I am inspired by the writings of my friend (A Good Reed Review), to write a post on being a member of the pit orchestra. I play (or at least, used to play) the French horn. During my life, I periodically stop playing and then pick it up again. And during my life, I have,…

I live in the “Bay Area”. The bay in question being the San Francisco Bay. (As opposed to the Saginaw Bay, which is the bay of Bay City where I grew up.) As you may have read, this area is getting some cases of COVID-19. This doesn’t really surprise me given the international diversity of…

I read this article in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Telling a teen to lose weight could spark an eating disorder. There are better ways to boost health. It made me more than a little frustrated and angry. The headline is great and I had high hopes. And it starts out well – talking about how teens…

The “Snakey Path” was a dirt path that ran through an empty lot that was on the East side and behind my (maternal) Grandmother’s house.  The path (and the lot it was in) ran all the way from the end of Hudson Street, parallel to Main Street and through to Borton Avenue in Essexville, Michigan.…

So many times, when I use a touchscreen said touchscreen totally ignores me. I mean, when the alarm goes off on my iPhone – I start out gently touching “Stop” and eventually end up stabbing repeatedly at the screen with different fingers and all to no effect. ARGH. When I am at the grocery store…

I never thought about having a “process” when it comes to developing a role. But since I started having breakfast once a month with my friend Ande (who is a musical director and pit player) and talking about our mutual theater experiences, she has convinced me that I do, indeed, have a process. Huh. Being…

I used to love making a batch of soup (or chili). Now, I almost never make soup. I don’t even want to look at soup recipes. Why? Well, one problem is most soup recipes make a fucking gallon of soup. Yes, I like soup – but I don’t want to be eating it for a…

Researchers have found, repeatedly, that certain substances “light up” the same areas in the brains of their participants as drugs. The media then reports that our brains show that these substances are as “addictive” as drugs. Nope. Bad reporting.  No cookie for you. The part of the brain reacting is the pleasure or reward centers.…

My Aunt Dolly was such a special person. She was my Dad’s sister (her twin was my Uncle Jack). Aunt Dolly’s real name was Fanny. I am totally serious. Can you imagine doing that to your baby girl? I don’t know why she was called Dolly, but I sure as shit would have wanted to…

There is an ad for Hershey chocolate that is supposed to be heartwarming. It is about 94 year old Bob Williams of Long Grove, Illinois. Bob gives Hershey chocolate bars to people; and has been doing so for more than ten (10) years. He buys a box of Hershey’s chocolate bars every Saturday. He has…