Why Didn't I Think of That?

I believe it was Dorothy Parker who said “I like having written.” So it is that I sit next to my husband when he reads my posts and, when he laughs, I look over at his laptop screen to see what he’s reading. Sometimes I don’t remember having written what he’s reading but I enjoy it and think the author is very clever. It was Mel Brooks who said “It’s good to be King.”

Some of my friends have read my posts and emailed me with suggestions like “Stop fooling around and write a play” or “Why don’t you just write a book”, as if I’m only blogging out of stubbornness; as if I could write “War and Peace” any time I wanted to, I’m just acting spoiled. Thanks, guys. Tell you what. As soon as I get an idea that lasts more than ten minutes, I’ll get right on it.

My mother is one of my biggest fans and has always egged me on with helpful suggestions like “Why don’t you get on a soap opera” or “You should be in that show.” Why didn’t I think of this myself?! Perhaps I should try calling the casting director of “August, Osage County” and tell him “My mother says I have to be in this show.” It could work. At the very least it could be good for a laugh and will give me something else to blog about.

I actually did write a funny postcard to the casting director of “Guiding Light” after she hired me to play a high school principal in one episode. I thanked her and listed several ways my character could return; all the main characters that my character could have affairs with. Within two month she called me for another spot! I was unavailable. (Actors: never, never, never say no!) It would be almost two years before I heard from her again and then the show would be cancelled.

Okay, so I don’t control the weather or the outcome of NY Yankees games, but I truly believe I am responsible for the cancellation of “Guiding Light”. Look at the facts! The show had been on TV since the first TV was sold. It had been on radio before that. I’d been watching it since I could see. When Papa Bauer died, I thought I’d lost my grandfather! After almost 60 years of uninterrupted programming, I find a casting director who hires me twice and the show closes! You can’t make this stuff up!