More Than Meets The Eye

Here’s why Kevin is one of my favorite friends in the world: I’ll tell him a silly secret while we’re walking down the street, and he’ll stop and scream, “WHHHAA-AA-AAAT?” at the top of his lungs and everyone in the entire Delmar Loop will turn around.

Here’s another: we stood in line for over an hour outside of the Tivoli, and it was the most fun I’ve had in weeks.

And another: when we discovered they were giving away free stuff before the movie, we went banay-nays and managed to get the promotor’s attention, so we won free granola bars and a CD.

Man, it’s good to see Kevin.

Midwest Fest

This is one of the reasons why I can’t decide between St. Louis and Chicago. They’re obviously the best when they’re together.

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I’ve been trying to walk or run at least five miles a day. Plus, I’m working on Sludgie, new freelance pitches and… um, actual work, so I’ve been pretty busy. I didn’t even go out this weekend.

Actually, that’s not entirely true…Davy called me on Saturday and we talked for a long time… I ended up walking in the park so I wouldn’t wake up my roommate.

I’d forgotten about the teenagers hiding in the woods at Kirkwood Park on Saturday nights. All around me, I could hear children whispering and giggling, though I couldn’t see anyone. Lighters were flicking on and off in the distance. A strange skunky fog was in the air.

Since I was in my PJs and I didn’t have an ID, I decided to high-tail it out of there before a park ranger busted me for curfew. Besides, it was pretty intimidating. I don’t care if I’m 26! Those kids are totally more popular than me.

I told Davy that I probably cockblocked, like, eight people when I wandered past them in the park. At any rate, it was a nice walk… Davy is way cool and seriously one of the nicest people I’ve ever talked to.

I have a big week planned this time around, so hopefully I’ll have fun stuff to write about. There’s a long bike ride to Jen’s house, the Comedy Forum and/or Botanical Gardens, a SNEAK PREVIEW OF TRANSFORMERS and a possible day trip to the Ozarks.

Sludgie!

So remember when I told you that I was cheating on you with a new blog?

Well here it is!

Sludgie is a funny blog about environmental news. I’ve been a fan of it for a while.

Recently Francis Stokes, creator of Sludgie and the awesome God Inc., asked me if I’d like to be a contributor. And of course I would! I am honored!

This is the first one I wrote. The next two are my bio and kind words from Mr. Stokes.

Pay No Attention To The Girl Behind The Curtain

Okay, okay. I’ve been trying to update this thing, really. But it’s hard to tell you what I’ve been up to, because most of it falls under Things You Shouldn’t Blog About.

Why shouldn’t you blog about certain things? Well, people get pissed off. People get in trouble. It can come of as weird, creepy or just plain disrespectful. This is a safe spot, girlfriends. I don’t come here to blab about things that aren’t your beeswax, let alone mine.

So… the best way to explain what I’ve been up to is by explaining why I can’t explain it. Got it? No? Well, here we go anyway:

Things You Shouldn’t Blog About

Other People. I’ve been posting a lot of You Tube videos and shoutouts lately. That’s because I really admire these people – I think they are all so funny and talented and stuff. But how much can I write before it gets weird? I don’t know. I guess I can throw this in, though: Josh and Mort absolutely killed at Laughs on the Landing on Saturday – they were by far the best comics of the night. And we ended up hanging out with Kevin from Grace Basement til like 2 in the morning, so I finally got to tell him that I think he’s awesome. In fact, when he came over to say hi, that’s what I blurted out: “Oh, hey! You’re so awesome!” It was a really fun night. But see? Is it weird to blog about all that?

Work. I have great stories about this, believe me. But they’re not all funny stories – I usually get more angry after I tell them. So angry, in fact, that I might write something that I’ll regret later. Like when I get fired. Welcome to the 90’s, y’all: don’t put things on the internet unless you want everyone to see it.

People I’m mad at. Sometimes I use this blog to just vent; I’ve grown up using writing as a way of dealing with my emotions. And I’m not going to lie – there are people I used to love who have seriously hurt me lately, and there’s nothing I can do except deal with it and get to a place where I don’t care anymore. I used to write angry blogs and delete them a week later – now I know better than to post them at all. This rule applies to both the topic above and the next topic, which is…

Boys I make out with. If you only know me through this blog, then I know it seems like I’ve been eternally single. Believe me, I’ve been hanging out with boys every now and then. There may be some kissing involved. I may be having relationshippy talks on the telephone. But that’s my business, and the boys’ business. The only time I will ever write about a boyfriend-y boy is if he does something silly or funny. I will try to refrain from gushing about love or ranting about how he leaves the seat up, or any of that ridiculous nonsense that you people write about. Guess what? Trainwrecks aside, NOBODY CARES.

Losing weight. I lost 15 pounds last month, and this time I did it the normal way instead of the divorce diet. But I just feel like a loser typing that stuff… I mean, do you really want to read about my fat ass? Next thing you know, I’ll start blogging about my cats (which is only cool and funny if you are named Pamie). This is why I haven’t been drinking and/or going out for pizza with you guys everyday. However, I will probably blog about the webble that I’m making out of a skateboard.

Other people’s problems. My friends are all nuts in the best way, and oftentimes they have great drama in their lives. These make for great stories, however, they are not mine to tell. I can tell you that I’ve been spending a lot of time talking on the phone, delivering wine and baked goods, and trying to be a good listener. But that’s about as far as I can go.

My stalkers. Speaking of other people’s problems – holy crap. These aren’t the same stalkers I had a few years ago. One of those stalkers actually turned out to be quite cool. These are new stalkers and they kind of freak me out, and I can’t go into why they’re stalking me because then they will know that I know. I mean, I get that people read my archives. That’s fine; it’s why they’re there. I understand the appeal of MySpace stalking – we are all guilty of it. Don’t lie. But then it gets to a point where they just plain creep me out, and I worry about writing things that will set them off.

