February
Let’s not diminish things here: February was huge.
Like, massive. The Winter of Kev Discontent was kicking the snow off its boots and transforming into the, uh, early Spring of New Stuff. Sure, why not?
Early in the month, I had my first meeting with the Sketchhaus folks. I … may have typed up a detailed four-page “Sketch Manifesto,” that I got ratified by the existing producers and sent to my bosses at ImprovBoston. Still trying to get the gold star.
This time it worked. Before I knew it, my bosses at the theater were talking about My Vision for Sketchhaus, like it was a real, viable thing that could be put into action. Would be put into action. Suddenly, this guy who had no real experience doing anything theater-related except slinging beers, selling tickets, and laughing was running a whole night of comedy. Well, would be. In May. I could barely believe it.
I did my due diligence when it came to comedy. I went and saw a night of improv at ImprovAsylum, and a whole standup showcase at The Comedy Studio in Harvard Square. I returned to the Comedy Studio a few times, when some of my favorite acts were performing. I did not return to IA. I also appeared naked in the Boston Globe, due to my hosting the Naked Comedy showcase once a month at ImprovBoston. Naked. In the local newspaper. My Dad saw that with no warning late in the month, and gave me a very concerned phone call.
Shawn and I get Details magazine at home. He likes looking at the pretty guys on the covers. I was idly flipping through the new Channing Tatum issue and saw they had a 6-week arm workout that looked like something I could do. I’d been spinning my wheels at the gym for years, having gotten on a plateau and stayed there. It finally occurred to me that my gym was in the basement of the building I was now temping at. Maybe I could give another go at building my muscle. I wrote my buddy Mark in New York and asked him to build me a comprehensive chest workout. Then I found a good shoulder one, and decided to rotate days. Soon enough, I was going to the gym every afternoon, not just three days a week. And the results were almost immediate.
Shawn and I celebrated our thirteenth anniversary on February 14th, Valentine’s Day. He got me the Drive-By Truckers album A Blessing and a Curse, completing my collection of DBT records. My interest in the band had sparked the year before and it was just growing, so this was a big deal to me. I got Shawn an iTunes gift card. We’re minimal on our anniversary.
My editor at Cemetery Dance, Brian, wrote to me and asked me if I would be interested in publishing my own books as ebooks though the publisher. My own stuff: novels, collections, you name it. I was immediately thrilled, and began compiling my short story collection, This Terrestrial Hell and readying my poetry collection, Surf’s Up. This time, I got beta readers. And I wondered how ready my early novel, I’m On Fire, would be for publication.
I wrote five poems: “One-Night Stands With Writers,” “Open the Door, Longhair,” “The Perils of Umbrella Repair,” “Early and Close,” and “Sacrament.”
My review of Stephen King’s new Dark Tower book, The Wind Through the Keyhole, appeared on FEARnet. Later, Wikipedia would single me out as having the first review of the book anywhere, and treated me like a real reviewer (which I suppose I am now), quoting me with lines like, “Quigley elaborates on the book's thematic 'bridge' status…” My senior year English teacher, Mrs. Kreinsen, would be proud.
Early in the year, Disney announced a new promotion: One More Disney Day, which would be a 24-hour event at the Magic Kingdom in Florida and at Disneyland in California on Leap Day: 6 AM to 6AM. After briefly considering starting the day off at Disney World and ending it at Disneyland, my buddy Joe and I decided to do the overnight entirely at the Magic Kingdom. We woke up at 4:30 and got to the Magic Kingdom at 5:30. We got glowy hats and bought T-shirts. 6:00 AM at the Magic Kingdom was foggy, ethereal. As bizarre as it was to be here this early in the morning, that was nothing compared to being there late at night. I guzzled a five-hour energy shot at 1:00 AM and couldn’t calm down. I vowed to ride Space Mountain once an hour; there’s literally nothing like riding through the dark at 3:30 in the morning, when you’re so tired you might die, and your buddy is by your side and nothing is stopping you from having the time of your life. We emerged into March at 6:00 AM, the sun just coming up over the Seven Seas Lagoon.
Books Read: The whole Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, as well as one of the best books I read all year, Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline.
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