I got to admit it's getting better, getting better all the time

Tonight was a landmark, if you will. I had my first real paid professional gig (as in, not school-related, or a favor for anyone.) I was offered a gig performing in a reading here in Boston because they loved my stuff on youtube.. It's a reel, really, my stuff on youtube that is, so it's not such a stretch - but it does sort of rule that I got a job through youtube. (The listing for the gig was on craigslist, which makes it even more crazy.) Who needs auditions anyway?!
The reading was tonight, and it went pretty well. I wasn't 100% happy with my performance - but when am I ever really? In the end, I was under a lot of pressure (from myself), the rehearsal period was extremely short, and yet the show seemed to go well. Now its in the hands of the backers and producers to pick it up or not. I'm not really sure what role, if any, I could possibly have with this show should it continue on to the NYMTF, or onto a venue in Boston, but it'll be interesting to see what happens with it. I definitely think there's lots of potential in it, and with the right adjustments it could do really well.
Despite the adrenaline and nerves involved in such a landmark, I couldn't help but feel a bit depressed when it was over. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but I think it was the fact that my week of rehearsals (and time off from the restaurant) was over, and now it was time to go back to the job I honestly despise. I wasn't depressed because I missed the show, I guess it was just enough of a taste of the career I know I can have. It's been a journey and a struggle, but I finally have the real, deep-rooted confidence to know that I can be the performer I have always wanted to be. In fact, I know that if I can get my butt to enough auditions, I can work consistently. It's all a matter of time really, and that time will come when I either find the secret to being an actor in Boston, or I move to New York. Either way, right now there doesn't seem to be a whole wealth of opportunities here. Even the companies that do hire actors don't really provide enough of a paycheck to live on without having some other sort of job to pay the bills.
I still remember that 'punch-in-the-gut' feeling I got when I saw the tour of the Producers in Providence.. it was the first time I had seen a professional show, and I literally felt sick to my stomach because I wanted so badly to be on that stage. It's been close to almost a decade since then, but I can happily look back, and even at my life now, and see how much farther I have come to accomplishing that goal. I am getting so close I can taste it, and it tastes good. It tastes real good.

oh, well hello

I can sort of taste a career beginning to form in my life [a career in performance that is], mostly because I finally graduated from college [600 years later..] but also because I just have that feeling pulling at my gut. As of tomorrow I will be going to a rehearsal for a reading of a new rock musical that is trying to get off the ground, by showcasing in front of New York and Boston producers and backers. Very glitzy and glamorous really.. Despite this huge rise to fame, I am still, as of yet, employed at a restaurant and not a paid performer by trade [well, first check comes on Monday] but that's not the point. I can feel New York pulling me in, sort of like the big polls they used to use on vaudeville.. except this is actually a good sort of pole pulling me. Yes, yes, New York is very expensive and I can't vault myself into stardom my first week there, but I certainly can't find a way to be a working actor here in Boston. There are a few important things keeping me here in my home state, but they can't hold me here for too long. Thanks to the wonders of the internet I can see what my fellow alums from OCU are up to, and it is all very much something I can be a part of once I get my self over there.
Until that happens, however, I am content in doing whatever gigs I can get here in beantown whilst I also work on marketing myself.. I have created a webpage [insert applause] which to me, seems the beginning of a professional career that can only gain in momentum. So what if the only hits my site has gotten are from my Mom and my housemates.. that's irrelevent. Eventually it will be flooded with teenager wanna-be's and their moms. Until then, www.andyfontaine.com is my own personal masterpiece. Once I have some professional credits worth bragging about, they will make their way onto the site and things can only go up from there.
Anyway, it's always fun to stumble upon my own blog and decide to add to it.

