Went to the Krannert Art Museum with Emily today. Here is a picture:

That was fun. I put a picture into my blog. It was also fun going to KAM.

I actually met Emily at the art museum when she was a gaurd there. I used to record the Second Sunday concerts for WILL FM. I did that for about 7 years and in all that time I had never been to the lower level. I can’t say that anymore. I went down there today. Now I don’t have to do that anymore.

The faculty exhibit was up. I have to admit that I don’t usually like the faculty exhibits, but this years was better than most. Still not great, but better. It would be nice to have a better art school, but I guess it isn’t bad for this size of a town.

Here are some other pictures from outside the art musuem.

Emily came down from Wisconsin. We met up at he Cowboy Monkey and I drank a litte. Well maybe more than a little. When Emily lived down here we worked together and were OK friends, but we weren’t the best of friends or anything. In the last few months I have really enjoyed getting to be better friends with her. It sucks that she lives so far away. I can’t imagine the good times that we would have if she was still down here. I wish that we had gotten to know each other better earlier, but I am just happy that we get to spend some time together whenever we can. It is funny how things work out.

Meg is a friend of both Emily and Me, and we were supposed to get together this weekend and hang out. Meg decided to ditch us and hang out with her friends at Great America. It would have been nice to have the three of us together again, but I understand that rollercoasters are fun. But she did miss out on some fun.

After the bar, we had to sober up a little and went off to Mary Ann’s. Place was packed, and we had to wait around for a table. While we were waiting, a guy and girl at a booth asked if we wanted to share their table. Don’t remember their names (I wasn’t quite sober when we introduced ourselves), but they were two of the best people I have met in Champaign. Funny as hell, great stories, and cracking on each other and anyone else around. Couldn’t stop laughing (which isn’t unusual for me).

Life is great. I am never sure how things are going to work out, but they always surprise me. If I could plan out my life, I am not sure that I would have planned it the way it has been, but good friends like Emily, and Meg, (also saw Larry and Lindsay and Jesse tonight) and then random encounters at late night diners make for better lives anyway.

Met Matt Kessler today. He is a young guy who works at the station. I love his enthusiasm. He has a great idea for an internet radio program. It will be up at www.mixnmaxradio.com. I look forward to helping him out any way I can.

Also had a new lot of students come to the station looking to volunteer. The thing that I like most about living in a university town is that each fall there is a rebirth. Young students with idealized visions. Their energy gives me energy. Being around them makes me young again.

Nobody knows what is going to happen, and then we film it. That’s the whole concept.

Death struck a little closer to me today. I was looking into why I haven’t received my security deposit from my last lease, when I was told that my former landlord died last week. Don’t know why, but it took me completely off guard. He had been sick, but it is still a shock. He was just a landlord so I wasn’t very close to him, but he always seemed nice.

Spent some time at Mary Tangora’s gallery tonight. I don’t know what it is about art, but I love it. Mary and I were talking about some of the pieces that she had up. I don’t know what it is that makes great art, but I think that there is something in us that appreciates it. We both were able to pick out the same piece that we enjoyed most. I don’t know why we both chose the same piece, but I found it interesting. I don’t have much training in what makes good art, but I know what I like. I guess that we are born with it. Art is important. Remember that. Make art.

Been reflecting a little today about how a person’s job affects their life. When people are asked who they are, they often answer what they do for a living. Who am I? I am a television producer at a small PBS station in Urbana, IL.

Steve Irwin “the Crocodile Hunter” was killed today. He was doing a TV special and was killed by a stingray that he got too close to. It was said that he was killed the way he lived. That was his job. He lived on the edge. He also seemed to have had a good wife and kids. I hope the best for them.

Speaking of giving your life for something, six more soldiers were killed in Iraq. They are doing something that they believe in. I guess that I have always had respect for people who were willing to die for their country, but this war seems meaningless to me. I don’t know what we are trying to accomplish. It would be nice to have a goal, a plan, something that could justify the loss of life. (If there is a justification for the loss of life.)

Tiger Woods won his 5th tournament in a row. He is at the top of his game, perhaps the best to ever play the game. What does that mean for a life? Is sport important in the bigger picture of life. If you are the greatest at something, is that enough? Andre Agassi retired this weekend. I wonder what he will be up to for the rest of his life. Maybe he will use his notoriety in sport to make a difference in people lives.

I know that I would not want to die for my job, but I would like to think that at some point in my life I will be doing something that is more important than just me. Something that I would give my life for. Why are we here? Is it what you do for work? Or is having a good family what is most important? Maybe it is making a difference in peoples life. Making the world better in any way you can.

It makes me think about where I am in my life. I don’t have a job that matters, and I am not the best in my field. I don’t have a wife and kids. My good friends from my past are all over the world, and I don’t get to see them often. Sometimes thoughts like these get me down, but for some reason today I am just feeling like I have a lot left to do.

Who am I? I am not sure yet, but hopefully it is a lot more than just a television producer at a small PBS station in Urbana, IL.