My article "Everything I Need to Know About Life I Learned in Comedy School" is in the September 2007 issue of Homemakers Magazine. Hooray!

This was a huge deal for me as I've been reading Homemakers (including Mom's copies) for almost three decades. Not that having an article published anywhere else isn't cool too; it's just that I considered this publication as a holy grail of sorts. One of those "I'll know I've made it when I can write for them" publications. Of course, if you reside in America or across the pond (Hi Katy!), you probably have no idea what Homemakers is. I guess I'll have to scan the article and link to it somehow since it's not being put online yet for the magazine.

And I have a confession to make: this article almost didn't happen.

Why? Because I felt I wasn't "ready." You know that feeling you get when you look at all the other awesome people around you and feel that you just can't compete? Oh yeah, I clung to my loser hat like a non-swimmer stuck in the deep end of life. I felt like I hadn't "earned the right" to approach such a publication.

Then, over a lovely meal at Red Lobster, Michelle Rowen asked one fateful question:

"Why not?"

I had written for other uber-cool publications, and although they may not have as large a circulation as Homemakers, the editors I worked with still wanted quality pieces for their readers to enjoy. And they kept on sending more work my way. So why did I feel that I didn't have the chops to step into the national women's magazines ring?

Um, probably because I was a complete chicken. ;)

But, as my grandmother always says, "If you don't ask, you don't get."

And, when it came right down to it, going to comedy school was an experience that taught me a lot more than just how to make it in the funny business. It showed me that not going after what I want is scarier than taking a risk any day.

Alas, my life did not change when I flipped open the magazine to see my article there. Not that it was going to, but after waiting for almost a year (seriously) to see this piece in print, I almost expected balloons to drop from the ceiling or my hair to suddenly appear blonder.

Hmm, maybe that will happen tomorrow. ;)

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