I spent the better part of the afternoon rounding up many of the media appearances and live readings I’ve done in the last seven years: WBEZ spots, Paper Machete readings and even a Chicago Tonight back in 2010. A few are missing because I haven’t had time to track down the audio –  the glorious fun I’ve had doing You, Me, Them, Everybody and the quick shots at 20×2, specifically. Eventually, I hope to add them all.

Doing so meant I finally got around to posting a couple old bits. First is “You’re Only Old Once,” an essay I performed at Tuesday Funk, my friend Bill Shunn‘s reading series at Hopleaf. I tend to do more personal pieces there and this one about approaching middle-age had been kicking around in my head for a little while.

Then there’s “Mark Wahlberg Hates America.” Claire Zulkey‘s Funny Ha-Ha was an occasion for me to go all out so I used a startling amount of vulgarity and then rapped a little. It’s definitely one of those pieces that’s better performed than read, which is why I hesitated to post it at all, but it’s also one of my favorites because it’s so ridiculous.