Busy?

My friend Kootch has noted that I haven't blogged much lately and asked (somewhat facetiously, I think) if I've been busy.

Yes.

I've no doubt that many of us are busy at this time of year, and I can't tell you how much I look forward to tomorrow -- my last day at my day job!

I go to work in the morning, leave there early to go to One Act Play rehearsals, usually have someone who wants to talk to me (about costumes, or sets, or character, etc), then run home to pick up a child for Cub Scouts or Girl Scouts, or wrestling, or basketball, or I have a board meeting for one of the three boards I sit on, then home to help the kids finish up homework, get them in bed, and it's 9pm and I'm bushed. Usually I fall asleep on the couch watching television, to wake up about 3am when one of my boys has to go to the bathroom.

If I do happen to have an evening without obligation, I try very hard NOT to sit in front of my computer.

Death and the actress.

I received a phone call this morning from the woman who will be doing the costumes for the one act play that I am directing for my local high school. Aside from confirming our meeting for later in the day, she thought I ought to know that the student who is playing "Hermia" in our production of A Midsummer Night's Dream lost her father on Saturday to a self-inflicted gun shot.

I haven't been directing for the high school for long, but I had already learned to expect the unexpected and to be prepared for all kinds of strange situations, but I never imagined I'd have to deal with something like this.

A prize for bad sex?

Sure enough, there exists an award for bad sex ... in literature. It's called the ... well, it's called The Bad Sex in Fiction Award. The purpose, it would seem (according to the BBC news), is "to draw attention to the crude, tasteless, often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description in the modern novel, and to discourage it".

You can (and should) read the complete article by clicking here.

My vote would have gone to the author who actually wrote: "Oooh la - jolly well - la!"

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday, today, to my wife!

Removing the millstone.

It's not been a secret that I couldn't stand the place where I was putting in time and receiving a paycheck.

About a month ago I gave them notice of my intent to leave the job by the end of the calendar year.

Today they had their first interview, and the notice was sent by email to all staff at my place of employ, that my position was available.

I told my wife that this had been done and she sent me just one word in reply: Congratulations.