 It's five o'clock and look at your floral outfit. How pretty you are today. I know. Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. Yeah, here we are. It's five o'clock. I'm SLP, Susan Lerparks. This is Watchman Work. We've been doing the show for 11 years in the lobby of the Public Theater. Thank you to the Public Theater for supporting this effort. We used to do it live in the lobby of the Public Theater. And about three years ago or so HowlRound came on board to help us live stream. And now during these most interesting times, we are live streaming from home. It's actually kind of a blessing because all you guys can attend without too much, you know, legwork, you know, to get to the Public Theater. So thank you HowlRound. Thank you to the Public Theater. This is what we've been doing for 11 years. We have been working together for 20 minutes. And then for the time remaining, about 40 minutes, we, I take your questions about your work and your creative process. The title of the show is Watch Me Work. And it's all about you. So that's what we do. If you have a question, Audrey will tell you how to get in touch with us. Go, Audrey. Thank you, SLP. Yes. If you have a question and you are inside of the Zoom, all you need to do is click on the raise your hand button. It is in a participant tab, likely at the bottom of your screen on a laptop or the top if you're on an iPad or a tablet. And if you are watching on HowlRound.tv, you can tweet at us at at watch me work SLP with the hashtag HowlRound H-O-W-L-R-O-U-N-D. Or you can tweet at the Public Theater Twitter, which is at Public Theater NY, or right into the Public Theater's Instagram messages. And that's it. And that's it. And I was just given a frozen fruit pop. But anyway, 20 minutes. Here we go. Boom. Okay. Now's the moment for the next 40 minutes where we're going to take questions. If anybody has any questions. Who got a question? Kim. Oh, yeah. Hey, Kim. I'm clicking on mute. Did it work? Yes. Hi. Can you hear me today? Yay. Sorry yesterday. I have no children, so no one's here to help me with technology. I can send you one. I wish my computer came. Please. I wish my computer and my kid came with the, I mean my computer phone came with the kid that made it. So I'm a little sad today because we all love Carl Reiner. And, you know, I'm so that kind of hurt. But he was such an amazing, amazing writer. His books are incredibly glad that I have this hour with you. Thank you so much. My therapist says self care. And so writing is my self care. And so thank you. You've really changed my life. And this is the most precious hour of my day. And I'm so very grateful to you. Thank you. Oh, thank you, Kim. Oh, really, it's, it's an honor. I am working on something incredibly ambitious. I've never done anything episodic. The longest thing I've written is a play. And that was loosely based on my life. So it was easy to write what I knew because I knew myself, right? But now I'm writing these multi storyline characters. And I would like to create a whole six episodic season before I deliver it to anyone. And so what I'm struggling with right now is kind of the pacing of each episode. And then over the whole season, like the seasonal arc, and then the episodic arc, if you will. And then also I'm a little confused about the capitalization in the action. So those are my questions for today. And thank you for yesterday and your patience and always, always, always, always. So maybe the easiest question for the capitalization and the action, I don't get what you're talking about right now. So, so, um, so for example, like, um, these are West Wing things. Okay. So it might say, um, you know, we, let me see where I just saw it was, uh, it was talking about from the darkness we hear. So darkness is capitalized and here is capitalized. I can't hear you. I can't hear you. Okay. Okay. Yeah. So sometimes we, yeah, it's tricky. And I do, I think it must be your signal. It must be your signal. Um, could you try? Uh, this might be weird. Push clicking stop video. Sometimes the signal comes in better when it's not wanting to do video and audio at the same time. Might that help? Are you frozen? That's a really good suggestion though. Yeah. Also for also going, I can go in the house. Okay. Good. Also going forward Kim and anybody else, sometimes if we have problems, you can run an ethernet cable from the back of your modem to your computer. You might need a little dongle to, uh, so that the connections work. But that's also something I do sometimes when the connection isn't good. I run a cable, an ethernet cable from the back of my modem. We're straight into my computer. So you're no longer on the wifi. You're actually great. Oh, okay. Thank you. This is you. Wow. Kim, your voice is a lot better. Um, you want to, you want to, you want to try your visual again? Cause sure. Cause the voice is a lot better. How's that? Great, Kim. Oh, thank you so much. Thank you. You guys are great. So the capitalization, I mean, I would, sometimes I capitalize in scripts, teleplays, movies, whatever, because I want to emphasize certain words from the darkness we hear, right? So the darkness we hear, but you want to, you want the reader to understand that it's from the dark and we hear instead of just, you know, you want to emphasize certain things. That's, that's what I, um, you know, or sometimes you see in an action line off Kim's look. And then, you know, you know, so off Kim's look might be, because that's what you want the camera to focus on in telepathy. