Sweet Home Chicago

I've been a college graduate for a touch over a year.

I've lived in Chicago, IL, for a touch over 8 months.

I've worked at Baxter Healthcare in Round Lake, IL, for a touch over 6 months.

Here's a recap:

Job- I don't mind it. I've been going through complaints filed against a home peritoneal dialysis machine and other varied renal products to find what should and shouldn't be reportable to the FDA. Most of the others I work with are also recent college grads, and I've befriended 3 or 4 of them quite closely. I think we all bonded over a similar level of enjoyment in film, but the friendships have flourished from there. With them I've discovered many new favorite beers,restaurants, and burger joints (and if you ever go to Kuma's, you'll understand why it gets a separate mention as the best burger joint in the city of big shoulders...), but I've also learned that it's easier to do something you don't really enjoy doing if you're doing it with people you enjoy the company of. The toughest part of the last 6 months (aside from the GD weather in January and February that would drive ANYONE into depression) was a 4 week period during which I worked an average of 60 hours a week. It was pretty soul-crushing, but I made a great deal of money that will come in handy when I am inevitably a starving artist. The first project we were brought on for has come to a close, but another 6-10 month temporary project has been offered to most of us. I've chosen to take the 2nd position despite the continuing annoyance of the lengthy commute.

Improv- I started taking an 8-week beginner improv course at The Annoyance in March. The other students in the class had such varied backgrounds in improv that it made the scene work a challenge... which I actually liked. I got to learn a lot of new techniques, games, and concepts that I'd never thought about before (I've never really been schooled in improv before... I've only improved with people with more experience than I). I also got an opportunity to review a lot of simple ideas that I've worked with for years. Most of the people in the class (including myself, Jacob, and most of the people I enjoyed working with in the beginner class) have now signed up and taken 2 classes of the 2nd level at Annoyance. The more experienced members of the class have invited classmates to shows they've been a part of, and I've gone to a few. I'm excited to feel as though I am building a new community of artists. When I went to a night of stand-up by a group of all female comedians called The Kates, the member of my class that invited all of us to the show as she performs with them on occasion was SO excited that I (was the only one who) came. She also invited me to join a group of a few of The Kates called The Writer Girls. TWG meet every other week to share stories, bits, and insecurities to improve their comedy together. I went to my first meeting a few days ago, and I look forward to learning about writing for comedy in the same way I learned about improv. I went to an open mic with them... stand-up comedy makes me want to barf at how difficult it seems, but I'm willing to try it.

Fun Things- I've seen many plays, comedy shows, and sporting events in the last few months. I've attended 3 shows at The Second City, 2 at The Annoyance, 2 at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and 1 each at The Lookingglass Theatre, The Goodman, and Steppenwolf among a few others. They were all JUST incredible. The Lookingglass production of Peter Pan made me feel like a child in a wonderfully whimsical and incredibly creative way. Seeing The Second City's mainstage revue Southside of Heaven during its previews was a thrilling and laugh-filled experience. Seeing a touring production from Ireland by one of my favorite playwrights is something that I could do in very few cities... Chicago is one of them, and The Cripple of Inishmaan was remarkable. Martin McDonagh forever! The Goodman and Steppenwolf live up the their reputations, and I hope to see many more productions at both cites. On a less creative note, I've been to 2 games at Wrigley Field...... WRIGLEY FIELD. I sat 4 rows behind home plate at one game! I also went to an Atlanta Braves game at Miller Park in Milwaukee. The team I wanted to win lost all 3 times... BUT! I love baseball! And I had a great time at every game! And I've been trying to follow the Braves as well as I can outside the South. They're doing pretty well thus far. Especially Brian McCann. He's incredible.

That's pretty much my life right now. I can't believe how long I've been a college graduate. I can't believe how long I've lived here. But I'm ok with the progress I've made thus far, and I'm excited to see where it goes.

