Given Money Onstage

I went to the comedy club tonight and the headliner was given money, 120 dollars, by a crowdmember while still onstage. I tried to find him after the show to say I liked mention of movie quotes, especially 'It's not your fault'- which is from my favorite, 'Good Will Hunting'- but he went to the club owner right away and said he didn't know what to do with it. Same comic that is in town from D.C., an old friend.
   I had dinner with my date before the show, I was asked to take care of a critter on the ceiling. Not sure what it was, maybe a centipede. No idea how it got there, unless these things are coming out of the woodwork now since it's getting warmer. Likely explains why a boxelder bug later dive-bombed me in the face while at the club after the show getting signed up for stagetime next month. I said I would show up and take care of the critter if I had some dinner there. No big deal handling it, as I knocked it off  the ceiling with some toilet paper- didn't want to touch it- then saw it run on the floor. I picked it up and then flushed it down the toilet, so odds are it won't be coming back.
   On the way to the show, I picked up a memory card for my camera as I wanted to take some pictures of some trees that likely will be cut down soon since the street was lined with signs that said 'Do not park here'. Don't know if it is due to the emerald ash borer, heard plenty about it recently. I've learned this one many times before- do things now as the window of opportunity may be closing soon. It was odd how I needed help to get it down from the display as it was locked up. I didn't think those cards were valuable enough to steal, they go for around $10. But each person is different as to what they value and what value they put on things. Especially when desperate.

Print Encyclopedias

On the news tonight was a feature about Encyclopedia Britannica ending publication of its print version. It does make me think of how my family had other types when I was younger: American Peoples, and later, World Book. We got the newer one as I felt like an idiot when I did a report in 5th grade on Louis Armstrong, who was listed as still alive. The one I was reading was woefully obsolete!
    Also notable was checking on Facebook, and the Emerson Hough building in my hometown will now house the alternative high school and administrative offices. First they closed the wrong school, now they're compounding the problem. I left a comment asking why just 5 of the 7 board members voted, and noticing how the renovations to accommodate the move cancel out some of the projected savings. Afraid it will be another 'we saved less than $100' sad stories. Still no mention of what the plans are for the former Maytag Mansion, which housed the administrative offices. Hard to say what comments I will get, if any at all.
   It was a fun night at the comedy club, plenty of friends in the lineup tonight. The host at the club let me look at the list when I was ordering a drink. A friend who got me into a show at another club last month was MC, and another friend was show closer- saw his rap duo show on New Year's Eve. No surprise about getting the 'how right I was' feeling late last year while at a show- as it has paid true dividends to get into comedy.

Cheese Not Steak

I like eating the 'Superamerica Special' before I get to the comedy club on some nights, like tonight. Except when I chose food from the roller grill, I noticed it wasn't what it was labeled after biting into it. I expected steak 'wraps', wanted them, got cheese instead. When coupled with the Pringles chips it was plenty of cheese flavor, more than I really wanted. But I didn't want another hot dog so quickly after this week's events, as it would have been the third in five days.
   Work was easier today, since I was asked to help a colleague with the payoff report I didn't do any copies for document release until the second half of the day. I helped with logging out pages after it had been pulled from the files by my colleague. I like doing the payoff reports as it's familiar.
   At the comedy club tonight, I recognized one name on the list as somebody from Seattle who had been headliner at another club last week. One friend was in town and made the list as well, first time I had seen him in a while. He decided to put 'from Neptune' next to his name. In many ways he is like royalty when some have followed him on Facebook having plenty of gigs out of state. I recall the dateline as Virginia, close to where he is from in D.C. I had to ask where his Redskins football hat was, he had a different one on, a plain black hat.

The 5th Inning

I watched inning 5 of the Ken Burns baseball documentary with my date in the early afternoon, covering the 1930s. So there still was plenty about Babe Ruth, but also Lou Gehrig and his farewell speech in 1939. Also liked seeing mention of the first class of inductees to the baseball Hall of Fame, from the same year as the Gehrig speech. As usual, there were many things I was familiar with like the discussion of the Ruth 'Called Shot' in the 1932 World Series. Same is true with the 1934 Cardinals, known as the 'Gashouse Gang'. Along with Cardinals player 'Ducky' Medwick being removed from the final game of the World Series as fans were throwing debris at him. I had read about the 'Gassers' back in elementary school, plenty of books to read in the library there. We are now halfway through it since there is a 'tenth inning', done after the original series was aired in 1994. Looks like the next segment is longer than the others, at two and a half hours.
   For some reason I got started a little earlier on errand running. I liked the feeling of finishing earlier, though it meant missing part of 'The Simpsons' in the evening. It may have helped that I went grocery shopping and did the dishes right away, before a brief visit to the fitness center. Then I went to do laundry. The fitness center visit is likely why, wanting to get there by 5pm. But also wanting to fill in the time before getting there by doing errands but not laundry, afraid I wouldn't make it for exercise in time since things at the laundromat can be unpredictable. One doesn't know how busy it is at times, like if there is a wait for using washers. If it was due to scheduling, using the available time effectively, then there's nothing wrong with that. Quite often before, I would do the grocery shopping and dishes in the evening, like after watching 'The Simpsons'.

