March 31 2008

Of course... Should we expect any less?

Onward.

House is looking nice!!

I'm feeling proud. This is silly.

Most of the day has been spent:
- organizing socks
- cleaning
- laundry
- DECORATING!!

It's all stuff that I've had, but I'm happy to put it places. Exciting! More blurry photos available here.

Nice weekend... busy, but nice...

We did it! But it was really nice.

- Friday night Stitch n' Bitch. Brought wine and chocolate, Laura brought the crackers and cheese. *squeeeee* Lovely! Shared the red wine with Craig, and then..

- Missed Davey's ComedySportz show. :( But got into Neutrino for free! Many thanks! Yea. Another glass of red. Delish!

- Damon yells at me in the parking lot. We end up at the Independent. I've never been to the Independent at "bar time". It's weird and a crowd/bar I don't generally hang with (which makes for some pretty excellent people watching), but the company is lovely. Knowledge of an early morning rehearsal on Saturday starts to worry me.

- Saturday early morning Stich n' Bitch. It's good! I have a solid case of the stupids and the shakes (classy, Jen) , but 'am not hung over. I am luckier than I deserve. The stupids cause me to leave my cell phone at home. ahhh.

- Onto the Science Museum. Got told, by a Jewish grandpa, "You're a good little actress", which sounds not as sweet and wonderful as it was... Made me pretty darn happy and proud. Yea for Clarence, my nazi-husband, who then went and cheated on me with his other nazi-wife on Sunday.

- Got to have a lovely evening, met some new people, ate some Indian buffet, fell asleep to "Hero" (you know... Andy Garcia, Geena Davis, Dustin Hoffman - - which makes me giggle a little that we watched "Hero"). Spoke of smart things and science and America and politics and food, and we all smoked a single cigarette afterwards. Made me want to do such things all the time. So nice. :)

- Sunday morning filming with Harry! And Clarence! And Davey! And the boys! Yeaaa! I got to play an icey-bitch. So I wore blue eyeliner. That is my motivation. ;)

- Mock Duck sandwich. (I'm the sheriff! I keep forgetting that I'm wearing the badge my sister gave me. The owners of Jasmine Deli are awesome...) Talked with my sister, who told me of the horrible horrible thing that happened in Iowa City on Easter Sunday. Horrible. (a man killed his family, systematically... trying one way, and then resorting to another). Fucking horrible. It's something unprocessable, but that's all we can do with it.

- And onto Stitch n' Bitch rehearsal, which was good and great. So much fun - - I love, working with Craig and everyone, this process. Also, I'm knitting a wine-bottle cozey.

- Adorable rehearsal, which Lauren gave us such good stuff. GOOOOOD STUFFFFF. I had to bow out of watching FMJ, to go practice with Davey. Which was gooooood too. :) So much fun. These people make me cry from giggles. Got to be a spider with Josh and played with metaphors. *mmmmmmmsmooch!*

- Onto one of the best meals I may have ever had in my life. At the Red Stag - - duck and pork and smelt fries and squash ravioli and wine and DESSERT and oh good lord. Utterly spoiled, by the treats and the company.

- Onto home, dazed and happy.

Not a weekend that feels like it was defined by a weekend, but rather a series of rather lovely events, punctuated only by when I decided to stress or worry or be grumpy.

Today, it's workin' on the house day. Hi house. Let's get clean please. Let's paint also. (exciting, no?) I'm then going to exercise and then travel to Uptown.

Onward.

Questionably busy... but still typing...

Questionably busy. I'm getting a bit blurry on the days/time home/time away, which means I must be working while rehearsing for a show. Never home - - the poor cat is getting needy, and I don't blame him.

Nicest audience for the Cryogenics demonstration today. Heart happy ridiculous. Kid named Zahan that look to be 6, but was killer diller smart, asked smart questions about the demonstration, and would stand up to clap for people. Every time. That's a cool kid.

Also, a family who missed much of the presentation, but cool mom and kids that asked good questions and just wanted to learn and ooooh man. Hung around for a while with them. Very lucky.

Onto Stitch n' Bitch rehearsal. I'm gonna buy some wine and tasty treats for this. Just try and stop me.

