TIME is the resource we squander the most, despite not knowing how much we have. The hourglass never stops emptying. Instead of just letting that happen, empty it with intent, and with joy.
So many good things
The last couple of weeks have been been busy, and full of wonderful good things!
I celebrated my 4-month “getting out of the hospital” anniversary! Man, it still feels odd to say that. Not the “getting out” part, but the whole hospital thing. I mean, it’s still so much to process, and sometimes it almost doesn’t seem real, like it’s just something you read about, or might see on TV. But, I’m getting better, getting strength back, and have found myself more and more grateful for my life, and the people in it, every single day. That’s part of why today I’m posting about all sorts of good things!
Stuff to celebrate:
*I’ve been able to stop dialysis! While not 100% healed! my kidneys have healed enough so that I don’t need to have my blood cleaned three times a week! This is such a giant weight lifted off my family and I, it’s hard to even describe. It’s a good thing.
*Getting to see 3 terrific pieces of theatre recently. The Last Romance at The Purple Rose, Carousel at Encore Musical Theatre, and Hamlet at The Michigan Shakespeare Festival. Had a great time at them all, and hopefully will see more soon!
*Getting a visit from Laura Thaisen! Laura was one of Williamston Theatre’s first apprentices, and she’s gone on to become a professional stage manager in Minneapolis, and we’re extremely proud of her. It was so great to have her visit, and to meet her significant other just weeks before they became officially engaged!
*We broke our yearly attendance record at Williamston Theatre! This is a wonderful thing, and we’re hoping that it’s a trend we’ll keep doing for the next few years.
*I did ten push-ups. Yes, ten. Go ahead and laugh, but a couple of months ago it was all I could do to hold myself up. This week I walked over a mile with my son and my dogs, and I did ten push-ups! Little steps, but they make me wanna take more steps.
*Guardians Of The Galaxy. Awesome. I am Groot. Enough said.
*We had a fabulous family weekend “up North”, playing games and napping and chatting and eating. We went to an entertainment center where we got to race go karts, and drive bumper cars, and I’m not gonna lie, I had a moment. A moment where I was driving my bumper car around, and I couldn’t stop smiling. I look up, and my parents and wife are sitting and watching (and taking video!), and they were laughing, and so happy, and every bumper car was filled with family: my kids, my sister, my nephews… We’re all smashing into each other and laughing our fool heads off, and the sense of wonderfulness was just, overwhelming.
This is the part where I want to write something about not taking things for granted, and celebrating life every chance you get, and how many times since getting out of the hospital I’ve said to myself “I almost missed this!” – those lessons and more are bouncing around in my head, and my heart, and I’m still processing them in so many ways, many times each day. Maybe someday soon I’ll be able to write coherently about them…
Until then, friends, remember to tell the people you love how you feel, take joy in every well spent moment, and revel in how many moments truly are well spent.
Season 9 Logos
I love these, so I thought I’d post the 6 show logos we’ll be using for our upcoming season!
Advice from Jack
Progress is good!
So many good things going on. I’m slowly starting to get back to work, it’s been a good week – I got to be involved in some creative stuff, which is always fun, and man did it make me realize how much I miss directing! Haven’t done it since last Fall, but I’m scheduled to do “Sirens” at Williamston Theatre next season, and I’m looking forward to it. I’ll be working on a staged reading at the Lansing Renegade Theatre Festival in August, also, which will be fun.
I have been able to read a bunch of plays, see a lot of movies, which has been a nice way of “refilling the well”, as they say. Also saw “Book of Mormon” at the Detroit Opera House, which was hilarious, irreverent and fabulous. And let me recommend the films “The Rover” and “Snow Piercer”, both of which are out now and both are really, really terrific! “Chef” was fun and sweet, also.
And, just for fun, here’s an interesting breakdown of “Visual Comedy In the Films Of Edgar Wright” that I really enjoyed, and I think there’s a lot there for stage directors as well.
