oh, for yes.

Don't you want to be with them? Don't they seem lovely? I think they probably are. Isn't that good? :)

(I also love how the drummer seems to have recently have gotten some sun. Rock n' roll indeed.) :)

Tonight was dinner with friend Jen: we ended up at the Town Talk Diner, which exceeded expectations. Zzzzzoooom!!!! Goodbye, expectations! Holy crap. Per twitter, I don't know if I want to eat there, or work there. So much damn fun. We sat at the bar: I fully recommend this, and also fully recommend chatting with your bartenders, as they are people in the know. And just amazing and good. :)

- The Town Talk is (sorta) known for it's alcoholic shakes and malts. The bartenders kept offering us the leftovers of their mixes, which reminded me of my dear friend Dave back in college, who would kindly offer the ends of his bong hits.

- We shared the Truffle Mac n' Cheese and the Roasted Root Vegetable salad. Yea for sharing! And also, yea for carrots, whom I generally I am wishy washy about, but rocked this salad hard.

- The chef has a curly-Q mustache.

- There's a television above the door, which was on the Food Network the entire time. Delicious! It was Iron Chef: Bacon.

- I got one of the last three classes of the Shiraz, and then one of our bartenders helped me out with some more. Again, we were spoiled silly.

- BANANA SPLIT DESSERT! I adore banana splits: this was.. geez. The bananas were wrapped in sugared wonton wrappings and deep fried. The ice cream was homemade. The bartenders suggested a black pepper stout as a pairing (and offered us samples of another beautiful stout along the way). Hells to the yeah.

- Jen and I chatted about what we chat about, and then a bartender would come check on us, offer some delightful conversation and deliciousness, and onward went the night. Flippin' dreamy.

- We tipped our bartenders a ridiculous amount. They deserved it and more.

- Upon leaving, I got to yell "Thanks, Chef!" to said gentleman. That, is always fun. :)

So - - yes. If you have a special-ish occasion, or even just want to have some damn fine food and some damn fine alcohol, please get thyself to the Town Talk. (Note: they play their music at bar level. However, their music is good. It is not a solemn place. It is a social place. And it is fun to be that, if only for a night.) I have a tummy full of ice cream.

After dropping Jen off, I drove a little bit and found the sweetest spot of Mississippi shoreline in Nordeast. I was stupid and didn't bring my cell phone with me (so I did not stay long), but.. the river was up. You could listen to it. I had the company of the Minneapolis skyline and nothing else. It was very very nice. Hoping to go visit again without my winter coat.

It's a two blog day.

Onward.

Whewwwww's...

I've snapped at two nice people today. ARRGHH! I feel tired and defensive, and turning into an old lady. However, it's been a really nice day. This tired and defensive might be due to honest to goodness tiredness.. whewwww!

Despite this vinegar, I am truly swimmy happy. And it was a very lucky day too. Filled with gratitude about the whole thing (including the two granola bars that plopped out of vending machine. That is like winning the lottery, without even knowing you had entered.) I am gratitudinal. Thank you!

- FREOPARDY! My goodness, that was lovely. :) The awesomeness of coming together to watch 'one of your own' take on something we've watched for years. Grown up with even. It was the rowdiest Jeopardy viewing ever, and a couple of 'audience' waves were completed.

- So many favorite people, all in one place, eating cake*!!!

- Fred rocked the Jeopardy. Damn. Well played, sir. :)

- Got to snorg with two babies at Freopardy! A nine month old, and Miss Sophie (who is over six months). Baby snorgin'!!!

- Troy goes to Ireland! AGHHHH!!! To the Green Mill to buy him cider and appetizers! Sad not to be able to watch and play with him while he's gone; SUPER DUPER EXCITED for Troy. I'd be nervous and astounded. How damn cool... Wishing I knew Irish-y inspiring things to say.

- I putter around the house, and then head over to the Minneapolis Comedy Death Squad Open Mic at Grumpy's Downtown. I miss the first two sets: I suck. But the rest of the night is aces and happy swimmy. :)

- Maria Bamford shows up and does a set. She is funny and weird.

I love stand ups and their notes. Paper and notes and paper and notes. (Maria had a big yellow legal pad). This is how you do it.

- Wake up wayyy too early to introduce youngin's to Theater Games. W0000oooo. Trying to get a 'funny' (but nice) 8th Grader not to do a pot joke is like telling a puppy not to poop.

- Favorite kid is at the Science Museum again. He asks me, very calmly, if I could do my sound effects show a little quieter. :)

I'm having a *@&#$ of a time, for whatever reason, embedding this video. It's the trailer for Where the Wild Things are. It's directed by Spike Jonze. It's set to Arcade Fire. It's like they wondered, "hrrrmm... what would cause an emotional stunned reaction for emotionally stunted Jen to cry, at work? What will take her cynical klanky heart and crumple it like tin foil? Hey, did we mention Jen is tired? *meep*

Trailer.

