What Comes Next

With only about two and a half weeks left of rehearsals, my mind can't help but think about "what's next," especially if the refinancing on the mortgage goes through, as I hope. Having more time, and hopefully a bit more money, I'm kind of formulating what I hope to achieve after that. Here's my list of top items:

1) Buy some clothes. Since the separation, I haven't been really able to go on a spree, and I need some new stuff desperately, especially pants.
2) Plan a great summer vacation series for the kids and Corb (and Josie, if any of the places catch her interest). Last year's trip to New Hamster and then Maine really worked out well, and I want to go back again, although trips to NYC and Philly are also on the list, as well as a ton of day trips.
3) Finish up with the divorce stuff.
4) Get back to writing! I can't wait to bring The Late Night Show to a conclusion, and also have a few ideas about other stories.
5) Get my computer fixed. It caught a nasty virus somewhere down the line, and I just haven't had the time to restore it to normal. Right now, it's barely getting by.
6) Visit with old friends, and find more time to relax. For the past four months, I've been living in "SOS" mode. My life is divided up into blocks of "what needs to get done now." I want to be able to devote more time to just relaxing...which includes...
7) Catch up on my reading. I've got stacks of the New Yorker I need to read, and a Stephen King series of short stories that's been essentially untouched. That and the last Harry Potter, so that when the new one comes out, I'm all caught up.
8) Polish through a few DVD box sets. Despite Oklahoma mode, I've developed a new obsession, which is Season One of 24. This is a terrific series! I don't know if the other seasons are as good, but this first storyline completely has me on the edge of my seat. I also want to go through the entire first season of Six Feet Under , which Corb has...but I'll tell you, those box sets are seriously overpriced.

(no subject)

I must admit, I have a special fondness for dopey seventies songs, especially the more obscure ones.

Right now, I'm listening to "Are You Ready for Love?" by Elton John. It may one of the cheesiest songs known to mankind (with its chorus of "Are You Ready for Love" going on and on and on and on ad nauseum), but hey! Cheese is good for you, especially if you're a rodent...and besides, the song just sort of makes me smile every time I hear it.

I actually stuck it into a production that I directed many years ago (long before the song had been rediscovered in Britain). The play was called "To Kill a Queen" (and no, the queen in question was not a male, although, if I ever revive that series...hmmm...), and I made certain that I gave myself the solo section (excised out of the recently reissued version) that was sung by some guy (Leroy Bell?) from The Spinners (it went "Hey Elton/ask you One more time/are you ready?"). But then again, in that same show, as I recall, I wore a kilt and red Sally Jesse Raphael glasses, and burst out with the even-more-obscure Abba song "Kisses of Fire."

Now, if only I could hear "Hot Shot" again, I could die a happy man. Dreamy, can you dig that one up for me?

No Ordinary Term Paper

Ashley has a poster due tomorrow that's based on an autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt. I personally think her drawing is terrific!



Corb was incredibly helpful. He thinks she should start her report like this:

"Eleanor Roosevelt is the most famous ugly person in history. There are a number of theories about how she got to be so ugly. A few of them are:

a) She fell from the top of an ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.
b) She got her upper lip stuck in a vacuum.
c) She was beaten with an ugly stick for three days straight."

Corbett won't be helping her write this paper.