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So the screenplays, the writer is really, um, instrumental into what the director will do. So the writer's input is really taken into account much more so. And so sometimes a writer might capitalize certain things just to make sure that the director sees certain things again. Oh, perfect. And I was thanking for that because I was a little nervous about, you know, telling the director what to do, but it's nice to know that they, they respect the writer more. Yeah. Yeah. In TV, um, uh, generally, this isn't, generally, um, TV is much more of a writer's medium in my experience. And generally, the writer is, is consulted much more so than in a film. Um, you know, I've written films that, you know, you write them, the studio loves them, and then you don't know what's going on until the premiere. And you're on the red carpet, and you go and see the thing for the first time, you're like, Oh, shit. You know, so, you know, that, that, that happened. I mean, and it couldn't be good and bad doesn't, it's not a judgment on the product. It's just a judgment, just to understand the process. But anyway, so that's the thing about capitalizing, as I understand it. Someone else might have a much more helpful answer. Um, developing long character arcs. It looks like you're we, you're reading West Wing. Is that correct? Do you have a book? Yeah. Well, when I'm struggling with structure, I'll go to Aaron Sorkin to see, you know, how to set up the action, how to set up a scene. And then the dialogue is just pouring out of me. You know, I've got so many people in my head talking. Great. I'm just eavesdropping on conversations. But it's more the structure. That's why I was looking at those scripts, because he's just so great. And things just move so quickly. And I was noticing the difference between when the characters are walking, the pacing and the banter is quicker. And then the room, they go into a room, the door gets shut. It's some more hushed tones and slower dialogue. But you know, more important, like it's okay, now we have to really focus because whatever you're being told is behind closed doors. And so that's why I was looking at that. But as far as, you know, even Aaron Sorkin in that book, he said, I have no idea where it's going. I don't know from one episode to the next where the arc is, because that's when the whole staff comes in and creates the Bible. And then they, they go over the arc. And then he just kind of fills in where they've all discussed where the characters are supposed to go. But since it's only me, you know, I have a whole wall outside where my characters are stapled all over the wall. And, and they're secondary characters who are important to them are stapled on the wall. And I'm trying to connect the dots. But as far as the pacing, I just wanted it to be don't change the channel pacing. Right, right, right, right. I think that's great. I think, you know, looking at Aaron Sorkin's work is a great, I mean, he's so good at that kind of writing, lots of kinds of writing, but that kind of writing and also watching shows. But also, Kim, knowing that, I mean, he says that the writers come and write the Bible. I mean, I've written Bibles for shows. So you can also write the whole Bible. You can also know where the season is going. So there's that too. There's different ways to work on things. A writer, I mean, I've come into shows with a whole Bible. You know, Wow. So there's that, there's that too, which maybe could be exciting also, you know, is a different way of working. And you have the writers in the room. You give, this is what episode four is about. And then they wonderful. But you, I've come in the room knowing the story of each episode and wanting that story for each episode. So there's that way to work also. What else? But I think just watching as much TV, like if you were writing a play for the first time, you written a play before, if you're writing a play for the first time, I'd say, see as much theater as you can, or read as many plays as you can, you know. And so with this, like, watch as many shows that you feel like, you know, are like yours, or even