Thursday, January 14, 2010
The Journey: Caring for Self
Ever since Paul gave us the Christmas gift of the Wii Fitness Plus System, Peter and I have been down in our basement rec room exercising and working out, and really enjoying ourselves in the process. FOr his birthday , I gave Peter a few more Wii fitness games, and we've been playing those as well, so the variety has been keeping us extremely interested, therefore motivated to continue to work out our far-too-well-fed bodies, and it has actually been fun.
The sweating out of daily tensions has put me in a stronger place to take care of myself in other areas of my life as well. My mantra for this year is "Learn how to say "NO" so that I don't become overworked and exhausted, and therefore miserable." And because I have become more concerned with my health, safety and psyche, and because I see other things as more important than my work, i have an entirely different perspective on pretty much everything in my daily life: what seemed important no longer seems that way, and the words "no", or "I'm far too busy to do that" or "Y'know, my schedule simply is overbooked" come easier.
I am determined to stay balanced and healthy.
I am determined to enjoy my life, not fear it.
I am determined to take true care of my Self and myself.
I am determined to feel Happiness, not the painful anger of over-exhaustion.
I will stay on this far more pleasant road: I swear.
Paul is coming to visit again, while Stephen stays in Nashville to help his parents with their move. I am becoming spoiled with all this visiting from Paul, and I guess I'll simply have to find a way to keep him in our life more! He arrives back here tonight. This makes me very very happy.
No new snowfall here for two days! ANd the sun seems disposed to shine again, which , in itself , is a blessing. May it continue, at least for a tolerable while.
Care for yourselves, people.
The sweating out of daily tensions has put me in a stronger place to take care of myself in other areas of my life as well. My mantra for this year is "Learn how to say "NO" so that I don't become overworked and exhausted, and therefore miserable." And because I have become more concerned with my health, safety and psyche, and because I see other things as more important than my work, i have an entirely different perspective on pretty much everything in my daily life: what seemed important no longer seems that way, and the words "no", or "I'm far too busy to do that" or "Y'know, my schedule simply is overbooked" come easier.
I am determined to stay balanced and healthy.
I am determined to enjoy my life, not fear it.
I am determined to take true care of my Self and myself.
I am determined to feel Happiness, not the painful anger of over-exhaustion.
I will stay on this far more pleasant road: I swear.
Paul is coming to visit again, while Stephen stays in Nashville to help his parents with their move. I am becoming spoiled with all this visiting from Paul, and I guess I'll simply have to find a way to keep him in our life more! He arrives back here tonight. This makes me very very happy.
No new snowfall here for two days! ANd the sun seems disposed to shine again, which , in itself , is a blessing. May it continue, at least for a tolerable while.
Care for yourselves, people.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
It's Everywhere...it's everywhere.
Last night , Peter and I went to Theatre Bristol to see their production of RENT: the first regional production of this show. I have been wanting to go to Theatre Bristol for a time for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is that as Director of Outreach, I want to ...well...reach out to more theaters in this area , in order to establish at least some working knowledge of what we all do to produce live theatre in this region.
Also, the wonderful David Alford - who has been establishing himself as a popular teacher and director in the area ever since his wife came to Johnston Memorial to establish her medical practice - David has been working with Theatre Bristol, and suddenly it occurred to me that rather than being rivals in the areas of education and workshopping, I should at least attempt to establish the sort of relationship with Theatre Bristol that would , or could benefit us both: a creative way for each of us to feed and nourish each other's growth, rather than compete for the same population....so , I thought, going to see a production there would at least be a start! And so, I booked seats to see RENT.
It got snowed out in December, when i was originally going to see it - but they called and very professionally re-scheduled the last several performances for this weekend (Jan.7-8-9-, 2010) and handled it very well, as far as transferring already-paid-for-tix to our new chosen dates.
Peter and i went over to Bristol early to have dinner at the little bistro called KP Duty - it was a nice meal , very tasty - and then we sloshed through the snow to get our seats early, as it was general admission seats. We were handled pretty efficiently in the long line waiting to get in, and before we knew it, we were snuggled into our seats, bundling up against the cold inside the theater, which somehow seemed appropriate for seeing RENT....we settled in for what we feared would be a tortuous evening.
Well, it wasn't all that tortuous, and, in fact, both Peter and I , despite our natural reservations and criticisms, actually found ourselves surprised by this production. And the thing i walked away with from it with is this: the love of performing onstage in live theatre productions, is alive and well in the this corner of SW VIrginia - and, as I have been learning from establishing classes here over the past several years , people who want to be in musical theatre WANT IT and WILL DO IT NO MATTER WHAT OBSTACLES may be in their way!!
It's everywhere, this love of performing in front of tribal fires...it is everywhere, this need to do so..to tell the stories...to sing the songs.....forget voice training, forget getting technique in place, forget the patient mining of ones gifts into the most effective mechanisms of expression: LET's JUST GET UP AND DO THIS! And in that doing, there is passion, excitement, and true story-telling, because the main desire is to TELL THE STORY!! Get up , the need to get up, and TELL IT! BRING IT!
