Former 'Guiding Light' actress Maureen Garrett sheds light on her personal life
Veteran Guiding Light actress Maureen Garrett recently revealed her 20-year relationship with her partner, Janet Morgan. We have the exclusive Q&A with Garrett from the OUT Magazine interview. Read on for more of Maureen Garrett, from her favorite storylines to her current projects in Costa Rica.
Q. What was it like to say goodbye to Guiding Light and Holly for the last time? Were you satisfied with the way Holly's story ended?
MG: On the one hand, it was tough to say goodbye because I felt Holly had a lot more to say and do. We all felt that way, even though we knew the end was coming for a long time. On the other side, I was over it. It had been a long run, far longer than I ever expected and I was ready to do other things with my life. Holly went off to travel the world with Ed and that felt right, she had always loved Ed and it was a healthy, grown-up relationship.
Q. Was there any one storyline that you particularly enjoyed?
MG: I loved the Roger and Holly story, as sick as it was, I adored the complexities of the story and working with Michael Zaslow was a joy. He was tough, but exciting to work with and we had a genuine chemistry on and off screen.
Q. Were there any storylines that you disliked playing?
MG: Kidnapping all the children in the “Nursery Rhyme Stalker” story was not my finest moment. The final story line when Holly was kidnapped by Sebastian and I had to play the Stockholm syndrome angle was particularly hard to take. It was around this time I started thinking it was really time to move on.
Q. Is there anything you'd consider to be high and low points in your GL career?
MG: High point when I was on location shooting in Santa Domingo, in the actual jungle when Roger stole me away, and the low point, after golden years, when I was kidnapped into the “jungle” in the 44th Street studio by Roger’s son Sebastian.
Q. One question that fans keep coming back to is, what are you doing now? Are you still acting?
MG: After GL, I took off from New York. I no longer felt any desire to pursue acting, that muse had flown, but I hauled huge pieces of wood up to Massachusetts that I had been sculpting. I wrestled with writing a novel/screenplay/play. I traveled back and forth to Costa Rica and with my family have been developing a food forest there. Gardening has always been a love of mine and my partner's, Jan Morgan and our son Paul is involved in the agroforestry movement there.
I wanted to spend more time with my mother and the last year of her life when we brought her to live in our house on this lake in MA is one of the most beautiful and cherished memories. In the spring of 2012, after she passed, Charles Towers, artistic director of the Merrimack Rep in Lowell, MA , dangled a juicy role in a new play “Ghost-Writer.” He offered, I bit. I played a character who ages from her 40s to 50s , then 60. I was engaged and electrified by the experience. Funny how things come around again. I am on the look-out for my next project.
Maureen and partner Janet Morgan (second from left)
Q. Do you read the blogs about Guiding Light? Have you seen your Guiding Light clips on YouTube?
MG: I think it’s great that people still are interested. I have only seen it when my niece Jessie or Mimi Torchin, once editor of Soap Opera Digest, or someone else sends me a clip. But no, I don’t follow the blogs or message boards. Stroking the publicity end of the business was never my interest. I do realize there are still fans out there when I am recognized in the line at the post office or bank tellers recognize my voice. I am flattered that people remember.
Q. Do you have a web presence?
MG: There is one in the works for the projects we are managing in Costa Rica. Look for Sequent Management Group in the fall.
Q. Your fans consistently refer to Holly as "complex" and "multifaceted" and your performances as "dignified," "discreet" and "captivating." How were you able to make your performances so convincing?
MG: I put a lot of effort into portraying that character. My approach was kind of like a painter. First the broad strokes to understand the action in the scene, then adding layers of her history, with the scene partner and with other relationships. Understanding where her humor might lie, when she is not telling the truth, when she is fudging, hedging, seducing, covering… her struggles, frustrations, tenacity. When she wanted to give up or then fight on with everything she had. To me, it was mostly endlessly fascinating and I loved that job for years.
