Tues. Feb. 13, 2024: Pancakes in the Snow
image courtesy of -Rita-
und 
mit 
via pixabay.comTuesday, February 13, 2024
Waxing Moon
Fat Tuesday
Snowing
I’m scheduling this to post in case the power goes out here over night/tomorrow morning.
Pancakes!
I hope you had a great weekend. If you missed the article on the GDR site yesterday, you can read it here.
Somebody pointed out to me that tomorrow is both Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day, which is kind of depressing, don’t you think? Not the best meeting of dates.
Today’s serial episode is from LEGERDEMAIN:
Episode 163: The Sixth Singer
The Quintet tries to describe the man who posed as their sixth member.
On Friday, I had to delete Dropbox, because it wasn’t letting me change any settings, and instead of letting me upload camera photos to where I wanted them, it poached them all and then wouldn’t let me move them. So buh-bye Dropbox.
I had paperwork for the CSA (so much paperwork lately).
This week, the focus is on THE VICIOUOS CRITIC, which is always fun, and easy to slip back into. I still hope to do a few LIGHTHOUSE LADY episodes, so that I can meet my April deadline for that to be ready.
Of course, it would have been helpful if I’d finished out the week on Friday writing some more on LIGHTHOUSE LADY, but I did not.
I did, however, get to the grocery store and the library, and got all of that handled. I did some meal planning for the week.
I was having trouble concentrating creatively (a good bit of that that whole week, I’m afraid). I didn’t have coverages (just score sheets, which I did yesterday). I didn’t feel I could give contest reading the attention it deserved. So I did research reading instead.
I read Arthur E. Waterman’s critical study of Susan Glaspell (she is one of my favorite playwrights). I found it condescending and misogynist. To say it irked me is an understatement. I wish there was a recent biography of her written. I’m tired of so much of the writing about her only being in relation to her two husbands. I want to know what SHE was like. Of course, all those years I lived IN NYC, I should have gotten my ass over to the Berg Collection and gone through her papers. Believe me, I’ve kicked myself more than once about it. But I ordered some other library materials. I HAVE material on her, including copies of some of her plays and novels I’ve collected over the years. I even have some of them here, rather than in storage. So I should start there.
I kind of having a feeling that she intersected with some of my Playland Painters at some point. I’m not sure why I have that sense, or where it came from or if it’s just wishful thinking. But there’s a shadow of a memory pulling somewhere.
While I was grumbling about this patronizing study, ideas for two plays dropped into my head, so we’ll see if I can make either of them work.
I started to read a novel by an author whose work I usually love, but she wrote this one in present tense, so nope. Back to the library it goes. I read another novel, that had come highly recommended. It was layered and twisty, but I figured it out around page 30 and was impatient for the characters to catch up. Not as impressed by it as those who recommended it.
Cooked haddock for dinner, very simply sauteed in butter, salt, pepper, and Old Bay Seasoning, then set on a bed of sauteed onion and baby spinach, dotted with a little lemon. It was yummy.
I had brought some Paczki donuts at Big Y. I’d never even heard of them before we moved here, but they are a Big Deal here, since these Polish donuts only come around once a year, for Fat Tuesday. Last year, I bought a big box, and was not that impressed; plus, they went stale quickly. This year, I just bought two, freshly made, and we ate them on Friday night for dessert. Much better.
Slept pretty well and woke up early on Saturday, which was Chinese Lunar New Year (year of the Wood Dragon, this go round). One of the great thing about working on so many shows with largely Asian casts is that I was included in their celebrations. Chinese Lunar New Year became a favorite, and I still maintain some traditions my friends and colleagues taught me, such as wearing red and preparing long noodles in sauce for longevity. I’ll watch the lion dance online. I did not have my act together this year about the red envelopes.
Sat down and wrote the first draft of “The Voices” which is a 10-minute play, and one of the plays that about Susan Glaspell the day before inspired. It was nice to get the entire draft down.
Did a rewrite of “Inspired By” which brings it up to 15 pages, but I think that’s the sweet spot for that particular play. Read over what I have on THE WOMEN ON THE BRIDGE and wrote about a page more. Read over what I have on FROZEN AT THE PALACE THEATRE and am trying to figure out how to structure the upcoming scenes.
