ARE YOU @#$&*% KIDDING ME!!!!!!

Well, here it is, the end of March, you figure it's gonna start warming up as we are getting Spring fever, we want to get outside and start enjoying the warm days to come. Nay,Nay I say, for this is the state of Washington. Over the coarse of less than 24 hours, we experienced all 4 seasons. It started raining on the 28th around 5pm, by 7 it was a rain/snow mix....made for an ugly drive home. By 9pm it was a full blown snow storm!!! By the morning of the 29th, we had about 8 inches of snow on the ground, a pretty sight to wake up to.

By noon, the snow on the roads had melted and we were able to do some shopping, it had gotten up to 50 degrees!!

Been trying to get together with members of my magic club to put on a show at he Shakabrah Java in Tacoma, doesn't look like that's gonna happen. I am ready to perform for a drinking adult audience, but the guy who wants to perform with me is not. Don't get me wrong, he IS trying and his heart is in the right place, but he is not ready to perform for a live crowd or be accepting money for his performances. When a magician performs, he is a representation of all magicians. People will remember a good magicians performance, but they will NEVER forget a bad performance by a magician. Unfortunately, magic is not like stand up comedy, if a crowd sees a bad comedian, they are likely to give the next one a chance. This is not so with magicians, you go to a party and perform poorly, this will make it harder for another magician to get a gig with them. I had something similar happen to me in December, I had a gig for small businesses Christmas party, I found out it was for adults but as always, I ask where the line is on humor. The lady running the party says no profanity, I ask if some double en tong is O.K. she didn't seem to have a problem. I am doing my closing effect, the Cups and Balls, I get to the point where I have someone examine the balls, I say "Give them a squeeze, but not too tight, otherwise I'll go blind. That's is what my dad always says, son if you don't stop that , you'll go blind." She didn't like that, I don't think I'll be back next year, HEH, HEH.

I decided to make am investment in some equipment to make busking at fairs easier, I picked up a Crate Taxi rechargeable battery powered speaker, a battery powered wireless headset mic and a good speaker stand. Last year I did some busking at Meeker days in Puyallup, 3 days, 3 hours a day yelling, my voice was shot. I had fun though!!!

Ran into another magician while I was there, he heard I was performing so he thought he would come by and do some magic. This gets under my skin, it's not like he cost me any money, that's not the point. The point is you don't go to another performers gig and start performing. You wouldn't go to a Rolling Stones concert with your guitar and start playing Brown Sugar in the lobby, would you? Magicians are notorious for this, I have seen David Copperfield twice and both times there was a guy, on his own accord, doing magic for the folks waiting to get drinks or anyone who would watch. AND NO this guy was not hired to perform walk around, Copperfield is not gonna have someone stepping on his toes!! When I go to a magic show the magic stays in the car!!

Gonna Try to Work on Some New Stuff

It's been a while since I have tried to learn any new magic effects, a couple of years to be exact. I have been VERY busy with the wife and Andrew. I am not upset, mind you, it's just seems that every time I try to go downstairs to my den and get busy on an effect, Darlene calls me up for something. This weekend, I will get up early Sunday, get my den organized (again), get the new ropes for the Professor's Nightmare prepared and work on some effects. I have learned Paul Gertner's "Unshuffled". I understand the concept of a faro shuffle, now I just have to perfect it. I have been practicing it while watching T.V. or while I have some down time at work. I'm driving my wife nuts. I am also trying to work on a Linking Ring routine, I would like to add it to my Busker's set. I just sent in my application to Meeker Days in Puyallup. I have been busking there for the last 2 years. The first year it rained all weekend and I didn't make very much, the following year, clear skies and warm weather. I made about 300.00 that weekend, all in ones!! I am looking to buy a small rechargable sound system so I don't have to yell the whole time. Last year after yelling 3 hours a day for 3 days, my voice was shot. I am looking into getting a Creat sound system, but we'll see how things go. My daughter, Margaret, will be turning 18 in April. I feel so old.

A Great Weekend!!!!

Had a fun weekend, Saturday, I managed to get a bit of sleep and got up to get some stuff done around the the house. At around 4:30, it was time for me to take Darlene out to the Ram for a Valentine"s Day dinner. This wasn't a date-date as we brought Andrew with us, but we still had a good time.
Sunday---Sunday--- Sunday, On Sunday I went to see a WWE pay per View event called No Way Out live at Key Arena in Seattle. I bought my ticket back in October, great seats!!! It's one thing to watch these guys on T.V., but it's quite an experience to see them live. I really wish I could have brought Darlene and Andrew with me, Darlene doesn't care for wrestling and there's no way Andrew could have handled standing in line for 2 hours to get in and the loud indoor fireworks.

Here's a few pictures from the event, these guys are Nucking Futs! Wrestling may be scripted, but the falls and chair shots they take are real.

I Really Need To Get Things Together!!!!

Did you ever have one of those days, weeks, months, years, or lives??? It has been going rather odd for me as of late. I hate my job, hate, hate, HATE, my job. It is boring, unfulfilling, and there is NO! chance for advancement of any kind, at least for me. I have to be in a gas station overnight instead of sleeping in my wife's arms or get up in the middle of the night to check on Andrew. I have to stick this out because of the economy, I could leave my job, but then what? Do I take a job at Mc Donald's or go back to making pizzas? I would love to do magic full time, preferably as a busker. But here in WA. I don't think you can make a living just busking on the few warm sunny days a year we have here.

