Offered Stagetime

A comedian friend offered me stagetime for next month, I have accepted. Didn't have anything planned for that day just yet. And it isn't when I plan on being out of town. It was nice to go to the comedy club tonight after work since it was a long day, doing parts of 3 payoff reports. I was way busier than typical. Saw one comedian friend for the first time in about a month, and his lady as well. when he greeted me he wondered where my other winter coat was, I said I had 2 and wanted to wear both of them some. I'm still doing an assessment of what to donate in my home since I have too much stuff and not using all of it. Doing a little at a time helps. And moving things around a little to see what I have, along with what it looks like when arranged differently.

More Retired Clothing

Every so often I realize I need to retire some of my clothing. This was true today after doing laundry. One of my shirts had a small hole in the back, and a hooded sweatshirt did in the right sleeve. It was a Notre Dame sweatshirt given to me, I called it an 'Eminem outfit' as it does look like what rappers wear. Both were ripped up and sent to the trash, and now I am thinking about getting another hoodie and have this one be an Emerson Hough Huskies sweatshirt. I still don't have many sweatshirts, down to 4, 2 are Hawkeye, a third Chicago Bears, the fourth a red Tommy Hilfiger. The others in that drawer are more like sports jerseys, 2 hockey sweaters, a baseball jersey, a football jersey, and a basketball warmup shirt. I think it's a good idea to have downsized in this area, then I am getting more use of the ones left. Also on my list are some Emerson Hough shorts as well as a blanket. I have 2 GE blankets given to me by my employer, and don't use either one, same as when I was clearing out some of my coffee mugs and travel cups. I sent 2 pairs of pants to a donation bin, now down to 10.
    I picked up some more pictures from Walgreen today, after I was done doing laundry. One of them was of the Snoopy statue in my neighborhood. It was in the booklet I bought of the final year of the statues, it is fun to find them wherever possible. Didn't watch much of the Oscars tonight, but it looks like 'King's Speech' won big, a movie I did see. I saw plenty of the Best Picture nominees, it has been expanded from 5 to 10. Also saw 'True Grit', 'Social Network', 'Fighter', and 'Winter's Bone'.

Rally at Capitol

There is a rally in support of unions and Wisconsin at the capitol today, I plan on attending it. I joined a writer union which is an affiliate of the UAW, my dad's union when he worked in the factory at Maytag. Friday I had a date, went to the Wolves-Hornets basketball game at Target Center in Minneapolis, Wolves lost 95-81. Second Wolves game this season, the other was in December as part of a mentoring program. I like seeing them play the Hornets each season, a reminder of a 'benchmark' in my life, a vacation in New Orleans in 2002. It's also why I like the food of the Big Easy, like getting to Popeye's Chicken in Minneapolis every so often. Before the date we ate nearby at a place called The Loon, had planned on going to a pizza place but couldn't find it. I had a Reuben, I like the sauerkraut in it.

Hockey at Schulz Arena

I had the day off from work to do my annual visit to the state capitol and meet my representatives. I like seeing all of the history on display there, and found another item- how there is what was once called a rathskeller. But the name was changed due to World War I, since it was too German. Also made it to get an oil change for my car after it, and tried to watch 'Millionaire' and 'Jeopardy' but fell asleep and missed some of both, though not much.
    In many ways, the notable event of the day has to be attending a high school hockey game at Charles Schulz Highland Arena in St. Paul, named for the 'Charlie Brown and Snoopy' creator. I am a big Charlie Brown fan, likely should have made it much earlier as I have plenty of Charlie Brown merchandise. But the most important thing is I finally made it there. I had seen before how there was a Snoopy statue inside, one of many in St. Paul. It was way closer to get to this arena, but it took longer than when I was at the Charlie Brown museum in Santa Rosa,CA, where he had his studio. It was part of my vacation in San Francisco in 2004, decided to rent a car to drive the 50 miles to it.
   Ah yes, the game itself. Cretin-Derham Hall, a well-known sports powerhouse, beat Eastridge 4-1. It was simple on how they scored some of their goals, the shooter got ahead of the defenders. It was 2-0 at the first intermission, 3-1 at the second. One of the goals was short-handed, few penalties. A Cretin player had a hat trick, so some hats were thrown onto the ice, along with cobs of corn, apparently his nickname. I knew I was running out of time this season to see an event there, as it was the beginning of the state's post-season qualifying tournament. Sometimes I just get too busy and it helps to make to-do lists to remind me of what I want to get done. A conversation at the Aeros game less than 2 weeks ago reminded me of how it was on my list of things to do.

