Tag: theatre

Margerumalia – Playfest Performances

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – July 3, 2026

This credit and photo was on the screen in the Civic Theatre lobby and on the projection screen inside the theatre before the show began. Each of eleven short plays had one.

The Playfest Weekend went very well and I can report that opening night was one of the biggest audiences seen in 14 years of Playfest. That’s especially good news because it’s a Civic Theatre fund raiser. 

About “Out of the Abyss” specifically, I’m so proud of my actors and so pleased to hear many people in the lobby tell me that our play was their favorite. On closing night Debbie and I heard sniffles behind us and during the scene change I glanced over my shoulder to see a man wiping his eyes.

“Me, too,” I thought. “Me, too.”

I saw all of the plays grow tighter and more adept in their delivery throughout the last rehearsals and performances. Actors will tell you that audience response teaches them about the meaning of the play and how to deliver the lines. The comedies become funnier, the dramas become more stirring, and the light and sound changes flow without hesitation.

Highlighting a couple of moments from “Out of the Abyss,” there was a split second Hannah created for her character in which she assumed the pose of the Statue of Liberty. I took a screenshot of it from the video that Debbie made.

In every performance I heard an audible response from the audience when they realized the significance of her pose. It was brief but very effective.

My favorite moment for LH was around a line that I added at the first rehearsal. It was “I have…a dream.” He delivered it with such power, such force, and he knew exactly how long to pause for the ellipsis. It also evoked reactions from the audience that I can only describe as explosive.

Someone I went to high school with caught me after opening night and took my hands, saying, “You told my story!” When she saw my confusion she clarified passionately, “I’m a social worker just like her: helping one person at a time.”

I’m so glad I got that right. She felt seen, and wanted to get together later to tell me more. I agreed, happily.

Authors don’t always get direct feedback from their writing, but as the playwright and the director of this short play, I got to feel the impact of my words.

I’m grateful.

My actors got together and gave me a gift so I asked them if I could share the words they wrote inside the book. They said that would be fine.

This slim 80-page book by Walter Isaacson is already on the Bestseller list and I used a portion of that Greatest Sentence in my play. The one that begins “We hold these truths  to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…”

Hannah and LH know that I’ve submitted this play to another play festival in Florida called Kaleidoscope. I told them that requirements for submission included naming two or three emotions that the play evokes. I decided on DESPAIR and HOPE and told them on the night of the final dress rehearsal for additional inspiration.

Their eyes lit up with those words and thus the underline of HOPE above.

I’ve also submitted the play to a publisher who wants a collection of short plays that are specifically science fiction. Mine qualifies because of its dystopian setting. 

It’ll be months before I hear back from either.

Meanwhile I’ll submit to other festivals and keep on writing.

TTFN

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My middle grade novel, The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles is available through The BookBaby Bookshop at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-most-amazing-museum-of-los-angeles

Margerumalia – Opening Night

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – June 26, 2026

By the time you read this on Friday, it’ll be opening night of the Short Playfest at Greater Lafayette Civic Theatre.

Hearts are beating a little faster. Palms are moist. Everyone has wished one another to “Break a leg.” And then it’s lights up. Show time! 

Fun fact:

I was told for years that the good luck wish to break a leg was just a bit of reverse psychology. To say “Good Luck” outright would be bad luck. Then I heard that the expression was something said by understudies looking for their opportunity to take the stage.

Later, I heard something much more plausible. 

The curtains across the top of a standard proscenium stage are called teasers, they hide the lighting instruments from the view of the audience. The curtains on the sides that hide actors waiting in the wings are called legs, because they fall from the teasers down to the floor when hung properly. 

Back in the days of vaudeville—a live variety show—the performers only got money if their act was among those chosen. In order to go on stage, you had to break past the “barrier” of the legs. Break a leg and you get paid. No starving artist tonight. Now that’s good luck!

I still have yet to hear if that’s the definitive origin of the expression but I find it the most satisfying so I’m sticking with it.

My cast is very on top of the lines and the characters, and they’re deeply dedicated to the passion of the story. I told them I was blessed with a dream cast and they quickly returned the compliment. Not surprising for three people who were in tears on the first read-through.

