Alexandra Silber's Blog, page 13
September 16, 2020
Just Start
One day you just have to start.
Beginning is one of the hardest parts of anything.
Because you have to commit.
And committing means you have to make a decision for reals saying you are doing X rather than something else. Which requires risk, and sacrifice.
You don’t have to know how to finish what you start.
But you must.
Start.
Starting requires faith, it requires an openness, and some small level of intention but no defined end goal. (Note I said *intention* and not *direction.*)
To make art i...
September 15, 2020
Great Big Medication Day
Hello from the very wonderful Mount Sinai! I got a new Great Big Medication today to help support me in my auto-immune journey.
I’m 100 emotions: relieved, excited, hopeful...and anxious that this medication also ...will not work.
It’s a process. It’s a journey. And it’s incredibly complicated.
I won’t lie: while I AM rocking a positive attitude (and I have a LOT of perspective about the “size” of this personal issue in comparison to others/the world), I don’t want you to think that I have
not ...
September 9, 2020
Flare-ups ≠ Failure!
Dear Ones, I am currently having one of the worst #autoimmune flare-ups I’ve experienced yet. This is not to invite pity, but to connect and maybe even validate your experience!
COVID19 is no joke: the state of the world, the Unknowns, of the Arts, the unemployment, the stress, the insanity of our political climate— it’s stressful! And stress is one of the leading cause of flares.
Many things (and I mean: oh my goodness SO. MANY. CURRENT. THINGS) are not in our control. We cannot choose what h...
September 7, 2020
Labor [Day] of Love
On this Labor Day, 2020, I imagine we are all feeling peculiar things about the concept of “labor” in a world largely on pause.
Many of us as performing artists have been abandoned and ridiculed by our government for not having a “real job.” To that I reply with Nick Westrate's brilliant quote:
“A labor of love is still labor.”
So on this unusual Labor Day, let’s talk about this glorious labor of love.
During “Master Class,” the genius that is Tyne Daly taught me a phrase that her actress-mot...
August 23, 2020
Things I Miss: a List, Part 1
Jake. Gone too soon.- Our beautiful ginger cat (who came to mom and I after Papa died), Jake. He was "The Man" of the family and an absolute sweetheart. Gone too soon at only 7. - Answering machines (and their answering machine messages)
We had a particularly spectacular one in the 90s. I wrote the lyrics and sang it at the age of 10 or 11? Not sure. It was performed at 100-no-marking (obviously, some things never change) to a karaoke CASSETTE of the theme song from “The Addams Family. I the...
August 16, 2020
Things I want to remember about this week 8/10 - 8/17, 2020: A List
- Leaving a Pittsfield Mass Walgreen and seeing a man with a baby stroller buying 27 cans of Fruit Punch flavored Arizona ice tea… and in the baby stroller was not a baby? But a CAGED SQUIRREL
- Talking with Alec about expanding buying a car! (An adorable vintage 1985 BMW 528e we are named Brunhilde thankyouverymuch)
- Hearing the story of Alexandra and Etai getting engaged (eeeeee)
- The appointment of Kamala Harris as Joe Biden's 2020 running-mate. (HERSTORY!)
- SINGING IN A REHEARSAL ROOM FOR T...
June 29, 2020
Recently Discovered: a List
- That I quite like cooking
- That every single episode of Matlock is available on YouTube
- Maple syrup on things that aren’t pancakes (thank you ALEC, who is from VERMONT, and thus a Maple syrup guru)
- New growth on a plant I was [throw-a-funeral-for-it] certain, was dead!
- That the gray pattern on my hairline is exactly the same as my Dad’s
- That I need [new] glasses
- The sun pouring through the living rooms windows onto the sofa, in a particular spot in between 5 and 8 pm that Tati luxuria...
May 31, 2020
'Hope' By Langston Hughes
Don’t know why,Keep thinkin’ I won’t be lonelyBy and by.
Art from
Trees at Night
by Art Young, 1926. (Available as a print.)
May 30, 2020
Books I read in May: a list
books I read (or re-read) in may:
Severence by Ling Ma
A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver
Owl at Home by Arnold Lobel
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Hebrew for Dummies
So Sad Today by Melissa Broder
Wayyyyyy too many articles about the Corona Virus thankyouverymuchandgoodnight
May 18, 2020
Things I'm Absolutely NOT Interested in: a List
- Your birth video. (Put it away, Karen)
- Small talk. (Oh my God. My version of hell is an endless cocktail party of small talk and no alcohol to ease the burdens of said small talk and also, its so so hot in this windowless cocktail party room, and also theres no ice in the non-alcoholic drinks...
