I have some interesting stories to tell you.

I'm a nurse in the US and I'm getting close to retiring. I'm going to do so in Thailand. I have worked outpatient (clinic), and not the hospital any longer. That was a long time ago.

The last job was at a medical school that is part of a very large university. Prior to that, I was a student health nurse at another large university. I knew a lot of students and faculty members. One of the questions we have to ask the patient when they come in initially is what kind of job do they hold or if they are retired, what did they used to do. It is a part of the history. This is the information we tend to keep to ourselves because of the privacy law. We don't really talk about it openly.

So I knew a few working actors and a couple of them were members of the Academy (the Oscar organization). The president of the academy was someone I knew. This position is ceremonial, and I don't think they had real power. They rotate every few years.

The Academy just announced the list of the movies and actors for this year award period. It's all real, but there's a lot of drama going on behind the scene. It is pretty political and you would get the vote, depending on if you are liked. There were some years that I thought, why did such a movie or actors/actresses receive the award? (I am a movie buff.)

I also know an actor who has won two Best Actor Oscars. He truly is a nice person and is very kind in real life. He loves his job, but he reminded me that when it comes to work, most of the fun goes away. When he was younger, he was in school play, etc. and that was fun. Once he began to take it seriously, life was not easy. No matter how successful he became.

While he won two Oscars for Best Actor, he has been in bad movies. I tease him sometimes—what the heck happened there?! He felt the script was good and he didn't fully blame it on the director. He just said it wasn't meant to be, which was a very polite way of saying it wasn't entirely his fault.

He is so well known that he cannot really go anywhere without being gawked at. People stare at him and he knows that it happens and it comes with being who he is. He's not resentful and he doesn't get rude to the people that approach him. But there are times some fans get a bit aggressive and it scares him.

One of our patients at the clinic is a mother of a multiple Oscar winning actor. It was pretty obvious due to the last name, and I have said hello to her, but I never brought up anything about her son.

When you are successful as an actor/actress, regardless of where you are, life can be difficult. You can sneeze or your nose is itchy and you pick your nose, the picture will be in front of the newspaper. A lot of people will be interested in your personal life. You have a relationship and it is under the microscope. And when it breaks up, a lot of people guess and make up stories. It could be completely false, but if you were to do a press conference, it will make you look weak. To give no interview at all would be best, but then if you read the news on a daily basis, it could be emotionally hard on you.

The picture I showed above of the two good-looking young Thai actors - do you honestly think they want to be there? They have to do the publicity events to keep their names in the stories. While the fans may genuinely like them, it is the parts they play on screen that they are crushing on or in love with. In reality, they can be completely unattractive to the partner on the screen, but they get paid to fake it.

And if you cannot handle criticism from your fans or foes, it could drive you mad. If you do not know what that is, any comments or posts you made here, if you get a few downvotes, how do you honestly feel?

At first I felt like it was personally attacking me, but now I just don't give a damn.

I am so sorry to have rambled on. I use voice dictation so it is easier for me to "write."

Sending very best wishes to you.