So I read something Wil Wheaton wrote in his blog and, I think, he’s nailed down why people fail at creative endeavors.

Referring to a conversation Wheaton had with Star Trek writer David Gerrold, he notes:

A few months after I began working on this book in earnest, at the 2009 Nebula awards dinner, I sat at a table with David Gerrold, who is best-known for writing the original series classic The Trouble With Tribbles. (Fun fact: David wrote and sold The Trouble with Tribbles when he was 19. My wife Anne asked him how he had the courage to do that, and David told her, “Because nobody told me I couldn’t.” That’s so awesome, and everyone who is creative should commit that to memory.)

Wow. That’s it. Have you ever seen a little kid play make-believe? Not only are they infinitely more imaginative than adults could ever be, but they relish every minute of their playtime. I had a director in college who would always tell us that our characters needed to “relish the moment.” I always thought of kids when he said that; completely unencumbered by inhibitions.

At some point, though, we all get told we cannot. We are told that we’re too old to play, to cool to pretend, too busy to make junk up. And that’s a damn, dirty shame.

Getting Back into Improv

So about four years ago I was living, eating, breathing and sleeping improv comedy. I’d say 5+ nights per week were devoted to making stuff up. I even got paid for a good portion of it. My steady diet of improv consisted of three or so rehearsals, and one or two nights of performances each week. I also participated in what I consider to be one of the best ideas (improv related, at least) that I’ve ever been involved in: Improv Fight Club.

The idea was simple, get a bunch of improvisers together in an old abandoned building (really) and improvise for the love of improv. No audiences, no sound/lights, no hanging endless posters to promote the show. Just improv in it’s purest for: play. It was good.

But I was also living on a diet of taco bell, cigarettes and booze. If competitive bourbon drinking was an Olympic sport, I was training for it. I was still a child, desperately avoiding adult-hood. It was not good.

So I made a break for it, left it all behind, because, at the time, it seemed easier to get rid of all of everything in my life than to work at cutting out the bad, while trying to leave the good. That’s how I ended up in Springfield. In hindsight, I wish I had done things differently. I burned a few bridges, and I’m not happy about that. But that’s hindsight, and I don’t have a Flux Capacitor to go back and change things.

But that’s all just background to the point of my post, which is I’m trying to get back into the improv scene. I’ve been missing the creative outlet that is improv comedy. I miss the rush of live performances, I miss the camaraderie and the  silliness. The stress relief. The fun.

Which all made me incredibly happy when I read that a local improv group, The Skinny Improv, is holding auditions this week. So I’m heading downtown later this week to audition to be a part of an improv community again. I’ve amassed a pretty good set of skills, but haven’t been able to use them in quite a while, so I hope I don’t embarrass myself too much. I could really use the creative outlet.

More about the rings

How could I forget to give a shout-out to Wands Jewelry for making everything right?

I originally purchased Julie’s engagement ring from Wands, and had no problems with the experience. I think the only reason we went to Helzberg was so I could try to point my friend at the engagement ring his girlfriend had her eye on. Definitely not the reason to make such an important decision.

Here’s what I like about Wands: They know us. We’re customers, first, and ring buyers second. Pat and Natalie know who we are, know our story and always take good care of us whenever we’re in. We are definitely customers for life. So if you live in the area, I have to highly recommend Wands Jewelry.

We ordered our rings, got them back in a reasonable amount of time, and for a very reasonable price. (I was worried that we’d pay more to a local jeweler, but that was absolutely not the case.) So not only did we get the resolution we wanted, but we also kept money in the local economy.

Wedding updates

So the wedding came and went, and we had a wonderful time. If anyone wants to get married in Vegas, go to the Little Chapel of the Flowers. They were great. Just perfect.

Oh, yeah, the ring thing. It turns out Helzberg’s customer service department actually cares about customers. They responded to my email right away, and were very understanding of our concerns. They made it clear that they understood we were more upset by the way things were handled than the fact that they screwed up Julie’s wedding band 3 times. They sent us a gift card to a nice restaurant here in town, to make up for the crap we went through right before the wedding.

But the good news is that was all the drama we had for the entire wedding, so we really can’t complain now.

