PowerBall!

If you had a million dollars to give away, who would you give it to? A friend of mine (if you read yesterday’s blog entry on skydiving: that friend) once said, given the odds, if he was ever struck by lightning, he’d ask the paramedics to take him to buy a lottery ticket before theContinue reading “PowerBall!”

Another Skill

What skill would you like to learn? I’m at the point in my life where I already have a set of honed skills, and adding to it seems unlikely. What’s that rule—10,000 hours of practice to master something new? I’m not sure I have that dedication, patience, or even time to invest in a newContinue reading “Another Skill”

Fish Out of Water?

Tell us about a time when you felt out of place. Fish Out of Water? Stranger in a Strange Land? Is there another phrase for not belonging? I know there’s Yank in Eugene O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape who decides if things belong, and whether he belongs or not. The FOUW/SIASL is an excellent device forContinue reading “Fish Out of Water?”

Day Two: Stratford, Et Al

There’s a reason I describe my podcast Audio Chimera partly with the phrase, “the fragility of memory.” I’m looking at the description of the Britain and Ireland Highlights trip itinerary and I’m thinking, “What? Where?” I seem to have forgotten a detail already. The first destination of the day was one I was greatly lookingContinue reading “Day Two: Stratford, Et Al”

Leader of the Pack (Vroom Vroom)

Do you see yourself as a leader? I read this prompt and said, “Well, yeah!” That was, of course, after the song lyric and motorcycle smoke cleared from my brain. As a college professor and theatre director, I naturally took the lead with classes of students and casts of actors. In the early days ofContinue reading “Leader of the Pack (Vroom Vroom)”

Das Wort

What’s your favorite word? I don’t think I can choose one single word from all the languages of the world as a favorite. (Yes, I know, I don’t know every word of every language, but of the words I do know, I can’t choose one.) So, as usual, when the prompt doesn’t quite work, IContinue reading “Das Wort”

Speaking of Motivation

What motivates you? There’s the old joke about the actor who constantly asks, “What’s my motivation?” It’s part of the actor’s job to figure that out, not to be spoon-fed the answers by the director. In one instance, when an actor was told to cross from one side of the stage to the other, heContinue reading “Speaking of Motivation”

Improv!

Tell us about the last thing you got excited about. I was very excited about the StoryZ Improv Night. We—members of the StoryZ theatre company—created the event, and I was the master of ceremonies. We had three performers, including one from the audience (though a ringer, actually one of our own), and elicited some honestContinue reading “Improv!”

Negative Emotions

In yesterday’s blog post, I responded to the prompt about positive emotions. I googled it, and discovered the Internet thinks there are twelve of them. Of courses, that got me wondering what the negative emotions are. And so my google search said: In acting, we talk about playing emotions and not conditions, so I’m notContinue reading “Negative Emotions”

Goooooooaaaaalllllls!

How do you plan your goals? How do I plan my goals? This is an interesting question. I see this planning akin to the objectives of a character in a play, with both short and long term goals. And I think they arise and I work toward them in different ways. Once I thought: I’dContinue reading “Goooooooaaaaalllllls!”