Top Ten Things You Need to Know About Riding the Bus

My latest article for Zoiks! Online is published.  Check it out here.

This is so happening right now

This is so happening right now:
Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

2 10.5 ounce packages silken (soft) tofu
1 pre-made pie crust
1 16 ounce can pumpkin
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
In a blender or food processor, process all ingredients, except for the pie crust, until smooth.

Pour into pre-made pie crust. Bake for one hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Chill before serving, if desired.

Not happy about this

Channeling McKayla Maroney to express my feelings about having to wear cold weather gear.

My running story was featured in the Middle of the Pack blog. Check it out!

New York and Newport News

After hanging on the beach in the Outer Banks, I took MegaBus up to visit my friend, Brent, in New York City.  I had never taken MegaBus before, and after one trip, I am sold.  Not only is it amazing to sleep through traffic, but not having to pull over to use the restroom is pretty top-notch, too.

Brent and I destroyed some slot machines (and by destroy, I mean, lost money on) at a casino, visited my old stomping grounds (NYU), figured out cheap ways to drink (flask on the street) and had some really great vegan food at a neighborhood diner in Brooklyn.

Some pictures from our adventures:

After (reluctantly) saying goodbye to Brent, I headed down to Newport News, Virginia for some shows at Cozzy's Comedy Club.  While I lived in Norfolk, Cozzy's was the club where I'd hang out.  So it was so great to catch up with old friends while I was there. I worked with the two hilarious guys: Tim Loulies and Adam Dodd.  And I even squeezed in some AUH-MAZING vegan pizza from Cogan's in Norfolk (that's fellow comic, Channing Tyner) about to dive in:

 On stage at Cozzy's (thank you to CB Wilkins and Todd Towler for creating):

Telling jokes in the Outer Banks

On September 13, 2012, I headed down to the Comedy Club of the Outer Banks in North Carolina.  Although I've done that drive many times (since I used to live in the Hampton Roads area in Virginia), I had forgotten how treacherous it can be.  I listened to my GPS (bad move number 1), and drove right thru the heart of Washington DC.  Right in the middle of rush hour.  I felt like I was in an endless traffic jam.  The only thing that made it remotely decent was this Harley guy's fierce head-bopping to dance remixes of Carly Rae Jepsen that he was blasting on his stereo.

I finally made it to the Outer Banks and got a chance to work with the very funny, Vince Martin.  We performed two shows: one at the Currituck Country Club, and one at the Ramada Inn.  During the day, I got a chance to explore the banks a bit, and park my butt on the beach. 

When you stay at the club, you say with the owners, Ed and Leslie.  They are always so kind and hospitable, and this year was no exception.  Here's Vince and me with Leslie:

Not only were the shows fun, but I'm counting this trip as a success because I didn't get chased out by a hurricane.  Unlike in the past. 

Gorilla Challenge 2012

If you guessed that this weekend, I ran around Detroit on a scavenger hunt, did ridiculous things, all while dressed like an idiot (read: as a Black Eyed P) for charity, well, then you, my friend, are a very good guesser.  Here's some pictures of my time in the 2012 Gorilla Challenge.

P.S. I was also in the costume contest, so if you want to vote for me to win (I probably get the equivalent of a $5 Starbucks gift card, but I suppose I would get bragging rights as well), please do the following:
Go to: http://www.facebook.com/gorillachallenge/app_119255214825893 and vote for #29.  You have until Friday, June 22 at 8:00pm (pst) to vote!

Go Team Black Eyed P's!

And here's a little video of me  walking like a gorilla...if gorillas had the urge to use hand sanitizer immediately after.

Movement Electronic Music Festival

This Memorial Day weekend, I attended Detroit's annual Movement Electronic Music Festival. And I wrote about it, too!
Check out the links below to read my articles:
http://www.zoiksonline.com/2012/05/detroits-movement-electronic-music.html

http://www.zoiksonline.com/2012/05/roni-size-plays-movement-electronic.html


http://www.zoiksonline.com/2012/05/detroits-movement-electronic-music_30.html

Oh, and if you want some pictures, go here.

