Exciting news. Elysha and I will be producing our first Speak Up storytelling show to an audience of actual people after more than 18 months away from the stage.
August 18. 6:00 PM. Tickets are limited and available here. If you plan on coming, don’t delay. Buy now!
We couldn’t be more thrilled about the venue:
The Hill-stead Museum in Farmington, CT. The Hill-Stead is set on beautiful grounds and is the location of the famous Sunken Garden Poetry Festival ever summer. Elysha and I have enjoyed many nights under the stars at this event, as well as many tours through the museum and its grounds. I’ve also worked as a DJ for many weddings at the Hill-Stead and taken poetry classes in their barn.
We’ll be performing from the veranda that night, and our audience will be seated on the lawn.
The thought that I might tell a story and hear an audience react to my words is thrilling.
America seems to be slowly, carefully emerging from its pandemic cocoon. Here in Connecticut, infection rates have been about 1% for the past two weeks, and nearly 70% of residents have received at least one shot of the vaccine, including our daughter, Clara, on Saturday.
Things are starting to get normal again.
In fact, I worked as a DJ for the first time in 19 months last night, emceeing and playing music for a wedding that was supposed to have happened more than a year ago. It was a smaller crowd due to the pandemic, and most (and perhaps all) of the guests were vaccinated. The wedding also took place in a large barn with enormous doors that remained open all night long, and many of the guests spent a significant amount of time outside.
My partner, Bengi, and I worked in the loft, high above the crowd, but even knowing that we were both vaccinated and the guests were vaccinated, it was strange to see 75 people congregate in one space to eat, dance, and celebrate.
Lovely and wonderful, but also strange.
I suspect that it’s going to take some time getting accustomed to normal life again.
