ho-hum CTA

today was actually a pretty boring an uneventful commute - I will, however, post a story that my friend Michael told me today about HIS commute:

"Here's a CTA story for you. This morning I get on the bus and at the next stop a woman is waiting but the driver blows on by. I say "Sir, I think that woman wanted the bus". To which the driver replies "She was walking her dog". Which makes my mouth drop open as I say to him "Sir, she's blind. That was a seeing eye dog". Numbnuts."

classic.

for the love of Pete, MOVE!!!!

Tuesday's CTA rant

This is a 2-pronged rant (get your mind out of the gutter Brownlee).

Rant, the first
folks, you take the train EVERY DAY, you get on it every day, you exit it every day.....why then is it so hard to decide where to go?
Case in point, today, as I exit the train at Grand, the woman directly in front of me exits the train and once she's on the platform, she comes to complete stop --- to the point that I almost plow right into her the back of her high-priced-but-overly-bulky North Face parka. There wasn't any reason for her to stop - she just....stopped. Retard.

Rant, the second
I hop to the side and try and side-step the bulky-coated hesitant retard. I shake my head rather than say what's on my mind (expletives only, I assure you...). I head toward the escalator, and head up the left side, which day after day is always the side you head for if you want to walk up the escalator - as I do. If you'd rather stand still, traditionally, people always move to the right. This is usually the case..... except when people forget the "move to the right" rules.
The most common thing is NOT someone who wants to stand still staying on the left, it's usually someone who'd rather walk UP the escalator somehow making to the right side, and then when they realize they aren't moving, the push over to the left so they can walk up....and of course hold up the REST of us, who k now they want to walk up and are SMART ENOUGH to position ourselves on the left side from the beginning.

until tomorrow, my lovely readers.

(*disclaimer* - the people I refer to as "retard" - I call them this because the mentally handicapped and developmentally disabled are SMARTER than these people. I would never deign to refer to developmentally disabled as retarded. They're smarter than that.)

New ideas.....

I decided a couple of days ago that I need to resurrect my Blog. The poor thing is dying a slow death. The problem is that I find LJ to be a quicker way to post info and catch up on other folks, so I tend to neglect my Blog.

Not anymore.

Not only will I be updating every day (cross fingers), but I'm going to EXCLUSIVELY use it to air my CTA commuting stories.

Every day, a new story. Some will be happy, some sad, some FRUSTRATING...
(the CTA? frustrating? shut up....)

Onward & upward -

The only thing from today's commute that stands out is an adorable moment I shared with a woman on the train. Since I get on the train so far away from downtown, I'm always able to get a seat. Once we get to Belmont, though, the train just PACKS in with people. So this morning, this woman comes on and is practically pushed into me due to the creush behind her. This makes me look up from my book, and I notice that she is about 7 months pregnant. I immediately pop up and ask "would you like to sit?"
She smiles and says "I would, if you don't mind?" -- and I say "not at all - please do.."
So she sits, and I become part of the crush. Not a normal thing for me on the WAY to work (coming home, different story), but it wasn't awful, just tight :)
We travel all the way down to Chicago Avenue, and she gets up to exit the train. On her way past me, she lays her hand on my arm, and smiles and says "thank you so much for letting me sit". To which i responded "no problem"

Well, it was nice to post a nice story to start with. I'm sure that will change.

Stay tuned dear readers!

(now, I;'m off to try and remove those awful google ads I put in ....)

a kleenex tale

(cross-posted from my LJ)
I’m going to tell you the tale of a vacuum cleaner.

A very important vacuum cleaner.

Back in 2000, I was living in Chicago (for the first time) and living with one of my closest friends, Jenn. We had known each other and had been close since pretty much the first day we met, which was back in January of 1994.
Well, in trying to be more “adult” and purchase practical things for the apartment, I bought this Bissell vacuum cleaner. Not the best vacuum cleaner, but it was over 100$, so that was a lot for me back then….
About a year later, I picked up and moved back to Massachusetts, and when I did, I inadvertently left behind a couple of things. The dish set that was a going away gift for me & Jenn, a mixer I liked and simply forgot…. and the vacuum cleaner.

We have since joked over the years about how “it’s right in our closet, if you ever want it back” and I would always protest and say no worries.

