Challenge : Z is for Zoom

Z is for Ze End. No, just kidding. Today, Z for Zoom.

And it is the final day of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.

I like the word Zoom. To go fast. To rise rapidly. To close in on something quickly; close-up.

Zoom is a useful tool for writing. For dancing. For even making art, I suppose, given the right medium and conditions.

Zoom is a word which kind of sounds like the accompanying concept.

And this month has gone rather quickly, from A to Z. Blogging every day. One letter at a time. I did it. Here's proof - my Z word : Zoom. I will admit that just past mid-month I wondered why I did this. I wondered if it would ever end. But the beginning days and the end days have Zoomed by.

And now. Toodle-oo for now. Another challenge successfully completed.

Zoom. And we're off. Now to go pick up few more posts from the A to Z Challenge. I've been hopping around here and there but slacked off a little the last couple of days. I will get caught up. And I've found a few new bloggers to follow and reconnected with a few from the Literary Kitchen.


photo from truedogblog



Challenge : Y is for You

Y is for You.

I was planning to go for something more complicated, or sophisticated. But I decided that "You" is just right.

Because, even though we're told from a young age that "the world doesn't revolve around You," many people think it does. Maybe that's not a bad thing. It just is.

And once in a while, admit it, isn't it fun when it does happen?

It makes me wonder the difference between people who grow up thinking they can have or do or be whatever they want - and who feel like they actually have permission to do that - and those people who grow up with limited thinking trained into them by those who raised them.

I'm not talking about the platitude of "You can be whatever you want." I am talking about knowing who You are and being good with that. Shining with your You.

Y is for You - and that makes life good.
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Challenge : X is for Xylophone

X is for Xylophone. And X-ray. And XYZ (which can be a generic filler/space holder or, I saw on Dictionary.com that it is also slang for "examine your zipper").

But I'm going with Xylophone. That was the first X word which came to mind.

Drats! I just thought of X-Files. That would be fun to write about. See, my partner and I are re-watching the series from beginning to end. We started out watching them together on streaming Netflix. But my partner is home more than I am and had a tedious project to work and and wanted something to watch while she did it. So she watched a few X-Files and got ahead of me. It's fine - we watched a few together recently, again, and there are plenty more to go. It's funny now to see some of the things which were so technologically advanced when it started. The giant mobile phones and the dot matrix computers with giant monitors and clicky keyboards which make that sound you no longer hear when you depress the keys. I missed a lot of the shows when it was on the first time. Truth be told, I wasn't into it for a while.

Okay, back to my word for today: Xylophone.

As a kid we learned to play them in school. Not very well, but as background sounds for choir or in music classes. The kind of music classes they no longer offer. At least not here. But there was a traveling music teacher who brought all kinds of things to make music an sounds: xylophones, castanets, maracas, kazoos, and more. It was about exposure to music and fun and learning to put sounds together to make songs.


I have fond memories of the colored xylophones, even though I haven't touched one in years.

So, today, X is for Xylophone.

photo from A is for Angela

Challenge : W is for Wonderful

W is for Wonderful? Wow. I didn't see that one coming before I typed it. WFT?! Oh, yes, there's another one.

But I'm going to go ahead with Wonderful. Because today I just wrapped (ooh, another W) up the inaugural session of my five months of theatrical preparation workshop, parts I and II. At noon today, the part II participants interpreted the project play, Clybourne Park, at Portland Center Stage.

They did a really good job and it was fun to be there with them and to debrief and celebrate afterwards. They were a great group, and along with the other two participants from part I, I couldn't have asked for a better first group for the workshop.

They were wonderful today. The process was wonderful. It even made giving up some weekends to spend with them, well, wonderful.

I will miss them and I will miss this workshop. (Ooh, another W.) Some of them will be back and I know I will work with some of them again in other capacities. Maybe in one of my next theatrical interpreting workshops. I have two in the works and will begin looking at when I can do this extensive, in-depth training again.

W is for Wonderful. And that's what I'm feeling right now.
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Challenge : V is for Visceral

V is for Visceral.

According to the Google search definition, Visceral means "Relating to deep inward feelings rather than to the intellect."

That's a good word for today.