Wasn't there something I was going to post? Something of goodness to say? oog!

Onward.

* It was really good cake too. Well done! :)

I don't write much...

I twitter a bit. Or as I have heard that Mr. Colbert said, "Yes, I have twatted." Heh.

I have little to blog... how little?

Sunday!
- Dreamy relaxy!
- Youth! Go youth! Really good rehearsal!
- Ka-Baam!! rehearsal.. Hey, that's coming up soon, chickadees...
- Dreamy relaxy continues! Dreamy relaxy includes a tiny jog and a walk around the neighborhood.

Note: Boys are still faster than girls. Errr. Make that, most boys are faster than me. What makes boys able to run duper fast? Is it the latent little league experience? Is it the scrappy run, learned early on? Is it their shoes? I pretend like I'm a sprinter, feel bada$$ for about 3 seconds, and then get schooled. *sigh* Boys.

Monday
- Early teaching. 8th graders may hate me.
- A commercial audition! My agent remembers me, I remember them. More stopping in to show my face for things I won't get. It's a nice thought, though..

The relief of finishing a commercial audition mostly comes from "Now I am able to wash my face" or "now, I don't have to care about my hair". Being a girl who looks consistent is a challenge, and one that leaves me a little stressed.

- Laundry! (It's bottom of the barrel underwear time. Thank you, laundry, for fixing that).
- BSG! I'm almost done with 2.5. Good lord.
- Almost missing rehearsal for Penalty Box (soon up at IAGG!).
- Yoga beats my a$$. I am shaky and pleased. Afterwards, I purchase cookies.
- Dreamy relaxy go!

Tuesday
- And we're here.

Had a really couple of good shows at the Museum. Feel really lucky: I had fun, the audience had fun, I gave it my all, but didn't mean to. An eleven year old came up to tell me that he really enjoyed it, and shook my hand. Oh man, good stuff.

Want more Dreamy Relaxy! Or, rather, looking forward to more Dreamy Relaxy!

Onward.

Just a quick...

Just a quick one, as it's time to zoom...

Thursday was all sorts of lovely, as time was spent with someone awesome and amazingly good food was eaten - - yeaa!!!

Hey, Friday was awesomes too!

- SPICY MEATLOAF SANDWICH. Holy crap. :)

- Sue came to the Museum, yea!!! She watched a show, held a snake and then we disappeared to..

- Senor Wong's! I had heard for Senor Wong's, but alas, had never been. Sue is a Master of the cheap Happy Hour - - the woman is amazing. $4 black bean croquettes? $3 jalapeno cream cheese wontons? YESH. (pssst... on Wednesdays, Senor Wong's offers happy hour ALL DAY. And on Thursdays, they do Kung Fu movies and Happy Hour, 10 p.m. til close. Why look, a list of their specials..
) If ever stuck in Asstown, get thyself to Senor Wong's...

- Onwards to meet up with Sue's friends at Merlin's Rest, where I contemplate getting a Premium.

- Onward to meet up with Dear Friends CoolPoint SkyRocket and Partner in Crime (i.e. Pat and Drew). YEAA!! We go down to Richfield, to eat at Naviya's Thai Kitchen. We sat and chatted like old friends do - - old-ly.

Naviya's Thai Kitchen! Not only is the food delicious, and the waiter charming (and only male working, I think), but a lady offered to teach me Thai Dancing! Holy hannah! She's got my number! (ermm... literally.)

- Onward to Mixed Tape, where Socially Awkward performed, happily and awkwardly. Yea!

- Onward to the awesome rest of the night. Very very lucky. :)

So.. yesh. Now finishing up with a Saturday, where I have done the same show four times. Audiences and snakes are blurring into one slithering mess. But a very nice slithering mess.

It's also been the day of four year old hecklers. One four year old made sure that I, and the audience, knew that he had touched a king cobra. Another four year old busted me on not taking her suggestion, and then explained that people can be also scared of "Stomping Monsters" and that these monsters "Try to steal [her] babies.. [her] stuffed animals". My god!

Onward to the rest of the evening. Very excited. Might try to go jog around a lake, but we shall see.

Onward.

Yea for Ratties!!

Really lovely day at the Museum.. Awesome family from Iowa, sunshine, pretty nice as things go.

- Had a quick trial rehearsal with friend Chuck, and I think we've decided to continue to play. Yea!!! :) Rehearsing with Chuck feels like sitting into a fast moving easy chair: very comfortable, very quick. It's a fun thing to both settle in and reach forward. Cool.