I love remembering that I have a blog and going back to read it. Seriously folks, it's invigorating. For as I write this, I'm in my last semester of college. Ever. EVER! After 6 long years of studying, practicing, transferring and not sleeping I am finally about to finish this long journey. Saying that I am infinitely elated is an understatement, and I simply can NOT wait to begin living life as a real person, with a job and no homework or judgmental professors. [I'm going to pretend that I don't realize the real life involves take-home work and judgmental bosses.]
Just a few blogs ago I talked about my Jr recital, and now I'm about to embark on my Senior recital. It's twice as long, features only me and is full of musical theatre pieces that are beginning to become irksome. It's not that singing them isn't fun, it's just that having them as part of this monstrous college capstone is sort of bringing down the fun-level. By a large margin.
Alright now, brace yourself, as I go into the horribly scary discussion of... loan repayment [blood curdling scream!] It's okay, just breath. I realized that the time would come sooner or later, [hoping it would come later rather than sooner] but I was also hoping the country wouldn't be in a massive recession when I graduated. I had also hoped that the banks and loan companies would decide to take up some love for their fellow man [like me] and decide to forgive all loans. Forever. Yeah, it's a little far-fetched, but can't a guy dream?
A lot has changed since I last blogged... I mentioned the recession. We have a new president [thank God, Buddha, Vishnu, or whomever you worship] because not only is it NOT Bush, it's Obama. Rock'n'roll. He's a democrat, and black. What this means is that he's not Bush. I'm pretty sure this is exactly what we all need. Let's see, what else... Jen Dear had a baby: Haley Jane. She is beautiful. There have been some ups and downs, but life isn't too shabby. But it'll be a lot less shabby once school is over. Please God-uddha-ishnu, let it come quickly!

so i have a job for the summer. it's not a performing gig. this is what happens when you only do a few auditions. ironically, the reason i didn't do unifieds like i had planned is because i was already involved in a show, which kept me from making the audition. funny how that works. anyway, i'm working at a restaurant that happens to be very trendy and pricey. the hope is that i'll make mucho$, but the less happy part is that i'll be staying here in oklahoma instead of visiting the best friends back home. i'm hoping that i'll be able to get away for a much-needed vaca. i can only take so much oklahoma without going a little stir-crazy. someone was telling me that oklahoma city made the top of a 'places to never visit' list. pretty sweet. i spend most of my year here. how programs like this end up in empty places like this is ever and always beyond me. however, thanks to my new job i now have an oklahoma liquor license. [or rather, thanks to the ok state website and a $30 application fee.] that's right folks, i can now legally serve you alcoholic beverages, get excited.
i am aware how random this is [when taken out of the context that i know it to be in] but, there is a reason why the rights to wicked have not been released. that's all. carry on.

it's that time of year.. the end of school. two weeks from today, i will have been done with finals for 3 whole days. i yearn for that day. this is the point where there are a lot of loose ends to be tied, and of course they're uber-stressful. life tends to be that way. there is always a multitude of loose ends to tie, no matter where you are in your life's timeline. unfortunately, you can't close your eyes and wait for things to disappear like when you were a kid. you have to do someone about it, and that's the hard part.
there's no point to this post, other than the small glimmer of hope that i can look back at this and laugh, because all of the woes of school, debt, and more debt have long disappeared and that big ugly monster that has been weighing down on my shoulders will have disappeared.

people say you don't miss something until it's gone. it's true. it took years and years of people telling me this, but it took until today to really prove it. hydration... i miss it. that's right. post-recital, i decided to be lazy and stop drinking agua so much. i apparently needed it, because since, my body is hating me for stopping. i can feel what it's like to not be hydrated. it sucks. random tangent, but important nonetheless.
speaking of recital.. my mom was here, and it was great. the surprise i mentioned, was that i flew my sister out and didn't tell mom. she loved it. so much so, that when i opened the door she screamed. it's moments like those that make life so sweet. the recital itself went well too. the best part, is that it is over. i went into my coaching today and just noodled around with different music theatre pieces, and it felt wonnnderful to be singing something a, in english and b, fun. don't get me wrong, i enjoy a little mozart here and there, but show tunes just do something for my soul..
i'm rambling. i don't really have anything profound to put down for memories' sake, but alas, here i am writing anyway. whenever i write, i try to be as positive and forward-thinking possible, because it is the best way to make things move in a positive direction. it's also a lot more pleasant to read back in time and find some happy thoughts. and heck, i believe that affirmations work. and why the heck shouldn't they?