Laughed Off The Long Day

That's exactly what I did, went to the comedy club and laughed off a long day at work. I was onstage and was able to do a few more jokes than on Monday since I had slightly more time. I stayed about 90 minutes beyond my normal leave time in hopes of getting things caught up before being out of the office on Thursday. But it was an uphill battle when I spent about half of my day on a single request as there was a big repo request, 64 accounts. Takes time to copy all of those contracts, after finding them. I hated how I wasn't home for long after work, as I would have liked getting a little rest before going to the comedy club. Guess the full rest will wait.

Back to the Grind

Made it back to work today, wasn't as busy as expected, for me anyway. It was for some others. The main thing was I.T. issues, but I had some help from colleagues on finding things I couldn't find due to lack of access. Thankfully it wasn't too many.
    Went to the comedy club tonight, though I made a call to my college roommate from the bathroom so I missed some of the show. He would like to meet who I'm dating soon, sometime next month is possible.
   Picked up my coat from the cleaners tonight before going to the comedy club, but as I write I am already aware of how I left it in the trunk of my car so it means going out in the morning to go get it as I don't want to go get it now. Can take care of it bringing it inside before going to work.
   I like the song 'Dynamite' by Taio Cruz, since it has a sentiment I like in it, 'last one standing, last one landing'. I've taken some pride before in being the 'last man standing' in my new-hire training class at my employer. Also heard 'S and M' by Rihanna at the comedy club after the show ended.
   

Unexpected Day Off

I get up earlier than normal to get my car dug out of the snow, then decide to drive to work. made it after my scheduled start of my shift, then there was a sign by the front door saying the office was closed for the day. So I went to a place where I could sit down and eat some breakfast and headed home. Saw an androgynous person filming a public bus stuck in the snow, the video may end up on youtube.
   After doing more cleanup around the home, this time going through plastic shopping bags, I did head over for a date. Brought her some lunch from Subway, made a joke about how I was her waiter. She looked at a guidebook about Switzerland, where she mostly grew up, and my senior year high school yearbook. We then watched "Millionaire" and "Jeopardy", then I headed off to the comedy club, since I figured it would be easier to get stage time tonight due to the weather. I was correct, number 10, latest I've been in the lineup which makes me feel good.
  I got my car stuck in the snow on the way to the date, but got help from her on getting shoveled out. Hated leaving my car there for a while, but I had food with me and wanted to get there as quickly as possible. It took even longer when I fell on the snow, there was ice under it.
 

Mattress on a Grocery Cart

I didn't do much today due to the big snowstorm, when I was looking outside I saw somebody carrying a mattress out of a nearby building and then putting it on a grocery cart. I ventured outside twice, at lunchtime it was to the Taco Bell a block away. I used coupon number 13, no receipt this time, but no waiting either as they started making my order right away before entering it. Still on pace to use all of them before they expire, 7 left and just over 4 months, so not quite 2 a month will do it. The other time I went out was in the evening after watching 'the Simpsons', to do my weekly grocery shopping across the street.
    I did get a little farther on the big cleanup project I started, did some record keeping and went through some old mail. Although this time it meant checking it against my monthly statement, hadn't done this for a few months. Good idea to do so in case any receipts were missing. Thankfully I missed just one, and it was for less than $5. So I do fairly well on record keeping. I said I wanted to get plenty done since otherwise I would have done another date, though my time management while dating isn't as good as I would like. What's helpful is getting things sorted, and just plain finding out what is all there. Chipping away at it, doing some whenever I have the time, is the best game plan.

