Sunday, April 13, 2008
Book Jacket Photo Shoot
Jared and I enlisted the services of our very talented younger sister Naoma to take our official "author" pictures for the dust jacket of the book. Luckily, I had my braces taken off in the nick of time--1 week before these pictures were taken. I'm not normally a fan of my own photos, so it says a lot that I really liked most of the pictures Naoma took. This blog only will let me upload a limited amount--so I chose some favorites to share.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
I'm Happy I Was Born
This year my birthday got stretched out like taffy, which was perfectly fine by me. March is the perfect month to have a birthday in because it’s far enough away from any other major holiday to really get celebrated (no offense, St. Patrick).
The festivities were kicked off Birthday Eve by going to a musical with my sister Anna (who was born the day after my 5th birthday and is therefore linked inextricably to the day). On the 14th itself, I went skiing for the first time in 10 years. A friend and I had already planned on going when a client serendipitously gave her free passes to The Canyons in Park City. We had schizophrenic weather—-blue skies at the bottom of the lift, a wind storm going up and then powdery flakes coming down—then a different combination the on next run, but had a great time! That night I went to dinner with my parents. It was lovely to celebrate the anniversary of the day with those who were originally there. I’m so grateful for such a wonderful mom and dad.
I’d been getting emails with 34 things people loved about me, 34 red cherries, 34 pens, 34 Laffy Taffy’s—but when a person that had no way of knowing it was my birthday called—I knew something was up. It took me about 2 minutes to mentally trace the trail back to LauraLee. As my consummate birthday friend, I instinctively knew she’d found a way to let people know it was my birthday. Only later did I find out she’d mined the “to” addresses in emails I’d sent and sent word to my Facebook friends.
Apparently, you don’t have to be under 10 to have a “Princess Party” because LauraLee got some of my friends together and threw me one. I had a crown, princess napkins, princess food (apples for Snow White, pumpkin fluff for Cinderella etc.), and everyone had to say what princess I reminded them of. Princess presents and clips from favorite princess movies finished it off. My mom just commented in amazement, “Who has friends like that?”
On Sunday I had a delectable birthday dinner with my sister Becky and my nieces and nephews and we watched my newest 4 hour BBC obsession “North and South.” I had another delicious dinner and chat with my sister Naoma and her family, and went shopping with sister Michelle and niece Anneka and recieved many lovely presents, phone messages and texts wishing me happy.
Is it any wonder I love my birthday?
The festivities were kicked off Birthday Eve by going to a musical with my sister Anna (who was born the day after my 5th birthday and is therefore linked inextricably to the day). On the 14th itself, I went skiing for the first time in 10 years. A friend and I had already planned on going when a client serendipitously gave her free passes to The Canyons in Park City. We had schizophrenic weather—-blue skies at the bottom of the lift, a wind storm going up and then powdery flakes coming down—then a different combination the on next run, but had a great time! That night I went to dinner with my parents. It was lovely to celebrate the anniversary of the day with those who were originally there. I’m so grateful for such a wonderful mom and dad.
I’d been getting emails with 34 things people loved about me, 34 red cherries, 34 pens, 34 Laffy Taffy’s—but when a person that had no way of knowing it was my birthday called—I knew something was up. It took me about 2 minutes to mentally trace the trail back to LauraLee. As my consummate birthday friend, I instinctively knew she’d found a way to let people know it was my birthday. Only later did I find out she’d mined the “to” addresses in emails I’d sent and sent word to my Facebook friends.
Apparently, you don’t have to be under 10 to have a “Princess Party” because LauraLee got some of my friends together and threw me one. I had a crown, princess napkins, princess food (apples for Snow White, pumpkin fluff for Cinderella etc.), and everyone had to say what princess I reminded them of. Princess presents and clips from favorite princess movies finished it off. My mom just commented in amazement, “Who has friends like that?”
On Sunday I had a delectable birthday dinner with my sister Becky and my nieces and nephews and we watched my newest 4 hour BBC obsession “North and South.” I had another delicious dinner and chat with my sister Naoma and her family, and went shopping with sister Michelle and niece Anneka and recieved many lovely presents, phone messages and texts wishing me happy.
Is it any wonder I love my birthday?
Sunday, February 24, 2008
75 Degrees and Blue Skies
I'd originally planned on making the trip out to Austin to visit my brother and his family last April, then it got re-scheduled for the fall, and I finally ended up going earlier this month--which was fine with me because it provided an escape from the endless snowstorms battering the Wasatch Front into spring-like temperatures and blue skies
My brother Mark and my sister-in-law Laura are the ultimate hosts and I had an amazing time. The first morning, Laura and I went running outside (because we COULD) and I literally gasped with pleasure at the 75 degree weather and continued wallowing in it for the rest of the trip.
