lunch and learn pizza

I went to a lunch and learn once I was finished with the payoff report, but it meant I missed more than half of it. one big incentive was having savoy pizza there, but I likely would have eaten any pizza they had served. there was some left even when I arrived, but I am used to them over-ordering as they don't want anyone complaining about the lack of food at company events. there were some questions about non-profits we support that audience members were asking the moderator. I was there for about 15 minutes and it was done about five minutes before 1pm. I also liked finding a few coins under the vending machines, as said before I like the challenge and it is also the janitor mentality in me on still being fine with cleaning up. one was a quarter so I went to my tag team partner and asked if she was still bummed about getting a Canadian quarter as change, not sure where. I said I can make a trade possible but she said she was fine. she knew it wasn't possible to use them in the vending machines as it would jam. I recall this warning on postage stamp machines when I was young at the post office. I picked up another quarter when I was on a long walk around the neighborhood this evening. I didn't pick up much of anything as it was wet. I did like getting a coat hanger that was left outside the front door of a dry cleaner. I did take off the paper covering it of course. nothing wrong with having another hanger.
   I did watch two 'big bang theory' episodes tonight. syndicated rerun was when Sheldon cleaned up howard's closet and found a letter that howard had never opened from his dad. prime time episode was when leonard and howard lied to their ladies about where they had went, it was to an advance screening of a movie. Sheldon revealed to amy about having a storage locker.
   it was also fun to rev up the paper shredder I had just bought on Monday for the first time. I grumbled about having to replace the one I had but sometimes it is good to do an upgrade. this one shreds paper into bits instead of just strips or strands. there is also a bucket, and I didn't have one before. but this also means needing a plastic bag to pick it all up when I am tossing it in the trash. it also is not as wide, but I will adapt. it means folding things over when feeding into the shredder or ripping them into smaller portions first.

stashing my beer

I made it to the performance venue and signed in and got a beer. then I realized I didn't have my camera with me and went back to my car to get it, as it was in a bag that had my pen and notes as well. so I found a place to stash my beer and then made a mad dash back to my car. I spotted a dog that ran at me and barked as it was not on a leash in a nearby park. so I decided to do a bit about it in my comedy set. I also did one about being rejected by big brothers big sisters, despite being a model citizen, this week. some in the front kept laughing, I of course liked that.
   at work we did do wii dancing for the first time in a while. songs included katy perry's 'California gurls' and 'boat to cairo'. I had planned on going to a university of iowa event in the evening, a president reception, but it was in Minneapolis and decided not to go as I was informed there would be protests. in the evening I ate at subway and liked hearing 3 songs there. it was 'x's and o's' by elle king, 'welcome to my house', and '123 chandelier'. it helped to get out and do things to get over the recent rejection.

minnesota senate office building

I went to the Minnesota capitol to meet who represents me today. it was my first visit at the new senate office building. it looks great. I got plenty of photos while on the capitol grounds, including of this building. I found a satellite library there, and because of it I was informed how the main one is at the state office building. the capitol building is closed to the public for construction but all of the other buildings appear to be open. it was nice eating at the cafeteria in the transportation building, much like in previous annual visits. not sure of I had seen the food trucks there before.
   I did a walk around the neighborhood in the evening, shorter than some others I normally do. it was helpful for clearing my mind, and it reminded me how I have staples again and could get more coins into albums as I staple the mylar covers on. it means both albums are essentially full now, 60 slots each. actually one is full and the other has one slot left. tonight it meant getting the bicentennial quarters and 2009 territory quarters in there. I have the map for the 50 states from 1999-2008, made before they decided to do ones of the territories. and I have a map of the current series, the national parks. I think I have all from the currently released series so far. I try to pay attention when I get them as change, though a few were ordered from e-bay. I got more of the british coins I kept as souvenirs from the 2012 trip in there. the coins I don't plan on using again belong there, as it is less likely they will get lost, or spent. I do have a little saved for my next visit to Canada, but in the USA it is to be expected that one might see a Canadian coin every so often. I still have many kept in a candy tin, it serves the purpose well.

fellowes powershred shredmate

I went to target tonight between visits to the comedy clubs as I needed to replace my paper shredder. I got a fellowes powershred shredmate, so now it means I have a 'waste bin' that I didn't have on the earlier model that just gave out. I haven't opened the box yet so I haven't used it yet. but I probably will soon since I already have some things waiting. I recalled naming one of my plush elephants 'shredder' to remind me of getting it when I got a paper shredder, not knowing it was a character from teenage mutant ninja turtles. sometimes I have no choice but to upgrade. in some ways it was true about the microwave oven I bought in January. I do use the shredder a lot for my junk mail. so I expect it will be put to good use.
   I had a meeting at my office job before midday about a committee I signed up for. I am thankful the meeting didn't morph into a 'gripe session' as all too often this can happen. I did take some notes and look forward to hearing more in terms of when and where and how I can help out.
   it went fine at the comedy club. it was helpful to listen to others as I was reminded to see about submitting an application for a comedy contest. sure enough, I did find it online so I didn't need a special email invite for it. I did some of the easter jokes from the previous day. one was about calling my dad and what he said about a convention cartoon. there were two office stories as well. and there was one about a scene in the jesse owens movie I just saw, when a lady threw herself at him.

