Morning Hairs...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(I kinda wanna go to IKEA...)

Onward.

Ooh!

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

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

Onward.

THIS is what grown-ups do...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Onward.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Onward.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Onward.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Onward.

I CAN take a photo! I can!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a good one!

Onward.

Three days.. three days..!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jen, go do stuff..

Onward.

I don't mean to be a jerk..

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

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

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

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

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

Onward.

Mai fancy...

Indeed!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Onward.

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

For work. Late for work. Clarifying.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Time to go be a mosquito..

Onward.

Post A-Go-Go haze...

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

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

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

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

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

Onward.

I am full of clafouti!

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

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

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

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

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

Onward.

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

HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEENNN!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!! :)

Onward.

Wednesdaisy...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- sleep.

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

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

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

I hear its warm in Mpls.

Onward.

now, BLLOOOOOOD!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is that what happened yesterday?

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

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

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

Onward.

Le Coq! ... coq!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- ....(coq)

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

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

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

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

(coq)

Onward.

One misfire away from doom.. DOOOOOM!!!

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

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

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

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

Surrounded by tired and tense Minnesotans.

Onward.

I got over yesterday...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- The Renaissance Princess with glasses and a lisp.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Onward.

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

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

Wasn't there something blog-gable?

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

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

October shows are winding down!

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

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

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

Onward.