Jenn had started a theatre company just before I moved back to Massachusetts in 2001, and when Sara and I moved BACK to Chicago, it was natural to ease into becoming a company member of that theatre company. I’ve been a company member for over a year and a half now, and I’ve grown to view my fellow company members as family. That being said, due to the emotional and raw nature of the art we do sometimes, much like family - we don’t always like each other, and sometimes conflicts arise.

We (the company) decided over this past weekend that in order to have any hope of moving forward as a theatre company, we needed to let Jenn go from the company. The reasons are there, and it’s not my place to discuss them in a public forum. That being said, though, all of our company’s props, costumes, lights, etc, have always been stored in Jenn’s basement. She requested we remove all of it within 48 hours, which we agreed would be the right thing.

I’m the only one with a large enough “common” space in my basement, so all the stuff is now slated to reside at my place. The rest of the company emptied out Jenn’s basement last night, and then they met me at my place, where we started to unload the truck as fast as we could.

and then I saw it.

tucked in the back of the truck, unnoticed by the rest of the company….

the vacuum cleaner.

my heart fell.

and I knew.

we’re done.

I knew that we didn’t have a good chance to recover our friendship from the mess of the theatre company stuff, but I did have a grain of hope.

not anymore.

I don’t even need the vacuum, but I also can’t bring myself to throw it away.

*YAWN*

9:37 am
i'm awake. i guess i can't complain considering Mace being woken by the construction noise at 6:30....
I'm hungry. i should make some brekkie. I hacve the tools to make a variety of things, but I'm not sure what I actually WANT.... so here I sit --- contemplating breakfast.

Only 5 more performances of the show. Thus begins the most frustrating week and a half....
I guarantee you, we'll have plenty of empty seats this weekend, and then NEXT weekend, for closing, ALL the people who haven't seen it yet SUDDENLY remember "shit! I have to go see the show!" and we end up selling out, and having a waiting list, and turning pople away.....
folks - come during the middle - come the weekend BEFORE closing. If you come closing weekend, you may not get in. This happens with EVERY SHOW IN THE CITY.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind selling out - we could certainly USE IT, it's the people who don't end up making it in.... it's sad.

oh well - I can't change the way people think....

*******************************************

there's a possibility I may need to go to Providence, RI to attend a training session for the hotel. As Providence is only an hour or so from Boston, the ability to actually see people and hang out while I'm there is very high.
Plus, who can complain about maybe being able to see he very last of the fall foliage on the hotel's dime? :)

i love embarrassing videos of me....

in the interest of ALWAYS being able to poke a little fun at myself....

My old pal Paul Bisson recently converted a bunch of his old camcorder movies he took of some wonderfully embarressing college cast parties of ours onto DVD, and he sent me a link to one....

he posted it publicly on his LiveJournal, so who am I to not share that with the rest of the world?


Bear in mind, folks, that this video is 7 1/2 years ago, and I'm a terribly immature 23 (and obviously can't hold my wine)

Enjoy - Happy Halloween


http://www.livejournal.com/users/alex7000/21142.html

great e-mail

Myf friend Molly headed down to New Orleans a few weeks ago, and she just got back and sent this e-mail.
thought I'd share.....

******************************************************************************

Hey Folks,

Just thought I would let everyone know that I am back from Louisiana safe and sound. I think I am experiencing a little culture shock right now, but am doing fine and am readjusting to normal life after one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

I spent 2 1/2 weeks working at the River Center which was the largest shelter in Baton Rouge, housing 7,000 people at it's peak, the large majority of whom were from the superdome (Some had been sent to texas and then evacuated back to Baton Rouge when Rita was about to hit). The other large portion of our population was from St. Charles which is west of New Orleans and was Flooded during Rita.

The last week and a half I drove a truck delivering water MRE's and other food stuffs to shelters allover Louisiana and a few just over the border on the coast of Mississippi. I have rolls of film of the area but this crappy dial up connection won't let me attach any of them so maybe later

The people I met are some of the strongest and most inspiring folks in the world from the New Orleans evacuees, the families of Waveland MS, who are now living in tents where their homes used to be with a dignity that is undescribable, the local volunteers who not only took evacuees ionto their homes in Baton Rouge but spent several days a week volunteering to work at shelters and drive trucks, and my fellow Red Cross volunteers who have the most amazing capacity for companssion and self sacrifice.

If you have any questions about my experience or want to know how to help, donate money or time or especially just write or call to say hi please get in touch. Missed y'all!

