Back in graduate school as part of a dance studies class. It was a strange class on top of a strange experience, that I will eventually write about... but anyway, I had to watch a video of Merce Cunningham performing and then describe it. I had originally gone to grad school thinking that I would work as a dramaturge but had switched interests to writing theater for young audiences, and after this particular exercise, I realized that I had little interest in knowing how to write about a performer who repeatedly sweeps his toe on the stage. 

When I was graced with a couple of tickets to see the new documentary about Cunningham, I flashed back to that video I had watched in 1992 and flinched. I almost said 'no', but then the Mister was excited to go and so I smiled through what I thought would be a painful evening. I couldn't have been more wrong. 

"Dance" as an art form sort of confuses me - I find it a little tedious but filmmaker, Alla Kovgan, not only gives us some background (although this is not a comprehensive biography by any means) of Cunningham, but traces his artistic evolution, plus provides the audiences modern interpretations of his work - the effect is a gorgeously filmed movie that makes one want to search out live performances of the work. And having seen the work through her eyes as well as though the Mister's, I think I have a much better appreciation for its beauty and how innovative it was (and still is, really). 

I really encourage you to seek this film out; you can find where and when it's showing by going to the film's website by clicking here.

Enjoy! 

Happy Saturday, all - today we are flying to Fort Lauderdale - ok, I'm writing this on Friday evening because I am thisclose to deciding not to take my laptop ... I have to take my work laptop for a 'just in case' situation with an event happening right after our work break (which lasts til Jan 2) so am not sure that I want to schlep two (been there, done that). 

You know, this was a super kooky year but I've made it nearly to the end and still have (most of) my sanity. :)

Some of that sanity has to do with you, my pals. 

Whether we hung out in Wisconsin, on the roof of our friend's apartment on W. 14th Street, or this birthday party or that birthday party, or simply finding times to meet up for drinks and laffs, at work, at play, whereever... you all have been the glue that has kept my year together. 

So here's to you all and may we find ourselves seeing more of each other in 2020! 

P.S. the collage is definitely a sampling and not representative of the sum total of friends we hung out with in 2019! :) 

My pal Rolando Teco wrote a post on his Extra Criticum blog site about finding the will to continue to live a creative life even when life has sucked that will out of us - but... 

"..From that most scary place, waiting just around the bend will be something wonderful and unexpected and astonishing. Something powerful enough to inspire even the most cynical among us to do it all again."

And I have to give him an Amen.

As the Mister and I are going on a real, actual, vacation to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow, I have spent today 'putting away' 2019. For me, that means cleaning up email boxes, moving things off of my laptop and over to my external hard drive, and generally ticking a lot of things off of a list. 

But sadly, another year without Splot movement and kind of worse, my total output for MEMOs was 7 in this whole year. I kind of stopped when I realized that, and got depressed for a bit.

It's not really for a lack of ideas, just for a lack of time and energy from a new demanding job (which I love, of course) after two other jobs in 2019 (long story, don't ask, it's not as bad as it sounds but it has been a whirlwind).

Thankfully, one of Santa's presents this year was a little ipad on which I can use to draw on the train, plane, etc. The added mobility in the drawing arena will help, I think (I HOPE).

My wish for you in 2020 is simply that you find the way to do the thing you love in a way that makes the most sense, is affordable, and allows your creative juices to overflow.... because we need your voice. 

Hope everyone had a great holiday, now, get back to work! lol ;)        

From Mark Evanier's News from ME blog:

This morning, as I raced across W. 51st Street, I passed by Radio City Music Hall, as I usually do every day from the 1 to my job at 51st/Park. There's always something interesting happening there - a few weeks ago I watched in horror as a crane lifted a half dozen follow spots into a dumpster (I kept thinking that they could have been donated to a high school or something.. sigh) and today, it was camels. 

I'm generally chugging along, listening full tilt to uplifting music (yes, a dance remix of "Sex and the City" counts) but this stopped me cold. How could it not? 

They bring in camels and other animals for the end of the show manger scene. When they call it a 'spectacular' they aren't kidding around.

And that was it. 

I wish I had a better story than that today, but I will end by saying that it's so easy to get lost in our devices, between checking the time, scrolling through music, updating social media, etc, that you really miss a lot if you don't look up once in awhile. As Ferris Bueller once said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."