Erica and I saw a show a few nights ago. For the sake of the friend who we went to see, I won't tell you the name of the show or where it's playing. At intermission I turned to Erica and asked, "Is [our friend] in the second act?" "I don't think so, but they'll notice if we're not here at curtain call." So I ran down the street to a liquor store and bought a fifth of Jack Daniels. That let us get through the second act.

There were good lines. A few interesting ideas. Many of the performances were fine. [Our friend] was both funny and touching. There were good moments. But the thing, altogether, was terrible. Terrrrrrible. You've heard the phrase "the whole was greater than the sum of the parts"? Like that, but backwards. I'll give them this -- it was so astonishing, this badness, that I spent the whole time watching the play and contemplating its awfulness. Like Jen, I never once thought, "gotta remember to pay bills tonight" or anything.