Insight to Me

I was thinking about this blog a little bit while I was at work (since apparently a restaurant downtown on one of the busiest shopping days gets NO business) and I was realizing a few things.  All of which, as I think about it more, gives insight to me as a person.  First of all, I use ellipses a lot.  I have tried to use them not as much on here, but it is something I like to use.  I think I use it to show when I am thinking or take a break from typing.  I like reading this as though it is a conversation...as if I was reading it aloud and you could see the parts where I stop to think and then carry on.  

The second thing I notice (and this one I do do in the blog quite frequently) is that I use parenthesis.  Have you read Stephen Colbert's "I Am America...and So Can You"?  I use the parenthesis in the same way he uses footnotes and sidebar notes.  As I type, I think about what I'm saying and if I want to make a comment about it or explain it further, I use the parenthesis.  I like parenthesis.  Another tool I use to allow you further into my brain.

The last thing I think about a lot when I think of this blog is the fact that no one really knows about it.  It is a very strange concept to me.  I have told my girlfriend about it, but don't think she has read it yet.  Chelsea reads it (I think...) but I have actually not even told anyone else.  I almost said something, but decided against it.  Not that I don't want people to know, but there is something beautiful about writing my feelings and thoughts of my world and publishing them for the anyone and everyone to see, while at the same time those who are closest have no idea it's even happening.  There's something about that I like.  One day, I will tell more people.  Right now, though, this is for me.

Today while I was waiting for the train I told Haley (my amazing girlfriend who I'm sure I will talk about in a future blog one day) that I decided I was going to write in my blog more...that I found it very therapeutic.  She asked me what the name of it was, and when I told her "my cozy apartment" she asked why I had named it that.  Just as I mentioned in the last entry, it was as if the name had always been there but it was for me to discover.  When I first moved to Chicago, I felt very uncomfortable.  Work, big city, trains, bars open til 4 am...nothing felt like home.  Except one place.  My extremely small room.  Barely big enough to fit my bed.  The most common reaction when people walk in:  "Wow.  This is small."  It's not much, but there is a feeling I get when I am lying under the covers, leaning against the wall, looking at the albums of Monty Python, Steve Martin, Gilda Radner, and Bill Cosby hanging on the wall.  The countless cds, books and movies on the shelves hanging on the wall.  The two large windows on the opposite side of the room.  The guitar and mandolin on the wall.  The sound of the red line going by every 15 to 30 minutes.  That feeling: cozy.  I feel comfortable, I feel at home.  It was (and I use was, because I really do love living here) the only place I could be safe and comfortable.  Like this blog, it is something that holds a very special place in my heart, yet none (or very few) of the people who mean most to me in my life have seen it, or know of its importance.  And since "my comfortable bedroom" sounds...eh...not very good...I decided "my cozy apartment" had a better ring to it.  Hope you agree (or don't...I'm not changing it).

From my cozy apartment,

CB

Go. Do. Now.

The title of this entry or post or whatever is called is something that means a great deal to me.  It was a message from an improviser in Chicago named Jake Schneider.  It was his advice to me after I got the opportunity to improvise with him, pretty much saying I need to go out and do as much as I can.  I think about this a lot, and think it is a great saying to apply to everything I do.  I feel like when I first moved here I had it in my head that I would eventually move back.  As I have taken classes and met some great people, I have realized that improv is what I am here for; it is what I want to do (did i use that semi-colon correctly?  I was never sure).  

I had a discussion with a longtime friend of mine named Lauren who also moved out here recently.  She is not, what she calls, a "theatre kid" and does not always understand why there are guys in their 50s who have been performing improv for 20 something years.  *DISCLAIMER, in case Lauren ever reads this, I know she was just trying to get under my skin, a beautiful privilege of life long friends.  What Lauren was saying was not all completely her belief, but it did make me defend what I am doing, which I appreciate*  She said people who do this are trying to work themselves up to be rich and famous.  It is hard to argue this, because often the result of a great performer is being rich and famous.  But that is not the motive.  A high school teacher of mine once said, "If you want to be famous, move to LA and get a show on the WB.  If you want to be an actor, study from the best."  I think, rather know, that's why I'm here.  I'm in the heart of the premier place for improv.  For that, I am eternally grateful.  

If you would have told me a year ago that a year from now (rather then...you get it) I would be taking classes in one session with the woman who founded iO, the next with a Sonic commercial girl (sorry if you ever read this Katie, but that's how I knew you a year ago) and getting a drink with a man who can tell you what it was like the day when John Belushi died, I would of laughed and said, "Uh-huh." (not very climatic...sorry)  I feel bad that I'm rambling, but what I am trying to say is that in my improv life I have read and been taught all these great lessons that I feel like I never had heard but have always known.  That they've always been there, I just needed someone to put them into words.  It was Michelangelo (not the turtle) who said, "Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."  That is how I feel about these lessons, just like Shneider's, "Go.  Do.  Now."  It is something in all of us.  I recommend you find it within yourself.  It makes life exciting.

Things I love that lead to other things:  

1) I love coffee.  Since I am in Chicago, there is only Starbucks.  Local coffee shops do not exist, or I am yet to find one.  This leads me to...

2) Starbucks' pick of the week.  A free download of a song of their choosing off iTunes.  This is great, because I love new music.  Speaking of iTunes...

3) have you tried the Genius playlist on your iTunes?  It's relatively new, and finds similar songs of the one you're listening to and creates a whole playlist based on music you have.  It's a great way to listen to music on your computer.

From my cozy apartment,

CB

Fast Forward 2 months later...

Hello all,

I realize that not many people read this, but I think that is fine.  I feel like I need to be writing down what is going on in my life, so that I can one day go back and read how I started in this beautiful city.  I have just finished my level one class at iO and LOVED IT!  I realized very quickly this is what I want to do in life.  Improv is such an amazing tool for me in my life, and it has brought me to meet some pretty amazing people with whom I hope I become lifelong friends with.  

I get to go home this Tuesday!  I am so excited about this.  I haven't been home in a long time, and I really miss everyone.  It'll be nice to get away from 18 degree days for a bit.  

It's 4:22 am and I am going to keep this one short because, well, it's 4:22 am.  However, I will be back, and I will be rested and have more details.  I will leave you with no song, instead a podcast.  This is by a performer at iO named Seth Weitberg.  The podcast is called The Chicago Sessions and I believe the website is www.thechicagosessions.com.  Very good podcast interviewing performers of improv in Chicago and their takes on various things.  2 shows a week, one interview and one improvised set.  GENIUS!  Thanks Seth (if you ever read this).

From my cozy apartment,

CB