Onward.

An awesome font! Thank you Red Dragon

So keyed up today.. It feels like someone took a key and turned my heart over to panic mode. Like the hotwheels in my heart got pulled back, and no one's letting it go. Today was exhausting.

* Drew is off to NYC... Lucky man!! Yea!! We grabbed drinks at Joe's Garage, which was lovely. However, thus began the exhaustion to be.

* gogogo! Museum was go race can't focus but gooo!

* to improv girls -- they are awesome, but today, my heart wasn't ready...pls. see above reference to being keyed up.

* late to rehearsal. Eat a chix burrito while talking to my mom and driving... My mom, being brilliant, approached me about my tattoo in the funniest way possible. She, again, is brilliant.

* Finish up rehearsal, rescue dog and cat, and suddenly it will be Friday. Geez. Wish us luck.

* Onward.

Greeting from Iowa City (belated...)

Now, greetings from my living room, surrounded by Iowa City bootie! Bwah!

Things my mom thinks I need, which I now have in my living room (Thank you thank you, mom!):
- A humidifier-air filter-air cooler thingie. It went on super sale at Tuesday Morning. Thank you mom!
- A piece of luggage. The cool thing is that mom let me pick it out. Mom's generally feel like you need luggage.
- A watering can.
- A car first aid kit.
- Vinyl spackling.
- One utility knife.
- Fancy chocolate.
- Vacuum attachments
- Flannel pajama bottoms (3 pair).
- Cesar Dog food.
- Underwear and socks.
- About six pairs of fishnet hose. I told mom that I actually use fishnets (two shows, at least). I am now a'swim in fishnets.
- A CERAMIC PIRATE BUNNY!!
I have the best mom in the world. Teeheee - - it's a telling collection of odd stuff. Thank you, mom.

Things my sister sent me home with:
- A new fancy bra. (She's convinced me of my true "size", and recommends buying fancy bras. Collect them even. Fancy bras = happiness. I will try my best..)
- A bag of pie.

Things Iowa City sent me home with:
- A food baby (we ate alot)
- The only places I can afford to shop, generally speaking, are second hand stores. However, Kay took me to some of the best damn second hand stores. AGHHH!!! Cute cheap crap, that only other purveyors and collectors of cute cheap crap will understand their importance! Design websites, take that! Dammit. If I lived in Iowa City, my living space would be filled!!! .. But I don't.
- ...A sense of okayness that I don't live in Iowa anymore. Living in Minnesota has made me an g'damned Iowa cheerleader, basically out of spite (which I don't have to be when I travel ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE NATION... I have a serious brick on my shoulder, people.) It's a lovely place. But I'm really familiar with it. And even Iowa City - - lovely hippie tasty cool Iowa City - - doesn't glow anymore. Which is fine. ... I'd love to retire somewhere like, or actually in, IA City. But, for now, I'm okay to be removed. Am I saying that MN or Mpls is better? Hell no. I'm still bitter towards you, Mpls. Sorry. In some/many ways, Mpls offers wayyyy more opportunities (obviously) than a sweet little college town, but... Iowa City is damned fine. But, I'm okay to be out of Iowa right now.

I guess I should put on some fishnets, a fancy bra, some pajama bottoms and water something.

Instead, I might eat a little something and exercise. I feel like a bag of pie. bleach. But it was a wonderful trip. yea. Hoping your weekend was lovely too.

Onward.

G'night...

Sent mom to the hotel, left Pickles and I on Kay's couch, in the hopes that we all might actually get some sleep. We both worry about mom being lonely in the hotel... But.. We don't know what else to do.

Holidays are just an excuse for us to get together and eat, but I honestly wish we had more. We should not have to have a holiday, just so we are all together. If we could see each other together once every one or two months, that'd be awesome.

Tomorrow, it's back to normal eating and traffic and exercise patterns. But until then...

Onward.

Easter at Kay's

So far, so good.

- incredibly lovely meal. Pictures to follow. I am full of lamb, ham and some other delicious things that don't actually rhyme.

- It's snowing. That, of course, kind of sucks.

