And so it ends

November, that is. So here we go.

Nov. 26 - I was thankful for...

Hot water.

It seems obvious, but sometimes I forget how lovely hot water can truly be. When it's cold out, and you get in the shower and it feels like a liquid blanket is covering you and you lose track of time and space for a bit... yeah, I love that. 

Nov. 27 - I was thankful for...

My camera.

During the school year, I don't get to play with my camera as much as I'd like, which blows. Hard. But, when I do have time for it, my camera becomes a part of me. If my house was on fire, and I could only save one thing (assuming Maxine was able to get out, or Hubby got her), I'd probably grab my camera (and/or my wedding and engagement rings, assuming I wasn't wearing them). I know it can be replaced, but when it's not around, I feel lost. Even if I don't have a lot of time to use it, I like to know it's there when I have the time. It's like my security blanket with a lens. And I'm definitely thankful for that.

Nov. 28 - I was thankful for...

Comedy/Humor.

If you know me, you know I can have a dry, somewhat twisted sense of humor at times. Or most of the time. Whatever. The point is, I love humor. I love to laugh. I love witty banter and a sharp tongue. I love randomness. I love puns. I love slapstick. I just love it all, from the (mostly) innocent humor of Disney to the wildly inappropriate slams on Tosh.0.

If you've checked out my "That's Entertainment!" page, then you know that I love comedy and comedians, too. I've seen Second City, Capitol Steps, Daniel Tosh, Jeff Dunham, Bill Cosby and the Henson Alternative, and next on my wish list are Gabriel Iglesias (Fluffy) and Lewis Black. I just can't get enough! Laughter is, of course, the best medicine, and for that I'm thankful.

Nov. 29 - I was thankful for...

Delivery.

Sometimes, it's just nice to have your food brought straight to you. Yesterday we found out we won one of the 2 million free Papa John's pizzas, and since we were a bit low on funds (today is payday; woohoo!), we decided it was a sign. We felt bad about just ordering a free pizza, though, so we got some cheese sticks and Mountain Dew to go with it. It took forever to get here, but I figure that's the tradeoff we sometimes make so that we don't have to go out in search of food, leaving the warmth and comfort of our house. 

Whether it's JJ's, pizza, Chinese, or whatever, I love having food delivered. We don't do it frequently, so it's a bit of a treat when food comes to me, instead of me going to it (or me/us having to prepare it). Paper plates and TV trays may not be classy, but there's something satisfying about it anyway. Plus, no dishes to clean. Booya. Definitely thankful for that (as I'm sure Hubby is, too)! 

Nov. 30 - I am thankful for...

Me.

I guess that might sound weird, but I'm coming to like the person that I am. I'm nowhere near perfect, and I still get self conscious pretty easily, but I'm smart and fun, and I'm a fairly capable person when it comes to my job, school, or whatever I really set my mind to. I've struggled a lot with self-esteem issues, so to finally be settling in and accepting who I am is sort of a big deal for me. And it feels a lot better than disliking myself or trying to constantly change to be what I think I should be. I'm thankful for that, and for everyone and everything who has helped me get here. 

So, there you have it. 30 days of things I'm thankful for. Phew! :)

Jeff-fa-fa Dun-ham

Last night, Hubby and I went to the Wisconsin State Fair with one main purpose: Jeff Dunham.  But, we also wandered around a bit, taking in some of the other sights and sounds of the fair.

Hubby needed some dinner, so we walked around the food stands until he found something that screamed, "Eat me!"  I wasn't feeling the best, so I just grabbed a Sprite.  Sitting on the curb so Hubby could eat, we realized the rain was picking up a bit, rather than tapering off as we had hoped.  Once he was done, we headed off to the horticulture building, where we took a look at some of the prize-winning photos, food and plants.  When we got back outside and it was still raining, we sought shelter in the products building.

The products building should really be called the Noms building, IMO.  The vast majority of booths in this building are dedicated to different foods from the state.  It's not at all like the booths outside, where everything is deep-fried, on a stick, or both.  Inside, you can buy bottled honey and cherry preserves and all sorts of yummy foodstuffs to take home and enjoy later.  They do have some ready-to-eat food as well, but the food inside always sounds much better to me than the majority of things outside.  They have a grilled cheese sandwich station, a baked potato booth, bison burgers, and Palermo's pizza, to name a few.  

While wandering this building, we actually ran into my brother-in-law and his wife (as well as her family, including my nephew).  It was nice to see them, but little A was getting hungry, and so we parted ways pretty quickly.  By the time I checked my phone, it was already 7:48...  Almost time for Jeff Dunham.

For those unfamiliar, the main stage at the state fair is the Milwaukee Mile.  Yep.  It's a race track.  Better yet, it's uncovered, and it was raining.  Not hard or anything, but raining nonetheless.  This was my first grievance.  

My second was our seats.  Hubby had let me get tickets for Jeff Dunham only if we got the cheap seats.  So, I tried to pick the best cheap seats I could.  I got seats in the 3rd tier of the stands (cheap seats were 3rd and 4th tiers), as center to the stage as I could, and got us seats 1 and 2 so we were on the end.  As we went to find our seats (the second time, as we went up the wrong stairs the first time), the woman helping us said, "Those are good seats!"  I was pleased.  Until I sat down, and this was my view:

Seriously?  There was a giant fence blocking my view of the track/stage.  Nothing warned me they were obstructed view seats, nor were they any cheaper than the seats next to us who had no fence in their way at all.  I understand it's a race track, but they have shows there every night of the state fair.  That makes it a venue.  And the fact that I couldn't see the stage pissed me off.  Thankfully, I could see the giant screens they had set up, but I was still pissy.

