From Turkey to Tofurkey

It was a hell of a nice, low key Thanksgiving. Tiff and I were heading to Ohio for the big day till I found out The Girl had me scheduled to double on Wed and Fri. Not even Megabus could help me there. Tiff and Laurel chatted and decided on a vegetarian feast at our place. I was told a couple days later. The irony of our place hosting a vegetarian Thanksgiving is that this is the home our friends unveiled the deep fryer for the big meal.

The added bonus to being here was that I could do another 8K run. Laurel had already signed up and I was thrilled to do so as well. The run was good, but not as much fun as the PAWS run in Sept. There were 6000 people there and the race folks seemed as annoyed as a checker at Jewel that morning. The run itself was super fun, just too crowded. I am hoping the Rudolph Ramble next month may be more sparse. It was also a relief to see my new cold weather gear worked out. I am weighing the benefits of the all-natural New Zealand wool, Merino, over UnderArmor. It's natural versus synthetic. I tried a combo of both on this one, but have to say the natural stuff was much better than expected.

For technical purposes, I went with an UnderArmor base shirt, jacket, and shorts. I used IceBreaker for the leggings, cap, and socks. Much thanks to the ever helpful staff at Uncle Dans. I appreciate that they never just laugh when I ask stupid questions. At some point soon I may fenture into an actual running store. I am starting to feel like an actual runner though. Not bad for a guy that used to smoke a pack and a half a day since I was 16. It's been a lot of fun so far.

Back at the house we faced an unexpected problem. Our "turkey" needed to thaw overnight or it would require 3hrs to cook. That was significantly longer than we expected. None the less, the feast came together. Laurel brought a scruptous pie and salad and we ate well. A point of interest though for those thinking of trying the Tofurkey: It's denser than turkey. I tried to eat my regular amount of "turkey" and it immobilized me. I am not kidding when I say I sat through 3 and half Harry Potter movies without being able to do much.

Lastly by request here is a better picture of the ring. Much thanks to all the congrats! We have been very moved!

She said Yes!

So I have made some effort to get calls out to as many people as I can to tell them first hand, but felt it was time to make the announcement via Captain Stupie. On November 17th, I asked Tiffany to marry me. As the title would suggest, it went well. I had surprised her with a tip to Vegas for her birthday. We stayed at the MGM Grand and had a tremendously relaxing day with room service, shopping, and even splurged on a trip to the hotel gym.

Tiff had selected one of the restaurants at the hotel for dinner, FiAMMA Trattoria. I had every aspect of this trip worked out so as to be as prepared as was possible. That included reservations at 2 different places that night. Sadly, FiAMMA was not one of them. I scrambled after she told me and told the host we would like a really great table and why. As a wonderful coincidence though, this was the restaurant Adam and Jenn had their rehearsal dinner before being married at MGM 4yrs ago. Good mojo there!

We went up to the room to get ready. For her birthday I had given her 2 new dresses she had admired. While Tiff got dressed I threw on an oxford and jeans and drank coffee watching TV. When it was close to time for us to leave, I changed into the new 3 piece suite I bought for the night. That got just the reaction I had hoped for.

We arrived at the restaurant at 8 and did indeed get a great table. After our order was placed I told Tiff I had one one gift for her and pulled out the little wrapped box. Tiffany & Co had wrapped it in their signature paper and ribbon and gave me a hell of a delema. I had always wanted to present the ring in an open box. However, the presentation of the Tiffany & Co. could not be denied either. I let her unwrap it and the said I needed to see the box again before she opened it. Puzzled, Tiff handed the ring box back to me and I slid out of the booth. I got on my knee and asked her if she would marry me.

She said yes.

I don't get tired of saying that either! I had thought I would use my usual cleverness to say something wonderful, funny, or charming but as it turns out I was only able to say the important part. The staff was all lined up behind Tiff watching as well, giving me an audience I had not expected.

It was one of the most amazing nights of my life. I am a grateful and lucky man!

Uncharted Turf

I am now 5 months smoke free. Well, 5 months and three days to be exact. That is now 3 days over the last effort. Just wanted to drop an update as I heard that the most suspicious behavior is silence where it comes to smoking. I won't lie, as of late there has been a hell of a craving. I am trying to run it out of me.

Back in Class

As result of a discussion with Tiff a couple weeks ago, I went and signed up for a class. I have long heard that taking a Miesner class would help me a ton. I decided the time was now and went and signed up for one at Act One Studios. That simple act has caused all sorts of fun second guessing.

What had long held me back from taking a class was the belief that the gut was the best tool for stage work. A couple years ago though, it occurred to me that denying myself further training to stay out of my head fell into the same logic as not doing design work (ie staying a barista and poor) so as I would stay hungry, literally, for acting work. I now believe that to truly trust the gut, knowledge can be either helpful or hindering, but not in and of itself harmful. This may all seem simple enough, but it took me a while to put it together.

Class was fun though. I am to understand the first steps in Meisner technique involve observations and repetitions. Basically we sat across from partners and told them what we saw and repeat what we heard. I enjoyed it a lot. The two things I found out was that I am not intimidated to tell people what I see nor bashful about hearing what they see. The second was that consistantly I heard that I looked confidant. That surprised me some. Actually, hearing I looked like Flea really surprised me.

I love what I want to do. Being in front of people, entertaining... that is still the only thing I want to do.

Historic Night in Grant Park

After getting up at 5:30am to get out and vote, tonight's celebration in Grant Park was a surreal and wonderful moment of history to enjoy. Many thanks to Dorrie for setting up the rendevoux at Rock Bottom and many, many thanks to Christa for letting me be her "plus 1." tonight to the only show in town. There was such an amazing cross section of every walk of life in the park tonight. It was a moment beyond words. That and I just got home and am too tired to think of many.