster between "that was AWESOME!" or " this sucks, and it's not going to stop sucking until it's done."

Things this week involved:

- Yelling! A christ-ton of yelling.

- Nice lawyers.

- S#!++y microphones.

- Awesomely talented people.

- Awesomely talented people in good situations.

- Awesomely talented people hung out to dry.

- Barking at kids, in good ways and settle-yer-ass down ways.

- Memorizing.

- Eggs on toast.

- Amazing food!

- Early mornings.

- Two weekend mornings of staying in bed until at least 11.

Today will involve more barking at kids and some hopefully "That was awesome!" Tomorrow involves more recitation of memorized stuff and driving through crappy-yet-pretty snow.

And the radio plays The Hold Steady, and everything's okay.

Onward.

* Upon refelection, this is a lie. Last winter had me screaming for the door (you know, the big "This way to exit Minnesota" door). I can still feel it's after effects...we'll see how this winter goes, I guess.. We don't have to live in weather that might kill us, but boy, there's some good stuff here too. (Onward.)

You should all experience too

You can all experience this too. This is probably my favorite Kimya song. And, finally, it has an official video.

Last class at the Museum was awesome. All is redeemed. Nice work, 6th graders. :)

Onward.

Here's to...

- Here's to the kid who can't control his body or his brain or his mouth, and really just wants your attention -- dearly...

- Here's to the kids who kept with the class despite it

- Here's to the kid who was g'd GOOD at this stuff

- Here's to the chaperone who didn't do s#!t, but then complained about behavioral issues afterwards, to someone else

- Here's to the cold thay dries out my hands and hunches my back and makes me dread the next four months (why do we live here?)

- Here's to a car that starts, and a house that's warm and to pretty St. Paul

- Here's to an audition that went well and left me energized ("Why haven't you auditioned here before?")

- Here's to feeling jealous when hearing about other people's auditions (what's with that? I am petty and human and stupid..)

- Here's to damned good music

- Here's to figuring out social and relational things..

- Here's to hopefully being smarter than you were in your 20's

- Here's trying to stay alive and un-jaded and un-cynical

- Here's to the guy who said, "I'm just happy to be here."

You're right. I'm just happy (and lucky) to be here. This should be fun. It will be. And if not, there's time for more fun so so soon.

More.

Onward.

Stuff Done, Stuff....

Ooohhhhh!!! Even Pickles misses mom!!!

You know what's good on triscuits with peanut butter? Raisins. Raisins may not be the caviar of the dried fruit (that might be apricots), but they're definitely the roe. Pile more of that roe, please...

Operation Take Mom to Favorite TC Food Joints has been a success!! Red Stag, Cecils, Maria's Cafe, Cosetta's - - spoiled just silly. There may not be gobs and gobs to do in the Twin Cities, but crap, can we eat. Everything was a success, barring the last meal at Manny's Tortas, which had "too many jalapenos" on it. Curses! But still.. delicious.

Also got to run away and spend a bit of time alone, which is also nice, if not guilt inducing. 'Made it with PIC to Butch & Katherine's, who's house & generosity (they let us stand in all of their showers!) & peanutbutterscotchfudge fountain were amazing. Yea for fun!!

Now, after getting mom off to the airport, and watching her disappear through security (as one would watch their kid almost) -- I miss my mom. .. And Christmas is coming.

Tomorrow involves work, and Wednesday involves more work, and slowly, I'll catch up with the rest of the world, promise.

So.. uh.. Wha's happenin?

Onward.

I can make a turkey...

My mom showed me how. Granted, I've seen her do it for some 33 years, but this time, I've got it under control.

Opertion Pick Mom Up at Airport was a success!! As was Operation Take Mom to Nye's for Dinner (yumyumyum). Operation Sleep on Couch has also been good (the dog and the cat seem to agree..)

- Watched "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" with mom -- boy junk! It was actually heartwarming. Good gracious, me. Jason Segel (sp?) is goddamn cute, and of course he wrote this. Of course he was writing a vampire musical using puppets. Of course he's geeking out at the chance to work with Henson Studios. Because we'd be geeking out too. Three cheers for Jason Segel, a movie star I never expected to see that much of.. With my mother.

- Also watching John Adams, all of which is very tense. But good! We foolishly found the special feature, which pops facts up, after we'd finished parts 1 & 2. Grrrrr... "is that Hamilton?" "I think that's Hancock.." "Where's his accent?"

- Abigail Adams is sooooooooo pretty.

- Booooo tar & feather! Booooo pox innoculation. Oh man, I am stuck with that in my head now. Granted, I didn't have to live it, and it's just a dramatization, but.. I don't need that is my brain, but there they are *wince*

- Thanksgiving was wonderful. Many thanks all around. I'm still full (although it may be the maltipoo on my tummy).

Will today hold museum trips? Breakfast? Shopping? *shudder* Will Operation Do Stuff With Mom But Not Too Much succeed? Who knows! Wish us luck...

Onward.

Last traveling bits, onto...

Yes! Sunday!!

- We drive west. We both snooze. Wisconsin is full of roadkilled deer and pickup trucks parked in cornfields.

- We stop in the Wisconsin Dells, WI. The gas station won't take my card for under $5; I cross a large road to Starbucks. A packed Starbucks?! Everyplace else is empty! Starbucks is filled with people in Northface jackets, pricey boots, and large hand bags. And ponytails. And sunglasses. And Russians. We run away from the parking lot filled with Mercedes (?!). If you hobbyhunt and bring your girlfriend, you still want your Starbucks.

- We make killerdiller time into the Cities. Go us!!

- Drew's mom had purchased "Wicked" tickets for her entire family. Suddenly, we're dressed up, surrounded by 1,000s of people, in row H of the Orpheum.

- Ohmygoodness!!! I've never actually seen a honest to god Broadway touring show. Oh my goodness... The American musical is such a questionably weird and surreal medium anyway, and everytime one of the female leads finished a song, the Orpheum exploded with screams. But -- I liked it. The leads were great (really great. I didn't know people could have that much fun in a big rocking machine of a show. But they did.), the musical itself is all self-aware n' sh#t, and I left the Orpheum over-stimulated, grateful grateful grateful and impressed. Gosh. Huh. Gosh. I don't know if I need to see another big Broadway musical for a bit.. But this one left me without comment. Thank you!!!!!

- I assume Disneyland is like seeing Wicked over and over, except you get to walk.

Now it's Wednesday. I'm at Gigi's, while my car gets it's door fixed (hopefully). I pick my mom up at 6 at the airport. I have to find a turkey *cringe!*.

(ppsssstttttt -- Six Ring Circus was satisfying great last night. Well done, people!!)

Happy turkey day, all! Be thankful, be grateful, be pie-oriented.

Onward.

Part two! twoooooo!

I just had a four year old growl at me (and a puppet) in self-defense. I tip my hat to this four year old. Not a bad trait.

Roadtrip! Part 2! Otherwise known as SATURDAY..

- We drag our sorry butts into the car. Thus begins a long line of tolls. Ah, tolls.

- We met many tollbooth workers. Some are super excited! Some are very intense.

- We get to the Northern Suburbs... I get to see Speech Tournament in full tournament glory. Teens of all sizes, wearing black suits, with some splash of color. I imagine that the FBI has been taken over by those aged 14-18.

