defending or scaring?

I was invited to do another comic soccer game by yemen native, and much like before it was mostly playing defense, at times goalkeeper. but since I had a hard time keeping up with some players I resorted to trying to scare people, almost like when I am acting at a haunted house. but it was fun being there as usual. at times I was laughing, not sure why. but it is good to laugh.
   I did some more cleanup around my home, but did not get to a movie. it meant going through the rest of the photos, and the final total being removed, and then shredded,  was 182. since I wanted to stress quality. I could have done even more, but this is plenty. it freed up another album for more photos, although I haven't printed many in recent years. my first memory card purchased was in 2010, and the number printed since then has greatly tailed off. it also meant cutting back on those I had acquired from other sources, such as ones at my workplace I claimed. they were from a state fair team building outing in 2011. I cut it down from ten to six. I also decided to junk two more cameras that I hadn't used in a while. both were digital cameras, but one was battery powered so of course I was fine with parting with that one. I like being able to just plug into a wall when I need to recharge it. I also did some more with going through newspapers, so I could empty the bag at recycle before using it for my weekly chore of taking care of the dishes and recycle. it is knocked down to two and a half stacks, so way more manageable than it was, as I head back to work on Monday.

then try hank snow

I went to do karaoke tonight, and when I put in a song request the KJ said he couldn't find it. 'I've been everywhere' by johnny cash. I saw it listed under two artists, so I said 'then try the other one, hank snow'. and it was there. it was the first one I did, the second was 'two steps behind' by def leppard. I saw the Kermit lady there, she surprised me a little by singing 'forget you' by ceelo green.
   I stayed in this afternoon, as I checked the paper and found out what the fox baseball game of the week would be. it was cubs-cardinals, and the cardinals won 2-1. the wind was blowing in at Wrigley field and that knocked down some of those fly balls. I still would like to see a movie this weekend. I also decided to get back into reviewing photo albums, and over a hundred photos have been removed. I still want to stress quality, and I am up to the summer of 2009 so there is not much left. as usual, it started as a way of taking out photos of people I am no longer friends with. I has to rush a little this morning to get to the post office to check for e-bay orders, since the baseball game would be starting at 12noon. I had two orders there, both postcards, surprised a little that they were already there. I asked an employee if I was smiling enough, in reference to a previous visit. he likes to joke around with customers.

snappy popcorn

I went to a high school football game tonight and saw how the popcorn was in a bag that said 'snappy popcorn, breda, iowa'. it meant something to me as I am an iowa native, although I didn't know where that town is. I looked it up on Wikipedia and it is in western iowa near carroll, and is under a thousand in population. so that explains why I was unfamiliar with it. but it is a reminder of various popcorn companies in the state.
   oh, well I should probably talk about the game itself instead of just the food and drink I ordered. I did have a hot dog and bottle of water and some cookies as well. I saw forest lake beat north st. paul 40-7. it was 19-7 at the half, north st. paul led 7-6 at the end of the first quarter. they might have scored the first TD of the game, but nothing after it. forest lake won on the takeaway margin, 3-2, although they were already ahead 26-7 by the time they picked up a fumble. so turnovers didn't figure into this game much. a one-sided game wasn't the only thing that made it less fun. the game time temp was 49 degrees, according to an electronic sign just outside the stadium. I am thankful I was wearing a winter hat but I could have brought a warmer coat. this explains why I moved around a lot during the game, as I knew I could more easily shake off the cold this way. somebody recognized me from a karaoke venue there.
   after the game I went home and ventured out again to do karaoke after watching part of the news, mostly 'high school sports wrap' was on by then. there was mention of playing a game in Eagan at the Vikings training facility so I have another idea of where to see a game this season. I guess this is the first game played there. I did one song at the karaoke venue, 'meant to live' by switchfoot. I really liked doing that one as it reminded me of hearing it on my car radio on  Monday morning. I did various things before going to the game. one thing was going to Walgreen and getting a paper and a few other items. I also did more sorting of papers but not too much today. and I ordered two more postcards on e-bay.

uh-huh, jade bird

this week I heard a catchy song on my car radio when driving home after performing. it took some searching, but I found out it was 'uh huh', by jade bird. she is a british musician. memorable was the line 'she's got you on your knees'. I also liked 'none of my business, don't want to get involved, she's doing what you did to me'. she has been described as country style music, but being british that doesn't quite fit. when she claims alanis morissette as an influence, saying it's alternative music fits better. I found articles online from harper's bazaar, and rolling stone. the former calls it a 'gritty, electric track shows a rougher, louder side' and 'the accompanying visuals are just as vibrant as her sound'. the video shows projections of herself in the background, apparently 100 jades in a 3-sided box, according to the article. I liked the effect. the 'rough and loud' part is what hooked me. there was also youtube videos of two other songs, 'something american' and 'lottery'. the former is much quieter than 'uh-huh', but it still works for me. 'lottery' doesn't do as much for me as the other two. she is just 20, and I even found a cover of 'walk like an egyptian' (the bangles song) on youtube. the rolling stone article mentioned things like what she was wearing, and I respond more to hearing about the art itself. writing got her through tough times growing up, and I understand that one, being a performer myself. mention of her mom liking avril Lavigne, another musician I like, also meant something to me. so when I like what I hear, hopefully I will find more songs by her that I will enjoy. I don't buy many CDs now, since plenty of music can be found on youtube, so it is hard to say if it will lead to buying a CD. I respond well to passion in music, and it is proof that there is still plenty of good music to be found out there.
    I did more of the sorting of newspapers, making 2 more trips to the recycle bin. odds are that I won't have the backlog eliminated by Monday, but not a big deal. do as much as I can. in addition, I know there are other things to do that are just as important. I did some paper shredding this morning, plenty of junk mail. I also added more stamps to my collection, getting them applied to a page. I often find some good ones when ordering from e-bay and amazon. in the evening I went to perform at a micro-brewery in st. paul. I had been there once before, and it had been a while. I got plenty of photos as it is a historic building, had been re-purposed. there were a few comics from out of town on the lineup, from Mankato, and st. cloud. one has to be really devoted to performing if traveling from that far away, at least an hour.

