Cabin Fever in January

I think I am experiencing February's notorious cabin fever in January. It has been quite cold, meaning I've wanted to say inside. I've spent a good deal of my free time trying to learn the lines for a play I will be in at the end of February. The play is called Big Foot Stole My Wife, and is based on a series of short stories by Ron Carlson. Each story is inspired by the headline from a tabloid newspaper. Each is a monologue, mine being the longest-thirteen pages about Madame Zelena, reluctant clairvoyant. I may finally have finished learning all thirteen pages—I’ve had enough of it for the day to actually test to see if I can do it all, but I’ve done all the pieces.

The picture…I wasn’t going to try for a picture. Not really my style to fight crowds. I was really just hoping to hear him speak. But the event was more like a meet and greet, and he walked my direction. When he got close enough to address, I thought, “What the heck.” Handed my camera to a friend, and said, “Senator Kerry, pleasure to meet you.” Really, the most notable thing about this picture, in my opinion, is that I am wearing a pink suit!

The other activity with which I have recently been occupied is the creation of a little (very little) charitable organization--sole funder being me. I've partnered with a young Iraqi woman living in the red zone, in a terrible neighborhood. She is manager, I'm the support. She is identifying small scale projects in her neighborhood, families who need food, an orphanage that needs school supplies, churches that need some assistance. It gives her a sense of purpose, and I feel like I will have left Iraq a little better for my presence here. Although, I know some people with visas for whose happiness I can also take a little credit!