Opening night... it's opening night!

Just a quick post this week. It's been hectic, with my latest readers theater production having auditions last Saturday, followed by three rehearsals for each of the two separate casts of 15... both working to present "Much Ado," a high school romcom Friday and Saturday nights.

Kathleen and I also celebrated our 52nd anniversary, which is quite something, and a new bed was installed today. I say "installed" because it's a new age bed with a foundation that can raise your head or your feet or both, plus it can vibrate, plus you can turn on mood lights underneath. I have no idea why those are a thing. We also are trying a new mattress that cost a small fortune but may take care of some aches and pains... or perhaps nothing can do that at this point in our life journey.

One quick observation about both writing AND directing a readers theater show: I feel some ownership over the words and constructions I have used and that gets in the way a bit when it comes to directing. I end up obsessing over the fact that the actors stumble over words, emphasize the wrong word in a sentence, skip over articles or phrases, or simply swallow some part of a speech. 

I am starting to realize why so few writers also direct their work. If I write another readers theater piece (and I would like to after taking a break from obsessing over this one), I will suggest that someone else take on directing. I can quietly consult, provide rewrites to correct clunky dialog, etc. 

But it's opening night for the Friday cast (and closing night for them, as well). We've come a long way and I am looking forward to being surprised by how they take on the plot and the language and the sentiments.

It's based loosely on Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing," mostly focusing on the feuding couple of Benedick and Beatrice. In my version, Ben is a history teacher and Beatrice is an English teacher. In classic romcom style, they begin with the bickering but end with a hug/kiss (depending on the comfort level of the actors).

Along the way there are versions of Key and Peele, SNL, and Funny of Die sketches that take us into classrooms and even a faculty meeting. 

Now I just hope some folks show up for this free show (and on Saturday). Kathleen is very generously taking on different roles in the two shows and has been suffering with me every moment of our four-hour rehearsals the last three nights.

I guess that is what happens when we've stuck together for 52 years.

I was tossing and turning, turning and tossing...

Lately I have been wondering about sleep and about fitful sleep and about my brain racing at 2:14 a.m., likely caused by something I am worrying about.

I have sort of come to grips with the reality of feeling euphoric, as I did this morning, when I realize I have slept for over five hours without getting up to pee. But there were a couple nights this past week where I was up four times in one night.

Go figure.

I don't have a control group to test, but we were traveling and we slept in two different hotel rooms, and both offered queen beds... reminding me that I have become spoiled by our king bed. One benefit of that extra space is that I can twist and turn without banging into poor Kathleen during one of those fitful episodes.

I can definitely trace some causes of my uneasy sleep. For instance, we drove to Palisade on Sunday, did a bit of wine-tasting on Monday. We were a bit disappointed by the quality of the wines and even more so by the exorbitant prices of the tastings. We were delighted by the olive oil and perfectly baked french bread at one winery. The little things.

But there was a nagging noise coming from somewhere in the front of the Camry and it seemed to be getting worse. It only happened when I was turning left and usually at a rather slow speed. I started imagining all sorts of causes, with the most dangerous being brakes failing or an axel about to drop off. 

My innate laziness repressed my worries for a time, but I eventually surrendered to common sense and looked up Toyota repair shops in the Grand Junction area. I called the nearest at about 4 p.m. Monday and he said he was too busy to see me, but recommended Big O tire in downtown Grand Junction, about 20 minutes away. I called them and they booked me for 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

Our plan was to drive two and half hours to Telluride for our final stop on this Western Slope mini-vacation, and I worried out loud that we might be needing to change our plans, perhaps spending days in Grand Junction. I imagined giant repair bills and even mentioned that maybe the 2010 vehicle that still is under 53K in mileage might need to be replaced.

All those weird worries did not lead to a great night, but I felt like I had at least made a positive decision and we arrived at Big O without incident Tuesday morning. The mechanic put the car up on a rack and eventually came back to the waiting room holding a mangled piece of rubber (or something like that). He said it was some sort of splash guard or the like... actually, he wasn't sure what the heck it was.

But it had broken and could move enough that it would rub the right front tire during turns, producing the noise. He simply broke it off (unscrewed a bolt?). I asked what I owed Big O for this discovery, which took some time to produce. The owner refused payment. 

Small town America, right?

The noise was gone as was a lump of worry from my gut and head. My worrying was pointless unless we consider that without it I might still be hearing that noise and wondering if the next mile of driving would be my last. Telluride was beautiful, by the way.

There are auditions this morning for my latest readers theater show, a romcom that takes place in a mythical high school that features parts of the plot of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing," but with two teachers taking the Benedick and Beatrice parts. I need precisely 15 players and am planning for two shows, with two casts... so 30 total (really 28 is ideal since I have two people who will be in both shows). 

