Alexandra Silber's Blog, page 24

“Health-i-versary!”

Today is my 6-month “Health-i-versary.”

What does that mean..?

Hello. My name is Alexandra Silber and I have an auto-immune disease.

So what does that mean..?

The immune system normally guards against germs like bacteria and viruses. When it senses these foreign invaders, it sends out an army of fighter cells to attack them.

In an autoimmune disease, the immune system mistakes part of your body — like your joints, thyroid, pancreas, colon or skin — as foreign or contaminated. Thus, at its simplest...

'Dust of Snow' by Robert Frost

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

Questions from Book Tour, Part 3

1. What are the main differences between working in the two art forms: performance versus writing?

It’s fascinating. Two major observations.

The first is the difference between the social versus private nature of both art forms. (These are not exclusive observations and, of course, there are exceptions).

The theater is an innately social art form— created in collaboration with others, and enacted in the presence of others. Though I suppose you can technically recite speeches into thin air, that...

Coulda-been-ku 13

13.
Breadcrumbs are savage. I am nobody’s ‘just in case.’Hear this: Crumbs aren’t food.

holding magic by @m.lartigue

from The Once and Future King by T.H. White

"The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it....

"The Impossible Dream"

Words fail.

Last night I performed in a concert version of Man of La Mancha at Merkin Hall in Manhattan for The Transport Group. It was one of the most moving nights of theatre I have ever participated in and among my Top Five New York City memories.

I was fortunate enough to be tasked with being given Aldonza's big emotional scenes at the finale of the piece but also partnered with longtime friend, the golden-throated Jason Danieley in the "Impossible Dream" scene at the finale of Act 1.

Quixot...

Coulda-been-ku 12

12.

We endured so much.No one else could have done it.  I loved you. I’m sorry. 

Questions from Book Tour - Part 2

I wanted this to be the cover. I... didn't win that one. 1. The novel exposes much of the social change and violence in Russia that the characters experience. Did you feel that you wanted to create a different and perhaps more realistic story for the characters than the more sentimental one that existed in Fiddler On The Roof?

I did absolutely. The tone of the world changed dramatically in 1905 after the first Revolution—and Fiddler on the Roof nods to those changes directly with the program,...

“since feeling is first,” by: e.e. cummings

since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;
wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world
my blood approves,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don’t cry
—the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids’ flutter which says
we are for each other: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life’s not a paragraph
And death i think is no parenthesis


©Nick Bantock

Day of Giving Thoughts

On this Day of Giving, I wish to state that not all activism is created equal. Activism is a *deeply* personal act of courage, and, in my opinion, the best and most effective activism is always done with civility, and comes from a place of peace and a desire for greater understanding.

I am not saying that there is no place in this world for outrage—great changes have been made upon its back. But violence, angry outrage; thoughtless, knee-jerk tweets, and the making of enemies from every micro-...