Thousands of Miles Later...

Blog, it's been way too long. Over a month in fact. Sometimes when I become busy, I get overwhelmed with the thought of documenting every detail of what I've been up to and then I avoid you. And then I realize that I've continued to be busy while avoiding you and this makes me avoid you even more because the amount of things to document has reached a staggering amount and the thought of it all is too much to bear.

But in the end, it's you and me Blog, documenting life. So here's what the last month has held for me:

1. North Dakota

At the end of March I boarded the Empire Builder and one Benedryl and a thermos of wine later, I was groggily coming to at the outskirts of the one Magic City (or what is more commonly known as Minot). I was making the trip just in time to wish my awesome sister in law farewell as she deployed to Guam the day before Easter. Because of this, we used the limited time we had before her departure to teach my niece about who the Easter Bunny is and then immediately demonstrate what the Easter Bunny does. I think she was excited only because every adult in the household was running around like a crazy, pointing out brightly colored pieces of plastic and gorging themselves on jelly beans. I learned we do this to ourselves. Also, Easter candy is the best candy hands down.

She's only smiling because we told her that egg was the secret to happiness once she recovered it from an imaginary rabbit.

 

I'd go into the saga of removing my car from the snow bank that consumed it in the month of March, but it's a long story, so I'll just say that a man named Tracey and a couple of violent tows from his pick up brought my 1997 luxury sedan to freedom in just minutes. Yay for small towns and stuff.


2. Chicago

I returned to Minneapolis and spent a few days rehearsing for the NTC tour I'm currently on (skip to #4 for details). After a few glorious nights in my very own bed, the band I'm in packed its lead singer, bassist, and myself into one of those boxy Scions (complete with a stand up bass we've named Bud) and drove to Chicago to play a couple gigs over the weekend. I felt a little famous when Courtney coordinated her contacts in such a way where we got an amazing free dinner at a hip Italian place downtown only to rush away to play our glamorous songs for the tens of fans that were waiting for us at the bluegrass bar where we were booked. On Sunday night we partook in a comedy show put on by the hilarious and wonderful Puterbaugh Sisterz that turned out to be just plain weird with drunk lesbians and catty comics. I ate some homemade bars that Courtney's friend brought out though, so everything ended up a-ok.

What is going oooooooon with this comedy shooooooow? Ahhhh!

3. Mexico

We returned from Chicago with just enough time for me to do my taxes, shower, and pack for Mexico. Court and I were playing at the Akumal Comedy Festival in Akumal, Mexico the week following our adventure in Chicago. I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this, and frankly when I got home that evening, I didn't even feel like catching a red eye flight to Cancun. But of course, I went and ended up having one of the most amazing times of my life. I've been to Mexico before, but this was unlike anything I had ever experienced. It was the perfect blend of business and vacation. We were busy but relaxed and we met some of the most wonderful people ever in the world. We played shows with tropical breezes in our hair and palm trees above us. We drank margaritas and swam in a turquoise sea. We made new friends and lived in luxury. I want to go back and have been going through Mexico withdrawal ever since I returned a week and a half ago.



All I had was the sea and a sunburn, Blog. Thanks to Courtney for capturing the temporary bliss.

But alas, I live in a frozen tundra... when I'm there. When I'm not, I'm on the east coast apparently. Which brings me to...

4. Philadelphia

Ok, so technically it's Bellmawr, New Jersey, WHICH I'M TOTALLY AWARE OF IT NOT BEING THE SAME THING AS PHILADELPHIA. But, I do go to Philadelphia every day to perform questionable short-form improv sketch comedy for high schoolers even though the show we've got is written for middle schoolers, but really who's paying attention to our age demographic? Not me. I've been laying low since I've been here. Mostly because things cost money, but also because I'm tired. It's time to be home and I'm still not there. I'm not sure if I was looking for a life of travel when I quit Capella, but now that I've spent the last month living it, I've found that while it's fun and exciting and different, it's also like anything else and can get old. Where is my bed? It is not here in this seedy Super 8 with an Indian man who stands in your way and interrogates you about what dairy products you're about to put in your coffee at the continental breakfast. My bed is in a cold room in an apartment that all my friends think is haunted that is adjacent to a building occupied with Mexicans. That's home, Blog.

But until home happens, I'll continue to wear this wig and contemplate if cutting off my hair and dying it grey is a good idea.

A List Now That I'm Back

Blog, I've been absent since I've gotten back to the Northland. The sudden familiarity of home combined with my dedication to Bash have made for a writer's block when it comes to spilling my thoughts to the internet. I'm still feeling stuck, but I want to do what I can to dish, so a list it is...

1. Being back has been great, though odd since I don't have a job. The plethora of time at my disposal has allowed me to become somewhat organized in things like money and laundry. I feel productive but also directionless. I can't tell if I"m enjoying it or not.

