Sumpin' Witty

Fuck fairytales. Now before you click that magical little X in the corner that has the power to make bad Youtube videos, friendships, new stories and blogs you don't want to read disappear, hear me out. I'm not saying fuck fairy tales because I'm evil or mean or want kids to grow up in a world void of stories, fantasy, or hope, but I do think we need to seriously reconsider the narrative of the fairy tale before we continue mindlessly reading these to our children. You see, the problem with fairy tales is that they set you up for failure. Most of the fairy tales that we know, that have been passed on over the centuries and continue to be popular in our current culture come from The Brothers Grimm, Aesop's Fables, or Hans Christian Andersen. While there are a great many other fairy tales, folk tales, and tall tales that have been told throughout the years, the ones that we seem to have chosen to teach important lessons to our children tend to have a very flawed les...

I wish it wasn't true, but sometimes I still feel like a baby; an incredibly awkward, over-sized baby, when I want something that I can't have. I want to scream and shout and throw a fit, and throw things for real, and I want to get what I want, no matter what. But then, reality kicks in and I remember that I'm a grown up (I use the term grown up loosely as I indulge in cookies and wine as my dinner). I'm not a creepy big baby, and I have to accept that I can't always get what I want. I'm not having a pity party. I do appreciate my life and everything in it. I have a great life. My family is large, insane, generous, international and awesome. My friends are so beautiful that sometimes I cry just thinking about how amazing they are and how I would gladly die for so many of them. I am lucky to be a great relationship and to have had great relationships with beautiful souls in the past. I live in Costa Rica, my dream location that I worked ten years to get to. Ev...

I used to strive to be great at things. It didn't really matter what thing I was great at, I just wanted to be great Remember Doug? I used to really like Doug. at something. And I wasn't. I was mediocre to good at several things, but never great. I made the basketball team, but rode the bench all year. I played waterpolo, but got kicked out of most games, and our team never won a game all season. I made first row, but never first chair in band playing clarinet (for you band geeks out there, you know how frustrating that is). I went to the county meet for my swim team, 50m backstroke was my event. I came in last place at county, didn't even make my qualifying time. I was never very good at any one thing. And then, in my sage old age of my late 20's, I decided that I was great at things, just not the things I was trying to be great at. I realized that I, like everyone else, actually has superpowers. These superpowers might not be as conventional as comic book or...

Sunset at Playa Algodones I'm sitting outside on the patio of Departamentos Adlai, a cute little hotel in the northern Mexican state of Sonora, in the small town of San Carlos, along the Sea of Cortez. It is overcast at 10am, and I wonder if the clouds will burn off today. When I arrived yesterday, it was sunny, and we spent the afternoon at the beach, running up sand dunes and just barely getting our feet wet. The water is warm, warmer than it is in California that is, but still not that tropical, so-warm-it's-warmer-than-the-air, warm water that you might expect in Mexico. Today is day five of this epic trip that I am on, along with my boyfriend Jahsiah, one of my best friends, Timmy, and my two dogs, LaDainian and Isabelle. I'm not quite sure how I convinced everyone to join me on the drive to Costa Rica, especially since this isn't my first attempt at this, and let's just say the first attempt did not end in Costa Rica, nor did it end well. So, really it...

I just returned from Southern California, where I stayed with my sister, who lives in Irvine, so that I could participate in the family celebration of Thanksgiving. The majority of my Dad's family lives in Southern California, from Fullerton to Duarte, Irvine to San Gabriel, the whole lot is there, pretty much. As a child, I spent a few weeks every summer in Fullerton, staying at my Grandma and Grandpa's house. I loved those trips down there. What kid wouldn't? They owned their own theater company, The Fullerton Civic Light Opera , so the trip was always filled with musicals and shows. Being so close to Disneyland, Magic Mountain, Universal Studios, and Knott's Berry Farm, and having connections to people who worked at all the parks, we always got to hit up at least one theme park per trip. Then, there are the aunts and uncles who would spoil us with the Orange Country Fair, movies, eating out, can you think of a better vacation?! So, it's no surprise that when ...

For the past few years, I have reasoned that my desire, my passion for travel, was born out of my trip to Japan that I took with my friend Sandra and her family, and then my trip to South Africa, that I took with my Grandma Kennedy. It has recently dawned on me, that this seed for adventure was planted much earlier and that it's not just I who suffers from travelitis, but my whole family. At present, my Dad and his good friend Terry are living on a sail boat, meandering down the Pacific Coast. They are still in U.S. waters, for now. Soon they will sail south of the border and down to Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Their goal is to arrive in a timely fashion, so as to meet up with my Mom, my sister Alison, who will be celebrating her 30th birthday there, Seth, my bother-in-law, and a handful our of awesome friends. While Alison and crew board planes from various states, Jahsiah, Timmy, and I will be driving south, with a stop-off at the Grand Canyon, we will be working our way down to Zihua...

My head is swimming now. It  is with many, mixed emotions that I write this. Today is November 1st, which to me signifies a few things. Fall is in full effect, Halloween, probably my favorite holiday is now 364 days away, and tomorrow, I turn another year older. These facts are true every November 1st. But this year, November 1st holds more significance. It's our Thursday night show of The Fantastiks, as we always have a Thursday night show during closing weekend, but I am not working. Elaine, the new Box Office Manager of The Altarena Playhouse is working her first solo shift to see if I have trained her well. See, she will be taking over my job, now that I am leaving for Costa Rica. So, in a way, tonight marks the end of an era for me. Even though I will work the rest of the weekend and close the show on November 4th with my Altarena family, tonight I feel the reality of this chapter ending, and a new one beginning. Another significant thing about today being November 1st is ...