The History of My Life in Books
by Lisa A Kramer
Image via Wikipedia
Some friends and I recently signed up for http://www.shelfari.com/ a website dedicated to books. It was our chance to share our passion for reading, and to create a virtual book group for more reading and discussion.
This could be a good or bad thing. Good, because I will be able to have interesting discussions about books and discover new books to read. Bad, because I can already feel the pull of another technological addiction that will distract me from accomplishing other tasks.
However, I have begun my lists of books read, or books I hope to read. I have watched in amazement as my friends’ lists leap into the thousands. I know that I too have...
Some friends and I recently signed up for http://www.shelfari.com/ a website dedicated to books. It was our chance to share our passion for reading, and to create a virtual book group for more reading and discussion.
This could be a good or bad thing. Good, because I will be able to have interesting discussions about books and discover new books to read. Bad, because I can already feel the pull of another technological addiction that will distract me from accomplishing other tasks.
However, I have begun my lists of books read, or books I hope to read. I have watched in amazement as my friends’ lists leap into the thousands. I know that I too have...
Show Don't Tell, From Page to Stage Version
by Lisa A Kramer
Each of my young students has a magic invisible box. I gave it to them a couple of classes ago, after they did excellent jobs at whatever the activity of the day was.
These boxes can grow or shrink to hold anything imaginable in them. They come when called, or can be stored in a pocket. When they are opened, each student can pull out their dreams or their nightmares, things to make us laugh or things to make us squirm in disgust. There are no rules except that they are supposed to show the rest of the group what is in the box so that the group can guess.
One student made her box grow significantly and then dove in to...
These boxes can grow or shrink to hold anything imaginable in them. They come when called, or can be stored in a pocket. When they are opened, each student can pull out their dreams or their nightmares, things to make us laugh or things to make us squirm in disgust. There are no rules except that they are supposed to show the rest of the group what is in the box so that the group can guess.
One student made her box grow significantly and then dove in to...
I am Woman, Hear Me Write
by Lisa A Kramer
Did you hear that?
The clamor of hundreds of theater practitioners standing up and roaring when it was announced that no recipient would receive the $25,000 Wendy Wasserstein prize given to emerging female dramatists.
Why not? Everyone demanded. How can you silence women like that? You cannot say that, out of 19 candidates, there was one worthy of support? That is unbelievable!
The battle waged over a weekend, and in the end came victory. The plays are going to be reevaluated and a prize will be awarded.
In the aftermath of this, I have been thinking about what the prize means. To be eligible for the Wasserstein prize, a female playwright must be under 32 years old. What does that mean? Where did that...
The clamor of hundreds of theater practitioners standing up and roaring when it was announced that no recipient would receive the $25,000 Wendy Wasserstein prize given to emerging female dramatists.
Why not? Everyone demanded. How can you silence women like that? You cannot say that, out of 19 candidates, there was one worthy of support? That is unbelievable!
The battle waged over a weekend, and in the end came victory. The plays are going to be reevaluated and a prize will be awarded.
In the aftermath of this, I have been thinking about what the prize means. To be eligible for the Wasserstein prize, a female playwright must be under 32 years old. What does that mean? Where did that...
Loving Language: Reflections on Dylan Thomas, 19
by Lisa A Kramer
Last night I went to a one-show called Dylan Thomas, 19. As expected I was washed away in a torrent of language that brought with it the eerie echoes of wind blowing over the ocean and the earthen clump of humans plodding their way through life.
The performance was elegant and challenging. I will not claim I understood every word, but I think that is impossible unless you've read his work several times before watching and hearing. But that is what is so amazing about Dylan Thomas. His use of language takes twists and turns so that meaning becomes malleable, while at the same time he creates word pictures so beautiful and yet grounded in...
The Culture of Bullying
by Lisa A Kramer
Bullying!
The word echoes through the air these days. Every day you hear a new story or of a new death. For me, recently, each day brings a new awareness about the pervasiveness of this issue.
I want to do something about it.
This week I conducted a workshop at a nearby high school on Performance Art. While Performance Art is not exactly my favorite type of theater, I think it is an interesting thing to introduce to high school students as it provides them an outlet to explore issues using art, theater, music, and other things to express themselves. I introduce the techniques by using a piece of literature or poetry (for this workshop I used...
The Persistent Power of Perfectionism
by Lisa A Kramer
A nebulous form with multiple eyes, many arms, a thousand voices, and a powerful brain holds the ultimate power of destruction by persistently introducing self-doubt into my brain.
Why does it have many eyes? So that it can see into every possible venue where I might feel insecure. It can look at everything I'm doing and catch the tiniest error, even ones nobody else can see. It sees all so it can pounce early.
Why does it have many arms? It can catch and hold me wherever I am. If I fight back, it grips me harder. If I sneak away, one of its long arms can stretch and grab ahold. It can seduce me to, with the comfort of a hug, if it...
Why does it have many eyes? So that it can see into every possible venue where I might feel insecure. It can look at everything I'm doing and catch the tiniest error, even ones nobody else can see. It sees all so it can pounce early.
Why does it have many arms? It can catch and hold me wherever I am. If I fight back, it grips me harder. If I sneak away, one of its long arms can stretch and grab ahold. It can seduce me to, with the comfort of a hug, if it...
Leaving a Mark
by Lisa A Kramer
Sometimes I notice that someone has looked at an old post of mine, and I check to see what it was, only to discover something I don't like or need to fix. So this is just an update of one of those.
I've been thinking about what it means to leave a mark in this world. I don't mean becoming notorious, but leaving an indelible mark about your presence. Do we all pass through life as a mere blip in someone else's radar? What does it take to be remembered when you are no longer around. I'm not necessarily referring to death, but when life has taken you somewhere else in its typical crazy way.
I admit it, I want to leave...
I admit it, I want to leave...