I like to explore when I travel--so Mark, Laura and Nate (my nephew) and I trekked all over the place. I was initiated into Texas BBQ and Texas history and the Wii (I moved up from a Wannabe to a Rising Star in Song Star but didn't do as well in the bowling!)
We also went down to San Antonio and saw the Alamo. Davy Crockett was my family's very first video and I watched it dozens of times as a kid, so I enjoyed seeing that. But the best part of San Antonio was floating down and strolling along the River Walk. I'd never even heard of the River Walk, and suddenly I was standing in Venice with picturesque street fronts on either side of a river.
My family always sang in the car on road trips, so on the way back to Austin we taught Nate "Fried Ham" and the America round. I also taught them "I've Never" which Nate liked because he'd done the least and so he usually won.
Other highlights were going to a resturant right on a lake, playing lazer tag and doing some fun shopping at amazing outlets (I got some super-on-sale boots.) Also watching Nate's b-ball game and running four miles with him on the elementary school track--at his insistence! But mostly I loved just having the chance to hang out and talk.
I was also able to meet up with my 4-year Arizona friend and roommate Karin (her husband was stationed in Texas for a few months). We went to the Innerspace Caverns and dinner and I got to catch up on the last several years with them!
Anyway--I had a ball and came back feeling re-humanized!
My brother Mark and my sister-in-law Laura are the ultimate hosts and I had an amazing time. The first morning, Laura and I went running outside (because we COULD) and I literally gasped with pleasure at the 75 degree weather and continued wallowing in it for the rest of the trip.
I like to explore when I travel--so Mark, Laura and Nate (my nephew) and I trekked all over the place. I was initiated into Texas BBQ and Texas history and the Wii (I moved up from a Wannabe to a Rising Star in Song Star but didn't do as well in the bowling!)
We also went down to San Antonio and saw the Alamo. Davy Crockett was my family's very first video and I watched it dozens of times as a kid, so I enjoyed seeing that. But the best part of San Antonio was floating down and strolling along the River Walk. I'd never even heard of the River Walk, and suddenly I was standing in Venice with picturesque street fronts on either side of a river.
My family always sang in the car on road trips, so on the way back to Austin we taught Nate "Fried Ham" and the America round. I also taught them "I've Never" which Nate liked because he'd done the least and so he usually won.
Other highlights were going to a resturant right on a lake, playing lazer tag and doing some fun shopping at amazing outlets (I got some super-on-sale boots.) Also watching Nate's b-ball game and running four miles with him on the elementary school track--at his insistence! But mostly I loved just having the chance to hang out and talk.
I was also able to meet up with my 4-year Arizona friend and roommate Karin (her husband was stationed in Texas for a few months). We went to the Innerspace Caverns and dinner and I got to catch up on the last several years with them!
Anyway--I had a ball and came back feeling re-humanized!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Miracle
When Jared and I completed writing the final chapter, I was almost afraid to voice the question.
“Is it done?” I asked.
Three and a half years ago, I moved up to Utah and began co-authoring a business fable with my brother. It was supposed to be done in 6-9 months. Being a person who finds great delight in checking things off my “to do” list, the constant evolution and re-writing of this book has been pretty rough on me. I’ve thought it was done a dozen of times, only to have my hopes dashed over and over agin.
Now the ball was in my court. My task was to make all the final adjustments and prepare a print-ready version that he could take with him on his January retreat.
“No problem,” I thought. “A few little tweaks here and there and we’re good to go.”
Two weeks later I’d only gotten through 4 of the 18 chapters. Those “little tweaks” were tying me in writing knots. I only had one more week left and knew that finishing was impossible—and that put me in a very bad mood.
That Sunday I was bombarded with messages about how God is a god of miracles who can help us do impossible things—Nephi and the ship, Joseph and the church and on and on. I was listening to a BYU Hawaii devotional that night (random) and the speaker suddenly begins telling this story about how he had an impossible amount of work to get done in a limited time-frame but when he’d exercised his faith and the Lord opened a way to make the impossible possible.
Obviously someone was trying to tell me something.
I wrote up my plan of attack, told everyone I'd be working from home, cancelled everything I had going on for the week and began to pray. Starting Monday, after exercising in the morning, I settled into my big chair with my computer on my lap and wrote. I wrote all day and into the night (generally finishing at around 10 pm)for six days straight.