coloring book release party

I went to a coloring book release party tonight at a micro-brewery in Minneapolis. I was invited by brawler, and I went because it sounded like he would be really disappointed if I didn't attend. I was thrilled to walk away with some stage time, as I replaced a comic that didn't arrive. I bought a copy of the coloring book as well, and he signed it. so another comedy souvenir I am thrilled to have. I also shared the stage with yemen native. the MC I think I will call 'clean closet' as she shared on facebook recently about cleaning out closets, she was proud of it. and in some ways it may have inspired me to do the same thing. she was recently added to the 'ring of honor' as I enjoy hearing her laugh, I know the voice well. yemen native said he was unaware that I wrote a blog, and that he has been written about there. I knew I did when he was on public radio in December, especially since I got a spam comment from somebody in Arabic. after it I went to my typical open-mic for the night, and it was nice to see airway there as it was the first time in a while. I guess he has been performing in uptown Minneapolis. I liked sharing how I will be back at work soon, already am if one counts the orientation this week. I did similar sets at these two shows. at the second, a crowd member wanted to hear an impression so I did some. one was somebody doing an impression of me.
   my job coach continues to ask for more information about the new job. it reminds me too much of being in the 'trio programs' in high school and college, checking up on me a lot. I said I think I know what to do now that I am back at work- learn what I can, and do my job. I sent more newspapers to the recycle bin, back on it after a few days off. I guess this was due to mourning the loss of my friend mosmi. I still have a few more days to knock it down even further before going back to work. but there are a few things I want to do this weekend, such as see a movie. and try to get a writing submitted for a contest, the deadline is the end of the month. and I am trying to figure out the logistics for Halloween season as well.

liquor store moved

i was driving past the soccer stadium in st. paul that is still under construction and noticed the liquor store had moved. its previous location was demolished, and now it is in the former perkins restaurant. I got plenty of pictures of what the shopping area looks like now. the bank on the corner has also been demolished, but the sign is there, saying 'please support these businesses during the construction'.
   mosmi's memorial was this afternoon, I did not attend. I changed my schedule a little due to it. I let the button know about 'good news-bad news' and the response was 'come see me on tuesday' and I did some karaoke. it was three songs, helped that people I knew were there. I did 'taking care of business' by bachman turner overdrive, 'breathe' by anna nalick, and 'whole lotta shaking' by elvis Presley. university accountant was there and said I should sing some elvis, although she left before I sang that one. I also showed the button what I wrote in the wake of my friend's passing. she liked it, and it left me wondering where I could submit some of my writings as I am inspired every so often to write. this explains why I did anna nalick tonight, as there is that line about 'get it all down on paper'. I liked it when she asked me if I had any requests and eventually she did Rihanna's 'umbrella'. I like to emote to that one. I said it helped to talk to a friend tonight so I am thankful it was offered. I did cover the 'good news' part as well, since I have now done the orientation. previously I hadn't covered any specifics, just that I was going back to work. but I think I will like working in the mortgage business, and have done loan processing before.
  also notable was an episode on a rerun channel, 'antenna TV' or 'me TV'. it was the one from WKRP about the who concert tragedy in Cincinnati in 1979. I had watched it before on youtube, after finding out there was such an episode. I was looking for the history on US Bank Arena and found out it was then known as riverfront coliseum, and this tragedy happened at that venue. somehow it made sense that there was such an episode, as the TV show is about a radio station that plays rock music in that city.

security violation

it was the first day at work, orientation, actually we were sent home after a half day. I had a little trouble at first figuring out the ID badge and when going through the revolving door, I got stuck. then I heard something say 'security violation'. but I was not alone. others did the same thing later on. we got our ID photos done, and shortly after that we were dismissed and we will be on duty again Monday of next week. I already met a few people, while waiting for directives, one of them went to the university of iowa like I did. it was nice hearing people share their stories. there was somebody from my agency to greet me at the security desk, much like I was told to expect. I was given a 'goodie bag' which included a business card for the agency as well as a lanyard. I was in a rush to be on time, or actually 15 minutes early, that I left my lunch at home. but it became a moot point due to the early release. sounds like there was another employee expected to arrive from the same agency as me, but I asked the rep after I got home but they did not show up apparently. odd. I was one of about 20, and it was a reminder of various agencies I had contacted, registered with, or both.
   I performed tonight, and I started off with the 'good news-bad news'. and I closed with saying it was in memory of mosmi. I know full well I am still struggling with it, because she is a friend. but my set went fine, flowed well, no problem finding subjects to talk about. at another venue I heard from some about various opportunities at stage time. this is the nice thing about so many people gathered there: even of one doesn't perform there much, one still might walk away with stage time at another time and place. bathtub comic spoke about his mom seeing my set at his show last month.

ziegfeld follies movie

I watched another DVD on loan from the library this afternoon, 'Ziegfeld follies'. some scenes worked for me better than others. ones like 'number, please', about phones, as well as 'pay the two dollars' and a winning lottery ticket. the song and dance numbers, not so much. I recognized some of the actors from it, such as judy garland. also Lucille ball and William Frawley, both were on 'i love lucy'. also watched the special features. it included trailers from all three Ziegfeld movies.
    I saw a posting about the memorial for mosmi, it is Tuesday. even though I have enough airline miles to make it a free trip, I think it would be just too hard to get there on short notice. especially when it would be on American airlines and it means a layover in Chicago, not a direct flight. also since I would really only know the deceased there. I did meet some of her friends when I visited her in the hospital four years ago, when she was having surgery. and her parents as well.
   when I returned the movie to the library I also went to a target store and got another toothbrush. I said I should get more than just one item, so I saw some Halloween cereal, captain crunch, so I got a box of it. I also called my dad in the evening, as usual a long call, I think that was the first time we had spoken since my uncle's funeral in june. I guess I am a little more giddy now about going back to work since it will be on Monday.

