life of andyman

In Bloomington, we just had Spring Break last week. Many of you might not relate with “Spring Break” anymore, being out of school. But, as a pseudo-employed substitute teacher (bum), you can bet I know about it.

Here’s my Itinerary Gone Wild!: 2 days in Columbus, visiting Morgan’s family. 3 days in Noblesville, visiting my own. 4 days in Chicago, visiting Evelyn, Matt, and Theresa. All week, leaning out the car window, screaming Sprink Break, and flashing Indiana passersby as they traipse through the freshly fallen snow.

Columbus was fun, but I felt like all I contributed was a lot of eating and sleeping, and once, playing little brother’s XBox. Morgan’s parents are fantastic, and uncomfortably generous, always taking me out to expensive places and telling me not to worry. They’re super nice. Another thing kind of struck me this time when I visited. They’re also both super able. At one point, I asked them for advice about a resume I was working on, and Mom pulls out a pen and paper, puts on official glasses, and just starts jotting. Both parents are exceptionally good at what they do, and of some renown in their offices for doing it.

Noblesville also. I spent a lot of time playing with Josh and it was fun, though at the end of the night he’s fond of saying, at bedtime, “but I didn’t play at ALL today!!” And of saying “5 more minutes” anytime you ask him to do anything other than play. Also, certain forms of play are superior to others. For instance, incredible Broadway productions of Peter Pan are inferior to throwing a football, letting him chase after it, and tripping him just as he thinks he’s going to reach it (by the way, he requests this, I’m not simply being cruel).

Yes, a Broadway production of Peter Pan. I was dumbstruck. It was incredible and moving! I guess everyone knows the Peter Pan story, but I think maybe I’d seen the Disney version, and never saw the original version by James Barrie (played by Johnny Depp). It was really awesome, funny, and this particular production was fantastic. the actress that played Peter Pan was a former Olympic gymnast, and did cartwheels and jumps all over the stage like you’d expect from a Peter Pan, and did all sorts of great spins and twists while flying, as well even flying, once, out over the audience, throwing “fairy dust” on the first 10 rows. (after the show, we gathered a handful of fairy dust for Josh to take home with him).

The only weird thing was that the “Lost Boys” looked in their mid to upper 30s. And, as my sister can tell you, people in their 30s are OLD. Just kidding! (It’s her 31st birthday soon) but they’re at least too old to be Lost Boys. But then again, when we saw Peter Pan in the lobby, the actress was actually 51! Holy cow. Oh well, she pulled it off on stage, so who cares? It helps in her “young” appearance that she’s 4′11″, unlike the hairy, clearly adult Lost Over-the-Hill-Boys.

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On to Chicago. Arrived Wednesday in best driving conditions I’ve ever seen in Chicago. Oh, and on the way, while we were driving, I receieved a phone call. It was BCATS the local TV station, telling me they “went with the other guy.” I didn’t get that job. But, what annoyed me wasn’t that I didn’t get the job (that didn’t annoy as much as astonish me: I can’t imagine who beat me), but what annoyed me was that it took them a month and 4 days to freaking tell me. I wasted all that time, not getting other jobs, waiting to hear from those jerks. Oh well.

Tried to make some Ayn Rand comments about admiring and worshipping the city’s skyline when we first saw it, since I’m currently re-reading Atlas Shrugged for only the 3rd time.

First, I want to say congratulations to Matt. The day we arrived, he was asleep (at 5 p.m.) after a long night which was the completion of his movie. The multi-year, multi-thousand-dollar, multi-thousand hour project was submitted to the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. Friday, he received confirmation of its arrival in an e-mail that was written in French, then translated to English below. Sweet! I for one, am totally excited to see it, and was told that I would be invited to the film’s premieres: one in Chicago and in Indy.

The best part of Chicago was just hanging out, talking, and doing random little things together. Just enjoying each other’s company. The Theme of Chicago, as it always is with the Zatkoffs, was “crazy food.” 5 or more kinds of seaweed, “kim chee”, sushi, teriyaki EEL, thick Japanese-noodle soup, “polish” eggs from a “polish” grocery store called ANDY’S, Korean barbecue, corn pancakes, the list goes on. It was, as it also always is with the Zatkoffs, delicious. There was two meals, in particular, that utilized their fancy authentic oriental plates and saucers, with about 5 different foods on the table (not one of which contained cheese or chocolate, if you can imagine!).

Other highlights:

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1. Walking a few streets down and seeing a statue called “Shit Fountain” which was, yes, a large, bronzed replica of a pile of poop (in the summer, water flows down it’s sloping edges). Then, taking pictures of Evelyn’s nanny-kids squatting over it and grimacing.
2. Going downtown on St. Patty’s and having street advertisers give us a total of 6 real baseballs with their website on it (which, hilariously, I can’t remember).
3. Playing the alphabet game in the city, and frantically not being able to find a “Q” anywhere. Finally we found it in a candy store in some chocolates that actually had chocolate liqueur in it.
4. Watching a Japanese show called The Fuccons which is a show where the characters are all mannequins, and ridiculous voices are dubbed over them as they stand motionless. They laugh a lot. You might too, if you saw it instead of just hearing me blandly describe it to you.

Well, that’s the gist of it. Now I’m back in Bloomington, I’ve subbed a couple more times, and I decided to leave for summer camp early, seeing as how there’s not many prospects here in B-town. That means I’ll be at camp from May 8 – August 18, over three months! It also means I’m only in Bloomington and Indiana for about 5 or 6 more weeks, so I’ve given up looking for a real job, and I applied at the fancy restaurant where Marla and Nathan (roommates) work.

The restaurant is across the street, has delicious food, and, because they get tips, I don’t have to wait 2 weeks for some desperately needed money. I’m trying very hard not to have to use my parent’s money, and so far I’ve succeeded except for buying my mattress with their money (and I can pay that back after the first week of camp, since once I’m there I don’t have any real expenses).

In conclusion, I’m getting more used to living paycheck-to-paycheck (I currently have 30 dollars to my name, and rent is due in 8 days), I’m getting a little better at staying busy, and I’m excited for camp to start even earlier than I thought. Looking ahead, I might be taking lifeguarding certification (my camp will pay for it) next week. And, this weekend, there’s a possibility of a crazy Caving Camping trip with the IU Caving Club. If I go, it’ll be two days, 4 caves, camping out, and Knee-Deep Water (and Knee-Deep FUN!).