Juney June June

What a funny collection of days... 

There are three things I have NOT BEEN FINISHING as they seem untenable. Or I got exhausted. I need to either finish them or let them go. WHUF. 

Things of May:

 - Flowering trees

 - Allergies kicking everyone's assssss

 - The overwhelming grief of things that words don't, can't, even give definition to. 

 - And the gratitude for who and what is around. 

I am hating the compartmentalization of social media: as my counselor says, it's a tool (and a tool that I don't have to carry constantly. And, honestly, can't. The immediate squaring off of 3 seconds of ultimate tragedy followed by a funny frog video - - I can't.)

But.. things that have happened here... 

 - Nudge at HUGE Theater. We''ll be there Thursdays through the end of June, and we are having true true fun. If you're in the Twin Cities, please come see these dreams. We play things pretty close to 'real' life (think sitcom-ish)... "grounded".. but also, ridiculous. Like people. 

 - COMPAS: started facilitating a memoir series with an amazing group at Tasks Unlimited, and also got to do weekly MAKE THINGS sessions with Central Park Elementary in Roseville. The theater games were a struggle bus; we switched to making masks, helmets, and multiple puppets. I had so much fun. 

 - MILE/MLA conference! I LOVE LIBRARIANS. And what a joy to work with this incredible group. I faciliated their 'ice-breaking' session through a mix of improv exercises and flash memoir writing - - it truly was the most fun. 

 - Tablesalt's fundraiser was lovely!

 - Minneapolis Songwriter Rounds! So many thanks to Taylor for having me again! 

And now June. June gets choppy. School years finish up. Camps start. My family starts to travel to see far away family. 

 - COME SEE NUDGE! All Thursdays through June, except... 

 - THE TWIN CITIES IMPROV FESTIVAL! W000t!!!! IMPROV XMAS! XMAS JOY! I'll be performing with Give the Drummer Some, Attenborough, and Adorable. June 12th - 16th, all at HUGE Theater. 

 - And, of course, BRING YOUR KIDS on June 8th!

June also involves a bit of seeing other people perform: I get to see Choir! Choir! Choir! at First Avenue... Twin Cities Improv Festival... I get to see Madeleine Rowe's Knight Knight... this is good stuff. Last month, I was able to catch two (gasp!) live scripted shows, which is 200% more than the month before. Add in a live concert or two, and it all becomes very fancy very quick. 

I just finished chaperoning five fifth grade boys at the Minnesota Zoo for over 4 hours. 

I may need a bit of a moment.

xo!

well... that slipped by me. MAYYYYYY!

And indeed it did. 

I haven't been overwhelmed. 

There has been a lot going on. 

Through the cracks, these things. 

April/May is actually more of it's own little polycule, but things can be broken down. 

 - Got to write and read a short story for TableSalt Production's annual storytelling show. The theme this year was Fiction; it was so so lovely to play over in that field. Also, DID THE OTHER STORYTELLERS MAKE ME LAUGH CRY? They did. 

 - Got to perform with the Unnamed Jill Bernard Project at HUGE  a couple of times, and that truly was more fun than fun. DELIGHT! 

 - COMPAS: Memoir with Ecumen down in Mankato finished up, and I started (once a week) at an elementary school is Roseville. 

I'm finishing up two weeks up in Anoka with the Middle School for the Arts Center Base students, which has been filled with a lot of joy. I wrote a call-and-response story and song for the students, which we'll be either performing or recording for their annual arts festival in a week or so. Also, 8 bars from Ozzy's Crazy Train and 24 bars from the Greatest Showman. 

 - I taught a Spring Break Musical Theater camp at the Guthrie, and got to work with the amazing Amanda Weis. If you get a chance, always work with Amanda, and always take your lunch in the break room with understudies (understudies who are, by the very nature of the job, incredible folks.) 

 - Bring Your Kids was just lovely, and we were lucky enough to play with Z Puppets Rosenschnoz! Thank you to Chris and Shari for saying yes to the silliest of Saturdays!

 - Getting back into the ever-lovely Library Studio. <3 

 - Also got to workshop my solo musical improv 5 Music Videos with the incredible Katy Berry of Baby Wants Candy. That was a delight! 

 - I took the children to a stadium-style concert. AJR was great. The Australian opening for them declared the Goo Goo Dolls to be one of their favorite American bands, and my baby GenX eye rolls tore the ceiling off of the Xcel Center. AJR's visuals were great, and 12,000 audience members finding games with each other was the sweetest. Who knew? 

So what's up, MAYYYY?

 - Nudge is back at HUGE, Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.! We had a first performance last week, and it was so dang lovely. 

 - I'm truly excited to run an Intro to Improv workshop for the Minnesotan Librarians Association's annual conference! 

 - I'm playing music at “Friends Indeed: a fundraiser for the Centre for Expressive Psychotherapy in Bangladesh.” Wednesday May 15th at The Hive Collaborative. Comedy and loveliness!

 - I'm playing at the 331 as part of the Minneapolis Songwriter Rounds, 9:30 p.m. on Thursday May 23rd. So late! Looking forward to it. So sleepy!

 - BRING YOUR KIDS! Saturday May 11th, 4 p.m.! 

It's sort of domestically focused over here. School is accelerating to the end of the year as it must do - - Concerts! Graduation! Musicals! Testing! Popsicle Runs! It's a lot, but also, lucky and fun. How is it almost mid-May? How is it almost June? 

I went to my friend Ruth's Celebration of Life on Saturday, and she would have loved it. It turns out lovely, generous, blazingly smart, and funny Ruth of course had a family that is lovely, generous, blazingly smart, and also truly funny. (Jim's funny!) It was so so kind of them to offer to bring people in. And for them to bring the purple Neon. Oof. The event did what it was supposed to do; it means she's really actually 'gone'... or, she's still around, but just not accessible to us. Her legacy - her warmth and time and support - is, our memories of her. I'm so grateful. 

Literally woke up on Saturday, "Why am I sad?" Because you're going to a friend's funeral. Ah. 

If you have the means, HUGE is doing a fundraiser and oh boy, we could use your help. Details here!