I’ll be attending all three shows. I’d feel so out of it if I didn’t. It’s probably the actor in me who learned decades ago that “the show must go on.”

Go ahead, tell us to break a leg.

TTFN

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I had to share another kitten picture with you because the variety of colors is so interesting and rather beautiful.

On the lower left side you can see the edge of the window well cover I installed last month that the whole litter is now using as a slide. There’s also a second kitten down there, slightly out of focus but the tabby markings are a giveaway.

I have more photos and a video I plan to post on both BlueSky and Substack (margerumeric in both cases). 

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If you received this email because it was forwarded to you by a subscriber, welcome. You can also subscribe to get Margerumalia in your INBOX by following the link on my website: ericmargerum.com. A free story awaits you there.

Margerumalia – All I’m Asking For…

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – June 5, 2026

Photo: Yahoo! Entertainment

RESPECT. 

Aretha Franklin sang about it in 1967. “All I’m asking is for a little respect.”

It still holds the title as Rolling Stone’s Greatest Song of All Time.

Country singer Morgan Wallen recently demonstrated his frustration over a piano malfunction by flipping it over on stage. It broke. Now no one can use it. What a waste.

It was a wooden upright piano like you might have in your living room. I know I did.

Watching that video, all I could think of was the many professional musicians who so treasured their instruments that they set up charities to give young people the opportunity to have even a fraction of the joy and creativity that they enjoyed. Music is a gift. Having the resources to buy a piano, a drum set, a trombone, or a violin, is precious.

Someone who doesn’t appreciate that doesn’t deserve to be appreciated.

In my opinion.

Imagine a sous chef destroying his expensive knife collection because one of them slipped and made a faulty cut. Imagine a famous writer throwing down her typewriter because one key got stuck. Imagine a soldier bashing their weapon against a tank because it misfired.

Later, someone posted a video of Taylor Swift who also sat at a malfunctioning upright piano. What did she do?

She opened the lid and fixed the problem. Then she continued with her concert. 

RESPECT.

I can respect that kind of musician. I could even have respected Wallen’s choice to sing the rest of the song a cappella, which he did. I think that was a classy move. But then he ruined it by going back and destroying an expensive instrument, flipping it over so no one could ever use it.

“Hurry up and break things” is NOT an admirable path to success. It’s just an irresponsible approach to life. It’s childish. I cannot respect that.

Take a look around the room where you’re reading this…or the coffee shop, or the studio, or the reading nook…and appreciate what you have in your life. Now think of the people you appreciate in your life. That carries all the hallmarks of R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

TTFN

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My middle grade novel, The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles is available through The BookBaby Bookshop at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-most-amazing-museum-of-los-angeles

Margerumalia – The First Rehearsal

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – May 29, 2026

The first rehearsal usually begins with a “table read.” That’s exactly what it sounds like, the actors and director all sit around a table and read the script out loud for the first time. 

In a full length production, the table read might also include an assistant director, the stage manager, and possibly a dramaturg, costume designer, or choreographer among others. But “Out of the Abyss” is a short play in a festival of short plays so it was just the three of us. 

We also have limited access to rehearsal space so, for now, I’m making use of my membership in a co-working space where I can reserve meeting rooms to rehearse in. The meeting rooms all have one glass wall, but experienced actors are used to both accepting and ignoring distractions.

I gave some background to the inspiration of the play, which was Ray Bradbury’s “To the Chicago Abyss,” and the tone I was trying to achieve. They already intuited that tone and by the end of the read-through we were all in tears.

Keep in mind that the actors had never even met, but their instincts were spot on and they were entirely enrapt in the story. I told them as much while I tried to swallow back my emotions and I knew we were off to an exceptional start.

We moved the tables out of the way and began blocking the play. What side would Libby enter from? Did Sam absolutely have to sit on the floor? When she strikes him, how should that be staged?

Through discussion and following actor impulses we answered each of those questions and added a few additional moves that “just felt right.” Experienced actors and directors know that those feelings are always golden, and we followed them.

The actor playing Sam has bad knees that won’t allow him to sit on the floor and we agreed that a stage block—a two foot cube painted black—would be in keeping with the dystopian setting, especially if it was dented and battered.

We worked out all those blocking details about half a page at a time and then ran the play from beginning to end. Again—even with scripts in hand—we were choked up and the actors speculated that this will probably happen every time. 

