No One Ever Overwonders

      It’s hard to believe that there are less than 8 weeks left of the year. 7 more of these and I’ll have made it the whole year! I am excited. Last night we were talking to some of the people from ASAP about when I took my comedy class. I couldn’t remember how long ago it was. After some brainstorming, and a quick look through some phones, we figured out it was May of 22. Just last year! It was hard for me to get my mind around. I started trying to do the math in my head, and it all worked out, it was just hard for me to believe. A lot has happened in this past year and a half. I’m not going to go on some tangent about everything that has gone on, I’m sure there’s one of those coming up anyway. It was just a strange moment for me to realize how long ago 18 months can feel. I think I usually feel the opposite. I come to realize that something happened a while ago, and I feel it was just like yesterday. This was not the case. Even as I sit here now, it feels like a long time ago. Oh well, our brains do some pretty crazy stuff. Perception is a trip. And usually people say things like: “Time flies when your having fun.” But I don’t hear the opposite of that mentioned very much. Not to say in anyway that I haven’t been having fun, but it does make me wonder. Wondering is practically a hobby of mine. I know a lot of times people tell you to try not to “overthink” things, but I think wondering is a bit different. Wonder is a lot more exciting. I think a lot too, which is how I feel I am able to provide a distinction. “I wonder what will happen if I do this,” whatever “this” is, is a lot more exciting than overanalyzing a hypothesis before beginning.

     The Calvin’s show last week was pretty fun. But, at the same time, it was kind of lame. The venue we played at is a thrift store by day, and a venue at night. We got there early, and got to look at some of the stuff. They have a lot of music gear. Apparently they give lessons there, so it’s kind of a thrift store, music school, venue. It’s also an all-ages venue, so, from what we heard, a lot of kids hang out there. It’s kind of like a hub for them. If it is, it was not that night. Which seemed odd, because it was a Friday night! That’s usually one of the “go out and do things” days. There weren’t any kids. Even the guy who put on the show didn’t bring his kids. I was stunned. Our guitar player brought a couple of his nephews, but that was it. My thinking was that kids must only show up there to see their friend’s bands, and not a bunch of people their father’s age. It felt weird. We thought the whole point of playing there was to expose ourselves to a bunch of young people. Wait, that didn’t come out right, but I’m leaving it in, because I think it’s funny. We wanted to get exposure to a new audience, but we ended up playing to the usual 15 or 20 people that we know. At one point I asked the crowd if anyone in there had just walked in randomly. 2 people raised their hand. They seemed to be having fun. But yeah, 2 people. Oh well, maybe that’s 2 new fans! There was also a $10 cover. My wife was hanging out in front for a little bit, and she said a lot of people were curious about what was going on inside, but they didn’t want to spend the $10. Which I get, I guess. I don’t know that I’d want to spend $10 on some mystery event.

     We played well, and the pictures look cool, but I don’t see us playing there again. Last night was kind of interesting. I went and did a stand-up performance for what was supposed to be a storytelling class graduation. The ASAP program, that I mention from time to time, teaches a lot of classes. I knew I got the invitation to perform because they needed extra people, but it was ridiculous. Apparently, the storytelling class only had 1 student. 1! There was practically nobody there. Well, maybe 15 or so, but most of them were affiliated with ASAP. I brought 3, the graduate brought 3, and there may have been about 3 others. The graduate, and his 2 teachers, performed their stories. It was interesting, in a way. The crowd was receptive, that was the best part. Then they had a woman read a story she had written in one of ASAP’s creative writing classes. Then they had a guy get up and do some very angry spoken word. It was pretty intense. Supposedly he’s listed as one of the top 25 best spoken word artists in America. I couldn’t really tell what he was saying, but he seemed like he meant it. There were a lot of syllables in his performance. I don’t even know if they offer a spoken word class, but he went for it. They were having trouble with the microphone. The storytellers didn’t seem to care. They were all very soft spoken, but I guess it kind of went with the big warehouse feel of the “theater.” The “comedians” seemed to be a little off put by the lack of a microphone, but they pushed on anyway. When we first got there, I was stoked to see a cordless mic. I like to move around on stage, and the cord can be a nuisance. But not having a mic at all? I liked it. I thought it was freeing in a way. I was unhindered. People responded very well. It was cool to perform with all of the different art forms.