I scare people...

There's this teacher at work that I like to scare. She's always late for class and because I'm a 'life-long learner' and 'teaching is my passion' --- I want to teach her a lesson! So, I hide in the alcove of her doorway and when she comes up to unlock her door, I jump out at her and yell, MONSTER!!! And she just stares at me blank-face for what feels like 3 minutes - and then screams 'bloody-murder-style'!!! And that just made my day! It's not so much the scream that does it for me---it's the pregnant pause before the scream where the face is saying ---

*what the hell is happening to me right now??? Oh my gosh, I think I just wet myself...Holy...*
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

I know, right? I'm eleven-teen!!! And she gets freaked out super-easy--- so that just makes me want to scare her more...Like this one time, I made her go to this scary movie with me. And you know when the music gets all creepy and you KNOW that something is going to jump out at you? Well, she was so freaked out and was anticipating the moment so hard --- but then NOTHING actually happened----but she was so pent up that she screams anyways....And the guy next to her was all like, "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" And the women next to him was all like, "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?????" And he was all like, "I DON'T KNOW, I CAN'T SIT NEXT TO HER!!!"(pointing at my friend)

....And I was all like, "GOOD TIMES FOLKS, GOOD TIMES!!!!(laughing AND pointing at my friend!!!)

Peace, Love and Scaredy-Cats!!!
xoT.

Phat Love Nostalgia

I miss Phat Love.
Dare I revive it?

or write a sequel?

Peace, Love and Greedy for Laughter!
xoT.

Back to the Basics...Story #1

So, I'm in the DANCE studio teaching my grade 10 dance class and I'm wearing these fabulous black pants. In fact, I'm wearing all black. I'm a big fan of all black. So much so, that my students often ask me if I'm a stage manager...

So, I'm standing in front of my class, and I'm a bit irritated that they still don't have the counts down...5, 6, 7, 8...when all of a sudden I hear...RRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPP!!! I look at myself in the mirror to see that my pants have ripped from the belt line, down the crack of my ass, continuing along the inseam, and all the way down to my ankles for the grand finale...oh yeah, just made my own tear-aways!

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. My ass is hanging out. I feel so exposed. Oh my gosh, I AM so exposed. Oh thank goodness I pulled out FULL COVERAGE UNDERWEAR from my drawer this morning! I turn around to hide myself but it's no use...MIRRORS ARE EVERYWHERE!

I wonder to myself...Should I stay 'IN' the classroom with my ass hanging out? OR...Should I excuse myself 'OUT' into the hallway...with my ass hanging out? Because that's a lot of information for my students to process right there...

Peace, Love and T.M.I!!!!
xoT.

Idiot Noise

I know intellectually that all the urgent, pressing items on my mental list is a bunch of idiot noise. I know that all that matters is spending time with people that I love. If I know this much is true...why do I spend copious amounts of energy on the mental list? I often catch myself basking in the terror and panic of my to-do list...or worse, the absence of fruition in my accomplishments. Panic, flutter, noise, noise, noise...

Let's do something fun! Who's in?

Peace, Love, and ear-muffs!!!
xoT.

I asked this question:

What makes you just want to melt?

These are random answers from a variety of people in my life:

- Edward the vampire in Twilight
- Skinny jeans - so I can pour myself into them
- deep heart connections
- kissing
- a good hired housekeeper
- watching my children
- the smell of babies
- "mommy do you know what?" "what Julian?" " I love you."
- seeing a beautiful woman's soul
- Rumi, spilling from my lover's mouth, in a candlelit caravan in the forest
- the warm breath of a whisper in my ear
- a soft and gentle touch
- a cold beer after a long hot day

Peace, Love and Melting goodness!
xoT.

Thanking you and thanking me...

I am thankful for the sense of peace I feel waking in my own embrace. I am thankful for the kind and creative students in my dance classes. I am thankful that I finally had the courage to let go. I am thankful for the love and support that surrounds me. I am thankful for the inspiration to write again. I am thankful for the return of my ambition. I am thankful for the kind words of others. I am thankful for the many gatherings which include delicious friends, food and wine. I am thankful for the music. I am thankful for the poetry. I am thankful for the words and the wordsmiths. I am thankful. I am thankful. I am thankful.

Peace, Love, and THANKS!
xoT.

Why-ness?

Mercury passes out of retrograde in approximately 5 hours...and I can't wait! It's messing with my madness...

Peace, Love, and nothing more to say.
xoT.

FULL THROTTLE!

I am here.

Pushing past previous limits.

Breaking new ground.

~filled with energy and a creative spark~

...a warm feeling of peace in my heart...

SUPERCHARGED energy is flowing through ME!

Peace, Love and feeling brilliantly alive and connected to everything that is!
xoT.

TARA DUFFY

...wants to tell a NEW story or two....any favourites?

Peace, Love and perhaps a PHAT LOVE "the sequel"?!
xoT.

PHAT LOVE is MAGIC!!!

The Majestic Theatre - Magic Stick

Saturday, June 13th

@ 2pm

Tix: $15.00 @ the door

Peace, Love and Phat Love in the D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
xoT.

PURE BLACK BOX THEATRE presents...