- Hotel and dog allowed for only about 3 hours of sleep last night. That kind of blew. But being with family is good.

- Tomorrow involves some play. Yea!!

Have a good weekend. Happy Easter Bunny Egg and Where'd He Go Day!

Onward.

And then..

It's still snowing. We live in a snow globe. Yes, it's pretty. But wow. I don't believe in grass anymore. I don't believe we live in a place that makes leaves or warm breezes. And now that I've accepted that as part of my world view, it's oooooohkay.

I love the British "Office" - - it's horrible. It's wonderful. It makes me squirm. The USA "Office" comes soon by netflix, for comparison. Ah...poor Tim. (Martin Freeman makes me unbelievably happy. Actually, the whole silly cast...)

I'm doing grown up things, like booking a hotel for my mom and myself in Iowa City, and using my AAA membership discount. See how exciting things get? I AM excited to travel south and be with family peeps - - My sister's going to spoil us, we get to see a toddler (super duper holiday fun), and just be together for a while. Nice. Iowa City = purty.

My mom also traveled for a long distance by herself for the first time!!! I am super duper duper proud of her!! (Getting married at 22, there wasn't much chance to do things like travel or live alone. After around 36 years of marriage, those things can be kinda scary. YEAAA mom!!!)

'Had a wonderful dinner last night. It's interesting, getting what you kinda hoped for, but not sure after you got it, wondering if it's what you truly wanted. Eh. It's really really good for now, I think.

Got a call from the Crisis Company, a theater company which helps to train emergency workers and cops. I auditioned for them last year, but didn't have the time to complete the training/do the gigs. They called yesterday, which was nice of them. So.. onwards to early morning training. And Science Museum (hi Clarence!). And then, to IOWA! w0000000t, indeed.

Onward. :)

It was that day...

A day of fullness. I even got to run from one thing to another. Literally run. Sometimes I like doing that.. makes it feel like whatever you're doing is very very important.

- Museum. 9 a.m. meeting. Shows were fun today (one of those "I like what I do" days, which are nice). Four shows and some admin work - - take that!

- Then to Amigo's. My car needs tires. I need more debt. These things go hand in hand. I wander to Gigi's, which is full of nice baristas and no internet. No internet forces me to do things. This is good.

- To Chris's birthday party! Lovely conversation, over lovely food, at the Longfellow Grill.

- To rehearsal. Which is fun. That's just the way rehearsal is, even if it's full of blocking and tripping up line deliverings. Fun.

- I left my cell phone at home all day - - on accident. Hopefully everyone survived.

- I need to figure out something for this weekend. ergh.

- Gave Joe a ride home, and that was nice. Good chattings. Even though I get to see him more often with rehearsals, I miss me some Joe. :)

- I'm actually tired, which is handy as it's bedtime. However, the dog is barking at the backyard, and that makes me nervous. *sigh* This is why I have an awesome dog. And also why I sleep with my cell phone.

- I'm doing alright. Honestly. And that's kinda nice to see/say.

Onto tomorrow, although I'm pretty comfortable with today. Onward.

What I meant to say...

I knew there was stuff coming..

- Called my mom tonight to try and figure out Easter accommodations in Iowa City this weekend.

* We decided that it was a good thing we were going to Iowa City, even if it wasn't the smartest, most logical thing. Mom is worried about holing up in Sioux City, and never leaving the city... so this is a little scary and good. And she said that she's in the mental state to do so, as she wasn't last year or even last fall.
* We talked about the afterlife. We've never talked about this sort of stuff before.. ever. She said she didn't know. She hopes that there's loved ones waiting on the other side, but she didn't know. I agree with her, and told her that I'm glad that we're in the 'I don't know' camp, rather than firmly on one side or the other. We can only listen to what we've been told, and if it's a construct of the mind, that's okay, but.. we can hope.
* It was good, and I cried a little. My mom rocks.

- Got to see Sue and Josh and play Scrabble at the Turf Club.
* Travel Scrabble is brilliant, as are $15 pitchers.
* We were 3/4ths of the way through our game, when "Sirens of Titan" started up. Bwahahaha! Insanely loud, fairly well done metal, with a late thirties kicking ass long haired female lead. The 30+ boys listening were very happy.
* Bad Puppet! I made a puppet today during kids' class, and gave it to Sue. Bad Puppet hangs well with the heavy metal and the Turf Club. Watch out for Bad Puppet.

