An Ode to David E. Shane

My second David donation! (I have three more David friends on facebook... not that anyone is counting!)

The wonderful, talented and always working David E. Shane!

I met David at the same time I worked with Megan, so he is another wonderful example of how great things come in some of the most unlikely places. Like contracts that make you cry all the time and want to stop being an actor for almost two years. ;)

David is yet another cutie patootie, and so funny and talented. He's a superb singer, a great actor, and now even becoming a fantastic director (or so the rumor on the street tells me). The only bad thing about David is that he is always working! I feel like he's always out of town, and when he's back in the city I somehow always miss him!

This year David is also marrying his beau, Adam, and I could not be happier and more delighted to have known the two of them for so long. They are a beautiful couple and so caring and funny. There are some couples you just really love to be with, even if you're single or not with a significant other. David and Adam are like that.

So I am very grateful to David, and his other half. And when he's back in the city I hope we can find time to get cheap hot wings and beer, which we haven't done in... oh... two years?! How much beer and wings doe $26.20 get you??

(And then I'll run a marathon to burn off the calories!)

On the floor of The Theatre Which Shall Not Be Named Actor House with (clockwise from Red Head: Jaime Cepero, David Shane, Dennis Clark and Phil Name I Don't Remember Because We Are Not Friends On Facebook And We've Totally Lost Touch...)

An Ode to Ailsa Woodhouse

I have known Ailsa since we were both exchange student living in Germany in 1998.
Lucky for both of us I don't have any pictures of our 17/18 year old selves on my computer! Instead I just have gorgeous pictures of her I steal from facebook!

Here's the most fun fact about Ailsa for most people reading this blog--She's from Australia! I know! I mean, I have never been to Australia and neither have most of the people I know. She may, actually, be my furthest away friend, and definitely wins the award for the donation that has traveled the farthest!

So Ailsa and I met over a decade ago when she and I were both Rotary Exchange Students in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Since she came from the other side of the world, she came in January of my exchange year (that had started in August) and we overlapped for about 6 months. In the small town of Wilhelmshaven, all the exchange students knew each other. And Ailsa and I went to the same school (at least I remember it that way...? Maybe I've forgotten!) Even then I remember being envious of Ailsa and her "try it, why not?!" attitude! Perhaps this is an Australian trait, but it certainly isn't Minnesotan or New Yorker! To be able to experience life in all its small and innate beauty as it floats by, not grasping too hard, but enjoying the pleasures as they come, and searching out the light when it seems there is none to be found.

There's a picture that I do have somewhere in my parents basement from that time, during Wilhelmshaven's unseasonal snowfall. On rare occasions snow will fall on this coastal town, and during my exchange year it did. Now to a Minnesota girl this was a familiar thing, but Ailsa had never seen snow! Imagine, somewhere in the world where there is no snow! And she knew no German when she arrived--I remember her telling us that in her school in Darwin, Australia, the languages they taught were Japanese, Chinese and Indonesian (though I could be wrong, I don't even remember if we went to the same school...!) She was a strong and independent girl, with a big and beautiful smile and a "Why the heck not?!" attitude. I was envious of her ease, grace and happiness.

Sadly I have never been to Australia to visit and never had a chance to cross paths with Ailsa the few times she's crossed the ocean to North America. Maybe soon. Maybe after I get my first big Broadway break and actually have an income that can afford trans-atlantic travel... But she is still one of my dearest friends and allies.

And who doesn't want someone cheering you on from half way across the world?! Those cheers have to get a lot of velocity while they travel all that way.

I am grateful for you, Miss Ailsa Jane. :)

An Ode to Jeff Blumenkrantz

A very wonderful, loud and musical shout out thank you to Jeff Blumenkrantz, my "big brother"!