I have been worrying off and on for weeks about multiple possibilities, mostly what to do if 60 folks showed up. How would I deal with telling 30 people "no"? 

We use a Signup Genius app to schedule auditions and there are now 27 people registered to do some quick readings from the script at 10:30. In other words, we should be in great shape and everyone will get something fun to read.

Or... ten people who neglected to sign up for auditions will just show up at St. Luke's in about 90 minutes, creating a mini-crisis for me to deal with. 

That's the thing about worries... they often lead to more worries. But my hope is that eventually I become mature enough to let go of things I can't control and "know" that I will work out some solution. 

I was thinking that I might call that mechanic at Big O for some advice about the casting.

OK. I just have to state this one more time, without equivocation

I am likely among the vast majority of Americans who would like to have just a day or so without the latest Trump or McCarthy or Boebert or Greene or Jordan or, or, or, "breaking news." In fact, I would guess that many of my fellow citizens have found ways to look right past most news alerts and return to worrying about the Broncos or whether Coach Prime will run up the score on Jay Norvell Saturday as CU hosts CSU. 

Norvell did a little teasing about Deion Sanders and his choice to wear a hat and shades even indoors and at night. Even local sports writers have chimed in, saying Norvell should have stayed silent and been a "good fella" and just let Sanders hog the spotlight. Wow. Everyone needs to get a grip. If the Buffalos need that sort of motivation to get up for an in-state rivalry, maybe they are a bit overrated (and overpaid through their giant NIL contracts). 

I thought games should be fun, at least once in a while.

But the future of American democracy is not a game, though the media tends to treat it as one. For a reporter to cover a game, you need to have two teams playing according to accepted rules, with the final score signifying a result. 

The Republican team may not even be a political party as we know it, dissolving into shouting and pontificating about the wrong guy buying a gun or making money through shady means. Have they taken a good luck at their own lives? 

The Angry White People Party is also not so keen on the rules, as defined in the Constitution and court cases, unless they get to win. And they don't like winning to be defined by who gets the most votes. 

Isn't it time for all professional media that has even a tentative connection to reality to repeat every day that Trump is a slimy politician who no business would hire, much less a nation elect as president (I know, we did that once... do it once, shame on you... do it twice, shame on me...). The media, and I speak of the New York Times and Washington Post and CBS News, etc., prefer to pretend that our politics are just normal, though a bit dramatic, and that the nation is not threatened by what Senator Romney says is a party that doesn't support the Constitution.

Constitution Day is Sunday, Sept. 17, BTW, and American school children are supposed to learn about some aspect of the founding document close to this mandated celebration. I assume many will not get such a lesson and that no school district is making it a priority. Maybe that's because our schools are doing such a great job with civics education EVERY day, so this is unneeded.

Hah.

I have long tried to separate Republican politicians from Republican voters, reasoning that skilled and well-funded politicians can often craft ways to fool and otherwise abuse the masses. Democrats are pretty good at that game, as well, but they just can't match the brazenness of the Angry Whites. 

But I am coming around to the belief that the voters have to share some guilt, whether they are fools or bigots or just obstinate. Any thinking person who is fine voting for a thug is not defensible. Sure, they love their dogs and their kids. Yes, they like reality shows and the Rockies. No, they are NOT "just like us."

There is a war between reality and mythology, between decency and lack of any decency. It's too bad that this war is here, but we are silly to keep trying to ignore it. And that goes for the papers and TV and local media.

Pretending things are normal gets us nowhere. 

When things are pretty good... but we won't accept the win

How strange is the U.S., when people simply choose to ignore their own economic reality and prefer to believe the nation's finances are going to hell... particularly other people's finances?

Many recent polls and surveys indicate that a majority of Americans are very pessimistic about the nation's economy, not to mention President Biden's part in it all, despite the wealth of data that shows things are being pretty good for most people. Some of this is likely knee jerk Angry White People refusing to give a Democrat credit for, well, anything. But the numbers are large enough that this persistent negative take on our money situation is quite wide spread.

It appears that many people cannot "believe their own eyes" regarding money and buying power and income and expenses. This is a drag on the Biden reelection campaign, but maybe that can be turned around with enough PR and solid journalism.

I saw a related survey that reflects the same stubborn pessimism, but on a different topic. All adults seem to accept as fact that young people are not engaged in the news and current events, but a Northwestern University study found that Gen Z is actively engaged with the news, though often through social media. In fact, recent voting numbers suggest that our old "accepted truths" about low voting by youth may be outdated. 

So, the self-fulfilling prophesy of "only older adults are paying attention," thus leading to ignoring the concerns of young voters, may lead to very unexpected results. 

Considering how difficult it is to contact and engage with young people on any sort of survey, I suspect that most of the polling that newspapers and news sites are obsessed with (who's winning? who's moving up or down in the polls?) may be seriously flawed. 

After all: garbage in, garbage out.

