Two-Thousand and Nine

[TeresaYork]

I accomplished some goals mid-year, so I am not required by law to make any new resolutions until June '09. We'll talk then.

[DollarBill]

Do it now.

That's the catchy version of my mantra for 2009. The full length version is "If you can do it right, do it now." I went with that instead of a long list of things because the way I figure it, that one thing will improve most aspects of my life. Now I gotta go cuz I'm not doing it now by typing this instead of learning my lines.

[starkserious]

Mine is long list but I think I can do it, but I'll need some help from my friends....

- Get my Mother's estate settled.
- Pay off ALL debt and taxes.
- Use cash instead of credit to purchase things
- Invest 10-15% of all income into safe and wise investments (whatever the hell that is now!)
- Double my real estate sales (shouldn't be hard to do since my sales sucked ass in 2008)
- Exercise 5x week & lose 20lbs (may need a personal trainer for this one)
- Start doing Stand Up Comedy again. (Make way for the Velveeta)
- Find a new long form Improv troupe to play shows in. (any theatre)
- Do training programs 2-4x month around the world.
- Finish a book I started 4 years ago and get it published
- Help other people accomplish their goals.
- Never visit another psycotherapist again!
- Stay Alive.

[Jessica]

Make some goals.
Then figure out what to do to meet them.
Then do that.
Then be happy that I accomplished something.

[Matt]

Do more things that make me uncomfortable. I've gotten far too cozy with the status quo for my own good.

[Miggy]

it's a little past mid-year. how's everyone doing on their goals?

Fail/No Progess
- Follow through on New Hamilton Park (temporary park on the site of the old Intel building) - courthouse got approved with the stimulus plan. 4th downtown square is still in the long-term plan - just not there. Also - from the arguments that I and others made, Rep. Doggett who got this funded, publicly admitted that it was in the wrong location but the shovel-ready aspect of the project overrided those concerns. It's safe to say I disagree
- Add two more professional certifications - eek, forgot about this one
- Exhibit my photographs...or at least get a web-site up - one of these days.

In progress:
- Complete Warehouse District Preservation Initiative (hopefully with Gingerman building intact) - getting good press for the effort and the Gingerman building is being converted to a live music venue at least temporarily. Issue gets decided at City Council on Sept 24th.
- Follow through on commission of a new piece of organ music written in honor of my father - we at least finalized the orchestration: Organ and Tesla coil. Still moving slow.
- Curate and publish an album of contemporary organ music - also moving slow
- Apply to and get into grad school - I have now taken two GMAT prep classes and will be taking the exam in September.
- Run a marathon - training now.
- Move my photography beyond seeking and finding and into construction of new images and environments - I'm working on this right now with a project for a jazz album's artwork.
- Get back to studying/performing improv rather than just bookkeeping or teching for it - one performance does not allow me to check this box yet.

Complete:
- Complete Hideout Transition - yay!
- Stay employed - ongoing effort
- Cook more, drink less - ditto
- Release and promote the latest album I helped produce (Spectra: Guitar in the 21st Century - due out in February) - Yes - doing well, especially in the UK and getting some strong reviews.
- Complete Leadership Austin class - check
- Get my friend Chris Riley elected to City Council - by a 3-to-1 margin of victory
- Get appointed to a city board or commission - Downtown Commission - check
- Guest lecture on Urban Planning, Operations Planning and Photography in the same year - guest lectured at a UT graduate class on urban planning. the other two are elusive at the moment. I will be debating Justin Yorke at the Dionysium next month - that should count for something.
- Commence programming of a series of 100 events over the course of a year at Wooldridge Park to celebrate its centennial - goin' strong
- Walk away from at least two boards - I may want to put this into the fail column since I walked away from two and added five others.

[kaci_beeler]

Need To Still Accomplish:
-Take driving lessons/pass test
-Travel and make 2 great videos for Southwest - I already made one!
-Plan and execute a fantastic wedding - lots done, lots more to do
-puppy kissing - every day

Accomplished:
-Get more fit - In progress! Going well!
-Graduate with honors with a Bachelor of Arts in Art (Class of 2009!) - Summa Cum Laude!
-Paint 15 paintings by April - Food Paintings!
-Organize student art invitational at SVT in May - The DEFT show was a success!
-Clean up the hizzouse, organize bitches - (only one room left!)
-Make great improv happen - always workin' on
-Travel to at least one new festival - Chicago!
-Save money, make more money - did that, now it's draining again
-puppy kissing - every day

[sara farr]

To only perform on stage using puppets.

Tried this a bit, then decided it didn't work unless I was also working on being a good imp, too. BUT check this out...