This really was an exercise of faith because even at my very best, I’ve only been able to write for about 5 hours at a time (after that the quality of work decreases rapidly). But somehow my brain was suddenly able to do marathon sessions without shutting down. I went through each page over and over again and smoothed and fixed and adjusted and kept going. On Saturday at 4 pm, I arrived back at my office to print out a hard copy and go through it one last time. At 11 pm, I arrived at Kinkos to bind the manuscript. At midnight exactly, I drove out of the Kinkos parking lot went and dropped off the books in Jared’s mailbox.
I’m not announcing that it’s completely done (I’ve learned my lesson) but I am awed and grateful that the Lord loved me enough to perform this miracle. I’m not a Nephi or a Joseph Smith, but he did this for me anyway and that is an amazing thing.
“Is it done?” I asked.
Three and a half years ago, I moved up to Utah and began co-authoring a business fable with my brother. It was supposed to be done in 6-9 months. Being a person who finds great delight in checking things off my “to do” list, the constant evolution and re-writing of this book has been pretty rough on me. I’ve thought it was done a dozen of times, only to have my hopes dashed over and over agin.
Now the ball was in my court. My task was to make all the final adjustments and prepare a print-ready version that he could take with him on his January retreat.
“No problem,” I thought. “A few little tweaks here and there and we’re good to go.”
Two weeks later I’d only gotten through 4 of the 18 chapters. Those “little tweaks” were tying me in writing knots. I only had one more week left and knew that finishing was impossible—and that put me in a very bad mood.
That Sunday I was bombarded with messages about how God is a god of miracles who can help us do impossible things—Nephi and the ship, Joseph and the church and on and on. I was listening to a BYU Hawaii devotional that night (random) and the speaker suddenly begins telling this story about how he had an impossible amount of work to get done in a limited time-frame but when he’d exercised his faith and the Lord opened a way to make the impossible possible.
Obviously someone was trying to tell me something.
I wrote up my plan of attack, told everyone I'd be working from home, cancelled everything I had going on for the week and began to pray. Starting Monday, after exercising in the morning, I settled into my big chair with my computer on my lap and wrote. I wrote all day and into the night (generally finishing at around 10 pm)for six days straight.
This really was an exercise of faith because even at my very best, I’ve only been able to write for about 5 hours at a time (after that the quality of work decreases rapidly). But somehow my brain was suddenly able to do marathon sessions without shutting down. I went through each page over and over again and smoothed and fixed and adjusted and kept going. On Saturday at 4 pm, I arrived back at my office to print out a hard copy and go through it one last time. At 11 pm, I arrived at Kinkos to bind the manuscript. At midnight exactly, I drove out of the Kinkos parking lot went and dropped off the books in Jared’s mailbox.
I’m not announcing that it’s completely done (I’ve learned my lesson) but I am awed and grateful that the Lord loved me enough to perform this miracle. I’m not a Nephi or a Joseph Smith, but he did this for me anyway and that is an amazing thing.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
The Favorite
Visiting my sister over Thanksgiving, my little niece Rebekah became very attached to me and kept asking for me for a week. Martha called me up and demanded “What did you DO?” I’d only visited for a couple of days and even then, I’d only spent a couple of hours exclusively with her kids, so she just didn’t get it.
The secret, my friend, is very simple. Give a child your full attention for more than a half an hour, and you’ve made a friend for life.
There are two caveats to this general rule, however.
1. There can’t be any other adults with you when you do this because in almost all situations you will end up talking to the other adult. Full attention is essential.
2. You need to do something that you both genuinely enjoy. Children are surprisingly intuitive and can usually sense if you are watching the clock or just humoring them.
When I was given a $70 gift certificate for a bowling alley at a work event, my eyes began to gleam. The bowling alley is kid-friendly, complete with bumpers and ramp to roll the bowling ball down, and seemed an ideal place to reaffirm favorite aunt status with my younger nieces and nephews in one fell swoop.
Their mothers were incredulous, but willing, and after helping me tackle a few things (like lending me a car with enough seats) and commanding their little ones to stick to me like glue, we were on our way. I blithely trooped into Fat Cats hand in hand with my six little charges--who were all six and under--and handed the boy at the counter their shoe sizes and my gift certificate. He proceeded to tell me they weren’t taking the certificates because it was New Year’s, but when he saw my crestfallen expression, he let it slide.
