angimangi - ProfilesArchive

About Me

To put me in a nutshell, I spend most of my time divided amongst improv, architecture, music and photography. I also like to travel, but don't do it nearly as much as I used to. To add to that nutshell, I also really enjoy the following: creative writing, graphic design, red wine and good beer, good conversation, people watching, the month of October and little white twinkle lights.I moved to Chicago to do improv and along the way found an amazing job as a tour guide on the Chicago River. It reminded me how much I love architecture and has made me infinitely more knowledgeable on the city than I ever was during my time in Boston (or pretty much anywhere else I've ever lived for that matter).It was once said that "success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get." I think I'm pretty much the happiest I've ever been and am hopeful that the best is still yet to come. I love Chicago...this city has changed my life. I know that sounds dorky, but from my experience 9 out of 10 people here love it that much as well...and that's part of its charm and why for the first time in my life I'm not planning my next move.There's too much in this world to experience and you're never going to be able to accomplish it all. All you can do is accept that and just do as much as you can. As Ani D. once said..."You have your whole life to do something, and that's not very long."

My Interests

I like improv, architecture, photography and music A LOT. Anyone who has ever met me knows this. If you don't know me yet you will know this as soon as you've talked to me for about five minutes. Outside of the aforementioned, I like to observe the human condition, make up stories about strangers on the trains and pretend my life is a yet to be made romantic comedy.

I'd like to meet:

People who are as passionate about the things they enjoy as I am. Specifically: people who dork out about music, architecture, photography and improv.And if it were humanly possible, I'd like to have a party with all the "benchmark years" of myself present...what a trip that would be.

Music:

Those that know me best know I am obsessed with High Fidelity (both the book and movie) and Top 5 lists. Music is a sickness and I hope never to be cured. I spend way too much time downloading music and organizing my music collection. I already have more music than I could ever listen to in a lifetime, yet I still keep hunting. It's ridiculous really.As of right now, I am listening to a ton of jazz and old brat pack sort of stuff. Below are my tops broken down by my own categories.Bands That Remind Me Of High School and College: Death Cab for Cutie Counting Crows Ani DiFranco the Strokes Nada SurfBands You've Probably Never Heard Of, But Should: Margot and the Nuclear So and So's Art Brut Rhesus the Capes Architecture in Helsinki (I am obsessed with them currently)Brits I Love: Elvis Costello the Beatles blur Radiohead the Rolling StonesGroups That Remind Me of My Childhood: Hall and Oates Huey Lewis and the News Billy Joel Crooners/Jazz/Soul: Billy Holiday Ella Fitzgerald Frank Sinatra Sarah Vaughn Dinah Washington Nina Simone Tony Bennett Otis Redding Pretty Noise: Portishead the Postal Service BjorkI also love the song Canon in D. It's probably my favorite song of all time.

Movies:

I have a really hard time sitting still long enough to watch a movie. Below are the ones that managed to hold my attention without requiring me doing another activity whilst watching them. Again, broken down by my categories:Best of the Best: High Fidelity Amelie Love Me If You DareForeign and/or Just Plain Brilliant: The Science of Sleep Trainspotting A Clockwork Orange Pi Requiem for a Dream Momento The Royal Tennenbaums Stranger Than Fiction Lars and the Real Girl Death at a FuneralMake Me Laugh: What About Bob? Hedwig and the Angry Inch National Lampoon's Vacation Spinal Tap80s Movies: The Breakfast Club Sixteen Candles Pretty in Pink Footloose Ferris Bueller's Day Off Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Adventures in BabysittingHoliday Movies: Planes, Trains and Automobiles Scrooged A Charlie Brown Christmas It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown Grinch Who Stole Christmas (animated cartoon) National Lampoon's Christmas VacationMovies About Relationships of the Love Variety: Sliding Doors The Last Kiss Garden State The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Beautiful Girls Punchdrunk Love Lost in Translation Wrist Cutters: A Love Story

