Tlitha Qumi - Yes, Those Are Real Words

Enough with the babbling about new beginnings. Looks like I've been doing that for years. I'm finally LIVING the new beginning. Thus the Aramaic title of this entry: it's biblical, kind of like my mid-life crisis. Mark 5:41 - And taking the hand of the child he said to her, "Talitha Koum", which translates as, "Little girl, I say to you, get up." Now, I don't care what bible translation you use or if you even believe that reading the bible will help you get through life (which it will), that's powerful stuff. Those words mean a lot to me. Doesn't matter what religion you follow, or if you chose no religion at all.

I needed someone to help me get up recently, still ongoing in fact. I suffered a pretty major fall in mind, body, and spirit. I did The Wrong Thing. That I picked Jesus to help me up is beside the point. So if you're bristling that I'm going on and on about religion, just stop it.

Melinda Emanuel is rising up. That is not a boastful statement. It's just a fact. I was out of it, folks. One short ride and a tight fitting jacket away from locked up for good. And my body? Completely broken. Spirit hung up a sign and stepped away for a quick break. It was Not Good. Now, I'm back, as if from the dead, and God willing, better than before. Can't go wrong if I just keep doing what He tells me to.

So you can sort of ignore previous posts that might mention things that make you gasp. Great, now you're gonna scroll down. Hey! Up here. Thanks. Um, yeah, gonna keep it fairly clean now, because it's all about lifting people up. Life is hard enough as it is, and the general consensus is that Life has gotten crazier for everyone on the planet lately. People are freaking out.

I believe it's my job to help you calm down a little. You know, amuse and enlighten you. As for myself, it's time for dinner. Later!

The New Direction

Last week I posted on Facebook that I'm heading in a new direction. I've been pretty busy getting organized to do that. I am going to focus solely on writing romantic fiction. However, it will not be humorous. Oh, there may be some funny stuff here or there, but the stories themselves will be essentially tragic. Think "Bridges of Madison County" or "Titanic"; bittersweet stories where the characters don't wind up together. As is so often the case in life, there may not be a happy ending. This may seem like a strange move for a comedienne, but I have given it a lot of careful thought. Once I made the definite decision to write sad love stories, everything in my life got easier!

With no fewer than 10 book ideas (that's right, TEN) I was really confused as to why I just couldn't write anything down other than the idea itself. When I realized that I didn't want them to be funny, and that it's okay for them to be melancholy, it's as if a floodgate of energy opened up within me. It may seem silly to say that it's okay to let a story be sad; of course a story will wind up being told as it should be; but to me it was a revelation. I was really clinging to the idea of "Romantic Comedy", and looked at the Happy Ending as a problem to be solved.

The only problem I actually need to work hard at is Time Management. I have a short attention span and many things that want to suck the hours from my day. This is the main issue I have been dealing with when I say I've been getting organized. There is an old adage that essentially says if you want to succeed, pick one thing and do it well, over and over again. That means I need to devote a majority of my time to putting these Ten Tragic Tales down on paper, and not busy myself cleaning house, reoganizing closets, or *sigh* blogging, or even *gasp* acting! I have to drop everything and write like crazy.

So I'm going to go do that now. :)

Translating the Lost

Standing in line at the convenience store this morning I saw a magazine cover that teased "His #1 Sex Wish." ... I mused on that for a moment ... "Midgets? Trampoline? Everybody wearing a cape?" But the answer is quite simple, and came to me without my even having to crack the slick cover. His #1 Sex Wish is: To Have It.

For example, I was with a gentleman one morning and things were heating up. I asked him if he'd like it standing up or laying down and he said "Yes, please." That about sums it up, and is very helpful for ladies to remember. For men, the answer to most sex questions is a slogan: just do it. It is for many women as well. I mean me.

If only that drive translated into our collective work ethic. On a lovely day this past summer I asked a group of college boys if they would help me move a couch. They hesitated and I said I'd even pay. One of them disdainfully explained, and I'm using his words, that he was independently wealthy. They turned and walked away.

Even if we're not independently wealthy we're not working. Yes, jobs are hard to come by lately, but to offer that as an excuse is putting the chicken before the egg. I won't get into a long drawn out explanation of how the egg came first but trust me, it did. In this particular metaphor, the loss of work ethic led to the sparsity of work available today.

We sat back on our laurels and got lazy. Fat, Stupid, and Lazy, to be exact. We relied on our credit and lived beyond our means. Bubbles were created and burst. One thing led to another, and unemployment is over 10%. Nationwide.

The lazyness pervades every aspect of society, from sex wishes to improv comedy. (They are NOT one and the same, although closely related.) Since I decided to go to The Second City for training, I've been thinking about why they've got quite a few famous alumni for several decades and then recently not so much. I talked with an instructor on the phone about this briefly and he said the issue's being addressed.

It has to do with the "spaces within the work" and physical action versus just being a talking head. I think it also has something to do with how lazy Americans as a whole have become. All this was a lot more clear yesterday when I was very full of turkey and wine, but I think I've made my point.

Since this post has gone on and on and on, I'll be lazy at this juncture and quote the most famous dead person of the year. I'm looking at the man in the mirror. No, I'm not secretly a man. I believe in this case the word "man" can mean "mankind." I'm going to solve the lazyness problem for myself, and quit being so darn lazy. I think if even a few of us did so, it would help a whole lot.

