Video Camera No-Go

I was onstage tonight at the 400 Bar in Minneapolis. I had hoped to film myself but it was a no-go, as it was battery powered and they were too low. I went to a Walgreen after the show to get some replacements. The show went real well, I worked in some new jokes like the one about a fellow comic showing up in a dream when I was at a house party at my dad's in Iowa. Since I am traveling soon, I decided to get a few jokes about my plans in as well.
      I tend to notice things like what crowdmembers are wearing, of course after I perform. There was a girl in a dress, and she had long braids that kind of looked like dreadlocks. She also had boots on and tattoos were just above the boots on her calves.
   I needed to make up some time at work, so I stayed about 20 minutes beyond my typical leave time in the evening. I was home for about an hour and then knew I needed to hit the road to get some errand running done before the show. So I went to an ATM at a Walgreen, then on to the library to print two emails that had some relevant information on them.
   After the show I had the Irish band The Cranberries on my mind. So I went to Youtube and checked out 4 of their songs. 'Ode to my family', 'When you're gone', 'Salvation', and 'Zombie'. 'Ode' was one I played a lot after the death of my grandma 4 years ago. It provided me some solace I really needed at that time.  It was the final grandparent- and the only one who lived long enough to see me graduate twice.  

First Time Using Valet

I recall seeing an article one time that said 'One man, 3 shows, One night'. It was about actor Michael Gross, who was on the TV show 'Family Ties'. This seemed to describe my day, though better said as 3 events. At midday it was a thank-you luncheon at my employer's facility in Eden Prairie, and on the way in I saw 2 colleagues that are now based there. One of them just transferred this week. She likes to argue, and asked if I missed her. My response was just like the judge to Col. Jessup in 'A Few Good Men'- 'You don't have to answer that'. This was the second such luncheon this month. I would have liked participating more, but the feedback given by others before me was close to my experiences. I did expand on it near the end, however. Then it was back to work. While walking today, I saw 3 girls holding hands and each one had a punk rock hairdo.
   After work, there were 2 more events. One was an alumni event at an Irish bar in Minneapolis. This was where I used valet parking for the first time, at a ramp 2 blocks away. What made it easier to do was knowing it is cheaper after 6pm. At the event there were 3 Iowa Hawkeye athletes, one still plays in the pros for the Vikings. Two of the 3 were football players, the third basketball. The other 2 had retired, though I wasn't too familiar with any of them. We were told that Chad Greenway couldn't make it due to visiting his dad in the hospital, who is at Mayo Clinic. I didn't win any of the door prizes in the raffle, though I have won some before. The valet attendant seemed surprised how I hadn't done valet before, I said I could have used it at my high school prom but turned it down.
   Then I went across town to a comedy show, or more accurately described as a roast of a comedian on his birthday. I had attended his Facebook wedding, and seen him perform many times before. I even went to his roast 2 years ago at the same venue, in the basement of a bar. There was a homemade video in the middle of the show. I did see a few friends there in the crowd. What I also saw was a woman who used pencils to hold her hair in a bun, 4 in all. I don't see this too often.
   I had wondered if I was late, as I needed to drive across town. But I saw many of the attendees crowded around the entrance having a smoke and was told it hadn't started yet. When I was leaving the venue I heard 'As I lay me down to sleep' by Sophie B. Hawkins. The song moved me like few others, I recall it being a hit when I was in college. An odd thing happened while leaving the parking ramp I was in: when inserting the ticket, the machine rejected it as a nickel fell out. So I reached down to pick up the nickel and tried again with the ticket. I got outside pictures of all 3 venues to remember the day by.
   I did make it over to Bobby and Steve's after the show, and got a small Godfather's pizza. Hadn't had one in a while, will want to eat it in the next few days. Also got some Old Dutch 'puffcorn', as they appeared to be all out of popcorn at the bar. I saw an empty machine anyway. I stayed a little longer to hear the ending of 'Last Kiss' by Pearl Jam inside the store. Then when I was driving home on the Crosstown, I liked hearing 'Wake me up when September ends' by Green Day, around the time I was close to the airport. It was memorable as I saw a Southwest plane in its final descent right above me.

Helping An Undercover Cop

I had 2 odd dreams recently, I told a colleague about it earlier today. One of them was about me helping out a cop who was working undercover at a grocery store of all places. Why, I don't know. But I am good at analyzing my own dreams. As I recall, the man reminds me of who I see when I go to my regular grocery store. The colleague thought I was crazy, maybe since undercover cops are more likely found in other business establishments. The other had me at my dad's house, one he sold 10 years ago. I recall a Century 21 sign out front, and hosting a gathering there. We were watching TV and my dad was on, making some off-color but funny joke about getting divorced. Then I beat somebody up that I knew, thinking he stole my denim jacket. This is another simple one. My class reunion is this summer, so it has been on my mind quite a bit recently. And of course how my denim is greatly valued by me, I like wearing it when the weather allows it.
   At the comedy club tonight there was a big crowd, another round of the contest. Didn't know too well who advanced. But I did know many of the participants. I saw the show runner right before going in, the NBA playoff game was on and he said he was for San Antonio in it. He also shared a story how one doesn't talk about the Sonics in Seattle, since the franchise has moved to Oklahoma City, San Antonio's opponent in the series. A sore subject there. He had to make a distinction, how there's a music group called Sonics apparently.
   A big part of my time after work was spent getting caught up on postal mail and email. A theater I've been to is annoying me. I have asked them to send just one brochure about upcoming events, they are still sending two. So now I have to figure out what might work this time.

Second Trash Bag

I sent another trash bag out today, normally it is just one a week and I just sent one out last night. But I was busy with a cleanup of my home when I had the day off for Memorial Day. I started fairly early in the morning, breakfast first of course. Then I junked 2 more VHS tapes, found them when locating the graduation tape. It was episodes of 'All In The Family', and I already had some episodes- but not the same ones- on DVD. What required me to send out another bag was using the paper shredder a lot for travel brochures I didn't need, often places I thought about seeing but didn't. I pulled out a few items I found, like my Best Buy reward zone card. Usually when I buy something there, they can find it some other way so I didn't need the card. Another was the program from the Buddy Holly weekend in Clear Lake, Iowa, in June 1988. It was when they renamed a street near the Surf Ballroom for Holly, and a monument was dedicated outside the Surf to him and the other plane crash victims, including Ritchie Valens and Big Bopper. It was due to the success of the movie 'La Bamba' a year earlier. Another was a wedding program from 2005, a classmate from high school was getting married. Also two from Valley Junction, the part of West Des Moines, Iowa, I lived in for a year and a half after college. There were multiples from the Herbert Hoover Museum in West Branch, Iowa, which I had seen in February. There was a ticket from a previous visit, in August 2009.
   I liked getting a bookcase filled, it meant moving out most of the books under my laptop table. I liked having the space freed up. I swept up quite a bit in each room, and vacuumed the rugs as well. At midday I went out to Target to get some items I needed, all told it cost me just 86 cents as I had a $25 gift card from my workplace. I got a set of pillow cases, shaving cream, razors, a small picture frame, and batteries for my portable CD player. I found a Salvation Army donation bin for a book and 2 DVD's I no longer wanted. Then it was on to the laundromat and I did get a load done there, while listening to my Incubus CD since I had just picked up the replacement batteries for it. I liked getting to see 'Millionaire' and 'Jeopardy' today, another break from the cleanup. The final venture outside was over to the grocery store to give them plastic shopping bags, as I had accumulated plenty.

