So stress decreased in one area of my life just in time to increase in another

Personal life stress has calmed down which is very nice.  I am glad.  Work stress, however has gone crazy.  Mostly in part because of a super easy but massively tedious and time consuming project that took over my desk.  It sucked.  But it is about to be dropped off at the post office forever, never to be seen again--unless I jacked up an address or something. 

 

My cat is about to be declawed which makes Sam very happy as it ensures the longevity of some of his furniture and that some of it can be recovered or replaced without being destroyed immediately after.  Steve will fucking hate it at first.  He will have to be at the vet overnight, and he hates it there.  Hopefully he won't harm any of the vet technicians.

 

I am having a Halloween party with new roomie Azar.  Sam and I are going as Charlie Brown and the Little Red Headed Girl (he will of course have a paper bag to put on his head as needed).

 

Obama is having a giant million people rally in a park downtown here on election day, and I tried to get tickets but failed.  Chris Plummer has some, and he will be going.  It is kind of a bummer to miss that.  Obama will either declare victory or concede from there, but it is also outside at night in Chicago in November which means it will be a cold night, a long cold night likely.  I will just watch it from inside Sam's warm apartment with a kitty, and some wine (or heck champagne) and maybe a few friends.  That will be more comfy.  But if I get tickets I am SO going.

Random thoughts of the stressful day

So my CTA card came in the mail today.  Assuming it works when I try to use it, life is back to normal post wallet losing.

 

I get irrationally angry at people who stand on very full buses in the morning when there are seats available.  Ok I get it, you like to stand or you don't like the back of the bus that is up the little stairs, but sit your ass down anyway to ease the congestion at the front of the bus where there are considerably less things to hold on to.  Seriously sit the crap down.  You can stand back up as the bus empties out.  The only exception is if we are less than 2 city blocks from your stop.  Then standing is acceptable if you are keeping yourself close to the back door.

 

My ipod is on the fritz.  Of course it is because I gave my old one to someone else who didn't have one.  So of course mine decides to die.  Although I have BROADLY hinted to the boyfriend that an itouch would be the best Christmas present ever.  And it may just need to be re-whatevered to my itunes or take a little trip to the genius bar.

 

I have converted my boss to the wonders of ice cold liquor store soda.

 

The weather has made my coworkers extra whiny although it has somehow made some of the whiny ones quite grateful.  Weird.

 

Stress has subsided a little mostly because I think I cried it all out yesterday.  Also I feel much better about the memorization of my songs after rehearsing them.

 

Also back are the nightmares courtesy of my allergy meds.  And I would seriously stop taking them if they didn't make my nostrils and sinuses and head so stinking clear and if they weren't the only ones that do that.  Whatever is missing from the generic store versions is apparently what I need.

Really stressed out right now

Busy, learning a musical, stressing over life just in general.  Everything seems to be getting unecessarily hard.  I think I need more sleep and a vacation, and I am going to file a lot today at work. Filing is soothing.  Filing will be calming.  I want to be calm.  I will be calm.

Performance Art Part Five--the end

Mike Daisey is an amazingly compelling performer. He did a better job than anyone that I have ever seen live at holding a room with a wonderful sense of his story telling and our invovlement as an audience member. Sam's dad loved the show. He was laughing so hard for so much of it. Sam's mom found it very interesting, and Sam was more engaged than I have ever seen him be at a live non-music performance.

I really enjoyed it, and it has been too long since for me to do a very good sort of review, but I would heartily recommend seeing him if you ever have the opportunity.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished (sort of)

So, Wednesday I lfet work early by a few hours to help Jamie get her car untowed because the first time she went to the scary towlot to do it, they disbelieved her registration.  She was a little sleep deprived and hungry and angry and wet and IM'd me kind of hysterical, and I said I would help her.  So, I got off work and rented a zip car in order to pick her up take her half way to Wisconsin (it felt like) to the DMV and then down into the heart of scary industrial ghetto to get her car.  Once she called me with news that car was going to be hers, I went home.  I had planned to nap that day after work, but instead I had a four hour adventure!  Then I had a late rehearsal that was way up north and only an hour long (so it took me slightly more time in transit than in rehearsal). 