This was a very sad weekend, Darlene's pet of over 10 years died. She was not taking it well, her dog was taken to the vet for emergency surgery, sadly Boo Boo did not survive.

I'm Gonna Bitch a Bit First......Then to some fun!!!

The last couple weeks have been really hectic, one of my coworkers was fired and another couldn't make it to work over the weekend because his brother was out of town and didn't have a ride. Here's the problem I have with the a fore mentioned scenario, when I couldn't make it to work because of the heavy snow, my boss threw a fit, someone else calls in over the weekend because he doesn't have a ride to work, t hat's O.K. Oh well, what's done is done and being bitter will only cause stress. I ended up working 12 days straight, and that led to a very nice pay check. It was a poor trade off though, the weekend are the only days I have to do thing with my family, so I had to give that up. I mentioned before that I got in some trouble at work because I didn't make sure the gate to our parking was closed and locked. During my extra "time off", I did some thinking, for years I've been coming in early to help out swing shift as there is only one person there from 10-11pm and it can get a bit busy for one person. I thought to myself ", Why am I doing this? Where is it getting me ?" I don't get paid for that extra time I am there, it never got me employee of the month. (which, by the way, is a popularity contest, not a who does their job best contest). Two management positions opened up and I was never so much as asked if I would be interested. No one else comes in early, I get off at 7am, my relief doesn't walk in the door till 6:59 AND I'm there 10-15 min a day doing paper work that I don't get paid for. I sat down and figured it out dollar wise, an hour early a day, 5 days a week. At regular pay that would be 58.25, times 4 weeks, 233.00 a month. That's a payment on a brand new car!!!!, and I have been giving that away. Well, now I have been getting there about 20 min early, early enough to get the trash outside changed and get my till counted down to get swing shift out on time. Things are getting interesting at work now, there have been a couple of guys who stuck six packs of beer in their coats and walked out( How the F@#$ do you miss that?) and a fight that broke out in the store. All situations I could have stopped or prevented had I been there early. My wife and I are enjoying the extra hour I am spending at home, and it's great that we don't have to rush to get stuff done in the evening before I have to leave for work. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I am mad at the boss or don't care about the place. My attitude now is, do my job well, what happens at work, happens and don't get upset over things I cannot change. I am just tired of putting a job at a gas station ahead of my wife and child, it should have never gotten that way, even when I was with my first wife.
I have been really sick for the last week and I mean to the point where Darlene was insisting I call in at work and see a doctor. It was bad, body aches, throwing up, sore throat. I am much better now.
My wife, Darlene has plans for me today, we are going shopping, going to my magic club meeting, and then going to a book store. She wants to have us each pick out a book, then discuss why we chose that book while we have coffee, then to dinner....... Okay... this is new. She wants to try a different type of date each month. I get the feeling she has been reading relationship books. This will be awkward, as we have COMPLETELY different tastes in books....and music.....and movies. I am gonna have a hard time discussing with her why I picked out this months issue of Teen Jugs (just kidding) Really, as for books, I, if I'm gonna read one, tend to lean toward graphic novels.... or magic books. The thing is last night, Andrew was up late and woke up early, I got up with him this morning. By the time we get to the book store, I will be wiped. This still sounds like it may be interesting, we'll see......

Don't Know Where I Am....

It's been a bit since my last post, there has been a lot on my mind lately. We did manage to scrape through the heavy rains with out too much damage, we got about 4 inches of water in the basement. Luckily we put the new washer and dryer on bricks so they didn't get wet, the sump pump just couldn't keep up with all that water coming in.
The company Darlene works for, Community Health Care, had their Christmas party on January 10, yeah it's late, who cares? The employees and their families were treated to dinner at the Ram in Puyallup, nice digs, good food. Darlene talked me into donating a show as a treat for her coworkers. I have always been leary show donation thing, it has been my experience that most people do not appreciate something unless there is a value on it. The crowd was DEAD, and I KNOW I hit all the effects perfect!!!!! There is an effect I do where I make a prediction before anyone arrives and place it under the center piece of a table. The group comes in and I start the show, I write 1,2,3,4 on a sheet of paper and ask some one in the audience to circle a number. He circles #3, I ask him to name a vegetable, he calls out carrot. I ask someone to open the paper under the center piece and read what's on the paper, 3 and carrot. NO !@#@# reaction!!!!!!!! No more donation shows, no money, no magic!!!!
I am beside myself right now, times are hard, money is tight, VERY tight. Darlene told me the other day that because feed prices are so high, that all the farm animals must go. This is giving me some bad flashbacks. My first wife, Cathy had a lot of cats and dogs, and I mean a lot!!! Well to make a long story short, the Humane Society found out and she had to put most of them down. When they went, she sent me on my merry way, as she didn't need my help anymore with the pets. I don't want this to happen again, I can't handle missing another child grow up. I am depressed, I made an appointment with my doctor to up my meds, maybe that will help.

Magic Show

This is the Cups and Balls effect I performed for the Affi Shriners in Tacoma, WA