On the 8th Day of Christmas...

My Universe gave to me...

The Generosity of Friends

2009 has been a Witch's tit of a year..To many...Some of those many are my friends. Friends who have been having a tough go of it this year as well...but these friends have been incredibly good to me...

One friend was keeping me supplied with weed for months....MONTHS, for free...Others treated me to things that are usually on the casualty list when you've been unemployed for a looooong time...a nice meal out, a few drinks at the local pub, a movie complete with popcorn and soda. There is something so humanizing about these social mores...they make one feel infinitely better about ones self. The generosity of these friends has overwhelmed me at times...also overwhelming has been the deafening silence or the breakneck backpedaling of other 'friends'. But, I've been working on letting that be about them and not me. Who knows what fears our circumstances trigger in others. Who knows - indeed - what burdens and hardships others are facing and trying to keep under wraps.

But, I am so touched by the generosity I have been shown this year and I look forward to being able to supply the same for someone when I can.

I love you all. You know who you are.

On the 7th Day of Christmas...

My Universe gave to me...











My MacBook Pro

Originally purchased in 2008, this baby is my lifeline. It allows me...nay commands me to continue to be creative, no matter my circumstances.

It's a complete studio in a sleek brushed silver package. It's been along on all of my travels. Has ituned in Cannes, digitized in San Francisco, wifi'd for free in the middle of Central Park at midnite. It goes to bed with me, it's been to the head with me...It's my single most valuable and meaningful possession. I love my Mac!

On the 6th Day of Christmas...

My Universe gave to me...

Katt Williams!

I couldn't possibly say enough about how much I love and appreciate this man. I'm not even going to bother posting any youtube clips because there are too many to choose from. He is brilliant. He is genius. He is funnier than shit while observing the way of the world and bringing those observations back home to roost with his audience...


He is a potent antidote for whatever ails me...and I need a BIG dose of him today. When you see this level of brilliance it's difficult to not believe that there's something bigger than us as individuals out there...


I LOVE YOU KATT!!!! I GOT YOUR BACK!!

On the 5th Day of Christmas...

My Universe gave to me...

FACEBOOK

Never really got into Friendster. I have a MySpace page but can't remember how to access it and haven't been on it in years. I joined Facebook at the urging of a hipster friend who said it was a "must." Especially if I was doing comedy. And my hipster friend, who's name rhymes with Schmoo was correct!

What's been awesome about it is being able to stay connected with people who are no longer in my immediate orbit but who used to delight me in one way or another. Even the worst days could be made a tiny bit better by seeing their always witty, interesting, funny posts. It's also very gratifying when other people "get" me and respond in kind. When I was in my deepest, darkest depression, this summer - literally going nowhere, seeing no one - I could and often would go to Facebook. It's always there, no matter the time of day or night. During that time, I even got really sucked into Mafia Wars - it kind of became my "job" over the summer. I got great satisfaction watching my fake bank account grow to over a billion. At least I had money stashed in the virtual world!

What's been fascinating from an anthropological viewpoint is that, even though keeping in touch with someone on Facebook is literally a click away...some people are apparently "too busy" to even maintain that level of civility. I love posters who take the time to declare "I'm so busy I don't know what to do!" but obviously have time to post that. Howeve,r do not have time to respond to me. That was bothering me a lot for a while. But a few months ago, I just decided "Fuck it!" and defriended a bunch of people. Not in a retribury way. My goal was to reduce stress in my life wherever possible and easy to do so. Stressing about a long time friend who's just too cool for school to interact with me? No more. Deleted. Funny thing is, once that happened some of these people contacted me "I haven't seen your Facebook status in a while. Are you ok?" And I'm not mad at them. I get that everyone has their own stuff going on. But, don't get your stuff on my stuff. Everybody's happy. No one gets hurt.

Aother really cool by-product of putting myself out there on a social networking site has been that it really has exposed me to people who didn't know me before but "friended" me because they enjoy what I put up. Three of those people came to my show in September. That was really cool. Thanks Facebook!

On the 4th Day of Christmas...

My Universe gave to me...

AMBIEN!

Sleep has been and continues to be key in keeping me healthy and sane - ish.

You know how it feels when you haven't had a good night's sleep...or worse have suffered a string of sleepless nights. Lack of sleep even attacks the very young.

It's no secret that as we age, our sleep patterns change or are more easily disrupted. We wake up in the middle of the night more easily. Whether it's because of increased trips to the bathroom, an unruly animal (man or beast), temperature, etc - it's tough to find that nadir of the perfect sleep. The sleep of babies...Damn babies...it's wasted on babies!

I am thankfully one of those perfect candidates for Ambien. I haven't suffered any of the widely publicized side effects - with the exception of one very vivid Bugs Bunny hallucination at the very beginning of my usage. I've never eaten, driven...or had "crazy Ambien sex" while under the influence. Granted, I only take 1/2 pill every night. On weekends, I'll take a whole one or 1/2 and then another 1/2 when I wake up, so that I can sleep in.


I had a friend who was up to 6 - 10 per night and he did do some wacky Ambien driving. Crashed his car into the neighbors car and fled the scene...into his house, where the police found him..asleep. He once went to an NA meeting while "asleep" and knew nothing about it until he ran into one of the other attendees who commented on how much "sharing" he had done at the meeting.

But were it not for Ambien, I'd look and feel like Beowolf's mother...and I don't mean the Angelina version.

On the 3rd Day of Christmas...

My Universe gave to me...

District 9

A movie, put out with very little expectation that delivered on every level you'd want a movie to deliver on. While it does carry the Peter Jackson name (as producer), there are no stars in it and most of us had never heard of the director. For me, it was a happy accident that I saw it at all. We had planned to see Julie & Julia but it was sold out. District 9 was starting, so we went in.

I was so moved by the story itself and then by how well the movie was made.


How it made us care for the 'Prawns' - so alien and ugly looking. How Sharlto Copley played the character of Wikes Van De Merwe like a Stradivarius. Just remembering it now illicits another WOW.

After the movie, I paid attention to what everyone around us was talking about. More often than not these days, people have already forgotten about the movie even before they hit the lobby. But everyone was still discussing the story and what they thought would happen next. We were all invested in the future of Wikes and the Prawns! This experience fed my soul (seriously) and gave me the strength to want to hope for my own future as a filmmaker again.

On the 2nd Day of Christmas...

My Universe gave to me...

ELIZABETH WARREN

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Elizabeth Warren Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Knowing she's out there watching out for "us" makes me feel better, as it did Jon Stewart when she guested on his show. She explains things in such a way that makes it easier for someone like me to wrap my head around them. There's something calming and assertive without being aggressive like Susie Ormon can be. I know she's smart and gives good advice but she scares me! Elizabeth Warren's is the voice I turn to to calm the angst when it starts to spin out of control. Ahhhhhh. Elizabeth Warren is watching over us.