Hell Week Begins Monday Musings

And so it begins.

Another non-stop week of rehearsals and performance.

Technically, it began Saturday, with a morning rehearsal followed by a Sunday afternoon practice, 

That was a just a warm-up.  Now we are in for night rehearsals on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, followed by performances on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday

I love theater, but these hell weeks can be a challenge, particularly as I get older. 

I would love to say that my new, reduced work schedule would help. But I have decided to front-end the month, getting my time in early, so I can enjoy more time at home during the Thanksgiving break. 

Then there are the OHC Writer's Awards to prepare.  I have to help inform the winners, collate the Awards Booklet, and prepare for Sunday afternoon's awards presentation.  This process normally takes between ten and twenty hours.

And  I am going to try to be serious about NaNoWriMo contest this year, and aim to write 50,000 words on a novel during the month of November.  Because of these other events, it's going to be hard to get the gas early on to get a decent start, but I'm going to do what I can.

It was a first for me last Thursday.  I got my first flu shot ever.  I got talked into it, but I figure, although I rarely get flu, it would be smart to do so now, as I am getting older and my usually strong immune system may need a boost.  It may be a smart thing to do as I face Hell Week.

Sports continues to be a major source of frustration.  I'm glad that Michigan finally found a quarterback, although I'd like to see him against a tougher opponent than Rutgers before I start cheering too hard.  The Lions and Falcons look like 50-50 teams, but the season is still young.  Atlanta United, the great first-year soccer team, lost a brutal contest, losing on penalty kicks after both sides being scoreless all the way through two overtimes.  The Bulldogs are the highlight of the year, demolishing the Florida Gators in their great rivalry.

As I write this, the first indictments are due in the Trump/Russia collusion investigation.  I think Mueller is taking his time to do it right.  I just don't how much more time we can risk with this narcissistic buffoon as President.

And this lifelong Stephen King fan has still not seen the movie It.


Until next time,

T. M. Strait

The Spirit of the Lectionary

 NEW TESTAMENT:  1 Thessalonians 2: 1 - 8  (RCL)

1The 2:1 (NRSV) You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, 2 but though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philip'pi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition. 3 For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. 5 As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; 6 nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, 7 though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. 8 So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.

Every Sunday our church, Grace Episcopal, has four readings from scriptures.  I daresay this is as money or more as most churches, including ones that rhetorically devote themselves to the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible. 

There is a prescribed lectionary for the Episcopalian church, and the same for the Roman Catholic church.  These are slightly different, but share the same principles and structure.  Some churches don't like the idea of so much structure.  They don't mind bible readings, but prefer the spiritual leader (preacher, pastor, reverend, etc.) choose them as the spirit moves them.

Not only are the readings set, the priest also tires to center his sermon on them, particularly on the Gospel reading.  To me, this helps encourage a wide variety of  themes and commentary.  Some feel better if the spiritual leader just speaks out on whatever moves them that week.

That "free will" can lead to certain overbearing repetition.  I know of a church where the pastor decided to spend a whole year sermonizing on Revelations.  The next year he spent it all on Isiah.  And after that, he decided to go back to Revelations because he didn't believe everyone absorbed what he was saying the first time.

The lectionary reading above is one that I will be reading today in the church as Lector. It proclaims evangelizing as more than just proselytizing and simply sharing the Gospel.  It is in LIVING the Gospel, in sharing yourself, in kindness and giving, that we truly evangelize.  One must practice the word as well as preach it.

Love God, love your neighbor.  Everything comes back to that.

It's the most important revelation of all.

Seasonal Push

Do I need anything else to push the year along, to remind me how rapidly time is advancing, as the seasons come faster and faster?

Go into any store in August and what do you see?  Preparations for Halloween!  I mean, really, if you buy candy in August, does it really last all the way to the end of October?  Well, I mean, I'm not really talking about it going bad (although for some treats that may be possible), I'm talking about it winding up digested by someone other than trick-or-treaters.

"Honey, we have to buy more candy!"

"Why?  I thought we bought plenty!"

"Ummm...yeah.  Some of it may have.....gotten lost."

On social media, people are excitedly talking about costumes from August on.  I usually think about what I will wear about an hour before the event.  My go too?  Put on my Detroit Tiger cap, and a Hawaiian shirt, and presto!  I'm Tom Selleck, Magnum P.I.!

In the last week before Halloween, you can sense the stores wanting to push the Halloween merchandise out.  The store spaces contract, discounts accelerate, and you see something else slowly but surely filling the shelf space.