PS- Here are some things I'm obsessed with right now:

Marc Maron's WTFpod - interviews with comedians by a comedian. They talk about all of the great and horrible things about being comedians which are a lot of the same great and horrible things about life. Ken Jeong, Mike DeStefano, and Stephen Tobolowsky have had the most remarkable stories thus far, but my favorites Aziz Ansari, Conan O'Brien, and Patton Oswalt have (of course) been fun to listen to. Ladies are also fairly well represented in Kathleen Madigan and Maria Bamford.

Tina Fey's Bossypants - Don't ask questions. Read the damn book.

NBC's Parks and Recreation - Everything about it. The writing, the cast, the heart, the laughs... everything. Adam Scott.

The Hunger Games - I haven't finished the 3rd book in the trilogy yet because I stopped to read Bossypants. I'm following the movie-making progress, too. Thus far Jennifer Lawrence and Woody Harrelson are the best casting choices, but we'll see about the rest.

Bridesmaids, The United States of Tara, and The State also get honorable mentions. Seek out and watch all of them.

My hair's still red.

Though some changes have occurred over the past month (and change) without a post, that fact hasn't changed so you can stop wondering, Bob.

Where to begin. I think I'll go about this semi-chronologically, but it won't be exhaustive (I hope). Just some highlights of the past few weeks.

I had two unsuccessful interviews. The first was for a job I really could have seen myself in as the beverage company I would have worked for was quite small and the lab environment was very personal. It was also a pretty easy commute. Alas, no dice. The second was for a job that I couldn't really see myself in as the oil refinery research that I would have been doing involved a lot of complicated lab techniques, a less-than-attractive lab environment, and a complicated commute. Likability of the position notwithstanding, the two week process of applying for a job, landing an interview, and finding out it was unsuccessful is a very stressful, time-consuming, and disheartening process. Having to continue to respond to job postings and send out resumes is a tough thing to do after the wind has been taken out of your sails, but it's what I kept doing. After securing a third interview, I took a weekend break and flew down to Greenville for homecoming. I had told myself I wouldn't go if I hadn't gotten a job yet, but I knew I'd be miserable in Chitown that weekend if I didn't make the trip. I also found super cheap flights, so that sealed the deal.

Before I left, Jacob (my roommate and dear friend) asked me an important question while we were enjoying our delicious Taco Bell $5 boxes: Did I think that going to Greenville and spending the weekend with some of my best friends, my boyfriend, and my parents would make me really sad once I returned to Chicago and missed them all again? Or was it going to help me realize I'd made the right decision by moving and invigorate my job search? At that point I didn't know the answer, but I told him I knew I'd be miserable if I didn't go at all and had to take the risk of the former scenario being the case.

I cannot begin to describe the day I flew to Greenville. I overslept and missed the train that I should have taken to the airport. On my way to the airport on the next train, I had to call the airline to see what my options for another flight were. (The number for the airline wasn't on my ticket or my receipt... what the heck AirTran?) The kind people of AirTran told me I could fly standby on another flight that day for no extra charge. Excellent. Trip saved. After a very pleasant conversation with a man from Atlanta who helped me up after I fell on the train platform ("at least you had something to fall on!" referring to my... um... backside was a great icebreaker), I made it to the airport an hour before the flight. I figured that was plenty of time as I had no bags to check and already had a boarding pass. That was until it took 45 minutes to get through security... I ran to my gate and told them I was flying stand-by right before they closed the flight. They had to check my bag because there was no overhead space left, but I got to my seat to find it was in an exit row. I'll take free leg room thanks. By the time I'd stepped off the plane to be greeted by a Moe's (where I achieved my first meal of the day at one of the restaurants I miss the most from the South), I was almost in tears I was so happy. Poor Lindley (my wonderful transportation to Greenville from Atlanta) had to put up with not only my delayed arrival but also my excited and exhausted babbling. I had such a great time catching up with her and subsequently Laura who we called as we approached her house because she couldn't wait to be with us to talk to us. That night on campus was so overwhelming. The Friday night of homecoming means float-building and carnival on the Furman mall. I think I talked to at least 50 different people. Most of the conversations were about the same, but it was so good to see those people I really wanted to see. I felt bad for poor Bronson who had to listen to the same conversation a horrendous number of times. I liked when I got settled in one place for a while and got to legitimately catch up with a close friend or two, but I wearily welcomed the retreat to Downtown Greenville for a couple drinks with my former roommate, improv troupe member, and close friend Laura-Ann before retiring for the night. The next day brought tailgating with my parents, a crushing 4th quarter comeback against the Paladins, some evening college football with pizza and beers in a North Village apartment, and a couple of popular downtown spots for late night fun times. Saturday wasn't quite as overwhelming, but it certainly still had its fair share of the same status updates and quick run-ins. After Sunday brunch with my folks and some NFL watching with Bronson, I went to my old Furman Theatre stomping grounds to see a rehearsal for the upcoming show This Is How It Goes (by my favorite playwright, Neil LaBute). I only got to see the first act, but it was such an interesting window from the now-outside. The cast is quite small (two students and a new professor's spouse), and it just wasn't the bustling Furman Theatre activity I'd grown accustomed to by the end of my senior year. There were still some really nice moments and directions to be seen, and I was so glad I'd gotten a chance to see some portion of the production process. Monday meant a wonderful breakfast with the wonderful Simon before we participated in an exciting round of theatre darts. I say exciting because the game went to triple overtime... a very rare feat for that bunch. It would seem as though everyone has stepped up his/her dart game even though so many majors are abroad. After a slightly somber trip back to Atlanta and a much less eventful flight back to Chicago (I got to the airport with an hour and a half to spare, got through security in minutes, and my flight was delayed... figures), I felt invigorated as I rode the train back to my apartment. I had discovered the answer to Jacob's question: getting back to my Furman Theatre roots made me want to reach a successful end to my job search so that I could get back to doing what I loved.

