And then I cried for like 15 minutes...

My most recent stand up video:



The crowd was small, and I'm not sure I made the best possible wardrobe decisions, but overall I'm happy with my performance. I'll keep working on it.

Pandora

I really love the covers of pop songs that Johnny Cash did late in his career (U2, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, etc).

I know it's probably sort of wrong to say this, but I really wish he'd lived long enough to do a cover of Poker Face.

***

My show last Monday was so much fun. I'm going to post a recap soon. I'm doing the same set tonight (and videotaping it) - I should have the video up next week.

***

I performed at my first open mic last week. It was way less scary than I imagined. Well, except that I did a joke about green dye being toxic, and there was a guy in the front row who had tattooed his entire body (including his face and scalp) green. But whatever. Irony is funny, right?

***

One more weekend of job #2, then ACL weekend (and a house-full of house-guests), and I'll finally (FINALLY!) have a weekend off again. I'm so excited.

Scatterbrained

I'm performing stand up tonight. This time, instead of performing at a show for beginners, I'm performing at an all-female show. I'm so nervous.

***

NPR was playing Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry when I was getting ready for work this morning. Um, thanks NPR. That's exactly the type of music I wanted to have running through my head all day. I turn on NPR every morning hoping to get crappy pop songs stuck in my head.

***

My mom told me my sister's family spent yesterday at my nephew's soccer game. They actually went out to the lake to play on jet skis. I'm not entirely sure why my mom lied; it disturbs me that she thinks I would care at all, yet I also find it hilarious.

***

Achilles has most of this week off work for no real reason. I'm so jealous.

***

My weekend was too short.

Book clubs... and that's about it

I joined a book club at my new job.

And... Sadly, that's about the most exciting thing that has happened in my life lately. I know it sounds terrible (and terribly boring) to say that I've been too busy to do anything interesting lately, but it's the truth.

***

Yesterday I was walking through a building on campus when a news reporter from a local radio station stopped me.

"You just look so nice," she said. "Would you mind giving me a quote for a story I'm doing about a local business that's closing?"

I talked to her a while about the business, but couldn't help but wonder, What did she mean about me "looking nice"? Was she trying to tell me I have a face for radio?

***

One of my new coworkers asked me if I had religious reasons for wearing skirts and dresses all the time.

"Nope," I said. "It's just that the heat index is 110 degrees right now, and I can't stand the thought of ironing pants, let alone wearing them all day. If I were a guy, I'd probably wear a kilt."

Ask me a personal question, you'll get an honest answer.

***

I may be performing stand up again sooner than I'd intended. I was volunteered for a weekly open mic night, signed up for a performance that's happening in about a month, and added to a list of potential comics for an all-female show. I'm not sure I have enough material for any of this, let alone the cajones. But we'll see.

Part the deux

So I performed stand up for the second time last week. I think I did a little better the first time, but I still had fun. At any rate, here's the video of my performance:



I plan to address the whole "Why the heck did you even decide to try this?" issue in an upcoming post. If there's anything else you're curious about, feel free to ask me questions in the comments and I'll try to answer those questions in the same post.

I did it (again)

My second stand up performance went OK. The crowd was older and smaller, but I still got some laughs. My friends and family assure me that I did fine. (I'm sure they're not biased at all.) I'll get the video in about a week - I'll post it so that you guys can judge for yourselves.

I'm not sure what my next step will be. I could check out an open mike or something, but they all seem so intimidating and male. I will probably try to get my job and life situations straightened out before I really decide on anything.

In other news, Achilles and I started training for a half marathon on Sunday. Wish us luck!

Nerves

OMG INTERNETS!!!

I'm performing stand up again in less than 12 hours. I'm so much more nervous this time than last time. I guess that's the price I have to pay for not scheduling a wedding a few days before this performance to keep my mind occupied.



My department manager took me out for coffee this morning to discuss a potential job. Hopefully the caffeine and adrenaline currently coursing through my veins as a result of that meeting will dissipate before tonight.

I'll let you know how it goes, and (barring disaster) post the video in a week or so.

Biting the bullets

Yes, it is that time again. I have let myself get so discombobulated (love that word) through lack of blog posting that my only hope for ever moving forward is to attempt to re-combobulate myself through the use of bullet points and bad pun blog titles.

