I am spending the last few hours of 2011 on the couch, watching The Walking Dead marathon on AMC.  I am also, not surprisingly, sick with another one of the ghastly colds I seem to get when it’s LEAST convenient.  The zombies are spewing things, I’m spewing things, but basically I’m okay with it all.  In my considerable experience with this “holiday,” being sick on the couch while watching people behaving badly in a zombie apocalypse is a howling success for me.  I’ve spent way too many December 31sts drunk, crying, drunk AND crying, stood up, hit on the head with champagne corks, passed out, pissed off and otherwise miserable…simply because I felt like I HAD to be somewhere, doing something.  Since I’ve been sober, I have learned a REALLY IMPORTANT LESSON:  it’s okay sometimes to say NO.

“No, thank you.  I’m not up for a big party where everyone’s yelling and telling the same story over and over again.”

“No, thank you.  I don’t want to play tonsil hockey with you, especially since you won’t even remember my name tomorrow.”

See what I mean?  LIBERATING.

2011 was a pretty good year.  It was not without its challenges, certainly, but most of it was pretty awesome.  I became an official “employee” of Mortified, learning all kinds of amazing, humiliating, and hilarious things about people brave enough to share them. I met some cool new friends, and the tale end of this year brought the very beginning of a project I’m working on with Ad Frank
(not going to divulge much on that yet…but I’m super excited to be working with him again).

I know that posting YouTube clips is sort of a cop-out, but the following couple of clips are examples of some pretty outstanding experiences I had this year. The first is the finale of Candide at my place of employment:

First of all, that’s one of the most beautiful pieces of music written for the stage.  I would dash from my office across the street during matinee performances just to catch it, and weep copiously.  I’ve worked in theatre administration my entire “adult” life, and sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the numbers and endless strings of data.  It’s always an amazing, and humbling, experience to be completely and thoroughly blown away by something onstage.  To be blown away by something that your work helps along?  See if you don’t cry like a baby.

The summer brought about one of the most fun experiences I’ve had, if not THE most fun experience, ever.  The houseboy and I, along with one of my oldest and dearest friends in the whole world, teamed up with some other crazies to pretend to be The B-52s for a night.  I played Cindy, while Michael – whom I’ve known since I was a thunderhearted, starry-eyed teenager – played Fred.  I’m pretty sure the reason we’ve stayed friends for as long as we have is JUST SO WE COULD DO THIS:

I’m kidding.  Sort of.  We’re friends still cuz we love each other -n- junk, but really – we were kind of destined for that particular strain of greatness.

As far as 2012 goes, I’m hoping for more Bikini Whale, a good stint with Ad on the aforementioned Top! Secret! Project!, continued sobriety, and plenty of writing.  As soon as I stop expectorating like an open hydrant.