Intermission
a creative coffee break from writing the play

I’ve been finishing up a play that I began around May 2006. Nearly two years seems like an abnormally long time to me, yet I know it was begun while finishing up a different play, and another project or two was introduced along the way which distracted me from it.

I’ve been examining the play scene by scene, watching out for an absence of conflict, of wanting, of tension. (At first I typed "dramatic tension." Well, duh, redundo-me.) I know I’m at the end of writing this play because I’m already missing the characters who’ve been living inside me. Mostly, I hate saying good-bye to characters. We’ve spent a lot of time together, and it feels lonely at first. Sometimes I can’t wait to be done with them. Those times usually fade away, reflecting the play isn’t engaging even to me, and pages must be trashed.

Of course, the end means the play moves into revision stage. MBH will give me notes. I’ll bring actors together to hear the whole of it out loud. It’s at the revision stage I become more detached, more distant, more ruthless (please let that be so) about what is working and what is not.

I’ve been worrying the play is too "heavy with message." It is a heavy story about reconciliation. All my plays are funny, yet they are still dramas. On some level, my plays are political if only because the characters are often outside the mainstream of society. All my plays explore the consequence of choice made by each of the characters.

Well, I won’t know if the story’s "too much" until I let go and finish it.

Along side the play, I’ve been working on the television project MBH and I are creating. Since I left California, I’ve been a negligent writing partner, and I’ve been trying to pick up my slack. Besides, it’s a fun project with no pressure. MBH, along with his wife, will be here soon to visit, work on our project, and take in the Humana Festival.

A year ago, we were on the precipice, deciding between living in Chicago or Louisville.

The aforementioned play has changed, some new bold elements introduced, because of the choice we made.

Since I last posted about swapping books, movies and music, I’ve received some pretty cool books from Bookmooch, found new homes for over 50 of my own. Thanks to Bookmooch, I’m finally reading Uncommon Arrangements. When this book was reviewed, a least a dozen people, knowing my obsession about Radclyffe Hall, sent me clippings. Y’all can rest easy now, my friends.

While I haven’t ventured out to other book swapping sites, I did cancel my Peerflix account for DVDs. I’m trying out a different DVD swapping site called, Swap A DVD. So far, I’m pretty happy with it as it feels more respectful, trading person to person. Much like Bookmooch, you get credits for posting DVDs, and for giving your DVDs away. To get DVDs, you spend your credits. Swap A DVD is a sister site to Paperback Swap, which, like I’ve already said, I have not tried.

Well said…I love this!

From the New York Times. Click below to read Ms. Norman’s post.

Specific Gravtity Ensemble does theatre, "wherever we damn well feel like it." I’ve always loved theatre in unusual places, like cars, fields, or stairwells.

Can’t wait to see what these folks do. We have tickets for next weekend.

Video from last year:

Last Spring, I found I did not have enough bookshelves for all my books. In fact, I did not even have room for more bookshelves. My personal library has gone through several purges over the years, and I decided to relinquish my poetry collection. It has been the least touched section of my library in a handful of years.

Less than a month ago, I found Bookmooch, a book swapping site. You list books you want to give away, and when someone asks for your book, you pay the postage to send it. For books you would like to receive, there are no additional fees for you, and the sender pays the postage.

So far, I’ve given away over twenty beautiful poetry books. In return, I’ve received about a dozen other books, which include plays, and science topics.

I still don’t have the bookshelf space. Still, Bookmooch is a lot of fun. I like that my books go to other book lovers, and I enjoy looking at individual inventories of books. A lot of fascinating stuff I don’t see in bookstores.

Bookmooch runs on a point system. You accumulate points when you list books, give them away, and give feedback. Your points are taken away when you request books. There’s even a way to donate your points to charity.

Alternate book swap sites:

• PaperBackSwap
• FrugalReader
• TitleTrader which also does DVDs, and CDs

I like the concept of trading. For quite a long time, we’ve traded CDs on LaLa. The costs to trade CDs is minimal (postage plus a small fee), and the artist gets a small bit of the money.

More recently, we discovered Peerflix, which I am ambivalent about. I have traded more DVDs than I’ve gotten in return. Often the DVDs seem to be lost in the mail, or arrive damaged. I might try TitleTrader to see if they fare better.

I’m always trying to figure out ways to avoid consuming more new stuff.

Here’s a great 20 minute video called The Story of Stuff.

In my post-move zeal to establish some normalcy in my life, I pushed myself too hard.

I lost my joy in writing.

A break was oh-so necessary.

I am extremely sensitive to change. I require a lot of spiritual bolstering to mitigate through it. The recovering alcoholics among you will understand what I’ve just written.**

While I believed I was bolstering myself, on reflection I discovered several negative, unbalancing distractions I allowed into my days. Like, uh…I was watching morning television news, something I have not been in the habit of doing for over five years. I find television news very grating, despairing, and stupefying, and yet I was giving precious waking attention to watching it. The Beloved, who never was home mornings pre-move, has been drinking coffee over the morning news, and I’ve been joining in.

I’m an avid news junkie who prefers to read the newspaper.
Reading the news is more informative, detailed, and doesn’t raise my blood pressure in the same health-reducting way as editorializing, trivializing, ratings-grabbing newscasters do. *whew* I regularly read the NY Times, Courier-Journal, SF Chronicle, the Guardian (UK), and the Christian Science Monitor. Uh huh. My reading occasionally expands to the Chicago Times, LA Times, and any number of other regional papers, depending on what is on my mind. Of course, I’m detailing a bit of my news reading because I’m trying to justify to you that I’m an informed, involved human being.

Oh yeah, that was another negative: worrying about what you might think of me and what you read here. My original intention in keeping this blog/journal/whatnot was to explore my writing process in a way that was honest to me, and that did not denigrate the spirit of others. Uh, and to see if I could not use the word “but” In general, I have kept to my original intention. Yet, I know if I’m worrying about you, I’m not being nearly honest enough.

Another distraction has been reading blogs of other playwrights’ very real despair, whether that despair concerns their careers or lack thereof, the state of theatre, New York versus Regional theatre, the lack of new plays being produced, the quality of what’s put on stage, the politics of theatre administration, the [name your violin here]. I do not wish to belittle or even deny anyone’s despair or concerns. I just can no longer read it, because those blogs keep the flame of my own despair burning too bright.

It’s my personal belief that what I focus on grows in my attention, and manifests around me. And so I will focus on writing plays, building, creating, and bolstering theatre in what ways I can.

In returning the joy to my writing, I have reclaimed my morning meditation time. Followed by coffee and show tunes.

I fear I must pledge to myself to stop using the word “yet.”

1Paraphrasing Wendy Wasserstein who wrote,

You hope what you understand and know is not just of value to you alone.

Playwrights on Diversity,” 1992-1996, newsletter  published by the Non-Traditional Casting Project

2ODAT since 1/17/1985