This is the last picture I took in the Theater after my last show and going away festivities, while everyone was gathering their things and getting ready to leave. I'm peeking out from backstage. Someone left a light on.

Arnie was contacted by a reporter from Beep, a suburban magazine, and asked to be interviewed about long distance relationships.

I felt left in the dark because I was not contacted by the interviewer. I became afraid about the questions that would be asked, the possible misquoting, and the very real possibility that my family would see a crappy article in their local suburban paper about my relationship.

In the end it was fine; just a fluff article about tips to making a long distance relationship work.

This process, for me, was not unlike the long distance relationship itself. I had very real worries about making it work, did what little I could to help it along, felt a sense of impotence at times, and at the end of the day I just had to trust that it was going to be alright.

New York: Last Day

Time to cross it off the list.

New York Day Two: Superheroes!

Moving to a new city is kind of like going back to kindergarten. You've got to make new friends in a place where no one knows you. I didn't worry about this too much before I moved, maybe I should have thought about it more.

I've been on Stottlemeyer about three months now. They are great people, I mean really wonderful, and were very welcoming to me and Hedges, the other new teammate.

I didn't worry about making new friends when I moved back; didn't even cross my mind. But I feel more than lucky to have made some. It's kind of restored my faith that I have the ability to make new friends, because I wondered, and handful of times, while sitting on my couch in my apartment in Boston, if something was wrong with me.

Thankfully, it looks like nothing is wrong. Please pass the juice.

New York.

Stottlemeyer performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater during the Del Close Marathon tonight. Emotions and/or nerves were running high, and a few pre-show speeches from my castmates almost brought me to tears. No matter what happened we all felt lucky to be there and happy to be performing with this cast. Having a bad show in Chicago is never fun, but as a performer, you can go back a week later and knock it out of the park. Having a bad show or good show in New York is very different; cause you may only get to do it once...you know, depending on how the show goes.

The show went extremly well. I was very proud of us.

Afterwards we drank free keg beer in the green room, celebrated, and watched some celebrity types pal around with people from the theater. None of us knew their names, mostly we'd just say 'Hey there's the guy from the Daily show, what's his name?' or 'The dude from the Office! You know, that guy! What's his name?'

Then we ate at a Southern BBQ place that was, according to the menu, famous for their Margaritas. I had ribs with a lime margarita. It's an odd pairing that I'm fairly certain is not a 'New York' thing.

There is a moth in the bag. I asked Tim to kill it. He's prefers to set them free.

Callahan would have killed it...and then sung a song about it.

From the epilogue of Arnie's first blog, A Year in Pictures Following the Break Up:

Sarah: One year. That's the plan.

I'm here in Boston for a week, helping Sarah settle into her new apartment, before I fly back home to Chicago. Today we stopped by the theater where she'll be performing and both snapped some pictures. Preparing for the move, Sarah bought a digital camera and started a photoblog of her own.

This is my 365th post; a good time to look at the math of a blog:

1 move to Boston + 4 trips to Chicago + 1 move to Chicago = 9,980 air miles traveled.

1 Chicago apartment moved out of + 1 Boston apartment moved into + 1 Friend's (Jana) apartment temporarily lived in + 1 new Chicago apartment = 4 apartments lived in.

1 Salon job in Chicago + 1 Dr.'s office job in Chicago + 1 job at the Theater + 1 promotional job at the Logan Airport + 1 month long promotional job with Jeremy + 1 Temp job in Boston + 1 job at the Lawyer's Office + 1 current office job + 1 new ComedySportz job = 9 jobs worked.

Doug's move to the cruise + Scott's move to New York + Stacey's pending move to Portland = 3 long distance friendships.

One year in Boston was the plan, but beyond the time frame, I didn't really have a plan. I expected to feel a certain way while I was there, and did, but I didn't expect to feel as glum at the same time.

Slowly, a sense of stability is re-entering my life, and according to Stacey, I should only have about 1 month of crazy left. Crazy is a good way to describe this past year, but I’d prefer to describe it as transitional. Ironically, my feelings go back and forth regarding my inconsistency in the past year, but I do take comfort in the fact that I've been consistent with at least one thing; the blog about my inconsistency.