Food Trucks After Saints Game

I went to the St. Paul Saints baseball game with my date in the afternoon, they beat Sioux City 6-5 in 11 innings. After the game there was the theme of the day, 'Monster Food Truck Rally', I liked getting pictures of some of the food trucks. I had an Italian Sloppy Joe from 'Messy Guiseppe', along with their blackberry flavored lemonade. I also had some tater tots from Bloomy's. One of the pictures was of a retired fire truck, now used as a pizza truck. This served as a nice replacement for last week's game, which was washed out.
    Before the game, I watched the tape of my high school graduation with my date. It was a little bit of a struggle though, having to figure out how to hook up the VHS tape player as I don't use it much now. After it was hooked up we did watch most of it, like the speeches and the choir singing. But with nearly 240 graduates, I decided not to watch all of them cross the stage. We watched me of course, and when one of the 'class marshals'- who was there to help us on and off the stage- faint since it was a warm day in late May. He was wearing white suit, I was wearing a black cap and gown. Odds would have been on one of the graduates fainting. Since I am attending my class reunion soon, I figured it was time to watch it again. Not sure how long ago I had watched it previously.
   I noticed a favorite shirt of mine is ready to be retired, a Chicago Wolves hockey T-shirt. They're a minor league team. It's a nice reminder of attending their games when living in suburban Chicago, they play at an arena in northwest suburban Rosemont near O'Hare Airport. There were three small holes near one of the shoulders. But I had left Illinois more than 8 years ago, so it had been well-used. Now it means finding a replacement when I have the time. I checked E-bay first when I already have an account with them. There were some shirts, but not a lot. Some of them were jerseys, and when I already have 2 hockey jerseys- both NHL teams- I question the wisdom of getting another one. If need be, I can find one on the team's website, as expected they are reasonably priced at under $20. When I have been to just 2 Wolves games since leaving Illinois, I know there is no need to wait for when I would be attending another one of their games. Not sure when this will be. Quite often I would be back in the old neighborhood during the baseball and football season and not hockey, which made it harder to get to one of their games. But of course this year I made it in January, for the historian convention.

A Visit to Candyland

A classmate said he was doing a bike tour on the Mississippi River next month. First time I've heard of such an event, in Iowa I mainly know of Ragbrai.
   The plans today called for seeing the pirate exhibit at the Science Museum, but it was a no-go. The line was too long for tickets, it would have left us too little time to enjoy the exhibit. This was likely due to the holiday weekend. But we still have more than 3 months to see it, until Labor Day. I walked around downtown St. Paul with my date instead, since we had already paid for parking. We stopped at Candyland and got a box of popcorn, to be eaten later while watching a movie on video. In the evening we did watch a DVD I had bought from E-bay, 'Covered Wagon', based on an Emerson Hough novel. I hadn't seen a silent movie in a while, but the continuity was just fine. I was able to follow the story fairly well.
    Before leaving the Science Museum, we got an ice cream sandwich from the vending machine at a discount. A dollar was already in it, and it cost two, so I just put in another dollar for it, Neapolitan.
   We did make it over to attend a friend's birthday party. I spoke with the pizza man as I had delivered pizza one summer in college. The pizza was for the kids, who didn't want any of the fried chicken from Rainbow Foods. It did remind me of Kentucky Fried Chicken, having the mashed potatoes and gravy and cole slaw, but I was told KFC doesn't serve it in large aluminum containers. Eventually we had cake and ice cream as well, my date was getting impatient for the cake.
   I woke up late as I was leisurely due to the morning rain, but got some important errand running done like sending a sports column written by NFL player Larry Fitzgerald's dad to the same friend doing the bike tour. He had asked me if I was familiar with his writing, I was not. I had to find out what publication he wrote for, it was a small community paper. I got a free copy at an advance screening of the Mark Wahlberg movie 'Contraband' in January as the paper was sponsoring the screening.

Harvey Pekar

I decided to turn in rain checks tonight from last week's St. Paul Saints game for a game on Sunday. After this was done I looked at the tables outside the stadium. I spun the wheel and got 3-D glasses from the TV station known as 'CW Twin Cities'. Also got a half-off oil change coupon from White Bear Mitsubishi Suzuki. Though I'm not in White Bear Lake much, a long way for an oil change. I made it over in a van from Gabe's Bar, they had more than just charter buses running tonight. I think this was due to the Twins being home as well. I started walking back to my car when it was in the middle of the 2nd inning of the Saints game, no score. I needed the exercise and didn't want to wait for a ride. I checked their website and the Saints went on to win tonight, and it looks like the rain held off. I know the 'theater guy' colleague said he had free tickets tonight, in the Leinenkugel Lodge behind the left field wall.  
    I watched a DVD tonight in full, it was the original Muppet movie. I had bought it recently from Best Buy. It is replacing another Muppet movie, 'Great Muppet Caper', in my collection as that one was on VHS and I am slowly phasing those out by junking them when a replacement is found. I noticed an odd coincidence in the closing credits, how Scott Walker played the 'frog killer'. Same name as the governor of Wisconsin. This is the governor in a recall election next month due to being known as a union buster. I made it a Facebook posting. Also shared a link about student loan relief, from Moveon dot-org. I did this after signing the petition, the 'theater guy' spoke of it. He said tuition has quadrupled since I was in college. I can empathize since I had student loans, thankful it took me just 5 years to pay them off.
    It was the final day for a colleague, who is leaving for a job at another office with the same company, the Eden Prairie facility. There was donuts and cake brought in. The cake was made by somebody who is doing cooking classes at Cordon Bleu.
   I did read in the paper at lunch how the president made a second visit to my hometown of Newton, Iowa, on Thursday. Though he doesn't cover all of the facts. I understand that wind energy is something he believes in. But the facts are that the companies in former Maytag facilities don't employ near as many people, and don't pay near as well either. So when he speaks of 'they now make wind energy here instead of appliances' it's not the whole story.
   I looked up the Wikipedia article on Harvey Pekar, a music and literary critic. One friend I met at the comedy clubs read the blog and said my writings were like Pekar's. But I hadn't looked it up as I got busy after seeing the Facebook posting, and of course it was buried after a while. But thanks to the new format where it shrinks older activity, I was able to find it again without having to scroll down too much. He died in 2010, and he's a Midwesterner, from Cleveland. As a regionalist, I am partial to those who are Midwesterners. I also liked a cross reference to Studs Terkel and his book 'Working'.

Oldsmobile Joins The Cassette

I made it back home after getting some ice cream and heard what sounded like a smoke alarm. Had to call the number given, and maintenance said it was a water pump alarm. It was annoying and wouldn't go away, hard to do anything like watch a video. Got to know my neighbors better than expected, they knocked on some doors for me.

