April 2009 Archives

Game got rained out. So now watching Stanley Cup playoffs at 50 / Fifty bar

We are at the Sox game.. But its raining...

I think I found another reason Meili likes winter. No thunder... Tonight Amanda went to sleep at 9pm since she has not been sleeping well and I went to bed about ten. I had just dozed off when Meili is suddenly trying to climb on top of my head! I wake enough to hear BOOOOOM! "OK, fine sissy-pants" I think and shove her under the covers with the idea that she will sleep hidden from the thunder. BOOOOM-BOOM! We get a big double and she starts shaking and trying to run up and down the bed under the covers. Well thats not going to work for Amanda to get sleep, so now I am parked on the coach with said sissy at my feet. Sounds like the storm has moved past us so I might try and go to bed in a little while.

YAY! Dogs...

Dead and stuffed donkey at our mexican food place tonight...

Chicago vs. Denver in rugby and we have no idea whats going on. What's a "Scrum" anyway?

Denver vs. Chicago rugby game.

We found a new place to start our married life in. Its a three bedroom just down the road and is easily twice the amount of space we have not for just a little more than we are paying currently. So now we will have a spare bedroom and a separate office for me. Plus Meili will have a backyard with a nice grassy spot for her to sit and soak up the sun. I'm really excited since it feels like we are starting everything new in October when we get back from the honeymoon.

For those in the know our current place is pretty small. But it was a start and close to Bryan and Sarah when we moved here. That was a good start, but know nearly a year later we are cramped and Bryan and Sarah have their great new place in Logan Square... Its just time to move on and up.

In other news -

This next week is my last week for Comedy Sportz. I also went to Second City Friday and they looked at my acting resume and helped me tune it up to be more precise and targeted for improv auditions. I am very happy about that. In May I am hoping to do a month long musical improv workshop with the people who do the show "Baby Wants Candy" and then June 1st I will start level 2 of the program at The Annoyance Theater.

Chicago is starting to feel like Spring this week, the tree's are budding and the grass is lush and green. The people are out and about all day yesterday there was not a bus or a train I was on that was not PACKED FULL of peoples. Add to that the Cubby games have been going this week and everyone has their gear on.

Today we are going to a rugby game with Bryan and Sarah and later for dinner and drinks. Not much else to report... Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

By Thursday my final truck payment should go through. Whew!

So this weekend my friend Greg was kind enough to invite the cast of Sickest Stories to his Mom's cabin in Wisconsin! This place is amazing! Five bedrooms, game room, full kitchen, two mini-lakes and even a two car garage on 22 acres.

We just got here and are getting ready to start our MAN-WEEKEND by going to get dinner and some drinks. Then some poker! Check the Flickr feed on the right for more pics.

YAY!

Meili is having a dream and barking in her sleep.

This past week I was in Aspen for the Disabled Veteran's Winter Sports Clinic sponsored by the VA and Disabled American Veterans (DAV). Kristin and Lindsey (from work) and I went for the all week event. The event had over 350 veterans ranging from age 22 to 87. The main attraction was downhill skiing and snowboarding. There were over 100 adaptive ski instructors teaching veterans with blindness, spinal cord injury, MS, various amputations, and many more disablities. Ski equipment included adaptive poles, guiding, sit down mono skis, sit down bi skis, etc. It was not unusual to see foam and duct tape too for those with spinal cord injuries. I was on a sit down ski team. Most of the vets I worked with had spinal cord injuries and amputated legs (usually both). One of our vets had both legs amputated above his knees and was totally blind. He had was a beginner skier and loved it.

The veterans had opportunities to ski and snowboard on 3 days. The other 2 days of the program included a choice of sled hockey, curling, fly fishing, trap shooting/archery, cross country skiing, snow shoeing, a trip to the hot springs, a trip up the gondola, scuba diving, rock climbing, and snow mobiling. On my first alternate activity, I went trap shooting. I learned that I cannot shoot a clay pigeon, but I do like wild boar sausage, elk steak, rattlesnake sausage, and alligator sausage. I don't like buffalo sausage. My second event I went to was sled hockey. Although I had a blast, I have a bruise on my back and my range of motion hasn't been as good since. My PT will probably kill me. What I learned about sled hockey is that it kicks your butt, your shoulders and lats will hurt the next day, it's hard as hell, and you will tip often. It was a blast and totally worth the pain. 

In the evenings, we met up often with 3 of the vets we knew from Hines. The sports clinic hosted bands and DJ's all week. Coco Montoya and Taylor Dane were there. We skipped Taylor Dane to go to downtown Aspen to see Angus and Julia Stone and Brett Dennen at Belly Up. Great venue, great music. I bought Angus and Julia's CD. Pretty groovy. Coco Montoya was great though. Our 3 blind mice (as our Hines guys called themselves) got us up dancing. It's hard to dance in high elevation in boots and long underwear by the way. Bo Derek was there like she is every year, but I didn't see her. I saw pictures of vets with her, but I think I was at sled hockey when she was around.

