I thought I'd take a few minutes to write while I wait to meet with my professor about my final research paper. After this last assignment, I'll have completed all the course work for my Master's in Secondary Education! Yay!
At the Starbucks on Michigan Avenue and Madison, sitting next to a table of guys--two from Venezuela, one from Chicago--talking about cheating on their girlfriends--"I do it all the time, man! It's an important part of being a man! What happens in Chicago stays in Chicago!"-- and how people in Germany like to drink cold beer. And that different beer has a different taste. (Really??? Huh.) Scintillating conversation, I know--actually quite animated--but I can't help but listen. These guys seem to be quite the Casanovas. Not.
I've been thinking more about that Shakespeare series I blogged about yesterday, which we're tentatively titling "What Would Shakespeare Do?" It's going to require me to bone up on my Shakespeare, which is always a good thing. I think I've selected a strong initial list of ten plays to cover in the first book--the typical "classroom standards": Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, etc. But I want to change it up a bit with some of the lesser known plays like, for example, Coriolanus which has just been made into a movie directed by the great Ralph Fiennes who also stars in it alongside Vanessa Redgrave. Of course, the purpose here is to demonstrate how each of these plays has social significance in today's society, thus making them more accessible to high school students. At any rate, I'm looking forward to the opportunity of combining three of my passions: writing, teaching, and literature in an effort to positively effect young peoples' lives. I really love working with high school kids, especially those who for one reason or another were born into an environment without the stability and advantages so many of us take for granted. As any teacher will tell you--hopefully--there's nothing quite like seeing that light bulb go off in a student's eyes when you see that they "get" what you've been teaching them. And then, months later, when you see one of your students and they tell you how much they miss you teaching them...there's really nothing quite like it.
A couple weeks ago when I went to see "J. Edgar," the girl at the theatre who was taking tickets happened to be one of my favorite students from Al Raby. Keniece was in my 7th period Honors Class and was one of many I looked forward to having in class each day. Keniece saw me and had a big smile on her face as she exclaimed "Mr. M! It's so good to see you!" We chatted for a bit. She told me she hadn't been able to go to DePaul as she'd hoped because her financial aid hadn't gone through but was doing well at Truman College with another friend of hers, Amanda, who was also in that Honors class. She told me she and Amanda had just been talking about me the other day, wondering how teaching was going for me, etc etc. It's not an exaggeration to say that seeing Keniece that Sunday afternoon made not only my day, but my week. I think of those 80 or so kids often and am always on the look-out for them as I go about my day. It's kids like Keniece and Amanda and countless others like them that make me glad to have gone into education. I wish them all the very best.
On a completely different note...I finished "The Sense of an Ending," that Julian Barnes novel I mentioned a few days back. A great book, a thought-provoking book, especially for those of us who are all-too-rapidly approaching middle-age or older. It's the kind of novel that lingers long after you've turned the final page. It's got me thinking about time and my perception of time, aging, and memory. I'm not sure I like thinking about those things as it makes me think of death and how all of us only have a limited amount of time in which to accomplish our dreams...or not accomplish them as is all too often the case. I am in awe of Mr. Barnes's facility with prose. Not sure how I feel about the last five pages though. There's a twist I didn't expect and didn't quite "get" until I went back and reread it and still I'm not sure I've "got" it. No matter...I recommend the novel to anyone who cares about great fiction.
Wrapping this up. My professor awaits.
Shout-outs to my seniors of Al Raby's Class of 2011! I wish you all the best and thanks again for the experience!
QUESTION OF THE DAY: (or rather Word of the Day) Eviscerate. It came up in my acting class last night. A definition, anyone? I know what it means, just checking to see if you do.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Doing Good for Children through Great Literature
Just got home from another inspiring meeting with Melissa G. Wilson at the Chicago Cultural Society. I am very excited to report that I have been asked to headline a series of books that seek to demonstrate contemporary relevance and life lessons through great works of literature to school kids across the country. The first book in the series will focus on William Shakespeare. Without getting into too much detail at the moment, I can say that this first book will take ten Shakespeare plays, break them down with plot and character overviews and quotes as a means of showing how these plays are still very relevant to today's society.
Through my training as a high school English teacher and my work earlier this year as a student teacher at the Al Raby School for Community and Development in Chicago's tough West Garfield Park neighborhood where I taught British literature to four classes of high school seniors, I have discovered that in order for kids to really appreciate literature in the classroom, they need to understand that these works are just as pertinent to their lives today as they were when originally written. While advances in technology, medicine, communication, etc have certainly improved our lives over the years, the fundamental factors of everyday life haven't changed. We still love, we still need acceptance, we are still confronted on a daily basis with issues of corruption, racism, anti-Semitism, and the challenges of living in a rapidly changing society. These are all themes common not only to Shakespeare but to Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Twain, Angelou, Achebe, Whitman, Thoreau, the Brontes, and Jane Austen, among so many others. Children need to recognize this in order to appreciate the value great literature provides. As educators, we need to be able to bridge this gap between perception and reality. This series aims to do so.
