Look, Over There!

I wrote something at Kizz & Tell! Don't fall over in surprise.

*Remember, if you're uncomfortable equating me with sexy situations you'll need to stay away from that blog. Proceed, as always, at your own discretion.*

Photo Challenge: BEAR/BARE

This one was fun! I think you're going to love this pictures. Please tell the photographers all about your infatuation.

Will you join us next time? The prompt is below.

Pictures of baby bears make me want to snuggle and scritch them. Fortunately for us kcinnova kept her distance and expressed her delight photographically. How cool is this?

I feel as though this one by Our Bethany has both BEAR and BARE in it. The lurking creature behind the curtain and then the contemplative bollicky bare ass boy in the foreground are working together to encompass the whole prompt.

I do a lot of shooting from the hip, quickly grabbing something as I power on by. Our Cindy gets an idea in her head and she takes the time to set it up and record it for posterity. This is a marvelous example of her playful genius.

I had this in my Flickr stream and I couldn't resist. You didn't expect me to, did you?

I really hope this is as funny to you as it is to me. Our Lisa posted this in the Flickr group and titled it, "Not A Bear." Makes me laugh every time.

I think one of the greatest gifts in life is to find a partner in crime who honestly enjoys playing your reindeer games. Our Janet has clearly found herself a brilliant match.

We'll be posting the next challenge the day before both Valentines Day, which happens to be the day I mark as Eddie's birthday. He'll be four. I think let's use HEARTFELT as our prompt. Sound good?

Please enter by 9am Tuesday February 12th for posting on February 13th. Tag your photos with PHOTO CHALLENGE and BEAR/BARE. Check out the wonderful work in our Flickr Pool for inspiration. Also, let me know if you have questions.

Knowing

What you're seeing in this photo has never happened before. Up until yesterday if I decided to use a pillow or a part of the couch or bed the dog would simply decamp to another place he could make his own. Suddenly yesterday I lie down while watching a movie and he's doing some sort of grape stomping re-enactment on my hair trying to make enough room on the pillow to lie down. I refused to budge so we reached the comical stand off you see here. I felt pretty good about sticking to my guns except for the two times he heard someone in the hallway and launched off my skull to protect the front door. That was scary. I don't really want to do that again.

I've said a number of times that it's different having a little dog rather than a big dog, a terrier rather than a shepherd. The last week has been one example of this after another. It took me a few days of frigid temps to realize that Eddie was genuinely uncomfortable and shouldn't be out for very long at a time. It took me longer than that to come to terms with the fact that he was fine with that, perhaps even happy. He was thrilled to be back in the park this morning in the comparatively balmy 30F but equally jazzed to follow his early morning park aunties to the car for a warm ride home. I've been doing a little tricks training with him inside to burn up some of his energy but the minute I bring out the treats he becomes so wildly excited I have a hard time getting him to focus. I can't seem to get the right tone or message to get him right down to working.

I just don't know how to read this one, folks. Over the weekend I had sobering thoughts about my ability to understand what this particular dog both wants and needs. I got over it by thinking back on Emily's early days and realizing that I didn't have any doubts about my ability to read her because I hadn't yet learned I needed to. Now that I know better the next lesson is just as hard as the first.

I heard through a grapevine recently about a couple I know distantly having some "troubles at home." Everyone talking about it was shocked and amazed. They were great together, I mean, sure they seemed like an unlikely match from a distance but then there they were making that work. Opposites attract, right? It was inspiring for all of us! The better question here is, what the hell makes us think we knew anything about them? It should never come as a surprise when someone does something because there is no way in heaven or hell we actually know anyone.

This is not news. It is, though, a lesson I seem to need to learn over and over. I'm pretty good at figuring people out. I like to write and to act so poking around into the way other folks operate is sort of a little bit like my job. I forget, though, that people change. That, even if someone has spent the last two years perfectly happy sticking to their own pillow they might one day decide they need to share yours. It surprises me every time.

You know?

Change Your Tune

You know that phenomenon where the bigger the bag you're carrying the more stuff you put in it? Carrying a clutch purse and you manage to get along perfectly well with your phone, some money, and maybe a magazine. Upgrade to a tote and you suddenly need some aspirin, an extra scarf, your hard bound copy of War & Peace, even flip flops in case your shoes start to chafe.

