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Thursday, December 8, 2016
Charity Giving Ideas for Christmas
The spirit of Christmas sometimes gets lost in the face of commercialism and advertising for the latest “must have” item. So it’s good to remember that Christmas (aside from celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ) is about giving to others. Maybe you want to make a donation to a charity, and this is a good month focus on kids. You can often do it someone else’s names.
Marine Toys for Tots
Collects new, unwrapped toys and distributes them as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.
Angel Tree Christmas Program
This program connects parents in prison with their children through the delivery of personally selected Christmas gifts by local church volunteers who purchase and deliver the presents.
Make A Wish America
Make a Wish's unique holiday donation options will help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.
Salvation Army
Yes, those people with the red kettles who ring a little bell. Your donations go to help local families, providing Christmas dinners, clothing, and toys.
Local Food Banks
If you need help finding on in your community, Feeding America has a database.
Make sure to also check with local churches as they might have programs that you can take part in.
Another good idea is to call a local children’s hospital and ask about donating gifts to the kids who must be in the hospital during the holidays.
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Thursday, December 1, 2016
Theatre 101: The Dreaded First Rehearsals
Fun and perhaps
little-known fact about me. I was a theatre major in college at Florida State
Univ. I was also in a community theatre group with my church. We did some great
shows, including Beauty and the Beast,
The Mousetrap, Harvey, and The
Imaginary Invalid.
This summer,
Dinner Theatre was revived at my church, and I was in my first production in over
10 years, a really funny play called Oh,
What A Tangled Web. Now, we’re working on a new play, a Western Melodrama
called The Vile Veterinarian, Or How Much
Is That Doggy With The Widow. The show is as crazy as it sounds. It’s full
of horrible (and horribly funny) puns, which are usually a “no-
no” in most
writing circles. The characters have quirky names like Polly Purina (the
heroine), Hugh Kandoit (the hero), Dr. Ray Beeze (the villain) and his
assistant, Kitty Litter. I play Miss. April May June, a noted opera singer and hat
connoisseur. I get to sing (badly).
 |
| April May June hat connoisseur |
Right now we’re
still in the early stages and working on blocking (where your character moves
on stage). It’s a bit of a mess at this point, frankly. Most of the actors are
still “on book”, which means we haven’t memorized our lines yet. The director
(and actors) are still trying to figure out where all these people need to be
so they don’t block someone else or end up with their backs to the audience.
Nothing seems to work, and at times, we all wonder if it will ever come
together. Actors go through times of feeling like they are the worst ever.
This stage
reminds me a lot of writing the first draft of a book. Most authors will tell
you that their first draft is utter trash. The plot is shaky, the characters
haven’t figured out where to go yet, the motivation is sketchy. There are times
when we authors wonder if this isn’t the worst book ever written. But then we
go back for a second or third draft and fix all those dangling plot points,
dead scenes and useless fluff. We tighten the prose and dig deeper for emotion.
Eventually, we do end up with something we can be proud of, but it only happens
after a lot of blood, sweat and tears.
A play is like that, too. It's a mess until you learn your lines, where you're supposed to be, and practice enough so that everything seems natural. Then you have a play (and hopefully a book) you can be proud of.
Any of you ever done any acting? What were you in? Ever have the urge to get back into it?
FREE Download! Get a free copy of FINDING YOU AT CHRISTMAS from my Shellwater Key Tales series now!
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