mosmi malhotra

I am stunned to find out that, according to facebook, a good friend of mine has died. she is mosmi Malhotra, and lives in the st. louis area. we became friends when she lived in the twin cities, but she left the nation for a while. then when I heard from her again she spoke of moving back to st. louis where she has family, and getting divorced. I would do my best to see her when I was in town for my annual visit for baseball games, and this year this was in may. we had pancakes before she went to open her shop. I sent her a postcard about a week ago and said I hoped to see her visit the twin cities sometime soon. I asked 'what happened?' but it sounds like it is still undetermined. during one of my annual visits, four years ago, I visited her in the hospital, she was having surgery.
  I did do some other things today. I checked my post office box, no surprise it was empty as I hadn't ordered anything lately. I also did a dry run to see how well I could find my workplace as I am going back to work on Monday, orientation day. it is less than 10 miles away, which I like. I did more with going through newspapers as well, two more trips to the recycle bin. I even looked at them while watching a football game this evening, as iowa was playing Wisconsin on fox. iowa lost 28-17, it was tied 7-7 at the half. after the game I went to the karaoke bar, and sang 'shameless' by garth brooks. although it said it was written by billy joel, and I know that musician as well. I saw the muppet lady there, her husband spoke of how he had just lost his job. I also let the button know about my good news- bad news. going back to work, but also the passing of a friend. 

best days, lissie

during the past week I heard a song on my car radio that has really stuck with me. found out it was 'best days' by lissie. it was on 89.3, the current, if I am not mistaken, which plays indie music. it speaks to me in terms of what I have said about my own life. 'i want more best days'. what hooked me was 'the best days of my life are coming for me'. I keep saying I am hopeful that the best is yet to come, and since I started performing I know I have said I have had some good years. the video reminds me of some others I have seen, especially 'scars to your beautiful' by Alessia cara, and 'wonder' by natalie merchant. since both of those have more than just the main performer in it. I guess this is called 'artistic vision' on wanting ordinary people to help demonstrate it. I read the musician's Wikipedia page and it said her stage name is a variation on her real name, Elisabeth. she is originally from the quad cities- rock island, Illinois- and now lives on a farm in northeast iowa. so she is a Midwesterner like me. I also like the mention of moving in the song. it reminds me of what I have said before about favorite TV shows of mine- as the premise often was somebody having to move where the opportunity is. such as 'perfect strangers', 'mary tyler moore', 'alice', and so many others.
  I got more done with the cleanup, two more bagfuls were sent to the recycle bin. then I went to get the paper, a weekly ritual for me. I also called the agency to confirm that everything is in order for my orientation on Monday. then I noticed after I called that they had called me first, this morning, before I had even woke up. In the evening I went to another high school football game, south st. paul beat henry sibley 27-21. SSP led 21-7 at the half, and won the takeaway margin 3-1. I was in line for food when the first TD was scored, but I didn't want to wait until halftime for food and drink. SSP also recovered the kickoff after this TD and it led to their second. sibley tied it with just over 3 minutes left, but SSP answered shortly thereafter. I shared it on facebook and neck tattoo responded with a clip from the movie 'waterboy' that said 'foosball is the devil'. I laughed a little.
   after the game I went to sing at a karaoke bar, and did 'tainted love' by soft cell. it seemed to be a real crowd pleaser, even had some people say after I was done how I did well. I was in another room for a while as it was kind of loud and crowded, just not as much as last week. also easier to watch some of the twins baseball game, though they lost on a walk-off HR to the A's.

sorting of papers

I went further on my cleanup today, part of it was sorting newspapers. I found there were plenty of editions of 'the onion', the satirical paper, in there. still not sure what to do with them, so at this point put them next to the magazines. also found some editions of 'vita-mn', an alternative paper once published by the Minneapolis star tribune. it ceased to exist after the star tribune bought another alternative publication, known as 'city pages'. I have some city pages editions as well, also sorted. I am sure the pile will go down even further, but no doubt I want to keep the city pages from 2014 about the concerts at midway stadium, written as the venue was about to close. the stacks are larger than they were, but it is down to three. I sent a decent amount to the recycle bin. I was motivated to stay inside for most of the day as it was raining for much of the day. I went out to go get some ice cream at dairy queen as well, using my 2-for-1 blizzard coupon that was expiring soon. there were some editions of the st. paul paper, the pioneer press, but mostly it is the Minneapolis paper. also some from the st. louis paper, the post-dispatch, as I go there annually. looks like it goes back to the spring of 2011, as I saw mention of the passing of harmon Killebrew, the twins baseball player. I just didn't feel like doing this for a while, for various reasons. first, I was in a relationship then. later on, I started performing more often. and, just as important, it is just not much fun to do. but I am hopeful to get plenty done with it, and hopefully I can keep the momentum going for a while. I am used to how I eventually run out of steam and want to do something else.
   in the evening I went to the karaoke venue and sang two songs. it was 'titanium' by david Guetta and sia, as well as 'humans being' by van halen. the one known as Chicago Anthony was there, and I saw him add a lot of sugar to his drink. as usual, he was trying to have fun with many people, including me.