Less than a week after I returned, I got a job. I went to a recruiter's office the day after I got back to fill out paperwork and get prepped for an interview, and the following day I went to a cattle call-esque interview at a pharmaceutical company. I felt great about the interview and wasn't all that surprised when I got the position (mostly based on the number of people they were taking on). The commute is a bit of a hike, but the pay is excellent. It's a 6-8 month temp position to start out with, but it may lead to something more long term. Even if it doesn't I'll be in better financial and professional shape after the job comes to a close. Needless to say, I am absolutely overjoyed that I have this first big step of being here out of the way. The security of it will help me be much more willing to find more opportunities in the city and the energy that goes into the job search can be put to use elsewhere.

Most of the rest of the last couple weeks have included a lot of movie-going, a bit of theatre-going, and of course more city exploring. I think I'll save some of those details for a separate post as this one has probably lost every one of its readers by now. Except maybe my mom. Hi Mom! I love you!

Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast

It's been a while... but I'm back. I never got around to blogging too much about the planning that went in to the move to Chicago (getting an apartment and applying for jobs without being in the city was not an easy task), but I have arrived! I've been living in Albany Park, a small neighborhood in the northern part of the city, for almost two weeks. Most of that time has been spent unpacking, getting over a cold, acquiring new apartment necessities (electricity, cable, internet, groceries, etc.), applying for jobs, and learning my way around the neighborhood. I now know where many things within walking (or biking) distance are located including:

a place to get $0.99 tacos

a grocery store (with lots of Hispanic products... a sign of the large Hispanic population of this neighborhood, but it's actually a pretty diverse area in general)

a library (ok... I haven't been there yet, but I know where it is)

a Target

a Walgreens

a bar called Pitchfork (where I watched the Bears beat the Cowboys last week)

and a Taco Bell (yes... 2 items in that list involve tacos... I'm ok with that).

That's not all-inclusive by any means, but it hits some highlights. I really like the apartment, my landlord has been nice, helpful, and Swiss (Seriously... she has a sweet accent and is a massage therapist), and the neighbors that I have met are so nice. On one side is a family with an unknown number of children, four cats that have their own house, and a big dog named Roxy, and on the other side there's a nice older couple named Harold and Carol. Talking to Harold has lead to conversations about the Bears, the inefficiency of the road crew that is resurfacing our street, and a wake he recently attended. The weather has either been on the warm side or absolutely perfect. I've arrived in Chicago just in time to enjoy the few weeks of Autumn. There's a huge park a five minute walk away from here that I should absolutely check out before the winter months. I've liked using public transportation so far (The L is so great. Very easy to navigate, fairly clean, timely, and affordable) and will more than likely be seeing a lot more of it when I get a job. I have my first interview Monday for a lab technician job, so many fingers are crossed on that front.

