Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Here comes trouble!
I don't care what anyone says, on a good piano "chopsticks" rocks!
J and I had a chance to play at the Olde Town Playhouse here in Town. We preformed for a crowd of three. (including the two of us) Naturally I froze up and couldn't play even the simpelest tune. This is what stage fright looks like:
Anywaze!
Guess who’s moving to my town? …My old friend “T” and her Godson “L”. I don’t have a picture to show because they aren’t here yet and I haven’t seen “T” since, like, forever. When they come to town they’ll be looking for jobs. What do they do? T was on my crew at Nickelodeon but, there isn’t a whole lot of animation around here. So I guess it’s off to the job finding place.
This is something that has bugged me since I moved to town: what do people do? What is a regular job like? I’ve been in the wacky world of production so long I don’t remember what it was like to have a regular job.
The last job that I had before Animation was about 20 years ago I was a leasing agent for an apartment building on the south side of Chicago. I used an alarm clock, wore a suit, had a lunch hour and waited for the clock to change so I could go home. It was very rigid. If I was late someone got mad. If something really started cooking near the end of my lunch hour I’d have to stop it and go back to my desk. Basically, it sucked!
I sometimes wonder what it would be like if I had to get a real job around here. What is there to do around here? I guess I’d find a job the same way I find places to live. I go to where it’s cool and start looking around and asking questions.
In the case of this town, I guess I’d go over the old insane asylum. For those who don’t know the “State Hospital” (as they more levelheaded people call it) is part of a redevelopment project. It was built before the turn of the century and is now being renovated and restored into living spaces work spaces and restaurants. It all has a kind of cool flare to it. I haven’t been over there in 7 months and I’m sure some new cool stuff is on the rise.
Could I be a waiter? Probably, but I’ll bet I wouldn’t get too many tips. I have faith in my fellow man but I just don’t seem to have patience for the fucker. I was a waiter at one point and it didn’t go over too well. I did what I was supposed to do and, I think, I did it well. But it was exhausting. I had to be nice to people. And, man, were some of them mean. They acted like no one else was in the place. The ironic thing is the nice ones got shitty service because I was spoon-feeding the ass holes. I felt, sort of, sorry for them but not so sorry that I really gave a shit. The best thing about being a waiter was the tips. After the people left there was usually a couple bucks lying on the table. I don’t remember getting stiffed so, I guess I was a pretty good waiter. I used the paycheck for rent ($2 per hour) and the tips for shits, giggles and the occasional beer. I ate where and when I could, it wasn’t my number one priority at the time. The other nice thing about being a waiter is that you can eat. I suppose if you worked at a chain restaurant they’d have rules about employees eating and, as an employee, you’d probably get screwed. I’m talking about you Applebees! But the place that I worked for (an Italian joint in Fla) was pretty good about it. The owner was Cuban and a real tight wad. He pretended that he was Italian by putting an “ah” at the end of every word. “Hey-a you-a, gringo-a.”
He didn’t really bug me, I had his number. I played him like a violin at the saps day parade. His wife (who really was Italian) made the best sandwiches! It could have been that I was pretty hungry most of the time and any sandwich would have tasted good, but I seem to remember they were the best sandwiches in the world. She would put them in the pizza oven and bake the cheese. Great, now I’m hungry.
The worst thing about being a waiter is when your friends come to visit. You have to do everything they want and they expect it to be free. It’s pretty awkward.
OK so this blog turned into random thoughts about being a waiter. So what? I guess next time I’ll tell you all about being a leasing agent in Chicago.
J and I had a chance to play at the Olde Town Playhouse here in Town. We preformed for a crowd of three. (including the two of us) Naturally I froze up and couldn't play even the simpelest tune. This is what stage fright looks like:
Anywaze!Guess who’s moving to my town? …My old friend “T” and her Godson “L”. I don’t have a picture to show because they aren’t here yet and I haven’t seen “T” since, like, forever. When they come to town they’ll be looking for jobs. What do they do? T was on my crew at Nickelodeon but, there isn’t a whole lot of animation around here. So I guess it’s off to the job finding place.
This is something that has bugged me since I moved to town: what do people do? What is a regular job like? I’ve been in the wacky world of production so long I don’t remember what it was like to have a regular job.
The last job that I had before Animation was about 20 years ago I was a leasing agent for an apartment building on the south side of Chicago. I used an alarm clock, wore a suit, had a lunch hour and waited for the clock to change so I could go home. It was very rigid. If I was late someone got mad. If something really started cooking near the end of my lunch hour I’d have to stop it and go back to my desk. Basically, it sucked!
I sometimes wonder what it would be like if I had to get a real job around here. What is there to do around here? I guess I’d find a job the same way I find places to live. I go to where it’s cool and start looking around and asking questions.
In the case of this town, I guess I’d go over the old insane asylum. For those who don’t know the “State Hospital” (as they more levelheaded people call it) is part of a redevelopment project. It was built before the turn of the century and is now being renovated and restored into living spaces work spaces and restaurants. It all has a kind of cool flare to it. I haven’t been over there in 7 months and I’m sure some new cool stuff is on the rise.
Could I be a waiter? Probably, but I’ll bet I wouldn’t get too many tips. I have faith in my fellow man but I just don’t seem to have patience for the fucker. I was a waiter at one point and it didn’t go over too well. I did what I was supposed to do and, I think, I did it well. But it was exhausting. I had to be nice to people. And, man, were some of them mean. They acted like no one else was in the place. The ironic thing is the nice ones got shitty service because I was spoon-feeding the ass holes. I felt, sort of, sorry for them but not so sorry that I really gave a shit. The best thing about being a waiter was the tips. After the people left there was usually a couple bucks lying on the table. I don’t remember getting stiffed so, I guess I was a pretty good waiter. I used the paycheck for rent ($2 per hour) and the tips for shits, giggles and the occasional beer. I ate where and when I could, it wasn’t my number one priority at the time. The other nice thing about being a waiter is that you can eat. I suppose if you worked at a chain restaurant they’d have rules about employees eating and, as an employee, you’d probably get screwed. I’m talking about you Applebees! But the place that I worked for (an Italian joint in Fla) was pretty good about it. The owner was Cuban and a real tight wad. He pretended that he was Italian by putting an “ah” at the end of every word. “Hey-a you-a, gringo-a.”
He didn’t really bug me, I had his number. I played him like a violin at the saps day parade. His wife (who really was Italian) made the best sandwiches! It could have been that I was pretty hungry most of the time and any sandwich would have tasted good, but I seem to remember they were the best sandwiches in the world. She would put them in the pizza oven and bake the cheese. Great, now I’m hungry.
The worst thing about being a waiter is when your friends come to visit. You have to do everything they want and they expect it to be free. It’s pretty awkward.
OK so this blog turned into random thoughts about being a waiter. So what? I guess next time I’ll tell you all about being a leasing agent in Chicago.
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