Hit Me With Your Best Shot...Wait.

Today was the official Day Off in Maine. Everyone gets Mondays off at the theater. So after putting in two shows I was ready for a well deserved break from all that monotony that two shows can bring. I mean, we're talking about TWO WHOLE SHOWS!

I had one important mission: return the rental car. That went off pretty well.

After that we all decided we'd go for a hike and then catch a movie in town.

It is about 22 miles from the house into town. The main road is two lanes in each direction at 25 miles per hour through the first stretch upon leaving the house. As we were driving we noticed a pickup truck pulling out into traffic. Very slowly, and not entirely into just one lane, but making a wide turn out into our lane. A bunch of people in the right lane stopped. We went around. Everyone, I think, wondered what the hell he was doing. As we passed we noticed it was an old guy.

Later on up the road a bit we were stopped at a light. We were all talking about cruise ships as three of us will be going on the ship together, and the fourth has already been on the cruises (as have the owners of the Maine Theater)...when BAM! It felt like Larrance popped the clutch and the engine died...kind of threw our necks back. Nope. Old guy in a pickup truck rear ended us. We pulled over and they exchaged information. Larrance said he had food all over his face like he was eating in the car. But we also remembered seeing him from earlier and knew it wasn't safe.

***SNAP-DECISION OPEN LETTER***

Dear Old People,

Please surround yourself with family who are smart enough to hide your car keys from you and not let you endanger lives. You may drive slower, but you also favor heavier cars. It's not a contest to see who lives longer and you won't win my taking out younger people with your car. You're scientifically proven* to be more dangerous than drunk drivers.

XOXO,
The World

*that proof has to be somewhere

***END SNAP-DECISION***

We also have been playing a game called Settlers of the Catan. It's hard to explain, but it is fun. I learned how to play last night and gave Jen a hard time about cheating because she didn't explain part of it. It wasn't really cheating. I'm just a razzer by nature.

It is a 3-4player game, but you can buy an expansion set that allows up to 6 people to play. We're going to get the expansion and bring this game on the boats because...get this...there will be six of us.

I also saw Declan on our way to hiking. He works at the theater on Wednesdays so I'll see him again. You may remember him from countless comments on older posts.

The Man In Maine Fall Mainly On His Butt

How's that for a title...it's actually more of a headline because it sums up today quite well.

We are moved. Major step #1 in the "going on the ships" process. Our stuff is in storage. The apartment is clean. We have a place to stay. We're staying with friends and left aside an assortment of "essentials" (crap we thought we would need, but we probably don't) to bring to their place.

Because of our schedules for the next 6 weeks it will be rare that all four of us are living there at the same time. Neither of them were there when we moved in. One major thing that needed to happen was putting some of our stuff in their storage area. Minor glitch...we didn't know where it was, and I had a 10:30 Baby show that night. We came home to a hide-a-bed couch all made up with a note saying we were "effin' crazy" if we didn't just sleep there and store the stuff in the morning. So we did just that.

In the morning I took a small load of stuff down on a hunt for the storage. Found it, checked out the remaining space, then went up stairs for one more load...a plastic tub with office equipment, and my PC. The final elements of our move. As I was walking down the stairs, Deanna said "Be careful!" To which I replied "Relax. I've got this." Not one step later did it appear that I was on a flat area, but there was one step left. I bit it...but not as hard as my PC. It rolled down the remaining stairs as I was crumpled oddly on the remaining stair that I didn't see. I'm mildly injured...just sore really.

I'm writing on my laptop right now...not because my PC died in the fall (I haven't checked it yet) but because I left for the airport this morning. I then arrived in Manchester and drove from there to Maine to play in the 10pm show there. I'll be here for two weeks.

Summary verified.

Remember Me?

I'm slowly going to start getting back into this thing for boat purposes...the Daily Photo too.

We received our first official email/slew of paperwork. It's all starting to happen. We know when we're rehearsing and we know who the cast is (we've known the cast for awhile).

