Chicago, IL

The bus ALMOST got stuck in the mud. Almost. But not. That was amazing.

Dinner Bell breakfast brought us two producers who pulled over to see what the bus was all about, and one producer who owned the restaurant - a cool woman who rides a Harley and who just loved us. We played "Home" together for the really, really last time, there in Burlington, IN. That was pretty amazing.

At what moment did we understand that we were not going to meet Oprah?

Maybe when we learned that the producer Nirvan had contacted was on vacation?

Maybe when we learned that the show was dark this week and that Oprah was probably not in town?

Either way it was a moment - a moment where the energy of all eight people JUMPED to what the next step would be: A northern-route Road-to-Oprah part B tour! As Juli said, this trip really can't be over until the bus gets its picture at Mount Rushmore (and of course, Oprah becomes a producer).

So the amazingest of amazing things that happened today was to see the optimism and commitment of the Road Crew.

We have each seen how much people love this project. We have seen some of the unbelievably sweet film footage from the trip. And in the true spirit of collaboration, we have taken this project of Nirvan's on as our own, along with all the other 8,700+ producers, and want only to see it thrive and be successful.

I set out on this trip wondering, why am I, a person who is totally into live theater, on the road with a film project? Theater is the ultimate collaborative art form, duh. One that can't happen without lots of people doing their part to express an idea- from someone writing on a topic, to someone finding a way to act that idea, to an audience member leaving their house to come out and share their time with the expression a group has created. There is nothing more satisfying to me than putting up a play to get people together in these different ways.

Theater... or The 1 Second Film!

Yes, it is equally satisfying to support The 1 Second Film. For all the same reasons, in one gigantically tiny and accessible-over-the-Internet package. And I look forward to offering it my continued support.

We did go to Harpo Studios. Got some new producers from the design department who saw the bus and checked out the website. Awesome.

This was the last night for me. Tomorrow I fly back to Blue Lake, to rejoin my classmates at Dell'Arte.

We ate our last supper at an excellent vegetarian restaurant called The Chicago Diner.

We danced with a group of middle school kids in the street near Nirvan's friend's house.

We said good night and good bye.

Oh, I can't wait to get back to my home but oh, I will miss these people til I see them again.