Wasted is a duo of ladies from my hometown of Muscatine, Iowa who get sad at the thought of old furniture wasting away in landfills and garbage dumps. So they refurbish, recycle and reinvent old throw aways–like they are literally trolling the alleys and street corners of Muscatine for their next diamond in the rough. They do great work and display much of it in the empty storefront next to Baar on 2nd. Like them on Facebook. look at the photos, and claim your treasure. I bought this mirror!
When I lived in Minneapolis, I was very involved at a wonderful place called The Playwrights’ Center whose mission is to champion playwrights and new plays in order to build upon a living theater that demands new and innovative works. One of the many opportunities they provide for playwrights is what is called the One-on-One with a Dramaturg. Mostly used by amateur writers, this program matches a playwright with a dramaturg who will read their play and offer feedback twice during the writing process. Participating in this program allows me the opportunity to meet new writers and continue to exercise my dramaturgical skills.
On Day 277 I had a great phone meeting with the playwright I am currently paired. We really understood one another, and I felt like I really understood where she wanted her play to go. We talked through all of my notes and all of her questions ending the conversation on such a positive note. She has a workshop she is writing toward, which is all the more motivating for her, and we have plans to speak again once that is complete. I just love positive collaboration and believe fully that criticism can be positive if communicated effectively, which, in this situation, is always with the goals of the play in mind. I cannot wait to read the next draft and continue this great relationship!
FarrOut is an app I discovered through friends on Instagram. It allows you to use the artwork of Kristin Farr, a San Francisco painter/sculptor who creates these colorful, graphic patterns and shapes. With the app, you can layer a selection of her designs/paintings on your own photos and them post them to Instagram. They are light-hearted and fun images that add pizazz to any picture. I took a photo from our recent camping trip to Northern Michigan and added in the storm that disrupted our sleep on the second night. One friend braved the storm in his one-man tent–he’s the one with the sign in the back…
I was simply out for a chat and drink with some girlfriends. We were together maybe two hours? When we picked up our phones at the end of our evening, we found we had almost 200 text messages each (191 to be exact). Our friends had been on a group text craze. As I attempted to catch up, they just kept going, sending my iPhone into a scrolling frenzy. When I was finally able to read them all, I was sent into a fit of laughter. These are just a couple of texts that reference how many texts there are…
year of fun 