"we can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares and go downtown." kick-butt song. emma bunton's cover of it is pretty sweet too. life has been stressful around here lately. by lately, i mean this afternoon. my junior recital is coming up, and it's funny how even though i'm really a senior [thanks to the wonders of transferring] i should feel more than prepared for this thing, but man oh man am i nervous about it. i love ocu for forcing me to put on a classical recital, and i hate ocu for forcing me to put on a classical recital. i guess that's just how life goes. i'll be glad that i did it when it's over, but this is a prime example of how stressful this kind of work can get.
although i'm not positive, i think it's going to be great. it's certainly going to be great having some family there, that's for sure. i've almost forgotten the feeling of having my mom out in the house during a show, because it just can't happen as much as it used to. she flew out for le villi, which was really awesome. i didn't want to make her come out here for the ballad of baby doe, for $sake. it'll be great for her to hear me get my classical tenor on though, and i have a great little surprise planned for her that i just know she's going to love.
there's also something to be said about nice weather. it's finally starting to feel like spring out here.. slowly, but surely. something about the fresh air, sun and birds makes me feel like loving life.
i need to soak up that air while i'm thinking about $ as well, and i'll have plenty of time to do that while is stay on campus over spring break this year. i'm poor, for now. i also have a recital to work on, and a week of uninterrupted time is just what i need.
$ would be nice too.. if you have any you'd like to donate.

it's interesting how all you have to do to achieve something, is to tell yourself you want to. and you will. funny how that works. other part of that, is that you actually have to work for it - it won't just happen. every day this becomes more and more clear to me. there's also a point where you realize that there are some things that just won't change, and you have to accept them. it's easy to get swept up in the craziness all around, and not be grateful for what you have achieved. and guess what else? you can't be good at everything. and you know what, that doesn't mean you can't do it all; you just can't do it ALL.
i'm sitting here thinking about me, myself and i, and wondering how i've changed. i read a post from a year back, which is always interesting (and why i write these things in the first place. even if not always as often as i'd like to.) a year ago i was dying to be cast at this school, here i am doing my second main stage show. i can't help but frown at myself when i really think about how all i can do is focus on what i haven't achieved yet... like being in a musical, or having a role, or whatever else my brain can dig up. there are some people who have been leading roles twice this school year, and that's ok. that doesn't mean i won't, or that if i don't, that i can't. i do, however, miss the old days. i've been reminiscing back to the dean days recently, when there was a wonderful foursome of joey, sarah, jen and myself. i want to reunite that group in new york so much that it hurts. i want us all to work, and most importantly to soak up the awesome things life can throw at us.
i really need to be off to rehearsal, but i needed a little blog-therapy. i'll be back more often in the near future. i miss it.

a sad but true story: i've apparently had a faulty harddrive all this time and didn't know.. until a couple weeks ago when my harddrive failed. here's the sad part; i lost everything and had to pay $300 to get a new hd when all i wanted was to keep my old one. i've been rebuilding my computer from the ground up the past couple weeks with all the ol' apps and such. thank god so much info is saved online now.. all i really lost that is irreplaceable was tax info and credit report pdfs, that and my work resume which had names dates that i can now only guess at. is this a pity party? no. well, not unless you are rich and want to give me money. that'll help. lots.
ps, i'm still on the job search. i have an interview, and some prospects, but nothing yet set in stone.

