Monday Morning Musings

I made the mistake of watching national news the other day and was reminded why I am much better off not paying attention to all that.

Did you hear about Cynthia Robinson, the Florida woman who sued R.J. Reynolds because her husband died from smoking-related illness? The jury gave her $23.6 billion in punitive damages. That's billions, folks, and an additional $16.8 million in compensatory damages. Robinson  had been part of a previous class-action suit against R.J. Reynolds that was settled in 2006, but that $145 billion verdict had been overturned on appeal. In a television interview, Robinson said, "We have finally gotten justice."

Justice? I'll let you decide for yourselves, but I think it is beyond absurd. More at the Huffington Post

On a much nicer note, my two weeks of drama camp ended with our performances over the weekend. We had sell-out audiences for both shows, and what great energy that creates for the players. They did an amazing job, and I am always so thrilled to work with the kids and the camp leaders.

Here are just a few more pictures from the show and the camp.

This wonderful poster was designed by one of our board members, Jim Willis.

 

These lovely pictures of the lions were taken by Bob Williams Photography and used with permission.

The drama camp, along with all the other activities that go on at the Winnsboro Center For the Arts, is put on by volunteers. We do pay professional music and theatre people, but the rest is done by the wonderful people in this place I call home. I am so thankful for all the people who stepped up to make this a huge success.

Friday's Odds and Ends

One thing I've learned this week, don't get sick half way through the summer drama camp. One of the other camp leaders said wouldn't it be wonderful if we could schedule being sick. "Let's see, I'm not doing anything from August first through the seventh. How about the flu then?"

Actually, I didn't have the flu, but I had a serious infection which took forever to respond to meds. Hopefully, I will be ready for the weekend when we open "Phineas Peabody's Magical Musical Circus," which the kids wrote and produced with the assistance of a few of us adults and teen helpers.

Anyway, the awesome camp leaders took over and this may be the best show we've had from the summer drama camp. I wonder if there is a message there? LOL

Here is a picture of one of the girls who has been at the camp for three years now. She is a terrific piano player, as well as being great on stage, and she is so much fun to work with.

Next up are some pictures of the chalk art the kids did on the sidewalk leading to the door of the art center, inviting everyone to "Come to the Circus." They did some great posters, too, as well as designs for the camp shirt and playbill cover. Drama camp stirs all kinds of creativity.

This last picture is from a planning session as one of the camp leaders and some teen helpers worked with the kids to brainstorm some of the story. The teen helpers have been through drama camp several times, and they have all continued to be active in the troupe of young players. I love working with the kids. And the lady on the left, Hayley, was one of the very first kids that I had in a show the second or third year I started volunteering at the Winnsboro Center for the Arts. What a thrill to have her back as an adult, teaching the kids and directing the show along with Jennifer Zimmerman and George Gagliardi.

L-R: Hayley Morris, Kaitlyn Sullivan, Hunter Williams, Kennedie Williams, Thomas Hulme

While I go off to finish the last details for the show, I'll leave you with some fun from Pickles

Opal is in the kitchen opening drawers and calls out, "Earl! Have you seen Roscoe's toothpaste?"

Earl is in the living room and calls back, "Roscoe's toothpaste?"

Opal comes into the living room, holding a little doggie toothbrush. "Yes. You know. The special beef-flavored toothpaste I bought for him."

Earl answers, "Nope."

Opal looks at the plate on Earl's lap. "Wait just a minute...! What're you eating on those crackers?!"

He doesn't answer, and she walks off shaking her head. "Oh, for pete's sake. I can't believe you."

Earl says, "What? I was hungry."

A Day of Music

There is something so wonderful about music. It touches our souls, lifts our spirits and tells wonderful stories. Last Friday I had the pleasure of sharing an evening of live music with a large crowd who gathered at the Winnsboro Center for the Arts to hear the singing duo, Albert & Gage . A great time was had by all. They are amazing singers, and what Chris Gage can do on keyboard and guitar just blew me away. They'd been to the WCA before, but I'd always missed them for one reason or another. I'm so glad I didn't miss them this time.

One of the songs they performed was "Dakota Lulaby", and I couldn't help but think of all the great times I had up in South Dakota with my dear friend, Jan, and her family. It is beautiful country up there, and when you sit down with a farmer and talk about the land and the crops and the critters, there is such a gentle peacefulness about it all.  God, however you perceive him or her, is very present there.

