Thanks to a dear friend’s generosity, I attended last night’s Broadway opening of “Ann,” the play about Ann Richards, the former Texas governor. Actress Holland Taylor is both the playwright and star of this one-woman show, and since I share those roles in “How to Draw a Nekkid Man” (formerly “I Will Be Good”), I was very eager to see her performance.
General Thoughts
Bird by Bird, Scene by Scene
I find that when I am working on a long, involved project, e.g., this memoir, I must surround myself by people or things that will keep me motivated when the work gets hard, as it inevitably will. If not, I will be eating copious amounts of Nutella, cleaning grout, or napping — anything but writing. [Read more…] about Bird by Bird, Scene by Scene
Redeeming Heartbreak
I had the great good fortune of telling a story this week at Boston’s sold-out Moth StorySLAM. Here’s how Moth StorySLAMs work. You prepare a story that relates to the theme — in this case, “Love Hurts” — put your name in the hat, and over the course of the evening, 10 names are pulled out of the hat. If your name’s called, you walk on stage and tell your story. A true story, with no notes, in five minutes. I love this stuff.
Weathering the Storm
A dear friend who lives in Tampa is spending the day at the beach. I, on the other hand, am preparing for “snowpocalypse” with the rest of New England. I choose to love her any way.
Making Music out of Trash
For several years, I made artwork out of used tea bags — partly out of choice, and partly because that was all I could afford. Having just left the corporate world, I was living in Ireland where I had no money for art supplies (or anything else for that matter), but a huge desire to make artwork. I looked for materials that were inexpensive. You can’t get much cheaper than used tea bags, and in Ireland, there was an abundant supply. Where one person sees trash, another person sees beauty.