This street corner installation, conglomerated out of many different objects, makes me think of taking in experiences and combining them to create something new & unexpected.
One experience that will be on my mind for a while, though I can’t say yet how it will influence my production, was serving on a jury.
Holding my juror badge, looking judgmental
I won’t say anything about the case except that it was all based on testimony, so our job as jurors was primarily to decide who was telling the truth.
It was difficult.
I’m glad I had the opportunity and I appreciated the thoughtfulness and seriousness with which my fellow jurors approached the task.
What else have I been taking in?
I listen to a lot of podcasts: Another Round, BackStory, Call Your Girlfriend, Code Switch, Flash Forward, Gastropod, Good Muslim Bad Muslim, Imaginary Worlds, the Oral History Podcast, Popaganda, the Racist Sandwich Podcast, The Read, Reply All, See Something Say Something, We Want the Airwaves, Whiskey Sour Feelings Hour. And while she’s no longer making new episodes, I also commend to your attention the archives of Sara Zarr’s This Creative Life. I’m really just a fan of the podcast format overall. I like them when the production values are high and there’s very sophisticated sound design, and I also like them when listening feels like eavesdropping.
And I track the books I’ve been reading via Goodreads, though I mostly don’t star or review.
In terms of the news, like a lot of people, I’m trying to stay informed and find ways to resist while avoiding becoming immobilized by fear, anger, and despair. Sometimes this means I spend more time looking at lovely pictures on Instagram than trenchant political commentary on Twitter. Sometimes it means I’m offline altogether.
As for what I’m producing: I’m not gonna talk about it, but the word count is increasing, slowly but surely.