my thoughts

OMG!!!

grinn — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:40:25 GMT

I don't usually go in for these kinds of survey things but then, when I started reading this list it was like Oh My God! Wow! I've done ALL of these things (sort of)!!! 1. Started your own blog * 2. Slept under the stars * 3. Played in a band * 4. Had to look at lots of photos taken by people who have visited Hawaii * 5. Watched a meteor shower * 6. Given more than you can afford to charity * 7. Worked at Disneyland long enough to get the 30% discount on merchandise* 8. Climb every mountain, followed every stream * 9. Held a praying mantis * 10. Sang a solo * 11. Bungee jumped and then woke up in a cold sweat, shaking uncontrollably * 12. Visited Paris, Las Vegas * 13. Watched a lightning storm in Kansas while driving a bus full of sleeping performers * 14. Taught yourself to scratch * 15. Adopted a childlike attitude * 16. Had food poisoning * 17. Rode to the very top of Coit Tower, SF * 18. Grown your own vegetable* 19. Seen Mona Lishman in Fremont * 20. Slept on an overnight train * 21. Had a pillow fight * 22. Hitchhiked * 23. Taken a sick day from elementary school when not ill * 24. Built a snow fortune and then snorted it all away * 25. Held a lamb chop * 26. Gone skinny dipping * 27. Ran a 10K and got passed by a fat Gary Busey * 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice, Las Vegas * 29. Seen a total eclipse * 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset * 31. Hit a home run * 32. Cruised Van Nuys * 33. Seen Yosemite Falls in person * 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors * 35. Seen a calm-ish community * 36. Taught yourself a new language (bwlapt!) * 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied for a minute * 38. Seen Round Table Pizza in person * 39. Climbed over a rock * 40. Seen Michelangelo's David at a cemetery in Glendale * 41. Sung karaoke * 42. Seen Old Faithful (the geyser) erupt * 43. Bought a strange meal at a restaurant * 44. Rode on the Jungle Cruise twice in a row * 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight * 46. Been transported in an ambulance * 47. Had your portrait painted * 48. Gone deep sea fishing * 49. Seen pictures of the Sistine Chapel in person * 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Las Vegas * 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling or swimming * 52. Kissed in the rain * 53. Played in the mud * 54. Gone to a drive-in theater * 55. Been in movies * 56. Visited a great wall at a Chinese Restaurant * 57. Started in show business * 58. Taken a martial arts or jazz 1 class * 59. Visited Russian People * 60. Served soup * 61. Bought Girl Scout Cookies * 62. Gone whale watching (or saw Crosby, Still and Nash in person) * 63. Gave flowers for no reason * 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma for no reason * 65. Gone sky diving and then woke up...etc. * 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp * 67. Bounced a check * 68. Flown in a helicopter * 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy * 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial * 71. Eaten Caviar * 72. Slept under a quilt * 73. Stood and sang in Times Square * 74. Walked among the Evergreens * 75. Been fired from a job (or at the least not rehired) * 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London* 77. Broken a bone * 78. Been on a speeding motorcycle * 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person from the air * 80. Published a book or produced four plays * 81. Been inside a Catholic Church more than once * 82. Bought a brand new car or a really used one * 83. Walked on Fairfax Blvd in Los Angeles * 84. Had your picture in the newspaper * 85. Read the entire Bible * 86. Visited the White House lawn * 87. Prepared food for an animal to eat * 88. Had chickenpox * 89. Someone saved my life (thanks William) * 90. Sat looking at a jury* 91. Met someone famous * 92. Joined a book club * 93. Lost loved ones * 94. Had a baby tantrum* 95. Remembered the Alamo * 96. Saw the Great Salt Lake from the air in person * 97. Been involved in a law suit * 98. Owned a cell phone * 99. Been stung by a bee * 100. Read an entire book in one day *

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART!!!

grinn — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:58:33 GMT

Happy Birthday Katie Grinn!!! From the two who love you best!!!

birthday of a friend 9/18/8

grinn — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:42:40 GMT

It was his birthday yesterday so I called him on his cell: him - WHAT IS DIS TING RINGIN IN MY POCKET?! me - I VAS GOING TO CALL YOU AT 3:33 BUT I FORGOT VHY! him - VHY ARE YOU YELLING AT ME?! me - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! him - VHAT?! We went on like that for a while like the two old jews that we are, making ourselves giggle as we always have. I teased him a bit about his Denny's discount but not too much; the way time has been moving lately I'll be as old as him in about a minute. We asked casual questions like how's life and made casual promises to eat together the next time there isn't a large western state between us. Soon he had to go and I had to go too. I hung up, and the whole of our last 38 years came back to me. The shows, the tours, the street theatre, the faires. Ahh, the faires. Cock and Feathers really was a lot of fun. And I guess the good wizard might have had a little something to do with that. Thank you Mr. Barrett. Happy birthday my friend.