The kids were adorable! They’d watch the ball so anxiously as it barreled down the lane and if they got even one pin down, they’d wriggle in excitement while their cousin cheering section went wild. Stewart (4) told me with big eyes, “I wonder who is going to win. Maybe all of us will win!” They were all pretty good—spares and strikes happening multiple times— and even more incredibly, they stayed in their seats far more than I had any right to expect.
The nearest catastrophe we had came as a consequence of the two free pitchers of soda they gave us. Near the end, Maddi motioned me over and said, “I need to go to the bathroom.” I hadn’t forecasted this possibility, and taking all six of them to the bathroom was not something I wanted to do. When I asked if she could she could hold it, she replied with a pained expression, “But I already have been for a long time!” So, we wrapped things up pretty quickly and hurried to Anna’s to use the facilities. And not a minute too soon because by the end of the short drive, every single one of them needed to use the bathroom!
The secret, my friend, is very simple. Give a child your full attention for more than a half an hour, and you’ve made a friend for life.
There are two caveats to this general rule, however.
1. There can’t be any other adults with you when you do this because in almost all situations you will end up talking to the other adult. Full attention is essential.
2. You need to do something that you both genuinely enjoy. Children are surprisingly intuitive and can usually sense if you are watching the clock or just humoring them.
When I was given a $70 gift certificate for a bowling alley at a work event, my eyes began to gleam. The bowling alley is kid-friendly, complete with bumpers and ramp to roll the bowling ball down, and seemed an ideal place to reaffirm favorite aunt status with my younger nieces and nephews in one fell swoop.
Their mothers were incredulous, but willing, and after helping me tackle a few things (like lending me a car with enough seats) and commanding their little ones to stick to me like glue, we were on our way. I blithely trooped into Fat Cats hand in hand with my six little charges--who were all six and under--and handed the boy at the counter their shoe sizes and my gift certificate. He proceeded to tell me they weren’t taking the certificates because it was New Year’s, but when he saw my crestfallen expression, he let it slide.
The kids were adorable! They’d watch the ball so anxiously as it barreled down the lane and if they got even one pin down, they’d wriggle in excitement while their cousin cheering section went wild. Stewart (4) told me with big eyes, “I wonder who is going to win. Maybe all of us will win!” They were all pretty good—spares and strikes happening multiple times— and even more incredibly, they stayed in their seats far more than I had any right to expect.
The nearest catastrophe we had came as a consequence of the two free pitchers of soda they gave us. Near the end, Maddi motioned me over and said, “I need to go to the bathroom.” I hadn’t forecasted this possibility, and taking all six of them to the bathroom was not something I wanted to do. When I asked if she could she could hold it, she replied with a pained expression, “But I already have been for a long time!” So, we wrapped things up pretty quickly and hurried to Anna’s to use the facilities. And not a minute too soon because by the end of the short drive, every single one of them needed to use the bathroom!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
The Play's the Thing
Wow! That was one of the most intense 5 weeks of my life, but directing Rings of the Tree turned out to be one of the most delightful experiences I've ever had. It was one of those rare times where you get to do something for the sheer joy of doing it (free from feeling the pressure to try to please or impress someone else i.e. boss, coworkers, clients, professors etc.). I had nothing to prove and therefore simply enjoyed it!
One fun side note is that one of the official adjudicators from ACTF (college theater competition) was none other than my directing teacher from Rick's who is now the dean of BYU's theater department. The whole story came full circle!
Here are my Top 5 Moments with the play (I have 100's more)
1. During a dress rehearsal/ faculty review, just as the villain revealed his true identity. . . the power went out. The entire campus and the surrounding neighborhoods were completely black for hours. That’s taking the dramatic moment just a bit to far, don’t you think?
2. The most perfect impression of Mad Hatter from Disney’s Alice in Wonderland that I've ever seen. It came from our leading man, and my stage manager and I were laughing so hard that tears were rolling down our cheeks. I laughed more doing this play than I have in YEARS!
3. The costumes were gorgeous, but it was terribly amusing to watch the girl’s hoop skirts pop up and jerk to the side and rock every which way. They even brought them to their knees on occasion!
4.Talking incessantly with a British accents and saying very cool phrases like “blinding brilliant” and “gobsmacked” and "biting my arm off" etc. and having it all be official rehearsal behavior. Since it was still a work in progress we got to do a lot of shaping of the script---with the playwright's permission of course.
5. Watching the audience get sucked in to all the plot twists night after night and laugh and cry and come out saying “I wasn’t expecting anything like that!”
Also, watching the actors put heart, body and soul (several rehearsals ran until midnight and beyond) into pulling the whole thing together to create something exceptional.
