If you pop your collar the terrorists win

This makes me laugh really hard every time. Apparently, there is an anti-popped collar movement. The "movement" Web site — Popped Collars Are Lame — is good for a laugh or two.

The Little Dog Laughed

So, recently, I've been fortunate to meet a fabulous group of people — the cast of The Little Dog Laughed, a play opening this Friday from The Repertory Theater of St. Louis at the Grandel Theater.

Synopsis of the play:

Ruthless Hollywood uber-agent Diane is poised to land her handsome up-and-coming young client Mitchell the movie role of a lifetime, but she may have to push him back in the closet and everyone else in his life off a cliff to do it. This Tony Award-nominated outrageous and steamy comedy is a fast-paced, hilarious look at the world of celebrity and the down-and-dirty politics of show biz.

Note: This production contains brief nudity.

Yes, you read that right - NUDITY!! Naked men. And hot ones. Believe me, I've confirmed in person. (Well, not the hotness of the nudity...just...well, you know what I mean).

If you need a better reason than nudity to make it to the theater, I've also heard that this play is HILARIOUS and will have you rolling on the floor.

Cast includes:

Chad Allen as Mitchell
Erika Rolfsrud as Diane
Mark Fisher as Alex
Lindsey Wochley as Ellen

The play is directed by Rob Ruggiero.

Go see it. I promise you'll love it. You can find a schedule and buy tix here.

Top Night!

Wow. Last night was incredible. I am euphoric. I'm once again inspired at the power of the people of this country to come together and speak out for change. And I'm equally inspired by the journey Barack Obama has taken on the road to the White House. Dare I say it, I'm actually proud to live in this country once again.

Sure, there are some things that didn't play out the way I would have liked:

I'm sad that Prop. 8 won in California. But the fact that Obama won this election gives me hope that, in the future, our country will vote to allow all Americans the right to marry.

I'm sad, but certainly not completely shocked, that Missouri went red in the morning hours. But I'm proud of my city ... nearly 85% of the population turned up to vote for Obama. Lines were long and people waited anyways. Democracy salutes you.

And I was pleasantly surprised by Sen. McCain's graciousness in his concession speech, even whilst his supporters continued to boo Obama, he spoke eloquently and showed the backbone of a true leader. I do think that McCain is a great American. I don't agree with most of his policies. I didn't want him as my President. But I do think that he is a smart man who has lived his life in service of this country and I think that's a great thing.

When Obama finally came on to give his victory speech, I felt so much pride that I thought my heart might burst. I feel renewed hope for this country, something I wasn't sure that I would ever feel again. Obama said it best last night:

"This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can."


Photo taken from BBC News.

Rock the Vote

I got my tired arse out of bed this morning at 5:15 to make it over to my polling place by 5:30. Thinking that I'd only have to wait in a very short line to make it into the building like normal, I was floored by what I saw. The line was around the block.

Normally, at my polling place, they only open up half the gym because voter turnout is so sparse, they don't need the whole thing. For the gym to be full of voters with a line snaking out the building, down the street and around the block was truly inspiring and made me feel even more hopeful about the outcome of this election.

I've heard some people complain about how all of a sudden young people want to get involved ... how people who never cared before all of a sudden want to have a voice. I see no error in that. Perhaps, if you put yourself into someone else's shoes, you'd see that until now, it's very likely that these people didn't have a candidate they felt truly represented them. They didn't feel like their voice counted. That no one was listening to them. In a word, they felt defeated. It's a very different view from the other side.

But now, people are inspired to be a part of the process and speak up. That's the foundation this country was built on. I feel that over the past 8 years the citizens of this country had their voice taken away from them. Now they want to band together to take it back. That's nothing to be upset about. That's Democracy and it's a beautiful thing.