I could tell that her voice wasn't normal. After a little small-talk she opened up and explained that my brother, Sean (who is experiencing a very difficult phase of life since his wife left him recently) is losing his temper (in very public situations) with his wife. She now wants full custody of their two young children (Sean would have them every other weekend)... and she wants child support. Sean is still unable to accept the reality of the situation. He claims that he didn't know the marriage was in trouble, that her leaving was the greatest shock and heartbreak of his life... so he doesn't feel like he should have to give her money for leaving him AND taking his kids. They have a court date this Wednesday. Sean hasn't contacted a lawyer to get advise or to learn about the process or his options... and he's so upset that he keeps saying that he will not participate in something he doesn't agree with.

My father used to go into these kinds of rages when I was a child. It's killing my mother (and the rest of the family) that we're powerless to help Sean through this matter. We have all tried to talk him into acceptance and civility... but he is very hurt... and he's lashing out. We're all very concerned. He's at that point where ANYthing could happen.

So... that kind of put me in a worried, sad mood.

We also heard on the radio that Christopher Reeve died... We wish him a speedy journey along with Janet Leigh and Rodney Dangerfield.

Philip and I were both so bummed out that we decided not to do our errands. We had lunch at Cafe Rani on Magazine Street... then we sat on a shaded bench at Audubon Park, uptown... trying to decompress.

Before we left, we tried hooking up with Jeff (my friend who portrays Varla Jean Merman) who is in town for three weeks but we weren't able to pin him down. He called later and explained that he was at a wedding with his wife Donna, then went to a movie with his friend Tom, so he didn't have his phone with him... but that he's so sorry he missed us and that we must come back soon to see him.

Philip and I drove back to Alabama. We had dinner with Scott at Wan Fu, the best Chinese buffet in Mobile. We bought two tickets for a local stage production of "Sordid Lives" which as many of you might remember, was one of my favorite videos last year (or whenever I first rented the dvd by recommendation of my friend Chris in Colorado).