Fondu
My friend Sally had a special request for her birthday party – fondu! Get your sticks out, that pot of cheese soup is making a comeback. During the party, I noticed some scary double dipping. It’s the beginning of flu season, but I said nothing. Gals were yacking and dipping bread squares, meat cubes, veggies and I didn’t want to bring them down. I dipped my napkin once by mistake. I was waiting for the pot of chocolate at the end of the rainbow. More dipping of marshmellowish squares and fruit, though I would have been happy to pick the pot off the sterno flame, drop my head back and chug it.
How perfect that the day after the fondu fete, I would fly to Wisconsin, proud home of, you guessed it, the Cheesheads! I flew into Madison, Wisconsin and was picked up there by the director of the Young Theater at The University of Wisconsin, Whitewater campus. Ken Kohberger has produced me in Western Illinois and Keene, New Hampshire. We caught up as we drove through a beautiful fall landscape that reminded me of my upstate New York home. Minus the cheese.
That afternoon I met several LGBT student activists from Impulse, the LGBT student organization and the Pride Center. We chatted about their activism, coming out, campus tolerance and my ancient history. The audience at the show that night in their gorgeous theater was a lovely mix of students, subscription series patrons, faculty and LGBTers from all over Wisconsin. Never say anything less than a flat out rave for Bret Favre, former Green Bay Packers QB. We learn and grow.
The next day it was off to dear old Detroit for a show at the wonderful new LGBT Center in Ferndale, MI. The center is about a year old, a huge improvement over the former space and ably directed by Leslie Thompson. MI has the nation’s highest unemployment rate and is really hurting. Fundraising, a challenge any time, is especially difficult now. But the crowd crammed into the performance space at the center, after taking tours of the many wonderful floors of the building and we squeezed some more money out of them for the Center. I met more of the community of center-supporters at an after-party at a local brewery. I missed the cheese fondu, but met lots of long-time and new followers.
I just wrapped up a month of Super-Tuesdays at the Gotham Comedy Club here in New York. It’s been a month of bad to worse on Wall Street, so it was good to see people come out to the club for a few laughs. It was good to be together.
After twenty months and a billion dollars, it’s finally on to Election Eay. My adrenal system is shot and I don’t think it’s all the fondu! Vote early! Not often. That would make those anti-Acorn nutjobs blow up. Be positive! And plan a Fondu Victory party! Think Yes-Vember. We can.
October 31, 2008 @ 3:22 pm
Just wanted to give a shout ……… this is from Rickie the Truck Driver!!