I spent the day watching or reviewing theater is what it feels like - probably because that is what happened.
I saw a reading of a new play by Micheline Auger first at 59 E. 59th St. called 'The Feminisim of a Soft Merlot (or How the Donkey Got Punched),' which was more intriguing than I expected it would be. I'm a big theater snob basically, and generally don't warm to 4th wall, we're supposedly in someone's apartment type theater, but this was written well and the subject matter was intriguing, characters drawn well and the plot did not go along a predictable path. I will not write much more about this, though, as it was a staged reading, and not for press as far as I could tell. But, if you see it's playing somewhere near you, it's worth a look.
I was there with my new friend Eileen, but also saw people there I knew from my theater days in NYC past, and found talking with people I either did not know or did know but not that well incredibly stressful so fled home to eat a consolation bagel, drink iced coffee and write a review of Virgie (which will appear soon). Ah, this reminds me, my first review of a FringeNYC show 'How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Lost My Virginity' is now published here: nytheatre.com.
The play I saw tonight was 'Theater of the Arcade,' and I will write about it tomorrow here on this blog. As I am tired as per usual tonight, don't want to write about it and do it a disservice, especially as it has an interesting and complex structure, which deserves precise description. But in general, it's a thumbs up (as I know you were all waiting for That kind of assessment...) Even seeing people I knew well tonight also felt stressful, which makes me realize I am definitely not on top of my social game right now.
However, I can do one on one with the right people, and had dinner with my friend Nanette (who I've known since 1991 - 20 years if you're reading this Nanette - 20 years!!), which was lovely. We met when she was accidentally a real estate agent (subsidizing her art habit) and helped my then partner and me find a place in her house in Williamsburg (before it was WILLIAMSBURG). Tonight, lo these many years later, we bonded over the late 40s-early 50s weirdness place, which if you are female has quite specific parameters, hormonally, in terms of body shape, fertility and all sorts of questions about life in general. We also have had many 'life events' impinge on our various career/creative trajectories, and commiserated over this state of affairs. But in so doing lightened our burdens, as such honest sharing often does. I also highly suggest for moods of tiredness and vague melancholy iced green tea and raspberry. It did wonders.
But now, only sleep will do. More tomorrow morning, when I will inaugurate the first official theater review to appear on the blog.
Just FYI, there is a massive and loud thunderstorm outside. I hope it breaks the humidity, which is simply oppressive. I love lightening and thunder. Always have....when I was little, it would take out the electricity where we lived in rural Maine, so we got to eat cheese and crackers for dinner and it felt special.
So, probably getting off electronic equipment not a bad plan right now. Good night!
Welcome to my blog..
"We struggle with dream figures and our blows fall on living faces." Maurice Merleau-Ponty
I am now transitioning into being married again with a new surname (Barclay-Morton). John is transitioning from Canada to NYC and as of June 2014 has a green card. So transition continues, but now from sad to happy, from loss to love...from a sense of alienation to a sense of being at home in the world.
As of September 2013 I started teaching writing as an adjunct professor at Fordham University, which I have discovered I love with an almost irrational passion. While was blessed for the opportunity, after four years of being an adjunct, the lack of pay combined with heavy work load stopped working, so have transferred this teaching passion to private workshops in NYC and working with writers one on one, which I adore. I will die a happy person if I never have to grade an assignment ever again. As of 2018, I also started leading writing retreats to my beloved Orkney Islands. If you ever want two weeks that will restore your soul and give you time and space to write, get in touch. I am leading two retreats this year in July and September.
I worked full time on the book thanks to a successful crowd-funding campaign in May 2014 and completed it at two residencies at Vermont Studio Center and Wisdom House in summer 2015. I have done some revisions and am shopping it around to agents and publishers now, along with a new book recently completed.
I now work full-time as a freelance writer, writing workshop leader, coach, editor and writing retreat leader. Contact me if you are interested in any of these services.
Not sure when transition ends, if it ever does. As the saying goes, the only difference between a sad ending and a happy ending is where you stop rolling the film.
For professional information, publications, etc., go to my linked in profile and website for Barclay Morton Editorial & Design. My Twitter account is @wilhelminapitfa. You can find me on Facebook under my full name Julia Lee Barclay-Morton. More about my grandmothers' book: The Amazing True Imaginary Autobiography of Dick & Jani
In 2017, I launched a website Our Grandmothers, Our Selves, which has stories about many people's grandmothers. Please check it out. You can also contact me through that site.
In May, I directed my newest play, On the edge of/a cure, and have finally updated my publications list, which now includes an award-winning chapbook of my short-story White shoe lady, which you can find on the sidebar. I also have become a certified yoga instructor in the Kripalu lineage. What a year!
And FINALLY, I have created a website, which I hope you will visit, The Unadapted Ones. I will keep this blog site up, since it is a record of over 8 years of my life, but will eventually be blogging more at the website, so if you want to know what I am up to with my writing, teaching, retreats and so on, the site is the place to check (and to subscribe for updates). After eight years I realized, no, I'm never turning into One Thing. So The Unadapted Ones embraces the multiplicity that comprises whomever I am, which seems to always be shifting. That may in fact be reality for everyone, but will speak for myself here. So, do visit there and thanks for coming here, too. Glad to meet you on the journey...
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