"... without a dope beat to step to, step to." - Aaliyah (RIP)
I'm not for too much digital fanfare, a simple click of "publish" on these blogs is usually good for me and considering I haven't hit that big blue button (it's blue for me) in many years. But what's too much, really? Too much probably resembles scooping up targeted ads that the website and blog have been revamped and that perusing it will be an electric experience. Hah!
How long has it been anyway? Five years, according to my previous post.
Five years.
One second, I'm letting that set in. Mostly for my benefit. Five years! Five years and I still can't grow proper facial hair. Stringy, but soft. I made no promises for forest face.
"How are you?" gets used a lot when catching up with friends, family, and acquaintances. Or "What have you been up to"? And it's always been an interesting challenge to decide how much of one or two things I can share without losing them in the first couple of sentences because the jargon is unfamiliar.
"Oh, I'm livestreaming", or try this one out for size, "I'm facilitating theatre workshops in state prisons using pedagogy inspired by the work at Living Stages in D.C." That one either gets an immediate pique of interest accompanied by a knowing nod, or a slight head-tilt which either means 'you lost me', or 'go on, tell me more...'. Either way, "how are you" and "what have you been up to" usually gets the same response for me these days, "I'm doing more of the same, but more of it, and with more impact" which is to say, I'm getting paid to do what I love, and somehow making the rent. WIN!
Did I mention the World went to shit?
It did. Has. Continues? But Tasi, wait, what world? Do you mean local, global, art world? Which? Unless you've been living under a rock, or in the case of my youth, on a rock then you'd know the answer: all of it. Global warming has kicked off in a wild way with temperatures being warmer than recorded history; floods happening in unexpected places, droughts, and wildfires raging and ranging in apocalypse-like fashion- all on the menu for today's World climate setting.
I got vaccinated a few months ago. It's wild. There's this pandemic that's been pre-occupying the World for the better part of a year plus change. I'm not even making this up. Though you may run into a few out there who think it's a conspiracy. A cursory read thru on the CDC website will repute what those naysayers proclaim. In all seriousness, a reminder to you if you're also vaccinated, breakout cases continue to happen. Stay safe and vigilant with your handwashing.
I've started writing in the morning, in a little black moleskin, four pages- no more, no less. Not all habits are bad and this particular practice is something that's long overdue to adopt. I warrant that firing up the blog style of the documentation is a direct response to that. For a while, I created vlogs (video logs), which weren't too dissimilar to those sci-fi ones where the captain of the ship reveals in verbal gesture what the heck is going on. And if I can toot my own horn, which I will (I encourage you to do the same, and do it often, toot), some of them were really good.
We could all use a little bit more love. So could the World. And so could this blog.
Thanks for reading. You're powerful!