They don’t write. They don’t call.

“The difference between me and you is that I do good fiction.” —speech to reporters at the National Press Club, May 18, 1999.

American historian and author, Tom Clancy, was born on this day in 1947 (died 2013).

I met Tom Clancy once. I was um…between jobs…and doing some contract work for friends who owned a company providing author escorts.

No, not that type of escort. Get your mind out of the gutter.

We drove authors to their press tour appointments. One day, my task was to drive a Hollywood producer to Clancy’s home on the Chesapeake Bay. It wasn’t as glamorous as you might think. I sat in the car while she met with him inside. But he walked her to the car and I got to say hello.

I didn’t tell him that, while I’ve seen movies based on his works, I’m not sure if I’ve ever read one of his books all the way through.

In another brush with Tom Clancy greatness, this time we’ll make it someone else’s, a friend was working as an extra when they were filming Clear and Present Danger. For the scene in the Senate Chambers, they needed more people. So, she called her husband and said “put on a suit and get down here.”

Rob did and in the final scene you can see him standing by the door as Harrison Ford walks in. His wife is in the room…somewhere…but she got paid.

Rob refers to it as “That movie I did with Hank.”

Not unlike the “movie I did with Kate Hudson.”

Sort of.

A number of years ago, I went on two post-Katrina construction trips to New Orleans. The second trip we were helping to restore a church that had a pre-school. We also built a fence for their play yard.

At the hospital across the street, Hudson was filming A Little Bit of Heaven (2011).

Craft services rented the fellowship hall of the church to feed the cast and crew. They offered to feed the five of us working at the church. We never saw Kate Hudson, but we were pretty spoiled with the food offerings.

I did actually work on a movie with Alfre Woodard. A few years back, she filmed Juanita (which I believe, only played on Netflix), here in Virginia. I worked overnight on the diner scene. I spent the night as the short order cook passing plates through the window. When Woodard walks into the diner, I’m technically to the left of the screen, but I was never seen.

Like my friend in the Clancy movie, I got paid. And once again enjoyed the stylings of Craft Services.

Still, the Academy Awards have never called.

I’ll never walk that red carpet, and I should add that the Tonys aren’t calling either.

I’ll settle for the New York Times Best Seller list…but y’all have to help me by buying and promoting my books.

Speaking of which, I’d like Amazon to know that I’m not interested in a list of best selling children’s books if mine don’t show on the list

I’m just sayin’.

As Yente said, meanwhile we suffer, oh how we suffer.

On a side note, if you’re casting Fiddler, I was born to play Tevye…and I’m running out of time.

I digress (but seriously…call me…).

I’m not suffering. At least not at the moment. I’ve had the chance to do some cool things.

I’ll keep doing cool things as long as I’m moving which is what I’m doing right now.

I’m moving on.

THINGS TO READ

Al Jaffee, Mad magazine’s longest-running contributor, dies at 102
Entertainment Weekly
The iconic cartoonist was famous for his Mad Fold-Ins and “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions.”

Carriages, Crown Jewels … and an emoji. New details of King Charles’ coronation revealed
CNN

June 22 – July 14, 2023

Germany is shutting off its last nuclear power plants because shutting down the cleanest source of energy is totally the best way to beat climate change
Not the Bee
The final three German nuclear power plants are being closed down, and the people trying to save us from global warming are all celebrating.

Chester: The LEGO Group Project temporary Visitor Center installed
The Progress-Index
Over the next few years, 1,761 people will be hired to join the LEGO Team, a range of professional and production positions

Disney To Remove Problematic Kiss From Classic Movie, Snow White Will Now Remain Dead
The Babylon Bee
BURBANK CA – After mounting criticism from an avalanche of 3 people online, Disney has decided to release a new cut of the classic film Snow White. In the new version, Prince Charming will refrain from a non-consensual kiss and leave her to die instead.

WHAT I’M READING


BORN ON THIS DAY

American singer-songwriter and guitarist, Vince Gill, was born on this day in 1957.


Available on Amazon (click)

Missed Appointments

Our driving times to and from the beach were roughly four hours each way. We didn’t rush, but we didn’t waste time.

On the way down we stopped for lunch at The Virginia Diner in Wakefield. Just because we could.

Both ways we listened to audio books…I started to write books on tape…The Bone Farm by Dean Koontz on the way down and The House on the Water by Margo Hunt on the way back…


Even with the books, drive time still gives you time to think. It was the second book about long time friends that brought me around to this rabbit hole.

