tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-206345002024-03-13T12:55:24.286-04:00The Speckled OneFor whatever creeps across my brain at any given hour.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.comBlogger308125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-48023060517549681852016-08-23T08:00:00.000-04:002016-08-23T08:00:26.592-04:00The Island Story<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
How many time have you played the game with friends about what you would take with you to a deserted island? Probably a few times, at least. Recently, while watching an episode of "Naked and Afraid" I wondered about the question again. <br />
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One of the concerns left out of the "What three things would you take to a desert island?" is how to survive without shelter, food, and the basic necessities we enjoy. Back in my early 20s I had formally training in what is called "bush craft" - being able to survive outdoors in various conditions. My uncles had this kind of training and I heard stories about how well they did out in the elements for a period of training. Bush craft includes being able to build a shelter in any condition, how to build a snow cave if you find yourself stuck outdoors in the winter, how to search/hunt for food, what you vegetation you can eat, and so on. I have not done it in a long time but I used to be able to light a fire using sticks and rocks. <br />
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In my family, the men and the women of my grandparents generation were taught how to fend for themselves and perform basic things for themselves and around the house. They were taught the same things. The men knew how to sew and cook. The women were taught these things as well but also learned how to perform basic maintenance on their cars, change tires, defend themselves if attacked. No one batted an eye when I announced I wanted to take a course in bush craft. I was already proven to be the type of person to go on impulsive road trips and travel when the opportunity presented itself. Such things were sometimes done in the dead of night. This wanderlust was fraught with potential danger. What if the car broke down? What if someone tried to rob/attack me? I was encouraged by family members to pursue the bush craft lesson just as I had been encouraged to take classes in Krav Maga (a self defense system originally developed for Israeli soldiers). I believe that every woman should take this class a self-defense class. Men are physically stronger and usually the ones who attack. Learning how to defend yourself from an attack is just a common sense thing to do. I would feel confident I could survive if I was cast off on a deserted island, just in case the trees uprooted and tried to chase me. Yes, sir, I'd show them!<br />
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Well, a deserted island is just that - deserted so I would have no need for Krav Maga, knowledge of car maintenance, etc.. There is nothing to attack me except maybe some nasty bugs. I like to engage in the fantasy of what I would take with me if I could take anything (nothing electronic). What would I have to occupy me? That's a fun thing to talk to friends about: what would you take with you? <br />
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I have over 1,000 books. I would probably take those. The books feature a variety of subjects but a good number include tomes on the history of organized crime and biographies of the players in the underworld. Other subjects that dominate my book collection are ghost stories and studies of the supernatural, the history of Ireland, its literary and national rise to world prominence in the early part of the 20th century, psychology and a host of Norton Anthologies. I read and re-read many of the books I own. One of the greatest things in the world is the Kindle and being able to download and read books from many applications. I have built up a substantial collection on Kindle. But, the rules are no electronic devices on the deserted island. Sad, <br />
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Would being alone be an issue for you? Personally, I enjoy being with friends. I love going to parties but I am just as glad when I go home. I am the type of person who will deliberately go to a movie or even a restaurant alone simply because I only want my company or I just don't want any conversation. I would miss human contact on the island but I would not go crazy without out. At least I don't think so - guess it depends how long I would be on the island. Hopefully I would not get to the point of talking to a volleyball with a smiley face drawn on it.<br />
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So, I am curious as to what my readers would take with them? How would you fare on an island do you think? </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-7482343235535151282016-08-22T03:57:00.003-04:002016-08-22T03:57:36.352-04:00Rocking the Ages<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Wow - three years since my last post. I have gotten in the writing frenzy once again - barring writing a play. What to do, what to do. I think I will ramble about age. My age.<br />
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Life has changed so much in the intervening years. I don't choose to dwell on the negatives (a house fire, lay off). I'm damn lucky that I have been able to launch a new career at my age. In fact, my age is part of the reason I got hired in my current position as a Videoconference technician. A part of the job requires customer service savvy and being able to make judgement calls. I am still learning many aspects of the AV world but one thing I do have is life experience. The man who hired me is only a few years younger than myself. I also work with individuals (men and women) who are my age or older. I felt my age and lack of certifications kept me on the shelf for about two years when I was looking for a permanent position in this field. The fact that I am a woman in a field dominated by men did make me wonder if being a middle aged woman factored into hiring decisions. <br />
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Whatever it was, I am past it.<br />
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My new employer wants me to have certifications and its on their dime. My first certification will be Certified Technology Specialist (CTS). This certification proves that I know about audio and visual systems, environmental issues affecting presentations, how to configure a room and a host of thing tech components relative to my field. I don't believe I am going to be sent out into the field as I am being trained to set up and monitor (remotely) video conferences around the globe and assist as needed when things go wrong. This kind of work interests me. I am not stopping with the CTS certification; I intend to move forward and get as many certifications as I can. My ultimate goal is to get certified in Networking and Networking Security. <br />
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One thing has improved with age - my ability to study and retain information. I wish I could remember more the first time I read material while studying. I am looking for ways to improve my memory. Knocking down my daily sugar intake is one step. Too much sugar affects memory. I was diagnosed over a decade ago by a specialist in adult ADHD and some learning disabilities which made studying a nightmare when I was a kid and even as a college student. Dyslexia caused me to struggle with math and words. I have found ways to cope with that and press on. Age has brought much awareness and skill in dealing with these struggles. Most of my friends don't even know how hard I have struggled with these issues in the past and even now. Medication has helped along with dietary changes. Getting older has allowed me to gain self-acceptance. I still worry about not being able to "get" a new program or concept in a normal span of time. However, now I tell those I must interact with I have to study longer than the average person and why. I am concerned about learning math formulas related to CTS work and Networking. I suck at math. That said, I have gone back and purchased such and such for Dummies books about math and continue to work at understanding things I did not growing up. I can't even tell you how many times I have been embarrassed because I did not understand something everyone else did. That doesn't exactly build confidence. It makes you feel stupid. I don't feel that way anymore. I have geared my life towards what I want to do and what I do best, for the most part.<br />
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I have far more confidence now even though I am going into a field that is quite exacting. I love this stuff and can study for hours on end. One good thing about age is that you learn to know yourself, what you can do, and how to cope with it. My getting older (and some medication) has assisted me in self-discovery and understanding complex concepts. ADHD is very real. It's been a curse many times. I dread having to deal with the more complicated math that will be upcoming when I take advanced courses. I'll find a way to get through it. Still, it makes my eyes cross at the idea of it coming down the road. I have to work twice as hard as everyone else to succeed with the math. If that is what it takes, so be it. I need to get to my goals.<br />
