Sometimes He Rambles.

Small Parts - Episode 7

Video Killed the Blog Star.

A Disquiet Mind.

It's been a while since I've posted. You may have taken notice. We've been pretty busy right off the start. So far the semester has been really fantastic. It was good to have everyone back in it and I feel like we really hit the ground running.

I've also, as of late been possessed of this really strange drive to actually get everything done. My ducks, I think, are really in a row. I'm also fairly certsain that between rehearsals for Bryan Quick's play and starting up the semester I've been here every day for at least ten hours. In fact, as I write this, I haven't seen my home in about three days... sleeping on a lot of floors... a lot. But! I will say this, we are looking real good doing it!

Keep it classy.

I think it may have mostly subsided by now (end of the second week), but I noticed upon returning that I had a real issue focusing in classes for a while. I don't know if it's just what happens when you get realeased into the wild for a few weeks, but I thought I might have contracted ADD for a hot minute. Sitting in our Viewpoints class the other day, I was trying to slow it all daown, but as I was sitting there, listening to Kelly, I was going through lines for a few different scenes, kicking myself for not having been able to do laundry for a few weeks (got that done, btw), grocery shopping in my mind, and just generally being distracted by squirrels, redheads, and all of the usual colors and shapes and shiny objects that populate my day.

But, as I said, I think for the most part right now, we're ok... we'll see. Tomorrow is Monday. I'll let you know.

I also realized that I can start making some VLOGs for the site. I was hoping to not have to have to torture the interwebs with pictures of my face (have you noticed there's no Meet the Fourteen - Ryan Nicolls?), but finding no time to write, I think I might have to break down and do it. Maybe tonight... maybe.

"Failure is the fire in which we temper our resolve."
- Ryan Nicolls

Yeah, I quote myself.

-R

Damocles.

Several years after my Grandfather died, my Grandmother remarried.  He unfortunately suffers from late onset Alzheimer's and his personality is irrevocably altered.  I feel the need to mention this because I was about to write that he was a really nice man from Buffalo who took really great care of my Grandmother... that sort of makes it sound like he's not around anymore.  He is, yet, sadly, he's not the same all the time.  He had this saying that he frequented when he was asked, "How you doing, Paul?"

"If I was any better, I would be worried."

What's great about Paul is that he's an unending optimist.  Even in his periods where he's a little foggy, he constantly sees the opportunity for things to improve.  He strikes up conversations with utter strangers, admittedly to the point were I feel like he's a bit out of line in his instant familiarity (I have my own issues with those sorts of things so my supposed bar for other people's tolerance of that sort of thing is a bit low), but typically leaves the stranger with a smile on his or her face.  It's incredibly admirable.

"If I was any better, I would be worried."

At the same time, there has always been this great sense of foreboding in that statement.  I think that it resects the natural peaks and valleys of the human thought process, the fact that, not everything can be amazingly, fantastically, wondrously great all of the time.  I'm a big believer that we shape our own experience and that, if we choose, our experience can hover in the realm of "good" for as long as we wish it to.  Events can become stressful; rough; trying, but remain all in all on the up and up.  It's all about perspective.  But... yeah... foreboding.  That last paragraph got away from me...

"If I was any better, I would be worried."

Everything in my life right now is pretty grand.  I am where I want to be.  I get to do what I want to do.  My friends are amazing.  My family is supportive.  I try not to get too personal in these writings, but I hope this will suffice in writing that there are moments in my day, frequently, where I am so filled with this... concentrated sensation of pure joy that each breath I take feels as if it realigns every cell in my body and polarizes each one North-to-South towards magnetic bliss.

And LIFE is really fucking amazing.

"If I was any better, I would be worried." 

 

I am worried.  Is this peaking?  Can I , in fact, get any better?  I mean, we're treading into uncharted territory here. These are the outliers of jocundity, and there's this growing fear in my mind that this can't possibly last.  Somehow I'm going to slip, blow it, and quail as my feet are thrown up from underneath me.

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

It may be utterly silly, but it is in my mind.  I half tempted to take a breath and hold it in.  Make the moment last as long as possible.  I know it's not possible, but still...  it's that good.  Despite this pestilent disquiet in the back of my mind, everything just happens to be brilliant.  In writing this I've begun to wonder to myself, "Maybe the sword isn't dangling from a thread above my head, maybe it's in my hand and all I have to remember is not to willingly fall on it."

I think I'm back to enjoying the now.

NEXT WEEK!: we begin the new semester and there will be less blogging as a chronicle for a wandering mind and more blogging as a record of things of actual import: namely the happenings of The Fourteen.  Thank you to those of you who (ir)regularly read and thank you to all of you who have brought me this sense of elation.  Despite my best efforts, I think I might actually be enjoying it!

