I feel a little...

BEARD!

Pretty soon, I need to find a way to curl my mustache up, cause that would rock and rule.

In other news. Improv is happening and happening well. I crave more, pretty much constantly. I am in one troupe right now, and I think I could do another at the same time. My friend Joe is going to talk to Doug at ComedySportz (who I used to work with at Valleyfair, the local amusement park) and see if I can start in there.

In other, other news...when I started working here three years ago, I said to myself that I would stop working here when we got to order 3000000. We are currently at order 2901746. This means I need, no...I HAVE to find the next thing immediately. When I started here we were at 2249086. YIKES! Anyone have a job I can help with? I am willing to move. Help me. I have been looking for the next thing for almost a year now...and no luck. Noooo luck.

Recent Conversation

Here is one conversation I enjoyed with my friend over the internet. I liked it. I hope you do too.

me: you should find a boardwalk...or an arcade. I recently played some Hydro-thunder at the arcade after I had forgotten how much i really like that game. also some sit down ms. pacman. I dream of owning sit down Ms. Pacman.
k.lee.terry: that's an amazing game
me: yeah, I would like that and a pinball game. sit down ms pacman is like a game AND a coffee table! genius. pure genius.
k.lee.terry: i used to like sit down donkey kong
me: i must say, I have not played that one. In fact, I may never have played Donkey Kong ever before. Unusual, huh?
k.lee.terry: oh man it's so fun!
me: I should play it next time I see it. I also like the original, original Mario Brothers. I dislike the one on Nintendo.
k.lee.terry: also a good game
really?
wow
me: yeah, I can't jump over stuff. Still have problems with that. if you can't jump over stuff in that game, you are done within the first 10 ten seconds. So I saw that first level A LOT!
k.lee.terry: ha
me: now, when I play, I am still just as bad, but I tell people I am searching for secret levels.
"You just don't know how to find the secrets on 1-1, do you?"
k.lee.terry: haha
you have to run into the mushroom 5 times!
me: nope. you have to fall down the first pit until you don't have anymore lives. then...YOU WIN!
me: that is where Jesus lives. in that first pit. You have to fall in the pit to find Jesus.

Then...YOU WIN!
k.lee.terry: mario and jesus
hanging out in a well. wayyyy better than rescuing the princess
me: they eat meatballs and drink wine together, Mario and Jesus.
k.lee.terry: it's a cultural exchange
me: Jesus can make as many meatballs as neeeded.
k.lee.terry: and mario can drink A TON of wine
me: yeah! and he is a plumber so he can access the water pipes! unlimited wine baby!

me: you know that they use the discarded turtle shells as bowls, right?

k.lee.terry: i could see that, seems reasonable to me

Is it time?

For me to move? For years I have thought about moving to Colorado. I love Minnesota, I really do. I like that I have so much theatre opportunities at my fingertips and so many beautiful, outdoors things to do. However, I want have some new outdoor adventures...in Colorado. I have been there a few times (probably more than any other state that I haven't lived in) and I just can't get enough. Sure, I would have to find a way to do some theatre there and some improv too, but perhaps I could start my own? Who knows. What I do know is that I would be able to climb a mountain anytime I want. I love hiking. I do love the lakes here in MN and I would miss the closeness of my relatives and going fishing with them...but really...just look at this:

Superman is too powerful to feel?

I was reading a comic book during my break today and I started thinking about Superman. Amongst a host of other things Superman is impervious. You shoot him with a gun, it bounces off him. You slap him in the face, you break your hand. A tank shells him with their round, the round blows up and Superman doesn't even move. In fact, only ONCE have I ever seen his costume get completely blown off in a comic. His super junk was covered with a cleverly placed waft of smoke, don't worry. I have seen many comics lately that show his costume getting torn or tattered a bit, so at least they have somewhat corrected that glaring mistake. I mean, even if your explanation is that it is a special Kryptonian material that is ALSO indestructible...how did Martha Kent, Clark Kent's adopted Earth mother, sew it into a costume? The needle would break. Perhaps Superman used a piece of his Kryptonian ship to form a needle and this is how she sewed the costume. Whatever, this isn't what I was thinking about...we can talk more about this later, I'm sure.

What I WAS thinking about was this: Superman hardly ever flinches unless it is a SUPER baddy hitting him or something. As I mentioned before, if you slap him...he doesn't budge. If you shoot him, he doesn't move. No tears. No wincing. No sign of pain what-so-ever. Based off of this, I think it is safe to say that Superman does not feel these things. Does this mean that Superman wouldn't feel a child tapping on his leg? Someone giving him a hug? A butt pinch? What about when he is roasted marshmallows and his hand gets too close to the fire? He doesn't feel it. This leaves Lois, his wife, in a unusual position. No matter what she does Superman will never feel her touch. She would have to literally give Superman a super-powered hug to get him to feel it.

How much pressure would it take to register that someone is touching Superman?

