conjurdude

So.

This week, I had the most Mad Science gigs I've had for several weeks...a whopping three (it's understandable...December is traditionally a rather slow month for MS, it seems...so many schools getting ready to hibernate for winter break). I had my last robots session at one school, a session for the Cudahy Parks & Rec department on Friday afternoon with a theme of "Holidaze," which was kinda fun, and a birthday party on Saturday afternoon that I kicked major butt at, if I do say so myself. The kids were laughing at all the bad puns and silly things I threw in, and the birthday boy's parents were laughing at all the jokes that flew over the heads of the kids. Half of them I didn't even realize I was making until after they were out of my mouth...they were all clean, don't worry. Just a little more esoteric than most 10 year olds would get. I really think the party went extremely well, and I'm very pleased with myself (even if I didn't get a tip...oh well). I even timed it perfectly: I had an add-on to introduce to the mix, and still had to keep the time at 60 minutes, so they could do the cake, ice cream and presents...I totally nailed it. Yay me!

Today I wrapped all but one of mom's Xmess prezzies, and that last one is en route from Amazon. Should arrive Wednesday. Other than that, not too much else is going on. We got our HDTV last Wednesday, but have not hooked it up yet, as we have to do some cleaning and organizing in the living room in order to get access to the entertainment center. We're also pricing Blu-Ray players. Found a decent sounding one for about $175, but we'll wait to see if the price goes down a bit after the new year. I also have to edit down my aunt's first craft instruction DVD, but that shouldn't be too problematic. Mostly it's trimming the head and foot of each clip, throwing it a small transition, and getting it prepped. Simple enough.

That's all I've got for now, gang. I'll keep you posted.

I made a kick-ass pan sauce tonight for some pork medallions that I wanted to share with you. I just deglazed the cast-iron skillet with some whiskey and tossed in maybe a 1/2 cup of frozen wild blueberries. I cooked over low until heated through, and spooned it over the pork. Oh, yes, that was tasty.

Also, I now finally have a smartphone. I just opted for the Droid Eris, as it was cheap, it'll be getting a software update any day now, and will likely serve my needs until Verizon finally gets the iPhone. It does seem to guzzle it's battery, though. Have to do some looking into that...

Dinner eaten, snow shoveled, so here's what I did this past weekend in Chicago.

I took the Amtrak from the Milwaukee Airport station on Friday afternoon. Arrived in Chicago around 2:45, and immediately proceeded to find myself some bao. I'd been craving those little steamed rolls full of goodness for probably close to a year and a half, now, ever since my Costco stopped carrying them in their little take-and-bake section. Happily, not five blocks from the train station, there was a Wow Bao, and they know their bao. Two bbq pork bao, a Chinese vegetable salad and a pomegranate ginger ale later, I was a happy man. I hopped on the blue line and ventured up to meet my friend Andrew.

Got to Andrew's around quarter to four, and helped him put together a desk for his wife Emily on the back porch, the better to hold all her scenic painting supplies. Ran with him to get goodies for his birthday party that night, and pitched in slicing cheese for the snack trays. Andrew made a kick ass stir fry, we ate, we drank, I helped Em decorate their tree, I played with their dog, Imixed cocktails, lots of people came and partied, and I wound up leaving with my friend Michael, who I was staying with, at close to five in the morning.

Saturday, after waking up and chugging coffee to deal with the effects of the night before, Michael and I grabbed a burger at the Chicago Ale House, and then headed out to meet up with our friend Lucas. Michael and I both had things to head to later that evening, but it was great just chatting and catching up with Luke. He had some fun war stories to tell about his days teaching in the Chicago Public School system (he's got good kids, by and large, it sounds like).

Michael headed down to his company Xmess party, and I made tracks to meet up with my friend Magen (who renface knows of, but has never met), the better to hit up Trader Vic's. It was repeal day, after all. We made friends with the bartender, I gave him my recipe for bacon-infused bourbon, he gave me the Trader Vic's recipe for the custom sour-mix for the London Sour (orange and lemon juice, orgeat and sugar syrups, and no, you don't get the proportions).