great seat for show

i ended up with a great seat for the show, onstage. at the first show I attended. I was there due to a facebook invite and it was somebody that I wanted to add to the 'ring of honor' since she got me stage time in January. sounds like it was a good idea that I attended, as I had seen a posting about her getting an internship on Saturday night live. she said she leaves to do this gig next week. I got the seat onstage as one performer went into the crowd and asked me how much I liked the performance. I said I enjoy shows more when I am performing. I didn't do much while onstage but it was nice to be given a chair and sitting down. and it is still a good story to tell as well. I saw Belarus after the show, but he did not perform here. the show runner was in character, playing a high school p.e. teacher, and this was reflected in the costume. it was a decent crowd in this basement venue in the st. Anthony part of Minneapolis, I had been there before. then after it was done I went to my typical open-mic to perform at.
   for much of the day before I ventured out to perform I went through the magazines and newspapers, chipping away at them and sending some to the recycle bin. I am doing as much as I can but there are a lot to go through.

copy paper storage boxes

tonight I see plenty of copy paper boxes that I use for storage. this is due to deciding to do a cleanup around my home. I panicked a little this morning and told myself I have been 'on vacation' for the better part of the past year. why hadn't I done any cleanup during that time? so now that I know I am going back to work soon, why not do something about it? I also see some newspapers. I will do my best to get a decent amount moved out. as the saying goes, if you haven't used it in a while you probably don't need it. I went out to get more paper towels, and trash bags, in the evening at the dollar store. I knew that staying inside for most of the day helped with getting more done. although at one point I was tired and then fell asleep in my easy chair. only time I turned on the TV was to watch the 6pm news. I also went to perform, and while there happy meal spoke of a new open-mic starting soon. I had been to some of his mics before.

tag movie

watched a redbox rental this morning, 'tag'. it was being promoted at the comedy club this summer, and I got a frisbee promoting it. I laughed a lot when they did a 'slap fight' scene. aside from that, I said the movie was 'all right' but nothing too special. so I am thankful I waited to see it as a rental. there are plenty of movies that work for me in this format, since it is less money to watch it. I had a discount code from redbox and it ended up costing me less than a dollar. what I liked just as much was seeing a special feature, about the friends that inspired the story that was in the wall street journal. although it appears to be ten friends, and in the movie there is just five. but I am used to how some things are changed as they are trying to sell a movie.
   I also performed at this club tonight, first time in a while. this movie was one of the subjects covered in my set. I had an appointment with my job coach this afternoon, and it was there that I announced how I am going back to work.at first it was asked why I had sat on it for a few minutes. I said I was waiting for when the time was right, such as when they asked me for input on the subject. I will be staying in contact with people from this program, but hopefully that is the final meeting as I didn't enjoy them all that much. I wanted to be back at work, so I like how I got my wish. after the meeting I went to the library and got another DVD to watch.

winning team movie, reagan

I watched a DVD I recently bought from amazon this morning. 'winning team', starring Ronald Reagan, about baseball player grover Cleveland alexander. I was sent 2 copies, and I plan on donating the other copy to a second-hand store. I think I had seen it before, on loan from the library. it had the same kind of feel as other baseball bio-pics of the era, such as the ones about babe ruth and lou Gehrig. I was first interested in seeing it after it was mentioned in an iowa cubs baseball program. as I recall it was an article about baseball movies, written by the owner of the team, who is a prize winning writer. he said 'should have been vetoed' about this one. this would be in reference to how the player was named after one president and played by another. I checked Wikipedia and he died in 1950, and this movie was released two years later. there wasn't much to the movie after the depiction of his strikeout of tony lazzeri in the 1926 world series. this is something I had read out in elementary school, as I read many of the sports books in that library. also according to Wikipedia, he played until 1930 in the major leagues.
    I was invited to play in a soccer game for comics this afternoon by yemen native. I ended up playing on his team, at first as the goalie. I took a ball in the face and it knocked off my glasses but I kept playing. I said I would likely have to go to the eye clinic to see about getting them adjusted though. I like being invited to events, and I got a few photos as I like to document the comedy scene in the twin cities. one player had a skinned knee and needed help with the wound, and I saw how electrical tape was used on it.
   I didn't do much in the evening, first thing after having a meal was going to get a redbox rental. I will watch it in the morning. I fell asleep in my easy chair, and then I knew I needed to get the dishes and recycling done. I also did some shredding of junk mail, and items that will not be included in sheet protectors in a binder. I still don't do shredding much, about once a week. it is always nice to get the pile knocked down.

st. sahag armenian festival

i attended two festivals today, the lid-lifter was at an Armenian church called st. sahag in st. paul. I learned plenty while there, and had some tea as well as a 'honey cake'. the second was Oktoberfest at the former Schmidt brewery, also in st. paul. I had a bratwurst there and listened to some music by a man in a police officer uniform. I now look forward to attending Oktoberfest in new ulm next month.
   I got plenty done today. I went to the library to print some things, then bought a few items at the rainbow foods grocery store in Maplewood. I saw an article in the Minneapolis paper saying it was to close on Monday, the last of the rainbow named stores in Minnesota. I had consumed most of it before getting home, except for one of the two chocolate candies. it had melted since it was a warm day, so into the freezer it went and then it ate it later in the day. between festivals I went to the aldi grocery store for my weekly order. then after the second festival I went to get some ice cream at a mcdonald's. there now are order kiosks, but I wanted to pay cash so I waited for somebody to take my order. this happened even after I was advised to order from the kiosks, I said I didn't want to use my card. after the 10pm news I went to sing karaoke. I did 2 songs. it was 'plush' by stone temple pi,ots, and 'help' by the beatles. the latter was inspired by hearing a cover of it on the bluegrass radio program this morning, I often listen to it Saturday morning. laundry does as well, and he spoke about it on facebook and I said I listen to it as well.