Very lucky, very happy night. Talked about recent happenings with Sue (more of an update than anything else) and was just happy to be there. :)

.. onward. :) Bon nuit.

Gorging myself on triscuits, hummus and carrots...

Tonight: Dinner be damned! Triscuits and hummus and carrots have filled me to the gills - - yea for eating early!

- Went out for dinner last night and had a wonderful time. I recommend thai for St. Paddy's Day without reservation (no pun intended). The whole evening was lovely.

- Science Museum wayy too short. Too much to get done. Still... umm...

- To the kids. I made an excellent puppet.

- To trying to get my ass in gear to do stuff.

Whatta lame blog. Onward.

Little houses in my name...

(see the title of my blog - - there's little houses in the font. I like that)

- Possible future roommate comes over with possible future roommate cat. Hopefully awesome kitty snuggling will happen and not horrid kitty death.

- I'm finishing this spring cleaning thing. It never ends, but... woof. It's so much better.

- I'm going to one of my favorite thrift stores today just cuz. Hopefully, I will be supporting the cause of Bibles for Missions if something rules there.

- I get to go out to dinner tonight.. I'm super excited. No matter how Irish I am (1/8 on my mom's side, and a good chunk on my dad's), I hope to eat sushi. There's all these fakers out there - - fakers! But yea for Ireland... :)

- I need to call Sue. Will someone please tell Sue I will call her cause I miss her?

Yea for Monday and day off. Again, want to stretch it just a bit. Onward.

We DID it!

Science Museum go! Pick up Clarence, and be people trapped in a horrible situation. Learning that representatives from the actual Holocaust museum were in the last performance makes me suddenly nervous, and worried that I'm not portraying nervous and worried honestly. Clarence is awesome as my 'no other choice than to give into the hype' husband. I drive him to a laundrymat and head down 94. Next!

To the Workshop! We pile into Haynes' comfy truck - Brian and I share a seat belt. We arrive in Mankato, where we find a pretty old school and a pretty old stage. Line thru's over chicken sandwiches from HyVee commences.

We did it! Yeaa!!! Very lucky. The show felt really good, the improv felt really good, hopefully Mankato felt good. A very funny teenager after the show came up to me and said "I don't mean to criticize your work..." (bwwahahah) but let me know that the Quadratic equation is NOT a2 + b2 = c2 (that is actually rather the Pythagorian theorem). All of her friends nodded in agreement, and one of them actually rattled of the Quadratic equation. Teens of Mankato - - I salute you. You're totally right. This made me happy, and my math-teacher mother a tad ashamed.

Then, after making the poor choice of grabbing a cheeseburger at Uptown McDonalds (just cuz. poor choice.), to Gasthofs. There are bad nights at Gasthofs and there are good nights at Gasthofs. This was a killer diller and fine night - - I do love their mix of hard core polka followed up by a 12mid set of grindygrindy hip hop. It makes me laugh, it's dumb, there's people drinking out of boots, and it can't happen anywhere but here, truly. Our bartenders were awesome and wanted to chat. Drew and I shared something called a "Tie Me To a Bedpost", which is as questionable as it sounds, and made us feel like we were on a scary spring break in Cancun, rather than in the basement of a German restaurant in Minneapolis. This is where poor choices spring from, but luckily, as far as I know, poor choices were avoided. Yea! Success!

To home, to fall asleep to "Slings and Arrows", which is very very droll.

I am now boiling the veggies that they let me steal from the Mankato gig, hoping they become delicious soup, rather than bland veggie water. I slept in like nuts, and am a little sad to miss so much sunshine. I want to clean the house/buy groceries/exercise/get the dog a haircut/take Davey out to lunch all at the same time. Time to start.

Actually looking forward to Monday, but wishing I could spread Friday night, Saturday, today, and tomorrow out like a football field sized tapestry. Good days and upcoming and current days off (except for one class and one yoga class), I salute you too. (Actually, if I could have spread the time in Portland out too - - barring the times I was incapacitated - - that would be fine too.)

