Rehearsing Munoz

What an extraordinary week of artmaking. Here's a dancer from the Parkland IB program. He's working out an idea of this three part dance, theatre, video, theatre piece to be performed Tuesday night at SECCA (7 o'clock and free free free). These students are cool and on fire at the same time, something Munoz with his love of duality would appreciate.

During rehearsal I asked what that beautiful tattoo meant. Chinese characters intrigued me since I discovered the I Ching in 1978.

He looked down at his arm and said, Wisdom.

Like I said, it's been an intoxicating week. Thanks to everyone for the great energy of yes and why not.

What's Next

The axis of the earth shifted this week. Did anyone feel it? I mean, really, what is going on out there? Like the woman in this image, I feel a hyper alert sense of looking to see just what's going on.

The Japanese earthquake changed the axis of the earth, which in my fairly unscientific mind didn't seem like a possibility no matter what madness came our way. The earth's axis seemed like a given, a constant, a reliable, unalterable fact.

Guess I need to reconfigure my sense of what's possible. Not always as positive as it sounds.

Self Portrait

Okay here's a truth: photographer's hate having their pictures made.

But that's one of the things I'm working on. A self portrait. I kind of liked this one. But not sure. As my friend Allison always says at the close of her emails....thoughts? comments?

Scrappy Multimedia

This photo of Ruth Warren holding a specula is just a part of the fun I had in Durham over the weekend. Ruth is demonstrating that the specula is a duck bill. See the mouth quack?

The specula was donated to The Scrap Exchange which is just about the coolest re-store in the whole universe. A re-store for artists and people who like finding weird stuff for a quarter.

This image was made by my collaborator and new friend, Patty Fung. Patty's from San Fran and a budding multimedia czar currently interning with The Kitchen Sisters of NPR fame.

The project we created together - "Raw Material" - will be posted soon. Can't hardly wait for y'all to see that maiden voyage.

Still Floating

Still afloat since taking the multimedia workshop that blasted open my sense of what's possible.

The workshop, put on by Big Shed at Duke's Center for Documentary Studies, was fast-paced and fabulous. A room full of bright creative people filled with enthusiasm and a love for this world we're sharing.

Of course, there's nothing new about the fact that the technical demands freaked me out a little. But what really broke me down and got me crying came late in the day when running into our impossible goalposts for completing the assignment. Reminded me of CNN days when I'd collapse with nerves. I hadn't cried in front of a stranger in a very long time. (Sorry about that Shea.)

Funny thing was my husband reminded me that during every workshop, at some point, I cry. Talk about feeling better and worse at the same time.

Going In

Okay, so here I go again, walking into who knows what.

A 4-day multimedia workshop at Duke with some superstars in the burgeoning field of storytelling. Long ago I learned radio, much later I learned photography, and, in between, I got an MFA in fiction. Storytelling in various ways appeals to me. I like knowing a few languages. But doing it all together, now that feels a little Cirque du Soleil, a wee too clever pour moi.

Whatever. I'm signed up. And, truthfully, I like scaring the shit out of myself. It helps me get things done.

This image was taken last weekend during a snowy fun visit in Cambridge, Mass. This is a classic New England Congregational Church. The door handle posted last time appeared during Saturday's exploration around Lesley College's Episcopal Divinity School. That door handle hit me like love, plain and simple, but I didn't have a camera, so I went back Sunday morning and brought a little piece of it back home. You could say I went to church on Sunday!

As a girl, I attended a small Episcopal church that had similar ironwork and wood. I never took to religion, but being in that space felt pleasing and provided a sense of beauty and calm.