quilt at light rail

I performed at a bar in Minneapolis this afternoon and took the light rail there as it was near the metrodome site. when I was waiting for the train back home I saw a quilt at this stop. one of the patches was of the green bay packers, the pro football team. it was a rare thing to see so I got a photo of it and shortly after this my camera shut off, out of battery power. once I got it recharged I went through the memory card and got farther this time, into January. I was able to shave some more off so there is even more memory left, up to 96. I hadn't went through some of those to see if they were just 'trying again' since the first attempt had too much glare on it or too blurry.
   I called my dad in the evening and said he may get a call from big brothers big sisters as a reference. I said I got the iowa cubs pocket schedule bit I am not sure when it works in my schedule to attend a game this season. I had to end the call when my cell phone battery was low and was beeping me.
   I did go to church today as it was easter, but I didn't get around to watching the Charlie brown special I have on dvd, 'easter beagle'. some other time soon then. it was one of the things I spoke of when performing. also about finding a penny that had dirt caked on it after getting off the light rail.i will need to replace my paper shredder as it stopped working this evening. I had given it plenty of use so I am thankful it lasted this long.  

race movie, jesse owens

I saw the bio-pic about Olympic athlete jesse owens, called 'race', this afternoon in Eagan. it was the same theater I was at last week, may have been the same 'room' as well. I pay attention to most everything when going to movie theaters, start to finish. it means looking at the posters on display, the previews, all the way through to the credits. there was a poster for the sequel to 'barbershop', and a preview for it as well. I may have to see it since musician nicki minaj is in it. and I like watching the closing credits as I like seeing where movies are filmed and what music was used. it looks like much of the movie was filmed in Canada and Germany. as for the movie itself, I was somewhat familiar with what was covered in it. I had seen a documentary about the events leading up to the 1936 Olympic games in berlin, not sure what network, maybe HBO. so when they spoke of the role that avery brundage played, along with the American athletes taking a boat over to Germany for the games, I heard about this before. the movie serves as a reminder of how being famous isn't easy, as there were many who seemed to want a piece of jesse when the games had political overtones. as a history nerd and somebody who likes bio-pics, I knew I would see it, especially when the depression era of the 1930s is my favorite era to study. there were some disclaimers at the end of the movie, about things like the white house did not acknowledge his four gold medals. I know the 1980 'miracle on ice' hockey team got a white house visit, and it is customary now for championship sports teams to have this visit as well, but I don't know how common this was in that time. I am also used to bio-pics saying in the credits how it was 'based on actual events, but some scenes and characters were invented for dramatic effect' so this no longer bothers me on 'taking liberties' with the story. I have a few ideas about what was most likely invented, especially scenes away from the running track that had plenty of drama and passion in them. jesse ran track at ohio state, and of course my 'ohio friend' went to college there as well so I did think of her. another friend I thought of was international falls, who said I like bio-pics and loyalty programs. this is further evidence of it as I used my loyalty card, the only one for a movie theater that I know of. I was a little disappointed, but not entirely surprised, in seeing a sparse crowd at this showing, and the only one of the day scheduled at this theater. I know full well how movies about history don't appeal to the masses, unless it is 'bill and ted' or 'night at the museum'. and I had no shame whatsoever in going across the road before the movie began to a Walgreen to get an ice cream sandwich and some cashews for two dollars, before the movie, as I knew it would be cheaper there. after the movie I went to the nearby taco bell, which kind of shares the parking lot with the theater.
   I did do some errand running before seeing the movie, like going to the post office to check my p.o. box and one e-bay order was waiting. it was the mylar covers for coin collecting, nickel and quarter size. couldn't find them at barnes and noble. I used some of them already, but I am running low on staples at home so I will have to wait on getting more coins in the two albums I have. one of these now in the album was from a 'day to remember' when I was in high school. a classmate threw a nickel at me and wanted it back, we didn't get along. I said 'it is mine now'. I liked how being assertive worked, and I wrote on the mylar 'I stood up to the bum'. the coin is from 1977. I also went to the library and did my income taxes for the state of Minnesota, the federal one was already filed last month. so now I have the envelope ready and it will go in the mail on Monday. I didn't do much after getting back from the movie, first going to the grocery store. then I tried watching the college basketball tournament and fell asleep. I woke up in time to see how villanova beat Kansas to reach the final four.   

circle of heat CD release

I went to the circle of heat CD release show tonight at the caboose in Minneapolis. I did get the new CD, and it was a good show. I like knowing that most of the songs on this one have lyrics. I liked ones played early on that mentioned something being like a cancer, and I have had enough. I still like the one from the earlier CD, 'settle down and do it'. I had opera singer sign one of my flyers. the DJ/rapper that performed with them was pretty good, had a bill murray shirt on. and opera singer had a tasmanian devil shirt on.
   I for some reason was thinking about the pinball movie 'tilt' today, saw it as a kid, it is from 1979.

be someone important

when I was young and growing up in Iowa, I recalled seeing a t.v. ad saying 'be someone important, be a big brother'. it was about the big brothers, big sisters program. i did a flex schedule this week so i could leave one hour early today to make it to an interview with this program. it lasted an hour, and i took the light rail there from work. i shared plenty of things with the interviewer that others hadn't heard about before, but seemed relevant in the interest of full disclosure. and it meant that i answered all questions as well, as i didn't want them surprised at all in terms of what they found out on their own. there will a background check, but all that will be found would be parking tickets and minor traffic violations. they asked for references as well, though some of them won't necessarily say positive things about me when they were connected with the Roosevelt mentoring program and of course i quit that program in disgust last month. did it feel a little like a job interview? without a doubt. it was 6pm when i was done, and i decided to eat before getting on the light rail to go home. so i walked down to a nearby mcdonald's and had a fish sandwich and shamrock shake. then i went to the adjacent holiday gas station and got some potato chips and peanut butter crackers. i watched a little of the college basketball tournament when i got home, but not much. i did another long walk around the neighborhood, much like two days ago. it was a shorter one than before, but i still picked up plenty of trash. there was some loose change, 42 cents in all at various places. this is in addition to the quarter i found on the light rail after the interview.
   at the office i didn't get as many letters done as i would have liked due to leaving early. but Friday tends to be a low volume day, so it should be fine. i liked seeing the southern photographer post a photo from Indianapolis, and i said it reminded me of the t.v. show 'one day at a time', which had a setting in that city. so i watched the video of the theme song on youtube. 'this is it, this is life the one you get, so go and have a ball'.

