Excerpts from my journal while in San Francisco:
(From the flight:)
(6 Jan)
"I wonder how long this journal will last. I haven't been writing as much lately, but I know that my journal is my best friend while I travel. It's amazing to think of the last time I was in San Francisco..."
(11pm)
"I already feel the connectedness and accessibility of people. People really make, and hold, eye contact. I forgot about that."
(10 Jan)
"Just-be-ing in Marin yesterday with good people and having little interactions in crystal shops, walking a bit in the woods, driving through the hills and spending time with lovely ladies such as Heather and Erin. That's what gives me life, hope, light, spirit- not as much with church services."
(4pm)
"I just saw Kat- gosh I love her! Things feel good today. I still feel a bit scattered and nervous that I need to do something or I may forget something in preparation for the next flight. It's going to be important that I relax and regroup before each flight.--
"Ok. San Francisco taught me a few things. Keep doing soulful spiritual things."
"Oh man. It's gonna be really something. There are some freaking GOOD PEOPLE in San Francisco. I'm glad I have them in my life. They are magic. I am happy. I feel beautiful. I am ready."
"What is it about San Francisco? It's enchanting, and yet somehow too powerful or un-tangible or something. I think it's hard for me to touch it and feel it- there's something somehow unfinished about it, always yearning for more, like an unresolved suspended chord in a song- beautiful and yet without a solution, or promise, or product, unattainable, constant, longing, beautiful in its imperfection. Yet I can't seem to hold it in my hand. It's rain and fog and mist and a sunset, where New York City is a rock, a very resolved chord, hard rock and roll. It has the suspended chord too- right before the resolve."
12 January 2010
05 January 2010
Ready to go!
Hello friends. I am sitting here in a pile of bags and travel documents and files related to the show, trying to make sure I have everything in order, and trying to cut back on as many things as possible. Last night I had a lovely going away party in New York City, and got to give big hugs to all my favorite people in the area. The journey of a lifetime is about to begin...
It's hard to believe that I am going to be away from familiar faces, things, culture, food...for 9 months. Although my excitement is bubbling over, the most overwhelming feeling is the challenge of this long period of time. I will be alone, I will see things I've never seen before, I will meet all kinds of people, I will face new challenges and fears, I will find beautiful places and ugly places, I will experience the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and being an educator in India. Everything is so big, and so daunting, and yet also so calming and amazing that I am FINALLY going to be doing all of these things I've always wanted to. I'm following my dream!
Thanks to those of you that have sent me off with beautiful kind words, and all those non-verbal hugs, kisses, squeezes of the arm- they are felt and appreciated. I feel your energy and support as I venture on.
Tomorrow I head out to San Francisco and from there New Zealand...Bon Voyage, wish me luck!
It's hard to believe that I am going to be away from familiar faces, things, culture, food...for 9 months. Although my excitement is bubbling over, the most overwhelming feeling is the challenge of this long period of time. I will be alone, I will see things I've never seen before, I will meet all kinds of people, I will face new challenges and fears, I will find beautiful places and ugly places, I will experience the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and being an educator in India. Everything is so big, and so daunting, and yet also so calming and amazing that I am FINALLY going to be doing all of these things I've always wanted to. I'm following my dream!
Thanks to those of you that have sent me off with beautiful kind words, and all those non-verbal hugs, kisses, squeezes of the arm- they are felt and appreciated. I feel your energy and support as I venture on.
Tomorrow I head out to San Francisco and from there New Zealand...Bon Voyage, wish me luck!
26 November 2009
The Other Side in the Brooklyn Eagle
Check out this article in the Brooklyn Eagle on November 24th!
Artist Travels World To Get to ‘Other Side’
by Mary Frost (mfrost@brooklyneagle.net), published online 11-24-2009
Traveling Interactive Play Comes to Brooklyn Heights
By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — There were no seats for the audience at the First Unitarian Universalist Church Saturday night — as visitors to The Other Side, they were full participants in a traveling interactive performance that explores what “culture” is, the differences between cultures, and how they define us as human beings.
The audience followed the action around the stage as performers scattered among them, held their hands and danced with them. When someone caught a ball of yarn thrown into the group, they would say what “connection” meant to them — like “love” or “family.” Then they threw the ball to someone else.
The participants were repeatedly split into opposing groups based on concepts that connected them to other people on “their side,” like chocolate vs. vanilla; morning person vs. night person; gay marriage supporter vs. gay marriage opponent. Then they would come back to the center and split again, based on another concept.
Melanie Closs, director, producer and performer of The Other Side, was pleased with the New York performance of her event. “It went very well, the audience participated and had a good time — it was really beautiful,” she told the Brooklyn Eagle.
