lunch and learn pizza

I went to a lunch and learn once I was finished with the payoff report, but it meant I missed more than half of it. one big incentive was having savoy pizza there, but I likely would have eaten any pizza they had served. there was some left even when I arrived, but I am used to them over-ordering as they don't want anyone complaining about the lack of food at company events. there were some questions about non-profits we support that audience members were asking the moderator. I was there for about 15 minutes and it was done about five minutes before 1pm. I also liked finding a few coins under the vending machines, as said before I like the challenge and it is also the janitor mentality in me on still being fine with cleaning up. one was a quarter so I went to my tag team partner and asked if she was still bummed about getting a Canadian quarter as change, not sure where. I said I can make a trade possible but she said she was fine. she knew it wasn't possible to use them in the vending machines as it would jam. I recall this warning on postage stamp machines when I was young at the post office. I picked up another quarter when I was on a long walk around the neighborhood this evening. I didn't pick up much of anything as it was wet. I did like getting a coat hanger that was left outside the front door of a dry cleaner. I did take off the paper covering it of course. nothing wrong with having another hanger.
   I did watch two 'big bang theory' episodes tonight. syndicated rerun was when Sheldon cleaned up howard's closet and found a letter that howard had never opened from his dad. prime time episode was when leonard and howard lied to their ladies about where they had went, it was to an advance screening of a movie. Sheldon revealed to amy about having a storage locker.
   it was also fun to rev up the paper shredder I had just bought on Monday for the first time. I grumbled about having to replace the one I had but sometimes it is good to do an upgrade. this one shreds paper into bits instead of just strips or strands. there is also a bucket, and I didn't have one before. but this also means needing a plastic bag to pick it all up when I am tossing it in the trash. it also is not as wide, but I will adapt. it means folding things over when feeding into the shredder or ripping them into smaller portions first.

stashing my beer

I made it to the performance venue and signed in and got a beer. then I realized I didn't have my camera with me and went back to my car to get it, as it was in a bag that had my pen and notes as well. so I found a place to stash my beer and then made a mad dash back to my car. I spotted a dog that ran at me and barked as it was not on a leash in a nearby park. so I decided to do a bit about it in my comedy set. I also did one about being rejected by big brothers big sisters, despite being a model citizen, this week. some in the front kept laughing, I of course liked that.
   at work we did do wii dancing for the first time in a while. songs included katy perry's 'California gurls' and 'boat to cairo'. I had planned on going to a university of iowa event in the evening, a president reception, but it was in Minneapolis and decided not to go as I was informed there would be protests. in the evening I ate at subway and liked hearing 3 songs there. it was 'x's and o's' by elle king, 'welcome to my house', and '123 chandelier'. it helped to get out and do things to get over the recent rejection.

minnesota senate office building

I went to the Minnesota capitol to meet who represents me today. it was my first visit at the new senate office building. it looks great. I got plenty of photos while on the capitol grounds, including of this building. I found a satellite library there, and because of it I was informed how the main one is at the state office building. the capitol building is closed to the public for construction but all of the other buildings appear to be open. it was nice eating at the cafeteria in the transportation building, much like in previous annual visits. not sure of I had seen the food trucks there before.
   I did a walk around the neighborhood in the evening, shorter than some others I normally do. it was helpful for clearing my mind, and it reminded me how I have staples again and could get more coins into albums as I staple the mylar covers on. it means both albums are essentially full now, 60 slots each. actually one is full and the other has one slot left. tonight it meant getting the bicentennial quarters and 2009 territory quarters in there. I have the map for the 50 states from 1999-2008, made before they decided to do ones of the territories. and I have a map of the current series, the national parks. I think I have all from the currently released series so far. I try to pay attention when I get them as change, though a few were ordered from e-bay. I got more of the british coins I kept as souvenirs from the 2012 trip in there. the coins I don't plan on using again belong there, as it is less likely they will get lost, or spent. I do have a little saved for my next visit to Canada, but in the USA it is to be expected that one might see a Canadian coin every so often. I still have many kept in a candy tin, it serves the purpose well.

fellowes powershred shredmate

I went to target tonight between visits to the comedy clubs as I needed to replace my paper shredder. I got a fellowes powershred shredmate, so now it means I have a 'waste bin' that I didn't have on the earlier model that just gave out. I haven't opened the box yet so I haven't used it yet. but I probably will soon since I already have some things waiting. I recalled naming one of my plush elephants 'shredder' to remind me of getting it when I got a paper shredder, not knowing it was a character from teenage mutant ninja turtles. sometimes I have no choice but to upgrade. in some ways it was true about the microwave oven I bought in January. I do use the shredder a lot for my junk mail. so I expect it will be put to good use.
   I had a meeting at my office job before midday about a committee I signed up for. I am thankful the meeting didn't morph into a 'gripe session' as all too often this can happen. I did take some notes and look forward to hearing more in terms of when and where and how I can help out.
   it went fine at the comedy club. it was helpful to listen to others as I was reminded to see about submitting an application for a comedy contest. sure enough, I did find it online so I didn't need a special email invite for it. I did some of the easter jokes from the previous day. one was about calling my dad and what he said about a convention cartoon. there were two office stories as well. and there was one about a scene in the jesse owens movie I just saw, when a lady threw herself at him.