outside looking in

I tried going to a meeting at work today but it seemed to be one for the entire office so I was on the outside looking in. I stayed as long as I could but it was hard to hear the guest speaker andi just couldn't stand there that long. so I went back to my cube.
  I did a flex schedule and was at the office until 6pm. after this I reminded myself how I needed to get to the library to print the forms needed for the big brothers/big sisters interview. so I finally arrived at the performance venue after 10pm. it went well performing. it was mostly the ones I did on Monday. I added a few like one about checking messages on monster, a site I am not on that often. another was about a ticket sales rep I spoke with this week.

 

old fashion candy company

after having my evening meal, a t.v. dinner, I took a long walk around the neighborhood. it didn't take all that long for the trash bag to be filled, not sure why. but it was many of the typical things I found. a few things didn't fit inside the bag but I still picked them up, like two hubcaps, one full and the other partial. and there was two flattened windshield washer containers. it was a nice haul in terms of finding pull tabs from soft drink and beer cans, 10 in all. and I found two pennies at a car wash. the final thing I picked up was a flattened box that said 'old fashion candy company' on it. these were fund raising candy bars, hadn't heard of them before. I, like most people, happen to be more familiar with world's finest. I took a picture of the box and then put it in the trash bin at the super-America.
   before I ventured out I did go through my mail and it meant some items were put in the shred pile. and now all of the membership renewals are in one envelope, easier to find. after I got back I decided to go through my camera's memory card and see if I could shave some photos off. I was running out of space, down to one, so I needed to take the time with it. now I am up to 64, so I won't need to do that again for a little while. some should have been deleted much earlier as they were blurry.
   at the office we are getting ready for VIPs arriving this week. I decided to ask my 'work spouse' where I could find the glass cleaner in order to clean up my desktop as there were some finger prints on it and sometimes water just isn't good enough to take them off. this morning I called met life about a denied dental claim, found out it is on the provider to send them the information that is needed. well my provider is closed on Tuesday so calling them will have to wait. it was odd to get an automated call later in the day that was a survey from met life. I eventually hung up as it wasn't possible to enter the necessary (and correct) answer to one of the questions. sending the survey by email makes more sense to me anyway!
   I was interested in the result of the exhibition game in cuba as part of president Obama's visit. the tampa bay rays beat the Cuban national team, 4-1 if I am not mistaken. I did see the set that Arizona Chicago did on conan O'Brien, I spoke of not having cable on facebook and somebody uploaded it there. it was about five minutes. I had heard some of the jokes before on her previous visits to the twin cities but I still laughed. I like the intelligent humor, it is why she was added to my 'ring of honor'.

chucking oranges

at my office job today my boss made a joke about chucking oranges if he was needed. we tend to not need much supervision to get our work done, so when asked we said we were fine with having no one check in with us. sometimes another manager does, the 'I am here if you need me' greeting. it was a high volume for the payoff report, but I still got letters printed and some were sent out before the end of the day.
   at the comedy club tonight, I did get stage time, first time at this venue in a while. I was 5th on this lineup. I did ones about birthday offers from various loyalty programs, a roach I killed at work, an annoying colleague, a taco bell visit, and a recent internet date. it went well. I started off with a reference to the price is right. I saw some things on facebook about Arizona Chicago being on the conan O'Brien show.
   after the show I was stuck in traffic for a while due to construction. so I got off at the first available exit and got gas at a super-America. then I decided to re-route to get home. I hate seeing things at a standstill, especially when my car is meant to perform.
   other notables of the day was seeing a challenge while walking through the skyway this morning. I saw a drinking cup from a convenience store on a shelf, hard to reach, but I was able to jump up enough to move it closer and then bring it down. I like a challenge like this every so often. I also liked seeing a bus friend in the evening. when I spoke of performing eventually she spoke of Malcolm Gladwell, the book writer that had been on 60 minutes and wrote about underdogs.

love the coopers movie

I rented a redbox movie today, with a free night due to my birthday this month. I watched 'love the coopers', a Christmas movie about a dysfunctional family. I didn't know all of the actors but I liked John Goodman in it, as the patriarch. I found the Eleanor character to be annoying as she was mouthy. I said the narrator voice was familiar, and it was Steve Martin, as the voice of the dog. no doubt I liked this one better than 'four christmases', a movie I wanted to walk out of when it was at theaters but I didn't. I still have another free night to use, as I had reached 10 rentals.
   it went well performing this afternoon, and it was great seeing the D.C. native, at the donut party. I did ones about the birthday offers from different loyalty programs, and international falls asked me which one is best and I said I use super-America the most as I need food and fuel and they have both. another was about a panhandler I had just seen on the way there, and it can be entertaining to see what is written on their cardboard signs.
    after performing I said I was going home to rest and to watch 'the simpsons', though that show wasn't on tonight on fox. so I got out my season 8 DVDs and watched two from that season, two of my favorite episodes. it would be the one where flanders goes to the nuthouse- hurricane neddy, and the one with frank grimes, homer's enemy. I also watched a DVD I had just bought at barnes and noble over the weekend, a memorial to robin Williams, produced by PBS. it was just 60 minutes, so mostly career highlights and interviews, but I am thankful to have it. he is in my favorite movie, 'good will hunting', his Oscar win. when 'good morning vietnam' was covered I was reminded of early attempts at joke telling. I started off in speech class in high school with a speech called 'good morning arizona' and people loved it.

