See Jane Run

I have a book that I try to read about once a year. It's my favorite book of all time so far, and it's been a good friend during significant changes in my life. So of course I started reading it on the plane from Jackson! "Jane Eyre" has lots of qualities about it that I love, and I used to want to be JUST LIKE the main character. This time around, as I read her thoughts and reactions to the world around her, I find myself glad not to be quite like Jane. I'm much too dependent on people to ever be capable of the decisions she makes. On the other hand, I applaud her bravery at new things.

So keeping with the theme of "Jane", I ordered a mocha frap today before class, having arrived an hour and half early, and when I said my name the Barista replied "Janeen?" at which I shrugged and said "yeah." 

A minute later a mocha frap appeared on the counter bearing the name "Jane." Also I could have sworn the gal looked at it and called out "Hugh?" I was rather happy with this new name....Jane that is...although Hugh is also a fine name...so many great Hughs out there.....Jackman. Dancy. Grant. Laurie...ahem! So:

I sipped my mocha on a bench in Madison Square Park, which is just near Stella, and fast becoming my favorite outdoor spot.

During this free time I sketched the view of the trees and a building which is, no doubt famous, but I am unaware of its import.

Also, my classes went quite well...today I had Adler Technique with this guy:

Script Analysis with this woman:

....and Shakespeare. I did not draw that teacher. But I've been assigned a scene partner and scene from Twelfth Night! 

Additionally, my technique teacher scared the you-know-what out of us yesterday, "encouraging" us to have a pocket dictionary by class today...OR ELSE!!!

Needless to say I high-tailed it to the nearest book store the same day, and brought it in to class today. I mean, honestly, everyone should have a pocket dictionary! Can't believe I didn't have one till now....

So next time you wanna "See Jane run", either tempt me with a mocha frappuccino, or threaten me with the ghost of Stella Adler :o

Sincerely,

Jane/Janeen/Hugh

Basketball for Dummies and Actors

Today I was reminded, yet again, of how valuable my high school basketball career is to my theatre life.

In "movement class" we worked out for an hour. We're talking cardio people! Had my life progressed differently, I probably would have run out of the room half-way through the grand-pliés, screaming "I'VE NEVER TAKEN BALLEEEEET!"

Actually, had my life progressed differently, I probably never would have come here in the first place! So hurray for older sisters who guilt-trip you into joining the team with them (hem hem, Mal)! Just kidding. It wasn't a guilt-trip...but she definitely pushed me.

And speaking of pushing, did I mention the workout I had today?? Alright, alright, you get the point. The thing is, at the end of class, I was so excited! The second hour was improvisation. I was not worn out, I was re-energized, and I couldn't wait for the next class.

This unprecedented rush of will-power lasted through my second class, (Adler Technique, more on that in later posts!), spurred me toward Central Park where I was on a mission to find Alice. She was not hard to find, not with happy children climbing all over, and the White Rabbit and Mad Hatter close at hand.

Now this statue has special meaning to me for two reasons:
1. In my mind, this is the sister sculpture to another very special statue. New York has Central Park, the home of Alice, and London has Kensington Gardens, the true home of Peter Pan. I love them both dearly.
2. One of my best friends who lived in New York for two years bade me ESPECIALLY to go say hello to Alice. So I have :)

In conclusion, let me share some ways basketball is the best training an actor can get:
-teaches selfless teamwork
(something most actors never get taught, but COULD land them a job!)

-requires self discipline both physically and mentally
(no brainer)

-forces you to become aware of your body, the space around you, and your teammates
(some of us actors have a natural inclination to not remember that we have feet)

-you have a clear objective, but there are multiple ways of getting there...and most of the time your best bet is the assist!
(objective is always present in an actor's training, and so are the many techniques available...but what we often miss out on, is the importance of making your scene partner/s look good...this in turn makes you look awesome!)

That's all folks.
-G to the H

STELLAAAAAA!!!

After Orientation today, my group was told we would not be having our first class because our teacher was not there. We'll make up that class another time.

In the two hours of free time that I was suddenly given, I ate lunch with a new friend from GROUP E...and then I got to meet up with Annie for about an hour! We continue to be tickled at the mere sight of each other! 

This was sketched during my lunch with my new friend.

So my only class for the day was "Voice and Speech". Led by a youngish man who seems to take the subject seriously based on his booming and articulate voice! 

After learning all sixteen of our names after one round, he said I am the first Ginny he's ever had in a class, and decided to call me Doc instead thanks to my surname! First time someone has so quickly made the Tombstone connection. I'm proud to bear the nickname! 