Deanna and I are in the midst of moving out. We move on the 30th...technically on the 27th. I've been spending the last two months slowly preparing. Painting, sorting junk, getting stuff ready to sell. The walls are all white. A bunch of stuff is online or sold. We're doing it. The unfortunate thing is I'm working a gig that takes me out of town 4 of the next 9 days...including coming back around 11pm on the 27th. We have movers coming so at least it isn't Deanna loading a van by herself.

I'm home...well..."home" for the 28th then leave the 29th for Maine.

It should be interesting.

Soon we should be receiving scripts, finding out who our director is, and an assortment of fun things I don't know about.

I just shot my last photo shoot for the month. So I can pack all that stuff up. I may try to get some shots in when I get back from Maine. I have about 5 or so people who have already expressed interest. I just need to find a space.

This blog will mostly be for boating...maybe sometimes foreboding.

Has it Been That Long?

I guess it has at least been less than a month since I've posted. I write today to call people to arms!

I'm in a video group called seven8nine (www.seven8nine.net). We've submitted videos to a few contests. I wrote one that we ended up using for a My Life In 60 Seconds contest and we won! Thanks to your voting help. We now are in two other contests and we need your votes! Mr. Clean and Visa. You can view below, but please click the link to go vote for them as well. THANKS!!!



http://www.mrcleanscenes.com/mrclean/en_US/viewvideo.do?videoid=b4a4Khiw1H0



http://www.whatsmyscore.org/contest/videos.php (look for Credit Always Scores)

Of Sun, Burns, and Bananas

Yesterday was Saturday and the first Saturday in a long time that I haven't had a headshot appointment (due to rescheduling). So I went to the beach and played volleyball. Some of you may remember that I burnt my feet badly 2 or 3 years ago while playing volleyball. Lesson learned. Before leaving I put SPF 30 on my face and feet and spray on SPF 15 everywhere else. Totally protected, right? Wrong! Spray SPF sucks. I have burns all over my stomach and shoulders with blotchy non-burn areas from where the spray actually hit. I'm well cammoflauged for a red and white environment...like a candy cane factory or Waldo's house.

In other news, Kat threw away my banana peel for me.

Of Water, Rain, Floods, and Comcast Apologies

There were two days of storms. Two. Big storms. Lightning flashes and there is no time to count to the sound of thunder storms. The first one was the worst. It is a common cycle out here. Temperature rises over a couple days, thunder storm, temperature is now 20 degrees cooler.

On the first storm day the temperature didn't really drop much afterwards. That's a good sign that there is more storm to be had. During all the raining water started flowing down into our garden apartment porch. Then the wind blew and a small river showed up out of the alley and REALLY filled up our porch. Our apartment was made into an apartment only about 5 years ago. Boy, they were smart about it. We have a lip on our back door that is about 2-3 inches high. The water came with in less than an inch of flooding before the rain settled down. The next day there were guys taking care of flood damage to the other areas of the building. On two separate occasions someone peeked their head in the screen door and asked if we had flood damage. When we said "no" they would say something to the effect of "whew! You are really lucky!"

The second day was just for fun with lightning and all. PS. Deanna decided to go for a walk right before both storms on both days.

Yesterday really cooled off and today as well. Which is great because I have had photoshoots on both days.

And Comcast? I'm cancelling our cable today. We went all of June with no TV. I've watched nothing but DVDs whenever I watched anything. So why mention it? I've been on hold this whole time. They sure don't rush to answer the cancellation phone calls.

"We apologize for the delay. Please continue to hold..."

Dear Illinois Department of Revenue,

I've been waiting over two months for my refund and I just today received a letter saying I OWE taxes...that you didn't receive any quarterly tax payments at all throughout the year.

A) My name isn't RRance
B) Take a look at my tax form. Hold it next to your records. Check the Social Security number. See how the one on my form is different from the one you're looking at?

I'll be calling you dipshits on Monday.

Hugs and Kisses,
RRance

No vegeance...let's clean.

So, we leave this apartment soon. Well...in three months, but it requires putting everything in storage. When I say "everything" I mean "whatever is left" because I'm trimming the fat. As I have been digging through plastic tubs of stuff I had to keep I started finding things that I only look at when I open the tubs. One of these things is a box of cassette tapes.

