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Remember last summer when I got to play with Indigo Girls?  Well they just released a double live album of their favorite performances from 2006-2009, and disc 2, track 2 is Common Rotation and me joining them on “Salty South.”  I even got a mandolin solo.  It’s a highlight of my musical journey, and an audio postcard from one of my favorite memories.  The album is fantastic–the perfect followup to 1200 Curfews.  Available here.

Happy (non-joke) photos after the jump.   Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been over a month since I’ve updated this site.  But I have an excuse!  I’ve been busy trying to launch three separate projects, (more on those soon) and in the chaos of possibly-paying gigs the blog is the first thing to be ignored.  But tonight we’re going to the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, and I wanted to take a second to write down my thoughts heading in to the big event.

When friends and family ask if I think we’ll win, I’ve found myself giving the cliche response, “It’s an honor just to be nominated.”  I used to laugh at people who said that, because we all know everybody wants to win.  Who cares about the nomination, right?  Winning is everything.  Living in LA means practicing your acceptance speech while you’re stuck on the 405.

But facing the experience of sitting in the audience tonight, waiting for someone to open the envelope that might say WordGirl, I honestly…don’t care if we win.  Sure, it would be cool, but it’s not like I have any power over the result.  This nomination is for scripts I wrote over two years ago, that aired in 2009, being chosen by people I don’t know.  It’s in the past and out of our hands.

So I’m not worried about winning.  I am, however, ridiculously proud of my nomination, because it means something very specific: I was paid to write over 20% of a season of a television show that earned an Emmy nomination. Let’s break that sentence down.

I was paid… I am a professional.  I pay my bills with money from writing.  This is not a hobby.

…to writer over 20% of a season… To get your name on the nomination, you have to write more than one-fifth of the episodes that aired the previous year–no small feat!  To date I’ve written over twenty episodes of WordGirl.  That’s almost 400 pages of produced, scripted material, or about the length of the Star Wars trilogy.  This is ammunition against my inner-critic:  Proof that my career isn’t a fluke and I am not a fraud.

…of a television show that earned an Emmy nomination. Since age 12, the thing that makes me the happiest is to be surrounded by talented people, working together on awesome creative projects.  Theatre, improv, playing in bands–they’re all pretty much the same thing–and it’s reassuring to know that, even at age 34, those creative group experiences aren’t disappearing any time soon. WordGirl is funny, smart, and entertaining for kids and their parents, and I am lucky as hell to get to do this every day.

So whatever happens with that envelope tonight, I look forward to celebrating our nomination with the rest of the WordGirl team.   The tux is rented.  There is an after party.  There will be pictures.  Word up.

This just in: I’m nominated for a 2010 Daytime Emmy Award for “Outstanding Writing in Animation” for my work on WordGirl.  In addition to writing, WordGirl is also up for “Outstanding Children’s Animated Program” and Ed Asner is up for “Outstanding Performance” for his voice work on the show.  (Ed plays Kid Potato, the Butcher’s dad.)  I’m thrilled to be a part of the WordGirl team, and doubly thrilled to be recognized for our work.

But that’s not all.  Fizzy’s Lunch Lab, a PBS web series I helped write, is nominated in the curiously named “New Approaches” category. Good times all around.

The ceremony is at the end of June.  I am determined to attend.  This is awesome.

If you’re a WordGirl super-fan and happen to catch “Bonkers for Bingo,” (online at PBS Kids Go!) keep your ears open for two characters introduced just before the final bingo competition.  ”David Higginbotham” was the best man at my wedding, and “Mona Fallenbuchel” is my grandmother.  When I’m writing a script that calls for new characters, I always try to sneak in loved ones with hilarious-but-real names.  Also, Grammie is a huge bingo enthusiast, so in a way the whole episode is a testament to her passion for the game.  Grammie likes to joke that when her birthday rolls around, she’s only turning 39, so I made WordGirl’s winning number B-39.  Grammie will always B-39!

My new friend Josh Caldwell recently posted an interview I did for his blog, Hollywood Bound and Down.  Josh is one of this town’s rising talents, and the fact that he thought I’d have anything relevant to say made me feel old.  You can take a trip through my rambling mind here.  Warning: lots of metaphors.

The folks over at LA Concert Calendar just posted an interview with Matt and Mark from the Dust Bowl Cavaliers.  Check it out here, and enjoy Matt’s confirmation that the mandolin is, in fact, the nerdiest instrument in the band. In my two decades of rocking, I have never not played the nerdiest instrument.

WordGirl keeps racking up the honors at the award shows.  Last week we won the KidScreen Award for “Best Voice Talent.”  Very cool.  Also, toonzone.net named us one of the top 25 toons of the 2000′s.  I’m currently writing my last script of season four (episode 155!) and we’ll be in the booth recording all next week.  We should hear soon about more seasons, more toys/games/books, and the long awaited WordGirl-themed colony on the moon.*  Fingers crossed!

*The whole moon colony thing might not happen.**

**I put it at 50/50.***

***Due to the economy.

I got E a rad toy camera for Christmas.  It’s a Golden Half, and it takes two pictures for every normal frame of 35mm film.  Pretty awesome.  We took some shots on our recent Palm Springs bike adventure.