You live on Avenue Q!

Avenue Q opens tonight! Starring TB Reed! I got to see a preview last night and the puppets, the singing, the antics, so great. Also, see the lady top right? She was so good that after the show I gave her an attack hug. Luckily she was nice and didn't even mace me.

Here's a little info about this show. It is an "autobiographical and biographical" coming-of-age parable, addressing and satirizing the issues and anxieties associated with entering adulthood. Its characters lament that as children, they were assured by their parents, and by children's television programs such as Sesame Street, that they were "special" and "could do anything"; but as adults, they have discovered to their surprise and dismay that in the real world their options are not unlimited, and they are no more "special" than anyone else.

Top 5 reasons America's Got Talent is a farcical piece of crap.

• The audience is taught how to boo before the show starts, asked to practice it, and encouraged to standing-ovation boo anytime they don't like someone.
• Audience members who scream out in the middle of acts or while the judges are talking are not only allowed to do so, but also rewarded with free gifts and camera time.
• At least every other act, at the celebrity judge audition level, is put in to be a fall-guy for people to laugh at and the judges to berate.
• Out of 12 people that I saw audition, some of the ones that passed on to the next level are a talking parrot, elderly bottle players, and a woman who sang a mediocre-at-best alto version of Ave Maria.
• The judges ask contestants the same questions multiple times until the contestant finally answers the way the judge wants them to, then that's the take they keep.

There are more, so many more, but I'm too seething with rage to type.

New presents for your ear holes!

Clearly, I upgraded my Shazam app to unlimited song tagging. Here are two new playlists categorized into Up songs and Down songs. Both so, so good. I promise. Your ears will smile. Enjoy!
                         
Up Songs (for when you need to dance!):



Down Songs (for when you need to take a chill pill):

Last night I became a Minnesota Woman.

You guys! To celebrate living in Minnesota for almost eight years (minus one year we'll call "bi-coastal internship year") I decided last night that it was high time I conquer the almighty tater tot hot dish. Turns out it's so, so simple. And tasty. LOOK!

Pre-cheese.

Post-cheese.

Basically, brown some ground beef (or ground turkey), mix in a cream of broc soup and a cream of potato soup, some frozen veggies, some extra corn because corn is scrumptious, and some milk because cows are nice, then line the top with frozen tots, cook for 30 min. on 350, add some grated chee' on top, then pop the sucker back in the oven for 10 minutes. Then nom!

Na na na na na na na na BATGIRLS!

For all of y'alls that didn't get to see us ladies of Performance Level 3 improv class perform today, you can watch us listen to us perform right here. We did an improv form called "The Bat" where all the lights are turned off and we just use our voices. Hippy dippy, no? We like it.

Carry on My Wayward Bad Romance

So MPR throws an employee cabaret every year, sort of like a talent show, at the Fitzgerald theater. This year, I was convinced (with minimal prodding) to be a backup dancer for the finale act. I'm in the red tutu. Than is next to me. The band largely consists of sound engineers. Check it!

Manda shows amazing way to wrap a scarf.

This is going to change your life, people!

Trampoline Park!

You guys. Stop it. Just listen. Just stop and listen for a sec. I WENT TO A TRAMPOLINE PARK LAST NIGHT.

It was my friend Troy's real birthday last night, so we celebrated by jumping on trampolines at an indoor trampoline park called Skyzone! Picture this. It's a big building with pretty much nothing but gigantic trampolines on the floors and walls. For reals.

This is what it looks like!

So Skyzone is in Plymouth, which is lame. But it was the most fun I have had jumping up and down in my entire life. Plus TB Reed, Troy and Taj are pro jumpers and they did flips in the air. FLIPS! We jumped so high. And the secret thing is you don't realize how hard you are working your body until 10 minutes goes by and then all of the sudden you are gasping for breath and dying of exhaustion.

Then we saw my favorite local band The Robinson Caruso Organization, which is a 10-piece R&B/Soul force of nature, capable of producing gale-force winds and devastating bouts of dancing. We danced, my dear friends. Oh how we danced.

Robinson Caruso Organization

And I just wanted to say those two things. Ok bye!

Birthday shakeface!

It happened. Troy and I threw the birthday party of our wildest dreams. There was cake, there was roller skating, there was dancing, there was karaoke............and there was shakeface.

"Anna! Stop it! What is shakeface?!" you ask. Fantastic question. It's when people shake their faces as hard as they possibly can while someone takes a flash photo of them. Note - I have very attractive friends. This fact is not evidenced by the following photos.

Troy Zimmerman

Andrew Foreman

Alyson Wise

Josh Kuehn

Adam Paolo

James Rone

Erin Sheppard, vampiress

Taj Ruler

Than Tibbetts

Tim Hellendrung

Alli Koch

Manda Larson

Jen Scott

Tom Reed AND Troy Zimmerman. PHOTO BOMB!

Thanks to TB Reed for his mad photo/wrangling/explaining skills, and for being birthday mother to Anna and Troy.

Transformation.

15-year old TB Reed was... well he was something...but thank GOD I met him at 27.