Category Archive Seattle

ByGD

On Crows and Craft, Or Something

I haven’t run a reblog post here in a while. Usually when I do, it’s when someone writes something that I’ve been thinking myself but haven’t figured out how to say yet. This time I did write about it, and after I hit “publish” I read something that made me think, “That’s what I meant to say!”

On Friday I wrote about signs. I got it partially right. I got that the crows in Seattle are more than just urban opportunists (they made their way into a post I wrote for Dave’s Garden last week, too…), and that it had something to do with developing as a writer. But author S.P. Sipal, whose new novel Southern Fried Wiccan (she had me at the title) has just been released, explained it so much better and more beautifully in a post on Adventures in YA Publishing. That blog is on a different platform, so I can’t embed it here, but I hope you will click through and read it – HERE.

And if you don’t know what we’re talking about with the crows, the story is HERE.

I just remembered that crows (specifically, Seattle-based crows) featured in the short stories read at the Reykjavik Writing Jam I attended last fall. I wish I could include one of those stories here, especially Karen Finneyfrock’s, in which the crows were significant, but I couldn’t find them online. I think they were only printed zine-style for attendees of the jam. Maybe that’s what got crows percolating in my brain. Or maybe it’s because they screech outside my window all day as I work (like right now). Or maybe the appearance of crows in tandem with creativity popping up everywhere in my universe lately is some kind of sign.

WritingJamI would like to include a picture of a crow here, but technology hates me this week and I’m just not going to put myself through that stress today. Instead, here is a picture of the stories I mentioned that include crows.

ByGD

I Heart the I Heart Reykjavik Blog

Cats of Reykjavik

Cats of Reykjavik

Can we talk about Iceland for a minute?

My obsession with all things Icelandic is no secret, and over the course of a three trips to the country I have developed a few intense loyalties. The KEX Hostel feels like home and I must soak at Laugardalslaug at least once each trip, even though I can’t really swim. Read More

ByGD

Can You Handel Seattle Opera’s Semele?

Brenda Rae (Semele) and the Seattle Opera Chorus in Handel's masterpiece Semele. © Avi Loud

Brenda Rae (Semele) and the Seattle Opera Chorus in Handel’s masterpiece Semele.
© Avi Loud

Typical. I studied hard for the accessible Tosca. But I walked into Seattle Opera’s production of Semele cold. And I really could have used a little preparation; a Twitter hashtage for the production was #CanYouHandelIt. Knowing these five things ahead of time would have helped me Handel it better. Read More

ByGD

Tosca Talk

Tosca BookletHow much should an audience member prepare for a performance? Some of my best memories come from the shows I stumbled into blindly only to be completely blown away. But most of the time, concerts are more fun when you already know the music. It’s no fun to see a David Mamet play without some idea of what you are in for. {2018 Update: It’s no fun to see a David Mamet play.}

Anyone who attends The Marriage of Figaro, as I once did, without knowing the song made famous by Bugs Bunny is actually in The Barber of Seville will be sorely disappointed. In theory, I like to be prepared, but I don’t always find the time for research ahead of time. Read More

ByGD

Tosca Weekend

Tosca at Seattle Opera

When I go to the opera, I always feel like the Grandson at the end of The Princess Bride.

Grandpa, maybe you could come over and read it again to me tomorrow?

The action in Tosca takes place over about 18 hours. For the same amount of time, my life was completely focused on the opera last weekend when one of my dreams came true and I got to watch the Sunday matinee of Tosca after attending opening night on Saturday. 

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