A New and Glorious Morn!

It is a brand new day as the sun rises on a new and glorious morning! It is the day when we celebrate the resurrection of our dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

This day brings a message of hope and love to all mankind.  He lives again, rising from the tomb, conquering death and dissolution.  No longer do we need to sacrifice animals and suffer contortions to please God.  He suffered the sacrifice for us all, that we may live in his love, and the light of truth, if only we remove the scales from our eyes and see him there.  He is knocking at the door of all of us.  We only have to open that door and let him in.

The more of us who let in that light, the closer we move to the kingdom of heaven here on Earth.  The brighter and more hopeful the world is as more of us live the basic message he brought to us.

First, love your God.

Worship God.

Pray privately, contemplate quietly.  Listen for God in the silent moments.

Join with others in joyous song, in celebration of God, using whatever rituals that bring you closer to him.

Take good care of the planet he has given us.  Cherish it, do not abuse it, and preserve it for future generations, and for the day when the Kingdom comes.  When the good Lord comes to visit your house, do you expect him to be the one to clean it up?

Second, love one another.

Feed the hungry.

Clothe the naked.

Shelter the homeless.

Love wastefully.

Our love of Jesus and the divine is only seen in how we treat the most vulnerable of us.

The Kingdom of Heaven comes in how we light the way for each other.


Judgement of each other has no place in this.  We all have our own weaknesses and sins.  We all use different language to describe our acceptance of the light and way.  Ours is to focus on God and love.  Christian, from ultra-conservative lion to the fluffiest liberal marshmallow, whether you call yourself Jew or Muslim or atheist or Druid - it matters not at all.

He already made the sacrifice for us.

We just have to accept that love, and move to that light, and love God and each other.  And the more of us that do that, the more glorious each morning becomes.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Ripping Good Yarns: The Joy of Saturn Awards

Ripping Good Yarns has found an award ceremony that it wants to adopt, at least in letting you know about and use as a discussion point for us.

The Saturn Awards are awards that are now in their 39th year, and are designed the best in genre movies and television.  Like Ripping Good Yarns, it focuses on fictional stories told in a dramatic and exciting style.

They are occasionally on TV, I think most recently on Spike TV.  The awards garner much less attention than other awards, but I think they are quite entertaining.  You can become a member and vote!  Just google Saturn Awards or try www.saturnawards.org.

First up for discussion - the nominees for best science fiction film:

THE AVENGERS     Marvel / Walt Disney Pictures

CHRONICLE            20th Century Fox

CLOUD ATLAS         Warner Bros.

THE HUNGER GAMES   Lionsgate

LOOPER    Sony Pictures

PROMETHEUS      20th Century Fox Ok...now I'm writing in a black background.  Well, no time to fix now.  Enjoy the different! First up, unlike the Academy Awards, I've actually already seen half of these.  Chronicle was a very interesting coming-of-age movie, with what teenagers might really do with super-powers.  I enjoyed this movie and would give it an 8.    The Hunger Games was fiercely entertaining, but I had trouble with the fact that their little elimination contest was focused on CHILDREN.  Nevertheless, I would give it a 7. I have not seen Cloud Atlas, Looper or Prometheus, but I very much look forward to doing so. I have no doubt that the best of this group by far is Marvel's The Avengers. This was a comic fan's dream come to life, directed by one of the real greats of our time, Joss Whedon.  I would definitely give The Avengers an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10.  This is what moveies were made for! I really, really look forward to your input!  More nominees later and I will work hard at eliminating the black background!

Bathed In the Blood of A Lamb

The water sprays down my face.
Cascades down my back
I swear I have it on scalding hot
But I can barely feel it

It's sweeping the stuff off my body
My breasts are now clear
I cup them and squeeze them clean
No longer would he touch them again

The bottom of the tub is pooling
Not just with water but also a color
A rich and vibrant red is now swirling
Off of my legs and into the drain

I reach out for a towel and cannot find one
How could I not have one in the bathroom
I step out of the tub and my feet grip the tile floor
The tile is pink like I'm skating on flamingos

I stand dripping, naked, unmoving
The towel must be in the bedroom
and in the bedroom he lies
waiting for me to do something

It was relatively easy to clean myself
But to clean him up will take some effort
Sheets to throw away, carpet to clean
And what could I do with the body?

Maybe I did not think this through as well as I should have
But it was time - I had had enough, I had!
Victoria was not going to be beaten down by him again
Jason now lay dead on her bed

I unfroze and came into the room
The body swirled in sheets on the bed
Funny how vulnerable he looked, almost effeminate
His back was to me, but he looked way too thin

Could death do that to you that quickly
And his hair was too long
Since when was his hair as auburn as mine?
Something was not quite right

I started to go around the bed to see Jason's face
When I heard ragged breathing coming from an unlit corner
I turned and saw that Jason had breasts
Beautiful, firm, melon shaped breasts

Jason is...not Jason?
I killed a woman? How could that be?
I started to gasp in horror as I began to see
Saw the face and realized....it was me!

No!  It's not possible!  I'm right here!
How could I be lying in the bed dead?
Blood pouring from a dozen cuts.
And what was that sound I hear in the corner?

The breathing grew louder and it became clearer
The one in the corner was Jason
Ans he was holding an ax
And staring blankly at the body in the bed

I began to scream, as loud as I could
Jason did not blink or move
He just kept clutching at the ax
And staring at the body

I was still naked
I was still screaming
I tried to put my hand on my body in the bed
And it passed right through it

Somehow my plan had went awry
Somehow he must have known my plan
And it became I that was to die
It was I that would inherit the empty land

Another figure came in
Standing on the other side of the bed
A woman dressed in a short black party dress
A young woman who looked like Neil Gaiman's Death

"Come, Victoria Lamb," she said.  "It is time for you to go."
I pleaded, "But this was not what I had planned!
What went wrong that I should wind up the one dead?"
"Does it matter now?", Death answered, as she brushed back her jet black hair.

Did it matter?  I guess not.
Jason could live with it now, try to cope with what he's done.
I was no longer needed here.
It was time to go to a different here.

I took Death's extended hand.
I could touch her and it felt wonderful.
It was true.  I didn't need to stay here.
I could now go off to a glorious new there.

