4.30.2009
4.27.2009
4.25.2009
4.23.2009
Playground Resurrected
It's supposed to hit 80+ degrees this weekend in NYC. The temp jolt makes me physically realize it's spring (that and my damn allergies). My artsy self, however, welcomed spring several weeks ago. My artsy self in the spring & summer time is all obsessed with anything that has nothing to do with writing/reading plays.
I don't have a name for my artsy spring self. Maybe Wanda, or...Cree, or...Sylvia?
Anyway, this is my point: spring and summer is a creative playground, a big ol' pollen and allergen free summer camp where I dust off my 35mm camera, spruce up the site & blog, start working on my fiction,...paint a piece of wood.
It's a PlayGrouNd. Totally insane but great.
It's a cycle. Plays are written in the fall & winter; other artistic endeavors go down now. I didn't think of this as a cycle until last week. I started making lil' beats on GarageBand for some unexplainable reason. After questioning this sudden urge to recreate an early MC Lyte album, I realized I ALWAYS seem to get antsy around late February / early March and turn to sketch pads & beat machines.
I talked to a friend & fellow playwright about it this afternoon, and she agreed--come spring writing a play is all of a sudden like putting on a crappy sweatshirt that's too heavy and smells a lil' funky. (That's my analogy, not hers. She just said, "yea, I'm totally burnt out.")
This is not to say, of course, that I'm done with playwriting during these seasons. I have a few deadlines & rewrites that I have to tackle in the coming months. But a girl needs a timeout, you know? It's fun and necessary to pop a Claritin and stroll around the city taking pictures...
I don't have a name for my artsy spring self. Maybe Wanda, or...Cree, or...Sylvia?
Anyway, this is my point: spring and summer is a creative playground, a big ol' pollen and allergen free summer camp where I dust off my 35mm camera, spruce up the site & blog, start working on my fiction,...paint a piece of wood.
It's a PlayGrouNd. Totally insane but great.
It's a cycle. Plays are written in the fall & winter; other artistic endeavors go down now. I didn't think of this as a cycle until last week. I started making lil' beats on GarageBand for some unexplainable reason. After questioning this sudden urge to recreate an early MC Lyte album, I realized I ALWAYS seem to get antsy around late February / early March and turn to sketch pads & beat machines.
I talked to a friend & fellow playwright about it this afternoon, and she agreed--come spring writing a play is all of a sudden like putting on a crappy sweatshirt that's too heavy and smells a lil' funky. (That's my analogy, not hers. She just said, "yea, I'm totally burnt out.")
This is not to say, of course, that I'm done with playwriting during these seasons. I have a few deadlines & rewrites that I have to tackle in the coming months. But a girl needs a timeout, you know? It's fun and necessary to pop a Claritin and stroll around the city taking pictures...
4.22.2009
Streamline
Alright, so I'm pulling back a lil' bit on the left side of your screen.
If you scroll down that column, you'll notice a lot less "stuff".
I'm keeping it simple.
Streamlining the system.
On the hunt for a better playlist system, too.
If you scroll down that column, you'll notice a lot less "stuff".
I'm keeping it simple.
Streamlining the system.
On the hunt for a better playlist system, too.
4.21.2009
Bits & Pieces
Announcing a new addition to the online presence.
Bits & Pieces (check the image to your left) is a digi-notebook containing inspirational, weird, entertaining nuggets I find during my research for new plays and projects.
It's a part of the tumblr craze. I'm enjoying it so far.
Bits & Pieces (check the image to your left) is a digi-notebook containing inspirational, weird, entertaining nuggets I find during my research for new plays and projects.
It's a part of the tumblr craze. I'm enjoying it so far.
4.20.2009
Nottage = Pulitzer winner
YES! YES! YES!
Lynn Nottage's RUINED won the 2009 Pulitzer for Best Drama.
What a wonderful, wonderful, amazing play, and such an important story. AND it means so much that a story about women navigating a civil war in the Congo is considered a part of American life.
So WONDERFUL.
And go Black female playwrights!
Lynn Nottage's RUINED won the 2009 Pulitzer for Best Drama.
What a wonderful, wonderful, amazing play, and such an important story. AND it means so much that a story about women navigating a civil war in the Congo is considered a part of American life.
So WONDERFUL.
And go Black female playwrights!
Oooo la l--
Alright, I don't endorse crocs being turned into shoes, but there's something very nice about these Chucks.
[click the pic for more]
Monae LIVE
Yes, so last night I FINALLY saw Janelle Monae in concert.
Needless to say, she KILLED IT. This chick is all kinds of fierce. And she had the whole audience of white hipsters screaming her name by the time she took her last bow.
(I was cheering and screaming throughout. I knew what was up from jump.)