- Onward to Chicago! We drive to the Museum of Science and Industry, for the bestest of tours, given by Davey himself! Davey was standing outside of the museum, waiting for us, in a blazing red lab jacket and a BNW stocking cap. Vaudeville has grown up, and now lives in the greenest house in America, with all of his closest friends.

- The Museum of Science and Industry is amazing. And huuuuuuge. There's no way we had enough time.

- Davey gave us a personalized tour of the U-Boat. (The only German submarine in America! They built the building AROUND it! Wow wow wow!) We get our full-out geek on.

- Saw the baby chicks! Saw the freaky glowing eyed frogs! Saw the Mercury capsule! Saw the submarine! Missed the coal mine.. :(

- We head towards Giordano's on Belmont. We both attempt two slices. It's, like, a half pound of cheese per slice... Heart-cloggingly delicious!

- To Davey's & Tyler's and Lisa's! They have a cherry apartment in Wrigleyville. It's awesome.

- Improvisers start appearing around 10 p.m.. We meet, in the span of maybe 20 minutes, at least 4 ladies who had just moved to Chicago from some other major metropolitan center. Amazing. By 11 p.m., the place has at least 50 people in it.

- I start dropping things. I'm really tired.

- We get hugs, and get out of town. Look, a Motel 8. They kept the light on for us.. kind of.

- We attempt to watch Armadgeddon. Wow. It's still really really really really really really bad.

What will happen tomorrow? Will they drive across Wisconsin?! Will they eat more crap-yet-delicious food?! Will they find themselves in a theater with 2,000 other people, watching flying monkeys!? It remains to be seen!

Onward.

Amanda Palmer is one ballsy m-f'er..

W00t! Stay for the pout at the end!! As far as I can tell, that's her, through and through, no pretense. She's insecure and rabid and ballsy and theatrical and her blog says basically that.. and she's my age (I'm now getting a special thrill from "being-the-same-age-as-really-amazing-cool artists'. As a kid, they were all older. And I can appreciate the younger ones. But oh man... You find someone kickass who was born in the mid70s, and it just makes me giddy.)

And OH NO!!!!

This weekend was crazy. And silly. It was legend - waitforit - dary, but at the same time it was very sweet and simple. Also... I might be making it up. I'm still processing it.

The Chicago road trip that was supposed to begin on Thursday night perhaps wasn't going to happen, as Partner In Crime got a call from the Man. The Man told him (in a semi-threatening tone) to be in town Friday afternoon. Fish need to swim, people need to eat. The Man's threatening tone was not to be ignored. Which left us staring at each other at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.. what do we do?

WE GO!!

We drive 5.5 hours to the beautiful Madison, WI (stopping only at Baldwin, WI for Hardees)

Things I learned #366: Wisconsin wants to make us all fat. (Delicious!)

We purchased Hardees from a man named Bob and a woman with amazing violet eyeshadow up to her brows. We drive into Madison around 10:30 p.m., and rumble our way to the lovely Genna's.

Genna's was honestly aces - - we met two guys named Jack, and decided that this is where we would drink if we lived in Madison, despite the rest of the service being craptacular. Sweet feel, all a mix of grad students and young professional hip types. One of the Jack's gives us directions to State Street. Begin adventure part 2 and the Douchebag parade.

Mannn... there are a lot of douchebags in Madison. And girls with really really really short skirts. In really really really cold weather. We wander, lost amongst the screaming girls and sweatshirted boys, feeling surreal and old.

But that's Okay! ...As the awesome Scott and Danny at BW3's (the one place we stopped to gather ourselves) told us about Paul's Club.

Paul's Club has a tree in it! A FULL SIZED TREE!!

Paul's Club also had the amazing Adam and Nick. And Vicky and Andrea. We made friends with these strangers. We bought a 21 year old (who knew Andrea) a birthday drink. We talked to insanely-drunk girls on the street, with maracas sticking out of their tops (literal maracas, not figurative boobs). I get the hiccups. We shut down Paul's Club.

We then go to Perkins. With Adam and Nick and Vicky and Andrea, strangers no more, at 4 a.m..

The beautiful Andrea offered up her futons and recliners (we were planning on crashing at a hotel.) We woke up on said futon, next to a passed out guy on a couch, in the living room of a college house, to a NWA poster and a twelve pack of Pabst.

We were so friggin' lucky. We had such a good time. Madison, we thank you.

Next stop, a speech tournament! Annnnndddd CHICAGO!!!

Day two (otherwise known as Saturday) on the next post. Will it stack up to Madison? (possibly!) Will I lose my debit card? (yes!) Will my driver's side front door open? (umm.. no. Not yet. My Kia is all, unexpectedly, Dukes of Hazzard).

Onward.

I need to go...

I've occupied this table at Dunn Bros for far too long, I feel. The coffee roaster continues to roast coffee and pretend he's a pirate. The coffee pops like Rice Crispies. I am one of the youngest people here (which, for Grand Avenue by Macalaster, I did not expect!)

I'm not sure what I'm doing this weekend... in a state of a'waiting, which is fine but at the same time... if it doesn't happen, what should I do? (I'm contemplating the kitchen cabinets.. hrmmmm...)

Re-experienced the great Twin Cities estate sale this morning. A payday and a sign created the perfect storm of a Jen-based weak moment. Estate sales are both sad and lovely - - it's like a museum exhibit of someone's life (all of your tchotchke's of your life, on display and on sale. The house still smelled like a clean and comforting grandma's house...) The things were sweet and fine. It made me happy (oh my goodness! A train-based map of the United States - - for display! A glass A&W mug for a $1!) and of course, a little melancholy. (oooohhhh)

Okay. More later.

Onward.

!!!!

oh!

Bwah! Bwahahah! Bwahahah!!!

I can't stop posting stuff.. I had to get off of facebook.. and start posting to my blog. BWAHAHAHAHA!!

Some years ago, I decided I wanted to make money. So, I started classes at Brainco, the now-defunct (I think) Minneapolis School of Advertising and Design. They hired ad professionals to teach the classes. This was either AWESOME, or craptacular (the guy who taught "creativity" can suck my toe. But the guy who taught my first class was the bees knees! So awesome! So enthusiastic!) We learned a little about the culture of the industry, and then started butting our heads against walls. I was grasping at straws until we got to work on television bits, and then I quit. (In my brain, it was either advertising or improv, and I was having a lot more fun in improv. Or at least, could say, I think I can continue to improve at improv, and hang out with people I enjoy). I'm still paying for the school loans. Ah well...

What stuck:
- My first or second critique was supposed to happen on 9/11/01.

- I met a couple of local rrrrock stars. If you work for an ad agency, on the creative side, you might have spent some time in college in a band.

- Billboards should have around 6 words on them. 6. that's about it. The current MN Historical Society billboards make my eyebrows go together.

- Keep your font count down.

- Black sharpies. I have many black sharpies.

- Photoshop. This, I'm so thankful for.

- Kerning.

Anywhoo, begin the moral rollercoaster. It's evil, but it doesn't have to be. It's manipulative, but 'can be used for good. And when it's good, you feel like you spontaneously and simultaneously finished a suduko puzzle and Photohunt, all at the same time. You feel cool. You feel clever. You're in on the joke.

