Junior Year: The Year Time Ceased To Exist

This title isn't meant to be depressing, just realistic.

I have zero time for most anything. Sleeping, reading, eating, jogging, playing, and sometimes that includes blogging.

So you'll have to excuse these past two months of absence. (You don't have to though, I'm just asking nicely.)

But it's been a while, hasn't it? Course it has.

Let me fill you in on life, in the form of rhyme:

Camp Scuffy ended, however bittersweet

To Albany I went, my staff to meet

Training ensued, where we learned and we played

And I stood in front of a tower and danced for eight hours

on magical move-in day!

When my voice returned and my limbs stopped screaming

My residents, all forty of them, I started meeting

Most are great and I love 'em all

Just not when they smoke in their rooms, or party in the halls

But that's alright, nothing to do

Except lay down my authority and trust them to be smart

Cause most have common sense in their heart

Theatre's been popping, it's been my scene

Got three big show's going on, know what I mean?

New show opened last night, to some laughs and applause

Actors did well, family enjoyed, then sat and suffered for two more hours

(I know that didn't rhyme, shush)

Next week I get to play a cokehead

And then in December, I avenge my family

Against the Scottish tyrant, Macbeth

Sketchy Characters, my comedy family on campus

Are as awesome as ever. It's a big year

And awesomeness is in the air.

And that's about it. Family is well, school is awesome, job is well, theatre is well and sketchys are great, writing is getting done (eventually ha), and yeah . . . sorry this is so late. I've never been good at keeping a blog. I'll try to be better. Specifics coming soon on specific things!

Happy 50th blog post, Blog!!

-Marty

Broneonta

I'm sitting in Brendan's monster of a bedroom here at Hartwick College, in the beautiful little town of Oneonta, while he is at a meeting.

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Life has been crazy, and there is much to fill you all in on.

But truly?

It's just nice weather out there, and it feels great to have the sun back where it belongs.

But new things, let's see . . .

Went to Dippikill with the Sketchy Characters, where we had a rollicking good time, full of fun, drink, food, and 7 mile hikes

Then we went to Middlebury Vermont the weekend after, where we participated in an improv festival with a bunch of different improv teams from all over the northeast. It was a great time, a real eye-opener, and the team who invited us, Otter Nonsense, was amazing.

Also, I am the new President of the Sketchy Characters for next year. Here's hoping I can do well as President.

We had our big PAC Show on 4/20, which went really well, very proud of everyone involved.

Had Fountain Day, which was cold grey and miserable. Yet I believe it could be snowing, hailing, in the middle of an earthquake, raining frogs, and have the ground split open and have the devil running rampage during the apocalypse, and yet we'd still party just as hard. Cuz it's Fountain Day.

Saw Kick-Ass. Which was Kick Ass!

These coming weeks?

Last day of class. Finals. Aggies. Open Mic. Reslife Formal. Papers. Writing. Tests. IRON MAN 2. Free Comic Book Day (which is today). Work. And a picnic.

Now, off to more homework, and a good day with my brother in Oneonta. Also, thank you to Hope and Rachel for our new May Day shirts.

They Rock.

And The Curtains Come Down

It's been a crazy three weeks world.

And I'm sorry I haven't kept you in the loop. My past three weeks have been this:

Rehearsals. Plays. Shows. Laughter. Sketchys. Death. Romance. Slight dejection. Writing. Acting. Sleeping. Reading. Brothers. Family. Relay For Life. Cowboy Hats. Bro-Chill Time.

So there ya go.

My show was last weekend, had most of my family come down, even some folks from Massachusetts which was really nice. The show went great. My actors were on, the director made some really great choices, and the drum added an epic sense of power that was definitely a great choice.

A little sad it's over. But, life goes on, and if you're paying attention to the present, you'll just end up in the past.

So the writing goes on. I've been writing every day this week and of the week, and so far, doing well. Also, been hitting the gym as well, every day, half an hour, just to get myself warmed up to it again. Let's do this thing.

And yeah . . . tomorrow is Relay For Life, all day event, fighting cancer cause cancer sucks, and we need to kick its ass. True Story.

More on my life as it occurs, my friends. Good night and day and night.

"Great Danes! No yeah, it's a dog, but like . . . the BIGGEST dog!"

Said Bo Burnham on Thursday, as he made fun of our school mascot, the great Dane.

I gotta say, he's not wrong.

But yes, a little background: Bo Burnham, only a few years back, was a teenager much like myself. Then he taught himself how to play instruments, wrote hilarious, witty and offensive material, and then to the scattered winds of Youtube they flew. And he was a hit.

Thursday, he came to our university to perform as a benefit for the Relay For Life, a cancer research benefit, to which he ironically said, "You guys got ME for a cancer benefit?"

Also, that same Thursday, myself and some members of the Sketchy Characters, the comedy group I am part of, go the chance to open for Bo.

It was fan-frickin'-tastic. We got there early, and got a chance to say hey to Bo, nice guy, tall sonofagun. But nice enough, if a bit quiet. We warmed up, got ready, as more and more workers kept coming back telling us things like, "Filling up quick in there," and, "Yeah, we just opened the back section."

