2009 reflections (more)

Great Things about 2009 (new favorites, best of, things learned, things did, etc. etc.)

1. Went to NYC with a suitcase and $900 and stayed for 6 months.

(Patric and I in the midst of one of our 'talks' in Central Park.)

2. Glee.

3. Got off the Merry Go Round.

4. Amazingamazing friends I have made this year. People who I feel like I've known a heck of a lot longer than I actually have.

5. Got to live with/invest time in my Grandma.

6. (500) Days of Summer and Bright Star and Up in the Air.
& Away We Go (Honorable mention)

7. Got to see 13 Broadway shows and 24 live theatre performances.

8. Really got to know my Uncle Mark and Bill for the first time.

9. Figured out a long term plan. (I think...)

10. Learned that I can't keep everyone happy all the time. (I know I'm a little old for this one. Seems obvious, right?)

11. Got to take a musical theatre audition class with a New York casting director.

12. TWITTER.

13. She & Him and Ben Sollee.

14. Kevin Roose and Anne Lamott.

I know 14 things is an awkward list but that's it really.

2009 reflections pt. uno

A little over 3 weeks has passed since the last time I wrote and what a 3 weeks it has been. I got to visit the beautiful and majestic state of Colorado and see my constant Patric. Patric and I did the whole IneverthoughtIdactuallydoitbutletsmovetoNewYorkwithno
moneyandnoclue thing. It was fantastic to see him and recount our memories of crazy New York and talk about plans and dreams for the future. (He promised to take me to the Oscar's at least once.)

The past few days have been super warm and fuzzy with fireside talks, cookie decorating (Oh yes, there were 4 twenty-somethings really getting into that. We even voted on which cookie was prettiest. The one with the least votes was eaten first.) lots of eating, and teary gift-giving. (I got a round trip ticket to visit Matt and Ash next year in Scotland.)

With less than a week until the new year I'm obviously surprising no one at all and being reflective. Looking back on the past year I think my biggest accomplishment was the NYC adventure. I learned many lessons: don't live with a couple (unless maybe you have your own shower), don't walk on the grates, don't expect to get seen at Broadway auditions, don't assume your apartment is rat-free. Things like that.

I've noticed over the past year I've been dubbed by many as the 'nomad.' What you maybe didn't know is that I really didn't plan for things to turn out that way. All the moves and changes of scenery that I've experienced resulted from specific unique circumstances. And while throughout the past year I've simultaneously yearned to put down roots and live a life of adventure I have no regrets. I want to squeeze so much out of life and two of those things have been independence and adventure. I have definitely gotten both over the past 2 years--at least one type of independence and one type of adventure.

My varied experiences throughout 2009 have reminded me of one very basic truth that I've known all along.

Relationships are the most important investment in life.

And as a postmodern, postfeminist young woman in the second decade of this century I have no qualms saying that. There is nothing weak about recognizing the humanity in connection and companionship. Work and making money and how we spend our time are absolutely essential to living purposefully and with fulfillment but committing to those things at the expense of investing in people leaves us feeling empty. What good is all the success in the world if you're eating Chipotle alone for dinner, ya know? As tasty and delicious as it is I've done it both ways and Chipotle is definitely better with a real person sitting across the table from you...every single time.

More 2009 reflections to come...

Can you listen to this song while you read this? Thanks.

