Jerzei Collie's journal

There wasn't a Toastmasters meeting today since Monday is Labor Day. I signed up to lead next week's meeting.

This month's C.S. Tweetup was held on a Thursday again, meaning it overlapped with the local Drinking Liberally meeting. I actually had poutine for the first time in my life at the Tweetup. A food truck outside the bar had Thai coconut curry poutine on its menu. A few week's earlier, an episode of "Bite This with Nadia G" featured an L.A. restaurant that offered chicken tikka poutine. I wouldn't mind trying that some day.

Last week's calorie average: 1,956.4
Days above 2,000 calories: 3 (2250, 2060 and 2010)

Fursuit drama? I feel bad for you, son. I got 99 skritches, but a troll ain't one.

Fred Stoller... that's who I was thinking of. Earlier today, there was some Twitter drama regarding fursuiters' behavior (talking while in suit, ruining the magic, etc.) A year or two ago, similar complaining reminded me of a 1980s-era comedian, though I couldn't remember his name back then. I imagined him doing a bit about furries, including "I bought a fursuit without a moving jaw, and I talked while wearing it. I'm outta control. Then I walked all around the hotel with my fursuit head off. Yeah, that's right. Then I put on a pair of shorts over the suit, even though it didn't have an SPH. You can't stop me. Don't even try. I'll take you down with me."

I got an e-mail from Growly today asking if I'd like to stay in his hotel room for RMFC. I and 5-6 others shared his room last year. I accepted his offer. This will shave about $250 off of my trip budget.

According to UPS, my glow stick bracelet order left Oregon yesterday. I don't know how long it will take to reach me, but the shipping boxes I ordered should arrive in the next day or two.

I went to the monthly C.S. Tweetup at Phantom Canyon Brewing Co. last night. I haven't been to a Tweetup in a while due to money issues. Phantom Canyon has great food, including a chicken and wild rice soup with just the right amount of spice, chicken pot pie and an excellent bread pudding.

It's 2 AM and I'm having trouble sleeping. Venting online usually helps me relax and think straight.

As some of you may know, I use the screen name jcollie719 on most furry sites. (I had started my LJ page a couple of years before I became a furry, hence the different account name.) My main Twitter account is jtr115 since I wanted it to be an "all-purpose" account (i.e. both furry and non-furry related.) Tuesday night, I decided to create a separate jcollie719 Twitter account for a few reasons:
(1) I felt somewhat reluctant to post about everything I did that was furry-related due to fear of rejection from others.
(2) I wanted to make it easier for people who know me as jcollie719 to find me.
(3) The new account would also function as an "after dark" account on the extremely rare occasions I discuss anything sexual (and also keep such discussions away from the eyes of potential employers.)

Not even two hours later, my mind started telling me I made a mistake. It tends to become paranoid whenever I even think of doing something new or different. Okay, mind, here are the main reasons you shouldn't worry:
(1) Everyone who knows me or wants to friend me online is welcome to do so at my "human" Twitter or my furry Twitter, or both or neither.
(2) I only call myself "John R." on my original Twitter. The new account merely identifies me as Jerzei Collie. It's like how most people in superhero tales don't know the ordinary human being behind the costume.
(3) My non-furry friends and co-workers who know I'm a furry are cool with it.
(4) Those who would unfollow me over something like this are either folks I don't know on a personal level or businesses/spambots who followed me just because I live in Colorado or used a word related to their businesses in my Tweets.

Whew! See, talking things out really does help put things in perspective.

From December 24th:
( Taking a Twit on LJ )

Whenever I wake up in the middle of the night with stress or anxiety, I normally do one of two things: Toss and turn while trying to relax again, or get up and do something until I feel calm enough to go back to bed. My sleep-deprived brain convinced me to try something I did a few months ago: pretend to be a bear and stretch out on the living room floor for a bit. Oddly enough, it worked.

I've got two shifts today at KRCC. Payday was last Thursday instead of the end of the year due to the Payroll office being closed for the holidays. My next payday is January 14th because of this. Thankfully the winter membership drive will allow me to get more hours.

Today's calories: 1,687. Tuesday's total (which I forgot to post) was 2,095. Tonight's fortune cookie: "Stubbornness is not a good virtue."

Twitter Shitter Twitter is throwing one of its usual tantrums, so I'll post this here until it stops.

Just a friendly note to telemarketers: Making insincere, self-deprecating remarks before you go into your sales pitch isn't cute and doesn't make people want to give. If anything, it annoys us more. It definitely doesn't appear to be genuine when it sounds like you're reading "ha ha ha ha" off of a script. If you're that bad at emoting while reading, maybe you should give up telemarketing and go into making porn films.