The Wedding Ring Fiasco

My fiancee and I recently both bought our wedding bands from the Helzberg Diamonds store in the Battlefield Mall in Springfield, MO. Let me stress that the customer service provided by the sales staff, Tom and another woman whose name escapes me were both kind and courteous. We had no problems setting up a layaway account, or making payments on the accounts.
The problems started when we tried to have Julie’s ring sized.
We went into the store on 6/27, measured Julie’s finger and placed our order to have the ring sized to a 6.5. We were told that the ring would be ready to pick up by 7/7. This would be fine with us, as we were not scheduled to leave for our destination wedding until 7/14. On 7/5 we came into the store to make the final payment for the ring, and found that the Julie’s band had not been sent out to be sized. They assured us that the ring would be sent out immediately, and would be ready for pickup by the 10th. We were upset, but did understand that mistakes happen.
Julie went in on the 10th to pick up the ring, but the ring was 2 sizes too small. The staff assured her the ring would be sized correctly and back in 24 hrs. There really isn’t much one can do a week before the wedding, so Julie consented to have the ring re-sized (again) and (again) we waited. Helzberg called us the next day and told us that ring was ready. We came in this last Sunday (7/12) to pick up the ring. It was sized correctly, so we took the ring and went home. Julie packed both of our rings in our suitcases and we were ready to go to Vegas.
Until we received a call tonight (7/13) from Adam, the store manager. He informed first Julie, then me after Julie had reached her fill, that they had given her the wrong ring. It turns out that the reason the ring was two sizes too small was that the jeweler who did the sizing mixed up two very similar looking rings. I spoke to Adam, and I’ll admit I was angry. I don’t think I was rude, I made sure not to yell at him or swear. I told him that this was their third strike. I told him that we didn’t have time to drive into town to exchange the ring. He assured me that he “just wanted to make things right.” He said that bout 50 times. “I’m just trying to make things right.” So I agreed to come in. In the end, it was more the thought of some other random woman without her own wedding band that made us decide to come in.
So, as we were trying to finish packing and the multitude of other tasks we had to finish before leaving for Las Vegas, we instead left to drive the 30 minutes to the mall.
When we got to the store, I asked for Adam, and the sales person who greeted us informed me that he had left for the day. At that point, we decided that it wasn’t worth any further hassle, and decided to return the rings. The remaining staff, along with Jim the jeweler who had actually misplaced the ring in the first place, were all very kind, helpful and apologetic in refunding our money.
The reason I will never shop at Helzberg Diamonds again is not that I think the company is engaged in any shady dealings, or that they sell inferior products; we were very happy with our bands. The reason I will never shop at Helzberg lies in the actions (or rather lack of action) by the store’s manager. I was shocked that he would insist to me on the phone that he “wanted to make things right,” and then leave the store before we could return, leaving his staff to tend to the cleanup. One of the staff mentioned that he had already been there all day, and was “over his hours.” That might be the case, but he could easily have stayed, off the clock, to provide even the slightest bit of customer service in person. It was his unwillingness to be a manager that made us decide to return our rings, get married without wedding bans, and never have to step foot into a Helzberg Diamonds again. All Adam had to do was stay for another thirty minutes, and Helzberg would have had my business for life. Anniversary bands, Christmas earrings, ’sorry I paused when you asked if you looked fat in those jeans’ necklaces. I would have bought it all there. Again, the sales staff was great. But Adam went home. And Adam lost our trust and our business.
Our wedding won’t be ruined. No matter what the Jewelry Industry tries to tell me, Julie loves me unconditionally, with or without the help of a ring. But we’re definitely disappointed.

Freedom of the Press update

I received a call from the News-Leader today. It looks like my letter will be published either Tuedsay or Wednesday 6/16 or 6/17.

I’m pretty excited about this. It will be the first time I’ve had a letter to the editor published. I think I did a decent job of it, too. I’m also aware that I will receive a fair amount of angry responses from the usual trolls who comment online.

I’m prepared to handle that. I just hope I can make it a few hours before I break down and start responding.

Letter to the Editor

I’ve gotten sucked into the opinion page in the local paper. I was recently quoted out of context, so I decided to play some “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.,” and wrote my own letter.

Hopefully it will be published. I’m posting now, in the even that I am, again, quoted out of context, I can point to this archived copy of the original.

Help make the News-Leader stronger, Join me in submitting a Letter to the Editor

Every morning I, as I enjoy my breakfast, I read the opinion page of the News-Leader. And every morning, as I read yet another poorly written treatise decrying the intelligence of one political party by a member of another, I say aloud “Who writes this stuff?” (This statement is passed calmly across the table to my bride-to-be, not shouted up the stairs to my mother, as some members of the editorial board might try to portray.) Today, I have decided to become one of the writers of “this stuff.”

I have, for quite some time now, championed the idea that the best way to keep the hate speech and half-truths out of the “Voices”page is to provide the editors of the News-Leader with a well written, thoughtful alternative. There obviously must be a dearth of letters in general coming into the News-Leader. Why else would I open my paper on a recent Sunday and find not one, but two letters to the editor praising Fred Phelps’ church of hate, and his agenda against homosexuals?
It must have been a complete lack of submissions that forced the editors to print Don Clopton’s May 18th letter “Police officer not ‘interested’ in truth” that began with Mr. Clopton complaining that his daughter received a ticket for violating the law, and ended with the threat that he will never again vote in favor of providing funding for the police retirement fund.

