Expletive Deleted

Oh my God, I have been BLEEPED!

My piece "Abby & Bert" had to be revised to make it ready for radio. All the colorful language had to be replaced with more "palatable" choices.

So "For Christ's sake" became "For cryin' out loud." "Shit!" became "Ugh!" and so forth.

I find I have real feelings about this. I can see that the script will still have impact, even with the less colorful language. But there is a part of me that rebels against censorship, just on general principle. Somewhere along the line, we have to take a stand. We have to say, this is Art.

Or do we?

I'm a little disturbed by my own ambivalence. I mean, I don't want to be "precious" about every word I write either. "This is Art" could be a bunch of bullshit too.

So anyway, I changed the language, but not permanently. In the original, he says "Gourmet my ass!" not "Gourmet my eye." And I do think it makes a difference. "Gourmet my ass!" is better, damn it.

Jeez. I didn't realize Spokane listeners had such sensitive ears.