This past weekend, after 21 years of mostly good and wonderful memories, English Alternative Theatre presented its final production of an original script by one of my playwriting students at the University of Kansas. But, thanks to the awful temper tantrums of one of the actors, who had earlier asked me if he could also…
One of my favorite novels is Mary Renault’s The King Must Die (1958), a compelling portrait of Theseus, the mythical Greek hero and King of Athens who danced with bulls and slew the dreaded Minotaur. For me, the title says it all. Don’t ask me why, but people in America all seem to have a need to create…
When 9/11 struck, a collective sigh of relief was heard from among the Filipinos I knew in the United States. “Thank God the perpetrators were not brown,” they cried, although I’m not sure what skin pigmentation they would assign to Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda terrorists in the Middle East. If not also brown, then what? Tan?…
Ex-Miss California Carrie Prejean was hawking her autobiography on Fox News last night. During the cheery interview with Hannity, she coyly revealed that there is a solo sex video of her floating around, the result of a youthful indiscretion, something she made for her boyfriend at the time. It isn’t clear whether this was before or…
In Billy Wilder’s wonderfully wacky 1961 political satire One, Two, Three, there is a hilarious scene which shows the young East Berlin communist spy (Horst Buchholz) being “tortured” by American CIA interrogators. Their secret method is to play a hit song from the period, “Itsy, Bitsy, Teenie, Weenie, Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini,” over and over, until…
It has been a while since I’ve updated this section of the website. The plan, originally, was to pay tribute properly to friends and colleagues who have contributed to my own personal growth, not only as a writer but also as a human being. The list seems to grow longer every time I wake up in the…
I woke up this morning and, when I looked in the mirror, I saw my father staring back at me. First, it scared the living daylights out of me. And then it just made me sad.
Students at the University of Kansas frequently tell me that, on first meeting me, they find me intimidating and scary. And so, with Halloween coming up, I guess there is no need for me to look for Sarah Palin, Michael Steele, Michele Bachmann, Joe Lieberman, or Liz and Dick Cheney “two-for-the-price-of-one” face masks. I’ll just…
So who says Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, has no loyalty when it comes to how he’ll vote on health care reform if it includes a public option? He’s loyal to all the insurance companies in Connecticut who have been contributing to his campaign funds for as long as…
The Huffington Post reports that Levi Johnston, the 19-year-old stud muffin who fathered Sarah Palin’s illegitimate grandson, has been hitting the gym in Anchorage three hours a day, six nights a week. He’s getting ready for his huge unveiling in Playgirl magazine. The shoot is scheduled to take place in mid-November, so the pictures will…