slanted bus stop bench

i was waiting for the bus home after work and was standing for a while, then saw a bench to sit on. although a slanted bench is harder to sit on, at times I felt like I was sliding off so balance is important. the bus wasn't on time, unsure as to why.
   I went to the performance venue and it was nice doing some new jokes like a new treadmill arriving at the office. although I had to step off as it was going too fast for me, and the facility manager had to adjust the setting to one mile per hour which was much easier for me. another was about our 'news to know' message that normally arrives on a Friday.
   the Filipino man at my office tells me that most people in his native land speak English, though I think I still might want to learn some tagalog words before a visit to the Philippines. I said it is now a question of when as this does interest me. the next thing would be to go to a book shop and get a travel guide. I have found some online articles, but a book should have more. pleased to find out that no visa is needed if I am just planning on being there for a week as a tourist.

i don't even know your name, alan jackson

tonight at the performance venue I thought of the alan Jackson song 'I don't even know your name' when a patron asked if another patron was my spouse. and I said how we don't know each other's names. I recalled the video for this song, comedian jeff Foxworthy is in it. the song about buying a mercury (car) is another one I recall well by alan Jackson. it was also nice to talk with what appeared to be an employee who was having dinner, he said he liked my mention of 'growing up in a cauldron of verbal abuse' and I said I tag many of my jokes this way, how I wish I was making that up. he spoke of being a musician and boxer, and had a Cambodian flag pinned to his denim jacket. he gave me a card or sticker, that must have been the name of the music act he is in. also notable about the show was mr. pibb giving mention of my blog there but not the address, after I said I liked a joke about a knife and arby's. fargo Moorhead had a good one about how he is married, taken.

castle in denver

I shared a bus ride with the attorney this evening for the first time in a while, definitely before my NYC visit so it had been at least 2 weeks. she spoke of attending a wedding at a castle in Denver, I liked hearing the story. I spoke of not only new York, but also what I did this weekend, in new ulm and northfield, she made it just before the bus left its stop in the downtown area.
    I performed this evening. some of the jokes were like the previous day. I did ones about Walgreen, new ulm and northfield, 3 about the office, and the high school football game.
   I liked how it was a slower day than typical at the office for a Monday, this made it easier all around. the payoff report was lower volume, and no new titles arrived, so it was easier to complete more settlement offer letters.

best american science writing

I wanted to do some errand running before hitting the road today. one of those stops was to the US Bank ATM. I noticed a book next to it, so I picked it up after my transaction was done and said 'you have been claimed!' it is called the best American science writing, 2008 edition. it says the editor is Sylvia nasar, author of 'a beautiful mind'. I don't read science much, but what caught my eye about this one was seeing former vice president al gore as a contributor. his piece was called 'moving beyond kyoto', and was in the new York times. it mentions his nobel prize win in the introduction. there is a sticker on the back cover that gives the web address for 'book crossing'. it shows a book with legs and arms, and says 'i'm a good book! please take me home. I promise i'll behave. it gives a BCID number inside the front cover, and this sounds like the 'where's george' thing with dollar bills. this would be where entries are made online about where the dollar bill has been.
   I made it to northfield just before 12noon to attend the jesse james festival. so I saw the final bank robbery re-enactment of the day, at 12:30. it was the typical looking around at familiar places, though all I bought was the festival button. I have missed this festival only once since 2007, and that was when I was in florida, since I was in a relationship then. I had a chocolate shake, pork chop on a stick bottled water, and some popcorn. I knew I wanted to 'get out of dodge' before the parade began at 2pm, also because I wanted to get back to the twin cities and perform at the donut party. my set did include mention of things I had done this weekend, along with jealousy about who got NYC postcards as well as comments about a haircut. I was able to do my Walgreen joke- about leaving off the 's'- as international falls was there this week.
  I was tired before the comedy show ended, so I knew it was best to go home and sleep for a while after it, and I did. I woke up after 8pm, and knew I should eat so I had the little godfather's pizza I got at the bobby and steve's near the performance venue. I still had more chores and errand running to do, so I went to the grocery store to get my full order for the week. last night I just got mile and orange juice right before closing at midnight as I wanted to stay in for a little while this morning. then there was dishes, recycle, and trash. I also watched the news, but it was on late likely due to pro football games that ran over. there was a show on after it about the election, some of it was about the 'fact checking' of TV ads. there was also mention of the 'bobble head election' that the st. paul saints had last month. I did not attend it as I was in new York city during that week.

