Creative Care Unit

Our occasional series, "Creatives That You Shoud Know About", features a man whose music I've enjoyed singing and conductiong for decades. I'm Michael E. Russo, and we'll be speaking to composer David Francis Urrows in this episode of the Creative Care Unit

Of all the times that I've had to deal with the health care system, and all the time that I have spent in hospitals, there is one thing that I still do not understand: how hospitals do their billing. I'm Michael E. Russo, and we'll talk with someone who knows why hospitals do what they do in this episode of the Creative Care Unit.

You know, after 21 years of marriage, you'd think we'd agree on everything, but..."Yeah, we had a Superman at one point." "Well, I never..." "We had a Spider-Man, we had a Batman..." I'm Michael E. Russo, and we'll continue our conversation with my long-suffering Wife Gail in this episode of the Creative Care Unit.

Masks: a simple enough garment, farily easy to make, but one that became fairly contentious during the pandemic. I'm Michael E. Russo, and we'll talk with someone who made over 1000 of them, my Long Suffering Wife Gail, in this episode of the Creative Care Unit.

Of all of the descriptors we've used to label out guest for the past few episodes, there is one we haven't tried yet: Family Man! "I love my kids; I hate the situations I put them in!" I'm Michael E. Russo, and we'll conclude our conversation with comdeian, ventriliquist, audiobook narrator and possible Father of The Year Quintin W. Allen in this episode of the Creative Care Unit.

Interviewing old friends can lead to some "interesting" revelations. "You told me this story years ago. I've been telling it about you for years. You know the one I'm talkin' about?" "I know exactly what you're talkin' about." I'm Michael E. Russo, and we'll hear that story in part two of my interview with audiobook narraton Quintin W. Allen in this episode of the Creative Care Unit.

The career path of a Creative can be a fairly straight ahead one, like we read about the lives of famous actors, singers and authors. For a lot more of us, the route to where we want to be is a bit more convoluted, and takes some very intersting turns. I'm Michael E. Russo, and in our occasional series "Creatives That You Should Know About", we'll be talking to comedian/ventiliquist and fellow audiobook narrator Quintin W. Allen about his journey and the places he's been to along the way in this episdoe of the Creative Care Unit.  

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit this country, there were three primary things that medical professionals reccomended that folks do to avoid getting the disease. Two of them became a very polarizing issue for some people. I'm Michael E. Russo, and we'll take a look at one of those issues, vaccines, in this episode of the Creative Care Unit.

Sometimes, a Creative's harshest critic is themselves. Then again..."And I say 'Wow, look at that! God, is that good!" I'm Michael E. Russo, and we'll conclude our interview with playwright Rosemary Frisino Toohey in this episode of the Creative Care Unit.

Have trouble keeping to a schedule? You're not alone. "I try and schedule the time, I try and schedule the time, it doesn't always...it doesn't go the way...the way I want it to any rate." I'm Michael E. Russo, and we'll continue our discussion with playwright Rosemary Frisino Toohey in this episode of the Creative Care Unit.

So what's the one rule you should never break when learning how to write comedy? "If you didn't find it funny, don't laugh." I'm Michael E. Russo, and well go deeper into that observation and others with playwright Rosemary Frisino Toohey next time in the Creative Care Unit. Please Join us.

With this episode, we'll be launching an occasional series that I'm calling “Creatives That You Should Know About”. Interviews with folks who are creating good work and I feel deserve a wider audience than they already have. Kicking things off will be an interview with playwright Rosemary Frisino Toohey. We'll talk about craft, acting, family…oh, we'll talk about a bunch of stuff, starting with this episode of the Creative Care Unit.

Well, I guess that this sort of thing was unavoidable. I mean, you cannot have a podcast that deals with the health issues Creatives face and not address the 800-pound gorilla in the room: COVID-19. I’m Michael E. Russo, and I’ll try to do the impossible-talking about the pandemic and all that I’ve been going through in the past twelve months without using any of the cliches that abound in describing this-in this episode of the Creative Care Unit.

So what role does music play in a writer’s creative process? “It depends on the story that I’m writing, but usually I’ve got some kind of music that I can have on and tune out to write with.” I’m Michael E. Russo, and we’ll conclude our interview with author S. J. Wells in this episode of the Creative Care Unit.

Question to ponder: when writing a book, who controls the narrative, the author or the characters? I'm Michael E. Russo, and we'll discuss that and more with author SJ Wells in this edition of the Creative Care Unit. 