Bowling and Basketball

I went bowling this afternoon in St. Louis Park with my date. I didn't do great, and I know I am out of practice since I haven't bowled much since I was in a league in elementary school. Notable was seeing a pin stuck in a gutter as it went beyond the range where the downed pins would be swept away. But eventually one ball did go into the right gutter and sent it back to where it needed to be. Before the event I needed fuel and tried to get it across the street from a shopping area I was at, but it was a no-go. It was a membership warehouse, and I had to be a member to get gas there. Found this out after waiting in line to get a pump, 'Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds' was playing on my car radio. So I had to drive around a little before finding a Mobil station.
   In the evening, we went to the Wolves basketball game against the New Orleans Hornets. The Wolves lost 95-89, when they got close they usually couldn't take the lead. Ricky Rubio missed the game, I knew he had been injured the night before. Looks like he is sidelined for the rest of the season.  Since there was pizza at the bowling alley, we didn't want to eat too much at first at the game, especially when we arrived just in time. So at halftime we got food and drink, at first I wanted something that smelled like chili and it was a taco salad- meat but no chili- but I said no as it was expensive. I got a hot dog instead, my date got a pretzel. It was nice riding the light rail to and from the game, parking at a ramp near Mall of America. I noticed on the train after the game that one man was wearing a DCG sweater, at first not sure if it was a school in Iowa but then I saw a shirt hos son was wearing, which said Dallas Center Grimes. So it was the school I was thinking of. But when it's one state away it doesn't surprise me much on getting visitors from Iowa.

American Legion Fish Fry

After a stressful day at work, in the evening I went to an American Legion and attended the fish fry. I had 2 kinds of fish, boiled as well as fried. I felt a little guilty when I left some of it on my plate, but I was full. I did eat plenty, they gave me plenty. I liked the little potatoes available, though I think some things were not as I arrived in the final 30 minutes of serving. Found no water there, just milk in a jug resting in some ice. Watched some of the state high school hockey tournament, the first game on TV went into overtime and the other was a blowout. So now Hill-Murray meets Benilde St. Margaret's for the large school title.
    I called my dad while watching the hockey tournament, hadn't spoken with him in a while. I let him know about getting the birthday card, still not sure yet about when I am making it to Des Moines for an Iowa Cub baseball game this spring. I have taken a look at the schedule online. I already said it would not be during my class reunion. It was odd how I had to explain what Redbox was, where I have rented some movies. But then I looked up locations online and found out he had reason to be unaware of it. He lives on a hobby farm in southern Iowa and there aren't any locations in the nearest town of note, which is just over 2,000 residents despite being a county seat. For some reason he spoke again about how my sister has an out of control dog, don't know why. I said I know it works best when one uses what is taught in obedience school. And he doesn't visit my sister's much anyway.  

Duluth Younkers Manager

After work tonight, I went to the 'X' in St. Paul and watched a game in the high school hockey tournament. There were 2 games, I saw the first and went home as I was tired. So I saw Lakeville South defeat Duluth East, 3-2. Duluth East led 1-0 after one session, it was tied after 2, and Lakeville South took the lead early in the 3rd. They went ahead 3-1 in the final minute on an empty netter, then Duluth East got one back. I thought about staying for the second game, where Benilde St. Margaret's defeated Edina 3-2, but knew how tired I already was. I watched the game on channel 45, and it was still going on when I am normally watching 'Nightline'. Didn't see the first session, it was scoreless after one when I turned it on after getting home. Then it was 1-1 after 2, and Benilde went ahead early in the 3rd, but Edina tied it right away. It stayed tied until the final minute.
   I had a nice view at the arena, as I found a chair in the upper level just above one of the goalie nets. Even though the popcorn box was the 'smaller' one, it was still bigger than typical. I had about half of it and then dumped the rest into my empty cup of Coca-Cola as it was easier to get home on the bus. One fan next to me was complaining about the cost of the hot dogs, I think he got a bigger one than I did. Also notable was hearing somebody in the back of the bus saying he was a Younkers store manager in Duluth. I had a hard time not looking at a wrapped condom on the floor near me. Don't know where it's been, don't want to know.
   I would have preferred my annual visit to the tournament to be for the small school final on Saturday afternoon, but it didn't work in my schedule like before. I like how it's a much smaller crowd there, where I can pick my seat in the lower level. Memorable was the students of course, hearing one band play Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance' and the chants of 'You Can't Do That' after a penalty.