Well, this makes up for a lot more than you'd think...no one is more surprised than I am to discover that fact: the need to do it, the passion to tell it, supported by even a shadow of the abilities to truly do so in the most powerful way possible, is what gets the job done - and the average audience member - does not care if the voice does not quite hit the note , or if the acting is less than true, in the deepest sense - all the audience cares for is that they are getting the story delivered to them...AND LAST NIGHT's PERFORMANCE OF RENT? It delivered that story. They delivered it with joy and caring.
With all due respect to the performers in last night's show - because I do admire and respect all they did to get this difficult show across, especially musically and dramatically - i did miss the Broadway voices. There is no substitute for the pained soul in Adam Pascal's vocal sound, and the energy of Jesse L.Martin's sweet baritone, informed by who he is, as well as Taye Diggs' great style....well, that's not something that comes along every day to every community. However that being said, the actor who played Angel really pulled it off, and the young woman paying Mimi had both Peter and I on the edges of our seats as she did The Cow Jumped Over the Moon ...she had us laughing and genuinely engaged...we enjoyed ourselves!!! That plus the ensemble sound on those great songs really worked well, and a lot can be said to compliment the Musical Director for the work he got accomplished with the amateur cast...it sounded good! And from all I could observe: all un-mic-ed! I saw no amplification anywhere...so, given that, it was even more impressive!
So - the need to perform in front of the community is strong, and it seems to reside in us all, in some form or another, no matter where we are, how we are schooled, what our earn-a-living professions are: if we need to do it, we will find a way to do so.
And for that - humbly - I find my self incredibly grateful...and I wonder: maybe that is where my actual need to be part of theatre actually resides: in this need for community story sharing , not in the personal hunger i used to think I felt, to "star" in the telling...maybe I am an "amateur" in the true sense ( as the Theatre Bristol Executive Director said her curtain speech last night): I have a passion for it, .....and the word "amateur", with its roots somewhere in same place as the words "amour", "amatory", "amorous"etc....says something about the love I actually do feel for it....not the need to do it, but the desire to.
Thank you, Theatre Bristol, for helping me remember that....thank you.
Also, the wonderful David Alford - who has been establishing himself as a popular teacher and director in the area ever since his wife came to Johnston Memorial to establish her medical practice - David has been working with Theatre Bristol, and suddenly it occurred to me that rather than being rivals in the areas of education and workshopping, I should at least attempt to establish the sort of relationship with Theatre Bristol that would , or could benefit us both: a creative way for each of us to feed and nourish each other's growth, rather than compete for the same population....so , I thought, going to see a production there would at least be a start! And so, I booked seats to see RENT.
It got snowed out in December, when i was originally going to see it - but they called and very professionally re-scheduled the last several performances for this weekend (Jan.7-8-9-, 2010) and handled it very well, as far as transferring already-paid-for-tix to our new chosen dates.
Peter and i went over to Bristol early to have dinner at the little bistro called KP Duty - it was a nice meal , very tasty - and then we sloshed through the snow to get our seats early, as it was general admission seats. We were handled pretty efficiently in the long line waiting to get in, and before we knew it, we were snuggled into our seats, bundling up against the cold inside the theater, which somehow seemed appropriate for seeing RENT....we settled in for what we feared would be a tortuous evening.
Well, it wasn't all that tortuous, and, in fact, both Peter and I , despite our natural reservations and criticisms, actually found ourselves surprised by this production. And the thing i walked away with from it with is this: the love of performing onstage in live theatre productions, is alive and well in the this corner of SW VIrginia - and, as I have been learning from establishing classes here over the past several years , people who want to be in musical theatre WANT IT and WILL DO IT NO MATTER WHAT OBSTACLES may be in their way!!
It's everywhere, this love of performing in front of tribal fires...it is everywhere, this need to do so..to tell the stories...to sing the songs.....forget voice training, forget getting technique in place, forget the patient mining of ones gifts into the most effective mechanisms of expression: LET's JUST GET UP AND DO THIS! And in that doing, there is passion, excitement, and true story-telling, because the main desire is to TELL THE STORY!! Get up , the need to get up, and TELL IT! BRING IT!
Well, this makes up for a lot more than you'd think...no one is more surprised than I am to discover that fact: the need to do it, the passion to tell it, supported by even a shadow of the abilities to truly do so in the most powerful way possible, is what gets the job done - and the average audience member - does not care if the voice does not quite hit the note , or if the acting is less than true, in the deepest sense - all the audience cares for is that they are getting the story delivered to them...AND LAST NIGHT's PERFORMANCE OF RENT? It delivered that story. They delivered it with joy and caring.