Donations to Goodwill

I started looking at all I had for some reason recently and decided to start donating things to places like Goodwill since there's too much stuff and I'm not using enough of it. I think I hadn't done this before as some of those things were given to me, like coffee mugs, even though I wasn't using all of them. So now I am down to 9 mugs, 2 of them are at the office. But I looked at other things as well, like soup mugs/bowls or ceramic drinking glasses and water bottles, and said they should be donated as well due to lack of use. It was 11 items in all in a shoebox, 12 if you count a seat cushion. I said 3 was too many, so now there's just 2. Doing my best to get down to more of the bare essentials, in some areas it may be easier said than done but I'm trying. Sometimes it means looking inside at boxes and bags to see just what is there, and doing some careful evaluation. Some of this had started before today, where I consolidated all of my pictures waiting to be put in photo albums into one big box instead of a shoebox and 2 bags. Or hats and ties into a gym bag instead of 2 plastic grocery bags. And looking in closets and using the shelving space better. There is a bag of empty bags to go through, actually two- paper and plastic. There are a few other boxes I need to go through, as well as a bag of Christmas ornaments (though I still don't have a big tree to hang them on) but they are now in full vision as they are on my couch instead of in a closet where they are sadly often 'out of sight, out of mind'. Even decided to go down to 1 permanent marker, throwing out one of them as 2 was too many.
  Clothing is another thing to go through, I have done some of this already as well. A shirt and 2 bulkier shirts with collars were put in a big bin at a nearby station and not driven over to Goodwill as it was after 5pm anyway. These will go to another place. I have too many tee shirts and some may be ready to be retired since they may be getting ratty. This is true of even suits, having 2 but not sure how well they fit, but the garment bag they are in is in bad shape, many rips in it so it means looking at a better bag soon, maybe at a secondhand store. Not sure if a duffel bag is needed, wondered about it earlier this week when I got the backpack. When I was going through the closet I noticed some of my childhood stuffed animals and other things were in a nice duffel bag so it means getting things re-arranged a little.
   It was a day of events for me, both were in Minneapolis. Went to a high school basketball game, the road team had a long way to travel, from Superior, Wisconsin, and they lost big 77-42. This was in the afternoon, in the evening I went to a comedy show. The featured act wasn't funny but the headliner was, had seen the headliner before but not the feature. After the show I went to a convenience store nearby since I knew they had Godfather's personal pan pizzas and I liked their pizza when I was growing up in Iowa. When driving home I heard 2 very different songs on my radio- 'At the Twist and Shout' by Mary Chapin Carpenter and 'Live Your Life' by TI and Rihanna. But both of them work for me, I like the Cajun and Creole style music in the former, including a zydeco in the background. In the latter I like being able to chant and emote along with it, 'my life, hey'. I like it for the same reason I liked 'It's My Life', by Talk Talk and later covered by No Doubt. Since I've had to say it was my life before. To some it sounds odd how both songs might work for me, but I have a wide range of interest in music and it reflects my experiences in life. Went from being a small-town Iowan to a big college, then a suburbanite (Chicago) and then the big city after moving from there.

Girl Scout Cookies

I picked up some girl scout cookies today. They didn't have the do si dos but they did have the tag alongs, I  like the peanut butter types. Probably will get some some more later but may wait until I finish the box I already have. I returned from lunch a little early so I could go to the round of bingo, earned 4 cards from the walk but lost all 4 times. I usually don't win with that game. I watched the first 2 games then stamped back in and played 4 games, a card at a time. At the end of the day I was informed of the result of throwing my hat in the ring. The meeting ran a little long so I stayed a few minutes later to finish up my work, in this case it was the numbers reporting as I didn't want it to bleed into next week.
    I had a date tonight, good food prepared for me- salmon, rice, and green beans. Watched a movie, 'Fever Pitch', a fun little romantic comedy. Since it was a baseball theme there was still plenty for me to like about it, and of course some laughs since it was also a farce.