Wednesday I—wait for it—went to the GYM (which reminds me that I need to update you on how Novemberesolutions are coming!)! I accompanied Gram to the JCC where I got moving on the track while she was in her exercise class. I’m one of those people who is kind of useless working out if I don’t have a soundtrack. I love how epic and movie-musical-esque it is listening to an ipod while doing anything out in public. When I lived in NYC and stood out in the frigid February cold waiting to get seen at auditions I had my motivation mix (featuring “Hold On” from the Secret Garden). When I just needed to get some endorphins rolling in I’d listen to “Not For the Life of Me” while gliding (read: attempting to dodge tourists who had eyes to the sky) through Times Square.
Now once again soundtrack in ear I’m listening to the Glee cast recording of “Imagine.” While decidedly not PUMP IT! music all I really need to feel motivated is music I really like. I’ll walk/jog in double time if need be. You may keep ‘Boom Boo Pow’. Thanks. So I’m hustling along the track above the gym at the Jewish Community Center in peace and quiet (all alone in the enormous gymnasium [obviously I had the audacity to sing along to my pod with no one there!]) admiring Lea Michelle’s placement and unusually high palette (I swear her skull is specifically formed for a perfect mix/belt) when the gym is invaded--by 4-year-olds! They come barreling in—running! And by choice! Their zest for life and innocence was so poignant as I was listening to lyrics like “imagine all the people living for today.” So I am listening to this entire song about idyllic peace and I’m watching these children just playing with simple things like a ball or a hoop or blocks. And I’m pondering how we all start like that—really just playing, discovering the world, completely sucking at eye/hand coordination and then somehow some people grow into monsters and inflict genocide…suicide bombings…child pornography.
As someone who really doesn’t understand the concept of senseless violence I wonder why we can’t keep the sweetness we had as children. And that’s when I see Kid 1 choose not to share his ball and Kid 2 take it anyway. Then in tears Kid 1 goes to tell the teacher the upsetting sequence of events. And I’m reminded that we aren’t innately sweet unselfish creatures. We are born looking out for #1 and we have to choose to do unselfish things. As inspiring as it is to simply see children joyfully careening across a gymnasium I’m reminded that we all have to choose to live joyfully as we grow up—and choose to live compassionately. It’s not innately in us to put others’ needs before our own but how much better would the world be if we all did? I mean, imagine.

Really, what am I doing to help there be more peace on earth?

Make it work!

5 more weeks of 2009! I know any time people mention dates it’s immediately followed by “OMG can you believe it?!” etc. etc.
(But seers, can you?)

I can’t help but think about all I’ve learned and experienced this year and how much I’ve grown since this time last year.

Oh also did you notice it’s been like, 2 weeks since I wrote? (I’ll take your silence as a resounding “YES!”) The non-writing is decidedly not me-ish but life has been happening! (and oh how we love when it does!)

I was temping along printing shipping labels at the local marketing department of a dialysis company (glitzy!) listening to “Die! Vampire Die!” from [Title of Show] and thinking wistfully about how there’s so many places in this great country I’ve yet to see. (Why does this package of at home after kidney dialysis information get to go to Tempe and I don’t??) When on a break I had a missed call from a 212 number.

(212 is the area code for New York and we always hope it’s a casting company when there is a missed call and not a Walgreens wondering if I’m ever going to pick up my freaking headshots.)

I listened to the voicemail and discovered that it WAS a casting company and they wanted to see if I’d be available for an audition for a show on Monday.

(This was Friday.)

(I was in Nashville.)

I can’t just skip up to NYC at a moment’s notice! I had to call and politely decline and urge them to call me again next season! And then I went back to printing labels. The end.

PSYCHE.

OBVIOUSLY (being me) I finagled a way to make the thousand mile trek to the Big Apple for the audition. One minute I was printing shipping labels and the next I was shipping out!

I left the next day for Lynchburg where I had a ridiculously horrifying experience. Well, not in Lynchburg proper actually I was on I-81 near Wytheville. (details.) Apparently a crazy man thought I was throwing gumballs at his vehicle and decided to teach me a lesson thereby thoroughly freaking me out for 20 minutes and getting him arrested.
(FYI there were no actual gumballs involved.)
The night ended with me totally safe and him having a psychological examination at the sheriff’s station. I felt scurred for me but worse for my mom and dad who were on the phone with me during the crazy thing. Yuck. All’s certainly well that ends well. So after that I spent the night in my parents' beautiful new home on the Roanoke end of Lynchburg. It’s pretty much out in the country which is determinable by the insane amount of stars one can count from the driveway. BEAUTIFUL. And QUIET.
The next day I was on to DC where I dropped my car (Thanks Supreme Court for the free parking and lack of vandalism!!) and headed on to DC via Megabus (not quite as classy as Boltbus but it was sold out).
Monday it seemed that all stars aligned. I got major props on my darker hair color choice and my audition went very well. It really is a deeply satisfying feeling when you know that you showed the director exactly who you are and what you bring to the role without trying to morph yourself into some other type “See I’m a belter!! Hear my vocal nodes developing!!!”
It’s happened to me a few times and it’s so great.

