"If you wish to be a writer, write." (Epictetus)

.....When I went to the editorial page today, lo and behold! There was my blog of Nov. 2 printed in the Sun-Sentinel with a BY LINE! Imagine that; a by line above my blog in a metropolitan newspaper. I have had several "articles" printed in that paper, both as letters to the editor or on the Forum page, but never with a by line. This article was printed right below the editorial. I have no clue as to why they gave me a by line, but I did e-mail them and I asked. Unfortunately, I can only send another article in after 60 days. I think the Nov. 3 post was the better one.

.....Today, I went to the theatre workshop and received a script with a skit I have been asked to direct. Three people are in it. It's about this man who has retired from his factory job and has the wanderlust. He wants to buy a mobile home, but his wife wants to stay where she is because that's where the children and grandchildren live. Finally, they go to a travel agent and mobile home dealer and spend their time trying to get a better deal than $30,ooo dollars. Then after the guy's wife reminds him of all the things he'll be missing, he changes his mind and they go home. The script is a bit of fluff, but I'll try to make something of it. The tough part will be getting the actors to "become" the person of their role, and to forget about being who they are; they must try to get into the skin of their character--if you get my meaning. They are part of a "Showcase" performance to be held in the ballroom on Dec.4.

.....We are going on a cruise to the Caribbean shortly after this performance for about 10 days. I'm getting somewhat tired of the Caribbean, but I enjoy cruising. Perhaps we'll go to Europe or Alaska or Canada on our next cruise. If not, maybe we'll not cruise and go to Israel. Rhoda is hot for Israel; I believe she would love to go, but she is concerned about whether or not I can survive such a trip. I believe that I can even if I can't take the scooter. If I can get around here with a cane, I can get around there. I hope you enjoyed the change of pace with the two poems yesterday. I got at least one positive comment about it from a former student of mine--Ellen Bliss Jaeger, a sweet intelligent youngster. OK, so she is no longer a youngster, but to me she still is. And I'm sure she'll be thrilled that I have immortalised her by including her name in this blog.