Songs for the Struggling Artist

If you’ve spent time in writing circles or writing workshops or writing advice threads, at some point you will have run into the concept of killing your darlings. This is the idea that sometimes you have to cut the parts of your text that you love for the greater good of your piece. Some people take this idea so seriously that they cut their darlings unilaterally – just “Do I love it? It’s got to go.” Personally, I think this is go...

And here’s the thing that’s really freaking me out. It’s set in Marseille in France in 1940. The US hasn’t even entered the war yet. And everywhere they go, there is only terrible coffee. Over and over, the main character drinks undrinkable coffee or brown water standing in for coffee. And I know this is not nearly as bad as the bombings and the arrests and the people being ripped from their families but even the rich people in thi...

In the last handful of years, NYC has been doing something called Participatory Budgeting, which allows us to vote for which projects we’d like to see funded in our district. It’s mostly small budget proposals for schools or parks or community groups. It’s a nice idea, though I’m not sure how well it works in getting things funded. I got an email for this round of projects recently and in looking at the choices, I noticed there wer...

In the midst of all the chaos and my friends losing (or preparing to lose) their federal jobs, several of them have asked, “But what about you? Are you losing funding?” And it’s so sweet. It’s so kind of them to check on me and I am grateful that people in such despair are thinking of me too but a part of me laughs very hard at the notion of my tiny theatre company losing federal funds. I don’t think I even know anyone who has ever...

Recently, I went to see a middle schools’ production of a musical. It was one of the Broadway JR series shows – where they do an edited version of a Broadway show and sing along to pre-recorded tracks. I used to teach for a program helping to implement these shows so I am pretty familiar with what the deal is. They’ve become very popular and the program has succeeded in getting a lot more kids into musicals. That’s pretty cool.

Whe...

During the Hollywood Reporter’s roundtable for documentary filmmakers, the woman who made a doc about Frida Kahlo said, “There’s a whole universe of people who are incredibly invested in Frida. We heard from a few, making sure that we didn’t call her a “feminist,” because that word didn’t exist when Frida was alive.”

I don’t doubt that a lot of people are invested in Frida Kahlo and I don’t doubt that her feminism is contentious – b...

As I stood on the corner, waiting for a walk signal, a tall man in a long coat came to stand next to me. When the light changed, I started to go but then noticed that this man next to me was waving a car to go ahead of him into the street before us. The car hesitated. I suspect the car could see that there were two of us waiting to cross, only one of whom was waving, and pedestrians have the right away. The tall man was insistent, ...

In the days before the election, my friend made a LOT of phone calls on behalf of the Harris campaign. He spoke to quite a few people who were truly undecided. They really exist! He told me about someone who said, “I just don’t know anything about the candidates.” And I was so jealous of them! How is it possible to avoid knowing about these people? I do not TRY to learn a lot about these folks – but it feels like it’s just in the a...

When I first got a computer, I gave it a name. I don’t remember which one came first, Bertram or Mr. Finkelstein. I believe I named my hard drive in college; It was the Stinky Cheese Drive. I don’t know when I stopped naming my computers but I think it’s been a few years at least.

Then the other day, I told my friend I was going to go check in with my digital world and he said, “Oh, are you going to go look at your Good News Machine...

The main reason I wanted to see The Blood Quilt was because it was about a family making a quilt together and having made some quilts with my family, I was interested. I don’t see a lot of plays about stuff I know about so I was curious. Would I gain some insight into my own experience? Discover some hidden metaphor in my family’s crafting? Would I learn something about crafting – or maybe the craft of playwriting?

To keep reading I...

When I graduated from college, I went straight into my first acting job which was a six month Shakespeare tour that was pretty intense. It was very full time. But then, when I wasn’t re-hired there, which had been my plan, I was suddenly out of work and out of a structure for my time. It threw me for a big loop. I began, then, the process of hustling to get more acting jobs, but also the process of making sure I continued to create...

I don’t know if I hadn’t cried yet about therapist-in-chief being elected again or if I’m just forgetting all the other times I’ve cried before, but I do have a sensation of not really dealing with or processing this reality thus far. I’ve been pretty numb and disassociated. I know that much. I didn’t even mention the forthcoming transition of power in therapy a few days before. Oh, Trump? Is that happening? La di da.

Anyway – a cra...

Just a little extra this week.

This is a monologue written by Marie Jenney Howe for a 1913 Women's Suffrage meeting.

I found it while doing some research for a project about a women's secret society and couldn't resist recording it for you. Some things will feel familiar even now, over a hundred years later.

Click here to read along.

This is a Bonus Episode

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This residency opportunity popped up in my feed. It sounded amazing. A week in a castle with artists from many disciplines on an island off the coast of England? A collaborative exploration in conversation with international artists and the tidal patterns? Yes, please. I could use the magic of a castle and a group process by the water. How do I apply?

I was all ready to hit the application button when I noticed the specification th...

I confess that when the news started to come out about Neil Gaiman’s terrible behavior, I did not dig deep on it. I really did not want to know. As a fan of his work, and maybe even a student of it, this particular dark turn was one I did not want to be true. I assumed it was true and I assumed it was bad and yet I sort of sang to myself, with my hands over my ears, hoping it would go away.

But at the same time, as a public feminis...

While talking with a friend about the ups and downs of making money from writing on the internet, it occurred to me that almost all the support I receive is from people who know me in real life. There are exceptions, of course, but the vast majority of support comes from friends, family and friends of friends and family. As I told my friend, I have found that my only successful marketing strategy has ever been to make friends with ...

The dance piece was genuinely terrible. The dancer couldn’t really dance. The choreographer seemed to have a four movement/gesture vocabulary and the “concept” was cringe-inducing. I could tell you more about it, and I’m tempted to, because talking about terrible art can be very fun, but I think any further details would start to be hurtful and maybe mean. These artists have no real power yet. They don’t deserve a take-down.

I spen...

When I spent my junior year of college in Italy, I found myself not particularly bothered by the catcalling there. While there was a lot more of it, it always seemed kind of good natured. When I walked down the street, men shouted, “Bella! Ti amo!” (“Beautiful, I love you!”) And you know, I didn’t mind because I felt no implied threat behind it. It just felt like a kind of sweet spontaneous expression of appreciation.

When I got ca...

My jaw hit the floor when Catherine O’Hara, comedic genius, said she used to tell her ideas to Dave Thomas so he could pitch them to their SCTV group instead of her. Catherine O’Hara?! One of the most innovative performers we have, had as much trouble getting ideas out in a meeting as a lot women have?! She was ona podcast, telling this to Julia Louis-Dreyfus, a similarly remarkable comedic mind, who then shared that she, Julia Lou...