See, that's what I'm working on. Most of my life I've been a "head" person - a thinker - a person who weighs the pros and cons and tries to figure out the best course of action, which may mean looking at the worst case scenario and the probable cases and going from there.

There's a phrase, "plan for the worst and expect the best."  Heard of it? I have. But the problem for me is that I do a pretty good job at planning for the worst case, and I think about the best case and my options. but I don't expect the best. In some ways that has, perhaps, led to less disappointment. But it's also led to less pleasure and less joy.

Because I live more in my head and doing the right thing. Rather than going from my inner knowing and feelings.

I've been working on this for a long time. Years. I've made a lot of progress, but once in a while something comes along and trips me up. Like an innocent encounter with a very nice person last week, whom I know had no ill intentions. Quite the opposite! But something in that interaction threw me out of my safe bubble and I've had bouncing feelings like a hyperactive hamster in a round cage. I talked with my therapist today and I'm back on track. But what a week.

Anyway - back to the word. Visceral. In the feeling body - deep and real; innate knowledge. Not living in the head and disconnected from the emotions flowing through the energy of the world. Sometimes being in one's head is a good thing, a safe thing, a smart thing. But being in touch with feelings at the same time - yes, it's better.

V is for Visceral. Feel it.

photo from Joanne Enslin and associates

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Challenge : U is for Umbrella

 
U is for Umbrella.

Now I know some of you may be thinking, "Of course she's writing about Umbrellas. Didn't she recently say she's in the Pacific Northwest, which is famous for their amount of rainfall?"

But in that you'd be incorrect. At least for those of us who claim native or near-native status. For us, we don't usually have umbrellas. We're so accustomed to the rain that we don't bother. And with the winds and the gear we carry when we're out in the rain, really - what use is an umbrella? It's more of a hindrance than a help.

See, out here, we tend to have coats with hoods. Several of them to go with the varying seasons. And they're waterproof or at least water resistant. A hood gives you more mobility by keeping your hands free and by not fighting with the wind.

So I'm talking about Umbrellas not because I'm from here, but because of a recent trip to San Francisco in the late fall and the extensive use of Umbrellas that I saw. It was fascinating to watch people with their Umbrellas - their rituals, their struggles, their variety. And I was quite content with the hooded coat I'd brought along with me.

Umbrellas can be fun or serious or make a statement. I loved watching the colorful sea of umbrellas as people jostled for space. Some of them had personal sized Umbrellas which barely covered the circumference of their personal space. Some were giant golf Umbrellas (I think; I'm not a golfer so I may be wrong) which were intended to cover the golfer, the caddy and more (I think: did I say I'm not a golfer?) - but they weren't sharing on the streets of San Francisco. And everything inbetween: copies of art

photo from Virtual Tourist: Chinese New Year in the Rain

masterpieces; jokes; pieces of body parts which were silly when combined with the person holding the Umbrella; and the standard business compatible colors of blacks, grays, blues and reds.

The Umbrellas jostled for space over their owners heads, like bumper cars or overfilled helium balloons. Except that some people's heads were shoulder height to their neighbors.

When the rain stopped, people took out a few Umbrella bags, but those without had clear plastic bags, shaped like cake decorating cones, into which they put the now dripping Umbrella. And inside the doorways of stores and restaurants were racks of these same Umbrella bags, with cutesy names depending on where the shop owner purchased them.

There were discarded Umbrellas in the standing pools of water in gutters; their bent and broken spokes sticking out in different directions. On some the fabric had some loose from their spine; some were completely disheveled.

U is for Umbrellas. Now you see them; now you don't.
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Challenge : T is for Theater

T is for Theater.

For those who have followed my posts, whether here or on Facebook or on Twitter, you know that Theater is an important part of my life. I've been involved with theater since I was a little kid. So when it got to T and I started thinking about what T-word I wanted to write about, it only took a few seconds.

Theater. Or Theatre.

I originally thought I would talk about my love of theater, my involvement in theater - both past and present, and maybe get into a little bit of exploration of different theatrical genres. That could take a very long time, which wouldn't necessarily be bad, but it might be something for another time.

Again I found myself not being able to remember the origin of the differences of TheatRE and TheatER. I've heard different versions. So I decided to do a little web hopping and see what I could find.