Farewell, Jason!
Farewell, my fleshy, bleeding body.
Victoria Lamb was ready to go.
Bathed in blood no more.

Sherlock Holmes: Attendance is Elementary!

Don't miss this one!  A small, excellent cast is featured.  It is locally written by Jason Chancey,  and my Young Robin Hood co-writer, Karissa Cook, has read it and said it was great.  It feels odd not being involved at all, but that does mean I can go and be surprised and entertained, along with the rest of you!  Plan those dates now!

An example of the fine art displays done at Flying Dragon!  Not just about theater - Flying Dragon strives to be a multi-use facility where children can enjoy a variety of the arts.  If you have children under the age of 18, Flying Dragon Arts Center is something you should definitely check into.

Driving Down the Multi-Task Highway

Everybody's doing it.

Picking their phone and talkin' it.

While they're driving.

What's up with that?  It's almost a gut instinct.  I see people on their phones while they're driving ALL the time.  I almost see more people talking on them than I see people without them.

I have a number of people who talk to me on the phone while they're driving.  And when they get to their destination they say, "Well, I'm at so-and-so's now.  Goodbye!"  What?  I'm filler while you're driving?  Driving's not enough?  You have to be doing something else too?

But the desire to multi-task and get more out of your drive time doesn't stop there.  There's meals consumed, putting on makeup, audio books, rocking it out to the radio or your tunes.  Some vehicles even have built-in DVD players. Even there are people (gulp) texting.

Culturally, mentally, we can't seem to accept that driving in and of itself is enough to do.  We have to have our minds working at two things at once.  I know all the risks these behaviors entail, but we just can't seem to help ourselves. Maybe our cars are too easy to drive now, maybe the pressures of the new, busy age will not allow us to do only one thing at a time.

Multi-tasking effects other areas of our lives as well.  Want to watch TV?  Do it, but be doing household chores, or while you're on the ipad or cell.  Want to read?  Listen to an audio book instead that will allow you to move around and do other things while you're being told a wonderful story.

Even at work,our minds are running in several directions at once.  We're supposed to write down how much time we spend on each client, but it becomes almost impossible to tell as we wildly careen between one client and crisis and another.

I'm a fairly lazy person.  So I probably spend more time concentrating on one task to the exclusion of others.  I'm not always happy having my mind divided between several tasks.

But I must confess.  I have used the phone while driving.  It's primarily to tell Alison I'm on my way home from work or theater.  And even worse, I have texted at stop lights before.  So maybe our cultural disease of multi-tasking is finally, slowly, starting to effect me.

Yes!!! Just won at Trivie again while writing this!  Who da man?

No Longer In Control At the Bloghaus

I used to feel like I had some control over the number of page views I had each day at The Strait Line. If I didn't publish something every day, or share several stories a day to Facebook, the numbers would greatly suffer.

No more.

I noticed in February, when I had a loss of Internet service for about a week and a half, that my page view numbers did not crash as much as I thought they would.  I went from about an average of 80 or more a day to closer to 60.  A drop to be sure, but not as spectacular as I feared.

Then in March, with my high speed Internet as a companion, my numbers have rapidly accelerated.  My highest average page views in a month prior to March was 85.  So far this month, my average is 125, a very substantial increase and the greatest growth I have experienced.  My previous high total for a month was 2,694.  I am now well over 3,100 and I still have six days in the month.

Posts that I do not re-post to Facebook are starting to do very well.  Some must be at other sites or locations, and people link into the stories.  I Made My Business!  Me! Myself! I!  gets several views a day and is well over a thousand.  In the Heart of the Strep, Carnies vs. Rubes, Authentic Frontier Gibberish, Spell Me A River, are also wildly popular.  Some fiction is starting to take off, particularly A Vigil at the Honey Dew.  The post I have that most recently has taken off is Same Sex Blessing: Struggling With A Vestry Letter.  It has been shared by a number of people on Facebook, something that has made me very happy.  I love it when people share my posts.

Not all is good news, though.  Sometimes the comments I get back are spam.  I've tried my hardest to make it as easy as possible to post comments, and that may have left me open to people who just want to promote their own sites.  I review my comments daily and delete those that seem to be off-color, off-topic and self-promotional.

The revenue generated by the site has not increased at the same rate as the page views. It continues to be erratic and unpredictable. But what can I do except to keep trying and not let go of my day job quite yet.

Thanks for reading!  This post is a little more insider baseball than most, but for those interested, I thought I would update you on how the blog is doing.  Thanks so much for your support!

Neighborly Hospitality and Other Monday Musings

Saturday my church, Grace Episcopal, held a cookout at the Hotel Ware apartment building.  It was originally scheduled to be outside, but it started to a-come up a-gully washer, and the festivities were moved indoors.

Fitting with biblical tradition, bread symbolized as the gift of welcoming, and a loaf was made for every resident of Hotel Ware.

Hot dogs, hamburgers, baked beans, cole slaw, and condiments galore!

The Hotel Ware is only about a block from our church, and this cookout was designed as a neighborly gesture.  Around three dozens residents two dozen church members participated.  It was intended to be outdoors, but a driving rainstorm brought us to move inside.  It was a very nice experience, and led to some great community bonding.

Ware Hotel is a great old building in downtown Waycross, the tallest structure in the town, which is only seven stories, but that's all it takes to be number one.  It has a great mix of residents, who enjoy the view and the walking proximity to shopping and downtown Waycross.

My father in Michigan has been getting around in part due to a Hover Round Scooter at the Independence Village where he lives.  Unfortunately his driving has become more erratic recently, and for his sake and the sake of the other residents, the scooter had to be taken away.  My father is very depressed over this, and I very saddened for him too.  He has to make so many adjustments as he has aged.  I was hoping this was one he wouldn't have to give up.

My son Doug was in California and was flying back last night.  Soon he may be going out there to live, and then both of my older boys will be in California.  I need to discover some Texas Tea so I can move out there too.

I love movies but our lifestyle is not such where we see many.  We tried to watch Rock of Ages over the course of a day.  Alison liked it okay, but some of the blander 80s songs, and the unimaginative plotting got to me after awhile, so I missed chunks of it.