"Diligence is the mother of good fortune, and idleness, its opposite, never brought a man to the goal of any of his best wishes."

- Miguel de Cervantes

-R

Small Parts - Episode 6

It's the New Year and Kevin and his team are back with Episode 6 of Small Parts.  Enjoy!

I

Back to Work.

I discovered a few weeks back that having NOTHING to do doesn't agree with me well.  I apparently have  some serious issues with relaxing and enjoying the times where there are no responsibilities and obligations.  I did a lot of cleaning.  A lot.

But now all of this awful nothing is over with!!!  Andy and I start back up with rehearsals for a little project that we've been working on with one of our fellow first year writers, Bryan Quick.  Careful, there's a shameless plug approaching.  Here's some information in case you want to come check out Quick's One-act play at Manhattan Repertory:

Manhattan Repertory Theatre Presents:

A DREAM... 

As Part of it’s WINTER ONE-ACT COMPETITION (Series F)

DATES/ TIMES
Wednesday, January 18 at 9pm
Friday, January 20 at 9pm
Saturday, January 21 at 4pm

at Manhattan Repertory Theatre
303 W. 42nd St. Suite 308
New York, NY 10036

(Take any train to Times Square and walk over to 8th ave and 42nd st)

PERFORMED BY AND IN COLLABORATION WITH:
Malcolm Douglas Brown
Ryan Nicolls
Andy Talen

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY:
Bryan Quick

SYNOPSIS:
Gray, a white man, awakens in a small cell to the sound of Martin Luther King's, "I Have a Dream" speech. He is confronted by Mr. X, the self proclaimed "Negro Magic," who is charged with getting Gray to admit that he is a racist. Stereotypes and misconceptions are brought front and center. Are you a racist? Are you not a racist? Gray is forced to confront the hidden tendencies that we all to often ignore.

TICKETS:
$20 dollars

Email mrtreserve@gmail.com, to reserve a seat.

Tell them you would like to see A Dream…in PERFORMANCE SERIES F,
And give them the date you want to attend.
You will receive an email back within 24 hours to confirm. 


So now that that's done, I can get back to trying to make sure these lines are crammed into my brain.  I probably shouldn't be this excited to be going back to being ridiculously busy...  I really shouldn't.


"All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence."
-  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


Cheers!


-R

Meet The Fourteen - Marianna Caldwell

Today's interview features Marianna Caldwell.  Enjoy!

I'll hopefully get sa chance to get the remainder of these shot and uploaded before the new semester.  In the mean time, if you have any questions or comments for The Fourteen, subscribe and leave them in our comments section!

-Nix

and Mar!

Meet The Fourteen - Toni Ann DeNoble

Meet The Fourteen interview, whaaaaaaat!?!?!?

I know right!  This was shot during Intensives Week, and I've been super lazy, so it's only coming to you now, but it's good and it features the imagininja, Toni Ann DeNoble.

I'm working on editing another interview right now, hopefully I'll have it ready for tomorrow!

-R

and The Imagininja!

Clouds.

Walkin' on 'em.  That's all you need to know... haters.

"A day spent without the sight or sound of beauty, the contemplation of mystery, or the search of truth or perfection is a poverty-stricken day; and a succession of such days is fatal to human life."
- Lewis Mumford

-Nix

2012.

Day One.

There's a lot of stuff that I owe to this blog.  Things that need to be recorded.  One of those things I hope to accomplish today.  There's still two interviews awaiting the editing bay and a slew more that need to be shot.  But today is Day One.  One thing at a time and everything in it's right place.

Church.

I've mentioned in the past few posts that we had an intensive week with Andreí.  It's a chance to really work intensively (go figure) on some scenes that we either felt went well and would like to try to develop further or scenes that didn't go so well and would like a chance to make right.  Every night we have an hour and a half session where both the first and second year classes come together and listen and meditate on readings that Andreí thinks would be relevant to our development.  There were two nights that struck me rather hard.  One night dealt with the idea of identity, the other had to do with the idea of the theater as a holy place.

I've written previously about my thoughts on both of these ideas, but I was caught off guard by how irreverently I had been treating my time during the few weeks leading up to the night where Andreí read about the spirituality of the theater and it's potential.  I, admittedly, have the inimitable ability to lose focus on such a grand scale that I, myself, often have trouble fathoming it.  I can get selfish quite quickly.  I shut down.

I had been in a rather large funk and had withdrawn a bit into myself and thought that I was focusing on myself, but in reality was probably being a larger asshole than I care to report here.  What stuck me was that after a mere twelve weeks I had lost sight of what my place was in the grand scheme of things and was being not only disrespectful to my own experience, but probably everyone else's as well.

