OHC Writer's Guild Back at Way Green!

Boss-A-Man LOVES my new book.  He is all the way up to Chapter Ate.

Your favorite vendor booth is back!

The OHC Writer's Guild will be at this month's Way Green, this Saturday, June 1st from 9 to Noon!

Joshua King and Juniper Verrill will be giving away short stories on a first come, first served basis!

We'll have plenty of other books and unique bookmarks.

I'll have several of my books there, including the new collection...

Adventures in Time and Space

A collection of exciting stories for young people, late elementary through early high school.  Some of the stories have been published as eshorts, but this is their first time in print.  Cover by Kennedy Brice! Eight stories all for the low introductory price of...

$5!!!

Also available at special Way Green only prices:

History of the Trap   $10

Crowley Stories  $15

Here Comes Tommy  $7

Turn a shelf in your home into a LOCAL AUTHOR'S SHELF!

SEE YOU THERE!

well, maybe.  it would be nice, but y'know, i don't want to be unrealistic.  some of you live too far away, and others will have other things to do.  and some of you just don't read.  well, not those of you who are faithful readers of my blog.  i greatly appreciate the couple dozen or so of you who read almost all of my blog stories, even like right now where i am rambling like a lunatic.  but honestly, there are a lot of non-readers out there.  take a look at the mueller report.  he's begging people to read it but it's so much easier to listen to hannity, i guess. being involved with multiple writer's groups, i sometimes get the impression that more people want to write books than read them.  but i ain't giving up.  even if it's to the sound of one hand clapping, i'm gonna keep writing,  please, though, seriously, check out some of our local authors.  it may not be as fun as getting power greens or heirloom tomatoes, but the books will last longer in your house.

The Heat is On!

How hot is it?

It's so hot that it's too hard to go outside and figure out a joke to compare it to.

The gnats are swarming me even when I try to walk at 6:30 in the morning.

The real temperature is at or approaching 100.  The feels like temp is somewhere near the frying egg stage.

For me, this is what it's like to go outside for more than five minutes:

Thank you, Oprah.  I don't know about everybody.  But I sure do.

Some people actually thrive in this heat.  I don't.  Those who do thrive blame my "Yankee"  roots.

One:  I was born a Midwesterner, a Great Lakes residence, a Michigander - NOT A YANKEE. 

Two:  I've lived in Georgia since 1978 - longer than some of you Georgia birthers have been alive!

Three:  whatever my roots, my physiology is not conducive to hot weather.  I don't sweat much - I tend to go straight to heat stroke.


Many Southerners stay inside in frigid weather, particularly if there is even a hint of snow.  I'm that way with hot weather.  If it's over 95 and sunny, I'd rather stay in my air-conditioned house, read books and watch TV, eat and drink from the rations I have - time to break into the emergency kit!

The problem is that days over 90 (if not 95) are becoming the norm rather than the exception.  Nine to ten months a year are becoming unlivable.

Should I move?  Some might think so.  "STOP WHINING!  You don't like it here?  MOOOVE!!!"

Well, what can I say?  I kvetch, therefore I am.  Besides, this is where my family is.  And my job.  And my theatre groups.  And my parish.  I like the people (other than the majority's politics).  I just don't like the weather.  And I can fix that most days by just staying inside.

And frankly, there are getting fewer and fewer places to get away to, especially in the summer.  Michigan is not a summer nirvana - it gets hot and humid in July and August (and many places have no air conditioning), with mosquitoes that are large, mean and aggressive.

A couple years ago, we went to Vancouver and Portland for our summer vacation, thinking to find a cooler place.  Unfortunately, they were having record heat while we were there.  This summer, we will go to Toronto and Niagra Falls thinking to catch a break - that probably won't work either.

I've seen news stories about how parts of Arctic Alaska hit the mid-80s a couple weeks ago.

Escape may now be futile.

No single weather event or heat wave is directly tied to global warming.  But the rise in average temperatures across the planet is.  We're in big trouble, and I am losing faith that we're going to address it.

But never fear, my friends.  Cooler days are coming!  I should be able to comfortably go outside sometime in November.

