Why I write

It can be frustrating, staring at that blank screen hour after hour. Poking  through my tired brain cells for just the right word. Striving to keep my dialogue fresh, my plots compelling.

Sometimes it's enough to make me want to give up writing and take a job that's a lot less tedious. Like quality control in a ping pong ball factory.

And then I come across something that reminds me why I do it. Something like the following video:

That's my 10-minute comedy, You're Driving Me Crazy! It was performed early this month as part of a summer enrichment camp at Hunter College in Palatine, IL.

Nothing special you say. Well, maybe not. Kids act in plays every day across this country.

But this this isn't just any production. The description for the YouTube video says that the young man in the bike helmet, Nicholas R. Torres, was a "micro-preemie," one of those mirable babies born before 26 weeks of gestation. And apparently he has suffered  significant hearing loss all his life.

But none of that mattered on the night of the performance. On that night, he was an actor, stealing the show and making the audience crack up with the best of them.

That night, he was a star.

And that is why I write.