have a nice day balloons

this week I was noticing the two 'have a nice day' balloons at the front desk at work. the lady there said she didn't know who brought them. of course these would be the yellow smiley faces. I asked a resource line rep if he had seen them, and he said it wasn't his idea but he liked seeing them. just before midday I was called into a meeting, and I found out it was my last day. so it meant having to say goodbye to those I enjoyed seeing there. I had a subway sandwich and went to walgreen and cub foods, as well as the library. then it was to a shop near a karaoke venue, and the shop was open so I bought a greeting card there that spoke about passion. also near there was the trumpet player. we spoke for a short time, and as I was on my way back to my car i noticed he was playing the 'sesame street' theme song. after having dinner and watching some reruns, i ventured out to sing karaoke, after the 10pm news of course. I sang 'lean on me' by club nouveau. it seemed like a good one to do after what I had witnessed today. and I noticed some of the crowd members were really enjoying it, doing big over-the-head claps. naturally I am trying to figure out the logistics of the weekend. although the main thing is figuring out when to set aside time for writing in a contest sponsored by the university i attended. when it is super bowl weekend it is harder to do, but i will find a way. 

abandoned roses

I noticed there were some roses left behind on a table at the karaoke bar I was performing at tonight. I am not sure why they were abandoned. but I am used to seeing a flower salesman show up to sell them every so often. I did two songs tonight, 'what I really want' by alanis morisette, and '29 palms' by Robert plant. I let a server know I might be back in a few days for a friend's birthday party, this is the 'loopy one'. she said she probably won't be there that day.
   we had the weekly staff meeting, or 'convention', in the morning. I got annoyed with somebody upon arrival as they made a snide comment about my shirt, an NFL team that isn't playing in the upcoming super bowl. this is why I have a more generic winter coat now, because of how divisive that sports can be of one happens to root for a rival team. in the afternoon I let my boss know about getting a call from an ex-employee of the department, because we had to get past his greeting and figure out what he was calling about. it became a garden-variety form order request. I liked seeing some dinner rolls at lunchtime, so I claimed some for later. there was also somebody who noticed my name and I liked hearing a story they told me about it, and right after the call ended I said 'I am using that one!' referring to how it will be a good story to tell in comedy sets. although I still have not told anyone at work about doing stand-up, only about karaoke as that is a safer subject to cover.

grocery store rehearsal

tonight I went inside a grocery store and I saw people standing around, some with phones, like they were filming something. I asked if they were filming a movie, the response was they were rehearsing. seems like an odd place to get it done though. as I was coming out, I heard some activity in the street. then I noticed it was an old fire engine, it is winter carnival time! so of course it was the Vulcan crew, or 'krewe'. I also went to perform this evening, and it was nice to see the wolf, the crow, Wisconsin guy, and the fancy comic at the venue, as well as magic man. most of them performed, except for the wolf. in the mail was something about donating plasma.
    at work, I fielded what is likely my longest call to date, just over an hour. it was somebody that can be described as a 'tax protester'. I found out I can hang up on this type of caller, even if they never swore at me. I also found out that means do not enter it as the note on the file. a rescource rep said to have these words taken out by my boss. something about in case the agency was sued by the taxpayer. I found out that after the call was transferred to resource line, the rep was on about half the amount of time I was, but did release the call. we were at an impasse, didn't know what to do. hopefully it will be a while before I get that kind of call again, as it was ranting about various things such as welfare and politicians. as well as ramen noodles and what his siblings do for a living. so I will have to figure out what lesson can be learned form it.

don't slam this door

when I went to perform tonight, I noticed something said 'don't slam this door' off in the distance. it was from what looked like a freight elevator. I guess I had heard it before in my life, such as when I was a dishwasher at a golden corral steakhouse when I was in school. still haven't been in this elevator yet. I was the show closer, and I liked hearing the show runner do his poem 'by/buy yourself'. I hadn't heard it in a while, not sure if I need to get there earlier to hear more of that kind of thing. one crowd member, who was there for the first time, said I was 'Hollywood funny' which was flattering to me. I also liked seeing the cheery one, although I didn't see Kermit and haven't seen it for a while.
    at work, I ended up with another call that I was told by the resource line that I probably shouldn't have taken. it became a supervisor callback. the power of attorney for taxpayer had sent in a w-2, found it in imaging. except they still need to go through the appeal process as stated in the letter. I got their voicemail, letting them know the file 'was transferred to another agent'. I know I wanted to get to lunch, as did the caller more than likely, so no big deal to call them back after lunch. looks like they got the call about an hour after I entered it. I had some of the sheet cake, celebrating a birthday, the past two days, now there is not much left.

kept birthday card overnight

near the end of my workday, I was presented a birthday card to sign, but asked about what I do with it. I was told it was fine to keep it overnight, since most people had already left, especially since I was stuck on a long call. I was coached by a resource line rep who was walking past when I was taking a tough call, non-filing. it went better because it was happening at my cube, but still was taking too long to advise me.
    in the evening I was at the comedy club and the phone rang, another one wanting a campaign donation, and I turned them down. I spoke of it in my set. the flautist had somebody playing a guitar when she was onstage.