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This delving into more and more AV-related work has left me little time to do much else. I'm studying so much - literally hours every day. I miss reading. I used to read one book at week. I still get in some reading time but not much. Focusing on dry technology all day has kick-started my writing once again. I need to clear my head and be creative in intervals. I sneak in some reading on breaks. I get some writing done as well. The aforementioned activities has, in a strange way, helped with ADHD. I suppose that is because I am doing several things at one time. There's no boredom. There is only the desire to have more time in the day. As I am not likely to get that, I have to settle on utilizing my time the best that I can to balance work, writing, study, reading and play. <br />
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Play how? You may ask. Well, one thing not too many middle-aged women do is play video games. <br />
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I do. Lots. Sometimes too much and stuff like housework gets put off. When I go into the video game stores, the 20somethings think I am there to buy a video game for my grandchild. After I finish slapping the one who said that, I get down to business. At any age you can have great fun. Playing Halo, Call of Duty, Rage, Batman, Fallout and other games is a great release. Now I go into a particular video game store and the sales guys are quick to tell me about new "shooter" games that I might like. They know my game preferences. I'm sure they know me because not many middle-aged women go into the store and buy video games for themselves. I have told some of the young 'uns it's a mistake to assume things about someone because of their age. I am very good at video games and I play at the advanced levels. I do get a certain amount of pleasure when I break the stereotype (which is often) of who and what I am supposed to be at my age. I have no problem with how old I am; it's what others do with that information. <br />
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And that's why I was terrified no one would hire me again. Not only did I get a job but my employer is already investing in me by "sending me to school." Certifications can do much for marketability and salary. <br />
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So here I am - in a better place than I was when I last wrote a piece for this blog. <br />
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That's a good thing.<br />
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</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-33694304467156074762013-11-25T13:33:00.003-05:002016-08-22T03:09:21.849-04:00Father Sean McManus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In what now seems like a lifetime ago, I am reminded about my days in the 1980s when I was involved in the Irish nationalist groups in New York and Philadelphia that was promoting freedom for Catholics in British-occupied Northern Ireland. I wrote for a Philadelphia-based monthly called <i>The Irish Edition</i> (which still exists) covering everything from book and play reviews to feature stories, a visit by James Cagney and political news. I traveled with groups to Washington D.C. and met up with a priest named Father Sean McManus who was leading the Irish National Caucus, an effort to get Washington involved with the Northern Ireland issue. Tricky dice that - Britain being one of America's prime allies. I recently discovered that not only is Father McManus alive and well but still very active. He has even written a novel --<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mac-Ireland-Fight-Irish-Freedom/dp/1484909372">http://www.amazon.com/Mac-Ireland-Fight-Irish-Freedom/dp/1484909372</a><br />
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Father McManus' involvement was initially very personal. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-78227402527955273312013-11-14T09:06:00.001-05:002016-08-22T03:09:21.852-04:00Forgiving Judas<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-84275707112510549502013-05-28T09:34:00.002-04:002013-05-28T09:34:33.275-04:00Remembering Jonathan Frid book<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">We are now taking PRE-ORDERS for the "Remembering Jonathan Frid" book. This publication is expected to be due out in the fall 2013. This book will include remembrances and stories by many of JF's long time friends, colleagues, family members and some fans who worked with JF at the festivals over the past few decades. There has never been a book like it. The book will sell for $30.00 but if you choose to pre-order between now and June 30th, you can get it for $20.00 and be one of the first to get it. (If you are contributing to the book, you do not have to order a copy.) </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">Portions of the proceeds will go to the John H. Frid Fund in Canada. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">Send your $20.00 to Helen Samaras via paypal at skippy1253@aol.com. Please remember when ordering via paypal ensure that you are paying for any fees associated with sending the $20.00. If you need to pay by check or money order, please make payable to Helen Samaras and mail to Helen Samaras, 541 Birch Street, West Hempstead, NY 11552. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 17px;">Remember, this offer only good through June 30th. After June 30th, the purchase price will be $30.00.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-23628484917124493102013-05-02T08:15:00.000-04:002013-05-02T08:15:02.865-04:00Renewal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last night I was watching a documentary about the "golden era" of gangster films with my friend Kay. Periodically when a particular actor was being highlighted, I would tell Kay something about the actor's personal life that most people would not know or something related to a film I thought was being overlooked. Kay has suffered through this tendency of mine for as long as we have watched movies and documentaries together. She said "Why don't you share these things with people on your blog? You know so much about all these actors."<br />
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It was an Ah ha! moment.<br />
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My blog had been floundering. I have been looking for some sense of purpose in blogging other than using it as a writing prompt for my own work. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner and I am glad it was pointed out to me that there was certainly an outlet for all the trivia and "Did you know" stuff I have in my head about actors in films from the days of silent films to present. Another friend of mine, the late Craig Hamrick, had encouraged me to do something with all this knowledge and for whatever reason I did not at the time. I wasn't even blogging then. <br />
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I hereby christen thee blog to a new lease on life. <br />
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The movies and documentaries that I watch, the actors they pertain to, will find another venue in this forum as I talk about what fascinates me about them and the actors who inspire the medium. An example of a fun story to share with people came from director <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mervyn_LeRoy">Mervyn LeRoy</a> whose film LITTLE CAESAR (1931) made a star of Edward G. Robinson. LeRoy said that he had a tough time getting Robinson to shoot the gun without closing his eyes when the gun went off. The crew even tried using tape to keep Robinson's eyes open, to prevent him from squinting (he was also turning his head away from the pistol when the shot went off). Robinson had zero experience with firearms and was not a thug in real life. Anything but, in fact. LeRoy spent a day and a half with Robinson before he could get the actor to shoot the pistol without turning his head away and closing his eyes.<br />
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Those are the kinds of stories I love to find out about a film and actor.<br />
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In high school, I discovered the biography and autobiography. I would go through the school and public libraries borrowing biographies and autobiographies on just about anybody. It didn't matter what they did. Sure, I leaned towards my interests in the performing arts but I had an interest in reading life stories about individuals, how they grew up, the obstacles they faced, how they got to where they did and how their life impact others. I could not get enough (and still can't) of books and documentaries that talk about the "Making of" of any kind of production. I love the bonus material on DVDs about how a film was made. If there is a book out there on the behind-the-scenes work of a play, television, film or radio production, I have probably read it or have it on my to-read list. From this kind of material and all the memoirs I have read, there is enough material to brighten this blog up and hopefully intrigue readers.<br />
