Since moving to Chicago as an improviser, I have ironically, been performing a lot less improvisational theatre than I was when I was living in Seattle.  Surprisingly, there just isn’t a huge amount of the type of improvised work that truly feeds my soul out here.  This was frustrating at first, but Chicago being the…

Could it be? Could it be that my body is growing accustomed to the winters in Chicago? …perhaps my soul will follow… Today, 28 degrees feels feels light, happy, un-oppressive What’s the word? WARM Yes, 28 feels warm. Is this what love feels like?  Or have my priorities changed?  My standards gone?  Is this just…

If you haven’t yet checked out The Kates, you should!  Their twice monthly (and sometimes more often) shows are always fun.  Earlier this month, I performed with them in Lincoln Square.  Well, it wasn’t exactly me.  Ladies and gentlemen, Shirley Mae Hicks…… [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9hN4QOhux4]

Thank you, Sock Monster!  Now I know!    

Nearly every year around this time I make my Grandma’s Russian tea cakes (veganized, of course).  They are yummy, fun to look at, and an all-around great Christmas cookie.  But this year, they turned out even better for me than they usually do.  I don’t know if it was the 1940’s radio program (Phillip Marlowe)…

you don’t need pants to read poetry you just need a familiar bed or a good solid floor or a tree (half-dressed, like you) or a non-pretentious fireplace and some poetry don’t forget the poetry or do but in a way that is like a meditation so that the poetry doesn’t get in the way…

Over on the website for WNEP Theater, we have “Haiku Friday!”  It’s pretty great.  You should check it out.  Anyhoo, this is the haiku I wrote for today.  I thought I’d share it here too. マンダのはいく Yeah, my Japanese is poor. …but it impressed you.

It’s the day after mid-term elections.  Thank goodness it’s over.  But the fact that Republicans have been given back control of the House leads me to this obvious conclusion… America has Alzheimer’s. It’s either that or Stockholm Syndrome. But either way, we’ll need affordable health care to get better.

When I first moved to Chicago, a friend told me about a theater that performed “What No one Else Produces.”  I was immediately intrigued.  A little over a year later, I was fortunate enough to become an ensemble member of that company–WNEP Theater.  We do about one or two big projects a year.  It’s made…