My German side told my Irish side to eat it...

.. but then both got along over potatoes.

Potato salad, an apple, and braunschweiger on sesame flat cracker-things. A very summer-in-Munich sort of dinner. Um.. topped off with a Smirnoff Ice, so maybe it's more of a East-Germany-vacations-in-1984 sort of affair.

I've taken meat ALMOST out of my diet. Somehow, braunschweiger is something different, being scrunched up and flavored internal organs vs. leans hanks of muscle tissue. It's in a spreadable form, though technically still meat. It is gross, curious, and delicious all at the same time.

PG's back! Whoop! He's currently sleeping, as jet lag sucks.

Please keep your eyes open! Mike may have the Encore performance slot at the Theater Garage tomorrow night - - we don't know yet. If so, it'd be 8:30 p.m. and full of awesome. :)

Saw both Ellie and Joe at Kowalski's tonight. yea!

Onward.

Remember all that...?

Last night was lovely awesome.

PIC and I went to Kowalski's.

- I devoured a mound of pasta as big as my head. Maybe it wasn't. But it was more pasta than one person needs to devour. ...And asparagus! And wine! And pre-season football! It was a little as if the boys from Queer Eye (circa 2001) had come to help us watch the Vikings, but still feel a little classy about it.

PIC and I then went to the Brave New Workshop!

- AWESOME Awesome awesome show!!! Please go see the Workshop's latest Election show. It's delightful. We giggled and snorted and drank Finnegan's and thank you for making us laugh, funny people. Happy.

- BNW's After Party is delightful! Videos and short form and more Finnegan's and funny.

PIC and I and a bunch of lovely people go to the Mill.

- YEAAA!! And whaaaauuuuu... That sort of sped by. Again, super duper happy.. The night ended with the group trying to out "ugly" each other on Davey's camera. Delightful!! Horrible pictures to follow...

I go home, and wake up the next morning...

- um. gack. It feels like I went out last night. But it was so much fun! This morning was a series of false starts and questionable actions. I almost forgot to rinse the conditioner out of my hair. I tried to exercise before work, wondered if I was going to throw up, and then took a nap. I started to do dishes, and ended up putting one of those said dishes in the garbage. Gack.

I go to the Museum...

- A headache almost helps one do children's theater, as it forces one to slow down.. right? (arrgh) All of the monkeys in my puppet show were grumpy or hungover...

Last Fotis show today at 2:30 p.m.!!! Please come! Theatre Garage!!

PG comes back today!! I'm freaking out, just a little...

Looking at pictures of friends/acquaintances from High School. They're starting to look.. old. I'm starting to look.. old. Damn us for looking our age. And making babies. And desiring things like 401Ks.

Have a good rest of your weekend!

Onward.

Ain't this stuff pretty? Wouldn't any of our lives be a tad more sassified with any of products offered? (Especially the kidney purse?) So pretty!

It's a day at the museum, filled with little kids and their weekend-desiring parents.

It's just sort of a blur of work and work until Saturday. (I really want Saturday to get here) Bingo show, after working at the Museum, last night went lovely and fine (except for nearly chipping Mark Sweeney's tooth - - that was dumb)

Things to do:

- Find a comedic monologue and practice 8 bars of an up beat song. (errrrgh)

- Update actorly things in general (I'm on it!)

- Feel good about practicing piano (w00t!)

- Feel good about eating oatmeal and/or making fried rice for lunch (delicious...)

- Water my plants (I just feel kinda crappy about that.. sorry lovely plants.. arrghh)

- Feel good about running around Lake of the Isles this morning (thank you, morning.. yea!)

- Not forget my bass tomorrow. Speaking of..

The last Fringe-centered performance of "An Intimate Evening with Mike Fotis: Part 2" is tomorrow! 2:30 p.m.! Theater Garage! Come early! Mike is awesome and the show is hilarious! Support the funny! (You will be pleased you did..)

Jen, why are you practicing piano?

Opening NEXT WEEK! "The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged)" at the Lowry Theater in St. Paul! I'm playing piano for it (but I guess they gave me some lines..) I promise it will be milk-snortingly funny. Why? Because Eric Webster is funny.. and Paul Reyburn is funny.. and I would follow E.J. Subkoviak off of a funny cliff. He's lovely. Please come see... (there's a bar...)

Please see here for more details.

This was more pluggish than I intended. I swear I had snappy witticisms to attempt. They've gone away. Perhaps later. A blog of actual entertainment.. ... yes.

Onward.

Really?

Found out that one of the next shows we'll be doing at the Museum involves strapping an audience member to a chair and waving a live snake around them.

Really?

I hope I smell nice for a carnie.

Kitty drama

My roommate's cat is tenatively dabbling in "downstairs". The sound of an uncomfortable cat is just disturbing.

I think my lifecoach broke up with me. It's not exactly true (it was mutual...), but.. she basically said "You're doing good" and I said, "Can we check back in in an month?" and then I made dinner. We'd been together for almost a year, and like any committed relationship, I'm a different person because of my time with her.. ;) It really did feel like a break up, ... A quasi-professional, contented break-up. (I started with Tina a couple months after my dad passed away.. I would totally recommend the experience. Does saying the word "lifecoach" instantly suck away any street cred you might have had? Maybe. Was it incredibly helpful? Yesyesyes.)

Lake of the Isles and I are getting along really really well. It was so lovely and cool last night, and I totally got to do a jogging drive by on Sarah G. -- whoop! I was also attempting to jog away a sinus infection-- I hope it worked...

And then to Hetzel's for a going away shindig... Holy crap, that was nice. *grin* There were a couple of very clear moments when the boys were talking about boy things and the girls were talking about girl things, and we were just happy and comfortable and don't we play nice together? ('Realizing...I think I've known Dan for about 8? 9? years.. What a strange thought..) Have an amazing & safe trip-- see u soon!

Dan goes to CA and Nick comes back to Mpls!! Crazy? Crazy. But good. :)

Onward? Onward. (Saturday!)

I prob'bly need to get back to you...

Successful 9 hour sleep of two nights ago balanced out by 5.5 hour sleep of last night. Whine. But it was a lovely night...

* Monday work was fine. (some pretty cute monkey-loving kids) Grabbed happy hour with T.R. afterwards, which was all sorts of good--she is funny. :) 'Collasped at 10p.m. as my sinus headache told me to.

* Look - Tues! Last Six Ring of the semester, marking almost two years of IFSGWIS. We've had the core five members for all of this time--they are friends, they are funny, and they taught me, plain and simple (cliche and true). This was damned bittersweet. I love u guys!!!

* Onto Mike Fotis' Fringe show! So many many thanks to all of you that came out--especially 10 p.m. on a Tuesday! Thank you!!!!!! It was a great show, Mike did awwesome and I think we sounded pretty sweet together... Yea!!!!! Thank you!

* Last performance of Fotis' show is scheduled for 2:30 this Saturday, Theatre Garage. Pls come--you'll be pleased. :)

* Onto Joe's Garage. Commence staying up too late. Lovely time. Argh.

Went to my block's National Night Out for about 15 minutes, as I had to zoom away. I think I fully underwhelmed some of the neighbors, had to talk about Tim & I's breakup with others (neighbors miss seeing Tim around, plain and simple. Also -- neighbors watch.), but got along in a happy socially successful way with others. Whew. Everything was going somewhat swimmingly until nice boyfriend of nice neighbor made a truly passive aggressive comment about Pickles as I'm on my way out. Really??? My brain was not ready to deal with this little bit of B.S. in the moment (but, boy, do I have comebacks NOW) -- stupid snark. If you have a problem with my barky little dog, pls be up front about it. Also, do I mow my lawn? (yes). Do I keep Pickles outside and barking all day? (no.) Is there the chance of Pickles eating your cats? (no.) Do I sell meth and/or shout swears at your Honda? (no.) Are you awoken by my carpool, honking at my house every morning around 8 a.m.? (no.) Did National Night Out have almost the opposite intended effect for me? ... Only with one dude, so, of course, I must focus all of my tiny typing power on that. Feel my passive agressive wrath back at you, Minnesotan!!! Grr.

Hey! It's Wednesday! Sweet. Looking forward to Saturday, for a variety of reasons. Wish us luck!

Onward.

A good, hard rain...

And it is!

It's a really lovely thing to come out of a theater venue, fat and stuffed on hugs and theatricalness, to find the world all transformed by sheets and sheets of water. It's a wonderful thing to give up and walk through quick moving puddles. And a pretty heartwarming thing to have your cat run to you and the open door when called, when a brand new rain catches him outside and unawares.

Lovely night...

* Bing'd! I danced inappropriately and attacked Mark Sweeney for money. Yea for good folks! Whew! Happy birthday E.J.!!! :)

* Fotis had an awesome show. And many many thanks to all you awesome people who came out! Yea!

* To Rarig, to go watch some Four Humor's "Mortem Capideum" (errr.. sp? I should know, I just saw it.) How cool, how cool, how cool. Happy. A perfect Four Humors show. (super secret props for using Sioux City as a local. Way cooler than my hometown deserves. Awesome.) Sweet and smart and scary too.

* Comedians make the bestest and most honest villians. More scary please.

* And now tea and toast and sleepy.

It's been a while since I've been puddlejumpin' -- and suddenly 'remembered being 21 and playing with friends on a similarily drenched and warm night in the Ames Arboretum. And then realized I wasn't quite ready to wax that nostalgic. But also realized that was about 11 years ago. Agh!! How nostalgic does one need to wax?? 11 years was about 8 lifetimes ago -- but... man. (nice memory though)

..how old am I???

Onward.

I'm a bad Fringer...

Today I cleaned and mowed and laundried.. And would have had time to see a Fringe show. But I have chosen not to. These, my friends, may be responsible life choices, but these choices also lead to irresponsible Fringing.

* Work. Hi Work. Dear work, I don't want to come to you tomorrow. I grow tired of these 6 day work weeks, even if they're short hours. Ah well...

* Best MN Summer Evening Ever! Boss Dave opened up his wonderful House On a Lake. Partner In Crime and I wondered & wandered our way to way-east-north suburbs, where we were spoiled with burgers, beers, boats, conversation and children. And s'mores. And children making s'mores. All topped off by a sunset, loons, and said lake. PIC threw at least one child into said lake. I spit at some bluegills (I'm still not sure why). We saw jupiter in the sky, Drew saw a shooting star. It -- was wonderful.

* PIC and I drove to Sonics afterwards, which was surreal - as Sonics has a 'holding area' for the drive thru overflow - and heartbreaking - as they did not have the fried Mac-n-Cheese bites we desired. However, their chili-cheese-tater-tots are as horrible and wonderful as they sound.

