I Got Nothing

     I have nothing to say.  That is not entirely true; I seem to always have something to say, but nothing significant on any particular theme for the blog.  This post will be more of a potluck of various subjects and perhaps writing in this stream of consciousness something of some note will occur.

I AM IN A PLAY

     Rehearsals have started for Bare Theatre’s production of “As You Like It” and I am in the show playing the part of Silvius, a lovesick shepherd trying to woo and win the heart of the elusive Phebe.  I am excited about the show for several reasons.  1^st, I love Shakespeare shows and I love working with my friends at Bare Theatre.  I am also excited about the setting of the play in Appalachia, a region in which I feel that I have some expertise in. I don’t know if I consider Shawsville pure Appalachia, more of a small community with Appalachian tendencies. but I definitely had a rural upbringing. Also this will be a somewhat musical show.  The bluegrass band, The Zinc Kings, have been writing music, and the songs I have heard are great.  It is a nice ambiance being outside with the bluegrass playing  (I like a good fiddle song).  That being said, it is HOT.  I mean North Carolina July/August hot.  I knew this of course going in to the show. The key I suppose is how to use the heat to my advantage in order to use it for my character development (perhaps my character should be famous for his icy thermos of lemonade).  It does make me thankful for conditioned air.  I don’t remember a lot of air conditioning when I was a kid (I know we didn’t have it in the trailer), and I don’t know how we survived.  Regardless, I am happy to be in the show and everyone reading this should definitely check it out if they can in late August!

SANTA CLAUS, ANDY GRIFFITH, and ABRAHAM LINCOLN ATTEND A PLAY

     So I attended the 10x10 festival at the Arts Center in Carrboro, NC last Saturday.  A friend of mine, Mora Harris has a play in the festival  (titled “What You Don’t Know” and a very good play at that), All in all it was a great showcase.  The plays were great and the cast fantastic.  Even some of the “weaker” pieces were acted out magnificently and I highly recommend the show.  Also in attendance that night in the audience were a Santa Claus, Abraham Lincoln and Andy Griffith impersonator(s).   In hindsight I suppose I wish I had talked to them more, but I just thought it was too weird (especially having Abraham Lincoln in a theatre, isn’t that in bad taste?)  Abraham Lincoln and Santa Claus (Santa wasn’t dressed in his winter garb, but a green and red t-shirt/pants ensemble) cornered my playwright friend in hopes of having her write a play for them.  I managed to get her clear of them once, but they persisted and cornered her gain and finally she was rescued by one of the cast (great save Mary!) and taken to a safe, but undisclosed location (well the bar across the street).  In the impersonator’s defense, the Andy Griffith guy really looked a lot like Andy Griffith (Matlock Andy).  I just can’t imagine when you would need an Andy Griffith impersonator.  Abraham Lincoln, I suppose in some type of re-enactment, and Santa has the month of December covered, but when do you need an Andy?  I mean perhaps a pickle-judging contest?  All in all I thought it was odd, but then I felt bad thinking that the impersonation of these celebrated figures might be their only way to relate to the outside world.  What If I was mocking them, and failing to see the positive gifts they had to offer.  If it were a movie, that would make me the bad guy.  I thought about that for a while, and then went back to my original observation of thinking they were just weird and that I was not a movie bad guy after all.

THE RULE OF THREE

   The above two sub sections are pretty much all that I have, but I felt that I needed a third sub-header in order to fulfill the “rule of three”.  Life is busy at the moment.   I have a lot of things on my plate of late, trying to make some healthier choices and working on using my time better.  I don’t feel like I am accomplishing any significant changes, but perhaps in writing about it, even a little bit in the blog will push me to try harder.  Ok, that’s it.  Git on now, just git (Silvius’ words, not mine).