If I'm in a Barnes and Noble, it's sometimes nice to poke through an Advertising Age and pretend. Other times, I don't want to bother, and it makes me grumpy.

So, yea! for here. All of the pleasure, none of the guilt.

Speaking of guilt, I am truly enjoying Entourage. Indulgent. But I now love me some Kevin Donnelly.

'Had a lovely day yesterday.. chatted with a couple of visitors, got my oil changed, had a glass of wine at Gigi's, hung out, and talked. Like real talked. As opposed to "non-real talk". Hrm. Yea! :)

Hoping to see dear friend Ashley in, like, 10 minutes. Hoping to do good today. Hoping to have fun. :)

Onward.

Purty... nice..

Sitting in Starbucks. A sad Tom Waits tune is softly sifting over the calming yellow wood chairs. People are business-meeting to my left. Baristas are happily cheering each other. How odd that Mr. Waits appear here.. For he makes me sad and happy and contemplative and the whole thing is overwhelmingly bittersweet. Much like my latte.

The last couple of days have sped by, and here we are at Wednesday. Museum was a happy bustle of kids, and then got to play with Jake & his keeper. Jake is either is his teens or twenties, but is like a kid.The cute sweet gal who hangs out with Jake is amazing. They were hangin' out at the giant loom, and 'got to bounce a chimp puppet around, which made him laugh and made me happy. Thanks, Jake!

What I learned from the amazingly smart Ruth-of-the-museum:

- She used to be the tarantula lady at the MN Zoo!?! What?! If Ruth was to tell me she was with French Foreign Legion, just right before she pushed Scorcese (sp?) into directing, I would totally believe it.

- DID YOU KNOW... Tarantula hairs are itchy, and will stick in you (as they are covered with barbs), and then you itch like the dickens..

- Which is why you just want to keep a tarantula on your hand, as you don't want that s#!t in your clothes...

- AND, their feetsies are basically claws, so you don't want them on your sweater, or else they could be stuck there...forever (I'm not going to break a tarantula's claws, thank you. *shudder* No offense.)

The thrill of having my mom fly up has now been replaced with nervousness and dread. Horribly unnecessary nervousness and dread. Fickle irrational emotions, thy name is Jen.

'Went to dear friend K's house last night, which also has me contemplative. Sending love and warmest thoughts. I wish no one had to experience grief, but... it's inescapable, I guess. The stuff that reaffirms how amazing and wonderful life is. For all it's affirming capabilities, I wish we didn't have to experience it though, as it is what it is. :( But... K opened up her house and we drank beers and ate pizza and chatted and it was absolutely wonderful. :') Love and hugs all around.

Got to hang out with the boy last night afterwards, which was all shades of wonderful, despite me being full of contemplation and pre-dread.

Onward! Onward! To the museum! To an oil change! Hopefully, to dinner!

Onward.

Morning Hairs...

Stole the remnants of a rostisserie chicken from a certain person's apartment, and now boiling its bones. Bwah! The house is filling with chickeny-garlicly goodness. It may not be soup, but it'll be stock, and that's exciting.

- Figured out how to cut my bangs yesterday. My sister showed me months ago, and finally got brave enough to do it. So pleased with the result, I kept cutting. In fact, I feel like doing more now. Moderation!

- Lovely youth (yut) rehearsal. Any day I don't feel like coming in, usually ends up fine and awesome. Yea to Nels for playin' ping-pong coaching-styles -- good stuff!

- Speaking of ping pong, damn you Josh Eakright!! Man of 1,000 game-related puns. I'm speechless (although thankful my brain worked just enough to lob him a badmitton reference). Well played, sir!

- Thanks to Butch & Tim & Josh & Troy & Nels... More birds! More neck snappings! More bombs in butts! Of course Tim had an amigo.. Of course Troy was a flamingo! Nels was a judge! Butch was a horrible-wonderful dad! Josh took a bomb out of my butt... Giddy with delight, I tell you!

- Oh Green Mill, your siren call of cheap grain belt and good company.. That was aces fun.

- I got a "Dictaters" calendar!!! Please go to dictaters.com (I'll put the actually link in an upcoming blog) Damn funny! Thank you, James and Andy!! :)

And now Monday. I have an impressive amount of stuff to do. Need to hit that. And so I shall.

Socially Akward at the Beat tonight! 8 pm! $3! More comedy! More!

(I kinda wanna go to IKEA...)

Onward.

Ooh!

Joyous amounts of silly fun tonight. Thank you to all who made it happen! (including Pickles, who wanted to throw a bone around outside, as the snow fell light and cold out of the sky).

(I might have met a vampire on my way back to my car. He looked young, was wearing a trenchcoat, had dark floppy hair, and wished me a good night. Beware!)

Onward.

THIS is what grown-ups do...

Do I go downstairs and make coffee? That does sound nice.. Or, do I continue to hide in a darkened bedroom, under fuzz and cover of malti-poo. It's pretty pleasant, if not a little slovenly.

Super sweet crowds at the Museum yesterday. Engaged and numerous -- goodness. Attempted a run afterwards, and it was the gd'd weeinest, sprintingliest run ever. Kenwood, I was the lady running at fast-zombie speed around your corners for 20 minutes -- weenie and cold.

I went home and made au gratin potatoes (white sauce, yer favorite spices, some left over ricotta cheese in the freezer, and as much colby jack as one can take. Bake at 400, first covered, and then uncovered cuz it's better if the cheese gets brown. Done. And..erm.. potatoes.)

Partner in Crime came over (yea!), ate said potates, and we began our Nordeast Adventure!!

First to 331, for an Adult Spelling Bee. Indeed, we walked into a very crowded 331, complete with a man was spelling "auto asphyxiation" (err.. sp?). Welcome to drunken grown-up spelling bee! They also had an Irish jig round -- spell and tap dance -- and an underwear round. We saw some boxer-covered junk, a couple of bras bought at Target, and a bit of lacey-thong ass. It was giggly adult-spelling fun!

Then, onto a construction site (overlooking downtown, very pretty at night) filled with large sleeping backhoes, and onto Elsie's.

The best place to sit at Elsie's, at least last night, is at the tables behind the bowlers: you watch bowling, you chat, your drinks glow with blacklight, you make random DS9 refereces.. It's good.

At Elsie's, we met the waittress L, who we wanted to adopt, and whom, unexpectedly, came over and talked to us.

L didn't go to college despite her mom's nagging. Instead, she took up ballroom dance (seriously!) and began to teach it. In classes, she met a man ("not the love of my life, but a good man"), they married, and one day he looked at her and said, "Where's the one place you'd never want to live?" and she said, "Alaska", to which he said, "I was afraid that you'd say that," followed by, "Give me five years."

And so they packed up their things and two tiny children, and moved to Anchorage. She gave him five years. He's an entrepeneur, and wasn't to give up the opportunities for making more cash. They split amicably, she stayed for one more year with the kids, and then moved herself and the five-year-olds back to Minnesota. She now drives bus ("Of all things.. Can you believe it?") and works a couple of nights at Elsie's.

L could have been a cop (she has that build and the look of ever-alert -- her son is now actually a MP in the army). She took care of us, laughed with us, and then actually sat and chatted with us. We're smitten and lucky.