A recent email, from Scott, to Cowlick:

Thanks for the call last night, it made me feel good. I still really haven't settled in yet, but I'm slowly meeting people. Classes begin at the Magnet Theater (Armando Diaz' theater). Since I miss you guys so much, I've renamed people in class to members of Cowlick. Here are you replacements:

Tim = Gunther, a 30 y.o. Russian guy with crazy russian beard

BJ = Niki, a 60 y.o. Indian woman with three kids

Sarah = Katie, a 27 y.o. JAP (jewish american princess) that was 45 minutes late to class

Mary Beth = Desire, a 23 y.o. punk rock chick that wore weird shorts to class

Martin = Terry, a 45 y.o. man that had a stroke who's proud to be on disability

Shelby = Scarlett, a 17 y.o. lesbian that is moving to Chicago in a year for theater

Knauf = Anne, a 40 y.o. MILF that complained of a migraine the entire class

One last picture of Doug, you know, for the fans. This is our first photo taken together, on my second night in Boston, when I had a working camera, bangs, and a 'can do' attitude.

Doug (via email): Sorry I haven't been updating my blog. I've been too drunk. But seriously, I'm just not good at that stuff... for awhile I was post-dating my blogs and doing a week of entries at once. Let's just call a spade, a spade: I'm a horrible blogger.

If things go well when Doug gets back in September, we may not be long distance friends after all...there is a chance one of us will move, and I'm not going anywhere. Fingers crossed.

Arnie and I finished Gears or War today.

For those of you who may not know, Gears of War is a video game. Two people can play together to fight the aliens that have taken over the earth.

My love for video games has been reignited, wholly due to Arnie, in the last four months. I haven't played them since I was twelve, when Sonic the Hedgehog was the best game we had.

Video games have changed a lot, and I'm not great at them. Plus, they are incredibly scary. One level was completely dedicated to building the suspense. There were no aliens but there was scary music and alien whispers. When a small alien finally jumped out of a window, I screamed...like I was being killed...in real life. It was Arnie's favorite part of the game.

Arnie: I also like hiding behind things. That's how I would fight in a war. By hiding behind things as much as possible.

My favorite aspect of the game was that when you died, you weren't really dead, just injured. Arnie's character could pick me up and I'd be alive and ready to fight aliens. He only left me for dead once.

Before our Cowlick show, BJ announced that his wife is pregnant.

BJ: Will you come to the hospital when Janelle's in labor?

Me: Are you sure?

BJ: Oh yeah, I want all my friends there. I want it to be the biggest celebration ever.

and later...

BJ: It better be a boy. If it's a girl, I'm done. I'll never stop crying. She'll have me wrapped around her finger.

Shelby: It's gonna be a big year for Cowlick. My wedding, your baby, maybe Knauf will get a girlfriend!

There isn't much in my life that is permanent, by design. I live in an apartment with no lease and I'm at a job I could leave. Most things are temporary right now because I'm fairly certain they will change for the better. One thing that I do choose to keep permanent is the city I live in, so I can celebrate my friend's and families' life changing decisions, with them.

Ouch.

Tonight was a tough night for the White Sox. They lost to the Red Sox 3-10.

Arnie: What's that?

Me: It's the Red Sox mascot, the Green Monster. It named after the wall in Fenway, which is also called the Green Monster.

Arnie: What's the White Sox mascot?

Me: I don't know it's name, but it's kinda stupid, it's also a green monster, but it has a some yellow hair.

Arnie: They are really trying to be the same team, aren't they?

The Cubs (Arnie's favorite team) played Arizona this weekend, which is coincidental, because that's where he used to live. So we stayed in and watched our home teams play our former home teams, while curled up on the couch, and felt happy to be home.

Fun night.

Score Today: Harry Potter 4 Ron 3

It was beautiful out last night, so after a long rehearsal, I decided to treat myself to a shake and take a walk around my neighborhood.

Someone had set up a stereo in the Square, and a few older couples slow danced to the music while some younger couples sat on benches and ate ice cream while they watched. Everyone was so calm and happy at that moment, myself included.

ComedySportz rehearsal again.