The Graduate rehearsals are coming together.  We have a great cast, and it is a great selfish pleasure to just get up onstage and act and not have to worry about other parts of it.  The lead part of Elaine came open again, but I was delighted that Taryn Spires accepted the part.  She is one of the most gifted young actresses in our area, and really helps bring our cast together.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Where Do You Get Your News? Saturday Political Soap Box 58

Where do you get your news?

Let me start with mine.  I'm mostly a TV person, so I get a lot of mine from MSNBC, and to a lesser degree, CNN.  MSNBC is good for everyday news, particularly politics.  CNN is better in some crisis situations and with overseas coverage.

My MSNBC watching does include some opinion shows.  I am a big fan of Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, Ed Schultz, Al Sharpton and Lawrence O'Donnell.  My favorite by far is Rachel Maddow.  If you want a story explained in depth and put in context no one does it better than Rachel.  She is passionate, but not a yeller and screamer, and she is very, very factually oriented.

I do not watch Fox News except for clips I see other places, or when I'm in a public place and that is what the business has on their TV.  The lying and hatred expressed on that channel makes my blood pressure rise quickly, and it is not healthy for me to watch too long.  Some of the shows are just nasty, like Sean Hannity, others are bullying, like Bill O'Reilly, but for sheer stupidity and vileness I don't think anyone can top Fox & Friends.

On the internet I mostly go to Huffington Post, Buzzflash and CNN.  I love Huffington Post, but the news headlines are sometimes sensationalistic.  Once you read the story you find it fairer and more accurate.  Buzzflash is admittedly fuel for liberals, but it can offer some insights, and it is my access point to Michael Moore. CNN moves fastest with breaking news.

Many of my friends in this area deny getting their news from Fox.  In fact, they kind of deny getting their news from anywhere.  but somehow they find out about things, and often when they talk to me, they are spitting out Fox News talking points.  I can only help but think it is because they get their news from people who DO watch Fox News (also American Family Radio, a far right "Christian" radio station).

People are also affected by their newsfeed on Facebook.  I get posts from all sides, but the majority on mine are from fellow liberals.  I have a feeling that's not true with most people from my area.  An anti-Obama news slant was going around, and a friend told me that she had seen many, many anti-Obama posts on the story, but only one or two from people like me.  We tend to create our own echo chamber.  And yes, that includes me.

So where do you get your news from?

March Madness and Agatha Christie

And then there was one!

Ten little Indians....68 teams march into a tournament with only one victor to emerge!

Ah, yes!  The great American elimination contest.  March Madness has begun!  We have our modern version of Roman Coliseum, only a little less bloody, and only symbolically final.

It is ingrained in us.  This desire to see many enter and one emerge victorious.  It permeates our sports.  It infects much of our literature.  And it is my guilty pleasure.  Reasonable or not, I love it.

Sweet Agatha Christie was a master at this.  Some of my favorite stage plays to do are based on her works. I will drop my plans and change whatever I'm doing to be in an Agatha Christie play.  I have twice been in The Mousetrap, and have been in Ten little Indians (and would LOVE to do it again).  Who is the killer as the characters are eliminated one by one.

The Hunger Games is a more updated version of this.  Twelve go into the contest, and only one emerges as the victor.  Many quest novels have as their focus a set of characters take up a journey but a vastly smaller subset emerge victorious.  The wave of horror movies in the 80s focused on this, especially the Friday the 13th  and Nightmare On Elm Street series.

Reality game shoes are often focused on this.  Survivor, American Idol, Top Chef, America's Next Top Model, The Bachelor and dozens more all feature the gradual whittling down of contestants.

So I guess it's hardly any wonder that the NCAA basketball tournament is so popular.  No extended multiple game playoffs, no second chances.  Win or you're gone!  And sometimes, once in awhile, an unexpected team will emerge from the pack, and defeat a team no one expects them to. Such as Oregon, a 12 seed upsetting Oklahoma State, a 5 seed, as happened yesterday.

We have a contest at work to pick winners, and I almost always lose, because I have an over attachment to underdogs and to the Big Ten.  I also tend to pick blue states over red states.  Unless it's Georgia - the home state rises above politics!

So get your brackets out, people!  It's going to be a bumpy, bouncy ride!

Across The Graying Desert

I will never drink again
We will never see the end
Started the cross with maiden
and ten Iitifuls to us attend

Our trek across the Graying Desert
Our quest to reach Campia
Risking great disaster we flirt
She wants to reach the great sea Mylecia

Her lover to confront
Or rescue if case may be
She will not accept his cold shunt
Never would she listen to me

Across the graying sands we push
The Itifuls hear a might storm come
Before it starts there is an unearthly hush
And they decide to abandon the ransom

The scoundrels had planned for my poor maid
So now it is just us two
In an endless desert that will not fade
Facing anything I would for you

Though my lips are cracked and bleeding
I give her the last of my water
And if need be with what I'm feeling
I would give all my piss and blood for her

Everything I have left to give
I would with gladness give
I would with tearful joy give
Only that she may live

She stands in tattered desert robes
Her hair matted to her face
The transparent gossamer revealing her globes
Narrowed gray eyes determine to see her way out of this place

The sun is starting to reach it's height
We will be boiled alive
We do not want to give up the fight
We must not lose our drive

She pitches forward and falls face down
Like it or not, we may have reached journey's end
I fear that in this graying sand we'll drown
When suddenly to us a sound does bend

A horn announcing the coming of something
She grabs my hand and through the sand and grit
I feel the pulse of her vibrant soul, hear it sing
She hugs me tight as there we sit

Who comes next?  Who calls us so!
It could be bandits or warriors or merchant
In a few moments we will know
Until then, nothing to do but stay and plant

Whatever may head our way
She can count on me to stay
And defend her all the way
No matter come what may


Everything I have left to give
I will with gladness give
I will with tearful joy give
Only that she may live

Into the Balloon!

Wizard of Oz 2012 featured my son as the Wizard and Katie Caldwell as Dorothy.  The amazing Toto that year was , and I will correct this if I am wrong, Daykota Sweat.

Wizard of Oz 2011 featured myself as the Wizard, Sydney Shields as Dorothy, Marin Jeffords as a wonderful Toto, and Blake Roberson as the Scarecrow.