new ulm battery, hermann fest

I went to new ulm and saw Hermann fest this evening, largely due to knowing they fire civil war-era cannons at this event. I saw a facebook video from the town's tourist bureau and had to ask when they fire the cannons, as I usually just make it for Oktoberfest. I found out it was a month earlier. the organization in charge of the cannons is called 'new ulm battery', though a journalist for the local paper said there are some cannons that arrive from other states for this event. it sure was loud, no surprise there. but since I was expecting it this didn't startle me at all. they were fired in a park next to a baseball or softball field, down the hill from Hermann heights where the Hermann the german statue is located. I saw how somebody was in charge of what cannons were fired and when, seeing his gestures. thankful I saw it, aside from fort snelling I am not sure where else I have seen cannons. on my way there after parking my car up the hill I heard 'lonely people' by America. and I liked the 'silver cup' line, a reminder of hearing it in a class when watching a film. a cover band was playing country music, but when I heard 'chicken fried' by zac brown band I said there should be a fiddle player as well. I liked making it to town just before 5pm, in time to hear the final performance of the day at the bell tower. I also made a brief visit to german park in the middle of town, where I arrived just before a wedding party did for their photos. it became part of my photos for the day. after the cannons and cover band, there was a fireworks show nearby. then I started my drive home, stopping at the Hy-Vee at the edge of town for fuel and a candy bar. I made just one stop along the way, in st. peter to get a can of Coca-Cola. I did start yawning eventually, but I was nearly home by then.
   it worked well as usual to bring CDs for the drive to and from there. the four were: 'up in the air' movie soundtrack, Charlie daniels band 'decade of hits', 'essence' by Lucinda Williams, and 'no need to argue' by the cranberries. on the drive there I also stopped in st. peter, to get a candy bar and go to the bathroom. it was at a grocery store on the way down, at a holiday gas station on the way back.
  I made two visits to mcdonald's, first was a breakfast sandwich in the morning, my usual thing on the weekend. the other was in the afternoon, when I met Ronald McDonald. I ordered a strawberry shake on the second visit, and had a feeling I knew the actor playing Ronald from the comedy circuit. since that event started at 1pm I knew I had to delay starting my drive to new ulm, but no big deal as I still got to what meant the most to me. there was also printing some emails at the library. I added a few more things to my album about this year's fringe festival. I was getting annoyed with the road closures due to construction, be it in the twin cities or around new ulm. between Mankato and new ulm it meant being on a 2-lane highway for much of the way, not a fan as there is little or no margin for error.  

i'm not the only one, sam smith

I watched a video that a comedy friend, the button, did live on facebook. when I had the time, so I didn't see it live like others did. she did 3 songs while putting on makeup, and the third was 'i'm not the only one' by sam smith. it had some catchy lyrics, not sure if I had heard it before. I liked lines such as 'vows, for better or for worse', 'had my doubts', and 'I still need you here'. the middle song was 'someone like you' by adele. the first was 'you know i'm no good' by amy winehouse. I recall being asked by a dental assistant before what I thought of amy, and said 'I thought she was a train wreck' as I heard more about her drug problems than her music. notable lyrics for this one included 'meet you downstairs in the bar', 'I told you i'm trouble', and 'stuck the knife in first'. I think I have written about Adele's music before. I said I liked the passion in these three, especially the adele song. this friend is known for doing karaoke, so I think this was done in a  karaoke format.
    in the evening I went out to a high school football game. the contest was st. paul highland park vs. Minneapolis washburn. seeing the flow of the game, it didn't surprise me much how it ended, as washburn won 27-21. washburn was up 14-0 at the half, and 21-0 early in the 4th quarter. there was a flurry of action near the end, highland park made it interesting, but of course it wasn't enough. the two washburn TDs in the first half were aided by a short field, a short punt (the first) and a fumble (the second). washburn did not punt at all in the first half. the oddest thing was seeing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, against washburn, with just over a minute left. washburn was up 27-7 at the time, why would any of their players be upset about anything? it may have been after a pass interference call, but still didn't make sense. as the saying goes, cooler heads prevail. there was another interference penalty after unsportsmanlike conduct, this time in the end zone. then the squib kick worked. but after the margin was narrowed to 6, there was no squib kick, and the final play was a kneel down. this is sometimes called 'victory formation'. a kid asked me why he kept talking, which is a good question. I correctly guessed what the penalty was. hopefully he learned his lesson about how to conduct yourself around the refs.
   this game did remind me why I like high school football, dating back to watching these games while growing up in iowa. it is dirt cheap, as it was free parking, game ticket was $5, and my food and drink order was another $5. and I had plenty of food and drink- bottled water, hot dog, doritos, and reese's peanut butter. I will probably see more of these games here in the twin cities this season. I haven't seen a game in my hometown of newton, IA, since 2007, and I would like to think I will see another game there someday but not sure as to when.
  

ria money transfer

tonight I got off the bus and noticed there was a tent in my neighborhood that said 'ria money transfer', also the Spanish translation. so I went out on a fact-finding mission and found there was food available, celebrating the independence of an african nation, or the new year, hard to tell based on what was told or heard from a microphone. I hadn't heard of this organization, but they had water bottles available. I turned them down as I already have plenty of water bottles. the food was good, the meat appeared to be beef in chunks, and rice, some salad, and bread. I had some bottled water to go with it. there was a 'bouncy castle' for the kids, and it did remind me of what I have seen before with national night out. I have an 'after-work routine' that includes checking email, so I went back when I was satisfied with my progress. also since the rerun of 'big bang theory' I had seen before, when howard returns home after being in space. the prime time episode I had seen before as well, where Sheldon still was condescending when offering a gift to howard and Bernadette. then I spent some time on youtube, and found my set from the comedy marathon earlier this year, hadn't seen it yet. then I ventured out again and did a long walk around my neighborhood. I found the typical trash, which was tossed in a bin along the way, and two pennies, which went into my change bank.
  this was an easier day at work all-around, lower volume on all things I do. I did a refresher course on special requests since my 'work spouse' is taking on another role and needed to hand off these duties to others.