Why Comedy?
30 May 2009 Leave a Comment
in Aha!, Writers Write Tags: comedy, creativity, Erskine Caldwell, Jack Kirkland, perception, Theatre, writers, writing
In his book The Comic Toolbox, John Vorhaus writes, “Comedy is no innocent thing, but a powerful, often subversive, force for change.” My trusty dictionary defines subversive as “seeking to subvert an established system or institution.”
That’s it for me, the idea of creating a change so subtly, the reader laughs while it’s happening.
When I was in college, I worked on a production of Tobacco Road, a play by Jack Kirkland based on the novel by Erskine Caldwell. The characters were crude, filthy, and hungry enough to trade their youngest child for a 50 lb sack of turnips. Which were consumed raw onstage during the first act. Everything was covered in dirt, and to this day, I can’t stomach the smell of turnips. The play was serious stuff, or so I believed.
On opening night, the audience laughed–not in titters or giggles, but in roaring eruptions. They cackled and guffawed so long and so often that actors blew lines and missed cues. Timing was non-existent. Then, after 45 minutes, the laughter stopped. The audience had a catharsis. They realized, “Oh my God. Why am I laughing? This isn’t funny. It’s pathetic, sick, and disgusting. It shouldn’t be funny.” In a wink, the play was subversive and powerful. It changed hearts.
That’s why I write comedy.
May Garden Journal
23 May 2009 Leave a Comment
in cottage garden Tags: backyard pond, change of seasons, cottage garden, garden, goldfish, tomatoes, water garden
In March, I bought three tiny pots of old fashioned, reseeding petunias. I’ve cut them back twice, but they still float over this entire bed. The good thing about a plant like this is it squeezes out the weeds. The tall blue flowers in the background are Celestial Carpet Salvia, a perennial that reappears in the spring and blooms all summer. Coco started it from seed in a flower pot three years ago.
We have grapes! So far the squirrels and birds haven’t found them.
Unfortunately, the animals have found the tomatoes. These are the hybrid Celebrity planted with squash and parsley.
I couldn’t resist this dark blue iris. The lighter flower in the background is plumbago.
I repotted the water lilly last month. This is our first bloom of the season in the bathtub fishpond.
The Asiatic Lilly blooms for only for a few weeks, but the blossoms are spectacular.
Going In For the Kill
20 May 2009 2 Comments
in A Zany Life, Aha!, Joined at the Heart, Writers Write Tags: Chess, family, perception, Trusting Your Instincts, writers, writing
I took Cherry and Coco to a chess tournament. The kids played six rounds. Those with the best records won medals and trophies. Cherry won a medal, and Coco just missed the cutoff. It was a long day on a hard bench for me, but I learned something significant about my oldest daughter. She is ruthless.
It happened during the fourth match. Cherry’s opponent was cocky. Her quiet girl manners were misleading. I watched with my girlfriend, K., from a distance of 20 feet. Cherry sat, facing us at the end of a long cafeteria table.
With serious cogitation, she moved her pieces while he talked trash. I couldn’t hear him, but I saw it in his posture, in the way he moved his mouth, in his smirk.
K. said, “She has on her game face.”
I said, “Yeah. I’ve seen it before.”
“Do you think she’s upset?”
“No, I think she hates to lose.”
A few minutes later she floated her queen to the far side of the board. He countered with a pawn. Then, before he could blink, she slapped her queen to the right, capturing his knight. Checkmate.
My little girl looked right at me, beaming. I got him.
Vanquished, the boy lifted his hand, admitting defeat to the scorekeeper. He sat speechless as the little girl with almond eyes and a Mona Lisa smile reached across the table to shake his hand.
Golden Heart Scores
16 May 2009 2 Comments
in Goals, Writers Write Tags: RWA Golden Heart, Trusting Your Instincts, writers, writing
I’ve known since March that I didn’t final in the Golden Heart, a contest for unpublished writers sponsored by the Romance Writers of America. It wasn’t a disappointment. I knew the book wasn’t ready. Entering was a ploy to trick myself into finishing the second draft. It worked. I finished and sent it off, knowing I could do better. Finishing the stupid thing felt like winning.
So, last week when I got my scores, I was very pleased. My dreck of a manuscript placed in the top quarter of the Single Title Contemporary division. It was better than I thought.
Here are the scores:
Judge 1 Judge 2 Judge 3 Judge 4 Judge 5 Final Score
7.5 7.6 6.8 8.3 8 38.20
The highest any judge could give was 9. The highest possible final score was 45. The cut off for the top quarter was 36.50.
crisp |krisp| adjective