While this series is still in the early stages of development, our aim is to publish the initial Shakespeare book in early Spring of 2012. We have some great ideas and are excited to make this happen! We are also looking for sponsorship so if you or anyone you know are interested in taking part in this truly important and ground-breaking initiative, please let us know and check back frequently to either my blog here and/or Melissa G. Wilson's blogs at www.melissagwilson.com or www.networldingblog.com.
We are all about doing good, giving back to society, and working with children to help them realize their true potential and all of life's rich rewards. I can't wait to make this happen!
Another shout-out today to Melissa at Networlding and to all teachers, students, parents, organizations, and anyone who believes that in order to build a better tomorrow, we have to start with what we have today!
Ciao.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: "How can YOU make a difference in the lives of children today?"
Through my training as a high school English teacher and my work earlier this year as a student teacher at the Al Raby School for Community and Development in Chicago's tough West Garfield Park neighborhood where I taught British literature to four classes of high school seniors, I have discovered that in order for kids to really appreciate literature in the classroom, they need to understand that these works are just as pertinent to their lives today as they were when originally written. While advances in technology, medicine, communication, etc have certainly improved our lives over the years, the fundamental factors of everyday life haven't changed. We still love, we still need acceptance, we are still confronted on a daily basis with issues of corruption, racism, anti-Semitism, and the challenges of living in a rapidly changing society. These are all themes common not only to Shakespeare but to Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Twain, Angelou, Achebe, Whitman, Thoreau, the Brontes, and Jane Austen, among so many others. Children need to recognize this in order to appreciate the value great literature provides. As educators, we need to be able to bridge this gap between perception and reality. This series aims to do so.
While this series is still in the early stages of development, our aim is to publish the initial Shakespeare book in early Spring of 2012. We have some great ideas and are excited to make this happen! We are also looking for sponsorship so if you or anyone you know are interested in taking part in this truly important and ground-breaking initiative, please let us know and check back frequently to either my blog here and/or Melissa G. Wilson's blogs at www.melissagwilson.com or www.networldingblog.com.
We are all about doing good, giving back to society, and working with children to help them realize their true potential and all of life's rich rewards. I can't wait to make this happen!
Another shout-out today to Melissa at Networlding and to all teachers, students, parents, organizations, and anyone who believes that in order to build a better tomorrow, we have to start with what we have today!
Ciao.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: "How can YOU make a difference in the lives of children today?"
Handicapped tables at Starbucks...Ariadne at the Lyric
Sitting in the Greektown Starbucks, waiting to leave for my 10:30 meeting at the Cultural Center with Melissa. The place was packed when I walked in, no tables available except for a rather large one with two chairs tucked into the corner by the door. I noticed as I sat down with my coffee and holiday gingerbread that it was designated as a handicapped table. There was really nowhere else to sit. So I opened up my New York Times and proceeded to read about the elections in Egypt. The place continued to get busier and busier. Every time someone new walked in I'd glance at the door to make sure no elderly person or someone with disabilities was coming in. The coast was clear but sitting there I felt guilty....uncomfortable...like I was doing something bad. It was very distracting. Eventually an able-bodied person at another table got up and left so I quickly made a bee-line for it and have felt much more comfortable ever since. In the thirty or so minutes since I vacated that table, a couple with a baby in a stroller have sat down, conducting what looks to be a Bible study. I notice that neither ordered a coffee and are drinking sodas that they picked up at the Walgreen's across the street. I don't feel so guilty now. At least I ordered coffee.
The opera last night was good. "Ariadne auf Naxos" by Richard Strauss. Strauss (not to be confused with Johann "The Waltz King" Strauss) emerged as one of the great German opera composers post-Wagner in the final decade of the 19th century and the first decade or so of the 20th. You can hear the Wagnerian influence in the long, lush melodic lines that creep dangerously close but never quite cross into the atonality that would soon dominate, courtesy of Berg and Webern. "Ariadne" was somewhat of a step-back for Strauss, whose previous operas, including "Salome" with its 'Dance of the Seven Veils' and "Elektra" pushed tonality into new territory. In contrast, "Ariadne"is a bit of a throwback to an earlier, perhaps more naive musical sensibility. The opera is divided into two parts: The Prologue and then The Opera. Set in a Viennese nobleman's house in the 17th century, it tells the story of an opera company charged to put on an evening of entertainment for said nobleman and his family/friends. Two contrasting productions are scheduled for the evening: the traditional 17th century mythology-based opera "Ariadne auf Naxos" written by an aspiring young composer and a comic pastoral opera "Zerbinetta and her Four Lovers." The Prologue introduces the backstage antics of the opera company who are informed fifteen minutes before the entertainment is set to begin that the nobleman has asked that both productions be performed simultaneously with cuts made to accommodate a 9pm fireworks display. The Opera then is the production mounted for the nobleman. Both productions are spliced together--the tragic and the comic--and essentially, everyone lives happily ever after.
