Richard Blanco Visits Brainerd, MN

Quote of the Day:  Of course, it is always good advice to write every day. But, it's not always possible to sit down at the same time every day and write a certain amount. What is important is to pay attention to the world, to life, every day. Paraphrase from Richard Blanco's presentation at Central Lakes College in Brainerd, MN, Sept. 13, 2013. What a thrill to meet the poet who was chosen to write a poem and recite it at President's Barack Obama's Inauguration on January 21, 2013. I shook hands with a man who has shaken hands with the President of the United States of America!

He said, "More than that. I hugged the president." 

Wow!

We had a Meet & Greet Brunch before the presentation.

Richard Blanco and Krista Rolfzen Soukup

(left) Larry Lundblad, president of CLC, Richard Blanco and me

Richard Blanco sharing his writing style, his inspiration, and his beautiful poems.

I sat enthralled as Richard Blanco talked about his writing journey, which is also his life journey, and the one that led him to stand on the podium on January 21, 2013, and recite a poem that he'd written for President Barack Obama's Inauguration. He was discovered by someone connected to the president. "Your work was brought to my attention," he said. Something in Richard Blanco's story and his poetry resonated with President Obama, and the rest is history.

Richard has an expressive and captivating style. As he reads his words, I see the images. I hear the sounds,  and I can almost smell the pork roast and the spices from Cuban American kitchens in Southern Florida. The audience hushed at the emotion of it all, and laughed at the humor which is challenge to get into poetry, "but, I like that challenge," he said. He says that there is an emotional center of a poem, that moment when you open up to the poem as a human being. You "give in" to the poem. I think he was talking about it as a writer. I felt it as a listener. It's the point in the reading where I feel that emotional response. Sometimes it's laughter or an intake of breath. Sometimes, it's the moment when the tears come and start to roll down my face, like the line in his inaugural poem, One Today, "the empty desks of 20 children marked absent today, and forever." It represents our collective grief, what brings us together, and it doesn't matter in what kind of church they held those funerals. We all felt that emptiness.

Richard Blanco says that he is constantly asking, and trying to answer, the questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? And, Where do I belong? 

The book signing.

I'm still so happy to meet him, and star struck.

Dear Mr. Blanco,

Thanks for your inspiration!

Go. Create. Inspire!

Visit Richard Blanco's website where you can hear him reading his inaugural poem, One Today.

Journaling Prompt:  Have you ever met a famous person? Where do you have a sense of belonging?

The Plays the Thing

Quote of the Day:  Even if it doesn't work out, I will still act because I absolutely love it! Caleb Christiansen on his dreams of making a living as an actor. He is playing Eugene in our local production of Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon at the Central Lakes College here in Brainerd, MN. You can read my review of the show on my blogspot at The Brainerd Dispatch website.

Caleb as Eugene

Photo by Kelly Humphrey from The Brainerd Dispatch

What I love (and loathe) about community theatre is that the actors are in the show for the love of the art. They do it because they enjoy performing and bringing a story to life on stage. None of them ever get paid. In fact, they pay to be there with their time, transportation costs, grabbing some fast food on their way to rehearsals after working a full day at another job, or taking care of family. What they might lack in polish and pacing, they make up for in passion. These actors would rather spend their evenings in a dark theatre than out on a lake in our beautiful lakes country because they are filled up by this art form.

When I attend a local production, I am observing from many angles. I'm there as a reviewer, looking for the elements of the play that I want to highlight for potential audience. I'm listening for the lines that stand out from the show, the ones that are memorable and illustrate the themes. I'm also there as a playwright and director. Who up there is inspiring me to write? Who would make a good character in one of my plays? What do I want to write that would showcase their talents? Who looks like they'd be fun to work with? And, I'm there as an actor and audience member. I know I've connected with a play when I start to imagine myself in one (or more) of the roles. I am aware of my own emotional responses. What made me laugh? What made me cry? What gave me those feelings of dread, angst, worry, or love?

What gives me the most joy about attending live performances is seeing all the other people who came out for the show. They also left the comfort of their air-conditioned home, or the beauty of the lakes country to sit in a dark theatre and watch their neighbors bring a show to life. For $6.50 that's cheap entertainment, and sometimes the college offers $1.00 night. What does that even pay for? The cost of printing the program?  Maybe they could put out a tip jar for starving actors?

Now, the choice for my Favorite Photo Friday:

Mary and the Boys at Summer Camp

I had a great week at summer camp with my four sons. It's a church camp with a fine arts feel (for our week anyway) and a great place to spend time with family. We had grandpas, grandmas, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends (old & new). I'll write more about it next week.

Go. Create. Inspire!

And, support your local artists. Maybe even take one out to lunch. (Thanks, JeMA, for lunch yesterday.)

Journaling Prompt:  Why do artists give away their time and talents for free? How can we better support our local artists?

The Miracle Worker

Quote of the Day:  Keep on beginning and failing. Each time you fail, start all over again, and you will grow stronger until you have accomplished a purpose - not the one you began with perhaps, but one you'll be glad to remember.

My heart is singing for joy this morning! A miracle has happened! The light of understanding has shone upon my little pupil's mind, and behold, all things are changed!
Anne Sullivan, The Miracle Worker

photo source: http://www.anniesullivan.org/

Our local college theatre department has produced a fantastic performance of William Gibson's The Miracle Worker. The 10-year-old girl who played Helen was amazing, so true, so believable, and Annie Sullivan couldn't have been played better. The production crew did interesting things with light and sound, keeping our attention during action scenes with dramatic music, and using changes in light to show flashbacks and Annie's painful memories. I shed a few tears as Annie makes her break-throughs with Helen, and felt inspired all over again by the power of loving and determined teachers.

The production runs at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 14  & 15, and at 2 p.m. Oct. 16.
Tickets are $6 and may be purchased with a credit card by calling 855-8199 or online at www.clctickets.com. Tickets for CLC students are a quarter. Oct. 16 is an American Sign Language signed performance.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  Write about a teacher who made a break-through with you.