On the Twenty-First DaY of TiZmas

On the Twenty-First DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

Twenty-one firsts for this year...

I wrote a letter for the Rockettes

Fell so hard on the ice I lay there and wept

Got a Passport in 2 days

Flew to another country for a callback

Tore my quad

Healed my quad (with a little help from my friendly physio)

Sang old timey tv theme songs with a Tony award winning costume designer

I got pulled into the "fun" immigration room (if you redefine "fun" to include terrifying)

Was called a liar by as boss (that was resolved really quickly)

Got a soft audit from the NYSTA (that was resolved really quickly)

Ate poutine

Did Whole 30

Stopped drinking TaB

Stopped eating sugar

Am/was part of a documentary

Painted my nails gray

Used up all my sick days (this had NEVER happened)

Had a 103.2 fever during a show

Auditioned with a 102 fever

Auditioned with a 102 fever and booked

Left a long-running Broadway show

Invested artistically in my future.

On the Twentieth DaY of TiZmas

On the Twentieth DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

Twenty political actions I took this year of which I am very proud...


About 100 hours of volunteer work at Clinton HQ.  It was an hour and a half RT commute at best

Three weeks of phonebanking for Foster Campbell's senate race in Louisiana

Engaging members of any party on why they were uncomfortable with HRC

Engaging Republicans to discover why they were fans of #DonTheCon (yeah...that's how I feel about him)

Personally emailing 290 members of Congress about gun control

In the three days immediately following the election, emailing POTUS different ideas on how to appoint Merrick Garland, including recess appointment and distant legal precedent that Congress's failure to even vet Garland left them criminally negligent. 

Refraining from being a part of the echo chamber (if refraining can be active)

My first rally, mic and march

Writing an email to Trump demanding he publicly condemn the hate crimes being committed in his name

Writing an email to Melania asking her to make a stand against and influence her husband regarding bullying of all kinds as cyber-bullying will be her platform

Discovering and spreading the word about sanctuary cities

Finding, vetting and sharing appropriate petitions to sign

Finding, vetting and sharing appropriate phone numbers to call for action

Asking the agencies I call how we can be better, more active citizens. (For the most part they are thrilled the constituency is acting up and out)

Never falling for or sharing fake news.  Vet VEt VET.

Moving to Canada (yes...it's for work but it allows me to perform my version of activism with a sense of calm I was lacking in the States)

Knowing when to shut my mouth

Discovering and BLARING that the GOP had hidden an anti-LGBT amendment in the Defense Bill

Passing my phone around to get peeps to talk to Gillebrand's office so she could tally how many constituents were against the Bannon appointment.

This is not my action but a result of my action..I received an email from President Obama thanking me and asking me to essentially "keep on keeping on." I will treasure it forever and use it as a catalyst to be ever more creative and ever more watchful. 

On the Nineteenth DaY of TiZmas

On the Nineteenth DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

19 things I love about Toronto...

My show is here

Trump is not

My apartment

The snow

The way the sunlight bouncing off the show absolutely blinds you (which is absolutely necessary when you're spending so much time inside)

Lack of guns

Mass transit

The kindness of the people

Anarchistically funny colleagues

Face hickies

Friends in town

The prevelance of plaid

Inexpensive over the counter drugs

Comparatively inexpensive housing

Controlling my own heat

I won't be in the USA for the inauguration...I don't think I'd be able to take it

My "Fuck Off I'm Coloring" coloring book

Pubs

A quiet street and courtyard where I can walk the dog without fear of him being stepped on

On the Eighteenth DaY of TiZmas

On the Eighteenth DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

18 things I learned when I was 18...

YALE IS HARD

You can survive bladder ball even if you only weigh 105 pounds and get crushed to smithereens in the bottom of a pig pile

A roommate will copy your homework if you leave it out

A roommate will get caught

I am cool and kind...the TA wanted to report said roommate (which might have gotten said roommate kicked out thus changing their life trajectory forever) and I and said, "Nope...I'll just protect my work)

I protect my work

Watch schedules or you'll miss the epic Christmas feast in Commons 'cause you're with your boyfriend at his school

If you drink too many snakebites you will not be able to walk

If you plant yourself in a recliner with a bottle of Yukon Jack you can relax your brain enough to catch up on 1 1/2 months of calculus assignments

Dating gay men is lovely

That I am pretty.  (It didn't really hit til college)

Do not sit on the edge of a keg with a mug underneath you

Do not step off a stage in the dark

Ankles can break quite easily

I am a fast healer

Do not try and flip off your bed...which is the top bunk

Do not play THE FANTASTICKS over and over again unless you want to be killed by your roommates

Laundry baskets are the perfect place to nest and study

On the Seventeenth DaY of TiZmas

On the Seventeenth DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

17 things I learned as a 17 year old...