Workshops last week at Ripley-Grier were pretty sweet, and I for one had no idea that studio was plopped there on eight like that. I apparently have a lot to learn about NY city. Granted, I don't live there, but a couple more years.. The OCU alums are amazing, and I can't wait to be one. Our network is pretty unbeatable and I'm proud to tell the world where I got my education [well, my BM that is.. we don't talk about the AA from, well, that other school.) Lies, I kid. Dean was a part of my education as well, I will not neglect the little underdog school. Besides, they're long over due for some noteable alums.. I think my graduating class is going to have to work on that.
The moral I learned from last week though, was that a. I've improved imensely over the past year, b. I've been told I have what it takes to be a working actor, and c. NY is a crazy place to live in and I'm even more anxious to get started. These are all good things. Of course I had my share of painful critiques, but such is required for growth. Really, this is a checkpoint which I can look back on in a couple years to see how much I grew. I wasn't hell-bent on being on Broadway, but now that I know about myself and New York, I'm pretty sure I now am. Bring it.

I feel like the ball is starting to roll here, and that's a very exciting prospect.
Speaking of vague statements.. I'm brought back to the days in middle school when we'd put cryptic away messages up on instant messenger, in hopes that someone specific would understand the secret coded message, and all would end happily ever after with marraige and a picket fence. You know what I'm talking about.. such as secret confessions of your love with lyrics to the latest big love ballad hit. What's more, is that you would type it with the most creative font and style you could. "oNcE i WaS aFrAiD i WaS pEtRiFiEd..." or you would be oh so romantic and give them a virtual rose "to the absolute love of my life: @>~~~" I mean, wow, can it get any better than that? What an ideal gift, so creative too. Personally, I'd prefer a real rose. True, once the initial shock of receiving it wears off you just throw it in a vase and watch it wilt for a week.. but it seems a bit more thoughtful, no? There was also the truck.. the one you could write whatever little message you wanted on the side.. and it always came with messages like "you've been hit by the ugly truck. send this message to 4.6 billion people or you will always be ugly and all your cats will die terrible and chocolate-y deaths."
Speaking of 4.6 billion, what about McDonalds these days!? The "4.6 billion served" (or however many it is now) at some point was changed to "4.6 billion happily served." Are they sure about that? Because I'm pretty sure that I leave McDonalds with a stomach ache and frustratration over the terrible service. There's no 'happily' in that sentence.. They should drop the 'happily' is all I'm saying.. They've also recently revealed that they fry the french fries in beef lard. Some people seem really shocked by this.. It's McDonalds people, what do you expect? At least you're not a Hindu, or rather, Sanatana-Dharmist, who will now be able to look forward to being reincarnated as a cockroach when they die. Sanatana-Dharmists Happily served.. well, now they have to start that sign over at Zero. The answer is simple folks.. McDonalds is run by the devil, is all. Truly. He simply uses it to fool good religious folk into eating forbidden meat, and then sends them merrily on their way to hell. Go team! I read a play once (or part of one anyway) about how hell is actually just being with people.. not fire and chains, but eternal time spent in a room with particularly annoying people. That sounds pretty bad to me, and I think my version very well may be being stuck behind the counter at McDonalds. Could you imagine asking "would you like fries with that" for the rest of eternity? On the flip side, a great version of heaven would be quitting and walking out of that job, over and over and over for all eternity. You'd get to yell right back to your smelly boss and feel no regret. You could even play practical jokes. I mean, you have all of eternity, so you'd be bound to get creative. Maybe when he falls asleep at his desk, as he does every hour on the hour, dress him up in drag, and snicker as he tries to figure out why customers are laughing at him. The sky's the limit people! That sounds like a lot more fun than just chilling on a cloud, no?

Not gonna lie, it's pretty tough to keep up with the blog. Either I've been really busy, or I haven't found anything worth blogging over lately. I think it's a bit of both. I also think that the soundtrack to Cruel Intentions is (and always has been) awesome and I've been in the right mood to listen to it recently - good stuff.

