Goodwill Happenings!

Goodwill is a good friend.

We all have days where our day-job seemingly drains the life out of us;"The Voice" makes us feel like we'll never be worth our salt as musicians; an empty inbox feels like all employers everywhere  have us blacklisted; the apartment search is beginning to feel a lot like the search for the Loch Ness Monster.

Those days are common. But Goodwill will always be there to make our day a little better with somebody's discarded sweater.

I made one good find today, and my wonderful friend Sarah made the other, (but she found it for me. besties forever.)

1. This Hoodie:

-hood that covers entirety of large head

-gorgeous color green

-says "University Paris" on it....about which I feel 90% guilty and 10% pleased as pie.

-has pockets that are NOT THE AWKWARD HUGE FRONT POCKET THING! Seriously. worst fashion choice ever, that front pocket idea.






2. Lovely 2nd Hand Jane Eyre

-it's pretty

-it's old

-the pages smell GLORIOUS

-I <3 Jane Eyre so much

-I collect Jane Eyres! So, (cough, cough!) if ever you should need a home for your copy of Jane Eyre, send her my way :D







Thank you Goodwill; for making my day a little brighter with reminders of things I love :)

-Gin

(old) Sunday Post!

(So this post clearly got lost somehow, thus the mention of it being 'sunday'! I'm posting it anyway!)

Sunday is my designated day off; but of late, even sundays have tended to fill up quickly. So today I am happily un-scheduled all day long :) Chocolati in Wallingford seemed like a good choice.

It's an iron-grey type of day: my favorite. Fall is at a leisurely approach which is fine by me. Everyone else is blogging about the joys of Fall (MY FAVORITE SEASON) so I'm going to focus on sharing the latest and greatest regarding my projects.

I'm still in a hard-core idea phase for the most part, thanks to my full work/internship schedule. It's always nice to be able to have this time to plan, however. Most of the time my "process" involves coming up with an idea, executing it, and then having no desire to have another go at it, so this has been an excellent exercise for me in patience and planning ahead.

Here's what's up (musically):
-"Stadium Tide" is getting a lyrical 'once-over' just to make sure everything feels right to me. I don't know about you, but I can tell when a phrase isn't quite right. I can't always tell what the right phrase is though, so I tend to work backwards, trying this, trying that, until I come up with just the right lyric and eventually, song.

-I've begun plans for Christmas!! Never too early for ME to start planning. What I'd like to do is write a small (maybe 5-song) Christmas Album featuring just my voice with a piano. Trying to keep it very classy and timeless. I've begun asking friends and family what is included in their ideal Christmas song and I would love to hear from YOU as well!

Feel free to leave a comment with some of the things you would want to hear in a song while sitting by a fire sipping a Hot Toddy :)

In other news, I'm adding my full-length play "Gadfly" to the list of writing materials in need of refurbishment. It's time to take another look under the hood; I think it deserves to be in the best shape possible! The list now includes:
-"Gadfly" (a play) (This rewrite is now finished!!)
-"Turn" (a novel)
-"Out of the Sandbox" (a short musical)

Paralysis

It's always been the case that I get the most done, artistically, late at night....right at that sweet point where my body is exhausted but my mind is firing on all cylinders. It's as if my brain literally paralyses my body so that it can't interfere with the work being done.

I spent my weekend in two parts: during the day I walked around or I journaled or I drank hot beverages or I skyped with a friend; all the things that keep my body busy...not too busy...but occupied;

When night approached I started off by listening to music; then as the music inspired me, I gazed endlessly at Pinterest; finally I pulled up "Gadfly" and wrote....and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote. And I did this until I couldn't keep my eyes open, which was about three A.M. every night. Thankfully, it being the weekend, I could afford to sleep in the next day.

Well it's paid off because now I have a "working-final-draft" ready to be perused by my peers, acknowledged by my elders, and spat upon by any who should choose to do so.

I'm hoping to have a reading of it soon, and then....perhaps I'll send it out into the world and see if anyone wants to adopt and produce it :)

11 Questions Answered

A friend on Facebook posted this article and I love it! Read it first and get familiar with the questions and I'm going to go ahead and answer the questions for all to see:

1. Do the people I'm surrounded by bring me life?
Yes. Absolutely. My siblings, who all live nearby, are four of the most creative people I know, and all of them are actively pursuing their creative endeavors.

