1. Now that I've lived more years than I'm probably going to live, I'm drawn more to long-form improv. I think it's the whole "getting out of my head" thing--horrible cliche, but I'm too intellectually lazy to describe it better.
2. Sometimes I don't realize I've accomplished something kind of cool until someone points it out to me. For example, I've turned my dissertation into a book, and it's due out tomorrow (I use my advance copies as coasters). And somebody told me, "That's really amazing!" And I thought, "Well, yeah, maybe it is..."
3. I believe you get signs and signals throughout your life, but unless you're really spiritually evolved or something like that, you don't connect the dots till later. For instance, when I was a kid, I remember this cartoon book where a kid is answering the phone and saying, "Dad can't come in to work; he's feigning illness today." So "feign" became one of my secret favorite words. When I first met my now wife, she used the word "feign" in a sentence, so I just kinda knew. Of course, it could have been a coincidence.
4. Sleep apnea sucks. I think a good night's sleep would be kinda neat.
5. People mock me for feeling more loyalty to the University of Pittsburgh (grad school) than to Georgetown (undergrad). It's just that at Pitt, I had the undergrad career I always wanted.
6. Most of my play ideas lately involve death and disease. Kinda gross.
7. I like Obama, but I'm keeping my middle name.
8. I'd like to do more research on George M. Cohan, plays that have to do with trials and justice, and plays that involve the I.W.W. (Industrial Workers of the World) in some way.
9. I like marriage. I got married kinda late (just before I turned 38), and I'll bet my parents thought I was gay.
10. I miss Dad (we lost him right around Labor Day, 2007).
2. Sometimes I don't realize I've accomplished something kind of cool until someone points it out to me. For example, I've turned my dissertation into a book, and it's due out tomorrow (I use my advance copies as coasters). And somebody told me, "That's really amazing!" And I thought, "Well, yeah, maybe it is..."
3. I believe you get signs and signals throughout your life, but unless you're really spiritually evolved or something like that, you don't connect the dots till later. For instance, when I was a kid, I remember this cartoon book where a kid is answering the phone and saying, "Dad can't come in to work; he's feigning illness today." So "feign" became one of my secret favorite words. When I first met my now wife, she used the word "feign" in a sentence, so I just kinda knew. Of course, it could have been a coincidence.
4. Sleep apnea sucks. I think a good night's sleep would be kinda neat.
5. People mock me for feeling more loyalty to the University of Pittsburgh (grad school) than to Georgetown (undergrad). It's just that at Pitt, I had the undergrad career I always wanted.
6. Most of my play ideas lately involve death and disease. Kinda gross.
7. I like Obama, but I'm keeping my middle name.
8. I'd like to do more research on George M. Cohan, plays that have to do with trials and justice, and plays that involve the I.W.W. (Industrial Workers of the World) in some way.
9. I like marriage. I got married kinda late (just before I turned 38), and I'll bet my parents thought I was gay.
10. I miss Dad (we lost him right around Labor Day, 2007).
11. I was an extra in "I'm Not Rappaport." I was not Rappaport. I think you might be able to see the top of my head, but I wouldn't swear to it.
12. Some years back, one of my plays was produced, and I got a call from someone introducing himself as the character in my play--"Hi, Mike, this is Simeon Pickett." I can't speak for all writers, but I think fictional characters calling me is kinda freaky.
13. Yes, I wrote a play with a character named "Simeon Pickett."
14. I also wrote a play a long time ago with a character named "August Rush." Years later, there was a movie called "August Rush." I guess dumb character names just kind of make the rounds, like other bad ideas.
15. Currently, I have a play that's a semi-finalist in the Hidden River Arts Playwriting Competition--it's called "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)." It's about neither Istanbul nor Constantinople.
16. Speaking of "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," years ago I was watching one of those Doo-Wop specials that run on PBS stations during pledge drives, and I saw four older gentlemen (who turned out to be The Four Lads) singing "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)." And I thought, what are these old guys doing covering a They Might Be Giants song?
17. Sometimes, it just takes me a while to get it. This comes from being very literal. A friend of mine once said, "It's difficult to be subtle with you." And she was right.
18. If a familiar candy introduces a new flavor or new style, I have to try it. Like the M&Ms with strawberry, or the Snickers with almonds. Once I saw Snickers with "special yellow nougat." I had to have it immediately. Turns out yellow nougat is just yellow, but my curiosity was satisfied.
12. Some years back, one of my plays was produced, and I got a call from someone introducing himself as the character in my play--"Hi, Mike, this is Simeon Pickett." I can't speak for all writers, but I think fictional characters calling me is kinda freaky.
13. Yes, I wrote a play with a character named "Simeon Pickett."
14. I also wrote a play a long time ago with a character named "August Rush." Years later, there was a movie called "August Rush." I guess dumb character names just kind of make the rounds, like other bad ideas.
15. Currently, I have a play that's a semi-finalist in the Hidden River Arts Playwriting Competition--it's called "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)." It's about neither Istanbul nor Constantinople.
16. Speaking of "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," years ago I was watching one of those Doo-Wop specials that run on PBS stations during pledge drives, and I saw four older gentlemen (who turned out to be The Four Lads) singing "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)." And I thought, what are these old guys doing covering a They Might Be Giants song?
17. Sometimes, it just takes me a while to get it. This comes from being very literal. A friend of mine once said, "It's difficult to be subtle with you." And she was right.
18. If a familiar candy introduces a new flavor or new style, I have to try it. Like the M&Ms with strawberry, or the Snickers with almonds. Once I saw Snickers with "special yellow nougat." I had to have it immediately. Turns out yellow nougat is just yellow, but my curiosity was satisfied.
19. Biggest laugh I ever heard was when watching a rough cut of Beauty and the Beast at Lincoln Center. It was when Belle's father grabs Cogsworth's pendulum and starts messing with it, and Cogsworth huffily says something like, "Release that, if you don't mind." It still makes me laugh.
20. See, the pendulum was phallic in nature, so it was like Belle's father was grabbing... never mind.
21. The second biggest laugh I ever heard was while watching "Angels in America" in New York. One character, referring to Roy Cohn, asks, "Who's the biggest closeted queen in New York?" And his friend responds, "Koch?" But that's a New York joke.
22. Show I most wish I could have been in: "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." Maybe I'll direct it someday.
23. I haven't watched "Inside the Actors Studio" in a long time, but I used to like it when they asked guests their favorite swear word. My favorite was Holly Hunter, because her favorite swear word was "c***sucker," except with that lisp of hers, it came out "c***shucker."
24. Kid actors don't impress me much. Maybe I'm not being fair, but I'm inclined to think that if a child under 12 or 13 or so gives a great performance, it's the director's doing.
25. Only part I've ever played that I'd like to play again: Matt in "Talley's Folly." Especially since that was college, and now I'm more like Matt's age.
There you have it. I'll try for more substance next time, but no promises.
No comments:
Post a Comment