* Back to PICs for gin with citrus.

It was a true summer night! We appreciated MN the way it wants to be appreciated (which is very very rare for me) and I am appreciating PIC muchly, because he's also the best of BFFs.

* I'm off to do a Bingo show. Didn't that close three months ago? Um. Yes. But...

* 8:30! Tonight! Theatre Garage! Fotis funny!! Pls come see (and don't let me forget to pack my bass pls..)

Onward.

9 hours of sleep is my friend...

It's a Cinderella sort of morning: birds are singing, coffee's soaking, I got 9 hours of sleep last night and could do about 7 more. Whew. The animals were super cooperative in this endeavor. Awesome city.

Yesterday, I went home & crashed after work, and then onto Fringe!

* Saw an "Inconvenient Squirrel" last night: I think this may be my favorite of Scrimshaw inventions... Oh. I liked it so much. *grin* And awesome sqirrel based casting. Watching Dan & Tim & Joe play together, Craig is a beautiful tree (I mean that super positively), and something would have been super wrong if Reid wasn't cast is this production. I love the msg, I don't feel like the msg was knocked over our heads, I'm still giggling thinking of it, AANNDD they got a standing ovation from two 10 year olds in the audience. Awesome.

* Saw Rampleseed after that!! This is one of my favorite 'types' of theater--smart, physical people talking about smart things in surreal ways in silly hats. Low on production value, high on weird and smart and funny. It spoke the same stage language as a Rampleseed set -- and that was So Cool to see. And to see members of the audience get that feel. Yeaaa!! (and Tom & Tyler are just so damn fun to watch play.)

*Watch me go home and eat peanut noodles. Watch me self-medicate. Watch me sleep.

Hey! Come see Fotis today at 2:30 p.m. @ the Theater Garage!!! You'll feel sad if you don't. (He's awesomecityfunny-- and the show is highly praised, peeps) I'll be there, the "woman plucking on a bass behind him" (see why it's more fun to be an actor sometimes? People actually want to know your name.. ;) )

(...Actually, if you're going to see theater, you're honestly there to see people talking and dancing and acting, and not the backing band. But Dennis Curley & I have a whole diatribe of indulgence on this subject..) :)

Onward.

A buzz, a'tired...

Things are all weird. Or, at least.. nothing's settled.. that's fine. It's just a little exhausting.

Blurry Thursday! Little sleep, followed by lunch, prep and off to another lovely museum to help run a Nanoscale Forum. We were told to expect about 30 kids; we ended up with 23 adults. That being said, it was wonderful! Great people, nice feel, I learned how to better run one of these things. Yeaa!!! Very lucky.

To Fotis' Fringe show!! YEAHH!!! It's funny. You should come. Mike did an awesome job, I heart the stories and the audience was happy.

I watched a little cricket come out from backstage at the Theater Garage while Mike was performing, crawl across the stage towards him, stopping to listen. Mike is just that good. :)

To the Loring Pasta Bar for Nanodrinks and nano appetizers. We did a reading of a script I had written for Nanopurposes. It was well received. I am happy.

It's August, that weird time when, truly, nothing's settled. From newly forming improv groups (IAGG lottery today!); to Six Ring ending, being tossed like a game of Boggle (for excellent reasons) and starting again; to Theater auditions for new seasons; to the Science Museum closing for the RNC; to money and job questions; to PG being out of town; to new roommates; to wondering what to do with your garden as winter is truly just around the corner (even if it's stinky hot today). Unsettled.

But that's alright.

Onward.

Things I knew but 'am relearning: Part 184

Gaaack!!! So tired! So dazed! So.. ehhhhhh! My own fault... kinda..

Things I learned:

- When you want to go home, go the heck home. Edit the scene. It's others' choice if they stay - - don't feel you have to. Just go!

- Repeat the above message about 900 times.

I'm tired and worn out. Today, however, should be fun of good stuff - - if I can pull myself together, and start talking and focusing like a regular human being. I don't feel like a regular human being. I feel a tired and grumpy pufferfish - - all prickly and cynical (as I'm sure all pufferfish are).

I'll get over it, I swear.

But first I have to load a "Wheel of the Future" into my upright bass-filled Kia. Yeah. This is questionable.

Heyy!!! Come see Mike Fotis's show TONIGHT at the Theater Garage, starting at 7 p.m.. It's Fringe! Happy Fringing all!! (does it feel like Fringe? Not to me, said the pufferfish.. but it will, hopefully..)

The Eagle's Club pt. 2

Some things are brilliant...

The Eagle's Club in Seward... pt. 1

I think I kinda love it...

Have we mentioned the nanoscale?

Hello... Monday stampeded by like a herd of mice with places to go..

* Work! It was a day of three: tripping over a stool in front of an audience (which worried said audience a great deal), dropping a microphone (which worried me a great deal), and accidently throwing a small plush gibbon at a 5 year old's head. My aim was true -- it just sort of bounced off her temple, and she looked nonplussed (this is naturally what happens at an interactive monkey show. Isn't art interesting? I am not surprised). I, on the other hand, began adult-crisis mode (Are u ok??? The gibbon and I are really really really sorry). However, thank goodness, Mom and Emma were both suuuuuper cool. I never want to attack someone under six with a gibbon again...

* 'Went to a financial advisor, who told me a couple thing I already knew and a couple I hadn't considered. Not the call of action I was secretly hoping for. Left unsettled. Ehhhhhh...

* Conga with dear friend Sue!!!! Life is more balanced again... :)

* Herkimer's with dear friend T.R.!!! Life is funny and sweet too. (and sometimes, you get old and people you met when they were 15 are suddenly 21 with stories... Amazing.) :)

This week, friends from all over the nation are in St.Paul to discuss the future of Nanoscale Informal Science Education. They are awesome, rockin' people--I'm used to going to their city to talk about this stuff, and attempting to party like a rock star. This is their first time (for me) that they've come here to party, but while I'm on the clock. Last night ended on a dock on the Mississippi, with beers and acoustic guitars. (y'know.. Like we always do here in MN...*???*). I'm a weenie and already tired... But it's lovely... We will educate the public about things that hard!! W00t! (so tired)

Onward.

Hammerschlagen!!!! Or, How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Batman...

Yeaaa!!! It's been a jam-packed 12 hours. NOW, the maltipoo is sleepy. Not at 6:30 a.m. (when he decided that it was time to run and play), but now. Pickles, my friend, that.. is Bullshit.

Hammerschlagen! PIC and I ended up at the absolutely wonderful Dave's for his Sümmerfest--Brats! Beer! Hammer-n-nailed together--delightful!

We were introduced to the game of Hammerschlagen (or, as Josh called it, HammerNail). H.S. was developed by drunk, bored Germans, who found themselves with nothing but nails and time. (H.S. involves hitting nails into a log with the wrong end of a hammer. Metaphor runs deep in this game.)

* Watch out for petite girls in long skirts!! They schlag hammers like none others.

* I am again impressed with various friends' hand-eye coordination. Wow! I'm just sayin' -- people have mad, hidden skills.

* H.S. presented the world with an active, visual representation of my learning curve. Hi, Jen's Learning Curve. It's steep.

I got home around 3:30 a.m.,and the roommate moved in around 9 a.m.. I am tired. Remind me about the Scottish Jehovah's witness (he's adorable).

My house smells weird, as her stuff smells weird (i.e. different). It'l go away, but its just... weird.

Oh--PIC and I took in "Dark Knight" last night.

I wasn't looking fwd to it. Christian Bale hasn't done much that makes me excited (another obsessed, humorless character? Oh, Mr.Bale), and I felt similarily about Christopher Nolan (another humorless movie about obsessed males? Sacrificing everything and everyone in their life for unattainable goals..? Oh yes, more of that please... I have a serious Nolan-sized brick on my shoulder.)

But.. Damn. Dark Knight was good. Batman looked like Batman (even if he sounded like Tom Waits' drunk uncle--that was a silly choice.) The cinematography was amazing. I've never wanted to move to Chicago before, but now I do. And goddamn Heath Ledger--not only was he jawdropping, but the character was amazingly well handled within the deeper context of the story. Crazy.

There will still moments of utter humorlessness, but they're topped with a nice layer of humanity. I was riveted basically the entire time, even during the questionable cell-sonar god machine. (Oh, Morgan Freeman....)

Dammit. I like a Batman movie. (ohhh! And Harvey Dent! Excellent!!)

My animals are being adorable. I need to look like a human being soon.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Onward.

Post-goin'-out

Kids were uber (imagine the umlaut) cute at the Museum yesterday - - we dealt with monkeys, played Star Wars-based game shows, and I did my big silly show. In the front row were two four year olds, who had recently been shown that swirling your finger by your head and looking slyly at your partner is super-secret-spy-speak for "That person in front of us is CRAAAZY". Four year olds being sneaky is adorable. They'd try to communicate CRAAZY slyly to each other, but then get caught up in the story.. etc.. Yea!

Ended up at Conga (in NE, across the street from the Wells Fargo on Central) for Happy Hour with dear friends, including Partner In Crime. We slogged back 2-4-1s and ate delish half off appetizers (Pernil en Tostones, which basically means Pork and *starchy fried* Bananas - - Pork & Bananas go great together. Beautiful people were dancing beautifully, we gawked. More food (half a chicken for $3!?), more drink... indulgence!

Then to the Vegas Lounge (for the first time) for Karaoke. Where I fail in the cool, monotone hipster-song (Cake), I succeed in the screechy, slightly histrionic ballad (Bonnie Tyler) - - Bonnie Tyler, thank you for my jam.

Now I'm crawling out of the post-goin'-out dregs (did I get enough sleep? How is my tummy? ...I'm luckier than I deserve) .. blagghh. Really fun night though. I, possibly unnecessarily, feel guilty. Like "That was a stupid thing to do" - - when I don't think I did anything too terribly stupid. Did I? No? No. Aghhhhh...? It sucks to feel a certain way when you don't understand why you do - - or perhaps, I do understand and 'am just in denial. Ah well.. :(

Congrats to the kids for opening up the BNW mainstage show!!! Congrats to the kids for opening up "The Temp"! Congrats to all you kids mentioned in this month's Minnesota Monthly (seriously - - it's a Fringe who's who in there)

Tonight should be fun. Tomorrow should involves some loveliness (baby shower!), along with some possible weirdness (roommate moves in... aghhhh? No.. it's good. Or.. it should be.) Who knows... Please wish us luck.

Onward.