When large chunks of the population simply "know it's true," without any current data, we lose the ability to predict everything from election results to media engagement to taste in music or films.

I am presenting a session next week at J-Day, the annual high school state journalism conference, and one of my points will be to find "joy in reporting." I will be exploring the many opportunities to use sports reporting as a vehicle for storytelling, but my claim would be true about any topic we might explore.

Everything I read about young people concerns their mental health problems and depression and apathy toward, well, everything. At this point, adults simply accept that schools don't work, teachers are ineffective, the future is dim, and learning is just not happening. 

I'm sure there are some students who are suffering, who are depressed and defeated. But youth are quite resilient, and there have always been kids who are behind or negative. What if more adults simply began from a position of "young people are confronting challenges and are interested in having a successful and enjoyable life." 

No, they don't know what the future holds. Heck, I had no idea when I was their age, and the U.S. was in an active war in Vietnam with a draft. There's always something.

BTW, I heard an interview on the radio today about this being the 70th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice (a good reminder that the war is officially still on... just paused). I was three and blissfully unaware. It's sobering to think that a war that occurred so long ago is within my life span. 

But today I am more concerned with the writer and actor strikes and how this will affect my fall TV viewing. 

Americans are unaware of all sorts of things, it seems... and "bliss" is not a good word to describe this state. We are a nation that distrusts education and elites. It's in our DNA, sadly.

It just seems to be getting worse.

We are all capable of 'cultish' behaviors

This week I have been thinking about a commentary that suggests that lots of organizations "live" on a scale of "cultishness," ranging from full on drink-the-Cool-Aid to the sort of temporary cult behavior we see at a high school pep assembly.

The essay by Peter Sagal (who I know mostly as the host of NPR's "Wait, wait... don't tell me") argues that there is no reason to attempt to argue with a cult member and he treated the MAGA Trump fanatics as de facto cult members. That point helps explain why no matter what Trump, the cult leader, does, his popularity seems to endure. If you are not in the cult, your opinion may be hardened in the other direction, of course, but American politics are fouled up enough that the country remains in danger of becoming damaged by a minority cult.

Last night we watched the Arapahoe-Heritage volleyball match at Heritage and the loud and enthusiastic chanting and cheering and jeering from the two student sections was both funny and illuminating. After all, it's always fun to observe groups you are not part of being silly and a bit crazed. That's why high school students find it endlessly amusing when a teacher loses his or her cool due to behaviors or job pressures. It may also explain why any fight in the halls immediately draws a crowd of onlookers. 

The truth of the matter is that the two schools are in the same district and only a few miles apart. The truth is that the two student bodies could be swapped overnight and an outside observer could not discern any differences. The truth is that many of those students are friends outside the gym or football stadium (and tonight is the AHS-HHS football game, where the crowds will be even larger and more deranged). 

I often mentioned to students how odd it was that an accident of geographic location can produce such a strong us vs. them reaction among otherwise reasonable human beings. In a crowd of our peers, it is almost irresistible to join in with the prevailing hate or anger or love or joy. It's positively invigorating. It's fun. It makes us feel, even if just for a few minutes, that we are connected in mysterious and profound ways.

This Sunday we will attend the very opposite of a high school pep rally -- St. Luke's United Methodist Church -- and engage in behavior that can only be described as lying somewhere along the cultish behavior continuum. We will sing what appears on the screen. We will join in group prayers. We will sit politely during the sermon, though our minds may or may not wander. There are lots of things we won't talk about and lots of diction that we will avoid.

No one needs to be told not to smoke in church.

It helps me to think of the millions of Trump fanatics as a cult that is simply closer to the "batshit crazy" end of the cult continuum. It helps me even more to consider that the age group that is most likely to support Trump is over age 65. The cult's support is lowest among the youngest voters. 

Sagal argues that those age differences mean the cult of Trump will eventually end... literally dying off. It may take years, but the change must come. 

Of course, my fervent hope is that Trump has a stroke or simply keels over from a heart attack (see why I need to spend time in a church?). Cults break up much faster once the leader is gone. By definition, cults depend upon the entertaining/inspiring leader, and once that leader is removed from the scene, cult members begin to shed their former passionate beliefs and slowly return to normalcy, as if waking from a fever dream.

Or they simply die. Either way, the cult fades away.

Sagal shares that many cult experts who have studied "deprogramming" are skeptical that much can be done about the millions of rabid, red-hatted Americans who claim they are fine voting for a debased and indicted (and even convicted) leader. 

But our neighbors who now live in the cult -- a cult that did not really exist prior to about eight years ago -- may even now be silently finding ways to embrace their love of football or nature or pinochle. No one eagerly fesses up to being a former cult member, to being fooled and taken advantage of by a charlatan.

But the vast majority of people prefer some sort of normal life.

I just hope I can live long enough to see the inevitable change happen.