Most nights I only rehearse with the 'newbies' but on Tuesdays the entire cast, all 50 performers, have rehearsal together to work on something new. This gives Natalie (who has been performing at ComedySportz for over a year) and me an extra chance to see each other every week, which is wonderful.

Tonight we did movement and dance; learning about tempo and changing tempo. Left then right, left then right. Since very few of us are dancers, we had trouble moving with the tempo when it sped up or slowed down.

Dance Instructor: Transitions in general, are really hard.

Natalie: (pats the back of my head) See, transitions are hard.

Me: Yes they are (Fake sobs).

Arnie let me borrow 'The Historian' to read since I'm done with 'The Glass Castle.'

There is no spousal abuse, but there are vampires.

Some light Sunday reading:

St. Rocco, originally from France, set out to Italy to heal those dying of the plague; using only sign of the cross and prayer. On his way he healed people in four different cities before contracting the plague himself, evident by an open sore on his leg. He was banished from the city and hid in a cave. A nobleman, with the help of a dog, found him and brought him to his castle to rehabilitated him. For another three years he cured the sick in Italy before returning home to France. When he returned he was so gaunt that no one recognized him. They threw him in jail claiming he was a spy, and he died.

Feast season is in full swing in Boston and today is St. Rocco's feast day. There is a parade at 2pm on Prince Street, going past my old apartment. I'm 99% sure there will be a marching band. I am 100% sure I would have taken a picture of them if I was there.

Instead I'm here, looking up dermatolgists on the internet because for the first time in three years, I have a job that offers affordable health insurance.

Shelby and Joe = Engaged as of last week.

Joe: I asked Shelby's dad how he proposed. He said he did it at a wedding, so I decided to do it while we were in Holland, at our friend's wedding. My original idea was to take her grandmother's ring and my grandmother's ring and have it made into one ring, but Shelby wears her grandmother's ring everyday. I didn't want to steal it and pretend like it was missing.

Shelby: Oh yeah, that would have been a horrible idea.

Joe: So I didn't have a ring for her when I asked.

Shelby: He had to do it with a ring, so I put my Grandmother's ring in his pocket, and had him do the whole thing over. Afterwards we taped a video for our kids.

Congrats.

Stacey and Bob have decided to sell their condo and move to Portland to open up a theater. They will be leaving in about five weeks, which is very soon...too soon. Anytime would be too soon for me.

Me: What will you miss most about Chicago?

Stacey: Probably just being surrounded by so many talented people.

Bob: The humping.

Stacey: We're not going to hump in Portland?

BJ is Stacey's real estate agent. On the first day they met, she cried. On the second day, he asked if she was going to cry. She said "Nope, I think I'm going to be OK."

Turtle on the left: A gift from Knauf, from his trip to St. Martin.

Turtle on the right: A gift for Arnie from a friend, from his trip to Mexico.

Arnie and I went out to dinner tonight, to finish an argument that began earlier in the day.

The problem was solved, but not before we had some time to sternly whisper, use rigid, close-to-the-chest hand gestures, and occasionally eat raw cucumbers to fill pregnant pauses.

We were almost certain our waitress knew we were fighting. In fact, three other waitresses came by to make sure our food was ok. We couldn't figure out if our original waitress didn't want to deal with us, or if she was like. "You guys gotta see this."

After dinner and reconciliation, Arnie decided to write a note to the waitress, on the bottom of the check.

"We're doing okay. These things happen."

She took the check and we watched her walk away.

Arnie: I can't believe we did that.

Me: Oh no. What if she thinks we were talking about the food?

Arnie: Let's go!

ComedySportz: Day Two

Yesterday marked the beginning of a long training process (5 days a week for 5 weeks) before I begin to perform. ComedySportz is short form improv (basically, what you see on 'Who's Line is it Anyway', but on speed) so I'll be learning about 100 games along with the many other things that go into a show.

ComedySportz is moving to its new location in 2 months. Essentially it has been homeless for a couple of years. The Chicago Center for the Performing Arts was nice enough to let them perform on one of their stages.

Currently, Collaboraction also has a show, The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, running at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts, which was produced and (I think) assistant directed by my ex-boyfriend, Joel.