Or maybe January.  Hard to say.

A Day to Treasure those who Lost Their Lives Battling for the American Cause

Memorial Day.

Very often, the purpose of our three day holidays is lost, overwhelmed by the simple fact that WE GET MONDAY OFF!  This naturally creates opportunities to go places and see family, to enjoy the luxury of a day off, especially those of us whose jobs are steady year-round and offer little time off.

Memorial Day's purpose should not be lost.  Although there are other holidays with a military tinge, this is the one where we remember the ultimate sacrifice - those American soldiers that gave their lives in the service of our country.

It is important to remember the sacrifice of the lives of anyone in the many brutal wars humans seem to continually fall into.  But the specifics of this holiday is not for that - this is for the loss of lives of American soldiers, and their giving of all to preserve the American experiment.

It's for the those who gave their lives in trying to liberate this country during the Revolutionary War.  It is not for the Tories and Loyalists who chose to align with the British and actively fought against  American independence.

It is not for those who fought to divide the union, but for the Union soldiers who fought to preserve it.

It is not for the America Firsters who fought to align us to stay neutral or to even actively support the fascists of Germany and Japan.

Some conflicts were less honorable than others.  They weren't so much as to preserve democracy and defend the country, as they were to protect corporate interests or fight to restrict or hamper the free choices of other nations. That does not matter for this holiday.  They answered the call of their country, right or wrong, and fought valiantly.

We'll let the historians and scholars argue about the validity of some of our conflicts.  But we will honor and treasure all who gave their lives in any of America's many wars.

Remember the many (the far too many) who lost their lives fighting for the United States of America.  Remember those among your own family and friends.  Remember those from your own community and state.  Rember the now faceless many who have been lost to history - do your best to find out about them and preserve them.

We appreciate, honor, and treasure their sacrifice.


And we pray for smart leaders who believe in the power of diplomacy and improving the world through economic progress for all so that the times we require the ultimate sacrifice are rare and only occur when absolutely necessary.

Mr. Graduate Photo Album

A man triumphant!

Benjamin walks toward the podium to receive his well-earned diploma.

We got this close up because we had an insider!  Alison's step-sister, Chrisie Mooneyhan, is a teacher at the school and was sitting with the staff on the field. 

This was more of our view.  It's actually farther away, but Alison just taught me a trick in transferring pictures by zooming in and reframing stuff.  The result made it closer, but a bit blurrier.

Benjamin finished 26th in his class, at least as recorded at the end of Senior first semester.  How do I know this?  Because they sat the honor students in order of class finish.  There were 25 students in the first row, and Benjamin was the first in the second row.  Ergo, 26th!

We sat in the bleachers, front row.  We got there early, dropping off Benjamin at 5:30, and then proceeded to the football stadium.  There were already a goodly number of people there, even though the ceremony was an hour and a half away. 

The bleachers filled, and we were all packed in like sardines.  It was a long wait, in the sweltering heat, and gnat visitations, but it was worth it.

Benjamin, on his walk to pick up his diploma.

Well, funny story.  He picked up the diploma holder, but not the actual diploma.  For that, he had to go back into the school to pick it up,  I guess they were afraid they would accidentally give the wrong diploma to somebody.

Put your hats in the air!

He is officially graduated!

A loving grandson with his Meemaw after the ceremonies.

A boy and his Mom: UPDATED!

Scratch that!

A young man and his Mom:  THE BEGINNING!

Be Prepared for a Flood of Memories and Treasure

Be prepared!

For a flood of memories and treasure, as our family celebrates an important milestone!

Benjamin Sloan Strait graduates...

Tomorrow Night!

Yes, for the next week or so, expect me to repost my myriad of Benjamin posts, as we reflect on the growth of this fine young man.

The picture above ran on the front cover of The Blackshear Times.  Mom is getting Benjamin's gown ready for its first big public appearance - Senior Honors Ceremony last Friday.  I look on in awe that this is actually happening.

After the ceremony, we had to fly like a beagle all the way to Atlanta to help with Doug and Paige's rehearsal dinner.  Yep.  Getting one son graduated and another married in one week.

