Me again

It’s probably becoming quite clear that getting me to sit down in front of my computer and put together a couple of ideas to share with you faithful bloggers is not an easy row to hoe. It’s not that I don’t have things to say or tid-bits to share, it’s just that other activities call to me louder than writing. I’m determined to do what I can to change that. But change, as we all well know, is an undertaking that usually moves at a glacial pace.

Said goodbye to the folks today. Sent my dad packing with a Riverside tee shirt to wear next time he is in Ashland for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He had the brazen audacity to wear an OSF tee shirt down here! Let’s forget for a moment that Oregon has an operating budget that dwarfs our little operation. Let’s also set aside the long contracts (10 months, some of them) and the cushy salaries offered there. Let’s instead focus on the absurdity of a seeming rivalry between RSF and OSF. It’s a bit like Grinnell College, which is west of here by an hour, putting eleven of its best on a bus with a big banner saying, “Watch Out Notre Dame, We’re Iowa Tough!”

I took a huge hit this week by losing one of my best party facts. Up until last Friday night, July 1st, 2005, I was able to claim that my father hadn’t seen me on stage since 1980. This would invariably bring gasps of horror to the lips of those listening, and sympathetic stares, until I reassured them that we weren’t estranged nor was there some dark reason behind it all, but it was simply a function of having moved away from Seattle in ’84 and having done all my acting a substantial distance away from there. But it was a hell of a good ruse and I’ll miss it.

My mother has made it clear in no uncertain terms that she is not a fan of the headshot that I have recently switched to. It is to be found in the program of the festival here and is the one I am sending out with my resume’ these days. So I am suggesting you visit…

http://www.denisewinters.com/01%20Headshots/Headshots-01.html

…which will help put into context my headshot. You will also find a picture of someone else you are very familiar with. Please note that we are haphazardly interspersed with some MAJOR stars! The question becomes what is it about this headshot that leaves my mother cold. Perhaps it’s because I look mean. But I am mean! Perhaps it’s because it doesn’t resemble the toe-headed boy of four who, upon arrival of my brother David, went out into the street in front of the house we lived in and laid down on the hot macadam. And when my mother screamed, “Dennis, what are you doing!” a plaintive voice called back, “it’s alright mother, you have David, you don’t need me anymore.” That could very well be the closest I’ll get to an academy award winning performance.

Tomorrow is a table day, and the mother-in-law comes the next day. Penny is such a delight but it’s so fun to say mother-in-law that I can’t help myself. For now I sign off and hope all are well.