Q. Did you have anything in common with Holly?
MG: Not always her clothing choices, and certainly not her footwear. And she wore far too much makeup. It was endlessly entertaining for my family and friends to see me show up in jeans and boots, straight from my cabin in Montauk, and undergo the transformation. Holly and I both, however, loved the “chase” and various forms of escape. At the end of the day, I almost always washed off the makeup and with it, Holly’s brand of crazy. Maybe people were drawn to her because I didn’t let it all hang out, they could project their pain and struggles onto her. The fan letters seemed to reflect that.
Q. Are there any causes or social issues that are of particular interest or importance to you?
MG: Pesticide use, saving the oceans, clean water, healthy food, access to education and VOTING. As I mentioned before with my interest in agroforestry: there is a lack of affordable fresh foods in so many neighborhoods. The average middle class family can’t afford to keep their family healthy. I follow politics closely and support people like Elizabeth Warren and marvel at the depth of Obama’s presidency. The problems he is attempting to solve have been coming to a head for 30 years. He can’t be expected to do it all at once and needs our support to be given another term.
Q. Is there anything else that you would want people to know about you?
MG: Physical training is another passion. As I get older, I realize how important weight training is. I work with a trainer and am stronger than I have ever been in my life. It’s great for strength, stamina, and let’s face it, for looking and feeling good. I also swim, row and hike daily (have I mentioned my other love – Romeo, the dog?)
I am very happy and fulfilled. I have a relationship of more than 20 years with my best friend and partner, Janet Morgan. We have raised three boys, now young men who are gifts to this world. Lucky are their future partners (grandchildren anytime, guys). They are all environmentally conscious, healthy, funny and loving.
Our oldest son lives in Stockholm and works on environmental issues [and our second son] lives in Costa Rica, working in agroforestry, with a particular interest in breadfruit for poverty alleviation. Our youngest recently graduated college and could be making a career out of his summer job of leading wilderness treks in the U.S. and Canada. I am very close to one of my nieces, an artist who came to live with us for years. She has given me the opportunity to help raise a fine young woman. She lives in Portland, Oregon and is part of the food movement there.
Holly -- the character who read Browning, referenced Kierkegaard and had torrid love affairs -- was unquestionably cool. So is the woman who played her. Nice work, Maureen!
Review: Dexter - “Sunshine and Frosty Swirl”
The second episode of the new season of Dexter picks up with Dexter trying to explain to Deb about his strange habit of being a serial killer. She’s put the pieces together (and found all his gear) and knows that he’s the Bay Harbor Butcher. After experiencing a fair degree of shock, Deb decides that the best way to deal with Dexter’s “problem” is to treat it like an addiction. She becomes his recovery buddy and moves him into her place so she can keep an eye on him.
Meanwhile, the conflict between Dexter and Louis Greene heats up and comes to blows, the Russians get closer to finding out the Dexter was responsible for the death of their buddy, LaGuerta delves deeper into the investigation on the blood slide she found and Batista and Quinn continue to hunt for Mike’s killer.
Much like the first installment, the second episode focuses mainly on the shifts in the relationship between Dexter and Deborah. The rest of the characters stay primarily in the background and we don’t have to endure any pointless relationship plots concerning people we’re only half-interested in. This is the way it should be, in my opinion, and hopefully the season will keep with this trend.
More applause to Jennifer Carpenter for pulling out all the stops and acting like a pro. The entire cast shines once again, bringing a new, darker sense of realism to the show that’s more than just the typical “it’s a show about a serial killer” approach. The momentum from episode 1 keeps rolling and the tension builds. If the writers can keep it progressing like this and the cast keeps pushing themselves to be excellent, the rest of Dexter season 7 should be a blast.
Premiere Review: ‘Green Arrow’ Comes to TV
Comic books are once again making the attempt to transition to television. Though there have been some mild successes (such as Heroes), the majority of these projects are pretty much done before they begin. Which is why I had high hopes for the Green Arrow adaptation, Arrow when I first heard it was being made. After watching the premiere episode, those hopes are still with me.
Arrow follows the story of Oliver Queen (AKA Green Arrow), a millionaire playboy who ends up stranded on a deserted island for five years. Everyone thinks him dead until he finally manages to get rescued and make his return to the real world. And though he left as a spoiled brat with too much cash, he comes back a bad-ass with a bow and some serious parkour skills.