This brief post is a tribute to the most amazing prop I've ever had to deal with onstage, the balloon in the Wizard of Oz.  It was a converted appliance box, and you can see the year I did it it was wrapped in a sheet striped in different shades of green.  To float off in it, I had to grab from the inside flaps and pull it along with mew.  If the audience looked carefully, when I pulled it up to move, the audience could see my feet, like it was a Flintstones car.

The following year my son was the Wizard and the balloon  which I believe was the same appliance box, was now covered in red, white and blue, and had a cardboard sign behind it that said State Fair.  It was also foot powered.  It was the year I directed, and it was the hardest thing in the world to get that scene right.

Wizard of Oz 2013, performed on a smaller stage, had the  Wizard stand on a small platform, and just sort of fade behind the curtain when it was time to fly off.

The recent Oz movie had a more dramatic balloon (well, they also had a budget in excess of a hundred million dollars), but it is not much more successful.  It gets trapped in the tornado fairly quickly, busts up in a swamp, and is later shot down by a witch.

Props can be aggravating.  But they can also be fun and lead to many special memories

Oz balloon!  I salute you!.

Same Sex Blessing: Struggling With a Vestry Letter

I continue to struggle with preparing an e-mail to the vestry of my church concerning the same sex blessing.  One of the major reasons I hesitate is that I don't want to get into a war of biblical quotations to try to explain my position.

I know there are two or three passages in the bible that can be construed to be condemnatory of homosexuality. The bible's references to sexuality are scattered, sometimes contradictory, and mostly, in my opinion, not there as holy writ, but as indications of Bedouin culture and with trying to establish male dominance and male property rights.

I know that there are many, many things condemned in the bible that we either laugh at or ignore.  The length of women's hair, how we rotate our crops, treating rape as a kind of property crime, what we can or cannot eat, and many, many more. For whatever reason there is much more in the bible that we disregard than what we follow.

Marriage is defined many ways in the bible.  Multiple wives were all the rage for awhile.  Handmaidens abound.  Jesus advocated leaving your family to follow him.  Paul argued for celibacy because he thought the second coming was imminent.

I know that the sin most often mentioned in the bible, by a wide margin, is usury.And by that I mean more than just making money off of loans.  It is the whole concept of the exploitation of the powerless by the powerful, the rich becoming rich by taking advantage of everyone else.  And yet, there is not a church out there that would stop a church member from communion or participation because he charged too much interest on commercial loans, or paid his workers at a wage that he knew they could not survive on.

The trouble with the use of the bible is that everyone picks out trees and ignores the forest.  What are the great themes of the bible?  What is it trying to tell us?  I insist that the broader message of the bible is more important than selective quotes.

And that is this....God loves us.  Without him, we are like the Jews in Egypt, exiled and alone, wandering in the wilderness   With the grace of God, we come to a better place, more loving, tolerant and caring.  He cares not a whit for our sexual peccadilloes   He cares about how we love each other and care for each other.  Love God.  Love your neighbor. Sex of any kind is evil when it is exploitative, designed to dominate, enslave or hurt someone.  It is not wrong when it is consensual, loving and caring.

Being gay is not a sin.  Participating in loving, consensual sexual acts with another adult of the same sex does not make you a sinner.  It makes you gay.

Thanks for your patience while I continue to sort out what I should say to the vestry.  I know this post won't be everyone's cup of tea, but that's part of the point, isn't it?  We're all different, except in one important aspect.

God loves us all.

My Favorite Musicals

Watching the wonderful Willy Wonka last weekend, I began to think about how it actually ranked within the musicals that I had been in or seen over the years.

For this post, I am not considering professional productions, either stage nor screen, but instead just community theatre and school productions

PRODUCTIONS I HAVE BEEN IN

3)  The Wizard of Oz, Flying Dragon  first year edition - playing the part of the Wizard was one of the great highlights of my life, made especially joyful by my son Benjamin playing the Cowardly Lion.

2) It's Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman - done by my high school, Bridgeport High, when I was a junior. I played the Mad Scientist villain  and it's the first time I really got to chew some scenery.  Great cast, especially with the lead played by Tim Deneau, the school's only All Area football star, playing Superman.  He was a great singer and actor, a brilliant scholar and athlete  and a kind and good person.  The perfect Superman!

1)  The 1940s Radio Musical Hour  - performed by WACT (Waycross Area Community Theater), I have never been in a more perfectly cast show from the biggest part to the smallest walk on, including Gus Darden, Lindy Newton, Tanya Pratt and Tommy Cribb.  The show was brilliantly directed by John Youmans, showing his multi-talented gifts in not only directing and performing, but also in filling in in the band when needed!

PRODUCTIONS I HAVE SEEN

1) Once Upon A Mattress -  performed by my high school, Bridgeport High, this is the one that started it all.  Watching my fabulous next door neighbor, Barb Bloomfield,  perform the lead, brilliantly channeling the best of Carol Burnett with the singing strength of Barbra Streisand and the charm of Julie Andrew, I knew this was something I was going to have to do.  Also watching the great non-verbal performance of the boy who played the King showed me how much one good do onstage without saying a word.

2) Willy Wonka - (WACT) a fantastic show, both in performance and in visuals.  Great cast covering a wide range of ages, it centered on Taylor Hereford as Willy Wonka, and I'm not sure anyone could have done better.  This just finished it's run last weekend and if you were in the area and did not come to see it - shame on you, you missed the best!

1) Hairspray - (WACT) this one absolutely took my breath away.  I found it hard to believe that this was an amateur performance, and not a professional troupe that had decided to visit Waycross.  Many, many supremely cast performers, including Michelle Lagoueyte as Penny, Blake Kildow as the love interest (sorry - for got the character name), Brock Gillard as the Dad, and Scotty (I'll have to look this one up too) as the Mama.  But it was Chelsea Nelson as Tracy that took this show to a whole new level, moving from a ten to an off the scales eleven.  It was the first WACT show I saw where all the leads were miked and it made a huge difference.  All the actors were able to project naturally, allowing them to put more character into their part.


UPDATE:  I have to add Spamalot,  which I  saw performed by the Island Players November 1, 2013.  It is the most I have ever laughed in the theatre!  Awesome show, very well performed!