A New Backpack

I had my service anniversary last week, and got a gift card for Target for $10. I reminded myself of having it and how I needed a replacement for my Star Wars backpack. There were getting to be too many holes in it, and I don't like the chance of losing things through the holes. It served me well, first got it before going on vacation in San Francisco back in 2004. Picked it up at a secondhand store, and got comments from a hippie about it on that vacation. I decided to get something comparable to it, so it is blue and gray as the previous one was blue and black. Even wrote 'Star Wars' and 'Obi-Wan' on the straps, with a marker and in small letters, to remind me of the previous one. I've done this before with shirts, or even shorts, if it's a replacement. It also seemed appropriate to get a Star Wars shirt while there, so I did. Noticed there was some stylish socks, one had a 'jolly roger' theme as it had the skull and crossbones on it. I got it as a joke, wondering what comments I might get about it if people notice it. I needed some new socks anyway, I had ripped up a few pairs recently after seeing some big holes in them. Still need a few more but got some JC Penney gift cards over the holiday and can get some this weekend. It will be part of some errand running like an oil change for my car. I looked at some duffel bags as well, since mine was retired a few months back for the same reason as the backpack. But I figured I wouldn't need it right away, not until next month at the earliest if I decide to travel then. Needed a backpack more, and the duffel bags were more expensive. It would be nice to get one with wheels, easier to make it through the airport when in a rush. But I want to get it done right, so it means getting what I really want and need- and something that can still be a carry-on item.
   It was a night for some chores, like going through junk mail and shredding it, along with getting some checks written and bills mailed. Sent them before going to Target tonight, and after watching 'Big Bang Theory'. At work I did 14 more laps for the 'bingo walk' like I did on Wednesday, at 7 laps equaling a card I earned 4 cards. Some of my colleagues were pulled today for a special project and I was on my own with completing the payoff reports I was assigned, but it was no big deal. Even helped out somebody else when they had some repo requests to do. When I rode the bus home tonight I saw the 2 'goth chicks' again and one of them ended up sitting next to me when the seat became available. This time one of them had their daughter with them.

Five Dreams

I finally wrote down 5 dreams I had recently on the back of a FEDEX receipt as I wanted to do so before forgetting them. First, ripping up a baseball hat. I had done that before, don't know why I was thinking this again. Gave it a mock 'last rites' as well before disposing of it. Second, telling an ex-friend, I parted ways with him 15 years ago and I keep saying 'no' to his Facebook friend request. For some reason I am telling him about who I am dating, laying down at the time. Third, can't see too well while driving at night. Especially when pulling out of my parking spot on the street. This one has happened recently, hard to keep my windshield clear when it easily fogs over. Fourth, being interviewed by a local sports reporter, though I once met him and wasn't impressed with him. Fifth, punching a classmate in the mouth on a bus while I am busy telling off a comedian friend. My state tax return has been mailed, completed it after going to the comedy club tonight.

Hat In The Ring

I threw my hat in the ring today for a new opportunity at work, there was an announcement about it on Monday. It was rather simple to get the interest form completed and submitted to HR. Will see how it goes, had tried it earlier when work moved here from another office but had to interview and didn't get it. Fewer openings this time, but won't have to interview.
   Decided to move around some of my mugs as well, since I wasn't using some of them at home and some of them at work. I knew I would use the ones that remind me of work more at work, didn't want to use them at home since they reminded me of work. These were ones given to me at work and have the company logo on them. I like being able do distance myself from work emotionally when away from it physically, we all need to be able to decompress and unwind. I had ordered one from Ebay, a Simpsons mug, and hadn't used it yet. So it's best taken home. It means having 3 at work, when I take them there and I will in the morning. I will then have 10 at home. Naturally it didn't affect me much when the handle broke from the Coca-Cola mug since I had plenty of others. I probably wouldn't replace most of them if one of them breaks for the same reason.
   I said the same about winter coats, having 3. One of them, the Navy p-coat, had torn lining and I just decided to use the other 2 more. I was given all 3, and I've bought a few of the mugs but most were given to me as well. I was called by the dry cleaner and found out it was too expensive to repair, over $100. May want to try sewing up some of it myself. I sent another coat to be cleaned when picking it up. Figured if I was driving over there, a little out of my way, it was simple to just switch them. One of my coats could use some cleaning as it had been a while. It meant I was late to the comedy club tonight as I wanted to pick up the coat the same day I was called. No need to wait too long once I know something is available.  

