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I feel like I'm living in A Tale of Two Cities. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I live on the Upper West Side and was not affected at all by Hurricane Sandy. Yet, there are so many areas nearby that were devastated. It's so eerie to be in a city where a few miles means the difference between keeping the status quo or the complete loss of electricity and possessions. James, Juli and I are taking a cue from Jen Cody and Hunter Foster who have been going out to Staten Island and helping out every day. We're going to haul ourselves over there on Election Day since Juli's off from school and it will be a welcome distraction from the stress of the election.

There are so many ways to help if you want! For instance, some great people from In the Heights started their own relief group for specific folks they know that were hit hard by the storm. You can donate here. 

	The Cliff Notes for "A Tale of Two Cities"

This week I did an Election Day special edition of "Seth Speaks" on SiriusXM with Lizz Winstead who co-created "The Daily Show." First the name. I busted her on the idiotic spelling and she told me it was because of her sorority in college. There were five Lizzes (!) so each one had to be different. Since there was already a Liz W she became Lizz with two Z's. (The sequel to Liza with a Z?) Lizz started out as a stand-up but didn't get political 'til the early '90s. She actually remembers the exact moment when it happened. Lizz told me that she was on a blind date with guy, and she immediately knew that he was a moron because when she suggested they see a movie at the Film Forum he asked, sounding devastated, "Isn't that in black and white?" Despite her misgivings, they saw the film but she passively/aggressively got back at him by eating popcorn and then, with her greasy fingers, touching the sleeve of his satin Yankees jacket. Because she felt guilty about that, she agreed to go with him to a bar after the film. When they walked in, the TV was tuned to the news. The Gulf War had just begun and she remembers that the screen was full of graphics, green lights and people standing on roofs reporting on the war. She felt the war wasn't being reported, it was being sold. Her date stared at the footage and said, "This is awesome!" She thought, "If he's watching and thinking that, how many other people are?" She then decided she wanted to focus on how the media gets news to us and it became part of her act. She worked for a little on Jon Stewart's talk show, and after it was cancelled, she was brought into Comedy Central to help think of a new one for him. The idea of a show about the news came up and she told them that it should be like an actual news show: theme music, graphics, fake correspondents, field reporters, etc. Comedy Central agreed, and Lizz said they were able to hire people who had worked for years on actual TV news show so they knew exactly how to do it to make it look real — how to light it, what kind of music to play. It was so interesting for me to hear about the formation of the show because when I see a finished product that's great (like a brilliant Broadway musical), a part of me thinks that's the only way it could have been. I forget about the years of workshopping and non-stop making changes during previews, etc.