Onward.

Or.. There's more...

What I learned:

- Don't eat pulled pork by the quarter pound, no matter how delicious...

- Wine and lava cake rocks.

- Enjoy stuff when you have the chance to. Then be happy, and be happy you got the chance to. :)

Hope to clean the house and make it presentable. And then onto class and all other stuff.

Hi.

Onward.

Ain't Portland Pretty?

And friendly. And not as grey as one might think. And I LIKE it. Very comfortable, very Jen (I think), in some ways. Granted, I spent a great deal of it queasy, but... damn. Good stuff.

'Saw Steph and David (!!!!). Totally dropped my guard, had friendly, cordial encounters with strangers, got rained on, walked around, ate a cupcake, drank beer, saw Fritz (!!!), 'had my ass handed to me, sang some harmony, went to detention, and slept in a hotel room with a balcony. Very privileged way to take on a city. What I learned:

- Be careful where you choose to go outside your comfort limits, and don't use someone else's. Sometimes you can trust you own damn sense, and sometimes you can't.

- I love dinos.

- Cool signage tickles me.

- Walk around and take some space for yourself. I hope I'm getting better at this, or, it could just be this place.

Flight back was fine, and I practiced my knitting. A little wump to be back in the house and driving around this sprawling dirty metropolis of waste and brown and grey, but realized I like what I do a great deal.

There's more stuff, but also glad to be back. I'll work on posting more when I'm not distracted by thoughts of exercise and 'what else should I be doing'.

I liked me, in general, some Portland. It excites me as much as New York does, and that's a huge compliment - - Portland's got a more European vibe than New York (NYC is all America to me), but I was never for want of the newness that NYC keeps offering. I hold NYC in the highest of regards (it's London), and hold Portland just as high, but in a different ventricle of my heart (It's Budapest)... I might be better equipped for Budapest - - who knows. Or, could be just fine here in Mpls.. which is many many good things too.

Onward.

Lies that Oregonians tell to keep us away...

Decided to go to a Starbucks in downtown Portland - - the belly of the beast! (They serve warm breakfast sandwiches! Delish!) However, everyone's unbelievably friendly and easy to talk to. Portlandians are not scared of people. That.. is awesome.

- "It rains all the time" - As far as this girl can tell, it's grey in the morning and then mixed sunny/cloudy the rest of the day. Tim-from-Boston says that it does rain all the time, but... seriously. Sunny.

- "This is our town - - Don't move here" - I guess they only mean Californians.

- "There are no jobs" - um... recently moved friend Steph starts a temp job on Friday. okay.

- "EXPENSIVE!" - the food the same or a tad cheaper, the rent's about the same.

See, how they lie?

Okay, back to nano-business...

Whoa!

I'm not sayin' it's the greatest song, or that you should look out for this artist, but this video surprised me. A little bit of labyrinth goin' on.

Stupid is as stupid does... I'm amazingly stupid.

Welcome to Portland! Trash yourself beyond recognition, make a couple of questionable choices, and then spend a full day in a classroom, trying not to puke in the corner. Nice job, Jen!

So... yes. Portland's beautiful. The people are nice. There's a theater scene. The architecture's lovely. The only people they don't like here are the Californians.

First successful day at OMSI was celebrated at the Bridgeport Brewery, over delicious beer and some group sing-a-longs (which were wonderful!). Onto the Doug Fir, where I met some baby locals (21? 22 years old - - lovely to chat with) and then some other locals. Steph and I follow other locals to another bar, and then to a convenience store, and then, continued to stay up into the hinter hours. Stupid. Questionable... I am not a fan, and not a fan of myself. Not cool.

Miss the bus over, race to OMSI, sweated and suffered through a day, threw up (three times). Stupid. However, past 6 p.m. and some semi-napping, things have been lovely. Walked through downtown Portland, bought toothpaste and cupcakes, walked through the Pearl, walked into Northwest. Saw Steph and David!!!!! :) Ate at a McMenimans (sp?). Caught up with Steph and Tim. Went out for one. Tonight - - I am a fan of you. Last night, I acted like an idiot and then paid for it - - stupid girl. Tonight - - you have given me hope.