- I ate a sandwich from Jasmine Deli. They know what I like. I also desire their soup, but can't drive and eat big bowl soup at the same time.

- Onward to friend Heidi's place for read thru's and rats!

Reasons I like:
- Heidi makes me laugh. She's also one of the few people who will offer me a diet soda. I don't really drink soda, but I like the specificity. :)

- Heidi, beautiful Heidi, has rats! (not pictured) Two big hooded rats and one big white one!



Upon reading , a beautiful graphic novel The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot, I owned a number of rats in college. Reasons I shouldn't have:

- I was in college.

- Nothing endears you to a roommate like a rat escaping into their room to wake them up by crawling all over them.

- I was in college.

But! Rats are excellent rodentia pets! Clever and clean, affectionate and funny. W00t for rats! And w00t for Heidi's rats, who let me pet them, chewed lightly on my fingers, and were just as chill as chill can be. And, one of these rats were FAT. Rats already walk kind of funny. This one dawdled side to side.. funny kid. :)

- Let's celebrate with a quick stop by the CC Club! Done and done!

- Onward to Grumpy's for a beautiful night of PBR and COMEDY!!, finished off by a trip to White Castle. W00t!

I'm dreamy happy, but also super tired and punchy. The poor middle schoolers for my show today weren't ready for me; I wasn't ready for them. Alas...

It turns out that one of my favorite kids (and repeat visitors) is at the Science Museum today! When I hold out my hand to him, he doesn't high-five my hand, he holds it.

Looking forward to tonight. :)

Onward.

Full of weird chili. My energies have been elsewhere..

All of these things are true. Plus, after my first show, I had to lay down and take a nap (very lucky for the opportunity.. but.. whews) :)

I found out that a position that I was told that I should apply for, and that I'd be a good fit for, was passed to another person. Alas. I do not feel upset about not getting the job; I only feel restless as I had sort of rested my laurels on the possibility of getting this job. And was waiting to see what the world looked like after that. This is no longer an option: time to get back out there. NOW! (which should be fun. Back out there is fun.) :)

Happily dreamy whewwwwww... I brought in my friend, Mr. Dan Rooney, to coach Dr. Rocket (my Six Ring team) in Comedic Movement. How much fun was this? How CHALLENGING was this?

Here is the video - - we learned the beginning of this! Please don't be creeped by the Emmet Kelly make up...



Granted, a video from 1987 may not be the way to make learning this look "cool". But as far as learning another deal, dabbling in another venue of performance -- it was very very cool!

- The gal with a dance background totally shined. Oh, for a dance background! Oh, for body awareness! So cool to watch!

- Breaking down movements bit by bit always sends me for a loop. And most people, I suppose. (And absolutely us improvisers, who find the thing - the object, the gift, the emotion, the game - - quickly and then get wrapped up in our head space and verbals. Just simple physical emotionally driven reactions, all simplified, are so damn hard to us humans, sometimes...)

- This challenge could have been frustrating (I have a group of fairly physical performers), except it's also damned funny - - especially when performed live by your friends, six feet from your face.

- Yea for group learning!!

Watched Tightrope (Jill's team) rock an improv/jazz mash up beautifully, and then escaped with someone awesome to a place called Jimmy's in Nordeast. Beer sticks! Beer! Getting cute-hassled by the bartender and a guy named Angelo. Happy. :)

Lalalalala. My energies are elsewhere. I will focus - - I feel focus coming... I need to focus my focus. Here is to more loveliness, energies being elsewheres while ACCOMPANIED by me focusing too.

Oh heyyyy, the Cody Rivers Show is back in town this weekend. I've missed them every time they've come to Fringe. Yeeeargh! I think I get to see them this weekend! W00t!

I thought I might have more to blather about.. urmmm... It's okay if the blather pauses here. :)

Onward.

Saturdays and Sundays...

What you do..

- Wake up not as blurry as we should be! Excellent! Onward to the train to the Farmer's Market on the wharf. Holy crap!

- Hot chocolate. Eggs, bacon and baguettes. Berry crepes and the crepes lady. Deborah and the CONE OF PORK! (you can buy a cone of prosciutto for $3. Best cone related food ever.

- We walk on Dave's pier, and watch crabs get fished.

- Unexpectedly, to Tadich's, the oldest restaurant in San Francisco!! Holy Hannah! All of the waiters and bar staff (all waiters, no women working) wear pharmacy coats. Doug makes us brandy alexanders at the bar. I have the chowder. Goodness me.

