Trial By Fire

Time for an update! I passed my Advancement to Ph.D. Candidacy Exam! And they charge me $90 for passing--WTF? Not that I'm going to complain much, because I don't have to worry about it anymore. Wooo!

I threw a party for passing. It was one of our tamest parties yet, but I had a good time. No real stories, however, except that a John Daly (aka Arnold Palmer w/ Vodka, thanks Bill Simmon's mailbag for the name although we'd had that idea before) is delicious!

But I'm ready to get out there more, meet new people, etc. I'm slowly becoming friends w/ people in my improv class, but it's already halfway done! It's such a fun time. I hope I have the skill to make something of a long-term hobby out of it. There is this one "clique" (not really, but they're all friends prior to class) of really good looking girls that I only today was able to break into conversation with and start getting to know. Arrghhh I need to apply the confidence of jumping on stage and doing a comedic scene out of nothing into confidence in talking with women! The translation shouldn't be too difficult, right?

However, improv class itself is quite the rollercoaster for my confidence as is. Today, I'm pretty sure I had the worst scene early on, but then in the 2nd half of class I had some of what I think were the funnier skits (all the ones everyone else did were pretty great too, but I earned myself a bit of praise from the instructor!)! Also, many people in the class have training/jobs as actors and therefore have a much better sense of stage and emotion and composure than I do. But I'm surviving fine. I notice that I sweat profusely while on stage even though I don't feel terribly anxious, but it makes me shy away from mingling a bit because I have yet to find a deodorant/antiperspirant that can withstand 3 hours of improv!