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Stay tuned!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-67304361279789349552013-04-18T11:30:00.000-04:002013-04-18T11:30:01.498-04:00How is Writing Lonely?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One of the biggest frustrations in writing is that I would love to blog about the dilemmas I have in writing a particular scene but I fear my ideas will get hijacked by someone else. Fortunately, in trying to figure out a staging technique for more difficult scenes, I can always get help by shouting out about the issue. <br />
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I read over and over that writing is "lonely," requiring long periods of solitude while fleshing out an idea, fine-tuning a plot and working on dialogue. I have never found writing to be a lonely occupation or vocation. I find I am always surrounded by characters talking (or trying to talk) to each other, striving to get their needs met and in doing so, I get into their heads and in that sense, play them as I write. I am in the evolving story as a character and as a writer looking to create a little magic, some understanding and a stimulating plot that unfolds. How is this a formula for being lonely? I'm exhausted by the end of a writing sessions physically and emotionally. It's as if I have been to a party.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-54502024680483775112013-04-10T15:31:00.001-04:002013-04-10T15:31:52.492-04:00Jonathan Frid and Lady MacBeth, sort of . . .<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Back in 1990 while I was living in New York, I was enrolled in two year intensive training acting school. I was given the assignment of preparing a Lady MacBeth monologue. One of the people who made tuition possible at this school was one of my chief employers, Jonathan Frid, who also had a lot of experience with Shakespearean plays. I asked him if he would take the monologue I was given and show me how he would approach it. He agreed and the 24 minute recording that follows is what he did with the speech. I was not with him in the room so any remarks you hear are directed at me to hear when I got this recording. <br />
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I thought I would share it here, as it does provide some interesting insight as to how Jonathan approached acting and also how generous he was with his knowledge.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzf73YO6y64">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzf73YO6y64</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-60927162230160473692013-04-04T14:15:00.000-04:002013-04-04T14:15:36.030-04:00The Joy of Solitude<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I love going to parties, and I enjoy going home afterwards. I look forward to the times I can go out and eating by myself, have and will go to a movie alone, and my greatest joy remains going off into my bedroom/study with a pile of magazines, books, pen and paper and my iphone for easy access to the internet to play scrabble. Solitude and its many joys is something I have cultivated for several decades. <br />
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When I was growing up, I didn't really like socializing much partly because I wasn't any good at it. My awkwardness was so visible it could have been a second entity standing beside me. It could be a lonely existence and I often (as do others) mistake loneliness and solitude. I managed to unload the awkward monster and feel comfortable in any setting. I enjoy socializing, visiting friends and being around people in general. In spite of getting pleasure from such activities, nothing gives me more joy and comfortable than solitude. I think the social awkwardness started to fall away when I realized I wasn't such bad company. I could entertain and challenge myself during my private journeys in deep thought, journal writing and even meditation. There are always new discoveries, some geek toy to check out, and something new that I am writing and the subsequent exploration draws out my innate curiousity. I do tend to see new things that same fresh way a child does. <br />
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Over the years I have become friends with myself. When my heart feels broken or I become very anxious over a problem, I feel another part of me - the intellectual side - coming to the rescue, offering reassurance that I will heal or find the answer I need. This ability has developed through the time I spend in solitude. It has been an amazing and unexpected gift just through the act of being myself and doing what makes me happy.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-24909212794706693222012-12-21T15:36:00.002-05:002012-12-21T15:37:11.395-05:00The Dead People in my Life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A few concerned individuals asked me if I was celebrating Christmas "in the usual way" this year because of the several "close" deaths I have experienced this year. Sure, there were some significant losses this year. Two of them I prayed for as their decline was painful for them mentally and physically. The others were a surprise. I would not ever think of not celebrating Christmas after any death, however close I was to the decedent. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. I think a lot of Jesus. He is The Man in my book. I would not do anything else but celebrate this birth as the faith therein is what keeps me grounded and getting lost on those very dark days.<br />
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Today I was at a funeral for a friend and co-worker and the pastor reminded us that it was normal to grieve to a certain extent and at some point, we must replace that sadness with joy and celebrate what was and the memories. That's an important survival tool - celebrate after the initial sadness and move on.<br />
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Moving on isn't part of forgetting about a deceased loved on; it's part of respecting their passing. Living is for the living. Those who have passed on to the great beyond have left the earth to begin a new life. That's a life without us being physically a part of but it is, nonetheless, a new life. It's a new life we wonder about and need to respect. We need to wish them well and by remembering them we are in constant contact in a new way. I find this comforting. I will always have the wonderful memories of friends and family who have died this year and in previous years. I can still laugh at things they did and said. I can still feel comforted by their words and actions while alive. In that sense, no one ever really leaves you. That's what I hold onto.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-60075148169544410942012-11-07T12:52:00.000-05:002012-11-07T12:53:25.501-05:00Jonathan Frid and The Menu Caper<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The "Remembering Jonathan Frid" book project is going well. Many individuals who worked with Jonathan over the past decades in some capacity or another, professional or semi-professional are sharing stories for the first time. Friends and family will also be contributing their insights and stories. Nothing like this book has ever been done before. <br />
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In preparing my own contribution to this tome, I have jotted down ideas and wrestled with the narrative; how much story to tell compared to observations. I am leaning towards more of a story-telling venture as the capacity for observation naturally comes into play and still allows readers the opportunity to draw their own conclusions about what it was like to work and/or know this very interesting man.<br />
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That's what the book focuses on: what Jonathan Frid was like as a person. It's not a series of essays about how good an actor he was, his professional legacy or even a study of his life. Jonathan was a good story teller and now the tables will be reversed, focused on him. And there are plenty of great stories, so many that it's a task unto itself to jot down quick remembrances and decide which stories show the most about Jonathan as a person, a friend, a family member, a boss, a co-worker. What made him tick? That's a question many are curious to know and this book of stories will certainly provide plenty of insights. I am reminded in this journey just how much Jonathan was like a bionic banana - you can peel away the many layers, think you're done, only to find out there are still more layers to get through.<br />
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There is one story in particular that stands out in the memory of a few, especially myself. Jonathan and I laughed about this story for many years. It's was simply known as "the Menu" caper. I love this story not just because it was funny (well, we thought it was funny) but it shows the kind of impish humor Jonathan had. <br />