This woman is an exciting mixture of several rock-n-roll / soul performers from Lena Horne to Iggy Pop to the God Father of Soul (oh, and David Byrne & Grace Jones come to mind, too)
Yay, to good concerts.
Needless to say, she KILLED IT. This chick is all kinds of fierce. And she had the whole audience of white hipsters screaming her name by the time she took her last bow.
(I was cheering and screaming throughout. I knew what was up from jump.)
This woman is an exciting mixture of several rock-n-roll / soul performers from Lena Horne to Iggy Pop to the God Father of Soul (oh, and David Byrne & Grace Jones come to mind, too)
Yay, to good concerts.
4.17.2009
Kaufman residue
I saw Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche New York a week ago, and I'm still wrestling with it. I think it's a movie that demands a second or third viewing because the movements & statements are so intricate that they can be missed during the first round.
That's surprising to me. Movies don't often demand that kind of eye. I walk into a play prepared to use that part of my brain, but movies (or at least the ones I've been watching lately, e.g. The Transporter) often call for less work.
I can't really say if I "liked it" or not. And, honestly, to make such a distinction seems to be beside the point.
It's a piece that I have to sit with again.
Here's a a quick Kaufman interview:
That's surprising to me. Movies don't often demand that kind of eye. I walk into a play prepared to use that part of my brain, but movies (or at least the ones I've been watching lately, e.g. The Transporter) often call for less work.
I can't really say if I "liked it" or not. And, honestly, to make such a distinction seems to be beside the point.
It's a piece that I have to sit with again.
Here's a a quick Kaufman interview:
4.16.2009
4.15.2009
A quickie lil' piece of fiction....
I just finished reading this article in the nytimes about modern modes of communication affecting good ol' fashion plot twists in today's fiction.
I've gotten this same type of feedback on two of my plays. ("She could go buy a pay-as-you-go cell phone") Granted, I don't do many story-lines that involve missed connections or catastrophes, but I am interested in the choice to communicate. Whether a character has a gadget or not is besides the point. What does it mean if he doesn't call or text? It's subtle...may be a case of splitting hairs, but I think it's worth playing with in character structure. We have so many ways to reach out to others...what does it mean to reject it?
There was another article in the times a couple of weeks ago that praised the art of the short story. Funny, considering Stephen King killed it back in '07. Well, he didn't kill it, but he talked about the public's interest in short fiction knocking on death's door.
In an odd way, I think technology plays a part in these articles, too. To praise short stories is to praise Edgar Allen Poe, Flannery O'Connor, and Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne (a favorite of mine). The praise sometimes spills over to 21st century writers, but for the most part it sticks to stories written back in the day. The pieces that thrive in print, hard copy. The kind of text that seems to make the physical act of the turning the page a part of the story, too. I can't identify the digital equivalent. Scrolling doesn't quite capture it. Turning the page is a relic it seems. (I realize I can easily print a copy, too...but for whatever reason it's not the same.)
I've been reading more plays than fiction these past few years, but I will say it's hard to know where to start with short stories. It feels too easy to pick up an anthology. (I liken it to buying a "greatest hits" collection--yo, you have to listen to the b-sides to get the full effect, you know?) But it is difficult to stumble upon a short piece of fiction. It rarely ever falls in my lap. And while I miss the page turning effect, the digital age does make it easier to find a good piece of writing.
I'm being proactive about my fiction consumption. I joined Good Reads a few weeks ago.(You can find a link if you scroll down the left column) A small gesture, but genuine nonetheless. Outside of plays, I'm reading some poetry. This summer I plan to fall into the fiction of some 21st century writers. I don't have the money to buy all these journals and books, but that's what an awesome library is for.
I've gotten this same type of feedback on two of my plays. ("She could go buy a pay-as-you-go cell phone") Granted, I don't do many story-lines that involve missed connections or catastrophes, but I am interested in the choice to communicate. Whether a character has a gadget or not is besides the point. What does it mean if he doesn't call or text? It's subtle...may be a case of splitting hairs, but I think it's worth playing with in character structure. We have so many ways to reach out to others...what does it mean to reject it?
There was another article in the times a couple of weeks ago that praised the art of the short story. Funny, considering Stephen King killed it back in '07. Well, he didn't kill it, but he talked about the public's interest in short fiction knocking on death's door.
In an odd way, I think technology plays a part in these articles, too. To praise short stories is to praise Edgar Allen Poe, Flannery O'Connor, and Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne (a favorite of mine). The praise sometimes spills over to 21st century writers, but for the most part it sticks to stories written back in the day. The pieces that thrive in print, hard copy. The kind of text that seems to make the physical act of the turning the page a part of the story, too. I can't identify the digital equivalent. Scrolling doesn't quite capture it. Turning the page is a relic it seems. (I realize I can easily print a copy, too...but for whatever reason it's not the same.)