Thursday marked my first foray into big city theatre. Jacob got a job working front of house at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (!!!), and lucky me got to be his guest to see the first show of their season, Romeo and Juliet. I'm going to be honest and say that I was skeptical as R & J is not my favorite of Billy's works, and it's arguably one of the most overdone. But this was a complementary ticket to a very respected theatre, so consider me more than on board. The designs for the show were modern, urban, and violent and these concepts were mirrored in many of the director/actor choices. I wasn't sure how I'd like the Romeo + Juliet-esque set, but it was very well designed with a nice perspective aspect and extremely well utilized (it probably helped that there were no guns around and the set could easily be made appropriately less urban for many scenes). The plastic road construction saw horses that were on stage at the open of the show marked a physical line between the two houses, but they were quickly kicked down and used as weapons for a very effective and exciting opening fight scene in true Shakespearian style. While the violent choices made for some interesting interpretations of some characters and scenes (Mercutio was excellently acted but lost a bit of sympathy with his aggression... Lord Capulet became a very violent character who crumpled at the tragedy in the end... the balcony scene lost a bit of its sweetness in the way it was punctuated), some moments were just brilliant. The first meeting ("Let lips do as hands do") was absolutely breathtaking. The artists succeeded in the creation of the illusion that they really were meeting for the first time and that no one knew this story (complete with a teenaged female squeal from one of the balconies that only added to the wonder). Romeo gave a solid performance throughout (he reminded me of John Tate!), and Juliet really amped up her acting chops in the second act. The final scene was heartbreaking. I can't wait to see more productions at this theatre if they're on par with this one. (There's a Martin McDonagh play coming in March from the Druid Theatre in Ireland...)

I think that's a pretty good start, folks. I'm just kind of taking in the city one day at a time. More to come as it unfolds...

Another opening, another show...

I've done what I always fear I'll do: not keep up with something that I set out to. I've not updated at all regarding the journey of The Miser: Improvised. There were a couple of extenuating circumstances that occurred outside of the rehearsal process that became time consumers. I worked for the Furman chem department for 2 weeks which was nice as it's always good to actually have monetary income. I also managed to contract mononucleosis which was not nice as I felt at one point that I'd never be well again (& that was 4 days before the show opened. Boy... do I have great timing...) Even though I gave poor Murdock a director's nightmare, I managed to fight off mono with lots of sleep, off-brand Extra-strength Tylenol, and season 4 of The Wire all without missing a rehearsal (though I was admittedly a bit worthless during parts of a couple). With all of that aside, I hope I can catch everyone up to speed a bit on the course of the show.

Murdock did actually "cast" the show with each character in the show only being played by one person (with a couple of minor exceptions that happen because it's improv and we can do that kind of thing). Most members of the company are playing 1 or 2 characters. Because of the distribution of supporting characters throughout the show, I've been saddled with playing 3. Most of us are also playing bumbling servants with names we spontaneously made up (mine is Gobi and for some reason most of the rest of the cast really likes Gobi). The closest thing I can think of to compare the servant characters to is Pokemon because the only speech they use is their own names.

The bulk rehearsal process was a lot like that of a typical play. We put a lot of focus on developing the characters we were playing, but we also had to work each scene enough times to ensure that we were hitting all of the necessary plot points with the right pacing and rough blocking. The plot thing is a bit easier to manage in a scripted play, but with all of the dialog being improvised the scenes had to be tailored to include important information to the course of the show without letting the scenes drag on too long. With the exception of a few early additions, we incorporated most of the improvisational elements that include audience suggestions in the last week of rehearsal. The most prevalent elements are blind lines (random lines of dialog written on slips of paper by audience members before that show starts) and hesitations (by snapping his or her fingers any character can get a word from the audience to work into a line of dialog), but there are also impromptu songs, genres, stimuli and responses, accidents, and miming thrown in.

