How is everyone???

Any new projects? Any news?

Me, I'm seriously considering getting into stand up comedy.

We'll see how it goes.

Still writing. Just putting the finishing touches on my latest.

Hi Amena,

I am well, but been extremely distracted lately with life, so writing has been minimal, but I'm never sure how you manage to keep caught up on your life! I suspect you never sleep!

In all seriousness....
after having heard you a few times on the radio, and having met you twice in real life, I have to say I think you'd be great at stand-up! I'd be first in line at Yuk Yuk's to watch!

So, can you see yourself along the lines of a Russell Peters or Sabrina Jalees? Or a Debra Digiovanni? That's how I see you, waaaay more than a Red Green (or particularly a Tom Green).

Go for it Amena. You're probably over due for a post-mid-life-crisis career change anyway.

AC

Hi AC!

I'm lucky because my girls are all married and only my son is left at home.

That frees up a lot of time!

Thanks for the kind words! The only comic you mentioned that I'm familiar with is Russell Peters.

Think my style is a bit different from his.

We'll see. Have yet to do my first stand up.

A bit nervous but then I've faced some pretty scary crowds including grade seven and eights in Regent park and Jane/Finch schools who've made other presenters cry!

Went down to Yuk Yuk's last Tuesday and boy was it an eye opener!

All the routines were about sex and drugs.

Not my forte to say the least!

But I still think I can do this.

Got a lot to say and I think stand up would be the perfect venue for it.

Hi, Amena.

I think that's a fabulous idea! I can see you making it happen.

I had intentions of getting back here earlier (weeks, if not months...time passes too swiftly) to find out how your trip to the U.K. went, but I failed.

In response to your question, I'm fine. My nose presently has about 25 stitches in it -the result of having a patch of skin cancer removed (totally removed- amen!), and as usual I am sitting amidst stacks of paper and books, which I occassionally kick aside and ignore for hours at a time. It's so much more fun to go outside and do -whatever-.

My youngest daughter was married a few weeks ago, which was a great deal of fun She had a green wedding, -outdoors, with no expensive fluff, -just good food, good friends, and dancing 'til 3.

I finished one of my genealogy projects this past winter, 'William Carr, the Senior in America..the story of the family's migration from the Lakes of Cumberland to the Lakes of Minnesota.' I'm also close to finishing another genealogy project, 'Grace's Story'. Grace (my mother's mother) is a descendant of Henry Adams of Braintree, Massachusettes, as were two of our past American Presidents. I have elderly relatives eagerly anticipating the completion of this project. Thank goodness someone is! There's such a limited audience with these pet projects.

I took the summer off from my usual garden center work. There's just too much maintenance to do around here and only four months of the year to get it done.

So, did you fall in love with old England?

SP

Thanks Seedy!

Omigosh it's so good to hear from you!

Sorry to hear about the skin cancer! Must be all that time outdoors gardening!

But I'm glad it's all gone!

Your daughter's wedding sounds lovely! It's the way it should be! My hubby always says the food is the most important thing of a wedding. Have good food and no one will complain!

Your geneology projects sound fascinating! It's so much fun delving into the past and wondering what our forbears were like!

U.K. was fabulous! I toured schools in Bradford and Coventry and the people were just wonderful! Funny thing was they kept talking about my 'thick' accent! LOL

I ended up about twenty miles from the birthplace of Charlotte Bronte and I wished I'd known because I would have loved to have gone to see it! But the folks there said to let them know next time and they'd have me back and maybe then I can do more sightseeing.

I didn't get to see the Tower of London, which was on my to--see list, but I did take the hop on hop off bus tour and saw it from the outside.

It included a boat tour of the Thames! And walking down to the Globe theatre in the evening was positively creepy! Walked past the 'Clink', the famous prison that I've heard of growing up. I never knew it really is an actual infamous prison. I'd love to see it, it's a museum now.

I did see Stonehenge, and honestly it wasn't as great as it was cracked up to be.

I stayed with a lovely couple for about four days. Oh they were charming! The conversations we had! She's a children's literature professor and he's a history professor. Learned a great deal!

Did see a copy of the Magna Carta in the British Library.

Actually I just returned a few weeks ago from another trip. To Malaysia and Singapore. Equally as fascinating!

Stayed in a little hotel in Chinatown, the oldest part of Kuala Lumpur, would LOVE to go back!

If you ever get to visit, go see Malaysia! It's a charming country, a cross between Mexico, Pakistan, Dubai and Saudi Arabia!

And Singapore is just Singapore! Very very modern, very expensive, feels like New York but really hot!

The English accent is so charming. Thick? As in strong? Funny.

Where was Bronte born? Wasn't it in the lower Craven District? Maybe when you visited Stonehenge? You didn't feel any forces at Stonehenge? Nothing? Curious.

What did you think of the Thames? The Pinetum at Kew borders it. I thought- in comparison to my Minnesota waters- that it was quite dirty and polluted.