I love my sons, so expect this blog to be about my boys for the next week or so.

Huzzah!

The World Is Dangerous and Filled with Spoilers!

Danger Will Robinson!

Major Spoiler Alerts!

Do not read further if you have not seen the ending to Game of Thrones!!!

Ok

Is it just us now?

Is it safe to proceed?

Ok, here goes.

Unless the series were to break spirit with what George R. R. Martin intended, it pretty much had to end the way it did.

We can quibble over specifics.  Yes, the final season was rushed.  It should have led us more gently to its final themes.  

The Danerys switchover was sudden and abrupt.  Maybe more could have been done to lead us to it. But the widespread devastation that occurred,  the horrors of this game played by so-called noble families, had to happen to make the transformation it did at the end.  I liked Danerys.  I had hoped things would have turned out better for her.  A part of me longed for the ending that Tyrion mused about - that Danerys and Jon would marry and rule benevolently as a magical merger of fire and ice.

Yes, there was the occasional coffee cup or water bottle.  Those were honest mistakes, and they were easily fixed.  Anything watched by that many people is going to be scrutinized for any flaw.  Some people make a cottage industry out of trying to find mistakes in the Star Wars movies.  Nothing stands up to the scrutiny of a rabid fandom. 

And, good lord, people - he finally petted the dog!  Are you happy?

The show had to end up where it did.  Geroge R. R. Martin was using the trappings of high fantasy to tell a much bigger story.  It was a story about the destructive evils of inherited monarchy and a search for a way out of that.  He took the conventional wisdom of high fantasy and stood it on its head.

I feared that we were headed towards a high fantasy ending when the big reveal of Jon Snow's parentage dominated Season 8.  I thought, well, there goes the ending I hoped for.  This will end like traditional high fantasy, where the person we assume is the lowest born is revealed to be the highest born, and that deserving person becomes the ruler.

I am a book reader.  I read Game of Thrones when it came out in 1996, and have been an avid fan ever since.  It was clear to me from the books that an overarching theme was that political support should be garnered from the ground up, that everyday people were more than just pawns in the great wars of selfish ruling families.  I had hoped that we would wind up with a political revolution (or evolution, if you prefer).

I'm not specifically Team Bran, but I am Team Political Process.  And although women had some strong moments and some rocky moments, overall I think they wound up in a more prominent role in the political process at the end.  It's true that through an inherited monarchy that some wound up as Queen, but that did not mean the supporting institutions were not male-dominated.  In the end, we have women voting with an equal voice, Brienne the head of the military,  Sansa (perhaps the smartest of them all) the popularly supported Queen of the North, among others.  Things change slowly in a male-dominated culture, but I do believe they're changing.

Danerys believed in social change, presumably for the better, but she had developed a very Stalinist way of doing it.  Many would have to suffer and die to achieve it.  And it would always have to be controlled through fear.

Jon Snow was popular and courageous, but if you check over the series as a whole, his decision making wasn't always the best.

Samwell Tarly indicated the way forward, in the most poignant and essential words of the show, advocating a popular vote of the people to select a King or Queen.  He was laughed at, because what he suggested was too big a stretch for this culture to make yet.  Maybe someday...

Bran was perfect for this social change in that there would be no heirs, and a new ruler would have to be selected again in the future.  They weren't a true democracy, but they were starting to approach a constitutional monarchy, one where the leadership position is not inherited.

Democracy is hard.  We haven't really achieved it here, what with the electoral college and other roadblocks.  So even the United States falls short.  And frankly, people don't always choose well.  Far too many voted for the buffoon we have in office now.  Many a dictator has ridden in under the wings of popular support.

We need more Samwell Tarly's teaching us basic civics. We need more people who take their responsibilities seriously.  We don't need a Queen Ivanka.

I liked Game of Thrones.  I'm glad it did not have a high fantasy ending.  Sometimes you have to turn conventional wisdom on its head to make a larger point.  Thank you, Game of Thrones, for remaining true to your overarching message.

Brewing Up a Fantastic Wedding

Doug and Paige got married Saturday!