I hope so, because that means they’re “in the moment” and not playing at the emotions. Of course, I’d like to see the audience equally moved. I’m pretty sure they will be.

Opening night is four weeks from the day this newsletter is posted.

TTFN

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If you received this email because it was forwarded to you by a subscriber, welcome. You can subscribe as well by following the link on my website: ericmargerum.com. A free story awaits you there.

Margerumalia – The Auditions

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – May 22, 2026

Auditions always give me a jittery feeling inside, even when I’m behind the director’s table. I always want everyone to do well so they can walk away feeling like they gave it their best shot. Actors in these auditions witness the readings of every other actor in their time slot, and read from at least two different plays.

We call it a reading because they stand up with script in hand, but we expect to see some eye contact and hear some expression. A little movement usually helps, too. Nothing like a good gesture to illustrate a point.

Our festival director reminded us that we didn’t need to see everyone read every role in our plays, or we’d be there all night. One experienced director scoffed at the idea, and assured those around him that he could cast his play even if nobody read for it at all.

No, that wasn’t me, but he was right.

With eleven short plays, the director’s table was well populated with directors. I knew about three-quarters of them and was interested to watch how everyone operated. I was pleased to see that they were all encouraging to the actors, applauding at the end of every reading, and generous with their laughter even after hearing the same punchline for the seventh time.

Hey, a good delivery deserves a good laugh.

I recently restarted my acting classes and gave my students a chance to practice a couple of pieces from the festival. (They were available to read on line.) Two of them came to the auditions and one of them was cast in a play. I was especially happy for him because he had auditioned for every Civic Theatre production for a year or two. His dogged determination to land a role finally paid off!

They both showed that they had listened to my instructions and I thought they performed well. I was a proud papa. So many people auditioned that a little more than half the actors got cast.

My play, “Out of the Abyss,” was one of the few dramas amidst a canoodle of comedies and I was glad to see actors treat it seriously. My male cast member is someone I’ve directed before and I’m fully confident about his abilities. The female cast member was someone I’d never seen before but it was clear she had talent and I was glad to be able to secure her for this play. 

Both actors complimented my writing of the play and had high praise for the subject matter. That was a nice topping to the whole process and I look forward to working with both of them.

First rehearsal is Saturday!

TTFN

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My middle grade novel, The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles is available through The BookBaby Bookshop at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-most-amazing-museum-of-los-angeles

Margerumalia – The Happiness Advantage

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – May 1, 2026

Look at that happy baby soaking up the summer sun in his oh-so-debonaire plastic pants! That’s Baby Eric running across the backyard to Mommy who’s holding the camera. He’s a little out of focus but my folks wouldn’t know it until they got the film developed. Today my iPhone would’ve captured the un-blurred enthusiasm in that boy’s face.

Side note: that’s my dad crouching over the garden at about half the age that I am now.  Time is such a surreal phenomenon.

Other side note: look at that old automobile in the neighbor’s carport! That’d be in a classic car show today. 

“You were a very happy baby,” my mom told me.

I was. I am. Happy, that is, not a baby. I’m not wearing waterproof undies anymore. Not yet anyway.

I’m currently reading a book called The Happiness Advantage that the chair of the Communication Department recommended when I was a dean at Vincennes University. The book is all about the advantages of positive psychology and the seven principles of a mindset that “fuels success and performance at work.”

I heard a woman in a recent podcast telling about a job she had as a teen making smoothies for people. She confided to her boss that she was bored and just wanted to go home. The boss suggested that she see every customer as an opportunity to make someone’s life a little better.

When she embraced that idea by being helpful and enthusiastic, looking for the opportunity to bring a smile to the face of every customer, her whole perspective of the job turned around. She enjoyed going to work. To this day, she still remembers that job as her favorite. That’d be the happiness advantage in a nutshell.

I haven’t finished the book but so far it’s been reinforcing my own worldview—the one I was born with. I look forward to reading about how the seven principles can be applied to life in general. Like everyone, I’ve had my share of bumps and bruises that life dishes out. I’d like to learn the way to keep those setbacks from getting the best of me.

I want to know how to help others accomplish that, too.

Here’s another picture of me a few years later that tells you a little bit more about my personality.