How do I propose to stop my lazy daisy wheel spinning? Well, I closed up the fold out couch and am going to rearrange my living room. Again. I will refuse to lie down in the middle of the day. I will attempt to do most of my work standing up. That last one really counts for alot because I am in fact a stand up. Comedienne.

Made that decision within the last 24 hours as well. Look for an update to my website where until today my title has been Actress/Writer or something like that. Time to make new biz cards too that don't read Freelancer. No need to reinvent the wheel. Yes, I do a variety of things. However, the way to succeed is to do one thing and to do it well.

Don't freak out, if you were planning to take a class from me, I'm still going to teach. If you have ordered a costume from me, I'm still gonna sew. I'll still be stage managing for Phantom Tollbooth at the NAG next year. I'm still looking for Bill Murray's phone number. It's just that now I have a true bulls eye. Stand up comedy is my focus.

All That Nagging Doesn't Do Any Good.

Almost a month and no blog, when last blog complained so loudly! I have a great excuse tho, been sick. Had the flu for 2 solid weeks and for 2 weeks since then, sheer exhaustion and coughing and body aches. Haven't been to the doctor but I'll call it pneumonia. Am getting better tho.

Turned 40 yesterday and actually had a pretty good day. Lots of well wishes on facebook, a couple of texts, a couple of calls, a couple of cards. Didn't hurt a bit.

Will be taking a writing course online from The Second City Training Center starting in January, as well as teaching an acting class locally for youth. Would say teens but we've got 11 and 12 year olds inquiring.

Planning to get around to sending out headshots next week! Send vibes that will counteract the terror that keeps me from doing that, even tho I know it's the next thing to do.

Don't suppose I can get away with writing on Thanksgiving without mentioning it IS Thanksgiving. Am having a small dinner with a couple of very close friends. Thankful for 40 years on the planet, an amazing son, a roof over my head each night, all the food I need, a good car, tons of friends, and a plan for the future. Here's to at least 40 more years!

Oh! The Shame!

Shame On Me! I haven't blogged in over a week! Naughty Melinda...

Ok, hand slapping done, what's next? Well, I'll tell you what I'm up to:

Listening to Carmen while I drive.
Walking the dog -Jimmy Diggs- while cursing the rapidly chilling weather.
Having 3 scripts in my possession for three different shows.
Hangin out with My Friend Billy 'cause baseball and football rock.
Occasionally cleaning house, but only out of guilt.
Losing about a pound a week with Weight Watchers.
Practicing guitar more often than I used to.
Shuffling my schedule around to accomodate everything I have to do.
Loving Life.

So you can see, I've been pretty busy. However, tis no excuse. I was told I must blog at least three times a week, and so I owe you.

I want to say "If you read it I'll write it." However, I'd write it even if no one read it. I wake up thinking of the writing I have to do. I have a big board on the wall at the foot of my bed with notes, so even if it wasn't on my mind right away, it's staring me in the face.

Today I got the idea, and executed it, to post a picture of Diablo Cody there alongside my noteboard. In case you don't know, she's the gal from Minnesota who won an Oscar for her first screenplay. Something to shoot for. The Oscar, not Diablo.

It is the Leaves' Time.

Ah, geese honking overhead in their arrow formation as they fly in a southerly direction...leaves in many colors shivering on the trees and scattering on the ground...the crisp clean morning air...

I hate it all. Actually, it's quite nice, but it's a harbinger of the coming winter. It's winter that I really hate. Oh, the snow is pretty and all, but winter reminds me of why I am here in Minnesota, and where I could be.

It's only for a couple of years, he said. 13 years ago. I chose to remain here because my son needs me around. If not for him, I'd be hacking away at the jungle of L.A. However, all things happen for a reason...

I think I just wasn't ready. Even now, I have a lot to learn. My education continues, not just in the work I do, but about myself. Deep down, I have a fear of success and a need for perfection that chains me in the cold, dark, damp dungeon of my humanity.

All manner of avoidant and self destructive sabotage is employed. Luckily, I have loads of time in which to consider my actions and habits, to examine my methods and proceedures, and to correct my course.

Resolution is somewhat easy. Movement based on said resolve is quite another story. It takes a daily decision to be steadfast in my purpose. One cannot attend a monster inspirational conference of like minded creatives every week. That spark will have to come from within.

So each day when I wake I commune with the forces at large that compell me. We agree I won't traipse through daisies or slog through snow today. Simply walk along steadily, letting the leaves crunch under my feet.

Is This What You Do With Eternity?

One of my favorite movies is Groundhog Day, and one of my favorite lines from that movie is "Is this what you do with Eternity?" Andi and Bill are sitting on his bed flipping cards into a hat. She's wondering if that's all he does with all this time he's been given. Of course, he's also learned French, and to play the piano, and how to rob a bank without firing a shot. I don't know how to do any of those things.

I know how to act, and write, and sew. I'll be sewing alot here soon. I'm costuming the upcoming Northfield Arts Guild production of Ah, Wilderness! The exclaimation point is in the title, not an indication of my own personal excitement. Altho it is fun. America in 1906. Bustles were out, but big frills were the order of the day, and ridiculous ribbons, and men got to wear silly straw hats.

Why did hats ever go out? They're so fun and interesting. Women's hats of that time were particularly fun. Lots of feathers and flowers, sometimes even whole birds. Anyway, I get to put all this together. While I sew I love to watch movies. Heck, I love to watch movies all the time anyway. But at least when I'm sewing I get to feel productive. Unlike when I'm sitting here playing a game wondering if this is what I do with Eternity.