4/4

There is a Simon and Garfunkel song (a tune, if you will) that begins with the word April, and I feel like I've quoted it annually, so... here we are. 

Thank you to everyone!

March got chopped up, and was filled with a lot of good. Bring Your Kids! had two absolute banger shows PLUS 30 minutes at World Down Syndrome Day at the MOA!, friend Matt Kessen held his Monster Science Award Show, I Wrote This For You was just awesome, Nudge raised $495 for Rent Relief, Improv at Justice Page Middle School through COMPAS finished up, work at MSS through COMPAS started up, I've got, like, 5 private music students (thank you, Music Lab!) and we got to to the Southwest for a bit of Spring Break. ("I don't understand why any of this is fun," a quote by the 8 year old about the Vegas strip, and yeah man... However, outside of the strip, we ate our fool heads off and it was so good.)

Zion holds a million people per day.
This photo is a lie. 

April

... uh. WHAT IS HAPPENING? Maybe not much! Maybe a lot! WHO KNOWS! There's a lot of meetings and throwing cabbage and spaghetti into the air.. and that's exciting. Will it land? Where? WHAT AM I FORGETTING?

Bring Your Kids!

Nudge at Open Eye? 

I Wrote This For You?

VGI's spring session starts up and I get to yell at a 101 class again. :) 

Hey Dorks! (myself, Butch, and Angelique Lisboa) have one more performance at Improv A Go Go. 

MSS through COMPAS continues, I head back to Sunny Hollow Montessori and the JFCS through COMPAS (yay and yay!), doing a little work for CTC, a workshop for Spring Lake Park High School, and I got into Fringe! 

Even with the unknown, it's a busy month. But the unknown could be really cool. 

March 2026.. we really have no idea

Really. We don't. AND IT JUST DOESN'T STOP. 

February was a lot of teaching and a little bit performing on my side. 

Graceful Monsters finishes up this weekend! Good job, team! They opened last night, and did a great. 

My VGI class has it's last class Monday/March 2nd, and then are part of the showcase on Tuesday March 3rd. They are so so truly good, and I'm excited for them to continue to play. A dream!

I started teaching beginning guitar and ukulele at Music Lab, a music school in South Minneapolis. The students are awesome, the space is beautiful.. very lucky!

I did some admin stuff for friends (updated a website, created a bad website and some posters for an awesome fundraiser) and also made some meals. 

I Wrote This For You was just dreamy, and Bring Your Kids! was a Galentine's special. (And I laughed and laughed.)

MARCH

My twelves year old becomes a teenager! WHOAAa! What do you do for a 13 year old's birthday???

Rev. Matt's Monster Science Award Show happens, and I'm very excited. 

Here's picture from two years ago where the oldest child
guest-starred as a duck,
standing next to someone named Duck. 

Nudge's next performance is a rent relief fundraiser!

I Wrote This For You, Bring Your Kids!... Also, Bring Your Kids! will be at the Mall of America Rotunda on Saturday March 21st at 12:15 p.m. as part of the World Down Syndrome 

VGI starts up it's Spring session. And I get to go back to MSS through COMPAS! <3 

And THEN IT'S SPRING BREAK. AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE IS GOING TO HAPPEN? I GUESS NONE OF US KNOW OKAY. 

Love and love. 

February...uh.

Again, nothing like an occupation to distract to from keeping a blog. 

************************

It's February 21st. It's been pretty awful. 

The sun still rises and sets. The sunset is currently beautiful. And everything that could be said, has probably already. EXCEPT, we're moving onto the next part. 

It's not over. 

Want a protest song? Oh man, have we got protest songs now. 

Did I write a substack? I did!

Art still (f)arted, and very grateful for it. 

*****

Penguins! was a goddamn trip. Viva la Art Shanties! A very lucky series of silly: so many thanks to Art Shanties, to every penguin, and to Lisa for creating beautiful magic for us to be RIDICULOUS in. 

I Wrote This For You continues at Strike, and continues to be a balm! You dreams!

Bring Your Kids! still happens twice a month. A party!!

FEBRUARY!

The Twin Cities are still being surged. People are still in hiding. We're not seeing the 'draw down'. 

And here's stuff... moments where we came together did stuff. Again. Grateful. 

I got take part of a Story Slam at the Phipps in Hudson, WI, and sniffled and guffawed and man, it was a dreamy line up. Thanks to the Phipps and to Mike Fotis for wrangling us. 

I'm teaching for VGI; I've got a 101 full of dream humans. 

Graceful Monsters finishes up this month.

I started teaching at Music Lab! Beginning guitar and ukulele. I have 3 and a half students, and so far, so fun. Thank yous to Brian and Josie for having me!

I've been doing some website updating and fundraiser-poster-designing-and-printing for friends. There's a singing group that meets outside every Sunday for 30 minutes at a time, beautiful and cold. I go to BYOB guitar class (no one drinks). I love the word 'hyperlocal', and my 8 year old now knows too much about the water we swim in. Trying to follow up on what's good to do and ACTUALLY DO IT. 

MARCH IS LITERALLY AROUND THE CORNER. 

2026! HERE WE GO.

WHOA. This was started and never finished. AS A LOT OF THINGS HAPPENED. 

But here it is... 

******

Hi loves. It's the 1st: yesterday, I got to have friends over. And in response to having friends over and getting the house prepped for non-family is to WRITE A BLOG. 

 - I am enjoying all the Year End Book Lists other people have read. It's great! Someone's reading all the things, and I love it. 

 - I read a couple of books this year, as long as they weren't too sad. As, if looking for sad, *motions wildly*

 - I was thinking about yearly wrap ups, and this blog is literally A MONTHLY WRAP UP, so... How was the last month?

DECEMBER!

 - I Wrote This For You moved to Strike Theater, and we had the loviest time! Our next show is Thursday Feb. 8th, and I can't wait. (And I need to start the process!)

A dream. 

 - Will Schroeder wrote/cooked for/produced a cracking holiday show that made my eyeballs weep. So happy to have been a part of it, and also, just to witness the joy. 

 - Off Book at the Jungle Theater was a delight! Thanks to all who make that joy happen, and so happy to be a part of it again!

 - Bring Your Kids! continued with our silliness, PLUS a delightful birthday party. Your children are a dream, folks. 

We do birthdays!

- I got to yell at a number of Dakota County librarians in a workshop called "The Introverts Way: Navigating Customer Service through Improv". Librarians continue to be the best. So many thanks to COMPAS for the opportunity!

 - I drove down to Sioux City, picked up my mom, hopped a plane to Hartford CT, grabbed the rental car, drove to my sister's place, hung out in Vermont for five days, and did it in reverse. Vermont! New Hampshire! These are places! They call grocery carts carriages! Charmed.

JANUARY

 - An Art Shanties proposal got accepted! OH NO! Please watch for PENGUINS! We'll be roving on Jan. 17th and Feb. 1st in the afternoon. 

 - I get to continue Afterschool Improv at Justice Page Middle School through COMPAS! Bwahahah!

 - I start teaching for VGI!

 - Clockers play at the Buzz! Saturday Jan. 24th, 11 a.m.! 

 - I'm co-directing a show with Graceful Monsters! It's gonna be ridiculous!

 - Bring Your Kids! Twice a month!

 - Nudge at Open Eye! Monday Jan. 12th, 7 p.m.!  Cancelled! We were overwhelmed! We'll talk about that in the February blog, but it's mostly because stupid awful assholes with seemingly zero accountability are attacking our city and it's been awful. Abolish. 

I'll go update February, as it's now Feb. 22nd. 

Love.