 

On the bus ride home I got very paranoid that I had dropped/lost my brand new and exciting digital voice recorder, so I pulled everything out of my purse to make sure I found it and then put them back in.  The next morning I went to catch the bus (with my bus stop moved by one stop because they closed the freaking sidewalk where my stop was), but once on the bus I couldn't find my wallet in my purse.  So I got off, assuming I had taken it out when I got home the night before because well I paid a few bills online (it was mid-month and payday--like you do!).  Then I called Sam and woke him up and had him look for it on the couch and the coffee table, but no.  I get back to his house, and I look for it and no.  It is not there.  Then I remember pulling everything out!  Was I smart and putting them on the empty seat between me and the wall?  Of course not.  I put them on the seat between me and the aisle.  The bus was pretty empty, but somebody could well have just snatched it as they passed if they really wanted (although we were going express at a fast speed down Lakeshore).  Or it could've fallen on the floor and then picked up later by anyone on earth.

 

So I log onto my bank account to see if there was any activity on my debit card (which was of course in the wallet), but nothing has happened, and it was payday so there was actual money that they could take.  But nothing-weird (and amazing!).  So, I borrow some money from Sam to take the bus to work and stop at my bank before I head all the way into work (way late at this point).  They of course cannot do anything because I have no ID or debit card or pin to prove that I am me.  So I take the customer service number and head into work.  Once there I decide I will call CTA's lost and found.  Becuase well, it was an empty bus, it was late at night, and probably that one was headed back to the garage pretty dang soon.  Who knows, maybe the cleaning crew found it and turned it in and all is well?

 

I call, I am on hold for a few minutes.  The woman who answers asks me what bus I was on.  That bus goes to the NorthPark Garage, she tells me and gives me there number before transferring me to them directly.  The woman at the garage asks me what my name is and what color my wallet is and puts me on hold.  I am just waiting to hear confirmed that my wallet is gone FOREVER when she comes back on the line and says, "Yes, we have it."  I am shocked.  I didn't have a contigency plan for actually getting my wallet back.  They tell me it is item #44 and that I can come in between 7am and 7pm in the next 30 days to get it.  The garage is of course halfway to Madison, Wisconsin.  It would take me over an hour on multiple buses and trains to get there from work, and oh yeah my CTA card was in the wallet which is now there.  So I call Jamie because I responded to her thanks with the statement that she would do it for me, although at the time I did not intend it as a threat.  Whoops!  In a car, it is a short trip for her.  So she went, picked it up for me and brought it to me downtown where we went out to lunch. 

 

The best part is that virtually everything was still in it.  I was missing about $2 in change that was in it when it went AWOL, and I was missing my CTA card.  Everything else seemed to be untouched.  Wallet returned.  Everything fine.  I am still very closely monitoring my bank account to see if anything happens there, but it looks like I managed to be very lucky.  Although this may have depleted my good Karma for months at least!

 

Later this weekend:  Last part of the performance art series, I will accept the tagging Sally gave me, and reunited with an old friend in our new town

Performance Art Part 4 Workshop

It was great. Most of the people (basically all of the people) in the workshop had some sort of acting/performing training or experience, so it was like we were all reasonably on the same page. There were only about ten of us. It was awesome.

He had a very concise handout with three groupings of four things that must be remembered to create art like this. Kind of like a very basic how to guide. He went over them, we asked questions throughout, he was funny and warm and totally unpretentious and generally really concerned about helping people learn this artform he very clearly loves. I guess that shouldn't be surprising, but because so often that has not been the case (especially the pretentious part) in master classes I have gone to for acting and theatre. Although perhaps that is the difference between master class and workshop? Or for sure between someone who would bill their class as one versus the other.