    I liked getting some small but important things done after work. After watching the news I went out to get a Little Caesar's pizza, pepperoni. I like going there at least once a month. Before this I went to a Family Dollar store to get a picture frame and some cookies. I had to deal with a vagrant but I gave them nothing. I thought about letting a cop know about it, who was at the other end of the plaza, but I just wanted to get the pizza home while it was still warm. Then it was on to Walgreen to print a photo and get another CD done so I could post some more photos to my Facebook page. I had one taken with a comedian friend on Tuesday and wanted to get it added right away, I think just 2 days was timely enough. This is especially true when compared to others, where I waited months to add them. Then the 'turnaround point' was the Dairy Queen at the U. of Minnesota, Stadium Village. I wanted to use up the last coupon I had from an event last summer, as it was expiring in a week. I got 2 Blizzards, one was the Blizzard of the Month. I put just a quarter into the new-age parking meter, knowing 11 minutes would be long enough. I ate the first one quickly, as usual, and asked for a cover for the other. I wanted to get it home before it melted too much, as I wait at least a day to eat the second one. But I had to go back to Walgreen first to pick up my order. I heard a song by Train about if it's their year, catchy as it goes through history. Most notable in the lyrics to me was likely '2004- Oldsmobile joins the cassette'. Meaning, the year General Motors stopped making the Oldsmobile. This would be a big deal to many since the brand name dated back to 1897, and it merged with Buick to form General Motors in 1908.
    I did watch a little from 2 DVDs I have, 'Covered Wagon'- a silent movie based on an Emerson Hough novel- was the first. The other was the original Muppet movie, wanting to see the scene when they are literal about a 'fork in the road'- by placing a larger than life dinner fork in the road.

   There were 2 meetings as work today, one was a full department and the other was just me and the boss. The 'one on one' had been moved back twice, a quarterly occurrence.

Astrodome Video on Yahoo

I did the comedy contest at Acme tonight, didn't win but still may advance as it just started this week and runs through the summer. Fourth time I've done it but I've learned plenty and improved along the way. Two women after the show said I was funny, liked hearing that. I changed it up a little from Monday after getting some pointers, and it worked just fine. It looked like few showed up after seeing the Facebook invite, but I still saw some familiar faces there. This included the MC, and others were there to support contestants, same as my date.
  Before I left for the contest, it caught my eye when seeing a 'Must see Yahoo video'. It was about the Houston Astrodome, as the board that governs it will mull over its fate soon. I hope it's kept, and renovated. It's a historic venue that didn't have to fall into disrepair. I recall once seeing a small postcard album that called it the '8th Wonder of the World'. I think it belonged to a relative, don't think I still have it. I did get to see the outside of it when I went to Houston in 2004, as I wanted to get a picture of it. I was in town for a baseball game, I was part of a DiGiorno pizza ad as I was given a cheese pizza to eat between innings on the big video board at the stadium. Also got a picture of a statue titled 'Cookie', referring to the cook in a cowboy camp. By then of course both baseball's Astros and football's Oilers had left the Dome. The Astros moved across town, the Oilers moved to Tennessee and became the Titans. When the NFL returned, the team known as the Texans decided to play across the street. I noticed it had been renamed the 'Reliant Astrodome', taking the name of a corporate sponsor, a local utility. It had been in many movies, I recall one of them being from the 'Bad News Bears' series. It was called 'Breaking Training'.  Naturally, I saw it before it achieved some more media attention, as a shelter for those evacuated from New Orleans after the hurricane and flood of 2005.

Basketball in the Dark

I just found out one of my blog postings was on a site called 'Allvoices', it was the one where I saw the James Madison impersonator earlier this month. It pleases me how there are links in many places, even if I hadn't heard of that site before.
   At work today, I saw somebody in a cubbyhole area playing basketball in the dark. Or maybe I should say I heard them and didn't know for sure who it was. I asked 'Let there be light?' but didn't turn on the light. Why in the dark, I don't know. Maybe they didn't want to be found. Naturally these were small basketballs, the setup is a lot like what is seen in bars. They have this set-aside area as a stress reliever. I've launched them as well, though my arm gets tired rather quickly since I am constantly launching them.
   I liked getting one thing done at work, it was getting a scrap of paper out of a hard-to-reach place on the copier. I kept trying as I liked the challenge, eventually it meant grasping it within the blades of scissors I had picked up nearby. The staple remover and a pen wasn't good enough.
   There was another round of the contest as the comedy club tonight, one of the three contestants that advanced actually ran the light but she was really good. Also asked for a photo-op with a fellow comic as I knew he had been out of town a lot on gigs and don't know how long he will be in town. But he will be the headliner at the same club later this week. This is the fourth picture with a comedian friend, now I hope to find the time soon to get it added to my Facebook page.

Ohio Friend Reached

I did finally reach my 'Ohio friend' before I went inside for the comedy show tonight, so thankfully the phonetag ended. We hadn't spoke at length in a while, it was nice to hear from somebody who knows me well.
   It went well going onstage tonight, a preview for doing the contest at the same club in two days. I started off with a joke a friend gave me last week when he decided to do a shoutout. Same friend had helped give me a joke before, about my plans to attend a Lady Gaga concert.
   It was nice to hear from many friends who gave their compliments. Also was nice to see my 'comedy bestie' arrive, albeit after the show ended. And I saw one friend who hadn't been there in a while, who should be having a CD release party next month. Most notable may have been the comedian who likes to use the 3 by 5 cards, I said I like that idea and don't care what others think. He liked my set and suggested how I could take one joke even farther, which made me think of a baseball team when he spoke of it. But then again, I like baseball so much. There are many things I could somehow connect to baseball.
   I saw the 'theater guy' at work earlier today, and he did show off some wounds on his right leg from doing the 'Tough Mudder' event this weekend. I knew he did it on Saturday, a different day from when I went as a spectator. He said there was 6-7 water stations for participants, and bananas as well. This explains why I saw one on the pavement in the food area. He said the shoes stacked up at the finish line were donated to the needy in Africa if they were in good enough condition. He told me about parts of the course I didn't see, like cornfields and timberland where trees were cut down but not removed so it made the terrain harder to navigate.

Tough Mudder in Somerset

I went with my date to the Tough Mudder event in Somerset, Wisconsin, earlier today. It was wet, but we were prepared with the outfits we brought. We were able to see a decent number of obstacle courses as spectators, five in all. Looked like it was good that we decided to get food when we did around 1:30pm, about an hour after arrival. We had to get food and drink tickets, a dollar a ticket. They stopped selling them shortly after we got ours. I had a taco salad, and we ate next to the stage since there was just wet benches to sit on. As usual, I noticed the recorded music. Like while eating, it was 'Welcome to the Jungle' by Guns-n-Roses, along with 'When The Levee Breaks' by Led Zeppelin. I have an affinity for Chicago, so I like 'get to Chicago' in the lyrics to 'Levee'. Also heard 'Enter Sandman' by Metallica while at the event. It was tough trying to figure out how to get back after the event, as the traffic leading to the Stillwater lift bridge was backed up. So like some others before us, we turned around, eventually finding our way to Hudson and Interstate 94.
   It was a notable day for finding Charlie Brown and Snoopy statues, as we found two  more. Both were doghouses, the final year. One was in Maplewood, not far from my old neighborhood in Little Canada. We had found this lead on a blog we had consulted. The other was found in downtown St. Paul, on the way there, just paying attention at the right time. I said we should get a picture of it now, not knowing how long it will be there. We also finished watching the history series video, the final segment was about musicians and heroes. As expected, Schroeder had a prominent role in it since he's the piano player in the comic strip.
    I liked seeing Lady Gaga guest star on 'The Simpsons' tonight, I tried to notice as many jokes as possible. Two good ones were 'Springfield is my Waterloo', along with Homer trying to eat her meat dress.