So this is for my friend Jan and everyone else who loves the wide open country.



The second week of the Summer Drama Camp starts this morning, and the show is really coming together. The campers - all 27 of them - were busy last week writing songs with the talented George Gagliardi and scenes with the other camp leaders, Jennifer Zimmerman and Hayley Morris. This week we will focus on putting the whole production together with costumes, set, and props. Then we will have performances on July 19 and 20. This is the ninth year we have done the camp, and it just gets better and better.

I was looking around for a video of George Gagliardi on YouTube, and found this video of Amy Adams taken at Crossroads Music Company several years ago. ( I get easily distracted. LOL) Wow, we sure have had some talented people on the stages in Winnsboro, including Miranda Lambert and Kacey Musgraves.I enjoyed this song so much, I decided to post it.



Finally, I found a song by George that he had written some years ago and adapted for last year's drama camp show The Kingdom of Macademia



And one more song from George. This next one shows the scope of his talent a bit better than the other one.




I hope you enjoy the day of music. I had fun putting this all together.

Drama Camp Winding Down

Again, just a short post as this is the last day of drama camp at the Winnsboro Center for the Arts. It has been an intense two weeks, but the kids have put together a terrific show. As they brainstormed and came up with ideas for scenes, it reminded me of those shows I used to put on in my basement when I was a kid.

I grew up in the Midwest where most homes had basements, and we even had an old coal bin. All kids of skullduggery could take place in there. I remember hanging curtains and making that a dungeon where the the evil queen put the beautiful young girl who wanted to marry the prince, but she was not from a royal family. Sort of a play on Cinderella. 

This isn't my coal bin, but a pretty close facsimile for those who have never seen one.

This recent experience with the drama camp has one again made me realize how important this kind of creative play is. Modern education is too often focused on standardized testing, and opportunities for students to strengthen thinking and reasoning skills are fewer and fewer.

During the camp our students had to figure out for themselves how to arrange the set, what props would work, how the lighting works, and costumes. It was exciting to watch them go through items in our theatre department and come up with creative ideas. Then they had to figure out how to make those ideas into reality.

Now here is a joke from the comic, in case you have missed my Friday Feature. This one is from

Mother Goose and Grimm:

Superman and Batman are at a bar together. Superman points to Batman and asks, "What happened to your utility belt?"

Batman responds, "I forgot to pay my utility bill."

I know, that one is more of a groaner, but I couldn't resist. Have a great weekend, and join me next week for special guests. The Blogger Book Fair is happening all week and I will have guests every day. We will have lots of virtual goodies for refreshments, and the authors participating in the Fair have some great giveaways. Hope you can make it.

Kids are so Creative

I wasn't going to blog today since I am so busy with the youth drama camp at the local art center, but we had such a terrific day today, I thought I would share a bit and show you one of the posters they created for the show. One of our volunteers who does graphic art added the header, show title and other info, but if the rest of it looks like a kid drew it, well, that's because a kid drew it. In addition to this poster, they made posters to thank all our sponsors, as well as other posters to let folks know about the show. Each one was unique and quite clever.

It has been so terrific to watch the kids use their imaginations to come up with scenes, lines, posters, costumes, set designs. There is a real creative energy that moves through the room and each thought ignites another. It can get pretty chaotic at times, and the camp leaders and I will sometimes have to just call for a moment of absolute silence so we can think. Young people are so much better at thinking in the midst of chaos than us older people. (smile)

This is going to be such a terrific show and I am so proud of all the kids.

Blogger Book Fair and Drama Camp

This is not going to be my usual Friday blog. For a lot of reasons. Number one is the Youth Drama Camp that has consumed my time all week, but it has been so much fun. Here is a picture of some of the kids practicing one of the songs for the musical written by the talented George Gagliardi, a Dallas singer/songwriter. It has been so exciting to see the creativity just flourish in these campers. They have helped write the music, the script, design the set, find costumes, and so much more.

The other reason, is we are having more company. We love having our kids come out to Grandma's Ranch, and it is always a good excuse for me to unconnect a bit, which I will do this weekend.

