Grinder's Grumblings

One of the most-read and most-loved posts I ever wrote back in the old days of these Grumblings was this one entitled Where have all the Cowboys gone? , a reference to the song of the same name by Paula Cole and its ironic depiction of male responsibility. At the time I was quite frustrated with the large number of men that were flaking out on their commitments to my shows, in many cases after rehearsals had already begun. While that summer wasn't the end of Grinder by any means it was perhaps the summer where the "casting curse" as I call it had its coming-of-age party. I no longer find it surprising, or even particularly upsetting, when someone, male or female, drops out of a show. It's not the crisis that it used to be - I don't lose sleep over it anymore. Another director might see losing a cast member as a unique and unthinkable catastrophe, but I've almost come to expect it. It's not that I'm confident of finding other actors to replace the one...

It's been a few months since I've written anything here, and much longer then that since I've written anything of real substance. In fact it's been a long time since I've managed to produce much of anything as a essayist, playwright or blogger of any sort - I've been in the proverbial creative rut. The time has come to write again. Time to make a new beginning, a fresh start. So much has changed in my life since I began blogging - I've got a home to call my own, set in picturesque surroundings, and I'm married to the most wonderful woman the world has ever known. Recently I've also become student-debt free (yay!), and suffered a mild heart attack (damn). Time for a fresh start. I don't know when I'll post, or what I'll post - lots of ideas are running through my head. I'll still be sure to blog about what's going on at Grinder, but I hope that from now on my posts will be more philosophical than commercial (though there will s...