Rod Stewart Again?

What makes a teacher great? The answer to today’s prompt also prompted a return of the Rod Stewart earworm from a few weeks ago. “Passion.” I always read my student evaluations, and of course always reacted poorly to negative comments. I think most college professors are more sensitive to those than the positive ones. WeContinue reading “Rod Stewart Again?”

Pick ONE!

Another birthday passed. Last year I used a reference to “I Can’t Drive 65!” by Sammy Hagar. This year I am saying that I’m starting out getting my kicks on Route 66. I believe this will exhaust the birthday highway messages (unless I usher in next year’s day with “Life is a Highway”). On aContinue reading “Pick ONE!”

Directing. Plain and Simple.

What are you good at? Today’s prompt asks: “What are you good at?” And the extremely obvious answer is: directing in the theatre. I’ve always had a knack for it. When I am doing it, I reach that flow state they talk about, and time simultaneously speeds up and stops. I am fully focused onContinue reading “Directing. Plain and Simple.”

Legacy

What is the legacy you want to leave behind? Before my retirement, several people got together to throw me a surprise retirement party before the Saturday performance of my last show on campus. In attendance were students from my 17 years at the campus, representing a wide range of productions. Several of them had incredibleContinue reading “Legacy”

Career Plans?

What is your career plan? This is an amusing little prompt for a retired person. But judging from how people reacted when I attended commencement, they must equate retired with dead. In fact, when people asked me what I was doing there, I would say, “I’m retired, not dead!” (And then I’d say I wasContinue reading “Career Plans?”

Bother Me? Not Tonight!

What was the last live performance you saw? The last live musical performance I saw was The Atlanta Rhythm Section (ARS). I really wanted to see them for two reasons. One, I like their songs, and back when I was an AM DJ, I played their songs frequently in rotation (because they were hits andContinue reading “Bother Me? Not Tonight!”

Community Involvement

What do you do to be involved in the community? During my academic career my community involvement happened through my campus. I provided entertainment for the area through my theatre productions, and occasionally ventured out into schools to talk about career-oriented topics. For the most part though, my involvement was extremely limited (partially limited byContinue reading “Community Involvement”

One Way? Yield!

What gives you direction in life? The title of this post comes from a joke I used to tell; someone asks me my sign, and I waggle my eyebrows and say flirtatiously: “Yield…” As for what gives me direction in life, it’s my artistic projects. Working on plays as a director, writing plays or films,Continue reading “One Way? Yield!”

ChatGPT Writes Like My Playwrighting Students Did

I decided to try using ChatGPT to write a short script to see how it might do. I began with the idea of the Old King/Young King ritual that Sir James Fraser wrote about in The Golden Bough (1890), an examination of comparative religion that pre-dates Joseph Campbell. Frazer writes that the new king killsContinue reading “ChatGPT Writes Like My Playwrighting Students Did”

Let’s Get Social

How do you use social media? My first response to today’s prompt is: I guess, not that well? I have some followers on a couple of social media accounts, but to be honest they are following me either because I know them personally (Instagram: audiochimera) or because they are following my cats (TikTok: @audiochimera). OrContinue reading “Let’s Get Social”