Walking

Walking.

The title of this blog is “Walking in Austin.” Over the past week I have rediscovered this art that was so motivating that it became the name for the medium in which I am the most honest with myself.

Since New Years I have become Serpico. For those whom this reference has no memory, he was a detective in New York that was the key witness against his fellow cops who were taking illegal cash payments from criminals. The story was made into one of my favorite films under the same name and utilizing Al Pacino as the lead. I mention the fact that I am becoming Serpico not because I am a cop, but because I feel like it is my duty to try and express how beautiful life is, but it is just under the surface of this current world. Also, because Pacino has a very long beard and hair, which I am currently sporting, which is pretty fantastic.



I have two offices here in Austin. Both are equally as sublime in different ways and both provide amazing places for writing, thinking and talking. The first of these offices is located at the Town Lake. Around the lake area, my actual office changes each day as there are so many different locations. The second of my offices, when the weather is poor, is the Capital. The Capital is open to the public and has viewing rooms above the Senate and House floors. These rooms can seat hundreds, auditorium style. It provides a very quite sanctuary in which free thought can flow will inside an amazing building over 100 years old.



Both of these locations are on my daily walking route. I have calculated it, and I roughly walk about 10 miles a day. These walks have happened under the clear blue skies and the grey storm clouds with rain. These walks happen everyday and are a way of meditation. Everyone else drives, I walk. I am of a select few, but we are out there. We are the people that do not have to rush anywhere as we have no expectations other than our personal happiness.



I have begun to notice a pattern. A pattern with the music I listen to depending on where I am on the journey. When I start it is always to Spoon. When I get to the park it switches to Pearl Jam. When I get across Congress bridge and approach Zilker park it is Bright Eyes. When I decide to sit and rest it is Sigur Ros. When I write it is Radiohead, When I read it is Animal Collective. When I begin to walk back to the house it is Tom Waits. This pattern can be broken, but it provides the soundtrack for what has become my life.



This pattern continues with the people that I see on the trail. I think of them as my friends. They are also ailed by the conscious that can only be cleared with the power of walking. I see the same gentleman riding his bike wearing only a flesh tone colored string thong. He always smile in my direction. The first time I saw him I had to take a second look. Was that dude really wearing just a thong? Yes, yes he was. Now that I see him everyday I wave and nod. He smiles and returns the karma, rides right on by grinning like a child.



When I cross under the bridge for the Interstate 35 there is the same woman sitting on the bench fighting some demon in her head that will never let her rest. I am sure she has some form of dementia and is homeless. A tear is always formed and no matter what my thoughts are caught up in, at that moment I just thank everyone that I know for just being there. I can see the pain in her dilated eyes from years of self torment. How she has fended off anyone that could have ever loved her. How she had become just too difficult for her relatives to take the time to care for her. How cruel this world can be if you just get beaten down one too many times.



Further down the path is a bench that I meditate at. It is located off of the running trail and is surrounded by the lake. I stop every time I am at the bench just to slow everything down. The last two days, when I approached this bench a construction worker was enjoying his lunch. He was a stout African American man and was clad with the mist of saw dust. Across the street is the location in which a very large building with new lofts was being constructed. He was taking his break from building living spaces for people in a much higher social class. This was his moment to just sit and think. Or just sit and not think. Or just sit and sit. I smiled and nodded, he returned the favor. This was his little piece of paradise for the day and it was amazing to watch how a little park can transform the identity of a man within his own mind.



Something happens when I visit this park. A transformation. It feels like the rush of life is drowned out to a little murmur. Like all the cries and worries of the society wash away as the wind off the lake sways the trees.



I have always been a walker and a talker. Talking to me has always been one of my favorite things to do. Yes, this is why I have a blog and I am a writer. When you are a writer, you always have someone to talk to.



These patterns that I have created for my days have allowed for portals to be opened. Portals that allow for my subconscious to breath without the judgment of those around. The work is judge enough. This world is not here to judge what has happened before or what will happen again. It is just witness to what we bring to it. We are not here to be better or worse than our neighbor. It is not our job to make the most money or win the most contests. It is our job to simply be happy.



People are always afraid of what they do not know. I am no different. I am just as scared of every calamity that could happen or getting cancer. I am scared of running out of money or being alone my whole life. These issues have been imprinted in our minds to be things that cause fear for good reason. But, our brains can be re-programmed. We can control what we value and how it effects our lives.



