P & P Meeting

The Players & Playwrights By The Jersey Shore meeting, which I facilitated, went well.  I was glad when it was over, though, as it's exhausting riding herd on twenty-five or so adults, all of whom are convinced that what they say and write is more important than what anyone else, etc., etc., and are very vocal about it.
Jim L. brought two plays, one of which was a re-hash of an earlier one.  Improved?  Not exactly.  Grey was one of the readers for this and consistently ad-libbed.  This was greeted with amusement by some and indignation by others.  Certainly, I'd be angry if he did it with one of my plays, but Jim is such a stuffed shirt and so absolutely convinced his plays are just waiting to be discovered by Steven Spielberg, that I didn't mind seeing him taken down a peg. 
We did one of Joe L.'s, also, which wasn't bad, but as with so many of our members' material, seemed to meander along without much point.  Of course, it's difficult to judge the effectiveness of any play when it's a cold reading, some by those who have little acting ability.  His, at least, had the virtue of being short.
We had several new attendees, including Margaret D., an African-American, who brought two plays.  Unfortunately, she had only one copy of each and included no cover pages introducing the characters or settings.  I asked her to bring copies of them next time.  Margaret read a part in one of Jim's plays, and did a very credible job.  A couple named Ann and Leo L., new as attendees, but known to many members, were there, and Leo read for the same play.  He was very good and I wasn't surprised when Louise told me he teaches at Stockton State and does a lot of public speaking. I talked to another newbie--new to me, that is--named Ed, who said he had been a member years before.  Great guy and we can always use new males in the group.
Afterward, Aline, Louise, and I met Betty at Italian Gourmet for an early dinner.  Louise asked us to comment on what might be called a "dating dilemma."  She had been contacted by a man via a matchmaking site and met him at Starbucks for coffee.  He was very nice, her type, and they got along well, but when she Googled him, she discovered he had lied about his age by seven years.  She was disturbed about it, figuring if he lied about that, he'd lie about other things. 
(Unless you're under thirty, shaving a few years off seems to be almost universal on these sites; I did it myself when I half-heartedly followed a free trial on Senior Dating.  Before long, I realized I don't really have much interest in meeting men, and dropped it.)  We discussed Louise's problem and the consensus seemed to be that she should confront him directly.
Got home before dark after an interesting day.