I - you - w(e)ings

 The things that we think and the things that we say occupy left brain and right brain respectfully (or conversely), 

and whereas once their was any number of bridges across that chasm— 

a grand canyon to the n’th degree-

now we see only one option. . . a rickedy, dangerous bridge at best.

We seek a super-human who strides fearlessly onto that blasted man-made contraption, and after a bullet-sweating eternity meets us in the middle.

At the precise moment we meet, the monsoon hits, million mile an hour winds, raindrops like missiles. We wait for the bridge to crumble beneath our feet, squeezing our eyes shut, tears flowing shamelessly while the other holds us as tightly as we've ever been held before. 

 Minutes pass, turning into hours turning into 

time 

disappearing 

completely. 

Only then...  the winds are finally quiet. We open our eyes, and see the other's face for the first time. Suddenly we remember and look down only to squeal an astonished squeal. 

The bridge was an illusion.

The embrace of soft feathers
suspended in the air,
 we are joined to each other 
and

an other

These photos were taken in 2006 on a tiny digital camera in Takachiho, Japan, 

one of the most stunning places I've seen in the world.

don't slip

I had decided to take a hiatus — I should say ‘sabbatical’- but let’s be real. 

I’m one of those people who likes to be precise when it comes to words. 

It often gets me into trouble when say, texting — or even worse — tweeting. 

I delete multiple tweets because the wording wasn’t quite right, and then I get a bunch of notifications that people have liked my deleted tweets. 

Geez, this fact alone makes me wonder.

Who is sorting through the cyberspace recycling? 

The uncle sighs. It was a nice, long lunch break, but he was starving and ended up eating a cheeseburger from Carl’s Junior when he knew he should have gotten something healthier, or at least not so debilitating in the middle of the day. And this training the new guy— the new millennial   . . not terrible by any means, but the uncle is not used to having to explain every little detail. . .and he could have taken a nap, except no. Blast this training—all shades of green--new hire.

"All these young dudes. . . .” he thinks and sighs loudly.

“This. This is a tweet that someone deleted because she was hung up on semantics. . . but it did get likes. . . it goes in that bin. We can melt it down and use it again. But this? Well, this is just pure angst. We can’t do anything with that. Hey, Marv! Take this one out to the black hole."

Then he gets an idea.

"No, wait, why don't you go, sonny?"

reflections on Meisner

I'm excited to say that I'll be teaching an acting workshop focusing on Meisner technique this coming weekend. In preparation for the class, I wrote down some of my own thoughts on Meisner and how his particular technique has shaped my own development.

Meisner technique is a keystone for me as an actor. Even when I was first starting out -and to be frank- so green that my acting was disastrous and laughable, I connected with Meisner technique -through Alexandra Borrie, one of my favourite teachers I studied with while in NYU’s CAP 21 program. There, I started to understand that ‘acting’ was a process, a path— and each actor’s path would be perhaps markedly different than another actor’s path. And yet, we all -especially when speaking about stage- absolutely MUST connect with other actors in order to make a performance work and be real.

But how do we connect with another actor?

To bridge that gap is daunting, doesn’t even seem possible at times — but Meisner developed a way to do it. His technique lays out a syllabus for the actor, but it really is up to the actor to do the work--- two actors sitting across from one another locked in direct eye contact, both parties have to be humble and willing to let go of everything they know in order to make the leap to understand one another.

And in doing the work, your own version of yourself is challenged. Maybe you aren't as brave as you thought you were. And why this lack of courage to make the leap to understand another actor? It's an unwillingness that comes because we are unable to comprehend the way another human being thinks and is. 

To act is to embrace the human condition.

"Life beats down and crushes our souls and theatre reminds us that we have one. At least the type of theatre that I'm interested in; that is, theatre that moves an audience. You have the opportunity to literally impact the lives of people if they work on material that has integrity. But today, most actors simply want to be famous. Well, being an actor was never supposed to be about fame and money. Being an actor is a religious calling because you've been given the ability, the gift to inspire humanity. Think about that on the way to your soap opera audition."

-Sanford Meisner

nymous

Waiting for the ferry with sandy thighs and not sitting in the best spot-

but the only place to wait

I was thinking of someone I knew long ago whose name I can’t remember-

or maybe she didn’t have a name

Not one I knew

Or non-existant

No name?

Not possible.

I hear you say

(an echo in my own head)

Or, maybe we just assume everyone has a name, when in actuality that may not be true at all

Perceptions and reality— (and legality)

Will we stand firm and united in our perceptions until proven wrong?

Like the color purple.

Everyone thinks purple is rare in nature— but then poke your head under the ocean in southern Thailand —

and holy coral!

Purple everywhere — enough to make you shiver.

A royal city of purple with a population to rival Manhattan’s.

“There are plenty of fish under the sea."

You think it’s a cliche

until you’re down there-

and I mean

way

way

way

way

way

way

way

way

way

way

way

way

way

way

down there.

abundance

MEN and PURPLE

I mean fish!

(Did I say men?)