I needed to find a way to maintain equilibrium and optimism in the face of creative despair. I fought my despair with what I call “morning pages”—three pages of longhand writing about anything: “I don’t like the way Fred talked to me at the office”; “I need to get the car checked”; “I forgot to buy kitty litter.” They don’t look like they have anything to do with creativity, but in fact, as we put these worries, which are sort of a daily soundtrack for most of us, down on the page, we are suddenly much more alert, aware, focused and available to the moment. And we begin to see that we have many creative choices. As I wrote those pages, new ideas began to walk in. Over time, I began to share the morning-pages technique with other people.”

From this article on how to unleash creativity.

(more…)

Thinking about headshots, I played around a little bit with PhotoBooth, with the following result.

I had an audition with the artistic director of the Boulevard Theater in Bayview this past weekend. Because I am currently engaged in both my day job and that production of Carousel that I have been selling for the last couple of months, I really did not think I would have time to prep anything for the fellow, but he assured me over the phone that I should still take some time to come in and talk. After all, he repeated, this is an audition for the theater as much as it is for me. I liked that attitude and it certainly seemed to be more than lip service to that sort of ideal.

I sang a bit of the Soliloquy from Carousel for him, after we chatted for a few minutes. He was not forthcoming with specific feedback, not surprisingly; it is probably unbecoming of directors to be so. But he did ask me a question (one question?) for which I was not fully prepared. It was something along the lines of “Where are you going with this acting thing?”
(more…)