I went for a run yesterday. I have a new pair of running shoes, so it felt like running of puffs of air. I wanted to shake up my routine so I drove downtown and ran on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. I ran through Falls Park, past the Governor’s School. I pictured all the kids moving into their dorms, away from home for the first time. What great adventures were awaiting those young artists. Who knows how far their dreams will go. I ran past the Cancer Survivors Park. I wondered at w

It was August 12, 2008. That was when it happened. For a year or so before that date I had felt this nagging sense of unhappiness. My 20s were coming to a close. A new decade was on the horizon. I was a believer in the myth that having a 3 in front of my age meant that I needed to have everything figured out. Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha ha. It was a weird time. I felt the need for change, but I didn’t know what it was. My work was starting to change. I had just closed my first solo s

I’m watching people with suitcases carefully read a menu outside of a coffee shop. I can tell they want to go someplace better, but they just got to town and don't know where anything is yet. I know that feeling. When I get to a new city, I want that first place to be good. I always wind up looking way too long for the perfect place, and driving the person I’m with crazy. I just have this lack of faith that the first place is going to be any good. I know the perfect place is

I'm in Charleston for a quick trip to the beach. One of the advantages of your girlfriend having to work on your 40th birthday is that it gave me an excuse to stretch my celebration for an abnormally long amount of time. I'm hoping to make it until Thanksgiving. Jaimie will ask for help with the dishes and I'll ask about how she forgot to ask off for July 29th? We were heading to the beach, and before we left our friend Rob said, "Look out of the Portuguese Man of Wars." Man

I saw a rainbow yesterday. It was a good one. The entire ROY G. BIV was there for the eye to see. Since I saw the rainbow yesterday, which was also the last day of treatment number 2, it felt like walking directly into a metaphor. Rainbows are stunning sights. Whenever I see one I get why our ancestors would have thought it was God speaking directly to them. A storm passes, and then color streaks the sky. Yes please. The pot of gold metaphor has always been my favorite. When

Not writing much today. Getting my fanny pack out in a couple of hours. Looking forward to the twelve days of freedom. Sweet freedom. Of showering. Of not having to be attached the medicine. Of going to the bathroom without lugging something with me. Is this what it feels like for parents when their kids go back from summer vacation? I feel the cloud slowly start to lift. Thoughts slowly coming back under my control. I get to be a normal person again for 12 straight days. I n

I started running again last week. This isn’t a humblebrag. I hate to run. I don’t like pretending to be in danger. Swimming feels good, biking there’s scenery, running is just escaping trouble that doesn’t exist. But I’ve been doing it. Running laps around the neighborhood beside my apartment complex, adding up how many performances of Stages I’d need to do to buy one of the houses. As much as running is no fun, it is a good preparation for treatment weeks. When I’m running,

I’m at the hospital for infusion number 2. This is my 14th round of FOLFOX in total, but number 2 of this second go round. I’m starting to feel my arms get heavier, my thoughts get slower. Water is starting to taste like metal and a grey hue is overtaking my olive tones. In another hour I’ll be in my three day stupor. If you notice that my next few blogs have more than the usual amount of typos, just look in the mirror and realize that you’re grammar nazi-ing someone with can

Last night, I screwed up. Jaimie and I were deciding between watching the Dark Knight or Coco. After some hemming and hawing, I chose Coco. Two hours later Jaimie was doing that cry thing where your face gets all distorted. It was like her stomach was crying. I didn’t know whether to give her a hug or one of my Ativans. I just patted her on the shoulder instead. One of the objectives of the main character was to have his picture placed on his family’s ofrenda. If a person’s p

“There must be a magnet somewhere.. What else keeps bringing people back? -Something I heard once. Last month I had the privilege of participating in the State of the South tour by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. On July 6th, playwrights Donnetta Lavinia Grays, Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder, Addae Moon, filmmaker Caleb Zorn, Artistic Director Rick Dildine, and myself piled into a Chrysler minivan and set out on a ten day listening tour of the south. Part of our contract was to w