I had planned to stay only for a day-ish and come back to the south Wednesday but the casting director asked me if I could come to the callback the following Monday. At first I was all, uhhhh really? Wait around a whole week? But then I was all lemmemakeitwork. So I gave away a few shifts, secured a couch to sleep on and learned how to wear the same thing twice in one week (a difficult lesson). While in NYC I got to catch up with 10 or so dear, dear friends, see “Dreamgirls” at the Apollo Theatre, see “Ragtime” at the Neil Simon Theatre and see my friend Melissa star as Rosalyn in “As You Like It” at Marymount Manhattan College! I also got to take a dance class at Broadway Dance Center, eat Crumbs Cupcakes and read a lot.

The callback Monday went well though I don’t really know (at all) how it will pan out. I really feel peaceful about it though--that if it is the right next step then I’ll get offered the job and if it’s not then I won’t.

So that pretty much sums up what’s been going on with me lately. I have about 3 and a half more weeks in Nashville until I go to Lynchburg for Christmas. At that point it looks like I’ll either be there for a couple of weeks until rehearsals begin in NYC or I’ll be gearing up for a semester of theatre classes. Both sound fantastic to me.

And since I’m finishing up this blog post on Thanksgiving I should say that I’m so thankful today for parents who didn’t screw me up, a sister and close friends who are fiercely loyal, inspire me to be better, and always assume the best, and an art form that so deeply moves my soul. Happy Thanksgiving!

Details. (it's a little wordy. just being honest.)

(Warning: there is heavy usage of the words "I" and "My" in this blog. That's a little disgusting to me (oh there I go...oh there I go double!!) but I thought if you are up to the task of reading this you might care what's going on with me. I definitely care about what's going on with you. :-))

Hello big bright beautiful world!

I've been a bit absent from here lately only because the things preoccupying my mind and heart aren't particularly blog ready and/or blog appropriate.

It's strange. As extroverted and open-bookish as I am I just don't want to share all of it with everybody.

Meanwhile, I wish I could write as fast as I type/think. My wrist can't handle the thought speed! (I do love a seat by a window at a golden lit coffee shop in the early evening though. That's where I am now. Well, not now-now. Now as in when I was writing this--not typing. Ahem.)
Fear not though I have been writing a lot. I recently made November Resolutions. Yes that is the thing normal people do in January. Well, Patric and I decided to make June Resolutions over the summer and randomly prioritizing and setting goals really lends itself to giving a span of time some specific direction. So for these last 2 months I have Novemberesolutions. They include things like: finish reading these certain books. And get the hell off of Facebook. Things like that. I'm still poring over Anne Lamott's "Bird by Bird" and not only learning things about writing but there's also a ton to be gleaned and applied to acting. Here's an example:

"...each of your characters has an emotional acre that they tend, or don't tend, in certain specific ways. One of the things you want to discover as you start out is what each person's acre looks like. What is the person growing, and what sort of shape is the land in? ...you need to find out as much as possible about the interior life of the people you are working with...you also want to ask yourself how they stand, what they carry in their pockets or purses, what happens in their faces and to their posture when they are thinking, or bored, or afraid. Whom would they have voted for last time? Why should we care about them anyway? What would be the first thing they stopped doing if they found out they had six months to live? Would they start smoking again? Would they keep flossing?"

Good writing--as well as good acting--is in the details.



Coming home to Nashville for a few months has been great for my inner world. I've gotten to reconnect with my inner songwriter, guitarist, indy music lover, voracious reader, aspiring author and sacred music lover. There are many facets to my artist--yours too, I am certain.

I think in order to grow in one area of art we must tend to our other artistic gardens. Reading about writing--and in turn, writing about reading--is certainly making me a more thoughtful (read: better) actor.

In New York there was a certain level of manic urgency to my artistic focus. Specifically every day I was preparing for the audition that was coming up in the next 3 days or less. In Nashville I have been relieved of the constant pressure to prepare urgently. Instead I can prepare for auditions months in advance, finding excellent material, chewing on character choices. I can read a lot, play a lot and generally just enjoy creativity without the urgency. Gratifying for sure.

It really is fulfilling and in no small way life-altering to have a tangible long term goal. I've discovered that I want to get a MFA in acting--no small task to get into a program much less complete it! And it has affected everything. What I think about, what I write about, how I envision my future, how I spend my money--even where I live. The next year and two months will be spent in focused preparation. I have a code to crack--the law of getting into a well-respected MFA program. When it comes to performing I've truly never sought to discover how much I can learn, how much talent I can tap into and how much skill I can develop. Acting is a field many of us think will find us. I am not going to be discovered as I write in my journal at a coffee shop in Hillsboro Village today. (As AWESOME as it would be for a big Broadway producer to waltz in and say: "You! You there! With the dark reddishbrownish curly hair drinking the Rolover! Are you technically Jewish and play guitar and jump rope well? Can you sing an F? You're hired! Tell Playbill.com we've found our star!")

