Included With No Charge In Your Package

Among the challenges faced since the inception of this blog, limiting my bragging about my daughter has been the hardest. Each time she lands an acting gig with potential for broad visibility, I struggle anew. If I overdo it, would any reader be bold enough to tell me I've become one of those parents?

I knew next to nothing about the phenomenon of Aziz Ansari, and even less about his show "Master Of None", now in its second season on Netflix, prior to my daughter being cast for a part. And I was not alone; most of my baby boomer friends were equally ignorant of Ansari when I spoke with them about my daughter's spot on the show. Also, I'd already learned that bragging too much - blog or not - could backfire. Editing room floors are littered with many never-seen performances. Try asking Kevin Costner - the only remaining trace of him in "The Big Chill" is a shot of his wrists as the film opens. He was the college friend who committed suicide so that his friends could whine for a whole weekend. His good looking face and the lines he had to memorize and then deliver? On that floor. 

But then as season two of "Master Of None" neared - and my "to boast or not to boast?" ruminating grew each day - Ansari's name seemed to start appearing everywhere. In classic schemata vs. scotoma fashion, I'd never noticed him until a personal connection removed him from my blind spot. Of course, every Gen X or millennial I spoke to thought I was a dolt. You don't know Aziz Ansari?

We're BFFs now, me & Aziz. Goes without saying that I love the lines he and his partner wrote for my daughter to deliver in Episode 4, entitled "First Date". Please note how cleverly I snuck in both a bit of useless Kevin Costner trivia and the schemata vs. scotoma piece. This way, at least a few of you might learn something - useless or potentially worthwhile - to accompany my crowing.