it's not butter

I, like many other people in the office this week, have been partaking of the goodies that have been left in the break rooms after these high level i.t. meetings in the main conference room have finished. one of them appeared to be yogurt. when I was claiming some of it this afternoon I saw my senior leader and he said 'it looks like butter'. I said it's not butter, I wouldn't eat it if it was. there was some banana bread and grapes as well, had to 'get while the getting is good' with the banana bread. not sure how much longer this group will be in the office, but I understand most of them are out of towners.
   I was covering for my 'tag team partner' and had an advisory board meeting in the afternoon so I was busy for most of the day. it meant I got to fewer of the settled and paid in full letters. but I have no meetings scheduled for Friday, and Friday is a good catch-up day when it is the lowest volume day in terms of the payoff report.
   this evening after I was done watching 'big bang theory' I went to eat at taco bell. then later on I went to pick up some things at the family dollar. I looked at all of the CDs and DVDs there, I have made some nice finds before. I got one CD, Nirvana, 'unplugged in new york'. the cashier heard how I spent the start of my visit looking at all of them and wondered why I got just one. I said some of them I already had, others didn't interest me. and this was true. I also got some microwave popcorn, toilet paper, laundry soap, and something made by JIF. it was pretzels and peanut butter, ate it shortly after getting home. it was the first time in a while that I had bought laundry soap, as I was working on a container of granular soap that I got after being in the studio audience at twin cities live, I think more than 2 years ago. odd how I found plenty of loose change inside the store, 14 cents, a dime and 4 pennies. it went into my change bank. some was on the floor in the aisles, others was at the check out counter. the latter was likely left behind by an earlier patron. I know I had to ask about what was still on the counter, napkins if I am not mistaken. she said the earlier patron didn't want it. the cashier was also interested in what was going on outside, something about somebody had their dog tied up. now that reminds me of what I saw at taco bell. I saw a dude in a union jack shirt show up, leather jacket, leather gloves as well. he said to his lady 'have whatever you want'. for some reason I like watching how couples interact with each other. it seems to mean more to me after having been in a long term relationship.
   I watched 2 'big bang theory' episodes tonight. syndicated rerun was when leonard did a graduation speech via skype. prime time episode was about raj being too involved with Bernadette's pregnancy, and at one point giving them a big teddy bear that was bigger than him. the other two couples went on a camping retreat, but stayed inside due to the rain. and it led to secrets revealed due to playing the drinking game 'never have I ever'.

man on the moon movie

I watched the other DVD on loan from the library tonight. it was 'man on the moon', about andy kaufman. like most people, I knew him best from the t.v. show 'taxi'. I know most bio-pics will say 'based on actual events, some scenes and characters were changed for dramatic effect'. but it was an eye-opener about the people he alienated from pranking people in his act all the time. jim carrey did well on playing andy. it looked like many of his co-stars from 'taxi' played themselves. except danny DeVito, who played a different role, his agent. I am thankful I saw it though, as it is another window into stand-up comedy. it was recommended to me by mason city over a year ago, not sure why it took this long to find it and watch it. Courtney love was in this one much like 'feeling Minnesota', but this was purely coincidental. it didn't occur to me when I checked out both. no surprise how the REM song 'man on the moon' was prominent in it when it was the movie title as well. I do recall this song being a hit. at work I got the letters caught up, it helped that the volume was lower and I rejected two that I couldn't do. and it was nice performing tonight. I did do one about seeing the andy kaufman bio-pic. others were about the fugees song and the hank Williams movie I saw recently, as well as having food from taco bell.

feeling minnesota movie

I found a movie I wanted to see at the shoreview library, two actually. I watched one of them tonight shortly after getting back, it was 'feeling minnesota' from 1996. it was weird, to say the least. I knew going into it that it was about a love triangle, two brothers wanting the same woman, and one of the brothers was played by Keanu reeves. I had hoped to notice where it had been filmed, but all I could tell for sure was one scene when they are driving had the grain belt beer sign in Minneapolis. IMDB listed the thunderbird hotel as well, in Bloomington near the mall of America, and this was a hotel shown near the end of the movie. I liked hearing 'ring of fire' by johnny cash at the start of the movie, and a version by bob Dylan in the closing credits. but I am thankful I didn't pay money to see it at the theater or as a rental. the other movie I got on loan from the library was 'man on the moon', about comedian andy kaufman. I was able to get there just before closing time, which is 9pm. I should be able to get both back this weekend.
   at work I did meet with an underwriting supervisor as part of the mentoring program I signed up for. he did help me some with pointers about interviewing, and it was also helpful that we stayed within the time allotment. I was busy getting more of the settled and paid in full letters done, but still not yet caught up.
   my bus friend in the evening, the attorney, was carrying a hard plastic cooler. she said it had lunches in it for colleagues who were coming back to the office after being in maternity leave. I said I think of myself as being the good friend as well, supporting friends in different ways emotionally.

hadn't left yet

I made my typical stop at super-America for dinner tonight on the way to the comedy club and must have been distracted by seeing a Canadian penny in a donation jar. I say this because I walked out with the food but not the drink I had bought. I went back inside and the clerk handed it to me and I said 'thankful I hadn't left yet'. this made it easier to go back for it.