I don't have the program in front of me so I can't identify the singers by name, but across the board, the performances were impressive. I preferred the Prologue with its witty repartee and comical backstage antics: the music was light and crisp though not particularly melodic. The Opera section was more musically lush, more exemplary of Strauss's compositional style. What made it rather long for me was that for long passages it fell into what I call the German operatic tradition of standing facing forward and belting one's lungs out without any real attempt at acting or interacting with the other singers on the stage. Again, the singing was impressive and the music itself quite beautiful but the staging at times in the second half was so static and stentorian with no end in sight that my butt began to hurt. I realize Strauss was attempting to satirize 18th century opera but unfortunately I feel in his attempt at satire, he became guilty of doing exactly that which he was satirizing.
I have to dash but I'll post more later...
Ciao.
The opera last night was good. "Ariadne auf Naxos" by Richard Strauss. Strauss (not to be confused with Johann "The Waltz King" Strauss) emerged as one of the great German opera composers post-Wagner in the final decade of the 19th century and the first decade or so of the 20th. You can hear the Wagnerian influence in the long, lush melodic lines that creep dangerously close but never quite cross into the atonality that would soon dominate, courtesy of Berg and Webern. "Ariadne" was somewhat of a step-back for Strauss, whose previous operas, including "Salome" with its 'Dance of the Seven Veils' and "Elektra" pushed tonality into new territory. In contrast, "Ariadne"is a bit of a throwback to an earlier, perhaps more naive musical sensibility. The opera is divided into two parts: The Prologue and then The Opera. Set in a Viennese nobleman's house in the 17th century, it tells the story of an opera company charged to put on an evening of entertainment for said nobleman and his family/friends. Two contrasting productions are scheduled for the evening: the traditional 17th century mythology-based opera "Ariadne auf Naxos" written by an aspiring young composer and a comic pastoral opera "Zerbinetta and her Four Lovers." The Prologue introduces the backstage antics of the opera company who are informed fifteen minutes before the entertainment is set to begin that the nobleman has asked that both productions be performed simultaneously with cuts made to accommodate a 9pm fireworks display. The Opera then is the production mounted for the nobleman. Both productions are spliced together--the tragic and the comic--and essentially, everyone lives happily ever after.
I don't have the program in front of me so I can't identify the singers by name, but across the board, the performances were impressive. I preferred the Prologue with its witty repartee and comical backstage antics: the music was light and crisp though not particularly melodic. The Opera section was more musically lush, more exemplary of Strauss's compositional style. What made it rather long for me was that for long passages it fell into what I call the German operatic tradition of standing facing forward and belting one's lungs out without any real attempt at acting or interacting with the other singers on the stage. Again, the singing was impressive and the music itself quite beautiful but the staging at times in the second half was so static and stentorian with no end in sight that my butt began to hurt. I realize Strauss was attempting to satirize 18th century opera but unfortunately I feel in his attempt at satire, he became guilty of doing exactly that which he was satirizing.
I have to dash but I'll post more later...
Ciao.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Publishing...marketing...and some talented emerging authors!
Feeling kind of blah today. I think it's the weather: just gray, gray, and more gray. On days like this, if it's not going to be sunny then I wish it would either rain or snow. That's end of November in Chicago for you.
Spent the day on agency stuff. Followed-up on a couple proposals I have out to publishers, one of which is a great YA memoir called "The Heartless Bastard" written by my client Rainesford who is currently a freshman in college. Rainesford has a terrific website (http://www.rainesfordalexandra.com) and told me today she's a fan of this blog. (Thank you, Rainesford!) So this publisher--who shall remain nameless but does have the word "Teen" in its name--got back to me today and said that this project is all wrong for the house because they do not handle YA. Huh? Does 'teen' not include 'YA?' It made me feel a little snarky, but I'm over it now. It's not atypical of publishers to reject projects with little to no constructive feedback. But oh well. We've got other promising irons in the fire.
I did have a good call with a potential new client who contacted me all the way from Canada after seeing me on Twitter. I realized during this call how much I enjoy talking to and educating people about publishing. It's such a crazy, ridiculous, and in many ways antiquated industry that always seems to be in a constant state of flux, particularly in regards to handling social media and e-books. I'm always telling new authors that the one place where they can expect the author/publisher relationship to break down is within marketing/pr. I am encouraged, however, to see that many if not most new authors get this and are actively working to build their marketing platforms prior to being published. It's really quite easy to create a Facebook page for one's literary work, and Twitter is a great tool to build awareness of your project and--perhaps more importantly--your brand as an author. I'm learning this myself. Publishers can/will only do so much for you. All you prospective authors out there: start marketing yourself now! You may have written the greatest work of literature that's ever been written, but if no one knows who you are or what you've written, chances are your book isn't going to sell...and no one likes ending up on the returns pile. At any rate, I'm looking forward to reading this prospective client's proposal!