Writing Contest Entry Sent

Made it over to the comedy club and found out there was no open-mic tonight, likely due to Valentine's Day. So I had a beer and left. There was some errand running I wanted to do anyway, such as get a writing contest entry submitted. Went to a Fedex where I knew who was helping me, we had spoken before about our lives. He's in school for biology and conservation. After that it meant going online to print copies of my tax return. Made a joke on a Facebook posting how the 'H&R Blockheads' wanted me to let people know I had filed my federal tax return, still need to finish the state return. Need some more stamps so I can send it. But I will be getting refunds for both.
   I called my dad and he told me more about the surgery in January, it went fine on the colon surgery. I told him more about who I was dating, and he spoke of going to some high school basketball games. I made mention of my busy weekend.
   During my lunch I did pick up a Houston Aeros shirt, wanted a souvenir of the game I had attended. I had been to Houston before, but for a Cardinals-Astros baseball game in 2004. This is a better reminder of the city. They do like the space-program inspired team names, when 'Rockets' is added to those two. Green is my favorite color, so it's nice to see some green lettering in the shirt. Their parent club, the Minnesota Wild, has green in their colors as well. This is fairly common where a minor league affiliate will model their logos and uniforms after the parent club.
   There was an announcement at work about more positions available, so a chance to transfer to another department. Since I like analytical work and compliance/legal issues, it sounds like it's right up my alley. I want more of a challenge than what I have now, where I'm busy for the first half of the day when doing payoff reports then searching for ways to stay busy in the afternoon.

Houston Aeros Game at the X

I once joked about how I didn't want to make this just a Lady Gaga fan page. Well I did have a date tonight and asked that it be on CBS so I could see the interview that was scheduled for before the Grammys. As usual, she has proven to be very intelligent. One sentiment was in the Rolling Stone interview as well, explaining why she likes those hideous outfits. She would much rather have them write about her outfits and music than her personal life. I am starting to like the new song, 'Born This Way'. It helps that I found a different version on youtube, must remind myself there may be different remixes or even 'fabricated' ones.
    Didn't watch the Grammys though, we put in a movie, 'Only The Lonely' starring John Candy. I liked one line in it, when he leaves and then she says to herself, 'don't screw this one up'. I did notice a few things while watching it this time, maybe since it's on a bigger screen than typical.
   I did get my federal income tax return filed online today, before heading out to the game today. I went to get my laundry done early in the morning. Seeing the hockey game at the 'X' in St. Paul was nice. It was the Houston Aeros, the Minnesota Wild's minor league affiliate. I had seen their last game here nearly 6 years ago, on my birthday. But the Aeros lost 3-1 to Peoria, the St. Louis Blues affiliate. I was wearing a Blues jersey there, a holdover from high school. There was a fight early, in the first 5 minutes. When it happened I said this is what some people came for. Liked seeing many different jerseys there, such as a Chicago Wolves jersey. When I saw it I said it reminded me of wanting to see one of their games in March when I would be in town for the college basketball tournament. Haven't seen one there since I moved nearly 7 years ago, hard to do when I'm usually visiting during baseball and football season. It would mean getting a Wolves pennant, don't have one yet. I have a Wolves shirt though. Already have a Wild beach towel. There was even a Charlestown Chiefs jersey, in reference to the movie 'Slap Shot'.

Ambitious Errand Running

I did a Facebook posting earlier today about how I had an ambitious day of errand running planned. First I did the dishes and trash, and got some mail ready to send. Good or bad, I put one of my mugs in the trash as the handle broke off while washing it. Wouldn't care as much if it wasn't the Coca-Cola mug, but I still have 12 others. Maybe I can get another Coca-Cola shirt like I had before the mug, threw out the shirt since it was getting tattered.
   Picked up some groceries as well, used a Dairy Queen coupon for some Blizzard treats, and saw a movie called 'Nuremberg' about the Nazi war-crimes trials. Sent a Navy p-coat for maintenace to a dry cleaner, it was given to me by a college roommate but I hadn't been wearing it in a while due to the torn lining. But I couldn't part with it, so it means trying to get it to the level where it can be used again. I have 2 other winter coats so it was no big deal having it unavailable. Also bought flowers for my date on Sunday, and made it to a comedy show tonight. One of my friends was performing, it was at a bar I hadn't been to before more than 30 miles away. Liked how they had Grain Belt beer there.
   I saw the movie at the Lagoon in Minneapolis, seen plenty of arthouse movies there before. Decided to go to the Popeye's Chicken nearby since I like reminders of visiting New Orleans. Love that Cajun chicken! Though I had to wait until after the movie, more time available then. It is also why I ordered tickets for a basketball game next month where the Hornets are playing. Even though I didn't see a Hornets game while in the Big Easy, but I did see a Tulane football game at the Superdome.
   Didn't get laundry done or my taxes filed or a writing contest entry submitted, but I should have enough time to finish those before seeing a hockey game on Sunday afternoon. I still accomplished plenty today, it helps to write things down and make a list of what I wanted to do.

