Hello!
If you didn’t know, my name is Tim. I’m quarantined at home in South Dakota with my parents, one of my brothers, a needy elderly cat, and an aging golden retriever.
I’ve spent the past twelve years as an actor in the theatre (mostly Shakespeare). I read a lot. I write a bit. Dazzled Gratitude is a way of collecting and sharing my delights.
Here we go.
Via @tzoumio on Twitter: The ancient theatre in Epidavros, Peloponnese, Greece.
ON MAKING STUFF (AND THE INSPIRATION AND DISCIPLINE INVOLVED)
Everyone is in varying states of creative input/output. I’ve felt, lately, that I’m in a position to make stuff, to take on more projects. My quarantine situation is extremely privileged. This may not be your case, and that’s fine. I hope you and your loved ones are safe.
For those who’ve felt a funky creative restlessness lately, this may help. I offer two things:
Return to a state of play. Much of my brainstorming and thinking about making stuff is fraught with worry about reception and production. I spin my wheels thinking about all the things I can do instead of doing them. So, I aim to engage more deeply with whatever it is I am doing (watching, writing, tinkering, playing Animal Crossing). Perhaps, I may end up sharing these things. Perhaps not. It’s fine. The flow and the play is key. When that happens, time slips away and the self-conscious editing/judging is gone. It’s lovely.
Show up. I’ve stumbled into a routine with two activities, and I’m amazed at the results and the flow that comes from forcing myself to show up. No matter the mood, I’ve been able to do practice yoga and journal on a regular basis. Unroll the mat and put your feet on it. Open the journal and put the pen on it. And do it whether you feel like it or not.
“You can’t be ambitious right now. The best you can do is get some work done.”
-a friend on Twitter, quoting their friend
I started this quarantine with one major goal: do yoga regularly. I finished Yoga with Adriene’s 30-Day “Home” Journey (free!). I highly recommend her channel (and more on her later). It took me 60 days to do this particular journey. But I still did it! And I’ve since renewed my subscription to Glo.com (not free, but worth it if you use it).
A little later, I stumbled upon The Isolation Journals. It began in April as a 30-day journaling program. Every day you receive a prompt in your email (from a different writer, covering all kinds of topics). I’ve done versions of Morning Pages off and on for some time, but I (generally) enjoy the focus of a daily prompt rather than just spilling the same groans over and over again. The project aims to go for 100 days. So if you’re interested, take the leap; as of this writing, we’re on Day 46. I highly recommend it.
And then I listened to a great episode from Slate’s Working podcast. Here’s a bit of a transcript from it:
“…in the early 20th century, there was this Russian theater director of Yevgeny Vakhtangov. And he said this thing, today’s rehearsal is not for its own sake, but for the sake of tomorrow’s. And he has like a much less penetrable quote where he explains what he means by that. But what he meant was like, you do the work that you do in order to become inspired, because inspiration is actually the subconscious processing work you’ve already done. And then you use that to do the next amount of work that you do, which then creates the next subconscious round of inspiration. So it’s not you get inspired and then work, it’s that you work and that causes inspiration.”
I love this.
If you’re hankering to learn a new skill, or work up a project—no matter the scale—be kind to yourself. Show up to the task. Then play.
From Chris Lowell’s instagram account
RECENT DELIGHTS
Stephen Sondheim’s 90th Birthday Party was just what I needed (I wanna watch it again). I loved it. I even loved the technical hiccups. It felt like I was in a large crowd of funny, grumbling fans. This Vulture piece explores how the thing came together (it’s a riot).
This Yoga with Adriene profile on Vox. I loved this bit:
“It’s not my personality to be like, ‘I’m the expert here,’” Adriene says. “I’ve tried to steer clear of the, ‘I’m the leader and the guru,’ and create more of a peer-to-peer relationship. I’ve definitely always tried to position myself as the friend.
Adriene owes her guiding philosophy not necessarily to her training as a yoga teacher, but to her training as an actor in an ensemble.