okay, okay (02/15/08)

grinn — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:54:41 GMT

Some of my favorite quotes from my favorite movies: 1. I always think there’s a band, kid. 2. As you wish. 3. I’d call you a sadistic, sodomistic necrophiliac, but that’s just beating a dead horse. 4. Max, he’s wearing a dress. 5. I make more money than Herbert Hoover… put together! 6. “You can see now?” “Yes, I can see.” 7. If I should begin to die you will have the decency to remove this from my head. 8. What good is having a troll if he won’t do chores? 9. I don’t deserve to be this happy! 10. Dreyfus once wrote that on Devil's Island he would see the most glorious birds. Many years later in Britanny he realized they had only been sea gulls. (beat) To me they will always be glorious birds. (sorry, can't stop) 11. He - was - my - boyfwend! (tied with "Put - the - candle - back!!!") 12. We are the music makers - we are the dreamers of dreams. 13. But maddest of all is to see life as it is and not as it should be!!! 14. "Plumpick." "Nickle." 15. Where de white women at? 16. Yeah! Your butt and my face! But wait a minute... it's not a light, it's a match.. and it's not your butt it's my butt! Come back here! 17. What a smell of sulfur. 18. King of jesters and jester to the king! 19. Remember my child, that all the good things fell ta you when you were on Earth, and all the bad things fell to Lois. 20. Te adoro Antonio...

four calling birds (01/12/08)

grinn — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 20:43:43 GMT

(Any chance I can to mention Harold and Maude) four jobs I have had in my life: 1. Member of the "Coolest Disneyland Intergalactic Space Band Ever" (Transtar) 2. Giant Beaver on a Children’s TV show 3. Puppeteer for Chucky and The Crypt keeper 4. Instructor and Councilor at Children’s Performing Camp four movies I've watched more than once: 1. Harold and Maude 2. The King of Hearts 3. Hans Christian Anderson 4. The Music Man four places I have lived: 1. Los Angeles, California 2. Dayton, Ohio 3. East Haddam, Connecticut 4. Atlanta, Georgia four TV shows that I watched: 1. The Dick Van Dyke Show 2. 30 something 3. Alias 4. Cops four places I have been: 1. The Blarney Castle 2. The Dolder Grand Hotel, Zurich 3. Stonehenge 4. Under Disneyland four people who e-mail me: 1. Katie 2. The Lion 3. Eric 4. Battalion Chief Scotty four people I wish would email me: 1. My Dad but that would be really creepy because he's dead. 2. Q but that would be even creepier because he's dead and didn't like to write much even when he was alive. 3. My Mom but that would be really really creepy because not only is she also dead but when she was alive she couldn't turn on a television with a remote, let alone write and send something on a computer. 4. My agents but that would be the most creepy of all because they obviously think I'M dead. four of my favorite foods: 1. Thai Food 2. Beef Ribs 3. Sushi 4. Room Service four places I would rather be right now: 1. The Blarney Castle 2. The Dolder Grand Hotel, Zurich 3. Stonehenge 4. Under Disneyland four things I am looking forward to in the next year: 1. Making a baby with Katie (daily) 2. Performing in our new theatre company 3. Being able to visit my family in Southern California 4. Enjoying holidays with my stepdaughter four people who I think should take this survey: 1. Archie 2. Betty 3. Veronica 4. Reggie

meet my new friends (01/08/08)

grinn — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 08:11:17 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLrDFbxrsHE&feature=related (...very very funny...)