Christmas.

Yes, we jump right past Thanksgiving and dive headfirst into Christmas.  Thanksgiving is merely a shopping traffic light, a final gateway, into the all-devouring madness of the commercial Christmas season. Gone is the quaint celebration of family, the open table of tolerance, the thankfulness for all the good things we have.    Now it's just preparation for the opening bell to the most selfish American ritual of all - Black Friday, and the horrendous rush to compete and grab the best bargains.

This, until Christmas Eve, is the commercial aspect of Christmas.  It has little to do with the true spirit of Christmas. That spirit has more to do with striving for peace on Earth and goodwill towards all, for celebrating the birth of a savior who came to light the way for every single one of us.

And it has little to do with intimidating people to say Merry Christmas.  If the words don't come voluntarily, they mean nothing at all.  I don't think store clerks should be necessarily forced to say it or not say it.  We all need to chill out and let everyone say the seasonal greeting they want to, and return in kind with whatever seasonal greeting we want to it. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me the best thing to do is to be open, kind, and tolerant.

Right after Christmas, there is a brief flurry of sales, and the Big Returns, as we exchange all those gifts that people spent so much time selecting for us.

But right after that?  There is no rest.  There is no respite.  The seasons get merrily pushed along.  The stores are draped heavily in the accents of Valentines Day.

And once again, I cope with the dilemma of candy purchased too darn early.

So, let me speedily rush through it.  Hope you had a great Halloween, don't forget to wave at Thanksgiving as we roar past it, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas. Happy New Year, and it's not too early to start thinking about what you want to do for Valentine's Day!

Gee whiz!  What I need is a "Sit on the Porch and Enjoy the Cool Weather Day!"

Return of the Wednesday Wanderings!

Symbol of Augusta University, our first visit on Benjamin's College tour.

It's been awhile, but....it's Wednesday. So, therefore, I wander!

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It's time to start thinking about it.  Benjamin is in his Junior year, and it is time to begin consideration of where he might go to college.  First up was a visit to Augusta University this last Saturday.

The main campus was very nice.  The staff and students were very friendly.  It had a tremendous disadvantage in that the freshman dorms were on a separate campus, several miles away from where Benjamin would have classes.  There were also few students on campus that Saturday, as I suspect it was largely a commuter college, with many of the students going home on weekends.  With Benjamin being three hours away and most likely without a car, trips home would be fairly rare, which would many weekends on a semi-deserted campus.

I did learn something about Benjamin's current academic and career interest, as I listened to him talk to the chair of the Psychological Sciences.  His major interests were Psychology and ....... Robotics.  Now, at first blush, those two may seem uncombinable, but think about it.  Robotics and A.I. are becoming increasingly sophisticated, accomplishing more and more that people normally do.  I can easily see a new concentration in psychology, dealing with how people cope with A.I., how to relate to it, and how to deal with their encroachment into people's lives, at home and in the workplace.

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I have decided to enter the NaNoWriMo contest in November.  That is a challenge to write 50,000 words of a novel in a one month period.  I think I may finally have the time, and I believe that my book idea, The Extra Credit Club, is strong enough to catch the attention of other contestants and provide a means to promote my other writings.  Want to know more?  I should be posting some of my segments of the novel to the blog.  Just enough to whet your appetite.

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Watching football is often a Charlie Brown experience for Alison and me.  I don't know how many years we've gotten our hopes up, only to see them dashed to the ground.  Of the teams we follow, only the Georgia Bulldogs remain a contender.  Go Dawgs!

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I remain way behind on the DVR.  Most of what I'm behind in are my own shows, or the ones I watch with Benjamin.  Of the new shows this year, we like The Orville, Ghosted, and The Gifted. We've only seen the first episode of The Inhumans, and I'm intrigued, but reserving judgment.  I will say this about it - it's got more of a comic book feel than some of the same genre shows on the air.  It unapologetically throws you into a new world and established super-powered characters right off, without the usual fear of costumes and powers that you see in some (Smallville - ten years and one glimpse of a costume). 

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I'm glad that some Republicans are stepping forward to talk about what a travesty the Trump Presidency is.  I'm less happy that it's only the ones that are out of power or quitting that are doing it.  I won't believe we've turned a corner until those politicians who are still competing for votes turn on him.  And while we're at it, if you voted for him, what's your excuse for not turning on him yet?  When are you going to recognize him for the malignant, incompetent, unqualified, bullying narcissist that he is?