I also wanted to announce a fun event coming up in cyberspace on July 22 - the Blogger Book Fair. Apparently this event has taken place before, but this is the first year I heard about it, so I decided to sign up. Of course, I forgot that July was probably the worst month to try to add a lot of extra things to do as it is already a crazy-busy month. But I did sign up, so I will be having guests on my blog the week of July 22 thru the 26, and I will be somewhere in cyberspace on their blogs that week.

There are a lot of authors participating in this event and it is going to be great fun. Lots of great give-aways, too.

I wanted to put this badge on the sidebar of this blog, but Blogger changed some things again, and I can't seem to get the layout function to work so I can work on the sidebar. If anyone has any tips on what I need to do, I welcome them.

Drama Camp and More

This is the first week of the Summer Drama Camp at the Winnsboro Center for the arts, and since I am in charge of theatre events there, that means I will be there every day for the next two weeks. That won't leave much time for blogging, so I will schedule a few posts in advance, but otherwise I'll be taking a blogging break.

Before I go, however, I have to rant just a bit at Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboy Franchise for how they have responded to Josh Brent, who is charged with killing a teammate, Jerry Brown Jr. Brent, who is now in jail after failing two drug tests, is still on the Cowboy roster and still receiving his salary. How many ways is that wrong? 

Too many.

On the other side of the news coin is something good for fighting cancer. Since the introduction of the vaccine for human papillomavirus, there has been a 50% drop in infection rates among girls and young women in the U.S. The virus is a major contributor to the incidence of cervical cancer, so this is good news indeed.

The vaccine has been made available to women and young girls in Africa, thanks to the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative sponsored by a collaboration among the Susan G. Komen foundation, the George W. Bush Institute, the U.N. Programme on HIV/AIDS and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS relief. The initiative has provided life-saving treatment for more that 5 million women in developing countries.

How many ways is that right?

Now I will leave you with a joke.

Little girl:  "Why does your son say, 'Cluck, cluck, cluck?'"
Mother:    "Because he thinks he's a chicken."
Little girl:  "Why don't you tell him he's not a chicken?"
Mother:    "Because we need the eggs."

Summer Drama Camp

I'm back and glad to be back to my normal routine, although normal may start tomorrow and a nap may happen later today.

The two-week summer Drama Camp concluded this weekend with two performances, one Saturday evening and one Sunday afternoon. Then we had the cast party, followed by a quick meeting to debrief with all the camp leaders and make some plans for next year. Yes, we start thinking about next year right away.

Here are a few pictures from the show. We had some incredibly talented young people who did make-up and parents and grandparents who came up with amazing costumes.

L-R: Mother Nature, Pacha, Alligator and Tree

A Rapping Elephant and a Valley Girl Parrot

El Tigre and Elephant

Some of the Festival Kids

One of the biggest thrills for me during the camp was seeing some of the young people who have been with the Young Players for years who were able to step up to leadership roles as stage managers. Wow. For the first time in seven years, I did not have to be in the back herding kids on and off stage.

It was also so neat to see some of the more reluctant players really shine on stage. The young lady who played the tree had a real breakthrough in this production and played her role superbly.  She had some very funny lines that she delivered with great comedic timing and she was the most believable tree I have seen on stage. I had been working with her for years to get her to understand what "being in character" means, and the proverbial light-bulb went off during the camp. I am so proud of her.

I'm also so proud of the rest of the cast who all did such a great job. The audiences loved the show and there was a lot of magic in Winnsboro this weekend. Kudos to all the kids and the young man who led the camp and directed the show.

Friday's Odds and Ends

I decided to stay away from the news most of this week, therefore I have nothing snarky to say about anything going on in politics or otherwise. Kind of a nice change of pace for me, and certainly better for my blood pressure.

Most of this week was devoted to family. As I said Monday, we all usually gather for the Fourth of July out here in the country, and everyone came, except our middle son and his family. They were in Seattle on the Fourth and built a snowman on Mt. Rainer. How cool is that? I mean really. It was nice and cool for them while the rest of the nation has been sweltering. That family lives in Austin, so it was a real treat for the kids to play in the snow and throw snowballs at Dad and Mom.

Back home on the ranch, the rest of the kids, their spouses, and one grandson were here for the cook-out and fireworks. Some of them came early in the week, and almost everyone stayed until late in the day yesterday. It sure was fun having them all here.

