FALLing Behind Again

 Oh, I know.

I'm falling behind again.

This is only my fourth post in October.  And I'm not even sure of the theme of this one.

But do not despair, my tiny band of blog fans!  There is some hope on the horizon.

I have some changes coming soon that should enable me to write more.  It won't be strictly writing for The Strait-Line, but it will be writing nonetheless.

One of those changes will come about because the play is ending.  Gilligan's Island was tremendous fun, but as all plays, they are very time-consuming.  I have two more performances, tonight and tomorrow night, and then I will be able to set that aside.

If you read this before the 17th and have not come out to the play, I encourage you to do so.  It's not a deep play, but it is hilarious and spirited.  The cast is spot-on in the portrayal of their iconic characters. All are very good.  Michelle Lagoueyte as Ginger is amazing, a tour de force of singing, dancing, and comedic skills. The Skipper is the closest member of the cast to portraying how their character sounds in the TV show and is a marvel of exasperation in dealing with the goofy Gilligan, performed in all his silly glory by Micah Smith (who is also a top-notch singer).  Megan Hendley conveys Mary Ann's sweetness and spirit perfectly, and Trey Carter is terrific as the intellectual Professor.  Trey has two singing numbers that are inspired singing monologues -  how he learned all those words is very impressive to me.  And we have an alien played by Danny Godwin, who is out of this world entertaining.

Special thanks to Nikki Spivey, who plays Mrs. Howell to my Mr. Howell, and for putting up with me and my nonsense.  She is a consummate actress with great comedic timing.  It is crucial for any comedy duo to enhance and heighten each other - actions and reactions are what sell comedy, and she was the perfect person to act opposite.  

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The COVID cases in our area are starting to decline.  We're not out of the woods by any means, but we have at least passed the peak of the current wave.

Will there be another wave?  I don't know.  Vaccination rates are slowly rising.  We've had so many in our area contract COVID; they probably have at least a temporary immunity. However, that may not help them in the next wave or if the virus mutates again.

As of writing this, at least 340 people from the two counties I live and work in have died from COVID.  Our populations are not that big, about 56,000 in the two counties combined, so most of us know of a family that has been affected by this.

And yet...we still have many who poo-poo this whole thing.  I can't make sense of them.  And it breaks my heart.  The supposition is that although the people around here are very conservative politically, they are actually caring and decent on a personal and community level.  Yeah.  I'm having a harder and harder time seeing that.

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I really haven't said much about the movies and TV I watch and the books and comics I read.  We'll see.  Maybe I'll say more in the future about it.  Or maybe not.

I'll only say that we have not watched The Squid Game. And those who have seen it and are trying to tell me all the little details about it  - STOP SPOILING IT FOR ME!

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I've decided not to put an image at the top. Instead, this one is for true fans of the blog - who don't need clickbait to be brought in.

I love you all, and I promise changes are coming that should smooth out my writing efforts.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait