Author Archives: stephenschrum

Hardening of the Attitudes

What’s a topic or issue about which you’ve changed your mind? My title for this post comes from some wordplay that I created when I was a much younger man. Reflecting on the comment I heard from older adults, I thought that their increasingly negative attitudes towards others could turn out to be as deadlyContinue reading “Hardening of the Attitudes”

Day Five: On to Ireland

I began my day with two cups of green tea, not the usual English breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, baked beans, tomatoes, and black pudding. Please note: I usually only ever ate the first three of these, although I did try black and white pudding one day. Since black pudding is basically blood sausage,Continue reading “Day Five: On to Ireland”

Fish Out of Water?

Tell us about a time when you felt out of place. Fish Out of Water? Stranger in a Strange Land? Is there another phrase for not belonging? I know there’s Yank in Eugene O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape who decides if things belong, and whether he belongs or not. The FOUW/SIASL is an excellent device forContinue reading “Fish Out of Water?”

Day Four: Edinburgh

At this point the days in my memory become a bit of a blur. As I look back on the itinerary, I see we visited Edinburgh Castle with a tour guide, and I recall bits and pieces of the Old Town and New Town of Edinburgh. At some point I remember thinking that this cityContinue reading “Day Four: Edinburgh”

Day Three: The Haggis!

The itinerary lists Yorkshire Dales National Parks, Lake Windermere, and Gretna Green: all part of the whirlwind driving-around from place to place in a bus. Add in that we were in the back of the bus today so Joyce would have a place to lie down across the long back seat since she was stillContinue reading “Day Three: The Haggis!”

Day Two: Stratford, Et Al

There’s a reason I describe my podcast Audio Chimera partly with the phrase, “the fragility of memory.” I’m looking at the description of the Britain and Ireland Highlights trip itinerary and I’m thinking, “What? Where?” I seem to have forgotten a detail already. The first destination of the day was one I was greatly lookingContinue reading “Day Two: Stratford, Et Al”

Day One: London

The travel to Heathrow by air was not too bad. We had a great pair of Air Canada counter employees help us check-in and then board; they seemed to be the majority of the staff and moved back and forth with positive attitudes all the time. (This would prove to be the exception for theContinue reading “Day One: London”

I’m Back…Mostly…

I took a lengthy break from daily blog posts while on a tour of the UK. You’ll be able to read more about that soon, as I dissect the torture—er, I mean vacation trip through England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Part of the torture came from an intestinal bug that luckily affected only Joyce andContinue reading “I’m Back…Mostly…”

Leader of the Pack (Vroom Vroom)

Do you see yourself as a leader? I read this prompt and said, “Well, yeah!” That was, of course, after the song lyric and motorcycle smoke cleared from my brain. As a college professor and theatre director, I naturally took the lead with classes of students and casts of actors. In the early days ofContinue reading “Leader of the Pack (Vroom Vroom)”