I am again in bed with Maxie by my side. I don't have to be at my final costume fitting until 10AM, but for some reason I did not turn off my alarm and it went off at 6AM. I was going to reset it, but I lied there for about 30 minutes and then got up to feed the cats. I got back into bed with the Netflix movie, Kolya, that's been on my shelf for about a month now.
Maybe it's been more than a month.
I really need to cancel that subscription, but I'm sure I'll need it come summer. I found out yesterday that my main partner in crime, Tony will be away for the summer working in LA and SF. I will be in Davis all summer, but hope to take little excursions or perhaps take a workshop or two.
I was offered the Teen Shakespeare Workshop in Winters job yesterday. I need to let the university know since they are waiting on me to decide if I'm teaching for the first summer session. I needed to supplement my income since the salary offered was less than the quoted amount. Elio (who's in the cast of Nest) said that he was going to sign up for the Hip Hop class during first session, but it was full. I was floored to see 57 people on the roster online. Yikes. Many of them are on the wait list, but I am not sure how large this class is. It makes the idea of doing any academic assignment daunting.
But back to the film idea.
It's amazing how my focus has shifted towards the editing of films and TV shows now that I have to do that in class. I am working with Jessica, one of the undergrads (who is also in Nest) on this project. I honestly thought that I would lead the editing, but she's much better at it than I am. She really has an eye for the editing thing. It seems that I have the eye of a director. I let her know what I'm thinking and she creates it. She also has quite a lot of cool ideas on her own. I am thrilled.
As we (wow, did I just say "we?) near the end of my first year, I am starting to freak a bit about the thesis. I really don't know how to start. I have ideas, but nothing (other than my Dada project) that sounds like it could be an exploration.
I think I should get up, shower, grab some breakfast and head into the department. I should have time before my fitting to stir up some trouble. I mean, ask for assistance.
*smile*
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Out and About
Yesterday was the last day of my section of DRA 10 -- the acting class for non-major undergrads that I teach. After last quarter and all of the sarcastic sassy-pants in my class, I was fortunate to get a really good group. In fact many of them are now good friends and they hang out regularly. How cool is that?
I used A Streetcar Named Desire and The Shape of Things for their final scenes. I ask them if they have a preference and then I cast them with the best role and partner for them. I accidentally put two slackers together and needless to say, their scene was the weakest of the bunch.
For some odd reason my class is mostly guys so it made scene selection very difficult. The first flirty scene in The Shape of Things -- in the museum -- we did with 2 men. One of them was uncomfortable with the homosexuality so as they cut down their own scene they took most of that out. I do have to say it was probably the strongest scene of the day.
I saw The Shape of Things a few years ago at Emory. A group of alums and students produced it themselves. They did it outside at various locations around campus. The audience had a guide that let us from location to location. And the actors for the most part had to run around us or run ahead to get to the next location before we did. It was wild. I mentioned this to my class LAST quarter and it was one of the only times they got excited. So I decided that we would do the Streetcar scenes in our classroom with props and costumes and the Shape scenes outside. We did the same this quarter.
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The first scene in the museum was done outside Mrak Hall. They used the egghead "Eye on Mrak" as the sculpture Evelyn (or in this case Alex) defaces. From there we went into the Arboretum and then did two scenes between some classroom buildings.
It was interesting to see the people around us who sometimes stopped to watch and who sometimes did not even look up from their studies. Melanie came by to watch the scenes and we spoke after the presentation. Since we studied these plays for 2 quarters now I am thinking it's time to change things up. I am currently reading Boy Gets Girl, but I am not digging it. I have a lot of reading on my plate, but I think I will take the next week or so to keep reading plays. Ah, I have not done THAT in a while.
And now for the grading...
I used A Streetcar Named Desire and The Shape of Things for their final scenes. I ask them if they have a preference and then I cast them with the best role and partner for them. I accidentally put two slackers together and needless to say, their scene was the weakest of the bunch.
For some odd reason my class is mostly guys so it made scene selection very difficult. The first flirty scene in The Shape of Things -- in the museum -- we did with 2 men. One of them was uncomfortable with the homosexuality so as they cut down their own scene they took most of that out. I do have to say it was probably the strongest scene of the day.