A) I just got back from a self-funded trip down the West Coast to study puppet improv. I talked to:

• 1) Puppetz vs People... Amy Gray, veteran of Comedy Sportz Portland & Tears of Joy puppet theater, talked to me about the tricks to producing and performing in her show "Puppetz vs People"
  2) Great Puppet Musical... Mandy Khoshnevisan of Un-Scripted in San Fran met and talked with me about Un-Scripted's use of puppets in their improvised puppet musical shows.
  3) Pixar... Rebecca Stockely of BATS gave me a happy surprise by taking me to Pixar to talk to improvising animators who also find similarities between animation and puppetry
  4) Lunatique Fantastique... Liebe Wetzel met and talked to me in Sausalito, CA about the tricks of found object puppetry and street performance
  5) Water Color... Went to see Sean Johnson of Swazzle do a one man puppet show for a Los Angeles library branch THAT WAS AWESOME
  6) Swazzle... Sean Johnson let me tour his puppet building workshop where I learned lots of good tricks for puppet construction and performance
  7) Puppet Up... Saw a mix of Henson Puppeteers and Groundlings trained imps do an amazing show that was probably the most professional improv show I've seen live... ever.

B) I auditioned for puppeteer role in a kids show pilot AND GOT THE ROLE! I now need to learn how to memorize lines ASAP. Any help in this would be appreciated.

[KathyRose]

I auditioned for puppeteer role in a kids show pilot AND GOT THE ROLE! I now need to learn how to memorize lines ASAP. Any help in this would be appreciated.

Congratulations!

Tips on learning lines:

1. Analyze the text. Circle the key words and phrases that are essential to telling the story. These are your checkpoints if you get lost or if someone else throws you off track. They are also the words that you need to make sure that the audience clearly receives. Don't rush through them.

2. If it's a dialog with another character, find a key word or phase in the other person's text that is the conceptual / logical trigger for your response to them (not necessarily the last words of what they say). Ignore the rest of their text. When the time comes, you can actually listen and respond to them as if hearing it for the first time.

3. Read the lines aloud. Your speaking apparatus builds muscle memory. Your body remembers the rhythm and pattern of the text as well as the words. Which leads to the next two items...

4. Run the lines flat, with no emotional inflection. The director may change your "choices" and you'll want to be able to respond truthfully to the emotional dynamics of the moment, without being stuck to a pre-programmed intonation.

5. Run the lines as fast as you can, slowing only a little to hit the key words, so you won't rush through them by habit. If it's a dialog, pause only a moment where the other person would be speaking - otherwise treat the scene as a monologue.

6. Repetition repetition repetition. I chant monologues when I drive to keep them alive. Great use of the time.

When you have your lines down cold, so well that they require no effort to recall them, you can totally be present "in the moment" and thoroughly enjoy the emotional ride of the scene.
Kathy

[Asaf]

B) I auditioned for puppeteer role in a kids show pilot AND GOT THE ROLE! I now need to learn how to memorize lines ASAP. Any help in this would be appreciated.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

As far as learning lines there are two tricks that I learned.

1) Copy your lines by hand. It is been said that this works best by many people I know.

2) My friend Dan had this method when he would read lines with someone where whenever they read a line, he would ask them to repeat part of it. It might look like this:

A: To be or not to be, that is the question.
B: That is the what?
A: That is the question.
B: What is the question?
A: To be or not to be.
B: To be or what?
A: Not to be.
B: Now all together.
A: To be or not to be, that is the question.

This method helps you learn dialogue in components and especially helps with lines where the phrasings get turned around in your head.

[Miggy]

I completed a lot of my goals this year which is good. Here are the ones that will be carrying over into the new year (along with some other fresh ones):

In progress:
- Complete Warehouse District Preservation Initiative (hopefully with Gingerman building intact) - Issue gets decided at City Council in Jan/Feb now.
- Follow through on commission of a new piece of organ music written in honor of my father - Still moving slow.
- Curate and publish an album of contemporary organ music - also moving slow
- Apply to and get into grad school - GMAT taken. Application deferred until 2010, though.
- Run a marathon - Half marathon complete. Continuing training.
- Get back to studying/performing improv rather than just bookkeeping or teching for it - one performance does not allow me to check this box.
- Add two more professional certifications.
- Exhibit my photographs...or at least get a web-site up.

[Chelley]

B) I auditioned for puppeteer role in a kids show pilot AND GOT THE ROLE! I now need to learn how to memorize lines ASAP. Any help in this would be appreciated.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

As far as learning lines there are two tricks that I learned.

1) Copy your lines by hand. It is been said that this works best by many people I know.

This method certainly helps me. When you write something down it's more likely you'll remember. At least, this is what I've found.