no business like show business movie

I watched another DVD on loan from the library this morning, it was 'there's no business like show business'. it is from the 1950s, and Marilyn Monroe was a role in it. this was mainly about a family vaudeville act, and how it evolved over the years. the five donahues, the parents and three kids.
   I went into Minneapolis on the light rail this afternoon related to the job offer I just accepted. I figured I had to sign more papers, but they just needed to see my ID's. on my way there I noticed a building still said 'metrodome' on it even though that sports venue no longer exists. but I know this isn't the only place. a sign coming off 35W, as well as a police sub-station at a gas station. guess it is hard to change all of it.
   I went to a football game this evening, Stillwater beat Roseville 20-17 despite trailing at the half, 10-0. Stillwater won on the takeaway margin, 3-2, so this helped. along with a missed field goal by Roseville, it was wide left. after the game I sang some karaoke, but had to go to an alternate place as the first one was too crowded, a Creighton sign was in the background. I sang 2 songs, 'skater boi' by avril Lavigne, and 'champagne supernova' by oasis.

shakopee job fair

I was headed to the job fair in Shakopee when I heard the phone ring in my car. I was nearly there and decided it could wait. so I went inside the job fair and checked the voicemail when I was done. I was still in my car in the parking lot. I found out it was an offer from an agency. I said it was the best offer I had in a while, so I accept. I sign the papers with the agency on Friday afternoon. I was a little stunned as I had been job searching for a while and there was plenty of frustration along the way. but I think I will be more excited when I am back at work for real, which is over a week from now. there were some emails sent later in the day, documents I could sign with an electronic signature.
   I tried to watch a DVD this afternoon but I fell asleep more than once so I will have to try again on Friday. I finished watching the special features though, aided by being much shorter. in the evening I went to the karaoke bar and did 3 songs. I was planning on doing only two, but the bill murray fan spotted me when I was playing a bar game in the back so we spoke for a while. I did 'start me up' by the rolling stones, 'tonight tonight' by smashing pumpkins, and 'under the bridge' by red hot chili peppers. I saw the button's two friends there, and one of them did a norah jones song I had heard him do before.
    I slept for a little while overnight, then I couldn't get back to sleep after that so I decided 'i am up' and found that, after a few tries, the server error was gone so I could go online. not sure why I had trouble sleeping, other than I was thinking too much about the job fair from the previous day, as it had some disappointing results. and I was wondering when I would see a decent opportunity. there was plenty of waiting on the one where I just got an offer, about a month after the in-person meeting with the agency. we all know waiting is hard to do, especially with job searching as all too often it becomes a fruitless search. and it is hard to have to keep starting over, even though one has no choice in the matter.

white flag, bishop briggs

i went to two job fairs today. when I was driving to the first one I had the radio on as usual. there was a catchy song I heard just before I arrived. it took a little searching, but I found out it was 'white flag' by bishop briggs. I know why I liked it, at one point she sounded a lot like lana del rey. notable lyrics were 'rather die than give up the fight'. it is hard to tell at times where the video takes place, based on the camera angles used. it at first looks like she is singing inside a big garage or farm building, but at the end it is tighter camera angles and we see prison bars. she is tall and thin, and is wearing a blue jumpsuit. when I listened to it again on youtube I also liked another lyric: 'the hell on earth you put me through'. I think this one helps as it reminds me of 'alive' by sia. I guess I just wanted to find it bad enough, as I went online to the radio station and found a list of songs played in a 2-hour period. I wrote down 27 songs, and I eliminated the ones I knew weren't it. and it helped that there were album covers and I knew it was a lady singer.
   it is hard to say if there will be any kind of yield from these two job fairs. I had a cookie as I was leaving the first one. but sadly, all of the jobs either paid less than what I made as a test scorer, or happened to be call center work, which I don't want to do. he second one was with an agency I hadn't been to since January. they asked me to do two more online tests. I asked to meet with a recruiter, but they told me there was nothing available in my interests. so back to 'square one'.
    after I got back from it, eventually I went to the bank and turned in some more change. it was just under two dollars, still looking for ways to fill in time. usually I just do that about every two months. in the evening I went to perform. there weren't many people at this open-mic, as I arrived the 'acronym guy' said I might be the only one. near the end of the night the show runner asked me to get him a jack and coke, and another beer for me, and to put it on his tab. the bartender said it would be a jim and coke, I said I don't get mixed drinks much so I wouldn't notice the difference if I was the one drinking it. also in the evening I decided to watch something besides the 'alice' reruns, since I had already seen the episode. so I tried watching what was on a movie channel, except it was a terrorist movie where somebody hijacks a plane in the middle east. although it looks like chuck Norris was in the movie, so my guess is that eventually he and his military comrades save the day. I don't know what movie it was, since I don't know his movies that well.

sheet protectors freed up

i kept going with wanting to be more organized on souvenirs. so it meant looking through the binders more closely and deciding some more sheet protectors needed to be freed up. I often say I am 'stressing quality' but when it comes to space in a binder it is really necessary. so more event tickets and roster cards are in the binders. but after I got back from performing tonight I decided to go through the boxes some more. and I was pleased to find a wedding program from 2014. I kept wondering where it was but I know how sometimes things are just thrown into a box without much care. so of course it is nice to make some more finds. and it probably means buying more sheet protectors sooner rather than later.
   I knew I had to leave my home at times of course, as there were some other things on the agenda. one of them was meeting with my job coach. it seemed to flow well since I had plenty to report on the job front, just no offers yet. and it was nice to perform in the evening. it meant paying for parking and then waiting until a spot opened in the lot, but I have done it before.

