Thurs. Feb. 12, 2026: Theatrical News
image courtesy of Christian Dorn from PixabayThursday, February 12, 2026
Waning Moon
Jupiter Retrograde
Snowing and cold
You can read the latest over on Gratitude & Growth.
A job listing landed on my desk yesterday, wanting 1-3 articles per week at $60/each. Stop underpaying your writers, people, and stop acting like your exploitation is an offer I’m going to jump to take. Especially when there is research involved. Research takes time and needs to be paid.
I’ve been somewhat following the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping case, and I feel terrible for the family.
The whole FAA trying to shut down airspace around El Paso, TX for 10 days was just – I mean, what new stupid and illegal thing was the administration trying to do? Airspace hasn’t been shut down since 9/11. And then it’s claimed it’s because the DOD can’t tell the difference between party balloons and drones? Not even this administration is that incompetent. They were about to do something illegal and were caught out.
Congress needs to get its thumb out of its collective ass and do its job. Schumer and Jeffries are busy still selling us out and need to be replaced.
I managed to layer the chapter of BETTING MAN on which I’d been working, and then finish it. So that felt good.
Did a bunch of admin, did a bunch of housework. Figured out the sewing plan for the next few months. One of the things I want to do over the weekend is to make a pattern from a top I really like that I sewed years ago, but the pattern has gone astray, and I don’t have another like it. The top itself is now too small (I made it in high school), but I took measurements, and I think I can do it. It’s a very easy piece, if I get the measurements right.
Measure twice, cut once.
I found an old pattern that’s a stylish, classic dress that is only a single pattern piece – with pockets. You KNOW I’ll be making that up in various fabrics.
Did some research reading in the afternoon. Repurposed some leftovers to make something new for dinner. Read in the evening.
I got some good news near the end of the day yesterday. The Athena Project is going to feature my play THE WOMEN ON THE BRIDGE as one of the two plays in March 16’s Read ‘n Rant. They featured JUST A DROP last May, and it was a great experience. I have the same dramaturg this year, and we work well together, so I’m looking forward to it. I knew it was one of the four finalists and I would get to work with a dramaturg, but it’s been chosen as one of the two featured plays for discussion, and I’m delighted.
THE WOMEN ON THE BRIDGE is the play that was inspired by the Edvard Munch painting of the same name in the Clark Art Institute’s exhibit. I started writing it in the Nightwood Creatryx Unit, then worked on it in the Boiler House Residency and finished the first draft during the Dramatist Guild’s END OF PLAY program. It’s gone through several rounds of revisions since, and is ready for more outside eyes.
I also heard from a colleague who runs a theatre in upstate NY that they are still considering the two full-lengths they requested last year, but would like me to submit to their one-act festival. So I will get that out this morning.
That perked me up, after having a couple of days that were rather depressing.
I slept reasonably well, and woke up a little after 4 AM, which is better than waking up at 3 AM, but I’d rather wake up around 5, the usual time.
On today’s agenda: the online meditation group, signing off on the materials for WOMEN, submitting the requested one-act, #FreelanceFriends chat, writing, library meetings. So it’s a busy day, but the good kind of busy.
Have a good one!
#fashion #freelance #handmade #patternReview #plays #research #sewing #theatre
"..'The Price' feels so stripped, so unsparing. It is Miller writing after the American myths have been fully tested, and found wanting. There are no illusions left to protect—only lives, already paid for, and the question of whether one will continue paying without return."
The Price, 1968
The Penguin Arthur Miller Centennial, 1915-2015
“VICTOR: Walter, I haven’t got the education, what are you talking about? You can’t walk in with one splash and wash out twenty-eight years. There’s a price people pay. I’ve paid it, it’s all gone, I haven’t got it any more. Just like you paid, didn’t you? You’ve got no wife, you’ve lost your family, you’re rattling around all over the place? Can you go home and start all over again from scratch? This is where we are; now, right here, now.”
Thurs. Feb. 5, 2026: A Well-Paced Work Day
image courtesy of Chianna Nelson from PixabayThursday, February 5, 2026
Waning Moon
Jupiter Retrograde
Cloudy and cold
You can read the latest on the garden over at Gratitude and Growth.