Yes, my middle son, Douglas Redwine Strait, married the love of his life, Paige Harwood, in a beautiful ceremony, set in a brewery.

The brewery, Monday Night Brewery,  was quite large, with two different bars/restaurants, and a great warehouse/hall to hold a wedding.  I'm hard-pressed to think of a better facility for their wedding.

The ceremony itself was very special.  I read a scripture reading, one from Colossians, and also participated in giving the bride way (well, I asked, "Who gives this woman to be the bride of this man?"  I rehearsed that line more than any line in my life, and I was still terrified I would get it wrong.

The minister for the wedding was Paige's father, whose personal and affecting words brought many of us close to tears.  I had never heard a sermon filled with such warmth and love.

And now, for the random picture section;

We wait in awe as Paige and her father walk down the aisle.  I'm in the center, preparing for my two minutes.  Next two me is Doug, Greg, and two good high school friends of Doug, Roderick, and Ryan.

Here they are, waiting for the big wedding to start; Paige, her maid of honor Bethany, and Doug and Greg.  It was hard to figure out when to take pictures.  They had professional photographers who even came out to their homes and took pictures of people getting ready.  I did not see many others taking pictures - I was afraid maybe it was against the rules.

The other bridesmaid was Shannon Thrift, who at one time lived in Blackshear.  I knew her from some of the plays we were in, and she came and babysitted our pets when we went on a trip.  She also met Doug and became friends, although at some distance, as they went to separate schools.  This turned out to be a big plus because when Paige met Doug, she had Shannon's endorsement of Doug's character.

Doug danced with Alison for the Mother/Son dance.  They have had a good relationship for years now, and I was touched that Doug asked, and I thought their dance, to Louis Armstrong's What A Wonderful World, was special and sweet.

As much as I loved it, I do wish that Doug's mother could have been there for this.  She passed several years ago, but I know how much this wedding would have meant to her.  Doug's strengths and character come in large part from her,  and she would have loved Paige and the wedding.

I wish the young couple all the best, and I look forward to participating in the experience of their lives together, and to now having a beautiful, talented, kind and caring daughter-in-law!  How sweet it is to say those words!

The Okefenokee Round Table

The Okefenokee Round Table

As usual, he was the first to arrive.  Even though he no longer had anything to get ready, even though it was no longer his responsibility to pick up Grace Lee, he nevertheless was still the opening player in the round table performance.

Tom Strait looked around the room.  Olive Garden had gone all out, closing off the back room, just one large, round table at the center of the room.  Silverware and napkins were already set out.  Water glasses filled with Fiji Water and empty wine glasses were set all the way around.  There were 12 seats.  Would 12 show up?  Tom was skeptical, but you never know.

The first to arrive was Grace Lee, brought in by her daughter, Judy.  Tom was grateful to see her and bent down to hug her and kiss her on the cheek.  It had been three years since he last saw her.  She had stayed at Baptist Village, while he had moved to Traverse City, Michigan, and had only been back to Blackshear once or twice.  At 95, she looked in good spirits, slightly frailer, but still writing up a storm.  She had become one of the country’s most beloved columnists, and humorists, Her A Touch of Grace column, featuring her reminiscences, commentaries, and poetry ran in newspapers and online media sites throughout the world. 

“Thank you for bringing her here,” I told Judy, with an affectionate hug.

“She wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she said, smiling.  She brought Grace to the table, situating her walker as her chair.

A few minutes later entered Joshua and Juniper, together as always.  They were just in from their whirlwind book tour, Joshua having the most popular fantasy series since A Game of Thrones, launched with the book The Wakening Nocturne, and soon to be turned into an HBO series.  Juniper’s success was not far behind, her most recent novel, Cryptid Hunt, appearing on the New York Times bestseller list.  I was glad to see them, as they had moved to the west coast.

They were quickly followed by others, including Elizabeth Howard, who was one of the most popular religious playwrights and lyricists in the country; Brad Henderson, of the number one video game, Alligator Alley; the young college student, Cheyenne Irby, whose YA novels were burning up the bestseller charts.