Had a blast at Vic's and then met up with Michael again to head to our friend Peter's combination housewarming and Christmahannukakwanzaakazamus party, where there was more food and lots more booze. Oh, the booze. Peter had stuff I'd never seen but desperately wanted to sample, and he was good enough to share. I had two gins from North Shore Distillery, as well as a limited edition Mole Poblano spirit they released. I had a little cordial glass of a 28 year old Kentucky straight bourbon that was so incredibly good I'm still trying to plot an Ocean's Eleven-type heist to get the rest of the bottle. I got to play around and mix drinks for some folks as well, so that made me happy. Among some of my old friends that were there, my reputation for drink-mixing had preceded me, which was kinda cool, frankly.

We wound up leaving Peter's around 3, and I crashed around 4. Woke up at noon, had more coffee, and then skedaddled downtown to take the train back here to Wisconsin.

Good trip. Although I missed seeing roolet this trip, an oversight which I most certainly will remedy on my next trip down. Which I will not take another year to complete.

After I finish shoveling out from the first real snow of this winter, I'll write a Chicago trip report. So much to tell. And (there was) so much to drink!

I have decided that from here on out, I shall refer to former president George Dubya Bush as "President Ethelred the Unready." It makes me giggle every time.

Also, I will be headed to Chicago this weekend for my dear friend Andrew's birthday. He will be 33, the same age as Christ when he was crucified. Andrew works in a scene shop. I have warned him to be careful around nails for the next year.

I'm feeling very sacrilicious tonight, and I love it. Something something something Dark Side.

Don't think I mentioned it here, but my Auntie Bella (my mom's brother's second wife, for those keeping track at home) makes teddy bears and has practically written the book on fabric felting as an art form. She's planning on rolling out some patterns with accompanying DVDs, and guess who has two thumbs and is her photographer/videographer? That's right, babies. Me. So she had me do some research and pick out and order a camcorder that would be ideal for recording various processes that I can edit down to DVD form. Part of the reason I got that MacBook Pro...if I'm her contractor for DVD production and photography, I'm reasonably certain I can write the whole enchilada off as a business expense.

So I selected for the camcorder a Sanyo Xacti VPC-FH1A, which plays super nice with Macs, and can also be used as a 12-megapixel still camera. And what a camera! I took a sample photo to email Auntie Bella to give her a sense of just how nice this camera is, which you can see below. This is a teddy bear she made and gave me, which is awesome in and of itself. His name is Sam Gamgee, after the Hobbit.


And, as one last bonus to you, please enjoy a short story I wrote for ficly.com. It clocked in at exactly 1024 characters, the limit for that site. I decided to record it in a very hard boiled style and set it to a little Ken Burns-style photo montage.

Hi everyone. My name's Chris...
(Hi Chris!)
...and I'm addicted to making random and esoteric cocktail ingredients.

Seriously. In the last few weeks, I've made bacon-infused bourbon, Jamaican bitters (grapefruit, ginger, and several spices), two different tinctures (pumpkin and ginger), a juniper and sage simple syrup, and now I'm making Donn's Tinc, a tincture version of the famous Donn's Mix (ok, famous in some circles) which is a cinnamon and grapefruit compound used in tiki drinks.

In my defense, several of those ingredients are destined to be used at Thanksgiving dinner with renface's family, as I'm always responsible for the hooch at that gathering. But still...it's fun!

So. Wednesday night, went to a Hiney Flu Shot clinic my county health department was throwing. Got the Hiney Flu vaccine. Feel a little tired, but otherwise just ducky. (For those of you with strange looks on your face...Hiney flu = H1N1).

Thursday AM, had my face to face interview with the natural foods place. Seemed to go well.

Today, did kit exchange for Mad Science, picked up materials for the next two weeks, as there's no kit exchange next Friday, being the Day of the Turkey Coma in the US. Also managed to leave without getting my paycheck. Emailed bosses to ask them to mail it. Also talked to my dear friend Tuffet in LA, who just had lunch with someone who works at Disney Animation. She got a tour of the Animation building in Burbank, and rubbed John Lasseter's nameplate for luck. No, that is not a euphemism. She has challenged me to come up with three elevator pitches for animated series for her, by next week. Could be interesting.

