Shadows in the Night

Sometimes, I don't sleep very well.  Too much on my mind, perhaps.  Every now and then, the stress of life can really get to me and interrupt my sleep. I have been known to experience an anxiety attack or two in the middle of the night.  You've been there?  It's no fun, right?

Last night, I was having one of those nights.  Restless.  Tossing and turning...couldn't get comfortable.  Covers pushed off, then pulled back on as I started to shiver in the frosty night air.  I often like to have the window open just a crack to let the fresh air in, but last night it was pretty damn cold.

In that drowsy state between full consciousness and sleep, I knew I wanted to get up and shut the window. I opened my eyes and looking straight ahead, I was sure someone was standing in my bedroom.  A very tall person, wearing a hat.  Very broad-shouldered, and needless to say, very menacing.  I shut my eyes and opened them again very quickly, thinking that act alone would make "him" disappear.  Yet he remained. I felt my pulse race, I wanted to scream; I thought for a moment I was dreaming, but knew for a fact I was awake.  And I was.  I was awake.  And there was an intruder standing in front of my bed.

And yet...this figure never moved.  Never swayed.  And interestingly enough, never made a sound--not a breath or a sigh emanted from him. And as sleep fled, and my rational mind took over, the terror I felt a moment earlier seemed to dissipate.  And I was able to roll over and turn on the light.  My 7 foot, broad shouldered visitor with the hat was my jacket hanging in the wardrobe that faces my bed.  I turned the light off and he reappeared.  Clicked the light back on, and there was my innocent jacket once again.

I will never underestimate the power of light and shadow, and my own imagination.  If tonight brings the same agitated sleep, and once again the shadows fall in such a way to create a figure in the night, I will do my best to remain calm...know this "thing" means no harm...it's all just a figment of my wild, agitated thoughts.

Tell me...what do you see in the dark?



Scene and Be Seen...

As a writer, or any type of artist for that matter, it is always wonderful to have our work validated.  One of my new short plays is getting validation next week.  My heroes at The Collective Theatre Company in New York City are presenting new work at their May Fundraiser called "Scene and Be Seen," including one of my latest pieces entitled This is Temporary.

If you are in the NYC area, and are looking for a great evening of entertainment, knowing that at the same time you are supporting the arts and this innovative company, here are the details:

WHAT:    

SCENE AND BE SCENE" - THE COLLECTIVE/CROSSHATCH THEATRE COMPANY'S MAY FUNDRAISER
Directed by Stephen Agosto and Emma Canalese

WHEN:

MAY 20TH & 21ST AT 8PM (7pm Cocktail Hour)
$10 AT THE DOOR (INCLUDES A SHOW AND YOUR FIRST DRINK, WHAT A DEAL!!!)

WHERE:
The Neighborhood Playhouse
340 E. 54th Street
NY, NY

It's a great deal at only 10 bucks a pop and is sure to be a fun night!  So go out and support theatre, playwrights, actors and have a lot of fun doing it!  If you get the chance to go, I'd love to hear from you!





Technical Malfunction

I was working on a really great post.  I hadn't written on my own blog for awhile since I've been busy guest posting on other blogs (that's a good thing) and I really liked the new post I was working on.

So, I needed to walk away from it for a bit as I often do when I'm writing.  Take a little brain break as it were...I saved the draft and ran some errands.  When I returned, I couldn't get into my Blogger account.  Blogger had gone down!  For over 24 hours.  I couldn't finish the post.

When I returned to Blogger today...the post was gone!  So were a couple of comments I received that had never been published. AHHHHHHH.......

It was such a good post, if I do say so myself.  But now it's gone.  Forever.  I will try my best to retrieve it from the dark recesses of my mind, but the moment is gone.  The mood is gone.  It will take too much effort to try and resurrect it, and frankly...it wasn't that good.  In the meantime, here's this little rant.  I shall calm down and afterwards, I shall post something fresh and new and hopefully fun this weekend. 

Bloggers using Blogspot are all in a similar boat today and probably as P'O'd as I am.  It could have been worse.  I could have lost the whole thing.  Now, I'm wondering if I should move over to Wordpress?  Any thoughts on that one, people?  I would love to hear what you think...