Made a Save

I had a date tonight, went over to pick up my date and then on to a comedy show where one of my friends was performing. When I arrived the dog was so excited, it actually got out but I was there and pinned it down before it got very far from the door. So I liked how I made a save. Guess it was just instincts that kicked in, on knowing what to do. I went along while walking the dog, then after a short time we had to leave for the show.
     She said she wanted to see me more often, and I said this is one way of doing so, going with me to a comedy show since it's my 'habitat' besides my home of course. It went well on having her meet some of my comedian friends, I called one of them 'magic man!' when I saw him though I'm not sure how well he likes the name. But he has been a magician so it fits him well. And we definitely met one of the performers, my good friend. I liked how there were 6 favorite jokes of mine, he did 5 of them. It was a good idea to arrive 30 minutes before the show so we can take care of things get picking up tickets, meeting people, and getting drinks so we have plenty of time to get settled in before the show begins. I liked how she enjoyed the show, I know not every date of mine would. It ran a little longer than I am used to in terms of how long I am normally out, but doing that every so often is not too big of a deal.  My friend said she was very lucky, I said we both were. And to let me out every so often for shows.
   I was a little nervous on the drive home, since I must have hit an icy spot and missed the turn, so I just went on to the next cloverleaf and it meant going on a total of 3. But I eventually got going on the direction I wanted to go. What I've learned from driving for a long time is it's best to take the safe way out, even if it's not the most convenient way. Again, let instincts kick in on what to do.

Moving Empty Boxes

At work today I was asked to move some empty boxes around that will be filled up soon with documents for accounts that have been sold. It was done after returning from lunch, and while waiting for my electronics to be moved to another cubicle.
   It likely means going through the drawers and other files to get things thrown out or donated to Goodwill as I noticed some of those items I hadn't used in a while, and forgot I even had in some cases!
   Looked through the phonebook to find florists as I am looking at getting some flowers for a date this weekend. But there was no mention of anemone, when searching more specifically online after finding 2 places, will have to get something else like tulips or lilies.
   A memorable event was when riding the bus home tonight. The driver said 'my man' to somebody who hadn't paid, and ordered him to leave when he wouldn't pay. Then many of his friends left with him.

Mini Golf at Work

I went through my mail tonight and shredded some of it, but did read through one flyer from a university. Surprised to find out one of my comedian friends is performing as part of an event about 'environmental solutions in motion' along with an 'international health guru'. I asked him on facebook how the two of them are solutions to the environment, it should be a good story, the show is in April.
   Another thing I did tonight was do the Jeopardy online test, 50 questions, just needed 10 minutes to finish. I knew more than half of the questions, felt good about that, likely higher than previous years.
    There was a mini golf tournament at work, but my tee time was delayed twice. First due to a scheduling conflict with an appointment, then again since my physician was 30 minutes late. I was off of my game, was trying to eat a bagel while doing some of the holes.

12 years of service

I marked my service anniversary at the workplace today by bringing in 2 dozen cookies for my colleagues. I made sure to put up a sign saying who brought them and why. It is a big deal to make it through each year, when it can be volatile in corporate America. I know it meant something for my dad as well, and likely for the same reason. Though his at the Maytag plant was in September. He cared a lot about his line of work and there was no wedding anniversary to celebrate, after he got divorced anyway. When I started I didn't think too much how long I would last, I was just thankful to have found a decent job after washing out of plenty of temp jobs after moving from Iowa to suburban Chicago. I would have preferred it be not so close to my birthday, which is next month, but it's no big deal to me. I like being able to have lasted 12 years, it of course meant having to move nearly 7 years ago after getting the layoff notice. I was looking at transfers in advance since I got a 'heads-up' about it from my former boss and mentor who cared enough to tell me.
   I liked seeing our senior leader bring over my certificate and gift card, and spoke with him for a few minutes after it. Seemed appropriate when I had a one on one with my boss later in the day, although it was postponed from an earlier date. I asked about looking at other roles, such as legal and compliance or even more writing opportunities like technical writing. I know from taking classes at the Loft how there are many jobs geared to writing, and I often recall hearing about technical writing.
   Went to the comedy club tonight, a good friend of mine was the headliner. Found out he will be performing at the same club this week, would like to see one of the shows, trying to figure out how it will work best in my schedule.