"Christian Roman Novels". Yes, that's actually a thing, and in the hands of a Master Storyteller, you can find yourself in the middle of a fun read with spiritual depth to it. I'm Michael E. Russo, and we'll talk with novelist SJ Wells about her work in this genre in this episode of the Creative Care Unit.

To paraphrase Bobbie Gentry, more than a year has come and gone since we heard the news about my heart attack. There have been some changes in my life since then. As John Lennon might have put it, some forever, not for better, some have gone and some remain. And yet, with all of that going on, I’m still Michael E. Russo, and we’ll spend the next fifteen minutes or so discussing how life has flown on within me and without me (thanks, George Harrison) on this edition of the Creative Care Unit.

Whenever I’ve had problems with the plumbing in my house, I either do the repair myself or I call in a professional plumber. Once the work gets done, we run the water once to make sure everything is alright. When new plumbing got installed in my heart, however, the doctors wanted to metaphorically run the water 36 times. I’m Michael E. Russo, and we’ll take a look at my post heart attack regimen in the land of Physical Therapy in this episode Creative Care Unit.

Being a Creative involves a lot more than training, practicing and performing. If being a Creative becomes your livelihood, at some point you will have to deal with the “administrivia” that comes with the territory. People who practice the healing arts have their own administrivia to deal with as well. I’m Michael E. Russo, and we’ll talk with the person who teaches healers about that phrase and how to deal with it, in part three of our wide-ranging conversation with massage therapist and author Kelly Bowers, on this episode of the Creative Care Unit.

In this episode we continue our conversation with massage therapist, author and world traveler Kelly Bowers. We talk about what makes for a good relationship with a patient, working with scars and nerve damage, and the benefits of having an office as opposed to going to a client’s home.

Massage Therapy is the art and science of good touching, taking those squishy bits of the human body that have been hurt by use, overuse or abuse and making them feel better. I’m Michael E. Russo, and we’ll take a deep dive into the world of healing touches with massage therapist and author Kelly Bowers in this episode of the Creative Care Unit.

Normally I have something kinda pithy, witty or cutesy to say about what I’m going to talk about. Unfortunately, there is no way to make this topic cuddly. I’m Michael E. Russo, and we’ll be reliving my journey through the ups and downs of health insurance coverage and that strange and wondrous department called “billing” next time in the Creative Care Unit.

Just because a medical professional has spent many years in school and many more years in practice learning the craft of their profession, doesn’t meant that they know anything about YOUR profession, particularly if your profession deals with talking to the public. I’m Michael E. Russo, and we’ll talk about Stupid Stuff Your Medical Professional Says to You in this edition of the Creative Care Unit.

It’s one thing to have your body’s internal defenses fight invaders from outside of it, like germs, noise or pollution. It’s quite another when the source of what’s causing your body problems is originating from deep inside your own head. I’m Michael E. Russo, and we’ll talk about stress and what it can do to a person’s mind and body in this edition of Creative Care Unit. 

We live in a noisy world. Even in the most bucolic of settings, out ears are under a constant assault from the high volumes of sound produced by media, machines and more. I’m Michael E Russo, and we’ll talk about how all of the “Noise, Noise, Noise!” around us effects our hearing in this edition of the Creative Care Unit.

The Voice: actors use it to create characters for the stage, films or television. Singers use it to get inside the emotions in a song. It’s also a double-edged sword that can honestly reveal what’s going on inside of a performer physically and emotionally. I’m Michael E. Russo, and we’ll discuss the duality of The Voice in this episode of the Creative Care Unit.

So, here’s the scenario: you’re a Creative Person-an actor, musician, dancer, etc., you’re over 40, and your body at some point tells you that things have irrevocably changed in your life. What do you do now? Well, if you’re like me, you create a podcast and talk about it. I’m Michael E. Russo, and I’ll be discussing all aspects of being an aging artist here in the Creative Care Unit. .

What makes a singer nervous? The prospect of doing what they do best in front of large groups of people? Nope. A medical professional telling you that the only way to fix a problem in your throat is to go into it with sharp objects dancing perilously close to your vocal chords? Yep. I’m Michael E. Russo, and we’ll discuss my tonsillectomy and the aftermath of that operation next time in the Creative Care Unit. 

The two most expressive parts of an actor’s physical instrument, especially if you’ve ever worked in films or television, are the Face and The Voice. To lose the use of one or the other is a performer’s nightmare. I lost control of both within a year. I’m Michael E. Russo, and I’ll talk about how that happened and how I’m dealing with the repercussion’s decades later, next time in the Creative Care Unit