I'm waiting.  I'm praying.  The nation's fate depends upon you.

Book a Stay in The Model Apartment!

Come see The Model Apartment!

Not the condo that's bigger, with the one bedroom, but the model of the cheaper one, with only the one room.

Who could live that way?  Some people....some people don't mind.

Max and Lola travel from Brooklyn to Florida, ready to start a new life, away from their crazy, unstable daughter. Only the condo is not ready, and the crazy daughter has tracked them down.

This play features, in extraordinary roles, two of my favorite actresses.  Emily Beck, the outstanding young actress who played Anne Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank, stars again as my daughter(s) - this time in a dual-daughter role - as my real, crazy daughter in her 30s, and also as the ghost of the daughter that I (as Max) lost in the Holocaust.  Julianna Lacefield plays my wife for the second time (first time was in The Graduate), in an extraordinary performance that demonstrates her range and talent, and makes the play come alive.

The play is also the debut performance of Kyler Austin, playing the daughter's young male friend.  Kyler is quite gifted and is taking well to the stage. I guarantee you will see more of this fine thespian in the coming years.

It's comedy and pathos.  It will make you laugh and provoke you to think.  Come out the first weekend in November (Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8 PM), and see The Model Apartment.

Fun With Fracking Grammarly

This is a test to see if Grammarly appears out of fracking nowhere and tries to correct my mess.

Ok, so it doesn't like fracking.  It wants to change it to fricking.

Fricking, fracking, no I WON'T!

Let me try to make a mistake on porpoise.

Ok, it didn't care that I wrote porpoise instead of purpose.

Let me try to make another missteak on purpose.

Oh. it caught that one!

How about the there, their, they're phenomenon?

Oh. looky their!  Where is there pie at?  There in the bedroom.

Ok, it caught the first one, but not the next two.

How about your and you're?

Your about to be disbarred?  I hope they don't take you're law degree!

Huzzah! It caught both!

How about its and it's?

Look at it's shiny nose.  Its about time someone noticed!

Booyah! Found both!

And now for the biggest mistake I make.  Switching from with form.

Hey, Dude!  Where y'all form?

Well, it didn't catch it.  It shore 'nuff didn't like y'all.

Or shore 'nuff.


This is going to be a very fraguile relationship.

FRAGILE.  Right.  Got it.

Sigh.

Multiple Stages Part One

Second Grade:

Hansel & Gretel
They gave me the lead!
The school packed with students and parents
I scattered breadcrumbs
Bending over
My pants splitting
My first play
Was a mooning all across the second grade

But still I kept on

Sixth Grade:

The Little Match Girl
I had no lines
I was a shopkeeper in one short scene
But mostly I was to operate the stage spotlight
Shine it on the beautiful Kathy Jahncke
Our lovely match girl
She sang so beautifully
I was mesmerized
Until I heard the Director's voice cut sharply through:
TURN...THE...LIGHT...ON!!!
No more backstage work for me.

But I still kept on.

Eighth Grade:

The Talent Show
I was to be emcee
And sing a song
Only I forgot to memorize it
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
I sang a few lines and then stared with fright at the audience
Saying
Christ!  Look at all the people!
After that
I was banned from the stage for the rest of Junior High

But still I kept on

High School:

Harvey
I gave up football to try out for the school play
Because I thought
Chicks Dig Actors!
Yeah
Not so much in high school
Got a small part playing a very elderly judge
Stole Johnathan Winter's Maude Frickert accent
I came out for curtain
The applause swelled
I was hooked for good

Two or three plays a year for the rest of high school
Drama, Comedy, and even a musical
Mad Scientist in Superman
For this comic fan, a dream come true

And, yes, still I kept on

College:

No plays for Baby Tommy
U-M was a big ol' scary place
Did join the Men's Glee Club
Another mistaken way to meet chicks
Got a solo in Officer Krupke
Singing like an elderly female social worker.
Went on tour
Sang at Carnegie Hall
They interrupted the song to applaud me
Big night
By myself, no one to tell, age before cell phones
So I cried
Happy but lonely
no one to share it with
Success at Carnegie Hall

Still I kept on

Cartersville:

Inherit the Wind
My favorite play
Competed for lead but fell just short
So upset I punched a hole in my car
This Yankee got a part
Playing a SOUTHERN teacher
Even I wasn't a star
It was great to be in
Pre-regular run performed before high schoolers
I tripped going up the stairs in first scene
The high schools laughed uproariously
It wasn't supposed to be funny
Oh, well

Still I kept on

Next play I was the lead
The Mousetrap
Won Best Actor Award

Next play I was the lead
Send me No Flowers
Won Best Actor Award

Oh, yes indeedy
I kept on!


TO BE CONTINUED!!!

Was I Ever Really Baptized?

My sister called me the other day, asking me if I knew whether or not she was baptized.  I told her I didn't know for sure, but I thought I was, so I believed she had to be as well. 

I remembered seeing a Certificate of Baptism somewhere in the mass of stuff that I had preserved from my parent's scrapbooks.  I just couldn't remember where.  Being semi-retired, I had a little more time to scrounge, and I came up with a a photo album that my mother had kept to chronicle my growing up (it fades out pretty quickly, about the time that Carol was born - my short reign as favored child was now done).  Inside that photo album was a Certificate of Baptism from Lawrence Avenue Methodist Church.  I was greatly relieved!  I was not a heathen!

Or was I?  There were two glaring problems with the certificate.  First my date of birth is wrong.  It says my date of birth was January 9th, 1955.  It's not.  It's June 9th, 1955.  Or was it?  Could I be even older than I thought I was?  Could I have been drawing Social Security even sooner?  In case of a tie, I thought, check the birth certificate.  Whew!  I'm the age I thought I was.

Secondly, there is no date on it as to when the Baptism actually occurred.  When did it happen?  I had no idea.  Does it count if you don't know?  Maybe it's just something they drew up in anticipation of the event. 

Wrong dates.  No dates.  Did that make me a quasi-heathen?

Meanwhile, my sister went through her own stuff and found her own Certificate of Baptism.  And hers even had accurate dates! 

Not only that, but she found my Dad's Certificate of Baptism as well!  Unlike Carol and me, his was not an infant's baptism.  The date was October 2, 1955. So, that raised the distinct possibility that his baptism was done when mine was!  I had my likely baptism date. That would mean my baptism occurred when I was only four moths old!   I think they took a look at me and decided not to take any chances.  Even my Dad thought, I better get right with God if I'm going to handle this one.

I'm not going to get in to an argument about the validity of infant baptisms.  The reality is that many denominations that don't have infant baptisms have dedications, and then later a baptism.  Other churches have infant (and adult) baptisms,  followed up later by confirmations.  Semantically, between the two events, I think they serve the same general purpose.  The church commits to supporting you, and then later you confirm that commitment.  There's room for both approaches.  There's so much else dividing us, we shouldn't let this be something that contributes to that, not in any hostile or angry way.

I am grateful that Grace Episcopal has opened the Eucharist table to all baptized Christians, including ones with shady Certificates of Baptism like mine.  And for those worried about it, I was confirmed as a youth at the Bridgeport Community Church, and then as an adult at Grace Episcopal.  So I'm covered. 

I can assure you, this picture from the scrapbook does not indicate that it was a baptism with a river dunking.  The United Methodists did not do that, not even in 1955.  The picture was labeled at two weeks old.  Two weeks?  If that's true, I was the biggest darn two week old you ever saw!

And that diaper!  My golly gee whiz, that looks full!  What can I say?  It was in era before Little Swimmers.

Thanks, Carol, for inspiring me to check.  It confirms what I already knew.  I am, even with all my flaws and imperfections, in the community of Christ.  Peace be with you!

What Do I Write About?

What do I write about?

The weather?  I had a strong streak of weather related posts going there for awhile,  But now we have our first day here of weather approaching early fall/late summer temps ( projected high 73).  There are no active hurricanes hurtling towards us, and the horrible wildfires in California may be receding. Areas hit by devastation continue to slowly recover, except for Puerto Rico, whose recovery is being hampered by the bigoted, hateful reactions of the President.

Politics?  What else can I say?  No matter what he does, the Trumpeteers stay strong in their delusional state.  I'm sure my readership has suffered by losing those who don't want their beautiful minds disturbed by constant reference to the horrible mistake so many have made, and have been unable to own up to the terrible consequences of their decision, and even more brutally, their continued support of that vile being.

Fiction and poetry?  In the last day I have prepared a new poem and story to enter in to the Okefenokee Writer's Guild writing contest.  But I probably won't put those on the blog until after the contest results are announced. Hopefully, I'll write some other new things in the next two weeks. 