I'm heading out to the opera tonight. Richard Strauss's "Ariadne auf Naxos" is playing at the Lyric...looking forward to it and looking forward to grabbing a drink at intermission with my old friend Heather who also happens to be a very talented writer. I feel privileged to have been able to read the first three chapters of her new novel...based on what I've seen so far, it has real potential! Keep it up, Heather! Your descriptive writing is beautiful.
Of immediate concern though is...what am I going to wear tonight?
Ciao.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: "How do you keep track of what's going on with your favorite authors?"
Spent the day on agency stuff. Followed-up on a couple proposals I have out to publishers, one of which is a great YA memoir called "The Heartless Bastard" written by my client Rainesford who is currently a freshman in college. Rainesford has a terrific website (http://www.rainesfordalexandra.com) and told me today she's a fan of this blog. (Thank you, Rainesford!) So this publisher--who shall remain nameless but does have the word "Teen" in its name--got back to me today and said that this project is all wrong for the house because they do not handle YA. Huh? Does 'teen' not include 'YA?' It made me feel a little snarky, but I'm over it now. It's not atypical of publishers to reject projects with little to no constructive feedback. But oh well. We've got other promising irons in the fire.
I did have a good call with a potential new client who contacted me all the way from Canada after seeing me on Twitter. I realized during this call how much I enjoy talking to and educating people about publishing. It's such a crazy, ridiculous, and in many ways antiquated industry that always seems to be in a constant state of flux, particularly in regards to handling social media and e-books. I'm always telling new authors that the one place where they can expect the author/publisher relationship to break down is within marketing/pr. I am encouraged, however, to see that many if not most new authors get this and are actively working to build their marketing platforms prior to being published. It's really quite easy to create a Facebook page for one's literary work, and Twitter is a great tool to build awareness of your project and--perhaps more importantly--your brand as an author. I'm learning this myself. Publishers can/will only do so much for you. All you prospective authors out there: start marketing yourself now! You may have written the greatest work of literature that's ever been written, but if no one knows who you are or what you've written, chances are your book isn't going to sell...and no one likes ending up on the returns pile. At any rate, I'm looking forward to reading this prospective client's proposal!
I'm heading out to the opera tonight. Richard Strauss's "Ariadne auf Naxos" is playing at the Lyric...looking forward to it and looking forward to grabbing a drink at intermission with my old friend Heather who also happens to be a very talented writer. I feel privileged to have been able to read the first three chapters of her new novel...based on what I've seen so far, it has real potential! Keep it up, Heather! Your descriptive writing is beautiful.
Of immediate concern though is...what am I going to wear tonight?
Ciao.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: "How do you keep track of what's going on with your favorite authors?"
Sunday, November 27, 2011
West Side Story...Cafe Floriole...Hell on Wheels
Hello all!
I just got home from seeing/hearing "West Side Story" with my sister Sarah and friend Tracy at Orchestra Hall. What a great film! It was amazing. For the film's 50th anniversary, a new remastered print has been released and is touring with some of the great orchestras around the world. I'm not sure how they did it but my understanding is that the orchestral score and accompaniment was stripped from the film soundtrack so the live orchestra--in this case the great Chicago Symphony Orchestra (www.cso.org)--played the music live while the movie was showing. Leonard Bernstein's score is unlike anything written before or since. Hearing it live with a full orchestra was like reliving the familiar and experiencing it in a whole new light. And even after fifty years, the message of the movie itself is still so relevant to the world today. WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG??? Seriously though, the final half-hour, from Anita's "rape" in Doc's soda shop to the final scene where the Jets and the Sharks overcome their prejudices and unite in Maria's grief at Tony's death, had me in tears. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house!
And what a score! Even though some of the songs have been recorded and performed ad nauseum over the years, experiencing them again in this context was a revelation: "Something's Coming," "Maria," "Tonight," "Cool," "Gee, Officer Krupke," "I Feel Pretty," "A Boy Like That," and of course "Somewhere"...I challenge anyone to find a musical with a more compelling or consistent score. And Jerome Robbins' choreography is still as exciting and innovative as it was fifty years ago.
Hats off in particular to Rita Moreno as Anita. While Tony and Maria are the obvious focus, I feel upon this viewing that Ms. Moreno steals the show. Her portrayal, to me anyway, is the most nuanced and emotionally developed: from the sassy Puerto Rican girl of "America" and "Dance at the Gym" to her anguish at discovering Maria's love for Tony and her betrayal of Maria at Doc's soda shop, Ms. Moreno was an actress at the top of her form. It's no wonder she won an Academy Award.
The remastered print with a digitally-enhanced score has just been released on Blu-Ray in celebration of its 50th anniversary. I've added it to the top of my Christmas list.