Andreí's main point for reading his selection that evening was to shine a light on an attitude that he felt was being allowed to flower in the department.  We had, as a class, been joking, talking, napping, and horsing around through classes and weren't respecting ourselves, our craft, or each other.

It got me thinking about working for over a year to get in to this program, and how quickly I had lost sight of the point.

We have class in Riverside Church three times a week.  Every Wednesday through Friday, when entering the church, I take off my cap (if I'm wearing one), lower my voice and put another cap on the profanity.  That's respect for an institution that I don't believe in, and I couldn't seem to muster up the respect for one that I do believe in.  It was night of some pretty great clarity.  I hope I can maintain it.

Finally.

So this is the new year!  There's been some fantastic moments to round out 2011 that I won't share here, and some incredible friendships and experiences already in the dawn hours of 2012.  So, thank you for reading!  I hope you've enjoyed this account of my experience.  As promised last year, I hope to include more thoughts and materials from my fellow classmates, more interviews, and more insight into this wonderful adventure that we share.

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man."  
- Benjamin Franklin


Happy New Year!


-R

Small Parts - Episode 5

The last episode of the year.  Hopefully I'll remember to post when they come back in January.  Also like their page on Facebook.  This is the link.

-R

Small Parts - Episode 4

Brynne does usually carry firearm.  I just don't know where she conceals it.  This episode didn't offer me the answer that I had hoped for...

-R

Small Parts - Episode 3

I've have been really bad at keeping this thing updated.  It just occurred to me that there are three episodes of Kevin's Web series that have yet to be shared.  Get ready to lose thirty minutes of your day.  Here's Episode 3.

-R

Bargering Back in to the Blog Business.

I think the last time I posted I mention Intensives.  Andrei puts them on once a year, and we get the chance to work (intensively) on a few scenes from his class which we either thought were great, or needed work.  We then do a sort of presentation for an audience, which for us is a bit of a rare opportunity.

It's also a great chance to work a bit closer with the Class of 2013, we have an opportunity to sit pin on their sessions and glean what we can from watching other people work on different materials.  It's really cool.

Andrei also gathers everyone together for readings.  Both classes sit and listen for about an hour and a half to selected texts about the craft that Andrei hopes will inspire.  There were two that really got me that week.  One was about the identity of the artist as a person and the other was about drive.

I found myself in a bit of a slump towards the middle of November.  I was informed by some of the writers in the writing program that my work here was not really appreciated.  In fact it was reviled, I believe, and I was truly disheartened because one of the things that had kept me focused was... well, not great.  I had injured my foot which was causing me to lght-step through some of the more physical classes; scene work wasn't going well; I was feeling bit lost; and the semester had become a bit of a mess.

So i decided to work.

But I think I'll take the next few days to catch everyone up on what's been happening.  Also, I did get ONE interview.  I just need to edit and post it.  I might get one more before the end of the year.  I'll have to try to lure Josué in front of the camera some how.  Let me know if anyone has a spare jar of peanut butter or a bottle of sriracha sauce.

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I have some pretty amazing friends.  Old ones.  New ones.  All of them amazing; supportive.

My class mates are amazing and truly inspiring.  Something happened at the end of the year.  I think it might have been the Intensives Week, but there was a sudden and dramatic shift.  Everything started really clicking.  Maybe that old prophecy in Winter is Coming finally came true...

I got a chance to see for an extended period two of my absolute favorite people from Los Angeles: Selin Mehrabian (who has one of the largest pieces of my heart) and Brian Turley (A better friend you could not ask for) who came to stay with his girlfriend Rebecca Guzzi.  Selin has been here for about a month now; Brian and Rebeccca for the last week.  All three left NYC today.  All three will be sorely missed.  i also had this wonderful chance encounter with Carly Menkin on the train last night on the way home from midtown.  I felt a hand sliding towards my wallet.  I thought my pocket was being picked and wheeled about to deck the little heavy-handed thief to find that it was just Carly getting a squeeze in.  We chatted and ended up going to grab a beer.

Good friends.  No, great friends!  All.  I'm pretty blessed in that.

And one in particular for whom this is somewhat title, for getting me focused on writing things down again!


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So tomorrow, I'll start back in in earnest.  Talk church.  I can't promise much over the break, but we'll see what we can do!


"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival."

- Clive Staples Lewis


Thank you, Brittni.


-R

Intensives Day Three: An Update.

So there's a lot going on.  There's a lot going on.  I had to write it twice.  Unfortunately there's not much time to report on it.  What I can promise you is that there have been some very interesting discussions which I have been writing down thoughts about down in my journal which I'll be sharing sometime in the near future; there are new interviews on the way when I can find the time to edit and format them; Marianna tells me that she's going to add a little contribution from time to time; and everyone seems truly inspired right now.  Truly.