star wars episode 7 movie

I finally saw the latest 'star wars' movie at the Eagan theater this afternoon. I knew it was nearing the end of its run at theaters as it had just two showings a day, I went to the first one. I know some had said it had too much in common with the first one in the series, episode 4, but I didn't mind. my favorites are still Chewbacca and the droids. now some things make more sense to me, like seeing a droid rolling around on a ball base like what was depicted on a box of cereal. like many of the other previous movies in the series, I liked it when it made me laugh. and of course it was helpful to have Harrison ford, carrie fisher, and mark Hamill back for this one. for me the ending of the movie wasn't the only suspense for me. it was also if I could make it through without a bathroom break! I knew I was in distress for a little while, moving around in my seat. thankfully I managed to last through the movie, but once the credits started rolling I was gone, on my way down the hall to the bathroom. it didn't take long to finish up, and I was back in the theater before the credits were finished. I needed to go claim my coat anyway. this is why I normally do not get drinks at the theater. but this time I got one as I had a free popcorn waiting for me on my loyalty card due to my birthday. I was surprised about how big the smallest drink was, I got Hi-C fruit punch.
    after the movie I went across the road to the Walgreen and got toilet paper, two sponges, and an ice cream sandwich. then it was home and having dinner at taco bell. I was careless with my drink before I got started eating and spilled it. so most of it ended up on the floor. I said right away how I needed help, and said I was a janitor in college and would have been fine with mopping it up myself. I did use napkins to sop up what was on the table top. all it took was my hand tipping it over. thankfully I don't do this very often, but I still felt bad about it. although it is also proof of how I have grown as a person and just calmly asked for help and avoided berating myself. there are worse things than spilled drinks. before the movie I went to the mall in Maplewood and got two DVDs at the barnes and noble. I went there to see if they had mylar protectors for coin collecting, they did not. so I looked at the music and movies section, and got a documentary about the film career of robin Williams. the other was a collection of documentaries about Abraham Lincoln, including the bio-pic from 1930 that I had one VHS. so it looks like I can replace another VHS tape. after taco bell eventually I went to the comedy club and saw baby puppet perform, she isn't in town that often. blake was MC. I did get a souvenir postcard from baby puppet, and it will eventually go into my comedy binder.

bohemian rhapsody,queen

I went to a burlesque show tonight, and the song 'bohemian rhapsody' by queen was the final musical number aside from the 'take a bow' segment. I heard 'angel of the morning' during that time. naturally I think of the movie 'Wayne's world' when I think of 'rhapsody'. there was a sendup of puppets doing this song, while the performer had her head upside down as the middle puppet of five. I also liked hearing that recent 'SOB' song as well as two robins- 'rocking robin' while wearing batman and robin costumes. the opening musical number was 'I got you babe', the beavis and butthead edition. there was a wooden display depicting beavis and butthead. two elvis Presley songs was also a brilliant idea, one of them was 'heartbreak hotel'. and I liked 'only the good die young' by billy joel.
   at the office I killed a roach when I saw it on our floor. I was advised to notify our 'facility czar' but I didn't do this right away. when he heard about it he said they usually have pest control people in the office every two weeks. I said 'you probably don't need to see the evidence, do you?' as I flushed it down the toilet. he said he was from new York city and knew what they looked like. I also confronted a colleague in another department, asking that he not talk to me. I said it was due to earlier in the week where I was told to get off facebook if I don't like negative energy. I don't take kindly to anyone telling me how to live my life, to me it is the cardinal sin. it wasn't the first time he tried to out-talk me, likely due to his training for collector calls. it also happened when he tried to advise me about libraries. he didn't have much to say about it, and this I prefer. I took no joy whatsoever in having to confront, but I also had no choice as well. political science guy joked about kidney issues,  and I liked getting to a Lenten fish fry at a catholic church just about 10 minutes before they stopped serving. I hadn't been there before.

