2010-07-17 - 11:52 p.m.
Well. Thirty trips around the sun. Never thought I'd see the day. And I'm sure a lot of people I know never thought I'd make it this far either, given my tendency toward behaviors that are suicidal at best. Like the fact that I voluntarily ate a Double Down from KFC a couple weeks ago. That took about 5 years off my life right there.
So, what the hell have you been up to the last six months?
Cowering in mortal terror at the prospect of turning thirty, to be honest. Enduring my second mid-life crisis as I head into my second mid-life.
Ha ha. So, weak jokes aside, what have you been doing, seriously?
Well, I quit my job and went to New Mexico.
You quit your job?
Yeah, my last day was Monday the 13th. I handed in my albatross, told my boss to take my job and�give it to someone else, took my calendar off the wall and went home.
Your albatross?
The laptop issued to me at work. Due to the data on it, it was vital that i keep it on me at all times when I wasn't at home, meaning I had to carry the damn thing in all kinds of unfunny situations.
Why did you call it your albatross?
Read Rime of the Ancient Mariner, you simpletonian.
So�in an unstable economy like this one, why did you quit your job?
It's all part of my master plan. Now, on Wednesday, July 21, 2010, I will officially be:
1. Unemployed
2. Overweight
3. Single
4. 30
5. Living at my mom's house.
Now, that' makes me seem like quite the catch, doesn't it, ladies?
So you have deliberately sculpted your life over the last few months to become�a loser?
Well, kinda. Believe it or not, this represents a positive change in my life. I quit my job cause I'm going to grad school.
You? In grad school? WTF?
No, seriously, I start classes on September 20. I'm taking the summer off to focus on my last show in milwaukee and seeing how much work I can get done now that I don' t have to go to work.
Sounds nice.
Yeah, no more 5am alarms, working a job I only tolerate for the money, and coming home too exhausted to do any of the things I really want to after a 3 hour round trip commute. Fuck that noise, I'm a free man now.
I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the idea of you going to grad school.
I know, right? But it was time. IT's the best thing for me.
So where are you going to be going to school?
I'll be studying British Acting Tradition at the Birmingham School of Acting.
They teach acting in Alabama?
No. Well, i'm sure they do, but I ain't going there. I'm going to Birmingham in the UK.
Holy crap. You're moving to England?
Yep. The Ken Farewell Tour has officially begun. I'm going to be spending the next 2 months or so finding out how much work I can actually get done now that I don't have work interfering with my work, catching up with people, and getting my ducks in a row and ready to move out of the country for a good long while.
How long will you be over there?
The program goes for one year, for September 2010 to September 2011. After that I can get a work visa maybe, so I could be over in England for as long as 3 years.
Then you'll be coming back to the US?
I plead the Fifth on that one.
British Acting Tradition?
Yep. The focus of the program is the history of British Theatre and acting technique from ye olden times to ye present. I'm gonna learn how the Brits approach the craft of acting. HOpefully it'll give me a clue as to why british actors are so much better than american actors.
Sounds awesome.
Yep. I'm so excited i'm all a-tingle. This is going to be a truly great adventure. As Mark told me, "Even if you hate it, it will be really good for you."
I plan to fill up my passport with stamps and really make the most of this. Oh, and to try being a good student this time around.
I'm floored.
So in all seriousness, even though I turn 30 in a couple days, I'm not really freaking out about it as much as I had thought I would. I'm entering a new decade in my life, so it seems oddly appropriate that I'm doing so with a new chapter about to begin also.
How was that for sappy crap?
Very nice. Anything else interesting happen?
Oh, tons of crap I'm sure I've forgotten all about. The usual workaday grind for the most part. Not much of my life is interesting, per capita.
Per capita? Do you even know what that means?
No, I just thought it sounded cool.
You mentioned another show?
One last hurrah, one last curtain call. My swan song if you will. I'l be appearing in Sure Thing by David Ives as part of the Boulevard Theatre's first show of the big 25th season, four different one act romantic comedies cleverly entitled Fourplay.
Oh, I get it�Four Play. Heh heh. That's funny cause it's sexual.
Indeed it is. The play itself is hysterical. Look it up sometime. And be sure to come see me. I'm gonna leave you with a song, but I'll still be here even when I'm in England. Hopefully with something interesting to say once in awhile.
Ken
You know I can't pretend
It's not an accident
I have become somebody else
So much I want to say
You see me every day
I wish that I could shout it out
You've gotta run
This world aint' standing still
You gotta believe
That you can make it up that hill
You've gotta know
You can do anything
And you gotta be
The best that you can be
But don't change for me
So much I try to hide
You see through my disguise
When you are tearing down the walls
You're gonna figure out
I know without a doubt
These things don't matter much at all
You will be free
But you've gotta run
This world ain't standing still
You gotta believe
That you can make it up that hill
You've gotta know
You can do anything
And you gotta be
The best that you can be
But don't change for me
Sorry
Is not a word I want to use so
Easily
I need to know that life won't pass
Me by
But you've gotta run
This world ain't standing still
You gotta believe
That you can make it up that hill
You've gotta know
You can do anything
And you gotta be
The best that you can be
But don't change for me
You know I can't pretend
It's not an accident
I have become somebody else�.
�
