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September 18, 2005
Thank God I've Got a Day Off
It's not really. I have so much to do today. Laundry (so I have clothes next week); research for the study guide I'm putting together; a schedule to arrange and a gym to visit (though not very vigorously because I'm coughing up gunk and we really don't need to make this another bout of pneumonia).
Yesterday was exhausting. We had training workshops for Native Voices from 10-12:30 and from 1:30 to just after 5. By the end of it, I was so full of information I thought my head was going to explode. It was like the time Dave and I attended the daVinci exhibit in Victoria, B.C. and I discovered in room 4 that there really is only so much a person can stuff into their head in a day.
(For those of you who know me well, you will probably not be surprised to learn that I am one of the world's slowest museum visitors. I read everything. I spend a long time thinking about what I've read and observing the items to hand to consider how my new knowledge changes my understanding and responses to the item. I also look carefully at every little detail because I don't want to miss anything that I might need to know. Dave, understandably, hates visiting museums and galleries with me.)
I am, however, feeling really confident about this project. Tom Kellogg, the guy who runs it, been doing this very thing for ten+ years, and the whole time he has been observing and thinking and refining and exploring until he has created a really effective and specific process for getting kids to write plays. I know it's effective because I (and several other people in the training) feel like I know more about how to create character and what a crisis is, and how to create an effective one, than I ever felt before, even after the fantastic playwriting class I had last fall.
I am really excited about getting to work with the kids. I'm also thrilled that this turns out to be the first year of a two-year project. During the next two years, they hope to be able to find/develop the funding to continue it. I hope they can, because I expect it will really make a difference in these kids' lives. And if we change their view of themselves and the world, even a little, how many other lives will we touch through them?
It's the kind of work I've wanted to do for years. I can't believe I had to come to Idaho to get the chance.
Posted by sally at September 18, 2005 09:54 AM
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