With all due respect to the performers in last night's show - because I do admire and respect all they did to get this difficult show across, especially musically and dramatically - i did miss the Broadway voices. There is no substitute for the pained soul in Adam Pascal's vocal sound, and the energy of Jesse L.Martin's sweet baritone, informed by who he is, as well as Taye Diggs' great style....well, that's not something that comes along every day to every community. However that being said, the actor who played Angel really pulled it off, and the young woman paying Mimi had both Peter and I on the edges of our seats as she did The Cow Jumped Over the Moon ...she had us laughing and genuinely engaged...we enjoyed ourselves!!! That plus the ensemble sound on those great songs really worked well, and a lot can be said to compliment the Musical Director for the work he got accomplished with the amateur cast...it sounded good! And from all I could observe: all un-mic-ed! I saw no amplification anywhere...so, given that, it was even more impressive!
So - the need to perform in front of the community is strong, and it seems to reside in us all, in some form or another, no matter where we are, how we are schooled, what our earn-a-living professions are: if we need to do it, we will find a way to do so.
And for that - humbly - I find my self incredibly grateful...and I wonder: maybe that is where my actual need to be part of theatre actually resides: in this need for community story sharing , not in the personal hunger i used to think I felt, to "star" in the telling...maybe I am an "amateur" in the true sense ( as the Theatre Bristol Executive Director said her curtain speech last night): I have a passion for it, .....and the word "amateur", with its roots somewhere in same place as the words "amour", "amatory", "amorous"etc....says something about the love I actually do feel for it....not the need to do it, but the desire to.
Thank you, Theatre Bristol, for helping me remember that....thank you.
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Starting the New year With a Really Bad Poem
I needed to write....i felt compelled to write...and my meditations and musings had led me how Time is simply a matter of our own construction ...the techniques we each use to create the drama of our individual lives...Time is one experience to one person and quite another experience to another person...it's all truly relative (as dusty old Einstein of course realized for the good of all...the result: the atomic bomb and don't ask me how that works...how that all fits together, but somehow it does...ANYWAY: so there I was with time on my hands, an urge to write in my heart...and absolutely no inspiration...so there you have dull and silly poem in the last blog entry....shall i delete it? Heck no! It's where I absolutely was at the moment...so why not share that dull pain? And i do mean dull...
ANYWAY: here we are, snow thick upon the ground and no end in sight...one of those cottony cold days, smothered in dry chill, with Peter and I having just celebrated our 6th year of being married to each other!!!! Yesterday, 6 years ago, our party of 20 friends and relatives gathered with us in Orlando ,Florida, at the Polynesian Resort, and a wedding occurred.....we feasted at the Luau and Show afterward...and it was fine! Everyone had fun...after all we were at Disney World...and we were surrounded by our best spirits, PLUS we had each other - Peter and I - to have and to hold....and I must say, six years later, I am astonished at my good fortune.
Peter Yonka is a fair-minded, caring, sexy, funny, loyal, creative, gifted and deeply loving man. And his considerable loving energies are devoted to me, as miraculous as that may seem to me...he is in this for the long haul, and means it when he says he loves me.....why does this amaze me so?
ANYWAY: here we are, snow thick upon the ground and no end in sight...one of those cottony cold days, smothered in dry chill, with Peter and I having just celebrated our 6th year of being married to each other!!!! Yesterday, 6 years ago, our party of 20 friends and relatives gathered with us in Orlando ,Florida, at the Polynesian Resort, and a wedding occurred.....we feasted at the Luau and Show afterward...and it was fine! Everyone had fun...after all we were at Disney World...and we were surrounded by our best spirits, PLUS we had each other - Peter and I - to have and to hold....and I must say, six years later, I am astonished at my good fortune.
Peter Yonka is a fair-minded, caring, sexy, funny, loyal, creative, gifted and deeply loving man. And his considerable loving energies are devoted to me, as miraculous as that may seem to me...he is in this for the long haul, and means it when he says he loves me.....why does this amaze me so?
Saturday, January 02, 2010
New Year Musings
Snowfall blankets it all, once more,
So the past two days - that once open door
Into a New Year has been hidden quite
Beneath a heavy icing of white.
Two thousand ten looks like two thousand nine,
And I , for one, cannot draw the line
Between yesterday and this new time
All of it seems one, all of it sublime,
Because by its very nature it's magic,
And to view its passing is hardly tragic.
We live together in measures taking
Its pulse in constructs of our own making,
So raise your glass and drink your fill,
Gulping from Life , quaffing until
You know your appetite's been well sated,
And a full, quenched Life you have created!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
So the past two days - that once open door
Into a New Year has been hidden quite
Beneath a heavy icing of white.
Two thousand ten looks like two thousand nine,
And I , for one, cannot draw the line
Between yesterday and this new time
All of it seems one, all of it sublime,
Because by its very nature it's magic,
And to view its passing is hardly tragic.
We live together in measures taking
Its pulse in constructs of our own making,
So raise your glass and drink your fill,
Gulping from Life , quaffing until
You know your appetite's been well sated,
And a full, quenched Life you have created!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
