Reading: work stuff, and
The Sweetest Swing in Baseball by Rebecca Gilman
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Random by Craig Roberts
Economix by Michael Goodwin
The Shallows by Nicholas Carr (in process)
Rejected edited by Jon Friedman (started, didn't read much)
The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow by Rolin Jones (I love Jones and think he's hilarious, but I have to admit this one left me pretty "Huh?")
I know there's more . . .
Listening (car): misc radio mysteries from the 40s-50s.
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
NPR: The first 40 years
Seeing (Theatre):
Song of the Dodo, PETE
Dance concert at work
Wilde Tales
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
September, October
Reading (binge reading!):
House of Mirth
Several old Jean Kerr books and plays, a kick inspired by this summer's attempts at a weekly family poetry night.
Research for my next 2 plays!
True West, Cloud 9, Earnest, Gross Indecency, performance art, Hell Houses, etc. etc. etc. for work.
Capstones (drafts)
Mindy Kaling's book, which I got for my birthday and read in about 2 hours, hilarious.
Everybody's Fred stories.
Seeing (Theatre):
The Burial at Thebes, my theatre
Movies:
Austenland
Blue Jasmine
Charade (with R and J, delightful)
Bernie
True Crime (my friend Pat's movie)
House of Mirth (not bad!)
TV:
Rewatching Scandal and Sports Night, with J when possible, and Good Luck Charlie, with Natey when possible.
House of Mirth
Several old Jean Kerr books and plays, a kick inspired by this summer's attempts at a weekly family poetry night.
Research for my next 2 plays!
True West, Cloud 9, Earnest, Gross Indecency, performance art, Hell Houses, etc. etc. etc. for work.
Capstones (drafts)
Mindy Kaling's book, which I got for my birthday and read in about 2 hours, hilarious.
Everybody's Fred stories.
Seeing (Theatre):
The Burial at Thebes, my theatre
Movies:
Austenland
Blue Jasmine
Charade (with R and J, delightful)
Bernie
True Crime (my friend Pat's movie)
House of Mirth (not bad!)
TV:
Rewatching Scandal and Sports Night, with J when possible, and Good Luck Charlie, with Natey when possible.
Friday, August 23, 2013
July, August
Shows:
Mostly what I saw in July were rehearsals for my show, and then my show.
Also took in Paul Susi's All At Sea, which was terrific (and full of my favorite people)
shows shows shows shows shows?
No, that's all I can think of!
Reading:
Re-read the first three Jackson Brodie books, then read Started Early, Took My Dog, which I'd been holding off on with great discipline for months.
My ranking of Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie books, not that anyone asked:
1. When Will There Be Good News? (Book 3) brings us Joanna's tragic story and the adorable teenage Reg. There's plenty of Louise, too, which is a big plus. And poor Jackson is put through the ringer about sixteen times, each better than the last.
2. One Good Turn. (Book 2) Martin is super compelling, and Gloria is plenty sympathetic. Introduction of Louise. Overall great movement from beginning to end--really rolls along and keeps you interested. Julia's a bit of a villain, which is the best use for her.
3. Case Histories. (Book 1) Introduction of Jackson,who is a great great hero, and of his really moving backstory. Of the cases, the first one introduced if full of off-putting characters (the Land family) and the adventures of the errant Michelle feel off to the side and insignificant, but the Theo/Laura story is thoroughly gripping and moving. [Weird sidebar: the entire time I read this book, I felt sure that I'd read the Michelle story before, almost scene for scene, but none of the rest of it. Maybe there is something very similar in a Ruth Rendell?]
4. Started Early, Took My Dog (Book 4) So having liked each book more than the last, I was really let down by this one. It's off the mark in terms of storytelling. Tracy and her story are good, though bog down for a while in the middle. There are way too many indistinct characters introduced at once--fellow cops who are important later, but never individual enough that we care or are shocked. The dementia of Tilly, the old actress, is drawn in fascinating detail, but she's actually not important enough to warrant nearly 1/4 of the book. And there is WAY too much Julia (mostly in Jackson's mind) and zero Louise! Give me a break.
