Too stinkin' cute.

I'm a little late posting this. I saw it last week and thought it was one of the cutest, most genuinely funny things I'd seen in a long time.

Good job, Jenny Slate. If you don't know who she is, she's one of the newer cast members on SNL. It's been taking her awhile to come into her own, but if they'd let her do stuff like this, she'd be a big hit.



Move over Samberg!

Wherein I make a list of my day

A few notes from the day:

1. I only spent a few hours in my classroom today, but I did get my Star Wars poster up. Now it feels like home.

2. I suddenly felt nervous about teaching Creative Writing, even though it'll probably be my best class. At this very moment I can't even remember why I was nervous. I just remember a tight feeling in my jaw, thinking I was way in over my head, and then leaving. Quickly. Hence, the reason for #1.

3. I'm excited about Forensics now. I'll just stick with Speech (per my coach) and get the kids ready for that. Also, please do not forget that we're going to play improv games in this class. Especially these games. That I like to watch. As a pick-me-up, because . . .

4.  . . . well, I'll leave #4 blank. Not because nothing happened, but because I don't need to get into it. Suffice to say, it prompted my need for the previous post and for retreating into my head, which . . .

5. Should I be worried that my coping mechanism is a flourishing dream world where I imagine myself as a successful comic and writer in NY being discovered by chance and landing a coveted staff writing position at a very popular sketch comedy show? Because that makes me feel better. And I'd rather daydream about an imaginary relationship than start a real one since I've decided that the whole solo career thing is what I want to do for the next couple of years.

6. And a man who is my age said these exact words today: "Hey, I wanted to tell you, you should wear your hair like that [which, for your information, is me drying my bangs out of the shower and letting it do what it wants] every day. You look really pretty."

Why thank you cute guy. You made my day.

Oh, and the new Arcade Fire album is out and as soon as the motha' flippin' bank gives me my motha' flippin' debit card, I'm going to hit that, yo.

Again, I say things like this only to emphasize my whiteness.

You'll never get me to stop.

My favorite pieces usually come from Weekend Update. So, since it's airing right now, here are two SNL clips featuring the man himself, demonstrating his range. 



James Carville is always funny. Cajun Gollum. I wish I had a baby so I could test it out.

Next up, Eliot Spitzer (who lost his position as governor after a prostitution scandal) demonstrates some cards he helped create for Valentine's Day. Don't say I didn't warn you . . .



I love Hader's Spitzer impression. You can see some more here, plus you get the added bonus of current governor David Paterson.

And I wasn't going to throw this in, but I might as well. Ralph Nader is just too easy a target.



Politics. So funny.

Nightlife

As the Digital Shorts of SNL go, some are hits and some are definitely misses.

This one was probably a sort-of middle-ground one for most people, but I love it for some reason. Perhaps it's because it has zombies in it I can actually laugh at. Let's hope that I can continue to work on that fear.



Enjoy.

I went on another bike ride this evening. It is so weird to ride up and down the enormous Main Street and have it be completely deserted. I actually raced back and forth for a few minutes, doing some laps. I think I'll be taking these nightly rides quite often. I'm enjoying this form of exercise.

I've discovered that I enjoy being alone quite a bit. Community is important. I definitely understand that. I love my friends. Living out here before school starts has been like hermit heaven. When school starts I'll be with people again and thriving in a community, but this has been one of the best times in many years for me to just be alone, thinking, reflecting, and learning about myself and what God has for me.

I feel like it's a brief oasis before I start on a long journey.

The House In Order

My goodness. It's hard to believe that I've been here in Ashland for almost a week.

I've been feeling quite at home here. Yesterday marked the completion of my home organization and decoration. I never thought I would have enough things to fill a home, and while it's not packed, it's definitely not too bare.

Now, I'm going to post a lot of pictures. After the pictures you will find some more musings about the move and about living alone. If you have already seen the pictures, feel free to scroll past them and onto more musings. I promise, I'm going to try to make them entertaining. You might even find a shark attack.

Here's my home:

Let me tell you, people. You are welcome. You have no idea how long that took to upload.

Anyway.

It.

Is.

AWESOME . . .

to live alone. For reals. I adored being with roommates. Seriously. The ladies I've lived with have made my life so rich and so full, and they've become my best friends in the world. But I've discovered that I really love living alone.

I think it's the control freak in me. I can control every aspect of my house that a person can control. If the house is messy, I don't freak out. Why? Because it's my mess, I know how it started, and I know when it's going to be fixed. Fantastic.

This poses some major issues if I get married someday. And have kids. Oh man. It'll take an amazing man with tons of patience and sensitivity to work around my ridiculous controlling nature.