Just something I was thinking about today.

Time keeps on slipp'n...

I have been feeling like I am wasting time. I don't like my job and I have been wasting my life be working here. It isn't furthering me in any way at all. 3 years is much too long to have been sticking with something that isn't doing anything for me at all. I think it would be different if I had a family and needed to earn this money, but right now I am just using the money for nothing. Collecting crap. The hard part is finding another job. I have been trying for some time now and I have not been able to get a different job. While my job does bother me all the time, I am thankful that I have a job. I know that it is a tough time for a lot of people, so I do feel fortunate. I still have to complain though.

Friday the 13th

My favorite moment that involved a February 13th took place in middle school. I was going out with a girl named Nichole Behn. Nicole had strawberry-blond hair and she was as cute as could be. We would walk to class with each other, give each other notes, and that is pretty much it. I mean, it is middle school so what do you expect? I think the only thing we ever did outside of notes and classes was going to see Beauty and the Beast, but that is a story for a different day. (It is a good one.)

One of my favorite things about middle school (there weren't many) was gym class. In gym class we got to do pretty awesome things like go bowling, play pin soccer, and floor hockey. Another of my favorite things in gym class was happening on this particular February 13th: roller skating.

For a week or two, during the winter, we would come into the gym and find two large boxes with skates in them. The skates where tucked into the shelves inside these giant boxes on wheels and organized by size. We would scramble to put our skates on and then quickly get on the gym floor to start our circles around the wooden floor.

Just prior to that day, the 13th of February, I had gone to the drug store where my mom worked and picked out a small, white bear to give to Nichole for Valentine's Day. I had this bear in my room, waiting till two days had passed and could finally give a girl something for Valentine's Day on my own. In years passed we had been forced to make everyone in our class a Valentine out of construction paper and glitter and glue. Not this year though. This was 6th grade. We were adults and we could choose who we wanted to be our Valentine.

As I skated around the gym I thought of how I would present this fine bear to Nichole. Would I sneak up behind her and then put the bear in front of face like a game of "guess who"? Would I walk up to her with the fuzzy animal behind my back and then smile, say a Happy Valentine's Day something or other, and then show her the gift? Lots of planning needed to be done in the next 24 hours.

At just about that moment Kim Quame, who was Nichole's best friend at the time, skated up from behind me.

"Todd. Nichole doesn't want to go out with you anymore."

Then she skated away.

The gym teacher then blew his whistle, signalling it was time to go and get out shoes on before the bell rang. The floor slowly cleared off and the sounds of wheels on wooden planks got quieter and quieter. As the bell rang and everyone left, the sounds left in the gym were of one set of skates rolling lonely circles in the gym. Mine. I just skated and skated and cried and cried by myself. (keep in mind that I am laughing while I type this, so I hope you are laughing while reading. don't feel bad...this was middle school.) As soon as everyone was gone my teacher came over and asked what the matter was.

Through the sobs, he somehow figured out what was going on and said, "Todd. You're in 6th grade. You've got a LOOOOT of time left in find a girl."

I'm not sure what happened to that white bear that I had bought for Nichole on the 12th of February, I do know that I probably saved it for a long time in hopes of giving it to her someday so that she would know just what she missed out on all those years ago. I also know that when we went out again in 7th grade, I didn't give it to her then.

It's a good thing too. She moved away in the middle of the year while we going out. To a different state. Without telling me. But that is another story for another day.

Hey...at least it wasn't a Friday, the 13th of February. I probably would have slipped on my tears while skating and broken my leg.

todd

Feelings

I feel better today. Finally I can say that I feel on the road to recovery. My throat isn't quite as sore as it has been and I feel like I have a bit more energy, which is good. Also, my butt doesn't hurt from the shot. If I ever get strep again, I think I will get the shot again. It seemed to work so much quicker, so in the end...it was worth it. (yes, pun intended)

This morning I was walking out to my car and I slipped on some ice. It was the perfect fall. Didn't hurt too badly, so laughed when my papers flew straight up in the air. I was just like a movie fall. The only thing that still hurts is my left knee which I am sure won't last for long.

There are some friends that I am missing.

Encyclopedia. Where are you? We never hang out.
Red. Why does the Big G have to suck so much? We need to get together soon.
Snails. Why don't you ever leave your parent's house? You and I need to talk.
Thanos. How is school going? I miss playing fun games with you and I haven't skated enough since you left.
Sweet Timmy C. School makes you busy but why don't you call me?
Little Lady L. New job makes you happy and I need to hear about it. Sunday chat time?
K-Dog. I always miss you. Darn Iowa for being so far from Minnesota.
Kev-N-Tea. I like your blog, but I miss talking with you and hanging out.

Those are just a few.

We open our show at the Minneapolis Pinter Festival. My talented roomie wrote and directed a piece that I am in, so if you are reading this and want to see a show, you should probably check it out. It is a pretty interesting night of events.