7up at Town Hall

I had some 7up at a company town hall meeting today, none of the other drinks really appealed to me. I liked staying busy today, easier to do when my colleague was out of the office today, didn't have to split the payoff reports with them. In addition, there were plenty of contracts that came in and I like perfecting and adding new contracts than auditing files.
    Went to the comedy club tonight, nothing too notable about being there aside from 2 people were added to the schedule after it was printed. And one comic on the schedule, or list, failed to show up.
   Ate some more fortune cookies today, bought a box of about 13 on Sunday and it's nice to read the fortunes. Reminds me of a joke my college buddies had, about adding 'in bed' to each fortune.

Super Bowl Sunday

I did one thing that was typical for Super Bowl Sunday compared to recent years, it meant going to an early showing of a movie that was over well before the game began. It was another date, we saw the Marky Mark boxing movie 'the Fighter'. I also liked Melissa Leo in it, she was in an arthouse movie I saw a few years back called 'Frozen River' which got her an Oscar nomination.
   It does remind me of many previous Super Bowls, first one I can recall seeing at least a part of was number 15, Raiders-Eagles, I was just a kid. Can recall it was when my family lived in Monroe,Iowa, before moving to Newton. Dad was watching it on a little black and white RCA, eating some popcorn. This one was like some others, as I didn't see all of it. Since I was tired and fell asleep in the middle of it in my easy chair. Last year I tried to sew some letters onto a shirt, now that reminds me of how that project is still on hiatus. 
   Considering I did see the early part of the game, it was no surprise how the Packers went on to beat the Steelers 31-25. The Packers got points off turnovers and built an early lead, 14-0. I am familiar with the stats about football games, a team's record is way better when leading at halftime. I know some people like to bet on certain aspects of the game, and I know this much, some bets are definitely longshots. This was the 45th Super Bowl, and so far there hasn't been a shutout or an overtime game. They've come close on both, but not quite. A few games have ended on last-second field goals. Others have had low point totals for the losing team, such as 7 points or even 3.

Winter Carnival

Went to the St. Paul Winter Carnival this afternoon. I did take plenty of pictures of the ice sculptures there, some were in celebration of the 125th anniversary. It was lunchtime so I got a chili dog and BBQ chips and hot chocolate as well. I said the food vendor carts reminded me of how I often ate when on vacation in New York and D.C. Went to the Landmark Center, across the street from Rice Park where the sculptures were, and saw some of the displays there as well. This included many of the buttons from the previous years, I was most interested in the one from 1973. It had a covered wagon on it, celebrating the western movement. Asked about acquiring one from who was in charge of the exhibit, they said their husband may have one. So I gave them my name, phone number, and email address. Will hope for the best. I know in one previous year I saw older buttons for sale, so I got the one from 1990 since Snoopy from the 'Peanuts' comic strip was on it.
  