It was English class in 8th or 9th grade. I have no idea what the actual story was (if you know it, pass it along). But the protagonist and his best friend made a pact. No matter where they were or what they were doing, the would meet on a specific date, at a specific time, in a specific location exactly twenty-five years into the future.

My best friend and I thought it quite the novel idea and we set a date of our own.

We never made it.

Oh for several months, maybe even a couple of years we would remind each other of the deal. But by the time we reached graduation, we’d both lost track and more or less forgotten about it.

I think somewhere in some box of memorabilia I actually have the date written down.

Sadly, remembering it wouldn’t have helped. My friend, also named Mike, passed before we reached the twenty-five year mark. With a life of substance abuse and self-destruction, he was gone far too soon.

We lost touch after graduation and he didn’t make it back to reunions while he was still living. I think the last time I talked to him was some ten years after graduation when he called to see if I could help with a problem he was having with the government. I couldn’t.

A few years later, I learned that he was gone.

We had some good times, really from middle school on. I’m sorry we didn’t get to make that 25-year appointment.

Mike is gone, as are so many other friends from my youth.

I’m not writing this to sound morbid. It’s a reminder that we need to cherish the people in our lives.

Perhaps a reminder to reach out to those we’ve not heard from in a few years.

You know, do something more than like their Facebook posts.

It also makes you think about the promises you made to yourself or to others when you were younger.

Just out of college I took a short-term missions trip with World Gospel Mission. We worked at the Southwest Indian School in Phoenix and taught Vacation Bible School on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico.

One weekend we took at trip to the Grand Canyon. I made myself a promise to come back one day and hike the canyon. I even bought the t-shirt.

It’s almost 45 years later and I’m finally going back. My best friend from college and I are taking an Old Man Bucket List Road Trip (OMBLRT ™ ) in August.

No we’re not doing the full hike. We’re going to drive our electric scooters up to the edge.

Seriously, we’ll be camping and doing some day hikes, and I’m good with that.

You’ll be able to follow those adventures on Facebook and Instagram…assuming we have wifi.

Youthful promises are important. Maybe sometimes they need to be rethought. Maybe not all of them need to become reality.

I just want to be careful to not miss any more appointments.

THINGS TO READ

Firebrand Big Read: The Difficulty with Being ‘True to Yourself’
Dr. Kevin Brown, President, Asbury University
But while the aphorism “be true to yourself”—or its corollary “be authentic”—is frequently used and ubiquitously advertised, the advice is problematic.

Family Arriving For Easter Service Surprised How Different Church Looks Without The Christmas Decorations
The Babylon Bee

Slocomb, Alabama
Sean Dietrich, Sean of the South
I’ve had a chance to regroup and think about what it is I truly want to say. It’s nothing fancy, but I hope you know I mean it.

WHAT I’M READING


WHAT I’M WORKING ON

Now that it’s officially on the website, I can tell you that I’ve signed on for another theatre project. This summer, I’ll be appearing in Sound of the Guns with Firehouse Theatre.

From Firehouse: Based on writer/composer/performer Jim O’Ferrell’s personal experiences, SOUND OF THE GUNS takes place over two long days in a soldier’s life — one in 2006 as an active duty U.S. Army Sergeant in the Iraq War, and ten years later in 2016 as a veteran back in the U.S.

I mentioned yesterday that I did some drawing at the beach. One of the projects was my Stations of the Cross series. I created a set of digital images a long time ago and have actually sold several sets. You can purchase that version on Zazzle.

I’ve wanted for along time to convert then to a new medium, but figure that out was a chore. It wasn’t stained glass because I don’t work with glass. It wasn’t painting because the brushes weren’t doing what I wanted them to. Finally, after two years (okay a year and a half so far) of doing The 100 Day Project and publishing three books (available on Amazon), I realized that my medium all along was marker. After all years of pep rally signs and campaign posters can’t be all wrong.

At the beach, I completed two of the drawings. Here is Jesus Prays Alone.

Left. Original concept. Right. New medium.

More to come..

BORN ON THIS DAY

American Christian musician and an early leader of “Jesus music,”  Nancy (Henigbaum) “Honeytree” was born on this day in 1952. Honeytree came to faith during the Jesus Revolution.


Available on Amazon (click)