Things are bubbling...

Lots of exciting things are in the works... stay tuned for news on an upcoming workshop.

Kristin: Harvesting Snow

Sometimes seeds can grow in winter.

This year Portland has had its own fair share of snow. Some of the plants out in the yard made it through. Some look like they’ve given up. And still others look like they’ve been liquefied by alien gunfire.

I took losing the script as a sign. Of what, I’m not exactly sure. But sometimes roadblocks lead to new directions. So I just sat back and watched big white usher in a quiet not found any other way. I let ideas grow—not so much on the page, as in my bones.

Some ideas made it through, others I’m giving up. And the aliens took their fair share. But what remains is what should remain.

Act two is starting to take shape.

Stay tuned.

Kristin: Rude Awakening

For me, Monday mornings are unlike the rest of the week. I find them stilted, sleepy, and full of resistance. It's good that Wade and I have conference calls first thing, or there would often be little motivation to put warm feet onto cold floors.

But this is a Monday morning for the books... I went to open the script to hammer out some thoughts on a scene deep in Act II and found that the script is gone.

Yep. The lovely electronic file is no longer where I had it. In fact, it's not anywhere.

And, of course, that structure is replicated on my back-up disk.

At least there's a paper copy... but there's nothing worse than having to retype and format sixty pages in script software I can hardly navigate.

Is it too late to go back to bed and start over?

a big move! to brooklyn

SO.... we just moved to Brooklyn! Williamsburg, where things are a bit greener, quieter and quite frankly Portlan

Kristin: Research Pitfalls

It’s a fine line between ‘research’ and ‘procrastination’…

Kristin: A Good Technology Day

While most days I think that technology is making us faster but not necessarily happier, there are days when I thank the big circuit board for it. Like this morning for instance. I logged off my three-times-a-week online call with Wade and thought about how cool it was that I could pull out my laptop, sign onto a free little program, and ‘call’ Wade. We can talk for as long as we like without worrying about the wrath of $.45 a minute when those coveted ‘anytime’ minutes deplete. We can drag and drop pictures and documents and they just magically appear across the country. We can even see each other if we want.

It’s no substitute for the real thing, but it’s definitely one in the ‘technology working for the good of the whole’ column.

Kristin: I HEART PORTLAND, OR-E-GUN

Writing a musical where the collaborators live on opposite coasts is challenging. There’s something about face-to-face ideas and energy that help the work take shape. But after a productive and exciting two weeks in NYC, my Metro Card expired. My credit card, too. I was so grateful to come home to Portland — home to my squishy bed, crazy cat, bike lanes, farms full of peaches, mountain views, three-dollar beers, and above all, some personal space and quiet. The constant noise and elbow rubbing of the Big Apple is inspiring, but here in my Pacific Northwest hideaway is where I can get my work done.

And the work IS getting done. The first act is kicking some serious ass, if I do say so myself.

Pivotal Scenes by: Kristin

Pivotal scenes are often the ones you don’t see coming. They sneak up on you when you think you’ve gotten them wrangled, and reveal themselves to be so much more than you’ve ever imagined. Once they explode like that, the smaller pieces also crack open. The sound is beautiful and deafening all at the same time.

And there’s no way out of it, but through.

Another cup of coffee please, I’m going in.

Joe's Pub

Cabaret show with Justin Bond and Amber Martin (a Portland favorite).

More Research...

Off to visit the world famous freak show at Coney Island. Research you ask?? Yes... research.