Remember, no one has ever been born great. People who were dubbed mad during their times are not thought of has the greatest thinkers ever to walk the Earth. When you live on the edge there are moments in which you get cut and other moments in which you lose complete contact with the surface. Know that every moment is temporary and everything will make sense in the moonlight.



I started this post with the importance of walking. It is a meditative activity that allows me to leave this world the better. I have patterned myself with moments that cause my personal happiness. This happiness is found in my writing as each day I find out something new about myself. How are we to be honest to others when we are afraid of who we are?



Moral: Get out and walk or do whatever activity it is that centers your soul. Do not allow the judgments of others or their expectations force you to compromise your happiness. Embrace the challenges of living and when everything comes crashing down, take a moment, look around and say “Big deal, is that all you have for me?” Lastly, if you are ever in Austin and want to have a picnic, let me know, I’ll see if I can make time in my schedule. Much Love folks and happy Friday baby!


Fantastic clip that should make you smile and the best way to end this post, in my humble opinion :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uzAqDrAwR8

Agenda

Agenda.

A word that allows for endless possibilities. I love writing that as all words allow for this understanding. But, this word will make my working class readers readers cringe as it expresses a list of duties that need to be completed in a set amount of time; otherwise, the day will not be successful.



I have always had an agenda. I think this goes back to my parents. They are people that have to plan out exactly what is going to happen. I remember vacations in which the entire trip was planned out from what time we were supposed to arrive to the time we were to eat. I always wondered, how the heck do they already know when we are going to be hungry?



Agenda is a word that is used to create a plan. It is a word that expresses expectations for something to happen. What I now understand is that agenda’s end up killing the moment. They are created in one moment, to plan out things in the future that may never happen because that moment is not guaranteed.



As with being human, I took on this controlling method of living. I had to have a reason for something. A trip to Austin was thought of and I stated, “We need to go to do something.” I would plan out vacations in which we would stay at three different hotels over five days just to experience which one is best so we would know where to stay on the next trip. I always wanted this structure in the future. I always wanted it to all be mapped out for me; I thought it was easier that way.



Expect nothing and receive everything. When you anticipate something to happen, it will happen, but not be nearly as satisfying as you originally thought. When you expect someone to be something more than what they can offer, they will never fulfill your desires. But, when you understand the beauty in everything and do not need the acceptance of others to confirm your happiness; you will see all of the marvels in human connection.



My life in Austin is beginning to mirror this new approach. I am no longer planning anything. I am learning to be patient. I am learning to be flexible. I am learning to be open. I am learning to be uncomfortable. I am learning to be wrong. I am learning to not be the smartest person in the room. I am learning to be happy with who I am. I am not here to live some one else’s life. I am not here to fit into a mold in which I am not satisfied. I am being selfish by providing unconditional compassion to myself and those around.



We carry so many exhausted emotions into every morning when we wake up that it is difficult to level out the current moments into new experiences. Rather, they just become a forum for our memories. The mornings can be tainted with the fights of the previous days. Or, the glow of a new Love. It is important, as with living a complete life, to understand that each day is independent of the previous or the future. Each day stands on its own in the test of time and you my friend have the mallet to shape that day as you seem fit.



My friend, Nation, arrived Friday evening around 11. The agenda was for us to chill at my house for the night, then make the 8 hour drive the following morning at 4 AM. That was changed the moment he stepped off the plane and we hit the 71 to the Interstate 10 East. A rain was hovering over Austin the entire day and was our travel companion the whole way. The road was lonely. My friend played with his phone. I played in my head. He fell asleep and I talked to myself. I had a debate about how the Cardinals were going to win the game. This concluded when I figured out the exact way my play was going to end, which is going to be fantastic, and I drove a calm body of water as the fog of the morning was being burnt off with the glow of the sun. Everything was grey and we had finally arrived at our hotel. The clock read 7:28 AM.



Realities have caused us to always judge everything prior to it happening. We have already built in conclusions for all of these moments that have never truly happened. We have these ideas of what would happen and that becomes absolute truth as we honestly belief them. There is nothing stronger in this world than the individual conscious with the support of the collected witnesses.