To read the rest, follow this link:
http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=12&id=32096
Artist Travels World To Get to ‘Other Side’
by Mary Frost (mfrost@brooklyneagle.net), published online 11-24-2009
Traveling Interactive Play Comes to Brooklyn Heights
By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — There were no seats for the audience at the First Unitarian Universalist Church Saturday night — as visitors to The Other Side, they were full participants in a traveling interactive performance that explores what “culture” is, the differences between cultures, and how they define us as human beings.
The audience followed the action around the stage as performers scattered among them, held their hands and danced with them. When someone caught a ball of yarn thrown into the group, they would say what “connection” meant to them — like “love” or “family.” Then they threw the ball to someone else.
The participants were repeatedly split into opposing groups based on concepts that connected them to other people on “their side,” like chocolate vs. vanilla; morning person vs. night person; gay marriage supporter vs. gay marriage opponent. Then they would come back to the center and split again, based on another concept.
Melanie Closs, director, producer and performer of The Other Side, was pleased with the New York performance of her event. “It went very well, the audience participated and had a good time — it was really beautiful,” she told the Brooklyn Eagle.
To read the rest, follow this link:
http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=12&id=32096
26 October 2009
The Other Side New York City Performance
An interactive performance event that explores what "culture" is,
the differences between cultures and how they define us as human beings.
Previously performed in San Francisco, The Other Side is a poetic adaptation of a Sioux creation myth and draws on five themes/words for inspiration: Sacred, Connection, Side, Land, and Other. The piece evolves from a series of workshops with the participants and changes each time it is performed by incorporating the performers' personal experiences with culture and cultural differences. Come and see what the New York City cast has created.
This event in New York kicks off my project that will travel around the world!
November 21st, 9pm, 2009
McKinney Chapel
First Unitarian Society of Brooklyn
Pierrepont St between Clinton and Monroe, Brooklyn Heights
$5 Suggested Donation
No one will be turned away for lack of funds!
Check out my facebook event page to rsvp to the event:
17 September 2009
CONNECTION
(How do I connect with people in Switzerland? Who do I connect with?)
Things that make me feel connected:
Age
Language- English, Spanish
Pubs, going out, wanting to meet people.
Similar communities and cultural backgrounds (Americans, California, Liberal Arts education, etc)
Gender- women. We usually had a lot of the same intentions, anxieties, needs, things we love or find beautiful…
Travelers, musicians or music lovers, artists
And sometimes I found that I had none of these things in common with someone, and I can still connect to them, because of that simple unexplainable energy or vibe that someone has, that seems to match with my own.
There are also always those moments when I am not interacting or connecting with any people, but feel connected to the community at large. I always feel I am a part of something when I walk down a crowded street, take the metro, or sit in a café. I am anonymously a part of the city, a feeling of connection, and yet somehow without obligation, that I love.
Things that make me feel connected:
Age
Language- English, Spanish
Pubs, going out, wanting to meet people.
Similar communities and cultural backgrounds (Americans, California, Liberal Arts education, etc)
Gender- women. We usually had a lot of the same intentions, anxieties, needs, things we love or find beautiful…
Travelers, musicians or music lovers, artists
And sometimes I found that I had none of these things in common with someone, and I can still connect to them, because of that simple unexplainable energy or vibe that someone has, that seems to match with my own.
There are also always those moments when I am not interacting or connecting with any people, but feel connected to the community at large. I always feel I am a part of something when I walk down a crowded street, take the metro, or sit in a café. I am anonymously a part of the city, a feeling of connection, and yet somehow without obligation, that I love.
09 September 2009
LAND
(My experience with land in Switzerland, what about the land and landscape shapes the culture of Switzerland?)
Mountains-
When I think of Switzerland, I think of cheese, chocolate, and the snowy Alps. The dramatic beauty of the Swiss Alps is incomparable. Everywhere you look, you see mountains, and it always looks so majestic that it seems fake, like a movie backdrop. The city of Lausanne itself is up on a hill, climbing up a mountain. The streets are woven together in a complex of levels and staircases, tunnels that lead to other levels and streets, plazas that open up onto a church or central palace. There are a lot of hiding places and secret passageways in Lausanne. There are also a lot of ways to get lost and turned around, and it seemed that I was always trying to find the least-uphill way of getting someplace, even if it meant taking an indirect route. It quite reminded me of San Francisco in that way.
