This month, The American Place Theatre (APT), the company I have been working with for the past three years, is undertaking a huge restructuring. My grant-writing position is being eliminated, along with half of the Theatre's staff positions. I'll still be working for APT in a small capacity as a Teaching Artist and doing some work at home, but I am very saddened by these changes. APT's Literature to Life program reaches about 30,000 students and teachers a year, presenting live theatrical performances of American literature and offering drama workshops in English and Social Studies classes. We work very hard to help students get excited about reading and learning through theatre, and in the past three years I have been overwhelmingly inspired by the kind of changes we have helped bring to the largely low-income urban schools we work in. For a lot of kids we reach, Literature to Life is the first time they have ever seen a play or read a book "for fun".

It's sad for me to get laid off from a job that I loved so much, but the real tragedy is that the program itself has been compromised and there is a chance that, without help, APT won't be able to continue reaching these kids. The recent economic crisis has hit us hard between school budget cuts, stock market problems, and a shrinking donor base - we have to find a way to overcome these huge obstacles.

APT is now launching Project 451, inspired by our newest adaptation, Fahrenheit 451, which envisions a world where no one reads. The goal of Project 451 is to encourage individuals who value theatre, education, and literature to help support Literature to Life and allow us to offer our performances and workshops FOR FREE to schools who cannot afford us. As little as $18 can cover the costs of bringing a student to see a performance of Fahrenheit 451 or The Kite Runner or Black Boy, and as little as $61 covers the cost of a 6-week in-school workshop series for one student.

I've been fundraising for APT for a year and a half and I'm asking for your support now, even as I'm getting laid off, because NOW is the time when it will be determined if Literature to Life can continue. There are a couple really simple things you can do:

1. visit JoinProject451.org to donate and learn more about our campaign.
2. tell people you know about us - pass on the Project 451 website to other teachers, librarians, parents, and actors you know who will understand how important our work is.
3. Go to www.GoodSearch.com set up your computer to use GoodSearch as your default search engine (instead of Google) and choose "American Place Theatre" as your selected charity - every time you search the internet GoodSearch will donate a penny to the Theatre. You can also learn about GoodShop, which donates a portion of your online shopping at major sites like Amazon and Ebay and The Gap to APT (great during holiday shopping time!)
4. visit www.americanplacetheatre.org to learn about Literature to Life - even though we are based in NYC, we tour our performances to libraries, colleges, public schools, and performing arts centers around the country. Its essential that we keep touring during this down-sizing period, so if you know any schools or colleges that might be interested in booking a performance, call the theatre or pass on the word!

PLEASE consider donating, even a very small amount, to Project 451 this holiday season. Big things can happen when a lot of people give just a little - it can change everything. In order for Project 451 to succeed, we can't rely on big donors, we have to rely on ordinary people who are willing, in these really hard times, to stand up for the importance of books and theatre and education and give a few dollars to help this incredibly important and effective program continue.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support. It sucks being laid off, and I'm so grateful to have friends and family like you right now. I hope that you consider supporting Literature to Life this month - even if its just by spreading the word. I wouldn't ask if I didn't believe that it was absolutely critical.

Spare Time

I just want to write down for the record what my week has been like, so that in coming years (months) I can look back and be jealous of myself.

Monday: Umm...nothing notable. I just went to work, came home, and spent the evening surfing the internet and (once ZPJ came home) watching movies.

Tuesday: All I had to do was teach a workshop midday - I slept in, caught up with a friend, went shopping in Soho by myself in the afternoon, spent a couple hours wandering around the shops and ended up buying myself some lovely (transitional) tops before wandering home. A friend came over after dinner - we made tea and had girl-talk while our husbands worked late.

Wednesday: After work, I got coffee with a friend, then picked up a couple other friends when they got off work. We did a little holiday shopping, and then, right when I was about to head home, I got a call from yet another person who convinced me to get dinner and go to an off-off-Broadway downtown theatre one-man show about the life and times of Anne Heche.

Thursday: Again, after work, headed out for hot chocolate and macaroons and a tour of Macy's holiday dresses in preparation for New Years. Finally made it home around 8 to make myself some pasta.

Tomorrow...catching the 6pm bus up north to hang out with the newly formed Team J - Boston division.

Maybe this doesn't sound remarkable or interesting in the slightest, but I'm coming to realize that I will never have spare time ever again. I will never be able to decide, at the last minute, to spend a couple hours wandering around after work getting coffee and shopping because I'll be having to head home to feed the baby or relieve the baby-sitter. Not that I'll never go to plays or out to coffee or go shopping again, but I'll never be able to do it without planning in advance. Unplanned detours are one of my greatest joys of NYC life, but from June on, after work - straight home! So, if you ever want to do something spontaneous with me ever again, get me before June!

Putting It Off...

When I was in school I had papers and reading to procrastinate. When I was working four jobs, I could always find something to procrastinate. Now I'm down to two, and I'm somehow finding other things to procrastinate - things that I would normally be really excited about doing. Things that, when I'm at work, I think "I would rather be..." but then when I get home I somehow...don't.

Things that I am procrastinating, even though I would really enjoy doing them:

• Making a book for my niece for Christmas
• Reading a novel that I started and really like so far
• Knitting a jacket for Baby that I've been half-way through for a month
• Cooking myself delicious meals that would be healthy and make my house smell great
• Writing entertaining blog posts
• Checking those last couple things off my to-do list from the job I "finished" last month - tying up loose ends

Things I'm doing instead:

• Watching, on average, 16 hours of "House" every evening (I don't know how that happens, exactly, but that's what makes it magical)
• Reading endless message boards and blogs about things I wish I didn't know about, like episiotomys and pitocin
• Shopping online (fruitlessly) for a New Year's party dress that will make me look cute and chic, not fat.
• IMing ZPJ updates about the cats' movements around the house every 10 minutes

I need some guilt, or motivation, or something. Or I need to embrace the fact that I'm destined to be illiterate, my child will be unclothed, and all my family will get gift certificates for Christmas.