'Big Lebowski' Night Rainout

I did laundry earlier today, noticed how another dryer was and wasn't running. The time wasn't going down from 48 minutes, and mine finished before his. He showed up and swore about it, then pressed a few buttons and it was finally running properly.
    The plans called for seeing a St. Paul Saints game against Gary in the evening, but it started raining not long after we arrived at the stadium. The game was called off at about 8pm, an hour after the scheduled start time. We still got the giveaway, the 'dude slippers', honoring the movie 'Big Lebowski'. So now we must figure out when to use the rainchecks. Plenty of the songs played during the rain delay were about rain, like 'Set Fire to the Rain' by Adele, or 'Blame it on The Rain' by fraudsters Milli Vanilli. We thought of a few others, like 'Love a Rainy Night' by Eddie Rabbitt, or another one of his songs, 'Driving My Life Away' as it does have 'windshield wipers slapping out a tempo' in the lyrics. Then there's '100% Chance of Rain', had to look up the performer online- found out it was Gary Morris. Had to do the same with 'Wrong Side of Memphis' after being at friday's car show- since a 1969 Tempest was mentioned in the lyrics. It was by Trisha Yearwood. This was a Pontiac car that was a companion to the LeMans. But we saw a LeMans at the show and not a Tempest.
    During one part of the rain delay, we were next to a concession stand where a young couple with two kids told us they had some bad luck with Saints games, all too often they were rained out when they try to attend a game.
   This of course meant lining up alternate plans, my date and I decided to pick up a video at my place, the Charlie Brown series called 'This is America'. There were 2 more segments to watch, we got one of them watched tonight, about the Smithsonian and the Presidency. Most of the 4 Mount Rushmore presidents were covered, as expected.
   It was also nice to get to the dog park in the afternoon, as my date's dog is able to run at full gallop there. The crowd was lighter than typical, with many staying away due to the rainstorm expected to arrive.

Driver 8 by REM

After hearing what sounded like an REM song at an Old Chicago restaurant in uptown Minneapolis tonight, I thought of some of their CDs I own. Then it led me to listen to some of their songs on Youtube. I started with 'Driver 8', one I like as it's about railroads. And the video does depict them, it's the Chessie System and I like their logo as it is a cat. Then it was 'Losing my Religion', 'What's the Frequency Kenneth', 'Everybody Hurts', and 'It's Been a Bad Day'. I do have the 'Monster' CD, which has 'Frequency' on it.
   Plenty of notable events today, even though it was a day off from work. I went to a mentoring event at Centennial Lakes Park in Edina. At first it was hard to find, since all I saw was a shopping area. But the park was there after getting to the main building. I arrived early, then walked around a little. It was a warm and breezy day, did a few events I hadn't done in a while or at all. We started with mini golf, but played just 6 holes before having to move onto the next activity. We did some volunteering on assembly, such as stuffing teddy bears. I finished one, and got a picture of it. The student I was mentoring said the bears looked evil, hard to say. Then on to cutting fringe on fleece blankets. a break for lunch, we had Famous Dave's BBQ. It was nice to eat, but messy. Then on to lawn bowling, and finally a science experiment where we made ice cream in a Ziploc bag. It tasted good. My student was using headphones that said 'Beats by Dr. Dre'. I knew this to be Eminem's mentor.
   After getting caught in traffic due to lane closures in Edina, I went on to the next event, finding a Charlie Brown statue in Forest Lake. It was found, which is now number 130. We wanted to get to another one but rush hour traffic meant we didn't get there by closing time, which was 5pm. After a short break I went out again with my date to a festival at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis, liked the car show there in the parking lot. I recognized one car as being like my first one, I had a 1976 Ford LTD and it was a 1975 model. It was odd how the events in the gym were winding down early, it was scheduled until 7:30pm. But even before 7pm a cop said it was already 'winding down' as we entered. There wasn't much still active by then, so we didn't buy any food and drink tickets, and left after just a few minutes.

Man With Pigtails

When I was waiting to get onto the bus tonight after work I saw a man with pigtails. This is something that one doesn't see too often. It was busy after work, as I wasn't home for long. Wanted to get over to the Saints baseball stadium to get tickets for an upcoming game. I informed the shuttle bus driver from Gabe's bar how I was just staying long enough to get tickets, would walk back to my car as I needed the exercise. Noticed how some parking spots there had signs up saying 'Reserved for' and it happened to be Mayor Chris Coleman and Governor Mark Dayton! Not bad for a minor-league team. But it is the season opener and an anniversary year, the 20th season. There were articles in both the Minneapolis and St. Paul papers about it.
   After I got home I wasn't there for long, wanting to watch 'Big Bang Theory' and check email. Then it was on to a comedy show, a rare Thursday for me. But a friend was having a CD release party, and I did buy his CD for $10. The titles of the comedy bits looked familiar to me. I said it reminded me of buying a CD when I lived in suburban Chicago, but it was music. I knew the frontman for a band called Stradlatter, a reference to a 'Catcher in the Rye' character, it was the Mariposa CD. I learned some from him, his name was Jeremy Grunloh.
    During this comedy show, I got a shoutout from the headliner, and I said it will likely lead to another comedy bit. I like getting a shoutout, and this show will also be remembered for a man who showed up late, and had too much to drink. The club owner wanted to eject the man but the performer was fine with him staying, even though he was getting loud.
   Besides the Saints baseball tickets, I also got spectator passes for Tough Mudder this weekend. It's a big obstacle course that a colleague, the theater guy, is doing. Also created my first-ever Facebook event for my comedy contest night at Acme in Minneapolis next week.  

Chuck Berry Song, Not Cosmetics

I picked up an outfit from the cleaners and the attendant spoke of a pet being given the name 'Maybelline'. I said it was also a Chuck Berry song, but the song is spelled differently, Maybellene. I'm seeing that it stays hung up until I attend the wedding, as it's what the outfit is for.
    Made it to the comedy club tonight, and saw many of my friends outside upon arrival. I went there right after going to the cleaners, with a short stop nearby for 'puffcorn' as I wanted to take care of my popcorn fix. I was told it was due to the warm weather as to why so many were outside. Once I went inside I liked hearing a recorded song over the loudspeakers, 'Tonight Tonight' by Smashing Pumpkins. A nice reminder of the college roommate who got me interested in their music, and of living in suburban Chicago. They do mention the town the band is from, when the lyric 'city by the lake' is reached.
   At work today there was a 'Health Ahead fair'. It didn't take long to fill up the punch card, and it included getting a health screening from a medical pro who was onsite. Didn't enjoy having my finger pricked for it, but what can you do?
   Enjoyed lunchtime as I went to the season-opening block party the St. Paul Saints were having downtown. I've been to it every year, and like getting the Softee baseball they have. Officially it's called the 'World's Largest Game of Catch'. And it led to a rare showing of my Little League glove, as it is beat up from all of the use and of course no longer fits my hand. I've grown plenty since getting it, of course.
   I got seven pictures from the event, the first being with Saints boss Mike Veeck. I didn't recognize him at first, as he did his best to blend in with the crowd by wearing jeans and had sunglasses on. Next is one of a kangaroo mascot, then Little Caesar next to the Hummer this pizza company is known for.  Plenty of music there, and Sister Roz, who gives massages, was dancing to it. Got a closeup of this year's live pig mascot, then one of the Sun-drop 'larger than life' inflated bottle next to an SUV with Sun-drop ads all over it. Finally was one of some Saints players, wearing jerseys, next to the 'Mudonna' mascot.

