BITS & BOBS & BOOKS & SUCH
It's definitely been a minute. I've been re-accessing & reevaluating goals and changing course, okay, I have been doing that, but I've also been having down time & being lazy. Come on, I'm only human. I can't be a superstar 24/7 it's tiring & doesn't leave enough time for binge watching "Smallville".
If you've noticed, this is a new blogspot. That falls under the category of Woes. The email associated with "Eiayay In Reel Life", was deleted, so I have lost access to my blog. Blogspot & Google have been less than helpful. I have tried 932,438 gazillion machinations to regain control. So ifyou would like to read earlier posts you can go here: http://eiayaysreellife.blogspot.com/ As before all photos on this blog and the linked blog are not to be used without permission.
Amidst all the turmoil & upheaval perpetrated by the current administration, social activism has taken a front seat in my life. But joy is still out there and we owe it to our selves to seek it out. Self-care is paramount to any kind of activism. I'm keeping my Black Girl Magic in easy reach. One of the biggest highlights was being cast in "Beautiful Blackbird,a children's play based on a book by the talented, accessible, passionate artist & author, Ashley Bryant. To be allowed to be playful, open & spontaneous was a gift. To be able to meet Ashley and perform for him was incredible & I have to admit there was a bit of fangirling involved. This opportunity was due to the now defunct Theater Ensemble of Color. Which was sorely needed & will be missed. I used to do some work with a local yearly playwrights festival, but it just beaome so frustrating, navigating white spaces,I stopped doing it. Inclusivity isn't even on their radar. This year is no exception. A bevy of white playwrights, centering themselves. When you point out the lack of diversity, they point to the one or two Actors of color they've hired or they say no playwrights of color submitted any plays. Then I tell them it's about access. You have to make a concerted effort to include POC , to actively seek them out. To look at your photo of the selected playwrights and say to yourself, "Wow, this is really narrow. This lacks diversity. We need some new perspectives, some new narratives." Their answer...."Do you know any playwrights of color. Can you give us some names?" Basically it's , here, you do the heavy lifting & if you don't help then it's your fault we don't have any POC as featured playwrights.It's exhausting, so I have pretty much given local theater a hard pass.
I digress, where was I? Oh, yes, recapping the new year thus far. I filmed a few commercials. Found the time to hone my music skills, still working on mastering brushes on the drums. Spent some time channeling my inner Dusty Springfield. I carved out some time to read some great books. These are my top reads for 2019, so far:
1. BALM by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
2. DAUGHTER OF MOLOKA'I by Alan Brennert
3. DARWIN'S BLADE by Dan Simmons
4. PLAYING WITH FIRE by Peter Robinson
5. CUTTING FOR STONE by Abraham Veghese
BALM is at the top of the list, even though I read it earlier in the year. It still resonates with me:
Three lives intersect in the years immediately following the Civil War. Former slaves and born free Black people are struggling to make their way and create a new life in an unfamiliar and emerging city.
Hemp, a former slave is trying to carve out a new life with one foot still in the past. Madge was born free, but carrying the chains of slavery & childhood wounds, stand in the way of truly embracing her new surroundings. Sadie, a white woman, recently widowed after the death of a husband she barely knew, while coping with a frightening discovery affecting everything she thought she knew about herself.
Dolen Perkins-Valdez writes intelligently and sensitively about the lives of Black people after slavery.She highlights our resilience and about the inter-generational trauma that still affects us today. American stories that often are either non-existent or whitewashed in the telling.
Whew, I have finished this post and started a second one. I feel like I deserve wine and some episodes of Smallville....without guilt or with less guilt...
If you've noticed, this is a new blogspot. That falls under the category of Woes. The email associated with "Eiayay In Reel Life", was deleted, so I have lost access to my blog. Blogspot & Google have been less than helpful. I have tried 932,438 gazillion machinations to regain control. So ifyou would like to read earlier posts you can go here: http://eiayaysreellife.blogspot.com/ As before all photos on this blog and the linked blog are not to be used without permission.
Amidst all the turmoil & upheaval perpetrated by the current administration, social activism has taken a front seat in my life. But joy is still out there and we owe it to our selves to seek it out. Self-care is paramount to any kind of activism. I'm keeping my Black Girl Magic in easy reach. One of the biggest highlights was being cast in "Beautiful Blackbird,a children's play based on a book by the talented, accessible, passionate artist & author, Ashley Bryant. To be allowed to be playful, open & spontaneous was a gift. To be able to meet Ashley and perform for him was incredible & I have to admit there was a bit of fangirling involved. This opportunity was due to the now defunct Theater Ensemble of Color. Which was sorely needed & will be missed. I used to do some work with a local yearly playwrights festival, but it just beaome so frustrating, navigating white spaces,I stopped doing it. Inclusivity isn't even on their radar. This year is no exception. A bevy of white playwrights, centering themselves. When you point out the lack of diversity, they point to the one or two Actors of color they've hired or they say no playwrights of color submitted any plays. Then I tell them it's about access. You have to make a concerted effort to include POC , to actively seek them out. To look at your photo of the selected playwrights and say to yourself, "Wow, this is really narrow. This lacks diversity. We need some new perspectives, some new narratives." Their answer...."Do you know any playwrights of color. Can you give us some names?" Basically it's , here, you do the heavy lifting & if you don't help then it's your fault we don't have any POC as featured playwrights.It's exhausting, so I have pretty much given local theater a hard pass.
I digress, where was I? Oh, yes, recapping the new year thus far. I filmed a few commercials. Found the time to hone my music skills, still working on mastering brushes on the drums. Spent some time channeling my inner Dusty Springfield. I carved out some time to read some great books. These are my top reads for 2019, so far:
1. BALM by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
2. DAUGHTER OF MOLOKA'I by Alan Brennert
3. DARWIN'S BLADE by Dan Simmons
4. PLAYING WITH FIRE by Peter Robinson
5. CUTTING FOR STONE by Abraham Veghese
BALM is at the top of the list, even though I read it earlier in the year. It still resonates with me:
Three lives intersect in the years immediately following the Civil War. Former slaves and born free Black people are struggling to make their way and create a new life in an unfamiliar and emerging city.
Hemp, a former slave is trying to carve out a new life with one foot still in the past. Madge was born free, but carrying the chains of slavery & childhood wounds, stand in the way of truly embracing her new surroundings. Sadie, a white woman, recently widowed after the death of a husband she barely knew, while coping with a frightening discovery affecting everything she thought she knew about herself.
Dolen Perkins-Valdez writes intelligently and sensitively about the lives of Black people after slavery.She highlights our resilience and about the inter-generational trauma that still affects us today. American stories that often are either non-existent or whitewashed in the telling.
Whew, I have finished this post and started a second one. I feel like I deserve wine and some episodes of Smallville....without guilt or with less guilt...
I'm not into historical fiction, but Balm sounds good!
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