Monday Morning Musings

Anyone who has ever been involved in theatre, either professionally or in community theatre, knows how that run down to opening weekend can consume every thought and every moment of your day. That is what it was like for me last week as we prepared for the production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

Celebrating Big Daddy's Birthday

In addition to learning lines and blocking and figuring out how to portray a character, all of us in the cast were responsible for finding costumes and many of the props. Small community theatre troupes are, well, small. Sometimes there is not someone who can step up to be a stage manager. In professional, and large community theatre groups, a stage manager is the one who handles costumes and props and set dressing, as well as helping cast remember their cues for entrances.

Large theatre groups also have tech crews who do light and sound designs.

So with each production that I do at the the theatre in my small town, or the larger city of Sulphur Springs, Texas,  it is a bit of a gamble whether there will be people to help the cast and the director pull a show together. That we can do it is a testament to how dedicated we are to the stage and how much we love to bring a story to life for the enjoyment of the audience.

The story of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" has many layers, but it is primarily a story of redemption. Redemption between Maggie and Brick and redemption between Big Daddy and Big Momma. I thought of that when I saw this video on Saturday.



On another note. I read an article in The Dallas Morning News by Neil Gershenfeld and JP Vasseur about the Internet of Things. Some of the geek-speak was beyond my comprehension, but the bottom line is that the geeks have made it possible to have a small Web server that can do amazing things.

When embedded in everyday objects, these small computers can send and receive information through the Internet so that a coffeemaker can turn on when a person gets out of bed and turn off when a cup is loaded into a dishwasher, a stoplight can communicate with roads to route cars around traffic, a building can operate more efficiently by knowing where people are and what they’re doing, and even the health of the whole planet can be monitored in real time by aggregating the data from all such devices.

When I read that article, I couldn't help but think of my short story SAHM I Am. When my husband first told me about a computer that could be a Self Activated Household Manager, (SAHM) that was back in the 70's and I couldn't imagine what that would be like.

Did you know there is a real problem with people taking the wrong medications with really dire consequences? Ruth Marcus wrote about that in a column Sunday in The Dallas Morning News. The column was titled Look-Alike Pills Endanger Everyone and was focused on Kerry Kennedy, who was just acquitted of “drugged driving”. You may recall the new reports when Kennedy was charged after she mistook a sleeping pill for her thyroid medication and had an accident. Marcus also mentioned other cases in which people, including Tom Brokow, took the wrong medication because the pill and the container looked so much like the pill the person was supposed to take. A simple fix, according to Marcus, would be for pharmacies to put different colored cap on bottles containing sleep aids.

This step could be required, or smart pharmacies could do it on their own. After all, the manufacturer of my contact-lens cleaner knows enough to put a red top on that bottle so I don’t mistake it for the wetting solution.

 That's a great idea. I hope the pharmacies pick up on it. 

Friday's Odds and Ends

Tonight we open The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at the Winnsboro Center for the Arts. I directed the show, with the help of my assistant, Cindy Sanders, and a host of other Theatre Moms who shared their kids with us, as well as helped with costumes, props, etc. What a joy it has been to "play" with these kids for six weeks. This is a fun show and the community is all abuzz about it.

Now on to the news.

Much has been said about Emma Sullivan, the student in Kansas whose Tweet about Governor Sam Brownback went from obscurity to national news after an aide in Brownback's office saw the Tweet and contacted the youth organization that arranged the school trip to meet the governor to report it. That organization contacted Emma's principal, who told her she had to apologize for the Tweet, which read "Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot."

Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald columnist, defended Sullivan's refusal to apologize, saying that she had the right to Tweet that, even though it was rude.

That is true. The First Amendment gives us freedom of speech, but I don't think that right should excuse the crude and sometimes vile things that are written just because we can. Emma's mother defended her daughter saying, "I raised my kids to be independent, to be strong, to be free thinkers. If she wants to Tweet her opinions about Gov. Brownback, I say for her to go for it, and I stand totally behind her."

Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus suggests that Mrs. Sullivan also teach her daughter about civil discourse and what is considered crass language. The fact that this is the way kids communicate with each other does not make it acceptable. Marcus wrote, "If you were my daughter you'd be writing that letter apologizing to Kansas Gov. Sam Brownbeck for the smart-alecky, potty-mouthed Tweet you wrote...."

