It’s All Greek, German, and Japanese To Me

There have been multiple occasions when I’ve been in attendance at theatrical events in foreign languages and still managed to understand what was transpiring onstage.  The first of these was Aristophanes’ The Frogs, presented in Greek by British students studying—yes, you guessed it—Greek. (I wrote about this in a recent blog post.) Fortunately for me,Continue reading “It’s All Greek, German, and Japanese To Me”

List My Work History

Buckle up and get your reading glasses–this is a long one. Recently someone insinuated that, since I spent my life in academia, I didn’t know anything about working real jobs. (It was phrased in terms of never wearing steel-toed shoes.) So I thought I’d compile a list of all my work experiences in and outContinue reading “List My Work History”

What Confusion?

Frequent readers of this blog know of my verbal jousting with the wrong number scammers: they introduce themselves, apologize for getting me by accident, and then pursue a closer friendship on WhatsApp. I enjoy messing with them through improv and sometimes they can’t handle it. Oh, no, looks like I got the wrong number forContinue reading “What Confusion?”

A Positive Prescription

I heard an interview with the outgoing Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy during which he spoke about his parting prescription for Americans. When faced with a choice between “the status quo, marked by pain, disconnection, and division” and “a different path—one of joy, health, and fulfillment, where we turn toward each other instead of awayContinue reading “A Positive Prescription”

Wrong Number (1)

I’ve written a lot about the wrong number texts—someone sends a message to a friend but has entered the number incorrectly. Oh, no, sorry, but can we be friends? I used to have fun improvising with them, but lately they’ve been taking a darker turn. And so have I. This week I’ve gotten about 12Continue reading “Wrong Number (1)”

I Hereby Resolve…

A few years back I read an interesting article on New Year’s resolutions. The author suggested that, instead of resolving to do more in the coming year, one should do less. It’s like the scene in the movie Birdcage when they are turning the apartment into a straight-looking residence, and Val says, “Don’t add; subtract.”Continue reading “I Hereby Resolve…”

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”

Ah, Travel? Big Deal…

While on a cruise to Greece, I wrote the following: “Here I am in Greece. Amazing, but that usual phenomenon of ‘Here I am!’ And then: ‘Big deal.’” What I’m referring to is the state of mind that seems to always happen to me when I travel internationally. I get very excited by the prospectContinue reading “Ah, Travel? Big Deal…”