I’m always amazed to see kindergarten, middle school, and all other kinds of milestone graduation ceremonies. This never occurred to us when we were kids. We moved straight from grade to high school. Our grade school was grades 1 to 8, and when grade 8 was finished, there was no ceremony. For us there wereContinue reading “Commence to Begin”
Tag Archives: college
To Paraphrase the Alien in Plan Nine from Outer Space:
“All you faculty are stupid!” We often see a dichotomy between an upper and a lower class. And sometimes this division is false, but persists nonetheless. For example, on an academic campus, we may see a prejudice on the part of maintenance workers who look down on the faculty. I never did. My first realContinue reading “To Paraphrase the Alien in Plan Nine from Outer Space:”
Men! Stay Out! Except…
So there’s a big deal these days about using the “correct gender rest room.” And maybe this is a provocative notion, but maybe we should just get over it. Here’s why. Years ago, I was at the Rites of Spring progressive rock festival (ROSfest) in Gettysburg, PA. One of the things you have to knowContinue reading “Men! Stay Out! Except…”
Journey…Into The Past (Lives)
Years ago, when I was an undergrad at my first college (a small private that proved to be inadequate for my proper theatre training—hence my transferring to a real theatre program at a real school), I heard this crazy metaphysical thing: how to see what you looked like in your past lives. The method wasContinue reading “Journey…Into The Past (Lives)”
Whistling Backstage, Dark or Not
There’s an old tradition that one does not whistle backstage in a theatre. Like most theatrical traditions, you don’t question it, but nevertheless I often wondered about it. And for years I taught the reason for this in my Intro to Theatre course; I don’t know if I read this, or just made it up,Continue reading “Whistling Backstage, Dark or Not”
What’s Your Passion?
I know a lot of people hate their jobs. And I’m sorry for that. A line I used to say to people was: “I love my work, but I hate my job.” There are times when being a college professor could be very annoying, But the most important thing about that was that I didn’tContinue reading “What’s Your Passion?”
Notes About Dreams
In a recent blog post I mentioned finding old notes about various things that might become future blog posts. Well, the future is now! Four of the notes begin: “Dream:” and have some mention of what happened in some dream I had years ago. Often when I take notes, such brief phrases are enough toContinue reading “Notes About Dreams”
“She Tipped Me A Crystal”
At Berkeley, we had a summer lunchtime theatre series. Each show rehearsed for two weeks (one week in the morning, one week in the afternoon) and then a week of performances. I directed two shows in two summers: Noel Coward’s We Were Dancing (in the Durham Studio Theatre) and Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost—which I cutContinue reading ““She Tipped Me A Crystal””
Hand Me the Whiteboard…
Every time someone starts an in-depth explanation of something, or I need to explain something that requires a variety of steps, I ask for “the whiteboard.” I assume at that point that only a detailed diagram will be able to provide any sensical explanation. I always needed a whiteboard when I covered one of theContinue reading “Hand Me the Whiteboard…”
Don’t Tell Me I Can’t
How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? One of the quickest ways to encourage me to do something is to tell me I can’t do it, or to speak the more passive phrase, “it can’t be done.” That’s precisely the motivation I’ve often needed to accomplish a goal. ItContinue reading “Don’t Tell Me I Can’t”
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