We are in the one small section of East Texas that has had enough rain we are not in a drought zone. I'm sure that could change any time if we don't get rain soon, but we did manage to have a small fireworks show, which is what our son-in-law and one of our sons are usually in charge of. This year our grandson was invited to help them, and his mother said he had been waiting for years to be able to join the uncles in this yearly ritual.

Here are a few shots from this year.

This was one of those accidental shots that actually turned out pretty nice.

 

This was one of those close to the ground fireworks. The center got too bright to catch the detail

I liked this shot best. Looks like feathers.

This looks a little like confetti.

On Monday the annual Youth Drama Camp starts and runs for two weeks. I may not be posting much or even visiting the blog very often until after it is finished. The camp is all day, every day, with performances the final weekend. There is always a lot to do during the hours the kids are there, as well as later in the day and evening preparing for the performances, so that keeps me very busy.

On another note, my romantic suspense novel, One Small Victory, is one of  four finalists for Book of the Month at iBookBuzz.com. It was chosen by the book club membership out of all the submissions, and I was quite thrilled to be selected as a finalist. I am also very excited to see that the book is staying at the top in the number of votes. Voting is not restricted to members of the club, so if you would like to help me stay at the top, here is a link to vote.  Voting runs through July 17th.

Friday's Odds and Ends

This is the last day of drama camp. Wow, it has been an intense two weeks. We have had twenty-four campers ranging in age from six to thirteen, and they are a creative, energetic bunch. The good thing is that they have put together a great show in this short span of time, even though they have worn this old lady out.

I love working with kids and seeing them so excited about theatre and learning more about how to make a story and characters come to life on stage.

In lieu of my normal mini-rants on Fridays, I thought I would just share some links to some of the blogs I like to follow that have good content. First up is Mystery Writing is Murder - home of mystery author, Elizabeth Spann Craig. Wouldn't you know it. I just clicked over to her blog to discover she is "Gone Fishing" for a week and a half, but she left some links to some helpful posts for writers.

Another helpful blog for writers and readers is Straight From Hel by Helen Ginger. She has interviews with authors, book reviews, and insightful articles about the business of writing. 

I often check in with Elspeth Antonelli's blog It's A Mystery, where she does some amazing pictorial essays.

Terry Odell also shares pictures on her blog, Terry's Place, on Fridays with her Friday Field Trips. Often the photographs are from her son, Jason, who is a professional photographer, and he is featured today with pictures from the Badlands of South Dakota.

There are also a couple of blogs that I contribute to. The Blood Red Pencil focuses on writing and editing advice and information. Criminal Minds at Work is written by a group of mystery writers and the topics range from reviews to tips on forensics. All Day, All Night, Romance Diva's is written by a number of us who all share the same first name. Hence the reference to the song, "All day, all night, Maryann, down by the seaside sifting sand. The content here is heavily focused on things romantic, but there are also posts that cover industry standards and changes, and other things related to writing in general.

Monday Morning Musings

The summer drama camp for young players starts today at the Winnsboro Center for the Arts, so I will be incredibly busy for the next two weeks with the camp and for the show we will do at the end of the camp.But I'm not complaining, mind you. It's just an excuse to play for two weeks, and we will have a lot of fun.

I started doing this camp for kids about six or seven years ago, and we have had one every year since. It is always so much fun to work with young people and encourage them to explore their creativity. The purpose of the camp is to help kids be comfortable on stage and teach them elements of acting, staging, costumes, make up and more. I have worked with so many kids over the years, I have lost count of how many, but quite a few have stayed involved in productions at the center.

One young teen who started in the camp five years ago just sent me a message on Facebook, thanking me for helping him find his stage voice. I remember how hesitant he was to speak up when delivering lines, and now he is quite an accomplished actor, starring in his school's UIL one-act play last year.

This year I will be working with two young women, who both started with me as Young Players when they were in elementary school. One just finished her second year as a theatre major at Washington University in St. Louis, and the other just graduated from high school and will be going on to college to minor in theatrre. They will bring a new level of expertise to the camp, and I am so thrilled to be working with them.

The camp is very time intensive, both during the actual camp hours and preparing for the show in the evenings, so I will not have time for blogging. Thank goodness I can always borrow from my friends, Slim Randles and Tracy Farr, so I will be letting them entertain you most of the time for the next two weeks. Although I may blog from the camp if I have time, so stay tuned.