class (01/01/08)

grinn — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 20:09:44 GMT

If your new years resolution list looks like this: 1. Lose weight 2. Find something fun to do on Saturdays 3. Improve stage presence skills 4. Spend a lot more time with Sandey Grinn ...then I can help (with three at least) for starting on Saturday, January 19th I will be teaching an afternoon class at Suhaila's School of Dance in El Cerrito called "Stage Presence: Commitment, Focus and Energy" and I promise it'll be a lot more fun than that sounds! Here's what it says about the class at Suhaila's site: "Through improv, exercises and interactive games Sandey Grinn creates a fun and friendly environment (see?) teaching his students focus, concentration, energy and all the other essential elements of real stage presence. Whether you are interested in improving your performance as a dancer or actor, or if you simply seek a greater awareness of your own body language and communication skills, this class is for you." Stage Presence: Commitment, Focus and Energy 10 Class Series - Jan 19, 26, Feb 2, 9, 16, 23, Mar 1, 8, 22, 29 Saturday afternoons, 1:30pm - 3:00pm instructor: Sandey Grinn $175 ($150 for members of Suhaila Salimpour School of Dance) register here: http://therealsuhaila.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16273&cat=262&page=1 members register here: http://therealsuhaila.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16272&cat=261&page=1 For more information about Suhaila and directions to the studio, please visit: http://www.therealsuhaila.com/ Hope to see you there!

my very first christmas (12/25/07)

grinn — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 17:48:24 GMT

By the sound of the title, one might expect me now to share a story of when I was young. Nope. It happened this morning; surrounded by family and made even better shared with a loving and excited six year old; my first bonifide, let's see what Santa brought, gather around the tree, buried in wrapping paper Christmas. It really is a wonderful life. Merry Christmas everybody!

Cut-and-Paste Is a Skill, Too 12/22/07

grinn — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 10:19:45 GMT

I have a confession to make: Today I plagiarized multiple documents at work. I took the writing of others and presented it to my supervisor as if it were my own. It was an open secret that my entire report, written "by Jason Johnson," had been composed by others and that I had been merely an editor. Instead of a reprimand, I was rewarded with a post-briefing latte. But on some level, it still felt wrong. Before coming to work at my current company, I spent most of the past 15 years as an educator, advising students from second-graders to college seniors that taking the work of others and presenting it as your own is morally wrong and intellectually dishonest. I've fretted over proper citations and labored with students over the highly subjective art of paraphrasing. Now I watch my former teaching colleagues grade papers not simply by marking a dangling participle here or an incomplete thought there, but by Googling phrases from their students' work, searching for the suspected source of yet another cut-and-paste job. I wonder if that's really what teachers should be doing. As kids today plagiarize more and more from the Internet, the old-fashioned term paper -- composed by sweating students on a typewriter as they sat elbow-deep in reference books -- has no useful heir in the digital age. It's time for schools and educators to recognize the truth: The term paper is dead. Internet plagiarism is growing at a rapid pace, according to recent studies and the anecdotal evidence I hear from my former colleagues in education -- and there's no end in sight. Young people today are simply too far ahead of anything schools might do to curb their recycling efforts. Beyond simply selling used term papers online, Web sites such as StudentofFortune.com allow students to post specific questions and pay for answers. The proliferation of sites like these leaves teachers with an even more vexing problem: how to test what students really know. The time-honored paper now teaches students a very different skill set, one that appears to be unintentional and largely unrecognized -- but one that's much closer to what I do at work these days. The most obvious choice for teachers and schools is to simply change the way they assess students. Schools could turn to in-class assignments as a more reliable way of evaluating what students know and how well they can express it. The problem with this is that it takes up valuable teaching time, and in-school resources for such assignments, from libraries to technology, vary greatly. I envision a time when TurnItIn.com's database contains millions of essays on Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre." At that point educators may finally understand that no high school student will be able to write another original word on the subject. So let's declare "The paper is dead" before the database makes the declaration for us. And let's recognize what the paper has become, so that we can declare, "Long live the paper!" - Jason Johnson, former technology director at Washington's Lowell School, is an information technology consultant at Ingenium Corp.

a white christmas (12/19/07)

grinn — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 06:35:44 GMT

No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible. - Voltaire 1694 – 1778

it may not be "one of the real holidays" but... (12/04/07)

grinn — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 08:59:04 GMT

A couple of days ago I was trying to remember the name of that famous Jewish Opera singer (Robert Merrill), so I googled "Jewish Opera Singer" and this site showed up at the top of the list: http://www.jewwatch.com/index.htm Wow. It's ruff being a Jew.

we come to play(a) 11/28/07

grinn — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:03:22 GMT

What's said has been said. What's done has been done. Let's see how it goes. And maybe one day we will all take seriously the feelings of "the one person that matters". New topic. During the year its location is nothing of note. But then the people come. All year they have been planning and building and crafting and sewing and have met in groups just to talk about what they've done and plan to do. And then, when it is time, they gather together on this spot and build within it a city out of light and air. More come later and dress up and dance in a circle and bring stories to life and drink and eat and laugh and sing and pose nude behind screens. I used to work at it when I was young and even though much time has passed, it will always remain my favorite of all the gatherings. And this weekend I get to see it again. For this Saturday, my blessed family and I are going to Burning Gent.

