I attend the Next Stage festival for what I think is the first time. Pretty embarrassing for a Fringer, especially given all the people I know who must have done it over the years. Well, consider yourself special, Jason, because Jonno is the one that finally got me out! (And proximity to Gandhi roti was barely a factor.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jess and I go for drinks at the Only Bar and Caf\u00e9. This is something we do fairly often (location varies), but this one felt particularly bondy. Or so I recall: it was a year ago, and there was drink involved. All I know is we went back there in October, and one of the times, we also ordered food from Big House Pizza, and it was very good and in my neighborhood, so I have no idea why I haven\u2019t had it since. Time flies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My on-again, off-again, approach-avoid relationship with improv continues. Matt asks if I want to team up with Ron Sparks, and as we\u2019re all basketball buddies and I like to be asked, I agree. Then it turns out Ron can\u2019t make it and I end up doing the tournament with another wonderful soul, Cameron Wyllie. We quickly establish that we\u2019re going to be the team of two straight dudes who end their scenes by kissing but without making a big deal about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/January-Worlds-Biggest-Improv-Tournament-1.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/January-Worlds-Biggest-Improv-Tournament-2.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nWe advance to the second round. Naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I see Reid Along with Browning for the first time in forever, and it makes me happy as always. I conquer my social anxiety nerves and go to BeslerMania. My social anxiety nerves win and Seiler and PK skip town without me managing a goodbye. (Though true to my form, I write them a nice note on Facebook.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And for the first time ever that I can recall, I ask for a raise. I\u2019m told to put it in writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
February:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am on the panel for this month\u2019s Comedy Album Book Club, discussing 2000 Years with Cark Reiner and Mel Brooks with Jason, Martha O\u2019Neill, and Sean Browning. Good time had by all, always fun when comedy nerds get together and nerd out. It\u2019s a podcast, so depending on when you see this, you might be able to listen along?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I put my raise request in writing, with much help from my\nfather and Kat Janicki. It takes several people to convince me to write nice\nthings about myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Super Bowl happens. This is where I should write things\ndown. I\u2019m sure I did SOMETHING for it\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, I know I went to Kama Sutra with my high school\nfriends. Pretty sure it\u2019s an Indian restaurant\u2026 but in this case, it\u2019s probably\nmore fun not to look it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basketball night (Wednesday) falls on Valentine\u2019s Day. With\na number of cancellations, including several from subs who apparently forgot\nwhat day it was when they agreed, those of us who are there end up playing the\nfull two hours 4-on-4. By the usual standards of Valentine\u2019s Day, this one felt\nreally good!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along those lines, I shortly thereafter enjoyed a night out\nall by myself. (Well, mostly.) I went to watch Alaine coach at the U of T\nwomen\u2019s basketball game, had a brief visit afterwards, then went to watch Black\nPanther on my own. Noteworthy, because I\u2019m often reticent about going out on my\nown, but sometimes, when you lean into it, it\u2019s lovely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jason and Helena have a party where we\u2019re supposed to bring\na dish that means something to us. I decide I\u2019ll bring kasha\u2026 and then don\u2019t\nhave the time and also remember that liking kasha is a weird thing. So I bring\nDescendant Pizza and Radical Road beer, because I like my cool neighborhood.\nGood enough!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I guess I remembered about this blog at some point, because I jotted down \u201cFood Trucks: up to thirteen songs.\u201d Don\u2019t look now\u2026 but that\u2019s a set!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
March:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have dinner with Laura Bailey, and she tells me about a\none-person show she wants to do. It\u2019s of particular note, because she\nsubsequently got into the Toronto Fringe and said show will be happening this\nsummer. Timelines!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sketchfest comes, and working stiff that I am, I don\u2019t see\nmuch. I see Cam Wyllie\u2019s show (how could I not?!?), I see the Lusty Mannequins\nwith Mark & Andy & Dave (a bill that\u2019s pretty much a sure thing), and I\ngo to the Inside The Ladies Writing Room panel (where I am one of about three\nmen with over a hundred women, and I realize that might be as close as I get to\nexperiencing what it\u2019s like to be a woman in a room surrounded by men\u2026 but\nprobably better for me, because women are better and privilege generally\u2026\nanyhooo\u2026 )<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around this time, I see the Raptors play the Rockets. It is\neasily the best game I\u2019ve ever seen live, with James Harden putting on a\nperformance that was practically inhuman, Lowry refusing to lose, and the\nRaptors earning the win with Harden FINALLY missing on a shot that would\u2019ve\nsent it to OT. Check it out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/game?gameId=400975725<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have a Movie Night at Robin\u2019s, where we watch Jumanji. I\ncan\u2019t remember if this is our first proper movie night\u2026 but it\u2019s become more of\na regular thing, so when I\u2019m someday trying to remember how long we\u2019ve been\ndoing it, we can know we started at least this long ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seth\u2019s bar mitzvah. It\u2019s a lovely event, though I\u2019ll mostly remember\nit for losing a library book and then obsessively trying to find it. (It\neventually turned up after I\u2019d lost all hope. Ain\u2019t it always the way?