Pictured here with my "twin sister", Kate ("I Will Always Call Her Katie") Clawson Kunkle

So I met Jeff when I was 11 and my children's choir was chosen to be in the Minneapolis stop of the first national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, starring none other than Donny Osmond. Have I dated myself enough with the information in this sentence? All the kids in the ensemble children's choir adopted Big Brothers and Sisters from the adult cast, and Katie and I chose Jeff. He played Simeon and was (and is!) funny and amazingly talented. What makes the whole story so sweet is we are all still friends! And now that I live in NYC, I get to see Jeff much more often (though not often enough!).

I can't begin to tell you what an amazing man Jeff is. First, he is a brilliant actor, comedian and composer! You should absolutely check out his website if you aren't already in the loop. To befriend a mildly OCD and nutty music theatre and music geeky 11 year old is one thing, but to stay her friend and mentor through all of adolescence, struggling into adulthood, finding a way through life... And now living here, trying to "make it" in this crazy theatre business, having a friend who's made a wonderful career in this industry has been a wonderful asset.

I am so thankful for Jeff--for the talent that he has brought not only to my life, but to others through his performances, his talents and his compositions. I am thankful for all the times he's listened to my neurosis, given me a guest bed to crash on, and shared part of his gigantic and wonderful heart with me!

And seriously, you should go check out his music! It will move and inspire you, I promise!

An Ode to Jessica Wilkinson

I am so thankful to the wonderful support of my good friend Jessica Lemon Wilkinson!

Jessica and I met in Jackson, MS in 2004 (good lord, was it really 6 years go??!) when I played Shelby to her Percy the second time I performed in The Spitfire Grill (which I have now done 3 times!). I went back to New Stage Theatre in Jackson in 2006 and performed in three more shows, so perhaps the sum total of months we've spent together is about 6 or 7, but she remains to this day one of my best friends!

Recently she came to visit me in New York (see above picture) and after meeting her for the first time, The DBF said "You girls are like two peas in a pod!"

I had never really thought of it, but it's true--we are two peas in a pod! Sure she's a red head and tiny and I'm an amazon red head, but we have been friends since day one, and that will never change.

Jessica is a wonderful mother and wife, and has two beautiful children. She is a kind and loving woman who knows how to laugh at all of life's ups and downs. She is a southern woman down to her bones, gentile and sassy. We also have the same favorite president! She is an ally and a confidant and I am so grateful that life brought us together and keeps us close!

Also--Jessica has started running too! And I'm so proud of her!

It is a rare friend who can talk about musicals, politics and The Biggest Loser in the same sentence!

So THANK YOU to the lovely Miss Jessica! I am grateful for you!

An Ode to David Perlman

One of the beautiful things about being a professional actor is that everyone knows everyone! And I "knew" David long before I actually really knew him.

David Perlman

Okay, first and foremost, can we just state the obvious:

What a cutie patootie!

David is such a hottie.

He is also:

--a superb actor and singer

--a fiercely loyal friend

--a funny and witty conversationalist

--a serious reality TV afficionado

So I met David on a trip to NYC long before I moved here, because he's good friends with my longest-time actor friends, Jeff Blumenkrantz (more on him to come later)! I've known Jeff since I was 11! So I "met" David for one night in his beautiful apartment in Chelsea, and I was super intimidated (I mean, he's such a cutie patootie, he's got a beautiful apartment, a well established New York career while I was struggling in the regional theatre circuit, and he was way more versed in American Idol than I could even try to be!)

Long story short, years later I move to NYC and in my second show, The Who's Tommy, David ends up playing my nephew! (Okay, let's not do the math that in real life I think I'm about 2 years older than him...) It was such an honor to be in a show with him. Always prepared, focused, interesting and wonderfully creative, quirky and smart. I loved sharing what little stage time we had together, but more than anything, I loved seeing him in his super awesome red leather trench coat!

David played sadistic Cousin Kevin in a likeable, funky and too cool for school, twisted way, and he was a huge asset to that production.

