2018.06.27 - Day 105

As I start to write this a little group of schoolchildren walk past my window in high visibility yellow jackets, all chattering away and with teachers leading them. So like a flock of ducks or geese, I thought 

Nice berries sketch, Steve. I am enjoying lots of Scottish strawberries atm because they have grown so well this year with so much sunshine in May.

A friend pointed me to crime novels written by a man who lived in my town, Carrickfergus. Apparently, he grew up in Carrickfergus and obtained a degree from Oxford. His name is Adrian Mc Kinty and I bought novels 1-3 of his Sean Duffy series for £3.89. They are set in 1981 and it’s refreshing for me to read details describing my own locality rather than LA or NY City etc. :) He writes about the Troubles of course but I don’t remember things being as bad as he describes :)

:)

Picked up a small book on acting today, written by David Mamet, who starts off with a rather rather harsh critique of method acting, which I'd always thought of as the highest sort of actualization or attainment for one on the acting path (think: Daniel Day Lewis). What Mamet seems to want to do so far though, is to parse the acting 'life' from the business of acting, or, as he describes it, the hobby of acting taken up by people who have life security already and are looking for something to do with their time. So for him, acting is a hands-on craft primarily, and he sees great method actors as actors who would have been great without schooling whatever, just by performing on stage.

[long story about an actor asking him how many years exactly 'many years' meant, in one of his plays]... "is as pointless as to say of the subject of a portrait, 'I wonder what underwear he has on?"

In this process, he rebukes lots of study of characters and absorption with feelings/being the characters, and focuses on the magic that happens in an outwardly directed process where the actor is responsive in the moment, having learned the lines, then performing not for their sense of themselves but 'for' their audience. It is a philosophy about respect for the writing, where, "...--and we do not need to add these feelings to a play. The author has already done that through the truth of the writing, and if he has not, it is too late." The philosophy is to add nothing/discard nothing. He speaks a lot of courage.

"But we need not hobble after false emotions. We are not empty. We are alive, and emotion and feeling flow through us constantly. They are not susceptible to our conscious mind, but they are there."

...
Storm wrote,
>>That said, it does seem to need a personal physical touch. It is really hard to give or receive at that level through, for example, email.<<

Agreed. In the CotB discussions, there was often mention of the calling some feel, and often the call is going on with people who have had some taste or flash in their life that has lodged deeply and perhaps then demands to be integrated. Maybe it isn't always 'a person', but I tend to think there is a person or two somewhere, perhaps unrecognized.

I think I was drawn to this reading today due to yesterday's considerations. Perhaps Mamet is also imparting a similar insight regarding involvement with stories... that it can get in the way of the appearance of the warmth and life that is already naturally so. edited 16:44, 27 Jun 2018

Oh! Storm! What would you think of a corner of the library that would be a kind of 'dream lab'? edited 18:47, 27 Jun 2018

It's a great idea Eliza. Please tell me your vision some time!

I've mentioned before, Bleu and San suggested that a corner of the library be a book discussion area, something cozy, relaxing and inspiring. This would be an alternative to the pavilion and we'd sort out a separate voice recorder with Wol. The pavilion is many good things but 'cozy' is probably not one of them! ;-)

I've made little progress in actual building so all ideas are very welcome. Perhaps when I have finished this writing course I will do more, or at least gather some more ideas.

I made a little more progress today on the second week's coursework but the day was a little out of kilter from normal (workmen, and Jobe working different hours today) so I had much less time.

I was asked to define what the poetic construct of a 'couplet' was. I couldn't resist writing this:

A couplet's a very small cup,
A demitasse from which you sup.

=8^)

ha ha. That's really great. :)