I am willing to accept all this if Started Early can be regarded as primarily a set-up for Book 5, a book I dearly look forward to! Well, and the dog and the little girl are very lovable.
Other reading: The Fault in Our Stars, and
a little to a lot of baseball history and lore, getting up to speed for a new play.
Mostly what I saw in July were rehearsals for my show, and then my show.
Also took in Paul Susi's All At Sea, which was terrific (and full of my favorite people)
shows shows shows shows shows?
No, that's all I can think of!
Reading:
Re-read the first three Jackson Brodie books, then read Started Early, Took My Dog, which I'd been holding off on with great discipline for months.
My ranking of Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie books, not that anyone asked:
1. When Will There Be Good News? (Book 3) brings us Joanna's tragic story and the adorable teenage Reg. There's plenty of Louise, too, which is a big plus. And poor Jackson is put through the ringer about sixteen times, each better than the last.
2. One Good Turn. (Book 2) Martin is super compelling, and Gloria is plenty sympathetic. Introduction of Louise. Overall great movement from beginning to end--really rolls along and keeps you interested. Julia's a bit of a villain, which is the best use for her.
3. Case Histories. (Book 1) Introduction of Jackson,who is a great great hero, and of his really moving backstory. Of the cases, the first one introduced if full of off-putting characters (the Land family) and the adventures of the errant Michelle feel off to the side and insignificant, but the Theo/Laura story is thoroughly gripping and moving. [Weird sidebar: the entire time I read this book, I felt sure that I'd read the Michelle story before, almost scene for scene, but none of the rest of it. Maybe there is something very similar in a Ruth Rendell?]
4. Started Early, Took My Dog (Book 4) So having liked each book more than the last, I was really let down by this one. It's off the mark in terms of storytelling. Tracy and her story are good, though bog down for a while in the middle. There are way too many indistinct characters introduced at once--fellow cops who are important later, but never individual enough that we care or are shocked. The dementia of Tilly, the old actress, is drawn in fascinating detail, but she's actually not important enough to warrant nearly 1/4 of the book. And there is WAY too much Julia (mostly in Jackson's mind) and zero Louise! Give me a break.
I am willing to accept all this if Started Early can be regarded as primarily a set-up for Book 5, a book I dearly look forward to! Well, and the dog and the little girl are very lovable.
Other reading: The Fault in Our Stars, and
a little to a lot of baseball history and lore, getting up to speed for a new play.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
May, June
SEEN, SHOWS:
Cerimon House Mother's Day show--unforgettable
Ablaze
Wilson High/Teen West
PWest Fundraiser
Several college fairs!
The Drammys
Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls
A Bright New Boise
Crooked
READ, PLAYS:
Other Desert Cities
Sons of the Prophet (and acted!)
The Realistic Joneses (and acted!)
The Burial at Thebes
Grace
Etta Jenks
SEEN, MOVIES
The Imposters
Star Trek Into Darkness
Admission (or was that, like, two months ago?)
Now You See Me
The Giant Mechanical Man
SEEN, TV
Scandal (obsessed)
Cerimon House Mother's Day show--unforgettable
Ablaze
Wilson High/Teen West
PWest Fundraiser
Several college fairs!
The Drammys
Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls
A Bright New Boise
Crooked
READ, PLAYS:
Other Desert Cities
Sons of the Prophet (and acted!)
The Realistic Joneses (and acted!)
The Burial at Thebes
Grace
Etta Jenks
SEEN, MOVIES
The Imposters
Star Trek Into Darkness
Admission (or was that, like, two months ago?)
Now You See Me
The Giant Mechanical Man
SEEN, TV
Scandal (obsessed)
March, April
Heard/Saw reading of my play through magic of Skype
SHOWS:
Reading of Ithaka at ART
Three Days of Rain at defunkt
Our Town at work--several times, lovely!