Chicken Girl and Rollercoasters...

I seemingly had so much to blather about on the way in, but my brain has emptied now that the computer is on.

So, sometime last summer, a 9ish year old girl on a bike decided to play chicken with my car. I slowed down, she swerved around the front of my car, looked back to laugh at me, I gave her a goddamn contemptuous dismissive look, which made her yell "Bitch!". Oh, and I got mad. Not because of the "Bitch"-thing (as that meant that the look had landed), but rather the kids-SHOULD-NOT-play with the f-ing traffic. That could have gone horribly. It was righteous, adult anger. I was 'in the right' - - and MAD. End of story.

Anywhoo, I'm driving through my neighborhood last night, and there's a group of kids walking through the middle of the street about a block away. This is a common occurrence. As I pull forward, one of them - - a 10ish year old girl in red - - starts walking AT my moving car. (This all happens in the space of about five seconds). I slow down (as one does) and when she decides to be close enough, seemingly ready to hit my moving car, I lay on the horn. She jump and screams, I drive away. And start giggling. I can hear her giggling too.

Dammit! I dearly hope there's only one 10 year old girl in Camden either stupid or ballsy enough to actively play with traffic. But that was actually kinda.. fun. I so wanted to be MAD. But I couldn't. I know it's sort of a dirty-old-man thing to surprise kids and then laugh at them. But she goddamn had it comin'.... And I dearly hope that she stops f-ing with cars.

The next time it happens, if it does, I may just stop there, and introduce myself (IF she doesn't run away or call me a bitch randomly... these are all possibilities too.) Who knows.

Lovely evening of hanging out, some lovely food, some questionable service (she was like me as a waitress - - social thing down! Timing thing not so..).

Someone I like hanging out with is taking off again (he's had a summer of awesome travel...). As boss-Steph put it, it's kinda a roller-coaster. I'm workin' on balance - - so much like a lovely song by Amos Lee, I'll keep it loose and keep it tight, or perhaps like 38 Special, I will indeed hold on loosely, but won't let go. Thanks, 38 Special.

'Had a dream last night that I was in a Fringe Show based on a nonexistent comic drawn by Craig R. Russell and I had no idea what my lines were. Troy (of SOTUP) :) was there, and his lines were gibberish. There was a heavy rental theme before that.

Onward.

Here is the church and here is the steeple, we sure are cute for two ugly people...

Yesterday was lovely. Really really lovely. If I can figure out how to incorporate parts of yesterday into a more regular life, that'd be awesome.

My friend Sambush helped to hook me up with gig with a large media provider. We filmed stories that had been sent into a large car dealership. It was lovely to be outside, fun to do, the two film-guys were just awesome, and I'd be Sam's straight man any day of the week. We even got lunch out of it. More of that, please.

I overpacked for the shoot, and now need to empty my car of 50 odd pounds of clothes and props. Ridiculous. However, the leopard-print stretchy pants continue to be a hit, I tell you.

Afterwards, I took the cat-pee-covered couch out of the garage!! I swept the garage!! I cleared a space in the basement!! I recycled the majority of the cardboard in the garage!! (I finally figured out how to ready cardboard for the recycling truck!) I thought petty unnecessary passive-aggressive thoughts about those who had left stuff with me, including family. Passive-aggressive thoughts = lame. An actual two car garage = awesome.

There's more to do, but I'm pretty damn proud for the moment.

My horoscope told me to get mad yesterday, and I hope I used that 'rage' to clean, rather than to produce snippy inner monologues.

I can clean and move large things and stain and repaint and feel all manly. I'd like to expand my manliness into the realm of plumbing and possibly large home-repair and finishing.

I'm on a giving away spree. Anyone want a hammock? (it's rope) Anyone want a large Amish-made amoire? (it's heavy, but really lovely).

Went to PG's, where he treated me to an awesome cold soup, and I ruined his would-be omelet. He has the ability to flip a six-egg communal omelet. I have the ability to make it into a scramble. Arghhh! Luckily, as he puts it, "I have patience for American cooks.." It was lovely though. Really really lovely.

July is running down Tom Petty's dream... (drain?) August will be busy. Why does September worry me? No matter. (lame.)

Onward.

In my kitchen, cookin' up stuff.. (finally)

Thank you thank you thank you - - I'm not sure how to comment back on comments on my blog. Maybe there's no way. Maybe I'm just dumb. Either way - - thank you. These things mean the world.

I've had my head all kerfluffed by stuff I need to work out. And it's been hard to remember to count blessings and keep perspective... when one's head is all buried in seemingly really important sand. I'm very lucky to have people in my life who drag me back (i.e. you), and sometimes hand me a sandwich - - so - - again, thank you!

I got to hang out with some of you awesome people last night, and got totally spoiled with food, beer and support - - very lucky. (Thank you!) Short term plans - - I apply for some money making things today, and see a financial advisor on Monday. (The Powderhorn Residents Group is one of the coolest organizations around.)

Fun game from last night - - "Headlines"! It is purchasable from Twin Cities Green (run by the lovely and generous Tina and Ryan), so it's all green n' stuff. The players are given a photograph, everyone writes a 'headline', you vote on your favorite, and however many votes you get is how many spaces you move up on the board. You get a certain distance, and then you have to write with a theme. ehhhh? Pretty simple, pretty fun - - it's like a really slow short form game.

Traffic was weird this morning. I don't know why. Just.. weird. Not normal moving. However, the Current played a three-song-set of happiness...

Oh! Tonight at 10 p.m., Brave New Workshop - - Come see Mike Fotis preview his Fringe show! (and come see me go "owww", as I reintroduce myself to my bass. Owwwww...) Mike not only tells damn funny stories, but is a snazzy dresser and all-around soul of goodness.

Onward.

I feel as though I've purchased something from the adult section of the cat food aisle. I don't know if Sebastien & I are ready to experience this tender of a moment together, much less any whisker lickin/g.

Dog treats offer nothing so sensual.

Is this what Purina thinks cat owners want? Or perhaps serving the crazy cat lady in all of us? I DID purchase it. There are a LOT of hearts on this packging. And the peaceful lady and her cat on the package ARE reclining, all dressed in white (possibly satin, it's hard to tell).

Damn you, Purina!!! ...creepy. (yet soothing.... dammit.)

Sebastien's & my love is currently Crab Flavored. Last week, it was a 'Dreamy Duo' of Milk & Cheese.

..creepy.

***************

Not knowing what to do with "Wednesday", I called my sister, who suggested a girl's night of pampering and chic flicks. So I did my nails, and watched the original Star Wars (whew. There are some stinky lines in that movie. That being said, I ADORE U, PETER CUSHING!!!!!) Is there anything better than than the last 15 minutes of that movie? At times, no. Even the ceremony at the end gets me.

Someday, I'll watch Rudy and Miracle and Hoosiers and every other movie I know that will twist me up and wring me out. Until then, the emotional distance of the Rebel Assault on the Death Star, please.

'Woke up at 4 a.m. to Pickles defending the house loudly, and then my sleep-addled, no A/C brain treated me to a montage of things I've done wrong in the last 12 years -- poor choices, poor purchases, poor decisions. Thanks a lot, brain. The catch is that I probably wouldn't be where I now, good or bad, without those decisions... So suck it, brain. Gack. I'd honestly rather focus on the good ones, and hopefully make some backpaddingly excellent decisions in the future.. Right? I'm supposed to be gaining experience, right? ...meh.

Looking forward to the weekend -- it should be fun! There is reception-ness and PG comes back and maybe an Adorable rehearsal and just maybe it will rain today (yeaaaa!)

And someday, I will come out of this vague morning funk (I'm still a little peeved at my brain, but can't deny that it may have a point...)

Onward.

Brilliant!!!

(I can't seem to get the picture to post... lamers).

BRILLIANT!!!

I've subscribed to Urban Prankster (Improv Everywhere's Blog) and I've been trying to think of Mpls-based Pranking goodness.. Googly eyes might be more my speed...

Onward.

Morning emo blog

Life is so harrrddd... I have no motivation (I just brainstormed one, but it seems like a lame thing to do... But necessary). I have no monnnnney (This is basically true. At least, not in the thing I call a checking/saving account. This sucks big donkey balls. Not having magical mystical money turns one quite grumpy, if you live in an almost functioning society where one exchanges it for goods and services. Which gave my trip to the library to the library a vaguely socialist feel *what a fine service for the people* and a horribly beaureacratic nonsense-y one *who designed this?! Why can't I do a search THIS way? Even the self check out wasn't intuitive*.) Blech.

The books are exciting though.

I checked out a Pimsler language tape.. If you've never checked out a Pimsler language tape/CD, there is nothing that will make a person (comedy-oriented person, at least) more whiggy. So mockable! So ridiculous! And I got it to take it seriously..(arghh). The CD is kinda horrible, but not quite to the delightful stage -- it's highjacked by it's usefulness. It feels like wearing argyle socks -- not cute whimsical argyle socks, but the socks of repetion, shame and usefulness. Am I repeating what the man tells me to say? Yes I am! Do I turn it down when I come to an intersection? Yes I do!!

I also got a couple of phrase books, including the sexy Lonely Planet phrase book, which has a whole section dedicated to gettin some (The section starts with 'Pick Up Lines' to 'Rejections' to 'Getting Closer' onto 'Sex', then 'Love' and finally 'Problems'. - Delightful!)

Someone I like spending time with speaks a billion other languages, so I'm trying to impress him with my ability to mangle his. Needless to say, French -- much like English -- is dumb.

The dog kept waking me up last night - not pleased! But it's cooler today, I think.

Onward.

Centralized. Questionably centralized.

Today got hot! Holy crap! Good intentions of "running" this afternoon flew out the window.. (I may try a later thing... or maybe just do sit ups at home.. eh.)

I attempted the Mpls Central Public Library today. It reminded me of my college library (big.. confusing.. pay for parking)... There are few signs in the Mpls Public Library - - you are to know what to do by smell. The maps are confusing, and don't show any dewey decimal-ness (*grin* I want to be part of a kid's speed metal group called "Dewey Decibel"). Mpls - - why did you suck all the fun out of going to a library? Jen - - do you need all of your libraries to be Barnes & Nobles? Lame!

Despite the lack of joy, the comics section was finally found, and fun was had again. I left with two cookbooks, five comics (er.. graphic novels. It always feels weird to find the dirty book in the Library. There was some Anime that was raunchier than expected. *grin* I had to turn the book over to be sure they were really doing what it looked like they were doing, and, yes.. I think they were. I put it back, and then picked up another that was boob-filled. You crazy Japanese!), and three "how to learn a foreign language" things. However, I bypassed "Infrared Wedding Photography" and numerous Harry S. Truman biographies.