2. Bash has been going incredibly well. It's a good show that is worth seeing. If you can make it all the way out to Chanhassen to spend the ten dollars it costs to get into the theatre, you won't be disappointed. I say this in confidence. I'm not sure if it's because I believe in my performance or if it's because this show is actually super interesting once you get to know it. There are three "plays" separate from one another, yet tied together with novel little nuggets that one would hope to get out of being an audience member. Since I'm rather dense about these things, it's taken multiple viewings/readings of each play for me to appreciate the ties between each act. Still, I'm urging you to see it. Seriously worth it. And I'm not saying that becuase I happen to make up what is act III. Also, our largest audience has been 11 people. I'm taking anything I can get at this point.

3. Today I took the bus to the Riverview Wine Bar where I watched some jazz happen and then I went to a "sound bar" known as Cause in Uptown to watch some comedy. It felt amazingly good to jump back into the Minneapolis scene that I left back in January. I saw people I haven't seen since I left and they added the flavor of home that I've been missing since I got back last weekend. Finally I'm starting to feel a little bit connected again.

4. My bed is amazing, Blog. It's amazing. It is warm and cozy and comfy and it's my favorite place in my entire house. When I'm bored, I climb into my bed and let my comfortor settle its weight on top of me. When I'm cold, I put on clean, warm socks and curl up amidst the pillows and blankets. It is clean, it is comfy, and it is mine. No matter how luxurious the hotels were that we stayed in, not a bed matched what mine has to offer when I was on tour. I am a firm believer that this would be true for everyone if they went on tour too.

5. It's been a long winter. I haven't felt the brunt of it because of my time in The South, but now that I'm back, I'm realizing that this winter is wearing on my friends. While I welcome the familiar burn the cold leaves on my hands as I walk down the street, I am reminded by everyone that it is March and still 18 degrees. A blizzard is expected tonight. Fresh snow covers old snow in that late-winter way where summer is the most impossible thing to imagine when looking at it all. People are ready for it to be over. Cabin fever is running rampant and all they can do is wait it out. A few more weeks now and it should start melting for real. I have to admit that for all the pining I did for winter while I was in North Carolina, I'm now appreciating the fact that I missed the worst of it. People are going crazy while I'm just settling into the comfort of bundling up when I go outside.

I wanted this entry to better than it is, Blog, but I'm going to have to accept it for what it is. There will be better things to say in the future. For now, I need to sleep in the bed that I was pining about in point #4. Here's to a more interesting entry next time we dish.

So Far, I Like 2013

Happy New Year Blog! So far 2013 has been superb. I had my first rehearsal with the NTC today and had a tough time believing that running around yelling about conserving energy and electricity has become my new job. I get to do it again tomorrow. And the next day and the day after that and even the day after that. I'll be doing it until March. It will become just like any monotonous job, but it will be one based in the things I love (that would be primarily the theatre arts, but I'm also a fan of energy conservation I guess). And then I will get to come back to this wonderful city that I love more and more each time I return to it. Tonight I walked along Lyndale Avenue and realized there have been a number of stages I've been on in this city. It's nothing out of the ordinary and I know a plethora of people who have done more than I have here, but for me it's a personal best. Even though I've been here for a solid six years, I still appreciate the novelty of living in Minneapolis. It's still a city to me, even though the social circles I run in can be sometimes painfully small. Perhaps it's the perfect mix of city and small town that has made me fall in love with it.

Perhaps I'm gushing over Minneapolis because I missed it after I came back from I like to call "mini tour" with my tour family where we visited five states in five days and spread ridiculous comedy to the masses. I saw enough stand up comedy to last me the rest of 2013 on this tour, Blog. I feel like I've been capitalizing on my burnt-out reaction to this. Though I also feel like I've been spending a somewhat obscene amount of time with comedians since I've been back, so it's to be expected. I've found that they are, very appropriately, easy to make fun of. There are many of them and each one thinks they are the shit. It's kind of amazing. It also kind of makes me want to take the microphone out of their hands and hit them over the head with it because, frankly, I'm sick and tired of hearing their exasperated breathing amplified over your general bar chatter as they lead into yet another joke about how sorry of a person they are.

Sure that sounded really mean, Blog, but that's how comedians roll. They like to poke fun at not only the mundane moments life has to offer (I mean what IS up with this box of wine I've been drinking? Can we get some class in this glass?), but also each other... I think. And while I'm no stand up (read previous paranthetical joke to find out why), I might as well enjoy the amusement I get out of making fun of people; especially if they're into making fun of other people themselves.

With that, I leave this great place that is crawling with comedians for two months on Friday. A week from now I'll be sharing a wonderful evening with good friends Will and Andy in Chicago; preparing for a drive to Appalachia the next day.

Remember a few weeks ago when I had a maddening desk job, Blog? Yeah, me neither.