Television:

I have a TV, but no cable, so I rarely watch it. But if/when I do, these are my favorites:SNL Sex and the City, Jeopardy and Rock and Roll Jeopardy The Office (UK and recently fell for the US too) Welcome Back Kotter That 70s Show (before it got crappy at the end) The Wonder Years America's Next Top Model (don't you dare fucking judge) Moonlighting

Books:

I love bookstores and reading, although I don't do it nearly as much as I used to as a kid.Anything by Anyone Listed Here: Nick Hornby, Shakespeare,and Irvine WelshOne-Off's: "Guru" by Jeff Griggs about his days with Del Close "Live From New York" the uncensored history of SNL "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac "Generation X" by Douglas Coupland "The Eletric Kool-Aid Acid Test" by Tom Wolfe "Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs" by Chuck Klosterman "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky "1984" by George Orwell "A Brave New World" by Aldus HuxleyI also love Jaime Oliver cookbooks (although I never use them to cook), travel books, photography, art and architecture books and books on improv. Someday I hope to have my own private library that is so big I need one of those ladders on wheels.

Heroes:

My parents and people who are dreamers and do'ers. People who are passionate. People who give it all up on the chance of something greater.

My Blog

For the record...

My neck STILL hurts. I did my show, which brought no joy to Mudville. In the wonderful words of my men Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, "It's been so long, a little too long, but a change is gotta come." T...
Posted by angimangi on Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:04:00 PST

Pain in the Neck...Literally.

So, today is my day off from work and I was very proud of myself for getting up as I normally do on work days so I could get a lot of shit done. I have breakfast, check my emails and then sit down to ...
Posted by angimangi on Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:07:00 PST

CNN Appearance...

So I was filmed a few weeks ago by CNN for a special they were doing on Wendella turning 75. I found out that it is up on CNN's website, so if you go there and type in Wendella Boats you will see a vi...
Posted by angimangi on Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:53:00 PST

Oh, SJP...

So I went to see "Sex and the City" tonight and can I just tell you that it was fabulous. It's one of those movies that runs the full range of possibilities and although it was predictable at times, m...
Posted by angimangi on Sun, 01 Jun 2008 10:22:00 PST

A Nice Surprise...

I got an exciting email today telling me that my photos of TJ Jagadowski are going to be running in the next issue of the Chicago Reader, which I am pretty excited about as I am getting photo credit. ...
Posted by angimangi on Sat, 31 May 2008 08:59:00 PST

I Should Do That!

Every time I go to an art show, play, rock show (any sort of creative endeavor really) I always walk away and say to myself "Damn...I REALLY need to be doing (insert activity here). I am going to do t...
Posted by angimangi on Fri, 30 May 2008 10:00:00 PST

If I Could Turn Back Time...

Tonight I headed down to shoot a friend's show at the Apollo Theatre and to my pleasant surprise was greeted by an old timey film set. Johnny Depp is in town shooting "Public" a movie about John Dilli...
Posted by angimangi on Thu, 29 May 2008 11:39:00 PST

A Big Beautiful Box and the Bus Ride Home...

So today I made the journey down to Michigan Ave and Huron Street and made a very exciting purchase...my beautiful new iMac. I am in love. I got Aperture as well, so as soon as I get it all under way,...
Posted by angimangi on Wed, 28 May 2008 07:21:00 PST

Tea Can Do Many Things Jane, But It Can’t Bring Back The Dead...

It has been a full couple of days filled with a series of entertaining items...as seen below:Saturday I had the day off and spent it doing some photo work for friends and then spent the evening relaxi...
Posted by angimangi on Tue, 27 May 2008 10:21:00 PST

Put A Lid On It...Save It For Another Night.

Those that know me best know that I am not a huge fan of getting my haircut. It's an experience that used to bring me a terrible amount of anxiety that would stress me out for days on end before and a...
Posted by angimangi on Sun, 25 May 2008 10:26:00 PST