IF WE RETIRE (video)

Em Asks: "What would we do if we retired, John?

John Cullum states unequivocally that he doesn't want to retire.
He says he has banished thoughts of retirement, but Em pursues the thought. She mentions that she'd like to live in a small town and be the proprietor of her own vegetable store.


Gardening?
Living in a small town?
No show biz ventures?
OH NO, says John.
Oh YES, Em says, as she explains why.

WHO WHAT WHY

How did it happen, that I have to hear, see stuff and nonsense about these girls, this family of I WANT TO BE FAMOUS, PAY ATTENTION TO ME girls?

Why are these not very special girls in the limelight, in the news?

Okay, a producer made them into a show in 2007, and it was a hit, and its going on, and on, and on. Audiences love them.

Why do they love them? Who cares, or can identify with them?

I think it is the SELL -- the instinct and taste of smart producer people who feel out the pulse of audiences today, know the appetite -- and feed audiences, stuff audiences, with the tasty, not nourishing, yummy desserts -- body and soul fattening treats.

I'm not mentioning the producers names -- the names of the bad guys who've produced various talent shows similar to the Kardashians. Like the producers who've created the various murder/death/violence shows, they are -- for me -- the ENEMY, birthing, shaping the next generation NCIS creators. A few kids growing up now, fed, bred on these old bad guys' creativeness, will replace them in a few years. And, undoubtedly, the younger generation will gift us with more, worse, culture-crippling reality shows that are edible-inedible garbage.

I don't know why we had to participate in the wedding, the gown, the guy, the "name" guests (whose names I never heard of), the silly camera-conscious little boy who "stole the show," the commentators told us/sold us, ad nauseam. The kid wasn't cute and there was no show to steal -- the dress, the gown, the decorations were boring!

And 10 million dollars! $10 mill for a wedding of a nobody whose biggest contribution to the world is her managing to be someone we are noticing -- envying? admiring? wanting to emulate? Why? She looks like umpteen other not memorable pretty girls.

The 10 million bucks could have been spent on something, anything other than this not special, very ho-hum ordinary event.

Of course I could Google and gather facts, background, the story behind the story of how the pretty girls in this family managed to emerge from the masses of pretty girls who want to be famous, important, be stars in movies, TV, 'blips," hot items, flashes on the giant screen of world-wide everything news.

I can't do it.

I don't want to pay attention to the Kardashians!

DOUBLE THINK

A Facebook friend,"N," sent me a message about "S" -- should she accept him as a friend?

I immediately thought "Sure!" I wondered why N. was so curiously careful about who were her friends?

I wrote her, and said "Sure" and explained why I enjoyed messaging back and forth with S.

Her dilemma has been cooking, stewing in my mind.

There's a full page advertisement in Time Magazine -- no worse than the daily dose of Viagra and Cialis ads -- about a touch, tender glance, and the fact that you guys need to be ready, capable of doing it.

Or the ads that promote that face lift with chicken-wire that sits in my head next to pills, creams, treatments that I might need -- don't need, will need -- because every day without them I am decaying.

Yes, I hate ads. But some of this stuff is viral. It makes you feel old, less effective, vulnerable. The offensive ad in Time -- a flower with droopy leaves -- a new lubricant for post menopausal women, who are experiencing painful intercourse -- I was jarred by it, tut-tutting, bothered, probably as my mother, and her mother were bothered by brassiere, corsets, and panty ads.

C'mon, shut up, you jerk -- you're making a big deal over nothing!" I told myself.

I know that sex, menopause, lubricants, contraception devices are out-in-the-open, palpable, current topics these days! But I am offended. Is nothing private anymore -- between you and yourself? (And maybe your doctor, if you trust your doctor.)

N.'s reluctance to take on a friend on Facebook without checking into who this "S" guy is, seemed unnecessarily old-fashioned. I mean -- why bother? -- your FB friends are not coming over for tea. You'll probably never meet them.

Hmm. N is being careful about what she allows in her life -- what she'll listen to, and pay attention to. Suddenly, like a full moon appearing out of nowhere, I'm seeing an important point.

Beware of what you take into your life. What ad, what sing-song, what religion, what designer, what fad, what words. -- they become a part of you. And whatever is a part of you will affect your loved ones, your kids, your companion, and your real friends whose words -- whether you like them or not -- sit in your head.

A lot of junk -- violence, hatred, bad manners, stupid fashions, fads, trends, fears -- and politics -- are already in that crowded, jam-packed space. We're got to stop watching dumb, brain-washing stuff!

You can't?

Then, start turning off that damn TV whenever you see something offensive. Give it a try. You'll have more time/space/passion for what's important to you.

PAIN OF "PANES" video

The pain involved, in writing a play -- that's the subject the Cullums discuss.

"Shattering Panes," a play project that Em wrote and John produced and directed, was born in Chicago's Hancock building on a windy, stormy day.

The Cullums enjoy remembering how this project evolved, and reveal why it's still a dream, a current project they both want to work on again.