I'm fairly up-to-date on my technology. I still have CDs because I have a CD player, but I rarely listen to anything not iPod contained. So, I'm looking at these cassettes and the answer is clear. I'm never going to listen to them. There was a part of me that wanted to convert them to CDs somehow but it isn't worth the effort. I'm currently trying to convert my VHS tapes to DVD and it's not working well...but I never use a VCR anymore and I want to be rid of it.

CLEANING UP SHOP!

Other things I'm getting rid of. Art supplies. Hulk Hands. Books. Anything that takes up space that I don't need.

Things that made the cut: My great-grandpa's pipe cleaner, an orange bandana of my moms, a scorpion my dad killed in Hawaii when I was a baby (it is in a decorative mold and I'm a scorpio), a saphire ring from my grandpa, a note my grandma sent to me at camp with treats and $10 (just the note remains), and other little trinkets.

As far as the identity theft thing goes. Apparently it was caught in time. The consensus is that someone used my info to do a "get a free iPod" promotion. For those promotions you usually have to do five things through specified vendors and then you get the iPod. One of those vendors? Sirius. Buy a Sirius radio and you're one step closer to your free iPod. So they use my credit card, send the radio to me, and they get credit for that purchase. They also tried to use some car auction place and ordered some phonics learning package from Scholastic.

I have a friend who used to work in the field of finding these things out. Apparently it usually stems back to Russian or Chinese Mafia. But all is well now.

So, that's it. Cleaning house and doing shows and taking headshots.

"My Dad is Different" by Rance Rizzutto

On Father's Day it's kind of hard
To find a gift or perfect card
My Dad is Different

He don't play golf (not that I've seen)
Though he planned making our yard a putting green
My Dad is Different

I recall one time (or two? Not clear)
That I've ever seen him drink a beer
My Dad is Different

No ties, no cuffs, no power suits
He carves wood while wearing comfy boots
My Dad is Different

He'll make his famous pizza bread
Sing Italian (sounding) songs that come to his head
My Dad is Different

I'm glad he doesn't match the hype
Or fit the normal stereotype
I'm Glad he's Different

(Happy Father's Day)

Nice Try, Thief.

My mom was pestering me to blog. I thought "nothing new has happened." I was wrong. A few days ago I was checking my credit card online to see when my payment was do and check on a balance transfer I had put through on a new card. I was denied access and told to call customer support.

My credit card had been fraud. I still have the card, so it was something online.

They asked me about a few charges and I had no idea. Luckily I rarely use the card so it was easy for me to know I wasn't using it. One such thing was a purchase made to Sirius Radio. That's right. Someone used my card to purchase satelite radio.

Who ever did this is either a) an idiot, b) living in or near my apartment complex, or c) both. Yesterday I received a package...a Sirius radio. The one I didn't order. It CAME TO ME! What idiot thief buys you stuff with your own card? Am I not rich and not poor? Is there some bizarre Robinhood that steals from you and gives back to you?

The only thing I could figure (with my mystery solving skills) is that someone in the building got into my computer via wireless somehow. Why else would they not bother changing the delivery address. If they see packages waiting in the entry way waiting for me from the place they ordered/stole from then they can just take it.

I have a vengeance streak. I need to get people back. It is rare that I have any serious reason to get people back, but it is there. If I can't pay it back I'll pay it forward. Watch out, evildoers.

"It's 'Hartford' me to find anything to do in this town"

Well, I just got back from Hartford, CT and boy do I have stories.

I was there for a gig. Everything with the gig and the client was fantastic, and I'm not just saying that. The stories come from the traveling.

