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The disappointment of hearing something someone has already said can be completely crushing. From a stand-up comic doing a crappy version of a previously brilliant joke, to a musician mimicking an artist who was adventurous and creative nothing bothers me more than people putting no creative thought into what they say and do.

Oddly enough, there’s a fine line – quoting movies and TV shows as we all know gets very old, but expanding on a character can be hilarious if done in a new and creative fashion. Musicians using ideas from greats and molding it into something of their own is another example of using a founding idea but in a new setting to bring interesting perspective or expand upon it.

Time and again this occurs to me as I constantly challenge myself to say something slightly differently, twist some words or some notes, and wring out something new from my brain. Though I don’t consider myself tremendously talented at this by any means, challenging yourself to be truly creative is a lot of fun and demands not only patience, but the will to fail (that will being something I’m only now discovering and a whole post unto its own).

Too often I see and hear people around me in everyday life as well as ‘professionals’ taking the easy way out. It’s such a let down in so many ways and I never can understand how they can let themselves get away with it. Do yourself a favor and hold yourself to the highest creative standards – it makes the simplest things challenging and can make things terribly funny, astute, and profound.

This week has been and will continue to be a good week for me at work. The reasons are many but basically it boils down to me taking Friday off, and, most importantly, my office manager’s battle with a rhinovirus.

I work in the office with just him, so when he’s not here I have free reign of the territory. Don’t get me wrong, I like having my boss around. He’s a good guy and we get along, but sometimes it’s nice to have the place to yourself. Its pretty cool for me as I get to keep the thermostat where I want, can get up and walk around, crank my music up, dance, pee in the corner, throw things, catch things, and host elegant tea-parties and act the part of a proper gentleman. But what gets to me is that he’s still sick and came into the office today.

My immune system is pretty awesome. It’s like the pirates ninjas of immune systems. I’m talkin’ throwing stars, nunchucks, katanas coming at any sort of foreign threat. My lymph-nodes are to viruses what talent is to Damon Wayans. But the long and short of it is, don’t come to the freakin’ office if you still sound like you’ve crammed a sock in your nose and your orificium are still leaking more fluid than…a…a…something that leaks a lot of fluid.

If you’re one of those peoples who would rather go to work and be sick then use a sick day, remember: You’re not staying home for you, you’re staying home for the delight of your co-workers.

Living in New York has taught me a lot of things so far – like how to take a zombie’s head clean-off with a shotgun, or how to trap and cook rat when your paycheck runs out 3 days after you get it. But all-in-all it has taught me how to be single.

You see, every time the weekend rolls around I typically look for something to do during the day. At first I used to look for something at night too, but that has gradually gotten better as I actually get invited out now (well, most of the time anyway). But being single in Manhattan can get pretty old as when you want to say, go to a movie, the zoo, a museum, a jazz show, whatever, you have to do it alone. I even find myself walking to places just because it will take up more time that I’m not just sitting in my apartment flipping through the channels for Felicity reruns some kind of sport.

I’m sure most of you know what I’m talking about and it’s not a strictly New York thing for sure. Just moving to a new city it takes time to make those really good friends. You know, that person you can call just to hang up on because you think it’s funny. Or the other person you know you can ask to do anything because their mind is just as numb as yours and they just want to get out of their apartment too.

This weekend I’m headed home. It’s a good friend’s birthday and, well, $1 for a mixed drink just kind of makes life a little sweeter (if not blurry). I’ve also got some buddies of mine from my studio in undergrad who also enjoy drinking – and sure, my parents are there too (just kidding Dad).

Anyway, this post was supposed to be about how nice and weird it is to see green and trees and mountains everywhere when I head home from the city. I guess it got kind of sentimental. But whatever. At least I didn’t resort to another Jesus and Satan dialogue.