so and so

work sucks, especially the day after a holiday, since things pile up. that's all i should say, as i liked seeing this workday end.
so yes, this is one day where i needed a laugh and got one. i went to a comedy club inside a mall for a comic contest. i did sign up but just missed the cut, though i said to the coordinator that i would make myself available as a fill-in. i know there are no-shows from time to time. i knew many of the comics onstage tonight, and even though i had heard many of their jokes before i wanted to hear my favorites and did.
though the highlight was seeing somebody that wasn't performing tonight. it was seeing a comic that i share more laughs with than most. except for the m.c.- he's a friend too. i will do my best to describe him, usually i go more by what their jokes are than their appearance. he does have a shaved head, hard not to notice that. i laugh hysterically when he does a voice just like the grizzled, wise old trainer in the 'rocky' movies. then there's ones about his garbage bag window and real estate brokers, and his dad. i guess we do have some important things in common- both from small towns in the midwest and we like to get our dad in some jokes. don't know if i ever have known anyone like the comics i know now. they wouldn't have been fraternity brothers, as i never joined a greek house. guess they are what they are- drinking buddies. kind of like the ones in 'good will hunting', my favorite movie.

he would call me 'you old so and so' and then i made that one my own, so this is how i greet him. he has also called me ' you SOB', which i don't mind at all. now 'rapscallion', one that i really like, after looking it up of course. defined as 'rascal'. which makes me think of going to a minor league baseball game in davenport,ia., last season and seeing their mascot, a raccoon named 'rascal' since the team is called 'river bandits'.
i've encouraged this comic friend to read my blog, i'm wondering what he would say. i picture him saying things like 'who is this emerson hough you speak of?' and 'you're a nerd!' well yes, I AM A NERD. Duh! i majored in history, after all. and i made it a joke one time onstage, how the only time it looks cool is in movies like 'bill and ted' and 'night at the museum'. hopefully he would also say 'you're still cool, since you spoke of lady gaga'. yes, her song, 'alejandro', is one i heard again tonight while driving home from the comedy show. it's a captivating song to say the least, really catchy.
well this means i have to talk more about emerson hough now since i've already mentioned him. enjoying all of the research i've done. i read the wikipedia article, among other things. no pictures with it, some entries have pictures. i was familiar with the DAR placing a marker in front of hough's boyhood home in my hometown. so i decided to look up isham randolph, since this is the name of the chapter on the marker. found out it was a grandfather of thomas jefferson, and he was a son of a founder of william and mary college in virginia. this is one of the oldest schools in the nation. this was found on a page dedicated to the elizabeth randolph chapter, in missouri. elizabeth was jefferson's aunt, and isham's daughter. but i didn't find anything on isham's chapter, may be an inactive one. i know there was no listing for a chapter in newton, but there is one in marshalltown, 30 miles away. i did tour the DAR building in washington,dc, last year, before seeing a concert by gladys knight at their constitution hall.
next article i have is the national register of historic places listings from november 8,2002. it was a weekly list of actions taken. this is where emerson hough elementary school is announced as being listed, as of october 24. 2 high schools in des moines- roosevelt and lincoln- were listed as well. finally we have chapter 12, 'a national park service is born', in 1916. hough is mentioned early. 'before and during the hearings [in congress] and on into summer, the friends and adherents of stephen mather and national parks let loose a torrent of publicity for the parks and for the bill. george horace lorimer and his saturday evening post, featuring herbert quick, emerson hough, and other writers, kept up a running commentary.' this was the only mention of hough in the article. plenty of times did i see mention of yellowstone park, which comes as no surprise since it's the first national park. the next thing would be to look up mather's connection to hough further, and to the sierra club.
odd that i only became interested in hough's life and legacy only after leaving iowa. i had enough chances before then, like looking at the hough collection of letters at the state historical building in des moines. could have looked at them in my spare time since i held a clerical job through a temp agency there. actually at a records center nearby, but under the same 'umbrella'. i went to visit one of my former bosses and mentioned this interest, he informed me of the collection. same is true with the collection at the university of iowa, as i went to that school. but my literary interests only seemed to come to the surface after a job transfer six years ago, when i joined a literary center and started taking writing classes.
at least i finally made it, doesn't matter how long it takes as long you make the most of it once you get there. my main regret from learning tough lessons wasn't the lessons themselves. they were valuable ones. but it was the time i wasted to get there. but i know i usually didn't get where i wanted to without making a few wrong turns first.