- Onward to walk and walk and walk and walk.. I have a moment between the financial district and Chinatown, en route to a GAP. This moment consisted of stupid, unrealistic, ungrateful anger. Grrrrr.... It was too much. I couldn't say "That's cool" another time, I couldn't be shown another restaurant or building that would never be visited, but yet be "better" or "cooler". It was a stupid and fussy moment, and so.. more on that later. :)

- We stop by an Old Navy, as Erin has a 30% off coupon to Gap related stores. San Franciscans, as cool and liberal and whatever as they are, also shop at the Gap and have to poop. This was oddly balancing.

- We take the train back, stop by a grocery store, and Erin makes an amazing meal. Goodness. More food, more wine, some Louis CK on their big television. Happy relaxing.

This was the first time that i got to see SF for just a place to live. The sheen happily parted a little, the houses looked like houses. This was a relief. SF is small, SF is pricey, SF is beautiful, SF is a place to be.

Now I'm in the Denver airport, finally catching a flight to MSP. I miss my friends, but get to see friends at home. Whom I miss a crapton.

Hey, I hear it's spring, Minneapolis. Alas. That's something too.

Onward.

Here's I am.. Rock me like a hurricane...

This will probably be more lame listing than blog.. (hey look.. you can follow pictures along here.)

- Lovely morning on Thursday! I drink all of Dave's coffee. Sorry, Dave's coffee.

- We get lunch at the Submarine Center, which excels in awesome.

- Onward to the Botanical Gardens section of Golden Gate Park, to eat said sandwiches under a HUUUUUGE Dr. Seuss tree.

- We have the most un-Zen experience in the Zen Garden. The sprinklers were on. We lived a live action version of Super Mario Bros. and felt like ninjas. Happy and awesome. :)

- Dave dumps me in front of Amoeba Music, where a homeless dude calls me a cutie and quotes Fat Boys to me. Welcome to Haight Ashbury!

- It appears that all Tibetans might really be into pot and cheap sunglasses, given all the Tibet and Pipe shops. And cheap sunglasses.

- Walk past some Hari Krishna's and do not accept their literature.

- Walk through and up Divisadero, which I cannot pronounce, and therefore call it "Stu stu studio" street. Hey look, Castro Street..

- I have a beautiful espresso in a neighborhood corner shop, which sells amazing wine and British candies. heh.

- My first impression of the Castro is a Pottery Barn, a Diesel store, and a girl eating a chocolate covered ice cream coccck for her boyfriend's camera. Welcome to the Castro!

- All the mannequins in the Castro are scarily well-hung. And like to wear really expensive underwear. However, I will take the Castro over Haight Ashbury any day. Beautiful shops, beautiful places to eat, Rainbow flags - - it's lovely.

- Dave picks me up and we trek down to Boulder Creek, stopping by Alice's Restaurant to pee (they were playing Hall and Oats in the bathrooms). We stop at a look out, on top of high hills and mountains, to look at the sun. We let people pass on the mountain roads, and they flash their blinkers in gratitude. Which, I guess, is what you do. :)

- Tom and Claire's! We eat some amazing German food at a place called the Tyrolean (I have a porkbeefpork sandwich and spaetzel, covered with mushroom gravy), and then drink MGD for the rest of the night. Dave shows me the thick blanket of fog which covers the mountains, rushing in from the ocean, underneath a full moon, around 2 a.m.. We listen to aLOT of the Two Gallants.

- We eat at Spanky's for breakfast, putter around Tom and Claire's (and Lipton's) for a bit, and then onto Santa Cruz.

- Dave buys us a $8 crab cocktail and we share a Budweiser on the boardwalk. We bark and sealions. The ocean is blue, the sea lions are fussy: it's beautiful. :)

- We walk along the beach in Santa Cruz. The ocean attacks my jeans and Cons. I take revenge by stealing about a pound's worth of shells. Bwaha!

- Walk past Dave & Erin's old place. Get a snack at the Seabright Brewery of fish, chips & salad.

- Back to the City via the 1, which was beautiful. Parasailers like colorful seagulls, cows grazing alongside the ocean: this is the future.

- Onward to Bar Bambino in the Mission. It is ridiculous. Josh takes care of us.

- Onward to Bliss Bar in the Noe Valley neighborhood.

- We end up back at Dave & Erin's, for another unneeded cocktail and dancing to Snoop Dogg. Yep. Snoop Dogg.

All of this happened between Thursday and Friday. It was full and awesome.

Onward.

Immaculate comfy furniture...

Welcome to the land of dreams... w00ts!

- Yesterday was gorgeous (despite the cooollllld), as breakfast was eaten (more green eggs!) and I was a blissed-out mess at the museum. :) There is nothing better than having someone awesome visit you at work.

