Hi again, 2:14am!

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Tonight is my son’s birthday sleepover! Eight 11-year old boys are FINALLY asleep in sleeping bags in the basement, after hours of running around and giggling and playing games and being… Well, after hours of being 11-year old boys at a sleepover!

SO: yes, 2:14am is the perfect time for the Carbon Monoxide Detector that they knocked out of the wall to start chirping loudly and let me know a) the Carbon Monoxide levels are fine, but b) it’s unplugged from the wall and c) the battery backup is now failing and I should 1) replace the battery and 2) plug it back into the wall.

Okay. Good to know that’s still working. And is it just some “Dad Instinct” that kicks in once you become a dad that means you’re the only one in a house full of people to hear that particular piercing “CHIRP!!”? Because it seems like any time one of the smoke or carbon monoxide detectors has a battery running low it’s me who is wandering the house at 2:14am trying to figure out which one is making the noise! It really is amazing how you can wake from a deep sleep going “Chirp. I heard a chirp? I was sleeping, but I think I heard a chirp. Quick, before it happens again and I have to actually lift my head from the pillow – run through the possible chirp sounds that could be happening: smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector, someone’s phone needs recharging, one of the many electronic toys the kids have was left on and is making some kind of weird noi- wait, nope, there it is again. Okay, lift head from pillow. Walk to hallway. Wait for sound again and begin narrowing down the location of the sound in the house… Yep, basement. Wade through obstacle course of sleeping 11-year olds…find the culprit. How can they sleep through it going off while they’re laying right next to it?!

And the most amazing thing is that it ALWAYS happens in the middle of the night! I do not think I have EVER had one of those things go off at a nice convenient 4:45pm. *sigh*. Battery backup replaced, detector re-plugged into wall… All is well once more.

So, I wonder if I’ll be able to get back to sleep… I also wonder if there’s any more of that birthday cake left in the kitchen….

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My tweets

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  • Thu, 13:26: Great time recording a podcast for Encore Michigan! Fun discussion of the Wilde Awards: new categories, surprises, glaring omissions! 😉 #fb
  • Thu, 14:21: RT @TheOnion: Guy Who Got Laid Off Just Glad Multi-National Corporation Will Make It http://onion.com/kMJj1J
  • Thu, 20:06: I’ve had too much caffeine. This is not something I say often, but I can tell it’s true because the twitching made it hard to type this. #fb
  • Fri, 11:51: Nice essay on, well, life…. “Mom, apple pie, the picket fence, a secure retirement” http://t.co/Xt5AxGY #fb

Happy Memorial Day!

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Today is a day to thank all the incredible men and women who serve or served in our armed forces, and to honor those who lost their lives serving in the military. To my brother, my grandfather, my father-in-law, my uncle – and everyone else who dedicated themselves to serving for the greater good – Thank you for your service.

More Great Reviews for ELEEMOSYNARY!

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The Rogue Critic and the Lansing State Journal have both posted wonderful reviews for the Williamston Theatre production of ELEEMOSYNARY!  

However, for all that the points of this triangle are distinctive and interesting, it’s the lines that connect them, the relationships brought to life by these attuned performers, that demand — and deserve — the most attention…For it’s their sameness that ultimately wins out, their misplaced hopes for each other and the rejection and complicated inevitability of any mother-daughter bond, here magnified to outstanding effect. Lammers somehow makes much of what’s not apparent: the finest and freshest element of this production is its clear projection of what the characters don’t understand.
Read the Rogue Critic Review here!

"Eleemosynary" could be a difficult show to watch, if its cast of three had not made it so compelling. Glander’s Dorothea is by turns delightfully crazy and maddeningly domineering. As her conflicted daughter, Covey seethes with bottled-up tension. And Meredith as Echo conveys the frustrations of a sometimes rejected child.
Read the LSJ Article here!

Quick Hits & Quotes

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So I’m doing this Warrior Dash thing in July, and started my working out/training to get in shape for it.  My son, who is 11, is very excited about it, wants to be my trainer.  So, yesterday, some of my training involved jumping on the trampoline with him until I couldn’t take it anymore – and when I’d fall down and just lay there on the trampoline, he would stand over me and shout drill sergeant stuff like COME ON TUBBY!  DO YOU WANT THE NEIGHBORS TO SEE YOU LIKE THIS!?  IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?!  IS THIS ALL YOU ARE?!  DO YOU WANT THIS RACE OR NOT?!  DO YOU?!?!?!?  GET YOUR BUTT UP AND JUMP, MAN!!  MY MAMA COULD JUMP MORE THAN YOU!!  (Editor’s Note: this is technically true.  I know his mother, and he’s correct.)
Of course, the problem with this was that it made me laugh so hard I couldn’t really jump anymore.

Today we had a great event for the theatre, our Signature Society threw a get together.  They are the incredibly supportive group who give a good deal of money to the Williamston Theatre every year and help keep us alive.  It was a really wonderful chance to hang out and chat with a big chunk of the family that help to make the theatre what it is, and a nice reminder of how fortunate we are to be able to do what we do for a living. 

Speaking of the theatre, today we got some nice news:  The Lansing City Pulse announced the nominations for their annual Theatre Awards, and the Williamston Theatre received 20 Nominations!  We don’t do what we do for awards, but it’s always nice to be recognized and have folks say "Hey, we really enjoyed this!"  So congrats to all the WT Nominees, and to all the other nominees as well!

So my daughter, who is 13, said she’s saving up for a car.  Oh Lord…

And last, before I head to bed, a couple of quotes: 

"An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it."
Jeff Mallett

"Fight for your opinions, but do not believe they contain the whole truth, or the only truth."
Charles A. Dana

"Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion."
Democritus, 460-370 BC