In Honor of and with Gratitude for: The Carol Burnett Fun and Joy Project

I wanted to say thank you to Carol Burnett for everything I had gotten watching her show and singing along with the soundtrack from Once Upon A Mattress.

I told everyone: "She has been my role model (along with Madame Curie who died from radiation poisoning and Captain Kirk who is a fictional character)."

I also wanted to lighten the load of what we artists, every day, go through. Writing, auditioning, risking, attempting, and facing rejection over and over again, wears and tears. Every so often, we need to recharge and rejuvenate our spirit.

So I came up with the Carol Burnett Fun and Joy Party for Writers and Other Miserable Artist.

I put together a tea party and invited a bunch of friends to join me in some fun and joy and a chance to say thank you to Carol Burnett.

On Sunday, we gathered for the first one. No one really knew anyone except Yuki and Dizery but within minutes of dishing food and dishing dish we were all laughing and talking, sharing and learning, and eating tons of delicious foods we had all contributed to the table.

The best part was showing Dizery, who had never seen Carol Burnett's variety show, clips from the show, and laughing hard, describing to her and each other what the show meant to us.

Gathering together and sharing fun and joy was wonderful. I also asked that we all say thank you to Carol Burnett in a very easy, simple way.

Carol Burnett's daughter, Carrie Hamilton died of cancer. A theater space in the Pasadena Playhouse is named after her and the Playhouse has a program dedicated to at-risk youths. I asked that each one of us send IN THE AMOUNT OF OUR LAST TAKE OUT OR ORDER UP OR WHAT WE SPENT FOR THE TEA a check to:

The Pasadena Playhouse

or

The Salk Institute

and put on our checks "In honor of Carol Burnett/ Carrie Hamilton".

And now I ask all of you, dear readers, to do what I did.

• Gather your friends who know or don't know one another

• fill with wonderful fun food a table or a picnic blanket or any other place a potluck or meal could happen
  

• laugh and share and connect to what brings joy into your life

• At the end of your gathering, IN THE AMOUNT OF YOUR LAST TAKE OUT OR ORDER UP OR WHAT YOU SPENT FOR THE GATHERING write a check to:
  

Salk Institute for Biological Studies
10010 North Torrey Pines Road,
La Jolla, CA 92037

Pasadena Playhouse
Campaign Manager
Pasadena Playhouse
39 S. El Molino Ave
Pasadena, CA 91101

And after your own gathering ask each person there if they would go home to their friends and family and put on their own celebration and send their own donations to Salk or Pasadena.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if from table to table across the land, we said thank you to someone who shared her fun and her joy and lightened our load as we went through the wear and tear of our days?

Pass it forward and then send me a picture of your table or your friends or anything you want to share from your own gathering.