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arts & culture
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KANSAN.COM |THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2017
Aries (March 21-April 19) Attend to shared finances over the next two days. Make long-term plans. Study money, and review your resources. Heed a passionate call to action.
Taurus
Gemini
(April 20-May 20)
Relax and strategize with your partner today and tomorrow. Stay in rather than going out. Discuss how you'd like things to go. Invest in practical dreams.
Gemini (May 21-June 20) Local action can have long-lasting impact. The next two days favor physical movement.Get your heart pumping.Move quickly but watch your
Cancer
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
(June 21-July 22)
The next two days are reserved for fun. Love blossoms in relaxed moments.
You're developing a new perspective. Share it with someone adorable.
someone adorable.
Leo
July 23-Aug.22)
[July 23-Aug. 22] Take family time over the next two days.Avoid silly arguments or insensitivities. Consider the situation from different perspectives.Talk accomplishes more than action now
Virgo
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Get the word out today and tomorrow, and it travels farther than imagined Write, illustrate and share your views. Study new developments. Polish your
presentation.
Libra
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) There is no money.
here's money to be made today and tomorrow. Financial obstacles could stall the action. Proceed with caution. Figure out what's wanted. Hasty moves get expensive.
Scorpio
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
Pamper yourself today and tomorrow. Indulge a personal project with loving attention. Find what you need nearby. It doesn't need to be expensive... savor homemade treats.
Sagittarius
(Signaturus (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Find a peaceful, private hideaway to recharge over the next few days. Clean, sort and plan your next moves. Consider possible complications. Wait for development.)
developments.
Capricorn
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Confer with allies over the next two days. Your friends are your inspiration. Avoid reckless or impetuous actions... get productive backstage instead. Use existing materials
existing materials.
Aquarius
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb.18) A professional challenge with long-term benefit requires focused attention
today and tomorrow. Prepare, and winning is a distinct possibility. Study the underlying issues. Plan
your moves.
(Feb. 19-March 20)
Get into a two-day adventurous phase. Plan your itinerary, and study routes and options. Today is better for preparation than traveling.
Pisces
Ashley Hocking/KANSAN
Distant shores beckon.
Comedian Maeret Lemons enjoys a craft beer at Barley's Kitchen and Tap in Shawnee. Lemons has headlined in her hometown and across the nation. Lemons performed a comedy routine on stage at the Lawrence Arts Center on March 9.
How a Kansas City comedian made the jump from interior design to stand-up
▶ JOSH MCQUADE
@L0oneW0IIfMcQuade
Maeret Lemons woke up one morning and realized that she was not happy with her life as an interior designer.
The Kansas City interior designer-turned-comedian, not only worried about her own happiness but also about being able to support her son financially. Lemons said she labels herself as purpose-driven and was worried that she was not accomplishing what she was put on Earth for.
"After 10 years of being a designer, I really felt like I was in the wrong place," Lemons said.
Lemons is best known for performing around the Kansas City and Lawrence area. She recently performed at the Free State Regional Comedy Showcase at the Lawrence Arts
Center Thursday, March 9.
Her introduction to comedy began with a search for jobs looking for "outgoing women who were the life of the party." Lemons said the first profession she considered was stripping, but she quickly dismissed it. However, she stuck to the idea of working as an entertainer of some sort.
I was like the Forrest Gump of comedy — I just never stopped up there."
Lemons' first stand-up
"I just kept coming back to this idea of an open mic," Lemons said. "I just heard of it, I didn't even know what it was."
Maeret Lemons Kansas City comedian
set was performed at an open mic hosted by Stanford and Son's Comedy Club in Kansas City. Her first set, she said, was not good, but that made her realize that she needed to work hard to get better.
"I was like the Forrest Gump of comedy — I just never stopped up there," Lemons said. "And it wasn't cause I was good, I just knew I was home."
While many people would find the worst in bad situations that arise in their lives, Lemons uses everyday events as material for her sets.
"Life just happens to me, I just can't stop it," Lemons said. "I get out of bed and something happens all day, and that's how I knew I was a comedian."
University graduate teaching assistant Rachel Blackburn is working on a doctoral dissertation on the study of comedy. Blackburn
said some comedians like Lemons are able to create humor out of any situation consciously, but some have the innate ability to do so.
"Instead of seeing a situation head on for what it is at face value, they are able to look beyond and consider it more deeply, or from another angle," Blackburn said. "Almost as if they were a bird, looking down on the world below and creating funny shapes out of what they see."
Much of Lemons' comedy follows this, coming from her experiences as a single parent, her history of working design and other events that just so happen to pop up before a show.
Lemons said she writes her sets about 30 minutes before going on-stage, wanting to feel the atmosphere of the room first. According to Lemons, every venue has a different sense of humor, especially when
she leaves Kansas.
"For some reason, sitting in the room, even if it's still empty, I can feel what's gonna work and what's not gonna work that night," Lemons said.
While she works hard to improve her comedy for every new set, Lemons said she relies on instinct during shows.
Comedy is a live art form, making it very hard to maneuver. But, during her shows, she makes sure to always play off of the feeling and reactions of the crowd in front of her.
Lemons said she hopes to one day make the leap to movies, an original passion that she had in mind before the fateful morning that took her to stand up.
- Edited by Casey Brown
New York Times bestselling author visits KU to discuss role of women in science fiction
▶ LIBBY FLOOD
@libbyflood13
On Tuesday evening, New York Times bestselling author Karen Joy Fowler, known for "The Jane Austen Book Club," spoke on the role of women in science fiction for the annual Robert W. Gunn Lecture at the Kansas Union. The event featured a collection of her books, a Q&A with the author and a book signing.
Yusura Nabu/KANSAN Karen Fowler, a New York Times bestselling author, speaks about the role of women in science fiction at the Kansas Union on March 14.
Fowler spoke at length about women in the sciifi genre and the James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award, an annual prize for science fiction or fantasy that "expands or explores our understanding of gender." The award was co-founded by Fowler and award-winning author Pat Murphy in 1991. This year's winner was announced at WisCon, a feminist-oriented science fiction convention.
"The aim of the award is not to look for work that falls into some narrow definition of political correctness, but rather to seek out work that is thought-provoking, imaginative, and perhaps even infuriating," Fowler said.
Yusra Nabi/KANSAN sense fiction at the
The award was named for science fiction writer Alice B. Sheldon, who wrote under the pseudonym James Tiptree, Jr. for most of her literary career. It wasn't until later in her life that her fans discovered she was a woman. The award's website says the revelation the works were penned by a woman "helped break
down the imaginary barrier between 'women's writing' and 'men's writing.'
Fowler said the award's conception came from a car ride in which Fowler and
"It seemed as if the books that interested one part of the [science fiction]
Murphy discussed the gender divide in the world of science fiction.
community were being disregarded by the rest of the community," she said.
Fowler and Murphy
SEE SCI-FI PAGE 11
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