The first one which caught my attention was this from over at Community.Write.Com : "Theater is the preferred spelling in American English, and theatre is preferred virtually everywhere else."

My favorite is from the Grammarist, and the first part of this (the venue versus art form explanation) is the one I've heard from some theater peope: "Some Americans do make distinctions—for instance, that a theater is a venue while theatre is an art form, or that a theater is a movie theater while a theatre is a drama venue. There is nothing wrong with making these distinctions, but they are not consistently borne out in general usage."

So I guess that it really doesn't matter which we use. Unless you are and American and don't want to out yourself as such - in which case you could decide to use the "RE" spelling in your written correspondence. I try to follow the lead of the theatrical company with which I'm working when I spell the word.

Theatre is another one of the essentials of life, in my opinion, no matter how you spell it. It falls under the Arts and Creativity, which are crucial. Theatre lets us explore other lives, times, places through the stage - whether we are involved in the production or are in the audience. It lets us see possible outcomes, experience other times or worlds, it lets us try on other personas and see what happens. Sometimes it's an escape, or a release, or a sense of not being alone, something to make us feel better, happy, sad, hopeful, romantic, angry, and more.

T is for Theatre/Theater.

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Challenge: S is for Sunshine & Saltwater

S is for Sunshine and Saltwater.

These two things are very important where I live. It's probably more accurate to say they're important anywhere. I mean, who doesn't need sun and water?

Living in the Pacific Northwest, Sunshine is sometimes elusive. At least from November to May, some people say. I say that fact is changing. Sometimes that's true and sometimes not; now, for often than not, it's not. But we are still famous for our higher rainfall and grayer skies.

But we're also known for our greener forests and urban landscapes and fields. Those are made by rainfall. So as much as people might whine about the grey skies and water coming down from those grey skies, the result can be pretty amazing to look at, hike through, bike across, and so on.

Sunshine is another factor in the growth of greenery. It is also a factor in Vitamin D for the body. Which we all need. Some of us more than others. I've heard it said that those of us who've spent massive times living in that same Pacific Northwest should take more Vitamin D; some of us do, some don't.

But this morning it is a very sunny day. Yesterday was cloudy and drizzly. Today I woke up to sunshine and not a hint of a cloud that I can see. (Though if I put my glasses on I suspect there are wispy remnants.) So Sunshine was the first S word that popped into my head.

And, as has happened several times, as I was typing in my title, the second important S word, Saltwater, joined in.

I live in Portland, Oregon. One awesome thing about living here is that we have the mountains for skiing or hiking within an hour drive; the desert a couple of hours away; rivers for paddling/wind surfing/parasailing/boating and more within minutes to a few hours, and we have the ocean in less than two hours. I love all of the other places, but going to the beach is my place of rejuvenation.

For those who've never been here, I know that "beach" brings up images of sun and sand and tans and maybe skimpily clad surfers. Not so true here. Sometimes you can do that, but it tends to be colder, and there's more wind, and going into the water requires some fortitude or a wetsuit - the water is cold, most of the time.

But the beach is beautiful. Miles and miles of it. And the scenery. The smells. The sounds (away from the more populated areas, at least).

S is for Sunshine and Saltwater. I'm grateful for both.

Cannon Beach photo by Dot.

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Challenge : R is for Radical

R is for Radical. 

As in you have the Radical Right to be yourself. You have the Radical Right to write your truth and walk your path.

Radical is not a bad word. Some people treat it as something to avoid, as in being anti- this or that. But we have a Radical left and we have a Radical right in terms of the great political divide. We have Radical religious icons of every flavor and color and model. There are Radical writers - which era, you may ask? And I say, any era. 

There are Radical conservatives and Radical liberals, Radical democrats and Radical republicans.

Radical in and of itself does not denote conservative or moderate or liberal beliefs. It only says that the Radical's beliefs/actions/writings are not of the standard of the group to which they identify belonging. Or the era. Or the .... You get the point?

I wonder : what would it be like if Radical was the norm. What would we call a Radical Radical if that was the status quo? There are certainly some Radicals of the past who would no longer be given that label.

R is for Radical.

Who do you consider Radical Writers? Why?