I should really invest in a helmet

So I had yet another wonderful head injury while at practice for something in the theatre department. Something about my head and theatre just don't mix. I've hit my head during all three of my solo mime skits at some level of competition because I get really physical, I've run into stuff doing tech stuff while up on the cat walks and failing to notice where they put the new water pipes in, then there's the famous golf club incident, and there are probably a few others that I'm forgetting at the moment. Well, I can now ad an improv head injury to the list.

Sunday night I was at PBR practice and we were playing 185, but they call it 186 for some weird reason (Sorry Joe and Darin, I've always done it as 185) and I was jumping out to say something. The place in which we practice has tile floor, and before PBR got to practice, there was another group down there and somehow they had gotten parts of the floor wet. Well, so I jumped out onto the balls of my feet and the next thing I knew I was on my back and had smashed my head into the ground. I think this was worst head smash by far. It all happened in a split second, and when I sat up I saw blue stars. I also recently dyed my hair blue, I wonder if there was a correlation between my hair color and the color of the stars. Luckily, it was nearing the end of practice, so I just sat down at watched the last few minutes of 185 and worlds worst after everyone was doing asking if I was okay.

After practice, I noticed that my vision was going in and out of focus, so my friends walked me to the hospital and had my checked out by a doctor just in case. After about an hour of sitting, my vision became clear again and I was examined by the doctor. He told me that I was just going to have a very large goose egg, and some nasty headaches to deal with the next day, and to come back only if things got worse.

So two of the members from PBR take me home and stay with me until I fall asleep. The next day is filled with splitting agonizing headaches, but overall I'm fine. I stayed home Monday and Tuesday except for my last class today. My friend Darin stayed with me most of Monday to make sure I didn't injure myself further. Which needless to say, I managed to bang my head at least 2 or 3 more times. I'm still sore, and my neck is tense, but I think I'll pull through. I really think that I should get a helmet, or switch to a business major....NO! See you all in 2 weeks!

~Until Then

I officially feel like a college kid

That's right. I do feel like I belong here now. Last night, and I guess early this morning, I finally did the last thing on my list t (not that I actually had a list) that now allows me to feel at home here. Last night I went to The Mill (it's the bar/restaurant where all the theatre kids go to hang out and also has a really cruddy dance floor in front of a raised stage) to listen to a band that two members of PBR are in. Kevin, is the leader of the band doing vocal and guitar, and Mike plays the wash board. That's right, the fucking washboard with a couple of spoons. The Mill hosts this music fest every Tuesday night and three bands play and it takes about 3 hours, somehow, I don't know how though but it did. The bathrooms in The Mill are a step above a porta potty. One of them didn't even exist, it was just a hole in the ground. Also the only working faucet out of three sinks was the cold faucet. About half of PBR was there to support Kevin and his band Broken Spokes which consists of 2 other guitarists (one does back up vocals), Kevin, Mike, a girl who plays the fiddle, and a guy who plays this. It rocked. My friends Paul, Darin, David, and myself got up to dance in the "mosh pit." They played a few covers including "Drunken Lullabies" by Flogging Molly and some others that I didn't recognize. They also had some of their own songs, with a notable favorite "Drinkin' Whiskey and Pissin' Beer." I walked home hoarse and on such an energy high.

So I've...
Slowly become a night owl, and hating myself for having an 8:30 class five days a week
Stayed up talking with another person for three hours about absolutely nothing
Found a drama family
Gone on a road trip with nothing but my toothbrush
Had cold pizza for breakfast for more than 3 days
Questioned the milk, then drank it anyways
Walked to my dorm barefoot
Taken a nap on Pentacrest
Skipped class to sleep in
Hung out and people watched
Gone to a bar concert
Hit up 4 or more coffee houses in one day
Taken multiple naps per day
Crammed onto the bus system with about 100 other people
Gotten lost on the West side of campus
Cursed under my breath while walking into the wind because it's so f'ing cold


~Until Then

I feel all grungy, I love it!