I also spent a weekend in Grindelwald, which is the land of serious mountains. Everyone goes to this Jungfrau region to do some kind of extreme sport- hiking, biking, snowboarding, skiing, sky diving. I took a big hike up a mountain for about 4 hours, the most strenuous and steep hike I have ever done. It was exhausting and exhilarating, and dramatically beautiful. Hopefully I’ll have photos soon.
Lac Leman- “Lutry Plage”
On a hot summer day, what’s the only thing anyone would ever want to do? Go to the Plage. You go to Lutry Plage any day of the week on one of those horribly hot days, and it is PACKED. People come in droves, teenagers, families. They sunbathe, they plunge into the lake, they jump off the dock into the rocky water (in a very dangerous manner that always made me really nervous, especially when I had to be responsible for the two children jumping in) It’s beautiful to swim in the clear water with the mountains surrounding you, but I always felt a little stressed out at Lutry Plage with the chaotic nature of the swimmers, rambunctious teenagers and little kids there.
Old Land-
There’s something about Europe that always draws me to the actual, physical land. Especially in the old parts of cities, where a church had been built in 1080 or something. I just love to sit, and be, just exist and feel the energy of the land that had been loved, taken care of, lived in, prayed in, worked in, created in, died in, for so many hundreds of years. It’s very sacred and spiritual for me, as mentioned in the SACRED entry about La Cite and the Cathedral. I certainly felt this old land energy in some places in Lausanne and Switzerland, but not nearly as strong as it was in places like England and Ireland.
I have to wonder if Switzerland’s organized, detailed, rule-bound culture has anything to do with it’s landscape. Perhaps the mountains presented a problem in building its civilization, and called for skilled engineering and design. Maybe the peaceful nature of the mountains gave people the time and space to think, and therefore could make scientific and medical advancements, whereas other places had too many distractions and variables.
Mountains-
When I think of Switzerland, I think of cheese, chocolate, and the snowy Alps. The dramatic beauty of the Swiss Alps is incomparable. Everywhere you look, you see mountains, and it always looks so majestic that it seems fake, like a movie backdrop. The city of Lausanne itself is up on a hill, climbing up a mountain. The streets are woven together in a complex of levels and staircases, tunnels that lead to other levels and streets, plazas that open up onto a church or central palace. There are a lot of hiding places and secret passageways in Lausanne. There are also a lot of ways to get lost and turned around, and it seemed that I was always trying to find the least-uphill way of getting someplace, even if it meant taking an indirect route. It quite reminded me of San Francisco in that way.
I also spent a weekend in Grindelwald, which is the land of serious mountains. Everyone goes to this Jungfrau region to do some kind of extreme sport- hiking, biking, snowboarding, skiing, sky diving. I took a big hike up a mountain for about 4 hours, the most strenuous and steep hike I have ever done. It was exhausting and exhilarating, and dramatically beautiful. Hopefully I’ll have photos soon.
Lac Leman- “Lutry Plage”
On a hot summer day, what’s the only thing anyone would ever want to do? Go to the Plage. You go to Lutry Plage any day of the week on one of those horribly hot days, and it is PACKED. People come in droves, teenagers, families. They sunbathe, they plunge into the lake, they jump off the dock into the rocky water (in a very dangerous manner that always made me really nervous, especially when I had to be responsible for the two children jumping in) It’s beautiful to swim in the clear water with the mountains surrounding you, but I always felt a little stressed out at Lutry Plage with the chaotic nature of the swimmers, rambunctious teenagers and little kids there.
Old Land-
There’s something about Europe that always draws me to the actual, physical land. Especially in the old parts of cities, where a church had been built in 1080 or something. I just love to sit, and be, just exist and feel the energy of the land that had been loved, taken care of, lived in, prayed in, worked in, created in, died in, for so many hundreds of years. It’s very sacred and spiritual for me, as mentioned in the SACRED entry about La Cite and the Cathedral. I certainly felt this old land energy in some places in Lausanne and Switzerland, but not nearly as strong as it was in places like England and Ireland.
I have to wonder if Switzerland’s organized, detailed, rule-bound culture has anything to do with it’s landscape. Perhaps the mountains presented a problem in building its civilization, and called for skilled engineering and design. Maybe the peaceful nature of the mountains gave people the time and space to think, and therefore could make scientific and medical advancements, whereas other places had too many distractions and variables.
01 September 2009
SIDE
(When did I feel like I needed to pick sides? What side did Swiss stand on, and what side did others stand on? What was an important side to choose in Switzerland?)
OTHER-
A lot of what I wrote about for OTHER also fits with the concept of SIDE. Being on the English speaking side, or being on the side of an artist, etc.
