Monday, February 27, 2006

plagiarism and the web log

I had to post this picture entry from Dooce.com because it made me laugh. This is one of my favorite blogs to read every day. Enjoy!

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Like a vacation, but painful

My coworkers at AMP used to wonder why I never took time off. It's because whenever I do, life goes haywire.

My last day at AMP was Friday February 10. Yay, me! I had a little breakfast in my honor, and some of the ladies took me out to lunch. It was nice. I had to have a ride home from Adam because I underestimated the amount of stuff that I had accumulated over the last three years, and it was too much to take on the bus. But we got it home okay.

That week had been the second week of rehearsals for Cowboy vs Samurai. As of that Friday, I had spent a little over 50 hours in rehearsal, with 10 more to go over that weekend. Monday February 13 was the start of tech week. Now, tech week is always a little crazy, so I thought that I would plan well and start at Wells Fargo on Monday February 20, which would give me tech week off of a day job. All was going well, until we actually opened the show.

Friday February 17, I walked into the theatre to find it 57 degrees inside the building. It was about -10 outside, so it took me a few minutes to realize that I was still pretty cold. We tried all of the contact numbers that we had, with no response. Our poor audience for opening night had to shiver through our show, huddled in their winter coats! The show itself went well, though, so they weren't disappointed in that respect.

The morning of Saturday the 18th, my cell phone woke me up at 9am. I went to get the information for the caller, and promptly fell down the stairs, flat on my back. I only felt my head bounce twice before I managed to brace my foot on the pet gate and stop my downward slide. The dog got scared and tried to hide underneath the couch. Lassie, he ain't. Poor Adam was very nice, and let me lay down that afternoon instead of strip paint like we had been planning.

Sunday the 19th seemed set to be a lovely day, and we thought we'd get some breakfast before I had to be at the matinee. We were driving in my car when I suddenly notice the oil gage reading very low. So, we stop at a gas station, pour two quarts of oil in, start backing out of the parking place and then we see a lake of oil where my car was. Two quarts of oil, not inside my car engine. We get a ride home with friends, Adam takes me to the theater. Then he has to meet the tow truck with my keys, and talk with the repair guys while I'm running the show. We picked it up Monday night, to the tune of $500 of repair plus towing.

I've been at my new job for two days. I like it. I'm never taking time off again.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Par for the course

In honor of my first work out on the Bowflex, I am now going to eat cookies.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Talk Elevator

Woman: We just got a puppy and I'm exhausted from getting up in the middle of the night.
Me: It gets better faster than you'd think.
Woman: How fast?
Me: Well, our dog is 16 weeks and he mostly sleeps through the night.
Woman, as the elevator doors close behind me: Oh, my God. 16 weeks? From right now? [mumbly groaning]

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

A thru F

On the A list: Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond, which is a really interesting book. I can't say too much, because Adam is reading it next, but I enjoyed it very much. Diamond uses a lot of different studies and evidence to further his ideas, and makes a lot of science and history accessible to the reader.

On the F list: 1421: The Year China Discovered America? We watched the DVD, which explained the book's theory, but then went on to challenge some of the book's ideas. It was clear that, although it's an interesting hypothesis, there is little to no evidence supporting it. I was glad to save myself the time and money that I might have spent on the book itself.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Who Could Forget?

Friends, there is a man I want to tell you about. A man who, a long time ago, gave a lot to his community. A man that unselfishly helped those around him. A man who now has a holiday that we can celebrate every year. No, it's not Jesus, it's Grant Kjos. I figure you already know about Jesus.

It was probably late 2003 when I went to the Olive Garden in downtown Minneapolis and met Grant Kjos. (Kjos = ch + oh + ssss) My wife (then girlfriend) and I were having dinner with Marc and Becky, and we were waited upon by GK who told us (among other things) that he has a holiday. Evidently he wrote a bunch of grants (heh) and gathered up a pile of money to pay for a skate park in his home town. Community leaders were impressed.

Journal of the Senate
Thursday February 15, 2001

Senator Larson introduced--
Senate Resolution No. 62: A Senate resolution commending Grant Kjos of Alexandria,
Minnesota, on receiving a Prudential Spirit of Community Award.
Referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

Ok, it doesn't say anything about a holiday, but the actual existance of the holiday isn't important. The important part is that Grant was funny and entertaining, and that he gave us his email and I promised to send him email on Feb. 28 to celebrate Grant Kjos Day.

Some Things about Grant Kjos:
- He used to wait tables at the Olive Garden downtown, but now that Olive Garden is closed, I think.
- He was in college at the time he served us, but I don't know about that anymore.
- He is a skater. He says he wrote for some skater magazine somewhere, and claimed to know some people who were 'really good'.
- He is/was involved in competative hackey-sack (footbag).
- February 28 is Grant Kjos Day.

There's more, but I won't tell you. My friends and I send 'happy GK Day' email to Grant Kjos on Feb. 28, and the only response I've ever heard of was along the lines of 'who are you? what is going on?' This is a real person, who doesn't remember talking to me or giving out his email. I don't want the poor guy to feel like there is anything going on that isn't good, clean fun. There is a definite temptation to go for the most extreme Grant Kjos stalker episode evar, but don't give in. Have a little sanity.

That being said, I hope that everyone can celebrate Grant Kjos Day! Have a beer! Kick a hackeysack! Eat Italian! Send off a GKDay email!