Now that the show is over I'm taking a break from voice lessons until March. The plan was for great swaths of empty time peppered with moments of catching up with people I hadn't seen while I was preparing. So far I don't have even one day off. Goodbye parties, concerts, bowling dates, movies, and extra work to rebuild the coffers. It's going to be like that for a couple of weeks. While I'm glad to see everyone and don't want to disappoint anyone I'm sad that the freedom thing didn't really work out the way I'd planned*.

Are you the kind of person that would love a lazy lone weekend or for whom that sounds like the next step up from waterboarding?

*Just trust me when I say that I'm busy on President's Day Weekend. Don't ask any questions.

Rain Dogs Make Me Cry

I like a lot of Tom Waits's music but I don't know the entirety of it very well. Whenever I think of him, though, I think of Rain Dogs. Couldn't hum a line of it but it's etched onto my heart. The only time I heard it someone, who knows who, decided to tell me what it was about. Apparently there's a phenomenon where dogs get lost because they go after something or get dumped or make a wrong turn and before they head home it rains and they aren't able to get the scent back so they can't locate home. It breaks my heart to think of it every time.

That's not my dog's problem. He's not lost anymore and there's no reason, really, for him to find his own way home. After the last couple of days, though, I gotta tell you, I don't think he could find his way home on a clear, warm day with a trail of liver bits to guide him! Maybe he's too excitable to concentrate, I have no idea.

Here's the thing that's leading me to believe he's nasally challenged. It was frigid again this morning. We slept in, knowing that going outside for very long would be fruitless. So we get out there and I'm letting him lead me and he's moving at a clip, even pulling me, but at a corner where he might head home he heads away. At the next corner where he might head home he heads away. And the next. At that point I decided it was too cold to go any farther so I moved us onto the homeward path. Ed seemed unconcerned, perhaps even a little wistful that we weren't continuing. Until, that is, we got to our corner, half a block from our house. There he doubled down, pulling like a sled dog, throwing exasperated looks over his shoulder at me because I was slowing him down. He hauled my strolling ass all the way to our building and into the lobby before he took a moment to shake off his frustration while I opened the door.

Inside the apartment he doesn't greet me or the dog walker at the door anymore. He stays well away, cushioned by a blanket or the couch or both, daring us to force him out there into the scentless cold.

Photo: Not My Dog taken by me on the island of Murano, Italy

Danger Mouse

Yesterday I took the dog to the park. Just a quick lap, the shortest route. He seemed eager, though, running along beside me and begging for treats, so we expanded a little. At the entrance I leashed him up and he leaned into the no-pull harness and dragged me all the way home. So, I may have misinterpreted the eager part.

Same thing happened last night on our weekly walk with Sara and Bu. We shortened our route and took a pit stop at the wine store halfway through to warm up. He pulled me back to their house and when he figured out we weren't staying there he redoubled his efforts to get me home.

This morning it was almost 10 degrees colder than last night. So we slept in. Our usual 30-45 minute walk shortened up to about 7 very efficient ones in which all the necessary business was transacted and he still pulled me the last half block. It's way too cold out there for man or beast.

So I guess we'll be playing inside for a while.

40 Years of Struggling to Stand Still

I'm told that today is the 40th anniversary of the "winning" of Roe v. Wade, the landmark pro-choice supreme court decision. In the intervening years many other decisions have eroded that ruling and we now live in a country where trying to parse the needlessly complicated question of choice is a fight we have every single day. So of course that's what my 10 things are about on this Tuesday.

1. First I'm going to send you to this old post of mine. Years ago the foundation of my pro-choice stance shifted and got firmer and I want that to happen to you as well. These are still the best words I've ever written on the subject.

2. Lizz Winstead is honoring people who speak out in defense of choice all day on her twitter feed. If you're looking for new people to follow (nudge nudge, Chili) this is a good place to start.

3. If you prefer Winstead in more than 140 character spurts then I highly recommend her book, Lizz Free or Die. There is one chapter in particular that speaks to the question of choice and it's exquisite.