Marcus does uphold Sullivan's right to free speech, she just wishes that parents would teach their children how to express their views without resorting to trash talk.

What do you think?

Mitt Romney is being maligned in political ads for flip-flopping on issues, primarily abortion. He went from Pro-Choice to Pro-Life and some see that as a weakness. Kathleen Parker points out in a recent column that Romney's switch was not a flip-flop, but a well-thought out decision based on research and information he learned from William Hurlbut, a physician and professor of biomedical ethics at Stanford University Medical School.

Parker suggest that ideology often changes as we mature and perhaps Romney's changes were not just done out of political expediency, but rather a new maturity.

I am not necessarily a Romney fan, nor am I endorsing him for the Republican candidacy, but I do think the ad is misleading and we need to be aware of the reality as we consider who to vote for.

Separation of Church and State?

I'm a bit confused. Aren't we supposed to have a distinct separation between church and state? So why are evangelical Christians allowed to cross that line at will?

Mind you, I am a Christian, and I espouse all that the religion stands for. I just don't espouse politicians using religion to launch their political campaign. Yes, I do mean you, Rick Perry. And I don't espouse those politicians who flaunt their religion as if that somehow makes them a better president, or senator, or congressman, or political candidate.

If one is truly living a religion, whether it be Christian or one of the other fine religions, there is no need to manufacture sound bites to tell the public how connected he or she is to a God. And a public measuring stick of a candidate's worthiness should not include questions about religion. Those are not allowed in any job interview, so why are they allowed in determining a candidate's qualifications for office?

In a recent column, Ruth Marcus proposes a take-home exam that candidates should respond to before the 2012 elections. It has a single question that deals with the new congressional super-committee overseeing the national budget, asking where candidates would find the savings that are proposed in the recent debt-ceiling deal. The column is worth reading because Marcus tells candidates they cannot put a spin on their answers. They have to come up with specific and concrete plans, not just hyperbole.

It is also most interesting, because no where does it suggest that God is in any way involved in this mess, despite the fact that Rep. Tim Scott, R-SC, said "divine inspiration" was the force behind his opposition to Speaker John Boehner's initial proposal for a debt-ceiling deal.

Too often those in office, and those seeking office, throw out these references to God because it does seem to appeal to some segment of our society, but to me it makes them come across as phonies. Are they just pretending to be holy to gain support? Then I can't help but wonder what else they might be pretending about.

If you have thoughts on this topic, I welcome responses in the comments.

Friday's Odds and Ends

Here's an interesting comment from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates responding to a question about why the U.S. continues to treat Pakistan like an ally even though its government has proven untrustworthy. "I would say based on 27 years in CIA and 4 and a half years in this job, most governments lie to each other. That's the way business gets done."

It is so sad when diplomacy has turned into hypocrisy. I remember when it was a badge of honor to be able to have it said of you, "This is a woman of her word." I remember when a handshake could close a deal and the handshake would be honored no matter what. That type of honesty and trust built integrity and integrity is the backbone of character.

According to a recent article by Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus, some people are paying $2 and $3 hundred thousand dollars for playhouses for their kids. I couldn't believe it. That is more than the average American pays for a home. The people with the money and the means to built such extravagant installations for the amusement of children make no apologies for what Ms. Marcus calls, "such grossness." She quotes Dan Burnham, former Raytheon chairman as saying, "It's adorable and worth every penny."

I support Ms. Marcus's suggestion that parents ask a delivery man for a leftover refrigerator box and buy the kids a set of markers and a roll of duct tape. Then "send the kids out to design their own magical cottage. After it rains, throw away and repeat."

When I read that, I thought of how much fun the kids at the Youth Drama Camp had making a barn out of... you guessed it, an old refrigerator box.

Nathan Heller would like us to rethink the slogan "American as Apple Pie." In a recent article he put tongue in cheek and proceeded to list all the reasons "The dessert is gloppy, soggy, undeserving of its vaunted status-- and just plain old un-American."

I know he meant this all in fun, at least I hope he did, but I wish he would have left my favorite dessert alone. I like my apple pie in a bowl with milk, then it doesn't matter how gloppy or soggy it is. Berry pie is good the same way, and I have fond memories of my grandmother letting me have pie or cobbler for breakfast. Hey, I was getting my fruit and milk, wasn't I?

What about you? How do you like your pie?