When she said…

In Tony Award winner Katie Finneran’s acceptance speech, she said “…focus on what you love, because it is the greatest passport; it is the greatest roadmap to an extraordinarily blissful life. Just focus on that one thing. Don’t listen to anybody else and you will run into the right people, the right teachers, the right moments and circumstances…”

As always, the Tony’s inspired yet again. Yeah, they had their incredible share of technical difficulties, like WAY too many, but I couldn’t help but feel that upheaval in my soul that pulls at my heart because I am wanting to be on the stage.

DREAM

1. n. a series of pictures or events in the mind of a sleeping person.

2. n. a daydream or fantasy

My Favorite 3. contemplate the possibility of; have any conception or intention of

These are just a couple of the definitions in the Oxford Dictionary for this wonderful and beautiful word.

Everyone dreams. The only difference is how they go about thinking about them once they “wake up”.

As a kid, I would have the most horrible dreams. They were always terrifying. I guess the best thing would be to say that they were nightmares. I think those dreams are the cause of my current fears. Strange how that works, huh?

As a teenager, I would try and interpret my dreams with the many books that I surrounded myself with in the local library. It was such a pain, researching an item and then having to cross reference that item with other details regarding said item. Let’s see if I can give you an example. The other night about two weeks ago I had a dream where in one moment, I am lying in bed and there is someone outside the door that I believe wants to come into the room but there was a MASSIVE red and orange blotched ant that was on the wall directly above the door. Just finding what the ant could mean takes a ton of research. The ant itself because its in the house, according to Zolar’s Encyclopedia & Dictionary of Dreams, signifies an illness in the family, the colors red and orange mean quarrels and fortune respectively, and the door could mean fortune as well. Now we can add a little more crazy to this and determine if the ant was red, scarlet or crimson which indicates quarrel with friends, family quarrel, or pleasant news from a friend. Mix with that the notion that several colors mixed together mean you have false friends. Seeing how we are just talking of two colors, I think I will let that go. But do you see the madness that was involved in doing that? I used to sit in the libraries, local public and the school, for hours.

As an adult, I have come to realize that dreams are what we make of them. Definitions in a book are not the be all end all that I once thought they were. I don’t know what that ant meant, but who cares. There is a belief that if you say your thoughts aloud or write them down on paper then it’s a stepping stone to helping your dreams come true. The energy of the act is supposed to wander out into the universal ether and help you make your way to that dream. In a word it boils down to BELIEVE.

I guess Salt N Pepa said it best when they said “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, you will achieve.”

How do YOU think of them? Do you try to interpret them from books? Do you use them as a road map for your life? Or do they simply help you get away from the thoughts that are in your head at the time? Let me know what you do with your dreams. And lastly, I hope they come true.

It’s that time…

Episode 06

(Click to play)

Next week, I’ll have an interview with Ronnie Misra and give rehearsal updates for Shakespeare 3 Ways and Breaking Up is Hard to Do. Show notes will be up shortly.

Enjoy your weekend!

Don’t you hate it when…

I had a great original idea that I told to a few people. Everyone that I mentioned it to said that it was something that they had never seen before, and that it was a fantastic idea. So, I bring my idea to the people that I would like to pitch it to. And my great idea, which wasn’t so original after all turns out to have been done before. Awww, fooey!

So rather than let it discourage me, I asked more questions about what was done before. My idea was short and sweet, whereas the other was nice, but too long, and ultimately it actually turned a few people off from looking further into the project. So, I hope to learn from that mistake, even though, I was never planning to get as overly involved as what was described to me, and present it to you in a way that is enticing and fun. So be on the look out for that.

The British got there first!!!

For some dancers, if not all, Step Up 3D was something to look forward to this summer. If it’s anything like the first two, yeah, it’ll probably have the cheesy predictable plot, but that’s not what’s important. The importance of this movie is the DANCING! If you were to cut out the story, and just have dance after dance, I would still pay to see it in the movie theaters. Maybe I’m crazy, but it’s true. So, with that being said, I am sorry to say that Director Jon Chu had better have some show stoppers planned for this movie because the British have beaten him to the punch.