This is the current status of various aspects of my life:

• Job situation - If you are annoying even yourself with your self-absorption, chances are, you're probably beginning to alienate some of your readers. At any rate, I don't want to turn this into an unemployment blog, so after this update, I'm going to put a lid on this subject for a while. Since my last post, I took a test to see if I qualify for a teaching program, interviewed for a job, and signed up for a mandatory "transitions workshop" for the group of people who were laid off by my employer. The test went pretty well (I think). I thought the interview went badly. It reminded me of getting dressed up for a date with a guy that you're not that interested in, and then getting rejected because the guy is still hung up on his ex-girlfriend. (Oddly, that made me more interested in the job than I initially thought I was. Old habits?) I am sure the transitions workshop will be magical.
• Achilles - He is still nice. I don't know why he puts up with me. Perhaps it is because I don't complain when he heads to the video store to pick up a movie we both agreed on and instead returns with something he thinks we might like better. (I sent him this article and went upstairs to reread my Anastasia books.)
  
• Stand up - I'm performing again on July 11th. Email me if you'll be in the Austin area and would like tickets.
  
• Hurricane Alex - I am normally not a fan of hurricanes, but I am enjoying the rain and cooler weather Alex has brought to Austin. I hope this doesn't cause too much trouble in the Gulf, though. (Side note - how is it possible that we've never had a hurricane Alex before? Isn't Alex a really common name?)
• Birthdays - My niece and my sister's birthday was yesterday. In some ways, I can't believe little Ellie is already a year old. In others, I can't believe how much has happened in the past year. My nephew's fourth birthday is in two weeks. I definitely can't believe how much has happened in the past four years.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend Internets!

...and I did it!

Holy smoke-a-doodles, Internets!

I did stand up! And it wasn't awful! My friends' videos/pictures didn't come out, but we should get the official* video in a week or two.

(*It's "official" because we had to pay for a copy.)

Both the wedding and the stand up went better than I ever could have imagined. I must have done something to get really good karma in a past life.

I don't know what I'm going to do with myself now. (I'm open to suggestions.)

Love always,
Jane

One (1) week

Oh Internets...


The wedding is a week away.


In seven days, I will have a husband. I will be a wife.


I will have in-laws.


("Whoa..." says the Joey Lawrence voice inside my head.)

A million thoughts are mud wrestling in my brain. My to-do list is a mile long. All I can manage to say is "I'm glad I don't have to do this alone."

Yours truly (at least until my head explodes),
Jane


P.S. In ten days, I will be performing stand-up. (Three days after the wedding.)(I know.)(It seemed like a good idea at the time...)

Jane in real life

Dear Internets,

Howdy! If you're going to be in Austin during the next two weeks, I'd love to have a chance to meet you at one of the following:

1. The 20 Something Bloggers/Glass SXSWi happy hour.
2. My comedy class performance (as long as you promise not to heckle me.)
   
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I have many updates to make later this week when I'm not running around like a headless chicken.

XOXO,
Jane

Umm...

Dear Internets,

Ever since another student in my comedy class pointed out how much I said "um" when I was doing stand-up, I've noticed how much I say it. Internets - I say it all the time! The worst was Wednesday evening at our first dance lesson:

"What's your name?"
"Um, Jane."
"Do you have any dance experience?"
"Um, not really."

Seriously, this "um" business has got to stop. Maybe I should start an "um" jar (like a swear jar, except for when I say "um"). It's madness!

Love,
Um... Jane

Spring cleaning

Dear Internets,

As several of you have noticed, I have a new blog header. I got it from the very talented MiaSpark Designs for a very reasonable price. I heart it lots, and Kayla was great to work with.

I was going to redesign my entire blog after I ordered the new header, but I got... well... distracted. I'll probably get around to fixing things up around here in the next couple of weeks. I want a brighter, cleaner look for the blog. Despite the weirdness and sadness around Austin recently, I really do still believe that 2010 is going to bring about some really positive things, and I'd like this blog's design to reflect that.

***

[I really want to link to our wedding website right now so you can see how far my website design skills have come in the past year, but it's attached to Achilles' and my last names. Therefore, linking to that site is probably not a good idea. Right? Or is it sooooo 2009 of me to think that way?]

***

Not much is new with me. I worked a LOT this weekend, which is good for our budget, but bad for my social life. On Sunday, I went to my second stand-up comedy class. It turns out our final performances are going to be videotaped.

That, my friends, is good news for you.

I hereby promise that, barring some sort of unforeseen disaster (i.e. camera malfunction, major illness that keeps me from performing, etc. - i.e. NOT just embarrassment on my part), I will post the video of my live performance on this blog.

Yikes!

***

Hope you had a wonderful weekend, Internets!

Love,
Jane