Dance concert at work
The Aliens--Third Rail/CoHo
READ:
Alex's Blood Moon as a manuscript. Loved it!
Victory Lap (short story, awesome) by George Saunders
Case Histories
One Good Turn
When Will There Be Good News
all by Kate Atkinson. Became thoroughly obsessed.
SHOWS:
Reading of Ithaka at ART
Three Days of Rain at defunkt
Our Town at work--several times, lovely!
Dance concert at work
The Aliens--Third Rail/CoHo
READ:
Alex's Blood Moon as a manuscript. Loved it!
Victory Lap (short story, awesome) by George Saunders
Case Histories
One Good Turn
When Will There Be Good News
all by Kate Atkinson. Became thoroughly obsessed.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
2013: Jan 1-March 10
BOOKS:
Heft by Liz Moore. Lovely, lovely, lovely.
Born Standing Up by Steve Martin. Kind of fun, but I never got much momentum going--didn't finish.
The Buccaneers (still)
Re-reading Alex's Huntress Moon while waiting for #2 to come out!
40 gazillion pages of material by English candidates . . .
PLAYS:
Purple Heart by Bruce Norris (and acted!)
After Ashley by Gina Gionfriddo
4000 Miles by Amy Herzog
The Other Place by Sharr White
Sons of the Prophet by Rajiv Joseph (saw at Roundabout last year)
The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter
several other contemporary plays for work
MOVIES:
Perks of Being a Wallflower (loved! though not last plot twist)
Silver Linings Playbook (meh)
??? on netflix???
TV:
Scandal
Downton Abbey
Golden Globes, Oscars
Elementary
THEATRE:
The Witch of the Iron Wood (opera, in reading)
International Falls
R3 (PETE ensemble)
A Noble Failure
Venus in Fur
Red Herring
Servant of Two Masters rehearsal at PSU (Jessica W's production)
A bunch of rehearsals of Our Town
Heft by Liz Moore. Lovely, lovely, lovely.
Born Standing Up by Steve Martin. Kind of fun, but I never got much momentum going--didn't finish.
The Buccaneers (still)
Re-reading Alex's Huntress Moon while waiting for #2 to come out!
40 gazillion pages of material by English candidates . . .
PLAYS:
Purple Heart by Bruce Norris (and acted!)
After Ashley by Gina Gionfriddo
4000 Miles by Amy Herzog
The Other Place by Sharr White
Sons of the Prophet by Rajiv Joseph (saw at Roundabout last year)
The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter
several other contemporary plays for work
MOVIES:
Perks of Being a Wallflower (loved! though not last plot twist)
Silver Linings Playbook (meh)
??? on netflix???
TV:
Scandal
Downton Abbey
Golden Globes, Oscars
Elementary
THEATRE:
The Witch of the Iron Wood (opera, in reading)
International Falls
R3 (PETE ensemble)
A Noble Failure
Venus in Fur
Red Herring
Servant of Two Masters rehearsal at PSU (Jessica W's production)
A bunch of rehearsals of Our Town
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Last Post of 2012
THEATRE:
Book of Mormon at last!!!
Pericles at Northwest Classical Theatre with my students--superb.
MOVIES:
This is 40 (awful)
Parental Guidance with Natey (delightful)
TV:
Scandal
Downton Abbey
misc other!
BOOKS READ:
On Writing by Stephen King (got for Christmas)
The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton
BOOKS LISTENED TO:
Heft by Liz Moore (started)
PLAYS READ:
Purple Heart by Bruce Norris (for class)
Book of Mormon at last!!!
Pericles at Northwest Classical Theatre with my students--superb.
MOVIES:
This is 40 (awful)
Parental Guidance with Natey (delightful)
TV:
Scandal
Downton Abbey
misc other!
BOOKS READ:
On Writing by Stephen King (got for Christmas)
The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton
BOOKS LISTENED TO:
Heft by Liz Moore (started)
PLAYS READ:
Purple Heart by Bruce Norris (for class)
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