Wait, I'll tell you about this picture in a bit. First--I went to a Playwriting workshop in Menlo Park this morning. It was only two hours (and three more tomorrow), but it was one of the most informative and fun two hours I've spent in years.
In addition to some fundamental playwriting theory, we had to actually get up front and act out settings, characters and actions. There were only five of us in the workshop, which was great as one couldn't really hide in the crowd. So, we all got to add our ideas into the mix, and all got to be "on stage" in a kind of improvisational way. So cool. A little scary, but again, where can you hide, when you pay the money, show up, and suddenly you're "on."
So, our homework was to write a three page play, based on what we'd learned. I went right home--OK, I stopped at Subway for a sandwich. By the time I got home, I already had an idea on how the play would start. By the time I finished my sandwich in front of the computer, I had the first page done, and an hour later I had a first draft, well-formatted with a quick edit thrown in. Then I had to go out to Costco and buy some ink for my printer in order to print out copies for the class, which turned into a mini shopping spree for things in my "need to buy soon" queue and a couple of spontaneous purchases.
Then I got home and decided to bake some bread using my new 1-hour microwave-assisted bread recipe I got off the internet--yes, it really works, it's a yeasted bread that takes an hour from start to out-of-the-oven. Pinky-promise! Another 20-30 minutes to let it cool/rest before cutting the first slice. Gnom, gnom, gnom!
In addition to some fundamental playwriting theory, we had to actually get up front and act out settings, characters and actions. There were only five of us in the workshop, which was great as one couldn't really hide in the crowd. So, we all got to add our ideas into the mix, and all got to be "on stage" in a kind of improvisational way. So cool. A little scary, but again, where can you hide, when you pay the money, show up, and suddenly you're "on."
So, our homework was to write a three page play, based on what we'd learned. I went right home--OK, I stopped at Subway for a sandwich. By the time I got home, I already had an idea on how the play would start. By the time I finished my sandwich in front of the computer, I had the first page done, and an hour later I had a first draft, well-formatted with a quick edit thrown in. Then I had to go out to Costco and buy some ink for my printer in order to print out copies for the class, which turned into a mini shopping spree for things in my "need to buy soon" queue and a couple of spontaneous purchases.
Then I got home and decided to bake some bread using my new 1-hour microwave-assisted bread recipe I got off the internet--yes, it really works, it's a yeasted bread that takes an hour from start to out-of-the-oven. Pinky-promise! Another 20-30 minutes to let it cool/rest before cutting the first slice. Gnom, gnom, gnom!
Oh, and while I was at Costco, I bought an amplified indoor antenna, a translucent square of about 14" to pull in local HD channels. Without even putting it near a window, just to try it out, I logged 60 new channels. Very new, since when I moved into my condo, I decided not to get cable TV, instead opting for a Wi-Fi equipped Smart TV and a faster broadband connection. Now for $50, I have HDTV as well. And no monthyl cable bill. The downside is, well, half of those 60 channels are Spanish, Chinese, or Korean. But I will rescan after mounting the antenna on my glass patio door.
But wait ... there's more. I ran across a Korean show called Madame Jeong Gag Concert. It seemed like a Korean version of Saturday Night Live, only funnier--or perhaps as funny as I ever remember SNL to be.
Very young audience, perhaps teens to 30s--at least where the cameras panned--and just basically a non-stop round of comic sketches in Korean with English subtitles. The subtitles were occasionally a little off in their English grammar, but the scenes and the dialog still translated very well. I must have watched for nearly an hour, and couldn't tear myself away, except for some kind of local commercials that interrupted perhaps 2 or 3 times.
That was really fun. Check it out at DailyMotion.com.
But wait ... there's more. I ran across a Korean show called Madame Jeong Gag Concert. It seemed like a Korean version of Saturday Night Live, only funnier--or perhaps as funny as I ever remember SNL to be.
Very young audience, perhaps teens to 30s--at least where the cameras panned--and just basically a non-stop round of comic sketches in Korean with English subtitles. The subtitles were occasionally a little off in their English grammar, but the scenes and the dialog still translated very well. I must have watched for nearly an hour, and couldn't tear myself away, except for some kind of local commercials that interrupted perhaps 2 or 3 times.
That was really fun. Check it out at DailyMotion.com.
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