My imagination said, You’re flying, and so, of course, I was. It also helps to have your eyes closed. The reality behind closed lids is even more vivid than the one surrounding you. 

So vivid that my dad would accuse me of playing stupid when I suddenly exited my dream world and wanted to know what people were talking about. I knew better than to explain that I wasn’t playing stupid, I just wasn’t paying attention to the conversation. There’s no good path out of those woods. Either I’m stupid or you’re boring.

Look at the photo again. See how the sleeves are rolled up to accommodate my little five-year-old arms? I continued wearing that costume for years, growing into those sleeves and the rolled up pants. Family friends started calling me Super Eric. I’ve had very few nicknames in my life but I think I like that one best.

“You were such an easy child,” my mother told me, “I could set you down in the middle of the living room with a box of toys and you’d entertain yourself for hours.”

I gave free rein to my creativity and that was always a great experience. I’ve done the same for years in the theatre, and am applying the same approach to my writing. I hope my writing entertains you and keeps you out of boring conversations.

I also hope your creativity gets a chance to play.

TTFN

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If you received this email because it was forwarded to you by a subscriber, welcome. You can subscribe as well by following the link on my website: ericmargerum.com. A free story awaits you there.

Margerumalia – My Play Was Chosen!

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – April 24, 2026

I’m pleased to announce that my 10-Minute play “Out of the Abyss” was chosen for this year’s Civic Theatre Play Festival in June. There are so many talented playwrights on this list and I am both honored and humbled to be among them.

“Out of the Abyss” is an homage to Ray Bradbury’s short story “To the Chicago Abyss” which he also adapted into a one-act play by the same name. In it, an old unhomed man is muttering memories of brands of coffee, cigarettes, candy bars, movies, and fresh fruit when someone tries to shut him up for fear he’ll get taken away. Remembering things is not allowed in this dystopia.

I thought I could capture a similar feeling by having my unhomed man muttering the words of famous documents and speeches that define who we are as a nation. He, too, is in danger of getting hauled away by the authorities so a social worker desperately tries to make him stop. My title suggests a hopeful outcome if it’s received as I imagined.

My daughter read the play and commented that the feeling of my short play is “uncanny” and I like that description a lot. She said it feels like something out of 1984. I agree.

The festival director asked if I wanted to direct my play and I enthusiastically said yes. I’ve directed short plays in the festival for the past three years, and one full-length play for the youth theatre. I’m particularly excited because the atmosphere is mutually supportive, generous, and encouraging.

After auditions, for example, directors discuss who they want in their plays, and follow up with alternate choices in a give-and-take process to help every play to achieve its best.

I remember realizing one year that a young man hadn’t been cast in anything even though he did a good job in the auditions so I volunteered to give him a role in the play I was directing. He did a good job and has continued to be involved in Civic Theatre since. That’s the outcome we want! 

The last time I directed my own play in this festival I was encouraged by fellow playwright Steven G. Martin to submit it to other festivals and competitions. That play, “Just Book Club,” ended up getting collected in The Best 10-Minute Plays 2024. (You can see the book cover on my website at ericmargerum.com.)

The county library Spring Author Fair was sparsely attended due, they said, to an all-morning rain followed by a university bug fair that drew a lot of attendance. 

Ever eat a bug? Not on purpose! Me neither. Apparently scorpion pops have been a big draw in years past. Eww.

The one book I did sell was to an old friend of my parents who told me that he belonged to a play-reading group and they had read my play “Just Book Club.” He said it was very good and he and his wife plan to come see my next play in June.

TTFN

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My middle grade novel, The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles is available through The BookBaby Bookshop at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-most-amazing-museum-of-los-angeles

Margerumalia – The Theatre of Basketball

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – April 3, 2026

NCAA.org

The other day I subbed at the Jr/Sr High School where I got to supervise the Junior High Gym during one of the lunch periods. As I watched the players vying for position, passing, and shooting their hearts out even without keeping score, I couldn’t help but think about the theatricality of the sport and I made a list of their most dramatic moments.

Once a theatre director, always a theatre director.

I’m open!—This full body plea for attention includes jumping up and down and waving your arms vigorously like you’re directing the pilot of a biplane where to land on a foggy runway. Yelling the name of the teammate with the ball repeatedly is also important.

