A bit of a stopgap in Book Six: Trying to Hold On 2019

F.O. access entry will be released at some point today.

I woke up with a big bump on my forehead and no idea how it got there. So… that’s interesting. But I also woke up with the puppy on the bed being very cozy. Knowing Nala… it would not be a stretch to think that she may have gotten really excited, head butted me, and then realized I was asleep so she curled up with me. That… that sounds very much like my dog. lol.

I’ve seen a lot more questions spawn out of the 5 Survey so I’m going to tackle a few of the ones I missed before and maybe reanswer ones I feel like, lol :)

Five celebrities that could 100% get it from me
1. Alexandra Daddario
2. Monica Bellucci
3. Rose Leslie
4. Rachel Riley
5. Park Da Hyun
(and obviously many others)

Five albums I’d take with me to a desert island
1. Best of Queen
2. David Bowie Blackstar
3. Michael Jackson, either Thriller 25 or Bad 25
4. Best of Prince
5. Any Weird Al album

Five movies I’ve seen more than five times
1. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
2. Primer
3. Top Gun
4. Back to the Future
5. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Five TV shows I love
1. Frasier
2. House MD
3. Jeopardy
4. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
5. Spin City

Five Celebrities I look up to in real life
1. Dr. King
2. Ari Fleischer
3. Dwayne McDuffie
4. Neil Gaiman
5. Jamie Marchi

Five facts about your education
1. Chose my Undergraduate College based strictly on the Theater Scholarship they gave me
2. Quit Theater and changed my major after 1 year
3. Got my Bachelor’s Degree in Religious Studies
4. Chose my Law School based on Ranking in Criminal Law Studies
5. Accidentally got a Special Academic Recognition on my J.D. for Litigation Specialist

Five facts about your childhood
1. I was obsessed with Detective Stories and carried around a notepad so I could write down my observations and anything “suspicious.”
2. Despite that obsession, I knew with a certainty born in my soul that I was going to be a professional actor
3. I used to have one of those cassette players attached to a microphone and I would walk around doing “Radio Show” or recording my thoughts. Those cassettes may still exist.
4. We only moved once when I was growing up. I was born along the Mississippi River but in the winter of my 4th year, we moved to Des Moines. It was actually the perfect time to move (for me) as it started me in Kindergarten at the new school district.
5. My favorite comic books were Hawkeye and Morbius. Yeah… judge me harshly, I deserve it. lol

Five facts about your teenage years
1. I had never done any competitive swimming before but as my entire family was Competitive Swimmers in High School, it was expected of me. My first “here’s how to do it” lesson was the summer before my Freshman year. I turned out to be a decent Butterfly swimmer… kind of. My best 100 Fly time was 1:09:43 (I think).
2. Dating was really hard for me in High School. I had my programming going but I was also a skinny kid with mostly female friends that was obsessed with the Theater… almost everyone was CONVINCED I was gay and many still ask my friends if I’ve come out yet.
3. I worked at 4 different places in my teenage years including a Movie Theater, a Grocery Store, a Stage Costume Shoppe, and a Shoe Store.
4. As stated, I was obsessed with Theater. I volunteered and auditioned for just about every single thing including Mime, Improve, Thespian Society, all Plays, all One Acts… everything.
5. My senior year, the High School Theater Department was catastrophic. The Directors who had been there for 3 decades had retired and the school hired… someone who was NOT appropriate for the role. Despite having a well run department that included entire crews for “Set Construction”, “Costume and Make Up” “Lighting and Audio” and “The Actors” the new director destroyed all of it. Despite kids who had grown up with that system waiting for their Senior Year where they would finally be in charge of that department. NOPE. All actors had to do set construction and costuming and make up and lighting and if you weren’t an actor but wanted to help out, you could volunteer but the departments themselves didn’t exist anymore so you don’t have a crew or any leadership anymore. She wanted it to feel less like a “professional environment”. BITCH, we put on professional grade shows… you want us to be worse for some reason?! Not to mention she believed in a “Never Cut Anyone” policy. So instead of auditions, it was sign ups and then she’d place each person in a role. Are you fucking kidding me, lady? OUR SCHOOL HAD 5,000 STUDENTS! We put on a production of The Crucible that had 80 cast members!!!!! As you can tell… since my life was theater in High School… this absolutely gutting still gets to me pretty severely.