The weather in Chicago today is seasonably lousy. Got up early for a coffee at Cafe Floriole (www.floriole.com) and a haircut at State Street Barbers up in Lincoln Park (www.statestreetbarbers.com). Cafe Floriole, at 1220 West Webster Avenue, is a great place to go if you're craving a cappuccino or a strong cup of espresso with perhaps an almond croissant or a slice of quiche. The atmosphere is open, the decor fairly minimalist, and the aromas of fresh-baked pastries and ground European coffee are unfailingly enticing. I always make sure to stop in before or after a haircut at State Street Barbers, an old-school barber shop with several locations around the city. I then made my way over to the Iguana Cafe (www.iguanacafe) at 517 N. Halsted for a spinach omelet, a latte, and the Sunday New York Times. I always know the week ahead is going to be good when I'm able to finish the NYT Sunday Crossword with no outside assistance.
Going to stay in tonight and catch a new episode of "Hell on Wheels," AMC's new dramatic series about the Western expansion of the railroad. While an obvious comparison is to HBO's legendary (and long since cancelled) series "Deadwood," "Hell on Wheels" has greater appeal to me. While it lacks the great Ian McKellan, "H.O.W" is less stylized, more realistic Western fare...without "Deadwood's" somewhat intrusive iambic pentameter. If you haven't caught it yet, the first three episodes are available from Xfinity on Demand.
Looking forward to the week ahead...I think it's going to be a good one!
Shout-outs tonight to the great Chicago Symphony Orchestra for transporting me for three hours on a rainy November Sunday afternoon, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim for their brilliant music and lyrics, and Jon B. at State Street Barbers for a great haircut. Cheers!
QUESTION OF THE DAY: "What is the first musical (film or stage) that you ever saw?"
I just got home from seeing/hearing "West Side Story" with my sister Sarah and friend Tracy at Orchestra Hall. What a great film! It was amazing. For the film's 50th anniversary, a new remastered print has been released and is touring with some of the great orchestras around the world. I'm not sure how they did it but my understanding is that the orchestral score and accompaniment was stripped from the film soundtrack so the live orchestra--in this case the great Chicago Symphony Orchestra (www.cso.org)--played the music live while the movie was showing. Leonard Bernstein's score is unlike anything written before or since. Hearing it live with a full orchestra was like reliving the familiar and experiencing it in a whole new light. And even after fifty years, the message of the movie itself is still so relevant to the world today. WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG??? Seriously though, the final half-hour, from Anita's "rape" in Doc's soda shop to the final scene where the Jets and the Sharks overcome their prejudices and unite in Maria's grief at Tony's death, had me in tears. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house!
And what a score! Even though some of the songs have been recorded and performed ad nauseum over the years, experiencing them again in this context was a revelation: "Something's Coming," "Maria," "Tonight," "Cool," "Gee, Officer Krupke," "I Feel Pretty," "A Boy Like That," and of course "Somewhere"...I challenge anyone to find a musical with a more compelling or consistent score. And Jerome Robbins' choreography is still as exciting and innovative as it was fifty years ago.
Hats off in particular to Rita Moreno as Anita. While Tony and Maria are the obvious focus, I feel upon this viewing that Ms. Moreno steals the show. Her portrayal, to me anyway, is the most nuanced and emotionally developed: from the sassy Puerto Rican girl of "America" and "Dance at the Gym" to her anguish at discovering Maria's love for Tony and her betrayal of Maria at Doc's soda shop, Ms. Moreno was an actress at the top of her form. It's no wonder she won an Academy Award.
The remastered print with a digitally-enhanced score has just been released on Blu-Ray in celebration of its 50th anniversary. I've added it to the top of my Christmas list.
The weather in Chicago today is seasonably lousy. Got up early for a coffee at Cafe Floriole (www.floriole.com) and a haircut at State Street Barbers up in Lincoln Park (www.statestreetbarbers.com). Cafe Floriole, at 1220 West Webster Avenue, is a great place to go if you're craving a cappuccino or a strong cup of espresso with perhaps an almond croissant or a slice of quiche. The atmosphere is open, the decor fairly minimalist, and the aromas of fresh-baked pastries and ground European coffee are unfailingly enticing. I always make sure to stop in before or after a haircut at State Street Barbers, an old-school barber shop with several locations around the city. I then made my way over to the Iguana Cafe (www.iguanacafe) at 517 N. Halsted for a spinach omelet, a latte, and the Sunday New York Times. I always know the week ahead is going to be good when I'm able to finish the NYT Sunday Crossword with no outside assistance.
Going to stay in tonight and catch a new episode of "Hell on Wheels," AMC's new dramatic series about the Western expansion of the railroad. While an obvious comparison is to HBO's legendary (and long since cancelled) series "Deadwood," "Hell on Wheels" has greater appeal to me. While it lacks the great Ian McKellan, "H.O.W" is less stylized, more realistic Western fare...without "Deadwood's" somewhat intrusive iambic pentameter. If you haven't caught it yet, the first three episodes are available from Xfinity on Demand.
Looking forward to the week ahead...I think it's going to be a good one!
Shout-outs tonight to the great Chicago Symphony Orchestra for transporting me for three hours on a rainy November Sunday afternoon, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim for their brilliant music and lyrics, and Jon B. at State Street Barbers for a great haircut. Cheers!