Tomorrow should be lovely. I'm going to avoid asinine behavior like the plague. I hear it's nice in Minnesota, and that's a nice thought. However, it's really nice here. Grass is green, the food is amazingly good, the people are nice, and I hope to enjoy it and not act like an idiot. Wish me luck.

Onward!

The air

It smells like spring, and it literally makes my mouth water (creepy, but true).

If spring was a place...

..it'd be Portland. Trees, growing things, a MOTH landed on me and it made me so excited (living things! Life!). I'm sleeping with the balcony door open. Lovely place. G'night.

Airplanes

I forgot how much I both like airplanes and can be bothered the experience. There's a russian couple behind me with grandma and poor fussy baby (I smell diaper)... I'm sitting too close to two lovely women, I'm sure (one of them likes to hum, which is kind of lovely). It's like New York but with less smells. I love it and it's democratic and there's the off chance it might just kill me. In 3 hours, I hope to be on the ground in Portland.

yeeeowch. It's morning...

It's been a while since I've felt this effected by day light savings. *Blink* One beer and lack of sleep have me typing like a small blogging sea lion (just flippers, no fingers). Speaking of sea lions...

- Lovely night! Ran pre-travel errands, bought house-sitter food (thanks, Tim! :) ), exercised, and then off to a Bingo cast party. Michelle totally spoiled us, and it was full of conversation about houses and kids and life, but the houses and kids and lives of some amazingly funny people. It was great.

- Rick and Ahna were there! Wonderful! (Ahna reads my blog! This makes me so happy. ...Ahna.. I have found your's. It's wonderful. Yea!.. and yes. California sounds fabulous. I'm totally in... :) )

- Sober and full of good food and company, I headed to the Workshop for the heck of it. They were awesome enough to let me play set - - thanks, guys! It was super fun. (and sea lions are funny. :)) More favorite people seen.

- To the Mill!

- To drop Harry off! (yea Harry!)

- To suddenly find it's after 3 a.m.!? What?! No! .. I should have known.

I woke up with "HOW do I fly to Portland?" in my mind (i.e. travel being not quite real yet.) First, I pack. Then, I go eat lunch with good people. Then, I have youth rehearsal. Then, I have rehearsal. Then, you ask Steph really really nicely if she can pick you up in Uptown. Then, you go to the Airport. And suddenly, you're in Portland. Supposedly, it's just that easy. Magically, you end up at the Airport, take off your shoes, and some great poobah transports you to another world (i.e. Oregon). I hope I sleep tonight, cuz I can feel the lack of sleep hiding behind my eyelids.

I'm trying to figure out how to deal with a state of 32-year old emo-ness: to not just shove this emo-ness away, but actually deal with it. Dealing with it sucks (right now, it just means letting myself be "in that space" of emo-ness. bllleeeeaaaghhhhh..) For this week, my life philosophy has been to try and treat myself as a boy. It's a horribly horribly un-feminist way to think - - but it's helping me through for some reason. If I think of myself as a boy (as in, what would a boy do in this situation? What would a boy do to get what he wants?), somehow that cuts down on the pining and being-lonely that my brain and heart are doing. It's backwards and, again, incredibly un-feminist (and my one women's studies class is in the back of brain, chanting that the patriarchy has won... well.. yes... duh, women's studies class. At least for now.), but it's actually giving me some space for perspective. Yeeargh. Stupid boys and your perceived perspective.... Im n ur brain, steeln ur paytreearrkey. okthxbai!

Wish me luck, wish us luck, and luck back to you too.

Onward.

Bald Eagles and Knocked Up...

The Mississippi river is steaming. It looks amazing, but we know it's happening because it's ass-cold out today. Mer.

There are also bald eagles over the Mississippi right now. I saw one yesterday. Although I didn't see the behavior, I guess they're doing they're "mating tumbles" and the like. Very very cool. Saw a brief presentation featuring taxidermied eagles at this morning's meeting.