- Frontier Airlines has an quirky staff. I approve. "We're 20 minutes early, so the next time you fly with us, and we're 20 minutes late, you're even." "You may now use your cell phones to call someone you love, but only if you use your inside voices". All this, and fuzzy animals on their planes? Indeed.

- I ate an almond croissant on the plane (from MSP), and beer and Corn Nuts in Denver. What?

- Lovely Dave picked me up from SFO, and brought me to the Pig and Whistle, where (unexpectedly) pub trivia was afoot. Helloooo, people of the City who are my age. It is good to see you.

- Trivia is much more satisfying when the questions are delivered with an honest to goodness British accent. (although, if the accent had been faked, that would have been brilliant too).

- Well-poured Old Speckled Hen is beyond creamy. Delish.

- Erin appeared, and off we went (as sitting down for food was impossible) to The Citrus Club, which was the most brilliant place ever, especially for someone who's tummy was thinking it was 12midnight. The Shangai Noodles had beef, fried sliced tofu, and black mushrooms in it: why doesn't this happen more often??

- Fell fast asleep in Dave and Erin's guest room. Dave lives as he always has: in welcoming, hip and immaculate spaces, filled with comfy furniture and music. I am beyond comfortable and lucky.

Dave and Erin continue to do amazing things. Dave works for AOL Music/Winamp; Erin assists a producer of Yo Gabba Gabba. Seriously. They live in the Twin Peaks neighborhood of San Fran (with two cats, Ganymede and Magnolia). Dave and I get to drive out of the City to go see Tom, which will blow my tiny mind. Granted, I got to see Tom last year, but.. it happens so rarely. And Tom is like the wind - - take these chances when we can. :)

We're old college roommates and old college friends. Our parents are starting to.. age. And our friends are starting to have kids. Dave and Tom (and Becky and Kelly and Jason...) are/or have been married. Look at us go! We're the grown-ups now (as we certainly weren't grown ups when we were 20, even if legally would could do things like buy porn and grill out).

I acknowledge the gooniness of being here for no reason, but to "be here". But... if we don't do these things, these things will never happen. :) And most of my dear friends from that time in my life live.. erm.. not in the Midwest (East coast! West coast! Mountains! Germany!). So.. yes.. Very lucky. Taking the chances when we can.

*grin* And convincing them to visit Minneapolis might be a bit of a trick.. (I'm not dissing on me, it's just that.. yeah.. Hanging out in NYC or SFO vs. hanging out in Mpls... the math is not on my side. I gotta get married or have a "I'm 34" party or somethin' and force them to travel. The next reason to force the people I love to get together should not be my funeral.)

Onward.

I am Jack's googly eyes..

I am. I am a pair of happy googly eyes. This happy pair of googly eyes has a voice that goes in and out. But the eyes won't stop googling. :) This much googling may destroy all of South Minneapolis, like a blue tachyon bomb, but I cares not. Happy.

Watched "Revenge of the Nerds" for the first time in over 20 years, and ate super greasy Chinese food. How awesome was this? AWESOME. 33 year old Jen found the movie much more entertaining than 13 year old Jen, who had just gotten pissed at the gratuitousness. Sorry, world. 13 year old Jen wasn't ready for boob shots and did not get the 'pie' references at all. 33 year old Jen found the performances delightful, and jebus, the 80s were weird.

Monday was the start of the pack, followed by Monday Night Comedy Show! Which was actually much much fun. Felt bad: I hornswaggled "It Feels So Good When It Stops" into playing my game, which looked like "Jamie the Angry Koala's Storytime" (as I couldn't play, with this crappy pained voice, the other game). But it worked! I'm so happy, and hoping they are too. (I checked, they say they are.. but.. seriously.. I came in with a desperate demanding agenda. Thank you so so much for putting up with me and letting me play, IFSGWIS!!!)

Then watched "Wet Hot American Summer" and ate leftovers. After talking for a lovely long while. Really really lovely. Googly.. googly.. google!

Um.. the pack! I had a credit with Frontier Airlines. It would have expired had I not used it. Last month, in the middle of some serious grumps and "I need to leave", I used that credit to purchase tickets to see some dear friends from college. More travel I can't afford, but 'am going to anyway, justifying everything with "I'm not in rehearsal, I don't have a steady show, Life is too short". I assume rehearsals and the like will come again. But, until then, 'will visit people that I dearly love and never want to lose track of. It's been way too long.

One of these dear friends has his own Wiki page!? Jesus, Tom!

This is a mess of a blog. Someday, I might get my voice back and be able to type a full sentence. But until then, I'll happily be all googly and hoarse.

Onward.

Just one of those moments... (and mucus!)

