Saturday, September 16, 2006

If you don't feel like reading this, here's the gist: Be Happy!

I recently found myself at an old-age home. Actually it was less of an old-age home, and more of a house where old people live. I guess it's becoming common for care-takers to purchase large houses and live there with five or six sickly, aging folks. If you're thinking, "That sounds fun!", you're wrong. And, let me just say that the people I know that live there really need to be there. And, they're being looked after by good people. They're also visited SEVERAL times a week by their family, who also take them out and get them everything they need. I just want to make that very clear.

Forgive me for the picture I'm about to paint, but I'm doing it in the hope that you'll learn something from it. I certainly did.

Walking in to this house I couldn't help but notice a distinctive smell. I can only describe the smell as depressing... And pungent. It was the smell of sick people. It was a smell that lingered in my nostrils long after I left the house and long after I sniffed everything I could just trying to replace the smell.

Here's what I saw when I walked into this house: The front door opened into a big room that housed a dining room table, two couches, a few chairs, and a pathetic excuse for a 17-inch television that was struggling to air a soap opera.

The care-taker happily introduced me to a woman in the way back of the room who was sound asleep in her wheelchair, her knees covered by a cliche' lace afghan. Then, I met a woman who seemed a bit too well to be there, although she didn't have 100% of her wits about her. I liked her immediately for two reasons: she still had a smile to flash, and she was playing poker on some hand-held electronic thingy. Then I met "Claire", an Asian woman with one tooth who was in a wheelchair and forgive me, but she was folded into herself. In the time I was there, she attempted to communicate by moaning and being answered by the care-taker with, "That's okay Claire, honey. That's okay, Claire." The person I was visiting was asleep on the couch. She woke up easily and was happy to see me, but didn't know who I was. Someday I'll tell you about her... I just want to get permission first.

So, here I was sitting in this house for about 40 minutes, watching sickly, old people watching a sickly television that they didn't even know was on. It made me feel a lot of things. And I feel like I have so much more to say about what was going on in my head. But, I'm just going to say this:

Live your life the happiest way you know how. And if you don't know how, figure it the fuck out. We get one go around, and we hear it all the time, but we don't really ever HEAR it. I believe it is our responsibility to be happy in this life. It's our responsibility to take care of ourselves. We should do good things for people. We should exercise and eat right because we only get one body. We should eat fried chicken and pie sometimes because we only have so many nights out. We should tell the people we love that we love them all the time. I mean, ALL THE TIME! We should laugh our asses off. We should have parties and tell secrets and ask for things we want. We should make new friends and take advice. We should ask for help when we need it and take our parents to dinner. We should love our spouses, families and pets more than we thought possible. We should fight to be happy. And here's why:

One day we might end up sitting in a wheelchair in a stranger's house. Really let that sink in. It took me about 40 minutes. But, by the time I left there I made a new commitment to appreciating this beautiful life even more than I already do.

One last thing: Maybe if we live REALLY HAPPY lives, we won't ever be sick enough to end up in a place like that. Both of my beaufiful grandmas passed away gracefully at home, surrounded by people who loved them. Yes, they were sick at the end, but only very briefly. I think it's possible that there is a link between living well and dying well. Too morbid? Sorry. Think about puppies and flowers. Now go be happy, damn it!

Monday, September 11, 2006

MAD TV Petition

This is an unconventional post for me, but I'm doing it because I have some pretty cool fans and one of them has asked me to post this. Before I do, let me tell you about these people I call "fans".

I'm a low-level star. As a matter of fact, it's probably presumptuous to use the word "star" at all when describing myself. So I'll just say I'm a low-level thing.
Somehow, even low-level things get "fans" nowadays thanks to the "internets". Well, my fans are awesome. They email me, they congratulate me on gigs, they respond when I send out announcements... It's pretty awesome. PLUS, they're all over the world!! I know! I don't get it either!! But really. They're in Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, The Blue States, some of The Red States, and other places.

I feel very lucky to know these people are out there and that they care about my career and that they all hope that I one day become a low-level star.

Now, to the point. One of these cool fans is part of a movement on PlanetMadTV.com to have QDE put out each complete season of Mad TV on DVD. Apparently they stopped after season one, and now they're just putting out "best of" DVDs. So look at it, sign it if you want, and help make this dream a reality. I appreciate your time, and so do my "fans".

Signed,
Lisa
Low-Level Thing Extraordinaire




"This is a petition to request that QDE Entertainment and Warner Brothers continue the DVD-boxed-set reissues of complete seasons of the hilarious sketch comedy series "MADtv." The complete Season One DVD set was issued last year; however, because of reportedly disappointing sales, the planned series of complete "MADtv" DVD sets has been discontinued. Although QDE and Warner are releasing a "Best of 'MADtv'" DVD this year to spotlight the show's last three seasons, we feel that a cutting-edge comedy series like "MADtv," with so many wonderful recurring characters and witty parodies, deserves to be released in its entirety, not just as a series of "best-of's." Therefore, by signing this petition, you will be helping "MADtv" fans in an effort to continue complete-season DVD releases of this wonderful show.
Please visit http://www.planetmadtv.com for more information.

Sincerely,
The Undersigned"

http://www.petitiononline.com/mad4dvd/petition.html

Saturday, September 09, 2006

I'm posting

Why don't I blog more? That seems to be the question of the hour. I guess I feel like I shouldn't blog until I have something super important or funny or interesting to talk about. That doesn't happen as often as you'd think. But, it's been two months since I've blogged and I've been super freaking busy and some cool stuff has happened so I guess I'll write about a little of it.

First of all, I've been shooting a new Disney show that will begin airing in January, 2007. It's called "Cory in the House" and it's a spin off of "That's so Raven." I'm a recurring guest star and so far I'm in five of the first eight episodes. I'm having an absolute blast. So if you have a kid, or you're a kid at heart, look for it. It's a really cute show.

A week and a half ago my best friend got married. That was a really big deal. Deena and I have been friends for 20 years and we've been waiting for this day for almost that long. It was a magnificent wedding in their backyard with about 50 people, home-cooked food, and the most beautiful ceremony. Here's a pic:

















The wedding kept me pretty darn busy for almost all of August on the days I wasn't working on the show. And it was worth every second.

That's pretty much what I've been up to. It doesn't sound like a lot on paper, but I have really barely sat down at all in over a month.

That was a really boring post, wasn't it?
See? I told you I should wait until I had something interesting to say.
I promise I'll try to be more exciting in the near future.