Cheek-A-Poo and The History of Radio in the UK...

Ah, all your questions will be answered in time. Patience, my pretty...

I just finished "The Making of The Wizard of Oz"--crazy trivia, life-threatening accidents, strange background info, etc. I have an amazing, newly discovered, amount of respect for the late Ms. Margaret Hamilton...she essentially accepted the part of the Wicked Witch of the West because she needed the money to support herself and her little, three-year old son. She was newly divorced and knew that any work she could get in the great MGM Studio at that time would help her.

She gave it her all. Through all the green makeup and cackling, she endured a contract for for less money than the principals, a fire accident that put her in the hospital on one of the first days of shooting, and the subsequent, documented fear that her character brought out in all children that saw her in movies and on television. In fact, her dressing room was in stark contrast to the Good Witch's...Margaret had a small, dingy one, and Billie's was large, frilly, and painted pink and blue. She kept expecting that she would be let go by the executives.

In the book, however, the passages attributed to her read as ultimately calm, polite and steadfast. It never seemed that she had an ounce of malice in her, either during the filming, or in recollection. I aspire to have such a will. I thank you, Margaret Hamilton, for setting such a clear example of how attitude can get one through even the most greuling experiences.

In other news, I am researching the History of Radio Programming in the UK (specifically, Wales) during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. It's background research for the play I'm producing soon. I will include more info as my work permits...

And Cheek-A-Poo is James' name for that cute, popular Pokemon character.

clg

My rockin' nephew

My sister Kristy took time off from her job, her family, and her PhD work to fly 800 miles to wish her bro a Happy 40th. We had a great 3 days and made sure she saw the bookstore (http://www.bookbybook.info/), the Library where I work (http://www.provlib.org/), the ocean (took the ferry to Newport), and a couple of great seafood restaurants. I realized how much I miss her, especially when we go out--one lady in a Dunkin Donuts looked at us in that flat, ironic way that Rhode Islanders have perfected over the centuries and said, knowing she was stating the obvious, "You guys are brother and sister, right?" Kristy lost it--we love to crack up like that, especially in public when folks give us the fish-eye. Anyhoo, this is her little Isaac, preparing for a career in karayoke.

Discussion of All Things Welsh over soup...

Many thanks to Dryw who was wonderful to come down and talk about Wales. He sang the Wales National Anthem (beautifully) and told some great pub stories too. I'm putting together some ideas for a play. It's exciting and daunting. My job is to stay more excited than daunted.

Oh, and it's been raining for two days straight, thanks God.

If it be not now, yet it will come...

The readiness is all.

I have to remember to be ready. Ready to receive what I want. Dream it, feel it, want it, and receive it. It really does work.

Something with pine trees, definitely. Pine trees have ALWAYS made me feel secure, warm, home. Eastern white pines, with soft needles, sap-traced trunks, fluffy mulch, and evergreen smell...ahhhh. Always lovely, always home.

And gardens. Moundy, billowy, flowery gardens. Perhaps a fence, or a wall--a stone wall--to hug in the gardens. And some water. Somewhere. I hear it talking to me and beginning now, I am listening.

Like the poetry I read, the stories I dive into, the characters I play. I want to long for them, breathe their air, say their words. I want to be a part of the process, a part of the journey of becoming.

So I am. I am becoming. This is fun and this is now.

clg

Ready for Take Off!

A bird on the ranch is worth two on the ranch...

Welcome to my new blog...this is a continuation of the clg daily, only now--I'm back in RI contemplating my next move (s).

Things I know so far: I need to stay home with my kids. My house needs a lot of work. I do need some sort of income. I have many talents, but seem a bit unmotivated as yet to jump in to any one of them; in doing so (I fear, perhaps unnecessarily), I will somehow negate my ability to do any of the others of them. I know, kooky.

Also, I'm ready to work on producing a play...so I have procured many books on the subject (as well as a play that I CAN produce) and will see what happens. So, stay tuned--this may turn out to be just an on-line journal, but it may turn out to be something GREAT.

Until later, clg