It was now ten minutes past start time.  Tom had hoped at least one more would show up, but he couldn’t wait any longer.  He fake coughed to get their attention.  It’s good to see you all again.  Shall we go ahead and get…”

And that is when she walked in.  The fabulous Julianna Lacefield, smiling and happy.  She had come from Illinois to be with them. 

And so, with the glorious appearance of Julianna, who had just been declared National Poet Laureate by President Warren, the meeting of the Okefenokee Round Table was set to begin!

Like the Algonquin Round Table of the 1920s, every participant had reached some level of fame, Tom, probably the least.  He had a modest seller with The History of the Trap series (having just released Volume 3) and was having some small success at recording audiobooks.  Unlike the others, he couldn’t make a living at what he loved, but with Social Security and some tax season work, he was doing well enough, thank you very much.

Tom once again started the meeting, quickly dispensing with the formalities.  He looked at them all, a small tear forming, one that slowly rolled down his cheek. 

He stood up as straight as a Strait could.  “Now, who has something they’d like to share?”

Everyone raised their hands.

Our Womb Episcopalian

Benjamin Strait.

Not just a cradle Episcopalian, but a womb Episcopalian.

One of the significant events that Episcopalians hold is Cursillo, an important spiritual gathering that many Episcopalians do at least once in their lives.  For Alison and me, it was the year that Alison was pregnant.  So, although he did not have much to say about it, he was at Cursillo about as early as you can be.  We always wondered why the church's spiritual songs are so ingrained in Benjamin - maybe that's one reason why.

Benjamin has been in one church all of his life - Grace Episcopal.  He has attended hundreds of Sunday Eucharists.  Ha was a mainstay of Sunday School.  He has attended Summer Camp at Honey Creek pretty much every summer since third grade.  He has been an altar boy, an usher, a lector, a waiter at Valentine's Day, helped clean the church, given to charity time and energy.  And he sings.  He sings a storm.  Everyone who hears him (and it's hard not to) compliments him on his voice.

Over 18 years in the same church.  That's a pretty good record.  Many adults around here can't say that, as frequently as many change churches.

But it's not really the attendance or the events or the singing that makes church such an extraordinary influence on Benjamin.  It is the living spirit of Christ he has seen in so many that are there. It is the love and care they have given him and that he has given back in return.  They have inflamed that spirit in him, and it now burns bright in him, and in how he treats others.

There have been so many in our church that have lit the path for Benjamin.  Some of them are no longer with us in body. That includes Gene Lynn, Steve Bean, David Rollinson, and Kathy Kontos - they may be physically gone, but there spirit and love loom large with Benjamin.  It includes those who used to go to our church but have moved on elsewhere, such as Father Dave and Madelyn Rimes.  And it includes many positive mentors that are in the parish now, including Dayton Lang, Joe Cornelius, Ken Taft, James Israel, Antia Lynn, Bunky Snider, Mike Taylor and most especially, Reverand Kit.  And many, many more - to list them all would make this blog post one of my longest.

Benjamin is graduating from high school.  His academic success is owed to his own ability, and to, how shall we say, gentle parental reminders.  His success as a kind, decent person, one filled with faith, politeness, and generosity, is something only partially attributable to his parents and extended family.  The role that Grace Episcopal played in developing and strengthening the character of this wonderful boy is immeasurable.

Come mid-August, Benjamin will be in Milledgeville to attend Georgia College & State University.  He will, for the first time, consider attending a church other than Grace Episcopal.  There is a lovely Episcopal church within walking distance from campus and an active Episcopal Youth Group.  I have a feeling once they hear him sing, they may not want to ever let him go.

I am sure, however, that Benjamin will be back to Grace on college breaks, every chance he gets.


I also know this.  The spirit and love of Grace will always be with him.  Those who have been such a positive influence on him will light his soul, and he will always strive to be the hands and feet of Christ.

God Bless You, Grace Episcopal, for everything you have done for our son.

Arre You Ready For Some Murderously Good Comedy?

Treat yourself to a spectacular show!  Come see the devilish, delirious, hilarious comedy THe Bold, The Young and The Murdered!

