tongue and groove

The 1st Annual Marilyn Awards

the final Reverb 10 prompt from Molly O'Neill is:  "Core Story. What central story is at the core of you, and how do you share it with the world?"

it's awards season in the film industry. i love films and this time of year i enjoy reading about the nominations, seeing films and performances that have been nominated, watching the awards shows and chatting with my fellow film lovers. since story is at the core of what makes a good film, it was what came to mind when i read today's prompt. i thought it might be fun to look back at my year by sharing some of this year's moments and stories in a nominations format. may i present the 1st Annual Marilyn Awards...

Best Art Direction - Bellagio Arboretum in Las Vegas

Best Cinematography - Flickr's 10.10.10 project (this is my shot)

Best Makeup - The nominations committe could not find enough instances of makeup use to even come up with a nomination, let alone an award. Check back next year.

Best Costume Design - thrift store pumpkin

Best Song - "Happy Birthday" performed for me by Joe Louis Walker and his band (with J on drums) from the stage in Nevada City, CA

Best Soundtrack - Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas

Best Visual Effects - 4th of July fireworks in Watertown, SD

Best Series, Drama - my mom's life

Best Series, Comedy - my brother's life

Best Mini-Series - my relationship with J

Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay - Reverb 10

Best Writing - Original Screenplay - my poem in Creative Is a Verb

Best Documentary - Amgen Tour of California

Best Documentary Short Subject - Amelie

Best Film Editing - forgiveness for snapping a big chunk of grievance out of the loop that continuously plays in my head

Best Ensemble - my family for their performance in the 2-week run of South Dakota Family Vacation

Breakthrough Performance - my niece Ciara for her first solo plane ride and vacation

Best Actress in a Supporting Role - me in my roles as spouse, daughter, sister, aunt

Best Actress in a Leading Role - me in my role as interviewer at La Salonniere - the interviewing is genuine...it took some acting (as if) on my part to convince myself to do it.  ;)

Best First Feature - La Salonniere

Cecil B DeMille Award - my mother

Robert Altman Award - the community of creative bloggers, tweeters and Facebookers who are my tribe

Best Film - storyboarding my dreams (i suspect this will be the winner next year, too.)  ;)

here's a poem i wrote a few years ago that i recently came across...and, yes, it's called "storyboard your dreams"...

break the mold that's
grown around your
forgotten desires open
the windows and let the
air circulate around your
spirit so you can hold
your heart in your
hands until its wings
unfurl break the slumber
that's become your
mind's thoughts the
numbing drumming of
doubts that have formed
the backbeat of your
life write a new
soundtrack and
storyboard your dreams
casting yourself to the
winds as star

wishing everyone a beautiful, bright, shiny 2011. may your heart's wings unfurl in the coming year. xo

reverb 10 - lesson learned

it's day 17 of Reverb 10 and we're pondering lessons learned via a prompt from Tara Weaver: "What was the best thing you learned about yourself this past year? And how will you apply that lesson going forward?"

i read this prompt via email late last night and the first thing i thought was...[CRICKETS]. i got up this morning and as i was sipping my first cup of coffee, i opened my email and re-read it...same response...[AT A LOSS]. i started thinking really hard..."lessons...let's see...i suppose given the challenges this year there were a few things i don't want to do again...(sigh)...why is this prompt so hard?!"

jeez, i'm dense sometimes. and sometimes i make the simplest things really, really complicated. because this prompt isn't about my head...it's about action. and that was the best lesson i (re)learned this year:  for the love of god, JUST DO IT!  :)

i'd wanted to create an interview blog for probably five years. FIVE YEARS. i kept the idea in my head (because, lord knows, that's the best place for it) and every once in awhile, i'd ponder the possibility of it again...for FIVE YEARS. and then a couple of weeks ago i had the (novel) thought:  "hmmm...i guess i could just, you know, do it." but here's what had kept me from doing it for years...that thought was immediately followed by this one: "i wonder what would happen..."  what would happen?! what the hell did i think was going to happen? did i think the permission police were going to burst through the door shouting, "step away from the keyboard! we did not give you permission to do this project!" i guess on some level that must have been what i thought...because i had held a deep-seated belief that it was okay for you to pursue what you want to do...but it was definitely not okay for me. if you open Patti Digh's book, Creative Is a Verb, to page 198, you'll see my words about that exact thing: "...we sometimes fear we're not worthy of our own dreams so we quitclaim them to others saying here take my magic i won't be needing it and i'll even throw in the wand."

WTH? how long did i plan to keep all of these ideas in my head or continue to give them away? so in answer to the prompt, at the risk of sounding like a Nike ad, i'd say the biggest lesson i (re)learned this year (it's not like i haven't learned it 100 times already) was:  stop thinking about it and just do it. and next year? keep doing it. 

