Page 143

By Jack Joseph Smith

145 : director was a Mount Lebanon womeng b+ very free in relation to her enviohtent, She drank beer, and always offered me one, when I entered her home, I loved to watch her, as she reminded me of a little pixie, 5% she was sad in her light laughter; Always there was the feeling of attempt within her spirit; Nothing was ever completed, and each show would be followed by anogthers I didn't know how to act around her and her artist friends at first, bt socom discovered, that they were as wild as some of my past friends, except that they were going in anq}ither direction,. They seemed very deeply torn, byt covered it all with fine speech and contr@led movements; They were dancing on the voice vibrations of pretenseg catch Ly f ing their sg@ighs on the whisp of a moment, and singing with laughter cuss tee a 5 of recognition, The mind was a flowing dream of desire, but it would never be the implement of fullfillments: Life was a rehearsal, Always an illusion,. suspended in its waiting to be finished,, Beaause of the accident with O'Dandy, frequent opperations of plastic surgery had f become a part of my life; During this time I decided not to shaves as I was holding on to the last feeling of being a wealthy derflicti Also, I had sued O'Dandy's insurdence company; and I was going to receive Five thousand dollars, when I reached the age of twenty ones It was nice to know that a good little gift would be coming, that had no attaclitient with my parentss. My drinking had ยข,,t down considerably, and I was staying away from O'Dandy and his crowd of rummys, However, when I first quit working for my father and began to study actingy I had started running an open air beer bar on Sundays, I called ita picnic, and college kids from all over would come to my place in the park, and drink and take the more questionable girls from Mount Lebanon into the high grass below my payvillions. On several occasions 0! Dandy and crew showed yp for beer and song, and on each sych visit the day ended in battle

Original Scan

Page 143

AI Interpretation

GPT

Working under a free, sad little-pixie director among artists who are as wild as his old friends in another direction, the narrator moves through theater, plastic surgery, an insurance payout, reduced drinking, and the start of a Sunday open-air beer bar in the park.

Art does not purify anything here; it simply relocates the old turmoil into fine speech, controlled movements, and endless rehearsal. The page is strongest where theater life and hustling life sit side by side, showing that the old appetite for spectacle and conflict has not gone anywhere.

Claude

Three months into studying drama downtown Michael is cast by a professional children's theatre; the Mount Lebanon woman director is sketched as a pixie who drinks beer and whose artist friends dance on voice vibrations of pretense, life as a rehearsal.