Back to work.

Onward.

Iz so kleen!

Yes and yea! Back yard hassled with! First floor floors washed or swept! Dusting attempted! Front porch un-white trashed! Feelin' better and less shamed. Huzzah.

Except that I've lost the garbage bags. This seems like a wholly improbable thing to do, but there you go.

24 hour Improv Festival completed! I hope that Josh K. didn't break something by consuming that much Red Bull. I got to play with Stagecoach, Team Negate (teee!), Adorable, & Vaudeville... 'Played pianer for Larnyx, which is always delightful... Davie & I had a set that felt really good (awww, why's he gotta go? But I'm so proud of him for doing so..) and Adorable went 40 minutes. Not that we were doing groundbreaking stuff, but we could have happily gone for another 20, happy & deliriously zombie and glass-vagina-breaking our way....

Shower,a drop off at ARC's, and a after-school special trip to the Library... Wish me luck.

Oh! Reading Daniel Pink's "A Whole New Mind" -- It's fabulous (Hopefully I got the title right).. Might be a must read.

Anything else? Happy pretty summer day. I hope it's treating you well...

Onward.

It's weird only if you choose it to be so...

Posted my first 'rental/roomie' ad on Criagslist... My goodness, that feels weird, but necessary. Like going to the gynecologist.

(This is true on so many levels..)

Late night Six Ring last night was actually lovely, and partially delirious--nothing like some 1 a.m. Improv after a full's day of work. They did awesome though! :)

Happily ran around the lake (of the Isles) this morning -- it was lovely--and purchased lemonade from possibly the cutest, most well-designed lemonade stand -- ever! Adorable and so... everything you'd want your design-wise lemonade stand to be. Bright colors, hip stencils. My cardboard box and paper sign model was blown out of the water. The kid was pretty cute too.

Tonight, I hope to eat well, play happily, and see good peeps -- what's a good housewarming gift??? (Brillo pads? Bleach? The Home Depot gift card that I wish I could afford... Someday...)

(Good news!! My long dead laptop decided to turn on! I hope it makes a habit of this!!! 'Wanted to make some zombie or christ reference to my laptop, but I shall not! I shall just be grateful for what time it has with me... That sounds a trifle fatalistic, but that's ok!)

Onward.

Super pretty.

Suuuuper pretty.

And here it comes. Your guide to living in down times. Or at least, the tips. It's all a bit ridiculous (some of them don't apply to me, and some of them are pretty obvious, but it's always nice to see these things written.) Arrrrghhh...

Strange disjoint day yesterday, but happily capped off by Venture Bros. with Kevin M. YUM! De-friggin'-lightful. We ate cheesy puffs, drank a couple beers, and celebrated one of the finest animated shows around. Damn. There was even a Double Dare reference. And a The Damned reference. It'd been too long...

I stopped by Trader Joe's to pick up said cheesy puffs, only to relearn a valuable lesson about grocery store sushi.

My mom mentioned someone at the college she works at, getting financial aid for traveling and having to write about it. My secret response was "well, if someone paid me to travel, I could sure as hell write about it.." ...and realized that that's a pretty crappy response. Maybe I should actually start by trying to write something interesting while stuck in the everyday. That'd be good. Maybe I'd be a better writer if one could find meaning in the mundane.. huh, Jen, huh??? (Travel writing seems like a cop-out. Of course, it's going to be interesting! Your perspective has shifted!) So - - anywhoo... I'd like to get on that. Maybe it's time to replace that laptop.

Activities abound this weekend... but all at strange times.

Onward.

Well, and then there's that...

What will make this blog more exciting? How about a picture of a cute dog/teddy/thingie... adorable!

Yesterday was a unexciting blur of 'lil bits of work, 'lil bits of talk, and a lovely rehearsal involving two of my favorite people and the Green Mill. Yes, it may not technically qualify as "rehearsal", but it was necessary and the first step to real rehearsals. I'm excited. :)

I ran around Lake of the Isles, and found that I no longer have the urge to tell the lake to suck it. Awesome. Perhaps Lake of the Isles and I can now live in peace - - it remains to be seen.

I had requested a weird work schedule today, as I thought my morning would be chock a block with activity. Alas, that activity got taken away, and I spent the morning feeling like a... bad kid. That was a little silly. However, I meditated by means of sewing cute red cordouroy "draft stops" (I'm so ready for winter) and my first stuffed animal. It's a mouse. If it comes out, please expect pictures. Domestication of self nearing completion.

So, this weekend is the 24 Hour Improv Marathon at the Brave New Workshop!!! Come see me, if y'wanna...!!! It's for a great cause!! Check out www.bravenewworkshop.com for additional details. But come see moi at:

12:35 a.m. Sunday morning/Saturday night - Vaudeville with a Pig (Dave Jennings & Me)

1:10 a.m. Sunday morning/Saturday night - Stagecoach (The Six Ring Circus coaches unite!)

1:15 p.m. Sunday afternoon - THE GROUP THAT IS YET TO BE NAMED. (but Jim Robinson will be involved - - need there be more said? Beth Aylmer, Kelly Kohlbacher and more!)

8 p.m. Sunday night - Adorable!!! (Butch n' Josh n' me)

I will be raising $$ for this...

Onward.

Pickles porn

My dog just discovered a toy in the yard that squeaks. It sounds like he's torturing Mickey Mouse's infant. It's Malti-poo heaven.

Maltipoos, much like the T-Rex, respond only to movement. It took him a good two days to discover this toy.

The cat only observes and sighs.

Onward.

Softballed.

Yesterday blurred by, taken up by more sewing (The Starbucks barista asked me about my wallet! Success!) & cleaning the partial-hell out of my garage. I am one couch away from a super clean carhouse -- awesome! Celebrated by purchasing white thread at Target and heading over to Steph's for beer and chips.

I was going to follow Steph to kickball, but instead got a call from Davey re: softball. That's what I am -- the desperate booty call of organized sports.

I have wanted to join the Skirt Turtles for a while, but my Monday nights got strangely sucked away. No matter.

Within the play of the game, I found myself thinking of friends in terms I haven't used.. at all... in my adult life. Like "Mike is really good at throwing & catching" and "Jim can run really fast" and "DEB IS GOOD!"

I was also reintroduced to the back field (that sounds dirty), and felt that same creeping dread every time a ball was hit. (Davey traded gloves with me.. I don't think that have made any difference..) It was like trying to remember how to speak Spanish again, after 20 years of not speaking Spanish. But I hit the ball three times, successfully not closing my eyes! And.. the Skirt Turtles rock.

I came to realize why I haven't sought out organized sports.. Like organized religion, it's a lot of pressure (not from the Skirt Turtles - - they were awesome): I don't want to f up with everyone watching. Your rules seem hindering. Can't I do my own thing. Someone will be better at this stuff than me, and possibly trash talk my inability to connect. Organized theatre or organized music, I can cover if I mess up. Within the sports arena, it's immediately clear that I swim in realms of suck. I could get better - - but right now, suck.

However, the plus of organized sport (and, one would hope, religion), is that you get chicken wings and pizza afterwards. Success!

All things being equal, I would actually honestly really now love to go to a batting cage and/or throw a ball around. That sounds like fun. :)If you feel like either of those, please let me know.

Started off the day by putting off getting up, and then heading over to the Children's Museum to play with some preschoolers. They were crazy adorable. We brought mouse ears. Adorable!

Onward.

happy.. 7th?

It's Monday, which is my day off. Today is an extra special day off as everything I had scheduled got cancelled -- success! (?)

- Took PG to the airport, after a run around most of a lake and breakfast. He's off to Buenos Aires (good lord, spelling?) for two weeks, lucky duck.

- It takes me a long time to eat cold soup. I cannot eat cold soup under pressure.

- Onto home, to dust for a potential-roomie meeting, which took all of 2 minutes. Judge my lifestyle, stranger! I feel she was unimpressed.

- I read a lot of Craft blogs. Lots of neo-hipster-make-it-yourself-thrift-friendly blogs. Not because I do this, but rather because it's something I'd like to be. Something I admire. Last night, all this media built up in me, and turned into a sewing massacre of success!!! I now have a wrap skirt made from a 1960's table cloth! I now have an oil cloth wallet! I, for the first time in my life, am almost out of white thread! The mind boggles. During this, I boozed on cheap red wine and smoked a single cigarette afterwards. Weird? Yes. Satisfying? Wholly crap, I made stuff!!!

- I sew like I draw. Impatiently.

- Before this, I made leftover-chicken pasta salad. This morning, I've made chili. I'm basically domesticating myself.

- This morning involved more sewing (damn u, <a href="http%3A%2F%2Fnikkishell.typepad.com%2Fwardroberefashion%2F">wardrobe refashion blog!</a>) and cleaning out the garage... Gross, but it's so close.

- My neighbor informed me that a kid had cut through my yard and stopped to take a drink at my hose. She waited for him on my stoop (she is awesome) and confronted him. He lied, and said he knew me, and said "she's got the little black dog." It's common knowledge that I have a dog, but weird to have a stranger use that knowledge as a lie of familiarity. Also, nothing's as private as you think. People will test garage doors and walk through your yard, just to see if you left a window open by mistake. It's not just North Mpls, but man... Just... weird. Part of me is "stay the hell out of my yard" and the other part is just glad that my house looks like salvation-army-land instead of crackville. I'm just gonna knock on wood, and be grateful for my yippy-ass dog. Invite no one in, keep your blinds down. Man.

Onward.

Happy Belated 4th!

This will be a quickie...

- Worked at the Museum... Full of families. Happy kids, most Star Wars knowledgeable.

- Jogged along the river. That was lovely.

- Onward to Joe & Teresa's, the kindest and most generous. Missed the softball game (booo). Found a huge number of people in their backyard! Awesome! It was like TCIF's kid brother... kinda.

- Krystal let us eat her food! We made corn! Corn is delicious!

- PG and I scurried down to Sea Salt Eatery. If you haven't been (this was my first time), it's absolutely lovely. Ellie wasn't lyin'. Right by the Minnehaha Falls - - fabulous fish, done fresh by really nice cool people. Seriously - these are good peeps, all late 20's early 30's, jawdroppingly laid back and nice. Excellent food, including a catfish po'boy which was worth the 5 a.m. heartburn.

- 'Tried a black beer, which is Brazilian. It was actually light and budweisery, but black. Cool.

- We missed the Roe Family Singers (booooo).