UPDATE UPDATE: Last year I was in my first musical since, well, Shenandoah (something like 2001?).  It was The Music Man and starred the very talented Taylor Hereford of, Willy Wonka fame.  For me, it was a cautionary tale about the dangers of con men, but I'm not sure everyone else saw it that way. It did give me an opportunity to do a musical with my son, Benjamin,  It was hard to fit in during tax season, but it was worth to be onstage with my son.

Hairspray remains my number one favorite, and now WACT is preparing to do it again!  Come see it this March!


That was fun!  In the near future, I will try to do the same thing for comedies and dramas!

Bunny Grows Up and Other Monday Musings

The Bunny of Glenwood emerges from it's burrow.

Chameleon-like, the bunny blends carefully into the background so that it can't  be seen.  At least that's the theory.



The bunny we noticed last week has grown rapidly, so rapidly that since these pictures were taken, it has left the nest and gone to parts unknown.  Or it has developed even stronger chameleon like powers.

We have completed the guest room at Glenwood, hung a few more blinds, emptied a few more boxes.  We have a new bed fro Benjamin that has a built-in bookshelf and other storage.  I contributed by moving a few books here and there.

We saw the amazing play Willy Wonka Friday night, performed by WACT (Waycross Area Community Theater).  It was one of the best musicals I have ever seen at the community theater level. I have a brief review of it in my blog story Sweeten Your Weekend With Willy Wonka.

I have to come up with a letter to send our vestry members at our church.  The Bishop of South Georgia keeps throwing up road blocks to a full initiation of a same sex blessing.  The latest is telling vestry members they have to have a large majority support it before they can vote yes.  We are not a Congregationalist church.  The vestry should have input from parishioners  but they have never been compelled to vote the way the congregation is polled on any other issue.  So I have to make sure that every vestry member knows quite clearly that I am in favor of the same sex blessing.  Currently, language is completely escaping me on this issue, because it seems so obvious to me, and it upsets me that it is still being road blocked and challenged.

Corporate tax deadline is passed, although there are still several in my office that did not have enough information to complete.  There is still a month to go on individuals. I am ready for it to be done.

The Graduate rehearsals start tonight, and I am looking forward to it.  The part I have is not big, but I do get to yell and get angry.  That will be nice and cathartic, especially as tax seasons mounts.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

The Claddagh Ring Around My Heart

Faith and begorrah, Happy St. Paddy's Day to ya!

What does this mean to me?  I'm not a very big drinker (I can blaze through a six-pack in about two years time), so I have no alcohol-fueled memories.

I remember the whole "pinch 'em if they're not wearing green" thing back in elementary school.  As if bullies needed one more excuse to torture me.

I remember over the years a lot of green dyed food.

I remember it all of a sudden occurring to people that they had Irish ancestry.  It is certainly in mine, in the Eurovision collage that represents my genetic background.  President Obama has some Irish roots.  It is hard for family lines to live and descend in this country for any length of time and not have them!

I remember Benjamin's first high school, in which Benjamin was just a third grader, being an Irish Play where he had 56 lines, that he performed in in Irish accent!!!

And I remember a St. Patrick's Day looking for a four clover for a certain someone and it hitting me like a ton of bricks, like the moon hitting my eye like a big pizza pie, like a claddagh ring being hung around my heart and soul, that I was completely and irretrievably in love with that certain someone, and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.

And now, after more than a decade and a half together, we plot and scrimp and save that someday we may make a special trip to.....

Ireland!

Sweeten Your Weekend with Willy Wonka! Updated with Review!

Willy Wonka at the Ritz this Friday and Saturday night at 8 PM and Sunday afternoon at 2:30.

I have not seen this great show yet, but I will be there tonight.  Everything I've heard about it has been very,very positive.  If you haven't seen it yet, please do so this weekend!

SPECIAL UPDATE:  I saw this show last night and it was through the roof AWESOME!  Really represents the best in theater this area has to offer.  Outstanding performances all the way around, but I need to note a few in particular.  Taylor Hereford as Willy Wonka was simply AMAZING!!!  This play moved from very good to one of the best ever on the basis of his performance alone!  Also to Pierce County High School star Taryn Spires who played the snobby Veruca Salt - Go to New York and Broadway!  Do not pass go!  Do not collect $200 (unless it's to help cover tuition)! I have seen some outstanding young thespians, but never one who has covered the amazing range of roles that I have seen Taryn do!  And to my friends Mary Beth Kennedy as the German Mrs. Gloop, mother to the food loving Augustus, Brock Gillard, outstanding as Grandpa Joe and Michael Lee as TV reporter Phineous Trout - what a great joy to see you all onstage again.  And a special shout out to my friend Julie Lacefield (and Mrs. Robinson in the next production - The Graduate) for her incredible set artistry - beautifully done and a great trigger to entice into the magical imagination of Willy Wonka.  If you have seen, this show, you already know what I'm saying.  If you haven't yet - what are you waiting for??? SEE IT TONIGHT AT 8 OR TOMORROW AT 2:30!!!

This is a great Flying Dragon classic, Cinderella, that will be performed this year in late April/early May....OUTDOORS.  Yes, that's right.  Outdoor theater returns to Waycross!  More information about this great show as it becomes available!

And in late March/early April, Flying Dragon will be presenting Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Flying Dragon, a fantastic "young" version of the classic characters, in the tradition of last year's Young Robin Hood.  This great tale is written by local author Jason Chancey.  This is a case you'll definitely want to solve.

After School Wildlings

They threw rocks at me.

I think they thought it was fun.

I tried hard.

As hard as I could

Not to show signs that it affected me.

Small gravel, like pebbles that would sting for a second.
Bouncing off me as if I were Superman
And not just a fifth grade boy
Larger stones, smooth and irregular shaped
Amethyst like, hitting stronger
Leaving marks and pain in their wake
And larger chunks of concrete
That hurt enough to make me gasp
Bruising to the point that my mother would later see

Then the jig would be up.

Parents would be told.

Cruelty would stop.

Or so they believed.

But I knew them.
They wouldn't stop.
They would morph to something else.
Torture me on the school bus
Sing to me about killing my dog
Stab me with pins

With children

These after school wildlings

Something wicked always my way came.