QUESTION OF THE DAY: "What is the first musical (film or stage) that you ever saw?"
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Julian Barnes...turbulence...home
Exhausted but I made it home. The weather here in Chicago this evening is terrible--rain, rain, and more rain. I suppose it could be worse. It could be snow, though we'll have that soon enough. Leaving the Colorado mountains this morning, there was a fresh dusting of snow on the ground though not enough, as my brother Colin tells me, to really get the most out of skiing. Hopefully when I'm back out there in three weeks' time for Christmas I'll be able to get some runs in.
Flight from Denver to Chicago was on time and I lucked out with an aisle seat in Economy Plus. I was actually in the front row right by the door so I had plenty of leg room and was actually the first off the plane when we landed. A few scattered patches of turbulence and a landing in complete fog, but kudos to the United pilots for safely getting us to O'Hare. Also kudos to author Julian Barnes and his Man Booker prize-winning novel "The Sense of an Ending" for keeping me occupied for two hours' time.
I've never read any of Mr. Barnes's work despite the fact that each novel he writes receives tremendous acclaim. This latest has been touted as his masterpiece. At a slight 160 pages, the story weaves in out through present time and memory, an elderly man's reflection on a life that for the most part has been lived unexamined until an unexpected blast from the past causes him to re-evaluate where he's been and where he's headed in the twilight years of his life. While narratively very straightforward, the novel is filled with words, sentences, and phrases that inspire you to go back and re-read for the sheer beauty of the prose and the sentiment behind it. There are very few novels I've read over the years that have literally brought tears to my eyes. Thomas Hardy's "Jude the Obscure" and Evelyn Waugh's "Brideshead Revisited" are two that have done this for me. Julian Barnes's "The Sense of an Ending" is another. I've got about fifty pages left and hope to finish it tonight.
The flight was full and, for the most part, the people-watching fairly non-existent. However, sitting across the aisle from me were a young Mennonite couple. As we were all sitting in the exit row, the flight attendant of course had to go through the standard procedure of asking us if we were comfortable assisting in the event of an emergency. The guy--who couldn't have been more than twenty-three--nodded and said he was comfortable with this. The flight attendant (who I suppose could have adjusted her tone of voice for she seemed a little harsh) asked him to look her in the eye and tell her he was okay with this. He complied and then the flight attendant asked the same question of the young lady (wife? girlfriend? sister?) sitting next to him. The young lady kept looking at the guy. She wouldn't look the flight attendant in the eye and answer her question. So the flight attendant started saying in a really loud voice: "Don't look at him. Look at me. I said, look at me when you answer this question. Are you comfortable assisting in the event of an emergency? No, don't look at him. Look at me. Because if you aren't comfortable, I'll have to arrange for you to sit in a non-exit row. He already told me he was comfortable sitting in the exit row. I'm asking you now." The poor girl looked a little shell-shocked. She whispered something to the guy she was with and then finally met the flight attendant's hawkish gaze and nodded. The imperious flight attendant then went on with her business.
I wanted to chat with the couple afterwards but I'm really not the type to initiate conversations on airplanes. I suppose I'm fairly antisocial in this regard. But then we took off and hit turbulence and I ordered a glass of red wine to calm my nerves. Everyone around me ordered water or diet Cokes. And then when I asked the same flight attendant how much for the wine and proceeded to give her the amount in cash, she informed me (rather haughtily, I might add) that they only accepted credit cards. This was fine but I felt a little marginalized, like everyone was looking at me as if I was some kind of lush for asking for a glass of wine. And then the couple in question kept shooting me looks like I'd done something really scandalous. Oh well, I didn't really want to talk to them anyway. But it was interesting. The girl was utterly under the control of whomever this guy was that she was with. I felt kind of sad for her, but then what right had I to judge her or the culture in which she lived? She might have been perfectly happy. Her seeming subservience just bothered me.
So I'm home now. I received a letter from the Cook County Clerk that my sole proprietorship (the Jonathan Scott Literary Agency) has been approved, which means the agency is now officially under my exclusive control--a welcome development given the metaphoric turbulence left in the wake of a certain someone's departure from the agency and my life. A huge relief!
I've got Rihanna's new album "Talk that Talk" blasting from my iPod and I'm about to catch up on this week's "The X Factor." All is well.
Lastly, I just wanted to give a couple shout-outs. First, to my little brother Colin for being such a great host (as always)! I look forward to seeing you again at Christmas! And finally, to Melissa G. Wilson and Networlding, for being such an inspiration and source of support for this blog and other projects these past many years. My appreciation is immense!
Question of the day: "What is the last novel you remember reading that moved you to tears?"
Flight from Denver to Chicago was on time and I lucked out with an aisle seat in Economy Plus. I was actually in the front row right by the door so I had plenty of leg room and was actually the first off the plane when we landed. A few scattered patches of turbulence and a landing in complete fog, but kudos to the United pilots for safely getting us to O'Hare. Also kudos to author Julian Barnes and his Man Booker prize-winning novel "The Sense of an Ending" for keeping me occupied for two hours' time.
