american legion baseball, b-side movie

I went to two events today after doing my laundry this morning. the first was attending my first-ever American legion baseball tournament. there were games at the st. paul saints stadium. I went to one in the afternoon, Waconia beat Stillwater 4-3. it was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, both teams scored one run in the first inning. I saw a rare thing, as it ended on a 'hit by pitch' since the bases were loaded. I ate before I got there. I bought a program as well, besides paying the admission fee. I was given a wristband after paying admission. a foul ball was hit near me, I got a photo of it before a kid showed up to retrieve it.
  I also went to see the movie 'b-side' at the lagoon in Minneapolis. it was about a photographer. I think I liked the one about Vivian maier more. I was the only attendee at my screening.

red herring play

tonight I went to see the play 'red herring', a screwball comedy with McCarthyism America, the early 1950s, as a backdrop. I laughed at some of the pratfalls but not all of them. hadn't been to the round theater in Minneapolis in a while, at least for one of their plays. I think I was there for a fringe show nearly a year ago. but with plays I want to go only to what really interests me, since we all have limited resources- time, money, and energy. this was the last play of the season, and there was plenty about the anniversary- it was their 65th season. but according to the publications there, the current building is not the only one they've been in.
    I did some karaoke after the show, two songs. it was 'don't speak' by no doubt, and 'what's up' by 4 non-blondes. I left shortly after the second song I did. I would have left a little earlier but I heard somebody doing 'alive' by pearl jam so I had to stay for that one.
    I did the 4 hours of overtime, though I arrived at 10 minutes after the hour. there were some things that I wanted to get done before arriving at the office. there was checking the PO box, both amazon orders were there. I also wanted to turn in change at the bank. it was just over 12 dollars, much like most other recent visits for this reason the value of the pennies was more than the nickels. an odd thing happened while I was there- the change counter stopped as one of the bags was full. so I had to wait until an employee arrived with an empty bag. I had seen this happen to others before, but not me. I said the odds were not high when the total value was low. also like before, I deposited it into my savings account. then after the overtime was done I went to get an oil change done, at the car dealer that I bought it from.

bowl of cherries

  we are still having 'fruit days' at the office on Friday. this time it was cherries. it reminded me of the saying 'life was a bowl of cherries' as they were in metal bowls. except I forgot about the pits that are sometimes still in cherries. so I had two and that was it. there aren't pits in the cherry pies I have eaten. it might have been a mistake to go in there at that time, midday, instead of just go to lunch. this usually means getting a sandwich at erbert gerbert. I say this because I got into another annoying conversation with a know-it-all. and we haven't talked much since my relationship ended nearly 4 years ago. I thought this was a friend, but I was getting a lot of unsolicited advice. this has been hard for me to forget. it changed relationships with some other office colleagues, not just this one.
   we also had a meeting this morning and my boss said there was overtime available on the sale project that we just started. it has been a while since I have done overtime, trying to think of how long ago it was. I said I could make it in on Saturday, though staying late during the week is not something that I am considering at this time. I said it likely would be just 4 hours, based on what was already booked. I like checking my p.o. box on Saturday morning, and an oil change appointment for my car as well.
  in the evening I stayed in as there were things I wanted to get done and this included shredding of the junk mail. also went to the family dollar and got four items- soap, toilet paper, sheet protectors, and more peanut butter cookies.

carol vnuk

I went to the family visitation for carol vnuk tonight in Roseville, at a funeral home that is across the street from the library. the obit said she passed on Saturday, and lived to be age 83. and how being a performer was the 'second act' in her life, after retiring from being a real estate agent. I looked at her IMDB page, I did not recognize many of the movies that she had roles in. I had heard of her playing Ma Barker though, in a movie called 'spirits of st. paul: the gangster era' from 2012. some of the posters of the movies she had been in were on display there, along with plenty of photos. I recognized the names and photos of some fellow performers, one of them was university accountant. another one goes by his initials. I had met carol a few times, I knew we knew some of the same people. this is what I said when I spoke with some family members. there was a video playing as well, and one of the songs in it was the Hawaiian version of 'over the rainbow'. I knew this as the song played when dr. greene died on the tv show 'ER'.
   after I was done there I printed some things at the library, and then it was on to do some karaoke. I did two songs: 'the reason' by hoobastank, and 'reach for the sky' by social distortion. I liked seeing the harmonica guy there, much like two days ago. as I recall, he did 'old time rock and roll' by bob seger, and something by vince gill I think. about how his life has become a country song. the second song was done as social distortion had a concert in downtown st. paul this week, I did not go to it but I have some memories of seeing two of their concerts, both in Minneapolis. one was downtown, the other was at the cabooze.
  I saw the attorney when I was riding the bus home in the evening. she spoke of traveling to Bemidji with her family next month. I said I didn't have much in terms of travel plans for the rest of the summer, wanting to keep costs down.

