Letters to the Editor
Anonymust
Published Letters: 2031 Editor's Choice: 74
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maybe some other kind of theater work
[Read the article: Should I give up on having a life in the theater?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]For the Letter Writer: You already have a great response from Cary, and some useful insights from his audience, as well. Still, I cannot resist putting in my two-cents, as well, since, like so many others, I identify with your plight...
What about writing a play? Or a script for a one-woman show? Or using your experiences to-date to start crafting a monologue? There is some really good material in the tensions you describe between your jobs and your creative desires. Jeffrey Sweet (who wrote a really good book about Second City) has described playrwriting as being more like journalism than the lay person suspects, and really, at heart, something to be done from the perspective of the actor.
Writing/performing monologues seems like something one could do while still working at a job that pays the bills, and perhaps find a way to break into acting on a larger scale, if one still wanted to. Spalding Gray (rest his soul) started off performing his monologues in garages, or their equivalent, yet turned some of his monologues into some amazing film footage, as well as audio CD's and even had some interesting parts in other films.
However, if playwriting doesn't appeal, then perhaps one of the other commenters' suggestions will, and you'll look into whatever opportunities are available to your right now. (Maybe even as a literary manager or dramaturg?)
As for having a conventional job... I know more about writers than actors, but such luminaries as William Faulkner, Wallace Stevens, William Defoe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Willa Cather... all had some fairly ordinary jobs-- postmaster, insurance agent, customs house agent, editor, etc-- either while they were creating art, or before they jumped into the creative waters with both feet. And William Carlos Williams was a physician, as well as a poet and short story writer. And those are just the ones that come to mind easily.
Bottom line: Cary's right about not denying your essential self. Do something. Anything. Just to get started. And along the way you'll know what you "want" to do. And then you'll do that. (I really identified with identifying the "wanting" as the hardest part.)
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Pearls before....
[Read the article: Sexual healing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Anyone, and I mean anyone, who can write in anything like a humorous tone, about the sometimes grisly reality of post-partum life, from hemorrhoids (white-knuckling pain for some, folks) to painful sex, to episiotomies, to raw nipples... well, that person deserves some kind of a medal. And if said person can also describe the process of accepting, again with humor, the loss of what was once such an important part of her life... well, she should get to make a speech when she accepts the medal.
And the readers on Salon (for some of whom my patience grows thin), who think such writing is mere whining... they need some more real-life experience, or at least a few more trips around the block, so they can experience being on the receiving end of some humor & compassion themselves.
And, unfortunately, this article would probably not have been any better-received if posted on Broadsheet, since that's where so many men go to lodge their own complaints about women and their issues.
Substandard medical care? One can only assume that "Sparky" is a man without any firsthand experience of the world of ob/gyn. Frankly, I found it refreshing that there was no mention of a c-section.
Ironic, isn't it, that this article follows the news story earlier this week about (penetrating) sex being so good for relaxation, especially before public speaking?
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Who?
[Read the article: Bush's weak evasion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The man raised $100,000 for Bush's campaign.
He was part of Bush's transition team in 2000/2001.
AND he kept the money flowing like Niagara, throughout the Capitol and especially K-Street.
Sure, yeah, okay, Bush never really knew him, and doesn't even remember meeting him.
Guess that 100-Grand can't buy now what it did just a few months ago.
Some inflation!
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To gonnabechef..
[Read the article: Sexual healing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In my "broad stroke" I was actually responding to another commenter who said that perhaps this story should have been on Broadsheet, and maybe then it would have avoided some of the vitriol. I was only saying that, from my experience reading Broadsheet, that wouldn't have been the case. I agree that others are entitled to their opinions, too. I was only commenting on the fact that so many men choose that site to express their anger towards women.
But your comment sent me back to re-read my own, and I discovered that I had (in the wee hours) edited out another sentence or two about how refreshing it was, in this case, to read so many letters from male readers who "got" it. It being an appreciation for Williams' experience. I think I deleted that part because it was in a paragraph where I thought I went too far in complaining about Salon's readers (something I never did before they implemented this comments feature), and I really wanted my response to focus more on the story.
I'll have to be more judicious about my editing choices in the future. Thanks for calling my attention to it.