Anyway, really looking forward for the show tonight. Especially hearing a little more about the nuclear component to it, yeah that's right I am from the greater Hanford area, and I know a ridiculous amount about nuclear energy and their reactors as a result. Because growing up their you take field trips to nuclear reactors where they made the Plutonium that they dropped on Nagasaki (well the control room of said reactor not actually inside).

I am also very excited to just fucking do some of the things we looked at learned about today. I am probably going to start hosting a story telling night like once a month or so with friends who are also interested in this, just to see what happens. I am also glad that I do not edit my blog really since that seems to be something I need to encourage in my speech as I do this style of performance.

Performance art update part the third update

I took notes in a little journal when I was at the round table.  Basically I was blogging for later to put up here, but I didn't have it at work until today.  PS I really can't wait until the workshop on Saturday!  So at the "How Theatre Failed America" Round table at the MCA--here were my thoughts in the theatre:

 

Mike Daisey was actually at the round table!  He spoke as did many of the the other theatre artists, but he struck me as passionate, empathetic, and humble.  Listening to this was very interesting, but I wanted to speak too (as I bet did many other audience members).  Especially when it came to the question of would you invite the business-y staff to speak to the artists on the art itself.  Like would/should they have the perogative or ability to give notes?  The Chicago area artists seemed to be saying well of course not.  I disagree.  Why couldn't, why shouldn't the staff comment on the art?  Yes, true they don't have the specific training and vocabulary.  But they CAN speak with their heats to what the see, saw, felt or experienced.  I think they should speak, and I think the artists should consider their thoughts.  I mena obviously this is criticism and commentary that should be weighted and looked at in context as an audience response rather than a fellow professional response.  But, yes consider it, yes open a dialogue.  Criticism is not and should not be the word of God or something.  It should be, it is food for thought.  Something for the brains of the artists to chew on.  Some sort of mirror to reflect back what they are doing.  Ok maybe sometimes it is a funhouse mirror, but just because it may not be an "accurate" perspective or a photo-real perspecitve does not make it useless.  It makes it useful in a different way from the professional opinions.  Processing it can lead to revelations of value, even if they are not those intended by the amateur who was responding from their lack of highly involved theatrical knowledge. 

 

I say this because my family knows very little about theatre, and they have been the bearers of the most useful and the most useless criticsms I have ever received.  Useless when I cannot get them to understand that The Rivals was a way better show, but useful when their naivety about theatre causes the to consider a path or a problem from a perspective I would overlook because my expertise has gotten in the way of having a truly open mind.  So yeah, sometimes what they say may well be ridiculous, but shutting them out without a consideration can shut out something you might need.  So why create any false wall before their art.  I would imagine the businessy people who choose to work in the arts (as opposed to more lucrative business worlds) understand that they do not operate on the same artistic level as the artists, but they participate in the art as audience and they choose that line of work (I hope) out of a love of being an audience member.  And feeling connected to the work is what brings audience members back, so connect your first audience, really connect them.

 

 

Performance Art part two (definitely even if I miscounted, this is the new count--this isn't the wire if I am wrong no one has to drop a body)

Ummm, so I have been watching the blog of the person who's show I am watching this weekend and who's workshop I am very excited to attend because well he puts interesting stuff up and I check it off and on, like so many blogs I monitor.  Anyway, so yesterday, this (my) blog or a snippet of it appeared on that blog.  I am not mentioning it by name because I do not want a web crawler to find it and put it on that blog again.  It kind of freaked me out, but it mostly made me wish I hadn't dashed off what I wrote and maybe edited and reread because I don't really do that here (I know none of you would have ever guessed).  But it was very odd to see my blog on his blog.

 

That really is the whole part there.  But on a side note: I totally saw Steven from Season 4 of Project Runway (last season with Christian as the winner not this one) standing on Michigan Avenue and smoking!  It was insane.  Also insane, possibly my brother Tom because he is all in lurve and (well not to say he isn't but this all seems very sudden) wants to get married like tomorrow or something.  I am worried.  Quite worried because it just doesn't seem like he is giving much thought to the (very) long term possible consequences of his actions.