We flew out on Southwest. I don't know if you know about Southwest, but they're known for their cattle-call style seating. When you check in you are in boarding group A, B, or C. We were in A on the way out and B on the way back. What this means is there is a place for each group to line up (under an A, B, or C) and you go on the plane in the order you lined up. First come, first serve. There weren't a whole lot of people on the flight to CT (c'mon Hartford Board of Tourism! Work harder!) I like the exit row seats for the leg room. This flight had one of those seats in the exit row with no seat in front of it...so HUGE leg room bonus. There was a guy sitting in the middle seat next to that seat. I asked him "Is anyone sitting there?' He said "yes" and stayed in his middle seat. Jeff from our group was nice enough to give me the aisle seat in the exit row on the opposite side that he was about to take...very generous. The flight wasn't that full and we all had a lot of room...including the douche bag who told me the seat was taken. It was...by him, apparently, as was the aisle seat of that row. At one point he stretched across all three seats...IN THE EXIT ROW! If you're not going to use the leg room of the row, get out of the row. Unfortunately he didn't die on the plane.

Before that...right before that, as I was walking down the aisle I met Johnny Stumbles a.k.a. Johnny "I can't see Rance if he is standing right in front of me." This guy was in the aisle during boarding. Talking to buddies, messing with his luggage, dropping his glasses. You name it. It took this guy forever to be aware of his surroundings and notice that there was a line of people behind him waiting to get seats...and even then, he didn't really notice.

Added bonus, the guy in the window seat of my aisle OR someone IN the air blower was farting. So...there were smells.

The plane landed and we got off. A few people from the aisles in front of me didn't get off...one of them was Johnny Stumbles. For whatever reason, he let everyone go by, but right as I got there (remember, I'm invisible to him for some reason) he steps out into the aisle, heads towards me (the opposite direction of everyone else), and starts talking to the guy behind me. I know my parents read this, but the only way to accurately describe this guy is "dip shit".

Hartford. Hmmm. Nothing to do there. We had about 4-6 hours to kill before our show. I watched Bridge to Terabithia on the Hotel TV. The preview makes it look like a fun movie where whatever a kid draws turns into reality. Turns out it is about him and a new girl in town use their imaginations to imagine things that don't turn into reality, but are imagined. Still kind of fun. Oh! Did I mention that the new girl in town is cute and they are best friends and when he doesn't invite her to come to something she ends up drowning? DON'T WATCH THIS MOVIE BEFORE YOU HAVE TO DO IMPROVISATIONAL COMEDY!

The show went good.

Later that night Contact was on TBS so I watched some of that. I was on 4 hours of crappy sleep and a lot of coffee was wearing off. I finally crashed. Our driver that took us to the airport was a character. He was early and found two of us. We told him the other two would be down soon. He then saw a third person...who went to use the internet quickly. The driver cam back and saw the fourth person but no third. "Where'd the third person go?" "He's using the internet." "Ah. He's on the boob tube. I don't much care for it. I can't type and I have no need to talk to someone in Istanbul."

I hope that his attitude doesn't offend all of the people I talk to in Istanbul via using this boob tube.

Side note (JUST FOR MEN...LADIES, LOOK AWAY)

Fellas. If you're in a public restroom...and you have to just pee...and you go into a stall. Yeah...those are for pooping. People actually sit on those seats. So, you know, lift the seat or stop using a blindfold. I can tell when I have pee'd on a seat, why can't the rest of you. Stop it. If I find someone doing that (how would I do that?) I will pee on them. It's just how it's gonna be.

Blah, blah, blah

So...what's new? I'm a little irritable today, but my mom wondered what is going on. The truth is that this blog is mildly complex to sign in to. For some reason when I click on the links I need to click on they don't respond unless I shift-click them thus opening a new window. It takes about 3-4 windows to even start blogging. It's barely extra effort, but it is enough to sway me from writing when something interesting happens. Then, by the time I actually get to it, the interesting thing doesn't seem interesting.

The biggest news is Deanna and I won the Dual Duel. There was a contest for two-person shows. 7 weeks in the running I believe. Each week five two-person groups got 10 minutes. After all the groups the audience voted. The number one group came back to the finals and the number two group went to a wildcard round the week before the finals. We won our week and went to the finals with what ended up being four groups (including ourselves) who won first place in their week and two groups that won from the wildcard show. The house was packed. Deanna and I did a silent 10 minutes. We had music playing that would inspire us, but we didn't talk. We won. All of the stuff was good that night, but the audience voted and we won. Two trophies and $200. Not too shabby. It was really fun to do a show with just Deanna. That doesn't happen much.