I love the fine arts, truly. Left to my own devices in a museum I will find a painting that compels me, and I'll simply stare at it for what seems an eternity. Paintings are eternity really.. a moment, in life or fantasy, caught by the eye of the beholder. It's unbelievable really. The truly remarkable works of art aren't just the ones that look pretty, or realistic or even true to life. Some include these, but a really beautiful painting holds more beneath, the best part being that each person who views it will see something different. I mean, it must be a pretty deep question, held in the painting.. 'what should I eat after I leave the museum' isn't exactly the sort of question the painter was probably trying to provoke in you. Or maybe he was.. how am I to know, really. I decided to find a few examples of paintings, in very different styles, to give a glimpse of what I think about when looking at art. The first painting is 'The Piano Lesson' by Matisse (1916.) Any good art connoisseur will tell you that none of your views on the 'deeper meaning' of a painting can be 'wrong.' Therefore, don't go looking up what the artist was trying to convey in these particular paintings and laugh at me when my view is wrong! That would be just, well, lame. So anyway, to me, this isn't just a young boy practicing the piano. That's too simple. Look closely at the music rack, if you read it backwards it says 'player.' Is this boy playing a player piano? A player piano is, in sorts, a self-playing instrument. Perhaps it was just a brand of piano at the time of the painting, but the way I interpret it is that this boy is merely imitating the playing of a piano, he isn't truly playing. Why is this relevant to me and my life? Well, isn't all art just an imitation of life? While the boy has half a face, the woman in the background has none. Is this woman lost in the world of imitation and art wholly, while the boy is only still learning to immerse himself? The statue and ornate railing seem to show the woman's interest in beauty and art, so perhaps she overlooks happily while her young boy learns to create art himself, despite merely imitating it. This next painting, Donna Con Testa di Rose by Dali' Salvador (1935), makes me think heavily of auditions. The woman in red, so elegant, and dare I saw almost perfect, with clipboard in hand looking over the woman with pieced garb. It is so real-life to see a person, not as a face and body, but as a collection of very different parts. A black glove, a red pant leg, a loose white garment hanging... all the while she is being grasped by her own fears and inhibitions, personified, as they wear white gloves. Let's not forget the floral bouquet the woman has atop her shoulders. It's beautiful. Without seeing her face, we see she is a beautiful woman, yet we're trapped in the moment of indecision.. what will the woman in red decide for her? Is the woman in red looking for a woman with a black glove, a wider knee, or perhaps a bouquet with less yellow..? We'll never know, just as the floral woman will never. In the distance is a blank figure, waiting. Perhaps he has already seen the woman in red, or perhaps he is next to. Perhaps he is both. Then the chair beside the woman in red.. it is only an illusion. Is the woman in red then also? What of the red matter wrapped around her waist, could it be she has fears herself, but of a different shape? Despite all of the possibilities, one thing is for sure; the floral woman is not the first, nor the last to be seen by the woman in red. There are always others, and always will be. The last painting I've posted is Narciso by Caravaggio (1599.) Is this man truly only narcistic, or is it something else? Somehow, I don't think so. Look at his face. I see awe, curiosity, fear.. Look closely at his reflection. It's not of his youthful face, but instead, one much older. But if the boy were simply repulsed by this reflection, he would not be caught staring into it for all eternity. Even though he can never move from this position on the ground, it doesn't seem as if he ever will. I think he looks into his reflection so deeply not out of vanity, but out of the eternal quest to know oneself. Who is that he sees staring back at him. It seems to me that this boy is staring at his future. Will he know who and what he is to become, even if it is staring him in the face? Perhaps, But I don't think he does. I don't think he ever will. He will however, immortalized on cavas, stare at his future self for all eternity, yet he will never know what he is to become. I don't believe any of us do. Maybe that's a scary thought, but I try to see it as less menacing. What would we do if we knew what was to become of ourselves? What would make life exciting? How would we look toward tomorrow? What would become of passion?

