I was immediately curious when I found out that author Joanna J. Charnas had come out with a new book: A Movie Lover’s Search for Romance. I had reviewed her book about chronic illness a few years ago and thoroughly appreciated her transparent authenticity as she addressed a difficult topic. I was intrigued by her new choice of topic, seemingly lighthearted – and yet proving, as I read each page, that it was also quite heartfelt and meaningful. In this new title, she uses a diary-like format to share two intertwined stories: her love for movies and her journeys in dating life as a woman in her forties and fifties. She…
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Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her
When the libraries here closed back in March (and still haven’t really re-opened) my mom sent me a bunch of books from her personal library to satisfy my reading itch. I’ve been reading much more slowly than usual but I’ve finished a few of them, including the just-finished Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak. It took me a minute to really get into it but a few chapters in I became totally immersed. Nostalgia: Nancy Drew I will always have a special place in my heart for Nancy Drew. Reading the book, it became clear that many women across multiple generations have this…
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How to Become a Reader for Screenplays (A Class I Just Took Online)
This morning I was browsing around on Instagram and saw an ad for a Masterclass to learn how to become a reader for screenplays. I have previously researched how to become a reader for publishers but never followed through on it. I never thought about becoming a reader for screenplays. The idea is intriguing. So I decided to sign up and hop right into the class. What is the Class? This was a free online MasterClass offered by Hollywood Gatekeepers. It was hosted by Carolyn J. Carpenter who has a long history of working in theatre, screenplay writing, and becoming a story reader. As a reader, she often saw the same…
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Female Veterans Surviving Homelessness Together – Low Hanging Fruit, a Compelling Play
Heather Gordon, Cat Brooks, Livia Demarchi in Low Hanging Fruit. Photo credit: Mario Parnell Photography Intro: A Compelling Play One of the things that I miss the most during the restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic is seeing live performances including theater. So, I’ve been looking back at some of my old reviews of events like that, reminiscing. Here’s a post from July 2016 about a compelling play that really moved me, enough so that I still remember the power of it four years later (although it’s so hard to believe it’s been that long since I saw it!) Compelling. That is the word that keeps coming to mind as I…
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How COVID Has Inspired Digital Performance Art and Where It Might Go
Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash I have intended to get back to posting here regularly for quite some time. I haven’t done that for myriad reasons but a lot of things have inspired me recently, and I’m finally motivated to get back to it. Tonight I am watching Digital Witness: Performance in the Era of Online-Only, a Zoom panel discussion hosted by SOMArts. It’s a smart, articulate, intriguing, edgy discussion about how performance artists are adapting to a digital forum in the era of COVID-19. Everyone Is Active On Screens Right Now It speaks to something I have been thinking about a lot lately, which I haven’t quite really been…
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Flamenco Dance Interview: Sintonia Presents “Tattooed”
There’s about to be a flamenco performance at the newly-renovated Presidio Theatre here in San Francisco. The performance looks powerful. The group performing it looks fascinating. And I’m excited to be able to share a dance interview with you below so you can learn more about all of it. But first, let’s discuss the performance and the group behind it … The Performance: Tattooed Tattooed is “an experimental flamenco dance performance about survivors’ strength and resilience.” Tattooed is a flamenco dance performance by Sintonia. The performance consists of “theatrical vignettes that utilize each dancer and musician as a player in the narrative.” It is about trauma and abuse. It explores how…
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How Writing, Crafting, and Depression Came Together in a Book
This is a post about the intersection of writing, crafting, and depression in my life. It originally appeared on the Sibel Hodge blog as a guest post. It was intended to promote my then-new book, Crochet Saved My Life. Since it’s no longer available on the original site, I thought I’d re-publish it again here. Crafting Together a Life One Stitch at a Time For many years I led parallel lives where the different passions and experiences that I had didn’t seem to intersect much. As I’ve gotten older and grown into myself more, things have begun to converge. I’ve become more fully the person I am meant to be.…
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Inspiration: Before the Writing, Between the Writing, Comes the Inspiration
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash My favorite feeling in the entire world is inspiration. I love to be in love. I’m thrilled during days when I feel excitement. And I’ve even been known to thoroughly indulge in immersing myself in red-hot moments of anger … But if I could only feel one feeling for the rest of my life, I would choose inspiration every single time. Inspiration is that hard-to-capture feeling of being simultaneously aware of your complete interconnectedness with the world around you and yet sure that your voice matters in the big scheme of things. It’s that feeling that you have been so touched by something in…
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Launching Crochet Saved My Life: Early on My Book Publishing Journey
This was originally a guest post on the website Whip Up. I wrote it to promote my then-new book, Crochet Saved My Life. That was back in 2012. Since that post is no longer up on the original site, I thought I’d re-publish it again here. It was an early step on my self-publishing journey and my explorations into Crafting to Heal. There I am … a doubled-over heap of empty sobs balled up onto the bathroom floor, rocking back and forth trying to calm away the palpitating pain. My mind keeps racing around and around, exploring the tempting (but frightening) options for suicide. I could take some pills, I…
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Videocracy: Forms of Collaboration on YouTube
I recently read the book Videocracy. There was so much rich stuff in there about collaboration. Here are some of the things I learned and thoughts I had while reading this book. Videocracy: About the Book First I’ll tell you a little bit about the book Videocracy. It is all about YouTube trends. The head of the company’s “Culture and Trends” department is the author. Naturally, he has a lot of interesting insight into video watching trends. I think there’s some bias on his part to see YouTube as a mostly great thing. However, in spite of that there’s tons of interesting information in the book. I’m currently working on…
