Hey, do you know about our Kickstarter for the TMI Project? We're raising money so that we can become a non-profit organization and be eligible for grants and other funding. We want to be able to empower children and adults through storytelling, and make our workshops available to those who typically can't afford them - and need them most.

As an incentive, over on our Facebook pages, we are revealing little bits of embarrassing TMI for each donation. So far Julie has revealed that she wouldn't get out of the way for a little kid on a slide in a playground; Eva has told us that she is a Clown School graduate whose one time roommate made her get rid of her clown shoes because "those shits take up a lot of space"; and Sari has divulged that a) a big wave once took down her bikini top when she was in the ocean swimming with a U.S. Senator, b) she has never learned to dive despite many summers of swim instruction at camp, and c) she failed gym in ninth grade.

That's right - we're dishing for dollars. BTW, next donation, Sari promises to tell about "the dance move." Please give what you can - and even if you can't please spread the word! Send folks here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/907066290/tmi-project?ref=live

WAMC: Too Much Information 2 (2011-09-07)

WAMC: Too Much Information 2 (2011-09-07)

So, we were on the Roundtable today with Joe Donahue! We really enjoyed our conversation with him.

But we didn't realize how quickly the segment would go by! We had so much more to say. Such as...

- Too Much Information 2, an evening of monologues that emerged from our

12-week workshop, will be staged at 8 pm on Friday, 9/9 and Saturday, 9/10

at The Rosendale Theatre - a non-profit that was purchased last year/is

run by the community-based Rosendale Theatre Collective.

- A portion of proceeds from the show, merchandise sales, and sign-ups for

our next workshops will be donated to local post-Irene relief efforts.

- We also have a Moth-like story-slam series called T.M.I.dol (referencing

American Idol), that is much less formal. There are 10 slots for people to

sign up and perform their five-minute (non-work-shopped) monologues in

various cafe-type venues in the region. The first two were at Market

Market in Rosendale. The next one is October 20th at Oriole 9 in

Woodstock, in conjunction with the Woodstock Writer's Festival and The

Golden Notebook book store. The winners of all the slams will be featured

in a special T.M.I.dol showcase next August.

- We have two 12-week TMI writing workshops launching in October. An

all-women's program runs from 3-6 on Sundays, starting October 9th, and a

co-ed program runs from 6:30 - 9:30 on Wednesdays, starting October 12th.

Each one costs $295. That will culminate in the third edition of TMI at

the Rosendale Theatre in February.

- Also in February, we will have our first weekend intensive/retreat, at

Rosendale's Life Bridge Sanctuary.

- We are applying for non-profit status, and plan to bring different

versions of our workshops to assorted communities, including schools,

prisons, shelters, corporations, senior residences, and more.

- Check out http://www.tmiproject.org for more info

Yeah, we probably couldn't have said all that in a 10-minute spot... Click and give us a listen.

Comic Relief in the Wake of Irene

So, we're working on a video for a Kickstarter campaign we hope to launch soon. We've needed to shoot some footage of the three of us talking while in the seats at the Rosendale Theatre , extolling the virtues of the TMI Project, but Irene would not cooperate with us. Every time we planned to go to the theater it was as if some director in the sky called, "and, blackout!"

Today was no exception. A full nine days after the storm, we figured we were safe to reschedule, but noooooo. At 3 a.m. this morning, after a thunderstorm and heavy winds, the power in Rosendale went out again. It returned around 11 a.m., and we thought we were safe to resume our plans. But then, just before we were to make our way over to the theatre..."and, blackout!"

Eventually it came back on again, we made our way over, and got down to shooting. Maybe it was as a result of all the tension that Irene gave rise to this week, and I just needed a good laugh; maybe it's because the intermittent blackouts were starting feel like some big cosmic joke; maybe it had to do with my husband working the camera and my history of losing it anytime he and I try to record music together - but I could not stop laughing through just about every take. Like, the kind of sloppy, uncontrollable guffawing you might be overcome with in health class just after the teacher warns you against laughing at the names of private parts. It's a recipe for cracking up.

Which is not to say that I - or any of us - find Irene and the destruction it left in its wake are any laughing matter. No, to the contrary: we are deeply concerned about the losses our friends and neighbors have incurred. With that in mind, we will be donating a portion of proceeds from next weekend's performances of Too Much Information to local hurricane relief.

We hope you'll come out next weekend to laugh (although, hopefully you'll have more self-control than I had today!) and maybe cry, and know that in doing so, you'll also be helping our neighbors who've been hit hard by Irene.

Hope to see you there. - Sari

You, Me and Irene

Too Much Information will be going up on September 9 and 10 at 8PM at the Rosendale Theatre.

The Starling gals have decided to donate part of the proceeds from the ticket sales to some local Hurricane Irene relief efforts. We are all grateful that we did not lose any one or any thing that we loved during this devastating storm.

To find out how you can help, visit the Ulster Corp Hurricane Relief page.

Hope to see you this weekend!!

Love,

Julie, Eva and Sari