Since we’re getting into the full “giving and thanking” spirit that’s Thanksgiving, I’m continuing to reflect on my own writing history. If you’re reading this, you may have guessed that I don’t exactly keep a blog for crowds. I’m not looking to be trending in any direction. I’m not even particularly looking to build an audience. Surprise.

I keep this going so I can look back and see the accomplishments, disappointments and all the in-between passages that writers navigate through. Certainly, I can recall and recollect what my writing life has accumulated over time, but seeing it in B&W reinforces in a concrete way what may ultimately, dim with time. That’s what kinda happens with Theater anyway. There’s no visual history to speak of. Whereas cats and kids on youtube are killing it…..

I was invited out to the Oakland Ensemble Theatre for rehearsals and loved what I saw. While I was there, someone on the OET administrative staff questioned me about having an all-male cast (3 characters), and would this possibly “inhibit” a female audience from attending. I responded that they should be ready for a female audience, since that made up so much of other “He-Man Ball” audiences. And that was indeed the case. Audiences were very mixed on the male/female scale. I think the person asking the question was somehow trying to “showcase” whatever misogynistic brush she wanted to paint me with.

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I went out to Chicago for this production, directed by my good buddy and first-rate Director, Chuck Smith. Sadly, the reviews were not so hot. One called the play a “hip hop flop”. I thought that was catchy. Well, I still believe in “Vivisections,” and take heart from different perspectives about the play. I still think it’s mind-blowing stuff.

So all in all, I’m very thankful for all the “look backs” I can do.