4. Here's a poll saying that the majority of Americans want abortion to remain legal. I believe it.

5. Shakesville shared a number of infographics about the people who feel the impact of restricted choice most deeply. (Hint: It's not rich people.)

6. Some Alabama anti-choicers we exactly as kind and compassionate as we've come to expect when a woman came to a clinic for a medical procedure.

7. Here's a report about how these fucked up "personhood" bills are criminalizing pregnancy. I want to refer you again to #1 on this list for calculating the magnitude of wrong this trend is.

8. I love shoes, I love women, I love choice. Why haven't I contributed to the Not In Her Shoes project yet?

9. Related news that I totally think belongs in this list is a thoughtful post about being pregnant and uninsured in the US.

10. Frustratingly I can't find the last thing I want to link to. Planned Parenthood sent something out about changing the language they use around abortion services. It was about some people not liking the term "choice" and so they were using some form of "voice" I think. I would be grateful if someone could send me that link so I could add it here later.

I'm already at 10 but here's a bonus: The best of Twitter on Roe v. Wade...so far. Great article tweeted by @IrinCarmon about 5 things you may not know about Roe v. Wade.  Lizz Winstead on the fact that abortion is a medical procedure.

OK, now I've got you started, let's start advocating for choice.

Honestly, No Honestly!

Honestly, I'm almost done talking about the show. I want to be done talking about it for a little while. I'll need a break before I try to do it again in March and April. But before I go, want to see some pictures of people enjoying the experience (and some totally illegal shots of the actual performance)?

I thought you would.

Kath took them. We're a funny group.

Memorable

Miflohny processes and shares her photos both privately and in chronological order. Sometimes this means that she attends to actual life duties and photos appear in my inbox after a few months. My memory, while generally pretty good, is easily diverted. So, if she and I have spent time together and taken photos I can open an email and get a huge surprise.

This was a great one. Taken during a dinner at the diner a few months ago. Afterwards we went to the bookstore and perused books about planes. Now I want to do it again.

Photo taken by Miflohny and posted with permission.

Comment Card

A selection of comments I've gotten about the show.

"I learned a lot about you tonight."

"A masterwork!"

"It took me, like, four songs to reconcile the you I see in the park with the you up there singing."

"It was nice to see Kizz being Kizz - doing something she loves to do."

"When you sing it's all about the words."

"You know me, I was dreading this. Another friend's self indulgent bullshit. Five notes in I suddenly thought, "Wow! She can really do this!""

Photo by Kath. Hat briefly stolen from Kath.

A Day Like Today

When people ask me to visualize what my perfect day doing what I love is, well, it's today.

Take the dog to the park.
Breakfast with a friend.
Write.
Nap.
Read.
Warm up.
Get clean.
Walk the dog.
Head to the theatre.
Do a show.

Feeling pretty good about the day.

Looking forward to a time when this can be every day.

Photo Challenge: BRRRRR

Hey, you guys, we raised $90 for Rescue Ink. I think that's pretty cool. Thanks so much for being a part of it. On this cold, rainy day I'm glad to be sending a tiny boost to the folks who are still working in a cold, overcrowded temporary shelter while they rebuild.

We've got some rare photographer sightings in this one so, as ever, your comments and expressions of deep love and admiration are welcomed both in comments here and in the photographers' streams on Flickr. Here's the link to our whole group.

This is a lovely chilly photo from Our Sue but I can't talk about it. All I can talk about is her new dog. She has a new dog, you guys! Her name is Abbie Lynn and she's gorgeous and hilarious and I am in luuurve.

I'm not going to call protective services or anything because kcinnova's kid seems to be having a ball but, seriously, isn't this the sort of thing we're supposed to saving kids from? On the other hand, this is the kid I want on my side during the zombie apocalypse. There are skills here I'm going to need help with.

Sporting two coats, a new leash, a fancy light on his collar, and his trademark attitude this is my Ed on Christmas morning. Contrast it with his walk this morning in 32F rain where he tried to break into a neighbor's house to request amnesty.

I happen to know, through the wonders of social media, that Our Janet is at home today nursing a cold and watching a snow storm from exactly this vantage point today. Squirrel not included. He's not going out in that snow, either!