We spent the majority of the class lying on our backs, going through an exercise that any actor will recognize...this time it was called "releasing the muscles", although I've also undergone the process as a "relaxation exercise". In this case we were given strict instructions NOT to fall asleep if possible. It got hard after the first ten minutes! 

For those of you who don't know, basically the teacher talks us through a mental/physical release of our entire body, starting at the feet, and SLOWLY working our way up to the top of our head. This particular exercise utilized the imagery of a green light that "scanned" our bodies. 

After class I decided to walk along 5th avenue to try and increase my knowledge of the area. I made a fashion discovery which is pictured above....EVERY man I passed wore this outfit....every corporate man that is! 

Happily, on my walk, I passed the New York Public Library! I had wanted to go there eventually and since I had the time I decided there was no time like the present. I made a brief tour of it, checking into most of the halls and certainly the two main rooms. I stayed long enough to say hello to William Faulkner (for you John!) and of course, the Bronte sisters (for me AND you Sarah!)

This lady had a fellow librarian, but I felt compelled to sketch this woman's grandiose eye-ware! They sat in the Rotunda of the Library. 

I have to admit, the first thing I thought of when I saw the Library was the movie "Day After Tomorrow"...my ill-bred curiosity led me to find the pay-phone booths within that feature in the movie! But enough of my questionable taste in movies.

I've decided to make my walk a tradition and see something every day after classes. Tomorrow perhaps I'll finally make it to Central Park!

Salut,

Ginny

Remember? Look!

Today I got to enjoy a small-town Memorial Day festival and parade! It was a classic American afternoon filled with hotdogs, frozen treats, old fire trucks and a silent auction. What a lovely way to remember past and present sacrifice, and to celebrate the freedom those people have won for us.

TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY! Orientation at 10, and classes start after that! I'll have Scene study and Voice&Speech. So from here on out, things should get very interesting :)

I apologize for STILL not having pictures to upload. Hopefully in the next couple of days I'll have the proper equipment to share photos!

In the meanwhile, here's me wishing you all a lovely Memorial Day!

G.H. signing off

It's a City :o

Today I made the grand trek into the City of Cities....
Much to my pleasure, my first impression of the Big Apple is that it is quite like other big cities. I'm sure I'll eat my words in a week's time or so, but for now, it does my heart good to find out that New York City is NOT, in fact, the Mothership. It's bigger than some cities, and there are more languages and ethnicities represented than in many a large city (which actually makes me feel kind of at home!), but mostly it's just another city.
Go figure!

Actually, so far Manhattan seems WAY easier to navigate than Seattle, London, or Paris; Now I'll take a moment to let the entire West Coast curse me, the Londoners shrug indifferently, and the Parisians feel a slight shiver accompanied by the thought that there may indeed be another world outside their boarders...

I had lunch near Times Square with one of the most lovely people in the world, my friend Annie. It was only for a couple of hours, but I know I desperately needed a familiar face in all this New and Unknown.

Times Square? It had nothing on Annie :) Okay, theatre-friends-of-mine, stop moaning and groaning, I promise I will be a better person in another day or so, at which time I will sing the praises of the Artistic Center of America! Honestly, I didn't stay long enough to look at anything closely...

I did take a few choice pictures, but I can't put them on my computer quite yet! A good friend has incredibly generously allowed me the use of his camera for the duration of the summer, but I, of course, overlooked the need for a card-reader! So until I locate one, you all may have to put up with my indubitable descriptive abilities :)


My love to all of you who care about me enough to read these posts!
More tomorrow after I attend a memorial-day parade in South Salem....Crucible anyone???



Oh, oh, and my hostess, who is re-writing a history of the town, tells me she discovered that Christopher Reeve's wife Dana went to school with her children; Jon Voight (Angelina Jolie's dad) is from here; and Scotty Fitzgerald (F. Scott's daughter) lived here....also the infamous Bugsy Siegel :o



-Ginny-In-The-Sky-With-Gangsters

The Arrival

I have arrived in New York. I'm staying in Scarsdale, a lovely town thirty minutes outside of Manhattan. The wonderful lady housing me is like something out of "Windy Poplars". She's an old wrinkly thing, who handles the roads of the city like a true New Yorker...or so I gathered from her calm swerving about to avoid the other cars swerving about, all while explaining her family history at my request.

My room is about ten by ten feet; Perfectly quaint. There is one window. The walls are papered with yellow-rose patterns. There is a framed etching on the wall of two kittens playing. A tiny mirror like the one Mary Poppins deems unworthy of gazing on her grand visage. I think this mirror will do nicely for me :)

My hostess tells me it will get sweltering up here...which I well believe, if it's anything like living in the top apartment in Germany! Therefore, there is an old table fan that I've set up in front of the window, in the hopes of coaxing in some cooler air.

