Yesterday I got to attend two really cool event courtesy of SF Sketchfest, a yearly “conference” of sorts where people come and perform or speak about comedy. Living in SF sometimes has some awesome advantages, and one of them is access to people I never thought I’d meet or see in person. Yesterday was a case in point: in the afternoon, I went to a “Conversation with The Monkees”, which turned out to be Michael Nesmith and Mickey Dolenz, in person (!), in an intimate setting, just basically bullshitting about their lives, what it was like to be in the Monkees, what they’re up to now and how they feel about life and the music and movie industry. It was amazing; I’ve watched those guys so many times on TV, listened to their music, and there they were! The thing I took away the most was how lucky they felt and how happy they were to just be themselves, to have been in the Monkees, and what a goofy exercise this whole being alive thing is, which I think is an awesome way to look at things.

In the evening, I went to a 35th anniversary showing of the movie Clue, and a Q&A with John Landis - the director and writer - and two of the actresses, Colleen Camp (Yvette) and the woman who played the Singing Telegram Lady who it turns out is a famous LA punk musician and star of the Go-Gos. Anyway, it was awesome watching the movie on the big screen with an audience of folks who all love the movie, but the best part was listening to John, who was a charming and totally hilarious old British man with great memories and awesome comedic timing. Listening to him talk about meeting Michael Jackson and having him bring him pizza was the best, and what was even more awesome was seeing it with my brother.

So yeah, life is good sometimes, and living in the Bay Area can be worth it.