What else? It's getting warmer. At the level when some places (like a place I was at tonight) don't realize they should have their AC on...which is why I'm so irritable right now...that plus listening to American Idol in the other room. Yuck.

So...that's the gist. I'm taking an online class that let's me use models...those photos will be on my photo blog soon.

Geekery Extreme!

So, I've been on a geek streak lately. I borrowed Lego Star Wars II from Sam and completed that. It's basically playing levels that sort of match the first Star Wars movies that were made (episodes IV-VI). Fun little time waster.

Then I also borrowed Oblivion...which I've played and won, but you can play different types of characters. So I'm playing that again.

To make matters worse, my friend and old roommate Zach was in town and we went to Dave & Busters. They have a game there called Derby Owners Club. It's a horse racing game where you create, train, and race a horse. When you create a horse you get a card with that horse's name on it that you can bring back and play with again. Each time you train the horse it gets a little better. If you win, you get little things. It's basically like tomogochi...if you remember those. You can only race so many times (about 20) before you have the option to retire the horse for breeding or continue racing. If you continue racing you'll still only be good for a certain number of races. Training does less and less. And your horse will need to rest from time to time.

We have created a group of people that gets together to play this. A club if you will. So far I have a male and female that I've retired for breeding. Just today I bred a "special" horse...meaning it is all gray with a black mane and tail. There are other special horses that have stripes and stuff.

Most of us are pretty addicted to this game.

In other news, I auditioned for Baby Wants Candy yesterday and found out today that I made it in. Baby Wants Candy is a musical longform group that is pretty well known in Chicago and in the improv world. I'm excited to start that as the current cast is fantasic and I'm sure the other new people are as well.

I'm very scatter-brained lately. I know there have been other things that I meant to blog about but they have disolved away.

Slippin' and a-Slidin'

So, I've been slipping in my "update this" duties. To be honest, I have had a lot of "I should blog about this" thoughts, and then I forget what I was going to blog about.

Yesterday (the 14th) was my seven year aniversary with Deanna. Which means a few things: A) That was the first time Deanna cooked for me, B) This is the longest relationship I've ever been in (technically, and not just "by feel"), and C) Happy 7th Birthday Fiona!

That's right, our first "date" was a pork chop and rice-a-roni dinner after visiting Ruth in the hospital. She had just given birth to her daughter Fiona. Also, I think it's Sam's birthday.

Taxes are delayed until the 17th. I had mine done by an accountant but I hadn't sent them in yet because I owed on Federal. So...TODAY I go to get the envelopes ready only to find out he (the accountant) didn't give me my W2s and 1099s. THAT puts a little damper on getting those sent out. I plan on spending tomorrow hunting him down and either getting my W2s or the money I paid him. FUN!

I've been doing interviews for another blog through www.iochicago.net. Go to their blogs and find Better Know An Improvisor with Rance Rizzutto. I meet up with an improvisor in their "natural habitat", interview them, and take their picture to put up on the blog. I've posted four and have a fifth nearly ready (Wednesday perhaps). They get more and more fun to do. I won't say who it is, but my latest interviewee and I had a 10-15 minute discussion (AFTER I stopped recording the interview) about farts on stage and farting for the sake of watching the audience react. It was hilarious.

I played in the improv set at Second City on Monday. Monday nights are TourCo nights. For you folks back home, TourCo means Touring Company. There are three main TourCo groups (Red, Blue, and Green) and they rotate doing their show on Monday nights on the main stage at Second City. I went to watch and it was GreenCo which is awesome because it has some of the people I know the most: Joey Bland (CSz, headshot client, and also the first interview on the other blog), Robyn Norris (CSz and headshot client), Seth Weitberg (Beatbox, ImprovAcadia), Abby McEnany (ImprovAcadia), Anthony LeBlanc (Beatbox), and Lily Allison (she cuts my hair). So I've either performed with them or let them touch my head. The way it works is they do their show. Each TourCo has a different show made up of material from past Second City Mainstage shows, plus, sometimes, some original material. After the show they do an improv set and usually invite improvisors to play with them...usually from "the bench". That night I was on the bench. So was Shad Kunkle (known as Chicago's Last Improvisor (by three people)) and Jet Eveleth. Coleen Doyle was also there and I feel like I didn't spell her name right. Anyhow. I played in the set and had some fun stuff.

