I read August Wilson's Fences yesterday. It was good, if a little disheartening. Maybe disheartening isn't the right word, but I'm the type that roots for a character. And I was rooting for Troy Maxson. I know this is a stance that can get you into trouble in literature, but I can't help myself sometimes. It's one of those things where you know Troy is going to fall into his family's cycle, but you don't want him to complete the cycle. Still, the pervading theme of taking the "the straights with the curves" I can really appreciate.

I did get a good laugh out of Wilson's stage directions for Troy's brother Gabriel. Gabriel was wounded in the second World War. He enters with a trumpet tied to his waste, as he believes with every fiber of his being that he is the archangel.

There's a coffee cup at my Cafe Press store.