- Sea Salt played Bruce Springsteen on the stereo (yeaaaa!). I felt happily patriotic.

- We drove home in a happy technicolor war zone, as all of south Minnaepolis was exploding things.

Hoping your 4th was laid back and lovely. It's nice to drive through neighborhoods and see families/friends actively lounging. Making a point to lounge. Encouraging this point with beer and yard games. That's pretty sweet stuff.

More lounging! Now!

As long as it took this summer to get here, it's certainly clipping by.. but it's an okay pace so far. Let's see how August pans out. I hope July is full of loveliness. It weirdly feels like winter is around the corner, or that there's no way to enjoy summer enough. Ah well.

Onward.

That was yesterday...

I was grumpy yesterday. Someone beat me down with the grumpy stick. Sorry about that.

I couldn't work up the urge to do anything useful, and finally just gave up, resigning myself to the couch, Anthony Bourdain & bean dip. And after the Korea episode, Pickles & I decided to take a walk around Lake of Isles, as it was beeeeutiful yesterday. A phone call later, & Partner in Crime instead offered up a BBQ at friend Damon's place. And suddenly, it's fun city again! Yeaaa!

- Heard a rumor about the end of the new Hulk movie... I hope it's true...

- Drove to NE looking for buddies (who had taken off), and found Hipshaker night (every Thurs at Jitters). Groovy R&B from the 60s and girls in cute dresses, unafraid to dance by themselves (as all girls in cute dresses should be). Adorable!! I wanna play!! (one girl was even wearing a hat... A thrifted 1930s hat with her homemade cherry-covered dress... Yea!!!) Next time, I'm dressin' up.

- PIC & I head for the hills, and then decide to attempt homemade fried mac n' cheese bites. We came close. I think the trick may be homemade sauce and possibly some corn starch. This was Sonics' fault (the chain, not the hedgehog)

- I work today and tomorrow, as I forgot to take them off... (yeargh?) But it shouldn't be bad.. It's not for long, and afterwards should be fun! Holiday weekend fun. PG leaves for Buenas Aires (sp?) on Sunday, so going to try and steal as much PG time as possible.

Happy 4th! Happy Birthday to the Great Experiment! Now go eat something patriotic... (W00t!)

Onward.

oh, fer hell...

You know me. Mornings are beautiful and lovely and suck ass. It's a half hour before my first show here at the museum, and I'm suitably grumpy. No reason to be grumpy. Just.. grumpy.

Well.. perhaps reason to be grumpy. Or, rather, I'm giving myself reasons to be hella grumpy. $$. Lack there of. Feeling a tad lost. These are normal things, and everyone (no matter how successful) goes through these things. However, f-ing A - - I'm feeling a tad grumpy and lost this morning.

Emailed a 20 year old stranger about living with me. That feels weird.

Looked over my finances. Wondered what I was doing wrong.

Have to do some financial stuff this morning. It's not hard, just crappy.

Have to do some financial stuff soooon (house-wise). Again, not hard. Just.. intimidating. And what's right!? No one knows.

And now my horoscope sends me this: "Watch out for vague plans and cheap solutions today. The first serious challenge may send you all the way back to square one". What!? ARGHGHH!! Should I just wait and see how things shake out!?

Again.. we all go through this. Money and finances can suck so bad, but I know they don't have to. argh.

Along these lines, I just read the superquick "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need" - - lovely!

(guys... I think I just need to sell my house. Maybe that's the truth of it. arrrgh.)

Anywhoo, here's the 6 Bunko Lessons to Careers...

1. There is no plan.
2. Think strengths, not weaknesses
3. It's not about you.
4. Persistence trumps talent.
5. Make excellent mistakes.
6. Leave an imprint.

Vague and cool. I'd recommend the book to anyone, especially all of you's in college and such.

Okay.. I'm done complaining. Onward.

Where is the love?

I think the Workshop shrunk a little since the weekend. It's lost some of this weekend's glowing sheen, and has been replaced with a coziness, like coming back to your childhood home.

We're tired, and today grew into post-crazy-fun grumpy and tiredness. Argh. Luckily, good people are afoot, and good people understand.

It's almost the 4th of !uly -- how strange.

Onward.

Just us chickens...

Coldtowne actually ended up leaving this morning, which seems much better-er than leaving at 10 p.m. last night. The house is now down to 1 cute dog vs. 2, and 0 lovely gentlemen vs. 3. Ah well...

- Opened a show about monkeys & their puppet counterparts at the museum. Thank heaven for four year olds in cowboy boots. When I asked "Are you guys ready?", he very honestly replied "I don't know.." and then I had to confess that I wasn't sure if I was ready either. However, I was partially saved by the world of 4 year old stand up, where the standard monkey jokes (800 lb. Gorilla, make like a banana..) kill... Yea!

- Saw Wall-E. This is a big movie. There are so many damn layers to this movie. It's jaw-droppingly beautiful. And funny. And sweet. And smart. It's Pixar in the bigger sense -- it's about very very big (but small) things. (Plus... Um. A delightful cameo by someone who makes me very happy)

- Walked around St. Anthony Main and saw deer, bunnies, ducks, and a turtle. Idyllic! And.. "I don't trust this Obama fellow... Change is for hobos." (courtesy of Jastroch--funny)

- Coldtowne went to a baseball game, and I went to Psycho Suzis with Partner in Crime. This was like Christmas. Yea for balance!

And now I'm up, and everyone's gone. This truly means that it's back to takin care of stuff, and work, and whatever can fill a day. I'm on it.

Onward.

How can so much fun equate to so much sleepy?

Mike Fotis took this photo. This photo makes me incredibly, stupidly happy. Thank you so much, Mike!! :)

Please note: This is a horribly written blog. There's not much room in my brain for anything else.

***************************

WOW!!! WOWWWW!!!! ... Wow!!!!

TCIF was like Adventureland, but for grown ups and less nausea-inducing. TCIF was over stimulatingly awesome. TCIF left me beaten up, delighted and tired. Thank you thank you thank you!

It was a party with everyone you know, with everything you love. We have been all spoiled silly.

Friday was delightful, interrupted only by a work meeting and an attempted run around Lake Calhoun. I thought it might be shorter than Lake of the Isles. I was wrong. (I think I would have been okay, if it hadn't been for the temp... whew.) 2/3rds of Coldtowne & 2/2s of Buddy Daddy arrived Friday morning, after driving 18 hours non-stop. They crashed, I went to a work meeting, and then forced 3/3rds of Coldtowne into eating at Punch Pizza. (Delish!)

Did Friday REALLY hold that much goodness? I'm checking Mike's photos to be sure. Damn.

Yes.

7:00 - pH (Chicago) / the Election Show (Seattle)
8:30 - Rampleseed / Irish Mutts (San Francisco)
10:00 - Five Man Job / Coldtowne (Austin, TX)
11:30 - Girls, Girls, Girls / Pimprov (Austin, TX / Chicago)
12:30 - Neutrino - Twin Cities

I played piano for the Irish Mutts, who made me cry just a little in the best way possible. I also played for Neutrino, which had the best ending ever. :) All of these shows were nuts. It was so much fun to see Coldtowne screw with each other; it was a delight to be musically taken by Girls, Girls, Girls; and then there was Pimprov. Pimprov.

Saturday involved some sleep and a trip to Victor's (again, DELICIOUS!!!). Coldtowne went to the MOA, I went to a Slingshot Harold workshop (thinkthinkthink) and all came back together... It seems to me there was food involved. I can't remember it now. This sucks. It was delicious. (errr... Almonds from SA)

Saturday night was aces. Damn, the funny!!! It was an amazing night, with a secret nod to the BNW and Bassprov for destroying the audience. Played piano for Survivors. (delightful!) And then to the g'dam'd CC Club, which was honestly perfect. I don't think I've ever been to CC Club with improv folks - - surreal! I took Coldtowne to Little T's afterwards, as they should go. Pride Fest added a bit of zing to Little T's, as did the fascinating and possibly horrible man at the next table, taking pictures of the six skimpily dressed Asian women at his booth.

Then to Andy's, then to Jill's, and suddenly morning-birds are singing and it's time to go home.

I bailed on Sunday workshops (as I suck), slept, got the boys into the Star Wars exhibit, checked my email, and then took them to Cecil's in Highland Park (again, food!) which scored with high marks (yea!!). Back to the Workshop, for a truly delightful Sunday night.

8:00 - Police Cop Detective PI / Mustache Rangers / HUGE / Buddy Daddy

There was only goodness with this.

The final group, Buddy Daddy, took Minneapolis and demolished us with cuteness.

Appropriately, the night ended at the Mill.

We, as a community, are exhausted now.

Coldtowne leaves tonight, which is sad-making. It's been lovely to hang out with them, and force them to eat at my favorite places (and they have been incredibly, unnecessarily generous in feeding me).

Fun. Fun fun fun. :)

Not ready for expected collision with the real world (work, bills, etc.), but it'll be okay.

Congratulations to all (Jill, Butch, performers, BNW staff, concierges, hosts, students and performers) and nice work!!! (I love that, in the end, Butch said it was because of the audience that this happened. That's pretty amazing. I guess, in many many ways, it kind of is.)

Onward.

Animals are angels & TCIF!!!!

They let me sleep! Pickles only went out once and rest of the time there was sleep!!

TCIF was... Huge.

- Joe Bill's here!! That means it's reall!!!

- Met Girls Girls Girls and Pimprov. Now have a goal of introducing Chris Trew to as many people as humanly possible.

- Sets were great!!! Larnyx, and I missed T-Rex (arggh), and Stevie, and I missed SCRAM (arghh) and 1-2-3 Improv! and so happy and pleased and filled with love about the V w/a P set I can't tell u. (...and thank u, Nebraska...)

- Hanging out was fun!!! Davey's pizza idea was brilliant!

- and finally to home. I have one, short work-related meeting today and then its back. I'm looking fwd to it like nuts. Nuts, I tell u. Wish us luck... :)

Come out and see the madness tonight -- you'll be happy you did. Brave New Workshop, 2605 Hennepin, http://www.twincitiesimprovfestival.com

Onward.

Animals are jerks & TCIF!!!!

Animals are jerks, seriously. (Unless perhaps their cuteness somehow outweighs their inherent jerk-like qualities) Last night, two animals (and humidity) conspired to have me sleep a mere 3.5 hours last night. Was it only 3.5? It felt like 3.5. But hey -- I successfully woke up at 6 am, blurred and beat down. Awesome drinks with Steph and Sarah probably didn't help things, but I'm still blaming the kids. Arghhhhh...