simpsons treehouse of horror graphic novel

when I arrived at the performance venue tonight, a fellow performer gave me a book he had spoke of recently. he knows I am a big 'simpsons' fan and I was interested right away when I saw it was about the 'treehouse of horror', what they call the annual Halloween episode. this one os of 'hoodoo voodoo brouhaha', and has a copyright of 2006 on the back cover. there is an introduction from 'comic book guy'. I do have some other simpsons books but I don't think I have one quite like this one. I did get a few comic books that I found at a barnes and noble, as I recall the mall of America location. but this is also nothing like those. he said he found it for real cheap at a secondhand store, I think he said the goodwill on university avenue in st. paul. but with the condition of this book, it looks like it is brand-new. I know I can make some nice finds at resale shops, especially books.
   when it was my turn to perform, I did ones about pam at 'the office', advance notice on meetings, two acronyms, aggressive marketing, doing a karaoke video, seen social distortion in concert twice, a match was interested until they weren't- an attorney, and mom digging up the past.
   there was another food outing at the office. so it meant not doing the bridge walk again. this was pizza, I had three slices, I knew that would be enough. there was also some big cookies, but they were still gooey. I had one, but I was careful with what I chose. I went one level below the top, they were separated by wax paper, as some were nearly torn apart.

poland coins

I went to the bank this morning to make a cash deposit. I checked the chute on the change counter and noticed some coins were in it, 6 in all. 3 were American, two dimes and a nickel, so they were thrown into my change bank. two others were from Poland, and the 6th was Chinese. already had a Chinese coin in my collection, but from 2013 and this one is from 2011. the two from Poland were 10 and 20 groszy, and are from 1993 and 2009. it is nice how I have lucked out on finding foreign coins without having to order a 'grab bag' of them online. but of course this is a big metro area with an international airport, so we are more likely to see some foreign coins here. best place for them is in a mint tin with some other coins. I already have 3 coin albums, either full or close to it. collecting stamps is fun as well. I now notice that the coin collection my aunt made for 4-H, according to my dad, needs some care. I have had it for a while, claimed it out of my grandma's house when I was young after she was sent to a nursing home. she passed later that year.
    at the office I submitted a completed word find, and a word scramble, for entries in a drawing. there was also massage therapy, 10-minute sessions. I went in the afternoon, shortly after I got back from lunch. in the evening I went to the comedy club but did not get a wild card slot. I had a beer, wanted more airline miles since it is on the 'dining for miles' program, and stayed for most of the show. I left before it ended so I could do some karaoke. I knew the button would be there, and I wanted somebody to film me as my st. louis friend wanted to see it. I chose 'real slim shady' by Eminem, hard to keep up with it but I did my best. the second one was 'walking away a winner' by Kathy mattea. I liked the one that I saw the button do, she said it was by Alicia keys. found out it is called 'lesson learned'. I liked the lines about 'it is called the past as I am trying to get past it'. probably not an exact quote of the lyrics, but very close. I spoke of how I was known for having a hard time putting things behind me and moving on, but I am better at it than I was.

peanut butter and mayo

tonight I performed at the comedy club, and it went well. I would prefer getting more than 3 minutes but this is a coveted stage so that means make it count. I did ones about foul balls at a saints baseball game, family stories (camera, and hair color) and one about another comic. it would have to be called peanut butter, mayo, and hugging. it was about Belarus. people really loved it. I recall another comic saying to me that the joke would kill if I did it there. even a bartender liked it, saying that this comic annoys him. I said 'it is easier and more find the more I do it' to most people. school bouncer said he loved my set, and so did the Wisconsin girl. she liked the one about hair color the most. I was running late so I parked across the street, long enough to get stamped in, and then re-parked my car. the button said she noticed this. when I got home, eventually I found some music on youtube that I said really nails how I feel as a performer. there was 'let it roll' by the Charlie daniels band, and 'breathe' by anna nalick. although I may want to add another one here, 'bird set free' by sia. it is nights like these where it proves that I really enjoy performing and have really grown into it, and now I am truly owning it.
   at work it was a typical Monday, the high volume on the payoff report and new titles filled up most of the day. my boss made an announcement by email stating he was taking the job transfer to florida. I said to my 'work spouse' how I figured this was a 'done deal' a while back, but he just wasn't sure for a while. so many important factors went into his final decision.