Stupid shit. I dance around my apartment to The Gossip. I work out on The Bean during 21 Jump Street marathons. I have bummed a smoke or two from Charles, my 17-year-old “thug life” neighbor. I’ve been reading (and actually filling out) the Feeling Good Handbook. I found out who killed Laura Palmer 16 years after you did. Toddlers just look at me and laugh hysterically; I don’t know why. I bought more Mates of State CDs this weekend and I have “concerts” in my car. I’m sure you’ve picked up on the fact that I don’t use this blog to look cool or smart. It’s definitely too late for that. But sometimes my life is just too random and dumb to come up with a cohesive topic for you. I guess I could write something educational, but again – I’m just watching 21 Jump Street.

Oh, this is sort of educational – did you know that Holly Robinson Peete sings the 21 Jump Street theme song? And more importantly, did you know that JOHNNY DEPP and Peter Deluise are the guys yelling “Jump!” in the background? There you go.

So see? I haven’t been dropped off the face of the earth… I’m pretty busy. It’s just kind of hard to explain right now, is all.

“It’s like… if you’re nice to them, they bring you things?” (revisited)

Before I start gushing about the weekend, there’s a few things I need to admit:

I need to start writing again. And by writing I mean… screenplays? Or at least something with more of a narrative? Pretty much anything. I started this blog so that I’d be forced to write every day, and I went into copywriting so that I could keep that part of my brain awake while I paid the bills. I’m getting involved in more projects and making connections in great places, but it’s starting to make me realize how much I’m missing out on by not practicing new things.

I adore Mates of State. I’ve liked them forever, but I’m always hesitant to declare my love for indie bands. For all intents and purposes, I should hate them. They’re a married couple. They make goo-goo eyes on stage and bring their cute baby with them on tour. Silly trendy people like them. And. AND! They are from Connecticut. So I should totally hate them, right? But I don’t. They are so precious and talented and fun. They absolutely delight me and they always put me in a good mood, which has been hard to do lately.

I like Sci-Fi. Not all sci-fi, but the lame WB-ish sci-fi with cute boys. Okay, cute boys with no belly buttons. I spent all day yesterday watching the Kyle XY marathon. I walked on the treadmill for like 5 episodes, so it’s not as sluggish as it sounds. Despite the cheesy writing, the MySpace marketing and the shaaaaaaaameful Sour Patch Extreme product placement, I got really into it. I know. Sad.*

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So this weekend was kind of weird. Friday I ran nine miles without stopping, which is not something I think that I can repeat, nor do I think I should. I accidentally fell in the zone. It took about two hours to get out of it and now I have a blister on my pinkie toe. And it did weird things to my brain. That’s okay; I need all the endorphins I can get.

Saturday was… well hell, it was like my birthday! I started out the day at Best Buy with J. I bought Big Love on DVD. Then after lunch I went home and sorted the mail, and I got so many presents for absolutely no reason. Books, CDs, DVDs… all from boys. Boys in far-away lands. I felt like Baby Jesus. I mean, what is going on? Irregardless, props and thanks are due:

J, who secretly grabbed “Team Boo” by Mates of State after I confessed that I liked them, and surprised me with it in the car. I thanked him by forcing him into a duet of “Fluke”.

TSGoC told me that he was sending me a movie, and I thought he was just dubbing his brother’s film for me. But no – he surprised me with this film called daisies – a 1960’s Czech New Wave film that was actually banned for a little while. I have no idea what’s going to happen when I watch this, but I can’t wait. TSGoC is the guy who turned me on to Love, Kraftwerk and Rambo: First Blood, so I know it’s going to be good. Thank you TSCoC!

Davy Rothbart, the founder of Found Magazine, sent me his book and a collection of his stories of This American Life on CD – plus a postcard from “Mr. Big” himself. He sent me a friend request for Found a while ago, and won me over by singing “To Be With You” in an email. I sent him a compliment on his new story the other day, and he said he wanted to send me more stories. And man, he has great stories. That was so nice of him. Thank you Davy!

Later that night at the Tap Room, Dan bought me an insane amount of Hefeweizen beers with lemon wedges. Thank yoooooou, Dan!

And finally, Josh surprised me with “New Sense” by Grace Basement, which was insanely sweet of him. I’m listening to it right now. Plus he gave me hugs and compliments galore, which is better than stuff, always. Thank you so much, Josh!

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So yeah, Grace Basement had their CD release party at the Tap Room and it was a lot of fun. I saw a bunch of old friends (including superduperfun Erin!), the music was great, and we sat by the Indiana Jones pinball machine, which is worth noting in my world. I mainly hung out with Dan and Erin all night and it was a total blast.

Kevin Buckley, who writes all Grace Basement’s songs and performed pretty much everything on New Sense, was incredible. Like I said before, I think Kevin is absolutely brilliant. I’m still too chicken to say it to his face, but whatever. He is. Music Mike was great on the drums and it was awesome to see him, too.

Seriously, I have so much great stuff to read, watch and listen to… when am I going to find time to write? Maybe I’ll let my brain simmer on all this stuff for a week or two, and see what it turns into.

* It did kind of make me hungry for Sour Patch Kids, though.

Tortilla

An irrepressible eccentric, Church is the kind of guy who would be incredibly annoying if he weren’t so entertaining. (In a classic digression, he recalls the time his horse got bitten by a rattlesnake: “I had to drag him six miles whacking him on the ass as hard as I could with a cedar stick. His name is Tortilla. He lived.”)

– Thomas Haden Church, Entertainment Weekly

If that isn’t enough to get me to see Spiderman 3, then I don’t know what is. Wow.