The first episode takes the viewer right into the show. There’s the standard conflict with a bad guy scenario, some drug problems with Oliver’s younger sister, a conniving mother, an estranged ex-girlfriend and Oliver’s millionaire playboy buddy trying to get him right back into the lifestyle he left. But the character has changed and is now dedicated to cleaning up his city in vigilante fashion.
In the course of the premiere, Oliver gets kidnapped by people trying to figure out what he knows about his father’s business (which appears to be shady in some way), Oliver must reintegrate himself into his old life without letting people know he’s now a super hero and Arrow faces off against his first villain. Much of the background story is slowly unfolding at this point and there is still a lot of mystery left for the future, such as what happened to Oliver on the island, what the deal with his father is and why he’s so motivated to fight the bad guys.
The first episode was a strong open for what looks to be an interesting series. Most everyone does a decent acting job, the fight choreography is perhaps the best I’ve seen in a while and the show moves along from point A to point B in a quick and orderly fashion. My only beef was with the narrative, done by Oliver (Steven Amell). It comes across as a bit goofy and doesn’t really fit in. Hopefully, they’ll kill this as the series progresses.
As it stands, I’m looking forward to seeing next week’s episode and hoping that it doesn’t fail as so many other super hero shows have before it. If the writers keep it up, we may have a good and long-running new series on our hands.
Radioactive Waste 14 - Cancellation of Yucca Mountain Repository Project
I have already written about the Yucca Mountain Repository Project in a previous post including mentioning the cancellation of the project. The cancellation was complex, confusing and politically charged. I decided that I needed to dig deeper into the subject.
Yucca Mountain was first considered as a site in 1983, was selected as the final sole site in 1987, the application for a license was filed in 2001 and was supposed to open in 2020.The selection was made partly on a political basis with a government committee choosing the site from three finalists because it was very “dry” and very “remote.” After the decisions, further studies found that ground water moved through Yucca Mountain much faster than thought and raised the concern of possible leaching of waste materials into the water table in the area.
There was serious public backlash by the citizens of Nevada about the location of the Repository in their state and they fought the Repository in court and in the Congress. Harry Reid, the Democratic Senator from the state of Nevada, was strongly opposed to the repository project. Barack Obama had promised to shut down the repository project if elected President in 2008. When Obama assumed the Presidency in January 2009, in league with Harry Reid as the Senate Majority Leader, he moved to end the Yucca Mountain Repository Project.
In March of 2009, The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) tried to withdraw its license application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the Yucca Mountain Repository. Obama’s budget request for 2010 cut off most funding for the Repository Project. In July of 2009, a bill to not defund the Yucca Mountain Repository for 2010 was passed 388 to 30 votes in the U.S. house. A panel of judges at the NRC ruled in 2010 that the DOE could not withdraw its license application for the Repository because it lacked the authority. Congress had ruled to create the Repository and only Congress could cancel the license request. In the fall of 2011, the NRC accepted the Obama administration’s request to shut down the site, citing “budgetary limitations.” This decision was challenged in Federal Court. In August of 2012, the Federal Court said that they would not rule on whether the NRC could cancel the Yucca Mountain Repository Project until the end of 2012.
U.S. Senate Committee on Environmental and Public Works reported in 2008 that if the government did not deliver on contractual obligation to have a working repository, it could cost eleven billion dollars by 2020. The United States promised to start accepting spent nuclear fuel from commercial reactors in 1998. Utilities have recently sued over this failure and it could cost the government millions. The U.S. government was supposed to have a repository open by 2035 to accept military waste now in Idaho and Colorado. If it does not do so, the government could pay fines of over twenty seven million a year until it does have a repository. Also, failure to have a repository ready could interfere with the refueling of nuclear powered craft and impact national security.
There are solid arguments for and against the Yucca Mountain Repository but one thing is certain. The cancellation of this project will cost the U.S. taxpayer a lot of money and will put increased pressure on the U.S. government to come up with an alternative site for permanent storage of high-level nuclear waste as quickly as possible.
