oh, who the hell am I kidding, it's ALWAYS funny.

I am the FIRST person to laugh inappropriately at any given funeral, wedding, speech..... whatever. Just last week I went to a graduation with Priscilla, Renae, and Will and spent most of the many (too many if you ask me) grad speeches chuckling. So sue me, I like to laugh. I do realize that there are those who would say I need to grow up. And that may be true - or maybe those people are just boring....:)

Life is too short to take seriously. This simple statement is the primary reason why I LOVE the current project I am working on at the Indianapolis Senior Center. The play is called SAVE ME A PLACE AT FOREST LAWN and it's great! It's about two little old ladies and their friendship; good times, painful secrets, shared experiences, quirky senior acquaintances, death ("Forest Lawn" is a cemetery, thus the title).

I have been whipping back and forth to IN to direct the show and we are having a blast. The two casts (we double cast the show so that more people could get the experience) are both talented and wonderful and the performances promise to be touching, memorable, and relevant. I mean, how can you not love a play that has the line, "They think all we care about is grandchildren...heck, I moved to California to get away from 'em"

Aging has always been such an interesting subject to me...well, when it is handled with maturity and reality. It's fascinating to me how some of us get older while continuing to grow and learn, and some of us never seem to grasp the true concepts of life no matter how long we live (ya know, mushy stuff like love, empathy, true beauty and so on). Maybe it's a choice we make sometime along the way. Or maybe it's predetermined for us by the way we are wired or by a higher being... Who knows? It's the speculation and the many layers of possibility that interest me.

For myself...I can't imagine what it would be like to want to stop learning. Sometimes when I think of all the places I want to see and the knowledge I want to acquire I grow panicky with a sort of "OH SHIT there's not enough TIME!!!" feeling...

In the short time I have been directing this show, I have truly LEARNED. The actors I've been working with have helped me discover lessons I never even knew I wanted to explore, and I think those are the best kind.

So, stop on by the center and see the play this next week...I promise you'll laugh (even though it will probably be quite appropriate).

SAVE ME A PLACE AT FOREST LAWN - by Lorees Yerby
Tickets are $6 before or $5 at the door
Friday, June 13th at 7pm
Saturday, June 14th at 2:30 (matinee) and 7pm
Sunday, June 15th at 2:30 (matinee)