Boys dug girls who put out 

I wasn't particularly "dug"

Be true to yourself

If you get stressed and throw up for two weeks straight you will drop below 100 pounds

High notes first thing in the morning will get you the gig

Red overalls are attention-grabbers

Don't sell yourself short

Believe in the unbelievable

Never ask your AP History teacher for a college recommendation to Yale if he doesn't think you belong at Yale

If you curse enough you will get thrown out of the soccer game and your team won't have a keeper

Drinking a bottle of Andre's Cold Duck in 5 minutes will make you spew chunks and then fall asleep in the bathtub where your mother kindly covers you with some towels

You are not above exploding a bottle of Andre's Cold Duck in a douchebag's mom's Cadillac when said douchebag has douched your best friend

If you wish someone dead they just might do that (noo..this is not the above-mentioned person)

Pay attention to choral cut offs or you will be publicly shamed...and people you don't know at the time will remember it decades later)

Don't listen when people say "no"

Do not physically act out your dreams as you dream them..ACCIDENTAL HOUSE AWAKENING BLOODY, BRUISED MESS TO COME

If you don't show up to an awards ceremony, you WILL win..A LOT

If you surreptitiously flip the bird in 90% of your senior photos, they will ALL make the yearbook.

On the Sixteenth DaY of TIZmas

On the Sixteenth DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

16 more things I have in common with my dog (because it's surprising to even ME)


We can grieve a long time

We don't like change

Packing bums us out

We are averse to brushing our teeth at times but we do realize the necessity

We like to kiss people

Treats are the BEST

We sleep either spread eagle or curled in a ball

We have the same tangly hair

We probably have the same amount of white hair

Our butts are adorbs

We sometimes sleep without closing our eyes fully (freaks peeps out)

We do not agree with frigid weather

We both dig massages

No, rain. NO!!!

Napping in the sun is a necessity

Decent instincts regarding people and their intentions

On the Fifteenth DaY of TiZmas

On the Fifteenth DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

Fifteen things I have in common with my dog BaXter - 

We both have brown eyes

We like to circle when we poop

Red is our color

Norah Jones soothes us

We have a lot of energy

And then we have none

We're snuggle bunnies

We both love to love

We both love to be loved

We both hate to be controlled

Sensitive paws

We strike if cornered

We are really happy to see our people

But then sometimes we don't know what to say except "how are you how are you how are you"

We're better off together

On the Fourteenth DaY of TiZmas

On the Fourteenth DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

I played poker last night.

I don't play poker.

I was the big winner.

This has happened three other times in my life.

It's quite rude of me.

What I've learned is every group thinks they play standard poker hands.

None of these groups over the course of my lifetime have played the same hands.

Last night I got a full house.

Last night I got 4 of a kind.

I almost bagged a half hour in because I had lost my initial investment.

I doubled my investment.

I slowed the game down tremendously because I asked tons and tons of questions.

The first time (or first in a long time) I play any kind of game I have beginner's luck.

And then I spend decades getting into my head and chasing the tail of the dragon.

On the Thirteenth DaY of TiZmas

On the Thirteenth DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

Today is Poppy's birthday.

He would have been 93.

He only made it to 81.

I miss him a lot.

Especially when I watch "Meet Me in St. Louis."

Maybe because I identify so ridiculously strongly with Tootie.

Yup. THAT'S sad.

It may be my favorite Christmas movie.

Close second is "A Christmas Story."

I recently called myself an adorable cockroach.

My left shoulder goes in and out of the socket on a whim.

I didn't know I was hypermobile until I was 50.

I didn't hear the word hypermobile until I was 50.

On the Twelfth DaY of TiZmas

On the Twelfth DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

YUP. I DRANK LAST NIGHT. My that was loud.

I am enamored with my friends who are politically active.

I believe that at this point if you are not active then you are passively part of the problem.

I think that apathy could be the death of us.

BaXter likes to sit on my legs.

He is like a 12 pound hot water bottle.

He relaxes the spasms in my thighs from the statins.

I do close to a half hour's worth of physiotherapy exercises a day.

I eat cleanly six days a week.