Performance art update volume one (or two, no one yeah one)

The round table was not very lively.  Interesting but not lively.  AND MIKE DAISEY was there.  I am kind of a stalker, and I was really excited that he was there.  I really like a lot of his points, but I actually think this discussion wasn't very lively because many of the biggest theatres in Chicago are more artist driven ensemble places than exist in other cities.  Steppenwolf is a place where a lot of its artists can live a nice life off the work they get there.  Many of its most present and ivolved artists live and work here, and they don't really bring in out of town talent to dazzle--unless you count their own ensemble members for whom Steppenwolf is heading back to their artistic home and not a star turn.  They are not the odd company out here either.  Here ensembles and artists make their own work--however supporting Daisey's hypothesis a lot of them do it while making their money other ways.

 

I also commed the Writer's Theatre for having a person from the office-y side of their business (I am not sure if she was their marketing director or their CFO or Development Head or what) come and speak to the artists.  Because let's face it those are the people who live really comfortably and get paid a ton and are not artists (well most frequently are not artists).  She spoke about why (well kind of about why) she and her like get paid more than actors.  She spoke about how she doesn't even like to compare the two, and how it makes her uncomfortable to speak about it.  She was uncomfortable opening herself up to questions from a roomful of artists, but she very bravely did it.  Go her!

 

The only really exciting moment was when Mike Daisey talked about how part of the state of the liveliness of the art can be seen in the posters for local arts scene (galleries, bands, concerts, plays, etc) on the wall of local restaurants and cafes.  He travels a lot and says that usually the theatre posters (in that whole wall) are the lamest.  And I am inclined to agree with him.  This was the only thing that ruffled the hackles of the artistic directors (yeah I mixed my metaphors whatever I do it).  They all got kind of quiet and defensive.  It was very interesting.

 

Very interesting.  Also makes me terribly excited to take my workshop on Saturday!!!!

 

perfromance art the beginning of the results

So, I am not going to get to see Tim Miller and Alistair McCartney.  BUT. . .I will be in Mike Daisey's workshop on Saturday (so excited!) and tonight I go to the roundtable discussion which if it gets too boring I am going to go back to Sam's and watch the debate.  Hopefully it won't be boring at all.  And on Saturday night Sam and I are taking his parents to see Mike Daisey's performance.  Yeah that's right his parents are going and they want to and they picked it!  I got him to email his mom the links of the choices (because Sam wanted to take them to see "Jersey Boys"), and her response was Mike Daisey sounds fun and then she dismissed Jersey Boys (and the Four Seasons in general) quite out of hand.  She lived through it she said, and she didn't need to do it again.

 

I am stoked!  There is no way given the same choice my parents would have picked Mike Daisey.  They would've gone for Jersey Boys (although I suspect my dad actually would have liked Mike Daisey more).  Although my parents have years and years of being dragged along to weird theatrical events that I reccomended, so they may just be wary of everything that I picked (I was in Eastern Washington ok there just isn't that much weird theatre there that isn't also REALLY bad theatre).  Although on the other hand, one summer I did a great fast, short, spare cutting of The Rivals and the world's least funny production of You Can't Take it With You (which is a show that is hard to destroy the comedy in as much as we in fact did), and they just shrugged at The Rivals and LOVED YCTIWY.  The Russian they said (ok Childers was pretty funny) and the actor lady (no, no, no that woman was not funny, she was just pushy not the same thing at all) so funny!  They couldn't get over it.

 

Anyway, I will keep you posted on how things go!