-20 windchill, -5 morning. Thank god the sun was out. Maybe, collectively, we've forgotten about spring, and therefore spring will never exist for us (you know, group mind and what not... this could suck)

Said all-staff meeting was charming and fine and much too early. I'm glad the staff was peppy. It helped.

Watching "Knocked Up" last night (the extend-y way too long 'director's cut'). Some of it was funny and charming (good cast) - - I went between "I believe that! That's a fabulous example of how shit works" and "No way no how. Seriously?" - - actually, for a hollywood movie, that's not a bad ratio. As nice as it was that he did, my practical embittered side (i.e. the part of my mind that my mom inhabits) wouldn't believe that a guy would clean up his act that much, and that quickly. Sorry, romanticish comedy. But.. I laughed. I watched the whole thing. I can't wait till I get me some more BSG.

Seth Rogen is a.. mystery to me. His voice frrreaks me out. It's the voice of your dad. It's the voice of your uncle. It's Fred Flintstone and Jackie Gleason. And then, that voice talks about weed and boobies or tries to be sincere and humble and my mind flips just a bit. I can't tell if he should do animation (which I know he is - - "Horton Hears A Who"), or if his voice is just too big for an animated character.

I can start counting down stuff. Work at the SMM, and then a Mystery Cafe gig. Run an errand, work at the SMM, and then a Bingo get together (which should be lovely). Lunch with Jim, teach with youth, rehearsal and then POW! Hi Portland. I hope the transformative power of Portland will magically effect Mpls, and it'll be warm and glowy. (or perhaps, warm, wet, grey and rainy - - i'd go for that too.)

I guess I have my marching orders.

pssst... where should I go live?

Onward.

Look at me.. I’m posting on blogger but first on myspace..

Isn't this exciting...?

Brrr... I was so excited coming home to find a warm house... but it was a kinda lie. House is warm with a coat on.. I've just moved the space heater closer. ....What's up??

- Moving headlong into a working weekend.

- Head to Portland OR on Sunday for some nanoscale science related adventure. Many thanks to Joe for being a director of excellence, and for keeping us on track. W00t!!!

- A sizable chunk of my food for the last three days has been almonds. I love me some flavored almonds.

- My living room is lookin' lovelier. Yea for super sales on curtains at Target.

- I may watch "Knocked Up" for the first time tonight. Yes, my media consumption is about 2 years too late.

- I checked through my blog to see if anything exciting.. oh! I got cast in Joe Scrimshaw's upcoming "Stitch n' Bitch n' Die", a murder mystery set in a Stich n' Bitch group (April at the BLB). Huzzah! We did our first reading last night, and it is lovely and funny. I am a crafting voyeur in real life, so I'm excited to be basically forced to do crafts onstage (I might actually finish something!) The character I play has a drinking problem and tends to goes through men on a weekly to biweekly basis. As Joe said, "Be yourself" and "It's nice to write with actors in mind" ...mer. umm... This character's life is already more exciting than mine, and she owns a yarn shop.

- My sister has been keeping me sane. Thanks, sis!

- Time for exercise, dinner and I guess some Seth Rogen.

There I have offically posted on myspace. You can probably see this exact same blog over on my myspace page... But you knew that. Happy Friday to be everyone...

Onward.

Madness, indeed.

This morning, my throat crapped out something that looked like a piece of gum. Ewww. Not because I was sick, but because I had spent Monday cleaning and sanding and painting and black molding... but yea me!

- My living room is almost officially painted. I still need to paint the ceiling, and a 6'x1' area on a wall, but three walls are painted! W00t!

- My basement is getting better. Really really better. Awesome.

- Taking stuff to an consignment store was a lousy experience, all because of the woman who "helped" me. Jesus. Avoid the Highland Park "Turnstyle" like the plague.

- My house has a carload-less of stuff, which went to ARC. Thanks, ARC!

- Puppet rehearsal was tasty this morning. And the kids in my class did good. And I'm proud of my Six Ring team. Nice work, team!!

- Sunshine and a tad warmer temperatures make a hell of a difference. However, the fact that they won't last makes me... sad. Grumpy. poo.

- I'll be in Portland in five days. huh. How's that work?