I took down a post that was here, not that anyone would miss it. In its place I'm writing about something more exciting. When I read, I really read.. generally I end up reading the book in a day because I can never put it down. Today I read 'til the fat girl sings, From an Overweight Nobody to a Broadway Somebody -A Memoir, by Sharon Wheatley. People, it is inspirational and worth the price of admission. I paid $14.95 at Borders for it, but apparently it's even less at Border's website [now part of Amazon.] You pay at least 5 times as much to see a Broadway show, and you can pay this little fee to peer into the life of a Broadway performer. The book did have high expectations, as it was highly recommend to me. It did not disappoint. I feel that I have just a tiny bit more insight into the crazy business I want to get myself into. I also feel enlightened to the story of a fellow human being, which always makes me feel more in touch with this crazy world, and with myself. I realize I have a lot of soul searching to do, and much more of myself to find in these next precious few years. It seems as if my college journey has been far too long, but I'm learning that things truly do happen for a reason and I've needed every minute to continue learning about Andy Fontaine. Will I ever be able to make the kinds of decisions required of me? How far am I willing to go? There's lots to consider. And may I say, that there is nothing better than being forced into investigating the inner workings of yourself. We need to grow - we need to change. We also need to find our flaws, learn to deal with them, unlearn it, relearn it, and someday finally accept them.

A quote, which rings true with me:
"That night, as the house lights dimmed, I sat on the edge of my seat listening to the orchestra play the overture. It sounded so different from my recording, so crisp and exciting, that I felt the hair on my arms stand up. When the curtain went up, and I saw those real-life-kids just like me on that stage, I started to cry-and I didn't stop until the show was over and we were in the car on the way home. It was the most complicated emotion I had ever felt-a mixture of awe, love, magic, longing, and good old-fashioned jealousy. If a person could actually turn green from envy, a hysterical, pudgy, freckled nine-year-old, the color of the Wicked Witch of the West, would have occupied my seat at Oliver that night.
I've heard that show-biz people have it in their blood, and I am here to tell you that during that performance of Oliver, I got a complete show-biz blood transfusion. I cried myself to sleep that night, furious at the injustice of a life that had made me a mere audience member. Never again, I vowed to myself. From that day forward, I was an actress."

This book will make you think. Let it.

I was going to post a Youtube video for this entry [funny commercial from the superbowl], but then stopped and realized that I have already posted two in the past week. What is it about Youtube? People are becoming more and more enthralled with the internet [not that it's a bad thing] but it's really interesting to see how things are progressing. There have been major new innovations that were once the newest fad, and now are just part of everybodys daily routine. Myspace, for example was huge when it was first launched. Now we have facebook [which dare I say, in my opinion, is far superior to Myspace..] and NOW there's Youtube. It's been around for a while, but it never really became too big of a deal until what seems fairly recently. Now I can't go a day on campus without someone telling me to watch 'shoes' or 'candy mountain' or whatever else is floating around. Everyone makes videos and posts in hopes of becoming the new talk of Youtube. I have a theory though. I blame it all on reality TV, and I think it all began on the internet with ebaums world. People saw how crazily infatuated the world is with watching stupid people do stupid shit [especially if it has weird techno music.] Remember Numa Numa? Did you know that became SO popular that someone actually made a flash animation of him singing on American Idle? Yeah, and what's worse; it's saved on my computer. Lame, I know. That was really the first Youtube-like sensation that I can recall, even though it was pre-Youtube, and it wasn't even ON Youtube. I'm sure it is now, if you were to search for it I'm positive you'd find it. So what's next? Well, I have a theory for that too. There were a billion videos of Sadam's assassination posted on Youtube [most of which I'm sure were fake], is that the next internet fad? Watching people die via Youtube? Watching people leave this earth, it's like playing God. It'll be called Deathtube [patent pending]. I can see it all now.. just imagine...And then of course after that the gimmick won't just be that you're PLAYING God, it'll be that you ARE God. You'll be able to control people's lives from an online control center. There'll be buttons like "trip with crack in the sidewalk..." or "explode abode of..." [there'll be lots of fun word play like that.. has a nice ring to it: explode abode.. it's a great marketing strategy for Deathtube actually.] You won't ACTUALLY be able to directly kill anyone though. That would breech lots of contracts, and the patent God has on death. [Obviously.] But if you're lucky, by tripping someone enough, they're bound to get a bad enough concussion that they may not survive. Who knows. The best part of all? Like Youtube, it'll be free, thanks to sponsorship from corporate America. DEATHTUBE [TM] Sponsored by Pepsi - Do the Death Deed while you Do the Dew! [TM]

