ancestry DNA kit

the ancestry DNA kit arrived! or at least, i decided to pick it up at the post office today. usually i just go check my PO box once a week. but i didn't want to wait until Saturday as i checked amazon and found out my book order was there. not too big a deal on doing the DNA test. most important thing was activating it online. then i found out i had to wait to submit my sample, as it said 'do not eat 30 minutes prior'. i had just had some chili for lunch. it took more spit than expected to get it up to the 'fill line'. but when i did i got the cap on, and shook it to let the solution settle inside fully. then it was back to the post office to get it mailed to Utah. i might be surprised by the results, but it sounds like it will be 6 weeks from now.
  i went to a job fair at a hotel near mall of America before midday, same venue as before, when i attended near the end of October. nut not too much available, maybe some temp agencies. but i am thankful i went early, in the first hour, as i know some companies leave early. it was hard to compete with the construction noise in the background though.
   in the evening, after watching 'big bang theory' and 'young sheldon', i eventually went to sing some karaoke. i did 2 songs, 'all apologies' by nirvana, and 'wrong side of memphis' by trisha Yearwood. i had somebody try to get my attention during the second song, found out after i was done that it was an off-duty bartender. she touched me around a front pocket and told me to relax. i said i take performing seriously.

interviewing seminar

it was a busy day for appointments. the first was an interviewing seminar, it took up half of the day. but i learned some helpful things, which of course is the point. such as asking for a business card at interviews, makes it easier to follow up later on with thank-you notes. another thing was to be wary of jobs where one is told that the duties are not clearly defined. this makes sense as well, as i am used to hearing what my 'marching orders' are. there was even some mock interviews done near the end of the session, but it was running over the time allotment so i had to leave. i wanted to get some lunch before an in-person interview in the west metro. it left me a little pinched for time, and i ended up missing the turn to the venue and arrived late. the interview still happened, though i was asked about things like stockbrokers that i know nothing about. and the duties were not clearly defined either, i really was told 'we don't know what we will need you for'. in addition, the interviewer asked me what i was doing for the weekend, which doesn't sound like an interview question. i deferred to facebook, as it has become my de facto 'admin assistant' since so many event invites go there. in reality, what i was thinking is that i usually don't think about the weekend during the middle of the week. it was rush hour already by the time i got out, so i was kind of leisurely on getting home. and it meant the phone interview- the final appointment of the day- was conducted in my car on the top level of a parking ramp. the interviewer didn't need to know this, so i didn't say that i was away from home at the time.
   i also performed at the comedy club tonight. i did ones about word one, rathskeller, meetings, and the 3 appointments. after that i went home, i knew it was a good idea as i already was tired. i watched a rerun of  'family ties' on antenna TV, i do recall seeing it before. it was about Mallory becoming an advice columnist.

two coins, two wishes

i got some snack food at a CVS pharmacy in the early evening, the one at the university and snelling intersection in st. paul. i picked up two coins there, both pennies. since one of them was Canadian i said i had another one for a wishing well. this one was found in the hall after i had paid for the snack food, two small packs of peanuts. i pitched both into a wishing well after attending a comedy show tonight. of course this includes the other Canadian penny that was also found this week, a day earlier.
and since it was two coins, i decided to make two wishes. then it was on to another venue, where i did have stage time. i did ones about the Grinch, the Amadeus song, word one, and trying to be a pest. word one was inspired by an interaction with a bartender at this venue.
   i went to the library to print more forms, the snack food stop was a part of my activities for the day. looks like i have another in-person interview this week. Wednesday will be a busy one, an interviewing seminar, in-person interview, then a phone interview.
   i liked seeing the photographer, and the button, tonight, at the first venue. both are there all this week. the photographer spoke up upcoming surgery, and i spoke of recent visits to karaoke venues with the button. notable as these were karaoke venues i had just discovered.

huey lewis and the news

i did some karaoke tonight, 3 songs. the first was 'heart of rock and roll' by huey lewis and the news. i recall when i was young how many cities were mentioned in it, but i am still not sure what 'liberty town' is. seemed appropriate on some level to do a song by this band when huey was in the movie 'duets', about karaoke. the other two songs i did were 'tainted love' by soft cell, and 'hallelujah' by rufus wainwright. i am familiar with how leonard cohen wrote it, and the rufus version was part of the first 'shrek' movie, on the soundtrack. this was a new karaoke venue for me, needing to replace the now-closed wild tymes. sparse crowd at first, but i was told it was due to the weather. it started out raining but by the time i left the bar i saw all of the snow that had fallen. when the roads get bad i tell myself it is best to stay off the interstates and stick with roads with traffic lights. i am going slower and it is easier to stop when i need to.
   there was another appointment, before midday. but i am still not sure how it is going to help get me back to work. i am still waiting to hear the results of two interviews last week. i got another appointment scheduled for two weeks from now, i had to ask if it was the earliest one available. some mention of needing a day off each week to get caught up on paperwork. there was a small job fair happening onsite, but the companies present didn't have jobs in my field. after the appointment i got a box of cereal at a family dollar store, knowing i would likely run out before my typical weekly grocery shopping day this weekend. and i took a walk around the neighborhood after that. it yielded some coins, 1 dime and 6 pennies. those went into my change bank of course. i also picked up a Canadian penny, but i will likely just find a donation jar somewhere to put it in such as at a taco bell.