Lots and lots and lots of effort must be exuded. And that's ok. That's good even. So, here goes...

A Way Back To Then (a little lesson on good ballads and good performing)

Every now and then I see a performance and notice some things about it. Maybe you'll find it semi-interesting or useful? Or notice something yourself and comment? Or disagree with me and comment?

This is a ballad from the show "[Title of Show]." This musical was written by the actors about the process of writing a show as they entered the show in a musical theatre festival. The show is about the show. Why is that hard for me to effectively describe? Lemme try again...the show within the show is the show the actors are writing in the show. Never mind. Let's jut focus on this one song. That's easier.



Here are things that are great about this song/performance.

--It's a ballad that is really a beautiful monologue penned to music. Great ballads always are.

--Great ballads also have relatable content. For anyone who's had dreams as a child this song definitely connects.

--Heidi makes vocal choices to interpret the song. She doesn't even move her hands. I think sometimes musical theatre performers think they have to add facial expressions and gestures that are not organic at all and we just mimic the way the song is performed by the person who originated the role. We should listen to those recordings less and study the lyrics more.

--Sometimes songs tell the story so effectively we as performers don't have to add that much to it. It's up to us to figure those things out. :)

1. Do you like the darker background? I think it's more appropriate for the almost-Novemberness of it all.

2. Not only is my background darker but so is my hair! At some point there will be a picture where you can tell what color it is these days. I like it a lot. (It's still reddish but secretly I feel more Jew[ish] with it darker.)

3. What's going on with me you say? Just work. Working away! Even though my full time office job ended virtually the moment after it began I've been able to do other random things that have been keeping me busy. I'm still at Anthro and lately I've been assisting the visual team in preparation for all the holiday decor. If you've ever set foot in that store you can tell that someone handmade all the decorative flare and right now that someone is me and a bevy of other helpers. I've also recently gotten to do a little styling, babysitting and princessing (Sleeping Beauty & Little Mermaid if you must know all my secrets). It's been fun and busy.

4. I've also been reading some good books lately and thinking some deep thoughts about God and whatnot. I'm currently reading Anne Lamott's book on writing "Bird by Bird." I've barely tipped into the first few chapters but I'm already engrossed in the inspiration. I think I've highlighted and/or underlined approximately 1/2 the book. Whatever. It's how I glean. Ok for a few noteworthy morsels:



"I devoured books like a person taking vitamins, afraid that otherwise I would remain this gelatinous narcissist, with no possibility of ever becoming thoughtful, of ever being taken seriously...I was drawn to oddballs, ethnic people, theater people, poets, radicals, gays and lesbians--and somehow they all helped me become some of those things I wanted so desperately to become: political, intellectual, artistic."

(here's another...)

"...good writing is about telling the truth. We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason they write so very little. But we do. We have so much we want to say and figure out." (ding, ding!! is she in my head??)

(one more!)

"What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die. They are full of all the things that you don't get in real life--wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. And quality of attention: we may notice amazing details during the course of a day but we rarely let ourselves stop and really pay attention. An author makes you notice, makes you pay attention, and this is a great gift. My gratitude for good writing is unbounded; I'm grateful for it the way I'm grateful for the ocean. Aren't you?

Well, that was short-lived.

Never mind about the 9-5. I had an awkwardly surprising discussion on Friday in which I was told that they no longer needed me. They’d be replacing me with someone who got laid off from a similar company who has more experience. They also think that my skills and brain are equipped for far more than what the position demands.

I wanted to tell them I was thinking it’d just be temporary too but I don’t think that’s exactly what you tell an employer.

So anyway…

I’m lucky enough that I have other work situations that are panning out presently and I even have a princess party scheduled for this week so things are still rolling along. Not without surprises though! Like today when my car rolled to a stop. I learned in that moment that the light that comes on when I’m low on gas is no longer functioning. I’m just blessed a car that has 175,000 miles on it still works at all. ☺

Additionally I am preparing for changes in life that I am very much looking forward to. Going back to school is pretty much a done deal and I am aching for the knowledge that is coming my way. In the mean time I am attempting to be intentional about making these months in Nashville memorable and make sure the memories of them don’t seep into one big runny not really recallable memory.

