A Little Help

This post will also be found in Tehachapi's The Loop Newspaper.

 I recently had a reading of my fairy tale play that I mentioned here a while back. Now when a playwright talks about having a reading that's more than folks just getting together and reading the play. Unlike most writing, a play is something that will (hopefully) be spoken by a group of people in front of another group of people. The play is something that is performed. So you have to get people to portray the characters and hopefully do it in front of an audience.

Just Awesome

On Saturday (May 11th) I'm going to be headed for Taft. This will be the first event held to showcase the release of the third volume of Taft College's Sharp Piece of Awesome. This year they selected three of my poems to be included. The event will be held at the Black Gold Coffee House in Taft at 5:00 PM.

Being a college magazine/journal, the editorial staff consists mostly of college students. And each of the past two years have seemed enthusiastic and to have really enjoyed the project. Many of them are also contributors to the journal. The variety of what they chose has been really interesting from haunting short stories and memoirs, to some very good poetry. And this year they seem to have picked some of my weirder stuff. Which I appreciate greatly. Sometimes the weird stuff takes more time to write than the more normal fare. I'm looking forward to going and meeting this year's editors and the other poets and writers. Some of our works will be read and faces will be put to the names and writing.

And this year they've added a second reading at Russo's on Saturday the 18th from 1 to 3 pm. And the book will be on sale there.

First Friday

Some of the crowd at Tehachapi Treasure Trove.

The first Friday of each month the artist community in Tehachapi gets together and wanders around from gallery to studio to museum and so on. There are several locations where the artists (usually) bring in snacks and share them with other artists and patrons of the arts. Many locations will also have live music. While at the galleries and shops there is the hope of additional sales, the museum and downtown church use the occasion to showcase new exhibits and events.

Tehachapi Museum

And when there's a show at the downtown BeeKay Theatre on a first Friday, you might run into costumed characters wandering the streets before the show. And afterwards (unless they happen to have a show that weekend) folks can head over to the local live music venue, Fiddler's Crossing, for an after art walk music and poetry jam.

Facets

I have a certain amount of fame here in the small town of Tehachapi. Even though, up until recently, I wasn't getting many comments on this blog, I would get comments in person, since most of my entries were copies of my column in Tehachapi's Loop newspaper. Others had seen me read some of my poetry at various open mics around town. (Brighthouse might have some available on their On Demand channel that were taped at Fiddler's Crossing.) And others have seen and enjoyed plays that I have written that were performed at our Playwright's Festival.

Whispered Secrets

This post will also be found in Tehachapi's The Loop Newspaper.

 Just recently I was back out at the Integratron out in Landers. For those of you that don't know the Integratron is a building with a large wooden dome out in the Mojave Desert. For more information you can check out their web page at http://www.integratron.com/. One of the big draws for people visiting the Integratron is the acoustics. They have events there called “sound baths” which use crystal singing bowls to create interesting sound patterns.

Accidental Librettist

I've only recently become familiar with what a libretto is. And that is because I have accidentally become a librettist. So despite not particularly caring for musicals (except things like Little Shop of Horrors and The Rocky Horror Picture Show) I find myself working on one.

Once Upon a Time

This post will also be found in Tehachapi's The Loop Newspaper.

 Lately I have been doing some research and reading on fairy tales. And not just because of TCT Jr.'s upcoming production of “The Princess and the Pea” which opens on April 19th. I've been reading fairy tales because I am trying to write one. Well kind of. I've run across a call for short plays dealing with “fractured” fairy tales.