a yankee in dodger clothing (11/05/07)

grinn — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 22:04:48 GMT

(It looks like he lost a bet) Joe Torre, Dodger manager. It makes me giddy.

six going on sixty (10/30/07)

grinn — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:51:26 GMT

So I'm driving in the car with Anya, my beloved step-daughter, and we're listening to NPR together as we often do (when we're not at the library or studying the Talmud). It isn't long before Hillary's voice fills our car with hope and promise and all things unBushlike. After the Clinton segment ended, Anya asked me, "who was that?" "That was Hillary Clinton. She's running for President of the United States and if she wins, she'll be our first woman president ever. And what makes this race even more exciting is that a man named Barack Obama is also running and if HE wins, he'll be our first black president ever!" She was silent for a moment and then said, "I hope the black man wins." "And why is that, Anya?" I asked. "Because I want to be the first woman president ever." She sure has my vote...

so I'm thinking, what if tribe never comes back on and because of that I can never tell anyone my news? (10/18/07)

grinn — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:33:13 GMT

"See the pretty girl in that wood cart there (what wood cart where?) Who can that attractive girl be? Such a pretty face Such a pretty mom What the hell do they Have to do with me?" The little girl's name is Suhaila and I met her at the faire back when she was three and I was all of seventeen. That was well over ... um ... 20 years ago. Shut up! Anyway, sometime between then and now Suhaila became an internationally renowned dancer who happens to have a dance studio in El Cerrito... you still there? ... so she and I have met and talked and the results are as follows: beginning in January of 2008, I will be teaching three classes (in Moroccan Tea Tray Balancing - just kidding - acting) at Suhaila's Dance Studio; one for children (ages 7-10), one for older kids (ages 11-14) and one for "adults" (ages 15+). In addition to that, Suhaila (henceforth referred to as "Blessed Goddess, Gift From The Heavens") has offered me studio space in which I can rehearse with my new theatre company. What new theatre company? Exactly. So new in fact we will be holding auditions for it in February. Further class information and registration will be available soon at BGGFTH's site: http://www.therealsuhaila.com/ Further information regarding the theatre company will be posted here and at the tribe "It's Showtime!" OK, to review ..... Wheeee! (it's good to get good news once in a while...)

the latest in a looooong line (10/14/07)

grinn — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 19:56:44 GMT

The first faire mayor I remember was Firesign Theatre's David Ossman (with the Phils; Proctor, Bergman and Austin; playing the Sheriff, Duke of Earl and Earl of Duke in no particular order). He was good but I thought that J. Paul was even better (of course, because he was really Robin Hood!). My favorite however was (may god rest his huge and loving soul) Mr. Scott Beach. Scott Beach was big. When I finally got a chance to meet and work with him out of faire, I was at first surprised that he was anything close to human size. On stage, he carried himself like one of those three person puppets; he was impossible to ignore. Scott Beach was loud. Even if you couldn't get a seat for the noon show and were forced to stand in the back of the house you could hear him. Clearly. I remember once being somewhere else in the faire during the show and laughing when I heard in the distance the two loudest elements of the faire at that time; the horns of the band punctuating proclomations by Scott Beach (Clare Zero, who I think only did Agoura, was a very close second in volume, for when Clare, also very much talented and beloved, at the end of the day stood on the Maybower balcony and sang "The Faire Is Closed" east, south, north and west it all got a bit quieter for when we heard him - and we most certainly did - we all stopped, looked up and listened). And yes, Scott Beach was very, very funny. As much as anyone I saw on stage back then, his size, sound and humor inspired me to reach further as a faire performer than might otherwise have seemed possible. Who cares about the mayor, I wanted to grow up and be Scott Beach! Ah but age along with whatever speck of wisdom I've been lucky enough to acquire has helped me accept this fact: there can ever only be one Scott Beach (may he be forever as blessed as we who have known him). But apparently, the role of mayor is not as exclusive as one might have thought for at one of the last faire of this year's season there's going to be yet another one; next weekend at Folsom, 39 years after my first faire, I will be mayor. And, in that huge shadow cast by Mr. Beach, who has already shown us all how it could and should be done, I promise to be both big and loud. As for funny ... I'll try Scott, I really will... And who knows? Maybe I'll inspire a fourteen year old actor enough to include me in their blog 39 years from now. That would be nice. http://www.folsomfaire.com/index.htm

big news, can't tell (10/10/07)

grinn — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:26:59 GMT

If it sounds like I'm just lifting one of the many blogs of Peter Overstreet (hi Pete!) which start in much the same way, I'm sorry, I'm not, but ... I have some really big news that I'm very excited about sharing with all of you. I just found out though that I have to wait a week or so before I can spill it so in the meantime ... um ... how's everyone doing out there?