XOX

Molly

congrats

(cross - posted from LJ, etc)

Dear Chicago,

From "my" Sox, to "your" Sox.

Congrats.

Nothing quite like taking 2 curses and getting them GONE 2 years in a row.

(Cubbies? are you listening? you're next...)


Sorry, Houston, your winless streak just wasn't long enough to contend with the hunger of these players.


Congratulations, South-Siders....

You deserve it!

Love,

Dianna

google ads

so I've decided to try out the Google ads. I figure a couple of bucks wouldn't hurt (if any one CLICKS on them that is!)

holy CRAPPPPPPPPP

(cross-posted from LJ)
::dianna's jaw DROPS to the floor::

The pre-sale starts tomorrow for the FIONA APPLE show 12/4 at the Riv.

oh.
my.
god.


::picks jaw up off of floor::

ok, who's coming with.... Jo, I assume your ass is there... :)

a new page

dealing with living alone was weird....

dealing with being single will be weirder...

baffled.....

how do you nominate someone for the "highest court in the land" who has NEVER BEEN A JUDGE BEFORE??????

Red Sox just clinched the A.L. wild card.....

amen, sistah....

::sigh::

I need a vacation

FINALLY

after what was probably the LONGEST turnover process KNOWN TO MANKIND......

i FINALLY turnedover my keys to my landlord last night (the new folks should be moving in as we speak..... talk about waiting till the last minute)
I frankly allowed him to walk over me a bit in some sposts mostly because I JUST WANTED IT TO BE OVER.......

i mean, the apartment looks better than it ever did while we were living there (except for the boring kitchen, which had to be re-painted - NO MORE RED KITCHEN! boo hoo!) - so, I don't know what his big deal was.
he's such a schmuck.

This whole episode just verifies the fact that my number one goal in my life is to save money aside this year so that I can MOVE THE HELL OUT.


There's a pal of mine here at work who is transferring to Houston in a couple of weeks, and he was telling me about the apartment he's rented. (and BTW, I'll miss him terribly)
it's in an apartment "community" kind of like a subdivision - he's a 10 minute walk to the hotel he'll be working at, and the place is a duplex, 2 bedroom, yadda yadda....
$800 a month, dammit.

makes me REALLY want to move out from the clutches of my landlord....

(not that HOUSTON sounds attractive, just the apartment price....)

...because Thales said so....

ok, ok....

i posted something......... happy?



So I just watched a movie I'd never seen before (god bless HBO), and I feel a little nerdy because I actually got a little caught up in it.

It was "The Day After Tomorrow".

I know, I know......

I was actually yelling at the TV when they had left the library to get supplies, and the eye of the storm passed over..... I'm like, "get back inside! get back inside!"

and I ACTUALLY got misty at the end when the helicopters flew over Manhattan and it showed all the other people who had survived appearing on the roofs of the tall buildings.

::sniffle::

shut up man, nothing wrong with enjoying a summer blockbuster 2 years late!

I also have Ladder 49 from NetFlix - I'll take care of that either today or tomorrow so I can send both back to Netflix (the other being West WIng season 4 - disc 2)
That on was in the mailbox when I got home last night at 10, and I didn't go to bed until after i watched all the episodes (i think there was 4?)


Oh, and "big ups" to Jen for having the gang over last night. Jen, love the new place, and loved the sangria! All the snackies were delish!
We'll have to all get together again soon.

Until then...

Hey Jo.... 185 cellular phones walked into a bar and..........

godDAMMIT

It's just WONDERFUL to know [sarcasm intended], that no matter how much my self and those I am closest with can celebrate their pride (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8367448/) there's always something out there to bring me back to harsh reality. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8349415/)

son of a bitch.
happy fucking pride

...scraping by......

So, the big move out happened just one week ago. Sara packed up the essentials, and headed out to the suburbs to live with her mom, probably for a year - we'll see.

I am now living alone, and in a single paycheck situation, which is fine, but the first time of paying rent (next week) all by my lonesome will be a stretch.
I've done some overtime here at work, and the hourly pay for my time and 1/2 is PRETTY nice. I will defintely have enough to pay the rent, and have a scrape of money left over - the challenge becomes this - the next paycheck isn't for another 2 weeks. Next month is when I' ll have to start putting aside a couple hundred dollars from the "mid month" paycheck, so that I don't have to use EVERY LAST PENNY of the "end of month" paycheck just for rent. I mean, I do need to EAT and all.
::grin::

The bills are paid up (and in some cases, slightly OVERpaid - Sara and I got into this habit with some of the smaller bills, like Electric and Gas, if the bill was for 36.42, we'd send 40$), and I've gotten a 30 day CTA pass, so I'm good until Mid July for transit.