I saw The Shape of Things a few years ago at Emory. A group of alums and students produced it themselves. They did it outside at various locations around campus. The audience had a guide that let us from location to location. And the actors for the most part had to run around us or run ahead to get to the next location before we did. It was wild. I mentioned this to my class LAST quarter and it was one of the only times they got excited. So I decided that we would do the Streetcar scenes in our classroom with props and costumes and the Shape scenes outside. We did the same this quarter.
The first scene in the museum was done outside Mrak Hall. They used the egghead "Eye on Mrak" as the sculpture Evelyn (or in this case Alex) defaces. From there we went into the Arboretum and then did two scenes between some classroom buildings.
It was interesting to see the people around us who sometimes stopped to watch and who sometimes did not even look up from their studies. Melanie came by to watch the scenes and we spoke after the presentation. Since we studied these plays for 2 quarters now I am thinking it's time to change things up. I am currently reading Boy Gets Girl, but I am not digging it. I have a lot of reading on my plate, but I think I will take the next week or so to keep reading plays. Ah, I have not done THAT in a while.
And now for the grading...
Monday, October 1, 2007
Is that applause I hear?
When I moved in my apartment I asked about the protocol of a bunch of things. Who gets to park in the spots right in front of the apartments? Who is in charge of replacing the light bulbs on the outside of the building? And what is the deal with trash pick-up?
I have been a research geek for the last few months on "all things Davis." On top of learning from a neighbor that our trash day is Monday and they come SUPER early, I also surfed the website of the city to find out the proper recycling procedures. It matters to me how the outside of the building looks. Because I rent, I have very little say about a lot. However, I can certainly keep my area clean. I had lots of boxes moving in and due to the fact that I had to flatten the boxes over the course of 2 weeks, I kind of took on the job of doing all of the trash duties. Sorting recycling, bringing all of the trash cans down to the curb on Sunday night, and hauling them back up when I return home on Monday.
In my passive-aggressiveness, I wrote a note (Alexis, don't shake your head!) and posted it by the mailboxes for all of my neighbors to see. It basically let everyone know when trash day is, and what our responsibilites are. However, I wimped at the end and said something about needing "assistance" to do this, rather than asking everyone to do their part. Last night, before sitting down for my usual Desperate Housewives/Brothers & Sisters evening, I made my way with my recycling to sort into the bins, and while I was down there rolled all of the bins down to the curb. I swore that no matter what, this was the last time I was going to take this on solo.
Much to my surprise, when I WENT to teach my first class this morning at 7:40AM, two of the three bins were already back in the corral and the third was there when I returned from my last class this evening. I did a silent cheer for my neighbors.
On a similar note, my DRA 10 - Intro to Acting class did not suck and I am on my way to inspiring the future actor/scientists or theatre-goer/donors. For that, I humbly curtsey at your feet.
I have been a research geek for the last few months on "all things Davis." On top of learning from a neighbor that our trash day is Monday and they come SUPER early, I also surfed the website of the city to find out the proper recycling procedures. It matters to me how the outside of the building looks. Because I rent, I have very little say about a lot. However, I can certainly keep my area clean. I had lots of boxes moving in and due to the fact that I had to flatten the boxes over the course of 2 weeks, I kind of took on the job of doing all of the trash duties. Sorting recycling, bringing all of the trash cans down to the curb on Sunday night, and hauling them back up when I return home on Monday.
In my passive-aggressiveness, I wrote a note (Alexis, don't shake your head!) and posted it by the mailboxes for all of my neighbors to see. It basically let everyone know when trash day is, and what our responsibilites are. However, I wimped at the end and said something about needing "assistance" to do this, rather than asking everyone to do their part. Last night, before sitting down for my usual Desperate Housewives/Brothers & Sisters evening, I made my way with my recycling to sort into the bins, and while I was down there rolled all of the bins down to the curb. I swore that no matter what, this was the last time I was going to take this on solo.
Much to my surprise, when I WENT to teach my first class this morning at 7:40AM, two of the three bins were already back in the corral and the third was there when I returned from my last class this evening. I did a silent cheer for my neighbors.
On a similar note, my DRA 10 - Intro to Acting class did not suck and I am on my way to inspiring the future actor/scientists or theatre-goer/donors. For that, I humbly curtsey at your feet.
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