What are you most proud of in your life? This is an interesting prompt, and one that I could get very long-winded with, making lists of all kinds of things. But, as I often quote, brevity is the soul of wit, and I want this to be a witty (though not funny, just insightful) post.Continue reading “I’m Proud To Be…”
Author Archives: stephenschrum
Pounding That Same Insistent Piano Note
This is the final paragraph from a paper I wrote, “Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty” A Definition,” submitted for my graduate criticism seminar on 6 December 1985. “In this way, theater should always have a mystical power to evoke emotion in the audience. As a director, I feel that if time and care is taken inContinue reading “Pounding That Same Insistent Piano Note”
In Memorium
In a funny synchronistic way, the topic of funerals and memorial services passed through my mind the last several days, and then the Sunday New York Times featured an interview with a hospice nurse. All of this reminded me of a suggestion I once had for my own memorial service. Before I get to that,Continue reading “In Memorium”
Working: Title?
What have you been working on? In my travelogue of the UK trip I mentioned how both Joyce and I wound up with a (non-contagious, thank goodness!) intestinal flu, and then returned home with colds. I still have only a lingering cough, but Joyce has had conjunctivitis twice and is relapsing back into a cold,Continue reading “Working: Title?”
Hidden Secrets
What’s something most people don’t know about you? Is the title redundant? I mean, if they’re secrets, aren’t they necessarily hidden? And if they are revealed, they’re no longer hidden. Perhaps this is what happens when I write a blog post and formulate a title before that second cup of coffee. I think there areContinue reading “Hidden Secrets”
Hazy Lazy Days of…Retirement?
Do lazy days make you feel rested or unproductive? I recently visited my storage unit and brought home two boxes with stationery supplies. I’ve run out of good printer paper and had to resort to printing with these thin sheets I found in a desk drawer. I feared they might get stuck inside the printerContinue reading “Hazy Lazy Days of…Retirement?”
A Ghost Rises From a Smoky Past
Inspired by the recent prompt about being a good neighbor, I’ve been reflecting this week on some of my past living situations. Today’s entry concerns the room I rented during my second year in Berkeley. My first year I lived in the International House dorm, but I couldn’t stay there over the summer, and soContinue reading “A Ghost Rises From a Smoky Past”
Just Add Walls, And Stir
Yvonne Shafer, a professor of mine at Ohio State (I know, I should say THE Ohio State University, their official branded name), once likened a decrepit building she saw to the original set for Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, as designed by Jo Mielziner for the 1941 Broadway premiere. I thought that look wouldContinue reading “Just Add Walls, And Stir”
Like A Good Neighbor…
What makes a good neighbor? Good neighbors can definitely add to one’s quality of life. For me, this statement is mostly theoretical since, in so many of the places I’ve lived, I wouldn’t have described my neighbors as good. Even when they weren’t bad, so many of them were just annoying, and so my viewContinue reading “Like A Good Neighbor…”
Cliches To Live By
What principles define how you live? Shakespeare used serious elements in his comedies to make them more realistic, and added comic elements to his tragedies to heighten (or deepen) the gravity of the action. We see a strong example of this in the Scottish play with the Porter, who plays at being Hell’s doorman; it’sContinue reading “Cliches To Live By”
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