primal scream.

I learned long ago how burning bridges can be akin to professional suicide. For a lot of these nosedives I have fortunately been on the sidelines, observing, taking in the lessons others couldn't see plowing straight toward them. There's one industry friend of mine who I worked with on several projects who has never conveyed a single negative word about any show that has come along the pike. I have often seen this position as living in shameful denial while reaping the benefits of experience and a steadily bubbling résumé.

Tonight begins the final weekend of my play. There will be three more performances, and then this temporary dysfunctional family will scatter to the wind, focusing on other things, memorizing new pure moments, locking another one away in the mausoleum of memory. For a show so intimately about the nuanced and the obvious flavors of food, sex, love, and life, the absolute last thing I want to do is leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth about this unfortunately rushed but tightly woven experience. Once all of the warts are scraped away and the animal is skinned, what lies beneath is a work of art to make one proud.

I have such apprehension about the whole debriefing meeting set to occur on Monday evening. To quote the play: 'why are you asking me to criticize you?' I think the world already has far too many meetings, conference calls, and jam sessions, that a pow-wow with this forced outsider can only have a couple of extreme results, either possibly pounding on principles or on future opportunities. The iBoss died this week. I feel that the previous week he was loathed, yet in death he's a prince, a champion of our entire culture. Clearly no one can play it straight. No one can comfortably speak their mind. There's always merely a time and a place. My mom would always refer to that as picking your battles.

What's the answer? The Zen in my motorcycle maintenance has me taking deep breaths. I have seen this show develop so organically that I feel as if I can easily deconstruct it all down to its finer points, whether it be the dispositions of others or each layer of every metaphor. One must occasionally wonder about how far reaching ripples can be felt. My opinions are strong, but perhaps the bravest thing to do is add another line to my résumé and move on. Sometimes the best thing you can do is let people discover things at their own pace.