All performance art all the time

Well not really.  But kind of.  Two of my faves will be in Chicago next weekend.  Mike Daisey will be doing a three-day stint at the MCA with "If You See Something Say Something" which I am trying to get Sam and his parents to go see with me.  His parents I think will like it much more than he will, but I think I may go no matter what.  I really shouldn't spend money on this this month, especially since Renee owes me $200, but this is not something I get the opportunity to do often.  Even better, he is teaching an extemporaneous performance class, and I want!  I am going to sign up for it and work on mining the Kinion family memories vault to bring those to fruition.  There is also a roundtable discussion with lots of the regional theatre bigwigs here in Chicago reacting to his other performance piece "How Theatre Failed America" but I really hope it isn't just whining.  On the Monday after this all happens, Tim Miller is back in town with his partner and they are both doing pieces.  It would be great to go see him again, but there is only so much money I shouldn't spend that I am can even pretend to afford to spend in one weekend, and I have seen Tim Miller perform whereas I have not seen Mike Daisey.

Random thoughts of the day

1.  Nerds that are flavored something "coated" something look strange.  They are oddly matte and the top coat is a little translucent, but it does not seem to affect their taste.

 

2.  I do not know if the non-passage of the buyout is a good thing or a bad thing.  I do know that Warren Buffet felt it was very important.  I also know that Jimmy Buffet sings Margaritaville and Warren Buffet is the guy from Nebraska who seems to have a really good grasp of economic markets.

 

3.  The good thing about being the cheapest person in you office is, if things get bad, it would make more sense for them to fire a lot of people before you.  Two since you are the one who can work the simple things and handle the annoying shit jobs and you aren't expensive, they will keep you around pretty long to make the lives of the people who's jobs got harder during layoffs not *quite* that bad.  Not that my workplace seems to be hurting, we seem fine.  But, my bank failed last week and I needed to think through a contingency plan.

 

4.  My new roommate Azar seems never to have assembled a bed or seen a bed assembled before last night.

 

5.  She also thinks it weird that last spring Johnny B, Chris and I decided that we should have some sort of emergency phone tree/meeting place in case something really awful happened.  Like flooding or tornado or earthquake or terrorist attack or something.  Since here in the city none of us have family except eachother.  This is also why I have my roomie's parents contact info as well as Sam's parents' contact info.  When my roomie went to the emergency room like a year ago, I realized I needed that.  Because what if something bad happens and they can't use their phone or I can't get to their phone to get the numbers?  It sort of put me in a panic.  Azar thinks I am insane.  She also thinks that John, Chris, and I would be a very hysterical group to be making plans.

 

6.  I put about 65 episodes of "This American Life" the radio show on my old nano and let my boss take it on her round trip train trip to Minneapolis.  She was looking forward to it while she was stuck on the train with her 13 year old (who came up with the train travel idea), but the 13 year old listened to it the entire way both ways.  She is very greatful.

 

7.  Letting the big head boss play in ping pong tournaments seriously impacts the ability to finish tournaments.  Unless the only thing that they have to do is play tournaments, but that seems not to be the case in the instance to which I refer.

 

8.  I kind of like laffy taffy jokes if only because I like trying to reason out what the "punchline" would be.

 

9.  I think Sam and I on the Amazing Race would be hilariously good TV because he is fairly travel savvy but completely untechnical and city boy.  I am not so good with the travel savvy BUT I can put things together and will try to do stupid stuff to win.  Also Sam only pretends not to be competitive.  He really likes to win stuff.

Bathroom Musings

Today I was thinking while getting ready.  When do you tip?  I mean really.  Sit down restaurants where you have a server fetch and carry for you?  Heck yes.  Cab drivers?  Sure, but not at the same rate.  Hair stylists?  OK but because I go to a nice salon, also you kind of should, shouldn't you?  Movers and furniture deliverymen?  Yes, but only because I was told you should, and I try to give them water and pop if it is hot and coffee if it is cold.  Pizza and food delivery guys?  Yes, but it depends on the delivery fee for me.  If they have an exorbitant delivery fee, then the delivery guy gets a smaller tip (even though I know it is not his fault), so somewhere between a buck or two and five bucks.  Baristas?  Mostly no.  Maybe a quarter, but mostly no.  Not quite fast food places that kind of are fast food but like nicer quality fast food?  Not if I stand in a line and am herded cattle like quickly through my choices (Yes, I am looking at you Chipotle) and maybe if it is a little mom and pop shop that remembers my name and my favorites (Hi there Hueys Hot Dogs in A-Ville).