tv tray and stool

I was the 'live blogger' at a show just after midday. I show runner sent me home with a TV tray and a stool, the price tag stickers are still on them. they are for me to bring to the later shows, since the laptop I was using was on the tray. I haven't had comedy souvenirs like this before! it was nice to get jello shots during the show. I did 6 postings. there was a different lineup of comics than last month, and I liked seeing the button running the merchandise table.
   I was behind on grocery shopping so I did it today. first the dollar store, the can of spaghetti. then my main order at a nearby place, I noticed there was a fire engine in front of the building at one point but it was gone by the time I went in. then the third place was on my way back from the comedy hour, and after I got my groceries there I heard on the radio how basketball player kobe Bryant had died in a helicopter crash in southern California. it was also what people were talking about at an open-mic in the evening, first time at a once a month show. but the venue is familiar from the 'variety mics' I have done there. I was just one of four performers, and even though I was late the show hadn't started yet, because the show runner hadn't arrived yet. he made a comment about my hoodie, saying who I looked like in sports.

make your own pennant

went to the twins fan-fest and there was a section where one could make their own pennant, so I did. also got a few postcards as souvenirs. I didn't rest for long at home, as it was on to the gopher hockey game, gophers beat ohio state 4-1, and I got the giveaway towel. gophers scored first, about 5 minutes into the game. then two more in the 2nd period, about 2 minutes apart around the midway point of the period. ohio state finally scored with about 13 minutes left in the 3rd, and Minnesota got the last goal of the game about 2 minutes later.
   after the game, I did karaoke at two different places after it. first it was 'say it ain't so' by weezer, then 'oh what a night' by the 4 seasons. the first was a place I had performed at in a 'pop up show' this month. and I had tacos there just before the game.

laughing from arizona

I get calls from all kinds of people, including from those requesting tax forms and are wintering in another state. in the case of one of them today, they were laughing from Arizona. I wasn't too fazed by it, especially when they said 'just giving you a hard time'. the other common call group was about the certificate of rent paid form, and a few asked about what counts as rent. if somebody that doesn't lives there pays it, then it does not count for this form in terms of applying for a property tax rebate later on. I was inspired to write about empowerment between calls, and finished it just before going to lunch. when I am inspired, I can't ignore it.
    this evening I went to sing karaoke, and it was 'champagne supernova' by oasis. when I went to get a beer, the bartender said it was free since I was a regular and the bar had just been sold. so I thanked him for that, although it is in doubt as to what will happen now. so I am aware of possibly needing to find a karaoke venue to replace this one. performing is a fluid thing, so this wouldn't be the first time I would have changed my schedule. it was why I snapped a few photos on the way out. I think the flash was attracting the attention of mr. cop, so I got it and was gone. I prefer to avoid certain conversations if at all possible, especially this kind as it has happened before, being asked 'what are you doing?'

consumer complaints

my last call of the day was about certificates of rent paid. the caller was asking who to call if the landlord does not supply it, although they have until the end of the month. best thing I could think of was whoever handles consumer complaints, such as the attorney general's office. there were some other unusual calls besides this one, including an accountant calling about a million-dollar check. I looked at the tac return and I saw an 'MD' after their name, guess they will make more money than I do. another was about military tax credits, I noticed the address was Killeen, texas.
    this evening I went to sing karaoke, I did two songs. it was 'all you wanted' by michelle branch, and 'true colors' by Cyndi Lauper. although when I went onstage, the karaoke jockey asked if I wanted to do the phil Collins version for the latter. not a big deal either way. notable was somebody with a joke name singing a lady gaga song like it is heavy metal. and somebody who is a big fan of mine looking like a 'hot mess' and saying he wasn't going to wait to sing, was already drunk. although eventually he did sing. go figure. hadn't seen him in a while. one never knows who you might see from one night to the next. I let the show runner from last night know that I should be fine on karaoke stories for next week's show.

nail clipper PSA

i was riding the bus home after work and I noticed there was a PSA from metro transit. had to study it for a little while, but it was a nail clipper with eyes on it. and the word balloon said 'hey, thanks'. something about thank you for getting ready before boarding the bus. I haven't seen anyone clip nails on public transit, yet. but there are some annoying things that can happen while riding that I could do without. at work there was two notable callbacks. one was about paying for a garage and if it is to be included on a certificate of rent paid. another was showing proof of income taxes paid so the taxpayer isn't double charged in Canada. around lunchtime I saw a classmate from training after leaving the breakroom, but not the 'work spouse'. this is somebody I am having plenty of intellectual discussions with. there was mention of me doing karaoke, so I covered that for a little while. we started off with me asking if she was waiting for godot, a reference that wasn't lost on her. eventually I said I would welcome hearing a Cyndi Lauper song more than the ones that ladies like to sing all the time. and I spoke some of why I ended my longest dating relationship.
     the mention of music is relevant here, as I do like to write about that subject a lot. this led to me finding the song, 'girls just want to have fun', on youtube when I got home. found out Cyndi didn't write it, a man did- Robert hazard. some of the lyrics were changed when Cyndi performed it. I spoke of hearing this song when I was young, when it was a big hit. and the perspective I had that is different once I became an adult. seeing the video in the food court in Maplewood mall when I was in a relationship, understanding it was about a generation gap. girls didn't want to be housewives. I went online and found various interpretations of it, but most were about empowerment, which I decided to interpret it as too. and when I think about it, I often talk about empowerment myself. I know what it is like to have to say 'it is my life'- so a line such as 'i want to be the one to walk in the sun' has meaning to me. there were some other versions I found besides Robert's or Cyndi's. also the weird al parody, one by miley cyrus, and a live version by katy perry and nicki minaj. and to think, I figured the biggest music re-discovery this week was going to be michelle branch.
  I went to perform in the evening, it was great to see Nebraska, as well as Philadelphia native. I spoke of the handshaking reminding me of deacon frye on the TV show 'amen'. both are in the ring of honor. the show runner acted a little disappointed when there were no karaoke stories, it was harder to find good ones this week when I took one night off due to the weather. besides one about the 'loopy bartender' when prompted. a crowd member said she had hope to hear them, but still liked my set. 