The scoreboard read 45-14. The Cardinals were on the short end of the fence. Nation was exhausted as the laundry list of excuses were running out as we exited the stadium. We were clad in all red and were easy targets in the mass of Gold and Black. No fistfights broke out. There were some heated exchanges as we crossed into the downtown area of New Orleans. One gentleman who was wearing shoulder pads, a faded jersey, a football helmet and wielding a light saber type device was very motivated to make the point that he kicked our asses. I tried to debate with the individual with the point that I did not see him playing, nor did I actually play a down in the game. Therefore, utilizing the possessive pronoun of “we” and “you” was an inaccurate statement. He would be more inclined to state that the team in which he was rooting severely beat the team in which I was rooting. This line of reasoning did not help the situation and it was the quick thinking of Nation to get us away from him as he began to beat the sidewalk with his light saber and a glassy, fierce look overcame his dilated eyes.



It is an interesting phenomenon how a team can truly embody the culture of the fan base. The team played in the same manner as the fans rooted. The spirit of New Orleans, in my brief time there, would be to have fun and be right. It is a city that is built on tourism and the enjoyment of others in the city. I say be right, as I do not think anyone that I encountered ever said sorry nor was their ever a moment to exchange a different opinion. I am not saying that this is not allowed, nor was I ever right or wrong. But, there seems to be a general feel of I am right, you are either with me or against me. Choose your side wisely and lets just have some fun. I think these two theories go hand in hand as everyone would appear to be intoxicated. I can tell you from experience, whenever you are drunk, there is nothing more accurate or pure than the words exiting your mouth no matter how irrational and plan stupid they sound to the audience.



It is also human condition to love instant gratification. We love to be loved immediately. This is not to say that we are lazy, generation after generation have always had the same thoughts. We love to get whatever it is right away. We do not want to work for our reward. We do not want to think or slow down whatever process is happening. We want to make it faster. We wanted it yesterday and tomorrow we are going to be famous. The beauty in life is slowing it down to understand how it is all working. The faster you go, the more you miss.



This is an ongoing assessment of sports in this world, but it still amazes me how much we have invested emotionally to a contest in which we do not have any control of the outcome. Sure, we can go to these games and yell our heads off, but that does not actually effect whatever it is on the field. I am not stating this as the team in which I traveled to see lost, but this is the same when the team in which you are rooting wins. There is either this depression or confidence that is in the complete control of people you have never met. I used to be one of these fans. I used to cry when the Yankees lost and have been known to break things when the Cardinals were denied. I think there is a sense of being self-aware when you do realize just how small these games are and buy into the idea that greater things can be linked to our emotions that we can manage with our own hands.



This is my post about New Orleans. It is not going to be about the game or about the time after. It is more of an assessment of my maturity, I’d like to think at least, as a person. I am no longer one that will plan out every little detail. I am one that will not be upset if we don’t make it to that fourth hotel by the fifth night. I am no longer going to be overwhelmed with the blank spaces on my calendar. I think that I would always get caught up with having a structure, but then complaining about the constraints of it. I know, it is crazy, but I have learned to embrace it all. Take the good with the bad and enjoy them both the same.



I no longer try to hold onto anything. I was always baffled by a lyric written by Bright Eyes. I do not know the exact so I will paraphrase: “Once you Love something, give it away.”



This always stuck with me as I always had this agenda that Love was to be the end product and once it is achieved a vacation was in order. The beauty that I found in that line is that yes, you Love something, now let go before it is ruined. It does not mean let it go, turn your back on it and walk away. Rather, in this current moment you have found Love, but tomorrow it will be changed. Do not settle on Loving for just a few days of your life, Love everyday with the things that are prepared to embrace your heart.



I did survive New Orleans. I am a better person for it and it was truly enjoyable. It was depressing, but depression is good, just as good as happiness if you grow from it.



Moral: The New Orleans Saints are a good football team. Logic is never a good way of reasoning with those whom are intoxicated. Beads have become the currency in the Land of Distraction on Bourbon Street. Embrace everything as it comes to you. And always remember, when everything is negative, you can change your approach or just go to sleep, the sun always comes up the next day. Take care and much Love my friends!


This was my favorite memory of ACL, my favorite Pearl Jam song and a moment that is very fitting to what this blog hopefully accomplished.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3xXAdWVow4

Redemption

Redemption.

Back in the saddle again.



Ok, for those of you who are my Austin readers, you do not quite know to what extent my passion is for the Arizona Cardinals. My introduction to the blog writing world was through the creation of a blog entitled “Red Nation 2009.”