Last night was opening night. I was really excited to see how everything would come together. The suggestions were pretty solid across the board despite a little bit of hesitation in volunteering them, and a lot of new things happened. I felt good about a lot of what I did as my most significant character, Frosine. Laura-Ann was especially hysterical as her schizophrenic Master Jacques character. We played to a small but receptive house, and everyone I talked to seemed to really enjoy it. The people who'd seen plenty of Improv!able Cause short-form shows before really appreciated this new way of seeing a production with some old familiar ways of getting suggestions and such. While there are some very silly aspects of the show, I think most of the best comedy comes from the earnest characters that have been developed. I'd really like to see more people at performances for the rest of the run, but I'm really looking forward to it.

Chilling out, maxing, relaxing, all cool

So the summer has finally brought me something creative to work on. For the past 4 days I’ve been rehearsing in Greenville with a company that has been dubbed by its director, Murdock, The Molière Improv Project. That makes us sound really awesome… and with good reason. The company is comprised of past and present members of Improv!able Cause that span from the class of 2006 (Jeb) to the class of 2013 (Caroline). All of us signed on to this project without knowing exactly what to expect aside from the fact that we’re reworking Molière’s The Miser and that we’d be working with some great improvers (some of whom have improved together before and some of whom didn’t officially meet until the first day of rehearsal). The official title of the show is The Miser: Improvised. Word.

Thus far the rehearsals have been fairly focused on character development. Through a character circle exercise, we’ve taken 4 Miser characters from brainstormed traits to physical neutral stance to default gestures indicating things like surprise, love, and the formulation of an idea. One funny occurrence presented itself after we had created the character Harpagon. The members of the company were in a line standing in Harpagon’s neutral stance and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance with each member saying a few words at a time to get used to how he would speak. When we tried to think of something else we all knew to recite that wasn’t super repetitive (i.e. Row, Row, Row Your Boat or Mary Had a Little Lamb) or religious (i.e. The Lord’s Prayer or The Apostle’s Creed), we were pretty stumped. That is, until someone suggested the theme song to The Fresh Prince of Belair. Sure enough, we all knew the words. However, it was pretty difficult to be a 60+-year-old man with a hunched back, gnarled hands, and slightly bowed legs while saying the phrase “shooting some b-ball.” I just thought it was an interesting comment on our personalities and society that the only things we could come up with that we all knew were nursery rhymes, prayers, and Fresh Prince.

Last night we put the first scene on its feet. The idea is that we know the outline of what occurs in the established scene and the traits of the characters in it, but the dialog is fairly improvised. We started with one pair of performers, Caroline and Jacob, playing the young lovers Valère and Élise. They first did the scene in gibberish then replayed the scene with improvised lines. The result was very funny. There were some rough patches and things that didn’t get covered that will need to for the sake of the plot, but overall that first scene was very solid. It was very reassuring to see the idea for the project actually take shape and work well. Following the first pair, two other pairs did the same exercise, first Laura-Ann and I then Bryson and Brian. Every time the scene was played, new things were discovered, old bits were reworked, and everyone got big laughs from the rest of the company. After rehearsal, Murdock mentioned to Jacob and I that he was very impressed at everyone’s abilities to play each character especially regardless of gender and may keep each character interchangeable with some way of knowing who is playing which character at any given time.

At any rate, this new and different way of combining performing a play and improvising is beginning to take definite shape. I’m excited to see where it goes from here.

Pretend to be Normal

Today I revisited Little Miss Sunshine for about the 4th time in the last few years. I like this film more and more each time I watch it. I think that's the way a film should be. Like a fine wine. Or something like that...

Abigail Breslin as Olive Hoover is the most heart-of-gold character you could ever hope to meet in a story. The fact that she is surrounded by her family of never-ending faults only makes her shine that much more brightly as the audience watches the effect she inadvertently has on each of them. We hate Greg Kinnear as Olive's self-motivated father Richard (or Dick... that's got to be intentional), especially when he tells Olive that Miss America doesn't eat ice cream. Pretty much every matriarch in the world sympathizes with the always lovely Toni Collette as Olive's mother Sheryl. And then there's Paul Dano as Dwayne, Steve Carrell as Frank, and Alan Arkin in his Academy Award-winning turn as Grandpa. These three gentlemen round out the definition of dysfunctional for the Hooper family and we love to watch them every time they have to push that VW bus...