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The story took place after a very successful performance of Jonathan's one-man show at a place I won't divulge as the story centers around the behavior of a the event host. She is most likely unaware of how funny her determination to make dinner the perfect event for Jonathan turned out to be. So I am keeping the name of the place and hostess my little secret. <br />
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The hostess and her co-hostess wanted to take Jonathan out to dinner after the show. Jonathan was ready to kick back after a great performance and signing autographs for an hour afterwards. When we arrived at this restaurant, Jonathan was delighted that there was not only a bar there while waiting for seats (the place was booked up and we had to wait to be seated) but everyone ate and threw peanut shells on the floor of the bar area. The hostess was clearly horrified at the lack of decorum of patrons throwing their peanut shells on the floor but we learned that is the way it was every night at that bar. We found a bar table and four bar stools to sit on and a basket of peanuts. The hostess ran off to plead with the restaurant host for seating as soon as possible. She was really bothered by the site of peanut shells on the floor and thought it not appropriate for Jonathan to be in such an inelegant atmosphere. In running back and forth to the restaurant host, she didn't witness Jonathan not only gloriously tossing his empty shells on the floor but throwing them at me. Naturally, I threw them back at him. "I'm getting us a table! I'm getting us a table!" our anxious hostess and her assistant kept saying in tandem. Jonathan told them he was fine just eating at the bar table and he asked a passing server for some menus. He was content to eat right where he was. <br />
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The menus were the long, glossy, skinny things boasting of some good eats. The hostess' assistant finally sat down with us and picked up one of the long menus too. I saw a swordfish dish, a Frid favorite, and I was pointing out to Jonathan when suddenly our hostess came running to our table, and then ran around it, pulling the menus right out of our hands while announcing she had secured a table for us. Jonathan's hands were still positioned as if holding the menu and then he pointed to what was now thin air and said "I think I'll have that." <br />
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In spite of the fact I had a slight "menu" burn on my hands from having the menus whipped away from me so fast, I was now in tears from laughter. Our hostess, unaware of our flabbergastedness, was at the host station waiting for us to join her there. I was laughing so hard, and trying to swallow the laughter, I not only walked behind Jonathan, I had to put my head into his back in an effort to hide and recover before the hostess saw us. Jonathan, clearly amused by the hasty menu removal from our hands, reached around behind him to me and said "Get it together, girl. Here we go! The Golden Table awaits!" He gestured that I walk in front of him. I managed to compose myself and followed our hostesses to a long table in the back with an equally long cushion seat on either side of the table. The hostess indicated she wanted me to sit at the far end so that she and her assistant could sit next to Jonathan. I figured if he wasn't fine with that, he'd let them know.<br />
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As it turned out, I was lucky to be away from him. He could not let go of the humorous behavior of our hostess running around the bar table yanking the menus one by one out of our hands. And he knew I was just a spit away from getting hysterical all over again. The server brought us menus (a different size, this time). I was looking at mine, hoping the stitch in my side from laughter would fade away by eating and having a drink. While our hostesses were preoccupied with their menus, Jonathan kept craning his neck out so he could stare at me with raised eyebrows and a smile. Of course, the hostesses didn't know why he was doing that, probably just assumed he was checking up on me. Periodically, throughout the dinner, he would repeat this craning and smiling. I simply could not look at him if I wanted to stay composed. Now he knew I was avoiding the sight of him altogether. I managed to do this throughout meal. When dessert was being ordered, Jonathan said to our hostesses "If you don't mind, please let Nancy sit near me as we always share apple crisps." Yes, that was true since they were usually to big for one person but the last thing I wanted to do was to sit next to him at this juncture. I did not want to laugh in the faces of these two women. But the hostesses, eager to please him, leapt up and made room for me to slide out and move to the one side of Jonathan. "Now, there were are!" he pronounced and gave me a gentle elbow-in-the-side. I started to laugh, the hostesses didn't know what I was laughing at and I feebly said that we had an "in joke" about apple crisps. Jonathan smiled. The hostesses gave us a blank smile and we did indeed share the apple crisp. <br />
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Later, when we were on our way back to the hotel in the rental car, I said to Jonathan "I will get you for that, I promise!" and he just laughed "HA HA HA." The simplest things amused him. <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-62228414712677662952012-09-02T22:15:00.001-04:002012-09-02T22:15:01.953-04:00TestTestAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-25950714883095319822012-07-29T15:31:00.001-04:002012-09-03T18:05:48.257-04:00Jonathan Frid and the Hudson Valley<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">As I write this, much of Jonathan Frid's personal property is being auctioned off at a Dark Shadows event. This is good for fans who will have an opportunity to obtain something that belonged to JF. The ultimate purpose of the auction is to donate the proceeds to the Hamilton Community Foundation, a charity he donated to for all of his adult life. He even has a special fund called the John H. Frid Fund. JF didn't grow up wanting for anything and his parents made sure their children followed them into community service to help those less fortunate. JF was always very simple in his tastes. He didn't buy a lot of nice clothes, furniture and other items for himself; he would buy the best items and then have them sometimes for decades. This included clothes. He took care of his belongings. They were in good shape no matter how old they were.<br />
<br />
This weekend's event is taking place up in Tarrytown, New York. That area and all of the Hudson Valley was a favorite destination of mine as well as JF's. Once we both realized this, it was not uncommon for him to call me (or I call him) and say "Wanna go on a road trip up Route 9?" Sometimes my friend Kay would come with us. These excursions did not have ultimate destination except to stop wherever we felt like, find some interesting restaurants and find out of the way small villages. What made JF a perfect travelling companion is that he didn't feel the need to talk to fill in any silences. I am the same way. When driving out on the open road looking at the sky and the sights, constant chatter can take away from that experience. <br />
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<br />
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Here is a clip from a 1990 performance in Tarrytown, New York of Jonathan performing "The Ghost" in the Old Dutch Church for a fundraiser.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; text-align: left;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; text-align: left;" /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRXt_Y8hcQo" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?<wbr></wbr>v=dRXt_Y8hcQo</a></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-54229240802247934572012-07-18T16:28:00.001-04:002012-07-18T16:28:06.420-04:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am finally down to the tweaking and fine-tuning of the one-act I decided to call ABSTRACT for now. Life has been in such chaos since 2006 that I still have yet to establish myself again as an active writer. Now it is starting to come together again, albeit slowly. I could kick myself for so many lost opportunities due to the lack of organization and drive but there isn't any point in entertaining regret. I can't change anything. <br />
<br />