call scorer is cool

I had a meeting set up by my boss today with one of the call scorers in the department. it was helpful on breaking the ice, starting with noticing he had a 'Thomas the tank engine' toy in his cube. also maps of the boundary waters canoe area. we actually met for 2 hours, the time allotment was just one. so it took me all the way up to lunchtime. we did listen to one of my calls, it was a long one, over 20 minutes. he said I would be getting a high score on it. so this call scorer is cool with me now. it was also nice to hear how she majored in history like I did, at Minnesota-Duluth if I am not mistaken. there was somebody at his cube early on, but I am aware that one wears various hats that sometimes people need them for whatever. the rest of the day was fairly typical, form orders. I got one call just before leave time, and the man said 'you don't need that' when I was trying to do a verification on the file. I said I wanted to see I was looking at the correct one, but it was form orders so I didn't push too hard. there isn't that much peanut brittle left in the common area.
    in the evening I went to perform at the comedy club. mason city was not there, according to facebook he is on vacation in a much warmer place, the Caribbean. but there still was a comic that served well filling in, as the MC. it is the dude that introduced me to the fancy comic. my set went fine, though I spent longer on one joke than I really wanted to so I had to cut one joke on my agenda. I still got laughs though. it was nice to see the opera singer there, as well as the crow. the latter was a last minute replacement, judging by not being on the printed lineup I was given. I let both of them know I plan on attending the gopher hockey game this weekend, so there is a good chance I will see one of them or both.

hardcore history podcast

a manager at my job spoke of dan carlin, doing the 'hardcore history podcast'. I finally looked it up, on youtube, except most of the episodes given were too long, well over an hour. I found one that was about 15 minutes, comparing alexander the great with adolf hitler. this seems to be too much of a stretch, as a history major. there are cities named for the former, including Alexandria in Egypt. but that is not the case with the latter. at some point I might want to find some more episodes, but when I really have the time. printing the Wikipedia article reminded me how it was on my list to look it up.
  I found things to do today despite having the day off for the holiday. some of it was getting caught up on what needed to be added to the comedy souvenir binder. it meant getting more sheet protectors at the dollar store to keep going, but I had a dollar saved so it was no big deal. another thing was to call about event tickets. one of them, for the Minnesota twins fan-fest this weekend, has been changed to will-call. the other is the gopher hockey game. the office was closed, but I can call on Tuesday to see about that one. hopefully the same option will be offered.
   I also went to perform in the evening. I mentioned a writer friend in Houston since the show runner likes to do a southern accent when doing my intro. in a later set, a musician, I noticed the show runner dancing with the flautist. I had seen this before, and when I sing karaoke I like it because I can tell people are really enjoying it. the flautist did not play the flute tonight, she did a poem that mentioned a place was burning but I think it was a metaphor related to the plight of a destitute person. I could tell it was hard for her to recite, as she sometimes paused. but I like to see passion.

star wars: E-9 movie

this afternoon I went to see 'star wars: E-9' in Roseville, as usual, I liked the droids and chewy the most in it. I think because they are funny without having to say or do much. even though they aren't 'major' characters. I wouldn't call myself a 'die-hard fan' of the franchise, where everything has to be 'knock my socks off'. I see this as wrong to have that standard for ANY movie. I went to see the familiar, and that is what I got. I expected no mystery in the ending, the good guys winning. same reason why I go see James bond movies. what is still entertaining to me is 'the thrill of the chase'- how they get there. when I posted about it on facebook it got some likes.
   it was kind of tough at first to figure out what to do about lunching, but decided to get a hot dog at a speedway gas station before the movie. then I went to the library to return a movie. it was not open just yet, but many people were ready to go inside, waiting in the lobby area. when I was driving home after the movie, I got the first football game of the day on the radio. the chiefs were trailing against the titans, but got two TDs to go ahead just before halftime. then I tried to watch the rest of the game on TV when I got home, but I laid down and missed the ending but the chiefs went on to win it. I saw more of the second game, which was not much of a contest, the 49ers winning big against the packers. so now we know the teams in the super bowl in 2 weeks.
   after the second football game I found a movie on a 'companion channel'- a western that burt Lancaster was in, about buffalo bill and his wild west show. I called my dad during this time, after taking out the trash, and we discussed the recent snowstorm. he was using 'toro'- the snow blower- but at times he said it was shooting out rocks. I spoke of attending a movie but he never asked which one. his voice was off, had a cold.