These Spicy-Sweet Sambal Pork Noodles from Bon Appetite
A Dandy’s Guide to Decadent Self-Isolation by Samuel Rutter. On decorating:
White walls are out; rooms draped in scarlet tapestries are in. If you’re thinking of giving your apartment a lick of paint, or exploring the possibility of a feature wall, the first chapter of Against Nature will help you choose a decadent color: stay away from all shades of purple (except plum) because they lose their luster in candlelight. In fact, your guiding principle should be to always select colors that “appear stronger and clearer in artificial light.” If you, or someone you live with, is best described as a “gaunt, febrile creature of feeble constitution” then Des Esseintes urges you to resist the temptation of the “most morbid and irritating of colours,” orange—it flares up to an unflattering fiery nasturtium-red by lamplight.
Author Ben Myers has a list of “Writing Tips They Never Teach You.” Here are some:
People who tell you to grow up have lost their ability to fantasise or play.
Steal and be stolen.
Watch Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo. Your book is the boat. You are Klaus Kinski. You're covered in mud and everyone hates you. Now push.
Turning up is half the battle.
Move into a different room and drink a large glass of water.
PODCASTS
Three Bon Appetite interviews on Slate’s Working podcast: (Molly, Rhoda, and Adam). These are around a year old. But they’re still fascinating looks at the many different jobs involved with the Bon Appetite “empire.”
WTF with Marc Maron—interview with Cate Blanchett. She is a riot in this interview (and I believe is notorious for not doing much press). She gives a much more mischievous, gregarious impression than I had of her (for whatever reason).
The latest batch of Slate’s Working podcast episodes. (I mentioned this one earlier.) I’m obsessed with it. Three hosts interview a variety of creative professionals. Each one is fascinating, whether you have knowledge about those interviewed or their respective careers, or not.
Sugar Calling. Cheryl Strayed (author of Wild, columnist for Dear Sugar, among other things) calls up writers and chats about their lives in the quarantine. It starts off with George Saunders and jumps to Margaret Atwood, Amy Tan, Billy Collins, and others. It’s so good.
Speaking of George Saunders…this next thing isn’t a podcast, but it feels like a good segue. He recently sent a newsletter (which only happens a few times a year), and it was such a treat to find it in my inbox one morning. I am a mega fan of his. And I don’t think you need to be one to appreciate his letter. After that check out his books.
OTHER THINGS I’M LISTENING TO
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s “Reunions” album (out yesterday!)
Maurice Ravel
Sondheim (Pacific Overtures, Follies, and Sweeney Todd)
I’VE BEEN WATCHING
Jane Eyre (presented by the National Theatre at Home program)
I sorely wish this was still available to watch. It was absolutely riveting—a perfect, swirling mix of excellent acting, design, movement, music. The company devised this in only 8 weeks—without a script. (I’m sure a lot of tinkering occurred between the end of those initial 8 weeks and the performance that was captured on film. STILL!) For some inexplicable reason, I started to get teary and goosebumpy during what I will call the train traveling groove bits. It’s the same sensation I get when I witness excellent drum corps on the field: An ensemble achieving something at such a grand, precise level.
Here’s a link to the the music of the train groove (the cast “returned” to recreate it to promote the screening that none of you can witness for the moment. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry): https://www.facebook.com/nationaltheatre/posts/10158510319584973
Others:
Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962, Agnès Varda)
Murder by Contract (1958, Irving Lerner)
The Italian Job (1969, Peter Collinson)
The Talk of the Town (1942, George Stevens)
Clue (1985, Jonathan Lynn)
Fosse/Verdon (on Hulu)
Columbo (on IMDB TV, which you can stream through Amazon with some commercials)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964, Jacques Demy)
Orlando (1992, Sally Potter)
Regarding the films on this list: I watched them the beloved Criterion Channel (which you can get a free 14-day trial).
I’VE BEEN READING
The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
Stephen Sondheim A Life by Meryle Secrest
Lit by Mary Karr
My voracious reading has slowed down. And I wish that weren’t the case, but that’s how it goes. I can’t get upset about it. Speaking of that, Austin Kleon has shared some tips if you’re having trouble reading right now. He also introduced the notion of “circling” a work like at an airport.
I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO
Watching Andrew Scott perform Simon Stephens’s Sea Wall monologue. It’s available to stream for free HERE until May 18, 2020.
National Theatre Live’s At Home broadcast of A Streetcar Named Desire (available on May 21)
SPRING 2020 PLAYLIST
I’ve added some more tracks to this Spotify playlist since the last issue. It’s a hodgepodge of stuff, mostly newer. Enjoy!
From the Life and Decor Instagram account.
Have a great weekend!
-Tim