Compilation CD

I have a friend who makes theme-based CDs for her closest pals. Let's call this post a mixed bag of what's been on my mind for the past month...

The summer before kids start college rivals the Terrible Twos. My youngest son has been moody, sullen and smug. He wants me to get lost. He's not real chummy with his dad either. Experience in this area tells me that about six weeks from now, he'll be singing a different tune.

We know a lot about Mitt Romney's father, but what to make of his mother? It's usually the mother who educates children about proper etiquette and good manners. Clearly, she failed in this regard. His remarks about London's supposed lack of preparedness for the Olympics, and his slight, to put it mildly, of the Palestinians in Israel, are just the latest examples of his utter lack of tact and diplomacy. Didn't Mom teach him that you don't insult your host or alienate people you someday hope to influence? Memo to Mitt: you're using the wrong fork.

I returned from Wildacres Writing Workshop earlier this month, after a blissful week of immersion in the craft of writing, reunion with old friends and meeting new ones. The annual conference is hands-down, one of the best in the country, as its 45% returnee rate confirms. In addition to seven days of the written word, we make music, have theme parties and put on The Gong Show, a collection of freshly-penned skits. At times like these I'm reminded why I'm happy to be an artist instead of a venture capitalist.

I'm prepping for an upcoming audition, working two new monologues and a song. We actors put in unseen amounts of toil for five minutes of a directors' time, usually resulting in the occupational hazard of rejection. Writers also routinely endure this. Sometimes I wonder why I keep doing it, setting myself up for almost inevitable failure. Answer: because once in awhile, I get the job or the publishing credit. That exhilaration is worth the price of repeated, seemingly futile attempts to get noticed. As Samuel Beckett said, "All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."