A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, and Faith in Stages

But there's the beauty of life beyond the bubble. It's possible for someone to see your wicked bits and still love you.

I'm sick of people who've never been to church telling me that church is full of hypocrites, and people who've never read the Bible telling me that it's baloney.

It's good to learn early that every show is a family---complete with dysfunctional relationships, tough love, and plenty of occasion for forgiveness...

Some relationships aren't meant to be Great Love; they're meant to be like a hot fudge sundae--enjoyable but not something you can acually live on.

A professionally trained actress should be a better liar, wouldn't you think? But no. I am pathetically underachieved in that area. I can think of a great lie. I'm plenty imaginative. But before the words are even out of my mouth, there's a weird tickle of unease in my armpits, a horsefly of guilt lands on the back of my neck, and before I can stop myself, that gassy little bubble of truth belches out.

The lasting legacy of the Cooter Smash is that I'm the first to know when it's going to rain. That's right. I both sing and predict the weather with my hoo hoo.

It also bugs me when I hear about "Angelina's adopted son" or "Rosie's adopted children"--as if that word will always separate them instead of binding them together. Angelina's son and Rosie's kids and I sould get a regular apostrophe-plus-s like everybody else.

All my life, I'd been on the receiving end of my mother's endless tenderness and vigilant care. Being allowed to care for her during her recovery was a gift – the most rewarding experience in my life.

Do you know what a magical kingdom is in your ear? A fairy cave leads to an Ali Baba doorway, beyond which the bony little ossicles - Malleus, Incus, and Stapes - guard the great snail, Cochlea, to whom God has given the power to transform the indiscernible movement of air into music.