365

I made a list to last a year.  It included:

- learn how to cook
- become agile on a bike
- run
- learn the world's religions
- see my grandmother
- improve my Spanish
- floss my teeth
- do cartwheels and a headstand

among other things.

Happy Birthday

Kimberly, Sancho, Joe, and I made a birthday card and hat for our new friend at Zinc Bar, whose name I cannot recall.

Some Enchanted Evening

I made requests of the New York night, and with the help of divine providence and Kimberly Faulkner they all came true, from people summoned to cars procured to dance floors unearthed.

Melon

I made Stanzi Pouthier's Watermelon Zinger Cooler recipe.

Seventeen 6-Word Love Stories

1.  They met, they loved, they died.
2.  She confessed, and he still stayed.
3.  Without love, they became roommates.
4.  Pretending it never happened rescued them.
5.  Monday - met, Wednesday - discussed, Sunday - entwined.
6.  And he believed enough for two.
7.  So they made babies without pause.
8.  He loved him; he loved him.
9.  That boy screwed over that tree.  (The Giving Tree)
10.  Two families warred; their children died. (Romeo & Juliet)
11.  Divorce, marriage, pursuit, marriage, heir-less, head-less (Henry XIII and Anne Boleyn)
12.  They met, they married, they married. (Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor)
13.  Her shrine, his prison, his tomb.  (Mumtaz and Shah Jahan)
14.  By the fifth dance they knew.
15.  She decided she preferred her cat.
16.  Two in the beginning and end.
17.  And so it came to pass.

Lemon-Lime

I made a lemon-lime shake, Stanzi Pouthier recipe.

From Above

Using another Stanzi Allan Pouthier recipe, I made coconut into snow and used it for macaroons.  I made an altar for angels later that night.

Pit of Your Stomach

Shiju Kadree taught me the Heimlich maneuver; Dawn Philip provided moral support.  After I left them at the ice cream parlor, I went down the street to watch a soccer match and made a mess.  I made a mess.

Nesting, Pt II

I made a nest for me; I made my new shoes fit (wearing them with socks and walking around my house).

Nesting

I made a nest for my duck Kookuburru.

Let There Be Light

It was Sarah Alden's birthday, and we at the table of celebratory dim sum made her a work of abstract art with a melted candle.

Proclamation

I made it to Queens to see Afro-Cuban dance troupe Oyu Oro with Kaisha Johnson.  While the mayor's designee read a long proclamation, I made another for us.

Rolling

Genevieve Stewart and I made a giggly video for Erika Floreska before her departure.  A capsule of all that has transpired since she began in 1997. Van Monak Chhun and Shana Bromberg held the camera while we tried to maintain our composure and deliver our lines from the cue cards off-screen.

http://youtu.be/8fJl9vlLSpg

Seven Vows

I made 7 promises to myself.  The first one was "I will not forget that what I need has and will always come."

Autobiography

I wrote a short bio.

Thou Shalt Not

I made my own 10 commandments loosely tied to the Originals.

1. The universe is a complex, intelligent, benevolent system bigger than you.  Experience all of it.  The sweet, and the sweet melancholy.

2.  Seek knowledge and understanding.

3.  Worship language, as many as you can.

4.  Every day is sabbath.  Be still, and be not ashamed of slumber.

5.  Revere, respect, and simply be with others.  Help one or many when they need it.  Listen and laugh as often as possible.

6.  Be kind, but be not a victim.

7.  Do no harm, and also prevent it.

8.  Make something, often.

9a.  Try most things at least once.
9b.  Seek happiness for all of your senses.

10.  You are you, and no one else.  Do not try to be.  Avoid envy and regret.

Bear

I made myself into a bear.

Farewell

I made a first draft of a script to be used in a video farewell for our beloved director of education, Erika Floreska.

Underground

I sketched a man on the train but I cannot find the sketch.

Delirium

The raw food cleanse, on this third of ten days, seems to be taking a toll.  I am delirious.  I draw it.  The legend in the corner indicates different colors for space/time, matter, consciousness, un/subconscious, concepts, and dreams.

Ichibana

My friend came to visit and brought flowers.  I arranged them.  I forgot to take a picture before they all died.

Sustenance

I made 4 new Stanzi recipes: green juice, kale salad, fettucine al marinara, thai peanut wraps.

And I wrote a letter to my father on the anniversary of his passing.

Edible Eden

Stanzi Allan Pouthier hosted a 10-day raw food cleanse beginning July 10.  With a PDF of recipes and a shopping list, I went to the farmers' market to stock up.  Monica Williams helped me navigate through the greenery, and I made my fridge into a garden.

Handle with Care

Isobel Allen-Floyd stopped by my house en route to the airport with a bit of a cold.  I made her a care package for her plane ride.

Change Is Good

I made a proposition.

Succulent

I made a grave for my little cactus-succulent who died in my absence.

Return

I made my way home.

Detritus

Boulder, CO to Ft. Collins, CO.
The tour is over, and I'm with my cousin Big Susie (I am Little Susie) on the 4th of July traveling to see our other cousin Renee Kuriyan.  Big Susie and I are the Gentiles in the car, and her husband Jordan represents the Jewish constituency.  On a stretch of highway whose sign implies that it's Nazi-owned, we make a list of the discards they'd least like to find when cleaning up:

stars of David, gefilte fishbones, challah bread crusts, chipped dreidels, stained blue yarmulke, day-old bagel, gilt coins, matzoh, Groucho Marx accessories, bottle of Manischevitz, Torah, an old foreskin (this was Big Susie's inclusion), bar mitvah receipts and regalia, shorn curls

Hizzoner

Aspen, CO.
After a presentation at the Aspen Institute's Arts and Ideas Festival, Newark mayor Cory Booker sits down at our lunch table (he knows our drummer Ali Jackson).  After sandwiches and conversation, Dan Nimmer and I have enough information to draft a memo to him later that afternoon, that no one but us will find funny.

MEMO
Dear Cory Booker:
I've noticed lately that you look a little stressed.  How was [sic] those three sandwiches you had?  I really enjoyed your chorus.  Could you please address Carlos's tax issues?  Please don't refer to me in the third person.
Thank you,
Susan John

Timing

Aspen, CO.

When the hotel alarm clock is wrong
Nights are short and days are long
The numbers suggest but do not belong
Digits flickering or shining strong
When the hotel alarm clock is wrong.

When the hotel alarm clock is wrong
It is a faulty compass, an untuned gong
A dyslexic herald with an out-of-tune song
The ding of the clock without the dong*
When the hotel alarm clock is wrong.

When the hotel alarm clock is wrong
You find other ways to get along
Deciding when to emerge and join the throng
If the moon is waning or the sun is strong
When the hotel alarm clock is wrong.

*thanks to Walter Blanding who stopped practicing in a backstage dressing room to help supply this line.

Scenarios

Arvada, CO.
I sent an email that was liberating.