It never ceases to amaze me how absolutely heart-breaking Paul Dano's color blind scene is. I cried this time around. I think I have before, but this time it felt really heavy. Particularly soul-crushing. Maybe it's because before this viewing, I never felt like I had a dream worth working for like Dwayne. I couldn't get behind what it meant for him to have that realization. But I feel like I do now. I have an easily crushed dream that inspires me. Maybe not to the point of a vow of silence, but in different ways.

My other favorite scene of the film also involves Dano's Dwayne. His conversation with Carrell's Frank on the dock is worth every well-planned moment of their interactions throughout the film. It's easier to pull a line of dialog than to explain:

Dwayne: "You know what? Fuck beauty contests. Life is one fucking beauty contest after another. School, then college, then work... Fuck that. And fuck the Air Force Academy. If I want to fly, I'll find a way to fly. You do what you love, and fuck the rest."

Then their family makes royal asses of themselves in front of a shallow and judgmental group of people. And it is beautiful.

Make 'em Laugh

I graduated.

Yes. It happened. I wrote an awfully long thesis on macrocyclic ligands and barely passed my linear algebra class. But those were only the toughest aspects of the last month of my time at Furman academically. There were plenty of other hurdles that I leaped. The list of "lasts" seemed never-ending: From big things like my last performance on Furman Theatre's stage & my last show as a member of Improv!able Cause to every-student type things like my last day of class & my last exam to seemingly simple things like the last time I'll eat in the DH & the last time I'll check my on campus mail. I barely made it off of the stage before I began to cry after the last time I delivered my monologue "French Fries" during Talking With... The finality of it had really hit me. But what made it hit so hard?

I loved working with Furman Theatre. That company (and yes, especially my senior year, it was a company) was so much fun to work with. We made some great theatre and some not as great theatre, but I always had an amazing time and learned so much no matter what. I think the gravity of not being able to share my joy with other people in such a palpable, concrete, and consistant way was something that really hit me as I left the stage that night. I had grown to thrive on making people laugh and making people think. I must continue doing that. It is where my passion lies. I know that now thanks to Furman Theatre.

A little less than an hour after I walked across the stage to shake hands with Dr. Shi and recieve my diploma (after he told me he loved my red hair in an attempt to personalize what he said to each student) after bidding my family adieu until the next morning, I was jumping around in the football stadium saying ridiculous things in different voices that had the people around me laughing. I wasn't trying to be the comedic relief, but in my own state of not being able to fully comprehend and take in what had just occured I went into this inadvertent make-everyone-else-more-comfortable-because- they-don't-know-what-to-do-either mode. It continued through going back to my apartment for a toast and some snacks with my roommates and their families. At that point the parents were cracking up, too.

After a sad hiatus of saying some last goodbyes and experiencing my last night at Furman, the mood returned the next afternoon when I was moving out. I even wore a hard hat for the entirety of packing. At some point that afternoon, one of my best comedic partners and biggest fans, Patty (my roommate Jacqui's crazy mother), stopped me in our hallway to tell me she was about to get very philosophical.

"Do you see this joy we're sharing? You and I? This laugher? These jokes?" she asked.
"Sure I do, Patty. I love it."
"You have to keep doing this. You have to keep sharing this joy. You go up to Chicago or wherever and keep sharing this joy with people. Because some people don't have this. Give it to them."
"You got it. I'll do it."

No one had ever really put it to me like that before. I want to share my joy. I want to bring that relief to people. Despite some tears and struggle with being separated from my friends who I'd gotten so used to seeing every day, I have spent the last few days coping and cheering myself by watching TV comedies (Modern Family, SNL, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock etc.) It seems simple and silly, but that's what I want. Maybe not through a TV show, but somehow. I want to share my joy.