She also introduced us to her brother, who also works at Elsie's. He makes oyster stew for Xmas -- JUST oysters and water. (Ew.)

Despite promises of oysters, I'm hoping that L might want a couple extra kids for the holidays.

Then, a random showing "Hitchhiker's" while PIC's car recovered. (It was discussed: we have no idea if Zooey Deschanel is a good actress or not.).

A really lovely and lucky night, despite car drama. Actually, car drama became the perfect reason to walk a bit, sit a bit, watch, and just be. Thank you.

Onward.

P.S. Hellendrung, Scott & Associates is up for our last at Improv a Go Go tonight! Now with extra surprise associates! Annnnd, Adorable! Butch and Josh and snotty-teary-me. 8 pm, Brave New Workshop, $1, fools! :)

I hope they don't taste like poo...

I've made corn-meal muffins, and hopefully they taste like cornbread and not like poo. If they do taste like poo, hopefully massive amount of butter and honey will help us ignore that.

Last night, we ended up going to "Tizi Ouzou" by Taos Khazem at Dreamland Arts. Dreamland Arts is a sweet little space. Very comfortable, beautiful flat stage (which screams bare-feet-modern-dance! bare-feet-modern-dance!), and owned by some of the nicest, most-sane people in the world.

The piece itself was lovely, and honestly got better the more Taos got into it. The thing I like about it the most is that it's basically a pretty sad story, but she presented it with such joy. Also, she plays around 12 characters in the show, and it was nice to find oneself reacting with "oh jesus, this ass again" or "oh good, I like her!", instead of "that was a fine portrayal by the actress". Nothing flashy: just a good story, honest acting, good stuff.

Before the show, we ate at Hong Kong Noodles (on Washington by the U), which was one of the most brilliant choices ever. (One gets the feeling that one should go early, as the place might be crammed with entire Grad student population of the Material Science department at any moment.) HUGE MENU! THINGS YOU DON'T SEE AT OTHER PLACES! (there's not much congee floating around Uptown) DELICIOUS!

We then went to Roseville to attempt shopping at a Banana Republic. Hah! I think Banana Republic's stuff is made by the same people who do Gap and Old Navy stuff. But, yet, at Banana, there's an air of Welcoming Elitism, all staffed by well-dressed Generation Y boys.

I also enjoyed how the salesmen/boys seemed to be very concerned about PG's welfare. "Is he doing alright?" "Let me know if he needs anything" "I'm just worried about getting your size." I don't receive this much concern going to the Gyno, but sort of adored the ever-present mother-hen-doting.

I don't know if I could take it (unless, I was at an actual high end store and truly expected it), as there aren't even dressing rooms in some of my favorite place to dig around, but it's a fun game to play. I, also, was very concerned.

Onward.

Well.. It's not about soup...

My post from yesterday, which ranted about very very important soup-related issues, got sent to the wrong address. My little Palm Centro can't handle the conversion cleanly, so... In 40 minutes or so, you can choose to be subjected to all things soup.. Until then...

- Yesterday, I sat in a hallway in the Museum, and chatted idly with friends and strangers. This was lovely. It was like I owned an indoor porch, and got to watch the bustle of the neighborhood (museum) march by, and wave. And then, random lovelies (new and old) would sit on this porch and chat about life and cost of wheat. Delightful! When I'm old (when we all live in malls), I need to figure out how to get on the Audition-Sign-Up-Table-Sitting circuit.

I was asked to portray museum patrons in these auditions.. I ended up doing repetions on a theme:

- the MN mom
- the kid with the worksheet
- the bored dad
- the know it all senior

If you work in a museum or with the public at all, you are probably very familiar with know it all senior. The senior who has done extensive research about a particular subject, will fein to ask you a question, and then will bait and switch and tell YOU all they know about the subject. Clever senior!!!

Afterwards, got taken to the Red Savoy on West 7th. I haven't been there in.. possibly.. 8 years (that's ridiculous!) but it's so damned good. Thin impressively-strong (it holds up deliciously!) crust, salty sauce, and the pizza is served on sparkly lunch lady trays. I like clientele (kids and grown ups of every type), I love the food -- yea for Red Savoy!!

I then woke up 4 times last time. Most of me blames a certain maltipoo and scratchy ears -- the rest of me blames the Red Savoy *sob!*.

Started watching Entourage last night. Between this and Lost, I am reclaiming my inner 22 year old boy. More women in their underwear around pools beaches, I guess.

Listening to the commentary on Lost... JJ Abrahms assures us that every actor he works with is "brilliant". Every one! Like 8 times over... Brilliant. Hollywood is Hollywood.

And speaking of, it's nice to see Jeremy Piven in a role that was handcrafted for Mr. Piven. My dad never like David Arquette for some reason; for me, the 3rd circle of hell might be trapped in a room with Jeremy Piven. Maybe this reaction is because I secretly lovvvve him, but... Have you seen his travel show? Ewwwww!!!

I feel like a lame-o GenX People magazine now. Just a little.

Today is off to the Museum, but with less Porch-sitting.. But hey!!

Socially Akward is up at "Pee Your Pants" at the Bryant Lake Bowl tonight!! 10 pm show? Socially Akward is myself, Katie Moen, James Moore and Dan Jankovich -- Yeaaa!! We're new and akward. Come see!

Annnnd, Hellendrung, Scott & Assoc. is up for our last Improv a Go Go slot this Sunday, and so is Adorable!!! Between the two, I might explode with giddiness, just a little. Chances are I will also probably cry on stage. (When something makes me laugh really hard, my eyes water. Creepy! I've been breaking onstage of late -- I don't mean to, these boys are just damned funny and the surprises have been delightful -- and it's been coming out as snotty nose, watery eyes. ...I think I'm allergic to comedy. I love it though. But for you, I will take a comedy benadryl and will see you there!!)

Onward.

Makin' soup to make yer mama cry....

In college, I learned to make soup. Or, more appropriately, I ate really good soup (and baked goods) almost daily, and couldn't break the pattern. Working for Serbo-Croats taught me that soup should not be wussy, that crackers are for suckers (unless you put peanut butter and jelly on them -- then, you're a genius!), and that starch is key. I will dumpling out your soup faster than you can say please. Yum.

Last night was going to be onion soup, but instead turned into veggie peanut with dumplings.

Jen's soup guidelines:
- Soup likes fat. Cream, sour cream, peanut butter, meat fat... Ooh. Bacon. Also, anything you can sautee or brown (like onion, beef... bacon) before hand will just add to the awesome..

- Soup likes salt. All the delicious starchy and meaty things you throw into soup sucks up salt like mad -- surprise yourself.

- Soup likes base. Boullion cubes (I like veggie boullion) helps the whole flavor thing.

- Soup likes beer. Cookin' with booze is fun, and beer thrown into stews, chilis, cheese-based soups, and others is excellent.

- Soup likes starch. Dumplings, noodles, rice, potatoes, croutons. To be eaten with chunky bread if you've got it. Also, toast will work brilliantly in a pinch. (but remember to add salt.. See above)

There. Now take out whatever you have leftover in your refrigerator, brown the stubborn bits, add water, boullion, beer and salt. Look! Soup!

Will you surprise me with a Taco Bell fourth meal soup? Perhaps mustard and soy milk soup? Who knows! Perhpas your fridge is better stocked than mine. I trust you.

