Sunday Blog post

 Football Nights & Doctor Visits

At night, it’s been nonstop football. I’ve been watching from my window on the window on the tenth story, it looks right out onto the field, and it’s kind of perfect. The lights, the energy, the sounds drifting up, game after game.

Also took my son to the doctor this week to get his glasses.

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Starting Improv at Ella Baker

I’ve been looking forward to starting improv classes in person again. I signed up for a six‑week series at one of our local community centers, Ella Baker in Minneapolis.It feels like something I need right now, something real and live and in the moment.

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Thoughts About My Dad
Lately, I’ve been feeling a little sad. My dad’s been in hospice. He’s had prostate cancer for the last two years, and we just got a recent update. The next six months don’t look good. It’s been hard sitting with that, knowing there’s not a lot more time. Just trying to stay present and not get swallowed up by it.

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Books I’ve Been Reading
I’ve been reading Brightly Dead Things and If You Tell by Gregg Olsen. I also picked up We Used to Live Here, it’s about a couple who buys a house, and then a family who used to live there shows up. It’s haunted, kind of eerie but beautiful too. I got a copy for my dad. Then there’s Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy — a story of a remote island, a mysterious woman washing ashore, secrets, and nature and survival. Can’t get it out of my head.

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Diet Woes
Still struggling with my stomach. I’m on a gluten‑free and lactose‑free diet now, and honestly, it kind of sucks. Gluten‑free bread tastes like blah. Tried sweet potatoes, didn’t work. Tried lactose‑free milk, didn’t work either. Mostly I’ve been eating oatmeal, grilled chicken, salmon, and cantaloupe. Lots of cantaloupe. It’s been rough trying to find things that don’t hurt and also don’t taste like cardboard.

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That’s Where I’m At
That’s the week. A mix of doctor’s visits, football nights, starting improv, sitting with some heavy news, and still trying to find food that won’t mess with me.

Going forward, I’m hoping to catch at least two plays a month and do a lot more improv online. I’ve also started writing some stand‑up and am planning to hit at least one or two open mics before the end of the year. I’m still driving for rideshare, on and off, and I’ve started weaving some of those experiences into my comedy.

Hoping to write at least four stories for Medium.com before the year’s out, and really, the focus now is on writing, creating, and spending more time supporting my son — especially as he starts thinking about joining the school band after school.

Maybe You Could Love Me at Theater Mu

 I saw Theater Mu’s world premiere of Maybe You Could Love Me on September 13 at 7:30, and the play was an emotional rollercoaster. The first half was chaste and innocent between the two characters as young adults, and then the second half was painful and emotionally charged. I even heard a male in the audience crying. I felt the set could have changed more in between scenes as the play went back in time to when the characters were younger, but overall the two actors had such great chemistry that I couldn’t help thinking of myself in their shoes. Although there were moments where Sajida’s lines could have landed with more emotion, the dialogue exchanges carried weight and kept the audience deeply invested. The opening night crowd filled the theater, and even the snacks afterward carried a sense of celebration and community.

Written by Samah Meghjee and directed by Katie Bradley, Maybe You Could Love Me follows Sajida (played by Broadway actor Sushma Saha) and Noor (Ashembaga “Ashe” Jaafaru) as they grow up together, bound by friendship, cultural traditions, and the pressure of entering adulthood. What I appreciated most was how the play showed the tension between collectivism and individuality: the push and pull of family expectations versus personal identity. As Mu’s artistic director Francesca de Leon has noted, the story asks, “Can you hold on to your family’s value of collectivism while simultaneously exploring your own individuality?” That question hung in the air throughout the show.

The production team clearly worked to make the story authentic. Cultural consultants Aamera Siddiqui and Filsan Said contributed their insights to Sajida’s South Asian household and Noor’s Black Muslim household, grounding the play in lived experience. This attention to detail made the characters’ struggles feel even more relatable, especially in moments of conflict and quiet tenderness.

Still, the show’s greatest strength was the dynamic between Saha and Jaafaru. Their performances carried a natural chemistry, making the shifts from laughter to heartbreak believable. At times, I wished for more variation in the staging to highlight those emotional turns, but the raw sincerity between the actors made up for it.

Maybe You Could Love Me is a strong start to Theater Mu’s 35th season. It’s not only a story of two friends coming of age, but also a meditation on what we risk, lose, and sometimes gain when we choose our own path. The play resonates well beyond its cultural specificity, striking a universal chord about love, faith, and identity.

Ticket Info: Maybe You Could Love Me runs through September 28 at Mixed Blood Theatre. Theater Mu offers Pay As You Are (PAYA) pricing, so audiences can choose what they pay—sometimes as low as $10. 

Sunday blog post

 Thursday was a full-on holiday adventure 🎄. We started with snow tubing ⛷️… except we forgot tickets 🎟️. The sledding hill was packed, so we were all set to head home 🏠… but then… detour! Trampoline park it was 🤸! Three hours of bouncing, laughter, and convincing my brother it was actually fun 😏. Totally worth it.

Back at my sister’s, we dove into the annual holiday baking. And yes… the caramel rolls burned 😬. Smoke alarms went off, we laughed, and my pan once again failed the annual “Can I survive ?” test. My nephew, sister, and I swapped ideas about building slowly — whether skills, hobbies, or family traditions — even burnt rolls count.

Then came the gifts. We unwrapped them slowly, laughing at surprises, sharing little moments, and soaking in the coziness while watching the Timberwolves game. Once the excitement settled a bit, we watched the Wolves game, cheering, groaning, and joking like true fans. Later, we pulled out some games — nothing intense, just friendly competition, silliness, and plenty of laughter. It was the kind of slow, cozy holiday afternoon that makes everything feel warm and memorable.

By the end of the day, I even squeezed in a mini declutter session — a gentle warm-up for Monday. Tidying, reflecting, celebrating small wins. Life’s messy sometimes: things burn, plans go sideways, but every little step counts.

Thursday reminded me that holidays aren’t about perfection; they’re about connection, creativity, and humor — even if the caramel rolls are slightly burnt and the sledding hill is full.

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Sunday blog post

 

My son (we went without sumo inflatable 2nd night)

This week was a whirlwind of improv, school festivals, and video games with my son. At improv, I’m gearing up to participate in 10,000 Laughs improv fundraiser on November 20th with my group — it feels good to have something big to aim for, a goal that’s all about creativity and timing.

My son’s October festival at school was pure chaos — kids and parents in costumes everywhere, standing in lines to get into the school gym for an obstacle course with a bean bag toss and, of course, pizza. I ran into his previous teacher and we chatted about my son’s inflatable sumo wrestler costume, which definitely stole the show.

A lot of my week was spent on the Nintendo Switch with my son. There were moments I felt like I was inside a video game myself — where the people who “win” in life move fast, dodge obstacles, and have help navigating tricky challenges. That feeling stuck with me after talking with my tax attorney, who mentioned her thesis project about how taxes affect different people. Basically, the rich often get “discounts” on taxes, while the poor face penalties — not because of the numbers themselves, but because the poor don’t have lawyers or planners to navigate the

Near Guthrie theater

On top of all that, I spent a fair share of time setting up our HP computer. First, the internal mic didn’t work, and then I hit another setup challenge with the mouse. It reminded me that even outside of games, life can throw unexpected obstacles at you — and sometimes you just have to troubleshoot, step by step.

Lastly we went trick o’ treating around our neighborhood and we saw Demon slayers and pichachu and avacados and baby shark and lots of Mario’s.

This week made me think about how life sometimes feels like a game with invisible power-ups: some people are born with them, while others have to figure out the rules as they go — all while running a race that never pauses.