Competitive Comedy Contest

I felt good about performing in a comedy contest tonight, even though I wasn't one of the top three that advanced I know I did well. It has been no problem finding enough quality material with the amount of time given, tonight it was 5 minutes. I did one about my history of being clumsy and spilling, along with one about eccentric things my dad will say about mosquitoes. He actually will say 'skeeter'. I knew all five of the judges from being at the clubs regularly, and two of them said I did well, and so did the MC. I've been doing comedy for nearly 4 years so I'm aware of what works and what doesn't. The thing I didn't like was waiting to take the stage, since it was random as to the order. But as usual, once I take the stage the nervousness fades quickly. I even had one crowdmember said they liked my performance, didn't know them but I said I was also doing a contest at another club next week. Already made it a Facebook posting in hopes of getting a sizeable cheering section. One classmate saw the posting and asked to see some material, I said there were 3 clips on the Rooftop website.
    Also notable while on Facebook was checking news related to Emerson Hough School. Looks like the fort, or playground, is still in play. The superintendent spoke of blocking it off with a snow fence and possibly demolition and replacement. Hopeful I get to see it one last time before changes are made, as I plan on attending my class reunion.
   As usual, I pay attention to music wherever I go. On my car radio tonight I heard two songs I recall when they were hits: 'Teen Spirit' by Nirvana, and 'Shout' by Tears for Fears.

Get Down, Curious George

A woman said to her young son, 'get down, Curious George' as he was hanging by the bus rail after boarding the bus tonight. Then he and another kid, a girl, I heard them saying 'Sponge Bob, give me! and 'get me McDonald's'. The girl did leave the bus with a little inflated Sponge Bob chair. I like seeing the enthusiasm kids have for life, like when I delivered pizza in college and hearing 'hi, pizza man!'
    At the comedy club tonight, I made it just in time to get signed up. I was the last one, as a bartender claimed the list right after me. Traffic was backed up on I-94, so I exited at University Avenue and went through the U of M to get to the club. Upon arrival, one friend did advise me to hurry. I think it had a double meaning, as I needed to get across the street before a big delivery truck did.
   The theater guy colleague spoke of closing up wounds with super glue, I was unfamiliar with this working. It was in reference to me getting a Band-Aid for a paper cut. He shared more stories about getting injured in college in Mankato, and getting to know the hospital staff on a first-name basis since he was a 'frequent flyer'.
   I am still playing 'phone tag' with my 'Ohio friend', we kept missing connections this weekend and was emailed earlier today being advised of the window of opportunity to call. I tried tonight after arriving at the comedy club, still got the voicemail. I liked getting a shoutout when one friend was onstage, he said I kept his act going when I laughed. He thought it was odd how I was an equipment manager on my high school's football team. It was in reference to how my class reunion is this summer, and I said it won't be too big a deal to me if some classmates don't show up. I said I went to a big enough school- a class of about 240- that I likely didn't know somebody if they didn't do the 3 activities I spent the most time in. This was football, French, and A.P. classes. My school called them 'honors' classes, though AP is a more universal term.

Brunch at Granite City

I had 2 food outings with my date today. The first was at Granite City restaurant, also a microbrewery in Eagan, same town my date lives in. There was a wait of nearly 30 minutes for a table as it was Mother's Day, thankfully there was little muffins available while we were waiting. Most of us had the buffet, plenty of good potatoes there as well as well as scrambled eggs. Liked seeing the archival photos on the wall, from the history of the Twin Cities. I had some of the beer since I'm not there much, but usually I just have it at the comedy club due to the cost and the calories involved.
   In the early afternoon we went to Minnetonka to find a Charlie Brown and Snoopy statue, and we did. So we've found one for the month. Looks like it was near an Old Chicago restaurant we had eaten at in February. Thankful to a comedian friend who found this lead for us, as we had a low number from the west metro. In the early evening we went to another event with my date's 'adopted family', where there was pizza and little brownies and Klondike bars. By the time we got there most of the pizza was gone, I had two slices of supreme pizza as it was all that was left. I'm not sure if I had eaten a Klondike before, they were good. It made me think of those catchy commercials about 'What would you do for a Klondike bar?' At Wolves basketball games, they have some kind of silly promotions related to it.
   I understood many of the jokes I saw in tonight's 'Simpsons' episode, since it was about Homer in a Passion Play. I had seen two of them when I was a youngster, in South Dakota and Arkansas. Best example was when he decided to ask what a 'cross to bear' came from- the story he was the lead actor in! But also one about the sea captain being in love with some Great Lakes- Superior and Erie.

James Madison Impersonator

I went to see the Constitution exhibit at the state's museum with my date earlier today. It was nice to see the James Madison impersonator and some other costumed characters- that one can get pictures with. We got pictures of a Town Crier, Uncle Sam, and the Goddess of Justice- representing the law and courts. Naturally the girl wasn't in full costume, as it would have meant being blindfolded. But she did have the justice scales. Reminded me a little of attending a Civil War weekend at Murphy's Landing in Shakopee, where there was an Abe Lincoln impersonator. I did notice a display there that was about Prohibition and the War on Drugs, but it left out an important figure in it- Carrie Nation.
  I had already accomplished plenty of things I set out to do, as of the morning, like getting the mail ready. I decided who to vote for in the upcoming writer union election, also wrote out checks for my utility bill and an annual membership in the Civil War Preservation Trust. Eventually, I did do the same for reservations on the class reunion this summer. But some of the business I did was online, proof of how times have changed as I write way fewer checks now. I scheduled a payment to my Bill Me Later account. Also left feedback on a purchase I made on Ebay which arrived on Wednesday, the NFL team shorts.
   In the evening, I had dinner with my date at an Olive Garden as I had a gift card good for them or for Red Lobster, which was across the street in Burnsville. We ordered smaller portions and shared them, so there was no leftovers to take home. We also watched two more segments of the Charlie Brown history series, about the trans-continental railroad, and inventors like Edison, Bell, and Ford. So there are just two segments left to see out of eight, since the one about the Mayflower is one shown annually with the Thanksgiving special on TV. So we don't have to see it with the others.

