30 was a turning point for me.

30 was a line in the sand, a springboard, a mirror.

As the clock rolled past midnight on New Years of 2008, I sat alone in my living room, deep in thought. I looked back on my first three decades with an air of bemusement, as though the girl I used to be was a stranger, just a pretty face in a high school annual, a ( Read more... )

Oh yes, the time has come for me to do what I've held off as long as humanly possible...
It seems at this point in the LJ Idol season I need to...


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The heavy door bumped shut behind her and she paused, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness of the bar.

It was mid-afternoon and mid-July. Moments before, she’d stood in a cityscape bleached bright white, glancing over the tops of her sunglasses at the wrought iron sign of a pub down a dingy alleyway.

“Dante’s” it read, the scrollwork similar ( Read more... )

"That damn dog is back," my boyfriend muttered.

Barely more than a puppy, the bone-thin little mutt had snuck onto the porch and was eating from my dog's bowl again. Jake opened the back door and stomped his big black boot to make him run.

This was the second time in a week that I had watched the pup slink up the back stairs, glancing rapidly ( Read more... )

My 31st birthday is this week. On Saturday. February 14th. Valentine’s Day every year, like it or not, for better or for worse.

As a child, having my birthday on Valentine’s Day was great. My mom was wonderful to remember both holidays, each year waking my brother and I with Valentine’s baskets in the morning and at night presenting my favorite ( Read more... )

The blanket was a creamy fleece, bordered in satin, with a smiling, sleepy Pooh Bear embroidered on one corner. Unbelievably soft, I ran my finger over the words beneath Pooh. “Goodnight, baby,” it gently whispered. Balling it in my fist, I ground my teeth together and thrust it elbow deep in a black garbage bag.

Pregnancy never seemed like ( Read more... )

“Honey, does this spot look weird to you?” I ask my husband, pulling the neck of my shirt to the side and revealing a brown freckle near my shoulder.

He glances over for a split second from his computer game. “Nope,” he responds dismissively, eyes quickly sliding back to the screen.

“No, really,” I ask again, this time walking over to him. “You don’ ( Read more... )

I’d like to tell you a love story. It isn’t really mine to share, although I was certainly involved. The majority of it took place while I was backstage, long after my scene had ended. But one day I was pulled into the spotlight again, in just a chorus role really, when I’d always fancied myself a lead character.

I met Brand when I was 14. Tall and ( Read more... )

I have “issues” with authority.

I put that in quotation marks because I think it - and say it - on a regular basis.

I have to thank my dad for instructing my mother not to beat this impulse out of me when I was little. The first time I ignored her instructions to stay off the kitchen counter, dragging a chair twice my size in from the dining room ( Read more... )

Just a mass note to say thank you to all of you who shared my excitement over getting a part in Annie Warbucks.

Y'all rock!!

The show doesn't open until July, but I promise to keep you updated and post pics and things as it gets closer to the opening.

Here's a couple pics from the audition process.


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