Monday Musings

I was not raised to be hopeful. I was raised to be Catholic. We were an Irish Catholic family, unless you count my dad who was Methodist but not showy about it. He and my mother were married in the 1940’s when mixed religion marriages were frowned upon. That being accomplished there not much to discuss, philosophically speaking. He was a Christian. We were Christians. Not much difference in Point of View except that my Dad’s God didn’t care whether or not my Dad went to church. Our Catholic God, on the other hand, was a bit of nit...

It is the season of the peepers. In high school the peepers came in partnership with the spring concert for which we rehearsed weeks and weeks in advance. Everyone who wanted to get in GOT in. Music was a leveling agent. “Here are the notes. Sing them.” And if you weren’t so good at it, the teacher put you next to someone who was so you could get a leg up.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ The Peepers Return at Tulis McCall.

“The Ten Commandments,” THE MOVIE. I was six years old and I had it bad for Charlton Heston. Seriously who wouldn’t? His hair turned from short and dark to majestic and long and grey then white and WAVY. Heston was buffed and spent a lot of time without a shirt. He was also tan and righteous. What 6 year old girl could resist that.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ New England Easter-Time Memories at Tulis McCall.

...this epidemic of good deeds and dispositions was out of my control. I put down my book and watched as the Samaritans began to multiply out on the street. A pizza guy stopped to hold a door open. A woman stood still while her dog said hello to a puppy. A man on his phone paused his call and executed a tiny soccer move to stop something rolling down the street being chased by a panicked teenager....

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Bronchial Yak has sidelined me. This archived entry on KINDNESS may be just the remedy in...

...We will not be driven byfear into an age of unreason... We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty..." Edward R. Murrow, March 9, 1954

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Edward R. Murrow’s Words Still True at Tulis McCall.

My father was born on April Fool’s Day. Once I was old enough to understand the ramifications of that I imagined the doctor telling my grandfather he had a son and wondered if Grampy might have asked if this was an April Fool’s joke.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ My Father Was An April Fool (Revisited) at Tulis McCall.

what happens every single time I take a power walk in my neighborhood park is this is: I come home feeling better. Even if I don’t want to.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ That Old Springtime Depression Remedy: Operation Daffodil Rescue at Tulis McCall.

"Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." Only engage and the mind grows heated; begin and then the task will be completed.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Pandemic Anniversary And The Resistance at Tulis McCall.

I don’t know about you but this year Daylight Savings nonsense has knocked me ass-over-teakettle. I was never phased by this before.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Daylight Savings Kerfuffle ~What’s The Point? at Tulis McCall.

Peter Gilman appeared at the farm every summer around the time the green beans were heavy and the hay was ready to be harvested. When the hay was ready, it had to be cut and put in the barn before the rain came. Rain was always needed but rain was not always a friend. Wet hay was wasted hay.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ A Summer Story to Sooth Us All at Tulis McCall.

February 24, 2025

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Thank You – Encore at Tulis McCall.

February 17, 2025

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Presidents Day For US at Tulis McCall.

Sometimes the way to cure the blues is to pay attention to something other than the blues. And there could not be more of a no-brainer than to pay attention to the light. Get Over Yourself and pay attention!

Continue reading Monday Musing – Mid-Winter Blues? GET OVER IT! at Tulis McCall.

I have been encouraged by the list of new Cabinet Members. Looking at the job descriptions in combination with their qualification because I feel like their appointments opens up a whole new avenue for anyone searching for a job. Like ME.
Secretary of Agriculture – LOVE plants and I have several friends with serious green thumbs.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Looking For A Job? Consider A Cabinet Position. You Could Qualify! at Tulis McCall.

A visit from the Noro Virus aka La Grippe aka Stomach Flu will knock you off your pins!

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ A Visit From The Noro Virus aka La Grippe at Tulis McCall.

Here is the thing about pointing fingers – we all learned how to do it when we were little. Like we all learned to say “Are We There Yet?” Or “Got you back last.” Or “Did not. Did so.” Or I didn’t touch him.” Maybe what we need is a few old fashioned mothers who would call time out.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ January Crises at Tulis McCall.

The internet and libraries are filled with books that all say the same thing. Do something. Choose optimism. Or as my mother used to say, “Don’t think. DO.”

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Aspire To Be EVERYTHING at Tulis McCall.

we are leaving 2024. We are awash in tasks that need finishing because the date tells us so. Like the monitors in school exams would tell us “Pencils Down. Hand in your papers.” There is no negotiation. No bargaining. The year 2024 is winding down and we must move along with it.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Between The Old And New Year at Tulis McCall.

If you are raised Catholic, at some point you have to choose. Jesus or Santa. At a certain age you are expected to put away childish things and throw Santa under the bus.
But here’s the thing. I knew Santa Claus way before I knew Jesus. He came to my house. He came to my house while I was sleeping and left me presents.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Jesus v. Santa ~ And The Winner Is… at Tulis McCall.

In the main hall I counted at least 25 children under the age of 4. Many of them were bleating like unhappy goats or bucking against their parents’ arms like small wild beasts – attempting full body flips and aerial launches. Parents were soothing and transferring the unruly charges from one adult to another. Even grandparents were enlisted.

