In 2012, I saw the Chorus Line with my two coworkers, Eric and Al and Betty Siegel of the John F. Kennedy Center. We had invited Betty to our fair city to do some consultation on our theaters and this show happened to be playing at our Benedum Center as a part of the CLO’s summer season. To give a little context on my history with musical theater, my sister and I were lucky to grow up in the town of Meadville, a relatively small place with not one but two community theaters. Therefore, from rather young ages my Mom took us to see gems like, Grease, South Pacific, Anything Goes, Aladdin, Pinocchio, Tommy, The King and I, Guys and Dall’s, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dream Coat, God spell, The Secret Garden, Mouse Trap, Oklahoma, West Side Story and of course The Chorus Line… We were lucky kids. So, armed with community Theater productions, I was no novice when I sat down in the theater that night, alongside our guest. I must say, however, I was taken aback when Betty, sitting beside me, cried at various points throughout the second act. I was watching the story and my eyes were as dry as a bone. Was there something wrong with me, that I did not find this story of struggling artists tear worthy? Was I cold and unfeeling? Finally the show had come to its end. The actors took their Curtin call and the lights began to come up in the theater’s house. This is the point when Betty turned to me, still teary and said “she did it for the love of her art.” This is the moment when I knew that while I am a strong admirer and lover of art that I am not an artist. This revelation was further confirmed when Al and Eric joined us at the back of the theater. Eric too had tears in his eyes, (artist,) Al stood dry eyed and as puzzled as I. Artists are amazing people and I count many amongst my closest friends, However they possess an innate ability to feel more deeply or on a different plain, it is not good or bad just different. I will always remember this story, so thank you to the Chorus Line for illuminating such an important distinction for me so early in my journey into the realm of the arts,.

I started at the Trust in the fall of 2011 after leaving a job and a town that I loved but, was beginning to outgrow. My last job had me advising students, event planning, facilitating leadership development, teaching, and working on holistic student development,. I entered into a role at the Cultural Trust, where there was a question to answer and an undefined path stretching ahead. I started with an internal charge to research who in the country was doing this accessibility and inclusion work the best. Once I found that, it was my belief that we could do this work. I read and I read and I planned and I read and then I asked a question, could we bring the national guru here to consult on our physical spaces? Could she help us to digest some pretty daunting plans and help to prioritize some pretty daunting work? The answer to all of this was yes. I already had some programmatic work under way. We had worked with marketing to print a large print program and were going to have some Broadway programs brailed in the fall. Theater Development Fund was going to caption our next Broadway season and we had even found an audio describer, we were on our way… So, then in May of 2012 I gave Betty Siegel a call. A little star struck, I called her at the Kennedy Center and invited her to Pittsburgh and told her of our concerns and of our reports. To my surprise, she was game for a visit. I sent her all of our material and we booked her a flight and like that she was here. In June of 2012 we picked her up from the airport in my coworkers car, took her out for pizza and had drinks with the, Betty Siegel. We took her to see a show that night and I planned a very busy day with four theater visits, a lunch with Kevin, Rona and a team from the Trust and some time to debrief at the end. You know that to this day, we are not perfect but, we have plans, we continue to improve and little by little we are making Pittsburgh a better and more inclusive place.

Yesterday, a little girl walked up to the bus stop with her Mom. Once standing about ten feet away from me, she turned to Bear and said to him, “I’m not afraid of you.” Really, I can’t make these things up. At least my trips home are entertaining.

The CLO’s Little Mermaid was fantastic! All who know me know that I have a love for both musicals and for Disney and am very open about these facets of my personality. All of my coworkers and now anyone who reads this blog will know that the parade of animals at the beginning of the Lion King makes me cry every time, in Toronto, in New York and the three times that I saw it in Pittsburgh. There is something so beautiful about how the music builds, about the homage payed to the new royal baby, and about the words, drawing attention to mortality and interconnectedness. This piece of Broadway perfection gets me every time. So, as it turns out, I am sappy. This is not new knowledge, to me, something that was brought out in college, I guess I went through one to many sorority initiations but, there you go… Anyway, the Lion King, amazing, Beauty and the Beast, fantastic, I will see Cinderella and Aladdin this year. But, back to the little mermaid, this was my second time seeing it. The shear staging of Under the Sea is worth buying a ticket just for that one song. It is so fast pace and while I can really only see flashes of color friends have described the action previously and I can see it in my head every time I see this fantastic story. The stage is alive with flying, skating, twirling, tapping, and Lion King-esk puppetry. It is beautiful and energetic and fun and everything a Broadway show should be. The Little Mermaid herself had an amazing voice that filled the Benedum center with powerful notes and enveloped the crowd, drawing us into the story. Then there were the King, Prince Eric and their strong voices and beautiful ballads, really the entire cast just fit. I was so glad I left my house on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Thank you to the #PittsburghCLO for a great night of theatrical fun!

I just read my blog posts from 2010. Keep in mind I started this blog in order to document guide dog school for the benefit of my students and others that I knew at Miami. In reading them now, seven years later, I see that my writing is similar, that I focus on one or two ideas in service of a larger idea and that I like to read my thoughts. Also, Bethany, while not exactly the best guide dog for me, retains her cute sweet demeanor and sometimes bratty disposition, I.e. ripping a toy from another dog’s mouth is so Bethany… She did it to Randall, she does it to Bear. She is just not a dog who likes to share. I am also a person who likes to accentuate the positive, glass half full or, perpetually positive, if you will? That well alliterated name still sticks. Thank you JS Bragg. Even today, I am happy to have those words attached to my name.

The other day, on my way home, a kid got on the bus. Rounding the corner and walking a few paces ahead of his Mom, he saw Bear, who by the way was as tall as he was. The only words to escape him were, “what the…” My thoughts exactly, kid. #bigdog #busfun #lifeasabear

So, to blog or not to blog, that is the question,… Pros of blogging: I like it. It is creative. Cons of blogging: I am not consistent. I get board with updating it. I get to busy with other things. Why I am restarting: I was talking with one of the Trust’s fellow’s Lily about blogging and I realized that I kind of missed it. In addition, my friend Anne was writing her own blog post for a national organization. While my plans are not that grand I will send out some thoughts into the world and we will go from there. So, lets jump ahead, anyone who follows me on Facebook knows that A. I was not pleased about the results of last year’s election and B. I have been trying my best to shine light on the actions of our elected officials and others who reside in the public realm because I truly believe that knowledge is power and the more that we all know and read and question the better. After all, knowledge can combat falsehoods and dangerous group think. I truly believe in the goodness of people and try to do my part every day to include, reach out, remove barriers to participation and generally promote social justice in all that I do,. Some of you may be gagging on the syrupy sweet naivety of this statement but, I mean it. So, once again this blog is coming back, I will not make promises of it being a daily weekly or monthly read but, I do invite you to read on...