true story of jesse james movie

i watched another DVD on loan from the library this afternoon. it was 'the true story of jesse james', it was from 1957 and starring Robert wagner as jesse. it starts with the failed bank robbery in northfield, Minnesota, in 1876. I could tell how some names were changed in it. I hadn't heard of this version before, so I liked finding it. I like how this one covers northfield more than some others do. the one from 2007, starring brad pitt, does not show it, only mentions it.
   I fielded three calls from agencies today, one of them was a scheduled phone interview. I would like to think I will be going back to work soon, but still no offers yet. the other two was asking me if I wanted to be submitted for positions. all of this was before midday.
    I decided to look through some storage boxes for the first time in a while, and was pleased with the findings. it meant finding some sporting event tickets, which were printed pages. so I got more of them in sheet protectors and into binders. this took up much of the day, but I also knew I wanted to get through a movie so I had to stop when the mid-afternoon arrived. this was a good time in more ways than one, as I had also run out of sheet protectors anyway.
   I went to perform tonight, and it was nice to see sub teacher at the venue. he said he is traveling to Italy soon with his bride-to-be.

too many bees

i went to the jesse james festival in northfield this afternoon. I have been there every year-except one-since 2007. hard to ignore how the bees seemed to be everywhere the food and drink was. reminded me of being at the iowa state fair one year when I was young and I didn't want to go have root beer as it was attracting the bees. most evident of it was seeing a can of A and W root beer today being swarmed by bees. but also the trash bins. I arrived around 12noon, and this was just in time for the final bank robbery re-enactment of the day, 30 minutes later. then I had some ice cream, as well as a pork hot dog and some bottled water. I wanted a dollar left over so I could get two postcards at the souvenir shop for the town's museum. I was careful about what postcards to get, since I had been there before, but confident I didn't have those two.
   I was kind of leisurely on getting back home after the festival. I stopped at a gas station close to the interstate to see if there was any DVDs I was interested in, but I didn't buy any this time. in another room was a TV, and the Vikings football game was on. I was listening to some of the game on the radio, all I saw here was the 49ers kicking a field goal. it proved to the final score of the game as the Vikings won 24-16. it was just after 2pm by then, and I prefer to 'get out of dodge' around the time of the long parade, which starts at 2pm. I had seen what I had wanted to see so it was time to go. then I stopped again in Lakeville. I decided to clean the windows on my car, and then went to the cracker barrel to look around. a little girl was afraid of a broom that moved around. there was plenty of Halloween items for sale there, much like many other stores I have seen lately such as Walgreen. but I also didn't buy anything there. I have told myself to cut back on spending while I am unemployed.        when I got home I turned on the TV and watched some more football, or at least tried to. I fell asleep in my easy chair watching the chiefs-chargers game. in the evening I found out 'the simpsons' wouldn't be on right after a football wrap-up show, delayed 30 minutes to give a preview of a new sitcom. so I decided to make it count, went through email and answered surveys during that time. I hadn't seen that episode, it was about marge running for mayor. after it I had more things to do. I read through some recent editions of the paper, while listening to the bears-packers game on the radio. it was the first time I had used this radio in my home in a while, as I had to plug it in first. bears led at the half but lost 24-23. then it was time to do the dishes, near the end of the game, as I didn't want to do them during the news.

scarface movie

yep, another al pacino movie watched this week, also on loan from the library. this time it was 'scarface'. I had heard about this one for a while, and at first was confused by the title as this is the nickname for gangster al Capone. but it has nothing to do with Capone, although in the special features they say some of the inspiration came from a black and white gangster movie of the same name. I kept wondering when I would see the most famous scene, where tony montana says 'say hello to my little friend' before he shoots a powerful weapon, but this was not until the climax. this movie had a lot of swearing and violence in it, but nothing that I hadn't seen before. it started off with mention of the Cuban refugees sent to a detention camp in Miami in 1980. I was familiar with this as there was mention of it on an episode of 'the jeffersons'. I recognized some other cast members, such as Robert loggia, michelle Pfeiffer, and mary Elizabeth mastrantonio. since it is a fictionalized account of gangster activity, it reminds me of a later gangster movie. 'new jack city', starring Wesley snipes. since I am a performer it meant something to me to see a comedian on stage at the dance club, then a clown that gets shot. also notable was a chainsaw scene, although the sound of a chainsaw doesn't scare me as my dad had them when I was young. probably still has some.
    I also sang some karaoke in the evening, 'rock and roll' by led zeppelin. also saw the lady that will bring Kermit the frog to another venue, but there was no Kermit here. when I arrived I saw many people in military uniforms, guess they wanted to sing as well. one of them did 'loving feeling', much like in the movie 'top gun'. there was a business card at the front desk, said it was from the army. after returning two movies to the library in the afternoon I went to the grocery store. then it was home, as expected some of the local news outlets did not have 6pm news due to college football games. I tried switching to another one, but when I ended up on fox I noticed they were showing the iowa game against iowa state. so I kept it there. the game was tied 3-3 in the third quarter, and iowa went on to win 13-3. still not sure about attending an iowa football game this season.

trash petition

I signed a petition this afternoon related to what the city can do on trash service companies. I saw a sign on the way to Walgreen where I needed to pick up a few items. so I went there after the errand was done. although it devolved when I looked around the block, at the grocery store and a barber shop. the barber shop caught my eye when their sign was a pun, using an image of actor Christopher walken. so I got photos as I was unsure when I would get the inspiration again to stop there. the man told a joke that wasn't funny at all, this is how it devolved. I was asked if I was checking plates, and I said no, I was looking at bumper stickers. it led me to saying there aren't many on my car. it was the first errand I did after getting my car out of the shop, having two tires replaced.
   it is hard to say how close I got to going back to work today, although there was some activity. I fielded three calls from employers, one of them was when I was in the shop. another was a phone interview. the one in the shop was to set up an interview early next week. and the third was unfortunately a little redundant, as I had already talked to that agency, but a different rep.
   I also went to a high school football game tonight, my first of the season. Fridley beat st. paul highland park 42-0, it was 35-0 at the half. I went home for a little while after the game, then went out again to do some karaoke. I sang 'price tag' by jessie j and BOB.

