I haven’t mentioned it here yet for reasons unknown (too lazy to log into Blogger.com?), but I have begun doing standup comedy again. My first show was on July 30th at the Improv Inferno in Ann Arbor, MI. It was five minutes of nervousnous and laughs, and overall I think I pulled it off pretty well. I did record the show, but the quality isn’t very good. I might be able to doctor it up (and maybe patch in a few extra laughs…ha!) and eventually post it. We shall see.

I plan on performing as much as possible. Performing at the Inferno on Sundays is easiest for me due to my work schedule. I will still try to get into other venues in the area during the week and just request the days off from work. It’ll be good to get back into the game after being out for so long. I’ll post dates/times/locations to this site and my MySpace page whenever they become available.

Sometimes it’s nice to be able to ignore the “news” (entertainment) media and get the story straight from the source. I was very moved by some of the stories there. It shows how much we really live for the moment, and sometimes we just have to let time pass before we realize the real meaning of something. In five years, the people of New York are not going to remember how annoyed they were at work, or how angry they were for sitting in traffic for three hours; none of that matters. They will remember the way people yet again came together in more difficult times and the goodness and positivity that really keeps the world moving.

Here I am, posting from my origin in Michigan. I don’t have anything really exciting to say about it. Nothing really has completely sunk in yet. It still kinda sorta feels like I’m “just visiting” despite the huge pile of boxes still stacked downstairs and all my major belongings, including my computer, set up here in my room. It all happened so quickly…

I start my new job Monday. How fucking weird. I don’t even have a chance to let this all really sink in…I’m going to be working in Michigan again for the first time since 2001. I’m living back home with my parents after living away for four years. While time was passing, it seemed to go very quickly. Now I look back and think about it, and so much has happened in these past four years. I’ve gone to so many different places and met so many people and made so many friends. I’ve played and toured in a band, I had a long relationship which taught me a lot about myself and the world as a whole, I’ve done standup and improv comedy…

Here I am in Michigan; now what?

North Korea announced today that it has nuclear weapons. Lovely. So, unlike the faulty intelligence that we based our current illegitimate war on Iraq in, North Korea is foregoing any need for a scavenger hunt and is saying “we got your WMD right here.” I really can’t wait to see Bush talk around this one. North Korea is saying they exist for defense against an increasingly hostile US. Rice is saying they have no reason to believe we’d attack. I can totally see that, cause we never invaded another country without good reason…

What’s more frightning are Iran’s warnings that their country would become a “scorching hell” for any possible attackers. The fact that we’re even whispering about Iran should be cause for concern for anybody. These are the early days, where we hear the word “Iran” dropped into the news here and there…it’s not quite time yet for the full flood of propaganda and false reasoning to go to war with them. If the Bush administration were smart (heaven forbid), they’d keep any operation in Iran on the back page of the news where nobody will read about it. Then again, it’s not like it’ll be the wake up call for anyone in the US if it were all over the news. It’ll just be another damn day. Hell, I wouldn’t put it past the majority of Jesusland to confuse Iran with Iraq…it’s only a one letter difference, leave them alone!

It doesn’t matter that the Iraq war is still a near-complete failure, troop morale is down the gutter, and troops are stretched thin. It doesn’t matter that numerous polls show the majority of people thinking Iraq was a mistake. Tell them the Reichstag is burning and the cry for war will be heard. All the fear surrounding the question “Is Iran next?” seems to be justified.

It’s not very often that an internet technology renders jawdropping results and an awestricken stare at the computer monitor. Google has done it again, with the introduction of a beta Google Maps. Tossed into the arena with other competing map sites, such as Expedia, MapQuest, and the equally-if-not-more impressive Maps24.com, Google is sure to make it’s mark on the map with its ever expanding household name.

Unlike other services (except for Maps24), the Google Maps service is almost completely interactive, allowing you to scroll around the map using the mouse. Other hot features are the direction markers, which, with a simple click, will show you a zoomed window of a small area surrounding your location or destination point. The maps look beautiful, and have the most clear looking street lines that I’ve ever seen in an online map service.

Three cheers for Google! I can’t think of many companies who dip into so many different markets without pissing off the consumer and sacrificing quality for quantity. They’re becoming a massive internet portal, and I for one welcome our new internet overlords.