This is the most satisfyingly gross picture of laryngitis I could find. Not that I like gross, but this picture shows it pretty well.

I'm now into the coughy-gross-y late end of laryngitis. Yea for the end! Boo for coughy-gross-y. Stuff I learned:

- Laryngitis can be caused by bacteria, acid reflux and whatnot. (Thanks, internet!) It can also be caused by overuse of your voice. (stoopid Jen). Basically, something hurts your vocal chords, and then super sticky mucus lodges itself onto them. The drier your environment, the harder it is to get that sexy mucus off of your poor drying vocal cords. Suck! I get it about every other year, unless I keep myself healthy. I'm pretty good about the healthy part, until last week found me and trounced me.

- As far as I can tell and read, it's not contagious. It's something that happens, and gets to be your own personal deal.

- Tried a number of different methods of bring back the voice this time - - it was exploratory! Honey/lemon/red pepper/hot water still feels good, as does Throat Coat Tea (though my favorite is Yogi Tea's Throat Comfort And it's delish!) Gargling salt-laden hot water feels healthy and horrible, all at the same time. Lozenges/Singer's Saving Grace/Thayer's Slippery Elm all feel good, at least temporarily. (Why look, what a convenient website! I love "Entertainer's Secret Throat Relief"! They don't sell that at the Wedge.. It's wearing a little tux.. awesome!)

- Gargling half vinegar/half hot water seemed to make the most immediate and long term difference. And it's gross. It totally tastes like barfies. (Drinking 8 oz water to 2 tsp vinegar tasted fine, but didn't seem to do much.) So, that's my recommendation: gargle about 1/4 cup of half vinegar/half hot water regularly, try to stay hydrated, and wonder what became of your youth.

- Also, wear lots of scarves, as you'll feel all European and awesome. (they really do feel nice on the throat).

Had dinner last night. Have been nervous about this dinner for.. weeks? Almost two months? But.. it went well. Feeling very grateful and very lucky. Also felt something shift over. Just a moment of "poom" - - like a long term cycle kind of came to a close. Maybe I'm all hopped up on products from the Wedge, but it felt good. Something's different. More.

Need to figure out if my voice is decent enough to teach today. Mer. Mostly looking forward to hanging out. Also need to GET SOME STUFF DONE. CRAP!!! You know, like administrative stuff I've been putting off as this week was super busy, my throat stopped working, and my mind has been happily elsewhere. lalalalalaa...

Lesson #998: To enjoy the non-responsible moments, please take care of the responsible ones too. Or else you're just a slacker goon. (which is Australian for a box of cheap wine. Really?)

Onward.

Man, I like Eagle's clubs...

Wood paneling, cheap Premium, and f'd up Christmas lights? I love you, Eagles Clubs. You are where I would like my hipster whitetrash salvation army wedding of love. It'd be hip and fun and we'd donate to whatever charity you like.. (within reason.. You know)

After my last show at the museum, my voice decided to leave. Take a vacation. It hasn't come back yet. Dammit. It leaves me sad and frustrated. And hampered, handicapped.

- Got some pity Grand Ole Creamery for self, and high fived some little kids. W00t!

- Fell asleep on couch, almost missed show call. Fell on sidewalk ice, spilling recouperative beverage on pants and splitting open finger. Arrrrrgh.

- The wonderful thing about people, especially improvisers, is that, if you start whispering or gesticulating, people will yes, and that and start whispering and gesticulating too. I didn't mean for that to happen, but we're built that way. :)

- Thank you for all the generosity and putting-up-with-ness, you wonderful peeps. I put the Awkward back into Socially Awkward, and the audience did not know what to do with me (as I, truly, did not know what to do with myself.. Hour 4 of having my voice taken away from me). Again, thank you, improvisers of Mixed Tape for your awesomeness and help!

- Someone I like spending time with totally rocked St. Paul's east side. I missed the set, which sucks, but how awesome.

- Filling body with herbs n' crap. I'm about to try the "drink 1-2 oz. vinegar" cure.. I have two shows left today... I'll try to make those happen, but I'm honestly not sure.

I have 5 or so minutes to make a decision re: next show. Argh.

Despite all my crab and crank, it's been a wonderful weekend so far. I should not complain, but I wish I could vocalize how lovely it's been, rather than fertively typed blog missives.

Onward.

Weeoooo weeeeoooooo

I have no brains but happy thoughts.. lalalala...

Wednesday and Thursday were just plain chock a'block with good people and good stuff. Granted, I'm a little sleep deprived, so they're mostly a happy glowy blur. Yea!

- Socially Awkward reunited over beer and apps. We'll be at MIXED TAPE, this Friday (tonight!) at 10:30 p.m. at ComedySportz! Come see the fun!