One might blame the Editorial Advisory Board for this problem. The board seems heavily represented when it comes to published Letters to the Editor. The columns from the right are filled with the usual hatred toward people who do not share the exact brand of Christianity practiced by the author. The columnists from the left never stand a chance. We are represented by Dr. Roger Ray, who has made the mistake of admitting that he sees homosexuals as people, deserving of the same benefits as every other citizen of the United States, (a belief I firmly agree with, and respect Dr. Ray for holding). Consequently, Roger Ray could write a column stating that Springfield is the third most populous city in the state, and be greeted with nothing but hateful replies telling him he’s wrong, and destined for an eternity in hell. The left is also represented by Lee Daves. Mr. Daves had a wonderful thesis in his last column, “Right’s hellhounds unchained to slobber over nominee,” but his attempt at “borrowing” Mark Twain’s “folksy” voice fell, as always, flat.

So I submit my letter to the editor, in hope that giving them even one more alternative to hate speech and complaining about tickets will help raise the bar. If you agree with me, please join me in submitting your own opinion. We are blessed to live in a country which guarantees freedom of the press. I urge you to exercise it, regardless of your political viewpoint. Just give the editors a choice.

Side Projects

I’ve been working on a few side projects.
First post to “The Wishlist” http://supremedictator.wordpress.com/ completed a while back. One day I will be supreme dictator of the world. When I am, I’ll already have my rules ready.

I also am working on some technical blogging for the business to business software service we use at work.
http://centraldesktophero.wordpress.com/

“A celebration of difference, as opposed to an exploitation of difference.”

So I’m a fan of both the Big Bang Theory and Geek Brief TV. Cali Lewis does a two part interview with Big Bang Theory co-creator Bill Prady:

http://www.geekbrief.tv/gbtv-542-the-big-bang-theory-part-1

http://www.geekbrief.tv/gbtv-543-the-big-bang-theory-part-2

If you don’t watch Big Bang Theory, I have to highly recommend it. It portrays Geekery in a very fun, non-judgemental manner.

It’s really not too far removed from some conversations I’ve had recently.

Part 2 – IKEA

Editorial Note: I’d like to point out that I’m stealing the idea of blogging about my vacation from Heather who just finished publishing a very fun description of her vacation(s). Thanks for the inspiration.

Day two started with the best continental breakfast ever, a speedy checkout and accurate directions to the IKEA in Frisco. I had never been to the an IKEA before, and was very impressed, even from the beginning. And by beginning, I mean the parking lot. IKEA had the foresight to separate, with concrete barriers, the loading and unloading zone/pedestrian walkway from the rest of the parking lot. Pay attention Walmart et. al, this works, and drivers were noticeably less grumpy when they didn’t have to yield to a 90 year old on a HoveRound. IKEA also incorporated a “Family Friendly Parking Area,” consisting of wider parking spaces ideal for minivans, Suburbans and other Soccer Mom staples. The spots even included space on either side for loading and unloading the SUV-sized strollers some mothers find necessary.
Once inside, it is immediately obvious that IKEA has spent a significant amount of time addressing store layout. There is a distinct flow of traffic, yet no sense of being forced from one display to another. Everything is displayed in groups: Living Rooms, Kitchen, Bedroom, Dining, Home Organization, and you move about from room to room. It almost had a museum feel to it. (Except you were encouraged to touch and try for yourself.) Much of the furniture is too large to store in the display rooms, and is housed in an enormous warehouse area farther along the route, but smaller items are available to put into your big yellow shopping bag all along the way.
We bought a few things for our house, along with a housewarming gift for Julie’s mom. And then made our way out of town.
We took the North Dallas Turnpike, this time with no problems at toll booths, and made our way to I-35 South.
And then we hit a parking lot. There was just too many cars for the stretch of road we were on. I-35, I-45 and I-20 all converge in single five mile hell. For me, it wasn’t so much the sheer volume of traffic, but the fact that there were no good signs instructing me which lanes became exit only lanes, and which lanes were safe to continue on. It took us a good hour to clear the South edge of Dallas and be on our way.
Everything progressed smoothly, until we hit Austin, TX at a quarter after 4pm on a Friday. The City of Austin has, apparently, decided to convert I-35, one of the nation’s busiest traffic corridors, into a parking lot each afternoon. Dallas was a cakewalk. Driving back through Austin, just now, the trip took us about 25 minutes from the South edge of Austin to Georgetown, a suburb on the Northern edge. On Friday, the same trip took nearly two hours. Fortuantely, Julie’s brand new radiator was up to the task of keeping the car cool in the 85 degree weather.
Traffic was, again, bad as we entered San Antonio, taking a full hour to drive across town to her mother’s house, but we finally arrived at around 7:30 pm, seven hours after we had left the IKEA.
More later, including details of the Alamo Basement Tour.