I'm really trying to remember stuff as I can here. Oh, my monitor died. Not just any monitor, but a cool one that was hand painted by one Phil Borgia (he paints cars and I have a monitor and computer painted that match...it was Blaine's doing...he just passed on the computer to me).

There was a Digital Short on SNL last night that I think is great. It has this song that repeats a lot that I like. I tracked it down tonight and it's called Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap. I like it.

I've been reading "boat blogs". There are people who are working on Cruise ships for Second City. They usually go for 4 months, and they usually write blogs. I just recently discovered Ben Johnson's blog, and he's been gone for 4 months, so he'll be back soon. I feel like I know a different side of Ben now, so that's cool.

Comcast is forcing everyone to go digital with cable. The price didn't change, they just required us to get a cable box.

Deanna made a huge plate of pasta for me and I finished it.

Hi Nanners.

Did you ever hear a baby panda sneeze?

Would you ever drink juice with a goose or two moose?

I'm trying to get more random. My sister, mom, and I once played a game where we try to continually say something random. I call it "I have a hammock." Before it was a game it just became what I said to someone when they would answer me with a non-sequitor. Example:

Rance: They were out of milk at the grocery store
Person: Pluto's not considered a planet anymore.

That has nothing to do with milk or grocery stores so I would say

Rance: I have a hammock.

But the inflection would be as if their previous statement was something like "Does anyone here have a hammock?" or "I'm looking for a comfortable way to take a nap outside." You know...with a little excitement...like I'm really helping them solve a problem.

On that note...is written a brief message I suppose.

That reminds me...I like finishing "common pauses"...like if someone says "So........" and pauses long enough without saying anything I try to slide in "a needle pulling thread" (sung, of course). Try it! Find new ones! "Um....." "brellas for sale!" But, you know, good ones.

I'm tired.

Z.

Johnny Old Legs

So, about a week ago seven8nine.net (the video sketch group I'm in) decided to film one of my ideas. It involved a lot of sprinting on my part...a LOT.

Like I said, it was over a week ago. Since then I haven't done anything too energetic...takin' it easy.

Today Deanna and I had a meeting and we went to the bus stop. Her coat looked like it had a huge stain on the back (we determined it was from being right next to a cheap coat all winter). She said "should I go put it in the car?" because we didn't think we had enough time to make it back to the apartment, we didn't want to go to the meeting in dirty coats, and the bus could have shown up any minute. I said "I'll do it. I can run fast!"

I go to sprint across the street and my muscles...for the first time in my life...say "yeah...right." I was able to do a "barely-jog". I stretched a little when I got back, but c'mon. It was the first time I really felt old. I've had aches and pains but nothing that I couldn't get through.

The slight irony of it all being that we waited another 20 minutes after that for the bus and ended up just taking a cab.

What Am I Doing With My Life?

THAT is the question. I'm still getting by with acting and photography but I feel like I can't give either the attention they need to thrive. If my career choices were plants, they both have a spot in the window, but I only enough water for one...when I split that water they stay alive, but they don't grow...right?

Deanna and I are doing a job that is the epitome of "acting" jobs. That's all I'll say about that one. Suffice to say at least it pays.

Today we finished up (almost) a student project we were acting in for the directors program at Columbia College. I say almost because a huge hydraulic hammer was driving steel foundation supports into the ground less than a block away and it could be heard in every take.

Other stuff is happening that is really hazy. More on that when the haze is gone.