Hearing the telemarketers fake laugh reminded me of a comedy routine I saw a few years ago involving a novice door-to-door vacuum salesman. The salesman read from his sales script and laughed briefly at his jokes before emitting a deep sigh. My favorite exchange from that routine:

SALESMAN (reading sales script): What brand of vacuum do you own?
WOMAN: It's a Bissell.
SALESMAN (reading again): Bissell? Hey, I voted for him! HA-HA-Ha-ha-ha...ohhhhhh!

Tonight's C.S. Tweetup took place at the Colorado Mountain Brewery near I-25 and Interquest. Looking over their menu online, I originally planned to order one of their burgers with a Boca (vegetarian) patty. When I got there, the restaurant had provided free cheese quesadillas and kettle chips with salsa, guacamole, hot wing sauce, ranch dressing and bleu cheese dressing. I had limited myself to just 470 calories during the morning and early afternoon. At the meeting, I ate the equivalent of one quesadilla (8 sections) and 3-4 servings of chips plus a few spoons of the salsa, hot sauce and ranch dressing. Using calorie estimates from online sites (and erring on the high side, as usual,) my total intake for the day was about 1,930 calories, including a protein shake an hour ago.

P.S.: I found the answer to a question that bucktowntiger  had asked on Tuesday. He and others were talking about how water in a toilet swirls in one direction in the Northern Hemisphere and the opposite direction in the Southern Hemisphere. We all pondered which direction the water would swirl if the toilet were exactly on the Equator. Many answers were given (I jokingly thought the water would attempt to go in both directions, making a heart-shaped wave in the bowl.) According to an experiment mentioned at this site, the water heads straight down.

As the last two days' posts have shown, I signed up for Twittenesis.com since LoudTwitter is apparently no longer active.

My mind is still on vacation this week. On Monday, I lost track of time and forgot about my Overeaters Anonymous meeting. On Wednesday, I drove to a restaurant for a gathering which actually takes place next Wednesday. Today, I didn't hear my cell phone's alarm reminding me about a therapist's appointment because I was in the shower. The therapist's receptionist called me a few minutes later asking if I was coming down. It was raining a little when I left home, but that developed into a huge downpour when I reached the doctor's office. Thankfully, the rain stopped before the end of the appointment.

I was assigned the "humorist" role at this Friday's Toastmasters meeting. I've bookmarked a few sites which contain clean but funny jokes and stories to use whenever I have to do this. I'll give my second speech next Friday on preparing for a cruise. I just have a rough outline of it so far.

Get ready to Twitter the stars...as we play the star-studded, big-money Twitter Game PM!

• 09:41 I hate when I choke on saliva while I'm asleep. It takes me forever to get back to sleep and my throat still feels weird. #
• 10:44 Watching some long-form improv videos to prepare for tonight's reunion show. I can't believe it's that day already! #
• 17:55 Okay. I'm at the Bovine. Where is everyone? The show's tonight, right? #
• 18:15 Whew! The show is tonight. I'm just early. #
• 18:25 Well, maybe there isn't a show (with the reunion group, anyway.) We'll see. #
• 18:49 A few more from the group showed up. The show's on! 7:30 at the @BovineMetro, 1527 Champa in downtown Denver. #
• 21:13 Ding! Improv show is done. That was a blast! #
• 00:40 The reunion show for "I've Got Your Improv Right Here, Pal!" was fantastic. I actually jumped into more scenes as a secondary character. #
• 00:59 After the show, one of the other performers told me about a soon-to-open dinner theater in Colorado Springs seeking actors. #

Automatically shipped by Old Man Periwinkle at LoudTwitter

The performer who organized the reunion show said he would try to be at the theater between 5:30 and 6 PM.  I got to the theater around 5:45 and discovered I was the only group member there.  The two staff members I spoke with said they hadn't heard about the reunion show, and the theater's web site listed three other acts for the show that night.  The staff members started talking about the performer "thinking out loud on Facebook," which got me worried that there wouldn't be a reunion show.  Thankfully, four other group members showed up.  Another group member wasn't able to make it.

I checked the web site today.  Another performer's line about my character was given a mention on the show's Facebook page:

Just finishing up on the computer while I pack for the trip back home. I'm hoping to make it to next year's Furry Fiesta. Maybe I'll actually be able to drive or fly in. In the meantime, ( here's the Sunday Twitter list! )

The first entry was a response to a post made Saturday night involving my kigurumi and a slight scent of body odor. LadyGrainne suggested using vodka in a spray bottle to get rid of the smell.