 

And then I wondered, am I wrong?  I mean I try to give a good tip to servers and bartenders, but in both cases their effort and diligence and skill complete my dining experience.  I want my hairstylist not to aaccidentally shave my head.  But is a barista at your local Starbucks the same as a bartender?  Should they get tips?  And where is the line?  Because in part servers get tips because it is assumed to be part of their wage which is why they aren't paid a ton hourly.  And it behooves both the restaurant and the server to angle for things that will return big tips--good service, big ticket items, more drinks.  It is mutally beneficial and rewards success and good behavior (well it should).  But Chipotle?  Starbucks?  I don't know.  What do you guys think?  And what would cause you to not tip or under tip in a situation where you normally would?  How crazy would that cabby have to be?  How bad a haircut?  What constitutes tip docking worthy poor restaurant service?

 

For me, if they come get my order reasonably well, if the food comes out in a usual amount of time, and if I get drinks they get a regular tip (if there was some wait or some delay but not a crazy amount then they maybe get 15% instead of 20%).  They basically can only go up. If they give me a good reccomendation, they get some more dough.  Same if they are attentive or bring me something extra.  If I have crazy requests and they do them they get at least 20% no matter how awful they may otherwise behave.  If they do all of this and pretend it was easy they can find themselves at 25% and up.  Also, if I have a little tab, I always way over tip.  Like if it is summer and I get like a few tacos and some water for lunch or a sandwich and water (because of dehydration, let's face it probably it would be alcohol but in case of not), and my bill comes to like $6-8.  I might drop only $10 for the $6 tab and maybe add a buck or two extra, but I am going to drop $15 for the $8.  I mean with a tiny tab, the fact that they would treat me just the same as that table having appetizers and guac and entrees and dessert and lots of alcoholic drinks when clearly they are going to get a way smaller return on their investment, they deserve at least a 50% tip and probably closer to a 100%.  If you can't afford to tip on what you eat, go to McDonalds.

Am I sick or am I just a mess?

That has been the question lately.  It has been a season of not wanting to climb out of the covers in the morning (and by season I mean like two weeks).  At first, it was easy to blame it on Sam being in Iceland, but he has been back for a week and well.  That makes it not work as an excuse.

 

But I just feel like I don't like it.  I have no idea what it is, but I no like it.  Maybe I need to devote some more time to things that make me happy.  And more walking/jogging.  That could perk me up a bit.  I don't know.  It is just plehhhhhh.  Or something.

 

Anyone want to send me a hug or a smile, please go right ahead I might need it.  Either that or I am sneaking some of Sam's happy meds.

Sam seems to be the one responsible for me getting to work vaguely on time

Because I can't seem to do it myself. Well and the main problem is that there is no consequence, and it isn't like I come in whenever I want I just don't get there until like 15 after 8 instead of 8 which. . .whatever no one calls then, hardly anyone bothers to come in then. Big deal. I just would be catastrophically late (or close to it) if Sam weren't there to nudge me along and get me out of the house. That is what he does most days. Without him this week things have been a little more rocky. This is what I have been working on avoiding.

Fall has shown up, but. . .

I wasn't tired of summer yet.  Usually there have been a couple of heat waves, and I kind of want to die and coolish weather and even rain are welcome.  Maybe not my favorites yet, but still good-ish.  Appreciated.  This year there was no freaking heat wave.  Nothing.  I mean it got kind of toasty for a few weeks, but not really.  And we had like 4 total days of Spring spread out between March and June which is totally a rip off.  I need some spring, not never ending winter.  And now they just glaze over and by summer after two and a half months?  Not OK!  Fall better freaking linger, but sadly it seems we are in for a winter that is just as hard as last years.  And it is already cooling way off.  It was very cold last night, a fact that was hammered home as I crawled into bed all alone since Sam is in Iceland.  Also, Steve McQueen is not a cooperative bedfellow.