My orientation is not for another three days. In the meanwhile I'll be going places with my Hostess, testing out the public transportation into the city, and just trying to prepare my mind for an exciting summer!

-Girl in the Top Yellow Room

Osage!

Just a quick post before I head to bed, because this is very exciting:

I will be helping backstage for the tech and run of one of the conservatory's productions; August Osage County!!!!

I am so excited I can't even wait! This play means a lot to me; besides the fact that it is simply a wonderfully written play, it also has played a significant role in my classroom experience while in College.

So that's all for tonight
-G.E.H.

Come and get'em!

Of late, I've been handing out goodbyes like free macaroons. Thankfully all have been sweet. The sour may not hit till I'm sitting on a bed in New York, by myself, reflecting on the many people in my life that have been so key to my growing and general existence.

In the meanwhile, I'm packing, gathering supplies for the summer, and just being very ready to get going!

I've received my daily schedule while at Stella, and I'm very excited! Looks like I have between two and three classes each day. I'm not sure yet how much time outside of class will be spent on projects or workshops etc...

That's really all the news I have...oh and the lovely people I'm staying with this summer are picking me up from the airport which is rather nice, since I wasn't terribly excited to finagle the train as soon as I arrived.

-Ginny

What is an artist?

I have a friend. He's one of the most generous people I have met in my short life. He is an artist in the purest and most visceral sense of the word, (visceral being one of his favorite words alongside spaghetti, banana, objective, and truth). I received a gift from this artist friend of mine a few months ago. "What is Art" by Leo Tolstoy. I plan to read one chapter a day every few days or so and hopefully stretch it throughout the summer.

The other day I came across a passage that made me laugh out loud. It describes several types of artists and how they spend their whole lives trying to perfect their crafts:

"And these people, often very kind, intelligent, capable
of every sort of useful labour, grow wild in these exceptional,
stupefying occupations and become dull to all serious phenomena
of life, one-sided and self-complacent specialists, knowing only
how to twirl their legs, tongues or fingers."

This is how I see myself. Utterly foolish, yet utterly correct in my chosen occupation. In fact, the less a choice makes sense, the more likely I am to make it. There are exceptions, certainly...otherwise I suppose I really would be living in a cardboard box right about now; but my life so far could not possibly have been planned by any sane, rational human being :) Instead I can only look back, in retrospect, and see an extremely well-worn road, weaving through life deftly and poignantly. Heaven knows I had no idea where I was going at the time, but I'm happy to have let the path lead me along!

Six more days.
-Gin

The Letter "E"

I can't help it, I have to start posting now! Today is Saturday, which is a week from the day I get on a plane, so I figure it's an appropriate starting point for this blog.

So, turns out it's not a hoax, I really am enrolled. I am one of 128 students in the summer program. I've been narrowed down into a smaller group which is hereafter forever labeled "E".

A good letter. A strong letter. One that would make any person proud to have it as the first letter of their middle name.

Anywho, I read the email late last night, went to sleep, and promptly proceeded to have a long epic dream involving missing all my orientations, not finding my group, being hated and ostracized for forgetting everything...the usual mind games.

Funnily enough, everything took place in a castle. I think my subconscious is hoping we're taking a ten-week intensive at Hogwarts. Sorry SubCon.
(I will hereafter blame all irrational thoughts, stupid decisions, and mistakes in general on my newly created imaginary personality SubCon.)


Well, I suppose I can't really avoid bad dreams; but no harm done. On the bright side, I made two significant investments yesterday:

A pair of dark green sunglasses for the searing New York Sun. Aaaand......

Shoes that are NOT dying a slow and painful death. These handy-dandy-sandals (how's that for illiteration!) will probably be my best friends this summer as they serve the dual purpose of walking shoes and self-esteem-booster-shoes!

Now, I have to confess, I had grand plans for this blog involving daily poetry inspirations...and stuff. But that's just not gonna happen.

Instead, I am apparently naming imaginary friends, setting the theme of the letter "E", interpreting my nightmares, and in general, freaking out about sunglasses and shoes.

The truth is, I am still mildly terrified of this adventure upon which I am about to embark. And these are the things that keep me sane. It's helping not to take myself TOO seriously. Don't worry, the next post (hopefully) won't be nearly as silly.

So here I come New York City! I've got my sunglasses, my shoes, a deep-rooted fear of not belonging, and quite a lot of people loving me along!

Okay, I'm sorry, I couldn't resist: what is the correlation between an apple and the letter "E"??

Gin out.