What Corazon Means

I thought of a family friend tonight while washing dishes, since I was washing a mug he gave me when I graduated from college and we went to the same university. Shared this on facebook, he just became a state rep in Iowa.
     When I stopped at a Walgreen tonight to get some ibuprofen for lower back pain I heard the song 'Magic' by America. It still makes me think of my first visit to St. Louis when I was a kid, seeing highlights of the World Series win in the 'sud series'. Since we were on the field getting a stadium tour and the song was playing along with highlights of the Series. It was what made me a fan of the team. And I still have some artwork inspired by it.
   So I got home and found the song on youtube, odd how the version I chose had Spanish subtitles. And I kept seeing 'corazon'- for heart. It of course made me think of Corazon Aquino, former president of the Philippines. I took French in high school, I know the word in that language is 'coeur'. Knowing one language does help with understanding another, if studied well enough. Also looked up 'lugar', meaning 'place'. It made me think of a comedian friend who has a joke where he is called 'Lugar' by the coach.
   I decided to help a friend who wanted more research on a joke he just did this week about the Hamilton-Burr duel, I gladly did it. Since I majored in history and the subject still very much interests me. And it led to me learning something, I had known little about it aside from how Hamilton was killed in it and it took place near what is now the football stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands. There was mention of it again after the shooting involving then-VP Cheney, since both shootings involved VP's. Unfortunately some history courses were survey courses, didn't always learn much about some events. But with the Civil War I told myself there was no excuse to continue to be under-read about it, so I found some books about the war and of  course Lincoln himself. It is written about often to this day, so no problem finding books about it.
    Tonight I made visit number 12 to the nearby Taco Bell to use up another coupon. First time in 3 weeks. But at my current pace I just need to average 2 coupons per month until June, when they expire, to use all 20 of them up. I did get a receipt this time, last time I didn't. Most times I do get one.

Spill at Lunch

I got a little careless when getting lunch ready at work today, and tipped over my cup of water. It had been a while since this had happened, for that I am thankful. It was nearly full, so there was plenty that spilled, including onto the floor. I realized the most important thing was to wipe up the water closest to the edge of the table, so less of it would end up on the floor. In many ways my instincts kicked in from being a janitor in college, damage control for lack of a better term. It also helped that the facility manager was there and gave me napkins to get started right away.
    I went out to look at some of the artwork nearby, some were intriguing. I wanted one of an elephant but it was too big. Then there was some of presidents laughing together, playing cards if I'm not mistaken. As a history major it was a good thing I could recognize most of the presidents in it.
    I picked up another carton of egg nog, probably the last one of the season as it was the last one I saw at the grocery store. In addition, I haven't seen any more at other stores. I like the taste of it.
    Watching an extended version of ABC's 'Nightline' show about the events in Egypt. I am mostly interested in knowing if the American government is doing what they can to get Americans out of the nation. I care most about what affects my countrymen, my fellow Americans.

The 2 Bus Riders

For the 2nd straight day I saw 2 'goth chicks' for lack of a better term when riding the bus home from work. On Tuesday they spoke of picking up condoms and dental dams, also about reusing needles and how to commit suicide while using a knife. Today it was more of the same, things like getting out an asthma inhaler, the girl with the nose ring had it. She liked 'Law and Order SVU' and they spoke of 'butt nuggets', whatever that is. Also about words that kind of sound the same, like pharmacist, assist, and cyst. They are not that attractive, but I doubt that they care at all. Since both shaved part of their head, but there's still some flowing hair on the other side. Don't know what that look is called. It is excellent joke material, trying to think of how to get it into the routine.
   I did make it to the comedy club tonight, it was nice to see many people I knew, more than the previous night. It's helpful to go regularly as sometimes it's not just the sense of community and the friendship aspect, but also doing business like getting scheduled for stage time and for other projects available. I did mention the blog there, seemed relevant when I write about comedy regularly, also since my writer union recently mentioned free publicity is available for it. Nothing wrong with more exposure and more readers.
    It's usually a notable event when I retire any item I've been using regularly, tonight it was a lunch bag. I had another one given to me by my employer, so it was no problem finding a replacement. Typical with what I do with clothing, it doesn't go to a donation bin and I just rip it up since there's often flaws in it like holes. Or in the case of the bag, one of the zippers wasn't working properly.
      

Welcome to the Future

I went onto Youtube tonight to find some Brad Paisley songs as I know somebody who likes his music. Some of his songs didn't appeal to me, as they were love songs. But I did like 'Welcome to the Future' and 'American Saturday Night'. His guitar playing is what impresses me most, as he does the changes real well between chords.
   At the comedy show tonight a friend introduced me as 'the funniest man alive'. I said that was more likely than 'sexiest man alive'. He did a joke about history, which I liked, about the Hamilton-Burr duel.
   It was a fairly routine day at work, since it was the first of the month one of the things I did was toss some records from November as they are now obsolete and no longer needed. I keep them at least 2 months before sending them to recycle. I do keep the official stat report page, same as what I send to my boss, along with the form attached to it with all the figures I wrote down from each day. Naturally I need to type it out for my boss, more organized and easier to read.