So insanely funny. Also true. You better believe I will be owning one of these. They're supposedly being released in June. Nice. I'm just hoping that these really do change the cellphone market.

Microsoft Corp is based in Redmond WA, hence the Redmond reference. [It's as non-subtle as Apple could get without actually saying Microsoft.] Back in 2004 at one of Apple's San Francisco conferences promoting the New OS Tiger, this banner was placed to directly poke fun at Microsoft and it's upcoming platform then named Longhorn [since renamed Vista.] I myself am a mac user, and glad to be one. For those who haven't been following the OS saga, Window's Vista looks freakishly like Apple OS X [specifically, 10.4 Tiger] I find it sort of comical, and I don't see any need for macfans to be scared that Microsoft may be taking back the market.. not at all. I see Apple only growing, as it has been. Instead, I look to the addage "imitation is the best form of flattery." It's also the best form of "hah! Microsoft has zero innovation!" I could go through all of the striking similarities, but it's been done.. and done.. and done. So I've instead posted this youtube video, perhaps you've seen it, of a writer at The New York Times speaking on the subject. I hope you sense the sarcasm in it all, but the man has set off on a 3 minute journey to prove once and for all that Micro$oft did NOT copy Apple on this OS. Well, you judge for yourself. I will say though, that if there's any doubt that Windows may have actually one-uped Apple, once Leopard is released there will no longer be any question as to Apple's superiority.Yes, we MacAddicts really DO support our OS. But hey, my Mac has treated me so well.. which is much more than I can say for any of the PC's I've owned. I feel bad for all the PC users who are upgrading to Vista and therefore have to either upgrade EVERYTHING in their CPU, or else get a new computer. Joey is running Tiger on his G3 perfectly. I run it on my G4 and I also have zero problems. I could keep this computer for the next 10 years, easy, without any problems. I, however, am too wowed by new shiny objects, so I'll probably be buying a new Mac before then; not because I need to, but because I will inevitably want to. My 2 year old G4 is already a dinousaur compared with the new Macbooks. 'What, you have an EXTERNAL isight?!' Yes, yes.. But the way I see it, when the next generation of laptops comes out and there's some other huge hardware upgrade, I'll be the first to get one.

I did get my tooth pulled. Yesterday. I didn't count on being out of the count for so long, but I'm beginning to heal and it looks like it was worth it. On the upside, I went to a place called "Dentist Depot" with a train in front of it; and it was themed, as you can imagine. There was even a miniature train running along the ceiling through holes cut into all of the walls. [Pretty much my dream come true as a little kid. It also gave me something non-threatening to look at.] The people there were also very pleasant, and pronounced my home state "Massatusetts." I'm pretty sure there's a 'ch' in there.. but they were so kindly [and had the power to do scary things to my mouth] so I didn't correct them. Aside from the train paraphernalia, they lowered the price of my visit by nearly $100 because a.) I'm a poor college student, b.) I don't have dental insurance and c.) I amused them all by my detailed stories of the mystical land of Massatusetts. I knew my baked-beans-and-tea-party heritage would come in handy..