Getting back into the scene and familiarizing myself with the online writing opportunities and all the contests, conferences and venues for writers now, including playwrights - this takes considerable time and research. For awhile, I stopped working on my play to do research on all that is involved in sending out a play. That tact, while not deliberate, didn't many any sense as I need the completed script to send out!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-74208347192936910132012-07-06T14:25:00.003-04:002012-07-06T14:26:11.614-04:00"I don't know how to explain her" he said<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A few days ago I received an email from one of Jonathan's old friends from Yale. I was gobsmacked he was able to find me, let alone remember me at all this lovely man named Richard whose wife also attended Yale Drama School the same time Jonathan did. <br />
<br />
Richard told me something very funny. When Jonathan had people over to his apartment in New York for a dinner party - people he had not seen in many years - he usually asked me to come as well to be the "hostess." I also had the facility to seamlessly fit into a group of strangers, a skill I had to learn in my early twenties even though meeting new people made (and continues) to make me initially very nervous. Richard reaccounted this particular visit because it was the last time he and his wife saw Jonathan. It was also a lot of fun. Richard told the story about the head of the Yale Drama School directing a play they were all in and his heavily-accented English made the commend "Focus! Focus!" come out "Fuck-us! Fuck-us!" This, of course, reduced Richard, Jonathan et al. to puddles they laughed that hard each time the director issued this command. <br />
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It was very cool to hear stories of antics on campus and off campus. Richard and his wife came with two other individuals from those Yale days. The stories were hilarious. I sure wish I could remember some of them other than the fact they were very funny. At one point Richard joined Jonathan in the kitchen and Richard told me the other day when he contacted me that he remembers asking Jonathan how the two of us got together. Jonathan said to him "I don't know how to explain her." Eventually, he told Richard that I first came into his life working on the one-man shows, then did personal assistant-type work for him and today, like other times, he just liked having me play the hostess with the most-ess. This type of scenario played out many times during the course of our relationship over twenty plus years. When friends came from Canada and he invited me over it was to help him stay organized and entertain. I became friends with some of those friends and relatives over the years and later when regularly visiting Canada. The really sweet thing about Jonathan is that he was very proper. I was half his age and a woman. That could be construed in a more unflattering light in his opinion. Of course, anyone who knew either one of us knows it wasn't anything more than just a friendship. But that age difference and gender made him uncomfortable at times. He once told me that while touring with ARSENIC AND OLD LACE he felt that his co-star, Gary Sandy, wanted to be friends with him. But the "problem" was that Gary was so much younger. I sat there with my mouth agape. "What does that have to do anything if you like each other?" I said. He didn't answer, but that was an issue for him even though he would later cultivate friendships with people much younger than himself, much in thes same way his mother did. She felt it kept her younger in mind and spirit. He sought the same.<br />
<br />
But there were still the awkward times when Jonathan went to meet someone and asked me to go with him, even though the person was a stranger to me. Truth was, Jonathan was very shy in many respects and the one thing I could do was talk. And talk I did, to keep the conversation going but know when to stop talking if the two of them got going. It was common for the individual (friend or acquaintance of Jonathan's) to ask: "So, how did you two meet?" I was never introduced in any particular way except as a "friend" and that aroused the curiosity of the asker. I, of course, explained (since Jonathan would just sit there silent) that I was hired to work with him on the one-man shows and we became friends. I didn't add that I had several friends much older than myself so a friendship with someone older like Jonathan wasn't anything new to me. But it made Jonathan uncomfortable. Sometimes if I was somewhere and he was with me he told me to introduce him as my "uncle." So I did.<br />
<br />
While I worked for Jonathan and was studying at a local acting school, sometimes Jonathan would write out a check to pay for my tuition, and give it to me. At first, he was reluctant with this payment arrangement because he was afraid it would give the impression to whomever received the check that I was a "kept" woman. That really concerned me though I was pretty sure no one else would think that for a single moment. I assured him of this. (I also "paid" him through writing and personal assistant services to give me voice lessons. I "studied" voice with him for about a year. In fact, he directed me in a show I did as part of my two year intensive acting program.)<br />
<br />
So, keeping me a proper lady did hit snags now and then. When I went up to Jonathan's place in Canada, I always helped him around the house and with the yard. I enjoyed this. We were sitting at the dining room table one afternoon along with our mutual friend, Kay Fry, and Jonathan complained that the web-like cocoons in his trees were going to eventually kill them. He had some men out to eradicate these cocoons but he had a falling out with the local business and they would not come out anymore. (Falling out with people was commonplace with Jonathan as he had a quick temper. But usually those relationships mended) He wondered out loud if there was a way the three of us might be able to get the cocoons out of the trees. Fifteen minutes later, I was climbing one of the stricken trees, Jonathan was standing at the base of the tree ready to catch me if I fell, and Kay was handing me up various implements to use in order to remove the cocoons. He chided me at one point for "not having the right kind of shoes on to be in a tree." As if I knew I was going to be climbing trees that weekend. <br />
<br />
Some time later again while visiting Jonathan we were doing something in the front yard and he stopped to look at his water spouts, noting that he had to get them cleaned out as they were cluttered with leaves. We were standing right by the garage and I said "If you help me with the ladder, I will get up there and clear out the gutter." He stood there, stunned, looking at me. "What?" I asked. "Well, you can't do that," he said. I asked "Why not?" "Well, you're a lady . . ." Only a few months earlier he had no trouble with my climbing up a tree but climbing up a much shorter distance and on a stable ladder he didn't want me to have any part of. I didn't laugh because I didn't want that sensibility of his made fun of. He felt strongly about that at that moment so the gutter didn't get cleaned out by me. <br />
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No wonder he couldn't explain me to other people. I was a vacillating entity.<br />
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-69894408674378692702012-06-20T10:56:00.002-04:002012-06-20T10:56:17.077-04:00Throughlines<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Found a good software program called Throughlines which interactive index cards to keep plot notes and scenes in front of me. The other writer software is way too distracting to use.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-41186904920840979982012-06-11T06:55:00.001-04:002012-06-11T06:55:53.445-04:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am curious to know how many writers "write" most of their manuscript in their head then sit down and start typing like a demon. That's true of me. An idea will gestate for as long as a few years before coming into a literal form.<br />
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Much of this week another idea was brewing in my brain whilst I endeavored to spew out an earlier masterpiece. No shortage of ideas, just free time.<br />
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-70627067761101638872012-06-06T11:52:00.002-04:002012-06-06T11:52:17.227-04:00American Abstract<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My one-act play currently titled "American Abstract" has really taken shape after two drafts.<br />
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The way I write a play is for the idea and general dialogue to percolate in my brain. That can go on for a year. Then when the whole story is bursting to be told, I start writing. I got stuck in a spot, which seems ludicrous for one-act "short" play but the format isn't as easy as one would think. <br />