Yucca Mountain Repository:
Tips to staying on task
Working at home is generally less stressful than working outside the home. However, it does have its own set of challenges. For me personally, I find one of the hardest challenges to be staying on task.
At home, there are so many things to distract me from being productive. There are the house chores that are begging for attention. Then there are the leisurely activities like talking on the cell phone or watching the shows on TV. It can be very hard for me to even get started on my writing on certain days.
Even after I have already settled into position at my laptop, there are still plenty of things to distract me from what I have set out to get done. There are the unanswered e-mails and the notifications from Facebook. Then there are also the celebrity gossip websites and the many forums that I enjoy skimming through. All of these things can cause me to lose focus, and make it harder for me to get my writing done.
After working from home for a while, I have learned how to stay on task and be more productive with my writing. I have learned to schedule in breaks to allow for me to spend some time doing fun activities. Then once the break is done and over with, I can focus on my work without much of an effort.
Also, I often make promises to myself. For instance, I would promise myself that once I have written at least half of what I needed to write for the day, I would give myself permission to login to the forums that I frequent. That way I can avoid spending the whole morning doing nothing but reading post after post. Plus knowing that I can do more leisurely activities later gives me more motivation to do my work faster.
Review: Indie Game: The Movie (2012)
Indie Game: The Movie is a documentary that deals with the struggles and hardships that plague the life of the independent video game developer. The basic premise is that the film crew follows two groups of people and watches them as they go through the hard work and trials associated with trying to get their projects completed.
One pair, that of Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes, are racing the clock to release their game, Super Meat Boy. The other part of the story involves Phil Fish (and the occasional visit with his comrades in arms) as he attempts to get the long-delayed Fez ready for a gaming expo. In the background are some interviews with Jonathan Blow, famous for his renowned Braid game. All together, these three stories come together to create one of the most compelling documentaries I have ever seen.
The documentary takes place over a period of around seven months. Each group is knee-deep in the development of their respective games but has plenty of work left before they’re finished. Deadlines arrive and the gamers work hard and have to deal with everything that entails. Their social lives and other comforts are sacrificed in the pursuit of their dream. Jonathan Blow’s interviews act as a neutral point, showing what happens after success has arrived via him relating his own experiences.
This film is an emotional ride, the audience being drawn along with the game developers and through all the crap they have to deal with. Their devotion is admirable and you can’t help but feel your own sense of pride when they manage to achieve one goal or another. You get to see some of the people that support or oppose them and find out what really goes into making an independent video game in today’s world of big-name, 1000-man development crews.
Anyone who has an interest in video games or just wants a good human story would be doing themselves a favor by watching Indie Game. There are few documentaries that shine like this one, even if you don’t happen to be a fan of video gaming.
Brady vs. Manning last week
A breakdown of the Patriots and Broncos game last week shows that maybe as a team the Patriots won, but in the battle of Brady vs. manning Peyton is still king. Surly everyone is aware that Peyton is on the losing side of games against the Patriots over time. Going into last Sunday’s game Peyton won 4 while Brady won 8 regular season games. A look into the sheer quarterbacking numbers may show a different view however. For example this past Sunday was surely a W for Peyton in sheer numbers passing the ball while Brady got significant help from the ground game to get a victory.
In the end, the Broncos lost 31-21, but Peyton outplayed Brady by quite a ways. Peyton was 31 of 44 in the contest with 345 yards and 3 touchdowns. He was not intercepted in the game, but suffered as his team rushed for just 70 yards between 4 different rushers. Manning also suffered from a huge fumble by wide receiver Danarius Thomas down inside the ten yard line after a huge gain through the air.
In comparison, Tom Brady was certainly good but did not need to carry his team on his back. He completed 23 of his 31 passes and had 233 yards and a touchdown. The win came, primarily, by way of his teams 250 plus rushing yards that included over 150 from Steven Ridley. Two other backs had nearly 50 yards themselves as well as New England was able to run up and down the field on the Broncos. Historically I think one would see that from a sheer numbers game Manning wins the Peyton V Brady battle, but in the NFL all that matters is the Ws.