I've never read any of Mr. Barnes's work despite the fact that each novel he writes receives tremendous acclaim. This latest has been touted as his masterpiece. At a slight 160 pages, the story weaves in out through present time and memory, an elderly man's reflection on a life that for the most part has been lived unexamined until an unexpected blast from the past causes him to re-evaluate where he's been and where he's headed in the twilight years of his life. While narratively very straightforward, the novel is filled with words, sentences, and phrases that inspire you to go back and re-read for the sheer beauty of the prose and the sentiment behind it. There are very few novels I've read over the years that have literally brought tears to my eyes. Thomas Hardy's "Jude the Obscure" and Evelyn Waugh's "Brideshead Revisited" are two that have done this for me. Julian Barnes's "The Sense of an Ending" is another. I've got about fifty pages left and hope to finish it tonight.
The flight was full and, for the most part, the people-watching fairly non-existent. However, sitting across the aisle from me were a young Mennonite couple. As we were all sitting in the exit row, the flight attendant of course had to go through the standard procedure of asking us if we were comfortable assisting in the event of an emergency. The guy--who couldn't have been more than twenty-three--nodded and said he was comfortable with this. The flight attendant (who I suppose could have adjusted her tone of voice for she seemed a little harsh) asked him to look her in the eye and tell her he was okay with this. He complied and then the flight attendant asked the same question of the young lady (wife? girlfriend? sister?) sitting next to him. The young lady kept looking at the guy. She wouldn't look the flight attendant in the eye and answer her question. So the flight attendant started saying in a really loud voice: "Don't look at him. Look at me. I said, look at me when you answer this question. Are you comfortable assisting in the event of an emergency? No, don't look at him. Look at me. Because if you aren't comfortable, I'll have to arrange for you to sit in a non-exit row. He already told me he was comfortable sitting in the exit row. I'm asking you now." The poor girl looked a little shell-shocked. She whispered something to the guy she was with and then finally met the flight attendant's hawkish gaze and nodded. The imperious flight attendant then went on with her business.
I wanted to chat with the couple afterwards but I'm really not the type to initiate conversations on airplanes. I suppose I'm fairly antisocial in this regard. But then we took off and hit turbulence and I ordered a glass of red wine to calm my nerves. Everyone around me ordered water or diet Cokes. And then when I asked the same flight attendant how much for the wine and proceeded to give her the amount in cash, she informed me (rather haughtily, I might add) that they only accepted credit cards. This was fine but I felt a little marginalized, like everyone was looking at me as if I was some kind of lush for asking for a glass of wine. And then the couple in question kept shooting me looks like I'd done something really scandalous. Oh well, I didn't really want to talk to them anyway. But it was interesting. The girl was utterly under the control of whomever this guy was that she was with. I felt kind of sad for her, but then what right had I to judge her or the culture in which she lived? She might have been perfectly happy. Her seeming subservience just bothered me.
So I'm home now. I received a letter from the Cook County Clerk that my sole proprietorship (the Jonathan Scott Literary Agency) has been approved, which means the agency is now officially under my exclusive control--a welcome development given the metaphoric turbulence left in the wake of a certain someone's departure from the agency and my life. A huge relief!
I've got Rihanna's new album "Talk that Talk" blasting from my iPod and I'm about to catch up on this week's "The X Factor." All is well.
Lastly, I just wanted to give a couple shout-outs. First, to my little brother Colin for being such a great host (as always)! I look forward to seeing you again at Christmas! And finally, to Melissa G. Wilson and Networlding, for being such an inspiration and source of support for this blog and other projects these past many years. My appreciation is immense!
Question of the day: "What is the last novel you remember reading that moved you to tears?"
Friday, November 25, 2011
Welcome...and Happy Black Friday!
Greetings from Breckenridge, Colorado!
Another Thanksgiving has come and gone and here we are once again at the start of another holiday season. This is the time every year when we pause to reflect on where we've come and where we want to go in the year ahead. Resolutions are made...and then promptly broken...and then promptly made again. I'm a sucker for the holiday season and a sucker for list-making and New Year's resolutions. I love Christmas music and Christmas lights, Christmas parties and Christmas shopping. Everything this time of year appears tinged with an aura of magic and optimism, however fleeting and idealized. At any rate, it just seems like a good time to launch this new phase of my life and get a head-start on 2012.
I am a Chicago-based novelist/playwright, literary agent, and teacher. I live and work in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago. About a month ago, I published my first novel, "Birds of Dreams," as an e-book available for purchase on Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook. "Birds of Dreams" is a satire of sorts portraying what happens when reality television collides with everyday reality. It's set in Chicago and comprises a cast of characters as diverse as the city itself. I am on track to publish a print version of the novel in Spring 2012.