Tonight, reading by the bunnies.

Next week, getting the last ingredients for Thanksgiving with renface and company. Need to get apple cider, new bottle of lemon juice, some oranges, ginger beer, and possibly some grade B maple syrup, although I think the stuff I have, even though it's grade A, will work just fine. Two Mad Science gigs, and then some free time. Hopefully I'll hear back from the natural foods store, as well.

I don't know if you all remember (or even if I mentioned it at the time) but over the summer, I took an exam to be eligible for any Student Status Examiner positions that opened up in the state, that is to say, I'd be looking at transcripts and GPAs and whatnot and deciding if they met the criteria for admission for state colleges. Well, I did okay on the exam, and proceeded to think no more about it, but today I got a letter from UW-Milwaukee inviting me to apply for a full-time Student Status Examiner Associate position that's opened up. So yeah, sending in my resume to that tomorrow!

And that's on top of the interview I've got lined up for the Outpost Natural Foods Pricing Shift Lead/Journeyman position on Thursday (although I took the call early this morning, and have already blanked on the name of the person I'm supposed to ask for when I get there...I'm hoping it'll come back to me). Everything's coming up Milhouse!

Heard back from the co-op, did an initial phone interview with the HR guy, and if he thinks I'd be a good match, he'll forward my info on to the manager of the department for a second interview. It seemed to go pretty well, I thought. Here's hoping.

Now, to finish my coffee and get ready for my blood donation.

A couple weeks back I dropped off an application and resume and the primary location of Milwaukee's local natural foods co-op for a part time shift pricing lead position they had open. Well, I didn't hear anything back from them and sort of wrote it off, but today, while I was on my way to a Mad Science gig, I got a call from them (at home, unfortunately). When I got back, I called the guy back, and told him I'd call again in the morning, so hopefully, I can get an interview set up for the gig.

The hours would be pretty much perfect for working both the co-op job and Mad Science, so I'm really hoping I can get this.

With the intention of starting up a sole proprietorship business in dialect coaching (and freelance photography/video editing work, mostly for my aunt's crafting business), I got a MacBook Pro.

Yeah.

It's very shiny. And fast.

Thursday morning, I worked with my bosses at the Wisconsin Education Association Council Expo (a.k.a. Teacher's Convention) for four hours at the Midwest Airlines Center downtown. I was my charming-ass self, handed out swag, and helped to give teachers info on what we do at Mad Science. I even got to speak German to one teacher, and was complimented on my pronunciation. Not too shabby for only two years of it way back in high school. All in all, a surprisingly fun four hours.

I feel happy! I feel- *thunk*

I'm still alive and kicking, gang. Just been busy. Wound up working quite a bit this week, picked up a birthday party today, as the Mad Scientist slated to take it came down with the flu (the normal flu, not the Vietnamese Pot Bellied Pig flu, which is like the swine flu, but smaller and cuter). Other than that, just been reading and sleeping and stuff. Nothing terribly exciting.

What's new with you guys on this All Hallows' Eve?

Yesterday I had the first stumble-through rehearsal to get the current show on its feet. Went pretty well, all things considered. I think I only flubbed two lines, and I was off book, so that was good (my part's not huge, but it is important.) We start individual act run-throughs on Monday, with a full run-through on Thursday. Then tech week and opening. Whee!

Today we went out for a very late breakfast (but no crowds elbowing each other in the buffet line...because the buffet's gone by the time we go) and then went to Sendik's for milk and a Sunday paper. While there, I found an absinthe glass and a tulip whiskey glass for $2 apiece, so I snapped those up. One can always use more glassware if one runs a booze blog.

Two instructing gigs this week; and two assists, one of which is a birthday party in Mequon. This week's subjects are Robots and Detective Science. I'll be looking over the curricula and making notes this evening and tomorrow afternoon.

Tomorrow, we're most likely going to hit the matinee showing of the Toy Story double feature in 3D...looking forward to that!