Until the show really got started.  And then I forgot all about the fence.  I felt like I was at home watching a special on TV, and I laughed until my stomach hurt, and then laughed some more.  The rain stopped at some point, but I'd mostly forgotten about it anyway.  

After showing off some terribly awesome photos of himself from middle and high school, Jeff talked a bit about his divorce (sad panda!!), and Walter begged to know what it was like.  Achmed (the dead terrorist) had some issues keeping his legs in line once his son came out to join the show and eventually got duct taped to the stool.  Jose Jalapeno (on a steeeeck!) slammed Peanut with some great insults, and Peanut himself showed off his newly found talent of ventriloquism with his dummy Little Ugly AssJeff.  

My favorite part of watching Jeff is that you forget there's only one real person on stage.  The man is talking to himself, but save for the few times the dummies point out that it's really just him, you don't even notice that his right hand is missing for most of the show.  The illusion is magical, and if you think ventriloquists are lame, you just haven't seen the right one.

The funniest part, though, had to be Peanut reading a fan's email (OK, it may have been made up, but who cares) and tricking Jeff into being just as racist as he was being.  Effing love the fact that Peanut can make Jeff feel uncomfortable.  

I was surprised that Bubba J wasn't part of this show (we were on a race track, FCOL), but it was just as well.  Walter, Achmed and Peanut are clearly the crowd favorites, and though we had fun, a longer show might have gotten old.     

All in all, I'm so glad we went.  Though it was an entirely different experience than last week's Daniel Tosh show, I think I laughed just as much last night as I did at Tosh (though it was more of a "Hehe, that was silly and fun" type show than an "OMG this is wrong, but so f*ckin' funny" kind of show).  

Jeff's new special airs on Comedy Central this September, so check it out!  You won't be sorry.

Tosh.Oh My God

That's right, kids.  Last night Hubby, K and I went to see Daniel Tosh perform in Madison at the Overture Center.  It's OK to be jealous.

We had opted for the late show (10 PM on a Monday night really does feel late, trust me), which got started about 10-15 minutes late.  By theatre standards, that's actually pretty good, but K and I are impatient and by the time 10:01 had rolled around, we were ready.

Tosh's opening act was Kyle Kinane, a sort of scruffy man with a big beard and a flannel shirt (think of a lumberjack on his day off in civilization...).  Kinane opened by telling the crowd that he was going to regale us with stories of how he has "fucked up."  And while I was initially skeptical, Kinane had me laughing the whole time he was on stage, and I was wiping tears from my ears by the time he was done with his set.  From stories about being the sketchiest person in an Arizona Wal-Mart in the middle of the night to the poorly parked van with a 'stuffed dude' inside, Kinane had most of the audience rolling.  His short set had us all warmed up for Mr. Tosh.

And then came the announcement, "Ladies and gentlemen, Daniel Tosh!"  The crowd roared and onto stage came a dog.  If you've ever watched Tosh.0, you'll know just what dog I'm talking about.  The little black and white mop is just as adorable in person as on the show.  He was followed by Daniel, who was holding another mop-ish dog in his arms as he shuffled onto the stage.  

Hubby, K and I all agreed later that Daniel seemed kind of pissed when he started the set.  He didn't seem like himself, and really didn't smile until probably mid-performance.  Part of this, I'm sure, was due to the loud-mouth bitch in the balcony who kept shouting things during lulls like, "Take your shirt off!"  Daniel pointed out that he knew she was trying to be cute, but that she forgot the first rule; women aren't funny.  When she continued to run at the mouth, he simply said, "Jump," eliciting applause and hollers of approval from the rest of us.

Though it took awhile for him to seemingly warm up, he was still as hilarious as always.  Crossing all his usual lines without care, he made jokes about everything from Osama bin Laden to dead relatives to "19 and Counting."  And though a few jokes were recycled from past specials, the majority of material was fresh and funny.  He told us how he hates the Packers and told us all how our cheesehead hats couldn't save us from flooding since we're all so enormous.  As Hubby pointed out, some of the jokes aimed straight at us were some of the funniest.  One of my favorites had to be when he was asking for a nearby town to make a comparison, and chose 'Ferona' (or as we in Wisconsin call it, Verona), pointing out how much funnier his joke could have been with 4 seconds of research.

I had a fantastic time last night, and seeing Tosh in person is something I can definitely check off my bucket list, but part of me was just a tiny bit disappointed.  Watching his specials, or even just listening to them, always leaves me feeling like he's an overall good guy.  Sure, he's bashing everyone he possibly can, but you don't really believe he means all of it.  But his attitude and demeanor at his performance last night didn't give me that same feeling.  So when a few people started to stand for an ovation at the end of the night (we in Wisconsin - Madison especially - have a habit of giving out standing ovations like a proud daddy handing out cigars), I just couldn't muster up the energy.  

It was good, Tosh.  Great, even.  But I really believe you can do better.  Hopefully I can see you again and have that confirmed.