May - 2020

Lack of Distraction

Movie theatres aren’t open. I know this is of the least amount of concern to anyone in the world right now. Nor should it be. I’ve spent the past week obsessed with the news and having lively Facebook discussions (some real—some imagined) with my fellow white people. Any yet, somehow this morning after leaving CNN and waiting for Politico to fully load, it dawned upon me that the movie theatres are still closed. As are the theatres where I make my living. And sporting events.

The Runner. The Birder. The EMT. The Man Who Couldn't Breathe.

One of the real gifts of the past three and a half years has been learning to appreciate and not take for granted, well, anything. Let me give you an example. I started running when I lived in Alabama. The Shakespeare Festival, where I went to school, was situated on this beautiful English inspired park in the suburbs of Montgomery. It was a beautiful place to run. It took you by a pond, thatched roofs, the museum. Then, of course, the theatre itself, with its entrance lined

First Day of Summer

Today is the first day of my summer vacation. Is there a more exciting collection of words in the English language? Yes. There are. I’m sure we could think of a list of three or four off the top of our heads immediately. But no matter who you are, or how long you graduated, hearing some one say, “Last Day of school man,” still carries emotional weight. And by weight— I mean freedom. This year, however, as I wrote my final lesson, and I watched the minutes and seconds count do

A Time and a Place

I’m not writing this post for sympathy. And no, nothing major happened. Just a minor annoyance. Just a reminder of how important it is to always be aware of my surroundings. I had treatment in Atlanta on Wednesday. Had a good meeting with my doctor. I’ve been feeling nauseous for the past three weeks, and he seems to think it’s from all the medicine I’ve been taking. That’s what I was hoping he was going to say. Better than some of things my little brain was coming up with. T

Vanity Plate

I’m a sucker for a good vanity plate. Probably a side effect of growing up in the 80’s. Back when being in the car for an extended period of time was so boring it was considered torture by the Geneva Convention. We did anything to make the time go faster, and I mean anything. We counted exits, we colored in coloring books, we prayed. This wasn’t so bad for us Catholics. My mom would be like, “Time to say the rosary,” and there went an hour of the trip. Plus there’s something

Happy Birthday Dad

Yesterday was my dad’s birthday. We were going to have an outside, socially distanced pizza party with mom, dad, me, Jaimie, Valerie, Michael, and little baby Patrick. Mom was pretty excited. She was going to have picnic tables with food and drinks in the garage, with chairs and a fire pit set up in the driveway. I was shocked. A fire pit? At mom and dad’s? That seemed very off-brand. Would there also be a drum circle and house made kombucha? And when the heck had my parents

Zoom It All to Heck

My book is called Hope in the Time of Chemo. It was what I originally wanted to name my solo play, but Stages won the day. Hope in the Time of Chemo had always been in the back of my mind, however, and as soon as I decided to go through with the book, I immediately knew what I wanted to name it I was originally drawn to the title because of Love in the Time of Cholera. Not that I’ve ever read the book. Or seen the movie. But the title was so evocative. So powerful. The idea t

Two Newish Moms

Today is Mother’s Day. Go ahead. Read that sentence again. That. Is. Crazy. It’s Mother’s Day. Which means it’s May. Which means it’s almost summer. Which is impossible because yesterday I was in Iowa doing Stages, and that shit started in February. Sorry. I’m doing my breathing exercises. In, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four. Repeat, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four. I spent an hour with my mother and father this afternoon. She told Jaimie and I about the how h

The Good Place

The Good Place

I’ve been binge watching. Like many of you I presume. As an educator, I guess I should be Binge Reading. But what I’m watching feels pretty smart so, you know, F it. I’ve noticed something recently. There are rules that govern my binging. Do you all have them? I didn’t create them intentionally. But they are there. And they are iron clad. First off, I don’t even call it watching television any more. I call it binging. “Binging anything good right now?” “I need something to bi

The Smell of My Youth

The Smell of My Youth

I think making desert is the nicest thing you can do for your child. That’s a bold statement, I know, but hear me out. This past Sunday, Jaimie and I went and saw my parents. We think we’ve figured out a way to see them while practicing social distancing. We’ve been avoiding the house. We’re not scientists, but we figure that inside is where most of the germs are. Also, I’m not a mathematician, but I figure that outside is bigger than inside. This gives us more areas in which

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