lucky them movie

I watched a DVD on loan from the library this evening, it was 'lucky them'. it was about a writer for a music magazine, being asked to do a 'where are they now?' story about a musician she had dated 10 years ago that went missing. I did not recognize many of the actors in it, just johnny depp. he played the missing musician. I didn't like the main character much, she was described as 'self-destructing' in the special features and this is accurate. I didn't like her because she was always using people, a means to an end, or to put it more harshly, 'whoring' herself out. this was no doubt true about the rich man she met. he ends up joining the investigation, but at times it went too far, to the point of them trespassing. the movie is echoing the heyday of the seattle grunge music scene, and I would have enjoyed it more had it been more about the music and less about an investigation. and when he is found, it was anti-climactic. the movie has its moments, some scenes in it have passion, and I do like passion. the closing credits mention it is dedicated to paul newman, and this meant something to me. his wife, joanne woodward, is listed in the credits, but her role was 'voice only'. so I would have to say that this movie was disappointing. it took a while, but they covered how the movie got its name, but this is only briefly covered, one really has to be paying attention to get the reference.
    I am thankful I ventured out this morning, but of course it took a while to clear off the ice and snow from my car. I made it to the post office, one order was waiting for me there. I then wanted to get to a movie in Roseville, but realized there probably wasn't enough time so I went to the library instead and printed some things. sadly, two event tickets I couldn't print, so I will have to call about how to get admitted to those events. I did print the receipts so I have the confirmation numbers. I know it is a good idea to have as much information as possible when contacting the ticket office. then I got lunch at a popeye's chicken and picked up some things at a nearby cub foods. one of those was charlie brown valentine's day cards, which included pencils. I laid down for a while after getting home, and after watching the 6pm news I went for groceries. then dinner, and the movie. then I went to venture out again to sing karaoke, and did 'never say never' by the fray.

the wrecked mall

I decided to stay in tonight due to the snowstorm. even though it looked like the snow has stopped falling for a while, the only thing 'canceled' was singing karaoke. somehow I ended up on youtube and found the scene from the movie 'blues brothers' where they drive through a mall. it was a sad story reading about the mall where it was filmed. it was the dixie square mall in Harvey, in the south suburbs of Chicago. some articles found online mentioned it had been closed for a year by the time the movie was filmed there. the mall was open for just 12 years, and often had crimes committed there. and it sat vacant for a while, eventually demolished in 2012 as the plans to redevelop had failed. it really was no surprise how the movie filmed at a 'dead mall', it seems to be a foreshadowing of the 'dead mall' phenomenon that is so rampant now. this is something I have to write off as 'economic darwinism', where the strong survive. I read plenty of trivia about the movie on IMDB.
  in reality, it was no big deal to stay in tonight, since my needs were still met. right after I got off the bus after work, I went to a nearby gas station and bought three items. some of these would have been bought at a Walgreen, but of course that is far enough away and I didn't want to venture out. so I got the Minneapolis paper, potato chips, and a can of an 'Arnold palmer' drink. and I heated up some egg rolls, along with finish up the chocolates from last week's visit to a Walgreen. after getting caught up on emails, including online surveys, I laid down for a while, the john wayne movie 'the cowboys' was on the 'movies!' channel. I had read the paper to get some ideas about movies to see, and I might be out of luck on seeing 'marriage story' at theaters despite the Oscar nominations. I checked some back issues and it was being shown in the area in late December. when I was riding the bus home this evening I rode with the attorney, who said she had seen it mentioned during the golden globe awards. something about encouraging people to go see it at theaters, as it was produced by Netflix. I do not have an account with that or any other streaming service, and when it was produced by them it may not get released to redbox. I am considering three movies, one of them being 'star wars-E9', but of course there is still the DVD from the library that I would like to watch as well. I know full well I can't stay in 'hibernation' for long. I have errand running I want to do on Saturday.
   at work, I had a meeting with the lead worker in the morning. I likely gained something from it, but not sure what as I had just one scored call to discuss and the meeting invite said 'bring two to talk about'. he said he was leaving the office at midday to beat the snowstorm. it got busier later in the day, as expected some were form orders, other calls were tougher. I did not have lunch with my 'big fan' or 'work spouse' as she was absent. I know she has taken the day off before due to weather as she drives in from Lakeville, so the commute is more of a chore than me taking the bus. I will admit that I didn't enjoy who I ended up lunching with. one of them is a rabid packers fan and I could tell he just plain enjoyed arguing with people. the packers thing is no big deal to me, but the arguing part is. he laughed in response to me offering up a weak and stale 'sex ed, driver ed' joke I had heard before, proof of the 'category' of jokes he likes doesn't work for me. it was in reference to a weak and stale joke that he wanted to tell. so I see it as a 'thanks for the warning' and I am more likely choose lunching by myself later on over lunching with these two as I am content with lunching by myself. I tend to spend less time in that room and I am more motivated to leave early and go to the library where I have time to look at the jigsaw puzzle of the day in the library. 

middle finger pin

I went to sing karaoke tonight, and as I was leaving I noticed what the loopy bartender was wearing. there was a pin on her hat and it was the 'middle finger' obscene gesture. I said I hope it wasn't meant for me. I did two songs tonight, it was a thin crowd likely due to the cold weather. it was 'circles' by soul coughing, and 'unskinny bop' by poison. the latter one was inspired by hearing it on tonight's episode of 'young sheldon'. not the first time I got a song idea from there. the former one was one I meant to do last week, but a venue didn't have it. this is the calm before the storm, so it was a good idea to get out tonight as I may just hibernate on Friday after work. the weather report says there will be plenty of snow. I went to the ATM before going to sing, and I asked the gas station about closing time and I was told 11pm. looks like they are no longer open overnight. we spoke about some other subjects, such as entertainment venues in Minneapolis including the armory, where I saw some boxing matches.
   at work there was bagels at the staff meeting and as I was leaving I said 'thank you easter bunny', thinking of an old TV commercial. found out a coworker is from Chicago-land, so we talked a little about living there, she lived in the south suburbs. in other issues, I am already thinking about what to do this weekend. not sure about the movie lineup, I know 'marriage story' has been nominated for Oscars but was unable to find a twin cities theater showing it. and not at redbox either. there was mention of Netflix, hopefully it will be back in theaters soon. so this means checking the listings for Friday. of course the movie times is why I get the paper once a week.