And that's about all I've got for now.

I've been tagged by renface and so I must comply.

1. Write your username.
2. Write your 2 favorite bands/groups of the moment.
3. Write something you love.
4. Write the name of your favorite person of all time.
5. Write the name of your recent favored person.
6. Tag 6 people to do this meme.

Tomorrow I have my first real instructing session for Mad Science...and I'm gonna have these kids for four weeks, so if I stink, I still have to face them next Thursday...
It turns out they're anywhere from Kindergarden to 6th grade, so I'm gonna have quite the mixed bag of education levels to try to cater to...I'm not gonna lie to you, Marge, I'm more than a little nervous about this. I've gone over the material again once tonight, I'll likely type up my notes soon, and then review everything again tomorrow before I head off to the after school program. These kids *wanted* to be there (or at least their parents did) so I've got to make sure I keep them interested.

I need an antacid tablet. And/or a good stiff drink.

If I make it through tomorrow without any major disasters, I've got a 50ml bottle of Glenfiddich 18 year old scotch with my name on it.

Oh, and if anyone's curious, the unit tomorrow is on bugs. There's some really cool interactive stuff with the lesson that I'm actually looking forward to.

Why did no one tell me Big Bad Voodoo Daddy had a new album out 5 months ago?!

It involved lots of driving. I went down to Oak Creek at least three times last week, which is not an insignificant distance...it's about 68 miles, round trip. I also went down to the East Side, just blocks away from the restaurant I used to work at. Then again, I also went to assist at a birthday party that was just about 12 blocks away. Things seem to be going ok...I'll be assisting at two after-school presentations this week, and then I'll be actually giving one (with assistance) on Thursday. A little intimidating...next week, I've got a second one all by myself, and then I'll be in charge of two four-week sessions at two different schools. I'll also be deep into rehearsal, as we open this show on the 16th. Seems like a short rehearsal period, but happily I'm only onstage for about 15-20 pages all told, so it's not too bad for me.

Still...things are getting cuckoo-bananas in a hurry. Great googly moogly.

Oh, and since I never posted the resolution on the iPod situation...the Genius Bar dude, who was awesome, tried restoring the firmware with a soopa-sekrit Apple Store technique, which also failed and froze on the Apple logo, so they replaced my iPod. It works better than the old one ever did...syncs faster, holds a charge better...I'm very happy, and I called the Apple Store that night and left a message with my name and my case number, telling them that the Genius who helped me was awesome and that he should be made president or something. Ok, I didn't go that far, but I did say I was extremely happy with the help I received and that the credit should go to the Genius.

On Monday night my iPod touch, to put it bluntly, shat the bed. Got itself stuck on the Apple logo that appears at startup, and wouldn't advance past that. I tried (about eight times) wiping it down to the bare bones firmware and restoring it, but it kept croaking, at some point or another, at the logo. Gah.

On Tuesday, after my orientation for my new job, I stopped at the Apple Store down the highway from me, in the hopes I could get it looked at/fixed/replaced. Ha ha ha! Silly plebe! Don't you know the Geniuses at the Genius Bar are much to busy to see you today!

So Thursday morning at 10:15, I get to go convince them that the latest firmware update is what started this whole mess rolling, and that, since it was installed while the iPod was still covered under the 1-year warranty, that even though it's now about two weeks past that, they should still replace it if they can't repair it.

Here's hoping!

Oh, and in work news, as I said, Tuesday I had orientation, Wednesday I shadowed someone on an after-school activity, and Thursday evening I'm headed down to shadow some more at a special event on Milwaukee's East Side, near the restaurant I used to work at. Perhaps I'll stop by there afterwards and see if I still know anyone working there. Friday I have a meeting down at Mad Science HQ, and Saturday I'm shadowing a birthday party here in Grafton that Mad Science is working. Busy busy busy.

any of my techie friends have a 1 TB+ external hard drive they want to sing the praises of? I'm starting to research brands and models with an eye towards upgrading my backup drive...my only caveat is I had horrible luck with my old LaCie drive, and will never ever buy anything of theirs again.