The Beginnings of Beautiful Friendships

Ah, Casablanca!  Between you and Blazing Saddles, I am almost always covered for quotes.

Friendships are indeed a beautiful thing.  Along with family, they are integral in making life worth living.  There is both great joy and great pain in them as they ebb and flow.  But they always make you feel alive.

I am often shy, painfully so.  It may take me weeks and months to connect to a new person in my environment.  We have a couple of new people at our work, and I haven't said much to them.  They probably think I don't like them, but it just takes me time to feel comfortable with someone before being more open.  Sometimes I wish was different but I'm not, and at my age I'm not likely to change.

I've been working with the Flying Dragon and their productions and organization for almost two years now.  I have decided to take a short break, and do a play with another local community theater -  WACT (Waycross Area Community Theater).  In the past, over about a dozen years, I had done as many as two dozen productions with this fine group.  I am happy to be back, but what does that mean?  It means that the curtain of shyness may descend again, and by the time it opens back up, the play may be close to being done.

Meanwhile, I see my friends at Flying Dragon moving on with plays of their own, plays I am not involved in.  And I can't help but worry - when I come back to them, will I have to cope with shyness all over again there as well?  Will I fit in again when I come back?  Will the new relationships they form leave me out in the cold, a stranger once more?

All the places I have been before living in Southeast Georgia, including college and five or more years apiece in Cartersville, Stone Mountain and Villa Rica - I know no one now from these places.  And I did have friends.  At least when I was in plays

Thanks to Facebook, I have reconnected with some people from high school.  I am grateful for that.  I have always been better at writing than social contact, so Facebook has been a good way to maintain at least some relationship.

And maybe I am changing a bit.  At tryouts for The Graduate, I was almost immediately comfortable with two people I knew from prior involvement in WACT.  So maybe this old duffer can change a bit.

I head to my new adventure, facing down my shyness fears.  Maybe by the end I will have some friends, maybe one or two of which will endure beyond the play.

And Flying Dragon?  Don't forget me!  I will be back.  Just remember, if I seem a little shy at first, give me time.  It will pass.

Ripping Good Yarns! The Kinda Great and Entertaining Oz!

Opened last Friday at our local bijou!

I finally got to a movie in time where an actual review would be practical! After seeing the play done by Flying Dragon five times in the two weekends prior, we of course couldn't help but want to see this move!  

And....I liked it!  It was very entertaining and evocative of the world that L. Frank Baum created in a series of fourteen books at the turn of the century.  It is the great American fairy tale, steeped in our culture and politics.

Oz The Great and Powerful is a great extension of E Pluribus Unum - Out of many, one.  The individual ingenuity of Oscar "Oz" Diggs is combined with the strength of community of his munchkin/tailor/farmer allies to create a force strong to combat the powerful evils arrayed against them.

The sets and backgrounds look awesome, as well they should with the movie costing north of $200 million dollars.  The plotting ties in well as a prequel to the 1939 movie.  This movie is correctly set in 1905, but some of the characters in the movie are jarringly more 21st century in their reaction to things.

This is a good fantasy movie.  Not quite the level of say, The Princess Bride or the original Wizard of Oz, but quite entertaining nonetheless.  It is well worth a family trip to the theater, and it is rated PG.  The very young may find some of the Flying Monkey and/or witch scenes a little too scary, but overall it is milder than most of what Hollywood puts out.

Definitely worth another trip to Oz!  See it if you can!

Two of the more entertaining characters are CGI - China Doll and the Flying Monkey Finley (with better facial expressions than some of the human actors) where the question is finally asked - Why is the monkey dressed like a bell hop?

Greeting the citizens of Oz and assuring the crowd of his magnificence.  James Franco was good in the role but not truly great.  He's a little flat and underwhelming at times.  I couldn't help but picture what the movie would have been like if the first choice had taken the role - Robert Downey, Jr.  Now THAT would have been a Wizard.

On the other hand, I'm not sure anyone on the planet could have been as good as Michelle Williams was as Glinda.  Her expressions and reactions were perfect, and I have rarely seen an actress look as beautiful. 

A Boy and His Mama: UPDATED

Cotillion Spring ball 2013

Benjamin Sloan Strait, born on December 7, 2000...a day that began his infancy.  And on March 9, 2013 he is old enough to dance at a ball with his mother.  If Alison had not been wearing heels, they would have been the same height.  Soon enough he will be taller than his Dad as are my two older boys, Greg and Doug.

Heights change, hobbies change, friends come and go.  But what does not change is the love and affection this boy has for his Mama.  

I could say more, and will over time.  But for now, I think more words would be superfluous.  I will let these pictures speak for themselves.

UPDATE: MARCH 2014!

Another season ending Cotillion Ball, and this time 13 year old Benjamin is now taller than his Mom (heck, he's taller than me!).  And yes, he still has abiding love and affection for his Mama.

Wait!  Who's this?  That's not his Mama!  Oh, well.  I guess it's not just in height that they grow up!  Actually, he doesn't remember the girl's name (that's what he tells us), and was probably was just one of the many girls he danced with that evening.  But that time is coming, my friend.  It's coming fast.

Doing the Bunny Hop at Glenwood and Other Monday Musings

Ah, spring!  Or late winter or whatever it is!  We did yard work at our new Glenwood home, and our dog Ellie made an awesome discovery.  Ellie is a Dachshund mix, on the small size, probably what they call a Chi-weenie   She was on her own in the yard, not showing much inclination to leave while we were doing yard work, when Alison noticed that she was carrying something in her mouth that was squealing a bit.  She got Ellie to let it go, and it was a scared but unharmed baby bunny.  She found near a bush by our front door, a whole rabbit burrow with other baby bunnies in it.  So we have this precious crew growing up right next to us!

Amazing that we in general have seen more wildlife her at Glenwood than we did when we were out in the "country boonies" around Clark Road.  We usually only saw wild dogs roaming the neighborhood.  It was rare to even see squirrels.  Even cats were normally not seen out of doors.

