Things Are Also Good

On the plus side, say the government doesn't exist right now, I am doing my solo show. My weirdo dream concept I've plotted for a year. There is nothing like doing a thing you want to do in the exact way you want to do it. I am grateful. I am proud. I hope I'm making pitters of change as I put on pig ears and bake the pizza puffs. It is connected. It can't not be.

Cast & Crew of Meat Cute

Things Are Bad

The march was good. I cried, and I felt hope for the first time in months. There are a lot of people here. We are the majority. Bless the women marching in literal Antarctica. Afterward, I asked Puhg if we could get a fancy cocoa, so we took the green line west to a place that dunks a s'more donut in your cup. I called reps. I prepared for my shows that night and the following days.

I am shocked that so many awful things have happened in less than a week. The human rights, the health, all of it--need need need to be restored, but more than anything else, we must must must save our environment. That damage cannot be undone.

We tell each other it will be okay and then text the very same people "It will not be okay." We take turns now. I recognize I am going to lose a lot of things, and some of those I believe were too good to be true in the first place. So maybe we deserve it. But that doesn't mean I'm not scared.

When Obama won, a classmate of mine, sitting next to me in the computer lab wrote on Facebook "This is the end of America," and honestly he was right. Because Obama's win generated the hate that has made our current president possible. It is so sad. We are not as smart as we thought we were. We let our greed and our assumption someone else better than us was taking care of things end us.

I truly believe the billionaires know the planet is over and will rake in as much money as possible to begin the new world where their grandson's will be king of the remaining few. That's how insane I have become. Every angle I face I succumb to a conspiracy theory. I pray for a solution that hasn't crossed my mind any of these long dark nights.

Binders of Tony Women

Obligatory blog post about the lack of female representation at the 2014 Tonys. I didn't watch The Tonys, mainly because I don't have TV and secondly because I didn't hear about literally anything that even piqued my interest on Broadway this year. So I just read the results the next morning. Of course the lack of women was obvious. Like, where the woman at? Especially playwrights. Especially because the Pulitzers were female playwright bonanza.

A positive outcome from the whole kerfuffel is how many people are cognizant of the inequality. Jason Robert Brown publicly dissed Broadway, the internet exploded etc. etc. But I'm just so tired of women being counted all the time. One one hand, apparently we have to keep doing it. Because there aren't women in things women need to be in. You know, little things like Congress and national artistic awards. But, like, EVERY TIME  thing of importance happens I feel like these really imporant (and rare) ladies are just numbers. (Only one woman in this category, only one previous winner in this category, this many seats in the House, and so on). So, like, yeah, since it;s ridiculous, we need to keep reminding people women are supes underrepresented. But on the other hand what kind of solution does that really inspire? Vote for for women based on the fact we're missing women? I'm annoyed there aren't many women on Broadway, but what can I do about that? Producers can certainly from now on feel they must at LEAST nominate a woman in each category every year, but then it's sort of a pity game instead of a talent game. Or at least it can feel that way.

What are the actual answers to these unfair numbers? I can't accept the answer is simply repeating the numbers over and over and pretending that's part of a solution or even the most useful data. Everyone laughed forever at Mitt Romney's "binder full of women" slip-up, but actually what he was even saying was highly idiotic. (Not trying to rip on Romney here, the most progressive people do this stuff.) Someone questioned his gender equality, so his first attempted answer is "All is good, a employ so many women." AKA Look at these numbers! I'm fulfilling the numbers!

I don't know how many college ads are based on the concept, "You're not a number here at Blerg Blagh University. You're a name/student/person/Chia Pet!" And yet, all of humanity cannot stop treating women as numbers alone. I am not a number!

Michelle Obama's Cardigan

Fully admit I love the Obamas
in a sort of idealized way. This might make me
a bit naive, but I don't care.
Last night on Girls Jessa said both sides are
dirtbags. Which is true
and not true. But if you can love a politician--
not blindly, but by way of reading
love letters his college flames published
(in which he asks What Am I Meant to Be?)--
then, what the heck, I say,
just love him.

At the gym T Swift blared in my ears
while I ran toward CNN.
Barack and Michelle walking that mall.
Closed Captioning told me the first lady
wore the same navy cardigan yesterday.
How is this news? But. Fine. I think:
Good for you, ma'am. Real people wear
the same sweater twice.
And I bopped my head side to side,
pressed the buttons faster faster faster,
the song about Jake Gyllenhaal and Never Ever Ever,
while the president swore
"I'm still here."

Richard Dawkins

Found my notes from the Richard Dawkins talk I saw this February with Pookie. Ideas from the legend:

-Trying to figure out God from our perspective is like looking for keys you dropped under a lamppost since that's where the light is.

-People say that our existence is proof of a higher power because us being here is so improbable, but, actually, the big surprise would be if nothing happened in am empty space.

-It's sad all politicians have to lie about being religious. They can't all possibly care. We need to be who we are and own it.

-Fear is a biological mechanism. It's not so bad.

Interesting ideas, Dawks. I enjoyed hearing him speak--despite not always entirely agreeing. Because I had a good, thought-provoking evening, when the dude was walking offstage to thunderous applause of four-thousand hands, I yelled up at him (I was in the front row) "Thanks!" and he smiled so so genuinely, and he pointed at me, like, "Hey, YOU thanks."

And then my sis and I went out with Blue Eyes to an Irish pub and sucked down cranberry juices.