An Unemployed Jester (Nobody's Fool)

A friend of mine not only recorded last year's Pennsic performance of Whose Line, he posted it on YouTube. Yay!!

Basically, it is "Whose Line Is It Anyway" performed at our big SCA event. It really isn't medieval. Just fun theater improvisation performance.

So, go take a gander at:

www.youtube.com/view_play_list

There are ten clips total, and the whole show is around 90
minutes. The sound quality is actually very good.

The eight you see are the ones who did the best at the auditions we
had (starting with 30+ people).

There are a lot more audience members than visible in the video, of
course.

Please let me know what you think if you watch it!!

Last week while I was gone, the television died.

Hmm, a quick aside here. It seems that almost every time that I'm gone for more than a couple of days for work travel, something bad happens with the house. A major appliance breaks or the car falls apart or the cat throws up in 80% of the rooms. I will soon be gone for quite a while, and I really am afraid the roof is going to cave in or something.

Anyway, the television died. This is the new plasma one we got a bit over a year ago.

It is still broken, and of course not under warranty.

Here is what surprised and impressed me. My children and how they reacted to the television being broken.

They didn't. React that is.

No crying or tantrums or complaints.

Now my children, like their parents, watch a lot of television. Not nearly what most of America does (I think), but way more than most of my friends do. So I expect this to turn out badly.

But it didn't. They took it calmly, asked about what was wrong and how repairs work. They still play in the family room and do other thing. They also occasionally watch a show or two in the den, but not often. (This is just how Elaine and I reacted too...)

It was nice to see how that turned out. I'm considering "breaking" the television every so often in the future, just to how things are going.

I don't know what has happened, but all this week when I've done my pushups, twice a day, I've done 60 straight.

I've been doing sixty for quite a while, but usually 40 then 20, or 45 then 15, with a minute or two break in between before getting the final 15-20 out.

But now? While I still am really pushing it, I'm able to do it.

Maybe my friend Jason is right - it is all in my mind.

If you recall, I had to stop giving blood because I was diagnosed with slight anemia. A couple of months ago I got some blood work done, but didn't hear back from them or get anything in the mail.

So I called up my doctor's office, and the receptionist said the results were fine, but I had question. So they said they'd have a nurse call me back.

She left a message, told me that everything was fine. I still had questions.

But, I got a hold of her. She said, "Everything is fine. You are fine."

This was getting funny. But I got to ask to ask my question. "So, before I was slightly anemic. I stopped giving blood and I'm not taking iron pills three times a day. Can I now give blood and not take the iron?"

"Oh, no! Don't give blood and keep taking the iron. You are on the very low end of okay, so it wouldn't be safe to do those things. You should not change that until things improve a lot more!"

I'm really glad I asked my question!!

I'm in the market for a camcorder. I have budgeted a few hundred dollars for it, but wouldn't mind spending less. I'm looking for something easy to use, that can easily transfer the data from the camera to the computer and then to YouTube.

I want to use it to record cute things my children do, and also for recording my improv and fighting practices to aid in my training.

HD is not a requirement.

I don't think I want a camera that can also record video because I doubt you can record a half an hour worth of data.

Any suggestions?

So tonight Elaine and I went out to a Contra dance night at the Grange Hall. Mainly it was because a friend of ours was going to be one of the musicians.

He wasn't there. (Good reason - had a bad accident - he's fine - thanks for asking.)

But we still went, and had a very fun time.

All my SCA dance training really helped, and I had no problem with the dances. Elaine, of course, was much better. They encourage everyone to find new partners every time, so you get to meet people.

One thing that did amaze me though - they barely teach, or at least, they teach very quickly. They describe what to do, go through one walk through, and bam, you are dancing. Don't slow down. Good luck.

So people who think we don't teach enough in the SCA (and by people I mean those who are Barons and named Greg) don't realize how good we have it.

Anyway, twas fun, and something I'd like to do again.

It wasn't a conscious choice. I've just realize that I hardly have been posting here. This decline started way before my joining Facebook.

And I still come here to read other people's blogs. Buy writing my own? Not so much.

Early on I wrote quite a bit, and enjoyed it when more and more people friended me and read what I wrote. I liked sharing my life.

But lately I've had concerns. Unless it is utter fluff, what I write about will also be about someone (in either positive or negative ways), and that causes me to hesitate.

I don't really write about work - that is just far too dangerous for my job and future prospects. Just something that shouldn't be done.

I write less and less about improv. My troupe can easily find this, and it would be too easy to hurt feelings.

Same goes for family, SCA, children, Warcraft...

More so, I guess I just don't feel like it. Maybe the charm and allure is gone.

And sure, I could make lots of locks and filters, but that seems to besides the point.

I'm sure I'll still post here, and I do hope people will read. But don't worry about me. Things are fine. My focus is just ... elsewhere.

My cousin's wedding was this weekend. We thought it would be good to see the family again, and so we decided to make the trip to New York City for it.