This weekend my improv troupe went to the great world of Chicago for a night. We managed to see some free long form at the I.O last night. That's right, we've got the insider connections. It was a lot of fun to really see the base of long form improv and watch people who do what a lot of us want to do, perform improv for a living. There are 13 of us in the troupe, and we also met up with 3 former PBR members. I had forgotten how beautiful Chicago was, and I only wish that I was able to spend more time. We didn't get into Chicago until maybe 4 on Saturday and then left around 12ish. So a short trip, but full of bonding. To save expenses we stayed at one of the former member's apartment... a one bedroom one bathroom apartment. The current 13 members all stayed on the floor in the living room, lets just say we bonded in more ways that one can think. We got up the next morning, ate left over chicago style pizza, cupcakes, and beer for some of us. No one showered, a few of us (inclucding myself) didn't even change clothes while we were there. We left cramed into 3 cars and drove back.

It's hard to believe that I found a home here at Iowa City. I'm going to be working with these awesome people for the next 4 years. Just hanging out with them and playing I've never, truth and dare, and just talking was a blast. As much as I love these guys, I love showering and my own bed with no one else in a 5 foot diameter of me a little more.

~Until Then

Look out

Indianola: 2 near death experiences in 3 hours

#1 I went down to Indianola to see my grandparents. My mother asked if I would drive since her car was full of equipment. On my way down, I was driving on 65/69 and I was about 40 or so feet behind a truck hauling farm materials. We go to drive up a hill when the something flies out of the back of the truck. It's a giant metal bin and lands in front of my about 20 feet away. There's a car behind me and a motorcycle to the left of me. I have no choice to swerve. Luckily I managed to keep control of my jeep and not hit anyone, but not even on ice have I ever swerved that badly before.

#2 We were pulling out of gas station in Indianola, and I stopped my car at the drive entrance and got out of my car because I saw that I had left my gas cap off. I get back in my car and proceed to pull out. Out of nowhere comes this girl on a bike and I hit her with the front bumper of my car. Not hard enough to knock her over, but strong enough to maker her stop and restart her bike ride. I freaked out and got out of my car and yelled if she was okay, but she kept on biking away. It was a good thing I was only just starting to move, it could have been so much worse. But what can I do if she didn't stop?

I don't want to go back to Iowa City.

~Until Then

Video Post??

Wow, I look away alot. Hmmm. Sweet. Maybe next time I'll do something creative.

~Until Then

An experiment

I decided that I would try to become a vegetarian for at least 30 days. I've always heard that the first month of vegetarianism is the most difficult. With all of the options that they serve at our dining halls, I figured that it would be fairly easy. It was. As the month progressed, I slowly became more and more sick of the food. My original thought that I would be able to maintain it because there were options, but those options really turned our to be pasta with marina sauce and grilled cheese. I began to miss real food, but I was determined to make it. I did, but I don't think I could be a vegetarian here because I can't make my own food because I'm bound to meal plans. I can't go out everyday and have a wide variety of food choices. I'm proud of myself for doing it, and I think that I'm going to only eat very limited meat choices here. Because some of the things that they have out are really gross looking and I've observed that 90 percent of our food here is frozen before they cook it. It was a fun experiment.

My performances were this weekend, and it went well. I played a production manager for a film. It was the first time I really felt connected to my character, and because of that, I was able to really devote myself to my character. My family came up, it was nice to see them all. The weekend went by in a flurry, but I enjoyed it. Now I have all this down time. That's why I love theatre. You work and work to no end for a week, and then as soon as the production is done, you have all this awesome free time and don't know what to do with it. I audition next week for the castings of the spring shows. I won't have any other performances this semester unless I get cast in a community theatre show, so I can devote myself to my improv troupe.

On a more personal note, I am single for the first time in 2 1/2 years. Nick came up this weekend and we had a mutual agreement that it wasn't working out. My priorities have been reshuffled and he's not on top of the stack. He realized that maybe we were going to same destination, but how we each got there was very different. We're still friends, legitimately. I care about him, but I care more about him being happy.

I bought myself an iPod touch today. I'm very excited to have it. It's sort of a pick me up, congrats on doing a show, and doing well in college present type thing. It's all shiny. I'm coming back this weekend, so if you're in town, give me a buzz.

~Until then