Took the critical biography of Susan Glaspell off my shelf (written by a woman who spent 10 years researching) and it gave me a much stronger overall sense of her and her work. There are unconnected dots that may, in historical accuracy, remain unconnected, but which I may connect in a fictional project to serve an overall story. I’m not yet sure what that story is yet, but I can feel something trying to take shape.
To celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year, I made chicken Lo Mein from scratch (yes, I know, Americanized Chinese food, not traditional Chinese food, but I like it, and long noodles for long life). For dinner, I did Moosewood’s Indian stuffed eggplant, which I really like, but is time-intensive for all the chopping and layering of flavors.
Dreamed about working on a show where the stage crew kept cutting off the backstage crossover, making it more and more difficult to do the show. There are so many meanings I could plant in that!
But I felt like I’d put in a full day by the time I woke up.
The prediction went from a “coating” of snow today to 6-10 inches to possibly a foot by the time I woke up on Sunday. I keep reminding myself that yes, this is February, it’s supposed to be nasty.
Baked biscuits (the American kind). Ran out to pick up a prescription for my mom at the pharmacy and put gas in the car.
Had a pre-storm headache, which made me hope the storm was coming through faster, but not while I had to be out and about that afternoon.
Did another revision on both “The Voices” and “Inspired By.” I still have some more enlarging, especially of the climactic beat, in “The Voices” and then I’ll have to cut it back to keep it within 10 pages. I need to build a couple more beats into “Inspired By” to give it a better dynamic. Fortunately, that play doesn’t need to be within a specific page count.
Dashed out to pick up a prescription for my mom and put gas in the car. Came back and did a few things. Headed out to the Clark.
It was the broadcast of the National Theatre’s production of GOOD, starring David Tennant, Elliot Levy, and Sharon Small. Tennant played the central character, the professor who considers himself a “good” person, but gets pulled further and further into the inhumanity of Nazi Germany, and manages to justify it to himself. Elliot Levy and Sharon Small played all the other roles. It was amazing. They were all outstanding, but Sharon Small’s work was absolutely breathtaking. The precision of each character and the way she could flick on and off between them: the protagonist’s mother, his wife, his mistress, his friend in the SS, a variety of other roles – her work was spectacular. I’ve seen her in plenty of television work (she was Barabra Havers in the LYNLEY mysteries) and always liked her work. But this was stunningly wonderful.
The play itself is very relevant to what’s going on now. I could go on and on about those meanings, and point out where this is relevant across multiple countries, not just the US. But the bottom line is that people need to stop killing each other. Humans need to stop pretending those they kill are “other” in order to justify killing.
Came home to find the Dipsy Doodles on either side of me in the parking lot had been in and out while I was gone, parked badly, and there was barely room for my car between them. But I squeezed it in, and I don’t care if they have trouble getting into their own cars. It’s not that difficult to park in your own effing spot.
Heated up some leftovers, thought about the play a lot, and read a bit. I didn’t bother to watch the Super Bowl – football’s not my sport, although I’m glad it gives so many people pleasure. It was a close game that went into overtime, so people could really have fun. I did follow the posts on Bluesky, which was, overall, a hoot (yes, playing on all the owl posts that showed up there, too). I am irritated at the right-wing religious crap commercials that were allowed to run. And I roll my eyes at all the fuss over Taylor Swift and her football boyfriend. It’s not my business (or most people’s business) who she dates, and the amount of crap she has to put up with all the time for being a professional woman and a human living her life is ridiculous.
Dreamed I was working a show overnight from Sunday into Monday, which meant I woke up exhausted. I need to dream of restful things so I wake up, you know, RESTED.
Monday, I had to renew my Boston Public Library e-card. I also had more paperwork to do for the CSA. But now that’s all done (I think) and from June 4- mid October, we get fresh veggies every week. I had some information on another project that had to be sorted out.
Wrote two episodes of THE VICIOUS CRITIC, which flowed well. Did the episode videos for the three serials for the week, which I hadn’t done on Friday, and got them uploaded and scheduled. Set up a ZOOM call for Friday with a Nightwood colleague who’s going to the Edinburgh Fringe.
Turned around some score sheets, grabbed a script for today, asked for my next review assignments, read for the contest, and drafted an episode of LEGERDEMAIN. Not a bad day, workwise. Worked on some proposal information. Looked at a residency for which I’d love to apply, but it’s for someone earlier in their career than I am.
Any evening news is just going to have to wait until tomorrow’s post (provide there’s power), because I’m signing off (on Monday night), scheduling this, and prepping for the storm!
