The Wonder of Capra's "Wonderful Life"

Hope the holidays are treating you well, dear reader.

This darn cold knocked me for a loop, and I spent at least a week feeling all clogged up and useless. Fortunately, I'm better now. But then, of course, since it's the end of the school year, I've got lots of papers to grade. Bleah!

But good stuff has been happening too. My family has been watching a lot of Christmas movies, including my personal favorite: It's a Wonderful Life.  So many awesome moments in that film. It might be the best screenplay of all time.

And how can you not love this guy's face???

Like a lot of people, I need this movie to remind me of how grateful I should be for everything and everyone in my life. Sometimes we feel stuck, just like George Bailey. We feel like we aren't supposed to be where we are, and that makes us angry. We want to blame everybody else for our problems. We want to rage and howl at the universe. Just like this guy:

If we roll around in that anger long enough, we start to hate other people, and (just as bad if not worse) we start to hate ourselves. That's when we might become this guy: 

And we don't want to end up like mean Mr. Potter, do we? Sure, in the alternate universe he does create Pottersville, a thriving artistic community with lots of dance halls and jazz musicians, but aside from that vibrant metropolis, what else does he have? Nothing. No one. He's nothing but a "scurvy little spider," and he knows it. So, it might be tempting to get mad and shake our dumb Uncle Billy like a rag doll... 

But it's not going to solve anything. So... What do we do?

We get humble and we get sad. But not just, oh I am going to throw a pity-party kind of sadness... I'm talking about end-of-your-rope, Let-go-let-God sadness. The kind of sadness that says, "Hey Universe, I apologize for all the raging and howling I did earlier. I now realize that I'm a little speck "in the whole vast configuration of things." And that's probably when we ask for help. I'm not religious in the traditional sense but I'm a spiritual, willfully foolish Romantic (with a capital R) in many ways, and sometimes I believe that when we get to our lowest point we open ourselves up to genuinely ask for help from the universe (or God or society or whatever you believe in). 

And you know what? Sometimes we are heard... By the universe...

Or perhaps by our guardian angel... 

But we don't always need divine intervention or a shift in the space-time continuum in order to be saved... Sometimes we are spiritually rescued by... our family... 

... and our friends...

...or by a good book... 

...or a loyal squirrel... 

It's a Wonderful Life has been revitalizing of our sense of humanity for over 70 years. Even the film itself is a reflection of George Bailey's struggles. When it was first released in 1946 it was a box office disappointment, and it wasn't until its annual television broadcast around Christmas time that we began to truly (and communally) cherish this American classic. And thank goodness, because every time I watch the story of George Bailey I take away a new lesson that sets the tone for the New Year. 

This year, my lesson goes against the old adage "Dance like no one is watching." Instead, I am going to take a cue from George Bailey and... 

I'm gonna dance everybody's watching me skip to the edge of a freakin' swimming pool!

Happy holidays, everybody!  Don't be afraid to jump in! 

   

"Twelve Angry Pigs" Goes to College

Here's a photo from a recent performance of "Twelve Angry Pigs" at South Western Oklahoma State College. It looks like they've done an excellent job of my little show (that's big on ham).

The staging looks awesome! This is a show that I have offered royalty-free for about eight years, and since that time it has been performed by schools and little theaters all over the globe.

Congrats to the students of SWOSC!

Well, Crap... I'm Sick...

Normally I don't get unwell enough to call in sick at work. However, when I woke up at 5am, started walking toward the shower, my body told it that I need to crawl back into bed.

So that's exactly what I've done. I've tried to stay somewhat productive, catching up on Tech Review before tomorrow's meeting. But for the most part, I have a feeling I'll be spending the day in a state of zombie-hood. (On the plus side, I am certain that my students were delighted to skip class.)

Stay hydrated, everybody!

A Very Buggy Book

Productive morning. I was showered and out of bed by 8am, and then put up the Christmas lights by 10am. (We won't know until it gets dark whether or not I did a good job.)

Cheri made more Chex Mix (the second batch of the season.)

My eldest daughter is hard at work on her Literature paper.

My youngest daughter is currently watching "A Nightmare Before Christmas" -- but she's also working on her painting for Art Class.

I just finished the revision of my bug-themed picture book. I don't know if it's good yet, but I do know that it's much better than the first draft.

Happy Thanksgiving - 2016

I am wishing all of my friends and family the happiest of Thanksgiving. Now the holiday season is truly underway, isn't it?

I am working on a Thankfulness blog post, but I'm too sleepy to complete it this evening. Blame it on the tryptophan.

Before we drove to Orange County to feast with our friends, I did manage to do some creative work. My new goal is to do creative work every single day-- even if it's a work day. I'll use the blog to keep myself honest. Today's work involved a revision of my bug picture book. It's about halfway done.

We watched Moana. Disney might be a vast media empire, but they still know how to bring to life beautiful music, stories, and artistry.

Back in the Creative Saddle (Again)

Whew...

Survived a couple weeks without any family catastrophes. Let's keep this low-conflict November going, shall we?

The scorched landscape of California has finally relented to Autumn. It must be a chilly 68 degrees outside! Yes, it's Sweater Weather for Los Angelinos. It even rained yesterday. I'm going to savor this coolness while it lasts. All too soon, Summer will be sweeping through the valley -- and that's when I'll fly off to Washington state.

For the most part, aside from dealing with the little struggles mentioned in "The Ugly List" blogpost, I have spent the last month working on back-to-back shows: Around the World in 80 Days at the Canyon Theatre Guild, and our troupe's debut with our original play, Change the Station. I didn't have much physical or creative energy to spare for either production, so I was very dependent upon others -- and I'm grateful for everyone who led the way on each project.

What else have I been doing? I have been grading tons and tons of essays. But the good news is I am done with that mountain of paperwork... But I finally finished them. Thank goodness I didn't wind up like this guy:

Now that I will have some spare time between now and Dec 15th (when final exams come rolling in), I really owe it to myself to get back in the saddle and get creative again.

I think I'll start by revising a picture book I developed over the summer. It needs a better second act and a bit more sympathy for the protagonist.  Wish me luck.

Change the Station - World Premiere

Three amazing weekends have come and gone. Our radio play, CHANGE THE STATION, debuted on Nov. 4th... And eight performances later, our production is over. It's in the can! Hard to believe.

Our producer, Randy Aronson, and our director (and co-author) Christopher Flowers worked their collective butts of, and they weren't the only ones. A lot of people came together to make this happen, and I am grateful for everyone of them. I'm also thankful that we had wonderful audiences. I wasn't sure if anyone besides relatives would bother showing up! If you are reading this and you were able to watch our show, thank you. Thank you so much for being there.

I posted some photos on my Tumblr page. I'll post some here too, but probably tomorrow. For now, I am tired. Tired but happy.