Too Many People!!!

Last night, I judged the SCERA's Celebrity competition for my third time to help Shawn out of a pickle. When I was there, I saw some people who at one point or another I considered dear friends. I haven't seen them in so long that I don't even remember when the last time was. I know it was at least a year ago, but can't pinpoint it past that.

It was nice to have a moment to visit with them, but I was in a hurry to get home and finish transferring all of my mp3s to my external harddrive. As I was driving home, I started to think about said people. I haven't spoken a word to them in at least a year, but I still care about them and want to know how they're doing. We never had a falling out. We never had an event that caused us to have bad feelings. And yet, I've just been too dang busy to see them.

It got me thinking about my friend Jann, who you may remember from previous blog posts. I used to see her at least once a week during my senior year of high school, and for at least a year or so after. Then it just got less and less to the point where now I'm lucky to see her twice a year. I haven't seen her now for well over a year, and it kills me. We always have so much fun when I see her. She's one of the most kind, caring, genuine people in the whole world, and yet, as much as I try, I can't seem to make time to see her.

Then, around the time that I was passing East Bay on I-15, I thought back to Celebrity again. Dick Harmon was there because his daughter was in the competition. He writes for the Deseret News, but he used to work for the Daily Herald. Sharon Gholdston also used to write for the Daily Herald, and she passed away within the last few years. I started thinking about how much I love the Gholdstons, and yet I completely lost contact with them when John left BYU for Cedar City. I wonder how they're doing.

The progression from Jann to the Gholdstons got me REALLY thinking about people that I used to do theatre with in Springville, when I was doing it for the fun, and not for the "art" or the "money." I miss that, although at this point, I could NEVER do a show without stressing about the art of it. I could probably handle doing a show and not getting paid, but I can't tolerate working with people who don't want to make the show as good as possible. (Luckily, the people I'm missing are NOT the ones who build their own theatres to give themselves good roles OR the people who say things like "why strive for more than mediocrity of that's what our patrons expect?")

By the time I got home, I kept thinking "I know too many dang people!"

There are people who I've cared about a great deal, and I don't even know if they're alive anymore. I heard that one of the actresses that was in the first play I ever directed was in a car crash and died. I don't believe it, but I would like to have assurance that she's still alive and not just have to hope.

There are people who I get to talk to occasionally, but never get to really see. Others that my only contact is Facebook, and yet I don't ever take time to send them messages or post on their wall. Blah.

I'm getting to the rambling point, the movie I'm watching is winding down, and I'm sleep-deprived from 4 weeks of being up really late and getting up early for youth theatre workshops. (Sidenote- new rule: when Jeremy is sleep-deprived and driving to Pleasant Grove before 8 AM, he is NOT allowed to listen to the mix of Lonestar's "I'm Already There" with the clips of messages to soldiers in Iraq.) Therefore, I'm wrapping up this blog. If you're reading this, and you haven't seen me for a long period of time, know that I'm not intentionally avoiding you. Well, most likely...