GHOSTS

As the days get closer and closer to Saturday's reading of A SONG OF THE PROFANE, I'm once again feeling the tug of ghosts on my shirt tails. It's a tug not so strong to indicate they want me to pull back, but just enough to let me know they are with me in this endeavor. I find an odd comfort in that.

And speaking of GHOSTS, the Ibsen play that is such a wonderful study of solitude and the needing to either escape or be resolute in where you are (in my opinion), I recommend that you rent / check out from your local library the mid-1980s television production starring Judi Dench, Natasha Richardson and Kenneth Brannagh. A very moving, and often times terrifying portrayal of Ibsen's world.

As for my ghosts, perhaps they will be able to rest soon. I've walked with them for 12 years now, so it may turn out to be a bittersweet departure. I wish them nothing but the best.

On a slightly soggy, slightly snowy (I saw a few flakes earlier) Monday afternoon -

BOO!

Aging

I had a chat with my friend Wayne yesterday about aging and what we thought about it. He said he wanted to live until 100, that longevity was a trait in his family. Coming from a family that has exhibited the same trait, I pondered as to what my 'cut-off' date would be. An odd thing to think about really, but you can't run from the inevitable. I posited to W that I too wouldn't mind living to a ripe (not too ripe...) old age, but I'm not sure whether I'd enjoy it. Don't misunderstand me, I'm all for living well into the future. I'm just a bit unsure as to what I'd be doing at age 75 / 80.

W said that as he as been getting older (he's 51 or so..) he tends to look more toward the past instead of the future. I admit, I do some of that too, though I don't have as many life experiences to look back on as he does.

Why do we do that? Aside from the reminiscing on the good ole days, having that brief moment of 'Oh, geeeze.....why did I...??' followed by an internal laugh, why look back? Learn from our mistakes? That's laughable. If we did it to learn from our past disgressions, I would think that would happen in the immediate future instead of 20, 30 yrs down the road. Baaaaaa! Who knows.

As I continue formulating scenarios for new plays......well, re-forumlating old scenarios, they've all been used already......I imagine characters with particular traits and work through in my mind how they can conflict with someone. Perhaps an experiement with putting several people in a room so they can argue out the pros and cons of getting older. Maybe throw a reference to "Benjamin Button" in there.......whatever....just to see what they have to say. Hmmm....

It's been 26 days since turning 33 (is that a ripe age? well, only if I haven't showered..) and all I can say is 'ho-hum'. I don't feel older. Most days I don't look older. And being a brain tumor survivor, I don't 'see' older. If anything, I still see with 'young' eyes. Is this an existential quandry I'm posing?

So what do you think? What are your feelings about getting older? Post your thoughts and maybe I'll put them into the head of a character.

Happy ....what is today?