Highs and Lows

HIGHS

1 – Pioneer Day weekend, usually something of a fake-holiday, wound up being pretty good. I spent the whole weekend by myself – which would ordinarily depress me but, after the bustle of the past month, felt quite refreshing. I even found the time to clean my kitchen. I washed all the dishes, scrubbed the sinks, scoured the microwave and stovetop, and even mopped the floor. Martha Stewart would probably cross herself before entering, but the place looks MUCH nicer.

2 – I was naughty – I went to Barnes and Noble and bought some new books yesterday. I SHOULD be saving up for some new clothes, but I feel I’ve been neglecting my intellectual side recently (well, I DID just power through some Dickens, but beside that…)

I picked up The Bell Jar, which means I now have two books by Sylvia Plath that I haven’t read. Also, I grabbed The Sun Also Rises (I’ve never actually read any Hemingway novels and am excited to remedy that) and Lolita (beautifully written, but the plot’s a bit… squick). Finally, Barnes and Noble has some really cheap collections of classic literature, which I usually ignore because I have most of them (and they’re boring), but I saw they have a large collection of Grimm’s Fairy Tales with endnotes. Okay, there are, like, twelve endnotes, but the first one points out how bestial courtship tales like “The Frog Prince” and “Beauty and the Beast” are ACTUALLY parables about how sex is evil until you’re married, so I just had to pick it up.

Pretty nerdy, huh? Yeah, it’s totally great.

3 – July’s the biggest money-pit month of the year – worse for me than even Christmastime. I’ve made it through with minimal impoverishment. I won’t exactly be fat and sassy next month, but I’ve developed a liking for peanut butter sandwiches, and I get paid on Friday.

4 – My recent creative blocks seem to have cleared up. I didn’t get NEARLY the writing I’d planned done over the weekend, but, since I planned pretty much twenty-four straight hours of writing interrupted only by sandwich breaks, I’ll settle for what I’ve got, which is about ten pages of novel (a lot of it snatched from earlier drafts, but revised and polished) and a spanking new sketch. It’s got zombies in it.

LOWS

1 – The new ward situation has me a bit down. My initial enthusiasm’s worn off a bit. We’re a couple months in now, and I’m still finding it difficult to socialize with these people. They’re not BAD people at all, mind. I’ve always had a bit of trouble making new friends, so my current solitude isn’t all that surprising.

2 – I still haven’t sold my old car yet. I had planned on selling it to my little brother, who just wanted a clunker he could use for a couple of months down in Provo. I took the car in to get it fixed up for him, only to find a $450 repair estimate lying in wait for me. Wound up being a bit much for me, so that fell through. I’ll need to just take a couple snapshots and post the thing on Craigslist or something just to get it out of the parking lot.

3 – I bought a new pair of jeans recently – pretty nice looking, too. I wore them to the improv show one night. The show was fantastic – as our shows tend to be nowadays – but I wound up tearing a hole in the knees.

Moral of the story: Improv doesn’t like new pants.

4 – The wonderfulness of a three-day weekend has been dampened somewhat by my return to work, where I found 35 voice messages waiting for me. Bleagh.

Highs and Lows

HIGHS

1 - It's already been two weeks, but I'm still quite thrilled to have successfully completed NaNoWriMo. I mean, I've written a novel. How many people can say that?

(Okay, probably a few, but even so...)

I (finally) started the revision process last night, lying in bed with my laptop, pen and paper, and a Billy Joel CD on the stereo. It was a good night.


2 - It's been a week for renewing old acquaintances. Sunday, I ran into one of my best friends from college - a woman I haven't seen in what feels like forever. Turns out she goes to the same church building I do, just an hour earlier. While I was talking to her, I got a text message from one of my all-time favorite people I met on my mission.

If that's not enough, I actually had the opportunity to chat with one of my best friends from the Czech Republic. He isn't doing so hot (just had something of a breakup). It turns out consoling someone in a language you haven't spoken in five years is pretty tough.