- I received a soviet russia bang trim. It's more severe than I expected. In soviet russia, indeed, bangs trim you.

- Dinner with dear friend Sarah and her sweetie Matt. Fulfilling in so many ways, and ended laughing over youtube videos on the couch. Plus, amazing beet soup!

- I brought wine and girl scout cookies. There were girl scouts camped outside of Walgreens, crying "Girl Scout Cookies!!!!". I purchased two boxes. As a former girl scout, we never sold in front of stores. Somehow, it just feels weird. But, alas, it's 2009. It guess door to door sales are passe', peeps.

- Thursday was an extended cut. After work, an amazing and lovely dinner, followed by hangin' out, followed by KA-BAAM!!, followed by Watchmen!? Good god. It was absolutely lovely though.

- Ka-Baam!! was an utter blast. Thank you all that came! Worlds happily collided for me, as jazz friends saw improv friends and other friends - - yea! :)

- Caught Watchmen at the Lagoon.. errrrrrrm. Granted, I acknowledge the geniusness of the original work, and visually, the movie was damned impressive. Urrrrmmm... P-Bau put it best: "I think I just figured it out. Summing up this movie in two words: Blue junk." Heh.

- I guess I didn't quite 'get' what Mr. Snyder was trying to do. And the music choices were either atrocious or even more I-don't-get-what-he's-trying-to-do. Jesus. "The Sound of Silence" for a burial? Seriously? Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower" as we fly to the 'secret lair' - - Jesus. F@#* YOUU, Mr. Snyder. (unless, I just didn't get it. Were those seriously your choices? really?? What?) Gross.

- That being said, the opening credits were really pretty. "Times, They are a'Changin'" by Dylan. That worked for me. All the rest: non.

- However, the friends in the audience of Watchmen made it much much nicer. :)

I'm curious to hear/see the backlash or the love.

Tonight! More stuff! Looking forward to fun, mostly. :)

Onward.

Oh man, Step 4 got skipped..

Curses! Basically, step 4 is "suit up" and it looks like this (but with a red beret.. not raspberry red.. che guevera red.)

My Six Ring team did a beautiful job last night. I was giddy, tho I had very little to do with it, really. They looked all professional n' shit. Here's to the amazing, funny and loving Dr. Rocket.

Got to hang out a little, which left me all thrilled and happy. Food du jour? Braunschweiger, triscuits, cheddar, tapenade and wine. And Quentin Taranatino trailers. Does it get more awesome? No, indeedy do, it does not. Very lucky.

Woke up before 7 a.m. to be in Roseville around 8:30 a.m.. The Ala Carte gig went fabulously. The melodica performed, for the most part, like a champ. Where the accordion leaves me sore and frustrated, the melodica leaves me only light headed. Whew! I'm going to learn how to circular breathe and it's going to be awesome.

I met a number of pretty dang cool 2nd graders, including one that was 7 going on mom-hood. Everything she proclaimed sounded like a Minnesota mom from Roseville. There was also an awesome and geeky 2nd grader named Greta, who's uncle drew this on her.

Yeah, that's Darth Vader with a lightsaber. Yeah, Greta's uncle has gotta be pretty awesome. Greta told me about her and her friend's love of Star Wars (she's Anakin-generation, not us-generation), and then brought her friend over to discuss clone troopers.

I'm a broken record, but.. I'm really tired. Keep taking catnaps between shows. The next three days promises some serious sleepin' in. Despite my wimpiness, it's been a pretty wonderful couple of days. Yea! Very grateful. Can't wait for more.

Onward.

P.S. Wha-hey!! Ka-Baam!! returns to the Bryant Lake Bowl this Thursday at 10 p.m.! That's right! Tomorrow! Your favorite improvised comic books, complete with drawn on the spot art! Come check us out, we'd be giddy to see you. :)

Step 5

Execute!!!

Step 3

Mentally prep.

Step 2

Reconnaisance.

(sp?)

Step 1

Infiltration.

Eating my tool lunch..

So, Starbucks makes a "Protein Pack" for too much money. Basically, Starbucks asked my subconscious, "What favorite things would you like in cute chopped up form? A tiny bagel? Some peanut butter? A hard boiled egg?" My subconscious totally agreed, and hence, my love of the "Protein Pack" was born. Yesh, I am a tool. But a tool with a tummy full of happy. (and a world full of waste.. I need to start making my own Protein Packs..)

