american legion baseball, b-side movie

I went to two events today after doing my laundry this morning. the first was attending my first-ever American legion baseball tournament. there were games at the st. paul saints stadium. I went to one in the afternoon, Waconia beat Stillwater 4-3. it was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, both teams scored one run in the first inning. I saw a rare thing, as it ended on a 'hit by pitch' since the bases were loaded. I ate before I got there. I bought a program as well, besides paying the admission fee. I was given a wristband after paying admission. a foul ball was hit near me, I got a photo of it before a kid showed up to retrieve it.
  I also went to see the movie 'b-side' at the lagoon in Minneapolis. it was about a photographer. I think I liked the one about Vivian maier more. I was the only attendee at my screening.

red herring play

tonight I went to see the play 'red herring', a screwball comedy with McCarthyism America, the early 1950s, as a backdrop. I laughed at some of the pratfalls but not all of them. hadn't been to the round theater in Minneapolis in a while, at least for one of their plays. I think I was there for a fringe show nearly a year ago. but with plays I want to go only to what really interests me, since we all have limited resources- time, money, and energy. this was the last play of the season, and there was plenty about the anniversary- it was their 65th season. but according to the publications there, the current building is not the only one they've been in.
    I did some karaoke after the show, two songs. it was 'don't speak' by no doubt, and 'what's up' by 4 non-blondes. I left shortly after the second song I did. I would have left a little earlier but I heard somebody doing 'alive' by pearl jam so I had to stay for that one.
    I did the 4 hours of overtime, though I arrived at 10 minutes after the hour. there were some things that I wanted to get done before arriving at the office. there was checking the PO box, both amazon orders were there. I also wanted to turn in change at the bank. it was just over 12 dollars, much like most other recent visits for this reason the value of the pennies was more than the nickels. an odd thing happened while I was there- the change counter stopped as one of the bags was full. so I had to wait until an employee arrived with an empty bag. I had seen this happen to others before, but not me. I said the odds were not high when the total value was low. also like before, I deposited it into my savings account. then after the overtime was done I went to get an oil change done, at the car dealer that I bought it from.

bowl of cherries

  we are still having 'fruit days' at the office on Friday. this time it was cherries. it reminded me of the saying 'life was a bowl of cherries' as they were in metal bowls. except I forgot about the pits that are sometimes still in cherries. so I had two and that was it. there aren't pits in the cherry pies I have eaten. it might have been a mistake to go in there at that time, midday, instead of just go to lunch. this usually means getting a sandwich at erbert gerbert. I say this because I got into another annoying conversation with a know-it-all. and we haven't talked much since my relationship ended nearly 4 years ago. I thought this was a friend, but I was getting a lot of unsolicited advice. this has been hard for me to forget. it changed relationships with some other office colleagues, not just this one.
   we also had a meeting this morning and my boss said there was overtime available on the sale project that we just started. it has been a while since I have done overtime, trying to think of how long ago it was. I said I could make it in on Saturday, though staying late during the week is not something that I am considering at this time. I said it likely would be just 4 hours, based on what was already booked. I like checking my p.o. box on Saturday morning, and an oil change appointment for my car as well.
  in the evening I stayed in as there were things I wanted to get done and this included shredding of the junk mail. also went to the family dollar and got four items- soap, toilet paper, sheet protectors, and more peanut butter cookies.

carol vnuk

I went to the family visitation for carol vnuk tonight in Roseville, at a funeral home that is across the street from the library. the obit said she passed on Saturday, and lived to be age 83. and how being a performer was the 'second act' in her life, after retiring from being a real estate agent. I looked at her IMDB page, I did not recognize many of the movies that she had roles in. I had heard of her playing Ma Barker though, in a movie called 'spirits of st. paul: the gangster era' from 2012. some of the posters of the movies she had been in were on display there, along with plenty of photos. I recognized the names and photos of some fellow performers, one of them was university accountant. another one goes by his initials. I had met carol a few times, I knew we knew some of the same people. this is what I said when I spoke with some family members. there was a video playing as well, and one of the songs in it was the Hawaiian version of 'over the rainbow'. I knew this as the song played when dr. greene died on the tv show 'ER'.
   after I was done there I printed some things at the library, and then it was on to do some karaoke. I did two songs: 'the reason' by hoobastank, and 'reach for the sky' by social distortion. I liked seeing the harmonica guy there, much like two days ago. as I recall, he did 'old time rock and roll' by bob seger, and something by vince gill I think. about how his life has become a country song. the second song was done as social distortion had a concert in downtown st. paul this week, I did not go to it but I have some memories of seeing two of their concerts, both in Minneapolis. one was downtown, the other was at the cabooze.
  I saw the attorney when I was riding the bus home in the evening. she spoke of traveling to Bemidji with her family next month. I said I didn't have much in terms of travel plans for the rest of the summer, wanting to keep costs down.