Creepy walks? Oooooh! How special. You were probably picking up on all of the suffering that took place there in the past. The Clink? That's new to me. I've read about royalty being imprisoned in the Tower, but never the Clink. My ancestors were from the border lands in the north. Only a few made their way south to London, and usually only for a short term,...congress, or some merchant adventure.

The British Library will be on my short list- if I get back there.

You're just bopping all over the world, aren't you? Wow!

SP

Hiya, AC...

I saw you here the other day and wished I would have taken a minute to say hi. Hope all is well with you, and (per your reply to Amena) that life has slowed down some for you. (Me, I'd crawl through the rest of my life if I could.) A person gets pulled in so many directions the way it is.

See you again.
SP

The Bradford accent is apparently not very 'refined'.

I've heard of people deliberately staying away from that area of England so that their children will grow up with a nicer accent.

I think you're thinking of Jane Austen. She grew up near Stonehenge. Bronte was up near Bradford, in central England.

I really loved England! Even though it's really dingy and crowded.

I want to go back and I have a strong feeling that I will.

I think with Stonehenge, it was just a feeling of "meh". It's really not as great as it seems in pictures and on T.V. And it really astonished me that I felt that way about it because I had been absolutely fascinated with Stonehenge before I actually saw it!

Had seen probably every documentary there exists about it!

So that ambivalence I felt when I was actually there, was surprising to me.

And I found myself looking more at the tourists than I was at the stones. Watching their faces and their fascination and thinking, 'hype'.

The Thames was very dirty. Positively brown!

The Tower of London absolutely gave me the creeps even from the outside. It's funny because it was definitely on my list of things to see, but I didn't.

And I don't regret it.

I have been going all over the place! I've been so fortunate!

Might be heading back to Singapore in February for two weeks. We'll see if that materialises.

Also was contacted by the Alaska public libraries to be their featured author for next year, but that depends on funding.

I would love to see Alaska! Haven't been there since I was thirteen.

They said they really show their authors around. Would even get to go dog-sledding! I would LOVE that!

We'll see.

Gotta run.

Hugs,

Rukhsana

Hi Amena and Seeds,

I'm very glad everything turned out ok, Seeds, but I'm sorry about your nose. What would my all time favourite elephant to do without her trunk?
And you're spot on about the food at a wedding. I remember a study a few years back, where wedding guests were asked a year after the wedding what they remembered most about the wedding. Without fail, everyone mentioned the food. No one had a clue about the bride's dress, flowers, music, ceremony, etc. but the food was memorable.

And Amena, I know how you feel about the content of stand-up. The rude and crude for its own sake doesn't cut it for everyone. And all comedy is based somewhat on adversity of some type. I suggest you take a few minutes to listen to Sabrina Jalees on YouTube. She is a regular all over CBC and television, and she writes for the Star. She also does stand-up. A part of her interest and the source for some of a fair bit of her material is her family - she and her brother have a Swiss mother and Pakistani father.
Plus, a 30-ish friend of mine also does standup and improv on the side, while working a day job to pay the bills. He went through the Second City programme as well as a few different standup oes. If you like, I can check into the details of how/where to get started.
I would definitely come out to watch you, Amena, even during the afternoon free practice sessions.

AC

Hi AC,

Thanks for the tips!

The funny thing is that of all that rude and crude stand up I saw at Yuk Yuk's absolutely none of it was memorable.

If EVERYONE's doing the rude and crude, and you can't remember ONE joke at the end of the night, doesn't bode well.

I've always been one for swimming against the stream.

I'll definitely check out Sabrina Jalees!

Thing is I can't use family. They've said so, in no uncertain terms. Well, actually I can mention a few things but I can't 'use' them in intimate and very funny stories. I've been watching really good stand up on comedy network, George Carlin and Chris Rock. Most of their sets are absolutely brilliant, yes with some swearing but somehow not vulgar--except for Chris Rock at the end, where he gets all sexual and nasty.

And I think it's really about the material. Once you can be comfortable in front of a strange crowd--which I definitely am--the rest relies on the material. It had better be funny, and I'm thinking this is possible.

What's involved in doing Second City improv? If you could find out for me, that would be great. I know they offer courses, but I really don't have time for taking courses.

I've got an open mic session planned for Sept. 9th at a place downtown. It's not Yuk Yuk's but it'll let me test the waters. I'm going to keep trying with Yuk Yuk's too though.

Back in the late 80's, I dearly wanted to perform with my guitar and songs I'd written but I didn't have the guts for the stage - I entered a contest once and came in third ... there were 3 people in the contest ;-)

Shortly after, I took a course in performance. I did quite well with it, and this day, I don't have a problem about singing in front of people, no matter how small or large the audience. I'm still nervous if I play the guitar to accompany myself though.

I admire people who take up stand-up comedy - you need a lot of moxy to do that.

All the best with it, Amena.