helping with his legacy (10/10/07)

grinn — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 09:50:34 GMT

As you wish...

albus dumbledore sez... (10/3/7)

grinn — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 08:25:22 GMT

“That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend. Of house-elves and children’s tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has never grasped.”

hey! it's my wife's birthday today! (9/29/7)

grinn — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 09:16:15 GMT

Here's Katie in the pool with her Auntie Ron, back when she remembered who her real family was ... Get a load of those pointed toes! Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

au revoir professeur (9/23/7)

grinn — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 05:26:15 GMT

...sshhh...

sailing without wind (9/14/7)

grinn — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 08:42:01 GMT

I've buried 3 of my parents in the last twelve years (my two adopted parents and my bio-dad), none of that easy at all. And yet Q's death seems to have affected me even worse that those did. He was the keeper of the flame, the spark that ignited us, the source of our laughter and, apparently also, the keeper of my optimism. Who knew? But it's clear that, before his death, I remember having some; every day was filled with moments of "what if?" and "how about?"; and now, every day since he up and left us, I'm suddenly and chillingly aware of the absolute certainty of my own end and, for whatever reason, it seems so much closer than ever before. He was so so full of life and for someone like him to die ... well, it doesn't really bode well for the rest of us, now does it. Knowing I'll never see him again makes every day that much less exciting, knowing I'll never perform with him again makes the prospect of performing again that much less appealing. And yet I know, where he to read this, he's be mightily pissed. So, if for no other reason than that, I go on. But, do me a favor Q... haunt me, taunt me, do whatever you wish but please, blow back this way a bit of that wind you took with you. Thanks.

an invitation from Q's sister (7/21/7)

grinn — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 09:05:43 GMT

Dear Friends, We have come to a decision in regards to a memorial for our friend and brother, Q. As he so loved the outdoors, we thought it fitting to sprinkle his first ashes at his number one choice place, Troll Hollow. His other great love was a picnic, so this is The Q'sville Memorial Picnic at the Old Renaissance Faire at Witches' Wood. It'll be on Sunday, July 29th, 2007, the day before his 55th birthday, at four am. Kidding. It'll be at nine am and go to about noon. As many of us have been dragged along under the blazing sun, hiking with Mr. Q, we know the heat did not bother him. But as it will be hot, wear a hat and sunscreen. The ground is awfully prickly out there so bring a tarp to lay under your blanket to put your booty on to have a snack. And bring that snack... and any liquid refreshment that you require. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to one of his favorite causes, which will be detailed at the memorial. Thank you, Sue "Wacka-Do" Siebenthal and Shellendina or What? P.S. On Tuesday night, July 31st, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony will be performed at the Hollywood Bowl at eight pm.Twelve dollar tickets are still available. He'd like that. P.P.S. Please forward this to all concerned. P.P.P.S. For directions, try to remember the eighties. If that doesn't work call Shelley. It's really called Paramount Ranch and it's off of Kanan Rd. off the 101 then left on Cornell Rd. in Agoura. Remember?

indeedy-doo (7/9/7)

