That is the opening line of a piece from my one woman show that I performed at the January Story Jam series in Wimette, Illinois. Wilmette is a mostly affluent, predominantly White suburb of Chicago. I entitled the story "nigger," which tells the story of the first time I was called such by a White person. I have to admit that I had some reservations about presenting a story about being called a nigger to a mostly White audience - for about a minute. Hell, I told the world that I weigh 300 …
The Adventures of Permanent Lifestyle Change Girl: Performing the Fat Piece
It's been a couple of weeks since the evening in which I performed a reading of the Fat piece from my solo show. I was nervous, I was uncertain. It had only been a fantasy for so long, a work in progress, my biggest obstacle in the long running marathon to complete my solo show. The writing is the hard part - until you think of performing it live in front of people. The many drafts have been edited, critiqued, undone, reconstructed within an inch of its life and still it seemed "not ready," but …
The Adventures of Permanent Lifestyle Change Girl: Documenting My Weight Journey for My One Woman Show.
I've been up for ages this morning writing the hardest piece ever for my show. It has always been the one story that I knew I had to tell yet the most difficult to complete. The topic of weight is so multifaceted for me. There are so many approaches I can take. Every time I think I've nailed it I find yet another level to explore. My fitness program has led to yet another approach to the telling of this story. Do I keep the story as is with the fitness thing as a mere mention, or do I insert …
The One Woman Show
It's official! After nearly three decades, I have started putting together my one woman show! That is all. Stay tuned... …
Old Dreamers
This is a note to myself and others like me: underachievers, those with gifts who believe they haven't fulfilled their potential, those who have been writing a book, play, or dissertation, making a movie, recording a CD, going to a comedy open mic, opening a restaurant, going back to school and haven't done it yet. We know who we are. I have written about this shit for years: losing weight, writing my one woman show. And I reckon this is just another testament in a long series of promises I …