omaze sweepstakes

I just made a donation this morning through the omaze sweepstakes, for an entry to meet lady gaga at her residency in las vegas. Wikipedia states it is an online fundraising platform. hard to say what other ones I would like make an entry on. I saw three main categories- cars, entertainment, and travel. when looking at the past winners, one of them said 'kroaky karaoke' and one sees an image of Kermit the frog. I decided to do it today because the deadline is soon for this one. this organization began in September 2012. looks like a facebook friend just decided to like their page on that site.
    at work I was taking a victory lap of sorts for the call last week. I had somebody find me at my cube saying I was listed in 'positive happenings'. then when I logged on another colleague emailed me about it. I had to figure out where people were seeing it, as some of these sites I don't look at too much. the description of the call was fairly generic, but I also noticed that it is not every day where something is posted there. the colleague that found me said it might be a record for the earliest that an employee of this department was mentioned there. I still think of it as 'just doing my job'.
   I went to perform tonight, but the friends from the karaoke circuit that were interested in the show were not there. it was a cold night and I am not sure if this was why. although I think this kept away some performers as the show was done in just over an hour. I let the show runner know that we hadn't done a group photo yet, so shortly after that we went onstage for it. first time she had done the show since the injury due to a fall on the same stage. the fancy comic showed up after we had started and he became the show closer. after my set the show runner spoke of doing call center work for a car dealer, a place where I had applied at a job fair in the evening with a picnic.

the device being used

i met with my boss this morning and was encouraged to sign up for a class that would be held later in the day. it was about searching on the agency's website. one of the things said by the moderator was really helpful, finding out what device is being used by the caller. since not all people are using computers. some might be using a phone or I-pad, and then the screen looks different to fit the smaller device. as I was leaving, I said to a classmate it reminds me of what I saw in a class before. it was about how a political poll got it wrong because it was done at a time when not everybody had phones. so it is good to be aware of the available technology. aside from that, a fairly routine day. there was plenty of form order requests. one call was transferred to resource line, because the caller asked to get someone else after I tried to get enough information to look at their file. they just wanted general information and the number on caller ID said 'anonymous'. well I tried, they told me I needed to do that much.
   I went to perform in the evening, and I liked seeing somebody there for the first time in a while. he is the well-dressed drummer I had seen at a now-closed venue. I liked what he said about my set, either you get it or you don't. he was the show closer. after I got home again, I decided to go onto youtube and find some versions of the song 'break my stride' by matt wilder. one of them had images of Thomas the tank engine in the background. it is a reminder of being in a relationship, as I was introduced to this children's story that way. along with brad paisley, the country singer. it is a reminder of how I gained something from that experience. it wasn't entirely awful with that partner, but it wasn't good enough to continue. so it means trying hard to remember the positive.

joke signup names

i made it over to a 'pop-up' show at a former pizza place tonight where opera singer is the show runner. I noticed a joke name just before mine, it was melania trump. so I had to talk about it in my set. as usual, no problem finding material. I had an orange soda, after finding out they had jarritos there. it reminds me of another place I have performed at. there were some familiar faces there, such as magic man, the crow, and blake. I still went to 'hob-nob' at another club before I arrived there. I didn't want to wait for the light rail after the show, since it was more than 10 minutes. I was able to get across the river to where my car was parked before the train did, because I am a brisk walker.
   at work it picked up a little as the day wore on, plenty of tax form requests. I had to take a late lunch due to a long call, somebody asking about e-filing a form but has boarders.

missouri breaks movie

I watched a DVD movie on loan from the library around midday, 'Missouri breaks', a western from 1976 starring marlon brando, randy quaid, and jack Nicholson. I was wondering for a while which one was brando, when he is shown on the cover along with Nicholson. well he arrives late, as he plays the 'regulator', or bounty hunter. actually the line used by brando himself was 'man hunter'. there is a body count, it is a western after all, sometimes called a 'shoot um up'. there were some funny scenes in it but not a lot. most memorable was when Nicholson was trying to play a clarinet. the brando character is kind of weird in it. I liked the Nicholson character, even though he played a horse-thief that was being hunted by brando. there is a love interest as well, the neighbor's daughter. there were no special features on the disc, aside from a few movie trailers. this was fine with me, as the movie itself was just over 2 hours.
    of course I made it back to the library in the afternoon to return it and get another one. I made it just before closing time, and there was just enough time to print a few things. I had to act quick when I noticed the printer was out of paper, and decided to use what was in the recycle bin. I know full well it will not print anything for anyone until it is filled, and when it did there was something not for me that printed first. looks like there was just enough paper to print the 5 items for me. although two of them was reminders, 'need to print ticket' or 'order ticket'. but there is still time to print those event tickets, one of them is a month away. I watched some of the pro football playoff games today, Kansas city and green bay won. I left at halftime of the first game to get to the library, when Kansas city was trailing against Houston early on I said it was a good thing that I wasn't watching with my stepfather as he is a chiefs fan and I could picture him getting disgusted. I also spent some more time today shredding more of the 'failed pages', good idea to let go of the past on those job search failures. I counted the number of plastic bags from the shredding and there are nine.