Lucky I remembered how to swear.

3 - I've been a member of The Jesters Royale improv comedy troupe for over two years now, and some of you know I've been getting incredibly frustrated with how things for the team have been going. Well, I recently met with the artistic director of the Empress Theatre where the Jesters call home, and the discussion did a lot to alleviate some of my concerns. There's been talk of the team putting increased focus on teaching in local high schools, which is something I can TOTALLY get behind.

Plus, our shows have been completely awesome recently.

"Back in my day, we didn't have math. Numbers and music got all messed up. Back then, we sang, 'There's only three ways four say two words.'"

4 - I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how cool my ward has been recently. I've been meeting a lot of great new people (in this ward where I've spent the last two years of my life). New friends are always a good thing.

LOWS

1 - Okay, this one's a bit embarassing. A good friend invited me to go to a movie night/pajama party with a bunch of her friends. Now, I don't do big groups anyway - unless I'm the center of attention, they make me uncomfortable. The party was in Murray in a rather nice neighborhood (much nicer than my own, by the way, where the walls are falling apart piece by piece each day). It's the weirdest thing - in addition to the usual unease I feel in large group settings, I was hit with a severe case of status anxiety to the point where I completely shut down.

Luckily, it was a movie night, so I didn't really have to interact with anyone. Still, the whole night was a... disconcerting experience.

I got better.

2 - I'm pretty strapped for cash right now - first time this has happened in a LONG time. I've only got about $100, and with bills to pay, food to buy, and Christmas presents to... present... I'll be cutting it close this month. I DO have some savings, but I'm trying not to touch them. This is the first time I've had actual, genuine savings, after all, and I'd like not to blow it THIS quickly.

3 - You might recall that yesterday I posted a well-reasoned and impartial analysis of the movie Elf. Well, some parties took offense at my obviously superior line of reasoning and have decided to respond in a most aggressive way. Now, I could spend the time pointing out the gaps in this person's logic, or her complete failure to understand how to properly identify a Christ-figure in cinema, but I'm above that kind of thing.

Highs and Lows

Done so many "reviews" and crap recently that it's time to get personal for a bit:

Highs

1 - Damn Yankees is progressing well. Personally, I think it's one of the best acting jobs I've ever done. I'm playing a character who, though similar in temperament to me, is completely different in mannerisms. So, yeah, I'm pleased.

2 - The new poetry notebook has made me a little giddy. I've gotten a lot more writing done than I would have otherwise. Plus, I have all of my old drafts right handy this way, so it's been a good process.

3 - I'm actually getting to the point where I want to start writing a comment - probably based on these li'l guys:

I've actually done a sort of prequel sketch with a confused looking father-figure (who looks a little like me in boxers and a wife-beater) trying to assemble the robot on his own - with the lamp neatly foreshadowed in the background. I don't know how far I'll get with it, but I'd like to give it a go.

4 - Getting revved up to start writing prose again, too. I have an idea for a crazy little narrative that will allow me to indulge my ADD a little bit by including a bunch of one-page stories. It'll be a challenge, but I think I'll give it a go.

5 - Halloween's just around the corner. I'm thinking of going as a white rapper. Thoughts?

Lows

1 - The big numero uno HAS to go to this cold that's wreaking havoc on my brain. I started feeling a bit weird on Sunday night, then went out and did Damn Yankees with a sore throat - which actually went all right. Ever since, though, things have gotten weirder. My voice is simply shot - I can barely speak well. I've been feeling better every day, but sounding worse. Hopefully, I'll be back in shape by tomorrow night; otherwise, "Heart" will have to be sung in the bass register.

2 - I'm in debt - probably for the first time since college. My stupid car (bless its little stupid heart) has a perpetual, irreperable oil leak, which apparently messed up a lot of the internal systemy things. It's costing me $600 to repair - and I don't have $600. So, yeah, I'm making monthly payments on my car repairs, and it sucks.

