Drop Kick

hello, friends,

thank you all so much for the phoners and emails you left regarding the last post. and i am most sorry for bumming out uncle larry -- his extended summer vacation should not included thoughts of suicide on my behalf. and i do apologize for going down the rabbit hole a bit -- between the wedding in minneapolis, the start of playpenn (www.playpenn.org) and a recent tummy upset, i've been remiss in checking back in .

but i think it is important to remind ourselves of the power of communication, whether it is spoken or physical. we are not one another's mind reader and nothing any one of us can do will make a complete and utter understanding of what the other is thinking possible. however, by listening and clarifying and, well, let's be honest, dramaturging, we can perhaps come close.

i've found, in recent days, that i've been doing a lot of questioning and talking and it all seems good. i am learning so much about myself and others that it continues to shock me that i've been around for so long knowing NOTHING. yikes. but i feel grateful to have such great pals to keep me propped up.

so, on to several topics.

first, the wedding was beautiful. there was weeping, sunshine, lake harriet, joy, commissioned plays and a lot of great friends and reunions. so happy to see kling, ackermann, kokernot, halvorson, marnich/blessing -- way too many to mention. betty was a FANTASTIC co-pilot, along with the mysterious widow grant (you know who you are...) -- and if you ever get to minny, make sure you take a look-see at the carrie/andy lovenest. so lovely.

while in minneapolis, i visited the mall of america, which, for the record, won. i walked for about 4 1/2 hours and frankly didn't get to see all of it. however, i did buy a BRA. here's the deal:

i've been watching stacey and clinton and they have repeatedly mentioned that no matter how small you are, the girls will fall. coupled with chirps of "oh, shelley, please get a bra" from both mama and sister sue, i felt the time was right. i walked into the victoria's secret in the mall of america and said, aimlessly, "i've not owned a bra since 1984 -- can someone help me?" craziness then ensued and a hush fell over the store. ashley and two of her closest cohorts whisked me into the design area, tossed 13 different kinds of bras my way and poof! i am now a proud owner of a 38B (stop laughing, i am too a 38B) one of these:

the only difference between this picture and the actual bra is that mine is in ivory -- this color happens to be "naked."

okay, stop laughing.

in related news, i am also the proud owner of a new leather sofa in the color of "cognac." if you are in the philly area, i invite you to come over and check it out: a dog-ass free comfy sofa. it is GREAT. the living room is in the middle of a transformation, so do check in for updates.

finally, i have to comment on the fact that the idiots in new jersey that have been fighting over the budget are ALL DEMOCRATS. if i were howard dean, i would come up, smack all of their heads together and say, "pull yourselves together, idiots. we're supposed to be fighting with the republicans." oy. november looks very bleak.

must return to dramaturgy now, but a special little shout-out to jelliott, who has become an addict of volanskyism...sooner or later, they all fall.

gotohellifyouhatefreedom,

volansky