So at 104 I’m going to start avoiding fruit…

Silly and fun! Click Me!

Interesting…the different sides of “trust”…and how we all choose to use it in our daily lives…

For instance, I really do believe in this quote:

When I’m trusting and being myself… everything in my life reflects this by falling into place easily, often miraculously.
-Shakti Gawain

And one way of looking at “trust” in our world is reflected in this…

The chief lesson I have learned in a long life is that the only way to make a man trustworthy is to trust him; and the surest way to make him untrustworthy is to distrust him and show your distrust.
-Henry L. Stimson (1867 – 1950)

But then, there’s another way to look at trust. There’s a part of me that really does believe in this, also:

Do not trust all men, but trust men of worth; the former course is silly, the latter a mark of prudence.
Democritus (460 BC – 370 BC)

…and this…

If we are bound to forgive an enemy, we are not bound to trust him.
Thomas Fuller (1608 – 1661)

This train of thought comes from a discussion I was having with a couple of friends, about trusting people, and I said “I’m not going to trust someone who is not worthy of my trust.” This was a simple statement, but elicited much discussion about trusting, how you know if you can or can’t trust someone, etc… and it got me thinking about it.

I like this, and it relates to why I said what I said above:

Put more trust in nobility of character than in an oath.
Solon (638 BC – 559 BC)

So. Not a post with a tremendous amount of storyline, but a post to help me sort thru this topic. I guess, when it comes down to it, I’m in the middle: I’m not a “Trust Everyone and Everything and Life Will Reward You” person, nor am I a “Trust No One and You Won’t Be Disappointed” person.

It’s funny – a friend with an opinion that I usually value said once “You’re the most pessimistic optimist I’ve ever met!” Maybe that’s it! I like to give people trust and respect until they’ve behaved in a manner that forfeits those things. Most folks, I think, deserve those things. Some people work their way out of deserving those things. I think you have to start out every relationship by giving those things, and then you see what happens.

Boy oh boy did this make us laugh!

My 6 year old, Max, and his friend Jake were in the backseat being driven to Jakes house.

My wife Jeanne and Jakes mom teach together, and Jake and Max play together often at the school at the end of the day while the moms wrap up their work.

So, now they’re riding in the backseat to Jakes, where Max has been invited to play.

And the conversation went like this:

MAX: I can’t even remember what your house looks like. I don’t think I’ve been there.

(Pause)

JAKE: I think you’ve been there.

(Pause)

MAX: How come you don’t invite me over more?

(Pause)

JAKE: Well…you’re kinda wild.

MAX: Oh. (Long Pause) Well…I’m over all that now.

Quote of the weekend:

“Not much I can say,” Kansas City manager Buddy Bell said. “Baseball, man. It’s just hard to explain sometimes.”
-KC Manager Buddy Bell, after the Tigers beat them for the 10th Consecutive time this season!

Well, we’re at our closing weekend for Additional Particulars at Williamston Theatre.

It’s been a good run. A critical success, the show also got overwhelmingly positive response from audiences, which was very nice. Being a new company, however, we’re still working to build our audience.

I had this fantasy – build it, put as many seats in as possible (which right now is 86), and open a show. Then 86 people a night would come and see the show.

Well, of course that didn’t happen. And I knew it wouldn’t, but we’re all allowed our fantasies, right? (I mean, I’ve got this one about Amanda Tapping from Stargate that…well, nevermind.)

Still, people came. People who wanted to see a play. People who wanted to see our play, in our theatre. And we made enough money to pay the actors and crew – we had enough people come and pay that we’re still in business! In today’s world, in Michigans worst-in-the-country economy, I think that’s saying something.

Like most theatres, Friday night and Saturday night were big sellers. Then, for us, Thursday night (it’s the cheapest ticket) was the next on the list in terms of attendance. Saturday and Sunday matinees were, surprisingly, the poorest sellers. So, it looks like that’s where we’ll be focusing our group sales efforts for the next couple of shows.

We’ve announced our 2006/2007 Season! Some very funny, very warm comedies. Well, except for Every Christmas Story Ever Told, which has some warmth but more silliness than anything!

I’ll be directing most of the season, because we can’t really afford to pay another director yet! Still, there’s no way I can do all of them (for my own sanity, and I don’t think it’s a good idea for the company.) Ideally in the future I’ll direct about 1/2 of our season, and have guest directors do the rest. We do have a guest director coming in for Music From A Sparkling Planet, which is one of the scripts that I love. SO, it was interesting, in my first year as Artistic Director, to take a script that I love and give it to somebody else! A good reminder of how this job works. A wonderful actor/director/person named Suzi Regan is currently slated to direct that show. (There’s a chance that schedules may change and prevent this from happening, we’re hoping not. We’ll see!)

So – we close this show on Sunday. It’s been a good couple of months. Preliminary work has begun already on the next one, Rounding Third, and we’ll launch into Production Meetings next week. We’ll spend this little bit of down time doing some fundraising, working on the building and resources, and gearing up for the non-stop adventure that will be our first full season!

Our first Full Season!

I can’t wait!

What do you most need, right now?

EDITED TO ADD: What a fun post. And some very cool replies. Thanks everybody! -Tony

It’s so interesting to me how some people respond to other peoples successes. Not even successes, but attempts at success.

Some folks cheer, encourage, spread genuine good feelings and good wishes. That positive energy is so wonderful, so bright, and does so much for the world.

Then there are the people who respond with cynicism, fear, darkness. That negative energy is so powerful.

But only if you give it power. Because, like the positive energy, it’s alluring. It’s strong, and easy to get caught up in.

Receiving that negativity, it becomes so easy to want to just give it back – to let yourself be as bitter, biting and deceitful as those spewing the negativity.

And that’s the challenge, isn’t it?

There are days when choosing the positive response is easy. And there are days when it’s much, much harder.

Life. Life and its challenges.

So interesting.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.
Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
-Samuel Ullman

The Tigers are leading all of Major League Baseball as we go into the All-Star Break!

I’ve rambled about this now and then, but this season has been amazing so far. Right now, before the 4:05 game today, they are 31 games over .500, which is unbelievably good. This is a team that, in 2003, lost 119 games. Out of 162.

Even if their incredible streak ends, and they only play .500 ball from here until the end of the season, and lose every other game they play, they would still finish with a 96 and 66 record!

Go on, give it a try! See how far YOU get in my dungeon!