What was I thinking? The weather forecast for the Northwest was "partly cloudy, showers", generally a safe bet, so I wore a big black raincoat and layers for my trip to Seattle and Portland. Had I forgotten the daffodils during the Vancouver Olympics? Forsythia, flowering quince, blooming tulip trees and blindingly blue skies greeted my squinting, and grateful eyes for my Northwest sojourn.
After a great lunch at Seattle's Wild Ginger with producer/activist Paul Bauer who had picked me up at SeaTac in his black El Camino, I had a quick nap. I woke up with a quick Starbucks double latte -- I did not notice any open-carry weaponeers in the order line -- and headed to the Triple Door Theater for two shows produced by Square Peg Entertainment. The second show at 10:30 p.m., my 1:30 a.m., was a wild ride, but thanks to Sarah Palin, it's now okay to write my whole show cheat sheet on my hand, so I was fine.
The next day, I was off to Portland, the City of Roses, and was met by my artist rep, Tam Martin and her partner Carol Daebrl, who gave me a tour of their new digs and then took me to a great lunch at Wildwood restaurant. It was great to see Tam in person again after months of emailing and phoning. As Carol stared into space, Tam and I caught up on the dish of our biz.
That night Tam and I attended the annual Oregon ACLU Liberty dinner. The very chatty, optimistic affair honored the work of Candace Morgan, librarian, champion of intellectual freedom and steely populizer of Banned Books Week. OR ACLU also honored the work of Dr. Peter Goodwin, physician and one of the movers and shakers behind the Death with Dignity Act passed in 1999 in Oregon. Executive Director, David Fidanque gave a great speech on the serious assaults on civil liberties even during the Obama administration. The speech was a perfect set-up for some comedy and that's where I came in. The courage and tenacity of the attendees was invigorating.
I made it back to NYC in time for some Oscar couch potatoing. I was wearing GAP. In honor of Women's History Month, the Oscars presented a tribute to Horror Shows, which should have been called "Men Attacking Women." Ugh. I consoled myself with Penelope Cruz.