First time flying to a gig!

Hello, severely neglected blog! My most sincere apologies for not taking the time I should with you. I've just been busy with things like internet stalking MMA fighters and making vegan chocolate chip cookies. It's all about priorities, you know.

But, I am happy to report that I am back from my hiatus, complete with a blog all about my Minnesota adventures in hand.

At the end of March, I worked at the MinneHaHa Comedy Club in the twin cities, Minnesota. It marked my first time flying to a gig! You see, the headliner, Bob Phillips, is not only a super funny comic, he's also a wicked nice guy. And he booked my ticket for me. As much as traveling in my Civic with 320,000 miles on it and no air-conditioning it great fun, it sure was nice to magically transform a 12-hour car trip into a barley 2-hour plane ride.

Way too much carry-on. Sorry, people behind me.

Waiting for the thunderstorm to pass so we can take off. Because if there's one place I like to be during a lightening store, it's in a giant capsule made entire of metal!

After we waited out the weather, the flight was quite nice. Bob even let me play with his iPad, which I promptly used to take silly pictures of myself.

We had great shows on Friday and Saturday night! It was fantastic to see Mike, the club owner (not to mention one of the nicest folks in comedy), and my buddy Kate Urquhart, who stopped by and did a killer guest set. Some pictures from our shows:

On Saturday, Bob and I met up with fellow Michigan comic, Mike Bobbitt for some breakfast.

Such G's, they're almost H's.

And then we hung out with this usual suspect:

That jerk owes me $12.

 On the way to back to the airport to fly home, we passed this lovely sign:

Words to live by.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip!

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is my favorite holiday. I'm not Irish; I just really like celebrating green beer and bad decisions. This year, I engaged in bit of both. I had one green beer during my show at the Turk Lake Restaurant and Bar in Greenville, Michigan. And for my bad decision: I decided to run a 5K on 5 hours of sleep. Apparently, I was hoping REM was overrated.

On Saturday, March 10th, I performed in London for the first time. Ahem, allow me to clarify. London, Ontario. As in Canada, not as in the UK. Although I'm still holding out hope that I'll get to perform there, too. My show was at Big League Comedy Club. The crowds were fun, and the staff was really nice. Although my accent must be a dead giveaway because after speaking to anyone for longer than five minutes, they would all say, "you're an American, right?"

Downtown London is really cute, and my hotel was right next to a vegetarian restaurant. Although after battling traffic and the border, I didn't get to spend much time there. I definitely need to go back.

The following Sunday, I woke up at the crack of dawn (after daylight saving time kicked my royal patoot) and headed back to Detroit to run in the Corktown 5K. I couldn't believe how many people were there...or how many people were drunk at that early in the morning. I also saw a guy rolling a joint in his car before the race. That's one way to get ready for a 5K. Welcome to Michigan!

As soon as I started running, my lack of sleep hit me. My body hurt for nearly the entire race. Plus, even since Thanksgiving, my cold weather-hating self stopped running outside. Let me tell you, there is a BIG difference between running on a treadmill (in the comfort of a heated gym, equipped with tv's playing Nancy Grace) and running outside. When I run on the treadmill, I never set the incline, so it feels like I'm running on air. So when my feet hit the actual pavement in Detroit, I was in for a rude awakening.

I was hoping to improve my time from my last 5K. Unfortunately, I did not do that. But, I did manage to run the entire race...and, even better, I managed to not pass out due to the pain.

I continued the St. Patrick's Day celebration on the 17th when I performed with Kevin McPeek in Greenville, Michigan. I much preferred this celebration, mostly due to the fact that it contained beer and didn't contain physical activity.

In between the 10th and the 17th, I also performed at Laugh Fest in Grand Rapids and the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant. I didn't get any shots of those shows, so I'll leave you with the ones featuring green.