simpsons treehouse of horror graphic novel

when I arrived at the performance venue tonight, a fellow performer gave me a book he had spoke of recently. he knows I am a big 'simpsons' fan and I was interested right away when I saw it was about the 'treehouse of horror', what they call the annual Halloween episode. this one os of 'hoodoo voodoo brouhaha', and has a copyright of 2006 on the back cover. there is an introduction from 'comic book guy'. I do have some other simpsons books but I don't think I have one quite like this one. I did get a few comic books that I found at a barnes and noble, as I recall the mall of America location. but this is also nothing like those. he said he found it for real cheap at a secondhand store, I think he said the goodwill on university avenue in st. paul. but with the condition of this book, it looks like it is brand-new. I know I can make some nice finds at resale shops, especially books.
   when it was my turn to perform, I did ones about pam at 'the office', advance notice on meetings, two acronyms, aggressive marketing, doing a karaoke video, seen social distortion in concert twice, a match was interested until they weren't- an attorney, and mom digging up the past.
   there was another food outing at the office. so it meant not doing the bridge walk again. this was pizza, I had three slices, I knew that would be enough. there was also some big cookies, but they were still gooey. I had one, but I was careful with what I chose. I went one level below the top, they were separated by wax paper, as some were nearly torn apart.

poland coins

I went to the bank this morning to make a cash deposit. I checked the chute on the change counter and noticed some coins were in it, 6 in all. 3 were American, two dimes and a nickel, so they were thrown into my change bank. two others were from Poland, and the 6th was Chinese. already had a Chinese coin in my collection, but from 2013 and this one is from 2011. the two from Poland were 10 and 20 groszy, and are from 1993 and 2009. it is nice how I have lucked out on finding foreign coins without having to order a 'grab bag' of them online. but of course this is a big metro area with an international airport, so we are more likely to see some foreign coins here. best place for them is in a mint tin with some other coins. I already have 3 coin albums, either full or close to it. collecting stamps is fun as well. I now notice that the coin collection my aunt made for 4-H, according to my dad, needs some care. I have had it for a while, claimed it out of my grandma's house when I was young after she was sent to a nursing home. she passed later that year.
    at the office I submitted a completed word find, and a word scramble, for entries in a drawing. there was also massage therapy, 10-minute sessions. I went in the afternoon, shortly after I got back from lunch. in the evening I went to the comedy club but did not get a wild card slot. I had a beer, wanted more airline miles since it is on the 'dining for miles' program, and stayed for most of the show. I left before it ended so I could do some karaoke. I knew the button would be there, and I wanted somebody to film me as my st. louis friend wanted to see it. I chose 'real slim shady' by Eminem, hard to keep up with it but I did my best. the second one was 'walking away a winner' by Kathy mattea. I liked the one that I saw the button do, she said it was by Alicia keys. found out it is called 'lesson learned'. I liked the lines about 'it is called the past as I am trying to get past it'. probably not an exact quote of the lyrics, but very close. I spoke of how I was known for having a hard time putting things behind me and moving on, but I am better at it than I was.

peanut butter and mayo

tonight I performed at the comedy club, and it went well. I would prefer getting more than 3 minutes but this is a coveted stage so that means make it count. I did ones about foul balls at a saints baseball game, family stories (camera, and hair color) and one about another comic. it would have to be called peanut butter, mayo, and hugging. it was about Belarus. people really loved it. I recall another comic saying to me that the joke would kill if I did it there. even a bartender liked it, saying that this comic annoys him. I said 'it is easier and more find the more I do it' to most people. school bouncer said he loved my set, and so did the Wisconsin girl. she liked the one about hair color the most. I was running late so I parked across the street, long enough to get stamped in, and then re-parked my car. the button said she noticed this. when I got home, eventually I found some music on youtube that I said really nails how I feel as a performer. there was 'let it roll' by the Charlie daniels band, and 'breathe' by anna nalick. although I may want to add another one here, 'bird set free' by sia. it is nights like these where it proves that I really enjoy performing and have really grown into it, and now I am truly owning it.
   at work it was a typical Monday, the high volume on the payoff report and new titles filled up most of the day. my boss made an announcement by email stating he was taking the job transfer to florida. I said to my 'work spouse' how I figured this was a 'done deal' a while back, but he just wasn't sure for a while. so many important factors went into his final decision.