quilt at light rail

I performed at a bar in Minneapolis this afternoon and took the light rail there as it was near the metrodome site. when I was waiting for the train back home I saw a quilt at this stop. one of the patches was of the green bay packers, the pro football team. it was a rare thing to see so I got a photo of it and shortly after this my camera shut off, out of battery power. once I got it recharged I went through the memory card and got farther this time, into January. I was able to shave some more off so there is even more memory left, up to 96. I hadn't went through some of those to see if they were just 'trying again' since the first attempt had too much glare on it or too blurry.
   I called my dad in the evening and said he may get a call from big brothers big sisters as a reference. I said I got the iowa cubs pocket schedule bit I am not sure when it works in my schedule to attend a game this season. I had to end the call when my cell phone battery was low and was beeping me.
   I did go to church today as it was easter, but I didn't get around to watching the Charlie brown special I have on dvd, 'easter beagle'. some other time soon then. it was one of the things I spoke of when performing. also about finding a penny that had dirt caked on it after getting off the light rail.i will need to replace my paper shredder as it stopped working this evening. I had given it plenty of use so I am thankful it lasted this long.  

race movie, jesse owens

I saw the bio-pic about Olympic athlete jesse owens, called 'race', this afternoon in Eagan. it was the same theater I was at last week, may have been the same 'room' as well. I pay attention to most everything when going to movie theaters, start to finish. it means looking at the posters on display, the previews, all the way through to the credits. there was a poster for the sequel to 'barbershop', and a preview for it as well. I may have to see it since musician nicki minaj is in it. and I like watching the closing credits as I like seeing where movies are filmed and what music was used. it looks like much of the movie was filmed in Canada and Germany. as for the movie itself, I was somewhat familiar with what was covered in it. I had seen a documentary about the events leading up to the 1936 Olympic games in berlin, not sure what network, maybe HBO. so when they spoke of the role that avery brundage played, along with the American athletes taking a boat over to Germany for the games, I heard about this before. the movie serves as a reminder of how being famous isn't easy, as there were many who seemed to want a piece of jesse when the games had political overtones. as a history nerd and somebody who likes bio-pics, I knew I would see it, especially when the depression era of the 1930s is my favorite era to study. there were some disclaimers at the end of the movie, about things like the white house did not acknowledge his four gold medals. I know the 1980 'miracle on ice' hockey team got a white house visit, and it is customary now for championship sports teams to have this visit as well, but I don't know how common this was in that time. I am also used to bio-pics saying in the credits how it was 'based on actual events, but some scenes and characters were invented for dramatic effect' so this no longer bothers me on 'taking liberties' with the story. I have a few ideas about what was most likely invented, especially scenes away from the running track that had plenty of drama and passion in them. jesse ran track at ohio state, and of course my 'ohio friend' went to college there as well so I did think of her. another friend I thought of was international falls, who said I like bio-pics and loyalty programs. this is further evidence of it as I used my loyalty card, the only one for a movie theater that I know of. I was a little disappointed, but not entirely surprised, in seeing a sparse crowd at this showing, and the only one of the day scheduled at this theater. I know full well how movies about history don't appeal to the masses, unless it is 'bill and ted' or 'night at the museum'. and I had no shame whatsoever in going across the road before the movie began to a Walgreen to get an ice cream sandwich and some cashews for two dollars, before the movie, as I knew it would be cheaper there. after the movie I went to the nearby taco bell, which kind of shares the parking lot with the theater.
   I did do some errand running before seeing the movie, like going to the post office to check my p.o. box and one e-bay order was waiting. it was the mylar covers for coin collecting, nickel and quarter size. couldn't find them at barnes and noble. I used some of them already, but I am running low on staples at home so I will have to wait on getting more coins in the two albums I have. one of these now in the album was from a 'day to remember' when I was in high school. a classmate threw a nickel at me and wanted it back, we didn't get along. I said 'it is mine now'. I liked how being assertive worked, and I wrote on the mylar 'I stood up to the bum'. the coin is from 1977. I also went to the library and did my income taxes for the state of Minnesota, the federal one was already filed last month. so now I have the envelope ready and it will go in the mail on Monday. I didn't do much after getting back from the movie, first going to the grocery store. then I tried watching the college basketball tournament and fell asleep. I woke up in time to see how villanova beat Kansas to reach the final four.   

circle of heat CD release

I went to the circle of heat CD release show tonight at the caboose in Minneapolis. I did get the new CD, and it was a good show. I like knowing that most of the songs on this one have lyrics. I liked ones played early on that mentioned something being like a cancer, and I have had enough. I still like the one from the earlier CD, 'settle down and do it'. I had opera singer sign one of my flyers. the DJ/rapper that performed with them was pretty good, had a bill murray shirt on. and opera singer had a tasmanian devil shirt on.
   I for some reason was thinking about the pinball movie 'tilt' today, saw it as a kid, it is from 1979.