Think Like a Man Movie

This evening I went to a movie in Oakdale, 'Think Like a Man'. It had been promoted at the comedy club. There was plenty of laughs in it, and I liked seeing some clips from the TV show 'The Jeffersons'. I liked the Cedric character, he had the funniest lines since he had the 'Napoleon Complex'. Also liked the Zeke character, he seemed more sensible than some were. Or maybe it was that he reminded me somehow of my one of my comedian friends? Not sure, kind of looked like him, a tall dude. I could tell I was tired while driving home, as it was around midnight and I yawned some in the car. I noticed a cop in Maplewood, but I understand they're mainly interested in getting drunk drivers off the road at that time of night. Found out my punch card for this cinema chain is no longer valid, I hadn't been there in a while anyway. Another loyalty program was being advertised now, nut there was a cost for activating it so I just picked up the information and don't expect to be signing up for it. I prefer the free 'memberships', msot people tend to.
   It was a night of getting things done, which I liked. First off after work when I left home was to get to a laundromat in Maplewood and send some dry cleaning there. When the ticket was complete I said 'Cool, now I can go eat and see a movie'. I went to Noodles and Company and had the spaghetti, but it was hard to ignore the order-taker as they seemed kind of clueless with me and with a complaining customer in front of me. Then it was over to a Target store to find a garment bag. One employee asked if I needed help upon seeing me walking the perimeter, then he and two others were involved with finding it but couldn't, in the luggage section. So I looked at music and movies, then tried to find the item again and found it next to ironing equipment. Actually it was classified as a 'Suit Protector', but close enough. Two of them for $5 is hard to beat. It will replace the one I have which is torn. I will keep the hanger that came with the suit which says 'Leuthold's', as I want to keep something with that name on it. This may have been why I kept the bag for so long, also due to not knowing i could easily replace it. It was the end of an era, sort of, when junking the garment bag, as it came with my first suit out of college. I still have the suit, but don't wear it much as I'm not sure how well it fits now. I just sent a sportcoat to the cleaners.
  

Pita Bread, No Cheese

Plenty of food left over from meetings at work. I liked eating the pita bread, nothing else with it, though it was kind of crunchy I didn't mind. Then there was an all-employee meeting in the afternoon, I had one salmon skewer but that was all food-wise. Also chose a bottle of orange juice as I was leaving. I would have eaten more of there was some cheese, I am used to seeing this at banquet-type events. It was a bad time to offer up so much food when many of us, including me, had just eaten lunch.
   Went to an event at the state's museum tonight, there was a James Madison impersonator introduced by state Supreme Court justice Alan Page, former Vikings player. The actor stayed in character real well, I liked that. He was there as part of an exhibit about the Constitution, which Madison was credited with writing. It meant moving back some of my after-work routine, but all this really entailed was just looking at most emails later. No big deal, I usually delete them right after reading anyway. I saved one as it was from City Pages, there was a writeup about the concert I had just been to the previous night, Incubus at the Myth. I saw myself being busy tonight no matter what I chose to do, as I also saw an event at the Loft in Minneapolis was scheduled. It was Dylan Hicks speaking about his new book, he had been an instructor of mine at the Loft on a critical writing class.
    On the bus after work I liked meeting somebody with a Chicago hat, he also eventually showed me his Bears tattoo on his right forearm. He liked talking pro football with anyone who was interested, even if they were Vikings fans. Not the first time where talk of sports led to seeing a tattoo, also happened at a pajama party at some new condos in 2006. But it was a different team then.

Incubus Concert

Went to the Incubus concert at the Myth nightclub in Maplewood tonight. First time at this venue. Since it was a club show it did remind me of other club venues I've seen, like the Quest club in Minneapolis (now Epic), as well as First Avenue. I did my best to observe as much as possible there. The wall 'tapestry' reminded me of chain mail from a Renaissance Festival performer. I saw somebody dance on top of the bar. A blonde girl had plenty of tattoos, especially covering her right arm. There was a restroom attendant, I even said 'fancy restroom'. I had been to a show with one before, at the Riviera Theater on the north side of Chicago if I'm not mistaken. Need cigarettes? No problem, we have them! I'm sure some media outlets were there to cover it, as I saw somebody with a camera that had a long lens. They played songs I knew from the CD I have, 'Moments and Melodies'. This included my favorite, 'Drive', I was screaming my approval at the end of the song. Also notable was 'Megalomaniac' and 'Anna Molly'. I purposely waited a little before leaving the club, as the first recorded song played after the band was done was 'Don't Stop Believing' by Journey. I wanted to hear the 'Born and raised in south Detroit' lyric, which is early in the song, and then I was out. Some things looked familiar from other shows, like an attendant ready to take beer that wasn't finished yet before exiting. All about the open container laws. There were plenty of 'checkpoints' as well. First was pat-downs, then the wristband for buying beer, finally checking tickets, general admission. I am used to seeing 2 checkpoints but not 3. If there was a souvenir stand, I didn't see it. But I saw some crowdmembers did have Incubus shirts on, and one had the tour schedule on it. This show was listed as 'Saint Paul' instead of Maplewood. The next one is in Pacific Junction, Iowa, which is near Omaha, Nebraska.
   I had to hustle to be there for showtime, as I laid down after watching a syndicated rerun of 'Big Bang Theory' and fell asleep while listening to an Incubus CD to get primed for the show. Odd how I was thinking of another music act, wanting to hear some of their songs on Youtube while taking care of checking email after work. It was Mary Chapin Carpenter, different genre. I listened to 'At The Twist and Shout' and 'He Thinks He'll Keep Her'. I like the former way more than the latter, it's a real lively song and I like reminders of Cajun country.
   I got bogged down in semantics with my boss today, something I don't enjoy at all. I asked for an intro of a new employee, as the supervisor in another department did this for some of my colleagues but not all. When this was done I said I was thankful for this. But since I said it in different words, it wasn't good enough, which is wrong. She kept saying 'thank you' after it, not wanting to let it go. And a nearby colleague, who loves to argue, said it wasn't about semantics. I get bored with those who get bogged down in this, I said this was all too often a problem when dealing with dealers when I was in loan processing. One side didn't want to admit how the same thing was being said, but using different words. The theater guy colleague even said 'Your horse is now a puddle' saying my boss kept beating a dead horse about it.

Not a Morning Stretch

There was an exercise show on TV called 'Morning Stretch' when I was a kid. But I experienced something different this morning, it was a frantic search for my glasses. I fell asleep before taking them off and knew I needed to find them before leaving for work. I did, but it meant not having breakfast at home as I wanted to get on the bus on time. Since I was moving around quite a bit, guessing as to where they were, it was likely more exercise than I normally get in the morning. Aside from walking out to catch the bus of course.
   In the evening I saw a man, likely drunk, fall on a woman when the bus stopped and he blamed the driver for slamming on the brakes. I said it is a good idea to hold onto the rail for balance. Naturally I waited until the man had gotten off the bus, didn't care to argue with him at all. The driver kept asking if the woman was all right. She did look a little shaken up about it.
    Tonight at the comedy club was the second night of the contest. The top four advanced as there was a tie for third. The MC said he made an 'executive decision' to let both advance, I think most were fine with this. I had seen two of the comics who advanced perform before. After hearing the show closer do a joke, I said he sounded familiar as I recognized his voice. He said he was a native of the Twin City area but now lives in New York, made it part of his act by speaking of it onstage. He has a deep voice and even did a joke about how somebody said he should do voice-overs. Something about how we jsut like your voice and prefer to see less of you in person, it was brilliant.