Speaking of "bunny hops", the Cotillion had their last big dance of the year, and it culminated in Alison doing a special dance with Benjamin.  I should have gotten a pictures as they both looked amazing,  Cotillion has taught Benjamin a great deal about how to behave at social functions, particularly with girls.  Our little man is growing up!

My son Doug spent the weekend with us.  It was wonderful being around him.  He fits in with us so well, and gets along with Benjamin so beautifully   They only call themselves brothers, never referring to themselves as half-brothers or anything else.

Together, we saw the movie Oz: The Great and Powerful.  You would think after seeing Oz a total of five times the prior two weekends I would have had my fill, but...there I was!  It was a pretty good movie, fairly clever in it's plotting, and very Oz-like in it's look.  James Franco was a little flat in his portrayal of The Wizard, but he wasn't horrible or unwatchable.  Michelle Williams as Glinda was as beautiful as any film actress I had ever seen, and she played the part well.

I am staring into the maw of one of the worst weeks of tax season - the deadline to corporate returns is this Friday. Blech!  But what can I do?  Only head into the jaws of the beast, hold my breath, and wait to come out the other end!

Until next time,

T.M. Strait

Is It Too Early for the 2016 Speculatron? Saturday Political Soap Box 57

Is it too early for the 2016 Presidential Speculatron?

Oh, hell yeah!

Is that gonna stop me?

Oh, hell no!

First, the Democrats.

It is important to note, particularly since we are so far out,  health issues and other personal factors could greatly effect who the front-runners are by 2016.  There are a umber of talked about contenders who are older and/or have had health crises that may affect their ability to run in the next three years or so.

Ergo, Hilary Clinton.  She is the front-runner by a mile, and deservedly so.  It's not just that we are long overdue for a female President (got that right!), it is that she is supremely qualified for the position.  She has been through the fires and has come out wise and strong.  She has, however, had some health problems that people need to take into account.  She would be 69 at the time of inauguration  which wax Reagan's age when he become President.  Difficult but not impossible, she has to remain energetic and committed.  If she does, we are looking at the next President of the United States.

Joe Biden has been healthy in recent years, would be 73 at inauguration   This would be even a bigger challenge. It would be a tremendous psychological barrier to cross in my opinion.  Don't get me wrong.  I think that Joe Biden is incredibly qualified to be President.  He has been a tremendously gifted Vice President, and President Obama's has been substantially stronger because he was there.  He would lose big time in a head to head with Hilary Clinton, but would be a serious contender against anyone else.

Deeper in the bench, I personally like Elizabeth Warren, Senator from Massachusetts very, very much.  She is still finding her sea legs in Congress, but she is very bright and yes, she is 100% progressive,  Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and Mayor Corey Booker of Newark are also interesting politicians to watch for the future.

The Republicans have fewer age issues on their side.  One of their major contenders, however, Governor Chris Christie, is a very large man.  Any future health issues coming from this heavyset gentleman could derail his hopes.  I don't like him or his politics. but I do admit he has a crossover appeal to those who want a strong figure, and he does have a streak of pragmatism in him that I see missing from many Republican leaders.

The Republican elite will push hard to promote Jeb Bush.  And since money and power are very important in this country, he may very well get it.  Historically, we are going to look pathetic if we keep reaching to the same two families for our Presidential candidates, but whatrugaonnadoaboutit?  C'est la vie!

Finally, if any one thinks the Tea Party wing of the Republican party is going to disappear, forgetaboutit!  Expect someone, most likely Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky to step up to the plate.  The only real question is whether they break off to run as a third party, as it become increasingly clear that the Republican elite is trying to dismiss them from their party.

So there it is!  The first speculatron for 2016!  Enjoy!

Ripping Good Yarns: An OCD Dream - The DC Chronicles

Oh, how I loves the books of comics!  Anyone who follows my blog at all has probably stumbled onto to this fact.

It is often hard for someone my age to keep up with comic books.  The superheroes tend to reboot every few years, and it turns out everything you've read for years means absolutely nothing. comics numbering, which used to be sacrosanct is yanked back to number one, for no rhyme or reason.  So comics that were in their 700s or 800s would be number one again, eliminating decades of consecutive numbering.

So what is a long time superhero comics fan to do?

Thank the stars for DC Chronicles!  The perfect answer to the OCD accountant in me, and someone who revels in the roots of storytelling and wants to read it in order from the beginning!

Here are the ones that DC has released so far:

Superman from the late thirties and on!  When Superman started out he was not quite as powerful, but he was an amazing advocate of social justice!  His Clark Kent disguise of newspaper reporter was used to root out corruption and injustice, and then Superman would come in to set things right.  He worked for the Daily Star (not yet the Daily Planet) and Lois Lane was an early comer to the story, bright and sassy from the very start.  There are ten volumes in the series so far, and I have cherished each one, as it reprints the adventures of Superman IN THE EXACT ORDER they first appeared!

It's The Batman!  Starting with Detective Comics #27 in the late thirties and moving forward, Batman started out darker, alone, and even sometimes packing heat.  Over time Alfred is introduced, as is Robin and the gallery of villains begins, including Joker, Penguin and Scarecrow. There have been eleven volumes to date.

Wonder Woman starting in the early forties.  An amazingly strong portrayal of the strength and grace of women.  The comic was often more cartoony and broad than Superman or Batman, but it was often more epic and mythic in approach. She for some reason had a best friend getting into her adventures, Etta Candy, who was an overweight young woman who loved to consume food and often brought in her all-girls college band to help Wonder Woman.  Wonder Woman as Diana Prince was a wartime Secretary in the army.  Her boyfriend Steve Trevor, in an interesting role reversal for comics, had to be constantly rescued by Wonder Woman.  There are three volumes so far in this series.

The Flash Chronicles inexplicably starts with the late fifties Barry Allen version,  I would have preferred Jay Garrick from the forties, but you can't have everything, I guess.  This is the comic that reintroduced the forties versions of comic heroes with it's seminal story A Flash of Two Worlds.  There have been three volumes so far, but I should soon be getting Volume Four!

Green Lantern also starts with the early sixties Hal Jordan version.  There have been four volumes so far.  His powers seem strange and ill-defined from the very beginning.  But they have an odd scientific bent, and it is interesting to see the character mature over time.  There have been four volumes so far.


