(no subject)
As of yesterday, I am now - for the first time EVER - the proud owner of a library card.
Really.
When I was growing up, we always lived outside city limits, so library cards were too expensive. 90% of my books came from yard sales, or I would beg friends who lived in more reasonable locations to allow me to borrow books on their accounts.
I think I may have been caught petting the card...
Also yesterday, I saw the new Philip Seymour Hoffman movie, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Acting = superb. Movie = not so great. There are times when playing with narrative structures and timelines work. (See Momento.) This was not one of those times. I did not need to see the same scenes from a different camera angle, because new information (or even characterization) was not revealed through the use of this device. And when the movie - a fairly standard heist-goes-wrong plot with a few extra twists - spans 1:57 as it is... well, you certainly don't need to see the same scenes multiple times. Add to that the fact that while the characters are devastatingly pathetic, the audience doesn't manage to sympathize with them. Their lives were trainwrecks, but I wasn't particularly moved for things to get better for them. (Which is probably good, because everything that could go wrong, does. For them. For everyone.)
In better news, the play went really well. We had possibly our largest ever crowd for a Friday night showing, which was exciting. And we definitely did our biggest dance number EVER. Which was really cool. And really hard. I'm still sore. (For the record, the two-minute play was titled, All You Need to Make a Good Play Is a Saucy Hat and Some Good Jazz. Sugarfoot, donkey kick, jazz hands, moves I'm still not entirely sure how to do, and a lot of saucy hat stealing - I got to "dance dirty" with the hat, according to the script.)
And my Harry Potter play, Here, Jo, for You, went over well. Lots of people walked away with rings binding us to the fantasy. *sigh* And I got thanked by a nurse practitioner, a public health person, and a Planned Parenthood volunteer for writing a play about HPV (called PSA (with a side of veggies)). Which made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I also had an Artistic Conundrum during the show. Each night, we do a "fresh play" that was written and rehearsed that day to start the show. Saturday night, one of the ensemble members wrote the fresh play, which was called, We Are People. We Have Power. Basically, the four guys in the ensemble each walk out and individually say, "I am a man. I have a cock. It gives me power." Then, the two women individually walk out and say, "I am a woman. I have a cunt. It gives me power." The four guys then each hold up a letter spelling C-U-N-T.
Now, I don't use that word. Um... ever. Except clearly now, because I am describing the play. Adam, the guy who wrote the play, later put on a Harry Potter ring (even though he does not like the series) as appreciation for me doing his play, even though he knows I don't use that word. I told him that it actually bothered me for a while, because in this particular play series, the ensemble play themselves. When I am on stage, I am Danielle. Not Hermione Granger or Jack Bauer or the Queen of the Damned or whoever. And if I would not use that word, then I have an artistic conflict with saying it on stage. But ultimately, I decided the play was saying that Language Is Power. Now, THAT is a statement I wholeheartedly support. Therefore, I could do the play with that in mind.
Anyway...
With the play out of the way, I will hopefully be able to find some more time to return to writing. The next chapter of Time to Trust is going to be difficult to write. And the one after that, too. Daunting!
Thanks for reading this rather long post. :)
Really.
When I was growing up, we always lived outside city limits, so library cards were too expensive. 90% of my books came from yard sales, or I would beg friends who lived in more reasonable locations to allow me to borrow books on their accounts.
I think I may have been caught petting the card...
Also yesterday, I saw the new Philip Seymour Hoffman movie, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Acting = superb. Movie = not so great. There are times when playing with narrative structures and timelines work. (See Momento.) This was not one of those times. I did not need to see the same scenes from a different camera angle, because new information (or even characterization) was not revealed through the use of this device. And when the movie - a fairly standard heist-goes-wrong plot with a few extra twists - spans 1:57 as it is... well, you certainly don't need to see the same scenes multiple times. Add to that the fact that while the characters are devastatingly pathetic, the audience doesn't manage to sympathize with them. Their lives were trainwrecks, but I wasn't particularly moved for things to get better for them. (Which is probably good, because everything that could go wrong, does. For them. For everyone.)
In better news, the play went really well. We had possibly our largest ever crowd for a Friday night showing, which was exciting. And we definitely did our biggest dance number EVER. Which was really cool. And really hard. I'm still sore. (For the record, the two-minute play was titled, All You Need to Make a Good Play Is a Saucy Hat and Some Good Jazz. Sugarfoot, donkey kick, jazz hands, moves I'm still not entirely sure how to do, and a lot of saucy hat stealing - I got to "dance dirty" with the hat, according to the script.)
And my Harry Potter play, Here, Jo, for You, went over well. Lots of people walked away with rings binding us to the fantasy. *sigh* And I got thanked by a nurse practitioner, a public health person, and a Planned Parenthood volunteer for writing a play about HPV (called PSA (with a side of veggies)). Which made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I also had an Artistic Conundrum during the show. Each night, we do a "fresh play" that was written and rehearsed that day to start the show. Saturday night, one of the ensemble members wrote the fresh play, which was called, We Are People. We Have Power. Basically, the four guys in the ensemble each walk out and individually say, "I am a man. I have a cock. It gives me power." Then, the two women individually walk out and say, "I am a woman. I have a cunt. It gives me power." The four guys then each hold up a letter spelling C-U-N-T.
Now, I don't use that word. Um... ever. Except clearly now, because I am describing the play. Adam, the guy who wrote the play, later put on a Harry Potter ring (even though he does not like the series) as appreciation for me doing his play, even though he knows I don't use that word. I told him that it actually bothered me for a while, because in this particular play series, the ensemble play themselves. When I am on stage, I am Danielle. Not Hermione Granger or Jack Bauer or the Queen of the Damned or whoever. And if I would not use that word, then I have an artistic conflict with saying it on stage. But ultimately, I decided the play was saying that Language Is Power. Now, THAT is a statement I wholeheartedly support. Therefore, I could do the play with that in mind.
Anyway...
With the play out of the way, I will hopefully be able to find some more time to return to writing. The next chapter of Time to Trust is going to be difficult to write. And the one after that, too. Daunting!
Thanks for reading this rather long post. :)