pig's eye jersey

I went to the st. paul saints game this evening, and the giveaway item was a pig's eye jersey. looks like I arrived at a good time, it was around 4pm, 30 minutes after the gates opened, and they were out of the adult-sized jerseys shortly after I claimed one. still had some kid-sized jerseys for a little while after that. it is royal blue, and has two sponsors- regions hospital, and tv-45. it says 'st. paul, 25' on the back, in reference to being year 25 for this version of the st. paul saints. great to see a saints win, 7-2 over the salina (Kansas) stockade. salina scored one in the first, but the saints went ahead 2-1 in the next inning and had a 5-run inning later on. I liked seeing some 'little ball'. I had some pizza and bottled water there. a kid was hit in the mouth with a foul ball, and EMTs were there to help. it was a peanut-free game, so I got the joke about the opposing team photos on the video board being Charlie brown and snoopy- or 'peanuts' characters.
   one other notable thing about the day was placing an order with amazon, using up more gift card money. it was two items, one was the movie 'southpaw' and the other was the Eminem CD 'shady xv'. I found out Eminem did some music for this movie. there are two other CDs on my list to order, I likely will wait a week to order them. I had seen something about how the enterprise rent a car survey program was ending on july 31, it was how I was acquiring the gift card money. so it was kind of what prompted me to place the order. I did so after getting to cheapo records. I made some good finds there, getting 'warning' by green day, and the soundtrack to the movie 'rent', based on the play of the same name. the play 'rent' was what I saw on broadway when I made a visit to NYC in 2005.

lost in paris movie

this evening I went to see a movie, 'lost in paris', in Edina. it is a French screwball comedy. it was about a Canadian woman that goes to paris to find her aunt. I laughed at some of the pratfalls, but not all of them. I have described myself as clumsy before, but the lead actress in this one is way more clumsy. it was also odd to see her carry around her rucksack everywhere. much of the movie was in English, but I think more of it was still subtitled French. I liked seeing the model for the statue of liberty in this movie. I haven't seen paris yet but this is one thing I would want to see.
   before the movie I wanted to eat, and I went to a nearby Walgreen and got some salami and cheese, and some mineral water. after the movie I got a chicken sandwich at the holiday station. found out the dairy queen across the street has closed. I had been there before while in town for a movie.
   there was plenty to do today, besides check my p.o. box, nothing to pick up. also went to a postcard show in Eagan. I bought 8 postcards, all from the 1933 Chicago world's fair. I got a coin as well, a big british penny from 1967.
   then it was off to orientation for the fringe festival. it was in northeast Minneapolis, in a building that is part of the former grain belt brewery complex. the grain belt shirt I was wearing was purely coincidental. I got my volunteer shirt there, hadn't signed up for shifts yet. but I did when I got to the Roseville library, 3 shifts all on the same day.
   after the movie I went to the grocery store, then the news then karaoke. I did 'the night Chicago died' by paper lace, and 'only the lonely' by roy orbison.

peru coin

I found a peru coin this morning, 10-cent, from 1998. this is a nation that I don't know much about, just that it is in south America. I also walked past an ATM in the skyway, and near it was a sign that said 'garbage broken, please do not use'. good luck with that, as people still shove things into that slot anyway.
   after work I went to a going-away party for my boss. I probably stayed too long, two hours. I got bored with those who wanted to talk shop, and then some wanted to talk politics as well. but I wanted photos with my boss, and before that the facility czar.
   I liked going to the burlesque show tonight. I had to skip the previous two months, I had a gig, then I was in st. louis. the lead-off was a mashup of the 'andy Griffith show' theme with beyonce's 'single ladies' song. after it was a song from 'rent'. also liked hearing 'fast car' by tracy chapman, and 'creep' by radiohead. final act was the incredible hulk.
   in other issues, it was nice to get a text message from my st. louis friend, who got the letter and the photos. it was a follow-up to the visit I made last month. it would be great to see this friend visit the twin cities, it may be in the fall.