Speedy McGreedy

I made it to the Hardee's in St. Paul near Interstate 94 tonight before I made it over to the comedy club. I passed by it all the time and had meant to stop there much earlier. I had a mushroom and swiss burger. While waiting i looked at the archival photos on the wall, some were of nearby Hamline University, as it is on the road of the same name. Others were of Hardee's themselves, likely other locations.
   I knew what brought me there, it was a recent dream where I had hard luck on finding a bathroom for a while. After not finding one in a hotel, and seeing what looked like amateur performing or an AA meeting with testimonials, I had to keep looking. One of the places I stopped at was a Hardee's, or so I thought. The food was outside like in a salad bar format, and the restaurant looked more like a secondhand store when I went inside. Finally found one, in a private home, and was looking at a picture of somebody's pregnant college friend.
   I know it's easier to find Hardee's in my native state, Iowa. It is likely why I have a cloth bag from when I was a kid, with Speedy McGreedy on it. He must have been their answer to the McDonald's Hamburglar. Newton didn't have one for a while, and once again doesn't have one, so the bag must have been from the Knoxville location. A few times, I've had their food in St. Louis as it's served right at the baseball stadium. One classmate really liked them, and on a church work camp she kept saying 'there's a Hardee's' to the pastor, and at the end of the week she got her wish of eating there. It was annoying how she kept calling him by his first and middle name when she said this, he responded the same way to her with her first and middle name.
    I had to help cover the payoff reports at work today as one colleague was running late and didn't make it in until almost midday. I was fine with a break from doing copies.
    I called back my dad after seeing the message on my cellphone, it was from last night. I decided to respond tonight while at the comedy club, as I prefer to do so within 24 hours so he isn't left wondering at all. He wanted to know when I was traveling again. I spoke of the where, but not specifically on the when, this weekend. I didn't want him wondering why I wouldn't be responding to voicemail in a quick fashion, as I expect to be really busy.
      

9 Hangers Tossed

After getting back into town from Iowa, I had to do errand running of course. This included the laundry, though I finally got it done on the third try. There were problems with the first two laundromats, so I went back to the one I knew in Maplewood. I asked the owner about doing some dry cleaning for me as well, getting prepared for attending a wedding. No problem, just takes a few days, now I need to figure out when to get there again to drop it off. I was greeted by the owner- 'hey Iowa'- (where I am from) and I was invited to look at some surveillance camera footage. She had been at the cabin over the weekend and was asked to review it since there was a theft of cash. She said she ascertained it as a patron, happening while the attendant was busy in another room and of course not looking. I also noticed there was an outdated calendar up above, flipped to February 2008. This was in a small room just behind the dollar bill changer. I was the last patron out tonight, so I saw the owner lock up the place. It also meant I didn't see a full episode of 'The Simpsons'- saw about half of it. I recognized it as a parody of Morgan Spurlock's documentary 'Supersize Me'. She was cleaning up- running the vacuum- and I didn't say anything as I was nearly done anyway when the TV was shut off. The main thing left was folding laundry after taking it out of the dryer. When I got home I decided to clean out some weak plastic hangers, it was nine in all. Now it means more of the wire hangers will get used.
    The morning began with some stormy weather, while having breakfast at a Village Inn. But it cleared off fairly quickly. I didn't have to drive through much rain. I made 3 stops, I prefer making it with just 1 or 2. I stopped in Clear Lake, then Owatonna. The final one was Lakeville, at the edge of the metro area. I saw the Best Buy near the interstate, knew it was one scheduled to be closed. I got a DVD, the original 'Muppet Movie'.  The cashier said October was the closing date, so not right away. I liked making it back for a meal at the Chicago-style hot dog place, near one of the laundromats. They had a pocket schedule for the St. Paul Saints so I picked one up. I finally decided to order a few items on my list tonight, the first being the Chicago Bears shorts since I came up empty in Des Moines this weekend. Found some on Ebay, a place where I've ordered before. The other item was the free flight on Delta, for the annual visit to St. Louis. Still need to reserve the hotel room and get the game tickets, but I can do that soon enough.

Merle Hay: More Than a Mall

Just watched a Youtube music video, it was 'Bad Reputation' by Freedy Johnston. I was prompted to do so as I had spoken of this song at work this week with a colleague who knows guitars well. He had a shirt on that said 'Life is full of choices'- about guitars. I said there was a 12-string guitar in it, and the liner notes said Butch Vig was a part of the song. Seems to explain why the song did so well, since Butch Vig was a part of plenty of good music like producing for Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins. He later had his own band, called  Garbage. Near the end of the song there was a 2-minute commercial for Ebay, about Mother's Day. Kind of funny one some level, but unexpected. Usually they are before the song. I still need to listen to other songs with this kind of guitar, for comparison purposes. But on this one, it seemed to have a richer sound than a typical guitar, which I like.
    I went over to McDonald's this morning and had an Egg McMuffin. While walking back, I saw a sports bar with banners up about the Mayweather fight tonight. Reminds me of attending a class reunion 10 years ago when there was the Tyson-Lewis fight on at the event.
    Today I drove to Des Moines, Iowa, to see a minor league baseball game with my dad. I arrived in the mid-afternoon, after making two stops along the way. I like being efficient about it, doing things all at once like fuel for the car and going to the bathroom. So it meant stopping in Clear Lake in northern Iowa. But I felt tired rather quickly after this stop, unsure why. I did have two slice of pizza from Casey's, as I wanted sausage as well as pepperoni. So I stopped again in central Iowa at a rest area between Story City and Ames. I'm thankful I did as I liked seeing the history on display there, about the car companies based in Iowa. It was a repeating pattern of 5 bricks on the outside, one of these was the Maytag Mason. I knew the 'Washing Machine King', as Fred Maytag was known, also made cars for a short time, before World War I. I got a picture of all five.
    When I arrived at the Motel 6, my dad was already there and said he had paid for the room on his card, it was the only way to get in before me as I had reserved the room online.  After I checked in, we went to Merle Hay Mall in hopes of finding some NFL team shorts. Went to 4 different stores and they didn't have them, was advised to go online.
     It wasn't a wasted trip for me. I wanted pictures of veteran memorials for Merle Hay, who was the first Iowa serviceman killed in World War I. There were some markers at the cemetery near the mall. I also knew there was one inside the mall. The big boulder at the cemetery entrance said 'Merle Hay Road', and the mall name is derived from the road. It is a long road that goes all the way out to Camp Dodge, a military facility. I know the road for having plenty of car dealers, it is called the 'auto mile'.
     I had seen the mall's marker when there as a kid to shop for school clothes, and it was next to the Sears store. Besides this, I got one of a kiddie ride, it was the Pink Panther and Inspector Clouseau. Before leaving the mall, I got a strawberry malt from the Maid-Rite in the food court. We went back to the hotel and watched the Kentucky Derby there on TV before heading for the baseball game. There hasn't been a Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978, I hope it's done again. I'll Have Another won the race.
    I wanted to look around a little outside the stadium before the game, I liked seeing the sculptures there like of kids playing baseball. Another routine is to find the brick my dad bought, it is just outside an entrance. The Iowa Cubs played the New Orleans Zephyrs, the 'I-Cubs' lost 7-3. I got a bumper sticker and postcard after the game in their souvenir shop, in addition to a program and scorecard as I like keeping score. Matt Tolbert was playing for the Cubs, I recognized the name as he had played for the Twins. I know sometimes players are signed to a minor-league deal after they've been cut by another team.    

