We did a Q and A session for a group of visiting high school students after the Whirled News show. I know they're a bit self-indulgent but I love doing them. They remind me of standing in front of a mirror as a kid and pretending to be interviewed on a talk show.

They almost always involve the same questions. "How much is prepared in advance?" "How often do you rehearse?"

And, of course, THE question. The one that always comes up. "How much do you all make?" Or, "How do I make a living doing what you do?" The simple answer is "almost nothing" and "mostly you don't." After that we always try to come up with an answer that is self-deprecating and honest (you don't want to sit in front of a group of students and pretend to be something more than you are), without painting a needlessly bleak picture. Because it's not bleak.

Usually someone will say something like, "You should do it because you love it," and hope it doesn't sound trite. Trite or not, its true.