Auditions at the Science Museum have had familiar faces popping through the museum. Again, I truly feel it's one of the nicest things to see people you know at your work.

Thanksgiving is coming and Mom might fly up! My worlds shall collide. She doesn't want to drive the 5.5 hours by herself, and dreads Minneapolis traffic. (Sioux City has 80,000 people in it, yes, but we don't all rush onto the same stretch of roadway at the same time). She's gonna fly! There were flights from SUX (our actual Airport code) to MSP for around $200. Granted, prices are increasing, but.. still.

I was trying to remember the last time she (and dad?) was up. My sister and her husband were still in town. And yet, I don't think dad was around. I think it was maybe after he passed. ...I need to create a personal timeline to keep track of my life, and that feels a tad lame. Oh look, a blog...

(Yes! It was summer 2007! Ha! She stayed at my sister's place, as they moved to Iowa City after the MSP bridge collaspe in August. It was warm, the windows were open, and Kay's neighbors were noisy. Thank you, brain!)

Welcome to Wednesday... Hoping to see more lovelies at the museum..

Onward.

I CAN take a photo! I can!

Can I edit said photos, and get them back to the pho-tee in a timely fashion? Ehhhrghhhh...

- Spent two and a half hours taking pictures of my friend Keri yesterday. Keri's gorgeous and ridiculously photogenic -- while she claims not to know what "to do", she did very well. I now have multiple multiple shots of hot blond-age (and she hopefully has headshots). Yea!

- The light was great, and she was willing to freeze herself outside.. Thank you, Keri! :)

- Had dinner at Green Mill. That was a lot of quesadilla.

- Performed at the Beat. Actually, a lovely night of performances! Very nice, very varied.

- Stand up comedians run up on stage the same way. That weird, quasi-jovial shoulder pat of "good job, buddy" and grabbing the mic swing, acting almost a little surprised. I like it, it's just... funny. (not haha)

- Their acts are based sometimes based on true-or-not insecurities. It has to be hard to date a stand up. I have no clue.

(but aren't we all insecure in some way? These guys just craft a very public joke of it... Eh.)

- Audiences detect non-truth stink like bassett hounds and sharks. Thank you for reminding me, Beat.

To the Museum. You know what I'm gonna do today? Sit ups, workshops, shows, and breath. Yep. That's the docket.

Have a good one!

Onward.

Three days.. three days..!

Seeing if I can write a blog without the pressure of being late for work.. chances are.. non.

- A lovely weekend! Got to see Closing Night at the Workshop. I love that we can all recognize each other by our laughs. That's a pretty sweet thing.

- Late night Mystery Cafe gig. Nice thing: they fed us. How cool is that?

- Wake up Sunday to "what day is it??" thoughts. Indeed. I was blurry.

- Attempted to run around the Lake. My cheeks got very red, my eyes watered and my nose whimpered. The rest of my body followed suit. That was not as successful as one would have liked.

- Davey visited!!! OHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! BNI youth and onto..

- Improv a Go Go! W00t! Hellendrung, Scott & Assoc. were up again... YEAAA!!! Troy wears a dress from Target damn well. Happy birthday, Tim!!!! :)

Well, yes.. that was the weekend. It was very lovely, and actually very rejuvenating - - a blur of 'go do stuff' tempered by lovely meals and relaxing. (also tempered by Neuske's Braunschweiger. Otherwise known as "liver sausage". It's the stuff you wake up secretly in the middle of the night to eat, and then stink afterwards. It's been a weekend of pickled beets, pickled herring and liver sausage. I'm your 90 year old grandma. Nice to meetcha.)

We're up at the Beat Coffee House (28th & Hennepin) tonight.. 8 p.m. show! Myself, Katie M., James M., Dan J., and possibly Dave Kapp... Excitement! Delicious excitement!

Jen, go do stuff..

Onward.

I don't mean to be a jerk..

Got treated to dinner at Nye's last night - - I'm the luckiest girl in the world. Yum... Cabbage rolls and pierogies and pickled herring and I'm suddenly burping cabbage...

I don't usually think of Nye's as a dinner place, but.. yes indeed, it's an old school supper club in it's heart of hearts. The manager came up and talked with us, the lettuce is all iceberg, the herring is served with saltine packets.. It made me nostalgic for going out to meals out with my mom and dad.. (the Palmer house or to the Sunshine bakery - - the restaurant inside of the Sunshine Grocery store). Talking with the manager was totally part of the deal. Good stuff.

I could eat pickled herring possibly daily, with utter disgusting abandon. Dear lord.

I made a Minnesotan faux pax right before dinner.. We were in the magazine aisle in the Lunds in Nordeast. However, that aisle is also the check-out aisle. People lined up dutifully behind us, as we unknowingly giggled over magazines. A cashier came up to us and said, "They're waiting in line..." (motioning to the 10 or so people behind us) - - we were suddenly at fault for holding up the entire check out lane, and suddently, the Very Rude People. I spurted out, "We're just looking at stuff!", followed by, "It's their fault if they don't ask!" Indeed. It made me mad at first (goddammit! Why can't strangers just look each other in the eye around here, and ask the very simple question if we were in line? i.e. We weren't..), and also very defensive (I should have been aware.. I should have known..) And finally - - reconciliation. If this had happened in, say, Amsterdam, I would have felt dumb for ignoring a social norm. And educated about how-this-culture-works. It's a double-standard to not do the same here. Stoopid culture. Ah well..

Late night improv gig tonight, but first, hopefully, to go get some BNW on.. Yea. :) (this post is mostly made up of Pickled Herring and complaining, isn't it? Ah well..)

Onward.

Mai fancy...

Indeed!

Saw "George Orwell's Animal Farm" by Jon Ferguson & Ktron last night..

- It was catered by the Red Stag Supper Club, a place I am goony about.. yum. And they served Pigs in a Blanket - - Appropriate!

- Saw some favorite-avorite people! (Hi Scott!) And Mr. Serrand actually seemed to remember me from my brief and pained tenure as Box Office chick at Jeune Lune! Goodness!!

- My goodness, what lovely performances. I only got grumbly and squinty-eyed when a couple of people weren't projecting.. (grumble.. the Southern space is huuuge).. but these times were rare, few and far between.. And the level of performance on the whole was pretty damned impressive. Plus, one of my favorite and most-gorgeous-people-in-the-world were there. (Miss Christiana Clark just rocks my socks..)

- Whoever played old Major (and whoever played the surviving sheep) were just wonderful also.. And the raven and Napolean and.. I know it's a collectively-created-thing, but, oh, for programs with character names in them!

- The only thing that left me grumpy was the damned story itself. It's such a 20th century story (written early on, and then just replayed and replayed again and again..) And it's a story we know. It may be relevant to us 20th century left-overs, but I'm hoping it won't be to our grandchildren. That it will be obvious that that sort of behavior is stupid and destructive. That there will be some sort of evolutionary shift (just as we're getting taller and our skulls are getting thinner) that deems that sort of thought unthinkable. I'm just going to count on that, and leave the politics where they lay. The politics the play addresses are still old and reeking of 1980(4) or so..

- I figured out where I had seen Ktron before. Youth Frontiers auditions. Many many Youth Frontiers auditions.. ;) I was never hired by Youth Frontiers, but, seriously, I tried...