I timed it well, running my early errand yesterday. By 9 AM, it was steadily snowing.
I did the blog and the blog rounds, then checked the review dashboard and pulled two books for review. I hope to turn them both around by next week. They transferred to my Kindle easily, thank goodness. While I’m not buying through that market now, I still like to read review copies/contest entries on it when possible.
I submitted two short stories. These are my first submissions of the year. I’ve dropped the ball on submissions thus far, and need to get back on track. I’m still waiting to hear back on a few things. I’ve been checking the play submission site I use, but there hasn’t been anything where I have work that fits, and I’m not writing to spec unless it’s a commission.
I wrote a little over 1700 words on BETTING MAN, which was decent. This chapter takes place at the racetrack, which is always fun. Today, I need to go back over the chapter and layer in some subplot stuff, and then I’ll have a working chapter.
I was delighted that all of my books (the ones I write) can now be purchased through Bookshop.org.
I struggled to concentrate on the ghostwriting in the afternoon, but eventually, I got there, and got some decent work done.
I also got the stereotypical “hit by lightning” moment for the residency proposal I’d given up on. I suddenly realized the perfect project to fit the guidelines. I haven’t written any of it yet, but I have the inspiration/idea from a seminar at the Clark last year. I found my notes from that, and wrote and polished the proposal. Off it went, and two days before the deadline. If I get it great. If I don’t, I don’t, and the project stays back-burnered for another year. But there’s no chance if I don’t submit, so I did. It’s something that needs a lot of research, but I was excited about it when I was first inspired, and it fits with specs for this grant/residency.
It felt good to get something viable submitted, not just something submitted to submit or skipping it because I didn’t have anything that fit. They get an enormous number of submissions each year, so who knows, but my view is that every submission has a 50-50 chance. Either they want it, or they don’t.
Because stage plays often have such a long development process and then life over numerous licensings, there are a lot of moving parts and the schedule/priority list for the plays has to constantly be reshuffled. Which is fine. I also feel my work with Nightwood, the Athena Project, and WAM all set a firm foundation for this project with this particular organization, and mentioned it in the proposal.
Leftovers for dinner, reading and listening to music in the evening. I went to bed earlier than I should have, and paid for it by waking up a little after 3. I stayed in bed until the coffee started, then got up, fed everyone, and started the morning routine.
During the free write, I did some additional background work for the project in yesterday’s proposal, since it was front and center in my brain. I also made a loose plan for what I want to work on in the Boiler House residency this autumn. Last year, I brought All the Things, and it was hard to settle. This year, I’m going to bring in some material to workshop that’s been through a few drafts, and also work on one or two specific projects within the day’s writing time. We have a shorter residency period, and less time to workshop, so I want to make sure what I bring in has been through multiple drafts. I know there are a couple of poems I want to work between now and then and bring in for my fellow poets’ wise suggestions, and I’ll bring in at least one short scene or except from whatever play I’m working on at that time.
I’m hoping to get the initial draft of I WILL BE DIFFERENT done by late spring, between the Feminist Writing Community and Honor Roll, and then get back to LAUGHTER & TURPENTINE (the Playland Painters piece) and CONSEQUENCE. I’m hoping the Dramatist Guild re-instates End of Play this year, because that program is always useful.
I trotted down to Cumberland this morning for bacon, milk, and orange juice. Sadly, they were out of eggs until tomorrow’s delivery.
I have online meditation group this morning (Charlotte will be happy). I’ll get some writing done, then I’m hosting the #FreelanceFriends chat from 12-1 EST on Bluesky, then I’ll take the rolly cart up to the library to retrieve the big stack of books that came in, and hopefully get some ghostwriting done after.
That’s the plan anyway. We’ll see what the weather does.
#ButIsSheABettingMan #books #fiction #plays #proposals #publishing #writing
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['Incident at Vichy', Arthur] Miller is showing the only thing that actually interrupts mass injustice:
Not outrage
Not ideology
Not even belief
but the willingness to accept personal risk for another person’s life.
#incidentAtVichy #arthurMiller #plays #books #classics #alexPretti #reneeGood #minnesota #minneapolis
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