Where You Are is Who You Are

"Where You Are Is Who You Are"-the new billboard on the new apartment building.

I went to the newly "reopened" Key Foods nearby.  It was just as I remembered, except everything was shinier. Even though the chain itself is not very upscale, it is competing with CTown nearby, and preparing itself for the onslaught of new residents to the neighborhood.  A new glass tower is nearing completion just across the street from it and will be one of the many places to overcharge the new neighbors.

I have to admit, I was sick and wanted some juice and soups. Nothing fancy, just Vitamin C and chicken something, and maybe a few croissants.

Dave in Baked Goods recognized me, I think. He should, I've been going there for 4 years.  I can never tell if he's flirting with me, but it's nice to be recognized.

Lost and Found

Lost and Found (to be continued)

Elyse, Ntozake and Maria

Three Giant Women of theater have passed away in the space of just a few days.

An influential director.

A playwright of African American women and expanded territories, opening her arms to inclusion of multiple communities. (For Black Girls who have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf, a Choreopoem)

A playwright of Hispanic women, opening the theater walls to audiences to Fefu and her Friends.  Staging was nontraditional, taking people beyond a stage to different areas -seeing scenes in various order.

The world is better for them all.

1. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/oct/24/elyse-dodgson-royal-court-theatres-international-director-dies
2. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/28/obituaries/ntozake-shange-is-dead-at-70.html
3. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/31/obituaries/maria-irene-fornes-dead.html

Ntozake Shange at the Dodge Poetry Festival, Sunday, October 21, 2018

Hallway of Fog

Images for art:

Dreaming of Vila

Dreaming of Vila

Love Made Visible

Invisible Magic IS Love.

And "Love made visible" is the deeper mission of the Barter Theater.  When farmers couldn't offer money, they could offer things to pay for tickets. And then the actors got fed. 

A way of living as close to the bone as you can, and being happy, truly happy, in a circle of friends who are in the same situation. 

Much like the Fringe Theater, or all theater.

Mutual Admiration Society

The BEST situations are around Mutual Admiration Societies.

It might not always be equitable, but it is important to come from a place of respect and enjoyment of the other person's talents.  Winning an award, one should always be gracious and effusive in thanks.

Winning and maintaining friendships, it is important to determine comfort levels of communication, how to ensure that you've made a secure bond and how to keep it going.

Dreaming

Dreaming of Portugal and of doing more art, both the book and painting.

Working hard.

Falling Out and in Love with the Man(uscript)

Falling Out and in Love with the Man(uscript)

Sometimes it's good to be obsessed with your writing.

And then sometimes, it makes you sick with the intensity.

So it's good to be able to take a step back, and get back into your life. AND, you'd be amazed at how much easier it is to edit when you have a little perspective.

And then, when you get back into it, there's a lot of THERE there. Sure, trim away all the fat.  Lots of crap, but now it's easier to let go of it.

And I'm sure it'll be a cycle.  I need to get through this draft.  And then, rinse, repeat.

I'll forget again. But I'll fall in love again.

Readable Draft Writing in Restaurants

I hope you are as fascinated by the novel writing process as I am.

I'm taking 2 classes (1 on Query Letters to Lit Agents and one on World Building in Fiction). Getting an editor lined up, workshopping one of the chapters.  Very exciting.

My goal this month is a readable draft.  I have the structure, and 250 pages of scenes, notes, and things to write.  I want to send out the first 50 pages to my editor asap.

I've published several short stories and plays, but getting together a giant chunk of something (with a full time job plus travel) is tremendously difficult. But rewarding!

Writing a Novel Continues

A little while into this book, I've been writing some of the main stories for years, in my head, but am HAPPY, GLORIOUSLY HAPPY, to pick up the thread and keep going with binding them together.

A few moments of doubt, I could stop now and nothing will happen, but then I think about that and I keep going.

Because I have stopped before.  And I see the ending in the distance for this one.

FAR

Sometimes places seem farther in memory than in distance.

NYC is too far from me at the moment.