With the pain involved with a wisdom tooth poking its way further through my gums, I got to thinking about dentists, and why they're so scary. Plus, my boss is in the unpleasant process of oral surgery to correct a problem with a cap. But really now, why are dentists so scary? A lot of people are more scared of dentists than of doctors. Man, I would think a tooth cleaning would be a little less nerve-wracking than having a surgeon cut open your vital organs.. you know, the ones you need to survive.. I know for certain that there are toothless yokels out there who are doing quite fine. How many people do you know walking around without lungs or a large intestine? Anyway, I digress. The dentist. They're usually very nice, at least the ones I've been to. And as a kid, there were always fun Dr. Seuss books and those 3D bead maze things. You know what I'm talking about. As an adult you can read up on the latest celeb gossip, although I prefer reading a little Dr. Seuss myself. [One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish? How does he think of these things?! Complete genius..] Back to the magazines. Let's leave the poor people alone, eh? Imagine if People Magazine did spreads on locals like you and I.. that'd be boring. Who would want to see pictures of Mrs. Thomas coming out of the supermarket in flipflops and a moomoo? [Especially if they were taken from the bushes] or an article about how the guy in apartment 8B divorced his wife of 2 weeks to be with another woman.. [zzz] Well, if that appeals to you I think we should have a 1-on-1 chat about a little thing called gossip. It's bad. [Although down here in the south it's not so much a thing as it is a way of life..] That being said, me being a completely ordinary unfamous guy, if you were taking pictures of me coming out of the supermarket in flipflops and a moomoo from the bushes, be forewarned that I would not hesitate to throw a heavy object in your general direction.. whether I be famous or not. Speaking of heavy objects.. The gym.. My new years resolution this year was to get in better shape. I'm pretty sure that 99% of Americans make that resolution as well. Maybe I'll be in the tiny percentile who actually get off their butts and go to the gym to make it happen. [scoff!] I mean, I'm already one step ahead of most.. I don't have to send a check to a gym, I have a free one right on campus. [By free, I mean included in my overly-inflated tuition] Well, I haven't been yet.. but I keep telling myself that it's too cold to walk over there now.. I'll go when spring hits. So would I rather go to the dentist or the gym? The dentist is just one visit, where as the gym is a long term commitment for not so immediate results. One visit to the dentist equals sparkly teeth. One visit to the gym equals one sweat-soaked shirt and sore tiny biceps. Then again, there is no wait for the gym, but then again you can't get out of work for it either.. No free toothbrush when you go to the gym though... tough decision. I don't know what to choose! I suppose I'd have to go with the gym.. mainly because I don't have dental insurance at present and a free trip to the gym certainly matches my current budget.
So it's the gym. Now I have to go. Dangit. Should I be going to the dentist to check out my wisdom teeth though? I have both lower wisdom teeth in.. and they're oh so slowly growing in. [It's taken over a year for them to just barely break through the gums.] Who decided to call them gums anyway? And why gums with an 's'? When we talk about chewing gum, people would look at you like you're an idiot if you were to add an 's' to make gum plural. "Yeah, I just love chewing my Orbit Bubblemint[tm] Gums. Mmmm!" And yet if you say that your tooth is poking through your gum people would also look at you strangely. Or perhaps they would say "that's a great story.. you should tell that at parties." [with oodles of sarcasm of course.]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think it doesn't matter.

Run, don't walk to the nearest theater, to see it if you haven't already. Dreamgirls. Like you didn't know what I was talking about. It was so hyped up that by the time I was finally able to go to the theaters to see it I didn't think I would end up loving it as much as everyone else. Wrong. Just see it, you'll understand. Good music. Good story. Good insight into this crazy business of entertainment. Good cinematography. Good actors. It's all good people.

And you know what else, Beyonce was better than I was expecting. Good for her. Of course Jennifer Hudson was unbelievable - such is to be expected. The gal has pipes. Dude, art like this really makes me proud to be an entertainer. That's why I train.. ideally, the technique will be there so I can express myself and get across my message. Don't know what it is yet, but it'll come. [gosh I can ramble..] Just see the movie! You won't regret it.