Much Museum-ing. Much snow! (although Aric says it's cocaine, and that makes me giggle). Tonight should hopefully be lovely, followed by Museum and a late late gig tomorrow.. Here's for hoping! w00t!

Onward.

Oh, right.. This is what makes me late...

For work. Late for work. Clarifying.

- There isn't much that can be said about the 4th that hasn't been already (even saying that feels old), but... I love the honest-to-god HOPE and energy buzzing through peeps. Even more, I love that people are now turning over the hope card, and picking up the 'work' card. However, what's work? Tax hikes? Awkward political choices? I don't know, but yet desperately want to get to the work portion. All this renewed hope and beautiful nationalism has me so alive and grateful, and also a tad freaked out. (The pessimist and optimist inside of me aren't talking -- they're both a little stunned. Happily stunned, but still stunned.)

- I love that Barack (can I call you Barack?) promised his girls a puppy. (And, my god, his acceptance speech was perfect..) I also loved McCain's concession speech.. Yes, this was the John McCain we remember...

- I love that Uptown exploded with people happily yelling at each other and fireworks and, I guess, a street dance. Honestly, it made me nervous (what? People excited for their country? We must be three steps awake from drink-the-kool-aid blind patriotism and nuclear weapons in military parades.. Yes, my reaction is paranoid...but I've just never seen this happen before..), and also left me astonished. How cool! How non-cynical! How unlike me...!

- To celebrate the victory also felt a little like celebrating the system... go General Washington! *dancedance* Go Warren G. Harding! *dancedance* Will a renewed interest in our country's history come of this? Will it be hard to get the John Adams HBO miniseries on Netflix? Who knows!

- Nervous and happy. Yep. Let's get quickly to the work part, please...

- Talked to my old high school friend Brett, who is so disinfranchised from the system.. Reminded me that it's all corrupt, bought and sold anyway (part of which I agree with), and that it'll just be anarchy in 40 years (I don't quite agree with that, but who knows), so relax the f out. *grin* Nothing like some honest cynicism to knock a person back down a bit...

- Cynicism aside, Barack is my man. I can cautiously hope with a capitol H too.

- Okay. Must get clean. I think I get to see a fancy show tonight! Yea!! I don't think I get to run today... Booo...

Time to go be a mosquito..

Onward.

Post A-Go-Go haze...

Or truly, a happy post weekend haze.. Happily swimmin' in the fuzz..

- The Youth did great! First teenage improv performance of the year! Holy hannah -- a great turn out, three great sets, proud and pleased adults and teens. Cool beans. :)

- Delicious dinner and company... :) The tuna salad from the Wedge IS the best. (I think the dark secret to egg/chicken/tuna/etc. salads might be the crispies. Those little chopped up bits of celery and onion and all the things I'm too lazy to put in at home. Granted, I don't think I've ever attempted a ham salad, and 'am not sure if I want my ham salad 'crispy', but.. It's good to plan for the future!)

- Improv a Go Go! I'm still all happy blurry from this. Happy blurry Jill and Butch, happy blurry John, happy blurry Tom (holy crap, Tom!! Awesome!!) and happy blurry us. Many thanks to Tim and Troy.. Wheee! I'm caught in perma-smile.

Today I rake. (Tomorrow I vote and hold my breath.) I've realized that the purpose of this blog entry may be just to expound upon the merits of mayonaisse-based salads. No matter!!

Onward.

I am full of clafouti!

Clafouti! A classic french breakfasty/dessert thing. First attempted about 4 years ago with cherries. Found out that fancy "clafouti" is secretly crepe batter (which is secretly runny pancake batter with an extra egg or two) poured over berries and baked. Ha! And so, today was strawberry clafouti. I just like attempting to say clafouti. I'm sure I'm saying it completely incorrect. As I attempted to say the name of the street in NYC ("Houston"... "House-ton".. "huuston".. mer.)

Yea for Saturday. And, also, yea for Friday! Halloween! It's just fun to walk through Uptown and see random wandering pop culture things, possibly dead and/or sexy. Woke up bright and early on Saturday and attempted to run with out a sweatshirt yesterday - - foolish foolish Jen. It was cold!!! Even the geese seemed a'tad nonplussed.

A full day of science-museum-ing, dinner at Jasmine Deli, and then sat and listened to Serge Gainsbourgh. Although the hipsternish inside of me thought I knew this man and was quite familiar with his work, my true self only knew that he was the father of Charlotte Gainsbourgh, and that's it. My take on Serge Gainsbourgh:
- it's the best if you can have someone translating each verse as you listen. The best in the world.
- yes, he WAS incredibly influential. I'm an idiot. Look, there's Leonard Cohen! Look, there's David Byrne! Look, there's Pet Shop Boys! Look, there's a path for Paul Simon to follow into Graceland! Look, there's Pulp! Look, there's Ween! Damn you, Serge Gainsbourgh!
- He was naughty. Oof. Thumbing-your-nose-at-you naughty. "Lemon Incest" has been running through my head for hours.

Onto a wonderful Halloween housewarming party.. it was spoooooky.. and wonderful. Sigh. Eric K. was f'in freaky. And David B. offered one of the damn Tim Gunn impressions ever. (Fred and David might be a super hero team. ... yes.. just like Hawk and Dove.. just sayin'.)

And now I'm full of claflouti. And it's warm out. Time to get off butt. And do clafouti-covered dishes.

Onward.

I'm back, yes. I'm wearing black, technically...

HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEENNN!!!

I'm off to the Dale/University Salvation Army, in search of Halloween duds. Last year, the Dale/University Salvation Army was hoppin', in a really happy buzzy way. I hope it's the same..

- Got back in time, after one of the more stressful traveling bits. And I'm not the guy who had the heart attack. ... :(

- Missed a meeting, rescheduled. Took the light rail, took a bus, and then jogged my butt around a lake (in an attempt to start working off the parts of NYC that I drank)

- CREATURE FEATURE! G'dang, this was fun. So please. I was pleased with myself until the end, and then I was not as pleased with myself. But.. Damn, it was lovely. My cohorts were lovely. So funny! (Joe was a killer architect.. how good is a killer architect? So good! And Josh was Blocky. And Hannah was Ranch. And Lauren was a hologram.. it continues!!!)

- It's a pretty happy day at the Museum. There was something seemingly important I was going to blather about. Dammit.

- I'm gonna commit to NaNoWriMo. If I can blather in a blog almost daily, I should try and use that force for good.

- It turns out I write backwards pretty easily. Not well, but easily.

Hellendrung, Scott & Associates will be at Improv A Go Go this Sunday! You want to see it! (and so do we..)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!! :)

Onward.

Wednesdaisy...

Hump Day! Hump day is started by "sleeping in" -- NYC is an hour ahead.. It's like I'm sleeping until 9:30 a.m..

- I walk. Screw the subway. Google says its a 40 min walk to my friend Brian's office. Begin!

- It almost snows. Yet I am warm. Except for my nose. And cheeks. And fingers.

- Brian is the puveyor of all things good - music and food. We eat roasted chicken and desserts in the tiniest of cafes, surrounded by NY Fashion Institute students (who are babies.)

- Walk through the flower district (2 blocks), mistakenly enter a wholesale shop (dumb), and walk my way south and west.

