By the way...

This is a real store in Ellsworth, ME.



It made me laugh so hard!!! Sigh. So good. I refuse to grow up.

Ketchup... Catsup... Catch Up

First and foremost, if I haven't fully expressed my love and devotion to the show Law and Order, I apologize. I really dropped the ball there. Look, I realize it's not the most brilliant thing out there, but I feel safe with it. It's formulaic and never lets me down. Also, it allows me to drift into a peaceful nap right around the 40 minute mark. That's my routine, and I love it. So get off my back. Ha! Nobody's on my back, guys. Wouldn't that just be silly? Everything's cool.

I have a point. It's this: Dick Wolf (the creator of Law and Order) apparently lives in Bar Harbor, or thereabouts. I was THIS CLOSE to becoming the next ADA, if only he'd come to see ImprovAcadia! Why doesn't he support the arts? I was right there, and he blew it.

I feel like I was in Maine 5 years ago... but it's actually been only 10 days. Not that I've been doing anything interesting to pass the time, it just seems to go faster here. My life is slipping away!!

I think it's important to keep shaking up your life. I get bored very easily with my surroundings and repetitive activities; my grandmother calls it "itchy feet." Luckily, I have some adventures coming up. More on that later.

Going to a new location to live and perform for a month was perfect. I don't necessarily feel settled in Chicago. I actually haven't found a place that feels like home yet. So, the search goes on. And in the meantime, I'm open to experiencing things like this:



This is the top of Champlain Mountain. I climbed up there, and loved every step. We also went whale watching. "Majestic" is a funny word to me, but here I mean it without irony. These creatures were, well, majestic. I go through my days so sure that everything I do is the most important thing happening in the world. Not even close. Here's a picture of a whale's tail. It doesn't do it justice, but try to imagine 300 people on a boat collectively gasping.



Here's some more choice pics:















This is how I spent August. Climbing mountains, eating lobster, swimming in pristine lakes, and doing super fun shows. I was really fortunate to be playing with truly talented people. It was a real ball buster, doing two shows a night, six days a week. An improv boot camp, if you will. Bring it on!

On a completely different note, I've decided to become more girl-y. Being independent and well-adjusted is getting me nowhere. It's pretty boring, if you want to know the truth. And I think you do. So, from here on out I'm going to be more emotional and needy. This should be a fun social experiment. I can't wait to see how everybody deals with this... and, go! Why haven't you called yet?!

I'm back!

Hello beautiful Chicago! I'm so happy to see you!

I had a fantastic time in Maine. Check back soon for the full story.

This takes precedence:



You guys. This is not a bit. I completely missed the ball. I'm an athlete!!!

Bye Bye!

OK, everybody. I'm outta here for awhile. I'm off to perform at ImprovAcadia until the end of August. It's in Bar Harbor, Maine, which is next to Acadia National Park. People who like the outdoors tell me it's supposed to be some beautiful paradise. It looks like this:



I'm taking my bike. I'm pretty stoked. See you in a month.

The auto-complete function on my Blackberry wants to spell "diet" as "dirt."

It's right. My Blackberry is brilliant.

Past Times

Last week I went to minor league baseball game in Lansing, MI. The famed Lansing Lugnuts were playing the Grand Rapids Whitecaps. I won't get too into the game details, I'm sure you read all about it on ESPN.com.

Truth be told, it was a fun game, but the real entertainment had nothing to do with baseball. Imagine if you will, special crowd members catching rubber chickens in a trash can launched from a giant slingshot as old ladies in the stands take their final swigs from Fosters Oil Cans, babies dressed to the nines in Lugnuts jerseys, a kickass fireworks display, at which said babies did not cry. They come from strong stock in Lansing!

Equally entertaining? The woman I passed in Belmont Harbor yesterday, kicking herself in the head repeatedly. I'm pretty sure she thought she was stretching, but she was just kicking herself over and over again. In the head. Awesome.

On the romance front, according to my grandmother, if I wait much longer to get married it's likely I'll marry someone that already has kids. I told her we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Hermit the Freak

The guy that lives in the apartment below me is SO WEIRD!

Every time I walk by his door I hear the oddest sounds: a cat mewing at the top of its little cat lungs, big band music, and what has to be a Dot Matrix printer.

I've lived here for over a year, and I've seen him once... when he was out front walking his cat on a leash. That experience must have been particularly scary, because I haven't seen him since.

Other proof he lives here include the multitude of packages he receives daily and the landlord relaying a complaint of noise when we had THREE people over. That, a party does not make. And they were gone by 9:30pm. What a tool.

I'm not quite sure why he's not living with his mother. I'd slip a note under his door to suggest it, but I don't want him to go into a seizure over the threat of communicating with a human.