maybe some that aren't like yours, you know, know that TV writing, I don't know, more than screenwriting or more than playwriting, I don't know, but TV right, there's a lot of rewriting that goes on. Yes, I've already, yeah, there's a lot of rewriting. So, so when you see, and there's a lot of rewriting and post, which means post production, which means after it's shot, editing, exactly, you're in the editing room rewriting with the editor and the director. So there's a lot of rewriting there too. So all that cool, like if you're admiring how a scene goes, it could have been scripted like that. It could have been fixed like that and post, it could have had a reshoot to make it like that. Again, don't worry about getting it all perfect, you know, as it is on the page when you read it or on the, you know, just know that as good as you can. That's so great because I have sat with his scripts and watched the, you know, the pilot with the script at the same time. And I, you know, I watched the pilot of West Wing about eight times where I didn't have the visual and I was just listening to it when I was watching it or listening while I was reading along to see what was exact and what was changed and stuff like that. So that was helpful. But you said something really wonderful just now when I know exactly where I want to be in the last episode, but it's, it's easy if I just jot down, okay, this episode will be this, this episode will be that. If I have just those points, that alone will help me. So I really appreciate that input. Thank you so much. And you can even expand on those points. You can have, you know, a half a page for each episode or a page. Yeah, it's like comedy where you have like a set list and you just kind of know, you know, you write down the song and then you know the words to the song, you know, so yeah, I'll write, I'll write that set list down. But yeah, thank you so much. That just, shoulders, shoulders feel better. Thanks, Kim. Thanks, Kim. Thanks. All right, Larry, you are up next. I clicked unmute. It worked. Great to be here. Hi, I'm primarily a theater director. I have a big soapbox and a chip on my shoulder about making sure theater is theatrical. And when I write, I'm a big ol' hypocrite. So I find that I have tons for my characters to say, but not tons for them to do. And I find like, when I try to turn the dialogue, I don't know, contextualize it with action, it feels very much like a contrivance to just get them to be doing something. So just wondering if you had any feedback about like transitioning, I don't know, particularly in a theatrical setting, how to translate or evolve dialogue into action, into things that happen. That's a great question, Larry. It's almost as great as your background. I mean, not your background, but what's the Aurora Borealis, Larry, is pretty gorgeous. That's, that's beautiful. But I am a big fan of having, whether it's a screenplay or a teleplay or a play or whatever, action, especially on stage, you know, there are a lot of wonderful plays where the characters are just sitting around talking. For my delight is when characters are doing something as well, some activity, and talking is an activity. But I like characters to be doing things in addition to talking. And so I would, and you say, when you try this, it feels contrived. I mean, maybe if you have your dialogue and you have two characters on stage or whatever, and you say, what could they be doing? And you could think of maybe 10 stupid things they could be doing. Do you know what I mean? And maybe choose one at a time from that list of stupid things. If they're stupid things that you're not going to get hung up on the quality of them, you know, you're just going to be choosing something for them to do. If you really get into the dialogue, i.e., really immerse yourself in the desire of each character, then an activity that could feel satisfying would spring from that. That's my, that's my guess. What do you think? What do you think? What are you thinking? No, that's helpful. I think I'm basically writing a play that's sort of based on the myth of Sisyphus and basically human attachment to your burdens, loving your burden, saying you want to let it go and you want to change, but really you need your burden, you identify with your burden, you love your burden. And so there's a lot of, you know, I actually have one character who's just rolling a rock up and down the aisle. And that's what he's doing, even though what he's saying, he might be grocery shopping, he might be acting as if he's doing something very mundane, but he's in this Greek myth, you know, his action. So I'm interested in this idea that the action and the sort of, the dialogue maybe is in sort of a mundane context, but the action is something, I guess, more epic. But then I'm worried, I'm worried about like, oh great, my