My semi-retirement?  Yeah, somehow I'm finding less time than I thought I would have.  It's good to be busy, though.  But I do need to structure the time better to achieve some longer term goals.  I'm going to reach my hour cap this week, so I should be able to have more time next week, and get my secondary careers into higher gear.  I  should also note the Higgnison & Paulk is moving next week to a new location.  Everything is being boxed up this week.

My health?  I try not to post too much about that.  I don't want to seem like a kvetcher.  I'm too fat, and I'm still having a rough time getting a handle on it.  I hurt my back last weekend, and my movement is limited.  It hurts particularly when I get up to move after sitting or laying down for awhile.  This morning, I have to watch how I sit or it hurts while I'm writing.  It's all good, though.  I've had it before, and it does fade with time.  I hope soon, because I would like to get back to walking.

Sports?  I'm close to abandoning football.  Atlanta Falcons can't hold a lead (STILL), the Detroit Lions are just plain cursed, the Michigan Wolverines are proving they are not a national championship caliber team.  But hey - Go Dawgs!  And then there's the whole injury and concussion thing.  In other sports - I am excited that Atlanta United is going to the playoffs in their inaugural season!  Woohoo!  Both Alison and I have caught soccer fever, thanx and a hat's tip to my son, Doug!

TV and movies?  Still catching up from so many nights spent at the community theater.  And haven't been to a movie since The Kingsman sequel.  It and Blade Runner 2049?  Nope - haven't seen them yet.  Benjamin likes The Gifted.

Reading?  Slowly reading a biography of Thomas Jefferson  and Quest for the Spark, a novel based on Jeff Smith's Bone series.  I'm quite a bit behind on my comic book reading.  The new Superman comic books are the balm.

So, yeah, basically nothing to write about.

Maybe better luck tomorrow.

Give It Away Now Monday Musings

Rob Patton, who was kind enough to invite me as a guest author at Wayne County High School's Min-Con, holds a copy of History of the Trap, given away as a door prize.  I was happy that the person who won it decided to keep it.

Attending the Wayne County High School was an interesting and positive experience.  No, I didn't sell any books, but I did meet people and helped hone my presentation of my books.

I prepared a Google Slide presentation to be presented at the Author's panel that I was a part of.  Thanks to Benjamin, I was able to scratch out something the day before the event.  As I gain experience in its operation, I hope to improve substantially on it.

I still struggled with the pitch for History of the Trap.  Somehow starting out by saying "Imagine going to high school one day, and finding yourself trapped there for the next ten years!" just doesn't have the effect that I hoped.  Most who hear it react along the lines of "What a nightmare!  I can't imagine being trapped in high school!  How horrible!"  This is true whether you were a student, teacher, or someone who hadn't attended high school in decades.  Once people read the book, they enjoy it. But it's getting them to crack it open that's the problem.  I'm working on it.

Another plus was that the person who won a copy of Here Comes Tommy was very excited about it, and came by for me to personalize the copy.

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Football is about over at the Strait house.  Michigan will not be the national champion.  Detroit was crushed by New Orleans.  Speaking of Give It Away Now, the Atlanta Falcons certainly gave it away to the Miami Dolphins.  Up 17 - 0 at the half, they lose 20 - 17.  The theme the Falcons hit in the Super Bowl continues.

There is also the injury factor in football. Players get injured at such a rate that it's hard to follow favorite players, or get a dependable group playing games.  Aaron Rodgers has been such a warhorse for the Green Bay Packers, it's hard to believe he's likely going to be gone for the rest of the season.

Then there's the incredible rate of long term brain damage that results from football. It's very depressing to think about, and makes me wonder what exactly it is I'm devoting my time to.

As far as the kneeling, I sympathize fully with the message the kneeling players are standing.  I may not do it myself, but I have no problem with their doing it.  If we don't have the option to stand, kneel , or even ignore, the national anthem, then the freedoms so many have fought for mean absolutely nothing.

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This is the last day to enter into the OHC Writing Contest.  I wanted to create a new poem and short story just for the contest, but with the plays I had to concentrate on, I have been unable to generate new works.  

Well, I'm still going to try.  I only have a few hours left.

Wish me luck.

Until next time, 

T. M. Strait

Yes, Virginia, There is a Separation of Church and State

Bill of Rights Day is December 15th.  

I support the constitutional separation of church and state.

No state should ever officially endorse any particular religion, including any denominational strain within any religion.  Because, let's be clear - those who wish to impose Christianity upon the state and nation don't mean Christianity as a whole.  Almost all of them are referring to a right-wing White Evangelical version of Christianity, one that may bear little resemblance to what many of the rest of us would recognize as Christianity.

