The Return of the Jedi

How did this happen? I went out for a coffee, promised to be right back, and was gone for a month. Let's just say that strept throat, the delayed and then frantic move up to Philly and the subsequent death of my laptop all combined to knock me out of the ring for a bit. Actually, I was knocked right out of the 21st century when not only my modem but also my cell phone died within a week of arriving in the City of Brotherly Love. Perfect timing. So I can no longer be made fun of for my out of date technological apparati. I made the long overdue switch from Sprint to Verizon, have a cute little flip phone that actually works at my place of residence now (imagine that) and have taken the Apple plunge with a cute new iBook. (Thank you EVITA.) And did you know that Apple gives discounts to hard-working college students like myself? Very cool.

So tonight is opening night of Elegies in Philadelphia. My recent absence means you will have missed out on all of the myriad twists and turns of the rehearsal process, which I'm sort of glad of since it's been largely smooth sailing (which makes for dull copy) and because this way I don't feel obligated to detail the infrequent squalls that have come up, naming names at my peril. It's a great show. I love doing it. So wish us a big break a leg and come check it out if you find yourself in Philly.

Quick thoughts on Terry Schiavo:

Tom Delay is a disgusting man who, fearing the consequences of his own corruption, has wrapped himself in both a family's personal tragedy and a pseudo-divine calling. He's also wrong. Polls show a large majority of the public understands this issue better than their congressional reps claim to, displaying a pragmatism that tempers easy sentimentality in situations such as this one. They also see through the Republican platitudes to recognize this cooked up drama as the political exploitation that it is. Unfortunately, the Democrats were too frightened or too dense to recognize this, and instead of standing on principles (like federalism?) they scattered and folded. Classic lesson of resistance to imperial aggressors - fragmentation means death. Sticking together and using your brains (even if it's to engage in strategic collaboration) is the only way to prevail. Dems seem to have learned the lesson on Social Security, making a stand for a popular program and leaving the President and his congressional allies on the defensive. Time to make it the rule and not the exception. I was also saddened to see the media yet again seize on a Republican-framed farce like one of Pat's Philly Cheesesteaks. I think the headline in the Philadelphia Inquirer was "President Signs Bill to Aid Schaivo." "Aid Schiavo"? From what exactly? Her Scott Peterson-like husband? The depredations of the Florida legal system and its blood-thirsty judges who merely want to see people die! die! die? I would think that "aiding" Schiavo would have involved refusing to turn her and her family's personal tragedy into a Capitol Hill melodrama for cheap and tawdry political ends. Perhaps not making the defining feature of a woman's life the extent to which she did or did not help increase Republican congressional majorities in the 2006 midterms. Maybe even letting her die with dignity. But this? "Aid Schiavo" my ass. Maybe "President Signs Bill to Cynically Aid Tom Delay, His Wingnut Base, and the Dismantling of the Separation of Powers." That's more on the money. I almost wrote letters. I mean, whose editing the front page, James Dobson?

Alright. Enough for now. Books to read and papers to write and auditions to prepare for and a show to open. I'll get back to gay marriage in Canada ASAP. But I thought I'd make my first foray back into the blogosphere a bit more compact than previous ramble-a-thons.