play is about tedium and, you know, self-created obstacles in a, in a time right now where seemingly very, very petty and it's very easy for me to talk myself out of any sort of importance. Well, well, let's, well, well, you've come to the right place because while you, you might do, try to do that, I'm not going to agree with you. So, so it takes two to make that true, but I'm, I refuse to agree with you. I think your play is going to be beautiful and you just need to find some actions. I mean, I like the role, yeah, the Sisyphus, classic Sisyphus, rolling the thing up the rock, up the hill. I'm just, I mean, that's a good action to me. It is, but, you know, after, you know, 90 minutes, after 90 minutes, maybe it needs something else, but yeah. True, true. Okay, okay. Then find some other things for him to push, drag, haul up the hill, maybe. Yeah. I mean, if you still want that, that sort of, you know, I would just think of, make it silly. It's so, it's okay. And makes the, I mean, for example, what kind of rock is it? Larry, what's it made of? Do you know what I mean? Where'd he get it? Well, see, this is where this could get into a very long conversation, but just say, yeah, that's a great valid question. I mean, mythologically, perhaps there's an easy answer, but maybe, maybe there's another answer. You know, where did it come from? You know. Yeah, this whole idea comes from something I directed, and then a shop made me a giant rock for the character to push, and it looked like a big aspirin tablet. So we decided that he was rolling a giant aspirin tablet. There you go. There's your answer. Okay. Does he, is it an aspirin, does he eat, is it edible? You're right. I can't do the right place. You're right. Okay. You can just, just have, I mean, it sounds silly, but have some fun with it, you know, ask yourself questions about it. Where did it come from? Was it, is it a family heirloom? Did his dad do it? Does he feel obligated to do it because his dad did it? You know, is it, you know, just ask yourself a lot of questions, or ask him, have Sisyphus break free from the myth for a minute, even though I know his, you know, that is his mission, mythologically speaking, but break free from the myth and just talk about, imagine if he were a real guy having to really do this, and what would it be? What is that all about? You know, does that make sense? It's even more like a real person. Sometimes when we, we write about mythological characters, we kind of get a little boxed in, which is part of the interesting thing about writing about Sisyphus, because he's kind of stuck in this activity. Yeah, I definitely want it to be very contemporary and mundane and relatable. I like making mundane things theatrical. Right. And when it rolls down the hill, Larry, I mean, does it kill anybody? I mean, it's a big rock or a big aspirin tablet. I mean, how dangerous is that shit anyway? Also, you had, you had me at, is it edible? Well, because it's aspirin. I'm thinking, you know, it's, it's a deliver, it's, it will deliver him from pain. Yeah. Or give him a bad stomach ache, depending. This is great. All right. Up next, we've got Kendall. Kendall, are you there? Hello. Hiya. So I'm branching into the world of writing like short stories and short fiction. And I think maybe I've been a little ignorant to it, or maybe like my education didn't really preach a lot about like reading short stories and like really getting familiar with the form. I'm vaguely familiar with Shirley Jackson, and I'm really familiar with George Saunders. I love his work. And I think it was really great what you and Kim were just talking about where like, if you want to write about TV, you also got to watch TV. So I was just wondering, like, do you have any favorite short stories or like, like short story writers who you could recommend that I could look into for like craft or form or anything like that? Yeah, I invite everybody to list your favorite short story writers in the chat. Yeah, that's great. Because, you know, off the top of my head, I'm not going to, you know, Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, I don't know, Cheever, Charles Chestnut, you know, but you can also look up, you know, the best short story writers of all time like that. I'm sure there are lists and lists of awesome people. I don't have a lot kindle right off the top of my head. Sure, it's a big ask. Yeah, but no, it's a great ask. I just don't have them, you know, right in my head. Like I don't have, you know, the best TV shows of all time either. I would just say, go online and find cool shows, you know. But you're right, Kindle, if you're getting into short story writing, it is super smart to read some. Annie Pool, what's her name? P-R-U-L-O-U-X? Anyway, she also writes novels. Lots of, lots of, lots of, lots of, that's, yeah, look, it's people writing, you