- Thank god for the tiny Madison Square park and benches.

- Forbidden Planet! And the Strand bookstore. The Strand takes my ass and hands it back to me...

- I purchase sock puppet portraits from an artist in Union Square. This seems appropriate.

- Wander around the Lower East Side.. wander...

- Collaspe in Kelly's apartment, await her call.

- Schiller's!!! Go to Schiller's!!! I fall in love with Schiller's. I order a glass of red, and they hand me a soft and warm sugar-cinnamon donut. Free. I heart Schiller's.

- Kelly walks me 10 blocks to a sexygritty basement sake bar. It was sexy and gritty.. And delicious.

- Kelly is sick, and wisely retires early. I take one last walk around her neighborhood. I don't want another drink, I'm not hungry, I just want to walk.

- sleep.

I'm at the airport, after a series of public transports. A gentleman just had a heart attack literally 15 feet away from me. Everyone jumped up, ran and called for help, or just stared... It took maybe 7 minutes for the cops and EMTs to arrive. A passenger rushed to grab a difibulator, offduty nurses and medics came out of the woodwork, the rest just stared.

I couldn't see the gentleman, just tried to watch reactions. They finally took him away, all the while hitting his chest. :( No one's happy, except for the creepy grandpa that just kept smiling, and walked his toddler grandson around the scene.

Flight delayed. Woman with monstrous stroller being a jerk to the ticket lady. Blaaaaahhh! Blah. But I'm boarding a plane, and am safe...

I hear its warm in Mpls.

Onward.

now, BLLOOOOOOD!

Yes, NYC would eat me up and spit out my bones. That's okay.

- Grab at slice at Ray's. Ehhhh..

- Kelly and I head to the American Museum of Natural History. YEAAAA!!!!! Geeking out begins.. It's huuuuge and lovely. Beautifully presented. All up to date. So much to see.. Dinosaurs, and an special exhibit on horses, and "Cosmic Collisions" planetarium show... yeaaa!!

- Head towards Chelsea. Spend a long time in a lovely place called "The Half King". Edamame, pigs in a blanket and bread pudding..? Meet some more of Kelly's crew, which is absolutely lovely..

- Onto Blood Manor. They did a really good job! The nice girl in front of me lets me hang onto her bag. I picture our group, lost in an actual horror movie, and wonder which one of us might survive.

- At one part, they hand you these 3Desque glasses to wear. Combined with the blacklights and the dayglow splatters, they're damned effective. One of the kids in front of me wonders to his girlfriend, "I wonder if this what it's like to be on LCD." (adorable, I tell you).

- Onto Mustang Salley's for a last one with Kelly's friend, and then onto a "dive bar in soho" (how was it a dive bar? No clue..) Meet more people, which is nice... (yes, if you're from Brooklyn, you dress like you're in the Hold Steady. Plastic frame glasses and pearl button shirts, please.)

- Then a chipolte chicken taco next to Kelly's place (OH MY GOD!! The most brilliant chipolte chicken taco ever..) and sleep.

Is that what happened yesterday?

It'd be amazing to move here, ...but I'd want to do it with someone. I can play around the edges of this place, but if it was done for reals, I'd want someone to share it with/keep each other sane/not get lonely. You can talk to everyone in the world here, but it's still a lonely place, I think. I love it though.

And who I am to say - - I've only been here for two days, riding the coattails of a dear friend. Very lucky.

Now to meet dear friend Brian.. again, time to attempt subways. Yearrrrgh..

Onward.

Le Coq! ... coq!

Typing this out as quickly as I can, as I should get my butt in gear.. However, this is not a get your butt in gear sort of morning. It's a recover in your friend's modern kitchen morning..

- Navigated the NYC subway system annnnd Manhattan!!! Four little blocks of Manhattan, navigated. I am super proud.

- People watching has begun. Damn, them New Yorkers are well dressed.

- Kelly and I zip our way to Union Square, sample and purchase delicious farmers' market veggies, zip our way to her place (across the street from the goddamn Katz Deli.. the when Harry Met Sally Katz deli). En route, there is a knish purchased.

- Rooftop eats! Bottle of wine! Amazing views! Tiny dogs in unexpected places!

- We wander through Chinatown and Little Italy, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge into DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Brooklyn Overpass? something like that...) Drinks and snacks... Bartender was a transplanted too cool for school Roseville-ian. Weird.

- Onto the Galapagos Art Space - - astonishingly beautiful and sexy performance space. The acoustics were a little rough for the material we were seeing (British accents and whatnot.. but the performers figured that out pretty quickly, and the audience listened even better..) hey look, drinks...

- Saw "The Floating Brothel", an amazingly lovely piece. Yes, the title is cringe inducing, but the story was good and honest, and told physically and succinctly (and using only a 3'x6' platform - - as a honest and beautiful storytelling device). And the acting was damned lovely too! Went onto the website, and have found that most of the actors are Yale-trained, and a good chunk of them have studied at Le Coq.

- Le Coq!!!! I wanna do that... Damn you Yale and Le Coq (le coq!!!!!!!!! You pop up in many many things I like.. heh. ew.) Can a 33 year old improviser/interactive comedian/museum theater performer pick herself out of the Midwest and shove her way into a high-falutin' art scene (le coqqqqqq!)... Yes. But, it can also probably be done in the Midwest with the incredibly talented people we get to play with... who didn't go to Yale. (coq) It's fun to ponder though.. Just how artsy do ya wanna be? Are you doing it to tell a story, or just to be artsy? These coq people seem to use it for the forces of good. I still like being a killer hedgehog though...

- ....(coq)

- Onto an Irish pub to meet a lovely friend of Kelly's (lawyer/gallery owner... of course). I find NYCers relatively chatty, and did some lovely chatting... Got invited to a Halloween party at a place called Boucarou.. 12 midnight. The password is Anta. (there's a password!) Hey look, the bartender just gave me another drink.. I didn't even have to ask. New York is magic!

- The cash I took out to pay for snacks and bevvies for the next couple of days is also gone i.e. spent. New York IS magic! That was quick...

- I wake up a painful mess. Somehow, Kelly is dressed and professional. I shower (or, rather, stick head under faucet for 20 minutes). I medicate. I take a nap. Sunny warm NYC has turned to wet, grey, rainy NYC. It hasn't stopped raining for the last.. six hours? Something like that. It's actually intimidating. The dog next door is so sad and howls...

Tonight, we go to a Haunted House. I will pee my pants. *sigh* But it'll be excellent! Time to go get wet... Take that, Manhattan!!

(coq)

Onward.

One misfire away from doom.. DOOOOOM!!!

Just saw Chuck C. at the airport! Yeaa for travel hugs.. He looked remarkably awake and sparkly.. I probably looked ragged and stoned.

Took FMJ's photos with Butch's point and click (which did a damn fine job..) Holy crap, that was fun. Little tiny bit of short fast fun photography...

Stitch, Bitch n' Die had our last performance (hopefully it will come back..) It was madness! Madness, I tell you... The audience was here, and then there, and then when a gun wouldn't go off, we about lost it as a cast, slipping in the word 'impotent'. Both horrifying and delightful..! Aghhh! Yeaa!! We are professionals..!..?..!