This is a first, you guys! It's a video from Our Chili. It's proof both of how cold it is where she lives and of how entertaining it can be to marry an engineer. I think it's displaying properly. Let me know if you have trouble. I know the link to her name works if you need to use that!

Our Cindy has been taking some spectacular pictures lately. You should catch up with her on Flickr and look for her (ElephantSoap) on Instragram. It will make your life more visually interesting, I guarantee it.

This photo from Smalltown Mom made me immediately grateful and slightly guilty. I live in a place where there are people who take care of maintenance issues (in theory) and I'm so glad because this simple and ingenious thing, insulating your water pipes, can prevent disaster. If I was a homeowner I bet I would fail to get that taken care of and be so, so sad. Go you practical lady! You're my inspiration.

This is a gorgeous capture from Our Lisa's archives. She didn't have a new shot because on the day she got coldest last week she accidentally stranded herself, sweaty from a run, a couple miles from home and decided, shivering and clutching a latte (yes, she brought money but no leggings) to walk the rest of the way home. Let's use this opportunity to remind her that there's no shame in calling for a ride if the conditions are worthy of BRRRRR.

Our Bethany is now in a prime location for getting beautiful ice and snow pictures. This one gives me goosebumps. Stay bundled while you shoot, friend!

We're hitting the time of year that's great for hibernation. At least for me, that was not conducive to a photo prompt until my thoughts went like this: HIBERNATION -> BEAR-> BARE -> HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! So, it's ridiculous but I'm going with it. The next prompt is BEAR/BARE. Do with it as you will from Huggy Bear to Bear Down to Barely There to Bare Freaking Naked, I'm excited to see where you go with this one.

Please enter by 9am Tuesday JANUARY 29th for posting on January 30th. Tag your photos with PHOTO CHALLENGE and BEAR/BARE. Check out the wonderful work in our Flickr Pool for inspiration. Also, let me know if you have questions.

**********

Don't forget that the world premiere run of my new cabaret show, Back Where I Belong, concludes tomorrow night, January 17. Details are here. I hope you can make it and bring all your friends! Please spread the word and use the hashtag, #KizzCabaret.   

A Chili 44

Chili turns 44 today. So you know what the list is about!

1. We met in High School and had the same homeroom.

2. She had enviably feathered hair.

3. She still has enviable hair.

4. In my experience if you share the same astrological sign with a friend it either makes the friendship impossible or great. We're Capricorns. So far so good...

5. Whenever she talks about being a mom for some reason I remember being at her house when her second child was still a nursing babe. As we sat and talked her husband walked by and asked about the baby, "Is she eating or just binking?" "Just binking." I don't know why I remember it but I do.

6. She loves her Outlander series and I love my Lymond series because we've both got a lot of Scottish blood in our veins. Some day the crossover love will happen for us. I know it will. They're books. We love books. It has to happen, right?

7. She prefers homemade over store bought even if that means she spends a lot of time eating a store's or restaurant's meal and tweaking her own making of it.

8. Her emotional achilles heel when she's being photographed is her chin. I think that's secretly why she doesn't post pictures of herself online. (It isn't, but come on, that'd be a good story.)

9. Please don't call the authorities on us but when I got my first laptop we hooked it up to hers and she shared the contents of her iTunes with me. I still have every song.

10. I love her.

WinTired

I'm tired.

The New Year comes 7 days after Christmas and my birthday comes 8 days after that. I get tired about now every year. Then, apparently, I forget. Add in the show (1 performance left!) and the endless political hammering going on everywhere about everything and the flupocalypse that I'm spending a lot of time trying to dodge and, despite getting plenty of rest, I'm just fucking tired, man. Surprise! (Every year.)

If I can get to Friday night then I can be pretty lazy and for that I'm grateful. In the mean time I keep strict to do lists, self-medicate with low-dairy-content sweets, and whisper sweet nothings to my mattress whenever I see it.

How are you doing out there? The holidays are over, the week is kicking off, many folks are under the weather. Sound off if you have a moment and let us know you're still treading water, will you?

Thanks.

Go to bed early tonight.