 

Although the good thing about Sam being gone is that I can snuggle into his couch and have the TV and the Tivo and the whole place to myself.  It is wonderful, refreshing, and just what I needed.  And I really don't mind until he doesn't come home for bed.  Plus it is very odd to not get any text messages or IMs from him at all for days at a time.  That never happens, even when I am with him.  He will IM me from the other end of the couch.  He did send me an email though, telling me he missed me which is very nice.

Coming Soon

Yesterday I did possibly the most hardcore nerd thing I have ever done.  I sat in the rain for two and a half hours to watch a live taping of the National Public Radio show "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me: The NPR News Quiz Show."  And when I say rain, I am not fucking around.  It was a freaking torrential downpour.  This was not happy soft misty Pacific Northwest Seattle ass rain.  This was pounding, driving, big, fat drops rain RAIN!  I am talking Noah here.  It was however tons of fun.  The show was great.  These people are hilarious, and you can download it free from itunes starting on Sunday (I think).

 

I stayed relatively dry by covering my seat in the Frank Gehry designed Pritzker Band Shell with an entire volume of our free weekly undergroundy paper The Reader, and I wore a windbreaker and a bright green hooded rain poncho.  My two friends (Chris and Branson) had large umbrellas that helped keep some rain off me.  Basically above the knees I stayed dry excepting my face. 

 

Anyway, more about it this weekend.  Including some digital camera video and a pic or two!

Remember when AIDS was the WORST thing that could happen to you instead of just a sucky but very often survivable disease?

That is my hypothesis on one of the reasons teen pregnancy (and STD rates and STI rates) are growing rather than shrinking like they have been for 15 years.  Kids in the 90's were terrified to death of AIDS.  If you had sex, you would get AIDS, and no one would let you swim in the city pool, and then you would die in a terrible shrinking manner that would be awful and painful and involve lesions on your face.  This was a basic truth everyone knew.  And even nice kids who had never even had sex--like Ryan White--could get AIDS.  I went to Catholic school, so I knew that sex before marriage would obviously come with Biblical repurcussions of the huge and horrifying proportions that brought us the Plagues of Egypt and other awful things.  And even if you didn't go to Catholic school, I think the prevailing message of the 90's was unsafe sex is deadly.  I feel like most of us had to be vaguely aware that condoms were necessary for sex not to kill you, and I feel a lot more of us (than the kids of today) were likely to wrap it up.  I mean, remember when TLC wore condoms on their clothing.  It was a totally big deal.  Now I think condoms are thought of as unecessary, especially as lots of teen girls are on birth control to fix their acne/regulate their periods all in one swoop.  Basically, they need a little more fear of a great big sex induced disease pandemic those kids today.  They need it.

Oh Weekend of Drinking

I went to Howl at the Moon three nights in a row. On Friday I preceeded it with drinking at a cubs game and at Jamie's house and followed it up with drinking at another bar. Which explains why I spent Saturday doing a whole lot of nothing except recovering. It took many naps, and then we went to go pick something up and decided we must hit the bar again because well. . . Sam really, really, really likes it, and we now no longer have to pay cover.

And I really have not gotten a whole lot more done. I might watch some on demand Netflix and that is all.

Kitties + fireworks = owies

Steve McQueen does not like fireworks, but Sam lives right near Navy Pier where there are fireworks every Saturday and Wednesday between Memorial Day and Labor Day.  He gets very nervous and runs about all willy nilly and startles easily.  So it is good that that will be stopping this weekend.  He has come to peace with Sam.  They are buds.  They enjoy time together, playing with the laser pointer.  He has decided mostly not to hiss at Sam or I.  The move seems to have worn off.  And he hasn't gotten crazy when he realized he no longer lives with his buddy.  So, cat moving seems to have carried off well.