Vol 2. Issue 39

Pic of the week

Christmas in Portland!  Puzzles with Grandma!  Goats!  Freshly hatched baby chickens! Aunt Sibby!

Quote of the week

"I want to watch something with a handsome man in it."
-Grandma on which Christmas movie she wants to watch.

What's going on?

Christmas!

Also, I didn't post last week because I was traveling and didn't take my computer with me.  Rest assured it was a mostly uneventful week of work and travel prep.  I did go see CATS with some friends, though, and y'all it was TERRIBLE.  In such a fun way.  We had a BLAST watching it, but it was so so so bad.  So, if you want a good time, wait til it hits the dollar theater, gather some friends, and go laugh your head off while continuously saying, "What on Earth is going on..."

BUT CHRISTMAS!!!

I flew up to Portland to spend the holiday with aunt Sibs.  All of her kids were scattered to the winds for Christmas, and my immediate family was similarly dispersed, so we celebrated together.  Grandma was there, and uncle Dan was there, and my roommate came up too with her dog, so we were quite the crew.  We had a great time though.  Too much food, lots of Christmas movies, puzzles, treats, feeding the goats, watching the chickens hatch, naps, good conversation, and beautiful surroundings.  It was really nice to get away for a few days.

I flew back to LA Christmas Day because the little bro is in town helping out with the Rose Parade floats and he drove in that day.  We got Chinese food - our favorite Christmas tradition - opened some presents and ended the day well.  The rest of the week has basically been one long run of lounging, watching movies, eating treats, and playing games.  It's been fun, but if I'm being honest, I'm ready for life to get going again.  Hahaha.

The new year is right around the corner!  And most people think it's the start of a new decade.  And while technically that's not true (the new decade actually starts in 2021), we'll all treat it as a new decade, and that's fine.  Bring on the 2020s.

What I'm reading

This is so good.  Everyone read it.  These are important things. Heads up there are a couple of swears sprinkled in, but they are rare.

What I'm watching

Every. Christmas. Movie. Ever.  But mostly my favorite one:

What I'm listening to

On repeat.

Vol. 2 Issue 38

Pic of the week 

Just a casual wait for Mickey's Philharmagic show at Disneyland.

Quote of the week

What's going on?

A Disney-filled week this week!  Dad and Susan were in town with Susan's daughter and her family, so I spent the day with them on Monday.  Then I already had plans to go to Disneyland with some friends to enjoy the holiday magic before my pass gets blocked for the rest of the year.  There are some tasty treats at Disneyland around the holidays.  To be sure. It was fun to spend so much time there.

The rest of the week was work as normal.  Lots of tutoring, some time at Kidville (we had our holiday party this week and I was named "Kidville's Voice of Reason"), and a little Story Pirates.  Got in some Christmas lights, some hot chocolate, and some egg nog.  A festive week all around.

What I'm reading

Still reading 1491.  It's a long one, and I've been busy.  It's interesting though!

What I'm watching

This was delightful.  HIGHLY recommended.

What I'm listening to

Christmas radio on Spotify.  It's taken a few days, but I'm finally starting to feel the Christmas spirit. It's hard to feel festive when the weather is constantly sunny and 70 degrees (not that I'm complaining...).

Also, this new podcast discovery.  He's a fascinating guy and I just love everything he has to say.

Vol 2 Issue 37

Pic of the week 

Rainy days call for comfort foods.  Vegetables can wait til January.

What's going on?

I'm just hanging out in my onesie, sipping on some eggnog, listening to some chill Christmas tunes wrapping up a pretty awesome week.

Most of my week was consumed by Story Pirates auditions.  We audition new actors once a year, and once you're a Story Pirate, you're always a Story Pirate and you're basically eligible for any and all programming we may do throughout the year.  But we gotta keep a fresh rotation of people in the company because some people's lives go in unexpected and delightful directions.  Kristen Schaal, Amber Ruffin, Lauren Lapkis, Sasheer Zamata - all Story Pirates!  We also have people who go on to write for TV shows and the like.  It's pretty exciting to be surrounded by so many awesome people, honestly.

Anyway, our auditions are a really fun process of bringing a kid's story to life to see if you can do the thing we do.  So I just got to hang out with my friends and have a bunch of people delight us and make us laugh.  And some of those people will now be Story Pirates!  Mostly I just had a blast.  I really love my job.

In not so fun news, the ignition switch on my car decided to give up the ghost a little.  Kind of.  Its death rattles are becoming clearer and clearer.  I was unable to turn my key the other day.  A locksmith came and worked on it for a bit.  He said he couldn't fix what's wrong, but that it was once again functioning, though who knows for how long?!  I took it into the shop today and they said they didn't have the part and the place that would have the part was closed, but that they gave it a little tune up and it should work just fine - which was immediately proved wrong when I tried to start my car to leave the parking lot.  We were able to eventually get the key turned, but it's a real adventure every time I start my car now.  Will the key turn?  Won't it?  It's anybody's guess!  The guy at the shop said to try getting a new key made because it could just be that my key is 16 years old and might be too worn down to function properly.  So, I guess we'll try that and maybe get a replacement ignition switch another time.