I ran into him, and his parents who were visiting, about a week after I moved back to Chicago. He said the show (Jenny Chow) was doing very well, and asked about Boston, and why I was back, and what I was doing now. After about 15 minutes of catching up, I decided it was time to go. As I hugged his step dad, he leaned to me and whispered 'We miss you.' I sincerely replied, 'I miss you too.'

August 1st will be the one year anniversary of my move to Boston.

It will also be the end date of this blog.

Last night some of Tim's non-Cowlick friends threw him a surprise birthday party. His long distance girlfriend, Amber(the zombie made of streamers, pictured), came in town to surprise him as well.

This is the third birthday celebration thrown in his honor. It was a long Saturday, so I decided to call it a night a little earlier than usual.

Tim: You're LEAVING?

Me: Yeah, I've got to sleep.

Tim: But it's my BIRTHDAY!

Me: You're kidding, right?

Snarkiness aside, Happy Birthday Tim.

Ladies Brunch.

Me: Quick! Make it look like we're having a hilarious and fun time!

Thea: Is this going to end up on your blog?

Me: Probably.

Thea: I love it when I look at Arnie's blog he has these great photos, great composite shots, and then I go to yours and some someone making a horrible face, like (crosses eyes, squinches face) 'Dar!'

And later while hashing out some stuff and getting well needed opinions:

Thea (to Dayna): Well, what goes around comes around.

Bess: That's the song that's playing right now. It's Justin Timberlake.

As it turned out, the restaurant was playing the same four Justin Timberlake songs on a loop.

I had a great time, and was glad to spend some quality time with Dayna, who will be moving to New York in a few months.

Hanging outside after the Stottlemeyer show.

i.O. is right across the street from Wrigley Field. I'm used hearing the normal sounds of a baseball game going on; who's at bat announcements, organ music, and 35,000 or so fan cheering after a great play. It's white noise at this point.

While we were talking out back I noticed (after about 5 minutes) that I wasn't listening to baseball, but the Police singing 'So Lonely' with a whole stadium of people.

Some of us sat outside for a while and pretended like we were at the Police concert. Singing, swapping favorite Police songs, and reminiscing about old concerts. Few things are more refreshing than listening to a baseball game, but this was a welcome change.

Guess who I saw on TV tonight? Jesse. My brother Jesse. My brother Jesse, on TV, at the White Sox game. My brother Jesse, on TV, at the White Sox game, catching Jermaine Dye's foul ball.

Me (via text): Hope you got the ball!

Jesse (via text): Hilarious! Oldie got it.

Arnie and I celebrated the 4th of July with his sisters, brother in law, and nephews. We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo to look at some real life animals, and then the Rainforest Cafe to look at some fake ones.

Animals seen at the Zoo:
Lions
Tigers
Gibbons
One giant Rabbit
Cows

Animals seen at the Rainforest Cafe:
Elephants
Gorillas
Parrots
Snakes
Tropical Fish (real)

The dinner trip felt more like a supplement to the Zoo. One of Arnie's nephews was more than willing to run right up to the railing of the tiger cage, but was a little more trepidatious when his father stuck his head inside the large robotic mouth of the python.

The highlight of the trip, for me, were the tropical fish at the Rainforest Cafe. Their clean, floor to ceiling tank with elaborate coral assured me that they were well cared for in their irregular home, unlike the one-armed Gibbon at the zoo, who (according to the plaque next to his small cage) lost the appendage after someone tried to feed him.

Hey Butthole,

I was forunate enough to find one of my old production stills from when I was a child actor had been turned in to a postcard here in Sweden.

Love,

Dougie

Keys.

I'm assuming they open doors to various places I've lived or worked. Most of them look the exact same and I can't, for the life of me, figure out where they belong, so I'm throwing them away.

Note to Reader: If I am a friend of yours, and you gave me a key to your place to hold onto, I'll need a new copy. I'll also need you to be ok with me throwing your key away in a year. Thank you.

This is Jen, a friend from college.

Last night we went out to a college-y bar, drank some college-y beers, listened to college-y music, and then she asked me to stand in her, very adult, wedding in Mexico. It made college feel a million years away.

Congrats Jen.