Three Days Into The Wasteland (and the Holiday Season)

Hey folks

Just a quick Monday morning update to let you all know what's been going on...

>> Lady Wasteland's launch on Friday went great. Thanks so much to all of you who've let me know what you thought of the first episode. The servers crashed at one point on Friday from the press of people logging on to view Episode 1, and Mark has passed along, in his cryptic way, the news that traffic has exceeded his expectations and that the response has been really positive.

Some of you have expressed a little disappointment that I wasn't in more of the first episode... don't worry. My character Henry and his companion Samantha will be the focus of future episodes, and our story is going to interweave with Lady's and other characters you haven't met yet. As Mark likes to say, "Everything is connected... everything has meaning."

Keep spreading the word to folks who may not have heard about the series. New episodes in this pilot run will be released on Fridays throughout December and part of January, so make plans to pop by http://www.ladywasteland.com/ at the end of each week to get your fix.

>> Well, I guess I can't deny it any longer... the "holiday season" is definitely here. Kind of a mixed blessing... as I've said before, I'm a big fan of the "Holiday Season." I just don't necessarily LOVE CHRISTMAS^TM (!!!!!!), with all its commercially-enforced overwhelming guilt-trip inducing stress and hustle and bustle. In fact, I got a peek at the this year's model of desperate consumerism on Thanksgiving evening when I tuned in the local news and saw that the lead story on every channel wasn't the state of the world, Iraq, the upcoming presidential election... no, every channel's lead story was about people camping out in front of stores for "Black Friday" like they were hoping for Spice Girls tickets (yeah, I know... Spice Girls tickets? Well, hey, different strokes and all...)

But, that being said, the nice parts of the holidays have blown in like a winter storm. Trish and I went to Lana Veenker Casting's annual holiday party last Wednesday at RonTom's and we've got another couple of invites for holiday fete's.

It's also Murder Mystery season, which is a special reason to cheer. I think I've written about this before, but it never quite feels like the holidays unless I do some sort of performance for people. My little way to kick into the holiday spirit "pot," I guess... as nice as it is to exchange gifts with family and friends, it feels especially nice to bring a little laughter and joy to people I don't even know during this time of year. That's really, to me, the true meaning of the season; as much as we want to let our friends and loved ones know how much we appreciate them, it's the one time of year when the "Family of Man" (sorry Womynists) comes together to lift each other up and share in our communal humanity. It doesn't feel like I do much to help this cause along... but performing for a group of some sort over the holiday season at least makes me feel like I'm contributing something.

>> Oh yeah, and it's raining and gusting so hard in Oregon right now that people are considering investing in do-it-yourself Arc kits. Well, it's not all that bad; I mean, it is Oregon. We've gotten used to a little rain. This storm, though, has been pretty strong, and it's affecting the whole Pacific Northwest. A good excuse to stay indoors as far as I can see.

So, that's pretty much what's going on at this point... stay inside and stay warm. And remember, if you rush out to brave the malls, the down-town streets or the soon-to-be-"canned-music-" filled halls of Nordstroms, that this season is about more than getting the best deal on the latest toy. It's about loving those around you and bringing people together.

-Harold