figure skating championships

this morning I went to the xcel center in st. paul and watched 2 sessions of the figure skating championships. It was the novice ladies and novice men's short program. I had seen this event the last time it was at this venue, in 2008. I lucked out when I decided to take the bus there since it was subzero weather, didn't feel like running my car. I rode with somebody who had a free ticket available. I had to ask why fake flowers were being sold, and I was told they don't leave debris like real flowers do. if people like what they see, they will throw something on the ice. the first item was a plush polar bear. there were some young ladies in charge of going to get these items. it caught my eye when I noticed they were wrapped up in fleece blankets, as they were sitting at ice level. after a while, even I decided to put my coat back on as I was near the ice, like two rows back. when I was leaving I saw these ladies posing for a group picture. I said 'hopefully you're being paid to be out on the ice'. and it sounded like one of the adults said 'of course'. I liked how I could pick my seat there, not a big crowd at all for this session. I did say when I saw a skater fall that 'you just keep going'. I've learned this is true also for public speaking. if you trip over a word, just keep going, work through it. I did get plenty of photos, and I still need to go through them to decide which ones to keep.
   I made it back from the event just after 1pm, and after a short time at home to eat lunch I was on my way into another event. this one was performing, and I used public transport again. it went fine on doing the 'answer joke' about people named 'junior' in front of who I was answering. I liked getting a card advertising the show as well, for my comedy souvenir binder.
  in the evening I ventured out to eat at taco bell.it was after watching 'the simpsons' and then part of 60 minutes where sean penn was interviewed about his rolling stone article about a drug lord. then I called Dad before the news started as I saw a Schmidt beer ad at the comedy venue that said 'same great beer every time'. he spoke of this slogan when he was in town before.