know, Roxanne, you know, all these people. Oh my god. Okay, okay. Yeah, so everybody just throw your favorite short story writer in the chat. That'll be great. And then Kindle will have a whole list of folks. Oh my gosh. Okay. Thanks, everybody. Thank you. Thanks, Kindle. Yeah, David Sedaris. Yeah, him too. Grace Paley, yeah. We love this. That's great. That's great. You draw well too, of course. Okay. All right. Up next, you've got Jacob. Jacob, go for it. Hi. Hey Jacob. So I am struggling with, I have a, like a play writing opportunity thing. And I have to come up with a play. And I'm, I am, this is not a usual problem for me. But I'm like finding myself really having trouble coming up with ideas and having trouble coming up with ideas that I'm excited about. And I think that part of that is like the, the, the pressure of like it being a big deal and like feeling like I have to like live up to how big a deal it is. And that's not a super productive place to be in. I know, but I'm not, I'm struggling with how to, how, like it's, it's not a super productive place. It's also accurate. And so like how to deal in situations where there's like your, that pressure, that external pressure, that pressure to perform, that pressure to be great, how to, how to engage with that in a way that is, that is healthy and helpful. Jacob, did they say that the play, you have to come up with an idea for a play? I have to write a play for like a group. And they have a certain number of people or, or no, it just can be any kind of play. Yeah, no, I mean, I can, I can do anything. It's just that like, so it's not like I'm trying, like weirdly, if I was just trying to like fill an assignment, it would be fine. It's more that like, it's a pretty big deal. It's like the biggest deal of anything I've worked on. And so I'm finding myself like totally paralyzed by that. And you can't give him something you've already written? No, no, it's, it's, I have to write a new play. But I have, I mean, I have time, I'm not in like, I have two years to write it. So, but I should start. Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, sure, sure, sure. And you're hardworking, really talented guys, a person. So, you know, it's like, it's, that's, that's not a problem either. I will definitely put the work in. I'm not. Yeah, exactly, exactly, exactly that too. And you're a hardworking person. So it's just like, they've, you know, someone said, come on in, come on, we've got a great job for you. And you're like, and it's, it's a dream. It's one of your dream jobs. And you're like, oh no. Someone said, someone's invited me to the party I always wanted to go to. Oh no, what do I do now? What do I wear? Exactly what it is. I've been trying to, yeah, be involved in this for like 10 years. So this is like, this is like the first thing I ever wanted. And it feels like a lot of internal pressure. Right, right. Can you, can you do the 10 stupid ideas like, like Larry, 10 stupid ideas for a play that I will write, not that you should show it to them. Right. But can you, you know, just think of like 10 stupid ideas of a play I'm going to write. And it's going to be a wonderful play, Jacob. It's going to be a wonderful play. Can you say that too? Like, it's going to be wonderful. I write wonderful things. I'm talented. I work hard. I have good ideas. I rewrite with energy, you know. It's going to be a wonderful play. I know it sounds silly, but what's great about this opportunity is it's going to prepare you to receive the other things you've dreamt about. That's what this really is about, Jacob. You know what I mean? Because I think, I bet you, your wish list is longer than just this. You know what I'm saying? And so you need to learn how to accept and learn how to walk in the door that you've been dreaming of walking in. And this is going to help you do that. So you get your mantras together. I mean, where are your tools? You know, we talk about your tools, right? What are your tools? Your tools are, you already got, you got your talent, you got your hard work, you got your ability to collaborate well. You know, you got your good heart, you know, and fine mind. And you need your, remember you got your mantras. I work hard. I'm a good writer. You know, I come up with good ideas. You know what I mean? You know what I'm saying? It's, again, God is good. God isn't perfect. God is good. And I'm going to write as best I can. And they're going to be pleased with what I write. And then I'm going to write something else for somebody, somebody else. Do you see, does that make sense? We have to prepare because we have we were always hoping, oh, I hope I get this job. I hope I get that. I hope I get that opportunity. I always wanted to work with so and so. And if we don't learn to accept and embrace opportunities, or if getting what we wish for freezes