The 10 best stew recipes | Life and style | The Guardian:
A wealth of ideas and inspiration here!
Saturday, February 02, 2013
Friday, February 01, 2013
Bohemian neighborhoods
In the early 80s I had a wonderful agent at Fifi Oscard repping my plays. She got me a commission from Actors Theatre of Louisville, for example, which I blew. I was abandoning traditional theater for hyperdrama. At any rate, my agent had a business trip in Seattle and flew down to Portland since we had never met.
Our afternoon together, hanging out in Northwest where I lived at a time before gentrification, was an experience I've cherished. She loved the neighborhood ... This is the way Greenwich Village used to be! she kept saying. (A few years later I'd hear the same thing from OyamO, a NY playwright whose work I admired. Stay put, he advised me, you are fortunate to have all this.)
Probably at no time did a traditional career in theater seem more likely to me. My agent was a fan and true believer in my work. It seemed to be just a matter of time.
But even before I divorced traditional theater, something happened that changed everything. All the arts are changing, she wrote me a few years later. Everything is becoming too commercialized ... small gems are losing their home in theater, publishing, galleries ... the reasons I became an agent are disappearing. I'm leaving the business.
She did. And the NW neighborhood lost its bohemian atmosphere. And I became obsessed with hyperdrama. Instead of a playwright in residence at a Portland theater I was in electronic residence with a company in Santiago, developing hyperdrama in a chat room.
Portland's NW bohemian days came to mind as I read about Albee's days in Greenwich Village in the 50s. I can relate.
Our afternoon together, hanging out in Northwest where I lived at a time before gentrification, was an experience I've cherished. She loved the neighborhood ... This is the way Greenwich Village used to be! she kept saying. (A few years later I'd hear the same thing from OyamO, a NY playwright whose work I admired. Stay put, he advised me, you are fortunate to have all this.)
Probably at no time did a traditional career in theater seem more likely to me. My agent was a fan and true believer in my work. It seemed to be just a matter of time.
But even before I divorced traditional theater, something happened that changed everything. All the arts are changing, she wrote me a few years later. Everything is becoming too commercialized ... small gems are losing their home in theater, publishing, galleries ... the reasons I became an agent are disappearing. I'm leaving the business.
She did. And the NW neighborhood lost its bohemian atmosphere. And I became obsessed with hyperdrama. Instead of a playwright in residence at a Portland theater I was in electronic residence with a company in Santiago, developing hyperdrama in a chat room.
Portland's NW bohemian days came to mind as I read about Albee's days in Greenwich Village in the 50s. I can relate.
Round Bend Press: Daydreaming
Round Bend Press: Daydreaming:
Man, when Mr. Simons daydreams, he doesn't mess around! When do we leave?
Man, when Mr. Simons daydreams, he doesn't mess around! When do we leave?
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Expert psychologist suggests the era of genius scientists is over
Expert psychologist suggests the era of genius scientists is over:
"This is because, he says, we've already discovered all the most basic ideas that describe how the natural world works. Any new work, will involve little more than adding to our knowledge base."
Actually we've heard this before -- just before the quantum revolution.
"This is because, he says, we've already discovered all the most basic ideas that describe how the natural world works. Any new work, will involve little more than adding to our knowledge base."
Actually we've heard this before -- just before the quantum revolution.
Oregon Is The Only State Left That Hasn't Imposed Any Restrictions On Abortion | ThinkProgress
Oregon Is The Only State Left That Hasn't Imposed Any Restrictions On Abortion | ThinkProgress:
Impressive. It's not often that Oregon is more progressive than Washington across the Columbia, and this has been true since territorial days, when free blacks crossed the river in order to own property, which was prohibited in the Oregon Territory.
Impressive. It's not often that Oregon is more progressive than Washington across the Columbia, and this has been true since territorial days, when free blacks crossed the river in order to own property, which was prohibited in the Oregon Territory.
Guns, guns, guns
I still want to know if arming yourself for an anticipated war against the government is considered treasonous. Not legally, I'm sure, but there's still something wrong with this attitude.
Oklahoma, Colorado And Arizona Push ALEC Bill To Require Teaching Climate Change Denial In Schools | ThinkProgress
Oklahoma, Colorado And Arizona Push ALEC Bill To Require Teaching Climate Change Denial In Schools | ThinkProgress:
What a country. Let's teach the Earth is flat and 6000 years old while we're at it.
What a country. Let's teach the Earth is flat and 6000 years old while we're at it.
'The Americans' Open Thread: In The Air Tonight | ThinkProgress
'The Americans' Open Thread: In The Air Tonight | ThinkProgress:
" I’m excited about the potential of The Americans for a great many reasons: its use of geopolitics to ask questions rather than assign solutions, its sick sense of humor, its portrait of domestic life, its louche use of eighties music."
The music was my least favorite part of the show: but I dislike, in general, dramatic resolution by pop song, which is the common strategy in TV drama. The best part of the show is the focus on relationship in the marriage, created after all by the KGB for practical reasons and now almost 20 years old, with 2 kids! Lots of room for this series to screw up, as they usually do, but so far, so good, in my book.
" I’m excited about the potential of The Americans for a great many reasons: its use of geopolitics to ask questions rather than assign solutions, its sick sense of humor, its portrait of domestic life, its louche use of eighties music."
The music was my least favorite part of the show: but I dislike, in general, dramatic resolution by pop song, which is the common strategy in TV drama. The best part of the show is the focus on relationship in the marriage, created after all by the KGB for practical reasons and now almost 20 years old, with 2 kids! Lots of room for this series to screw up, as they usually do, but so far, so good, in my book.
Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing, Pros and Cons | The Passive Voice
Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing, Pros and Cons | The Passive Voice:
Self-publishing has gained respect not because good literature has been self-published but because big sellers have been self-published. The dollar still determines credibility in the official literary universe. A century from now, if there are still readers, if there are still humans, I feel certain the consensus will be that the most interesting writing of our time was happening in the shadows. This is, in fact, a typical scenario. Those 19th C best selling authors I read at UCLA for a class remain unread EXCEPT in classrooms.
Self-publishing has gained respect not because good literature has been self-published but because big sellers have been self-published. The dollar still determines credibility in the official literary universe. A century from now, if there are still readers, if there are still humans, I feel certain the consensus will be that the most interesting writing of our time was happening in the shadows. This is, in fact, a typical scenario. Those 19th C best selling authors I read at UCLA for a class remain unread EXCEPT in classrooms.
At the bus stop
H had an early meeting so I got a ride to the bus stop. An Arab man was cramming for an English test: facts about the state of Utah, which struck me as an interesting unit in such a class. I helped him with pronunciation and told him a few extra things about Utah. I told him my appreciation of the difficulty of Arabic from my experience at the Army Language School: Russian was a twelve month course but Arabic and Chinese were eighteen months. Hope I helped him out.
In Praise of Slow Journalism : The New Yorker
In Praise of Slow Journalism : The New Yorker:
In my old age, I'm learning to appreciate writing at a snail's crawl instead of the earlier obsessive sprint I made through most of my career.
In my old age, I'm learning to appreciate writing at a snail's crawl instead of the earlier obsessive sprint I made through most of my career.
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