Much Like Doc Graham

My boss saw me walking around at lunchtime and asked why I had my jacket on when it was warm, and inside. I said I knew others had made this observation before, and I gave the same answer then. This was true, a previous boss had wondered the same thing. In some ways it is like a habit, having something to carry, much like Doc Graham in the movie 'Field of Dreams' who had his umbrella. It did feel warm with it on by the time my lunchtime was done, as I had been doing plenty of walking outside to get some errand running done. Though I was so busy I ran out of time to drop off some mail at the post office, will have to move it back a day. No big deal, as I was sending the check really early.
   I had a sandwich at Subway in the evening, and it was starting to rain when I went over there. I saw how traffic was backed up on the road I had to cross to get between home and the shop as I was walking, and this hadn't changed by the time I was done. Found out a cop had stopped somebody apparently, as I saw the lights off in the distance. I eventually did what somebody did before me, which was turn off at the first available light. It helps to take an alternate route at times. I wanted to get to Walgreen and pick up a few supplies, this included some soap. I had been to a different Walgreen location at lunchtime, but they didn't have the soap I wanted. By then I realized I wanted to take care of my ice cream fix as I saw somebody on the bus with a small Dairy Queen Blizzard treat, a small as I recall. I got an ice cream sandwich. My feet were wet after walking back from Subway, so I changed my socks and shoes before venturing out again. It was hard to avoid stepping in puddles as they were everywhere on the sidewalk.  

Is It A Weapon?

Riding the bus home tonight I saw a man board and stand next to the driver, he had a long stick that said 'Oak' on one tip and kept complaining to the driver about 'being competitive'. The driver said to take it up with the council, I take it he meant the governing body of the company. Whenever I see something like this, I wonder if it will be used as a weapon.
   There was another time during the day that I heard about sticks, the 'facility czar' is an ex-New Yorker and spoke of playing stickball as a youngster and how the cops would take away the stick by sticking it down a manhole cover. There was just enough space to do so.
   Saw 'Big Bang Theory' with my date tonight, really funny episode about relationships and Howard being part of the space program. Also saw another segment of the Charlie Brown history series, about NASA. I liked how the Charlie Brown and Snoopy characters were more than just bit players in the story. But it was a more recent event, and it may have been hard to get Neil Armstrong or John Glenn.
   A politician I know back in Iowa is introducing a bill trying to combat the Asian Carp fish problem there. Also heard from a comedian friend who is in Chicago on a gig now, he said 'Da Bears' goes over well there. I'm sure it is kind of hard for him to say it when he's a Redskin fan. He spoke of doing a 'Mini Ditka' bit. It's nice to stay connected on Facebook, and thanks to an email from Linked In I have added a few more contacts.
    I checked the Emerson Hough page and it looks like there is more discussion about the playground, sadly it has had problems with vandalism. I said the thing that combats it is to shine lights on it or put cameras on it, as vandals don't want to be seen.   

Jolly Joe Rolette

I was watching the late news and there was a feature about the state's early history, how a fur-trader politician named 'Jolly joe' Rolette stole a bill that would have moved the capital from St. Paul to St. peter. The Wikipedia article had quite a bit as well. Sounded a little like what happened in Wisconsin last year: 'If I don't get my way, then I will take my ball and go home'. A coworker was surprised how I didn't know about this, when it was mentioned much earlier like a year back. But I had to remind them how I grew up in another state, Iowa. So it wouldn't have been taught in the schools I attended, I know learning local history is a big part of school. In Iowa, we learned about Kate Shelley, who saved somebody during a big storm in Boone.
   This evening I cleaned out the glovebox in my car, and I hadn't looked at it in a while. I wanted to see I still had the current registration as well as insurance card, most everything else was taken out like last year's registration and plenty of oil change receipts from Jiffy Lube. Also found car repair receipts from Car-X that went back to 2009!
    As usual, there is plenty of people-watching available on the bus. After work it was a man who said he was 42 years old, ain't got no kids and don't want any. All he has is nieces and nephews, all he wants. Based on how his mouth looked when he swallowed and spoke, he also had little or no teeth. He had a bottle of Coca-Cola in one hand. He boarded with a man in a wheelchair. His speech about kids was to a woman who had a small child, and the kid kept looking in my direction and I waved.
    The big news today was of ex-NFL football star Junior Seau's suicide. Tough to hear about, since he was fairly young, in his 40s.

Volunteer Recognition Luncheon

I went to a volunteer recognition luncheon at a Greek Orthodox church in Minneapolis earlier today. The food was from Bombay Bistro, it tasted familiar to me. I liked the pita bread the most, and had a few 'rapper cookies'- my term for M and M cookies. I do 2 volunteer programs for Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis, this was for the advisory program where I go for one hour a month on a Wednesday. I also do the mentoring program, mostly emails with one student, and 4 in-person events throughout the academic term. It was nice to meet the people at my table. I asked the piano players if they did requests. When I found out they did classical music, like what one hears at church, I pretty much expected a prepared list of songs. I did take the stage at one point with those representing my employer, all I did was nod in agreement with what the chosen speaker said. I wrote down in my backpack that I was just there to 'look pretty for the cameras'. I liked hearing a 'junkyard band' where the conductor was playing right along with them, instead of just leading them.
   At the comedy club tonight, it was the beginning of the contest, which I will be in soon. I knew all four of the judges tonight. Two contestants ran the light, and the third came close to it. But I felt ambivalent about the night as I wasn't paying attention and elbowed somebody. They ended up spilling some of their beer. It happened to be my comedy bestie, and I just froze not knowing what to do. He wiped it up with a bar rag, I later said 'tell me what I can do for you' and he was forgiving. It was a somewhat painful reminder of my past as an angry malcontent, as I had a hard time forgiving myself.  But I stayed silent about it as I want to prove how I've moved on from this part of my life that my current friends didn't witness at all. They may not want to hear much about a sometimes dark past anyway. It goes back to the family life I had, where any and all mistakes were met with scorn and intolerance, and ridicule. I'm better than I was, but not quite where I'd like to be. I pride myself in acting on instinct and knowing what to do. But for some reason. it did not happen in this case. In many ways it seemed to be on the right night where I also nearly left my jacket at the club. I was about halfway to my car when I realized I didn't have it, so I sprinted back to get it. But I just quietly went over to claim it and said nothing, which is how it should be. I will try to learn something from both, such as staying farther back from the bar. I understand now how it's more about how one reacts to things and less about what happens. Things happen, a strong person knows how to ride out the things that are ugly.
   I saw the news coverage on TV about the final game at Siebert Field, the baseball venue at the U of Minnesota. The Gophers played St. Thomas tonight and won 9-2. It might have been nice to attend it when there were some VIPs there, but it wasn't high enough priority when I'm not a Gopher alum. I did see one game there against my school, Iowa, in 2009.