Oh, I started a different blog through iO at http://blogs.iochicago.net/rance/wordpress/. It is and will be (since it has one post so far) a series of interviews of performers at iO. Mostly ones that I don't know, but also ones I do know...like Joey Bland. (Yes, Martin, I know him)

I meet the people during the day at a place they would normally be during the day (so I don't end up doing all of my interviews at iO). I record the interview and I photograph them. That's it. So tune in if you want to get to know some improvisors.

Adventures in Coffee Grinding

I had a minor adventure today.

Yesterday Deanna and I walked to the grocery store (to get some groceries...it seemed like the right place). We were only getting a few things and coffee was one of them. Faithful readers may remember the saga of going from soda, to buying 7-11 coffees, to buying a 2-cup coffee brewer. Well...the last time I bought coffee it was from 7-11...they actually sell their brand of coffee grounds. I bought it and brought it home...and tore out the seam when I opened it. Nothing a ziplock couldn't fix. But I didn't want to go back there and get their easy-to-destroy bag of coffee grounds. So, while we were at Jewel I saw what I was waiting for...a BIG bag of coffee. This was perfect!...until I got home and realized what exactly the big bold words "whole bean" actually meant.

Which brings me to my adventure today. I bought a coffee grinder. AND...got some photos along the way, so go check them out (Daily Photo...--->)

Irish and Stuff

I'm mostly posting because I haven't in awhile. If you haven't, go check out Daily Photos (the link is over there ---> with the other links).

Happy St. Patrick's Day! In Oregon, where I grew up, this was a day of shammrocks and wearing green so you don't get pinched and top of the mornings and fun. Here in Chicago it's all that times 50 plus over endulgence in alcohol. Last year (and I might have blogged about it) there were people passed out in parking lots around noon...NOON!

So, I'm lying low today. I have two comedysportz shows that hopefully won't be too drunk.

I've been watching the TV show "Extras". It's by Ricky Gervais who created The Office which was the source of the American version of The Office. Extras is great. I've watched both seasons now (I think...6 episodes in the second season?) and love it. Maggie is always saying the wrong thing at the wrong time without even realizing it. It's hard to describe. Find a way to see it. Season 1 is on DVD and season 2 is not.

Four days ago it was 75 degrees. 3 days ago it was snowing. It is snowing again today.

Ahhhhhh....Chicago Spring.

Hold Everything! (except that money...)

More on dentistry and the state of our world...

So, if you read the last post you saw I had to pay 50% of my $810 bill. And that all in all I saved $45. That, friends, is wrong. I got my bill from my insurance and they covered $165. That's it.

They cover $215 on crowns and $50 of that I have to pay towards a deductable. For whatever reason, when I got my insurance I read the list of amounts for services as "what I will have to pay" and not "what we pay".

Long story short, after I get my final cementing I will throw out the insurance. I have separate health insurance (that costs more and would hopefully cover more if, say, something terrible happened) that I will keep.

I remember back in the good ole' days when I had to pay...TEN DOLLARS A VISIT!!! And I remember thinking it was outrageous that I had to pay anything.

Hopefully I can get a menu of sorts from the dentist...prices of services and what not.

Anyone watching Heroes on NBC? You should. That show is great! The next new episode isn't until 4/23 so I'm sure you'll have a chance to catch up with reruns. Mondays at 9/8 central.

...he said with a toothy grin

Went to the dentist today to get my permanent fake tooth. After a projected 50% insurance coverage I paid $405. And I've paid a grand total of $360 for insurance over the past year. So I just saved $45!!

I heard somewhere that your teeth are determined by your blood type and that it all ties back to diet. Meaning way back when, blood type [type] ate mostly meat while people with blood type [different type] ate a heavier diet of vegetables.

I've got big, sharp, pointy meat eating teeth. I feel like my new tooth is a vegetarian's tooth. It's not quite as pointy and a little bulbous. It makes me long for my un broken sharp pointy tooth.

It is attached with temporary cement. Doc wanted to make sure that it wouldn't give me any troubles. I go back in 2 weeks for a basic cleaning and 6 weeks for permanent cement.

Also, come get some headshots from me so I can afford my fancy fake teeth :)