One of my favorite play genres, the comedy murder mystery, shines at the Ritz!

If you like your whodunnits with a hefty dose of laughter, this is the show for you!

Every character hits perfect pitch  - there are no weak spots in this melodramatic extravaganza!  Rem Farr is brilliant and hysterical as the elderly thespian in love with soup.  Eli Varnadore brings the right amount of pseudo-sexy swagger to his role of Sebastian Strong.  Rhonda Robbins is excellent as the actress trying to make sense of it all.  Rhonda has been in plays at the Ritz longer than I have!  She was in the first show I saw at the Ritz, Cinderella in 1997 (something like that).  Nikki Spivey is perfect as the older actress with memory problems.  I have never worked with Chris Thigpen, who plays Morris the young lead with insecurity issues, before, but I am looking forward to one day acting with him - he is a first-rate talent.  Speaking of first-rate talents, it was good to see Cole Hendry back onstage, in yet another strong performance as the show's creepy doctor.  And Cole's wife, Megan Hendley, has a plum part as the show's unpaid intern - it's the largest part I've seen her, and she is exceptional.

Kayla Dixon and Brittany Boatright are bright spots as the play's director and crew.  And I am proud of our graduated Flying Dragon contingent,  Sami Jo Kuhbander, Hana Hitt and Kacie Jones - all tree just get better and better every time I see them.

Kudos also to the backstage people, the set design and the director.  This is an excellent ending to an outstanding season of WACT productions!

My Second Job: In a Pickle Vat

What is the strangest job you've ever had?

I don't know how strange it is, but it was the farthest out of character from the way most people view me now.

I spent two summers working at a Vlasic's Pickle Plant in Bridgeport, Michigan.

As usual, it wasn't my 'pounding the pavement' or brilliant interview skills that got me the job.  It was my Dad.  He used his community connections (he was principal of the high school) to get me in the door.  Ever heard of white privilege?  Yeah, something like that.

It may have been connections that got me there, but it wasn't like it was a plum job.  It was night shift.  It was hard work.  It was for very little pay.  It qualified as farm labor, and at that time, that meant you could pay lower than minimum wage.  My best memory of the wage was $2.15 an hour.  But that was a long time ago, and my memory might be faulty.  It certainly was below what many of my other high school compatriots were being paid.

Early on, I got assigned the job of cleaning out a relish vat.  It was extraordinarily dirty and messy, and I would scrape it with a shovel.  I could hear the sound of forklifts while I was down in it.  I feared that they would forget that I was inside the vat and that they would dump a fresh batch of pickles and whatever other ingredients they used to make the relish.  I don't think I would have improved the flavor of it.

Some days I would help with the assembly line.  Some of the jars would not seal right, and it was my job to take them off the line and set aside to be rerun through.  One time I did that when they were processing jars of hot peppers.  We were a home of non-spicy bland diets, so I had no idea of the properties of hot peppers, or more importantly, hot pepper juice.  To grip the jars, my hands got into the hot pepper juice.  Here's a special thing that I later came to understand about hot pepper juice - IT BURNS!  OMG, IT BURNS!  I had to sleep that night with my hands in a bowl of water. 

Sleeping during the day was difficult, but I slowly got adjusted.  It got to be that the highlight of my day was waking up in time to watch Match Game at 3 PM.  Between that and a meal, I was usually soon out the door for another 12-hour shift.

Sometimes I had sweeping duties in the warehouse.  Sound like light work?  Not when you uncover a broken jar of pickles that may have been lying there for days, maybe months or years.  You haven't lived until you experience the look and smell of what appears to be an 87-year-old pickle.

Most nights I worked at the line end, where cartons of pickle jars would come down the line, and we would take them off and palletize them.  At first, I was slow and clumsy, barely able to keep up and hold my own weight.  But gradually I got better, good enough that our four-person team could let two people do the job while two others rested.  We had about fifteen to twenty-minute shifts, trading back and forth.  Yes, that gave me a little time to read, which I thought was absolutely awesome.

I got to know many of the people there, at least as well as an introvert knows anybody.  I was well-liked, by the workers and management. 