**********

If you're planning to come to the last performance of this run of my new cabaret show, Back Where I Belong, please make a reservation. Seats are filling up fast! 

Power We Cannot Fight

Half an hour ago I was going to just ask you about some unexpected bubbles in my sink. Then I went and read Neil Gaiman's blog post about the death of his famous dog, Cabal. I was already crushed by the news last night but to read Cabal's majestic story and its unjustly plebeian ending only increased the pressure on my heart. I couldn't share anything else with you today.

Here is the blog post and, I'm not going to lie to you, it's not an easy read if you have ever lost someone you love, but it is wonderful. It ends with a poem by Kipling that I'm not familiar with. I love it.

And hate it.

THERE is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day; 
And when we are certain of sorrow in store, 
Why do we always arrange for more? 
Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

Photo is of my dearly departed girl, Emily. 

Lotta F

Last night's performance was Fan-Fucking-Tastic! Had a great crowd of family, friends, neighbors, even people I didn't know. A lot of folks there had never seen me perform before. I had a marvelous time and I think they did, too. I've spoken to a few of them already today and all the feedback is lovely.

I'm the kind of person who likes to get to the theatre early and wait. And wait. And wait. We're only allowed in the room an hour before the show so that curbs my urge to be there half the day but I don't waste time. I arrive a few minutes early, pee, and head in so I can stand on that tiny stage a little bit longer, sing a few more notes, make the space my own. When they're ready to open the house to audience I go downstairs to change my clothes and put on my makeup. Since that only takes about 15 minutes (I just don't know enough about makeup for it to be super fancy) I wind up with a chunk of time with nothing to do.

One of the pieces of feedback I got from the first show was to slow my inner meter a bit so my jokes and ideas had time to land in people's ears. So I thought a short amount of meditation might be a good idea. I sat still, closed my eyes, and my brain took off like it was shot out of a canon. What I do in those situations is choose a phrase to repeat over and over to occupy my brain. I don't recall how I made it into a phrase but I centered myself around the concept of trusting that all the information I needed (words, notes, acting beats) would come to me as I needed it. I get panicked about knowing everything thoroughly and that can lead to me spewing it all out too quickly as though I can run ahead of any chance forgetfulness.

Well, I'll be damned if it didn't work! Several times throughout the show I would get a quick shot of worry that I didn't know the next line or story and as soon as I breathed in the words came right out of my mouth. It was fabulous! Until the final song when I'd said all I needed to say and Daryl was vamping and I breathed in and...nothing. No idea what the words were or the note I needed to start on or even the concept of the verse. Clue. Motherfucking. Free. But, what came to me instead was the ability to just say so, to be honest and make a joke and get the prompt from Daryl (thank goodness!) and then go on to give everything I wanted to the song without being derailed by the glitch.

This meditation thing, I think there might be something to it.

*All photos are by my beloved Mimi Ferraro taken at Don't Tell Mama after my performance in December. My only regret is that I don't have a picture of the two of us together as well.

44

I used to be very small.

I'm bigger now.

Today I'm 44.

Ethel Merman's List

Or: 10 Things About My Show

1. Next one is tomorrow!

2. Last one is next Thursday, January 17th!

3. They're both at 7:30 at Don't Tell Mama and the cost is $15 cover plus 2 drink minimum.

4. I'll be singing, you don't want to miss that.

5. I've written some funny jokes, if I do say so myself.

6. There's still room at both shows but not much so reservations are recommended. You can make them online or call (212) 757-0788 after 4pm.

7. I would be so psyched if even one of these performances sold out. I won't be sad if they don't and it's already clear that both houses will have goodly-sized audiences but how much fun would that be? A lot of fun, that's how much.

8. Both of my parents will be in attendance at tomorrow night's show (transportation authorities willing) so if you've ever wanted to meet those guys now's your chance!

9. Yes, it's the same show as the one I did on the 16th. I'm telling the story of my love affair with New York City using anecdotes from my life and songs by a whole host of other people (for instance October Project)  and I worked hard to write an engaging, fun, coherent narrative so it'll be the same show for all three performances.

10. But it's live theatre so, you know, no two shows are ever the same.

OK, I have to scoot off to a rehearsal with my awesome accompanist, Daryl Kojak. Hope to see you at the club!