cindy crawford info-mercial

i went to sing karaoke tonight and a TV screen near the back was playing an infomercial. it was an anti-aging cream, endorsed by cindy Crawford. and at times one saw melons being compared, and somebody flying over to paris, france. this may have been where these melons were being grown. I was later than I wanted to be, but the news was on late after the football game. but I still left before it ended, needing to get to an ATM. except I went to my typical place, a holiday gas station, and it was closed for the night. guess they didn't get enough business to warrant being open overnight. so I had to go somewhere else to find one. I did three songs once I got there, a thin crowd much like last week. it was 'sunday morning coming down' by johnny cash, 'what's up' by 4 non-blondes, and 'karma chameleon' by culture club. with the third one I was listening to a rerun of American top 40 on the radio and I liked the story behind the song. the karaoke jockey said he has an early flight sunday morning for his line of work, to dallas-fort worth.
   I spent much of the morning going through a stack of printed pages, most were not kept. they were on top of a bookcase and got knocked over this week, so I figured it was time to do something about it. especially when many of them were printed emails about interviews, and writing 'failed!' on them. I am back at work now, so I would much rather think of what I am actually doing for work. I copied down a few things from some pages before putting them in the shred pile. some were about songs.
   once I finally went out and about, it meant going to the post office. I picked up one order, from amazon. it was the soundtrack to the movie 'star is born', the most recent version starring lady gaga and brad cooper. I have already been listening to it in my car. I also had some business to do at a bank, then after lunch I went to a dollar store. after watching the 6pm news, it was on to the grocery store, then it was eating at a mcdonald's. I was flipping through channels and found a college hockey game to watch while I was online, western Michigan at Minnesota-Duluth. the 2 teams played to a 3-3 tie. it was on when I decided to go online for things such as order a ticket for the Minnesota twins 'fan-fest'. which is later this month. I didn't watch any of the pro football playoff games today, found out san Francisco and Tennessee won.

it means real nurse

i went to sing karaoke tonight and was thrilled to see a familiar crowd that I had met at another venue. it included the karaoke jockey herself. one of them spoke of her line of work, I hadn't heard of it before as far as I know. she works in a nursing home, at least her primary job, and said it wasn't in physical therapy as that requires an advanced degree. I spoke of having some family members in that field, and the jokes about what the acronyms for some of those job titles mean. she said 'RN' meals 'real nurse', I figured the joke name would be something more vulgar than that. she was there with her date, and when I spoke of doing stand-up there was a request for my itinerary so they can see me perform. I did let them know of a venue I am a regular at, but then she said she had another job with parks and rec so it might be hard to make it that night. oh, this would be the one that I had escorted home a couple of times from the other venue. I know this venue won't mind seeing a few more crowd members at the open-mic. I think we got onto this topic because I said I only talk about doing karaoke at my new job and not stand-up. I did do one song, it was 'logical song' by supertramp.
   at work I had a long meeting with my boss in the afternoon, but we covered a lot of ground so it was worth it. much of it was about scored calls, but also about what I do about a colleague that called me 'annoying'. so the best solution I could think of was to stick to talking by phone or instant message and do not talk in person at the cubicle. because that is where the conversations have been lasting way too long. with my boss, I said it is a case of I only have a question about A. then the other one decides to say 'i need to talk to you about B,C,D,  and E'. and other colleagues do not do the same thing. I feel like I will make it, it helped that I referred to my first job that wasn't a paper route when I was in high school. in fact, it was in a nursing home, as a dishwasher, or the official title may have been dietary aide. where I recall visiting my old man one weekend and I recall whining about the job. but I know this wasn't the only time I did about something new, thinking of my former boss and mentor in suburban Chicago who wouldn't put up with my whining and wouldn't give up on me. so it became a case of when I was going to quit whining and just do the work, and make the most of the opportunity to me when there were no other offers. I also felt good about doing a callback to the widow, in reference to the last call of the day on Wednesday. she wanted a place to leave feedback, and I had to quick check with a colleague that it was fine to give out an email account. I wasn't sure, when I am a state government employee the rules can be different. this did lead to me saying this time of year is tough for me as a baseball fan when it is the offseason. she spoke of spring training in Arizona, I said I needed to go to florida to see my favorite teams. some mention of Scottsdale, I gues her departed husband, who was from Brooklyn, liked the yankees and giants. and I think the giants train in Scottsdale. after the fact, I didn't think of saying I had been to the phoenix area, loved visiting tempe as it is a college town, this was over a weekend in 2005. it did inspire my visit to spring training visit the following march.

   

teen wolf movie

I watched the movie 'teen wolf' on TV tonight. I had seen it when I was young, and when it was new. I have a much different perspective now. I see the metaphor in it that others can relate to. sometimes the temptation is high to be someone else, because of the attention we can get. but sometimes it is easier to be ourselves. I see it being relevant to performing, where I like the feeling of performing but don't want to be a performer all the time. I watched it and then went to sing karaoke. I did two songs, '1979' by smashing pumpkins, and 'wrong side of memphis' by trisha Yearwood. somebody did the other Memphis song tonight, which gave me the idea. I said I 'saw the writing on the wall' when I saw more of a crowd after my first song was done, so I didn't waste too much time getting the second one in. I had to look up the origin and it appears to be from the bible, the book of Daniel. the karaoke jockey said he would like to get home in my back pocket when it got packed. he had fun with one singer, who was wearing a u. of south Carolina shirt, asking them how they did against Clemson. he got a middle finger from them for his efforts.
   in other issues, I did fine with calls today, but we had back to back meetings so the time on the phones was limited. then there was having a simple, and single. question for a resource line rep and it turned into 30 minutes, getting off-topic. this has happened before, but my patience wore thin and then he said I was 'a broken record' and 'annoying'. I will find out soon enough if my boss is getting involved. I am able to work with most people, as all I care about is getting the work done. but this colleague is getting the closest to being 'too hard to work with'.