Highway 100 is my Vegas. Highway 100 holds Trader Joe's, Cub, and a certain Bibles for Missions thrift store. I can only do highway 100 once a month or less. However, I now have cheap food and a $3 butler chair. My refrigerator and living room are both now complete.

Hey punks -- It's TCIF!!!!! (everyone owes Butch & Jill shots and hugs!) Come to the Brave New Workshop anytime this weekend for some funny. Some really amazing stellar funny. It's gonna be stupid, how good the funny will be. Life is short. Next time, you might be reincarnated as a sea slug. You should probably just come to TCIF while you can. You'll thank your past lives for being so damn good.

Why can't I nap??? Is it the coffee that helped me survive a 7 am call? Arghhh!!!! Stupid irony. (if that is, indeed,what I am experiencing.)

The cat trying to make up for jerkiness by being super cuddley (sp?), while the dog just wants to eat the cat's poo. ...gross.

Onward.

-1 day and counting...

Before TCIF begins, I have to wake up at 6 a.m. tomorrow. Please god, help me remember to wake up at 6 a.m. tomorrow.

Monday sped by and I played catch up. I also ran around Lake of the Isles (stopping only to look at the dog park) all by myself. Go me. I thought about walking for some of it, but my attention span couldn't handle it. Run!!

I also cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. I now have a shoe rack. I love this shoe rack. I have too many shoes. However, they look really really nice on this rack.

Tuesday sped by, topped off by some Six Ring Circus and hangin' out.

Wednesday is speeding by, but the end result should be fun.

Then, I'm going to wake up at 6 a.m.

Followed by a Thursday which involves a ridiculous amount of stuff, but again, the end result should be fun.

(Also, cherries have got to be the best fruit EVER. Just sayin'.)

I'm ridiculously excited for the next four days of TCIFness. I'm also nervous, but it's nervousness of my own making. Needless to say, a) weird worlds are going to come crashing together, b) my mind will be blown, c) neat people are going to hang together, d) I'm not going to screw up any of the good stuff I currently got goin'. That's the goal.

"Not to screw anything up" is a pretty lame declaration. How about "being clear about what's good for me/what I want" and "staying positive" and "having hells amounts of fun" - - There. I like that better.

I was this close to fostering a baby dachshund. oooh. Now I want a baby dachshund.

See you guys at the theater. :)

Onward.

Nice joke, Cavett...

That's Woody Allen would say to Dick Cavett. We know because Dick Cavett said so.. I was going to work backwards, but...

Saturday:
- My mom drives into Norfolk, and buys me shoes. Thanks Mom!

- We have tech...

- The kids knock their show out of the ballpark. Seriously. We are all delighted. My mercy...

- We drive to the Johnny Carson Theater, and the pacing begins. There's one thing possible more hair-raising than checking your make-up in a room marked "Robert Klein"...

- And that's having Eddie Brill** say "I've read your blog..." bwahahahah!

- We do the show! We do good! My knees go slightly out when I step out onto stage with the flag for John, see 1,300 people, and then 'am forced to stand still. I'm fine if I can move - - standing still, my body believes I should faint. ...It's something I'm working on.

- Dick Cavett says amazing things, and tells amazing stories. He then hangs out with us and the stand-ups in the hallway, shows us a W.C. Field's bit, and then tries to teach us how to moonwalk. My mind is surreal-ly blown...

Things I've loved the most about Norfolk so far:

1) the love in the room for late Friday night "blue" show. Serious. 300 happy people, listening contently, bemusedly drinking and being made to laugh. How can a profession that supposedly harbors so much self-hate love people so much that all they want to do is make them laugh? You can psycho-analyze this into the ground (it's for attention, etc..) but... man. Funny damn people. So much love.

2) Watching all of us comedians pace backstage at the Johnny Carson Theater... There's Eddie Brill**, pacing. There's Robert Klein, kinda pacing. There goes Deacon, pacing... Dick Cavett, however, was having none of it. :)

** Mr. Brill, ;) It was such a pleasure meeting you... Thank you for all of your generosity - - it was an utter joy. Can't wait to see you soon, hopefully visiting us in Minnesota.. :)

We take off. John Haynes drives THE ENTIRE WAY. The man knows no sleep. I am amazed.

Sunday:

- Back to home, where I wake up questionably early and clean.

- Lovely dinner.

- Adorable went up at IAGG. hehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... That was fun. :) I can't wait for more (and many thanks to Lauren for the coachin')

It's back to kinda the regular, but not really. Improv Festival starts this Thursday. It's gonna be madness. I've got my tank top. I'm ready for my performer pass. The rest will come.

Please come see Vaudeville with a Pig this Thursday at 10 p.m.! At the Brave New Workshop, as part of the Twin Cities Improv Festival!

Onward.

The Braveiest

Last day of Norfolk! Arghhhh!! Again, the people are incredibly nice and generous...

- Kids' last tech yesterday, they perform today. Funny bits to me -- the 17 year old with a 45 year old's knowledge/taste in music.. A really smart 45 year old. (is that a Roger Waters' t-shirt you're wearing, Paul? Is that you knowing all the words to "Born to Run"? Well played!)

- Sat in a titch on Eddie Brill's stand up class...

- Last night was the last night of the competition -- Deacon won!! Yeaaa!!!

- Went to a banquet thingie after the show (and a quick Target run).... Reintroduced myself to Eddie Brill (you can google him) and introduced myself Robert Klein (you'll go, "Ooohhh.. That guy..."). 'Said "I'm Jen Scott, I'm with the Brave New Workshop, the comedy troupe..." and they said, "You're with the B.N.W.? Well, you're the bravest.." Hiyoooooahh! (perhaps they meant the target dress.. Either way... I'll take it!)

- Met a guy named Micah Sherman, who knows Rachel Bitney (mind weirdly blown). Micah's funny. He does movie things. That's exciting....

- Tech, kids' show & our show tonight.. And then the drive... See u on that other side thing (i.e. Mpls) Wish us luck!

Onward.

Hansel... Gretel... Heavy... Metal...

Last day-plus here in Norfolk.. The kids are great.. We're in tech currently -- in a big brick community college theatre... They're lovely and funny -- We've been so lucky..

Last night, we watched some more Stand Up (Deacon Grey = Funny), ate some more McDonalds (that's twice this week), and then drove a bit out of town, where we perfomed in an "Adult Only" showcase.. Never have the suggestions of "erectile dysfunction" and "sex swing" been more fully embraced. That being said, Nebraskans make a generous and friendly audience.. :)

More stand up and a banquet thingie tongiht (which may possibly include Robert Klein ANNNDDD Dick Cavett), and then Saturday (our last day..). We drive home after our Saturday performance, making us some highway-driving sleepy monkeys...

The kids are doing their stand up. This is brilliant. :)

Onward.

It's Thursday - - only two more days of hiding left...

hNorfolk, pronounced Norfork, has been lovely and fine..

- Norfolk needs women!!! Ladies -- this state is filled with lonely blond muscle-bound gentlemen, who fill up their free time with working out (and watching some football... actually, a lot of football) Notably, there are not many 20-35 year old women around here...(as I assume they've probably flown the coop and headed to college), but bevvies of high school-educated guys who probably know how to change a tire... That is not an euphemism. Ladies - - you could have yourself a beautiful four bedroom house (for about $90,000) and a man who works construction (again, not a euphemism). There's a catch, of course... but everyone here IS really really nice, honestly. Where'd the women go, we don't know... but, Nebraska seems to need women.

- Our kids are awesome. (knock on wood)

- 'Saw some of the stand ups last night... very very funny. As Davey put it, "this could be the Sundance of Stand Up" - - and that'd be very very cool. I loved the host, Jeff Caldwell (dear Jeff Caldwell, I'm a fan)... Also, Chuck Bartell says hello, Twin Cities!!

- Ended up at the Mint Bar... which was like Buffalo Alice's in Sioux City, but just a titch more hardcore. Outside smelled like cow poo, inside smelled like.. ehh... cleaning solution. This is a local bar. However, the locals were patient, the beer was insanely cheap, and the jukebox was brilliant!!! (including a clandestine GNR moment... thank you, Mint Bar)

- It feels like summer here - - or at least the summers I grew up with. Warm and humid, everything smells (mostly good), the colors are bright and the concrete gets hot!! My hair and skin are reverting back to old habits...

- If I still had cable, I would never leave the house.

Back to the college (where we're teaching the workshops), for lunch and workshopiness.. Looking forward to getting back to the cities (nervous about the rest of the month, missing some peeps and animals something fierce), but it's been lovely to hide...

Onward.

Norfolk NE, day 2... no... 3...

Welcome to Wednesday, here in Norfolk! What I've learned:

- Norfolk can be pronounced both as Nor-folk, or as Nor-fork (which is how I originally learned it, figured I had learned it wrong, but alas.. Norfork is more than acceptable.)

- Under no means take the $.99 margarita as a good idea. Under no means have two because they're cheap.

- Rice crispie bars are better here.

- Runzas still make Runzas!!! A runza is a local dish... like a calzone that you can pick up, or like a pastie with a bread crust (instead of pie crust). Runzas are generally filled with ground chuck and cabbage. They are still delicious.

- Every man between the ages of 21 and 35 here is blond, built, and possibly works construction. It's getting to the ridiculous stage. Even the guy who gives speeches to teens on abstinence -- blonde, built, unnecessarily tan, has probably worked construction.

- I have eaten too much red meat. My disgestive track feels like there's a veal farm growing inside of it. Despite my love of the runza, IT'S TOO MUCH! IT'S TIME FOR THIS TO STOP.

- Johnny Carson lived at 306.

More to come... Onward.

NE, day 1 into 2

Hellooo from Norfolk, land of the INCREDIBLY NICE PEOPLE! (damn... I missed this. Hellos and thank yous and w00t! And it's sincere! Even the poor amazing girl in the Walgreens with the brain trauma and the 4 month old... Good god!)

Last night after classes, we all de-evolved just a bit in our inability to find anywhere to eat after 11 p.m.. We ended up at a McDonalds. But... the goddammn friendliest McDonalds at 11 p.m. on earth. Awesome.

First day of classes went well... looking forward to today, even though it's very comfortable to stay here in the Rodeway Inn, listen to the birds (and the highway) outside), and type on this borrowed laptop. I should really do something responsible soon.

My throat is thinking about leaving me. I'm convincing it to stay.

I got to be on the Sioux City News! ...bwahahahaha. If you want, here is the article. In watching this (Jen, spit out your gum), I've realized that I've got a tad of the crazy eye. Whuf. Nice thing - - they edited me short - - but that's exactly what I wanted to say! Thank you, Laura awesome tv lady!