us up, then the universe is going to say whoa, you know, can't give that person over there any more things because they're just going to free their deer in the headlights. Not that you are. I'm just saying that person over there. You don't look like no deer in the headlights to me. You're here. We're talking about it. As long as you keep talking about it, you're going to be fine. Keep talking to yourself. Get yourself talked together. I'm ready to do the work. I got a lot of good ideas, right? This is what we tell ourselves when the door opens. I'm going to be okay. I have a community of people who are going to, who I can bounce ideas off of who will encourage me or help me course correct when I go astray. I got this, right? I promise you, you got this. If it were somebody else, I'd be like whoa. You got this, man. You totally got this. Just keep checking in here because this is a low stakes kind of environment. You know what I'm saying? I mean, this is, you know what I'm saying? This is kind of like chill and we're just here to cheer you on. So keep checking in here. I'm really glad you're checking in. I'm really glad you brought that subject up. Okay. Thank you. Right. 10 stupid ideas, man. Gotta be stupid. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Great to see you always, Jacob. Thank you, Jacob. All right. We've got about eight minutes left and we're going to go to Chris. Hello. Hi. So I've written a short film script in its entirety, but I've gotten the note that it feels too rushed at the end. So I'm working on rewriting how I get to the ending and I've written the scene probably 20 different ways and none of them feel like they're it. And I'm wondering if you have any thoughts on parts of stories that you rewrite and rewrite and struggle to be satisfied with. Great. Well, congratulations for writing the film script. Thank you. Congratulations for getting to the end. Congratulations for having a community of people to whom you can show your work and they're going to give you feedback. Um, and I'm assuming you agree with them feels too rushed. Yeah, something you agree with. Great. And so rushed at the end means that it feels pretty good. And then when it gets to the end, it goes like that. Yeah. And specifically like the I'd say like three quarters of the way in like it's the gateway scene between like, like the first half, the pacing feels really good to me. Okay. And then like around three quarters in we just get rushed and it feels like that is truncated and then we go to the end. Okay. It feels like the in-between scene right now between and it's also the scene that is in like a new location like one takes place in someone's house. This scene's in someone's car and then the ending is outside. Okay. And assuming you didn't rush the scene because you wanted to save money and hours filming at the different location. I'm guessing, right? Okay. No, that's not well. Okay, great. I think the reason it happened is because I had the image of what I was writing towards at the end and I just got excited when I was writing it and now I'm struggling to figure out what that part actually is. Great. Great. Okay. Yeah. Ask yourself. I try to ask myself what needs to happen. Just so take it take put the screenplay like down, right? And just sit there and say, okay, tell yourself the story, like if you were telling it to a friend. Okay, or okay. So this, this is the beginning of the story. And then this happens. And then this happens. And then there's a scene in the car where this happens. What needs to happen in that scene? Okay, because I'm assuming that you have one thing that happens, but maybe more than one thing needs to happen, or layers of things need to happen. You know, a character needs to feel a certain way or get to a certain point in their life or decision making process in order for the last thing to happen. Right. I think you're, it sounds like you're skipping over some important character story beats. And it helps if you slow it down, even if you start speaking slowly. Do you play an instrument, Chris? What do you play piano? Great. Have you ever wanted to learn a song because I play guitar and I'm learning to play the violin. So if you ever, you know, but I like, like complicated blues songs. And sometimes I love the song so much that I just play it really fast because I get really excited. And it's like gobbledygook. It never works. I have to slow down so much. Right. So maybe if you have on one index card, the beginning, since that seems to work for you, just what happens in the beginning and then in the car, give yourself like five index cards. First, this happens. Then this happens. And so it seems I'm even speaking slowly. Then this happens. Right. Then this happens. Then this happens. Then they get out of the car and we get to the end. So let me really slow down. Act