I went with my boss to interview a young woman for a really unsavory position yesterday morning. It’s not that the work is bad, but the woman who supervises that position is the devil. I think I was there because the boss liked this woman in the phone interview, and he wants me to step up, get a position created, and hire her.

We were at Foster’s, and Robert Sledge walked in, looking a little haggard. I got a little sad, then, because it kind of made me think about the Chapel Hill scene.

Not that I was really ever a part of that scene, but there was a genuine “I-live-in-Chapel-Hill-and-I’m-fucking-excited-about-it” air that people carried around with them for a couple of years. And there was some really great music happening. Ben Folds Five, Superchunk, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Gladhands… it was awesome. But some of that is gone. There’s still some great music, but it seems like The Comas have become the flagship band and everyone’s so impressed that Andy is dating the girl from Dawson’s Creek. There’s not a geniune excitement any more, though the town is left with the remnants of a cooler-than-thou attitude.

I guess my lament is not so much for the town or for the scene… it’s really just that a lot of my good friends, my talented friends, have moved away and are doing cool things elsewhere. I stayed in a college town, and I aged out of it. And that’s not a pity-party kind of lament, either– I love the RTP area, I love my job (most days), and I’ve got a free place to stay in just about any major city in the country. It’s a little frustrating hearing about how excited everyone is to be doing great improv in New York and Chicago and to know that there’s a lot less of that around here.

I never seriously considered leaving NC until recently. I find myself more and more contemplative of a move to New York, but I’m just at odds with myself over it. Part of me would like to chuck everything, get a low-commitment temp job, and work like a dog to get good at a new brand of improv. (Not that I’m not working hard at Destroy All Monsters now, but the resources I would have access to… wow.) And I would love to be around Anthony and Charlie and Dan again… because I really loved improvising with those guys. But one of the things that I love so much about improv is that it’s my hobby, my art, my passion. I can’t enjoy it if the rest of me lacks balance.

And balance is hard for me to find in big cities.

Went drinking with Constantine and a small group of folks in anticipation of this weekend’s NC Literary Festival. So the hypnosis is on… I just need to schedule some time with him.

One of my good friends– the guy I did my student teaching with– is going through electro-shock therapy right now.