PHAT LOVE & the thin girl

Tickets: $22 (plus GST) - 519-352-5000
Saturday, May 2nd,
8:00pm

info@puredanceacademy.ca
www.puredanceacademy.ca

PURE BLACK BOX THEATRE
Lower Level of
PURE DANCE MUSIC DRAMA, Academy for the Performing Arts
121 Heritage Road, Chatham Ontario

Peace, Love and PURE PHAT!
XoT.

TEACHERS LOVE PHAT LOVE!

On Tuesday March 10th, "PHAT LOVE & the thin girl" was presented at the OSSTF - DISTRICT 20 Office. In celebration of Human Rights and Equity, teacher's enjoyed a delicious dinner and an evening of socializing, networking and phat-entertainment. "PHAT LOVE & the thin girl" is now being considered for the PROVINCIAL OSSTF SPEAKERS/SHOW LIST!!!

PHAT LOVE & THE THIN GIRL DEMO REEL

Peace, Love and Book this hilarious one-woman show for your event NOW!
xoT.

Chatham Phat-ness

Phat Love & the thin girl

(Chatham Cultural Centre Jan.17th/2009)

I can’t imagine anything scarier for a performer -- the one person show. You’re out there alone for an hour or more. You can’t drop your concentration for even a moment; and if you screw up there’s no one to save you -- no one but you. The first time I saw a one person show, some thirty years ago, I was convinced it was a second rate vehicle. Where were the bad guys and where the surprise? You knew darn well the butler didn’t do it because there wasn’t one – nor was there anyone else much; just this guy or gal standing there – talking.

But the one person show has come a long way in thirty years. To judge from “Phat Love and the thin girl” it has all the pedigree of a stage play and the same chance at success or failure. The writing is better for one thing. The trick was to understand that the ‘one person show’ is not a stage play at all. It is a hybrid between stage play and stand-up routine – or stage play and dramatic speech or monologue – and it takes a specific type of performer to make it work. Tara Duffy is such a performer and she makes it look easy. For several years she has taken her One Woman Shows to the Fringe Festival in Toronto and venues across Canada. I’ve had the pleasure to see four of her five productions and ‘Phat Love’ is the pinnacle of that effort. Suddenly all the stars align: in terms of performance, material and polish. It first played at the Toronto Fringe Festival in the summer, 2008, to packed houses. Since then it has traveled through the province from Chatham to Windsor to Toronto and back again. As for the material – she has an affinity for it; probably because she wrote it.

The story follows a high-school dance teacher as she looks for love on an evening of speed dating. “Yeah”, she says, “I know what you’re thinking: pretty bottom of the barrel”. This character is not afraid to laugh at herself. The speed dates turn into a clever theatrical device. With each date she dollops out a little, sometimes a great big slice, of her personal history: from the small town star to big city tadpole; to her battles with delinquent students; to a failed romance with a co-worker. All the while she battles the bulge and her weigh scale; at one point taking up stripper classes just to make exercise more ‘flirty fun’. She is buffeted on all sides by the winds of passion and suggestion and the latest fad – a sucker for anything that tastes good, looks good -- promises a quick fix. She wouldn’t last a minute without her imagination and her humour. And maybe that’s the message. The evening of speed dating ends and prince charming is a no-show; but we get the feeling she’ll take it in stride.

Because, whether it’s lofty ideals, or change rooms without mirrors, or a sweet guy who loves his country music just a little too much for prime time, our heroine hurdles over all with wit and humour and even a song and dance on occasion. Great show, great writing, standing ovation – and I still don’t know how they do it.

Tom Coatsworth


“Phat Love & the thin girl”
Written & performed by Tara Duffy

Directed by Cynthia Rose
S.M. & Sound Christina Orr

Peace, Love and shout-outs to all the Chatham folk who braved the winter weather and packed into Studio One at the Chatham Cultural Centre on January 17th, 2009!
xoT.

10 things I love about you

1.
" I can't imagine a better way to spend an evening - Tara Duffy waxing poetic and making me pee my pants! Does it get any better than this?"
~ Jennifer Grant
2.
"Autobiography was never funnier!"
~Tom Coatsworth
3.
"I go speed dating every Friday night in search of Tara Duffy."
~Nicole Myers
4.
"I really DID laugh and cry. No lie. Enjoyed every heart-felt moment, from start to finish."
~Rochelle Douris
5.
"Captivating! Bold, brilliant, hilarious!! Check your eye makeup at the door!"
~Heather Bordine
6.
"I was amazed that any woman would have the guts to get up on stage by herself and put on a show. Tara is unbelievably talented, energetic and captivating. I really relate to her dating escapades. If you want a good laugh, you MUST see this show! With a live show like this, why would you waste time watching another B rate Hollywood movie?"
~Janice Carter
7.
"Phat Love was more than worth the price of admission. It gave me lots to think about I haven't laughed that hard for a long time. And we all could use a good laugh."
~Laura Gawne
8.
"Thanks to Tara and PHAT for the gift of reflection, laughter and a lightened spirit. We all can take a lesson from PHAT about how to go easy on ourselves. Perhaps we all need to soften our eyes when we look within!"
~Carol Shea
9.
"PHAT LOVE & the thin girl…funny, enjoyable…thoughtfully written…great insights…a truly energetic performance…I’m going to see Tara perform again."
~Victor Disyak
10.
"All I can say is: laughs, tears and plenty of FOOD for thought! It's about living, loving, not loving, and all the calories in between..."
~Karen Robinet

Peace, Love and Gratitude
xoT.