Fulfill your dreams

Last night I watched a friend of mine fulfill a dream of his and it was amazing. When he first mentioned that he'd always wanted to get up on a stage and do a stand-up routine, I thought "Ah. One of those 'things to do before you die but never get around to it' things." When he said he was actually going to do it and I got my invitation, my first thought was, "How fucking cool."

So last night, to celebrate turning 30 (and damnit, you SHOULD celebrate turning 30 instead of moaning about it :) Mike got up on stage at the Grand Theater and did a 45 minute comedy routine. And he was good. Even though his kidlet nearly stole the show when, as he began a little anecdote about her, she piped up letting the audience know, "He's talking about me!" It was freaking adorable.

Anyway, Mike rocked the house with his jokes, anecdotes, and impressions. But all day yesterday I kept thinking about him and wondering if he was nervous. This event was something he'd wanted to do for a long time, and he'd prepared for it, and must have thought constantly about what to talk about, how to pull it off, not to mention the logistics of finding a venue and all that stuff.

And then, after all that anticipating, all that planning, writing, practicing, thinking up jokes, editing - to have the Big Day dawn, I think I would have been a raw bundle of nerves, ready to vomit profusely at the slightest touch. Granted, none of my Things to Do Before You Die involves voluntarily placing myself in a position where I'd be speaking publicly but still, I don't know how I'd handle it. But my admiration for Mike was certainly cranked up a few notches when he finished his show. It was a great show Mike, but the cooler thing to me is that you accomplished one of those Things to Do Before You Die. Well done dude.