Plenty On My Plate

Wednesday September 2nd, 2009 - Chicago, IL

Another whirlwind day with no time to spare. I woke up at 7am and headed straight for the Gurnee Mills Mall to take my laps. I know I could walk just about anywhere but I feel at home at that mall. It‘s got enough room to let me walk without bumping into anybody.

One lap can be a challenge but today I did two. I’ve been pretty good at keeping up so I wanted to push it a little. I felt worn out when I finished but it was a good feeling because I know I had a workout. My legs were like noodles and blood was pumping to places it’s avoided for far too long. I’m the youngest one by far out walking but I don’t mind at all.

I see all kinds of older people there and most of them have me by 20 years or more. I’m the young buck and knowing all the chickadee grannies are checking me out as I strut my beefcake past them makes me feel like Fabio for a few minutes. Hey, why not enjoy it?

Some of the people there are in rough shape. I see people who’ve obviously had strokes limping gingerly with the help of a cane or walker and it makes me grateful for whatever tiny bit of youth I do have left. There are no guarantees that won’t be me in the future but hopefully if I can improve my health I can avoid that. I really have very lucky until now.

My life has been spent as a road comic and healthy lifestyle choices aren’t usually a part of that world for most of us. I was always very athletic and wiry but that sure hasn’t been the case for years. One trip to Taco Bell for lunch and another to Wendy’s for dinner with cheese on everything and cola beverages to drink add up to a lifetime of bad food choices.

There’s probably enough special sauce stuck in my aorta right now a cannibal would get confused on a blind taste test between my heart and a Big Mac. I admit my discipline is as weak as it gets when it comes to food but so much of it tastes so good and I’ve had a great time sampling it all over North America. At least if my heart pops I’ll have had my fun.

I guess I still can have some fun but not like before. I used to eat whatever I wanted as it pleased me but now it’s really catching up. I need to scale WAY back and live an entirely different lifestyle if I have a shot to make it to old age. Heart attacks don’t necessarily run in my family but my grandfather had a bypass and my father had a heart operation as well.

That being said, I had lunch today with my writing partner Rick Kaempfer. He was also my former morning show producer at The Loop. He grew up in Germany and speaks very fluent German. Rick is extremely intelligent and like me has way too many projects going at any given time. Still, he’s a published author and works hard and keeps plugging away.

We met at the German Brau Haus on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago. He is a big fan of that place as am I and today we got together for the first time in ages. He ordered a deliciously decadent bratwurst platter and I had my favorite which is liverwurst with a steaming bowl liver dumpling soup which comes with it. I met my quota of liver laden food and I was in absolute heaven as I ate it. I enjoyed every bite. Liverwurst plus Rick equals a quality day.

He really has been great to work with and now it’s time to sell the infamous bank story. We’ve got it almost finished in about our fifth or sixth draft but we both agreed we’ll get it done very quickly as soon as we get a nibble. It’s up to me to start looking for nibblers.

After lunch it was back to the Royal George Theatre for another run through of our live Jerry’s Kidders theatre show. We all had more input that made sense and we were joined by some friends like Jerry’s wife Ann and Kipper McGee and Vicki Quade’s friend Carla who was a director of plays and offered up some solid advice. Everyone did. We’re on it.

We all got together for dinner afterward at an Italian restaurant right down the street on Halsted and it was outstanding. If I’m going to indulge this was the day to do it as I had a wonderful meal at two different restaurants. This is why I need to walk a mall every day.

It’s a good problem to have though. How bad is it that I have wonderful friends and we enjoy each other’s company in fantastic restaurants? I had that experience twice today and I’m thrilled for both opportunities. The meals were delicious and both were centered on a business theme where all of us could score a substantial pay day. That’s as good as it gets.

After dinner I met up with my speaker friend Todd Hunt. I had a video of his and forgot to give it to him when I saw him just recently so I did that but we also hashed out ideas as he is a huge fan of the theatre and knows how it operates. He offered up some suggestions I never thought of and I’ll tell them to Jerry and the other guys ASAP. Todd really helped.

It was 8:30 by the time I started to head home but I don’t feel like I wasted my day at all because we had a productive run through of the play. There was improvement from where we were yesterday to today just because all of us were thinking about it. We’ll keep doing run throughs and shape it into something for Vicki to sell. We’re all encouraged by this.

When I got home I talked to my grade school friend Tom Orlando for an hour. He’s one of my favorite people, mainly because he gets exactly what I’m talking about on so many levels. He’s been in radio and understands that meat grinder but he also has been a winner in business and is a naturally hilarious guy. He easily could have been a full time comic.

Tom is very supportive of the Uranus Factory Outlet idea and has been from the start. It is exactly two years now since I thought of it but it’s still not anywhere close to becoming the moneymaking machine I pictured then. I’ll have to tweak it and rethink my battle plan but I’m not going to give up on it any time soon. Tom said he’ll help me and I believe it.

Between Uranus Factory Outlet and comedy classes and rehearsing for a Kidders show and all the stuff I didn’t get to today, I’ve got all I can handle on my plate and even if my daily output of work is good, I’ve got all kinds of things to do the next day. And the next.

But I love doing it all, even walking the mall. That’s a peaceful time when I can think at my own speed, which is manic at the slowest. I don’t have time for a wife and that’s just a reality so I guess I should enjoy what I can about having freedom to do whatever I choose.