picture frames

I decided to replace some of my picture frames tonight. this was due to finding some at the office. it was odd to see so many things left in a box in a breakroom next to a trash bin. so I looked through it and said some of it was worth claiming. besides three picture frames, I kept a piggy bank and a notebook. some of what was in the box was junk. and some was re-deployed in the breakroom, as there was a salt shaker and a box of tea bags in it. no doubt I can use the notebook when I do comedy and like being able to write things down. like most people, I have had some piggy banks over the years. one of them was actually a cat, but it is long gone. it seemed unsafe to have a bank that said 'cut to open'. the one I have is in a Christmas stocking and doesn't have much in it, and is hard plastic and not the type that can be cut. I was pleased how there was something in the bank I found, and it is going into my change bank. it was 15 cents, a dime and 5 pennies. the replaced frames were acrylic or plastic, and had photos of my dad or friends from school in them so these photos and frames had been around for a while. there were already photos in the frames I claimed, but I took the existing photos out and those were left with the rest of the junk. I did see the same name on some of what was found, nobody I knew. must have been an employee who left the company. I didn't say anything about it to anyone, and was discreet about it. I went into the breakroom to look at the contents only when nobody else was there, although I brought back the box to my cube. again, it was late in the day after most people in my department had left. thankfully nobody asked any questions like 'what are you doing?' as it was none of their business when it is fair game. but of course carrying a box in the hall isn't likely to raise eyebrows when there is so much activity at the office. I don't think this is necessarily known as 'dumpster diving', especially when it wasn't a dumpster. at midday I did see some of the st. Patrick's day parade that was happening right by my workplace. I stamped out for lunch around 12:30pm and saw about 15 minutes of it. I got some beads and candy and took 5 pictures so it was worthwhile.
   it was fine staying home tonight. even though my plans were to watch some of the college basketball tournament, I fell asleep in my easy chair. when I woke up I saw station I.D. at the bottom of the screen, knowing it was the top of the hour. I found out it was 9pm, and knew I needed to get up and go do some things like get a shake at mcdonald's. it became strawberry as they were out of shamrock. I was behind on going through my mail, but there wasn't too many important things in it though there are some birthday cards still arriving. notable was the postcard saying 'hi to myself' about my visit to suburban Chicago arrived! I knew it might take a while when it was dropped in the mail on sunday afternoon just before leaving for O'Hare airport. it went into a photo album, like most of my postcards do. it was nice to see what was happening with the college basketball tournament, as some of the games were from des moines. no surprise how the landmark shown was the state capitol, as it is near the arena and it stands out from a distance when it has a gold dome. I did watch two 'big bang theory' episodes tonight, both syndicated reruns. I had to remind myself how there would be no prime time episodes when the college basketball tournament is on. the first one was about Sheldon going to a basement room to play hackey sack. the second was about the dudes watching movies like the second 'back to the future' instead of getting important science work done. also in the second one the ladies went to las vegas but penny had to study and she was called a party pooper. but she got her revenge on the other two at the end of the episode.

camera battery

this morning I was showing pictures to one of my bus friends and the camera battery shut off just as I was done showing them. and by coincidence, just as we had arrived at her stop. seemed kind of odd to me. but I knew I was running low. I performed at two shows tonight, and it worked well doing some jokes about visiting Chicago-land recently. another was about a 'burn' from being around comics on Monday.

mrs. freshley's honey buns

I finally got caught up in chores tonight after I had a date. the last thing left was doing dishes, as I normally do them over the weekend. well I said it was probably a good idea to do them as I had a mild case of diarrhea right before the date. don't want that to happen at all, including due to the dishes I use. but hard to say why it happened. I panicked a little, but I knew what to do.
   Of course when I do the dishes there is also recycle. when I was taking the recycle out to the bin I noticed a box of mrs. freshley's honey buns. I said this was a photo op, yes I am still doing the Vivian maier thing, readers. odd how I felt the soggy box and noticed there was still some product in it. the box said there was 6 honey buns in it, I found four left! so I got a picture of the box and the contents and then sent it to a trash bin. they were probably still good as those items are individually wrapped, but I didn't want to take any chances and I had eaten already anyway. those snack foods also tend to have plenty of sugar. I do still hate seeing things go to waste though.
   yes I had a date tonight. I think it was the first one since january. it was at a coffee shop, we spoke for over two hours and heard employees say they were closing in a few minutes so this one looks promising. my date spoke of being at NYU, for graduate studies, and gustavus Adolphus, for undergrad. but I know the thing is getting past the first date, as well as the third, and this hardly ever happens for me. we still have to figure out scheduling for the next one. it sounds like my date's job entails longer hours than mine, being in charge of things related to I.T. if I am not mistaken.
   the gift cards I had ordered last week have arrived, and it works well to have them sent home. I tried having them sent to the office but there was a greater chance of them getting lost in the shuffle.

last one at laundromat

I am still getting caught up on chores and errand running from being out of town this weekend. but I still like thinking about how much I enjoyed being in Chicagoland. tonight this meant going to the laundromat after saying hi to people at the comedy club. I arrived just after 8:30pm, and left just after 10pm. I saw the TV shut off and the lights as well. I said 'as long as they let me out'. but by then I didn't have much left. it was mostly getting my socks into a pillow case for the journey back home. another notable thing from this visit was finding 12 cents, a dime and 2 pennies. nothing unusual there, as I usually do find something. but two of the coins I had to fish out with a stick as they were out of reach between rows of machines. I liked the challenge, being able to find what is hard to find. one of those was a penny that I couldn't reach before, not sure why I could this time as it looked like it was in the same spot I left it in. did I just try harder this time? either way, all of it went into my change bank. I hated having to throw out three pairs of socks, but there were holes in them. not sure if it means replacing another pair of shoes, as I have already done this, the ones I use in winter to get me to the bus stop. they also save on wear and tear on the ones I wear at the office.
  at work it was the typical high-volume Monday on the payoff report. but I caught a break on there being no new titles, so I wasn't pinched for time on the letters. my boss did do some letters when I was out of the office on Friday. I had some BBQ chips and corn chips from the vending machine, instead of the soup I normally have. so I am just keeping the soup at the office for the next day. I just wanted to keep going, and this has happened before on a Monday.
   odd how I speak the truth at the comedy club and people call it a 'burn'. this happened tonight. I spoke to blind side about seeing part of the movie 'blind side' over the weekend, and somebody else said he liked Sandra bullock in another movie, 'forrest gump'. I think note page said this. I said she wasn't in it, and this was the burn apparently. was he just trying too hard? I tend to be funnier when I am not trying too hard.
   