ALSO. You know what I've discovered?

I am definitely not meant to have a garden. In order to take care of the plants that currently reside in my yard I have to water them nightly. And I do this, but you want to know my favorite part of the process? Watering the fence and watching the wood change from dry to wet. Forget about the plants.

I think I'll just have to budget in order to have someone take care of my yard for me. Or just do it as a chore like some people do cleaning or take out trash.

Want to see something that made me laugh really hard? If you like politics, chances are you'll like this. If you like Obama or if you hate Obama, chances are you will like this. I think it's one of the best openings SNL had all year.



Ah, funny, funny.

Just Being Honest

OK, ladies and gentlemen. We all know that blogging, by its nature, is a narcissistic act. The thought process basically goes: I'm going to write about myself, other people are going to read it, and their visits and comments will affirm just how worthwhile I am and my dribblings are.

Well, I definitely don't believe all my dribblings are worthwhile, so here is one that you can just chalk up to completely worthless.

But honest. Yes, people, very honest.

So, you've just seen a movie or a TV show that you found particularly funny/moving/interesting/inspiring. And most of it was because of one person. One actor/star/personality. Maybe you've heard of or seen this person before, maybe you haven't. Either way, you're suddenly fascinated.

Come on. Admit it. You know what I'm talking about.

And maybe, just maybe you've gone to www.imdb.com to look this person up and find the other works on his/her resume. Then you've started watching these works.

Or maybe you haven't.

Either way, if you're a savvy reader or someone who's been keeping up with me, you already know where this is headed. Man, you guys are so smart.

Bill Hader! Muah-hahahahaha. Oh how I love torturing you all with this.

But on a more serious note, while I have had my strange fixations before (and any of my friends can tell you that these fixations all focus on a singular body part: eyebrows), only once before this have I very actively sought out the work of a former fixation. And for your information, I have now seen more Elijah Wood films than I ever should have. But I think this fixation is stronger because of my love of comedy and studying it, especially the films that are at the current leading edge of comedy, because if you take a look at that leading edge, Hader is somehow attached to everything. The man can't be stopped.

Seriously. Will Forte and Andy Samberg have nothing on him. He is the next male breakout star from SNL. Just wait and see.

And by the way, judge all you want. You may think he is odd-looking, and perhaps he is. Will Forte is quite handsome and plays great, out-there characters. Jason Sudeikis is also handsome and plays a straight-man better than (almost) anyone on SNL. But when you look at Hader and see that he can excellently play the straight-man and the manic, crazy characters, then he takes the cake. Talent, talent.

Anyway, all of that dribble was to say that this led me to watch a movie called Adventureland. Holy cow. I was not expecting that movie to be that good. You'll get a review later, trust me, but let me just say that I was expecting to laugh out loud. It actually didn't happen that much. I did however, find myself touched and thoughtful afterward, which is much more rewarding.

It's always nice when movies surprise you.

So. Now you've been tortured. Let's see how much longer I can hold off from mentioning Mr. Eyebrows again.

Encouraged . . . Perhaps.

OK, so I'm so new to this whole pursuing a career in writing (see post from earlier this week), specifically, comedic writing, that I have no one in a peer sphere (oh, classic, lame, rhyming humor) to bounce ideas off of (what am I doing ending a sentence in a preposition? I am an English teacher at). Yeah, and first I need to get ideas.

I've been devising some exercises that I can do on a daily and weekly basis to start honing my skills and get used to writing both single camera, sitcom, and sketch comedy shows.

FIRST: Write something every single day. As a Creative Writing major, nothing was more important. The only way to stay sharp and productive is to grit your teeth and put pen to paper (or fingertips to keyboard) for at least ten to thirty minutes each day. I've found an excellent site for free-association writing called oneword.com. It provides you with one, randomly generated word and then you have 60 seconds to write whatever you can come up with about that word. It's been great fun, and perhaps if I get brave enough I'll start posting some here. I might not, though, for the purpose of this blog is not to assault your brains with my writing endeavors, but instead to keep you up to date about the most current events in my personal life. And if you don't want to know those, then don't worry. Just unfollow, no hard feelings.

SECOND: Watch, and study, one of each of those shows per week. By study, and here's where you are going to cry out "super nerd," I mean actually take written notes about an episode of a single camera comedy, a sitcom, and a sketch show. Don't know what those mean? Let me help.
  