invested a lot

i said I had 'invested a lot' into one call at work so I wanted to finish it. this became my last call of the day because it was a long one, about filing a tax return and her husband passed in 2019. so I didn't want to transfer it to anyone that bad, especially after calling the resource line. the caller said something about wanting to offer me a beer. then I said when something similar was offered before when I did call center work, that it was somebody from out of state. I will do my best to find some contact information that can be given to my boss as I am proud of how much help I was able to give to them. it meant requesting letters be sent stating the advance payments, canceling a payment since one was made in December, and helping with setting up payments under a different bank account and email address. there was some leftovers, as expected, from the previous day's potluck so I claimed some of them.
   I went to perform at an open-mic tonight. there was a fill-in show runner as the main one was injured last week. like many others in the crowd, I was in disbelief about one of the sets. it was a homophobic rant and the performer claimed it was 'sarcastic'. there were some people who walked out and couldn't stand to listen to it. one performer after it was told by the show runner to leave and did not take the stage at all. I have seen plenty while performing, hard to say how this compares to what I have witnessed over the years. thankfully this doesn't happen too often.

crafts at potluck

we had another mixer today, two sessions. I attended the first one. there was craft making first, then lunching. I said it reminded me of making a 'god's eye' at church, except it was much smaller and it meant using pins and wrapping a string around them, 16 in all, a total of 33 times. it sounded like a late Christmas event. not sure how many new people I met though, at one point I just heard people talking about the chances the Vikings have in their playoff game this weekend. I was lost when some of the trivia was done as I don't know 'game of thrones'. near the end of the day I got another scored call and it was a high score. but I still want to listen to the call when I have the time.
   I made it to the new venue of a show I have performed at before, I was show closer. I arrived just as the flautist was wrapping up her set. she asked me about jobs with the census bureau, I said I hadn't worked there yet. but I did tell her about working for a test scoring company, two seasons. so I sent her a message through facebook and hopefully she will hear something from the lead I have sent her. I like the new venue, much larger stage. it is in lowertown, close to the farmers market and the saints baseball stadium. it sounds like there was a beef between the show runner and a violin player, but I am not a peacemaker so I am not getting involved with a beef. let them figure it out on their own.

shirt tail tackle

I was watching the TV at the venue I was performing at since it was in my view of the stage. and I liked seeing a play where the defender made a shirt tail tackle, stopping the pass receiver just short of the goal line. it was a college football game, a bowl game, louisiana vs. Miami of ohio. and it meant louisiana kept them out of the end zone, as on fourth down the center snap sailed over the QB's head. I don't see these too often, as it is a true sign of desperation. but I guess he must have held on just enough for it to happen. of course it is also a case of the shirt tail wasn't tucked in. louisiana went on to win the game, 27-17, they are called the 'ragin cajuns' and I know the school name has changed a few times over the years. it went fine performing tonight, I found some material while at the comedy club before making it over to the second venue. this included a case of mistaken identity, and getting a call from a campaign.
   at work the call volume was slow at first but it picked up as the day wore on. notables were in the afternoon, where I got one from somebody who was confused and I sometimes heard another voice on the phone. they identified themselves as a case worker, for an organization I hadn't heard of. my last call or the day went on for 30 minutes, from a power of attorney. it meant taking a later bus of course, and both on the light rail and bus I found trash to throw out when I reached my stop.

simpsons cels

I liked how it was largely a lazy sunday for me. one thing I got done was getting more items into a binder, aided by getting sheet protectors for baseball cards this weekend. it was just 10 pages, but I made the most of it. five of them went to getting cels from 'the simpsons' filed away, one of my e-bay orders from a while back. the others went to a baseball card order from Walgreen. I got it down to just 12 cards not yet filed, and as usual there were some duplicates to put aside and then shred. I hadn't done this in a while. there were so many other things that were higher priority especially when they were left in a box out of the way. there was 28 of the 30 major league teams represented. for the animated cels, I recognized some of the images. one of them was homer at moe's tavern sitting on a stool with the barflies. they covered plenty of characters, so it is worth having. it led to me fishing out a greeting card from a box that was all 'simpsons' and 'star wars' collectibles. I put those cards in the photo albums with the postcards.
   I did watch some of the special features from the DVD, 'true stories', before getting it back to the library, but not a lot. and of course I got another movie while there, arriving in the final hour of the day. I watched a ending of one of the NFL playoff games, Vikings- saints, Vikings won in overtime. the episode of 'the simpsons' was about lisa becoming more popular due to smiling. as usual, another smart idea from this show, still some good social commentary in it.