The Met had turned into a Day Care Center at the stroke of Saturday 2 PM.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Lessons From Christmas At The Met Museum 2022 ~ Revisited at Tulis McCall.

I shred. Something comes into my house with my name and address on it, it visits the shredder. I also shred notes, story ideas and half baked attempts at writing something. A lot. I shred a lot.

Before anything hits the shredder in my office, however, it gets filed. On the floor.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ The Advantages and Perils of Floor Filing at Tulis McCall.

“The Wizard of Oz” showed up again over the holiday. I used to watch it every year when I was a kid. Ours was a black and white TV, however, so I never knew “Oz” was in technicolor until I saw in a concert hall in college. Kansas was Sepia and Oz was technicolor. Talk about a life changer!

Watching “The Wizard of Oz” as an adult, I have concluded that OZ belongs to Toto not Dorothy – like “Cinderella” belongs to Gus-Gus. But that’s a story for another time.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ The Case for Toto As Her...

Something people may not know about turkeys of the wild sort is that they are tricky – disposition wise. Live near a wild turkey and you take your chances. They consider themselves noble and above your pay grade.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Annual Turkey Tribute at Tulis McCall.

Hello! I am sleeping. After focusing full time on rehearsing and performing in "In The Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot" at Playwrights Horizons here in NYC since September 3 - well believe me when I tell you that I am enjoying having an appointment free slice of time! See you next week.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Zzzzzzzzzzzzz at Tulis McCall.

Well, it’s been a crappy week. We live in a country filled with stupid people who have been duped by a snake oil salesman. It is a vexation of extreme magnitude.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Post Election Advice From André De Shields at Tulis McCall.

I am suggesting that we hold a clear vision of the community we want to be a part of and then pull in the folks who want to play in that sandbox. I am suggesting that we believe in our own selves and see what happens.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Election ~What Tune Do We Want to Play? at Tulis McCall.

It's Opening Night! Woo hoo!!!!

Continue reading Monday Musings ~ It’s Opening Night! at Tulis McCall.

At an audition we enter the room, and begin the first part of our performance. We act as if we were normal (when everyone knows this is not true).

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Audition 101 – 2023 Remembered at Tulis McCall.

When I was little all I wanted was to be a GROWNUP.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Grownup Envy at Tulis McCall.

We need the kind of break we can plan ahead, where we can float about in a kind of recharging gell. Or use our noggin to think about things slowly and calmly – like a mental and spiritual massage.

Continue reading Monday Musing ~ Take A Break From Your Life (Revisited) at Tulis McCall.

Melinda's eyes sparkled when she set them on you, and once settled she could pretty much talk you into anything. Not that she was conniving. She just had a perpetual case of inviting-itus. “You have to taste this.” “You have to see this.” “You have to smoke this.”

And then there was the spider.

Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ Melinda And Her Garden Guest at Tulis McCall.

You can't be young and not stupid. It is a trade-off.

Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ Young and Stupid: The Trade-Off at Tulis McCall.

...here is to the New York drivers who don’t know where they are and keep on moving. May we all take a page out of their travel guide. Chances are, if you keep moving, being lost will be an adventure.

Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ Keep Moving at Tulis McCall.

... on 911 Danny the bartender in front of me was 11. “I was just a lad,” he said. “Can you imagine?”

... On 911 I was 51. That made Danny the bartender 40 years my junior. Forty years. And here he was the little pipsqueak pouring me a glass of wine. What was going on here? As they say in the old country – I was gob-smacked.

Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ CORRECTION September 11 Remembrance from 2023 ~ Danny’s Story at Tulis McCall.

... on 911 Danny the bartender in front of me was 11. “I was just a lad,” he said. “Can you imagine?”

... On 911 I was 51. That made Danny the bartender 40 years my junior. Forty years. And here he was the little pipsqueak pouring me a glass of wine. What was going on here? As they say in the old country – I was gob-smacked.

Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ CORRECTION September 11 Remembrance from 2023 ~ Danny’s Story at Tulis McCall.

You weeren's born. You were evicted. Your mother had to work to get you here. Why do you think they call it "Labor?"

Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ From The Archive ~ Labor Thoughts on Labor Day (Summer Recess Continues) at Tulis McCall.

The other day I signed up for a Lifetime Membership for a Meditation App. It seemed like a no-brainer, until I heard myself think, “Wait a minute – how long would I have to live to make this lifetime membership worthwhile?”

Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ From The Archive ~ Lifetime Membership Considerations (August Recess Continues) at Tulis McCall.

My life is like a quiz show. I have so many names, places, things, summer vacations, Christmas Carols stuffed into my head that it is difficult to sort through them all on a moment’s notice. More and more I depend on the kindness of strangers.

Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ From The Archive ~ My Life Is A Quiz Show (August Recess Continues) at Tulis McCall.

“Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.” Someone said that somewhere and it is now on coffee mugs all over the planet.

Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ From The Archive ~ How Stupid Am I? (August Recess Continues) at Tulis McCall.

this epidemic of good deeds and dispositions was out of my control. I watched as the Samaritans began to multiply out on the street. A pizza guy stopped to hold a door open. A woman stood still while her dog said hello to a puppy. A man on his phone paused his call and executed a tiny soccer move to stop something rolling down the street being chased by a panicked teenager. And when I asked the angel bus driver how close he got to my desired street he said, “I will stop there for you. I have time.”