Traveling?

Traveling is something, like a lot of people, that I want to do more of. Vince and I have been making some vague plans to take a road trip to California in August. I think there's actually a good chance it'll happen. That'd be awesome. I guess part of me wants to have that Jack Kerouac lifestyle of traveling, very little responsibility, and being my own boss. That sounds pretty good.

Oh and I get to see two of my friends get married this week! I think it'll be a good time. I can't wait.

Omaha

First off, I want to thank Ashley for the being (at this moment) the only person to ever comment on this blog. Thank you.

Last Saturday I went to Omaha with the band. I brought along my Holga camera I got for Christmas 2007 that I had never used. I'm excited to see how the pictures turn out.

We walked around the downtown area, which was beautiful. We wasted time in a record store where we got some free posters, and Brook bought a record based on how cool the cover was (that's not a bad idea). We ate at a cafe that I can't remember the name of, but it was nice.

At our show, one of my new friends, Kalee, came out. I met her exactly a year before when we played in Lincoln, Nebraska at Box Awesome. That's one of the best parts of playing these out of town shows: meeting new people and hopefully getting to see them again sometime. That was only the second time I've seen her, April 11th, 2008 and April 11th, 2009. I think we should try to keep that up. Meet on April 11 every year.

Pot Lucks

It's weird that in the last entry I mentioned imagining my life full of pot luck dinners, because the day after I wrote that, as I was coming home from recording, Aaron called and told me Kush was having a pot luck at his place, so I went to that. It was a great time. So good seeing all those people: Leah, Dustin, Sheena, Lindsay, Kush, BJ, and more. I've noticed at parties I tend to stand in corners and this was no exception. A couple times I nearly got crushed when someone would open the side door and I had to shrink into the corner to avoid getting hit.

After this some of us went to Chateau. I drank a whiskey and Sprite and sat on a wobbly chair that made me feel like I had drank too much, even though I knew that wasn't true. In the bathroom as I reluctantly listened to the conversations, I was reminded that a lot of guys aren't very smart. And then some of us danced to the pretty bad music selection, but it didn't matter - we had fun. And it was Beau's birthday and he showed up later to celebrate some after plowing snow on Kansas roads for 12 hours.

That was a good day.

Wine

Bridey had a pot luck at her house on Sunday. That was fun. A lot of people made things. I just brought a bottle of wine and added it to the collection on the counter. In typical fashion, I bought the cheapest bottle I could find (about $6). It tasted okay.

I like the idea of pot lucks on Sunday nights. That seems classy. I always have fantasies where my life consists of things like that, where I'm working on my writing during the day, going to dinner with friends at night, followed by drinking in a dark room with loud music, and then driving home probably too fast, while listening to the Flaming Lips. And then I realize I'm having these fantasies while I'm slouching in my chair watching yet another hour's worth of The Simpsons, drinking Dr. Pepper and eating ice cream.

So, is this adulthood?

When I was younger I used to scoff at my older sister when she'd talk about going on a diet. "Why do girls care so much about gaining a pound? They're so lame." But then she started pointing out I too freak out if I gain a pound or two. Maybe this is because I've been pretty skinny my whole life, and the women in my family have always pointed at me and said, "Oh it'll catch up to you. You just watch!" So I've wanted to prove them wrong.

But my new job makes it hard as hell to eat right. My boss is extremely generous and buys the office food almost everyday. We also keep a stockpile of candy (Snickers, M&Ms, Reeses, and more) in the back. Plus I work with several middle-aged women who gladly bring in containers full of cookies or cake on a weekly basis.

Last week was particularly difficult. My boss bought the office McDonalds breakfast three days. I joined in two of the days, but was able to hold off on Friday. Then he bought us all Taco Bell on Tuesday. On Thursday there was some leftover pizza and he said, "C'mon Chris, take this pizza." On Friday, there was more pizza! Luckily I was able to turn this down and bypass the peer pressure. And then Aaron's car has been in the shop so I've been giving him rides and he's repaid me in food, so Tuesday night was Chipotle and Thursday was Panera. And let's not forget the leftover pizza and breadsticks my sister and her husband gave me this week. And if that's not enough, I got Burger King last night, somehow expecting a different outcome than my usual, "Oh my God, this is disgusting." Nope, did not happen.

So maybe the women in my family will win out soon enough. I'm counting down the days until I quickly gain 50 pounds and the situps I scramble to do after getting fast food won't save me.

Maybe I'm becoming like this video I made with Vince two and a half years ago. It shows my versatility as an actor as I play one character whose accent changes almost every scene: