who, what, where

Cara reminded me on her blog that a few months ago, she’d felt blocked in her writing, emailed me for any exercises I might have, and I’d given her one called Who? What? Where? It’s basically a modification of an acting improv. I’ve done it a lot myself over the years and I’ve used it on my kids in my past drama classes and camps.

The exercise would basically go like this:

I’d have each student write down a who, a what, and a where on three separate slips of paper and then I’d place them in three separate bowls. Two students would volunteer to improv, pick their slips from the bowls, and then do the improv based on what they got.

Oh, for instance:

Who: Two old ladies (funnier if two guys picked it, which happened sometimes)

What: An ostrich

Where: At the beach

And hilarity would ensue, you see.

So I dug through my emails and found the actual list I’d sent to Cara. I wrote it without stopping to think, just wrote the first who/what/wheres that popped into my head. I share them with you now, pippa, if you want to play the game on your own or leave a story in the comments. Write them out on slips of paper. Keep them in separate piles. Then pick one from each pile: a who, a what, and a where.

Heeeere they are …..

(Well, I changed one “Who” because it was really a “Who” and a “Where”)

WHO:

1.  Marilyn Monroe

2.  Man in a wheelchair

3.  Nancy Pelosi

4.  An electrician

5.  An albino child

6.  Siamese twins

7.  A phone sex operator

8.  Tyra Banks’ personal trainer

9.  A cult leader

10.  A world-class chess player

WHAT:

1.  A coin purse

2.  An abacus

3.  A golf cart

4.  A baby elephant

5.  A fur coat

6.  A banjo

7.  A box of sparklers

9.  An allergy to something

10  A  rosary

WHERE:

1.  A cemetery

2.  A monastery

3.  A yurt in Mongolia (okay, that’s a what and where — oops!)

4.  A mannequin factory

5.  A snow cave

6.  An artist’s retreat

7.  A wedding reception

8.  A dog grooming business

9.  A funeral home

“love before breakfast”

Posted because I think Sheila will like this, based on her post today.

rsz_lovebeforebreakfast.jpg

This is a photo by Walker Evans taken in Atlanta, GA 1936 for the Farm Security Administration, with, obviously, the Love Before Breakfast poster (and an Anne Shirley Chatterbox poster) clinging to the wooden fence in front.

I love the juxtaposition here. The glamor of the posters, the threadbare glory of the houses. The fantasy of the posters against the stark reality of life behind them.

It’s gorgeous to me.

snow banshees

MB and I were up in the mountains with the Banshees last month. We went sledding, as you can see.

Uhm, I’m sorry. Baby Banshee’s little cap slipping down over her moon green eyes, it’s too much. Too much, I tell you. And her pink snow boot feet. She needs to come here right now so that I may smush her.

banshees_arrowhead_10d.jpg

Sunday, during their Easter egg hunt at “Nana” and “Pop Pop’s” (my parents), the girls found that some of the hidden plastic eggs had money in them. Oh, quarters and dimes, the occasional dollar bill. Baby Banshee opened one of her plastic eggs, found a dollar, and jumped up and down, proclaiming, “I have a MILLLLION DOLLARS!!”

Tee Tee would like to know how she even KNOWS about “a million dollars” in this economy, but whatevs. It was cute.

If you ever have a million dollars, kid, remember your old aunt, Tee Tee.

She smelled your diaper once.

a little amazing

Putting the earthquake into perspective, it’s a little amazing — if something can be “a little” amazing — that Mexicali, Calexico, etc., did not fall to the ground and that there isn’t more damage here in SD.

I mean, some statistics here:

The “World Series” earthquake in ’89 was 6.9 63 killed, over 3,700 injured.

The Northridge earthquake in ’94 was 6.7. 72 killed, over 8,700 injured.

The Haiti earthquake three months ago was 7.0 Something like 100,000 to 200,000 dead?

Yesterday’s was 7.2. If I’m understanding my Richter scale correctly — which I’m probably not — that’s 2 times stronger than the Haiti earthquake. Each single number you increase on the scale, for instance from 5.0 to 6.0, is an increase of 10 times in strength. So 7.2 is two times greater in strength than 7.0. Boggles my mind a bit. Thank GOD for good ol’ US infrastructure.

How does it feel, (Gradual Dazzle asked)? Uh, scary. This is the worst quake I’ve ever felt in my life and I grew up in CA. It feels as if the very earth is betraying you, I guess, and there’s nothing you can do to make it behave. What you take for granted every moment of your life as something solid and sure beneath you actually is not. You’re standing still one moment; the next you are simply not able to stand. You’re desperate to find something to grab onto that won’t break free or fall onto you. The world is one of those crazy tipsy funhouses — just randomly, out of the blue. And it’s loud, too. Or louder than you might think. (I was inside my parents’ house when it hit, standing at the kitchen counter. Some of my family was outside in the yard.) Inside, you hear the house groaning and creaking and shaking. It’s as if you hear and feel the distress of the house itself. In less than 60 seconds, its vulnerabilities are exposed, things you never knew before, things you might wish you didn’t know now. Outside, in the open, it feels like the earth is some angry child acting out. Mid-quake, I rushed outside to MB and just felt naked — as if I was at the mercy of this capricious monster rising from the earth. Inside felt safer somehow, familiar. I know my old hiding places, my safe spots. I felt almost guilty leaving our beloved family house alone to fend for itself. For me, the impulse to HIDE in that moment was almost unbearable, but where can you flee from an angry earth?

(Oh! And HUGE jolt just now as I’m writing this, an aftershock that felt like …. hm …. like the earth just clocked you with a nasty uppercut. Wow. Calm down, earth, okay? I promise I’ll do a better job of recycling. Yamahama! That was short just now, but fierce. I just came out of my seat. My heart’s pounding a bit.)

I hope the earth is as still as stone where you are.

easter earthquake

So. Yeah. We had a 7.2 earthquake here in SD about 2 hours ago, epicentered in Mexicali. Too darn close for me. That thing was SCARY, pippa. Yowza.

We’re fine, though.

More later.

(May I remind you: Yikes. Also Eek.)