Give me liberty or give me taxes!

Yesterday, I was depressed for about three hours following my visit to an online tax filing service. I have been growing excitement in my brainfarm, in hopes of harvesting and selling off all excitement-based assets to fund a trip to the West Coast, specifically Los Angeles, CA. I had looked up airfare on priceline.com ($280 round trip) and was merely waiting to confirm my tax refund before locking in plans for a trip the last week of April. Last year, I made the least money I've made since becoming a working man. Last year was also the first time I've ever had to pay both federal and state taxes. I figured this was a gross anomaly and hadn't considered the idea that I may have to pay again this year. Unfortunately, if you follow me on twitter you already know that, I am once again in debt to the IRS. Instead of receiving a refund for what I hoped would cover my travel expenses, I actually owe the government twice as much. This all because of what I'm considering a final "eff Billy" from Clear Channel. Apparently, they weren't taking enough of my dollars away from me and I never realized it... so, maybe it's sort of my fault too, but not really because eff Clear Channel.

So, I spent a couple hours being bummed that I wasn't going to finally see the Pacific Ocean this year... I'm still kind of bummed, but also a little bit motivated to get my ess together and save up some dollars to go out there this summer. Why am I so stoked to visit L.A.? I've romanticized the place so greatly for a few reasons. A) UCB Theater - I want to be a comedy writer and taking classes at the UCBT would greatly increase my skills and chances of making that happen. B) UCB Theater - So many hilarious people perform regularly at the UCBT, unlike Des Moines, IA where Aziz Ansari cancels, Doug Benson visits for a weekend, and half a year later Louis C.K. comes for one night ($25 @ the Funny Bone, 2/26). We have live improv here in the form of old, unfunny people at the Stoner Theater... nothing like Asssscat or Comedy Death Ray. I have to import comedy via the internet, television, and the films that make it to Des Moines. C) It's month thirty of winter here and anywhere without snow sounds like heaven (but not that stupid Goddy heaven). D) A few of my friends live out there and it'd be really cool to visit them. E) Etc. etc. etc.

So, what am I doing to get my ess together? I'm going to update my resume and try to find a new job in a media-related field (such as television, internet, or non-Clear Channel radio). I'm also going to bust my arse writing sketches and preparing for our web series this spring. Hopefully, I can find some help learning some more video editing skills and become a decent editor (a skill it couldn't hurt to have if and when I make it out west). If you're reading this and know of any media-related job openings, please leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail: wondertaint@gmail.com. Kewl beans - now, I have a sketch to finish writing. It's a dark comedic play on the dramatic "you should call her" scenes in movies... fun.