This made me laugh.  (In a related note, THIS IS HERE ALSO.)

I made this on the fun iPad app Skitch, because, well, it also made me laugh!

Last night was first rehearsal for The Usual, at Williamston Theatre.  This isn’t a great pic, but I forgot to take more!  You can see, in the theatre seats, a couple of our Production Assistants (who will also appear as chorus in this show) – Carolyne and Brandon.  Also Dana Brazil the choreographer, Alex our apprentice, and Chris Purchis (WT Managing Director.)  Onstage left to right are Stef Din (Stage Manager) and the cast: Joe Zettelmaier, Emily Sutton-Smith and Leslie Hull.

I mentioned a while back that Max was building a trebuchet for Science Olympiad.   His regional meet has come and gone, and today we did some modifications to the trebuchet, and he’ll start charting the distances and weights again!  Here we are in the school gym experimenting this evening before dinner!

And, because it’s fun, here’s a video of the first test fire where, thanks to the improvements we made, it works even better than we predicted!

Darn, now that I’ve listened to the video, it’s hard to hear Max explain it.  He says “Okay, this is a 2 kilogram counterweight and a 38 gram projectile on an awesomely modified trebuchet!  3-2-1 Launch!”

And another Wednesday has passed!

Dissatisfaction and discouragement are not caused by the absence of things but the absence of vision.
Anonymous

As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.
George Bernard Shaw

My daughter turns 14 today. How is this possible?!

Dead Man’s Shoes at the Williamston Theatre continues to get rave reviews!
“The world-premiere production, a joint offering by Williamston Theatre and Performance Network Theatre with direction by David Wolber, marries component skill and tight cohesion into a masterpiece of workmanship with entertainment value to match.”

Sci-Fi fans, if you’re not watching Fringe, you’re missing out on a great show! I just watched last night’s episode, and the show just gets better every week!

I never got my motorcycle license…maybe I should.

The Detroit Tigers first Spring Training game is only two weeks away!

Ebenezer 

Last week I posted the preliminary sketch of the set for THE USUAL, which we’ll start rehearsals for next week.  Here’s the White Model of the set.  This process is another step in refining what we want the thing to be.  Later come the final versions, groundplans, paint elevations, etc…

I posted this on Facebook, after seeing it shared by several folks, but I’m still laughing at it, so here it is! 

Maggie said “Dad, in health class we learned that, for men, two glasses of wine every couple of nights can be healthy for your heart!”

Now I just have to find the two biggest glasses in the house…

So, Sci-fi fans, THIS is coming:

Doing research for The Usual, I came across these, which I love.  Don’t know who made them, but for anyone who played early video games, they’re fun!  Anyone up for a little Legend of Zelda in the real world? 

Or (for you early arcade fans), Duck Hunt?!

And another Wednesday comes to a close!

Well, The Potter’s Field recorded a great version of that song, and we decided to make a music video featuring the cast of the show and Rochelle Clark, of The Potter’s Field.  We had a great time making it, and I think it turned out well.  Check it out!

So, I wonder if I tried to follow this for a week, what would happen?  Aside from the fact that I’d immediately be re-arranging it because of rehearsals and kids?   Either way, the questions of the day seem like a nice way to prioritize.

What a great compliment!  It’s always nice to hear that someone enjoys being there, and that they enjoy it for the same reasons we do!  That did get me thinking, though, about imagination….

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Imagination is the voice of daring. If there is anything Godlike about God it is that. He dared to imagine everything.
Henry Miller

A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Trust that little voice in your head that says ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting if…’; And then do it.
Duane Michals

There is only one admirable form of the imagination: the imagination that is so intense that it creates a new reality, that it makes things happen.
Sean O’Faolain

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!
Dr. Seuss

I remember, as a boy, feeling like my Dad could make anything happen.  Like my Mom could solve a problem with a hug and a snack.  Like home was a place that was safe, and no matter what happened, I’d be okay. My brother and sister and I, with Mom and Dad, we’d be okay.

Of course, those are the thoughts of a young boy – a kid, with little experience or understanding of the world, living in a home where his folks loved and cared for him, and worked to make his world a good one.  As I grew older, teenage years happened and I rebelled, decided life sucked now and then, argued, grew up, went to college, realized – like many folks – that my parents were much smarter than my teenage self had thought, etc… overall, I had a great childhood… and as a Dad now, I work with my wife to make our home a place that my kids feel safe in.  A home that, like the one I grew up in, isn’t perfect, but is nurturing.  We work together to make their world a good one.

I’m an optimist.  Well, I think I am.  Maybe I’m an optimistic pragmatist?  My friend Suzi once called me the most cynical optimist she’d ever met, and that stuck with me.  I’m pretty sure she meant it as a compliment.

I’m rambling.  I’m bothered.  After a good, productive, nice day I got home tonight and got in bed to read the news on my iPad before falling asleep, and the Lansing State Journal had 5 articles, right in a row:

Toddler shot in chest after collision.
Man sexually assaulted infant, wife took photos.
Michigan mom, son charged in fatal shooting of girl, 12, over cell phone dispute.
Lansing Detective recounts finding boy in sex offender’s home.
Michigan woman charged with torturing boy, 3.

Jesus.  Where are we?  All of these things happened within an hour’s drive of my home. Where are we?  Not geographically.  Where are we as a people?  As a lifeform?

I spent 2 hours today talking with a great class of college students, actors, all who are about to head out for their careers.  We talked about what the theatre does, why we love doing it, how they can approach their careers and the importance of following your heart and doing something you love.

I spent the evening at the theatre, where a bunch of people came to spend an evening together.  Actors, audience, crew, staff, they all came because they wanted to be there.  I think that’s a good thing.  An important thing.  A communal thing that brings us together and can help make the world a better place one or two people at a time.

And then I came home and read the news.

And I know those stories are not indicative of everyone on the planet, and I know the world is also full of wonder and beauty and kindness.  I know those things… but I see those stories, and it’s hard to keep the good things in focus.  It’s easy to wonder what the hell is going on.  And to wonder if some of the things I think are important really ARE important.

I don’t have the answers.  I walk around my house, and I look at my son and daughter and wife, all sleeping.  I think of keeping them safe, and of the news stories I just read.  I think of my parents, and how I felt growing up.  I think of them now, in their retirement, and I think of my siblings raising their own families.  I think I want to hug my kids until they laugh and roll their eyes and say “Daaaaaaaad!”  I think of a line that Joe Zettelmaier wrote for The Sheriff in Dead Man’s Shoes: “I do my part to correct the growing wickedness in the world with small acts of goodness.”

I think we all have to keep trying, and trying hard.

I think I’m going to have a hard time sleeping tonight.

And I think I’m gonna call my parents tomorrow, just to chat.