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I am anxious to see the play on its feet before I do any major revisions. I have one possibility for a staged reading at the end of the summer which would help me immensely. When I write, I do try to stage the play in my head as what is on the page can translate very differently with an actor saying the lines and moving around, interacting with other characters.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-27107023364898997742012-06-06T08:32:00.004-04:002012-06-06T08:32:44.407-04:00"You have to be the villain . . ."<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I was reminded last night about something else Jonathan paid me to do - attend Dark Shadows Festivals. I did and wound up making friends there. But my priority was, as Jonathan would repeatedly tell me, to be "the villain." He could smile at a pushy fan and I would be the one to tell the fan to "move along." It was fine for fans to hate me which was the whole point - deflect what he wants done to me as the person to actually do it. Soon, I could tell just from a certain look from him that he wanted me to spring into action. <br />
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Most fans are respectful. It only takes a handful to make things slightly miserable. In working with Jonathan, I learned to develop a thick skin to the point where even an outright insult in my face makes me laugh, it doesn't upset me at all. There were times I literally had to jump in front of the men's bathroom to keep pushy female fans from following Jonathan in there. If a fan was hassling Jonathan at home I dealt with it. I did what he asked, of course in all regards. If a fan was selling bootlegged copies of his one-man show, I was the one to deal with it. I checked the internet constantly for this sort of violation because he asked me to do so. I was the gatekeeper because the gate was paying me.<br />
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When I was that little nine-year old girl watching "Dark Shadows" I never could have imagined that one day I would be working with my then favorite actor and being his "villain."<br />
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-78077231415547025072012-06-05T09:32:00.003-04:002012-06-05T09:32:23.762-04:00A Fridean Odyssey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This will be the final post in a series in this blog about working with the late Jonathan Frid. Today I was reminded of an important lesson I learned about myself when working with John. Earlier this morning I was asked to create digital signage for the television screens in a large building. I have had some training in this but not had a chance to actually do it. Now I have been asked, given the slides and have to go through the initial nervousness of doing something I have never done before and hoping I get it right for the customer.<br />
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Back around 1990, Jonathan asked me to help him develop a Shakespearean Reader's Theater show which would be called Jonathan Frid's Shakespearean Odyssey. It is a myth that Jonathan performed mostly in Shakespeare productions in his career - he did not. He credited his classical theater training to the works of the Bard. When he talked to me about the show, I cautioned him that it would not be a big seller even on the college circuit. The acting workshops we developed to accompany a booking at a college or university would similarly be based on Shakespeare. However, this is what he wanted to do. So I did it.<br />
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What filled me with fear and much trepidation was being asked to write narrative to weave together the scenes that filled up the show, and the different plays being presented. While as an English major I had much exposure to Shakespeare, I really didn't know that much about the plays in an analytical way. I should be the last person explaining to the viewing audience what the hell was going on. But I was charged with this task and as nervous and incompetent as I felt, it had to be done. He was patient. I went to Canada with Jonathan when he did a first run of the show at his alma mater McMaster University. The show went well and most of the audience comprised of Jonathan's family and friends, many of whom he grew up with. It was the first time I met one of his brothers and a slew of relatives that I would see many times again in the next 15 years. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oUrRqfzc5aY/T84KUul5J7I/AAAAAAAAAbM/3NRLIU4gSqg/s1600/NancyFrid2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oUrRqfzc5aY/T84KUul5J7I/AAAAAAAAAbM/3NRLIU4gSqg/s320/NancyFrid2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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What impressed me the most about Jonathan's family, whose homes I would be welcomed into so many times, is how nice and funny they all could be. And classy. They called Jonathan "Mort" because from childhood his ears were protruding and reminded them of Mortimer Snerd. I never heard family member or long time friend call him anything but Mort Frid. <br />
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I digress - the Shakespeare show wasn't a popular show, however, watching Jonathan go from one character to the next and then one play to the next playing the narrator AND the character was simply amazing. He was amazing. Somehow I managed to pull off a respectable narrative for him, Jonathan made his own changes, of course, and a cohesive show was formed. I learned the lesson that somehow, no matter how scared I am, I manage to land on my feet. <br />
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I launched Jonathan's website in 1998 partly to promote the charity performances I was producing for him state-side and also so he could do reader's theater programs on the internet. He even learned to type! I was a novice at website building and did my best to upload sound and video onto the server. Naturally, it was better that Jonathan hire someone there in Canada to be with him as it was getting difficult to travel to Canada every six weeks as I was doing to work on the website and develop content. Fortunately, Jonathan was able to get good help and eventually when he wanted to focus on Richard III for the website around 2006, I was burned out but knew someone who could help him and was frequently in Canada. Eventually, she would take over what I used to do for Jonathan. <br />
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What I learned from Jonathan in the many years I worked for and with him was to persevere. That came in handy because after 2006 my life took an unexpected and ugly turn with the loss of work, eventually no income and dealing with skin cancer and no insurance. That period lasted until February 2011 when I finally got full-time work again. Knowing how Jonathan pushed forward no matter what was a great inspiration for me in these darker times. There were times I didn't think I would survive it all with all the pressures, however, I did get back on track. Jonathan once told me "Don't hate what you have" and that meant deal with what you have and make the best of it. I would tell myself in the worst of times, there were people in more dire straits than I was. At least I had family who would help out when they could. I had friends who did the same, providing emotional support. Jonathan grew more emotionally distant with age, not unusual. I saw that in my grandparents. Early in the 2000s, Jonathan said he felt himself "turning inward" which I initially dismissed, out of denial, but I saw he had less and less to do with people, some he had known for decades. Again, I saw this with my own grandparents. It was harder to stay in touch but I was so preoccupied with my own disasters that was the least of my problems. <br />
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What is consoling is that Jonathan was surrounded by people who had his best interests at heart, were local, and he could trust. All of us should do that well in any stage of our lives.<br />
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-91689231938152854902012-05-31T10:15:00.001-04:002012-05-31T10:15:31.621-04:00Jonathan Frid on Facebook<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Here's a Facebook page you may be interested in joining - great discussion group with tons of photos and memories. Many people on this page knew Jonathan in one way or another.</div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/jonathanfridFangroup/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/jonathanfridFangroup/</a>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-74191355825534312692012-05-31T08:37:00.004-04:002012-05-31T08:37:28.559-04:00Tell Tale Hearts and Humor<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>This is a continuation of a series of blog entries about my working with Jonathan Frid. If you are new to the blog or haven't been here in a while, you may want to scroll down for previous blog entries if this subject interests you.</b><br />
