Everyday

You may have noticed that there is now a picture of a pointed gun in my side bar.  I have decided to participate in NaBloPoMo, aka National Blog Posting Month.  The challenge is to post something every day in November.  You can imagine that this sort of exercise would be right up my alley.  I won’t actually make a chart, but believe you me, everyday that I post I will mentally give myself a happy "check".

NaBloPoMo is a blogger’s alternative to NaNoWriMo, aka National Novel Writing Month, where participants attempt to write a novel in November.  I seriously considered entering the Novel Writing contest, but after doing the math on how many words I would need to write a day, I wisely balked.  Like everybody else, I have a novel idea rattling around in my head.  Unfortunately, my novel is not nearly fleshed out enough to warrant committing it to the MacBook.  Maybe next year. 

For now I will have to settle for writing a blog post every single day in November.  I’m sure that many of my posts will be utter, desperate bullshit (aka business as usual), but I am committed to blogging every day for the next thirty days.  It is all about quantity over quality here at OhForFun! 

Seventies PBS

Let’s all just relax and watch some Bert and Ernie, shall we?

Now that I’m an adult one of the things that amuses me about Bert ad Ernie is how much they remind me of Courtney and myself.  Of course the similarities are extremely exaggerated, but the basic characteristics are there.  The goofy and the exasperated.  The round and the narrow.  The whimsical and the practical.  Courtney is not as uptight as Bert, and I am not as childlike as Ernie, but we bring out the Bert and Ernie in one another.  Courtney and I have always had a bit of an Ernie and Bert thing going on, right down to the allegations of "more than just friends".   Why can’t two friendly puppets/violists live together in a one bedroom apartment without everyone accusing them of being gay?   Hee.

The first clip this week is so cute you might freak out.  If there is anything in this world cuter than Bert’s little nephew Brad, I don’t want to know what it is because I might die of cuteness. 

The second clip is a classic Sesame song.  Oh, woe is me.  There’s a bird on me.

Winner

I’m sure that many of you are wondering how my audition went.  Well, the totally awesome fantastically outrageous answer is that I WON the audition. 

Unfortunately, the factual answer is that no, I didn’t win.

From the start of my preparation, this particular audition has felt like a relentless battle.  Frankly,  I’m just glad to have it behind me.  I’m happy with how I played and I’m happy to hang out with my family for a few days.  Every audition s different.  This time I feel fortunate to have escaped relatively unscathed.

I win!

Google is Strange

Charlie’s ascention to yahoo fame has inspired me to investigate a recent phenomena I’ve been experiencing here at ohforfun: Why are so many people reaching ohforfun by googling "Tom Cruise"?

A long time ago I did a goofy little post eff-you-ing various wrong doers.  As a joke I included a link to a picture of Tom Cruise from mtv.  The link to the original picture no longer works.  (Just so you know, from now on all references to Mr. Cruise will be linked back to this picture.)

I don’t really understand the mysterious ways of Google.  All I know is that when you google Tom Cruise and then click on the image links, ohforfun is the seventh result.   This is why I now get dozens of random hits a day.  I have no idea why my site is ranked so high in a search of such a famous person.  I assure you my readership is very small, and yet, when you google Tom Cruise, you get to OhForFun.  Try it.  The picture of Tom Cruise standing at a podium with popcorn statue?- that picture links back here.  The words underneath the picture, "oh no, is tom cruise anti-gay"- Ashley wrote those.

I have already stated my sincere belief that all people eventually google themselves.  All I’m saying is that Alex Blumberg, you had better get a move on because I have got some serious fish frying on my burners now. 

Tom Cruise, if you are reading this, please release Katie from captivity.  After you free Katie we can begin to work on our friendship.  Tom, I’m not sure that you and I have a lot in common, but I am sure that you have a lot of money.  Access to piles of money goes a looong way when trying to forge a friendship with me.  I think you and I could work.  Call me!

Free Hugs

Aww

Hee

Animals are good for laughing at.

Gold Stars

I am a pretty relaxed person.  Although I am perfectly capable of getting freakishly stressed out about things like auditions and boy troubles, I don’t tend to sweat the small stuff.  I let the dishes go when I’m not in the mood to wash them.  I do my taxes on April 14th without much angst or fanfare. 

My interest in the tiny details of life is mostly confined to my love of checking things off a list. 

I love giving myself a star for completing a mundane task.  My News Year’s Resolution in 1998 was to practice every single day of the year.  For everyday that I practiced I put an actual foil star sticker on the calender.  I practiced everyday in 1998 until June 12th, when I simply forgot.  I was so distraught by the sticker omission that I promptly lost interest in the  whole project.  Somewhere in my apartment I still have the calender with a gold sticker on every single day until June 12th.  I am highly motivated by a chart with columns to be filled with checks and stars and other tiny symbols of my accomplishments.  I’m a bit like a seven-year-old this way. 

I have been working very hard in preparation for an audition that I am taking this weekend.  This has been a difficult preparation with lots of temper tantrums and frustration.  What can I say?  Some auditions are harder than others.  In response to my current level of stress, I have shifted my goal from winning the job, to simply playing the audition with grace and confidence. 

I have come to realize that I can check things off lists endlessly, but it is meaningless if I don’t do it with kindness towards myself. 

For my next audition I think I might scrap the checklist, or better yet, alter it completely.  My next audition check list should have only one criteria which I could happily check everyday for the rest of my life.

Am I playing with joy?   Check.

Seventies PBS

It’s PBS Monday already! 

First, by popular demand, here is the 12345, 678910, 11, Twe-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-ve song.  You’ve go to watch the entire clip to get to the twe-e-e-e-e-e-lve part.  Enjoy

The second clip is less well known I suspect.  I’ve made this joke before, but I honestly wasn’t sure if this segment actually existed or if it was merely a fragment of my three-year-old imagination.  The Teeny Little Super Guy who lives on the side of a plastic beer cup taught us many lessons.  This particular clip is very applicable to my current life because it is about practicing.   I LOVE this guy.

Broken

I’m not sure that all of you guys outside of Buffalo actually understand what has happened here.  All of our trees are broken.  All of our trees are broken.  I keep meaning to go outside and take pictures so that you guys can see the extent of the damage, but it is simply too depressing.  I know that someday, I will remember this time and wish I had taken more pictures.  Buffalo is astonishingly scarred.  Hopefully, most of the trees can recover.  Hopefully, in the spring, once the trees have new leaves, the damage will not look so severe.  I wish this hadn’t happened to our little city.

Today I needed a break, so I got in my car and drove to the end of Highway 400, to a place where the trees are not broken.  It was pretty and refreshing.  One nice thing about Buffalo is that you can hit the road and be driving in the wide openness in about twenty minutes.  It doesn’t take long before it feels like you’re in the middle of nowhere.

I have been working very hard on a viola project.  Working hard towards a (largely selfish) personal goal amid a natural disaster is humbling.  My sense of perspective changes daily.  In a strange way, I am very grateful for the storm.  The storm made me slow down and appreciate that despite my best efforts, most of what effects my life is way out of my control.  It’s best just to roll with whatever the universe dishes out. 

This week the universe dished out four days of darkness and lots and LOTS of broken trees.  Go figure. 

Funny

I realize my posts recently have been high on YouTube and low on actual content.  Sorry.  You have to cut me a little slack.  I’m busy, yo.

This made me laugh. 

It is pathetic that all you have to do is slow down the tapes and our president looks and sounds like a homeless drunk.  Sigh.  But also, hee.