hormel rice and chicken

I didn't feel like opening up a can of soup at lunchtime so I went to the dollar store and got Hormel rice and chicken for two dollars. I went to a convenience store first, but no surprise how the sandwiches were more than that. what I chose tasted good and doesn't take long to heat up in the microwave oven. I had some of those kinds of meals before.
   I watched another DVD movie on loan from the library, 'touchback', a football movie starring kurt Russell. after watching it I had a feeling I had seen it before as a redbox rental, and I had. I checked my previous blog entries and I had seen it in 2013. but of course this time I noticed some things that I hadn't before, such as melanie Lynskey playing the main character's love interest. she was in 'up in the air', one of my favorite movies. although she plays a clumsy teenager in this one. and as I recall, redbox rentals usually don't have the special features available. and it was nice to see one about the making of the movie. I checked the closing credits to see if I recognized some more names but the only one seemed to be barry sanders, the pro football star, playing a coach.
   I applied to some more jobs online this afternoon, some were leads from my job coach this week. but one of them was from an email sent by career builder, and I found another on indeed as well. but it was conformed for me how I had already applied for a job with that insurance company, over six months ago. this time I uploaded the resume that makes no mention of being a performance artist.
   in the evening I sent a letter to the editor about a recent article honoring a football team in my hometown. I heard from the AD as well about it, who said 'hope all is well' and 'go cards'.  I also made it to the karaoke bar and did 3 songs. I did 'Louisiana Saturday night' by mel McDaniel, 'because the night' by 10,000 maniacs, and 'shut up and drive' by rihanna. I also was watching the season-opening pro football game on TV, falcons vs. eagles, it went down to the wire, eagles won 18-12. there was a man next to the bar that I had a conversation with between song one and two. he spoke of having a traumatic brain injury and how he has epilepsy due to it. he also spoke of once playing the tenor saxophone in high school, although he claims he can't sing. as the saying goes, everybody has a story to tell.

sybil movie

I watched another DVD movie today, 'sybil'. actually it was a mini-series, starring sally field. I had heard about the book for a while, ever since high school. but I hadn't even read the book, it was hard to get past how it was about somebody with 16 separate personalities. I think this is also due to seeing a parody of it on 'Saturday night live'. even though it was hard to watch for a while, I am thankful I saw it. Sybil finds a way to battle her demons. at times I ended up hating it for the same reasons why I hated watching 'mommie dearest' when I was young. since the mom was the villain in both. it took a while to watch both discs. one of them was the 3-hour movie, and the other was the special features. I liked how there was an art display of paintings by Sybil.
   I performed at two shows tonight. one of them is my normal open-mic, and I was thankful to be able to go on early since that made it easier to get to the next one. the second show was the final edition of an open-mic that has been around for 15 years. so it was a big deal that it was ending, like many other shows it was due to the venue closing. I arrived about 30 minutes after its scheduled start, and was number 46. at first it was hard to tell if I would be getting stage time, but fish noodle was the fill-in show runner and he was good at keeping the sets short so more people could perform. so I went on with about 30 minutes before closing. I thanked Stillwater for the stage time. as expected, there were plenty of people that I don't see too often. so I made the most of the opportunity. one of those was big dog. I also talked with others about stage time at their shows sometime soon.

photo quality

all I ever need is some inspiration and motivation to do some cleanup. I have said this to myself before. in this case it was being reminded of having a photo in one of my albums of an ex-friend. and I said it was time to get rid of it and try to stress quality with photos and see if I can eliminate any others as well. over the course of two days I was able to go through more than a decade of photos and get just over a hundred taken out. so now it means I have an album freed up for more postcards. I don't print that many photos now, and thanks to the digital cameras I have I am less likely to have any 'bad photos' since I can erase them and try again. I could have done more but I was pleased with how far along I got with it. and my shoulder started to hurt a little due to the repetitive motion of taking photos out and then moving them over. I really didn't want to buy another photo album right now anyway as it can be hard to find stores that still sell them, aside from Walmart.
   I had another appointment with my job coach this afternoon, and I had to go back inside to get my rain jacket as I noticed it was raining as I was about to get into my car to leave for the appointment. I was given an revised resume that had a summary up top, even though the lady who had reviewed it with me two weeks ago had failed to contact me directly about it, which I didn't like at all. I kept my phone shut off for most of the day, but turned it on when at the performance venue, I saw how there was two voicemails waiting. according to the time stamps ti was late in the workday, so no big deal. I can respond to them in the morning. I will have to see if there is any substance to them. I let my job coach know I signed up for a job fair that will be held next week, and it seems to be a better chance of getting hired as it spoke of on-the-spot interviews and offers. I have said it many times before: I just want to play a game with a better chance of winning. I performed near the end of the night and one of the things I spoke of was what somebody said to me at another venue last week. easier to say at a venue where they aren't at. fish noodle was the fill-in show runner, as the 'extra murder' comic was headlining at another venue. but he showed up after that show was done, and I said that I am thankful for the stage time as usual.