He has continued to work almost constantly, and I am always in awe of his perseverance, focus, determination and work ethic. I am honored too that he and I are a part of the same Career Group (once a week a group of actors get together to discuss challenges and opportunities in our careers, and seek advice, help and encouragement. Kinda like a weekly staff meeting, kinda like free therapy!) But all of you reading should bookmark David's website because he is going to be a name you'll hear. You may have also seen him on 30 Rock this past season?

I am honored to call him co-worker, and now I am also honored to call him a good friend. Thank you for everything, David, especially your constant support!

An Ode to Megan Opalinksi

The lovely Miss Megan Opalinski was the first person to donate towards my $3000 goal for the NYC Marathon. With her smart and witty gift of $26.20 (a dollar for each mile, down to the cent!) she helped me get the ball rolling. And I thought I would share a bit about why I am so thankful for Megan.

Megan is fearless. Megan does not back down. Megan believes in what is Good and does not tolerate what is not-Good. She has an amazingly strong faith, but never judges or criticizes others who may think otherwise. She is warm and open and gentle. To know Megan is to be her friend. Even though we don't get to spend nearly enough time together, every time we do run in to each other or find the time to have lunch, it is always like seeing an old friend, and like no time has passed.

We met doing a non-Equity gig a few years ago in a town in middle of nowhere, America. (Names of theatres have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent!) In

my own personal history, I refer to this time as "The time when I broke". I was coming out of a time when everything had fallen to pieces, and I was too busy, too poor and too down in a dark place to find a sensible way out. I could barely make it through the day without crying at something, fragile like a bird who fell out of its nest. But the friends I made during that contract are some of the best friends I have to this day, and I think they saved me from a certain emptiness that certainly would have come without people like Megan in my life at that time. Megan was a rock. She would make me laugh, she would listen to my ranting and raging, and she was a consummate professional, each and every day. Even when the props department gave her a "violin bow" made out of masking tape (that wasn't even taut), she just laughed, made a joke, and went on stage.

Did I mention the girl can SING?! And she can! She's my favorite kind of singer--a SMART singer! Classically trained with a huge range and a fierce belt, she can make you laugh while cracking jokes or sing sweetly to make you remember why life is so beautiful.

So I am thankful for Miss Megan Opalinski! I am blessed to have a friend like you!

(why we were making this face, I don't know...?)

Overwhelmed!

So it hit me in the past few days that this marathon is really happening.

Not the running part. The running part I've got down. Almost to the point where it's uneventful to run 16+ miles, because I now know that I can. I am a runner.

I repeat:

I am a runner.

But it dawned on me that I have $3000 to raise and about 7 weeks to do it.

Woops.

Granted, I had planned on making a trip to do some fundraising concerts down south in Virginia and North Carolina this August which had to be cancelled at the last minute, so I HAD a plan. But all the best laid plans...

So here comes the hard part--how do you raise $3000? When I signed up to run for the charity I chose I felt like it was a totally reachable goal. Now I think I must have been crazy! Where will this money come from? I know not. I have some ideas, and I'll keep going.

But meanwhile, like I said, running is going quite well. Did 18 miles this weekend. 18 freakin' miles. That's just over an hour of running. And it felt pretty normal. That's amazing. This is the girl who used to not be able to run a mile in school. The human body is a beautiful thing. But what's amazing is I don't quite know yet how to change my mental perception of myself. Even though I've been running pretty regularly since January, and definitely since April, I still think of myself as incapable of any type of real athleticism.

So my brain seems to recognize that only a true runner should be able to run 18 miles easily, but my daily state seems to forget.

How do you get all your different brains to match up? The history brain, the reality brain, the perception of current events and facts? And maybe it's just a constant reassessment and recalibrating. (My computer says that's not a word. To calibrate again. And again. And again.)

I am grateful for legs that keep me moving, at various paces, fast, slow and in between.

I am grateful for joint that seem to suffer my folly to run for 3 hours straight.

I am grateful for the three donations I've already received for my fundraising goal!

I am grateful for a brain that can learn new things, like finally accepting the truth of my own strength.