He's A Real Stand Up Guy!

Last night saw my first ever performance as a stand up comic. It was a simple affair really, as part of a fundraiser held at my church for this summer's trip to Kosovo. We had this dinner and a show type of thing last night. There were a total of five people doing stand-up last night, and I was one of them. I must confess that before I went up I was extremely nervous about the whole affair. I pictured myself standing up there telling lame joke after lame joke while crickets chirped in the background.

I am pleased to say, however, that that was most certainly not the case. We had a fairly large crowd...approximately 250 people. And man...did I floor them or what. I'm trying to say this quite modestly, but I was really quite good. The crowd was busting up...and countless numbers of people approached me afterward to tell me how incredibly funny I had been. I doubt that it's something I'd pursue... something in my gut tells me that it's easier to make a room full of church people laugh than it is to make an improv crowd laugh. So, it's entirely possible that that was my first and only performance. Sure, I killed 'em...but I'm not sure I have the tenacity to make a career out of it. And I'm fairly certain it was an easy crowd. Or maybe that's just my lack of self-esteem talking.

At any rate, I've got loads of school work to do over the next few weeks. It's really hard to concentrate on it. At the moment, I am finishing up my paper on the girl I interviewed on Friday. Technically, I was supposed to turn it in today but I wasn't quite satisfied with it, so I am going to e-mail it to the professor. (He let's us do that for any assignment, so it's not considered late until this Friday.) This week sometime I've got to do a classroom observation at a local high school and then write a paper on that also. I've got an assignment due this Wednesday, two papers due next Monday, a portfolio due next Tuesday, another assignment due next Wednesday and then a really big ass project due on May 21...then I'll be done with the semester. For now I've just got to finish this Case Study...then I'll worry about Wednesday's assignment. One thing at a time, I guess.

So, it seems as if everybody is making up summer reading lists for their weblogs. So, I thought I'd post one on mine. I did this last year and, as you know, I only got through one of them. No matter...perhaps this summer will be different.

Here it is...in no particular order:

The Doctor Is Sick-Anthony Burgess
Sometimes A Great Notion-Ken Kesey
Visions of Gerard-Jack Kerouac
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius-Dave Eggers
We The Living-Ayn Rand
Catch-22-Joseph Heller
Name of the Rose-Umberto Eco
Undaunted Courage-Stephen Ambrose
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix-J.K. Rowling

Currently, I am in the middle of Undaunted Courage, as well as Name of the Rose. I started reading Name of the Rose back in January but haven't really read much of it during the semester. I'm a little more than halfway through it.

I should also explain the addition of Ayn Rand. A number of years ago, my brother was reading The Fountainhead. When my dad saw that he was reading it, he scoffed and remarked that all Ayn Rand books should be banned. Since then, my curiosity has been piqued. Surely, if my dad feels that a book should be banned then it MUST be worth reading. However, since The Fountainhead is so arduously long, I decided to choose a shorter book by her...just to get an idea of what has so disturbed my father.

Also, I'm trying to incorporate "other works" by authors who are most recognized for one particular book. I once read an interview in which Anthony Burgess complained that all people ever wanted to talk to him about was A Clockwork Orange. His sentiment was something along the lines of, "You know...I did write other books..."

Anyway...that's all for now. Happy Cinco de Mayo.