For more crazy eye, come check out the 48 Hour Film Festival tonight at 8:30 p.m. at the Riverview! I'm part of the Urban Mountain Media production - - I have three lines - - the short itself should be cool (I'm curious to see what Harry and the boys do!)

My room is huge. Hopefully mom will drive down from Sioux City, and come stay with me on Friday.

Onward.

NE day -1 & 1

Helloooo from the Rodeway Inn in Norfolk,NE...

Yesterday involved:

- An absolutely lovely breakfast.. :)

- Taking Pickles to his dog sitter. Kim is amazing. Pickles will be hanging out with a yorkie named Diesel. Diesel might teach Pickles to dance. Pickles may also be hanging out with a couple of labs and a couple of pitbulls.. This may blow Pickles' mind.

- Meeting Haynes, sleepy Kristine and Davey at the Workshop, loading into Haynes' truck and we're off!!!

- To Mankato! To a rest stop! To LeMars, Iowa (the Ice Cream Capitol of the WORLD... I purchase some Wells Blue Bunny paraphanelia *sp?*, and we all take in the bikers..)

- To.. my mom's in Sioux City.. (yea!!!) ohhhhh... My mind is lightly blown... Mom makes loosemeat sandwiches and cheesecake (which is exactly the meal we ate for my high school open house), and Davey is slightly weirded out when I clear his plate. I am slightly weirded out when I clear his plate. Old habits.... (guests sit, Scotts' feed u...) But he handles it excellently and thus begins the never-stop-eating portion of our trip. Hi Mom!!! :)

- A mere two hours into NE (through the pretty rolly hills part) and we are in Norfolk.

- We are staying at the Rodeway Inn.. One of the organizers of the festival takes us to dinner at a place Whiskey Creek. "It's a peanuts on the floor sort of place" she explains, and it's weird that we all know exactly what she means. Waittress Amy B. prods us if we have any birthdays in our group coming up, and Davey handles being chanted and clapped at brilliantly. (bwahahah!) So far, admittedly, this has been delightful!

- Workshops begin today. My voice is questionable, so having my own room has been lucky and hopefully healing. Time to act like a grown up... (i.e. Turn off the Tom & Jerry cartoons I'm watchin'...)

Onward.

"It doesn't move fast, but it never stops"

Just got off the phone with my sister... god. She lives in Iowa City (in the way southeastern corner of Iowa, way far away from where the BNI is traveling tomorrow). Iowa City is a mess (that's her picture), per good chunks of central and southeastern Iowa. The news has been reporting mostly on Cedar Rapids, but as she says, Iowa City is down river from Cedar Rapids... People are actually calling this the "Once in 500 years flood" - - it's about 10 feet higher than everything Iowa has dealt with ...ever.

My sister works in museums (see below)... They could have started moving pieces of art as early as Monday, but weren't given the go ahead until Thursday. She's heartbroken. And mad. And astounded. It's surreal and weird and traffic is horrible and the one grocery store that everyone can get to in Iowa City was being cleared out ("..it was just like on a news cast," she said, "We waited in the check out line a long time, and we got our stuff... and since it's Iowa, everyone was very nice...")

I guess there's two bridges that have collapsed in Cedar Rapids ("one FEMA collapsed... They thought they could save it by placing huge amounts of weight on it..")

*****Here's the email she sent...

Hello all. I almost never write bulk emails, let alone email in general, but this is too big. Since you are my friends (and relative) who have worked in museums, you will be able to understand what I just went through.

... The Iowa River has been flooding for a while, but had been controlled to flood the City Park, which is about 1/2 mile from the museum. ...

On Thursday after I got off work at my other job, I saw semis at the Art Museum, so I called the museum to see if I could help. I arrived at to find that printstorage had been evacuated, same with most everything on display, plus the most valuable pieces. But when I went to help in Main Storage, there was still so much there!!! A crew ... was helping wrap pieces, and one of them told me that the latest estimate for flooding was that it would be chest height in Main Storage!! I later checked out a window on the river-side to see that the 4 foot sandbag wall next to the museum was started to fill, and gallery that was below ground level was started to flood.

A few of us wrapped around seventy drawers of jade, pre-colombian, native america, and persian ceramics until one a.m. and we were told that we'd have until 5:00 pm on Friday until we were forced to leave. I called in sick to my other job, and arrived at the museum on Friday at 6:30 am, just after my boss. There was just three of us in the museum at the time, but [another crew] was on their way.

Shortly after arriving (ten minutes, tops) we were informed the 5:00 pm evacuation time was being moved up, and we had only ONE HOUR to vacate the building, i.e. the police would force us out and their own locks on all the doors.

My seventy drawers were sitting on the floor of a gallery, and I knew that they'd never make it onto a truck. So I just did what I could, I started running them up to the one gallery in the museum that's higher than ground level. At that point the [another crew] arrived, with about 8 guys ... that were very used to heavy lifting and they took over that job.

I then ran to Main Storage, to find a few people moving objects, but nothing was being done with all the paintings left on the racks! At this point we had maybe 10 minutes left, so I just started grabbing any painting I could handle and rehanging it as high as I could. Unfortunetly, most the paintings the museum owns are mid-century (very big) I was was only able to move up maybe 10 of them. At that point I started to just take any object and move it higher, including a oceanic wooden sculpture, but couldn't get to the Roman stone heads, because at that point (about 7:45am) the police forced us to leave. We grabbed the art that was staged in the loading dock and threw it into a truck, but weren't able to get the art staged in the next room.

It was one of the most heart-breaking moments of my life. We were all trying to keep it together, especially we were then sent to help with the Johnson County Historical Society's evacuation, but when I finally got home after that I was a mess. We live just up the hill from the Art Museum, and so when I got back to my house around 1:00pm I could see that water was already up to the loading dock. When [my husband] got home around 3:00, the water was at least 10 inches higher. The museum's alarm system continues to go off and I could hear it into the night.

So now all bridges over the Iowa River are closed, and [he] and I have only one route out of our neighborhood. News helicopters are flying overhead constantly, and we've heard we might lose power and water, and at that point we'll just leave town.

Thanks for listening.


*******************************

Aghh... I'm not worried about her and her husband (they're smart, and safe, and their house is on an Iowa City high point)... but I'd much rather she didn't have to go through this. :( There's also not much I could do - - my sister's saving pieces of art, and I'm doing game shows about yoda fingers (true). I hope things clear up soon. Corn crops are f'd (my Uncle Craig, a corn and soybean farmer in Ponca NE hasn't been able to plant yet... everything should have been planted about three weeks ago) Not cool.

NE Nebraska, NW Iowa & SW Minnesota sound fine for travel, and so I and some lovely people are off to Norfolk NE for a week. That may be a very long time in Norfolk NE.

It's just poor central and southeastern Iowa that need a break.

Onward.

I got chased by Darth Vader!!!!

I couldn't help but run. It was m-f'ing Darth Vader! (heard him breathing before I saw him). AND THEN HE CHASED ME!!!! AGHHHH!!! Childhood fear totally rushing up (I still have tingles up and down my neck.. creepy!), I started running. And he chased me! He even threw open a door that I tried to escape into.

It was like someone came dressed in a really good Jaws costume. I knew there was a person underneath all that black plastic, but something 8-years-old in me was "get the f out of here!" Super scary!!!

And awesome. The Darth Vader then went on to ham it up in the Museum's food court, behind the cooks, pointing and 'ordering' them about.

Seriously. This Darth Vader is awesome.

Onward.

man... I have no reason to be this grumpy...

Stoopid mornings! Even when there's hundreds of happy, freaking out children surrounding geeks in costume, I'm still grumpy.

My sleep was not the best last night (animals!!!) and I think I'm starting to feel the "Whhhhhat???" of leaving for a week. Whhhhattt???? It's work, but not. It's travel, but not. It's my home area, but not. What is this thing??? My next blog may be from Norfolk, Nebraska - - you have been warned.

Yesterday involved some sleeping in (delicious!) and then onto Adam & Sheryl's. A trip to Faribault, meetin' some cool kids, heading back, and doing a Bingo show. (It was actually a pretty darn good show. Pretty darned pleased in a silly way with self. 'Considering none of us had done the show for weeks, despite having done it for years, not too shabby!) (...I got called precious! ohhhhh..)

An exhibit just opened here at the Science Museum.

There's a lot of people here for it.

There's a chance that they may just see the exhibit and then leave.

Or they may not.

Will it be crazy? Oh yes, it will.

Are there people dressed up in very very specific costumes in the lobby of the museum? Oh yes. (the dark Jedi amuses me, as he keeps catching himself giggling at the little kids...)

Do I now have a picture of my head photoshopped onto an x-wing fighter pilot's body? Goddamn right. (I am a very flat chested fighter pilot - - 'what happens when they photoshop you onto a guy's body.. it doesn't look as awkward as it sounds..)

Onward.

Good morning...

Not-much-sleep (Animals!!!) was punctuated by dreams of guilt/betrayal (while surrounded by televsions and air conditioners), being mouthy with 'improv' advice, kittens (the kitten were cute, but there was also a cat with fabric eyes), and landscaping. Arghh...

Tired enough to forget an important step while making coffee. However, the coffee came out delicious. Lucky.

I mowed my lawn! I also pretended to be a good home owner and whacked some weeds. Dreams of a weed-whacker-free landscape to come.

Have a good Wednesday. Why am I so nervous about the rest of the month?

Onward.

Sunburned stuff IV

On the plane, over possibly Utah. I feel like we're racing backwards against the sunshine or just plain ol' leaving the sun behind.

Monday, Monday.. Downtown SF bustled like a real city, and we didn't. Nice lazy morning, filled with white sheets, the rec center (ran for 2 miles, and sweated given the lack of ventilation) and Starbucks' coffeecake and a crrappy croissant.

'Prepared to take the cable car to the wharf (yeeargh?). The cable car was filled with almost unnervingly quiet American tourists. PG was kind & cool enough to go into a Forever 21 with me before boarding and recommended a shirt that rocks. I changed into this much cooler, $6 non-polyester shirt in the dressing room. Yea!

We stood in the back of the car. :)

At the wharf, we looked at sea lions, which are amusing. They are funny, weird, amusing animals.

Then we hiked (well.. took the stairs) up San Francisco to Coit Tower, the almost sexily named tower, took in the wind and the view, carefully walked down San Francisco, stopped in Little Italy for French Bakery goods, and then to Chinatown for dim sum, which was, naturally, dimsumilicious.