Nashville is beautiful right now and I am earnestly thankful to live amidst these four seasons. Something about fall reminds me that I deeply believe in intelligent design. It also reminds me that change is not some strange occurrence but it’s such an intrinsic part of life it’s even exemplified in nature. After summer must come fall. And you can’t get spring without winter. Change is for the best. It is down right healthy.


(Central Park's leaves are changing without me. I hate that!)

Paper cuts may be the death of me...

Today I am spending my time at an undisclosed location. Picture white walls, Windows 2000 & paper clips. That's right...the new 9-5! Except j/k. It's more like 7:30-5.

Ouchie.

Maybe because it's Columbus Day or maybe because I-have-no-idea it's quite quiet here. This is day 5 on the job and I think I'm getting the hang of it. The only thing I'm not catching on to is the early to bed early to rise portion of my daily duties. I'll only say it once:

WHY DO WE ALL GET UP AND GO TO WORK WHEN IT'S STILL DARK?!?!? IT'S UNNATURAL!!!!!



That feels better.

I work at a folksy family-owned printing and marketing franchise with approximately 7.5 other people (one guy isn't here half the time.) [but really it would also be cool to work with a 1/2 person. Bet he'd be quiet. Or wouldn't take too many bathroom breaks.]

I work with 2 graphic designers. One is a big-haired southern girl who has 25 lizards and enjoys perusing "Backyard Poultry" during lunch breaks. The other is a Queens native and former manager of "female dancers." (He just told me today!)

Other noteworthies:

I learned how to shrink wrap! Did you know that shrinker gun gets up to 5000 degrees? That is burn your phalanges off hot, my friend.

Also the big news at the office last week was the new copier. Said copier will run you about $70k. WHAT? I mean, charge it?

One more for the cheap seats in the back:
While filing today I noticed a "business" card with a photo of a man in a shower with a logo of a bear printed on it. I guess all kinds of services have their marketing needs...oy. Who knew I would be more shocked at the printing company than I ever was in the theatre? Oh surprises...

Beauty

More alike than different, perhaps...

Revision to 'if you were a song what would you be?'

La 'Burg

Such a fun time visiting the Burg this weekend but not a lot of pictures to show for it. Ashli has a few that hopefully she will post over at her blog soon. In the mean time please enjoy a couple of pics from the football game Saturday afternoon and our trip back to our first apartments.




Before we were best friends Leslie and I were neighbors in the (crappiest) apartments in Lynchburg. Our rent was $200 a month. Imagine...

So excited to see my sis tomorrow!! This is how I feel. :)

“We expect anything and everything. We expect the contradictory and impossible. We expect compact cars which are spacious; luxury cars which are economical. We expect to be rich and charitable, powerful and merciful, active and reflective, kind and competitive. We expect to be inspired by mediocre appeals for excellence, to be made literate by illiterate appeals for literacy. We expect to eat and stay thin, to be constantly on the move and ever more neighborly, to go to the ‘church of our choice’ and yet feel its guiding power over us, to revere God and to be God.”
--from Daniel Boorstin's book 'The Image'

252! yayuhh!

First, I missed out on celebrating my 250th post last week. That's right. This makes 252. And selfishly I'm really pleased I've committed to write (for the most part) about my (semi) personal life for the past 4 years. Serves as a great little time capsule. One day I'm sure I'll look back on these post with a sigh and have a "Oh, to be young again...such innocence!" sort of a thought about it. But even now some of my old posts are only slightly less shockingly foreign than that hispanic cracked out man was on my first solo subway ride. Isn't it fascinating how we evolve as we grow up?

In other news (pause. I use that phrase too often. Good writers don't use any one phrase all the time.)

Of unrelated interest (that's a different segue. hooray!) It is still September and I have already read the same amount of books I read last year in totale. And that number is embarrasingly low. I blame it on ADD! Or my Treo! Or Facebook (evil of all evils.) No really maybe I blame it on bad habits. Whatever the case, because I lived in New York for 6 months and read on the train I am ahead of where I was last year. Which leads me to ask.

What books do you suggest I read for the duration of 2009?