I have also recently ordered the first volume of The Justice League of America.

So keep them coming, DC!  This is one old, OCD fan who really appreciates them!

In the Bars of Barre'

Stay away from me
The pain of your closeness is just too great
I just want to be free
Of the heartbreak that holds you strait

All the way from Port Seal
Into the heart of the Sonzobar
Into the Barre' town Ashsthil
Into the the Tavern called Kroner's Star

She searched for a man
Who was rumored to know
Of LaRue and his plan
Maybe bring us to show

My maiden was dressed to make him swoon
Only a red satin bra and tiny strap of a skirt
She thought it would be a boon
To open up the man and get the dirt

Instead it inflamed him
And he decided to take her
So he drew his sword and grabbed her limb
He though he would have his way for sure

He had forgotten about me
Who had defended across half the world
Blind love made her all that I could see
This fool would wind up curled

I struck him down
Grabbed his sword with my bare hands
I knocked him on his crown
Ground his face in the floor of sands

Thus degraded, he confessed to what he knew
Out came the destination
The plans of her lover LaRue
He was going to the Mylecian nation

Grateful, she pulled me into her seam
My hand against her back
Charged like an electric dream
My emotions began to crack

I am only her ally, nothing more
I told myself again
But that was not what my heart wore
It could not stop the pain

So please, I must defend you from a distance
I cannot get this close
That has to be my stance
I must remain morose

So tearfully, I repeat


Stay away from me
The pain of your closeness is just too great
I just want to be free
Of the heartbreak that holds you strait

Abounding tryouts! At Flying Dragon and WACT!

Another great show at the Flying Dragon!

This great show is written by local Flying Dragoneer, Jason  Chancey!

Please come and tryout for these great shows!  Sherlock Holmes will be produced THIS MONTH and Cinderella this April!  The Flying Dragon needs your passion, support and talent!

405 Tebeau Street

Waycross, GA 

next door to the Downtown Sandwich Shoppe in the old Bus Depot

Unfortunately, Benjamin is going to concentrate on his school's Into the Woods, and I will be trying out for WACT's The Graduate, but we will be supporting these shows in any we can!

The Graduate tryouts are Monday and Tuesday starting at 6 PM.  These will be at the Ritz Theater and will be directed by Scott Dixon.

Willy Wonka starts tonight at the Ritz!  Be sure to see this great show!

Where Would You Like To Go?

If you had a week to go someplace, where would you like to go?  Disregarding places with family you may want to visit.

I went into the refrigerator this morning to get the creamer for the coffee, and I saw a carton of Half and Half that had bannered on the top  WIN A TRIP TO COSTA RICA!  I told Alison "What is that?  Some kind of punishment or threat?"  She said some people like that type of place, with the beach and the jungle.

Well, we all are individuals, aren't we?  Going to a third world country where the weather is hotter than it is here is not my idea of an ideal vacation.  I wonder how big their insects really are.  We do go South for weekend vacations sometimes, to St. Augustine, Daytona or Orlando.  Usually when we go it is not the height of the summer season.

High on our list would be California.  I would love to see Los Angeles, San Francisco and the San Diego Zoo.  But my bringing up California is cheating in a way, as that is where my son Greg lives, and likely very soon my son Douglas as well. So, yes, if we went California it would be in large part to spend time with family.

I love going to New York city, but I have been there several times, and Alison and Benjamin are going there in May (without me, alas - sniff sniff! - school trip taking one parent only to save costs).  I've traveled through most every state in the continental United States.

So where would we like to go?

IRELAND!!!!

Amazingly, except for Canada and some baby steps onto a Bahama island during a Disney cruise, I have never been out of country.  Both Alison and I want to visit the countryside, stay in a cottage, visits some castles, travel the coasts.  Dublin would be okay to see, too, but it's mostly the countryside we dream about.

We've been saving for years, and are trying to figure out the time.  The time to do it always seems to be a year away, and it never gets any closer.  But it's good to have to dream about, especially when I am in the deepest, darkest part of tax season.

So if you had a week and the money, where would you dream about going?

A Ray of Hope in a World of Suffering

My thoughts are a-jumble today, but I will do my best to make a small bit of sense out of the seeming senselessness I see.

There is so much grieving and pain in this world, sometimes it feels hard even to breathe, to think of anything else.  Young mothers and fathers that fall ill and pass before they can fully raise a family.  Young children who suffer horrible illnesses, some who pass and leave a reeling family trying desperately to make sense of it all.  Watching older family and  friends age, sometimes in ways where they lose the strength and vitality we had come to know them for.

There are the wars and violence we inflict upon ourselves, often happening to the innocent and vulnerable.  There are billions living on bare subsistence on the planet, with little in the way of food and shelter.  There is the abuse we heap upon the environment as we watch climate change put us all at risk.

I know some may disagree with this, but God is not there to inflict pain on us, whether we warrant it or not.  Although there may be some kind of karmic balance to the universe, and evil choices most often lead to  destructive outcomes, it is not that simple.  So much happens to good, deserving people, that any sense that it is punishment for sin I find impossible to conceive. People are not poor because they're bad or undeserving of God's love. No child anywhere has earned the illnesses they sometimes must bear.

But there is no need for complete despair. The most powerful force in the universe is love.  I call that God, others may call it other things.  But it exists and it is strong and can bind all wounds.

God does not promise that there will be no suffering, at least for now.  He only encourages us to love him, and to love each other.  I firmly believe the more we open our hearts to each other, the better the world will be.  It's through our mutual love and support that we will survive and transform this world of suffering.

We see it in our loving remembrance of those who have gone, in their good traits that carry on with us.

We see it in our love and support for those who survive and must face each day anew.

We see it in those who turn their grief into missions to make this a better place.  Parents and survivors who support foundations to fight the disease that may have taken their young one, or fight for laws that will make this a better, safer place.

We see it in those who fight and challenge injustice, who work actively for peace, who advocate change through non-violent and loving means.

We see it in the forgiveness of those who have wronged us.

If we remove the scales and fear from our eyes, we can see it everyday.  The little kindnesses, the ray of hope, the beacon of love.  It is there.

Grieve.  Remember. Even get angry at the injustice of it all.

But know this.

God loves us all.