doug woog arena

i went to a hockey game at doug woog arena in south st. paul this afternoon, the local high school team, the packers, was playing Rochester century. it ended in a 2-2 tie, though I think south st. paul was ahead with shots on goal for most of the game. century scored first, just past the midway point of the first period. no scoring in the 2nd, then SSP tied it at about 5 minutes into the third. century went ahead with just over 6 minutes left, then SSP tied it again just about 1 1/2 minutes later. and there was no scoring in the 8-minute sudden death period. during the first intermission, the school was honoring their best players. this included woog himself, a well as phil Housley. both have their numbers retired, four players in all have retired numbers. I think I saw a former coworker there, his brother is the head coach of the team. I liked reading about woog near the entrance, there was a display about this man. I mainly knew he was coach of the Minnesota gophers, but he had also played for that team in college. during previous visits to the town I had driven past the turn-off to the arena, but this was my first time there. I also found out how the arena had just been named for him in February 2016, before that it was known as 'wakota'. some signs up inside still had that name on it.
   I did much of my typical errand running today, including going to the post office. odd how I still sometimes get mail for somebody that isn't me, even though I have had the box for 5 years now. so when I went to the window to present a yellow card, I gave them the other item, had already wrote 'return to sender' on it. I also stopped at an office max and got some of the sheet protectors for baseball cards. at a nearby cub foods I got a TV dinner, then after dropping these items off it was time to get to the hockey game. after the game I stopped at a Hy-Vee and got another quart of egg nog, this is likely the last of the season for me. it was one of just four cartons left. I watched some of the NFL playoff game when I got home, but not a lot as I was online for much of the game, titans beat the patriots. I laid down after the game ended and fell asleep for a while, when I woke up I knew it was time to go sing karaoke. I did three songs, it was a much lighter crowd to sing likely due to the change in the karaoke jockey. I sang 'copperhead road' by steve earle, 'tide is high' by blondie, and 'applause' by lady gaga. a lighter crowd does mean more chances to sing. I talked with one dude for a little while at the bar, he liked my pea-coat. he eventually sang as well, 'i feel good' by James brown. I know I was inspired to sing some lady gaga after placing an amazon order this evening for the soundtrack from the movie 'star is born' as she is in it. this was another free order since I have some gift card money to use from answering surveys from enterprise rent-a-car.

true stories movie

i watched a DVD on loan from the library tonight, 'true stories'. the narrator was david byrne, the frontman from the band talking heads. I chose it because john Goodman is in it. the movie takes place in a fictional town celebrating the texas 150, in 1986. it looks a little dated now, because in the mall scenes one sees two stores no longer in business- Montgomery ward, and Waldenbooks. there is a little bit of everything in it, such an evangelist, a voodoo priest, a talent show, and fashion show. memorable was the compulsive liar in it that was always name-dropping famous people, in the closing credits she is known as 'lying woman'. there is also a 'lazy woman' with a robot servant and even gets spoon-fed in bed. this might be what is now known as a 'mock-umentary', as I saw it making fun of various things. also memorable was the narrator driving around in a red Chrysler lebaron convertible. john Goodman was good as usual, he plays a man looking for a wife and even takes out a TV ad for it. no surprise how this became a vehicle for talking heads music, and another reminder of it being a 1980s movie was somebody being a dead ringer for prince, copying his look from the movie 'purple rain'. it inspired my song selection when I went to sing karaoke tonight, as I chose 'wild wild life' by talking heads.
    at work it was an up and down day. I was disgusted about another quality call given a low score. it led to me suffering from lack of confidence in my first call of the day, as it seemed to be too much like that call and I didn't want to make the same mistake of keeping it so I transferred it. after work I went to Walgreen to pick up a few things, including more Christmas candy half-off. it was a bag of little reese's peanut butter cups, but of course more than a week after the holiday the volume of candy has dwindled. 

tapping beer can

i went to sing karaoke tonight, and near the end of the night the bartender tapped the empty beer can next to me. I said I would have to leave soon. I had done my second song by then. I did 'nothing compares to you' by sinead O'Connor and 'team' by lorde. of course the latter was a Chicago theme song, when I visited there in 2014. I spoke with an employee of a comedy club that had recognized me, and she asked me to let wee bit know we had spoken.
   also notable about the evening was going to barnes and noble at mall of America to get a wall calendar. I knew they would be cheaper after new year's day and I got one for half off. it was a charlie brown theme, with a 70th anniversary print included. as a big fan of the comic strip, when I saw it I said 'we know how this is going to end'. before then I was watching two reruns of 'young sheldon' and I said 'WTF?' when I saw a 5 on the screen like it was a countdown for a movie. it was a special report, mention of an Iranian general being killed in an airstrike. normally I don't talk about 'the news of the world' in this forum, but it was hard to ignore when they break in to programming. thankfully the journalist wasn't on for long. it was during the second rerun.

two people fell

I went to perform in the evening and near the end of the show two performers fell while leaving the stage, the second was the show runner. this was after I had done my set, and the show runner said she might have hurt her wrist and I saw somebody tie a cloth around her wrist. we were all asked a notable thing about the day, I said it was finding a penny. a performer spoke my name twice in his set, and he has done this before and I don't like it. it is often a callback to what I have said, and the second time was about the penny. the first was assuming that I knew some obscure fact, because I majored in history. I actually said 'never heard of him' and then he covered who it was.
   I found ways to fill in the time on a day off. one of those was going to a comics brunch in Eagan, but at a different venue compared to previous years. the event coordinator, the resistable comic, said the previous venue had closed. I liked seeing various people I knew there, such as chalm-skinn, magic man, and the lunch lady. I saw a posting from yemen native saying he is invited but does not attend, assuming it is mostly people who have quit comedy. well I will admit that I didn't see many headliners there. after that I freed up some space in a photo album, by moving some postcards around. this will help out when some recent e-bay orders arrive. I have an album of postcards from foreign countries and that is where the ones I moved were sent to, seven in all. I also took out the trash and recycling. then I watched two charlie brown specials, one about new year's day and the other was the 1992 Christmas special.