randhurst and woodfield

I started this morning at my hotel room in elk grove village. this was my final day in suburban Chicago. I had continental breakfast and checked out of my hotel, just before the 11am deadline. then it was off to mount prospect, near randhurst, as I made an appointment for massage therapy at heavenly massage. I liked doing this when I lived in the area, but this location wasn't open then so I had to go to others, as I recall Morton grove. I liked doing the steam shower after it. since I was near randhurst I wanted to get a look at the place. it looks like it has changed a lot since I moved, but I also knew the mall had lost two anchor stores- Montgomery ward and jc penney- when I was still living there. now it looks like the 'anchor store' may be a hotel, as it does seem to be right in the middle of the property. but I know this happens in other shopping areas, having a hotel nearby. I got a picture of the randhurst welcome sign which has some of the stores listed. I thought about going to eat at the nearby chick-fil-a but it looked like it was deserted. I told myself they were probably closed since it is sunday. so I went on to Schaumburg and got a picture of the welcome sign at woodfield mall. then it was down martingale road to my former workplace, in the woodfield corporate center. looks like there are some occupants in the building now. time was running short so I went on to the des plaines psot office on oakton and dropped a postcard to myself in the box there. the final stop before the car rental office was to a gas station to fill it up, and then get a sandwich. except the flight was delayed again on American airlines, and I made it back home around 7:30pm. the flight touched down at MSP over an hour late, a longer one than on Friday. I didn't do much when I got back, good thing I had some food waiting for me at home. I had a diary queen blizzard and some chris and rob's pizza. unpacking didn't take long, as a big part of it is dirty clothes. I got the spare change into my change bank right away. it was 64 cents from the weekend, 4 dimes 1 nickel 19 pennies. there was some quarters as well, but I use quarters more. it was nice to see Worthington while waiting to go through security at O'Hare, he said he just had a gig in Dayton, ohio. I made it to the grocery store, really had no choice in that one if I wanted soup for lunch at the office and oatmeal in the morning.

jefferson park CTA stop

I liked finding the Jefferson park CTA stop today. usually I just passed by it and didn't look around as I had somewhere else to go. I had read on Wikipedia how there was a statue of Thomas Jefferson at this transit center and this prompted me to find it. he is seen with a copy of the declaration of independence and encircling the statue it says 'the will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government'. there was also a plaque on the wall of the building that had a bio of Jefferson. I of course have a Jefferson bobble-head from visiting a Washington nationals baseball game in 2007.
   I had hoped to visit the Shedd Aquarium today but it was a no-go. I didn't order advance tickets, guess I was too busy. I called the number I found online and was told there would be an hour wait for tickets. and according to the website the cost of same-day advance tickets was over $50 when ordered online. so I decided to find other ways to stay occupied, and finding this statue was one of them. another was finding two of my 'old haunts' in des plaines, the first ray kroc mcdonald's and the place called gift depot. I had a strawberry pie and apple juice at the former and got some postcards at the latter. I also looked more closely at a building near the gift depot that I understood is the former post office. I did see the cornerstone that spoke of the postmaster general, and it said the building was dedicated in 1940. in the back was a newspaper coin rack, empty, and said it had twice the local news coverage or something like that. after this I knew I needed to move on and go back to my hotel in elk grove village and get my ticket to the wolves hockey game tonight in Rosemont. the wolves beat the Milwaukee admirals 4-2, coming from behind after trailing 2-0 at the end of the first period. it was tied 2-2 at the end of the second, and the wolves got the go-ahead goal with just a minute gone in the third. the final goal was an empty-netter. the first four goals of the game were scored on power plays.
I liked getting a fleece blanket, it was the giveaway tonight. and I am thankful that somebody in guest relations helped find me a breakaway game program. I didn't see them at the front gate. I saw him again as I was leaving the arena, he said his name is steve. I plan on making mention of who helped in hopes that he gets recognition for it.
   after the game I went to a Jewel-Osco grocery store in des plaines and got some planters peanuts and a can of beer. the beer was called pilsner urquell, from the Czech republic. I drank it in my hotel room while I wrote and reflected upon my visit.

gallery cabaret, chicago

this evening I got stage time at a place called gallery cabaret on Chicago's north side. it was tough to find it after stepping off the blue line at the western avenue stop, I kept making wrong turns on the walk. I did get photos while I was there, along with some show announcements as souvenirs. one of the photos was of a neon sign of homer simpson. there was cans of hamm's beer for two dollars, and I drank one. it was great that it worked out on finding a place to perform. I did start off the set with the part about trying to find it. I also did 'how to speak minnesotan' and mention of some of the birthday offers I have. and I spoke of being an ex-suburbanite. this was day one of my annual visit to the area to see some 'old haunts'. I know this city was called the 'city of big shoulders' by carl sandburg.
    things did run smoothly, at least the security check at MSP did despite the news saying there have been long delays recently. but my flight on American airlines was delayed, not sure why other than it is a shuttle and the plane we were using arrived late. the delay was just under an hour. I was notified when the airline called my phone.
    I did see both things that were on my list for the first day. this included the frank Lloyd wright home and studio, and the ernest hemingway museum, both in oak park. I paid the extra five dollars for a photography pass at the wright tour. I figured I should when I like photography so much. and there was plenty to take pictures of, like some murals. on my way to oak park I stopped at a brown's chicken for lunch, according to the receipt it was in Melrose park. it can be hard to tell at times where the city limits are while driving unless you're really paying attention. I am driving a little fiat that I rented from enterprise. after I was done in oak park I then went back up north and checked into my hotel in elk grove village. I got a filet o fish sandwich and a shamrock shake at the mcdonald's across the road before hitting the road again to find the performance venue. notable at the mcdonald's was wanting to stay long enough to hear most of  'tide is high' by blondie. I pay close attention to music wherever I go. after I was done performing I made it to a Walgreen in des plaines just 10 minutes before closing, as they closed at midnight. I wanted some shaving equipment and I got some reese's peanut butter as well.