My fellow hapless romantic friend created this blog for me while he was living in California. As a passionate, lunatic of the Cardinals I utilized the blog as a method in which to express my views of the team through philosophical messages.



It was not too far removed from my current blog; rather than commenting about the city that is Austin, I wrote about my experiences as part of “Red Nation.”



It turned out to be a magical season for the Red Birds. They made the play-offs for the first time in over a decade and fell a few seconds short from winning the Super Bowl. Trust me, when we had this idea of a blog about the Cardinals, it was not to document positive actions or a team that went on to win the NFC, but more of a form of therapy to have a forum to express our collective depression.



This blog faded to black as I moved. I was a season ticket holder from 1995 until last season. I attended almost every home game throughout those years only missing games in which I did not have a ride to the stadium, as a majority of the time I was the youngest and most delusional thinking that every game was a life or death situation. For the better part of the last four years, I attended each of these games with my Uncle. I have developed into a form of my Uncle and I couldn’t be prouder. He was the person that began this tradition with the Cardinals and his passion has not faded but intensified as the years have concluded.



I look back now with a spectrum of emotions that have allowed me to realize just how amazing those Sundays were spent maturing through life with the tint of football used as a metaphor for just how important it is to keep going.



The Cardinals have bound me not only with my Uncle, but my closest friends. For a few years when I was in high school and pretending to be in college, I spent each Sunday with Andy and Marc. We watched the Cards struggle horribly from our bench seats in the lower bowl of Sun Devil Stadium. We went every week they played a home game, knowing that there was a very limited chance of success but that was not the point. The fellow members of Red Nation around us needed our support as this was my first introduction to group therapy.



My friends have moved on. They are now married and starting families and continuing careers. My Uncle has grown to be one of the most intelligent and compassionate people that I have ever met and makes me proud to say that I am anything like him. Mike, my friend in which all of this “Nation” business was sprung is hours away from visiting me for the game. He calls into question whatever it is that I think “passion” is, as he is a poster child for everything that is “Nation.” He has traveled to see the Cards play coast-to-coast. He has been known to fight a fan or two when unpleasant words were exchanged over the play of the Cardinals.



See, there is this code amongst Red Nation. The code is that we can continue to always be questioning and never quite belief what is about to happen. We can always doubt that things will turn out well or expect defeat prior to assessing the challenge. But, it is like that of a relationship. Sure, when we are pissed, we call our friends and take about our significant other. We go off and say whatever is on our mind without a buffer. (Do not feel judgmental, we all do this.) Because we are in this relationship and have been through difficult times, we have allowed ourselves the right to do so. Once someone from the outside begins to call into question the same things we were just talking about, we get defensive. See, it is okay for us to go off on the thing that we love, but once an outsider does, a fight develops as they do not have the right to question.



As members of Red Nation, we can question everything that is the Cardinals. We have the right to do so as he have struggled through year after year of pain and suffering. But, what is a relationship if there are not moments of complete gut retching pain and subliminal bliss.



I am writing about the Cardinals again as it is about to launch me into another chapter of my life. This feels like a great time to reflect on everything that has been. It feels like a wonderful way to bring in the New Year as well as welcome a friend from the past to my new world. My new world filled with unknown challenges, but the known fact that life is only worth living when surrounded by those in which Love and respect the moments ahead.



This season started with a carpool from Phoenix to Flagstaff. We went to training camp and dubbed it poetically, “Champ Camp.” This was to be my last expedition prior to my move to the big city in the South, Austin.



I watched the Cards underachieve from afar this season. They struggled from the start, losing winnable games and continuing the heartache that is Red Nation. Then, the Cards strung off a few impressive wins and they were the sexy pick again. A few more questionable losses entered the equation and everyone outside of the Nation just looked to the desert with a confused expression without anyway of gauging expectations.



This lead to a play-off game against the tradition laden Green Bay Packers. Wearing there cheese heads and carrying their brats thousands of Packer fans invaded the desert for what was expected to be a classic game. The Packers, even though they were on the road and the lesser seed, was favored to win the game and many people within the media chose them to win the game.



The Cards started fast and took control from the opening play. They jumped out to a huge lead, only to watch it dissipate in the closing seconds. With a tie game, a makable field goal for the Cards, a win seemed in hand. That was until the kick was shanked and Overtime was to begin. The stadium deflated and Nation fans across the country prepared their garbage cans to be puked into.