- I received two fine pieces of media by mail today.

Do some stuff. Eat some delicious flavored almonds.

Onward..!

I break things...

It's been a couple days of 'things not working' - - none of these things are the end of the world, but as Chris Campo says, "you've hit some bumps"

- The laptop is a blessed thing when it works, and hopeless-causing when it doesn't. Right now it does, and wifi is coming from somewhere. Thanks, world!... I need a new laptop. This one forgets where it left its operating system on a semi-regular basis.

- I locked my keys in my car (actually, in my glove compartment) last night. It was a suddenly lonely feeling -- no one else has copies of these keys but me. No one can rush over by winged pegasus and save my hide. Luckily, Harlan the locksmith saved my butt for $50 and a $10 tip (cuz he was nice, and let me off without my insurance matching my car's ID)

- My phone has stopped connecting to the internet. Really, phone?

- I need new tires.

- There's more that I've probably blocked from my brain. On a strange note, I've started selling things on the internet. I hope I don't break eBay. Hopefully, this will work, and objects will disappear out of my house, and money will magically appear in my bank account. Right? Right.

Improv A Go Go left me in tears last night. I only caught the first half, but I have love me some Fingergun. And Police Detective Cop P.I. is just lovely. Seriously - - nice job, gentlemen. (I do want to ask Caleb what all he put in that smoothie. Whatever it was tickled the hell out of him and that was awesome.) :)

I might have a roommate! W00t! Awesome! I am currently emptying crap out of my basement - - there's more hope. And tonight, after yoga, I'm gonna paint like a mad mad woman. But first to places that will hopefully give me $$ for goods. Nice goods.

Onward.

Done!

hewww...

* Did a gig for a private "Shack Nasty" party, a private party that's going on its 6th year. We were officially paparazzi.. chilly chilly paparazzi. But the peeps we were playing with were awesome, and we had fun. Favorite things: screaming "Hey, Crispin Glover!!!" at the 5 people dressed as John Travolta from Pulp Fiction, and Leigha yelling "It could be...ANYBODY..!!" at every limo. Good stuff.

* Being cold makes one tiiiired.

* uh... I was recently loaned the "She-Ra: Princess of Power" DVD collection. Wheww. Little Jen (who would have been Jenny) was huge fan of the toys, but never saw much of the cartoon as a kid. (although I saw every He Man episode in existence). Etheria is the awkward, gayer equivalent of Eternia, complete with awkwarder, gayer dialogue and questionable voice talent. jeez. ...However, there's a dark part of me that thinks it could work as theatre (aghh! The unicorn just talked! Why did that surprise me?). Anywhoo, there's a commentary track on the DVD that is tempting like a twinkie -- can you enjoy it for the 'irony' or at the end are you just stuck with the fact that you ate a twinkie?

* Busy day, but hopefully a fine day. I think I might have tomorrow off, and that makes me super excited.

* Onward...!

Aren't we all hip and hot stuff sometimes?

Sometimes...

Made it to Neutrino after picking up my BFF/partner in crime.. Again, it seems I owe Pat S. $$..(geez...thank you, Pat S.!) We ate some tasty food, and then said "we're going to miss you" to David and Stephanie. No one tays gone forever, I hope. They're gonna rock Portland, and I can't wait to see them. :)

Neutrino was excellent, as were all the peeps - full of cool people indeed. (I won a pint glass! Thx, Katie!) I drank enough cider to make my nose red (thx, genetics) and then we zipped to the Front to boogie just a little, where C. Sorenson was trying to get elected to state senate. (thx, democracy -- Merrill wearin' democracy)

I went to the Salvation Army for some cheapie costuming for a 'who knows what will happen' sort of gig tonight, and had a stupidly weak moment. More money I can't afford to spend now looks like a lamp. And a pair of jeans I may try to resell. If these jeans do get resold, I hope that $$ looks like tires/a new laptop/home repair/everything else I forgot about in the face of a bargain. Dammit. Seriously..

Hoping for some relaxation after the gig. I work the weekend, but its pretty good stuff, I hope. What can you do..?

Take care of yourself.

Onward.