AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....................................................

   About 32 years ago I was living in Athens Ohio and lying and saying I had already graduated from college.  I hadn’t.  But I was in town and working with a professor, writing comedy and making a demo reel to take to auditions when I left.  I was also working.  It was one of the most magical times in my life.  I decided since I was not in any classes to relax as much as I could.  I worked but it didn’t feel like work.  I was 23 and waitressing.  The restaurant was tiny and called “The Hobbit House.”  I loved it.  Once I got how to do things, it was very easy.  I had a table with 2 women at it.  It was a slow time in the day and they were the only ones in this restaurant.  I wondered how I could make this the most fun I could possibly have.  I don’t remember what I did or how I served, I just enjoyed it a lot.  The one woman smiled and said “Thank you, it was lovely.”, when she left.  Then the manager came up to me and he said, “What did you do?  They were so happy with the service.” 

  When we were making this demo reel in the spring, we were taping sketches that I and this professor had written featuring me.  We were working with the radio and television dept. and the graduate students in the theatre dept.  Things were not going well with the radio and television dept.  I did the same thing as when I waitressed.  I asked myself one evening as we were taping, how I could make it fun for myself.  I didn’t think about anything but that.  We did this sketch over and over and it was just me and one other actor.  I enjoyed it thoroughly.  After it was over, we went to a bar to discuss things.  One director sat down and immediately commented on my incredible patience.  She said she couldn’t believe how I kept the energy up with each take.  This was a woman who could not remember my name for 2 years.  It’s comical that anyone could think I had such patience.  I don’t consider myself patient. 

  In both of these instances, I didn’t worry about others, or care too much what anyone thought of me.  I simply took care of myself and the rest got done.