thanks, Josh

When the first faint glow of dawn crept into the cave, Moon-Watcher saw that his father had died in the night. He did not know that the Old One was his father, for such a relationship was utterly beyond his understanding, but as he looked at the emaciated body he felt dim disquiet that was the ancestor of sadness.

--Arthur C Clarke, 2001

I'm not dead, just a work-crazed hermit

Egads. Three days out of Big Planet, and I'm wondering how the hell I ever got any work done back when I HAD a job!

The good news is that my writing is coming along much better than usual, now that I'm able to sleep in. I'm already pleased with how the original HEFNER MONOLOGUES are shaping up in revisions; this will be a richer, stronger show than before, hopefully improving with every performance.

I'm planning (assuming nothing's wrong with my car) to head up to Gordon's cabin in the Catoctin Mountains, near Camp David, so I can spend a few days being a hermit in the mountains to focus on 1.) revising/rehearsing THE HEFNER MONOLOGUES, 2.) writing SON OF THE HEFNER MONOLOGUES, 3.) researching/revising the Harvey Dent novel, and 4.) plotting a 22-page Johnny Go comic script.

The bad news is that I realized that I may need to cut out whole section of THE HEFNER MONOLOGUES for my Orlando performance.

Once again, I'm at the mercy of time constraints. I foolishly requested 75 minutes, when at this point, my show's a little over 90! Thankfully I'll have the full 90 for my Seattle dates, which will be filmed. But I'm afraid drastic measures will have to be taken if I'm to do a complete show within 75 minutes.

I'm afraid the entire "Day in Traffic Court" story has to go. Yes, on one hand, it's one of my best bits, beloved by all, and cutting it out utterly breaks my heart, but it's hardly essential to the points and themes of the show.

So, yeah, if you don't hear from me for a few days, I'm up in the mountains being an old hermit. Probably with beer.