Forged

I wonder if I'd do as well with New Year's resolutions/goals if I lived in the Southern hemisphere. The cold up here at this page on the calendar lends itself to hibernation and routine, a perfect climate for the sorts of goals I tend to give myself. "Take a picture every day," "Write," or even, "Exercise" as long as that last one doesn't mean doing anything outside. I've already completed my writing for today so that's 7 days in a row for me, huzzah!

I did free writing for a couple of days and then, thank goodness, I came upon something I wanted to write. Eventually I want it to be a 3-5 minute spoken piece (3 guesses why and the first 2 don't count) so it has more heft than a blog post but less than a novel. That seemed right in keeping with my hope to reach my goals. I spend my 15 minutes each day writing on it, picking up where I left off, trying to add a little something instead of going back to fix what I can't yet know is broken. Yesterday, frankly, I'd had it. I hadn't left off in a great place the day before, I didn't feel like continuing, the goal says I have to write and it can't be blog posts, it doesn't say what I do have to write! (Note to self: May have discovered flaw in plan.) So I sat down and I spent my first few seconds debating what I would write about. I skimmed the last few sentences from the day before and suddenly it seemed like a better idea to soldier on than to detour. Not at all surprising is the fact that yesterday may have been when I turned an important corner on the piece. I may wind up scrapping much of the first couple days of writing and go in a completely different direction but I wouldn't have gotten there if I hadn't forged ahead. So I guess all this fancy goal stuff might be working for me.

How about you? If you made goals are you working on them already? How do you feel about them? Yeah, it's only one week in but if we don't check in it's easier to let them fall by the wayside. I don't want you to fall by the wayside. I like having you right here next to me.

One More Thing

So today we walked and sipped hot drinks and talked to a sweet Amish Farmer and showed each other pictures of our pets and hugged and shopped and laughed.

Tonight she gets on a plane and goes back to Europe for...well...for...we have no idea how long.

I didn't take even one picture of her. That's just ridiculous. Even though I brought my phone and my camera.

So I'm going to share this one with you instead.

Happy Trails, Janie! I love you.

OutRAGEous!

Over her four years as Secretary of State I've grown much more fond of Hillary Clinton than I ever was of her as a political candidate or First Lady. I always liked her but I hadn't jumped with both feet into the deep end of the Hillary Clinton pool of awesomeness. Lately, though, I've really just fallen for her. I like what she says and how she says it and her even-toned way of dealing with people after being battered by her place in the public eye for so long. So, I was upset when I heard that she was hospitalized for a blood clot in her head. Turns out it was from a recent head injury and not life threatening but the media was, of course, playing up the death card.

Then a couple of days ago I found out that that media wasn't the only group turning this serious but treatable medical incident into the Vesuvius of check-ups. Apparently there are a bunch of weird theories about what's really going on with Clinton's health. Mostly there are unsurprising stupid ones about how she's faking sick to get out of taking responsibility for the killings in Benghazi.  Apparently there's one, though, that posits that she's covering up for being on a plane that flew a secret mission into Iraq. Because all Secretaries of State actually participate in military actions. I love when crazy gets crazy enough that you can laugh rather than cower in fear.

So, on this Friday I ask you, what's the most outrageous thing you've heard lately? It doesn't have to be about Hillary Clinton.

More of the Up Wrapping

I like doing this one because it encourages me to go back and at least skim some things I've written over the past year. Like occasionally flipping through your own photo albums this is a good thing. So here are the first lines of the first posts of each month of 2012, complete with links to those posts and links to the monthly archives.

January: For day 1 of the new year I decided to relax like it was my job.

February: I should be more careful about my prompts.

March: I have been sick now for just about a month.

April: One of Eddie's worst triggers is people working and/or in the uniform of a workman.

May: Let's say it's F for FRUSTRATION.

June: I made a mistake today.

July:  They say that it takes 21 days to form a habit.

August: Today I spent my writing time at Kizz & Tell.

September: I haven't left the country yet but I am, it seems, on my way to Italy already.

October: I am so bad at the way our medical system works.