raising arizona movie

I watched another DVD movie today, 'raising arizona'. I had heard about it for a while, figured it was time to see it. the back of the video said it was a 'screwball comedy' but I think a better term to describe it would be a 'farce'. since it was a ridiculous and unlikely storyline. kidnapping a baby from a rich family. I know, it already sounds like I didn't like it. I guess there were a few things about it that I didn't like. but I know movies aren't meant to be taken too seriously. of course I liked seeing john goodman in it, as a prison escapee that was friends with the Nicolas cage character. I know I had seen other movies produced by the coen brothers, such as 'oh brother where art thou'. this was a weird movie, I will say that much.
   I considered going to the renaissance festival today as I know I have been there on labor day before. it is best to go while it still competes with the state fair for attendance, so the crowds are thinner. but I decided not to as it is hard to justify the cost of the ticket while unemployed. and it would be hard for me to show my face to the people I know there and have them ask how I am doing since I got laid off. so it is no big deal to skip this year. I have to be mindful of priorities. I went to get a paper shredder, as mine needs to be replaced, no longer performs the shredding function. I went to target first, wanting to support the home team, but I left because the lines were too long at the check-out lanes. I used my favorite yogi berra quote- 'nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded' as I was leaving. so I got it at Walmart. I knew the shred pile was kind of high, so it was time.
   in the evening I still went out to perform, doing karaoke. I did three songs, and it looked like the k.j. closed up shop right after I did the third one. I did 'welcome to the black parade' by my chemical romance, 'little talks' by of monsters and men, and 'same old song and dance' by aerosmith. sounds like the venue was sold recently, and there may be some changes to their schedule. so it is hard to say if I will continue going to this venue if they change their karaoke night. but I also know that I belong to a facebook group which has plenty of karaoke listings so I can replace it, more than likely, if need be.

serpico movie

I watched another DVD movie this morning, 'serpico'. I recall seeing a poster for it inside a restaurant at the st. louis airport, a place I visit annually. al pacino did well in the title role, I liked his passion in various scenes. one thing I noticed in the background of a scene was a billboard for salem cigarettes, of course this is something that one no longer sees. I also recognized yankee stadium in another scene, also in the background. there was a disclaimer at the end saying that Serpico resigned from the police force in 1972 and moved to Switzerland. I checked the Wikipedia page and it sounds like he has moved back to America. I recognized some other actors in it but not many, one of those being john Randolph. judd Hirsch was in it as well, but I don't think he had a speaking part in it and IMDB said he is 'uncredited' as a cop. I liked seeing the special features of course, and it spoke about the book that inspired the movie but not a lot.
    I made it to the library just before closing, returned two movies and got two more. I also printed two articles, one of them was about those who have been 'in state' at the capitol in Washington, DC. when checking the list more closely, I noticed that most of them, if holding political office, had died in office. I haven't seen anyone lying 'in state' at a capitol, but I know it was mentioned how sen. Hubert Humphrey was at both the Minnesota and national capitol buildings. I attended the unveiling of a statue honoring him at the capitol in 2012. the other one was about the plans to honor the 1988 newton football team at a game this season. they had reached the state finals.
   this evening I watched 'the simpsons'. it was two episodes, I had seen at least one of them. I saw the one about principal skinner visiting ohio state. the other was about Maggie being good at whistling. come to think of it, I probably had seen both. since marge designs a brothel for fat tony in the same one about Maggie and whistling. still enjoyed them though. I did the dishes and recycle, and got a few more postcards into photo albums after recent e-bay orders. it meant moving an item from the pan-am games in Toronto in 2015 to the hand-size album about stamps. and sheets of stamps I haven't used, from charlie brown Christmas and WPA posters, were moved to another album, a larger one.  I was able to do more after getting some tape at target after going to the library, I had just run out. I may have to get another album soon though, as there still are 10 more postcards that need a home. six of them were from the state fair, and the other four were an e-bay order, all four of those are of the band smashing pumpkins.

hero, family of the year

it's not too often where I have to pause while listening to a song. but I did this tonight when I was at the st. paul saints baseball game. it was my 6th and last of the season that I will be attending. I heard some recorded music being played before the game started and heard 'hero' by family of the year. I know I had heard it before, in a movie. why this song led to a brain freeze, when I am usually stoic, I don't know. other than it has sentiments I agree with. 'let me go, I don't want to be your hero'. somebody has probably tried to make me one. but I have said 'nobody should envy me, I am just a shy kid that lucked out big time'. I watched the video on youtube, it depicts a bull rider at a rodeo.
   the saints lost to Winnipeg 5-2. the saints never led in this one. I went because there was a poster giveaway honoring st. paul native jack morris being inducted into the baseball hall of fame. I was next to an older man that spoke of how humid it is in Arkansas. he was all right, but a younger man next to him, possibly his son, was not. I was asked about my line of work and said I was unemployed. then the younger man said 'i chose not to work' and I fired back with 'you want to do call center work?' I considered leaving my seat but I like being able to sit down while watching a baseball game. I left my seat with 2 outs in the 9th, as I wanted a better photo of the scoreboard, a way I document where I have been. I was on the first base side and the angle is less than ideal.
   after the game I went home for a short time then ventured out to do some karaoke. except my normal venue didn't have it tonight, so I did a quick walk around the bar and left. then I went to a venue I hadn't seen in two months. I sang 'rambling  man' by the allman brothers. I saw a man that recognized me, he wears a cowboy hat. I spoke of how I hadn't been there for a while, but I got annoyed quick as he wanted to correct what I was saying and it didn't need to be corrected.
   this morning I was up earlier than typical as I wanted to see the funeral for sen. john McCain on TV. I hadn't seen an event like this probably since the funeral for sen. ted kennedy. as a history major, I figured it was a good idea to see it. some like to watch royal weddings, but I am not british. it reminded me how I haven't been to Washington, DC, in a while, and not sure if I have been to the national cathedral, where it was held. the senator was 'in state' at the capitol, and not too many have had this honor. I kept hearing how henry clay was the first, and the list is even shorter when looking just at the non-presidents honored this way. I wiped away some tears when I saw the eulogy from his daughter, meghan, as she was emotional throughout it.