STREET DANCE 3D!!! This is the first 3D movie for the British, and it’s looking like it could do really well. Some of the buzz around this movie is that the star Nichola Burley, who seems to be a big deal in Europe as in A-Lister, does a bang up job. Which is where the movies may differ. In the Step Up films, the acting is mediocre at it’s worst and just a step up from that at it’s best. Is it due in part to experience? Possibly. But Directors Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini want to give a solid showing all around apparently. Although as far as her acting goes, I am not entirely impressed, but I’ll wait until I see the whole movie to say for sure. While hearing all of this chatter, I am wondering why, then, there really isn’t more of a focus on Ms. Burley’s dancing in the trailer? Maybe they want to get people curious. However if, like me, you have never heard of the lead, then wouldn’t you want to show that this person can pull off these dances by giving just a little more. I concede that she is lightly sprinkled throughout, but those moves aren’t ones that show technique. Just link a few more of those movements together and it could be much more intriguing, I think. Luckily, you get a small taste of it at the end which shows not only her but the rest of the group hitting those movements strong and clean. It looks incredibly promising.

I also love the “twist” on the story with the girl being the street rat and the boy being the ballet dancer. It’s just nice to see that change of pace. Although, the story looks like one that we’ve seen time and time again. But like I said earlier, who cares? It’s about the DANCING!!!!!

May the best movie win!

Here’s the trailer.

Take Steps 2010!

I am not one to walk under small bridges thanks in part to my paranoia. The other part is because every movie or show that has one always portrays it to be bad. The last thing that I need to happen is to walk under one of those minding my own business and finding a body or something. Bleh.

Last Saturday, I had to do exactly that. Luckily I didn’t have to do it alone.

Last Saturday was the evening that the Take Steps Walk for Crohn’s and Colitis took place. As we parked the car and walked up to the park, there didn’t seem to be many people at the event.

As our team (Carrot’s Coffee and Tea) signed in and such, I began to feel just slightly squished even though I had plenty of space. When I looked around again, the crowd seemed to have doubled in size. The end count I recall was just over 850 people. Not bad, considering Crohn’s and Colitis aren’t generally spoken about as commonly as cancer or AIDS or diabetes. It’s just as brutal as the afore-mentioned diseases. I can tell you that it was definitely more that the number of people who participated in the last few walks that my friends and I have done. It’s good that word is finally getting out.

So as the teams prepare for group photos, there is a band playing. I didn’t catch their name, but I did notice that there didn’t seem to be a sense of fun on that stage.

I know that one never thinks of diseases and fun in the same thought but I just felt the band should have stepped it up a notch to excite the crowd for what we were accomplishing on that day. Speaking of accomplishments, the San Jose walk alone raised over $140,000 which was the most the San Jose event has ever made. Additionally, our team actually doubled our goal!!! So a HUGE HUGE thank you to everyone who was kind enough to reach into their pockets and give to a worthy cause!

No one on the team knew what path we would take, so when we headed toward the little creek that runs through the Discovery Meadow Park, I got a little jittery. What would I see? Bullet casings? Blood stains on the pavement? I made sure to squeeze into the middle of my friends while we began our ten step decent to, as it turns out, nothing spectacular.

Once we got into it, we just enjoyed the day and were happy in our efforts to make a difference. Well, except for my buddy, Tom. He doesn’t seem to be happy, but I think it’s the glasses.

The walk itself was uneventful, except for the times when the police stopped traffic so that the walk can keep a steady pace. It was like a river, no…more like a creek of people walking. Finding the front of the line was difficult right off the bat. Our group tended to split up between the speed walkers and those of us that were out on a casual stroll. So at times we could be heard shouting for our teammates as other teams looked at us as though we were insane to be acting like hooligans at such an event.

The walk felt very short for some reason, but when all is said and done, it always feels good to try to help someone.

After the walk, we marched on over to P.F. Chang’s. Such wonderful food. Our waiter was great, even if everything he said was an accidental double entendre. Ah, good times, good times.

I know I haven’t read every piece of literature, but many of the things I’ve read seem to agree that while genetics can certainly play a part in how one could be at risk of Crohn’s, they also say that environment could be just as responsible. What I find most unnerving is that they don’t give any examples of possible environmental triggers, like standing at the microwave while your food cooks (which coincidentally you should never do. Also, I’ve read you should wait at least 5-10 seconds before opening the door to let the micro-waves, which are a type of radiation, dissipate. Most health related studies linked to microwaves are “inconclusive”, but it’s best to be safe than sorry.) Here are a few links that I have found information on Crohn’s Disease. If you would like to learn more, you can get an overview HERE . This site gives information from well-being and treatments to nutrition info and support. The organization Take Steps that is involved in helping to find the cure for this disease is also linked to CCFA.org which has a wealth of information.

In any case, take care of yourself, and should you decide that you would also like to donate even though the walk has passed, feel free to visit my donation page by clicking HERE .

Have a great day!