There is prayer in school.  Just not teacher-led or class-led prayer.  That would be an endorsement by the state for a particular faith.  And that would be wrong.  Again, the prayer that many want to insert is not even Christian prayer, but a Christian Right prayer.

An earlier fervor to impose religion on the government occured in the 1950s, a reaction to challenge atheistic communism.  In God We Trust was placed on our money.  The Pledge of Allegiance had "under God" inserted in to it (ironically originally written by a Baptist preacher who did not include a reference to God).  Should a religious declaration be included in a civic pledge?  No. probably not.  I simply do not say that part of the pledge when I repeat it.  That may upset some people.  Too bad.  It upsets me that it's there, but I consider it a de minimis  intrusion of religion, and not worth the political capital to challenge.

Religious leaders are gaining more and more traction to express themselves politically.  The current administration have relaxed rules that prevent this interference, at least from their side of the aisle.  Religious institutions get tax free status.  This is hard to swallow when they are allowed to endorse and promote specific political parties.  One church around here, one that prides itself on being more "hip" and "modern" and supposedly tolerant than some, passed out a voting pamphlet that made it clear that godly people should find it next to impossible to vote for a Democrat.

It's also hard to justify the tax-free status when you see church leaders purchasing luxury jets,  building expensive cathedrals, or denying service to the poor and disadvantaged (especially during a natural disaster like a hurricane).  But you know, theoretically, there is that separation.

This is not to say that religiously inspired moral thought should not be a part of the civic society.  Religion shapes our morality, and that is reflected in our laws.  We want to punish and rehabilitate those who commit crimes. We want to aid the poor and disadvantaged.  We want to see the government work to make a better society for all.  To paraphrase from President Reagan (and the Bible), we want to build that shining city on the hill, and we want to extend it around the entire world.

What we cannot endorse is discrimination and hate in the guise of religious liberty.  It is a direct violation of the constitution, our Bill of Rights, and our sense of civic decency.

It's true.  My own sense of faith does not accept that kind of discrimination - mine is a faith of tolerance, openness and love.  So, for me, it's a no-brainer.  That may not be true for you.  That's too bad, because you still can't impose your religious will on others.  At least, you shouldn't be able to.  That, my friends, is NOT a de minimis intrusion of religion.


Here's a special thought.

Had the founders been inclined to allow the infusion of church and state, I can tell you what the majority of states would have chosen as the state religion - Anglican.  Which is identified as  Episcopalian in America.  Which is my denomination choice.

You're welcome.

Power to the Point!

T. M. Strait is going to a con!

That's right!  Me, not so world famous author, T. M. Strait, will be there with freshly minted new edition History of the Trap, Here Comes Tommy, and more!

My friend, Leslie Crane, fellow author and Wayne County High School teacher, has also invited me to be a part of a panel discussion, and wanted me to have a POWER POINT presentation.  I didn't know how to break it to her, but I had about as much understanding of that as my dog Boss-A-Man has of quantum physics.

Nevertheless, I may get a chance to try as I no longer have the play this weekend competing for my time.  Due to a last minute cast change, we now have a few more weeks of practice before we perform it.  So I'm going to dust off my limited computing skills and see what I can do.  Who knows?  I may surprise myself!

I went to this event last year and it was a blast and a half!  If you like video gaming, table top gaming, cosplay, reading, science fiction, fantasy, and just plain having fun, come on out and join the party.

And see how much power I have in my point!

Lines Reducing Lines Monday Musings

It's all consuming.

My next play on the agenda, The Model Apartment, scheduled to run this weekend, is consuming all the time I have.  My part is much larger than what I had in The Odd Couple, and  has been done on a much quicker time scale, and even though I've devoted every spare second I can to memorizing the lines, it has been a real struggle.

I hope that it is the tight time frame and stress and the nature of the lines that is causing such a memorization struggle, and not age.  I don't know.  I just know the struggle is real.

This means I have not been able to devote much time to writing, particularly the OHC Writer's Contest, whose deadline coincides with the performance of the play.  It means I have little time to promote the contest.  It means I will miss the Tuesday Writer's guild meeting, and be unable to provide transportation for our faithful 89-year-old member, Grace Lee.

I have a DVR stuffed to the gills.  Boy, we're gonna have a lot to catch up starting after October 15th.