Steelers lose to Titans in final seconds
The Steelers lost their Thursday Night Football game against the Titans this Thursday in Tennessee in the closing seconds. The two teams really put on a great show as they both battled and remained close and competitive throughout. The Titans got a revival from veteran quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, and were able to get some decent rushing from Chris Johnson who continues to try and get himself to the great production he has reached years prior. Meanwhile, the Steelers just did not look like themselves and were devastated by an injury bug in the contest.
The Steelers got out to an early lead 10-6 after the first quarter thanks to a big 82 yard scoring pass from Ben to Mike Wallace. The Titans were able to comeback in the 2nd quarter when they outscored the Steelers 10-0 however, and went into the half with a 16-10 lead. The Steelers then took the lead midway through the fourth quarter. It seemed that momentum had switched at the worst possible time and Pittsburgh would cruise to victory.
The Titans hung in, however, and were able to get a scoring TD of their own to tie the game up. This was despite some big drops in the end zone by Kenny Britt who had a bad case of the bobbles. Pittsburgh and Ben had the ball with a few minutes left though, which is usually a death sentence for opposing teams. They drove down and got their kicker into field goal range with a chance to take the lead with under a minute left in regulation on a 54 yard boot. The kick would have been his career long but he came up short and the Titans got the ball near the 50. They then hit a long gainer and got in range for the game winning field goal, which was up and good as time expired.
49ers hope for a win against the Giants this Sunday
The 49ers will try and improve their 4-1 record this week as they face a familiar foe in the New York Giants. The last time these two teams played was in a very tough battle in last year’s playoffs with a chance to go to the Super Bowl. In the end a couple costly special team blunders cost the 49ers the game and propelled Eli Manning and his Giants to their second championship of the new millennium. This Sunday’s game will be played in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park with a 4:25 PM start.
The 49ers most recent victory came last week against the Buffalo Bills. There, they crushed Buffalo 45-3 in San Francisco. This embarrassment was a good follow-up from week 4 of the NFL season when the 9ers blew out the Jets 34-0. For those keeping score at home, that means in the last two games the 49ers have scored 79 points while their opponents have scored just 3 points. To break it down further, and embarrass the Jets and Bills more, that is an average victory of nearly 40 points. There is certainly no other team in football that has had that much success as of late, if ever.
The Giants come into Sunday’s game with a 3-2 record and are fresh off a victory last week in New York. In that week, they defeated the Cleveland Browns 41-27 despite being down 14-0 at one point. The Giants are still the defending champs, and still did knock the 9ers out of the playoffs last year. Eli is playing as good as ever and they have gotten some good rushing outings from Bradshaw, which included over 200 yards last week. You can bet that he will not get that this week against the 49ers D, but this should still be the game of the week to watch.
Redskins will face the Vikings this Sunday!
The Washington Redskins will face the Minnesota Vikings this Sunday at 4:25 PM in Washington. The game will be played at FedEx Field and presents a very intriguing matchup of two teams that appear to be up and coming in the NFL. The Redskins come into the game with a 2-3 record, but have lost some close contest and played some tough competition. Minnesota, on the other hand, has surprised many with their 4-1 record behind sophomore quarterback Christian Ponder.
The Redskins last game week 5 was against the Atlanta Falcons at home. Despite the Falcons perfect record, Washington played them very tough and only lost by one touchdown. This was even after Redskin quarterback RGIII had to leave the game with a concussion after a huge hit near the sideline. RGIII did report to practice and is said to have passed all the tests. He will definitely play Sunday and will look to get his team a much-needed win.
The Minnesota Vikings found success last week from the likes of the Tennessee Titans. Minnesota was able to beat them 30-7 in the end and have only lost to the Colts to this point in the season. The team’s most impressive win this season was against the 49ers that have only been beat by Minnesota this year. Minnesota has won thanks to a good sophomore season by Christian Ponder and the team’s running game behind Adrian Peterson. Ponder is 109-158 passing with 6 touchdowns and only 2 picks so far this year while Peterson has rushed for 420 yards and 2 touchdowns.