The Packers won the coin toss and appeared to seal up the game. Then the chaos that is fate stepped in. On a third down, the Cardinals called a blitz that was torched earlier in the game. This time Aaron Rodgers, quarterback for the Packers, did not see the backside defender. He hung onto the ball a second too long, was sacked. The ball was knocked from his hand and kicked into the hands of Cardinals Linebacker Karlos Dansby. He scampered the twenty yards. The Cardinals won and bedlam hit Red Nation.



I began this entry with the word Redemption. It is an important element of everyday life. Each moment offers a chance of redemption for something that we have done in the past. There are many thoughts and actions that we have lived in a past life that now appear to be illogical and simply dumb.



These moments of redemption allow us to take account for the uneducated opinions or actions in which we executed and open ourselves up to be a little less judgmental and more mature.



Michael Adams is a cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals. He would have been remembered as one of the key members of the game that caused the Cardinals to collapse and loss as he made many terrible plays including multiple penalties. This is not the case as Adams redeemed himself during the game. He was the player that blitzed and caused Rodgers to fumble and lose the game. Adams went from villain to hero in the matter for 9 seconds.



Karlos Dansby is a linebacker for the Cardinals and returned the fumble for a touchdown that won the game. It was the third turnover that he caused and capitalized on for the Cards. Dansby has always been known as a selfish player, placing in personal accomplishments ahead of those within the team. That mindset had him always in the bad thoughts of the couching staff, That changed this season when he dedicated himself to placing the success of the team before his own. This has caused him to have less statistics than in years past, but he has developed into one of the best linebackers in the NFL as well as a true veteran leader on the team.



I could continue on. Kurt Warner going from grocery clerk to NFL Hall of Fame. Darnell Dockett going from orphan after both of his parents were murdered when he was a child in Baltimore to NFL Pro Bowler.



These are stories that motivate the soul. They are the basis for films that make us cry. They are melodramatic and allow for an understanding that people have faced more difficult situations and have always found a way to succeed.



Humans are survivors. We can adapt to any situation. We can cope with any loss. We can manage through any difficulty. Life is not always going to be amazing, but it will always be fair. It will always be whatever you put into it. Deep down we all know what we put in and you can never win what you don’t bet.



I will wrap this up with a pretty bow as I prepare for the game in New Orleans. I will be leaving my humble home in Austin at 4 AM on Saturday. I will have the sports pages of all the national papers in the car, I will have a pot of coffee in a thermos, I will have one of my best friends sitting next to me and I will be ready for whatever moment is offered when we arrive in the Bayou.



I will hope that you will be on board with redeeming something in which is still afflicting you. Understand that we are not always right. It is pride and greed that cause things to unravel to the point of no return not Love and understanding.



Come on Red Birds, play within yourselves, shock the world again and enjoy the ride. Enjoy the game on Saturday and I most certainly wish that each and every one of you could be there with me. Do not worry though, there will be plenty of moments in the future in which we can share in the glory that is living every breathe without apologizing for enjoying your life.



Take care my friends and it is good to be back.



Moral: Redemption offers itself to be taken within every moment, if we allow ourselves to embrace what has happened. The Cardinals will always be one of the loves of my life, no matter how far away I get, they will always make me laugh and cry like only few things in this world can. Life is simply too short to let pass by, seize the moments with openness and laughter, it will make much more sense that way when you get older. Much love amigo, onto Louisiana we shall go!


Song of the day. Feels like a song to bring it all back together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrBXccaq0pk

Improv in Life.

Improv.

“Please, don’t suck.”

That is the recurring sentiment that echo’s through Dillingerilla Studios. It is a modest studio with a stage and enough seating capacity for about one hundred. This is a random Wednesday evening in which twelve Austinites join to learn comedy.

The reason I took an Improv class was to challenge myself. The reason that I moved to Austin was to challenge myself. I mention that word challenge in just about every post that I toss up here for you to read. I find it an important element that is sometimes lost in the shuffle. I have this thought, that the greatest moments of our lives started out as the most uncomfortable. Thus, we challenged ourselves to battle through the displeasure of doubt and find solace in the survival of the moment.

The class is the highlight of my week. It is the moment in which I can talk with people that I consider to be friends. It is a moment in which judgment is removed and anything goes. It is kind of like going to therapy, except rather than delving into your personal unhealthy state, I just swear about random things and long for the “fuck it” moments.