taco bar in the breakroom

there was a taco bar in the breakroom at lunchtime. I had some of what was there, a hard shell and soft shell taco. I also had a donut for the department birthdays, odd to see them out early in the day when those are usually in the afternoon and not donuts. I went to Walgreen and got some hydro-cortisone for a bug bite on my back, not sure how it got there.
   I made it to the comedy club tonight, a micro-brewery, and got stage time. I felt like I might have paused too long before my final joke but some others said I didn't. I was trying to recall it without relying on notes. I did ones about a loopy comic- Belarus, foul ball at a saints game, and more family stories, inspired by seeing the movie 'big sick'.
  and it was annoying to have to do multiple re-starts on this computer, why does it need to keep updating?

jolly rancher in the bathroom

I went to the bathroom at my office in the afternoon and saw some jolly rancher candies on the floor, both were still in the wrappers. not sure how they got there. one is cherry and the other is blue raspberry. they are likely still edible but I am cautious about it.
   I made it to the performance venue tonight, and a performer I hadn't seen in a while was there, who calls himself 'enable mind'. he was thrilled to see me, and when he found out I had a camera in my denim jacket he wanted a photo. so we did one, although when I looked at the first ones the lights in the background were too distracting. so we moved to a wall, and those were better.

feel real fear

I listened to one of the CDs today, more than once. it is called 'feel real fear' and the comedy on it is from the bus fare comic. I do nor know the music group at all, but I like seeing the two combined as one doesn't see that too often. there are 7 tracks, alternating between music and comedy, 4 of them are music. on the visual art part of this CD I like seeing how one of the performers is wearing a st. paul saints baseball hat, as I often do the same thing.
   I did meet with one of my managers this afternoon, but not the one who first said that he wanted to see the resume, and I have yet to see him in the office this week. I performed at two venues tonight, and during my walks I found 23 cents to throw into the change bank. it was 2 dimes and 3 pennies.

3-CD backlog

I now have a backlog of 3 CDs to listen to, comedy CDs done by friends. it is due to getting one from sub teacher tonight, and I no doubt said 'thank you' as I was told it was the last one in the backpack. there is still the matter of finding the time to listen to all of them, when normally I would do so at home but I am busier now with performing. easier to take notes there than on the bus or in my car driving to the venues.
   it was a high-volume day at the office, no surprise at all to start off the week. I did not see one of my managers, who said he would like to review my resume. this will be his final week as he has accepted a job outside the company.

car show, foul ball

I went to highland festival in st. paul this afternoon. there was a car show, mostly ford models as there was a ford plant in this area for a while. I had some sparkling water, a pulled pork sandwicjh, and a pineapple popsicle as well. it was nice seeing somebody perform 'Eleanor rigby' by the beatles, and there was even a dancer 'acting out' the song. it reminded me of some sia songs.
   I also went to the st. paul saints baseball game, they lost to fargo-moorhead 4-0. it was german night, and there was a team card set giveaway. I got the cards, the fourth set I have now. there other three were 2006, 2009, and 2015. I got a foul ball in the tip of the 5th inning, the ball boy threw it right at me, why not keep it? I was expecting somebody to say 'give it to a kid' but nobody did. this is a rare thing, getting a foul or home run ball. shortly after this I spoke with two ladies who had seats next to me, actually to one more than the other. she was interested in how I am a performer, and I think spoke of her dad being in a band and once having a star at first avenue, a music venue.
  on the news tonight, WCCO, there was a feature about mark hamburger, the saints pitcher. though it didn't seem like there was much in terms of new information, compared to a city pages article from last year.

there she goes, sixpence none the richer

I did some karaoke tonight, one song. it was 'there she goes' by sixpence none the richer. I had read how it was originally done by a british band, the la's. there was disputes as to what the song is about. some think it is about drugs, especially 'racing through my brain, pulsing through my veins' as this sounds like it can be about drugs. but it can also be about love. there were a few other songs I liked by sixpence besides this one, their cover of 'don't dream it's over' by crowded house is one of them. another is 'kiss me', as it was in the movie 'she's all that'. 'there she goes' is a fairly simple song to sing, not many verses in it. I spoke with a couple after my song as they said they liked it. they did some karaoke as well, the lady did 'love you like a love song' by selena Gomez. they were really interested in what I have done in performing, and I gave them a business card. they found the article from December, and my twitter account. I said there were comedy sets on youtube. I also spoke of my failed internet dating venture, though they told me they met online, at ok cupid.
   in the afternoon I went to the library and rewrote my resume as my boss said he could help me with it. then I went to the ramsey county fair in Maplewood. there was a 4-h play, about 25 minutes, called 'lights, camera, action'. first time I had seen their live theater show. it was nice having german chocolate cake flavored ice cream, and a pork chop on a stick. after I was done there, I went to a super-America and I noticed somebody dropped plenty of coins near the entry door. so I picked them up. it was nearly a dollar's worth.