So, I'm sorry to say that all I can really offer you right now is promises of some pretty cool stuff to come.  It'll be worth it.  I promise.

"But I have promises to keep, 
And miles to go before I sleep..."
- Robert Frost

-R

Small Parts - Episode 2

Also, for those of you that may have enjoy there first episode of Kevin's web series, I give you for your viewing delight episode two... which oddly enough features a shout out to his (at the time) future professor Kristin Linklater.

-R

Aaaaaaaaand We're Back.

So Thanksgiving has come and gone.  I'm returning from a healthy, and much needed writing break, and also a intensely relaxing four-day weekend.  It felt like a month. Seriously.  A month.

But do you know how hard it is to not write?  It is in my blood, so it should be said that I am very please to be back here with you, reader, typing away from your viewing pleasure.  I hope its viewing pleasure, at least.

So, there's a lot to catch up on, right?  You'd think, but surprisingly it was very much business as usual in class.  Most people, I think (myself included) were really just trying to muscle through to the holiday.

And what a holiday it was.

I stayed, cooked for myself a little stuffed chicken breast (don't worry I had a little turkey later) with some veggies and a little green bean casserole (because what is Thanksgiving without green bean casserole?) before heading out to meet up with brother Phillip and brother Adam at Adam's friend's place in Sunnyside.  These guys were amazing and just what I needed on a Thanksgiving away rom home.  Some really great, genuine down to Earth mid-westerners.  Super hospitable and provided a tremendously enjoyable evening with some brilliant home-made pie.  If you are reading this, seriously, I can;t thank you enough.  Phillip and I later took off to go meet up with some other friends in the Upper West Side... which turned out to be not what we expected.  To save you from having to read what would end up being a thirteen-page blog, I'll say that if you ever for any reason cannot make it home for some of your own family's brand of crazy shenanigans apparently Columbia has some coked-out sociopath PhD candidates on hand to give you a dose of whatever you're missing and then some.  Seriously...  scary stuff.

Also this weekend brought one of my all-time favorite people in the world back into my life: world-traveler and fellow Titan, Selin Mehrabian.  I love her to bits and I get her for a month.  Anarchy.  You should know that if I for any reason miss a blog post now that we're back, it's because I'm probably out having the time of my life.

But what about the school stuff, you ask?

We have started the first week of intensives with Andrei today.  I'll explain a little bit more of the process tomorrow or Wednesday when I have a little bit more time, but I wish that class were like this all the time.  It's brilliant and I hope to catch some video to post as well.  Fingers crossed.  Our scene from Mourning Becomes Electra was becoming a bit of a problem child and a source of some pretty nasty stress, but we get to deconstruct it now, and I'm really excited about the direction and shape that it's taking.  Again, more on that later.

I, honestly, need a little ramen; a little Walking Dead; and a little sleep.  Now that we're back you can expect some more regular updates again.  Huzzah!  Sweet Jesus, I just realized I'm blogging like Brittni Barger (whose antics can be found here).  What.  Have.  I.  Done?  Anyway, I hope you've had a fantastic break from us as well and look forward to updates over the rest of the semester.


"Do not regret growing older.  It is a privilege denied to many"
- Unknown (found on a Snapple cap)


Breathe in.  Breathe out.

-Nix

Small Parts - Episode 1

Hello there!

I know that I said that we'd be gone for a little bit of a holiday break, but this is too good to not share.  This past Friday, Kevin Tobias' web series that he's been diligently been editing away finally debuted. Below is the first of ten episodes from Small Parts. Enjoy.

-R

Where's The Fourteen?

There's a lot of answers to that particular question:

Studying.

Rehearsing.

(Not) Sleeping.

Fretting Needlessly.

We finished up Iphigenia at Aulis on Sunday,and the reception was largely positive.  Victory.  

I myself had decided to take a short writing break indulge in some personal time whilst being unforgivably busy.  You'd be surprised at how much time a blog-post-a-day will suck out of your week.  Also,I may have been indulging in a little Skyrim along with my studies.  Yeah, that's an admission.  Guilty.  I'm man enough to admit my predisposition for nerdiness.  Half an hour of incinerating trolls can do wonders for trying to not go nuts pouring over Tennessee Williams and ancient Greek comedy.

Also, well... no one else has really been contributing to this thing, aside from Greg's wonderful post, so it's not like I can pass the baton for a couple of days...

Anyway, this post is just to let you all know that we're still here; we're still working strong; and that we'll (I'll) be back to regular postings after the holiday.  There may be a few interviews for you to watch over the next week (if I'm very lucky), but I make no promises.  Everyone's schedule seems to be pretty tight at present.

So, on behalf of The Fourteen, Happy Thanksgiving!

"Rest when you're weary.  Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit.  Then get back to work."

- Ralph Marston

See you soon.

-R