Grass Clippings 2006-2008 Part 1

I sang a song

unknotted the tangles

glued on wings

and sent it to you

Love me fondly.

No.

Love me with passion!

Why can’t love be like a song?

Why can’t life be like a musical?

I love you when you are away. You cannot hurt me. You cannot laugh at me. You cannot embarrass me. You are perfect when you are away.

  

Love will come:

swept off its feet

falling up to Heaven

hot pink lipstick kisses on its cheek

Give me music. Music that holds me close like a blanket. I don’t need words. I need to be held.

Find me a car

with mirrors painted black

and top down

letting rain pour in

I see you and I create a story. Come sit by me, and tell me your tales unless they be less heroic than mine.

Excellence is the current average. So, unless you are stressed to the point of suicide and have no time for the ones you love, you are screwed in this world. Or are you just happy?

I come in during the night and give you a kiss. A soft flutter of lingering angel wing on your forehead. I seal my love for you with this kiss. But as day breaks, the seal too breaks, and my heart breaks. Because I cannot show you how much I love you in the light. I cannot hold you close and cover your little face and hands with kisses. I cannot hug you or brush away your hair. Only after night sings you to sleep.

The worst feeling is not being needed.

The second worse feeling is trying so hard and not being good enough.

A good book is printed to be written in. Torn binder, dog-eared pages, broken spine, underlining, highlighting, and notes in the margin are all signs of a good book. It shows that the book is loved.

  

Some people get to the point were they are so tired from simply living day to day that having to think for themselves just becomes another thing on the To-Do-List.

Time is in too big of a hurry to care if it passes you by.

May 2008
I. Am. Simba.

10 Things I Miss from England that America Should Adopt

1. People

GET OVER HERE NOW! I MISS YOU!

2. Tea Time

Mmmmmmmmmmm……Oh, how I miss, thee, my love.

3. Trains

I drive an hour to and an hour from work every day. Why am I not on a train doing something useful with my life like sleeping, reading, or writing instead of pumping fumes into the atmosphere and stomping on the brake, wanting to throw a baseball into traffic’s face?

4. Kisses

England: Meet someone = Kiss on cheek. Say good-bye to someone = Kiss on cheek.

America: Meet someone = Handshake or Curt Nod. Say good-bye to someone = Handshake or Curt Nod.

Beloved country of mine, show me some love!

5. Drinking age

I hardly drink, and when I do I rarely drink a full serving, but America, get off your neutered Puritan horse and lower the drinking age to 18. If we can vote for our Commander in Chief and then raise a loaded weapon in his/her service, we should be allowed to raise a glass. Cheers.

6. English Accent

America, can we sound any blander? Let’s add a little music to our yapping.

7. Smaller Cars

While abroad, I did not see a single SUV, and the only vans and trucks seen were service vehicles. America, with 2.3 children per household and gas prices rising faster than a teenager’s sex drive, why do families of 4 own vehicles with 9 seats, and why must all American 5-seat vehicles (i.e. cars and SUVs) be 3 times larger than English 5-seat vehicles?

P.S. How much “sport” is in SUV if the US could pay back its debt by turning its obese into gold?

P.S.S. Am I fully aware that I drive a purple minivan? Yes.

8. University Classes Beginning in Early October

I am so not ready to go back to class September 1. Administrators, how about another month, eh?

9. Carrots

Carrots are one of my taste buds favorite visitors, and for some reason, English carrots are more fragrantly flavorful than American carrots. Better soil, perhaps?

10. Eggs

English eggs contain more flavor and a better texture than any American egg I have ever cracked. One American egg is not very filling and is improved upon significantly with salt and pepper. One English egg satisfies for an entire morning and to add salt and pepper would be a waste of good spice.

Gut-Nagging

Since this summer is my last summer cradled in the security of college before the bitch-slap reality of post-graduation, I knew that if I was serious about pursuing theatre, then this summer I needed work in a theatre, gaining experience and building contacts. So this spring, I combed the internet for theatre jobs and internships, and in the process, developed this crazy, gut-nagging sense that I should spend this summer working with kids.

Here is the thing: I never, never, never wanted or envisioned myself working with kids. I am passionate about kids learning the intertwined craft and life-skills of theatre while having a hell-a fun, but I did not want to be the one to teach them those things. I saw kids how I saw people’s pets: They are fine and good and all that, but I don’t want to deal with them. They are annoying; they make too much noise; and they are grimy to the touch. I respect them; I will not hurt them. (Hell, I’m a vegetarian.) But keep them to yourself and away from me; because I don’t connect with them, and they don’t connect with me.

But for some reason, I followed that crazy, gut-nagging sense and landed an internship with the Nashville Children’s Theatre (NCT).

When I told friends what I was doing this summer, they responded with versions of, “Wow that’s so cool. You’re going to have such a fun time. Kids are great.” Each time, I smiled weakly, mumbling, “Uh-huh,” and quickly changed the subject, all the while thinking, “WTF am I doing?!?!?!?!”

Now, in my sixth week of summer camp at NCT, I never want to not work with kids again. I love my job. I love it. I now know nothing more fun or rewarding in this world than creating theatre with kids. And I can connect with them, and they can connect with me. I just had to allow myself to open up to them: open to their affection, to their silliness, to their playfulness, to their wonder, to their humanity, to the realization that, though small, they are complete, rapidly growing human beings just trying to live their best life moment to moment, day to day, same as me.

Working with kids is making me a better person—more patient, more compassionate, more caring, more understanding, more fun, more aware. I'm not talking leaps and bounds here; I'm talking that I'm a little better of a person than who I was before I began working with these kids.

Box Office of NCT