can't help, I'm eating

can't help you, I am eating. it was what I said to a lady who claimed she needed help at a dairy queen tonight. I knew what was coming as I wasn't the first she had talked to. eventually she caught the attention of an employee, who apologized to us for it. I said I work in downtown st. paul and recall seeing a manager at a subway saying to a panhandler how one must be eating there if you're in the establishment. looked like she was still around when I said this, but went out the door shortly thereafter. it does remind me of what I have observed before, going from a small town to metro areas, how I have noticed 'the haves and have-nots' every so often. ice cream was good, a two for one blizzard coupon and the one this month is grasshopper. I chose banana split as the other. I used another birthday coupon tonight at a Chicago hot dog place for half off a small Canadian bacon pizza. I needed to take some of it home as well. after pizza I went downtown for an interview at a micro-brewery that lasted about 45 minutes. great seeing both of my bus friends, the morning one and evening one. the evening one spoke of being a vacation replacement for a colleague in a law office. political science guy made a saddam Hussein joke when I spoke of a pocket veto, in terms of showing a vacation replacement how to do the letters.
  I tried to watch anna Kendrick being interviewed on Colbert but fell asleep. eventually I knew I had to get up and do things like chores. first that meant taking out the trash, then packing a bag. it doesn't take that long one gets started, but the tough thing at times is rising up out of the comfortable easy chair.

you're walking fast

you're walking fast. this is what I heard when I was on the street tonight after parking my car and I was on my way to the performance venue. it was like many other conversations I've had with people I know, I didn't stop just because I was talking to somebody. the matthew wilder song 'break my stride' applies here, because of the 'keep on moving' line. it went well performing, I did more about the birthday offers and one about being left-handed. one of the TV monitors was showing the final game of the 1989 world series, something I do recall watching some of. it was known as the 'earthquake series' since there was a delay after an earthquake on October 17.
   at work it was easier to stay ahead on my normal duties as there was just 11 settlement letters to do, and no new titles. there wasn't Wii dancing or walking as the event coordinator told me in advance that she would be on vacation. it also won't be held next week for the same reason.
   I had a dental appointment after work, and at first it felt like a 'who's on first' routine on getting the next appointment set up. we went to the front desk and the receptionist said july 6 is available, so we got it squared away. the article written by sean penn for rolling stone was there, but I didn't finish reading it before the appointment so I will likely have to find it at the library and read it there.

genworth financial

I got some mail about long term care insurance from genworth financial. not sure about signing up for it when I keep it basic with my coverages and retirement is still a long way off. I know the company name sounds familiar as it was spun off from general electric, the 'light bulb company'. it may mean asking colleagues as to what they plan on doing, besides looking further at what information was sent to me.
   tonight was well spent, even though I stayed home as I got caught up on getting things added to the comedy souvenir binders. it meant making some tough choices related to quality, but this is no big deal to me. I wanted what was relevant from being on a podcast last month, and decided it would be just one page each from the Wikipedia entries about the three movies I spoke about. this was in addition to the email I was sent by who invited me, and the podcast schedule itself. this is still more than most events, at five pages. I decided to consolidate my notes about the 3 movies. tonight was also about responding to messages from various people. one was about an interview, another about big brothers big sisters, and a third was about a first date. but it looks like the date will have to wait until next week, until my schedule allows me to be available for it. my weekend is already booked, and that is normally the best time for me to meet somebody. I wasn't too surprised about what was waiting to be added to the binder, as it was all items from this calendar year. I try not to wait too long to add anything, and as long as I have the sheet protectors I don't need to. I did watch a little TV, and the big bang theory rerun I saw was the one where bob Newhart was a guest star as obi wan on star wars day.
 

little marshmallows on top

it went well on performing tonight, part of my birthday celebration. before heading to the comedy club I went to caribou and claimed a free birthday drink. it was an iced one, not coffee per se, and had little marshmallows on top. the barista said it was her favorite and I didn't know what to get besides pumpkin spice, which tends to be just seasonal. there are many other birthday offers and coupons, like the address labels from the u. of iowa, and a free movie night from redbox. I liked hearing from a venue employee who said he liked my set and had seen me perform before, I said he should let the booker know so I get stage time more often. thankful I picked up another memory card for my video camera as it wasn't working recently, and I watched it long enough to see it say 'card error'. this is why it was shutting off early on me.

dead mouse found

I was moving things around in a closet and was a little scared when I saw a mouse. but then I noticed it wasn't moving, as it was dead. so I got out the broom and dustpan and got it in the trash can. I like how there are simple solutions out there. there may be some joke material in it, hard to say what.
   I performed at 2 shows today, the first was the donut show and the fancy comic arrived near the end. then at the second I saw him doing a TV commercial when I was onstage. it was hard to ignore so I did say something about it during my set, and it caused people to turn around. I did plenty of newer jokes inspired by recent events like going to the high school hockey tournament. but sometimes other things will spill out when I am in the moment. I did the one about being asked to do a joke when I was at the caucuses on Tuesday. or who I saw on the bus a week ago, probably drunk and said all negative things about the local sports teams.
  it was a fairly lazy day for me for a while, some of it meant watching videos on youtube. so much available there. naturally I did the dishes and recycle as well.
   I called Dad after I got back from the second show, and he was watching the news and spoke of a high speed chase that was on the 10pm news in des moines. I said I did get the birthday card and gift card. so far it is just one of two cards that I have received.