'Back to the hotel, where a Ukrainian man named German drove us to the airport.

Now on board the plane. PG is at the front & I am at the back, watching the world turn indigo blue, and it will be good to be home.

Really? Maybe.. really? Really.

Onward.

They almost healed.... Sunburned bits III

It may have been Sunday, lovely Sunday...

* We wake up and hazily decide that coffee, breakfast, and a NY Times are necessary. This is a challenge, as it is Sunday, and DT is mostly sleeping.. We end up at a bagel shop, which oddly lacked tomatoes.

* PG transplanted co-worker picks us up to go hiking. Fabulous! Things I learned:

- Always pack yer damn hiking shoes.

- Don't walk on the south side of anything, despite the view. When one hikes, one tends to watch one's feet. And southside ='s hottttt.

- I have also decided that climbing up something and then down it is the way to go. Climbing down & then back up things (mountains, canyons) is bullshit!

* We lose the trail (kinda) coming back up. My hoodie is taken by shrubbery & hummingbirds (and horny swallowtail butterflies.. And ravens.) By this time, we are all in mild pain.

* However, once we reached the top, my body betrayed me by feeling awesome... Yeargh!! It might have been worth it!!!

* 'Drove down to Berkeley, where we saw where people live (in houses), and where people drink (on patios). It's actually a not-as-screamingly-happy Boulder: Boulder's all idyllic, Berkeley's a little more world-weary.

* We are a trifle beat, and take the amazingly effecient BART (a subway.. brilliant!) back to downtown. I still like the way subways smell. Gross and awesome.

* Hot tub & swimming for a short bit. 'Watched a 10 year old girl make like a 25 year old on a treadmill, which was just damned disturbing.

* 'Get ready for fancy dinner with some of PG's coworkers, who are lovely. Octopus salad & butterfish (which, is actually better called 'justfish' as it really doesn't taste like butter at all. Octopus salad, on the other hand, tasted like Octopus mixed with awesome.)

* Dude took our taxi.. but it all worked out alright, I think...

* 'Look at us collapse.

I like being prepared for things that might be out of my element. But you can't prepare for everything. That being said, I should packed my damn shoes - - my fault. But it was great.

Onward.

Sunburned lips, part II

Saturday involved:

* Waking up and little bits of Starbucks downstairs

* Taking the cable car. The cable car is filled with European tourists who are very loud and kinda alright with getting screamed at. (fyi.. Spaniards... Still loud.) Given the crush of happy euro-laden-ness, I don't get off at Chinatown, and instead...

* Get sucked into the vortex that is and may forever be Fisherman's Wharf!!

* Giving up and accepting the Wharf.

* Realizing that both dungess crabs & sourdough, both delicious, stink ickypoo when being cooked.

* 'Shopped at a Steve & Barry's on the Wharf... Because it was there..

* Escaped the Wharf and met newly transplanted friend Jen in a lovely, fancy neighborhood (think of a hip, motion-based Linden Hills) and eating at a lovely Italian coffee house.

* Being told to shush by a sweet Swedish lady

* GETTING A MANICURE!!! I've never had one. I now have French nails. I have no ideas about how to feel about this, except it makes me laugh and PG catches me admiring them...

* To the Wharf, and Ghiradellis chocolate, where PG was met and massive quanities of ice cream were consumed.

* Biked across the Golden Gate Bridge!!! Holy hannah.. Here's for another experience I didn't even know was possible or that I would want to do it..

* Raced back to the hotel, where dear college friend and his kinda new wife took us to Bar Crudo, which was flippin' incredible. (Oysters! Crab! Mussels! WOW!!!!) Perhaps even better was sharing dinner & making eye contact with Tom -- it's been about 7 years.

* TownHall for dessert and bed.

Very lucky, filled with dreamy goodness. Onwards!

I think I sunburned my lips...

Is there anything more beautiful than the Golden Gate Bridge, spanning across the big blue bay?

So THIS is (or might be) San Francisco.. It's like NYC on shiny happy pills, or like NYC with a continuous shot of Vitamin D up its pooper. There's everything you could wish for, and tourists agree. However, if you're poor, you're really fuckin' poor, and that's the truth.

'Made my way to the hotel via a very professional and very fast taxi. 'Got lunch at Lee's Deli, which was dimsumlicious. ('did attempt jogging around Twin Peaks.. That was a foolish, foolish mistake). PG went to do his talk, and I decided to take a bus to Chinatown. Things I have learned:

* Chinatown means Chinese people (ohhhhh)

* I am not Chinese

* Fisherman's wharf is the vortex of San Francisco that I cannot escape!!! Arghhh!!!

'Saw the Museum of Comic Art by chance and gave them $6 to look at their small bits of loveliness.

'Then to dinner at a gorgeous place called Ame where we ate amazing amazing food, and learned about sake.

More tales of this place to come...

Onward.

I'm here... Rhyme along...

Flew into San Fran about two hours late (i.e. arrival at 1:30a.m. vs 11:30p.m.) 'Talked to guy named Carl who was going to watch his 40 year old son swim from Alcatraz to the coast. I like Carl.

My poor friend who was going to pick me up begged off, as it's about an hour & a half drive from his place to the airport. I took a cab to my other friend's place (he & his newlywed wife -- girlfriend of 7 years -- are currently in France, wine-tasting it up.. :) ) I'm now in their place, enjoying their King side bed & bits of the familiar (i.e. "this is so dave..." We don't really change much, do we... I'd like to hope & think we get better..)

Cab ride here was filled with more... well.. bullshit than need be. Friendly (and watched.. I try to be hella careful, watching each turn of the GPS unit in the car, keeping my cell phone close -- my dad was a police science teacher...) car chatter turned into much more boundary pushing than I'm comfortable with... I can laugh off a lot, and he would stop pushing those boundaries when I'd say no, but would quickly start up again. Goddamnit. It was honestly fine, just stupid and unneeded at 1:30 in the morning from the guy I'm depending on to take me to my friend's house (which is actually in the Twin Peaks area). I got out a bit disturbed, angry, perplexed, and unsure how I felt that the cab ride only cost me $60 (I had been told $150 by a friend) ...besides, well, jesus, thank god that only cost me $60. Which made me angry too!

Drowning my disturbances in Fat Tire & Tater tots, until I can relax enough to sleep.

Challenge #1 for tomorrow: jogging thru this area for fun!... It may kill me. Them some hills.

Challenge #2 for tomorrow: how the hell to get out of this neighborhood. Teee. (my friend did leave me the # for the Yellow Cab)

I'm on my own for most of the day tomorrow, it sounds like. May try to ditch my bags and spook around.

Onward.

What's more indulgent than a blog?

Why, finding out that you can have other people read "the highlights" of the Blogs you read!!

Jen's Shared Items

It's ridiculous, and fascinating to only myself, and those who like either Crafty/Indie Interior Design site or pictures of baby animals. (What's worse - - you can SUBSCRIBE to this site! I know you're excited... ;) Get ready, world!)

Tonight, I board a plane. Before I do this, I will probably stop home and unload about half of what I've packed. And maybe eat dinner.

Onward.

What else indeed...

Man.. Tuesdays and Wednesdays... but I am not going to get grumpy. Let the people in the next cube talk as loud as they like! Let someone come in demanding information in a loud "why doesn't everyone know this" tone! I don't dare care, cuz better things are a'comin'.. right? Right!

- Six Ring was lovely, albeit lonnng, last night. The evening started off with Happy Hour apps with Beth, which seem to make EVERYTHING better, immediately.

- I might have a beer or a margarita tonight. I am excited.

- I ate lunch today! Excitement!

- I got to run (6 songs) today - - bwaha! Last Sunday, I ran around the lake. Or rather, I was pulled around the lake. That's roughly 3 miles, according to the interweb. Well... holy hannah. That's new for me.

- I'm packing again. On the road blogs to follow.

This will be one of the last on the road sort of trips for a while, probably - - I've had a really really lucky and lovely run of traveling, but, barring one week long trip to Nebraska (ha!), it may cool a bit. However, I still may try to disappear in early September, when the Republicans shut down the museum... We'll see what the debt to money ratio is... What can you do?

Josh's blog is now on blogger, which makes me superhappy. Consider yourself Reader'd, Josh.

Onward. :)

Good friends are good to find...

Short day at the Museum (I'm workin' Mondays for a while) and a quick call to my friend Sue, who lives very close to the museum...

My friend Sue is a hero, a confidant, and someone who is damned good -- but to herself first. Awesome. Sue also is incredibly incredibly useful.

'Wanna know where a good (possibly divey) happy hour is? Ask Sue.

Looking for information on City Programs for helping with closing costs? Ask Sue.

Curious about Plumbing Code? Ask Sue.

Sue's also got a killer diller sense of humor, irony and generosity. Sue is also an aces thrift store shopper, and has usually been to any thrift place before you have (generally outpacing you by years.)

Today, Sue took me to Diggers.

#"@-*in Diggers.

I learned about Diggers in 1999, when the guitar player of the band I was playing in told me about it. Rob was a damn fine guitar player & songwriter, and lived in the rehearsal space (underneath a mattress warehouse in NE) and in his van.

I've attempted Diggers. Diggers is overwhelming, dirty & pushy. Going with Sue, however, was a joy.

How to go to Diggers:

* Go on a Monday. On Monday, the shoes aren't out. Every other day of the week, the shoes are out, and the Shoe Nazis (Sue's term) appear... pushy, and swiping shoes you've laid claim to, and then bartering the shoes amongst other Shoe Nazis. Shoe Nazis suck.

* Don't try stuff on (it gets you in trouble)

* Grab a cart. Give in.

Side notes:

* Wear gloves. There were a couple of pros, going through the crap with gloves on - - which is smart. Diggers is dirrrrty.

* Wash everything you purchase there, even the new stuff. (I know this seems obvious, but I am very lazy)

* Throw caution to the wind. Things at Diggers are priced by the pound. Like Sue says, "It's like gambling, except you always win!"

* Check out the books. HIlarious.

Afterwards, Sue & I met at Conga (in NE - - again, her suggestion), which has an amazingly brilliant Happy Hour, if you've never gone. My god! A full size burrito for $3.50 and 2-4-1s...yearghhh!!

She was then nice enough to come over to my house and tell me how nice it looked... Awww...

So, I recommend that you grab Sue (or your Sue-like person) and buy her/him some impromptu Happy Hour. The world, and life in general, will be better for it. Really lucky.

And that was my adventurous afternoon. However, my lawn needs some love and soon (meant to do it today.. Ah well).

Welcome to almost-Tuesday!

Onward.