writer/director/educator/lip gloss connoisseur
Amores, remember that anthology that includes one of my essays? You know the one… pretty blue cover… pink train… lots of gay stuff….
Well… here’s a review of Windy City Queer that just happens to call my piece “hilarious.” Yay!
Coming soon… I’m a vegan, but I hate all-natural makeup! I’ll tell you why when I finish giving feedback on a dozen scripts. Uff.
Now we’re gearing up to create a BRAND NEW SHOW called Unnatural Spaces, about urban toxicity and environmentalism in Chicago. I’m so excited about this piece, which will take up a much needed conversation about urban environmentalism, especially from the perspective of people in marginalized communities who are most affected by urban toxicity. If you know my work, you know already this won’t be a “preachy” piece – hell, with all the chemicals it takes to maintain my “natural red hair,” I’m almost as bad for the environment as any factory! My hope is that together, we’ll write a piece that is complicated, honest, and (of course) funny. Interested in participating? Here’s what you might want to know:
Read MoreAmores! Do you know what came for me in the mail the other day? This book:
Read MoreI love trying new lip glosses. But I don’t love trying new lip gloss colours. As I’ve detailed before, I stick to a steady palette of orange, gold, and raspberry, with the occasional orangey-red thrown in. But right now, my go-to lip glosses are a pale coral and a kind of light fushia/pinky lavender, both picked out for me by platinum blondes who have a lot more faith in the possibilities afforded by my red hair than I do.
Read MoreChicago is… the lake I love/still can’t believe it ain’t an ocean. Chicago is… bipolar as projects next to million dollar condos. Chicago is… masochists and character builders knee deep in snow…
Amores, The Americans closed on Saturday night and today I’m jumping in to tech for TOUR GUIDES v.3, which opens on Friday. Wait a second, wait a second! some of you might be thinking… didn’t you do TOUR GUIDES last year? Haven’t I already seen this show?
Yes. And No.
Read MoreAmores, in case you don’t want to read my long post about Tour Guides (below, and totally brilliant, just saying), here’s the short version.
Tour Guides. Opens Friday. Worth Seeing. Tickets and Information at guildcomplex.org.
For the past year, I’ve been asking random strangers the same handful of questions: 1.) Are you an American? 2.) What does it mean to be an American? 3.) If you could tell 100 people one thing about being an American, what would it be? 4.) Fill in the blank: The Americans are __________.
For the past month, I’ve been working with an ensemble of incredibly patient and talented performers to compile the answers to these questions into a script. We’ve been working with Halycon Theatre and the DCA Incubator to develop the project, and have been invited to kick off the inaugural season at the BRAND NEW Arts Center, Logan Square-Avondale. No pressure or anything!
September 30.
October 1,2
October 7,8
Arts Center: 2800 N. Milwaukee Ave.
All shows are at 7pm. You can purchase tickets in advance here, or pay-what-you-can at the door.
The best part, for me, of going to anyone’s house isn’t sneaking a peek into their medicine cabinet (does anyone actually do that? Alls they’d find in mine would be a boatload of rarely-used facial cleansers and some children’s tylenol. So don’t look in there. DON’T look!!!!) It’s sneaking a peek at their library. I love seeing what books people are reading, what books they’ve held on to.
My dream some day is to have a wall o’books just like this one. Oooo la la, as the French people say. And speaking of French people, my show THE AMERICANS opens in just 5 days. Whoa.
On September 21, the State of Georgia plans to execute Troy Davis.
Now, I know it is no surprise to anyone reading this blog that I am deeply and 100% opposed to the death penalty. This is a position (like being a pacifist and a vegetarian) that I came to via my Christian values, and it has been reinforced over my many years researching and writing about the history of lynching in this country.
Read MoreI have been trying to break out of my steady diet of microwaved veggie burgers and sugar snap peas in a bag by trying to cook a new, never before tried (by me) recipe. Tonight I wanted to try the Braised Cabbage and Seitan from Appetite for Reduction, but ended up going way off course on account of I didn’t actually have any of the ingredients it called for (except cabbage). But it was DELICIOUS anyway.
Read MoreThe Americans is in full swing, and yes – totally behind schedule. SOMEDAY I’ll work on a play that’s finished being written before we open!
In the meantime, we’re in residence at the DCA Incubator and blogging about the process. Check it out here: http://www.dcatheater.org/blog/entry/flash_interviews/
I am in an “It’s Complicated” relationship with L’Oreal LeGloss.
Read MoreRecently, a friend (and one of my favourite bloggers) sent me a question via Twitter:
@coyapaz: have you tried L’Oreal Le Gloss? It is a lip gloss REVELATION!
Read MoreMy child is a [bleeping] vegetarian.
That’s cool.
I’m a [bleeping] vegetarian too. Not in a militant way. I won’t, for example, run up to people enjoying a hamburger and smack it out of their hands and tell them: YOU’RE EATING AN ANIMAL THAT WAS TORTURED TO DEATH YOU MEAN POOPHEAD. I used to do that when I first became a vegetarian back in my combat-boot wearing youth (minus the actual smacking and use of the word poophead.) But in my old age I am a lot more mellow. I don’t mean “mellow” as in “relaxed” or “not prone to road rage,” so much as “tired and would like to have a beer.”
Read MoreAuditions for one of my fall shows start tonight. That’s right… ONE of my fall shows. I think I have set myself up for a month of panic attacks by agreeing to direct/develop two pieces that open within two weeks of each other in October.
Read MoreNo lie.
Just the other day (while I was off here) I wrote a poem called “List of Wishes.” I wrote it before I had any coffee, so mostly it is an incoherent ramble about all the things I wish for. Coffee tops the list and ends the list, but right in the middle I wish for the perfect orange “pintalabios” (lipstick). And guess what the UPS man just dropped off for me?
Read MoreA couple of months ago, the Artistic Director of Halcyon Theatre invited me to write a play for their Alcyone ’11 Festival: Remixed.
Read MoreI haven’t been posting much because I’ve been busy with things like writing a new play, chasing my two year old, and actually working. At my actual J-O-B. We’re hosting a Symposium on Chicago Theatre History: Past, Present, and Future that starts this week.
Read MoreToday, I was walking from the Harold Washington Library (always awe-inspiring) back to my office (about 8 blocks) when it started to rain. And rain. And RAIN! Normally, I would not be grateful for a sudden downpour, especially because when my hair is left to its own devices it turns into a curly-on-one-side mess, but today I thank the rain for helping me find THE CUTEST LIP GLOSS EVER!!!! In an (unsuccessful) attempt to salvage my hair, I ducked into the art supply store near my office to wait out the storm. And there, amongst the pencils and stickers and for-real art supplies I don’t know how to use, I found THE CUTEST LIP GLOSS EVER!!!! I’m not exaggerating. Check it out:
uteness is the main thing it has going for it, but it is also vegan and Phthalate-free, which means I won’t feel too guilty when my two-year old daughter inevitably steals it off my keyring. Oh, did I mention it is a keychain? And only $2? I got it in orange, and it has a nice orange flavour. No colour and not that much shine. As a gloss, this is one step up from a balm. But who’s complaining? Not me. I’m totally in love. With THE CUTEST LIP GLOSS EVER!