My friend Jo has a line on a part time job for me over at Comedy Sports, where she is an intern.
It's not a lot of money per hour, but if hired, I could make my own schedule (basically, only get scheduled for nights I CAN be there) - which will work great for me.
Now, I just need to go ahead and fill that application out so I can get started.

All I need between now and that glorious "mid month" paycheck arriving on 7/14, is maybe 20$ worth of groceries (money goes FAR at Aldi's), and maybe 2 rolls of quarters for laundry.





Any donations will be kindly accepted.

Content, content, content

I just realized i haven't updated my blog in justover 2 months...

what the fuck?

well, I was PM for a show, then my best friend's wedding, then i was cast in a show and was rehearsing, then I had a tragic death in the family, and then the show i was in opened.
This past weekend is actually the first one I have had almost entirely to myself since about Easter (i know, i know - whine, whine, whine....)

I' m now in day 3 of "living alone".

Things are ok (so far). Honstly, the weirdest part is not having Sara next to me in bed at night. We talk on the phone (every day so far) and we'll see each other when we can, but not being next to her in bed each night will be the hardest thing to get used to. I hope I never "get used" to it. I honostly don't think I will. I'm sure I'll discover some more "weird" things as time moves on....


***********
On a completely different note, I'm contributing to a reading tomorrow night of a play written by my friend Michael. It's weird, because I know he reads my blog from time to time, so I dont' want to gush too much (his head would get WAY to big...)
Suffice to say, the play is just beautiful, and I love it.
The theatre company is contemplating producing it as a show, and I certainly hope that we do. There's a lot of "Michael" in the play, and since I know him, it made some parts difficult to read, but I'm glad I did.
It's just wonderful, and I hope the reading tomorrow night goes well (::crossing fingers::).


that's all for now.

May 11

(cross posted from my livejournal)
May 11, 1988


Today marks 17 years.

I miss you Dad. I can without hesitation that I think of you EVERY day.

I move through my life day by day wondering "what would Dad have thought of this? Would he approve?
would he disapprove? would he think I'm funny? would he think I'm a GOOD PERSON?"

I have lived more than 1/2 my life without my dad. That 13 years of having him around seems so small in
comparison to my 30 years on this earth. It's bizarre to think that someone who had SUCH an impact on me
becoming the person I am today hasn't even been around for almost 20 years.


Dan Driscoll was a quiet guy, except around those he knew and loved.

My dad was a silly guy, given to bursts of goofiness, usually involving the hose, or the sprayer by the sink.He loved sports. He loved his Red Sox. He loved his wife. He loved his 4 kids. He was a GENEROUS dad.
Generous with his time, generous of himself, generous of his 24 pack of miller lite :)

In 11 days, he would have been 53. It always makes the pain just a little more poignant, knowing he died so close
to his birthday. And since he shared a birthday with my mom (his 1st of 2 wives), it has made all my mom's birthday
celebrations feel hollow. Even though they were no longer married when he passed away, my parents had always
been GREAT friends. Almost like the twins that their astrological sign embodies. My mom has even admitted to me
that she always has a pang of sadness as each birthday passes, and she no longer can share it with her "twin".


I've spent the last 17 years marking each May 11th that goes by in completely different ways. Some years I still cry,
and some I just wonder. Wonder how life would be if he were still around.

I've only been to his gravesite twice in the 17 years. Each time was painful. He is buried in what is possibly
the most GORGEOUS cemetary in New England. It makes no difference. His little plot is tucked away off to the side,
away from the famous monuments, away from the flowering dogwood trees.


I'm not truly sure what I'm writing here - just really a stream of consiousness about something I've always struggled with.

So today is just a Wednesday, tucked in the middle of May, and altough it doesn't look it on the outside,
my head will be FILLED today with thoughts of Daniel R. Driscoll Sr.
Born May 22, 1952 - Died May 11, 1988 ..... 11 days short of his 36th birthday.

I miss you so much sometimes Dad that it aches.

I love you.