If Only I Had a Research Grant

Okay, maybe it's just me, but have you ever been struck by a topic and thought of what an awesome topic it would make for someone's Master's thesis? Like, I don't know, a comparison of Jewish male sexuality in Philip Roth's Goodbye, Columbus and Michael Chabon's The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, or the evolution of the dead relative appearing on stage as a character, or something like that. Because I'm sometimes struck by such ideas, and wish I had the ability to follow them to their conclusions, or hire someone to do it for me.

Which is all by way of saying: If anyone wants to write "The Nightmares Came Today": Violence, Disorder, and the Apocalypse in the Works of David Bowie, they should contact me at their earliest convenience.

I'm The Guest Writer For Cliche Watch!

The excellent and rather brilliant Benno Nelson, in addition to his fantastic blog, writes a weekly "Cliché Watch" for the blog of The New Colony. He explores various theatrical cliches, and for the past few weeks, they've been formatted as debates rather than as monologues. He very graciously asked me to write this week, on a particular hated cliche of mine--dead relatives onstage. Yes, they've been around since Hamlet at least, but they've been inescapable since (the wildly overrated) Proof. And I've had about enough.

You can read my piece and Benno's response here. Please read and share your opinions on this particular cliche, and suggest topics for future installments!