I didn’t touch it!—If the ball is headed out of bounds, you want to make it clear that you didn’t touch it last. This move requires you to fake rigor mortis while performing a hands-up-don’t-shoot posture.

Setting the block.—When your teammate has the ball and needs to escape an opponent, you can stand stock still just a few inches away so they can dribble around you and leave the opponent unable to pursue. Using the same move in the aisle of a supermarket, however, might get you ejected from the store. Basketball is more forgiving.

What’s over there?—Any good magician will tell you that the trick is to make the audience focus on one hand while the other hand pockets the handkerchief, or playing card. If you have the ball and intend to pass it, your defender will try to block the pass in the direction that you just looked. When you make a successful fake, you can then pass it the other direction without interference. In theatre and film this is called the who’s-that-behind-the-curtain look and it just might save your character’s life!

The “I’m okay” limp—Among the unwritten laws of athletics is the obligation to play through your pain even to the point of permanent damage. However—and this is important—you never want to be perceived as failing to suffer for the game. Getting up from the floor and limping for six or seven steps can fulfill both of these expectations. Then you can return to the business of running around the court like a mad man.

Selling the foul.—At the other end of the spectrum from the “I’m okay” limp is the task of making sure everyone, especially the referee, sees that your opponent fouled you egregiously. Gotta earn those two free-throw shots, they’re not participation awards! If you’re gymnastically trained, a quick move by your opponent is an opportunity to tuck-and-roll for all your worth, making sure you finish flat on the floor, not leaping up victoriously as you did in gymnastics. If you don’t have that training, remember that the butt of your basketball shorts were made with fabric that will glide two or three yards across the polished floorboards while you mask your face with shock and disgust that anyone could use such unsportsmanlike tactics.

Modest scoring—No one likes a big ego, so when you score a nothing-but-net basket from outside the three point line, don’t show your excitement. Your inner child may be jumping up and down like a chimpanzee on crack, but you must adopt a too-cool-for-school expression. Everyone’s looking at you, and your face must say, “Yeah, I meant to do that.”

The agony of failure—The opposite of modest scoring is the trauma of failing to score. As an athlete and a team member, you have a duty to suffer deeply when you fail to make a shot. Not feeling it? Then fake it! Try screwing up your face and huffing like you’re about to cry but fighting it. (Also referred to as the Kyle Rittenhouse maneuver.) You may also throw yourself bodily onto the floor and pound the court with your fists. You might want to save that last move for the day when you fail to score the winning point that cost your team the game. They will expect no less.

This newsletter will be posted before the end of March Madness, so I encourage you to watch the game with your bingo cards ready to give due credit to the actors…um, athletes… on the boards.

TTFN

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If you received this email because it was forwarded to you by a subscriber, welcome. You can subscribe as well by following the link on my website: ericmargerum.com. A free story awaits you there.

Margerumalia – A Holly Jolly Christmas

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – December 19, 2025

PHOTO CREDIT UNKNOWN

One camera, two actors, a director, and a camera operator stood in front of a little A-frame bungalow in the middle of Oxnard Beach, California. 

“That’s Burl Ives!” I said to my cousin Doug. Our Grandpa shushed me. Maybe he didn’t want us to ruin the shot, probably not, he had no experience with show business. I think he didn’t want these men to be bothered by a couple of nine-year-old kids. 

“I have his record, Grandpa,” I told him. “The Big Rock Candy Mountain. I know all the songs—”

Grandpa shushed me again. He’d heard me sing many, many songs by heart and he knew that with the slightest encouragement I would break out my repertoire.

Singing songs has always been a great joy in my life, and I knew at an early age that life really ought to be a musical. No wonder I went into theatre!

Burl Ives was an early part of that love of music. Besides being an actor, he was also a folk singer, and my brother and I just about wore out that record of his folk songs before we outgrew it.

Well, my brother outgrew it. I had it all memorized and those songs became a part of my life’s mental soundtrack.

My mental Holiday soundtrack includes the voice of Burl Ives singing “Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Silver and Gold,” and, of course, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Oh, sure, other artists have covered these songs, and done them well, but it’s the voice of Burl Ives I’ve heard in my mind for over fifty years now.