Now, I’m off for some arm surgery. Wish me luck! Have a good Tuesday everyone!
Happy Independence Day
It’s July 4th! How about some awesome big acting and patriotism? What better way to spend today could there be?!
Sunday Night Pic Post
Random Pictures From The Life Of A Dad, Artistic Director, Geek…
My son was having a great time going through the many boxes of my comic collection that have been sitting gathering dust.
He had some questions about some of the comics he found!
So this week my daughter was getting her very long hair cut very short and donating it to “Locks of Love”, where it will be made into wigs for kids who need them. She was a little nervous about it, so I went with her, and we decided to do something fun for the summer, and got some red in our hair. I’ve never dyed my hair before, but life’s too short to not do weird things to your hair with your kids once in a while! 🙂
We’ve got some great renovations going on at Williamston Theatre this summer! When we’re done, the front lobby and the scene shop will be much improved!
This just makes me laugh…
I’m excited about a new page I’ve added to my website. It’s a place where I can honor and thank many of the people who supported my family and I during my scary hospital stay. Check it out here!
Happy Sunday everyone!
Random Good Things On A Sunday Night
Father’s Day with my family was great. I’m a lucky man.
The first part of my arm surgery was smooth and successful. Part two will be in July, and a couple weeks after that I should have a working fistula for dialysis. That’ll be a lot nicer than these tubes in my chest.
I’ve been able to be at work a few times this week, slowly getting life moving towards the new normal. We had some callback auditions, and next season will be cast in the next week or so.
Rice Dream. No, I’m not dreaming about rice. Rice Dream is a pretty good non-dairy replacement for milk when I need something to put on cereal. (Dairy is pretty limited in my dialysis diet because of the phosphorous).
The Edge Of Tomorrow was a pretty fun movie. Having a day just hanging out with my son and seeing it was even better.
“Love Letter” is a fun, simple, fast-paced and family friendly card game that we just started playing. check it out!
Happy Sunday everyone! Hope your week was as full of good things as mine!
A Reminder
Movin’ forward!
Things are good here at Caselli World Headquarters… which is what I’m calling our house, as of about a sentence ago. Tomorrow is a day of surgery for me – an outpatient procedure, I’m getting a fistula in my arm. (It’s a procedure needed for dialysis, creating more of a permanent place for the IV). It’s a little weird, going back to the hospital, but it should be a smooth, straight-forward event.
“Go back?” he thought. “No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!” So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
Going in for this procedure is a good sign, in one way: I’m healthy enough to handle it without too much worry. That makes me feel good, knowing that my rehab and recovery is moving along. I’ve also been able to sit in on some great callback auditions at Williamston Theatre, and it’s felt nice to slowly start having a presence there again. We’ve got some fun things coming up there, I’m really blessed to have a job that I’m excited to get back to.
It’s funny – I’m really still processing all of the things that happened from January to now, still absorbing how perspectives have changed, how some goals feel like they need re-examining, things like that. That includes work, of course, but also personal life goals, plans for the distant future as well as the right-around-the-corner. Embracing change – defining it, exploring possibilities – remembering that auto-pilot is no way to go through the world, these are the things that feel like they’re coming into focus. What will that mean exactly? I don’t know yet. It feels like Jeanne and I are just now starting to slow down and recover from the whirlwind of craziness, and as that happens we can breathe and gather our strength. I know I’m a lucky man to have the wife and children I have, and I know that this experience has (unsurprisingly, I suppose) reminded me that there’s no time to waste in squeezing everything you can out of life.
“It’s a wonderful world. You can’t go backwards. You’re always moving forward. It’s the wonderful part about life. And that’s terrific.“– Harvey Fierstein
So, as summer is beginning, and kids are getting out of school, and I’m gaining my strength and going in for a quick surgical procedure, life is good. I can’t wait to see where we go next!
Tony Caselli 