Sad Events.

All right, even though my two faithful readers are up on all this, I'm going to give some background. Becky and a bunch of our friends have a theater group (www.uncutpages.org) and they're performing in the NY and Phila fringe festivals this year.
One member of this fine organization has, as of yesterday, been forbidden by her parents from performing. There are several problems with this. One, she is a college graduate, and old enough that her parents have no right to forbid anything. Two, their reasons for this forbidding have no basis in reality. Three, they honestly have no right to cause such problems; the show has already been cast, and now a replacement will have to be found for the forcibly abandoned part.
I won't go on and on. In short, parental muscle-flexing really, REALLY upsets me. It's even worse in this case, where it's not just psychological power, it's grad school tuition being waved and pulled back like a dollar on a string. To make it perfectly clear, this is a bad, upsetting and horrid event. Not to mention very sad for the actress in question. Who, I seem to have decided on the spur of the moment, shall remain nameless.
The interesting factor in all of this is that, among a few options ranging from decent to bad, recruiting ME to play the missing part has been discussed. True, only discussed by Becky and I, but she's the director, so that's probably the discussion that counts. I have to say, I'm rather pleased by this development, despite my frustration about the situation as a whole. Acting is not a hat I often wear, but I always hope for some random chance to dust it off. Though it might be better to bring in a person with more (or more recent, at least) experience, I'll be disappointed if it turns out I'm not needed.

The other bit of sad news (as if we needed more, right?) is that my delicate and charming anole friend, Anna, has moved on to catch crickets in Heaven. She died last night, in a freshly-cleaned cage and the thoughts of Becky and I and my mother accompanying her. I hope Eustace the Dragon carried her off himself, in one big clawed hand.