good people, the Friday sermon

Just thinking back on the week and realizing what a lucky little bastard I am.

Good people crowd my days and keep me up all night, telling me the same stories over and over. God bless them and their crooked little hearts.

Had a hilarious breakfast at the Tick Tock Diner up on 34th Street a few days ago with Teresa Eyring, the new jefe over at Theater Communications Group. Eyring like earring, only it's an eye-ring.

How cool would it be if she actually had an eye-ring?

How painful would it be to have an eye-ring?

Scott Morfee and Tom Wirtshafter just gave me all the time they can spare over at Barrow Street Theater to rehearse The Event with Matt. Man, just to be able to sit in a quiet theater and be thinking about a show without any production stress.

It's like being in an empty church on a Wednesday morning, nothing there but you and everything that matters.

Nancy and I had a sandwich and some tea with Emily Fishbaine yesterday over at Mazi's. Em is cooking up an idea about funerals, she's been to more of them this year than I have and that's saying all too much, folks. Sitting there with her and we're telling stories about Jane's funeral and Peggy's funeral and my grandmother's funeral and my eyes keep going wet.

And then I just look across the table at this bright, strong, funny young person and I kind of know that the next generation of theater artists in this town are going to be all right.

I talk to Eric Sanders and I know that they're going to be a lot better than all right, they're all going to get fucking arrested and jailed for their Art Crimes and I can only hope that I'm already in the Big House waiting for them, sweeping the stage.

Had breakfast yesterday morning with Norman Marshall, father of us all. He's telling me stories about performing at Cafe Cino back in the 60s and they're the same stories I can tell about Nada, I mean, the same stories, and I know that we've lived through some history ourselves, we're living it every day.

Yesterday I looked at Studio Dante with Abby Marcus and Leonard Jacobs and some Labyrinth Theater people. Deeply weird space, but again, I'm just listening to Abby and Leonard talk to each other (they're both LIT Steering Committee members) and I'm thinking, damn.

Good people abound.

Look around you today.

Sure, there are a lot of sharks cutting through the waters out there.

Way too many zombies and clones stomping about for my tastes.

And some stone evil motherfuckers, of course, let's not get all St. Francis on the shit, but look closer, not harder, but closer to yourself.

See? Good people standing next to you and ready to take your call and tell you a bad joke and help you carry that weight.

May all the gods dance with all the good people and may all the evil motherfuckers have to sit on metal folding chairs and watch. For a long, long time.

Amen.