stand in the rain, superchick

recently I wrote down some lyrics from a song I heard on the radio. it was 'stand in the rain' by superchick. not only does 'stand your ground' resonate with me, but also 'alone in this fight with herself' as well as 'the only way out is through everything she's running from'.
   it went well performing tonight. and I liked making it to the high school hockey tournament, and turning in change at the bank before it, $9.22 in all, going into savings.

driver and vehicle services

during my lunch hour I went to the driver and vehicle services office in downtown st. paul, accessed by the skyway. I decided to go there right after I stamped out, to give myself as much time as possible. this plan helped as I still had nearly 30 minutes left when I was finished. though I did end up saying the employee who helped me was more dour than I am, and I wasn't sure if this was possible. thankful I don't have to renew my driver license much, just every four years. it saves me from having to find a place that is open on Saturday morning as I prefer staying at home for as long as I can on that day. this gives me more time to make it to the high school hockey tournament, among other things like errand running.
   tonight I went to another meetup event, the same venue as last month, for the Brazilian music. at first when I sat down I was next to a lady who had a nametag saying 'nutcase'. not sure why, though it wasn't a stage name as I had wondered. there was also a middle aged couple from Stillwater and Hudson that knew the performers, though I spoke with the lady more. seeing the event coordinator from before was nice, the postal service employee. he sent me a facebook friend request and I accepted it. a few others looked familiar from before. I had just one beer, which is typical. I was considering another one but when I asked about 'flight' drinks I found one employee to be condescending. so all the more reason not to especially when I didn't have much left, and wanted toavoid going to the ATM.
  I keep saying 'pliers', referring to an episode of 'newhart' where there was rival gangs. it was the hooligans and ruffians, and one of them was nicknamed 'pliers'. they had matching zip-up hoodies. I am trying to think of how it ended, unless that was the one where it was an arm-wrestle and bob's character said 'it is liza minnelli' as a distraction to win it. I know this is a reference to a recent purchase of some pliers.

women's history month, minnesota edition

tonight I went to Bryant lake bowl in Minneapolis and saw a show. it was 'women's history month, Minnesota edition'. I had seen their show at the fringe festival last august. this was the second of four shows scheduled and this one seem to fit my schedule best. hard to say what I liked the most when I liked so much of it. but as a Charlie brown fan I had to go with the Charlie brown segment. I also liked how they covered the Andrews sisters, judy garland, a supreme court case, and mary tyler moore. it will be memorable to me as I was a contestant, the third and final one of the night. I won some Minnesota lynx merchandise, and now it means seeing my first game. I can find some use for most of what was in the bag. it includes a plastic drinking cup, hand towel, and hat. when I posted on facebook I said 'well it happened again, I attend a show and became one of the performers.'
   I did watch 2 'big bang theory' episodes tonight. syndicated rerun was when Sheldon was preparing to be stuck underground with Raj. prime time episode I had seen before, it was when amy goes on a date with a british man and some of her friends crash the date.
   at work I said to the political science guy how I saw an email about timberwolves mascot crunch's birthday this weekend. he likes crunch, and TC bear, the twins mascot.

that 70's show

at the office today somebody spoke of 'that 70's show'. I mainly recalled their mention that one character name was an acronym, 'fez' (phonetically) stood for 'foreign exchange student'. I said I got bored with the show as it seemed to be too much about kelso and Jackie breaking up and getting back together. so what if kelso, played by ashton Kutcher, is from iowa like I am.
   I see many things in my news feed about Donald trump running for president, and it prompted me to do more research about mr. trump. as expected, there were some things to be learned from it. one thing is how he has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame, due to his TV work. i haven't seen his show 'the apprentice' though. I know he has been a big thing since the 80's, I recalled that. he was even in one of the history books I read, as he seemed to be a flag bearer for the excess of the decade. I even saw somebody playing a board game with his name on it outside a museum.  what helped was also checking e-bay listings, like from owning a pro football team, the new jersey generals of the now-defunct USFL. a media guide or program mentioned his dad, fred, was also in real estate development. so this helped with knowing where to search online, like Wikipedia.
   it went well performing at the comedy venue tonight, some were about caucus night and another was about an email that the poli-sci guy reacted to from h.r. about career opportunities. it was a busy day for doing letters at the office, i did 24.

my third caucus night

I went to the Minnesota caucuses tonight. it was my third time at a caucus, the others were 1992 (Iowa) and 2008 (also Minnesota). I liked how I was able to get there a little early and cast my vote and leave for the comedy club. good thing I did as it looks like the lot was full as I was leaving. there was a bottle neck at the front door when I was leaving as people were still arriving. it was at a middle school and in a home-ec room. when I spoke of doing comedy as I was signing in, I was asked to tell a joke. I did think of one I hadn't done yet, about how it looks like one of my exes now works in the same office as me. I did tell it at the club tonight, along with some others inspired by recent events like the caucuses tonight. I followed the fancy comic, and mason city said he wanted to see the juxtaposition of having me follow the fancy comic. I said 'I have to follow that' but it didn't bother me any. I once had to follow the Wisconsin lady as well, just as well known. I was once in awe of both, but now I am not as I think of both as just comics that I work with. school bouncer was MC, and conga line was show closer.
  I did a flex schedule so I could get my car out of the shop, in Roseville. when I called near midday I was told the car was starting fine, so it seemed to be making a liar out of me. I was given some ideas about what to do when or if it happens again, especially related to the key and the gear shift.