There are significant tax deadlines come October 15th as well, and although I don't put in many hours, I probably will have to put in as many as I can this week.

And I thought semi-retirement was going to bring beau-coups of extra time.

Ha!

Sorry for this, brief, kvetching edition of The Strait Line.  More later!

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Let Them Eat Paper Towels!

Ah!  The old classic musicals of my youth!  Who could forget West Side Story, a modern updating of Romeo and Juliet, set in New York City, as two rival gangs of teenagers, one Polish-American and the other Puerto Rican, set in conflict with each other.  Of course, love challenges prejudice and preconceived notions.  It is a spectacular, high energy show.

Among many classic, enduring songs in the musical, is I Like to Be in America.  The song debates the pros and cons of living in America as opposed to Puerto Rico.  The song specifically mentions hurricanes always blowing, the loss of power, and impassable roads.  It also mentions the problems and prejudices faced by Puerto Ricans living in the states.

The irony is, of course, that Puerto Ricans who live in Puerto Rico, are already Americans.  They already live in America.  They are in our military, serving to protect this country.  They have contributed to every walk of life in America, from Broadway writer to Supreme Court Justice.

Puerto Ricans who move to the states can register to vote in whatever state they live in.  They are full citizens of the United States, with all the privileges and responsibilities that implies.

President Trump either doesn't grasp this, or he doesn't care.  His recent comments and visit proves that he considers Puerto Rico different than the rest of the country, either because of their ethnicity or their status.  It's confusing as to which, but his expression of contempt is clear.

Texas and Florida received solid support, without questioning whether or not the residents of those states were lazy or not.  They did not get dressed down for not providing community support, their truck drivers weren't called out for being too self-centered to return to driving on roads that Trump presumed (falsely) were cleared.

He did not deride the mayors of Houston or Naples as being nasty (a term of derision that President Trump seems to have reserved exclusively for women).  He did not go on and on about debt owed, or how much Texas and Florida were costing the federal budget.  And he most definitely did not toss out paper towel rolls at hurricane victims, as if they were animals at a zoo.

I am not a fan of the territorial status.  It is a unnecessary hangover from the colonial era.  Puerto Rican citizens have not moved decisively in that direction, with feelings mixed between three options - continued territory status, independence, or statehood.  There are regulatory reasons, including tax incentives for corporations, that causes some to hesitate.  But I think the idea of being fully participating citizens in our great democracy, including voting for U.S. President and having voting members of Congress,  would be more important.

My own solution would be to eliminate the territorial and possession status, and make them part of an existing state.  All the Caribbean and Atlantic possessions cold become a part of Florida, and the Pacific possessions a part of Hawaii.

Are my conservative friends worried that a move like that might disrupt Republican control of Florida?  Well, here's a news flash.  Continue to make Puerto Rico unlivable, and they'll be moving there anyways.  Hundreds of thousands, ready and willing to vote.  And you're right.  They're probably not going to vote Republican.  However, special note - if you embrace them and compete for their votes instead of vilifying them - you might be surprised at your results!

Once again, President Trump's bigotry and willful ignorance is self-evident.  All but the most politically hard-shelled must see that by now.   And if you can't see it, you may need to more carefully examine your own prejudices and feelings.  Keep treating people that way, and the next storm coming won't be a hurricane.

Whispering Wednesday Wanderings

Why whispering?

Because I have to learn a lot of lines fast, and I already feel my voice tightening.  The beginning stages of laryngitis are whispering across my throat. 

And this cannot happen.  I have another play to perform starting Thursday night.  And it will require full voice. 

I'm not quite sure how to solve this.

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Anyhoo, if you haven't seen WACT's The Odd Couple yet, and you live in the area, you MUST come see it!  This Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8 PM!  It's Neil Simon, people!  It's the flip o the male Odd Couple, with all the male roles played by females, and the Byrd sisters played by the Costazuela brothers.

Who are the Costazuela brothers?  It's me and Benjamin, father and son playing two wild and crazy brothers, with trippy accents and comedic aplomb.  It's a dream come true, to be acting side by side with my son.

I just hope I won't have my voice reduced to a whisper.

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The next play, the one giving me fits trying to memorize, is The Model Apartment, put on by Purlie Productions, to be performed starting October 13th at The Studio inside the Okefenokee Heritage Center. 

It's only a five person show, but two of my favorite ladies are in it, my good friend Julianna Lacefield, playing my wife for the second time (the first was The Graduate), and the winner of my most frequent daughter award, Emily Beck.

