Limited Perspective

Still Still Air, Sunday, August 16, 2020 Neither the wilted hemlock top nor the upright spruce nor a leaf of the madrona Has moved an inch In the still still air After the thunder and brief rain I’ll stay motionless here in the humidity as well.

One of the things I love about acting is getting to perform in so many different spaces. I did Camelot at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts in Olympia, a fully fitted-out theater with multiple spacious dressing rooms and every possible amenity a performance space could have. I have also done a show in a backyard where we had to take care not to displace the other housemates (not involved in the show) when using the bathroom to do costumes and makeup. And then there were the one-of-a-kind places like Kenyon Hall in West Seattle, a small space with a tiny stage. It is also the “Home of the 1929 Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ.” At intermission, the proprietor stoked up the thing with coal (or whatever one does to activate it) and gave a bravura performance. Or so I am told. We actors had to stand outside, so I couldn’t hear it. The small stage became a blessing, though. As we modified our blocking – it was a touring show, The Dybbuk, with Seattle Jewish Theater – a...

W: We can stop. M: Can we?  I've seen this play, Nexus, by Danielle Mohlman, twice online now, on Zoom. It really, really works. I'm going to watch it again on Friday, May 15. Nexus has just two characters and they are played by a couple who already live together and are quarantined together, so they can do it in the same space, unlike a lot of other stuff that is online, and they can play the intimacy really well, therefore. The plot starts with the moment they meet and takes you through a couple of years of their life. The characters are played by a different couple each time. You get the effect of being in an audience, too, because on Zoom, if you want to, you can see everyone else who is watching along with you. The first time I watched, they asked people to leave their mics and cameras on so you could hear people’s reactions, too.  Tonight when I watched they asked everyone to turn their cameras off.  But people stayed online after, turned their camer...

First, you start to make the rice, which to me is the simplest thing in the world. People online complain about never doing it right. Friends swear by rice makers. Me, I can’t cope with the idea of confronting a machine with like 50 buttons on it and have that come between me and eating. I do have an old-school rice maker with only an on/off switch but the pot inside is aluminum and it gives it a weird taste. So anyway, you make the rice. One cup of rice, two cups of chicken stock in whatever pot or pan you have that holds about double the amount that you will put into it, so it doesn’t boil over too much. Put it on high and let it boil. You have to linger nearby or you will forget it’s boiling and you really don’t want to deal with that mess. When it’s been boiling for a few seconds or so, turn the burner down to the lowest setting and put a lid on the pot. In 20 minutes, it will be done. Oh, I don’t bother with rinsing the rice. You want all of the stickiness on there. You don’t...

I'm teleworking. But my job has always involved having phone conversations with strangers, basically. And we all know that the first thing you say on the phone is some version of "how are you." I have been saying the obligatory "fine" or "great" or whatever we usually say. But then I say something like, "Well, I'm doing terrible actually." And that puts us both at ease, or as much at ease as you can be. There is a bonding. I think it's important to share and acknowledge that this is bad, and it hurts, and it's frightening, if that's how you are really feeling. We like the positive talk, and the hope, and we all want to be strong for each other. I think that usually wins out over the vulnerability.

At the beginning of the month, I took an old Timex watch to Fred Meyer jewelers in Bothell. It needed a battery. The clerk said since it was waterproof, they needed to send it out, it might take a couple of weeks and they would call me when it was ready. On the 16th, they called and said it was ready to pick up any time. I thanked them and said I was working from home, not in Bothell anymore, but I did want to come by. Three days later, they called again to say they had r educed hours but I could still come in. I told them I had in fact gone the previous night and while the grocery was still open, the jewelry part was gated shut. They promised to hold on to it. Today, March 24, they called a third time and said the store would be closed indefinitely but my watch was safe and would be there when they reopened. Each time, it was as if in the face of everything, they wanted to do the best job they could and pack every bit of care and concern into this tiny, insignificant inter...

For tonight, we are a music blog.  Compare and contrast these songs. First this one. Voodoo Mademoiselle by September Jones Then this one. 1-2-3 by Len Barry Then this one. A Girl Like You by Edwyn Collins  What do you think?  I heard the September Jones song on the radio the other day.  It reminded me of the Edwyn Collins song, which the internet (Wikipedia) says samples the drum track from 1-2-3.  They're all related, over a 30-year span.