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I still have a lot of pride about "Fridiculousness." It remains my favorite show; a lot of hours of work, re-work, editing, re-writing and debating went into that show. The Fridean genealogy featured some of Jonathan's writing and that was also true of the other two original pieces: the answering machine story about his mother and the hospital emergency room phone line. The only criticism, if you can call it that, I have about working with Jonathan on the genealogy and hospital emergency room story is that he did not understand how to structure comedy pieces to maximize the humor/laughs. For the genealogy piece, he added and added to the discovery of the variations of the Frid name to the point where the audiences didn't laugh much anymore in that section of the story. He didn't understand why. I explained my opinion that it was because he was making it too obvious and pounding the audience over the head with it. He didn't agree and we continued to not get the big laughs where we used to get them. Oh well. That was frustrating and one of the times I had to remind myself that it was his name in the title of the show, not mine. (I should note here that by this time due to my work at the Ensemble Studio Theater I had been asked by others developing their own plays or cabaret acts to come in and "fix" problems. It frustrated me when I was not allowed to "fix" a problem in a show I was in any way involved with.) <br />
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In the hospital piece he kept moving the Press this and that bit around in the story. The order I wrote this in was very specific. The "Press 3 if you are unconscious" line always brought down the house. When the order got changed, the impact was sometimes reduced. The line itself got laughs because of how ridiculous it and the situation was. I wrote the hospital piece (while sick, ironically enough) and in my ending the guy fell over dead. Jonathan rewrote the ending to the guy getting disconnected and sent back to square one. His ending worked much better than mine. That's what wound up in the show.<br />
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If I told other people, usually other fans of Jonathan's, about such dilemmas I'm the one that got chided for putting up a fuss to begin with. "How can you disagree with him?" Well, I am not a potted plant. And I would not have lasted five minutes in this role if I agreed with everything Jonathan said and did. He didn't want that in a person working with him on a show. He appreciated it when fans thought he was terrific but in a real world, day to day situation, that line of thinking didn't work for him. There were times we really went at it over a point (it was our nature to be short-tempered over things we really believed in.) and sometimes he conceded the point because he knew I was right or I conceded a point because it was, in the end, his show. The audience was coming to see him, not me. There were times Jonathan did a performance and said to me afterwards "You were right. Let's change it." For me, it wasn't about being right but putting on the best show with the best possible material. That was also true for him; we just didn't always agree on what was best. Likewise, sometimes I saw that he insisted on did, in fact, work better than what I was suggesting.<br />
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There were times I would be sitting in the audience of a show or even a rehearsal and watch Jonathan and say to myself "Here I am working on a show with the same man who inspired me to go into the theater. How very cool is that?" <br />
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The more challenging aspects of working with Jonathan on shows was putting up with the insecurities and nerves that came before he went onstage. He acted out, usually towards me. The older he got, the worse it got. I wish I could say I was always patient and calming. I would put up with a lot in those instances, but I did have my limits. He had the grace to apologize for particularly bad episodes. That's the type of man he was.<br />
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If nothing else demonstrated our shared sensibilities, the inclusion of Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" in "Fridiculousness" said it all. Initially, Jonathan's manager didn't understand why this piece was in a show that was fairly humorous. "I was never kinder to the old man than the week before I killed him" is a funny line if you are a gallows humor fancier. Nobody but nobody can touch Jonathan Frid's interpretation of "The Tell Tale Heart." I mean nobody. It takes real craft to tell the story, especially from the start. If you act all out crazy from the top of the story, you have no place left to go in the story. Jonathan would start off the story with a wry kind of craziness. That touch of wry worked well as then the character can tell the story initially from the standpoint of showing how clever he was in plotting out this murder, all brought on by this preposterous preoccupation with the old man's warped eye. Insane people think they are sane. The killer gets paranoid and then thinks the heart is out to undo him. In this view, to us, the story is humorous and would fit perfectly into "Fridiculousness" as the last piece. <br />
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The stories got rearranged from time to time especially as Jonathan got older because some stories take more energy than others. To this end, the more energetic stories were spaced out and new narrative written to weave them all together. <br />
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With the two main shows completed, Jonathan wanted to create a Shakespearean one-man show. His manager wasn't crazy about it because a Shakespeare show is a hard sell in the United States. But he wanted to pursue it and hired me to help him on what would be the third and final one-man show creation.<br />
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-38512713785087348212012-05-30T12:24:00.004-04:002012-05-30T12:24:49.344-04:00Fridiculousness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When collaborating with someone else on a project, obviously it is key to understanding their basic sensibilities and outlook on life in general. As complicated a person Jonathan was, I got to know him well enough to feel comfortable in the role of collaborator. I knew this much about him by this point: he had a gallows sense of humor, loved a sense of irreverence, enjoyed practical jokes, loved "The Carol Burnett Show," "Cheers," watched political satire comedians on PBS, could laugh at himself, and took whatever came at him and made it work for him. I shared similar tastes.<br />
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Jonathan asked me if I would work with him on developing a second show. He had a long-standing fascination for The London Bridge and the Titanic and wanted to see about developing a show based on these subjects. I was pleased that he wanted to work with me to develop a second show but horrified that he thought two hours of stories about the London Bridge and the Titanic would make interesting reader's theater. In my mind, it would not. Remember, reader's theater isn't visual except for the acting standing on a stage.<br />
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But we talked about it. He gave me a folder full of material and asked me to think about it. As I had already learned, when you say you will work with Jonathan on a project, that also means you will be willing to make him a priority if you have other commitments to juggle. Creating a whole new show from the ground up would be time consuming. It wouldn't just be discovering material, molding a concept, and endless rehearsals at the libraries and Jonathan's apartment; it would require me at the typewriter writing and working on the narrative. It would easily be a 25 hour a week commitment at the very least for me, probably more. <br />
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I would be nuts to turn down this opportunity especially when there were already customers waiting for whatever the finished product would be. The theaters, universities and public library programs who had booked "Fools and Fiends" wanted another new show from Jonathan. As long as I was going to have creative input into the show, I was willing to put in the time. There was no question of getting paid, I would be from the start, but committing to this kind of project it always meant kissing my personal life goodbye for awhile.<br />
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This is how Jonathan worked. His personal life would go out the window as well. He would say that once committed to a project, then you should be 110% engaged in that project. Between 1988-1990 working on "Fridiculousness" was all-consuming for him. He was offered movie roles in big budget films such as "Bob Roberts" and even more stage work such as playing Captain Hook in a major touring production of "Peter Pan." There were television offers as well. But Jonathan wasn't interested. All he wanted to do with the rest of his life was work in reader's theater until he couldn't do it anymore. It gave him such joy. It was the driving creative passion of his life from the early 1980s to his death.<br />