Older photo...and missing Patrick :(

 A couple of my best friends live here now as well, and they have always been great about keeping me actively engaged and thinking creatively. Beyond the immediates, I also have out-of-this-world friends spread throughout the country. Some of them keep me updated on their projects, others just stay connected and keep me going :)












2. Who inspires me the most?
Jane Eyre definitely comes to mind. There's a woman who knew solitude intimately, underwent bad treatment, unfair circumstances,  and utter heartbreak. I could go on and on about Jane (I wrote several papers on her in high school and college) but I'll just leave it at this: anyone who tries their hand at picking themselves up and living their life like she does is fine by me.








3. What are my favorite stories?
The article asks for top three movies so here they are (in no particular order): 
'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'; 'The Village'; 'Equilibrium'

4. Would I want to live with me?
Yes? Yes. I'm pretty sure that I am a great person to live with....because even if I'm in a pissy mood, I'll just shut myself in my room and that's a pretty clear signal right??

5. Do I love from my insecurities or do I love from my strengths?
Love from my strengths definitely....however it has the effect of pushing my insecurities away so I don't look at them for months at a time.

6. Where am I ripe with talent and where do I quickly deflate?
Talents: being helpful, singing in harmony, reading a lot, taking initiative with people.

Non-Talents: moving to new cities, baking/cooking, introducing myself to new people, re-writes.

7. What are my favorite hobbies/things I do for fun, and are they something I can leverage into a career or product?
Singing/writing songs, creating entire productions, collaborating with other creative peoples: HECK YES I CAN MAKE A CAREER OF THAT!




8. What’s the main thing holding me back?
Fear of new things/people/places; emotional highs and lows.

9. What are my negotiables and non-negotiables?
At this point I'd love to not have to make more than two major moves for the next ten years....but I suppose that might close the door on potential opportunities....most of what I want is negotiable :)  

10. What breaks my heart?
Watching people I love get hurt when they don't need to be.





11. At 29 years and 364 days, if I have accomplished just one thing, what do I want it to be?
Marry the love of my life.

Bitter–Sweet

Yesterday I experienced some bitter disappointment....

I woke up and remembered that it was the day! September 12th! The day Jasper Fforde was going to be at University Bookstore to do a reading and signing of books!!!!!!

I put this in my calendar back in June and decided it would be a belated birthday present to myself to go and have my copy of "Eyre Affair" signed by Fforde.

I quickly realized that I would not be able to make it to the 7 P.M. signing because I would have already been in tech rehearsal for an hour and half by then and would continue there for another four hours.

Long story short, I had a brief hope that a friend could take the book for me and get it signed but that was not to be either.....

The good news is, the bitter taste in my mouth is gone, replaced with the sweet knowledge that I have chosen the unique career where I will be busy until midnight some nights, yes, but it will be doing something I believe it 100%, usually with people I can respect and certainly learn something from.

So, Jasper, next time you better be ready for me because I will be even more ready than I was this morning at 7 A.M. when I still thought I was going; I'm going to have questions, comments, and all sorts of anecdotes :)

Here's to a lovely weekend for all you folks who take weekends off AND the rest of us!
Gin

A Mother's Storm

It looks like, for now, I'll be writing most of my posts around midnight thanks to my schedule. Five hour rehearsals in the evening will do that to ya :)

During tonight's rehearsal, I heard some lovely words from one of the more experienced cast members during a ten minute break. A few of us were milling about the coffee station (as is customary) and there was some conversation taking place regarding family. The afore-mentioned cast member said something along the lines of: I, as a parent, want my children to grow up independent and able to fend for themselves, but I also want desperately for them to be taken care of in any way I can manage.

I was so happy to hear a mother talking about this because it's the subject of one of the songs on my upcoming album "Stadium Tide." It's from the point of view of a mother who essentially is of two minds regarding her child, as I believe most mothers are.

It's a concept I've explored though certainly never experienced first-hand, except to be on the receiving side. I got the idea from my own Mum who is always encouraging me, always generous, and always teaching me how to fend for myself. I can't wait to be a mother one day, and as I wrote this song I realized it's very personal. It's for my future child. It's for my Mum and all the mums that are fighting a daily inner struggle with their two greatest hopes regarding their children; that their child would be safe and that their child would know danger.

After the little gift of hearing the woman in rehearsal this evening, I decided to change the title of the song from its working title "Stay" to something more appropriate: "A Mother's Storm"

I can't wait to share the song with you, but it will have to wait until the entire album is complete...which will probably have to wait until this internship is done :P

Until midnight tomorrow,
Gin

Strange Assortments

HA! I amuse myself greatly sometimes. The one-post-a-day rule lasted exactly for one day. We'll just take this as it comes eh? This will be a short post.