Watching Burl Ives and his costar act out this brief scene on the beach we were their little audience of three. Quite a treat for my summer visit to California!

When they were done, Burl Ives smiled and waved at us before Grandpa led us away. But then the director—probably a second unit director based on what I now know about film and TV—came over to us and kindly told us the name of the TV series, the network, and about when the episode would air.

It was called “The Bold Ones: The Lawyers” and it aired at ten o’clock at night, so I never saw it. VCR’s wouldn’t grow into popular use for another dozen years.

Think of me when you watch the Rudolph special, and know that my little nine-year-old self is singing along with Burl Ives, who, like the main character, “will go down in his…to…ree.”

TTFN

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While typing this newsletter I did a search for that TV title on YouTube. It’s there! Full episodes. I skimmed through two of them without finding a beach scene. There are 25 more episodes to look through, so if I find the scene, I’ll let you know. 

My other experience of TV and film is that scenes are sometimes left lying on the editing room floor, as with my IMBD-credited performance in “Right To Die” with Raquel Welch.

Ah, well, that’s show biz!

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My middle grade novel, The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles is available through The BookBaby Bookshop at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-most-amazing-museum-of-los-angeles

Margerumalia – Getting Ideas

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – November 14, 2025

Well these weren’t here when I walked down this path on the way to the park. I wonder if someone dropped them or just abandoned them…

I wonder. 

That’s what I do. I wonder. And ideas begin to take shape. 

I showed this photo to my wife—the photographer—and she complimented me on the composition after I described a different version that didn’t include the path in the distance. Isn’t it exciting to realize what you’ve learned from your partner just by sharing interests?

“Now there’s a writing prompt!” she said, reflecting my thoughts back at me. “It makes me think of someone who was so scared he jumped out of his shoes and ran. Or  maybe a huge eagle grabbed him and flew away leaving just his shoes.”

“Right?” I asked, feeling the juices of more stories start to bubble up in my imagination.

In my newsletter from two weeks ago I wrote about a 12-year-old girl who came to my book signing at Main Street Books. She wants to be a writer and her mother encouraged her to ask me questions. As did I. 

Of course, the most commonly asked question of any writer is “Where do you get your ideas?” Especially when the writer has written a fantastical adventure tale! 

Just as the girl asked me that question, a customer walked past, saw my flyer about the kittens, and exclaimed “Awww, they’re so cute!” as she passed by.

“There’s a story right there,” I told her. Maybe she always wanted to adopt a kitten but lives in an apartment that doesn’t allow pets. Or maybe she had a cat who passed away but looked just like one of these kittens. Everyone has a story to tell, right?” The girl nodded. “If you pay attention to other people and listen to their stories, that’s a great way to begin. And then you can start playing around with those ideas by using your imagination.” 

I didn’t tell her that I was a notorious daydreamer in school. My mom told me I was an easy child because she could set me in the middle of the room with a handful of toys and I would entertain myself for hours. She was right! I remember doing that.

My attraction to theatre was a natural extension of that kind of thinking. Hey, Eric, do you want to join a group of students who all use their imaginations to tell stories and then add sets, costumes, props, lights and more? Hey, sign me up! What a perfect activity for a devoted daydreamer!

Taking my own advice, I made a point of asking the girl what she had written and then listened to her story. I could tell we were kindred spirits, dabbling in fantastical worlds and characters. I could also tell that she appreciated having an adult listen to her like an equal while encouraging her aspirations.

So what flight of fancy did my imagination run to when I saw these shoes?

Maybe they’re lying in wait for you to come along and try them on, because they’ll take you into a world where trees talk, birds read your thoughts, and dreams come true. 

TTFN

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Sinking Feeling

Having failed to lure Tabitha into our humane trap, Debbie and I pivoted to catching her kittens instead. Maternal instincts are a pretty major influence so this could be the needed work-around. We only managed to catch four of the five before the early snowfall, but we still hope the last one will give the cage a try.

They’re isolated in our small downstairs bathroom and when I went to visit them, these two were cuddled up together in the sink. That’s like a greeting card photo, right?

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If you received this email because it was forwarded to you by a subscriber, welcome. You can subscribe as well by following the link on my website: ericmargerum.com. A free story awaits you there.