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I go to the WTTV for The Detail. It\u2019s possible I\u2019m a\nhobbyist now\u2026 or that I\u2019m doing the job, and just don\u2019t feel like I am because\nit\u2019s a bizarro version of it\u2026 but either way, I do enjoy these things on\noccasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are some posts I made that I liked\u2026 as did a handful of others:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/March-21-26.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nRound 2 of the World\u2019s Biggest Improv Tournament. Cameron\nand I again do our thing, again we advance. He\u2019s lovely, but my ambivalence\nabout improv remains. I loved it so much for so long, but at this point, it\nfeels like it\u2019s easy to be pretty good and impossible to be great, or at least\nrare enough that it hardly seems worth it. At the risk of bleakness, maybe it\njust reminds me of better times I once had? But to be clear, I wasn\u2019t nearly\nthis overwrought at the time; it was just a pleasant night out, with people I\nenjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, for the first in a long string of unimportant birthdays,\nI play basketball (nice synchronicity), then dinner with folks, then out for a\nbeer with Ian. I slept over at parents and\nhad dinner the next day at La Paella. We had the\/la paella.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The seder this year was at Sandra\u2019s. They do blend together, but this one was a little memorable for the \u00a0heat being out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
April:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
A post that probably deserved better. But discerning people liked it, damn it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/April-2.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nMarch Madness was actual madness this year. Somehow, despite\na very busted bracket, I only lose the office pool by one point\u2026 which may\nactually be worse? Either way, in my old Vancouver pool, Villanova\u2019s win pulls\nme ahead of Shaun and Allen and also, perhaps most importantly, the bracket picked\nentirely by coin tosses. Oy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Round 3 and then Round 4 of the World\u2019s Biggest Improv Tournament. As previously noted, still pretty ambivalent, and doing shows two weeks in a row didn\u2019t help. (Once every couple of months at most for this guy!) Still kind of nice to make the Top 16, remind people who I am, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/April-Worlds-Biggest-Improv-Tournament-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nI make a 4\/20 joke some fellow nerds like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/April-20.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAnd I get a new cellphone. Which is noteworthy because it\u2019s my first smartphone. At the time, I\u2019m pretty sure I won\u2019t get that into it. And while I\u2019m still not a person who gets \u201cexcited\u201d about phones or needs the latest, I admit there are some perks to joining everyone else in this century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dave comes for a visit, and I use the opportunity to get the\nhigh school crew to come to Leslieville. Post-tennis, we go for donairs and\ndrinks at The Thirsty Duck (feels very Canadian) and then for cocktails at\nGoods and Provisions. Sophistimicated! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Doors Open happens. Larry and I use the opportunity to check\nout a few of the movie studios in my neighborhood. Because, hey, the Doors were\nOpen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I make what may be the greatest joke the world has ever seen:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/May-29.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nI go suit shopping for Evan\u2019s wedding. Which is especially notable because it was done in a hotel suite! Yes, I got a custom-made suit. We went, got measurements taken, picked from various swatches of fabric\u2026 it was very grown-up and a little Rat Pack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
June:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have a very nerdy email exchange with my father. I sent\nhim this article about why rich kids are good at the marshmallow test: http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/family\/archive\/2018\/06\/marshmallow-test\/561779\/?utm_source=eb<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then I sent him a website that has a fun (to nerds) visual\nrepresentation of the birthday paradox: https:\/\/pudding.cool\/2018\/04\/birthday-paradox\/<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then he sent me this in reply: https:\/\/www.nature.com\/news\/replication-studies-bad-copy-1.10634<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mention all this to establish there are smart (or at least\nintellectually curious) people in Ontario. This is worth noting, because days\nafter this exchange, Doug Ford becomes Premier. Ontario is officially too\nstupid to be a province. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In recognition of the fact I\u2019m probably privileged enough to\nsurvive this new administration (Doug wil likely never get around to building\ncamps, since that would involve creating something rather than tearing\nsomething down), I get a new tennis racket for the first time in a decade. I\nlike it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bike Share Toronto offers free rental s on Wednesdays in\nJune. So for a couple of days, I\u2019m a guy who rides a bike rides to work. Mind\nyou, I got to boot down to the path that runs along and under the Gardiner, so\nI wasn\u2019t too much dealing with traffic. Still, close enough to the real thing\nto say I\u2019ve done it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I get something off my chest:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/June-12.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nI make my first Instagram post. In retrospect, I don\u2019t know\nif more social media was called for, but it\u2019s fun to express myself visually.\n(Or more accurately, commenting on things that visually amuse me.) It\u2019s also\nthe social media that doesn\u2019t seem to be a terrible hellscape. So there\u2019s that.\n For anyone so inclined: https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dan.hershfield\/<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Evans-bachelor-lacrosse.jpg\")
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