christmas open haus

i went to the Christmas open haus at the Germanic American institute in st. paul this afternoon. i got a flyer about it at the Schmidt brewery festival. i ate before going there, but i liked getting some apple strudel there, just before they stopped serving food. i was pleased with finding a rathskeller as well, the 4th i have found in Minnesota and the third in st. paul. reminds me of what Dad liked to say when i was a youngster, 'you can find him in the rathskeller'. this was in the 'high-rent district' of the city, i ended up parking about a block away, near the james j. hill home.
   i also went to the USA women's hockey game at the xcel center, a warmup for the Olympic games. the americans lost to Canada, 2-1, in overtime. it was scoreless after the 1st, and the USA went up 1-0 early in the 2nd. Canada tied it 1-1 near the end of the 2nd, and the winning goal was in the first minute of overtime. next game in this series is in Winnipeg in two days. i saw this matchup at the xcel 4 years ago. i got a program, and no surprise how many of the players are from Minnesota, as i recall 7. so it makes sense to have a game in front of the home fans. the 10pm news on WCCO said about 9,000 were in attendance, made sense as the lower bowl was nearly full and no seats were sold in the upper deck. there was a flag giveaway, and i noticed the box said 'made in china'. so i guess that flag-making is being outsourced too, i didn't get the memo. i claimed one of them after the game, even though i already had a few 'stick flags' i thought it was a little sad to see it abandoned.
   'the simpsons' episode was about lisa attending Harvard. and her family doing her birthday celebration, of course this was familiar as they brought back the Michael Jackson song 'happy birthday lisa' for this event.

novitiate movie

   saw the movie 'novitiate' this afternoon in Lakeville. Melissa leo is in it, this was a big reason why i saw it. she plays the mother superior in it. she was also in 'frozen river' and 'the fighter'. this movie is about a teenager that decides to become a nun in the American south in the 1960s. i may have attended protestant churches as a youngster but movies about the catholic church still interest me. i was also reminded of a visit to san diego in 2006, to the Carmelite monastery, to visit with a nun that i recalled from my time doing call-center work. she was power-of-attorney for her mom's life insurance policy. i am not sure if i had been to this movie theater before, so for this reason i decided to take a good look around. this was a big theater, and some of the artwork on the wall was of various popular movies that i recognized.
   after the movie i went to the cracker barrel store, also in Lakeville. i don't get there very often, but i was pleased to find a Charlie brown book there. before the movie i wanted to eat, and first went to an arby's but i left as the line seemed to be too long for me. so i went to something else nearby, a taco bell, in Burnsville, for lunch. i enjoyed talking  with another patron while waiting in line to place my order. i said i hadn't eaten at a taco bell much lately, since the closest one to me had closed. and they are trying to re-purpose it, but it is still not yet open. nice how we can find common ground if we are looking for it. though food can often be a common ground, since we all need to eat.
   i did some karaoke in the evening, 'get over it' by the eagles. this song was on my mind as i spoke if it in response to a facebook posting by the d.c. native. i feel like this song is still relevant as it has lines about 'don't blame me' and 'victim of this, victim of that'.

say it ain't so, weezer

   i did some karaoke at two different venues tonight. the second one was a new one to me, in Maplewood. i found out about the venue from one of two facebook karaoke groups i am in. i did 'say it ain't so' by weezer there, it had been on my list for a while. somehow it just speaks to me, ever since i first heard it many years ago. i think what helped was the line about 'like father, stepfather' since i have both. i am familiar with how it is about drinking, and that explains another line- 'drowning in the flood'. i like the video to this one, cramped quarters near the laundry equipment. and seeing the frontman drinking from a juice box as the song was ending. i had heard it at karaoke venues before, one of those was at a pizza place in suburban Chicago back in February while i was doing my annual visit to the area. both venues have a monitor that list the upcoming performers, not every venue does this. a man liked hearing it and we spoke for a while after i was done with this song. he ended up doing leonard Cohen's 'hallelujah'. i said i was more familiar with the versions that were in the first 'shrek' movie.
   the first venue i went to has the children's entertainer as MC, and we hugged much like before. she had what looked like a Disney princess dress, likely since it was an all-ages event and there were some under-18 people singing. i did 'walking on sunshine' by katrina and the waves. i recall it being in the movie 'look who's talking', the bruce willis baby movie.
   it took a while for my computer to re-boot after updates this afternoon. another contact at a temp agency asked for a copy of my resume by email. and another appointment was scheduled, for early next week.