One day a week I let the shit fly...INTO MY MOUTH.

I lost five pounds in the four days after #DonTheCon 's election.

On me, fight or flight looks good.

On the 11th DaY of TiZmas

On the 11th DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

I rarely drink anymore.

I drank tonight.

I have a hicky on my cheek.

I will laugh if it remains there forever and ever.

I wear it proudly.

I got a value bucket of wine.

You know you like your new friends when you plan on staying an hour and leave four later.

I've never met a more remarkable group of singers more ready to share their germs.

I do not have my requisite two Advil to get me through tomorrow.

Canada has some nice homegrown white wine.

I like to do housework when I've been drinking.

On the Tenth DaY of TiZmas

On the Tenth DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

I am by nature a very trusting person.

Some may call me naive.

I am also almost terrifyingly gullible.

Add to that sincere in a really warped way.

Once my trust is lost it is very difficult to regain it.

When I am angry I become remarkably polite.

I went off my statins recently.

It was wild and wooly how clear my thought processes became.

I had to go back on the statins.

I'm a little goofy already.

On the Ninth DaY of TiZmas

On the Ninth DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

I've just watched WAG THE DOG.

It's not funny this time.

Anything is possible right now. Anything.

I'm watching people unexpectedly embracing bullying, whether they realize it or not.

I am watching history, both recent and distant, being rewritten by many.

I lived in Russia for a month and a half in the early auts.

I love the people of Russia.

I have no interest in being in bed with the Russian government.

They were terrifying then and they are terrifying now.

On the Eighth DaY of TiZmas

On the Eighth DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

BaX and I have morning songs.

They are moronic.

Perhaps we should call them MORONing songs.

"The name on everybody's lips is gonna be BaXie."

"Where's that dog with the bugle, my little love, and why did I ever buy him those damn long pants..." I sing this because he looks like he's wearing shorts from behind.

"Hellooooo BaXie. Well, Helloooooo BaXie."

The scat section of "House of Blue Lights" as performed by Yale's SOBs is what I sing as I pull boogers from his eyes.

"BaXter Tisdale, I am in love with you and every step you take."

On the Seventh DaY of TiZmas

On the Seventh DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

Yesterday was my first day of rehearsal for SOUSATZKA.

I sat on the news of this musical for months and months and months.

It strangely makes it that much sweeter that it has started.

Many new and many old and many loved friends all jumbled together in a room of joy.

I love the verbal acuity and the hearts and souls of my bosses.

I love the story.

I love my life.

On the Sixth DaY of TiZmas

On the Sixth DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

A lot of people helped me with my stresses before I left for Toronto

After I bagged up all my bed clothes and cleaned madly in the middle of the night because my bed looked like Mutual of Omaha's Wild Insect Kingdom, I learned I did NOT have bed bugs...it was quite obviously just The End of Days...in my bed.

The Apple Genius Bar should perhaps be renamed.  I really only dealt with one genius and that's because he was a social genius as well...and that's because he took the time to freaking help me and quietly explain how I just had to deal with my craptastic phone for another day if I would just suck it up and do as he told me.

The next day's genius was my anti-social genius who got a very bad rating...not only because he tried to fob me off with a new battery instead of the new phone I was promised, but because he gave me the new phone and essentially said, "good luck." I almost called him on almost elder abuse. He did not help with my stresses but I ended up getting them out on him a bit and I got a new phone. SCORE!

Really no one can help me with #DontheCon.  He is an asshat. What I do love is my community trying to thwart him every step of the way.

The people with whom I needed to be in touch never really got in touch.  And that just seems to happen when I'm leaving town for years and years. But a nice lady at AT&T explained to me how to WIFI call and that will save me tons of money.  Thanks AT&T lady. A+ for you.

On the Fifth DaY of TiZmas

On the Fifth DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

I had a bunch of stressors before I left for Toronto

I thought I had bed bugs

My iPhone became a very pretty paperweight

We have a President-Elect who is an asshat

I could not reach people whom I needed to reach.

On The Fourth DaY of TiZmas

On the Fourth DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

I'm in Toronto

I love Toronto

I love this show

I love my colleagues

On the Third Day of TiZmas

On the Third DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

I was bullied terribly as a child and early teen.

I might have deserved it.

I was (and remain) weird.

On the Second DaY of TiZmas

On the Second DaY of TiZmas, TiZ reveals to you...

I cannot STAND a bully.

This bears repeating--I cannot STAND a bully.