Today was my birthday. It was close to a perfect day for me. I had a long conversation with my parents over skype while eating waffles, during which time I laughed a lot and yelled about my life a lot; after that I hung out with a friend at a chocolate-joint where I drank copious amounts of thick hot chocolate; then I met brand new people who were so lovely; then I hung out by myself at a coffee shop while surfing the interwebs; then I had a two hour conversation with one of my best friends on the phone; then I had dinner with siblings; and finally drinks with so many friends who I never expected to have in the same room together.

It was a perfectly simple, elegent, lovely, wonderful day.

The main thing I want to point out is the last part of the day where I had drinks with people I love. It included family, college friends, new friends, and BRAND new friends! I've never been so happy to have several worlds collide. It was truly special.

My advice to you is this: no matter how many homes you start over with, no matter how many times you have to say goodbye: always be ready to say hello in the strangest places and with the strangest assortment of people! It's utterly worth it.

Love,
Gin

Care to be Inspired?

I miss having that once-a-day rule that was in place for my summer in NYC. Now that I'm in Seattle, I figure I'm on just as big of an adventure; this time with even more reason to give myself a daily task to put myself out there and keep creatively active.

Coffee in NYC (2012)

Coffee in Seattle (2013)

So we'll see how it goes but HERE WE GO ON POSTING EVERY DAY! 

Today is one of my only days off for the next two weeks so I let myself sleep in but then I pulled myself out of the house, walked myself down the street to Blue Dog Kitchen (my absolute favorite breakfast joint in seattle) and plopped myself down with coffee and a french toast, ready to do whatever needed doing creatively.

You see, I have a job now which keeps me busy all the time and makes me feel like a semi-grown-up human being. When I'm not cleaning houses, however, I find it tempting to sleep all day; but if you're like me, then sleeping all day actually makes everything worse in life. So I have to make an extra effort to assess my creative abilities, push them further, and just continue to make and create wherever I find time.

Once I'm ensconced in a cozy coffee-joint, with said-beverage in hand, I usually travel along the same pathway which I am going to share with you today! This list never fails to bring inspiration or remind me of a project I've always wanted to work on/complete:


1. Check Blogs: 
            I follow a very select few authors, artists, and collaborative-peers. Check out my favorites here, here, and HERE.


2. PINTEREST!!!
            I'm addicted. Like many. If YOU are a pinteresting person, you should definitely follow me because I guarantee I am updating all the time, and I have all sorts of boards to satisfy your aesthetic self :)

3. Filed Away Ideas:
            I keep a LOADED file of so, so, so many snippets on my computer. Snippets of songs, stories, poems. Now, most of these remain unfinished, and sometimes, untouched after the first initial idea-phase. That's why I love to come back and scroll through them; there's almost always something that sparks my inspiration.
(If you want to see SOME of these snippets, I have another blog entirely devoted to them!)

Honestly, if you're like me then these three steps will be more than enough to fill an entire morning or afternoon with fun and inspiration!

However, if you need more inspiration here you go:

-Listen to an entire album on spotify. Get the full story of the music as it was meant to be told.

-Check out some of the artists on SoundCloud! I'm on there! 

-Get coffee/tea with another human being! Get some good, solid conversation going and see where it leads. I love sitting down with one of my sisters, or my best friend Sarah, or calling someone on the phone like my ever-creative friend Stephanie. 

Hope this gets your creative juices flowing! And if you ever want a second opinion, I am in the business of collaboration so do not hesitate to contact me.
See you around,
Gin

Personal Creations

I'm in a situation I have not found myself in before: my main obligation right now is to make money to be ready to start making payments on student loans! It may sound depressing, but for me it's a very nice thing to only concentrate on....

....in order to balance work that is not my passion, I've decided to turn my attention back to projects that were put aside in the name of priorities. So here's what I'll be working over the next bit of time:

1. Album- "Stadium Tide"
2. Novel- "Turn"
3. Play- revamp of "Into the Sandbox"

The album is music I meant to release earlier in the year, but never quite got the recordings I wanted. I've decided to come at it with fresh awareness and insight. I already love the music and can't wait to finish it all!

The novel is obviously the story line of "Turn", but i've once again discovered anew what the story is. I've decided to attack it in the form of a novel instead of a screenplay. I'm enjoying what I've come up with so far.

Finally we have my baby "Out of the Sandbox". My directing internship this summer has taught me many important things that I can't wait to try out for myself...one way I've decided to put my new-found knowledge to work is by approaching 'Ootsb' with a better mind for story and characterization, (and also refining the musical aspects.) I'm excited to see where this piece ends up.

So that's what I'll be working on! I'm so excited to get started on these projects.
-G