tupac/biggie rap rivalry

tonight I went to the saints baseball game and the theme was the rap rivalry between tupac and biggie. of course the east coast, west coast thing was a big deal 20 years ago. normally I don't see a saints game on a Friday evening, but it was a group event, and big ten outing. I found the event coordinator before the game at black dog café, a block away, he is a purdue grad. I was sitting next to a Wisconsin grad at the stadium. the saints beat fargo-moorhead 6-5, on a walk-off home run. the saints led 1-0, then fell behind twice. there was fireworks after the game, the third time I have seen fireworks at this stadium this month. I had a cheese bratwurst and bottled water at the game. and it meant taking care of emails after the game, since I wanted to get back downtown as quickly as possible.
   it was still a fairly busy day at the office, as more new titles came in. and I did an online class as well, along with respond to some recent voicemails.

edumacion

at the comedy club tonight, small world comic had a sweatshirt on that spoke of the department of edumacion. there was a dinosaur on it, and below it a bear head as I recall. of course it is a joke, as the word is spelled wrong. I had heard the word before. school bouncer was there, he had a pass for the x-games. eventually I moved on to do some karaoke, and it went well. I did 'wagon wheel' by darius rucker, and 'the story' by brandi carlile. there were some people dancing around in front of me for the first one. I would be hard pressed to find a song I enjoyed more from karaoke nights than this one. it helps to see others having a good time. when I did the second I said it made me think of my work spouse, and I would have to say so when back at the office. I was able to do this one with passion as well. it was great seeing the harmonica guy, as I recall he did one by toby keith, about 'since I quit drinking'. I heard 'cocaine blues' by johnny cash again, last time I think was when I was in des moines last month. there was also a dude who said he was from Chicago, and when I spoke of riding the bus with somebody who had lived in the Robert taylor housing project- where Kirby puckett and mr. t. had lived- he said he lived there as well.
   at the office I was busy for most of the day as I was covering for my cohort. the payoff report was a higher volume than my Monday share, and I did just half of the new titles, but this was still over 100.

the simpsons, 30 years

I went to the st. paul saints baseball game, a matinee, today. the theme was the 30th anniversary of the TV show 'the simpsons'. so I told myself I had to go. saints lost to Sioux falls 6-3. it was scoreless for a while, then 1-1 in the 6th and 2-2 in the 8th. Sioux falls went up 1-0 after loading the bases, and the saints changed pitchers after the run was scored. both runs scored in the 8th were on solo home runs. go plenty of photos of the main video board and the images related to the theme. it meant taking a half-day off from work, and I went to the game after the bridge walk which was all skyway.
   I made it to the performance venue tonight. lighter crowd than it has been though, so the show ended a little early.

micro-sleep on the bus

I sometimes experience micro-sleep on the bus. but this time it meant missing my stop and I had to double back. thankfully I missed it by just one stop, so not all that inconvenient. but who would like any kind of delay? I've said before how I am more comfortable falling asleep while at home.
  I performed at two different venues tonight, it felt good to get back to one of them for the first time since may.
   at the office I had two more managers who offered to mentor me with resume writing, so it is nice to know I have some people on my side. we had classes about it recently. and there was massage therapy offered today. thankfully it was longer sessions, 10 minutes.