I have to learn my lines. I cannot disappoint those two, even if I have to live on honey and whiskey.

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Sometime in the next three days, I have to come up with a topic that can make a coherent newspaper column.  This one here is probably not it.

Saturday political soap boxes have been few and far between.  I have been busy Saturdays, and will continue to be for the next few weeks,  I keep forgetting that it's a brand name, and it is possible to write it on other days.

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Trump's visit to Puerto Rico was one of the worst, most embarrassing and disgusting visits by a public official ever.  There are far too many insulting things to go over here.  If I was a different kind of writer, I would provide you links to the myriad of insulting things he did, but I don't do that kind of thing.  A cursory search should reveal to you the magnitude of his ineptitude, from tossing towels like he's shooting t-shirts at a sporting event, or feeding zoo creatures, to diminishing the magnitude of Puerto Rico's suffering by contrasting it with the death toll of Katrina, to talking like taking care of Puerto Rico is just too much and will bust the budget, to reminding people of what Puerto Rico owes in debt (dangerous considering Trump's businesses owes then $33 million), to trying to get people to praise him, and on and on and on, to the point that you really can't consider yourself to be a decent person if you continue to support this smug narcissist.

Anyhoo, that's how I feel about it.

Every day I wake up. discovering with fresh horror, that I am still in an alternative universe where this carny clown actually ascended to the Presidency, and that I am surrounded by people who voted for him.

It's all so surreal.

Nah, can't use that in a newspaper, either.  I have to strive to be polite to those who still support Trump.

And that's getting harder and harder to do.

Another Tragic Monday Musings

I had planned on writing on personal things, but once again, events make that difficult.

Another tragic shooting, what may be the largest mass casualty event in American history, at a country music concert in Las Vegas.

As I write this, there are many stories swirling around this event.  As any event like this, there will be many rumors about what happened.  There will be false leads.  There will be witnesses that contradict each other.  There will be social media who use their own slant on events to promote one agenda or another.  And the worst scourge, those who deliberately promote fake news stories.

So there will be a fog around this event for awhile, and it will be awhile to discern truth from rumor and false leads.

It is time to pray for all those families with loved ones that have been killed or injured, and that the police and other agencies can quickly get to the heart of the matter,apprehend any involved, mourn our losses, and later, do whatever changes need to be done in order to insure security and safety, with minimal restrictions to our freedoms and liberty.

We don't know the motivation behind this shooting.  The main suspect has been shot and killed, a 64 year old male, who appears to have lived in a retirement community.  What his motivation would have been seems to be pure speculation at this point.  We don't know the involvement of a woman who may have been his companion, or whether this is connected to anyone else.

I'm not a weapons expert, but what he used was a rapid-fire weapon, one that allows for many kills in a very short period of time.  There may be other weapons involved, or found by police.  Where he shot from, a 32nd floor window, it would not have mattered with the concert goers, or security, had weapons or not.

But, like I said, more of this will become known over the next few hours or days.


Another tragedy is taking place in Puerto Rico.  The slow motion and tone deaf response of President Trump is making a horrible situation worse.  Our fellow Americans are without food, water and power, in many places on the island.  Something must be done, and it is not to call the heroic mayor of San Juan nasty (a term I bet he exclusively uses for women), nor remind everyone of Puerto Rico's debt, or wasting precious days hesitating to suspend the Jones Act (which interfered with the speed of getting supplies), or to imply that Puerto Ricans are lazy and not doing enough to help themselves.  Ultimately, we can worry about Trump later,  Every American needs to do what they can to help the people on this American island survive.

In the long term, I am one of those who would like to see Puerto Rico achieve statehood.  The territorial status is an outdated concept from the colonial era.  They need to be on equal footing with the rest of the United States.

One of the solutions, as I describe in my science fiction novelette, My Europa, is for all the Caribbean and Atlantic possessions to become a part of the state of Florida, and all the Pacific Ocean territories to become a part of Hawaii.  Just one of several solutions, but I strongly believe something must be done.


We are also dealing with a childish President whose rhetoric is dangerously destabilizing the North Korea situation, the expiration of the CHIP program that will cause millions of children to lose health coverage, the continued damage done by accelerating climate change, a tax cut package that would create huge deficits and a potential depression, and so much more.

Would I love to talk about posies and pets and plays?  You betchum! And regardless, I will return to it soon.

But waking up and seeing the news this morning? 

Sorry.  Just couldn't do it.