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He often said that many thought he had made a "mess" of his career but the reality was Jonathan was a lazy actor by his own admission; he did what he wanted to do because he could. He would not starve. He was lazy in the sense of not wanting to pursue all the work he could but not at all lazy when it came to developing three full one-man shows that would ultimately tour around the country between 1986-1994. "Fools and Fiends" housed stories that Jonathan knew would cater to the crowd who wanted to see him in spooky and unsettling roles, and I say <b>roles</b> because Jonathan played as many as a dozen in a single show. This "Fridiculousness" used as its centerpiece items I found out about the origin of the Frid name and a chance discovery in a book on fairies and hobgoblins that boasted a creature called A Fridean. The way with Jonathan was to write something, he would take it apart, I'd write something else based on what he wrote/edited and so on. It was a never ending process. We collaborated on three original stories for this show, and he wanted to give me some credit but still keep me as a ghostwriter. So in one of the stories about the Frid family tree, I was given a mention as part of the story. That suited me fine. The stories were very popular with the audience. <br />
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As we spent so much time together, it was natural to take breaks and since Jonathan had other things to attend to with daily life, my role as a ghostwriter evolved into that of a personal assistant. When I wasn't doing one job, I was doing the other. I would not have ever sought to be anyone's personal assistant but as I liked Jonathan - shared the same sense of humor and view on life - spending time with him wasn't a chore. Sure, I longed to do some of my own things (we decided that weekends would be free for the most part) but Jonathan was someone who managed to get his own errands done when someone was with him. This kind of work included helping him clean out and organize his closets and drawers and going with him to buy new clothes. None of this is exciting stuff but sometimes there was some cool things such as going with him to a social function and meeting some of his Yale friends or helping to plan a luncheon for relatives arriving from Canada. I learned a lot about entertaining - what cheeses to serve with which cracker, what wine went best with what dish, and while doing all this, Jonathan would perform one of the stories we were working on for the crowd since they asked what he was up to. <br />
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Jonathan's cocktail parties were informal yet just right: he made the best sangria yet years later didn't remember ever having made any. It was interesting to meet people from the different phases of Jonathan's life. He told me that he tended to go through "groups" of people in five or even ten year periods; he had intense periods doing a particular thing and then moved on. When four years of "Dark Shadows" was over, it was natural and traditional for him to move on and even leave people he knew behind. That was that. However, usually at least one or two people carried over into whatever the next phase of his life would be.<br />
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So much of "Fridiculousness" captured Jonathan's personality and life perfectly. It was to be his favorite show.<br />
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-87223032046610243462012-05-28T19:14:00.001-04:002012-05-28T19:14:01.596-04:00Off the grid sort ofThe view from my campsite at Trap Pond<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-J50-vHYVt8M/T8QGuPWTKkI/AAAAAAAAAak/DPqyG_lk5wM/s640/blogger-image--2021533356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-J50-vHYVt8M/T8QGuPWTKkI/AAAAAAAAAak/DPqyG_lk5wM/s640/blogger-image--2021533356.jpg" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20634500.post-53340668244764320762012-05-26T23:29:00.001-04:002012-05-26T23:29:16.829-04:00The Return of Jonathan Brewster<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This continues on my memories of working with Jonathan Frid. Earlier entries can be found below.)<br />
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The "Arsenic and Old Lace" was an big success and Jonathan had earned critical acclaim for his work as Jonathan Brewster. In fact, sometimes he was the only one in the cast who got a good review even from the cranky reviewers. The most important aspect of the tour for Jonathan (and his manager and me) was his renewed media visibility. On his Monday nights off during the tour, Jonathan had bookings for his reader's theater program at nearby libraries and special theater events. <br />
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What was also winding down was my creative role with Clunes Associates. I've never minded doing the boring clerical work that accompanies the production company venture but once Jonathan was back in New York City and the tour over with, my role was clerical. Jonathan was getting bookings for "Fools and Fiends" and there wasn't anything more for me. This wasn't said to me, of course, as help with administrative tasks was always needed but I didn't want to spend my time doing that. I told Jonathan's manager that I didn't want to be involved anymore and explained why. I wasn't upset with anyone. There wasn't anything for me that I wanted to do. I was involved in other theatrical ventures and what time I had, I want to devote to creative work. <br />
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I called Jonathan to tell him. He said he was very sorry to hear of my decision. In fact, he sounded rather fine with it although a little surprised. When I hung up, I was a little hurt that my decision to quit was taken with such aplomb. But, whatever, life goes on, I thought. <br />
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My fantastic "internship" at Ensemble Studio Theater had been extended but now was over. I had learned so much from Curt Dempster and the talented group that ran and made up the theater's membership; actors who were very visible to the public but chose to spend their free time developing and appearing in new plays. These were connects I was anxious to use. And now the work I had been doing for Jonathan and Mary seemed at an end. Though I knew I was making the right decision for myself, I was unhappy because I had grown to like Jonathan and working with him. However, I had to do what was best for me. <br />
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What I didn't know until later was that Jonathan was very upset by my decision to leave Clunes. Of course, nothing in our phone conversation had reflected this. He told everyone else but me. Mary told me later he had her come down to his apartment to talk about my decision, had they done something to upset me, and so on. She told him no, only that I needed more creative work to keep me interested in staying. <br />
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Jonathan called me and asked me to meet him for dinner down at Pete's Tavern. This wasn't unusual as I had met him there many times for dinner but I wasn't sure what he wanted to talk about. If it was just to have dinner, that would be great. I was interested in maintaining contact with him. I did like him and if down the road he took on other projects, I wanted to be the one of the people he called to assist.<br />
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At dinner, he kissed my hand and cheek. This wasn't indicative of setting me up for anything - that was a common way for Jonathan to greet a woman acquaintance or friend. I deliberately did not hug or have any physical display of affection towards Jonathan while I worked for him. <br />
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He asked if he could call on me to assist him as needed with personal projects that could include nothing more than assist Mary with fan mail, and accompany him on errands and work on projects in his apartment. That was fine with me, I said. He told me how much he had appreciated what I did for him at the Dark Shadows Festivals and other fan events he employed me to attend, and I probably would have attended on my own anyway. All these compliments led me to wonder what was going. Finally, Jonathan said he had been concerned that I felt unappreciated with Clunes. As I was a ghostwriter, a behind-the-scenes person, my name didn't appear on programs. I told him that my real reason was what I had stated: I needed more creative input and work in order to keep Clunes work on a high priority list. (Note to readers: in the theater, you are always juggling jobs as most work is project to project). <br />
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Jonathan then asked me if I wanted to collaborate with him on the development of another one-man show. He said that the theaters and libraries where "Fools and Fiends" had played now wanted him to come back with another show. I would still be a ghostwriter. I told him that career-wise, I only needed to be able to put down a resume that he and I had collaborated on projects and that I was a ghostwriter for him. I only cared what potential employers knew about my experience. They could call him as a reference.<br />
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A wild creative ride known as "Fridiculousness" was about to begin.<br />
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810743075458783724noreply@blogger.com6