A lovely, lovely experience. I will miss it!
Here are some reviews from a couple of contributors to the "Association of Mormon Letters- List" if you would care to peruse!
Rings of the Tree- a stage play
Reviewed by Nan Parkinson McCulloch
Thoroughly Mormon Mahonri has written a Victorian fantasy/romance premised with thoroughly Mormon theology. The best selling Victorian mystery writer Anne Perry, also a Mormon, unsuccessfully attempted to combine fantasy and Mormon theology in her epic fantasy, Tathea. Fortunately, Stewart's fantasy is less serious, faster moving and highly entertaining. Rings of The Tree has broad appeal. Folks from 8 to 80, especially feminists and young women will enjoy the play.
Who could write fantasy without symbolism and Stewart has served it up in abundance. We find ourselves searching to identify Holy and Heavenly persons holding the keys to our Eternal Life and their own. And we are introduced to those, otherworldly, who would thwart that plan.
The thought provoking plot twists and turns make the play interesting and keep the audience fully engaged. This is a play you can't leave at the theater, you take it home with you. Stewart has a gift for writing dialogue. His conversations are well thought out and go a long way in developing the characters. For an ensemble cast, I found all the characters surprisingly well developed.
This premier production of award winning playwright Mahonri Stewart's senior project, Rings of the Tree, is the first such project approved by UVSC since adding this new four year degree in theater. It was a significant event and a remarkable achievement for Stewart, the talented cast and the university. I was sincerely moved by Mahonri's play, which left it's unique ring around me...
A mini-review from James Goldberg:
I don't know if anyone else on the list got to see Mahonri's play, Rings of the Tree. I still am not over the high production quality...it says in the program his sister hadn't done theatre in ten years and came back to direct it...I wish that after ten years of almost-uninterrupted directing experience I was close to as good as that. Nice sets and costumes, crisp pacing, good work on the accents, excellent emotional connection for moving, realistic performances, nice little touches to accentuate the humor and the drama...it was just very, very good. Is it OK to ask Mahonri through the list if his sister's married? :) If not, you should send me her number off-list. ...just kidding...but only sort-of...:)
Not that we should neglect the talents of Mr. Stewart himself, who not only wrote, but also acted the villain in his own play. And (since this is a writing, not performance list) managed to put together an engaging period / fantasy / sci-fi (it's not really time travel, but seems like it) / romance piece that doubles as a theological thriller. (Mahonri: my favorite part was probably when she's crying on the floor "Forever in my sins...forever in my sins")
So...for those of you who missed out: sorry. It's theatre so you'll never get to see it quite like that again. Still, I thought I'd briefly share one of those experiences where you find out there's a lot more to Provo Theatre than apparent at first glance. <
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Shakespearan Festival Speed Through
During one of our last dress rehersals for the play, we had two UVSC professors come in and give me feedback. They told me that we needed to pick up the pace and recommended doing a speed throughs (doing the play as if you were pressing a fast-forward button). It was hilarious and really helped.
During this time, I also went down to Ceder City for the Shakepearan Festival with my friends LauraLee, Kelsey and Deah, and the best way that I can describe that experience is that it was just like a speed through.
We got a late start and so we got down to Ceder City speedily (if not quite legally)and arrived to get a blank stare at will-call when I tried to pick up our tickets for Candida, the Matchmaker and King Lear. They looked and looked and couldn't find the reservation that I'd made. Apparently, the woman who took the reservation booked me for July instead of August. But it had a happy ending because they gave us house seats for all the shows that were much better than what I'd orginally purchased.
The next morning we sped off to Zion and climbed Angel's Landing. Holding on to a chain with sheer drops on either side of me, I started to wonder if it was such a good idea, but Kelsey was the perfect coach and got me to the top and an amazing view. Getting behind some slow moving vehicles on the way out necessitated another speedy return to Ceder City (Kelsey said she just stopped looking at the speedometer) and we ran into our matinee (literally) in all of our hiking glory.
Before King Lear, we had to stop at my favorite store on earth, Maurice's--the Ceder City version. Their clothes fit perfectly and last forever, so I got down to business pretty quickly. They kept the store open an hour late for us and then we ran (again literally) into the theater for the last play.
The plays were really well done--all totally different from each other--and the company was the best. I've always wanted to go on a road trip with Deah and LauraLee together because they are better than a comedy team. All three of them fit the bill perfectly for travelling companions--adventerous, easy-going and great chatters. I came home exhausted but having had a great time.
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