Okay – This is fascinating! A few years ago, in Amsterdam, they had to excavate a riverbed that ran through the city. During the excavation, archeologists took advantage of the dig to see what they could find. What they found was an amazing array of things lost into the river dating from now and going back thousands of years, and they catalogued them all!

Dice, dated between 1500 and 1200 AD! Some gambler lost THAT bet!

Check it out, this is incredible.  

In other news, we’re about to open the final show of our 12th season at Williamston Theatre.  We started previews last night of Memoir and it’s the kind of show that the word “Delightful” was invented for!  Work has been wonderful. I had the chance to direct a terrific show, Significant Other, at the MSU Summer Circle.  That was an absolute treat.  Script was fun, it was outside and fun, and the cast and design team were top notch – truly a bunch of young professionals now graduated with MFA’s and heading out to what I know will be great careers in the industry.

Despite work being really good, and family life being wonderful (one kid in college, one graduating high school, and an amazing wife keeping me sane), it’s been a challenge finding the motivation to write – either in my personal journal or here, on this site.  It’s been frustrating, because I’ve been in a bit of a slump.  A handful of life things and personal things, stuff we all deal with, have been weighing on me.  Along with those, the incredibly divisive and vitriolic political mess here in the U.S. has just left me feeling burned out, and I’ve also (either because of that stuff of just along with it!) allowed myself to get more chubby and out of shape physically than I’ve been in a while, and that’s been frustrating – it’s also just not good for me, especially with the variety of health issues I already have –  so that’s been weighing on me too. (Hah. “Weighing.” Literally!)  So all of that has meant that lately I’ve found myself MISSING that sense of loving life that I normally have – and have had for especially the last few years, now that I’m in my extra-innings of life!

Fortunately, life and family and friends and the universe have been there giving me reasons to perk back up.  Spending lots of QFT lately, which has been nice, doing some more bike riding and exercising has been good for me.  I’m now prepping to direct our fall show, Silent Sky, by Lauren Gunderson, which is a GORGEOUS piece of theatre and I am absolutely thrilled to be working on it with an amazing team of people!  That, and a handful of other projects which are coming up, are pretty exciting.  I *am* getting nervous because in a couple of months my son is heading to Germany for a year long Exchange Program: I’m thrilled for him, but I will worry the entire year he is gone!

OH! Plus – I’ve got a little vacation time coming up. More on that later, but it’s going to be a wonderful trip and I can not wait!

So – thanks for reading! And if YOU’RE having any kind of slump, like I’ve had, hang in there.  Look around, find your joy and embrace it.  Then go help others find theirs – I think that helps!