maytag building, minneapolis

tonight on the way to the comedy club I saw the entrance for an old building that said 'maytag'. this is the company that my dad worked for. I had seen it before, the 'ghost advertising' on the façade. so I  walked over there after parking near the comedy club and got some photos. it is on Washington street in Minneapolis. I checked a book I had bought, called 'yesterday, today, tomorrow', published in 1945. it was a delayed celebration of the company's 50th anniversary. there are four branch sales offices listed, and one of them is Minneapolis. the others were Kansas city, Indianapolis, and Philadelphia. it is hard to see the 'ghost ad' now as there is construction happening. looks like some signs in the window spoke of restaurants opening there in the next few months. thankful I found my way over there, and took the time to look around.
   at the performance venue I did ones about billy idol, seeing the movie 'big sick', doing karaoke, adjusting my hat, fitness center, laundromat, and bastille day. I did my best to stay in the loop about stage time as well, with a few different comics based on what they recommend to me.
   the payoff report was light for a Monday, but I didn't mind. there was new titles as well, I was still busy for most of the day. riding the bus home tonight, I saw the attorney, and then mr. bonfe. the latter spoke of dealing with panhandlers.

jambon baguette

I went to the bastille day event through the French alliance this afternoon. the food I had there was a jambon baguette, actually ham and brie. I looked around for a little while, and bought 6 books, for a dollar each. five were in a series about French literature. the other one was a textbook about America, made in Quebec, French Canada. I looked through the book about America already, as a history major it meant something to me. I noticed how Donald trump is in it, now the president. the book was published in 1990, the other five were published in 1970 I think. the line was too long at another place serving food, so it made the decision easier. I got some Perrier as well.
   after this event, I went to the super-America to get another drink. while on my way I saw another comic who was waiting for a bus, so we spoke for a while. he will be co-host of an open-mic I have been performing at. before this event I got my laundry done, and a woman asked me if I worked there. she needed help understanding how to operate the machines. after getting a drink I went to the fitness center for the first time in a while, got 5 minutes in on a pedaling machine before 5pm. then I went home and slept for a while. when I woke up I knew I had some things left to do. one of them was the dishes and trash. when I was taking care of the recycle I saw some ominous clouds, thunder on the way. It started raining before I got back inside, but I was no more wet than I had been earlier in the day when I was sweating. another 'first time in a while' thing was logging on to linked-in. I had seen the emails fairly regularly, so it was time to go there again. also applied for some writing jobs through monster. we will find out soon enough what will become of it.

the big sick movie

this afternoon I went to see a movie, 'the big sick', at the Grandview theater in st. paul. I am thankful I saw it and knew I likely would, since I am a comic. if I were to describe it in one word, it would be 'inspiring'. more so than other stand-up comedy movies I have seen in recent years. I feel like it was an accurate depiction of doing stand-up. and I liked the Emily character more than her beau. it serves as a reminder of how anyone who dates me must understand that I am a performer, I need to be performing to be happy. it will likely influence my comedy sets, since the movie covers the subject of family a lot. I already sometimes speak of them, so it wouldn't be a new thing. but the way I do it may still change nonetheless.
   I picked up an amazon order this morning, a CD, 'pure heroine' by lorde. and I went to do some karaoke tonight, 'coming home' by diddy dirty money, and 'i'm yours' by Jason mraz. there was an encouragement squad there, at the table next to me. the Jason mraz song carries some meaning to me as I heard it a lot back in 2008, the year I started doing stand-up. memorable as I know I heard it after the first night of performing.

malt-o-meal honey nut scooters cereal

I bought a box of cereal tonight, usually I have oatmeal for breakfast. but I was at the holiday gas station in lilydale and thought it was kind of sad that nobody had bought it yet. I had seen the box in the discount bin in some of my recent visits. I got it for a buck-fifty, which was half off. it meant getting some milk as well since I was out of milk. it tasted good, it is sweetened whole grain oat cereal. the panel said it is made by post consumer brands, and based in Lakeville, MN, bot far from here. so far it is no different from many other times I have had cereal. it becomes a snack instead of breakfast food. I picked it up after getting a sandwich at subway.
  this evening I went to a bar in Minneapolis that I knew a friend was working at. she was leaving as I was arriving, so we spoke for only a few minutes. but she did express interest in seeing me perform sometime soon. not sure if she had a blog nickname, but as I recall she is a native of Duluth. I had a drink inside, happened to see her in the patio area. I liked hearing music played, especially 'wake me up when September ends' by green day. also liked seeing something about a cake competition, three cakes and all were inspired by episodes of 'the simpsons'. it was the monorail, homer in space, and when the germans bought the nuke plant. being on a walkway above 35W after it, reminded me of what I had said before. it is nice to be above all of the craziness. it also made me think of last week, where I wondered if this is what I had in mind in terms of big-city life, having grown up in a small town in iowa.
   when I got home I watched a DVD copy of the movie 'up in the air'. since I had been in st. louis recently I was thinking it was time to watch it again. I feel like it holds up well, and it reminds me of finding many of the places where it was filmed in the st. louis area. I saw mr. bonfe both times I rode the bus today, and for the second one I spoke of something my boss had said near the end of the day. it was a fairly slow day at the office, no surprise as Fridays usually are. I did got to the screening of the movie 'top gun' in one of our training rooms, the last of three days when this event was held. I liked having some of the popcorn from candyland, I got the cheesy and salty popcorn but not the sweet kind. although we didn't finish the movie, our hour was up while they were still doing a love scene where 'take my breath away' by berlin was playing.