I've been reading more plays than fiction these past few years, but I will say it's hard to know where to start with short stories. It feels too easy to pick up an anthology. (I liken it to buying a "greatest hits" collection--yo, you have to listen to the b-sides to get the full effect, you know?) But it is difficult to stumble upon a short piece of fiction. It rarely ever falls in my lap. And while I miss the page turning effect, the digital age does make it easier to find a good piece of writing.
I'm being proactive about my fiction consumption. I joined Good Reads a few weeks ago.(You can find a link if you scroll down the left column) A small gesture, but genuine nonetheless. Outside of plays, I'm reading some poetry. This summer I plan to fall into the fiction of some 21st century writers. I don't have the money to buy all these journals and books, but that's what an awesome library is for.
4.14.2009
4.13.2009
4.12.2009
In the last few weeks, I've stumbled upon a couple of reviews for The Decemberists' latest album The Hazards of Love. I'm a casual fan of their music. I bought Picaresque back in the day, and I found lots of wonderful lyrics and melodies that kept the album on heavy rotation in my ipod. I haven't kept up with them since.
The one thing that surprises me about some of these reviews is the amount of anger in the piece. Anger directed specifically at the lyrics written by lead man Colin Meloy.
Slate magazine's scathing lil' piece about it:
Spin magazine:
Granted, I haven't listened to this new album, so I don't know if these observations are warranted, but the annoyance is shocking for some reason.
Check out metacritic for a one-stop perusal of reviews for the album.
I mean, I should know, given my post Inked Baby self, that reviews are simply single observations of a particular work. Even so...I'm not quite sure why folks are so mad at Meloy for squeezing some Oxford English Dictionary into today's pop music.
The one thing that surprises me about some of these reviews is the amount of anger in the piece. Anger directed specifically at the lyrics written by lead man Colin Meloy.
Slate magazine's scathing lil' piece about it:
...the reams of verse seem designed mostly to demonstrate book-learning and to flatter an audience of current and former English majors—listeners who like their pop songs "literate."
Spin magazine:
To use one of those fading words that Meloy is so fond of, The Hazards of Love feels like a gambit, with the Decemberists betting that increased bombast and literary aspiration will make up for decreased attention to pop craft.
Granted, I haven't listened to this new album, so I don't know if these observations are warranted, but the annoyance is shocking for some reason.
Check out metacritic for a one-stop perusal of reviews for the album.
I mean, I should know, given my post Inked Baby self, that reviews are simply single observations of a particular work. Even so...I'm not quite sure why folks are so mad at Meloy for squeezing some Oxford English Dictionary into today's pop music.
4.11.2009
TI is all kinds of SAUCY
TI's interview on a random talk show called the Chelsea Lately Show.
This is very funny. Very saucy. I laughed out loud. It's interesting to see him get all coy with this white woman. She keeps dishing out the jokes, but he does a good job of quipping right back.
He is going to be HILARIOUS in prison.
This is very funny. Very saucy. I laughed out loud. It's interesting to see him get all coy with this white woman. She keeps dishing out the jokes, but he does a good job of quipping right back.
He is going to be HILARIOUS in prison.
4.06.2009
4.04.2009
A curtain falls...
Tomorrow is the last chance to catch the world premiere production of Inked Baby in NYC.
How crazy is that?
My off-broadway debut comes to a close.
Since the opening, I settled back into the groove of school, listening to the music of Erykah Badu and Maxwell.
I shifted gears and tackled rewrites on my Africa Trilogy commission, and worked on the first draft of a new comedy (!!!) I started writing for spring workshop.
It's comforting and reaffirming to return back to writing. It's a grounded process that's challenging, inspiring, and just plain ol' fun. So, I'm grateful for that and lots of other things, too.
[F.Y.I: The Transporter was a bad, bad, movie.]
More music! My Maxwell & Erykah Badu mix:
How crazy is that?
My off-broadway debut comes to a close.
Since the opening, I settled back into the groove of school, listening to the music of Erykah Badu and Maxwell.
I shifted gears and tackled rewrites on my Africa Trilogy commission, and worked on the first draft of a new comedy (!!!) I started writing for spring workshop.
It's comforting and reaffirming to return back to writing. It's a grounded process that's challenging, inspiring, and just plain ol' fun. So, I'm grateful for that and lots of other things, too.
[F.Y.I: The Transporter was a bad, bad, movie.]
More music! My Maxwell & Erykah Badu mix:
4.01.2009
All is chugging along...
I woke up this morning to an email telling me I was a finalist for PlayPenn this year in Philly. I won't get the chance to hang out there and work on a play for 2 weeks (which is sad), but it sounds like a great group of writers will be there this summer.
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