3 - I was offered a chance to join up with the cast of Little Women out at the Empress Theatre. Now, I'm not overly familiar with the show, but the music that I've heard is... well, it's actually pretty good. Unfortunately, I had to pass. The Empress, you see, is in Magna, a good 20 minute drive from my apartment. I drive out there already for improv and family get-togethers (and, right now, Damn Yankees) about five days a week. I'm losing a lot of money to gas, so I had to pass - give me some time to recuperate just before the holiday season.

Highs and Lows

Quick life update:

HIGHS

1. I got the opportunity to perform with the Jesters Royale this past weekend. Highlights: I got to play a slinky feminine lounge singer at a truck stop (“Come on, fellas. You know that I’m single. Come to the convenience store and buy me some Pringles”) and a skittish second-date shy Jonah the prophet (“It came to pass that I fled from the Lord, and I was swallowed by a great fish, wherein I could not get reception upon my Sprint wireless device”).

2. Drawing is awesome. That is all.

3. New Year’s goals are coming along pretty well. Haven’t missed a Daily Sketch™ yet. The writing’s coming along less successfully, but still pretty well. I’ve nearly finished two of the six books I’m to read by the end of the year.

4. I’ve been getting a lot of compliments about my voice recently – from patients at the psychiatry clinic to random eavesdroppers at church. Sincere, unsolicited compliments always feel nice.

LOWS

1. Last week, I had one of the worst days of my work life. Eight days later, and I’m STILL pissed off about it.

2. Spoke to a girl at FHE the other day. The activity: making construction paper masks for a masquerade ball. The conversation starter: “So, blue construction paper, huh?” The conversation ender:

…actually, that was it, too.

3. In the past few months, I’ve kissed more guys than girls. They’re all stage kisses, so none of them count in the grand romantic tally of life… but, for a heterosexual male, that’s still a bit of a downer.

Highs and Lows

This blog is the closest thing I have to a journal, so I feel kinda bad that I don’t update it that often and, when I do, I generally don’t talk about my personal life so much. I usually just use my blog as a sounding board for my opinions, which are numerous, boisterous, occasionally erroneous, and multiplying like salmon upstream. So, in an attempt to be more personal, I’m going to take a page from Ashley’s blog and write up a quick list of the highs and lows in my life.

HIGHS

1. I just finished a weekend of FANTASTIC improv shows with The Jesters Royale. Six hours of performance at Cottonwood High School on Friday, plus two hours both Friday and Saturday nights. It’s a total rush.
2. Garret Peterson, one of my oldest, dearest, and downright bestest friends of all time, came with his lovely wife to Saturday’s improv show. Afterwards, we went out for pie and hot chocolate at Village Inn. I got home at two o’clock in the morning with something that actually resembled a smile on my face.
3. My parents cooked dinner for the missionaries on Saturday and invited me to join them. They make some of the best food I’ve ever had. This time, it was Swiss steak, and it was glorious.
4. I sent off three requests for letters of recommendation to my old college professors, meaning I’m about three-fourths of the way done with my grad school application.
5. In the past two weeks, I’ve written five poems, which may equal (if not exceed) my output for the rest of the year to date.

LOWS

1. Snow. I HATE snow. I’ve said before that the snow is the devil’s dandruff, and I will stand by that statement till I die – likely in a horrible traffic accident caused by icy roads resulting from the freaking SNOW!
2. I’ve come, slowly but inevitably, to the conclusion that, while my day job leaves me feeling fulfilled as an active contributor to society, I actively HATE what I do. The professional path I am currently on is not going to lead me to where I want to be, and I’m not sure what to do about it.
3. I saw Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen last week. While the movie’s not as bad as everyone on the internet says it is… it’s pah-RIT-ty bad.

Hmm… five “highs,” and each of them something I can sincerely feel proud of/grateful for. Meanwhile… only three “lows,” and one of them’s really a movie review, not an actual tragedy…

When the crap did I become a happy person?