Five facts about your best friend
1. I met my best friend in 2011, when we were both starting at law school.
2. He has an epic Anime collection and has a LOT of figures/posters/merch/swag
3. Last year at Iowa Anime Con, one of the professional voice actors (Joel McDonald) recognized my friend and mentioned to the other panelist (Christopher Bevins) “This guy has some of the best, most obscure anime knowledge I’ve ever seen. Name something you’ve done that you think nobody watched, and this guy has seen it.”
4. Where some people at a Convention would be timid or shy to have a voice actor autograph something “racy” (talking Ecchi or Fan-Service), my friend intentionally brings those items as a way to “indicate to the performer” that their work is appreciated and to say thank you for accepting jobs that may be “more risque” than others.
5. Even though we don’t see each other all the time, and even though a lot of our entertainment is video games and anime… I consider him like family

Five facts about your travel habits
1. I don’t travel often. At all. Why do you think it’s taken to our 8th Anniversary before we do anything honeymoon-like?
2. Mostly travel is by car. I do a LOT of car travel but after being required to drive all over the state of Iowa for work last year; an hour or two drive doesn’t really feel that long anymore.
3. Airports make me anxious because I’m on someone else’s schedule. I’d rather get to the airport early, stay at the terminal, and wait for the plane. But so often my traveling companions want to “look around” or “do some shopping” or “sleep in” or.... harumph.
4. One of my favorite travel stories that people too often think I’m making up: We were flying back from Germany and a mother and son were “together” but separated by the aisle. The child really wanted his mom to read him a book but it was too difficult across the aisle and the SeatBelt sign was on. I offered to read the child the story if that was acceptable to both of them. I read the kid the book and both he and his mom took a bit of a nap. I felt… really cool being able to help out like that!
5. Five places that I need to travel to at some time in my life? Ireland, London, Australia, Japan, New Zealand.

Five facts about your health and fitness
1. As a kid, my metabolism was insane. I was fighting pain (that I wasn’t aware of) and doing swimming plus academics plus cello plus everything theater related. So… I’d sometimes be at school from 6 am to midnight! Tends to burn calories!
2. When I got to college, I had nothing but free time and no idea what to do with it! I looked into going to the gym on campus but… I never really connected with the idea of walking from my dorm to the gym to exercise.
3. I am terribly disheartened that my gym no longer has a swimming pool. I may be out of shape in that regard, but it would be nice to change that.
4. When we get back from Hawaii, one of the big health and fitness changes is going to be FAR LESS alcohol and soda!!
5. I am genuinely worried that my medication for my pain may prevent me from getting under 220 or ever seeing under 200 lbs.

Five facts about your hobbies/interests
1. I write. A lot. But rarely anything important or creative.
2. I like video games but I’ve turned them into Chore/Work in some ways. Like I love the stories and love exploring them; but to justify the pricetag, after the story is over I have to go back over the game and get every ending, every collectible, every mission completion.
3. I don’t watch as much TV or Movies as I used to; probably in large part because Wife’s over-indulgence in that turns me off to it all.
4. I enjoy board games and table top games but rarely have enough friends around or time available
5. I’m looking forward to some quality Vacation Reading Time

Five facts about you right now
1. The construction has ratcheted up to the point where most people have left the office so they aren’t directly underneath hanging wires
2. I strongly think I’m going to miss Nala a lot while on vacation
3. I’ve been heartened in thinking my Wife and I might have sex on the vacation; she said she’d been considering packing condoms but wasn’t sure if we should just buy some when we get to the island.
4. I’m genuinely a little worried that when I come home tonight, Wife will have a “horror story” for me of what happened to give me the bump on my head.
5. I think one of the big things that will be tricky for me on vacation is not worrying about work. I know that sounds silly but I’m sure many times on vacation I’ll think about work, lol.