like you're playing a difficult piece of music. You know how to do it on the piano. You know how to learn a relatively complicated piece of music. Right. I'm guessing. Yeah. Okay. So this is the same thing. You're learning how to hear beats and rhythms in a story. The difference is maybe in the piano, maybe you're learning whatever a Duke Ellington piece or a Bach piece or whatever. Here you're actually making it up. It's the same kind of activity, though. You just have to slow down. Because the words, the message is coming at you and you're not quite picking it up because you're not listening slowly enough. You've got to slow it down. Okay. All right. Imagine one more analogy then I'll leave you alone. Imagine if you're driving your car and you pass something really fast. Zoom. Oh, I didn't see that. Right. If you want to see it, you're going to slow down your car. Oh, look at that. Right. Okay. So just slow it down. You've got to slow down your vision so you can see all the scenes. Great. Thank you so much. You're welcome so much. Thanks, Chris. All right. We've got a little more than two minutes left and we actually don't have any questions with them up. As up here, I was thinking a lot about your organizational TED Talk yesterday and it's inspired me to. Oh, someone has a question. All right. No, I want to hear. Oh, please. I want to hear. We can go over a little bit. I want to hear. I didn't inspire you to. I've just been printing papers out because I was like, oh, yeah, I love papers and the way looking at stuff in real time and space is so important to being able to get things done and I just, I appreciate that. That's all. But Carol has a question. Yeah, Audrey, what you did though was you said to yourself, what do I need? And you valued that. You didn't dismiss it. I need to print stuff out. And I have a printer that means to do that. I'm not going to dismiss it. I'm going to value that need of mine and I'm going to see if I can meet my own need and that's going to help me get to where I want to go. Thank you. Good job. Well done. Good job. Okay. Okay. Great. Carol, the question is yours. Hi, Carol. If I unmuted you, I'm clicking ask to unmute. Did you get the request? Yes. Am I okay? Yeah. Great. First of all, hi. Thank you always for doing all this. I've been watching every day on Howl Around. Things are calming down here. But my great grandson is one month old now. He opened his eyes. So thank you all for your prayers. We're moving along slowly. He'll still be a nice in NICU for a while but we're moving along. I just wanted to let you know. But I've been reading some, I've been journaling for years and years and years and years and I'm beginning to wonder what do I do with all these journals? That's a, that's an odd question probably. But I, and I go back and I read them and there's so much good stuff I have them in them that I can use for stories. A good line I've heard here and, you know, there are that and it's very inspiring. And so I would suggest reading, read to people to read old journals and find yet but it also made me wonder as I'm getting older and older what do I do with these journals? Any ideas? Hmm. Hmm. Or not. Huh. Huh. Do you, do you journal, Susan Laurie? Oh, sure. Yeah. Sure. I even have, I'm teenage years. Oh, wow. Oh, girl. Sassy, I bet. Exciting, I bet. Laurie Hemmer. You know, I mean, what's cool is you said you have great grandchildren, grandchildren and kids. I think it might be fun to gift. I mean, to me, you know, you could, I mean, you could make a whole art project out of it. You could buy, have them bound and gift some of them to some family members. I would love, I mean, my, neither of my grand, none of my grandparents journaled, but I would have loved having a few volumes of their journals on my shelf. I would have loved that. Yeah, that is my plan. I don't know if they're interested in them because they live the life with me. Yeah, but I think it's a beautiful, I think it would be a very beautiful gift to get them. You know, you know, if you have them bound, that could be really cool. I would love it. Also, also, I like that you're going through and reading them and, and circling phrases and words and putting them in a, like a journal for future use. Yeah. Anyway, just my suggestion and just thank you all for being here every day. It gets, gets us through this through all the different things that are going in all our different lives. We love you. Thank you. I love you. All right. It's 601. Okay. As a reminder, the links, they are up on the public theater's website and HowlRound's website. If you sign up by 3 p.m. Eastern, I will send you a link before 4 30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. We'll see you tomorrow. Thank you. We love you guys. Have a great rest of your day. Bye. Love you. Thank you, SLP. Bye. Thanks, Audrey. Bye-bye.