I just completed Kevin Roose's "Unlikely Disciple" and my mouth is watering at the thought of expressing all the thoughts I've accumulated in reading it. In fact it has only served as further inspiration to actually focus and turn some of these blogs into a manuscript. Anyway, I just realized I have to go. Tada! Moral of the story? Tell me a book to read! And not one I will hate or get bored with. Thanks! :-)

vicarious.

oh hey 1 am. wish i wasn't seeing you right now...

It is 1 am on Sunday morning and I have to be at work ready to clean my heart out (or rather, Anthro's floors) at 8 am. 8 am!!!! on a Sunday!!!!

I haven't seen 8 am on a Sunday since...ok, that makes my head hurt. I don't know when. A long time!

So naturally since I have to get up early I should be asleep and I can't sleep. Oh yes hello life. that's you!

Meanwhile I've been in Nashville for the better part of a month (5 days gone in the middle but we'll call it a month) and it's been.....um.....not New York?

This calls for a list of things that have made my life great this week. As follows:

1. WICKED. A dear friend of mine from high school snagged a couple of tickets to the national tour of one of my favorite musicals and we went on Wednesday night. Duct tape was useful in keeping my belting to a minimum but nevertheless I was reminded again why I love this beautiful show. Can we make a sublist? Oh yes we can:
a) Stephen Schwartz can write a SONG. I found myself leaning over to Brian multiple times saying "This is probably my favorite song in the show."
b) Poignant moment after poignant moment. Who here can't relate to Glinda at the top of the 2nd Act when she is so desperately trying to convince herself all is well because she got what she wanted? "Because happy is what happens when all your dreams come true. Well, isn't it?"
c) #TruthSunday: I love that Elphaba inspires a guy and in so he falls in love with her. I wanna inspire somebody! (I also want to be inspired. But that's for another post.)
d) It's a show that highlights the female best friend relationship. Truth be told I have seen Wicked one other time. And that time I was in a completely different place in life and I got to see it with a completely different person. I went into the show being mildly afraid it would bring up a bit of lost love wistfulness. The funny thing is that it didn't. If the show made me think about any relationship in my life it is the one I have with my best friend. I really wish I could accurately articulate how fulfilling it is to have a best friend. The relationship between Glinda and Elphaba beautifully illustrates the "iron sharpening iron" relationship that can come from a challenging friendship. I've got that friendship and I couldn't be more grateful.

2. GLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. GLEE. GLEE!!!!
Have you tuned into this stellar new show on Wednesday nights yet?! If not...WHY?! Please just stop reading and go over to Hulu and catch up! This magical series is the first ever show to incorporate music into every episode! It's comedy perfectly aligns with my sense of humor so I just sit with a stupid happy expression on my face the entire hour. You should also probably head over to itunes and purchase their rendition of "Don't Stop Believin'." Lea Michelle and Matthew Morrison are the leads and they also happen to be some of my past Broadway faves. And because of "Glee" they're probably also gonna be superstars. You heard it here kids.



3. Text messages.

4. Catching up with old friends.

5. Epiphanies. Like, 1. I need more inspiring women in my life to admire! Oy! And 2. my passions are performing and writing and also helping others realize what they find fulfilling and helping them figure out how to do it. (And the practical application this epiphany has for my life yet? I dunno. One epiphany at a time people...)

(I forgot about #6! so I'm adding it now!)

6. FINALLY DELETING MYSPACE. Why did I ever have a myspace account? Anyway, it's gone now. :) It feels right.

Also I'm not used to being in one spot geographically and wishing I was somewhere else. Seriously it's weird for me. So I may have to stop that soon...

As they say...

stay tuned. :)

ps-i may be unveiling a 2nd blog soon with a totally different theme. it'd be one where I get to stretch my journalistic muscles a bit more. perhaps in the direction of interviews and profiles on people. telling their stories. thoughts?

Currently Reading...

and can't wait to comment on it!!

“We live by revelation, as Christians, as artists, which means that we must be careful never to get set into rigid molds. The minute we begin to think we know all the answers, we forget the questions, and we become smug like the Pharisee who listed all his considerable virtues and thanked God that he was not like other men.”
-Madeleine L'Engle in "Walking on Water: Reflections of Faith and Art"

“This above all—ask yourself in the stillest hour of your night: Must I write?[…]if you may meet this earnest question with a strong and simple ‘I must,’ then build your life according to this necessity; your life even into its most indifferent and slightest hour[…]” -Rainier Maria Rilke in "Letters to a Young Poet"