best week ever, pt. 1
Journals have to start somewhere, I guess, and since I'm here and I'm writing, I might as well start off where I met the LJ enthusiasts that got me here. So, Maureen, Tom, and the rest of my Kennedy Center kin, here I go.
Yes. The week I just spent in Washington, D.C. was the best ever. Or at least in recent memory. It's been a pretty lousy year, the worst since my freshman year of college. I know someday it will be very interesting to look back and see the two worst years of my life sandwiching the three best. But for now, I can look to this week as the release of tension that has been mounting for the past eight or nine months.
Why was it the best week ever? Well, if blessings can be gauged and appraised and found to be of specific values, then the blessings I received this week were probably part of the richest bounty I've ever received in such a short amount of time. Both personal and professional, they were:
blessing one: the human connection
I met seven of the most wonderful people while competing at the KCACTF National Critics Institute. Most people might expect some writing skills and sharp intellects among theatre critics, but those two traits are completely inadequate and incomplete when describing this group of people. You'd be missing these adjectives: hip, uninhibited, impulsive, hilarious, wild, sweet, daring, kind. And you might have been surprised at the lack of these common "critic" stereotypes: pretension, condescension, pseudo-intellectualism, haughtiness, stubbornness and intellectual snobbery. The seven people I spent the entire week with were nothing short of brilliant and lovely.
blessing two: writing
An opportunity to attend the Eugene O'Neill Center's Playwright and Critic's Institute this summer. A great learning and networking opportunity with professional playwrights and theatre critics from across the nation.
blessing three: acting
An offer from Kansas City's Unicorn Theatre to play ace pitcher Takeshi Kawabata in one of the nation's first regional productions of Richard Greenberg's _Take Me Out_, the 2003 Tony award-winning Best Play that just closed on Broadway a few months ago.
blessing four: rock'n'roll
A contact made with a friend of Robb Nansel, head of Saddle Creek records, home of indie faves such as Bright Eyes, Cursive, The Faint, Rilos Kiley, and Azure Ray. I knew that they accepted unsolicited demos. I didn't know they had intern opportunities, which I now plan to fully explore.
The hat trick of professional opportunities was bewildering, confusing, humbling, and exhilarating. I think. But they were only part of what made this experience special to me. Oh, the people! Our wonderful, motley band of critics. I don't know what I can really do but follow Maureen and Tom's lead and just describe each person as I saw them. But this deserves its own entry, and as sleep is calling to me at the moment, it will have to wait. Until then, here's to my newest friends. Good night, sweet dreams.
Yes. The week I just spent in Washington, D.C. was the best ever. Or at least in recent memory. It's been a pretty lousy year, the worst since my freshman year of college. I know someday it will be very interesting to look back and see the two worst years of my life sandwiching the three best. But for now, I can look to this week as the release of tension that has been mounting for the past eight or nine months.
Why was it the best week ever? Well, if blessings can be gauged and appraised and found to be of specific values, then the blessings I received this week were probably part of the richest bounty I've ever received in such a short amount of time. Both personal and professional, they were:
blessing one: the human connection
I met seven of the most wonderful people while competing at the KCACTF National Critics Institute. Most people might expect some writing skills and sharp intellects among theatre critics, but those two traits are completely inadequate and incomplete when describing this group of people. You'd be missing these adjectives: hip, uninhibited, impulsive, hilarious, wild, sweet, daring, kind. And you might have been surprised at the lack of these common "critic" stereotypes: pretension, condescension, pseudo-intellectualism, haughtiness, stubbornness and intellectual snobbery. The seven people I spent the entire week with were nothing short of brilliant and lovely.
blessing two: writing
An opportunity to attend the Eugene O'Neill Center's Playwright and Critic's Institute this summer. A great learning and networking opportunity with professional playwrights and theatre critics from across the nation.
blessing three: acting
An offer from Kansas City's Unicorn Theatre to play ace pitcher Takeshi Kawabata in one of the nation's first regional productions of Richard Greenberg's _Take Me Out_, the 2003 Tony award-winning Best Play that just closed on Broadway a few months ago.
blessing four: rock'n'roll
A contact made with a friend of Robb Nansel, head of Saddle Creek records, home of indie faves such as Bright Eyes, Cursive, The Faint, Rilos Kiley, and Azure Ray. I knew that they accepted unsolicited demos. I didn't know they had intern opportunities, which I now plan to fully explore.
The hat trick of professional opportunities was bewildering, confusing, humbling, and exhilarating. I think. But they were only part of what made this experience special to me. Oh, the people! Our wonderful, motley band of critics. I don't know what I can really do but follow Maureen and Tom's lead and just describe each person as I saw them. But this deserves its own entry, and as sleep is calling to me at the moment, it will have to wait. Until then, here's to my newest friends. Good night, sweet dreams.