Skip to main content

Write and Wrong

"Ah, she knows me so well.'"


Some of you know that I have this new gig. It started when the publisher of Appleton Monthly Magazine called on my wife Maria at the Paper Discovery Center. Maria is the Executive Director of this museum and learning center in Appleton, Wisconsin.

 In the course of the conversation, he asked if she knew anyone who might like to write about theater in the Fox Valley. She told him she thought that she and I might be up to the task.Her thinking was we could collaborate on the ideas for the column. After which, I would write she would edit. A good choice, given her schedule, wouldn't allow the time to research, interview for and compose the columns. Reversing the roles would be a disaster. She can write as well if not better than I can but my copy editing skills...? Let's just say, thankfully there is Grammarly.

 We have been doing this six months. I have to say for me, it has been a great learning experience. I've interviewed some fascinating people, been introduced to activities in our community that I never would have been exposed to and it's been a kick seeing our work in print.

 Appleton Monthly Magazine is distributed about the first of each month. It's a free sixty-four page, four-color piece that is loaded with useful information on cooking, dining, gardening, theater, finance, trends, local people, and activities.

 We approach the theater column as an education theme. Most people, even those of us love theater, really don't know how it's done. Since live theater is a highly collaborative process, we decided to look at some of the parts of that process in depth and detail.

 I've done a column on lighting. I interviewed a director on teaching high school kid's how to act. I attended auditions for a regional theater.

 In addition to the theater column, I've taken on the "Taste" spot. In this piece, I will write about one restaurant. In the latest column, I ended up writing about the restaurant, but in addition, I discovered a compelling story about a families immigration that could easily become a book or a film. I'll give you link to it and you can judge for yourself.

 http://halvinandcoobs.blogspot.com/2018/04/taste-article-amm-may-2018.html

This is what is going on in my life. I could be writing a book no one will read or making a film no one will watch. I think this works out better.

 I am waiting patiently for the spring storm of all spring storms. My snow thrower is gassed and ready.
Poppa Jeff

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Diversity

As we look forward to celebrating the Pride we have in our Gay population, (Yeah, I couldn't resist the pun.) I'm pleased to report that diversity in the mix of our residents here in the Fox River Valley continues to surprise me. Example: As my wife and I waited for friends, in the lobby of the Marcus Hollywood Theater on the west side of Appleton, I witnessed three AfricanAmericann ladies buying snacks. Behind them was a Latino couple. At the end of the line, behind was an Asian fellow with three kids. We represented the WASP's. This is in a community that when I first visited in the nineteen sixties, if a black man walked down the street, he more than likely played football for Green Bay. After that, there was a rather pronounced immigration of Hmong and quieter arrival of Latino's. For a while, the worst keep secret was that the new Italian restaurant was actually owned by Mexican's. Since returning to the Valley, I've grown use...
Post a Comment
Read more

A rustle in the hustings

I am trying to stay away from politics on my blog. I know that some of my intended readers do not share my feelings. As well, I don't entice dialogue. Occasionally my readers will address something I've written about. For the most part, they are merely saying something like, "Oh yeah, I felt that way too," regarding some experience, that I related. However, I have to share these particular feelings about the new Ryan Healthcare proposal that is sailing through the House of Representatives. Market-driven healthcare provision: This concept proposes that if put on the free market health care insurance will become more affordable. The theory is there will be competition among insurers to gain market share and lowering the prices will be a possible outcome. None of the insurers want customers who are old people or people with a pre-existing health problem ( heart disease, cancer, etc...) Older people, who are not on medicare, have more health care ne...
Post a Comment
Read more

I Can See The End Of The Road

 Pam and I have been working from home on the line by line edit of my novel 26 Women . When we work, she is at home looking at the latest draft I've emailed her and I'm at home looking at the same version.  It's like being back in one of Marshall Cook's gatherings. Marshall ran the Writers Institute in Madison for a number of years. Participants would come with a short piece and exchange them with the others. He would moderate a discussion of the entries that would allow the writers to get input on their work. It's always interesting how readers will misunderstand the brilliance of your writing. Or put another way, how your writing will defy explanation.  Pam will ask me some form of the question, "What are you trying to say here?" We usually ended up rewriting a word, sentence, or paragraph. Only occasionally, the work would stand scrutiny and remain unchanged. I also seem to go into a coma using commas. I tend to sprinkle them like fairy dust in hopes th...
12 comments
Read more