Swiss German vs. Swiss French/Italian-
I was out one night at an English Pub I frequented that proved to be an interesting study in Swiss/English speaking culture. I was sitting at a table getting to know a bunch of locals- one guy was from France, one was from Lausanne, and another was from the Swiss German area. The French and Lausannois guys were very talkative, friendly, asking us where we were from and learning each others stories. The Swiss German guy was just sort of sitting there, brooding, smoking his endless cigarette, without seeming to have any interest in meeting anyone or learning anything or doing anything besides smoking his cigarette and drinking his beer. I asked the Lausanne guy something along the lines of, “what’s his problem?” His very simple, matter of fact answer,
“He’s Swiss German.”
Nightlife culture- disco or pub?
In the 20 something nightlife culture, one thing is always clear: alcohol. No matter what language you speak, where you come from, what your political views are, how old you are, whether you are an artist or scientist, usually everyone can agree that they want to go out and have a drink on a Friday night. But where? Everyone in Switzerland seemed to want to go to a discoteque. Loud music, dancing, sweating, looking good, trying to get someone that also looks good to come and dance with you. This kind of nightlife is not for me. I choose the pub side. I like places where you can meet someone through conversation, not looking good. I can talk to people, hear them, I’m not sweating (although I was usually sweating wherever I went in Switzerland because it was really HOT and air conditioning is illegal) But the common bond is being able to sing along to whatever Oasis or classic British rock song happened to be playing in the background. Something they would never play at a disco. Captain Cook (a British style pub) or The Great Escape (an Australian-owned pub) is usually the side I would choose on a Friday night.
Cigarette Smoke-
As opposed to most places in the US, and also England, In Switzerland you can smoke anywhere, any time, as much as you want. And they did. Everywhere I went, I would come home smelling like I was chain-smoking all night, when really, it was the woman next to me. Apparently this law will be changed in a month. You cannot smoke inside bars and restaurants. I imagine this to be a very hard thing for most Europeans to get used to, as it has been a built-in part of their lives since they were born. But I am definitely on the side of cutting down on the amount of cigarette smoke in Europe. (Although I must admit, I like the image of a smokey café or bar. It’s a very Romantic European setting.) But I’ll sacrifice my fantasy for less second hand smoke in the world.
OTHER-
A lot of what I wrote about for OTHER also fits with the concept of SIDE. Being on the English speaking side, or being on the side of an artist, etc.
Swiss German vs. Swiss French/Italian-
I was out one night at an English Pub I frequented that proved to be an interesting study in Swiss/English speaking culture. I was sitting at a table getting to know a bunch of locals- one guy was from France, one was from Lausanne, and another was from the Swiss German area. The French and Lausannois guys were very talkative, friendly, asking us where we were from and learning each others stories. The Swiss German guy was just sort of sitting there, brooding, smoking his endless cigarette, without seeming to have any interest in meeting anyone or learning anything or doing anything besides smoking his cigarette and drinking his beer. I asked the Lausanne guy something along the lines of, “what’s his problem?” His very simple, matter of fact answer,
“He’s Swiss German.”
Nightlife culture- disco or pub?
In the 20 something nightlife culture, one thing is always clear: alcohol. No matter what language you speak, where you come from, what your political views are, how old you are, whether you are an artist or scientist, usually everyone can agree that they want to go out and have a drink on a Friday night. But where? Everyone in Switzerland seemed to want to go to a discoteque. Loud music, dancing, sweating, looking good, trying to get someone that also looks good to come and dance with you. This kind of nightlife is not for me. I choose the pub side. I like places where you can meet someone through conversation, not looking good. I can talk to people, hear them, I’m not sweating (although I was usually sweating wherever I went in Switzerland because it was really HOT and air conditioning is illegal) But the common bond is being able to sing along to whatever Oasis or classic British rock song happened to be playing in the background. Something they would never play at a disco. Captain Cook (a British style pub) or The Great Escape (an Australian-owned pub) is usually the side I would choose on a Friday night.
Cigarette Smoke-
As opposed to most places in the US, and also England, In Switzerland you can smoke anywhere, any time, as much as you want. And they did. Everywhere I went, I would come home smelling like I was chain-smoking all night, when really, it was the woman next to me. Apparently this law will be changed in a month. You cannot smoke inside bars and restaurants. I imagine this to be a very hard thing for most Europeans to get used to, as it has been a built-in part of their lives since they were born. But I am definitely on the side of cutting down on the amount of cigarette smoke in Europe. (Although I must admit, I like the image of a smokey café or bar. It’s a very Romantic European setting.) But I’ll sacrifice my fantasy for less second hand smoke in the world.
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