ready or not, fugees

recently I was listening to music on my car radio and heard the fugees song 'ready or not'. what got my attention was the line 'defecate on your microphone'. I was thinking to myself, 'did they really sing that? yes they did.' but I also understand that isn't a swear word so it is one way around the censors. another line I liked was 'born again hooligan' and 'I could do what you do' along with 'I play my enemies like a game of chess'. with rap I like how I do pick up many of the references. in this song this included porgy and bess, Elliot ness, al capone, buffalo soldier, and cassius clay. the Wikipedia article said it was a hit in 1996. I might have heard it before but hard to say. I know this was a year of transition for me, as I was unemployed for 3 1/2 months and finally got a job just weeks before Christmas. I had heard of the band before, as I recalled how an alternate name was 'refugee camp'. I did notice how the band's name was spelled with letters that looked like the same ones from 'the godfather' movies.
     I was active for much of the day. I went to the university and saw the first game of a baseball doubleheader between my school, the iowa hawkeyes, and the home team, the Minnesota gophers. the hawkeyes won the lidlifter, 6-3. I found out later on that the gophers won the second game, by the same score of 6-3. with the game I saw the hawkeyes went ahead 6-1 with a big 4-run inning in the 5th. Minnesota narrowed the margin in the 9th. I ate at the nearby mcdonald's in dinkytown after the game. I wanted to get to the comedy club and perform so that is why I only attended the first game. I did one joke about getting a text message and it wasn't my birthday, along with one about being rejected by big brothers big sisters. I liked hearing 'when the levee breaks' by led zeppelin coming from the bar area but it was hard to hear the lyrics. I had hoped to hear the end part where they say 'get to chicago'. in the evening it was nice to see another prime time episode of 'the simpsons', first time in a few months I think as I was busy at an open-mic during that time slot. it was one about the relationship between smithers and burns. another plot was a parody of the movie 'casablanca', the school play, with lisa as the leading lady.  

I saw the light movie

this afternoon I went to see the hank Williams bio-pic, 'I saw the light', at the Edina theater. what made it way easier to attend it was knowing my original plan fell through. I wanted to see the iowa/Minnesota baseball game but it was postponed due to weather. as expected, I liked the music more than the rest of the story. it was tough to see his volatile marriage depicted, but it was a story that needed to be told. one lasting impression was a scene where he was playing with the garage door opener. I am still not sure why this made me laugh. the three Hank songs I know best are in this movie. this includes 'hey good lookin', 'so lonesome I could cry', and 'jambalaya/on the bayou'. 'lonesome' I discovered when I heard a cover of it on a cowboy junkies CD. many of his songs hve been recorded by other musicians. the movie served as a reminder of my visit to the rock and roll hall of fame in Cleveland in 2002 as some of his outfits were there. he was credited with influencing early rock musicians. I liked the interview he did, when he said 'everybody has a little darkness in them. I am talking about anger, misery, sorrow, shame'. as a performer I find these words to be profound, and relatable. I liked reading a promotional sign on an easel after seeing the movie, it looked like it was straight from a new York times article. it does mention earlier hank movies, like a Canadian film from 2005 called 'hank Williams first nation'. or 'the show he never gave, saw it when I was young, sounds like it was based on a play. I found out from it how there is another hank bio-pic, called 'your cheatin heart', from 1964. after the movie I spoke with a lady from Faribault who was seeing a later showing than me. it was a big deal how she traveled at least 50 miles to see it.
   I moved up doing laundry to this evening so I have the chance to see one of those college baseball games on sunday as it is now a double-header. I went to small world's comedy show after that. it was funny to see one comic after the show confused with school bouncer. the button, and the Wisconsin guy, were two other performers at this show that I knew.
   

taco bell breakfast burrito

this morning I noticed one colleague had brought in food as usual to celebrate Friday. this time it was from taco bell, and it was the first time I had a breakfast burrito from there. it tasted good. some of what was brought in were soft tacos, that I had at midday and then in the evening. when I noticed how at the end of the day how some were left, I said I didn't want them to go to waste and then no searching was needed to find my evening meal. it meant heating them up in the microwave oven for a minute and that was it. normally I don't have that much taco bell in one day.
   I did do another meetup event tonight, the Brazilian music in downtown st. paul. I have done three events, all at the same venue but it can be hard to find what will fit my schedule. it was nice to see some familiar faces like the postal employee. one musician was playing a triangle, it was my one photo of the night.
   I watched some reruns on antenna TV in the evening before I went there, first the jeffersons and then all in the family. for the latter it was an episode where joey was entered into a 'cutest baby' contest by archie. as a history major I was interested in how it did some foreshadowing. archie claims to mike how he wrote in Nixon in the 1976 presidential election, to get him riled up. but in reality it was a vote for the third party candidate, Reagan. then at the bar he said 'you will get Reagan in 1980' and this proved to be correct. sometimes it is helpful to see what predicitions are made on shows.