By the end of the clinic I was ready to come home. It was a great week and a lot of fun, but exhausting. I slept 12 hours last night and laid on the couch most of the day. The trip home sucked. Our 7 AM flight and our connecting flight in Denver was cancelled because of the storm that Chicago is having as I type. (It's so awesome that I get to experience this storm twice. I wish you could type sarcasm.) We were rebooked on a 10 AM flight that was delayed 2 hours. By the time we got to Denver we missed our new connection, but had been put on stand by for a 3:20 flight in Aspen, or so we thought. When we showed up for the 3:20 flight, we weren't on stand by. They let me on the flight, but not Kristin and Lindsey. When I got on there were TONS of seats open. With some anxious texting back and forth, they finally let Kristin and Lindsey on. To say the day sucked, but we got home. Some people were stuck in Denver until Monday, and we were only 7 hours late.

So to end this long email. It was a great experience and I hope to go back next year. I think I'll skip sled hockey next year though. Here's a video and slideshow from the sports clinic. I'll have a copy of the video from the closing ceremonies eventually that is better than the video on the website if anyone is interested in seeing it.

I set up a chair so Meili can look outside she has been there almost an hour now...

Amanda has been gone to Aspen all week for a VA / Sports thingy and is now stuck in aspen becuase of a snow storm. But its not too bad since her flight is only getting in three hours late. (verses coming in Monday) The snow Aspen is getting pounded with now will hit us Monday morning.

I am in my last level at Comedy Sportz and will be a grad in the end of May (Although I am taking some music workshops still) after all that I will move on to Annoyance. I did not have a plan much past that but I saw a year long directing program that Second City has going that I would like to try out for (Its expensive though and I would have to first find out if we are staying in Chicago or moving to another city for Amanda's work.) Even then after Annoyance I will be pretty well rounded in my training -

Second City Conservatory
Second City Musical Conservatory
Second City Long Form Grad
iO West Grad
Comedy Sportz Chicago Grad
and then to complete Annoyance.

The directing program would be the cherry on the cake.

That being said I am still auditioning. The musical audition I did last went well but once again no call back. I can take not getting cast but really want to at least bag a call back. Or at least find out what they see when I am auditioning. I talked to one director and she said "Yeah, your audition was great and you have TONS of experience, but even though you graduated from Second City and iO we don't know anything about those programs..." (WHAT!?!?)

Anyway, she was wonderfully helpful and said that they just want to see more Chicago experience and that after I complete Comedy Sportz and Annoyance they might feel that I was more "Family" and not and outsider. Gotta love the process right?

In other news - I may have found Amanda and I a new place just down the street. Its a three bedroom duplex with central a/c and heat. Its about $300 more than what we are paying now and we would have to pay our own utilities but the piece of mind that comes with having more elbow room would be worth it in my mind. Plus we would have a guest bedroom and I would have my own office / man-cave and that would be nice. We will see...

Supposedly Amanda's wedding band will be in Wednesday. If you read the wedding blog then you know that we purchased a ring from Robbins Brothers and they told us that it would be in to the store in six to eight weeks. Then in week four they filed Chapter 11! Well, they have been promising us that the ring will still be coming. I got a little freaked when they said it would be in then turned around and said "We had to send it back since something was wrong and it will be another six weeks" Yeah, right... But lets hope and see what Wednesday brings. Not like I can change anything..

Meili is doing great, she got a trim the other day and looks like a fluffy teddy bear. I love the Russian guy I found for her. His place is called "Groomingdales" and he talks with a think accesent that has me thinking "Soon we will capture pesky Moose and Flying Squirrel for Great Leader!" but he also just does good work and fast. I highly recommend them.

Doing more and more graphic work which I am loving! Not really getting paid for it but it is expanding my portfolio nicely and since I am getting burned out with the web stuff (funny how something that used to be fun is a chore once it turns into your job) So I am happy and having fun and my art is growing in new ways.

Some other items -

John Masier is coming to Chicago for a weekend in May!!! Very excited about that!

We only have one more payment on Amanda's truck now! That will free up some money for other bills.

In August Amanda and I will be going to Portland for a week. I will be working from the hotel during the day and she has a conference but we are hoping to get some time to explore. We have not had a real vacation since Ohio over a year ago (the drive out here was KIND Of a vacation and very cool, but not what you would think of as relaxing...) so looking forward to that.

I guess that's all the news I know.

Love ya!
-Alan