Ok, my life isn’t that bad right now, but I’ve sadly begun to realize (well, actually I realized this long ago but have been in denial about it ever since) that my best writing does not come with the ebb and flow of life’s little diarrhea.

I, unfortunately, also do not have the gift of creating while being completely crocked. My great dream as a child to grow into a mentally unstable artist with seven ex-husbands and eight chemical dependencies has been dashed!

I was in 9th grade and sitting in the band room during lunch- because that’s what band geeks do- when I heard the most perfect piano rendition of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue coming from one of the practice rooms.

I recognized Gershwin anywhere. My father, being a piano player himself, loved Gershwin, therefore I loved Gershwin in attempt to bridge the three-state gap between us.

I didn’t know that anyone in my school loved Gershwin as much as I, let alone play his 32-page composition perfectly.

I peered in through the tiny window of the practice room and like a caged animal, I see a flurry of arms and hands running up and down the keyboard. I didn’t recognize the kid, he looked a few years younger than me, but I knew I had to meet him.

I waited outside the room like an eager fan and introduced myself before he could even collect his sheet music.

His name was Josh and he was in 7th grade and playing that “little old sheet music” was no big deal to him.

But it was a big deal to me.

_______________________

What (more…)

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Is college a necessity?

Abso-fucking-lutely (to quote my friend’s girlfriend’s response after he proposed to her in front of The Bellagio last weekend).

There Mom….are you happy?

I said it!

COLLEGE IS NECESSARY!!!!

Buuuuuutttttt…

Is it necessary if you’re going into the arts?

Maybe.

I only said “maybe”, Ma!

Jeez! It’s not like I said, “Art school is totally a waste of freakin‘ money!”

But what if it is?! You know?! What if it is a waste (more…)

Yep, our city as a yearly meet-up for local bloggers.

Does your city do that?
Huh?
HUH?!

I doubt it.

And that’s why all of you LA and New York people are moving here.

Can you believe it’s been 12 years since Phil Hartman passed away?

I remember so perfectly the day I found out he had been killed.

I was in 9th grade. CNN was flashing the story all day. Everyone in Hollywood made statements, mostly asking how could something so horrible happen to such a kind and talented man? How could a hard-working, relatively normal family man be shot and killed by his wife, who then turned the gun on herself, leaving behind two young children?

The tragedy left Hollywood spinning. Everyone wanted to point fingers. Zoloft got a bad rap (Hartman’s wife, Brynn, was taking Zoloft at the time of the murder….along with a whole lotta of cocaine and alcohol). It even came to light later that Andy Dick may have pushed Brynn Hartman back onto cocaine. This accusation came from Jon Lovitz who felt that Dick was the cause of Hartman’s murder. In 2007, Lovitz and Dick had a confrontation about this and Lovitz smashed Dick’s face against a bar.

The day Hartman died, I was glued to (more…)