By the time I was in the wings, about to take the stage, the main guy goes, "Hey, there's almost 700 people here tonight . . . have fun!"

Eep.

But I took the stage, and began to MC, bringing small laughs and then getting us all started on improv. We did a few games of improv and my guys brought their A+ game that night. I was so goddamn proud of them all. Still am, actually. They did amazing. The crowd was responsive, laughed with us, I even got off a couple of good laughs. Then after improv, my pal Dustin came on a did some stand up and he brought down the house, the crowd loved him. We had our share of hecklers, but we dealt with them.

But Bo dealt with them even worse.

After out set, before he went on, he asked my friend Lauren, (who is so in love with him, she was positively glowing with joy that night), if there were hecklers out there at us. She told him yeah, but it was no big deal.

Bo took a sip of his water and said, and I quote, "Yeah . . . I'm going to teach those fucking bastards a lesson." And did he ever. He, a relatively famous and well-known comedian, stood up for us, a band of sketchy characters who as my friend Dustin said to Bo later, "Dude, we would perform for you for a slice of pizza and water."

So, I don't know if he'll ever read this, but thanks Bo. It was real classy of you to help us, sincerely.

And then Bo put on an amazing show, full of songs, haikus, small skits, more songs, misdirection, one hit zingers, audience participation, and more ripping on the guy who heckled us.

It was a great freaking show, and thanks again Bo.

Meet and greet after the show was awesome and I was perfectly content. We got to open for a great comedian, who actually talked to us a bit and stood up for us against arrogant asshats. Not only that, but we put on a great show, the Sketchys, for an audience who may not have known us.

Great show, great friends, great night.

More updates on personal life to come soon.

What rhymes with Mess?

STRESS IS THE ANSWER!

Hey.

I've been a tad stressed.

Over improv-reslife-should-I-be-an-RA-classes-monologues-writing-plays-for-school-women-publishers-not-wanting-my-stories-blaaaaaaaaaaaargh . . .

K, I'm done with that, but now I clarify.

I'm debating on whether to be an RA next year or not. I want to be, I think I'd be good at it, and I want to definitely try it out before I leave college. And I DO think I'd be good at it. Yeah, maybe I need to work on being more assertive, and organized, but I think if I am really on top of shit, I can do this. The time commitment for next year works out the same either way as an RA or SA. So let's try it. Maybe =p

And yeah, I got a rejection letter from a publisher today, not going to tell you which. Yes, I know it happens and I got to stick with it and one day I'm going to look back and laugh. But right now?

IT SUCKS.

But it's okay. It sucked for about 7 minutes, but right now it's okay. I just have to try harder, and better at what I do and what I love to do.

And that's all for now I suppose.

Weekend's going to be exciting though, Brendan is coming on up. SO THAT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME! We're going to hang out and he's going to hit on girls and we're going to be awesome!

Update ya then my web goblins!

Parties Can Be Mandatory?

Can they?

Yes, that's what I've learned. I have a mandatory party to go to tonight. Ha, I don't mind, I went to the last one, but not everyone did so I understand the mandatoryness of it all. I just imagined this scenario . . .

"You having a good time? Enjoying the food?"

"Yeah, I uh . . . I actually don't eat food too oft--"

"YOU MUST PARTY AND EAT AND BE MERRY OR YOU ARE FIRED!"

At that point it slowly devolves into an epic fantastical battle between the forces of good and evil but hey, what in my mind doesn't?

Also, I learned, even if there is a plastic bag separating the individuals items, if you keep a piece of bread on top of a dryer sheet, that bread WILL absorb that oh so DELICIOUS flavor of dryer sheet. Guess who had a nice delicious laundry-peanut butter- and jelly sandwich just now?

THIS GUY.

Finals are all done. Fall 2009 Semester is all done. We just need to close up the quad tomorrow and then I'm home for a good five weeks, home to work, go to the gym, sleep, see friends and write my brains out. Because it's time to get my life in shape.

This semester I've learned a lot, I think I have. I've learned how to balance running an improv group, and a theatre group, and write a two act play, while working for residential life and taking five classes and still managing to sleep and see friends. I've learned that the beauty of playwriting comes at the beginning and I suppose the end, because right now it sucks to be in the middle.

I learned sometimes you got to man up and do what you have to do; also that there are certain girls you deal with crazy for, and certain girls ya don't. I learned cyberpunk is a lot more then matrix, and eugene ionesco is a crazy ass playwright. I learned it's fun to be a helicopter, how to make the perfect burger, and when Ralph Dibny is a resurrected zombie with a mace and his best friend by him, he can be a real dick.

Toy Story still holds up after all these years, Reel Big Fish is even better in real life then I suspected, and Rand will be okay in the end. I've learned how to fall on my back, my side, and my face, and that a hook-up only works when you feel something more then physical, (doesn't make it less awesome though). Aquaman is still lame as an old man, Sketchys should never be given a chance to party in a place the school can be held responsible, but we're still gonna do it =]

And that as hectic and jumbled and crazy as this semester was, it was still extremely enjoyable.

Hell yeah.