grinn — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 07:46:20 GMT

That's what he would say on stage when he suddenly had no words. "Indeedy doo". He used to brag about the magic of that phrase, saying things like "see? no one know you've gone up on your lines when you say that!" and to that we'd say, "Q, everyone knows you've gone up on your lines when you say that! That's what it means!" But he never believed us, or seemed to care and for 30 plus years, when ever he played my assistant Hoodstink in The Wizard Show and couldn't remember a line (and how is That possible?!) he would almost smugly toss in an "indeedy-doo" and proceed to trapse about the stage in that way only he could move waiting for someone to save him. We never did. What he was doing was always funnier. I first met Marque (later just Q) in 1970 in my drama class at Hamilton High School. I had long hair but his was even longer and he could do this amazing mime trick of sewing his fingers together. No doubt about it, he was cool so when, come springtime, he mentioned that his mime troupe was going to perform at the Agoura Renaisannce Faire, I knew that my troupe had to perform there too. Except there was one small problem. I had no troupe. Ah, but we were young and details were the bane of the elderly; I gathered a group of my friends (among them William "Billy" Barrett and Jeffrey "Gluckson" Briar) and we formed a troupe. Not knowing anything about mime, we instead decided upon something much simpler, a 16th century recorder ensemble. But apparently recorder players don't get to stay over night (as Q explained it to us once we were there), mimes do. And so Billy, Jeffrey and I put on white face and, keeping the makeup on as if it were some kind of night pass, stayed over night. It worked. Q was officially proclaimed God. In 73, Billy and I were walking through the Blackpoint site at night (we might have been flying on mushrooms, I really don't remember) and we ran into Marque, sitting on one of the hay bails facing the main stage, grinning. We walked up to him and asked him what he was doing. "Hatching out a scarecrow" was his reply. The next year, when he got the Cock and Feathers wizard show script, we were ready to admit to borrowing that moment from him, but it seems he might have been on even more mushrooms than we were. When Jeffrey chose to do other things, Marque joined the show and made it his own. Suddenly Murkmouth had his own assistant, someone who seemed to crawl out from under the same rock and, having this character beside me, everything I said was suddenly funnier. When I would hit Jeffrey, the audience would gasp as if I was attacking an innocent child; but when I hit Marque, they roared. I fell in love with him at the faire as a mime and was amazed that this same person was also playing Pantalone in "Salami Del Amore". To one day be able to join the cast as Lelio was such an amazing thrill for, not only was I part of a successful main stage show, I got to work with the likes of Billy Scudder, Judy Cory and Marque Siebenthal. Dancing with the Gods. When we toured the country on a bus he made a point of peeing out the bus door in each state. When we got to lay out in center field at Dodger Stadium to watch the 4th of July fireworks, he turned to me and whispered gleefully, "I peed behind second base." His need to make his mark, to mark his territory was more than accepted, it was expected. "I got backstage." "Did you pee?" "Of course." It sounds so strange in this context but this is one of his many pluses, it really is. He made me laugh. On stage. Whenever he wanted to. And he knew it. I would be crying in my wizard make-up trying to look anywhere other than directly into the chimplike gawky face of this man. And our audiences knew it too. They knew that this man owned me on stage and they delighted in the fact that, with one twitch, he could reduce me to a blubbering idiot. I could write about how much I love this man from now until I die and I know I would still miss something I meant to say about him. My entire body aches and each breathe is strained. No more Q? Are you insane? Where do we find our peace, our sanity, our soul? I am pissed off at this man for leaving us this early and if and when I do get to see him again, rest assured I will beat the living crap out of him. In the meantime we hug each other, share some of the countless stories this wonderful man has inspired and if someone asks me what I feel about him, about life, about all of this, I will say indeedy-doo. -sg

and so we wed (6/10/7)

grinn — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 19:15:21 GMT

Question: If two people who adore each other marry but neither write about it that day, does it still count? Answer: Oh yeah! Katie and I were married in the rotunda of San Francisco's City Hall last Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 1:11pm. Our witnesses were Katie's Mom and Dad, Cher and her daughter Skye and my friends Scotty and Jill up from LA. Our flower girl was Anya, a part she was born to play! The ceremony was brief but not rushed (my goal, nearly met, was to not blubber like a baby throughout) and a good time was had by all. It was intentionally a quiet, low key event but we promise you (and you know who "you" are) an upcoming night of drinking and dancing at the Fairmont Hotel's Tonga Room, date TBA. Tuesday was three years (and four centuries) to the day since we first met and, albeit very romantic, it wasn't the first date we chose. I moved north from Los Angeles with the intention of marrying my beloved on Valentine's Day but do to some "unintentional" and continuing mix-up with her divorce papers, we had to reschedule the date. Three times. I put the word in quotes because I really want to believe that no one could be so petty, so vindictive, so infantile as to try and screw up our wedding plans on purpose. But regardless or whether it was intentional or not, the importance of keeping our plans to ourselves seemed to increase with each added delay. In fact, over the last couple of months I have become so accustomed to keeping our marriage and wedding date a secret that, even though it's five days after the fact, I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, the latest legal email to appear, the next in a long series of miserable surprises the dark forces have planned in order to forever keep us apart. I look down at my ring, the one Katie slipped on my finger five days ago. It's platinum, beautiful, with the inscription "I love you best" inside (she really does) and I smile. For as each minute passes it becomes more and more clear to me, to Us, that no shoe, no email and no dark surprise can change the fact that we are today and forever more Katie and Sandey Grinn. Thank the heavens!!!!!!!!! -sg