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Challenge #12 Acting

 

This challenge comes from a small writing group.  We have a large series of random questions that we answer and share.  The goal is to answer at least one per week.

Question: Is acting a learned skill or a natural talent?  Why do you feel that way?

Both.  Have you ever seen a three or four year old trying to get something they know they are not supposed to have, like one more piece of candy?  Some of the best acting skills ever as they  say they just want to try it and have  a bunch of candy wrappers scattered around their feet.

I have seen some people who just get it and can intuitively act.  Read their lines one or two times, take direction and simply perform beautifully.

I also know people who work very hard at their craft and combine skill and hard work in every performance.  Testing accents for days while reading lines over and over and over again, each time with a new accent or emphasis on different words.

Next they try different voices for every character they play, once they decide on that, it’s the walk or a physical mannerism that creates their character.  Then it’s time to establish a look based on the clothing or the shoes or the hair style or color or the jewelry selection.  This process can easily take weeks or months if they have it in the schedule.  As an observer, this is sometimes a fun process to observe, as a quilter I can relate to our process of auditioning fabric and patterns before making a quilt.

I firmly believe that it is a combination of all these things that create those award winning roles we love to see performed.  Do you go through an editing process when writing, keeping certain phrases or words and discarding others?

Challenge #11 Be Someone Else

This challenge comes from a small writing group.  We have a large series of random questions that we answer and share.  The goal is to answer at least one per week.

Question:  Have you ever pretended to be someone else?  Would you?

On Being Someone Else.

Yes, but not  for my personal amusement.  I once worked for a small company that marketed and sold a very specific item.  Part of my job was calling prospective customers and since they wanted to see what was the direct result of our prospecting, I used a pseudonym.  This way any respondents ask for a specific person who was never in the office and I would take a message for her. She would return the call after a while and assist the customers.

This system worked pretty effectively for that company and they expanded to use the fake name for another person.  We thought of this originally because of some junk mail that came with an obvious fake name and we thought if it works for them, let’s try it.

We have all heard about men and women using a fake name when meeting people in a bar.  I had a friend who would create a story and a name and used that  almost every time she went out.  I never could do that, mix alcohol into that environment and I doubt I could remember anything but my own name.

I only knew one person who could effectively do that, but  I guess there are valid reasons to want to protect your identity.  Now I am much too old for that to be a factor in my life, meeting people in bars that is.

Maple Walnut Bon-bons

I  read another blog about this wonderful treat and it sounded so delicious I had to make these.  Sandra McCall, Sugar Free Maple Walnut Bon-bons blog on December 1, 2019.  If I knew how to link to her blog, I would do that, but that is nothing I have ever done on the blog.

I did a slight variation on these and made them with 3 different coatings.  The taste of the filling is light and creamy, a very delicate flavor and it was hard to not just eat them all without the chocolate coating.

I first did the batch with dark chocolate, my family and I love dark chocolate and that was what I had in the pantry.  The dark chocolate coating proved to be overpowering the flavor.  Next I did the white and milk chocolate covered and really loved these, yes both of them.

Feeling the after holiday glow, a glass of egg-nog and these wonderful candies.

 

Challenge #10 My Sailboat

This challenge comes from a small writing group.  We have a series of questions that we answer and share.  The goal is to answer at least one per week.

Question:

You have just bought a sailboat, and you have to name it.  What would you name your boat? Where is the first place you would sail to?

 

Our family had a sailboat when I was a small ( 8 or 9 y.o.) child, it was a 2 person boat that was named for our family by using the last name.  It was red with yellow sails and was a beauty.

We vacationed every summer on a lake in north east Wisconsin.  This was a good sized lake and it is 2 miles wide and 4 miles long the deepest part is about 50 feet deep.  There are at least 7 or 8 species of fish in the lake due to the diversity on the lake.  Our boat was stored there and we used it for 2 weeks every year.  We had been going to the same place for several years before the sailboat and about 3 or 4 years after we had it.  Lots of time was spent on the lake either in a boat not just in the water, great deal of swimming, fishing and water skiing and sailing.

After a few years my parents purchased a small tree farm in Central Wisconsin and that is where we vacationed after that.  The sailboat was left with the owners of the resort who were cousins and they enjoyed it for a few years after that.

In today’s world my first thing is to think about what I would name the new sailboat.  As a child I knew what I was going to name the horse I would one day own (that’s not happening).  I like the idea of naming it after me so maybe “Kathy’s Folly”, or “Kathy’s  Keep”, or simply “Kathy’s”.

Now that I have a name for my new sailboat, where will I go.  Since I am not a strong swimmer it will not be on one of the Great Lakes or into any ocean.  I would be very content to find a nearby lake, maybe the size of my childhood vacation lake.   I  have fond memories of hanging out on the lake for hours fishing or just sailing back and forth across the lake.

I can see it now, sailing around in Kathy’s Folly on Perch Lake or Silver Lake there goes Kathy70 drifting along with the breeze doing nothing all day.  Works for me.

Welcome 2020

I wish you all a Happy New Year.  I know it sounds silly, but I am glad I made it to 2020, as this year came closer to my reality, I just thought maybe because of the number like 2000, lets pray for this to be a great year.  I will turn 74 this year and I hope to add at least one new country to my passport.  I looked up a quote to share for this day and this is the one that hit me most.

“Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.”   Robin Sharma

Because I am quickly approaching 75, this kind of hit me between the eyes.  What new things do I need to look at, other than getting older to adjust in my life.  On Robin’s FaceBook page he had some new year suggestions, less of one thing and more of another and I thought that’s good, replace a bad habit with a good one. So I am trying for 20 in honor of 2020.

1. 1. Less busy work.                                        More quilting.
   2. Less swearing.                                          More quilting.
   3. Less coffee.                                                More quilting.
   4. Less silly spending of money.                More quilting.
   5. Less gossip.                                                More quilting.
   6. Less salt.                                                     More quilting.
   7. Less licking the spoon.                            More quilting.
   8. Less using phone or tablet in bed.        More quilting.
   9. Less chocolate.                                     More dark chocolate.
   10. Less fizzy drinks.                                      More quilting.
   11. Less judging people.                                 More quilting.
   12. Less red meat.                                           More quilting.
   13. Less mindless TV.                                     More quilting.
   14. Less sitting at home.                                More quilting.
   15. Less passing by flowers.                         More quilting.
   16. Less toxic people.                                     More quilting.
   17. Less trying for perfection.                      More quilting.
   18. Less multitasking.                                    More quilting.
   19. Less negative people.                              More quilting.
   20. Less showing up late.                              More quilting.

While I personally do not have all of these bad habits, I think some of them would be easy to fall into.  I really think a short version of this list, maybe 3 habits that you want to change for good habits would be more realistic for me to accomplish.  Now to decide if my first quilt of the year will be traditional or modern.