Hotter Than a Pepper Sprout

I have a tradition, at least in my mind, of reflecting on, and hopefully blogging about, what I've learned from each show I've acted in. So now that I have a free evening, which is rare (to slightly misquote my onstage alter ego, Kathleen, in "Panache") between performances (so yes, you, yes YOU can still come see us this weekend) I want to chronicle what I have learned from playing Kathleen and being a part of "Panache." Words are scrumptious. And also sometimes evil. The words of "Panache" have dazzled, overwhelmed, confounded and entranced me. Sometimes with the pure number of them that I have attempted to memorize. Sometimes with their beauty (scrumptious, relentless, glorious, desolation) and their banality. And their difficulty. Turns out, I had no idea how to pronounce "tempestuous." I actually hate talking on the phone and am probably holding this upside down...but, ACTING! Quick costume changes are fraught with dange...

It's been two weeks since I ran my first marathon. (Yes, I did say first , implying there may be more. Hey, I've already run 50.5 miles since the marathon, although that has been over 11 days.) I still can't believe I actually did it. AND I did it pretty successfully. I finished in 4 hours, 16 minutes, and 34 seconds (4:16:34). So I didn't just finish, but I finished in a rather respectable time for a 47-year-old woman. (My age-graded time, which is a magical mathematical formula that takes age and sex into account, was 3:54:03). For a little comparison, the average time for the 7,485 people who finished the marathon was 4:24:07. My goal was to finish in 4:15:00, so I was pretty close to achieving that. I started with a goal of beating Oprah's 1994 marathon time of 4:29:20 (for some reason that's a big standard in the amateur runner's world) but as my training progressed I was pretty sure I should be able to beat that. Turns out, beating Oprah's time...

...and all through the house, I've been flitting around trying not to go too crazy. I actually do feel pretty ready, or at least as ready as I can expect to be. My biggest regret is that I didn't find more time for blogging! So I figure at least a last-minute post is better than nothing. It is very surreal to be at this moment...all these weeks of waiting and preparation and here I am. It's also surreal to think that I AM ACTUALLY COMMITTED TO RUNNING A MARATHON. There are many, many things that if 47-year-old Amy had told 17-year-old Amy, I would have disdainfully flicked the fringes on my denim jacket at. But this marathon thing has to top the list. I've learned these have quite a few carbs for their caloric bang.  I've read many inspirational things during training about why people run marathons. I kept hoping that I would come up with a similarly deep and moving reason, but I really have nothing besides it seems like I should and I think I can. Why ...

I'm about to attempt my first marathon in just a little over 2 weeks, and I am officially tapering. I've written about tapering before, as I was approaching my first ever half marathon ( Tip Tapering Away ). Back then, I was a little ambivalent about it. I saw it mainly as a time when I was supposed to be resting up for my approaching race, but I was worried about slacking off too much. Oh the naivety of inexperience! Actually, come closer so I can tell you all about it... Let me take a moment for a little exposition, because I tend to assume everyone knows how long a marathon, and therefore a half marathon, is. A marathon is 26.2 miles, so a half is 13.1. Finishing a half marathon is a completely worthy endeavor, and I'm proud that I've finished six. But while a full marathon is mathematically simply twice as much distance, I can now say, even without having finished one yet, that a full marathon is way more than the twice of the effort and experience. In...

Watching a video of one of my performances, whether it's of me attempting to be musical or theatrical, is almost always disappointing at best, and depressing at worst. I/we never sound or look as good we I thought we did. Or, more accurately, even if it seems like we might have done a pretty good job, the tech at our disposal (meaning, my little yellow camcorder) just isn't going to be able to robustly capture our performance in all it's glory, including sonically and visually. Specifically, I've tried to accept that this means I will never be able to see myself all that well while I'm drumming or hear the bass drum. But I still keep recording our performances when I can, because it's a means, if imperfect, to relive the moment. And sometimes I'm viscerally reminded of something pretty powerful and awesome, such as: PEOPLE F$%KING DANCED AT OUR LAST CLUSTERFLOCK SHOW AT THE MINNESOTA MUSIC CAFE!!! You're just going to have to believe that the...

While the popular inspirational saying "It's not about the destination, it's about the journey," may sometimes be true, sometimes it IS about the starting point. At least when your journey is round trip. This is a life lesson I learned recently at the Minnesota State Fair. A trip on the Sky Ride seemed pretty innocuous, even after a couple of glasses of sickeningly sweet Minnesota Wine. Get on, sit down, enjoy the lights of the Midway, get off when the ride is over. Even I couldn't get lost, right? Only I didn't just need a sense of direction, but I also needed to be paying attention without unthinkingly responding to cues. In other words, I "knew" that I had purchased a round trip ticket, but I didn't stop to think how that meant that there would be more than one place to end the ride. So when the ride stopped, I jumped off, without thinking about how I wasn't at the same location where I had started. That's when I learned an...