November: I'm getting more inquiries about how people who are not based in New York City can help.

December: I moved to New York during the first big educational push of the AIDS crisis.

Photo Challenge: FRESH

I love starting anew. Coming from a family of academics I feel the newness around school start-up time and at the new year. My birthday, too, but since that's so close to the turn of the year it's not too different, more like a chance to recover from hiccuping on New Year goals. So, today we start another year of photo challenges and I couldn't be more excited. Thank you to everyone who participates and who spectates and who cheers us on. Of the many wonderful things I got from writing at The Women's Colony this tradition is a shining star. I hope that anyone on the fence about joining in will add us to their goals for 2013.

Please let these photographers know what you think both here and at our Flickr group. The next challenge will appear like magic below!

I like to go into new things, like years, fresh and clean. I take a hot shower, wash, condition, shave, exfoliate, and generally scrub away whatever I can before embarkation. I took this photo around 11:40pm on 12/31/2012 while waiting to meet Teddy's Girl and walk over to our New Year's Eve celebration. In it I'm clean, wearing clean clothes, and sporting the newest addition to my Santa hat collection. My only regret is that you can't see how sparkly the rest of the hat is.

This is Our Bethany's second son. He's much bigger and chattier now. I often have trouble telling babies apart because, in addition to the genetics bestowed on them, the all carry a general baby-ness that's indistinguishable from others of their kind. This dude, though? I don't know that I've ever seen a kid who displayed more of his own personal portrait from day one. He's a gem!

For me, and I think for Our Alisun, the holidays are a time for heading home. There is something about this shot - the decor, the expressions, the overall tone - that broadcasts my homeland to me. Warm jackets, good drinks, goofy kids, an inevitable wry expression make me feel comfortable.

You guys know that Our Janet has a photo for everything, right? This challenge was no exception. According to the description on Flickr Skelly is looking on while the dog gets frisky with the...princess (?) but I have to be honest, it looks like an inter-species threesome to me. Quite fresh indeed!

Overall I hate that Our Lisa lives two-thirds of the country away from me. She's too funny and too engaging and too cool not to have her in my life every day. Thank goodness for social media. I console myself by having trains of thought like this, "Well, if she lived next door I'd always be just dropping in "by chance" when she was making a thousand ninja chip cookies and I'd gain all of the weight. Then she'd make me go to kick boxing class and learn what a burpee is. And then she'd make me learn how to do them! That would be awful. Whew. Thank goodness she doesn't live next door." To which one of my other inner voices replies, "Bullshit."

Last night the temperature dropped precipitously here in NYC. Much of my brain space is now taken up with keeping my dog adequately empty and exercised without allowing him to turn into a frozen dogarita with salt. It's a nice change from all those years when I worried about turning myself into an off brand ice-based dessert. In his honor the next challenge shall be BRRRRRR! and I'll donate $10 to Rescue Ink for each entrant. Rescue Ink is still recovering from having to gut and rebuild their entire operation after the superstorm.

Please enter by 9am Tuesday JANUARY 15th 2013 for posting on January 16th. Tag your photos with PHOTO CHALLENGE and BRRRRR. Check out the wonderful work in our Flickr Pool for inspiration. Also, let me know if you have questions.

Happy New Year!

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Don't forget that the world premiere run of my new cabaret show, Back Where I Belong, continues January 9, and January 17. Details are here. I hope you can make it and bring all your friends! Please spread the word and use the hashtag, #KizzCabaret.  

Good Year

So far it's been a good year. I rang it in with fun and I'm spending the day relaxing. I've had kind offers of places to go and things to eat but, for me, starting slow has felt like the right way to go.

I would have blown off my writing goal (Every day. At least 15 minutes. Not a blog post.) for today but for the following conversation with Teddy's Girl:

"What are you up to today?"

"Nothing, really. Giving myself permission not to do anything."

"Except write for 15 minutes."

"Oo, yeah, that!"

So I wrote for 15 minutes and I had my regular Tuesday walk with Sara and I napped and I've cuddled my animals as much as they can stand. I just ordered some yummy food to be delivered. I'm ready to tackle this year and, dare I say, I'm cautiously optimistic.

How about you?