Throughout high school I was an afterthought. I was not popular nor did I try to be. I did not enjoy the hierarchy of the cast system that high school creates. Nor did I enjoy the fakeness that those within the upper realm acted under. From the earliest days, I have wanted to feel and I have been a romantic. These are two things that caused me to look past being popular in order to gain a true connection with the people in which I communicated.

This was the first acting class that I have ever taken. I call myself a playwright and someone in which discoveries new things, yet I had never examined myself on a stage. There is something simply fantastic about getting on stage and getting out of your own skin. There is no judgment nor is there any ranking about who is better or worse. It is simply about the connection you make with the person in which you are playing. It is the feeling that I would guess took over the characters in the film “Fight Club.”

High school ended and I went to college. I was expecting these amazing changes with smart people trying to say smart thing. Unfortunately, it was the same system, this time I just paid for it. So, I continued my isolation from this society. Sure, I had friends and people in which I hung out, but it was away from the main stream. I thought of myself as above them. I had animosity for those who led these lives.

The class begins with an array of warm up activities. This gives way to some actual scenes in which the set up is given by fellow class member or Tom, our teacher. We play for a few hours and analyze how we could improve. From the first class, I began understanding what it means to act. Look, I am not going to sit here and tell you that I found the secret and acting is easy. Quite the opposite actually, I have found out just how difficult the entire thought of acting can be.

College ended twice for me and I decided to move to Austin. I figured that it was just the state of Arizona that was to blame for my general lack of participation within society. The entire state had it out for me and I would move to Austin, where smarter people would value education over pleasure. Yes, you are right, I was wrong. See, after living in this epicenter for Liberal belief systems I have found that life is the same here as it was in Arizona. Sure, it is a whole lot more fun here in Austin, but it is the same dramas and difficulties as living in Arizona or anywhere else would present.

I tried to really be funny and think of witty lines to make my classmates laugh. I would constantly write scenes in my head and re-work the other lines that my partner was to utter. I was doing the exact opposite of what should be done in an Improv comedy class. See, by over-thinking and trying to apply every bit of my “funny” material into each moment, I was tanking.

The following will be a list of things that have been taught to me in the Improv class that can be taken a step past just learning comedy, but learning about life.

“Get out of your mind and into your heart.”

Have a “fuck it” moment.

“Do not try to write out the scene before it ever happens.”

“Whatever you say or do, be confident with as if it makes sense to you, it is right.”

“We are all funny people, unfunny people do not take improv classes.”

“This is not work, this is fun so go out there and play.”

“The goal is to make your partner look good.”

“Scenes are about relationships and the connections between the characters.”

“Always go for the funny script, it will be a lot more fun.”

The above have been stated to me at least once throughout my journey in Level One Improv. Each of these statements have been very timely in terms of my development as an actor. But, more importantly they have provided some amazing words of wisdom to apply to life outside of the theatre. Each of these nuggets help me provide a positive attitude that can cause the perception I have on a moment or a day to change in a good way.

Austin has kicked my ass. It has caused me to grow in so many ways. It has caused me to better understand who I am as a person and the world around me. I have become more patient and a better listener. I found that life is really not that serious and should be taken a bit lighter. Any doubts that I have with an action will be my demise. Someone much smarter than me once said that the greatest attribute you have will end up being your greatest weakness. I think it is true, as my intelligence is my greatest asset and when I think of how smart I am is usually when I do some of the stupidest things.

Concluding, this is the Zen of Improv Level One at the Institution Theatre with Tom Booker. It was intended to break the circle of judgments that I had toward society. It worked in that it allowed me to grow past the pretentious jerk I was, and into someone who understands that there is no ranking when you are living. There is no score that is kept. Accurately, there are just moments in which you have to say “fuck it.” You have to get out of your mind and into your heart. You have to own whatever action you did or whatever words you uttered as they are meaningful to you. Living is not supposed to be work, it is supposed to be fun. Now, trying to make Ricki Lake fall in Love with you again is work!

Moral: If you are in Austin, run to take Tom Booker’s improv class as it will make you laugh, and he has been known to make people cry. Break down whatever it is that intimidates you; as life is much easier when you are happy and carefree. Ok, time for me to shake some shit up in my hamper.

Check out the link of the famous teacher. Pretty awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUzum60ZwPw