The plan was this. I'd take Friday off. Wed drop the kids off at Camp Grandma. The flight leaves around 1:30 PM, so we'd get to NYC in plenty of time for the family dinner. The next day we'd hang out with friends of high school, finishing in plenty of time for the wedding. Sunday we would leave early for a 9 AM flight, getting home after picking up our children in time for a relaxing day.

( Things don't always go according to plan. )

My flight to San Diego was much more enjoyable because I now have your album on my iPod.

I just got from the my second sleep study. My first was back in October. Apparently if you don't call, they don't tell you the results.

I should have called.

My analysis from last time was wrong. Yes, I had 13 episodes. But that was per hour, not overall. And over five per hour is a problem, so it was significant.

Therefore, last night was to get me fitted for a c-pap machine. I don't know what c-pap stands for, and I don't think I want to. It is far more fun to consider what it could mean:
* Cervix pap smear machine
* Conical papal machine
* Cancer prevention and popsicle machine
* Cool papa machine
* Charles performance adaptive preventative machine...

Okay, that last one I don't want.

The nice nurses hooked me up again with electrodes and goo, and fitted the breathing mask over me. It took me forever to get to sleep (subjective = 1 hour, actual time = 12 minutes). I slept for two hours and then it took me even longer to sleep the second time (subjective = two hours, actual time = 20 minutes). I needed a different mask but that one was great. And they were right. After a bit that second time I kinda forgot I was wearing it.

The machine is actually quiet. Probably quieter than my snoring is/was.

I slept until six AM when they woke me up.

And get this: I only had two dreams last night.
And even better: I didn't remember any of them! YAY!

Oddly, it is almost 7 AM, and I'm wide awake. My eyes still feel a tad heavy, but I'm not sleepy.

The real proof will be after dinner. If I still feel like taking a nap, then nothing has changed. On the other hand, it can take anywhere from a day to a month on the machine to get the full effect.

I won't have my own machine until sometime next week. I honestly can't wait!

I'm just sayin'...

She has major clue. And deserves some cookie dough.

I'm just sayin...

So, if you want to see me perform improv, I suggest you come this Wednesday. GoComedy.net has the directions. It is in Ferndale, which may be very far way for some people.

However, don't come out just for me. I hear that Eye Candy (which is the best improv group in Michigan) will also be performing. So even if my group doesn't have a good night, you will still have a fantastic time.

Some come on out!!

I'm on Facebook now. If you know my real name, you can find me easily. If not, just tell me your name and I'll friend you. See you there!

A while ago one of my friends posted how to link LJ to facebook...detailed instructions.

Would that person mind pointing me to that journal entry please?

Thanks!

Very work safe.

My Mom has stated that I'm one of the luckiest people she knows.

I just read a very interesting article today about luck, survival, and attitude. It first starts with emergencies, and how people are divided into categories: survivors, unavoidable fatalities (people who never had a chance), and victims who should have lived but died unnecessarily.

Those first and third categories could be considered to be defined by luck, but it isn't.

They mention this website: www.opportunityisnowhere.com.

Your attitude and behavior determine nine tenths of what happens in your life, and they give four interesting reasons. Note that "lucky people" is short for "those who others perceive as having good luck."

1. Lucky people frequently happen upon chance opportunities. Being in the right place at the right time is more about being in the right state of mind. These people spot and seize upon openings that other people miss.

2. Lucky people listen to their hunches and make good decisions without really knowing why, generally trusting the right people.

3. Lucky people persevere in the face of failure and have an uncanny knack for making their wishes come true. They are convinced that life's most unpredictable events will consistently work out for them. Bright and rosy is their world, while for unlucky people it is bleak and dark. When given an impossible puzzle, 60% of the unlucky people thought that it was impossible to solve, while only 30% of the lucky thought that. As in many areas of their lives, the unlucky people gave up before they even started.

4. Lucky people have a special ability to turn bad luck into good fortune. This is probably the most important one. Life's best survivors not only cope well, but often turn potential disaster into a lucky development.

It is all about attitude. And if you are reading this and saying, "But bad things always happen to me, it is out of my control," well, that is the point the article is making. Food for thought.

And that website I mentioned above? Many people see it as the words "opportunity is nowhere." But others see it as "opportunity is now here."

Lucky people don't expect to find certain opportunities, but instead notice them when they come across them.

What did you see?

[Most of the above is from February 2, 2009 article, "What It Takes To Survive" by Ben Sherwood.]

There are 32 million operations (surgery) per year in the U.S.

There are 70,000 surgeons in the U.S.

Hmmm, okay, I guess that is 50 surgeries a year per doctor. One a week. On second thought, my original reaction was right - that is freakishly intense.

(Edit...thanks Turnberry!)

I just checked my math: it comes out to 457 (approx 500) surgeries per year.

Gack!!

(end Edit)

We were told that malpractice insurance costs $160,000 per person per year.

Yikes!

(Note that if they have simulation training, they get a 10% discount. Of course, that is $16k, which is a huge discount...)

I have to admit it. I think I will go out of my way to see this.

Wonder Woman Official Trailer

Happy birthday parslaanna!