Sunday finally came, and I am happy. The youth were good for their performance (and dark.. jesus. Grandpa got killed with an AIDS shot. Yep. That happened.) Oooh! It was so awesome to see some grown ups there! Thank you, kick ass grown ups with no relation to the kids! All this, followed by Ka-Baam!! rehearsal, followed by some BSG, followed by some hangin' out. Yeaaaa, hangin' out! Happy Jen. :)

Monday blurred by, but full of happy. (Errand running! Cheese buying! Vacuuming! Yoga! Music playing! Gin drinkin'! More hangin' out! ..happy jen. :) )

I woke up way too early this morning, still in a haze of happy, if not sleep deprived.

MELODICA! It arrived. I am finding that it takes even more breath to end a note gracefully - - you crazy wind instruments. I look ridiculous playing it (but very few people look cool playing a wind instrument. You generally need a pair of RayBans to pull off either Cool or Pep Band.. or Bill Clinton).

In the process of playing catch up/pulling head from butt. I had to bury myself and hide for a little bit. I don't know if I like the drama associated with becoming very hard to reach (I hope not.. drama can be dumb when self created), but.. it felt kind of necessary. Catch up underway, keeping head from a$$ also..

One of the gentlemen that I've been practicing the Jazz with, just edited together the story of how he and his wife became he and his wife. It's full of humor, even as worlds came crashing down because of it. Got to hear it yesterday. Just lovely. (in two years, it will be an animated short! I shall keep you updated!) :)

The next two days are going to be crazy busy. Lesson #466: No matter how prepared you are for something, it don't mean s#!t if you grab the wrong bag. Pay attention, chickadee.

Onward.

Things I like...

I doff my hat to yesterday, as yesterday unexpectedly rocked socks.

Things that are awesome:

- Having really great and adorable audiences at the Museum.

- Having a grown-up get the Mamet joke I threw in after "The Adventures of Splish & Splash" - - Thanks, grown-up!

- Last weekend, a six year old tipped me a penny for a job well done. Thanks, awesome six year old. :)

- Having english muffins and eggs! You are living in the high life if you have English muffins and eggs. Aric had been mentioning eggs benedict through the twitterverse a fair amount: I am too chicken to make an actual hollandaise sauce (it's like soupy mayonnaise.. delicious soupy mayonnaise). So, instead, a white sauce was made, and eggs were cooked, and everything was poured together. Mwah! A cavalcade of beigey, sodium'd goodness.

- Unexpected dinner with Jim! oh man. Nothing makes things more right. Jim is working on a new photo series entitled "Looking For Beauty in Unlikely Places". It causes much giggling. We ate chicken salad, he took photos of the pie case.

- Kevin M's 40th birthday party! It was a Perfect Party - - in a theater, lovely conversation, fancy non-diva folks all cleaned up, dance music, wine and shrimp. The birthday boy wore a paper party crown. We hung out in the lobby of the theater (which ended up working like "the kitchen" in a regular party... everyone tends to the kitchen). Got to catch up with dear old friends: happily blissed.

- I think we're becoming the mid-guard. The majority of the folks at the party were in their 30s. We're not the 20somethings, just out of college, we're not the old guard, happily swimming away at the Guthrie. We're the mid-guard: those who have done chunky amounts of bad theater, and some amounts of good theater and.. haven't had kids yet, I guess. We will continue to do some good theater, shrug shoulders when it's bad, and someday actually do more life stuff - - like children. I love these peeps. :)

- Serendipity also popped its head up at the party, unexpectedly, and I wish to give serendipity a hug. Very lucky. I am very excited and grateful and it got me thinking about Nassim Nicolas Taleb and his black swans again (blog post here) We SHOULD go to more parties.

- It's was also boss-Steph's birthday! I excused myself and drove to St. Paul, to find myself staring at two copper covered grand pianos. It's dueling pianos! What!?

- What a weird gig. Part stand up (you don't have to be very good at the stand up - - the words hole, poop, and shave got substituted into a number of songs), mostly really good musician (luckily most songs have four chords, and I can't imagine that people get too creative with their requests, but.. holy crap. Pretty impressive). Sometimes you could see the hate in their eyes. But other times, the two piano dudes actually seemed to have a good time. Like a sad, AdventureLand version of Ben Folds.

- I slept in! Success!

- Green eggs! Leftover white sauce + frozen spinach + eggs + English muffins = happy morning Jen.

- I've been looking forward to today, Sunday, for a number of days. However, Saturday was such a gift. I cannot complain.

The only thing I am fussy about is the inability to move my body in an active fashion. I have gear for jogging when it's cold: however, I'm also a wimp and this is a bit too cold. So, I feel all kind of slovenly and gross. I think I'll try and continue to catch up on BSG and get out the yoga mat. Nothing says inner peace like HORRIBLE STRESSFUL THINGS HAPPENINGS! Or, I guess, nothing says inner peace like being a cylon.

Onward.