seed harvest plan

recently I got a mailing from st. matthew's churches in Tulsa, OK, it looked like some that I had been sent before, a prayer rug. earlier today, the only item in my mailbox was from them. it was a book about the biblical seed harvest plan. there was a postage-paid card on the back, the card was pre-checked for sending a harvest plan to make God a financial partner. I flipped through the book and there were some photos that caught my eye, one of them was of mount rushmore. there was also mention of peter minuit buying manhattan island for $24. I did not keep the book, I put it in a bookshelf at my neighborhood grocery store when I went there tonight. normally I go on the weekend, but it has been warm and I drank through all of my orange juice a little early. so I needed more to get through this week. I also bought a small portion of ben and jerry's ice cream. when riding home, I saw who I have called 'mr. bonfe' for the first time in a while.
   I went to the comedy club for a little while and it was great to see so many friends there. one of them was magic man, who said to me again that he liked my set from the previous night. there was also some kid pools there outside. I asked of they were serving as big water dishes for the dogs, as there was another event besides the comedy show at this venue, and was told yes they were. then it was on to perform some karaoke. I did 'i'm just me' by charley pride, and 'cruel summer' by bananarama. at another table, there was a woman there, ready to perform, that said she was from Portland, OR. she did 'if this is it' by huey lewis and the news. also spoke with the harmonica man, and he spoke of living in Arizona for 7 months of the year, and working at a nuke plant. he said he was 'going to go embarrass himself' when he went onstage again. it was a rolling stones song.

echo of monday

I saw the attorney when riding the bus home tonight, and spoke of how my work today was 'an echo of a monday' due to Tuesday being a holiday. I asked if her kids are in any summer programs like vacation bible school or a reading program, she said they were too young. also at the office, there was the second dial-in meeting for the advisory board I recently joined. had to review the minutes from the previous meeting of course. I said what I saw as the most beneficial classes to offer, such as understanding your skill set. with another one, I said we did have an excel class, but it was so long ago that the man who trained us has retired. I went to my boss and was told that we really no longer have a training department, as we are such a small office. a visitor was brought in when we did the 3 classes, including linked-in, recently.
   I performed at two different venues tonight. I did ones about taco bell is closed, fireworks salesman, grocery cart man, the route 66 shirt, banter between my managers, and a dream with a sled in it and posing for a photo. I picked up show announcement cards for performers at the second one, sounds like they are having a show at a place I once performed at in Minneapolis next month.

  

billy the kid, showdown in lincoln county movie

I watched a redbox rental movie around midday, 'billy the kid, showdown in Lincoln county'. I had seen mention of it when scrolling through the A to Z list this weekend, and lucked out how I didn't have to go to another kiosk to find it. at the time, it was not available at the gas station I normally go to. I did not know any of the actors in this one, the reviews from redbox users were not good. there were some good lines in it, like from the half-owner of a saloon, a one-eyed woman. I know I had seen some other billy the kid movies before, definitely 'young guns'. and I know there was one that jane Russell was in, that I found on VHS, called 'the outlaw'. in that one it claimed the billy the kid knew doc holliday. in this one, 'showdown', I knew some parts were fictionalized. there was a woman that said she wanted to be a bounty hunter, and her name was patricia. in the closing credits it said her name was patricia garrett. and of course it was pat garrett that the history books say killed billy. at times I will admit that the story was hard to follow, wanting to tie together different sub-plots. but I have fewer complaints about rented movies, since they cost way less than seeing it at the theater. I do like a good western. just something about how the characters know they need to have the right thing to say so it doesn't escalate, as a gunfight should be the last resort on solving a dispute.
   I wanted to do more before I went to an event tonight, so I went to central park in Roseville and looked around at a 4th of july festival there. I was there for less than an hour though, and had an ice cream cone at a mcdonald's after it. I parked my car the 'oval arena' nearby, and when walking back to it I saw a fellow comic, the button, in her car. I was walking across the road when somebody honked at me, didn't know why. then I saw it was her, and she called my name as well.
   I really enjoyed the way I celebrated the 4th of july. I went to a movie screening at the saints baseball stadium, 'space jam'. not sure if I had seen all of this movie before. haven't been to a drive-in movie in years, but I know this 'screening of a movie in a park' thing is the rage now. so I liked how I finally did this kind of event. after the movie I walked around the stadium for a while as I was waiting for the fireworks. it seemed to be the same lineup of songs during the fireworks display, compared to the game 2 nights ago, except one was added to it.
 

