A personal story of one woman's journey to her gut instinct self, via the San Luis Obispo Beauty Pageant. Written by Chris Zirbel; Performed by Silvie Zamora.

Back in 1921, sixteen-year-old Margaret Gorman of Washington, D.C., was crowned the very first Miss America. She was awarded $100. There are several ways to calculate the relative value of $100 in 1921 compared to, say, 1983. But if you think about it, there are several ways to figure the relative value of…everything.

People need to play. They need diversion. They need a good excuse to be silly. Enter, Halloween. Of course, reading books of fiction, going to theatre (doing theatre!), singing, scrapbooking, photography, just about anything creative is so good for the whole person.

But there is something uniquely magical about being served by a barista wearing a viking hat, or the store clerk in a super hero cape, or the guy at the credit union in a padded muscle man shirt.

It's simple, and silly. There's not enough of that in the world. Doesn't mean we stop taking care of business. And by "business," I mean feeding the hungry, caring for the environment, helping those with mental illness and addiction, and other issues that help to create a healthy social climate.

But at Halloween, most definitely, put that giant pretend spider web on your front porch and enjoy the fact that we're all pretending about something.

Just don't drive to work in a witch's hat. (Headroom. You can put it on when you get out of the car.)

It's hard to describe. Writing, recording, and promoting this particular episode was a big slathering of meta frosting on a deja-vu cake. It's also a little serving of chicken-or-the-egg. This episode is about how you name something, and how important is that, anyway?

The Life Lab Notes Polymer Players include: Denny Siegel, Abel Arias, Phil Ward, Silvie Zamora, Robyn Roth, and Keith Ferguson. Today's episode was written by Silvie Zamora, with special thanks to Denny Siegel.

In November of 2016, an intrepid cast, band, and crew entered North Hollywood, California's El Portal Theatre, and set up for the brilliant challenge of recording twenty-five short, holiday-themed stories before a live audience. Like an advent calendar, but with less religious-affiliation and only slightly less chocolate, the 2016 Audio Advent Calendar was born. It was too good to hear just once.

Please visit LifeLabNotes.com for more about this project and the talented folks involved.

In November of 2016, an intrepid cast, band, and crew entered North Hollywood, California's El Portal Theatre, and set up for the brilliant challenge of recording twenty-five short, holiday-themed stories before a live audience. Like an advent calendar, but with less religious-affiliation and only slightly less chocolate, the 2016 Audio Advent Calendar was born. It was too good to hear just once.

Please visit LifeLabNotes.com for more about this project and the talented folks involved.

In November of 2016, an intrepid cast, band, and crew entered North Hollywood, California's El Portal Theatre, and set up for the brilliant challenge of recording twenty-five short, holiday-themed stories before a live audience. Like an advent calendar, but with less religious-affiliation and only slightly less chocolate, the 2016 Audio Advent Calendar was born. It was too good to hear just once.

Today's episode, "Elf Training Camp", was written by Denny Siegel.

In November of 2016, an intrepid cast, band, and crew entered North Hollywood, California's El Portal Theatre, and set up for the brilliant challenge of recording twenty-five short, holiday-themed stories before a live audience. Like an advent calendar, but with less religious-affiliation and only slightly less chocolate, the 2016 Audio Advent Calendar was born. It was too good to hear just once.

Today's episode, Carol of Contention, was written by Lisa Bode Heard and Christine Zirbel, and performed by Robyn Roth and Silvie Zamora. Original music by Gary Grantham and Scott Passarella.

Head over to the website for more information about the 2016 Audio Advent Calendar project, its contributors and performers. LifeLabNotes.com

Thanks for listening!

In November of 2016, an intrepid cast, band, and crew entered North Hollywood, California's El Portal Theatre, and set up for the brilliant challenge of recording twenty-five short, holiday-themed stories before a live audience. Like an advent calendar, but with less religious-affiliation and only slightly less chocolate, the 2016 Audio Advent Calendar was born. It was too good to hear just once.

Today's episode, "Merry Krampus," was written by Silvie Zamora.

Please visit LifeLabNotes.com for more about this project and the talented folks involved. You'll like them all!