Single Camera Show: These are the large majority of shows on TV. Filmed without a studio audience, these shows are easy to spot by how much the camera can maneuver. Do the shots actually follow the actors around a set, include closeups, and a musical soundtrack underneath important moments? Then it's probably a single camera show. Examples include Scrubs, 30 Rock, Arrested Development, Glee, and Community. Side note: A show like The Office uses multiple cameras at once to preserve the "documentary" feel, but is still closest to a single camera show.


Sitcom: You know a sitcom when you see one. The lighting is always pretty even across the board. No interesting shadows to be found. The format is almost always a half hour. The dialog is always quick and snappy. And there's either a studio audience or a laugh track. That darn laugh track. Sitcoms have sort of lost their status among TV watchers, but they still pull consistent viewership (and a few aren't bad). Examples include Roseann, Friends, Seinfeld, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, and Cheers. Side note: A lot of sitcoms today are terrible, however. Two and a Half Men, anyone?


Sketch show: A sketch show covers a broad range, but what I'm looking for is mostly a show that fills at least 50% of its air time with sketches, scenes, or comedic monologues. This definitely includes the most established of sketch shows, Saturday Night Live, but also branches out to things like The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, and Mad TV. This could even include shows like The Late Show, or The Tonight Show, because the guests actually only take up about 50% of the show, and the rest is filled with jokes, monologues, and skits. Side note: My main goal is to write for SNL. I'll just put it out there. If for some crazy reason God decides to give me a knack for writing comedic sketches, then I will get on that show come hell or high water. But I've never tried before, so now we're going to put it to the test.

THIRD: Start going through my work and finding my strengths. Sure, it would be great to be that kind of writer that can write anything and everything, but the truth is, most of us have one or two great talents in the writing arena. I mean, that's why TV shows have a writing staff. It's not because they want to rotate things around; it's because each member of the writing staff is talented in a different area, creating a stronger and more versatile writing team. If I can find my strength, I can begin to figure out a way to market that strength.

FOURTH: Don't let myself forget. I'm going to write it down. I'm going to post my big goal somewhere important. I'm going to post my smaller goals there as well, step-by-step. I'm also going to start keeping a writing log to make sure that things get done. I have ambition, and it's awesome. But if I let that ambition just sort of fester and don't give it an outlet, it'll just die. An outlet will either fuel my ambition or let it run itself out. I don't know which of those two will happen, but I've got to see it through.

As a last thought, I got a text message from a friend this evening that said I was one of the funniest people he knew--right up there with George W. I'm not quite sure what to make of it, but since I was wondering earlier today if I had a grasp of comedy at all, I'm going to count myself encouraged.

A Dream That Sort of Unraveled On Its Own In This Post

Office marathon today. Super fun. Oh, and I am full of pizza now. Not-so-super-fun.

Every now and then I get this urge to write for a TV show. Specifically, for an NBC comedy show. 

Two concerns here:

1. If this is a serious urge, it's going to require some drastic life changes. 

2. I'm not quite sure that I can create funny things like the people who actually write for these shows. 

First of all, serious life changes. I've got myself committed to Ashland. And I've got some nice financial obligations as well. 

Ugh. This post was going to continue in this vein and now I've already found myself discouraged away from trying to move to NY or Chicago to join The Second City or UCB. 

That's what I get for taking my responsibilities seriously. Also, I think it shows that my "dream" is definitely a dream rather than an all-consuming, life-changing passion. 

My ultimate goal in all this? Well, if you haven't guessed from the nature of my most recent posts, I'm quite enamored with SNL lately. That's Saturday Night Live for those of you who aren't in the know. I've found myself studying the humor, the way skits are constructed, how stars are fit into the show, and how the show morphs depending on who the guests are. It's actually quite a beast to behold. 

Those who love humor often bemoan the current state of SNL. And I find it especially funny that the "current" state of SNL is always criticized, no matter what season the show is in. People will always have problems with it, I suppose. 

I personally think that the show is entering a brilliant new phase. I could go into it more here, but instead I'll leave it for a review on my TV tab. Keep checking back. It's not up now, but I'm sure I'll have it up soon. 

Anyway, we all know about my strange fixation on Bill Hader, but it's so much more than that. The talent on that show right now is amazing, the writing is doing well, and the guys from The Lonely Island (the guys behind the SNL Digital Shorts) are taking the show into the future one awkward video at a time. 

And now, just for you, because I know you wanted it, another picture of Mr. Hader, this time with glasses. Why don't all people wear glasses? 

Oh, and Hader's crazily versatile voice talents will soon be appearing in this movie, coming out in August. Listen carefully for the voice that says "Combo" around 1:45. Come on. It looks crazy fun. And hilarious to boot. I need to find some way to see this since I'll already be an hour away from the closest theatre that would show it.