An adventurous week all around.  Plus there was rain.  And I'm still training for a half-marathon.  Had a 9-mile training run this week.  That's the furthest I've ever run.  My knees are feeling it.

What I'm watching

What I'm reading

This beautiful example of what I think Christlike living looks like.  I was the recipient of one of those 1500 pizzas.  I probably didn't need it, but I can't tell you how much it meant. 

What I'm listening to

This podcast episode about Envy.

This podcast episode about Anger.

And this podcast episode about how our country is sometimes pretty terrible at compassion, which is frankly equal parts depressing and enraging considering how many people here claim to be Christian.

Vol 2 Issue 36

Pic of the week 

Thanksgiving dinner with my little surrogate family. The fierce lady with the dog is a Story Pirate friend of mine.  Those are her parents, and some friends of hers from college, if I remember correctly.

What's going on?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Always love a chance to take a breath and practice some gratitude.  I have a LOT to be thankful for in the past year - good friends, better jobs, amazing trips, delicious food, chances to perform in some amazing capacities, and of course the day to day things that make a life a life.  Glad you're all part of my journey.

It was a movie-filled week, for me.  I saw Frozen II (liked it better than the first one, cried through the whole thing), Honey Boy (didn't care for it much, but it will probably win a ton of awards), Knives Out (fun whodunit with a killer cast - pun intended), and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Everyone needs to see this.  The world needs more Mr. Rogers.)

What I'm reading

This beautiful and unexpected story from the good ol' Utah news.

What I'm watching

Mostly just the movies above.  Though I have been catching up on Schitt's Creek - hilarious show if you don't mind some language, Queer Eye in Japan, and just started The Mandalorian on Disney Plus.

Vol 2 Issue 35

Pic of the week 

Quote of the week

"Don't do your job.  Come hang out with me."
-My manager

What's going on?

What a busy week.  I can't even remember what went on.  Lots of tutoring, lots of Kidville, a little bit of Story Pirates, an audition on the far side of town wherein I had to dance, naps, running, running, running, and a chance encounter with a 50% off running shoe sale - of which I took full advantage.  Merry Christmas to me. :)

Guys.  This time of year, though.  There are so many tasty things to eat!  TOO MANY!  And I haven't really even been to Disneyland in a hot minute!  But don't worry.  I have plans for that.  But how is a person supposed to stay svelte and comely with all of this rich, delicious food everywhere? HOW?!

We had a neurodiversity training for Story Pirates this week.  It was awesome.  We talked about how to make our programming more accessible to more kids, and how to make sure that all kids can enjoy what we do.  It kind of got me thinking about when subjects like this are brought up and people get their knickers in a twist about it.  Because I just think, why is it so hard to just...draw the circle a little wider?  Why does that cause people to get so defensive?  Is it really THAT hard for you to make a tiny adjustment?  I dunno.  Just something I'm thinking about.

What I'm watching

The Crown.  New cast.  Same old drama.  Honestly though, it's such a good show.  Find it on Netflix, k?

What I'm listening to

Too much Kidz Bop.  

Vol 2 Issue 34

Pic of the week 

Just gettin' crazy on a Saturday night.  Don't worry, I dominated.

What's going on?

Some of my plants didn't survive my trip to Vegas last week.  We said goodbye to Ezra, the baby spider plant, and to Genevieve the English Ivy I was hoping would climb my wall and make it lush. But as we say, put your shoulder to the wheel, let us all press on, and I guess it's time to buy another couple of plants. Everybody else weathered the absence just fine.  Good to know that I need to figure out how to take care of some of these plants if I'm gone for 7 straight days.  Didn't think it'd be that big of a deal.  All of the plants I have are on virtually every top 10 list of easiest house plants.

Also I took 3 trips to the grocery store on 3 consecutive days.  It's been a week.

What I'm watching

This was just delightful and fun.

What I'm listening to

Dolly Parton's America.  Fascinating series about Dolly Parton, her music, her legacy, and how she seems to effortlessly bridge any and all divides. 

Vol 2 Issue 33

Pic of the week 

It was a very colorful week this week.  Can't get enough.

Quote of the week

"Can I expose myself to you?"
So here's what happened.  We were doing a Story Pirates show and in this story the main character was afraid of bubbles.  The kids decided that the way to help him get over that was by exposing him to a bunch of bubbles.  So someone came on stage as a bubble and that's what they said.  Another character immediately said, "Um...maybe let's rephrase that...".  It was hilarious.

What's going on?

I was in Vegas all week with Story Pirates, and this was a tour for the books.  We had such a good time there.  We did 10 shows in 5 days for somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,500 kids.  On top of that we saw shows, ate at restaurants, walked the strip, visited the Pinball Hall of Fame, and generally lived our best lives.  It was so fun and also so exhausting.  But really we had a lovely time and laughed a lot and stuffed our faces and still probably didn't eat more calories than we burned with all the shows we were doing.  If you find yourself in Vegas, though, I've got some recommendations.

Also!  I signed up for a half marathon.  It's in February.  Never thought I'd ever do something like that but here we are.  So I've been training for that.  Getting some miles in.  My knees are not too happy about it, but they're surviving.  This week in Vegas was actually really nice because I had access to a hot tub post-run.