I worked there for two summers.  At the end of the second, the management asked me to come back as a supervisor.  That did not happen.  I was a college student and had other plans besides working at a pickle plant.

No, I should not have taken their offer.  But...I was young and did not know how rare that would be in my life.  To be brutally honest, until Higginson & Paulk where I will have been employed 20 years this June, about one-third of my jobs I quit for other things, and about two-thirds of my jobs I was either fired or given the slow nudge out the door.  Only one of my jobs did the employer make an offer to keep me, and that was from a man whose moral compass would give Trump a run for his money.

Job success has been hard to come by in my life.  Part of that is natural incompetence, and part is an innate lack of confidence.

But the pickle factory?  That was a hard experience, but a successful one.  I didn't realize at the time how rare that would be.

We Interrupt This Blog.....

We interrupt this blog for an important commercial.......


Recording!

No, there's no pictures.  I was just too darn excited and into it to remember to take any.  Durn!

What was I excited about?

I mean I just spent the day in the office.  Like thousands of days over the past thirty years, me and math and columns and organization, pen and paper, computers and spreadsheets, carefully containing emotion, expression, and imagination.

What was different about this day at the office?

I WAS AN ACTOR IN A COMMERCIAL!!!

Sorry.  I said that louder than I was expecting.

Two friends from my theater experiences, Darren Council and Jody Rollins, were kind enough to think of me and include me in a commercial they were preparing. It's one that they were preparing for a contest, selling a certain snacky item (two of it's more popular flavors are cool ranch and nacho cheese).

Darren was in a play with me several years ago and has since gotten involved with the movie industry, including video crew work, most recently on Avengers: Endgame (anyone heard of that film?).  Jody Rollins is a gifted musician, a featured player in different bands, and a sound artisan.  This may have been a contest entry, but it was being put together by gifted, experienced professional craftsman.  In the past, Darren has had winning entries.

The commercial needed an office setting, and I was very grateful that my firm was willing to participate.

After reading the script, I was surprised at how well the small board room we had fit the needs of the commercial.   There is a fishing/boating theme running through the commercial, and our boardroom has a nautical theme.  Homerun!

The commercial took about three hours to record, for an end product that would be about thirty seconds.  This elderly slice of ham did his best to say his lines right and "hit the spot." 

It was fun.  I was so grateful to be involved.  I have waited so long for this sort of thing that I had kind of given up.  Even now, I'm trying to not get my hopes up.  I don't want to put myself in a position to be disappointed yet again.

Anyways, for one afternoon, it was something to pretend that I was someone that I was not.  Or maybe, it was a joy to be someone I had always thought that I could be.

I stayed later than usual at work, so I was late coming home.  This time, however, coming home later was a completely different feeling.  Instead of saying "Honey, I'm late, trying to finish up those damn spreadsheets.", I got to say -

"Honey, I'm late.  I was busy finishing up my performance in a commercial!"

WOO-HOO!!!

New to who? NEW TO YOU!

Looking for that special treasure?

Have the fun of unearthing it at the New to You Sale!

Get your treasure hunt this Friday at Grace Episcopal!

Plan on The Portnow Trilogy This Weekend!

Should you go to support local theater?  You could, yes.

Should you go to support a local playwright?  That would be one reason, yes.

BUT

The major reason to go?

It's a great show - ENTERTAINING, FUNNY, POIGNANT.

Reserve a table or a seat, tickets available at OHC or through our cast members: $10 individual seating, $15 picnic table seating (tableware provided!) or $75 for a table (seats 6). Call now! 912-285-4260

I saw the show opening night and it was very good.  It was wonderful to see Blake Kildow back on stage, performing perfectly as a young neighbor of the Poertnow's.  Amara Grace was fabulous in dual roles.  I loved seeing Brittany Burkett in multiple roles.  Barbara Griffin and Lamar Grace were outstanding as the elderly couple that finds strength with each other in facing life's challenges. Congratulations to Monse Burkett on a fantastic directorial debut!

Come see it tonight at 7 or Sunday afternoon at 2:30.