PG joined us at BLB, which was lovely...Woke up at 4:40 a.m., which was one of the more difficult waking-uppings, as there was a cuddly bed inside and outside looked cold and grey.

Surrounded by tired and tense Minnesotans.

Onward.

I got over yesterday...

Sometimes you just need a day stuck in your head to realize that you don't exactly want to be there constantly...

- HELL-lo, museum. I got to host a Halloween Contest Competion, which was both awesome, dramatic, and adorable.. Highlights:

- Snake Warrior! Almost skin tight, snake pattern body suit with mask, worn with aqua shoes and a plastic killy thing. "Because I like mythology.." Yes!

- The buck-toothed Paleontologist "Because paleontologists are real people.."

- All of the bad witches... Who wants to be a good witch on Halloween, honestly?

- A shouted Darth Vader impression through a plastic mask... "LUKE!..."

- A dramatic how-i-made-this-costume story...

- The Renaissance Princess with glasses and a lisp.

- Adorable pirates and princesses and honeybees and an American Cheerleader (to which I unwisely said, "I didn't think they existed..." I was unwise..)

- Lesson #358 learned: Stop with the attempts at wit, shut yer gob, and get to the next kid. Astronaut ice cream for the winners (delish!)

The best Stitch n' Bitch audience ever... A delight! Very lucky. :)

Afterwards, instead of attempting the BLB or Herkimer, we found ourselves at "I-Moto" ("Moto-I"?).. Anywhoo, the new Japanese place on Lyndale. What?, you're saying, there's a Japanese place on Lyndale? Yes!! Next to the Theater Garage, in the old Machu Picchu site. And although the decor is rather beautiful and sexy, the beers are only $4-5 and the food is all street food, basically.. No sushi, but more noodles and half chickens and steamed buns ($3 each!) and holy crab cakes, what deliciousness is this? What incredibly perky waittress is this? I WILL have another Surly, young dear, and when you say the word "snnnacks", it might just be over the top. With every serving of snnacks, a different runner would bring out our plate and proclaim quietly, "This is my favorite.." We must have incredible taste (but, honestly, they were all delicious. Waitrons! I believe you!)

Then to watch "Finding Nemo" with healing Partner in Crime, who now has holes in his head where teeth used to be.

It's a stupidly jam-packed day today, but, honestly... It shouldn't be that bad.. It might even be fun, if we let it be...

Onward.

Saturdayyyyy? of note... Poi Jen Pondering...

It's Saturday. Truly? Friday didn't seem like Friday until I realized the Education floor was almost empty at 4 p.m.. Indeed, it was Friday.

Wasn't there something blog-gable?

- Went for a run at insane-o hour this morning. In the moment, it didn't feel like insane-o hour, until I realized that 7:30 a.m. was not meant for jogging, but rather for walk-of-shaming. However, jogging was done!

- Wearing a thrift-store cardigan, t-shirt, and clogs... do you ever realize that you've been dressing within the same theme for the past 15 years? (AGHHH!) The t-shirt have gotten smaller (the 90s were rife with baggy t's), but that's about it...

October shows are winding down!

- Final Creature Feature *sob*, this Thursday, 8 p.m. at the Brave New Workshop. I was the monster last Thursday... a hedgehog. However, I was not as scary as I wanted to be. :( This made me sad. Indeed, perhaps a hedgehog (even with tons of killer quills) is not that scary. (Josh's goddamn giant hamster was suuuuuper scary! And he pooped the entire time! Perhaps I shouldn't have snorfled so much. Dangit. Next time...) Come catch the last one this Thusrday!! :)

- Final two "Stitch, Bitch n' Die!"s tonight, 7 p.m. and tomorrow at 7 p.m., at the Bryant Lake Bowl!! oooohhh! What a maroon! I truly enjoy this show... Please come check it out.. (now with awesome crafting competition at the end!!)

Talked to my sister briefly, who claimed she had "no time to breath". Talked with my uncle just briefly about official things. I'm mostly just sort of stuck in my head, pondering and thinking a lot. That's a silly place to be, but an almost necessary one. This pondering is interrupted at random intervals for "dressing up like a mosquito" time at the museum. Truly.. It's a really silly show. (and if you want to see the CSI exhibit, lemme know!) :)

Onward.

It's so dumb..!

It's so dumb that because of the way my innards are set up, they might randomly seize up every 28 days or so, and cause what are innocently referred to as "cramps". owowow. Thankfully, the chemical compound called "ibuprofen" comes in tasty little pill form. Nom nom nom... (owwwww)

At Java Jacks, which is on Washington Ave N. I am sitting at a bar. They are playing White Stripes. There are outlets everywhere and free wifi. I am hyper-pleased.

Visited the Minneapolis Public School Warehouse sale! Good gracious! I guess they have one every few months or so.

Location:
THERE IS ONLY ONE ROAD TO THE MPLS PUBLIC SCHOOL WAREHOUSE. 1550 Jackson St NE door N should have multiple points of entry, but alas, it does not! You must turn west onto 13th off of Central Ave, and then desperately search for signs. I took me 15 minutes of circling to figure this out. Surprisingly, this didn't bug me as much as I thought it would. I tried to remind myself to be pissy, but couldn't work up the momentum. I love the old warehouses around 13th & Quincy Ave in Nordeast. It's where I used to practice with a band (underneath a mattress warehouse) back when I was cool. And it's so cool to see artists find these warehouses and fill them full of goodness. Neat.

Stuff:
Oh my god! A warehouse, all brick and old, filled with old public school stuff. Pianos (with the letters of the notes written on the keys!) for $5. An old scoreboard. Tables and wash stations and strange cabinets and old shop signs and ahhhh.. awesome. Followed the signs back to the musical instruments.

More Stuff:
It turns out that Minneapolis is closing down it's Musical Repair Department. This is a pity, according to a retired orchestra teacher, and I agree. Who knew that Minneapolis Public Schools had its own inhouse musical instrument repair shop - - isn't that cool. Now, as the teacher told me, it's being outsourced. What does an inhouse musical repair shop have? Beautiful amazing used and new old musical instrument bits (plus full ancient saxophones, dozens of clarinets, darkened flutes, drum heads, brass sousaphone bells.. beautiful!). I hung over the stringed instrument bits (public school orchestra, 8 years...).. Wood! and String! and more wood... aghhhhh!!!!

If anyone's played in band/orchestra, and played off of public school instruments - - there's an underdoggeness to it. Each instrument was precious (even if in horrible shape), and was to be protected and practiced on - - here was your key to this activity you liked to do, and you just had to pay a rental fee for something that might potentially cost $1,000s of dollars. And here were the memories and beloved beaten up instruments from over 50 years of Mpls Public School music programs. Bittersweet and practical all at the same time...

I asked the ladies working the til what might happen to the rest of the stuff if it doesn't get sold, and they said (sadly) that they didn't know. So much wonderful potential (violin bridges, bow hair, piano wire, brass valves, more more more), possibly to go to waste. Argh!

I put down a bid on a cello body (adding to the mystique of the Public School sale.. not only was it impossible to get to.. you didn't know if you could purchase something you wanted or not. Tricky..)

HEY!!! You know what's tonight? CREATURE FEATURE!!! 8 p.m. at the Brave New Workshop. Hells to the yeah, my friends. Please come watch! Possibly scary, should be funny...

Onward.