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for A Month of Music today here's a fantastic 1986 clip of Dr. John playing "Mac's Boogie."  he's about to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and most deservedly so.

 

reverb 10 - 5 minutes

it made me happy to open up the daily email from Reverb 10 this morning and find that the 15th prompt is from my dear friend Patti Digh. Patti's prompt is:  "5 minutes. Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010." i adore Patti and i love this prompt. okay, here goes...

i want to remember all of those moments with Amelie when she came to visit us. how she reminded me how very important coloring is...and how when you talk to ducks, it's best to get down to their level.

i want to remember how at the beginning of April i decided that since i had a lot of time on my hands this would be the year i'd really follow my life-long team, the San Francisco Giants...and all of those hours i spent watching games (when i very seldom even watch TV)...what joy it gave me...how it gave a rhythm to my days...how it reminded me to practice patience...and to never give up, because often when things seemed really hopeless they quickly turned around. i want to remember how utterly gleeful i felt when they kept winning in the post-season...and how when they won the World Series it seemed like a dream...like somehow their kismet might rub off on all of us who'd had a hard year, but had been given so much happiness by their joyful wins.

i want to remember all of those two weeks of moments when i was traveling with my family the first half of July. how i felt fishing on that lake in rural South Dakota with my brother and niece...how long it had been since i'd been out in nature with no one around. the cabin in the Black Hills...reading Pete Dexter's Deadwood when we were in Deadwood...visiting Mount Moriah Cemetery, like Western folklore come to life. i want to remember fishing...how i'd avoided it my entire life and how it felt so right and natural...how i loved the zen of it...and offered a prayer of gratitude to the fish for feeding us.

okay, my time's already up. i'd just like to offer a personal thank you to Patti who has single-handedly reminded me this year that i can, and sometimes do, write...by publishing one of my poems in Creative Is a Verb...and letting me see a bright spot for the spring when i'll have another piece in her new book.

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today at Wishcasting Wednesday, Jamie asks, "How do you wish to soar?"  by taking the best elements of 2010 and expanding them in 2011. more travel...more road trips...i'd like to take a long train trip in 2011...more music...more baseball...more writing...much more photography. i want to put more attention and energy into the things that truly make my heart sing and let them help me soar. often we make it so complicated...when really all we have to do is close our eyes...lift our 'wings'...and let go.

 (me, on the beach in my hometown, mid-90's)

Creative Is a Verb

about a week ago, i received in the mail a copy of Patti Digh's new book, Creative Is a Verb. i couldn't wait to start reading it. i immediately took it into our private little yard, laid down on the wicker love seat in the warm afternoon sun, and turned myself over to it. it's a wonderful follow-up to her previous book, Life Is a Verb. and yet Creative Is a Verb is entirely its own book. it's  not a series in the sense that one must read them in order (although if you haven't read Life Is a Verb, i encourage you to do so).

Creative Is a Verb, like its predecessor, is filled with beautiful, original artwork created by Patti's readers--whether they're readers of her fiercely smart, award-winning blog, 37 Days, or her reflections and humorous insights at Twitter and Facebook. 

a few days ago, as i was standing in the shower, i suddenly thought of that famous line by poet Mary Oliver, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" in that moment, i wasn't consciously thinking about Creative Is a Verb, even though i'd been reading and savoring it over the past week. but it occurs to me now that Patti's new book is very much about our one precious life. as she says early in the book, "This book is about reclaiming a creative spirit in your fantastic, unique life. It's about living your whole entire life as art..." yet it's not a book about technique. she offers exercises at the end of each chapter, but there are no rules for working with the book. do the exercises or don't, it's up to you.

as much as Creative Is a Verb is about honoring each of our own unique, precious lives, it's also a book that will help us get past being too precious. Patti reminds us to stop getting so hung up on having everything just so before we begin. do you have a patch of dirt and a stick? then you can write, you can draw. or maybe, as Patti did in the book, i'll let one of our cultural icons sum it up:

"I plan to write more books whenever I can find the appropriate writing attire

and color-coordinated pen." ~Miss Piggy

Creative Is a Verb is brimming with good ideas, AHA! moments, thoughtful explorations on the notions of creativity, lovely original artwork from readers around the world and four beautiful poems by Maya Stein, someone whose work i've read and admired for years.

there's also one poem by yours truly. earlier tonight, i stumbled onto the site for the United Kingdom's National Poetry Day which is celebrated on the first Thursday in October. it turns out that the theme for their day this year is "home," which happens to be the name of the poem i have in Creative Is a Verb.

i encourage you to buy Patti's book. ask your local library to stock it. it's smart, humorous, thoughtful and full of juicy magic. (i have no vested interest in Patti's book sales--i just think you'll enjoy it.)

thank you for continuing to read here and being part of my community. may we all find home. xo