the hookup

so i have a hookup. many people i know work at steppenwolf here in chicago and i have been privelaged enough to attend some shows for free and some parties with free food, drinks, and quasi to full on famous people. a while back i went to see the opening for a show that was pretty good. we went to a spanishey place for a the little opening reception afterwards and i had free hors d'ouvres and cokes into the wee hours of the evening.
but this weekend blew that out of the water. last night was the night before tonight. obviously.
anyway, at teh wolf they do their play openings on sundays. so last night there was this big fundraising gala and party put on by the wolf to entertain the wealthy donors and ask for more money. actually, there were two parties, one for low level staffers like my buddies and some friends, and one for the wealthy and the famous. we quickly got very drunk on free booze and were dancing before we even knew we were. then we got bold and decided to check out the other party, the big one. so we crossed the street very carefully and snuck in. there on stage was the lieutenant dan band. yes, gary sinise has a band and that's what they're called. AND, they're a cover band. he plays bass. the room was pretty much cleared out as it's a yearly tradition for everything to end up at the smaller interns party anyhow. but there were still some rich people dancing and a lot of minorities bussing tables. the band was pretty good. seeing gary sinise was pretty wierd although his still being on stage kept the illusion alive. we crossed the street again and got word that john malkovich (who is performing in the new play that premiered earlier tonight) was at the intern party. we knew we would see him but it still seemed like a pleasant surprise.
we went upstairs and spotted him hanging out outside the door to the ballroom where the party was going on talking to fellow wolf ensemble member laurie metcalf, probably best know as the sister on roseanne. we shuffled past them and into the dance hall again to dance our little brains out. i was hit on by several gay men. my friends were propositioned by actors and high level staff members, some of the female lot were groped heavily. i met the woman who has made me famous among the offices at the wolf as being the guy who did naked air guitar at an audition. they still remember that and still talk about it. well, as you probably know i didn't get the part but i did leave my mark as it's been nearly a year since that audition and they still talk about it and laugh about it. any press is good press. if they ever come across a script that involves naked air guitar they know who to look for.
took a cab home and slept like a friggin log.
tonight was the opening of the show this whole hullabaloo was about in the first place. the show was good. it was strange to see malkovich in the flesh on stage and off. the reception was at a nice (NICE) italian restaurant where they served us a bunch of little finger foods and a huge gob of amazing tiramisu. saw malkovich again. he waqs approached by several people who spoke to him as if they had been best buddies for years. "well, it was nice talking to you, John," etc. - stuff like that. i was ready to go pretty quick after the dessert. so it made for a nice weekend of largely unproductive experiences. i may not drink for a while considering i still feel tipsy 27 hours later. but it was a cool weekend, and i feel a little more famous and no more wealthy.
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working the cubs game on friday was really nice. i made a boatload of cash in tips and commission selling chicago's own "old style" beer. it was cool. people called me beerman a lot and sometimes just referred to me as "old style." i'll be working tuesday's game as well. we made it back to .500 today with an extra-inning marathon win over the brewers. it might be a long season if we keep hitting the way we've been.
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on a completely unrelated note, i had a brilliant idea the other day while playing playstation football. i know it is a brilliant idea because half the people i tell it to think it's a terrible idea. the other half laugh out loud. i want to put out my debut cd, "Jeremy sings along with the Urban Cowboy soundtrack." it's basically just a recording of me singing and attempting to play various instruments while the urban cowboy soundtrack plays in the background. i'll burn copies off my computer and sell them for $3. i have one buyer i know of already.
on a related note: uncle bob

goodnight angel,
b