When I'm not writing or blogging or teaching, I run the Jonathan Scott Literary Agency, a boutique literary agency that specializes in representing authors with unique and personal stories to tell--whether memoir, narrative non-fiction, or (my favorite) books about food and wine. I opened the agency in 2005 after eights years' working as an acquisitions editor. We've had our ups and downs over the past six years but I am happy to say that I feel things are really on track now. I've limited the number of new clients I take on, therefore allowing me to devote individualized attention to each. It's never easy going into business for yourself but ultimately I love the freedom and the knowledge that whatever happens, my only responsibility is to myself and my clients. It's rather liberating actually.
But I feel I've become complacent over the past couple of years. I endured a fair bit of transition and no small amount of insecurity. I am happy to say, though, that as a result I've come back better and stronger than ever before. The novel is perhaps my culminating effort in this regard as is the discovery of a love for teaching English, particularly to children living in less-than-advantageous circumstances. I feel this blog is the next step in my journey...
So the blog...what is it? What is it going to be? As anyone knows who has ever published a book or works with people who publish books, the key to author success is brand marketing. A publisher will only do so much for an author in this regard. As I tell my clients all the time, if you want to be successfully published, if you want people to read your book, if you want to make it onto the bestseller lists, you need to promote yourself. A blog is a great place to start.
This blog is about--as the title suggests--an author on the town. The author in question is me. This blog is a daily online journal, chronicling my successes and failures, my hopes and frustrations, my business, personal, and social dealings: for better or worse, for richer or poorer. It will reflect the world as I see it: Gossip Girl mixed with a male version of Sex and the City, if you will. It will portray in real-time the world of the novel: the restaurants, the bars/clubs, the grind of entrepreneurship, the personalities, the conflicts, the ambitions and aspirations, the dreams realized and the dreams deferred. A rather grand scheme, I realize...but why not?
I urge you to check in daily. And I love feedback, so feel free to post comments, questions, suggestions, stories, whatever comes to mind. For now, I leave you with this...
QUESTION OF THE DAY: "What does it mean for something to be considered culturally relevant? When is something culturally irrelevant? Share your thoughts."
Another Thanksgiving has come and gone and here we are once again at the start of another holiday season. This is the time every year when we pause to reflect on where we've come and where we want to go in the year ahead. Resolutions are made...and then promptly broken...and then promptly made again. I'm a sucker for the holiday season and a sucker for list-making and New Year's resolutions. I love Christmas music and Christmas lights, Christmas parties and Christmas shopping. Everything this time of year appears tinged with an aura of magic and optimism, however fleeting and idealized. At any rate, it just seems like a good time to launch this new phase of my life and get a head-start on 2012.
I am a Chicago-based novelist/playwright, literary agent, and teacher. I live and work in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago. About a month ago, I published my first novel, "Birds of Dreams," as an e-book available for purchase on Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook. "Birds of Dreams" is a satire of sorts portraying what happens when reality television collides with everyday reality. It's set in Chicago and comprises a cast of characters as diverse as the city itself. I am on track to publish a print version of the novel in Spring 2012.
When I'm not writing or blogging or teaching, I run the Jonathan Scott Literary Agency, a boutique literary agency that specializes in representing authors with unique and personal stories to tell--whether memoir, narrative non-fiction, or (my favorite) books about food and wine. I opened the agency in 2005 after eights years' working as an acquisitions editor. We've had our ups and downs over the past six years but I am happy to say that I feel things are really on track now. I've limited the number of new clients I take on, therefore allowing me to devote individualized attention to each. It's never easy going into business for yourself but ultimately I love the freedom and the knowledge that whatever happens, my only responsibility is to myself and my clients. It's rather liberating actually.
But I feel I've become complacent over the past couple of years. I endured a fair bit of transition and no small amount of insecurity. I am happy to say, though, that as a result I've come back better and stronger than ever before. The novel is perhaps my culminating effort in this regard as is the discovery of a love for teaching English, particularly to children living in less-than-advantageous circumstances. I feel this blog is the next step in my journey...
So the blog...what is it? What is it going to be? As anyone knows who has ever published a book or works with people who publish books, the key to author success is brand marketing. A publisher will only do so much for an author in this regard. As I tell my clients all the time, if you want to be successfully published, if you want people to read your book, if you want to make it onto the bestseller lists, you need to promote yourself. A blog is a great place to start.
This blog is about--as the title suggests--an author on the town. The author in question is me. This blog is a daily online journal, chronicling my successes and failures, my hopes and frustrations, my business, personal, and social dealings: for better or worse, for richer or poorer. It will reflect the world as I see it: Gossip Girl mixed with a male version of Sex and the City, if you will. It will portray in real-time the world of the novel: the restaurants, the bars/clubs, the grind of entrepreneurship, the personalities, the conflicts, the ambitions and aspirations, the dreams realized and the dreams deferred. A rather grand scheme, I realize...but why not?
I urge you to check in daily. And I love feedback, so feel free to post comments, questions, suggestions, stories, whatever comes to mind. For now, I leave you with this...
QUESTION OF THE DAY: "What does it mean for something to be considered culturally relevant? When is something culturally irrelevant? Share your thoughts."
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