you can call me al, paul simon

I went to a karaoke venue tonight. I did three songs, and the last of them was 'you can call me al' by paul simon. I recall this being a hit song when I was young, and the video includes 'Saturday night live' star chevy chase with paul simon. I have referred to this song before when referring to one of my fellow comics, the one called 'brawler'. the line 'if you be my bodyguard, I can be your long-lost pal'. since there was a reason why he got the name 'brawler', he earned it. the other two I did were 'i'm alright' by Kenny loggins, and 'angel of harlem' by U2. the first one, the Kenny loggins song, had the most meaning to me. I recalled how bill young had it as the closing song in one of his fringe shows. and when I was done I took of my hat and said 'in memory of bill'. it is an 'it's my life' song, so it had multiple meanings for me, as my upbringing is why I like 'it's my life' songs. the middle one, the U2 selection, I did think of how I saw a play about musician billie holiday at a nearby venue many years ago, and the song is about billie. I knew this from reading the liner notes.
   at the office today there was domino's pizza for lunch, but there was no official announcement. it was verbal, as the AA didn't want to send an email. the pizza was a 'thank you' for coming in to the office on the day before the 4th of july holiday. I had four slices, I like the pepperoni, and sausage, pizzas. it was a good day to get caught up at the office. of course the payoff report was high volume, but not much else to do once it was submitted.

rogue one, star wars movie

this morning I watched a redbox rental, 'rogue one', a star wars movie. it was all right, but I would have liked seeing the droids more in it, I usually think they are funniest. the main droid in this one is laconic like c3po, who does have a cameo. that works for me, although I am not laconic even though some people think I am. blunt? yes. succinct? no. it was long, over two hours, another reason why I like other 'star wars' movies more. but can't beat the price, I used a redbox discount code so I paid less than a dollar to see it. while I was renting it I saw mention of a movie about billy the kid, the western outlaw. but I will have to go to another redbox to find it. I will want to see that one soon, I would have the time on Tuesday since it is a holiday.
   in the early evening I went to the st. paul saints baseball game, they lost to the Gary Railcats 5-4. the saints never led in this one, though they tied it a few times. great fireworks show after it, and liked the food trucks as well. I ordered from tot boss, much like on memorial day weekend. there was a man that paid another man five dollars extra to order some tots, as he didn't want to wait in line. I also saw a man before the game who wanted me to smile more. the video board made mention of a museum being opened next year, and I may want to donate a few saints items to it. I think I can part with some of the giveaways anyway, like the bobbleheads. but probably not any of the wearables, as I use hats and shirts way more.

veggie ranch tray

went to a comic potluck tonight and brought a veggie ranch tray. I bring a bag of potato chips all the time and figured a change of pace was a good idea. a little disappointed that my neighborhood grocery store didn't have it, so I had to go to another store. I brought food as I wanted stage time, and got 8 minutes, more than most shows I perform at. there was a fee for the beer, it was a keg, but I m used to paying for beer. so I didn't think of it as a cover charge. I did ones about seeing an old friend, doing karaoke, a jukebox at waffle house, doing my own intro, an annoying office colleague, taco bell is closed, and i'm not an inspector. bartender really liked my set, and this was my first appearance at this show in a few months since I was out of town in early may, and early june as well. I think I call this show runner small world, and he said keep doing what I am doing.
   this was a typical errand running day, going to the p.o. box was included. I slept for a while in the afternoon as I didn't have much on my plate to do. more items were added to my comedy souvenir binder, I hadn't done anything with that for a few weeks.