Creativity and Confidence

"Is the source of fiction imagination, or the disguised life and character of the writer? Or is it both—the creative process inviting the heart to show itself?"

Explore these and other questions with author Ann Patchett, who believes that "art is a valid way to change the world."


What: "Creativity: Confidence of the Heart," a lecture by Ann Patchett
When: Tuesday, October 2, 7:30 pm
Where: National Cathedral
How much: $16—regular; $9—Students, Seniors 65+, Limited Income

More info here.

Thanks to Kate for flagging this very cool event for me - it kills me that I already have plans that night...

Accept the impossible...

I've been freelancing for about a year now, and have finally disciplined myself to work from the office space I've set up rather than just plopping myself on the couch in the living room. It helps with work/life separation.

The "office space" is really a room with a couch, a couple lamps and a stack of books on the floor. I've placed one of our dining room chairs next to the window so that as I type on my laptop, I can occasionally glance out at the old majestic trees that line my street, or spy at the people walking by on the sidewalk below.

On the windowsill I have a card I bought for myself earlier this year, which for some reason I just adore. It's an image of a woman who looks very '40s, with pale skin, hair pulled up in curls, draped in a cerulean green robe, leaning over a clawfoot tub. Floating in the air above the tub is this quote, in purple text:

Life is easier than you'd think; all that is necessary
is to accept the impossible and bear the intolerable...

-Kathleen Norris

I did a quick Google search on Ms. Norris (should I be embarrassed that I'd never heard of her?) and she sounds like a kindred spirit - from San Francisco, no less...

the return of CRAFTY BASTARDS

It's baaaaack -- that annual event you either know and love, or need to know (and will very likely love).

For the uninitiated, Crafty Bastards is not just an apt description of the Bush White House (ha ha ha ha), it's an annual arts and crafts fair in Adams Morgan, sponsored by the Washington City Paper.

Think handmade, felt dolls with bad attitudes, lampshades made out of old car parts, and the like. It's tons of fun, and a true testament to the high level of creative activity happening every day across this city. (Plus, last year, Sticky Fingers Bakery was there and I had the best chocolate chip cookie of my life. Mmmm. Cookies....)

When: Sunday, September 30, from 10-5
Where: Marie Reed Learning Center at 18th and Wyoming Streets NW, in Adams Morgan

Learn more.

The big 3-0

So the Studio Theatre is turning 30.

I am older than the Studio Theatre.

Sigh.

Many a festivity is planned for this auspicious occasion - check out their open house this Saturday, September 29, from 10-2, which includes a free backstage tour and a peek at a rehearsal, plus a live jazz trio and free refreshments.

Most compelling, to me, is the free staged reading at 7pm of The Rimers of Eldritch by Lanford Wilson, which is the first play the Studio ever presented. It's free, but you need a reservation (202.332.3300).

If it doesn't quite feel like a celebration without spending cash, then buy tickets for the 8pm performance of Athol Fugard's My Children! My Africa!

Check out a full overview of the festivities.

Tranquil Space Foundation Gala

I'm on the steering committee of the Tranquil Space Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering women and girls through a mixture of yoga, creative expression and leadership training. That's a photo from one of our TranquilTeens workshops above.

What excites me most about the foundation is the opportunity to help young women find yoga and the incredible strength and solace it offers, and tools like journaling and other strategies for creative living, sooner in their lives than they may have otherwise.

We're holding our first annual fundraising gala in a couple of weeks, and if our mission resonates for you, I hope you'll consider joining us. If you can't make it but are involved with an organization that might consider donating products or services to our silent auction, please let me know.

Here are the event details:

When: Thursday, October 11, from 6:30-8:30pm
Where: WVSA ARTs Connection at 1100 16th Street NW
Tickets: $30, available online or at Tranquil Space Yoga, 2024 P Street NW

Free Walking Tours of DC

Courtney over at Cultural Tourism DC forwarded me some info on an event happening this Saturday, September 29 that sounds interesting: WalkingTown DC - Fall Edition, a day of free, hosted walking tours in neighborhoods all across the city, from a tour of eco-friendly buildings to an exploration of the "seamier side of Georgetown." Sounds very interesting and, if you're in a DC rut, a great way to shake up your perceptions of the city. Unfortunately, I'm busy that day, but if you end up participating, please send me your impressions and photos and I'll post 'em here!

People

The other night we met Jerry Garcia's niece and her husband whilst eating sushi. They were sitting at the sushi bar next to us and somehow we started talking. They met through match.com and he described things as "epic" and "off the charts." Like: "Sonoma Plaza is off the charts, man." They were married in Carmel only a few weeks back and she said she was unprepared for how wonderful it was. They gave us insider tips on how to navigate wine country and were sorry to learn we weren't into sports.

Earlier in the week we met a nice young Israeli woman and her 13-month-old son on a bus to Haight Street. He was grooving on a cucumber - just munching away on it. She talked about the drum circle she goes to on Saturdays and how she hopes the world is getting healthier for her son. How on the one hand, the city's "hippie vibe" is just an act at this point, but on the other hand, there are people who are the real deal. "Oh, I want to travel," she said, with longing.

In Costa Rica back in 2002 we met a couple that had driven there from Toronto.

I don't meet people like this at home. Why? They're in DC, I'm sure, but somehow when you're traveling you're open not only to new things but to new people, as well, and people can sense it. The other week on the bus from Adams Morgan to Dupont a woman said hi to me and asked me if I'd had a nice weekend. I was completely weirded out. Here, I'd think, "oh, the people in San Francisco are so friendly..."

In Which Our Heroes Venture Into Wine Country

Hedonism is lovely, from time to time.

To wit: our "agenda" yesterday, which consisted of alternating the consumption of wine, cheese, and various local accompaniments (heirloom tomatoes for me, steak for him) with naps and bouts of staring dreamily into space.

As much as I love the city - any city - I was ready to leave it behind yesterday. Ready to drive north into wine country and leave the inherent tensions of so many people sharing so tight a space far behind me, leaking out like sand from a sandbag until emptiness reigned. I was ready to be empty so that I could be full all over again, if that makes sense.

The air smells of eucalyptus here, and last night the sky was filled with stars, and the moon was stark and bright. I slept more deeply than I have in a long, long time.

Day 4 in San Francisco

Travel can be not only exhilirating but also incredibly disorienting. Which is why I think it's so good for us - it gets us out of our comfort zones and automatic behaviors and pushes us to find out who we are in new situations and environments. Not that I'm anywhere terribly exotic, but even being away from work itself forces me to see how I want to spend time when there are no constraints being imposed on me. In other words: let those work muscles rest a bit, and let the play muscles flex. It's a re-balancing.

It's amazing how happy I am to sit and do nothing. Yesterday we explored North Beach (almost an hour in City Lights Books - heaven) and Chinatown, and I loved it, but today instead of the bike ride over the Golden Gate Bridge we had planned, all I want to do is find a cafe and sit and read and people-watch. To luxuriate in just being and soaking in a new place.

I bought a photograph of Allen Ginsberg at City Lights and I love the story that goes with it. Apparently the photographer was at Ginberg's apartment and the poet offered him coffee, and served it in a metal bowl. "Strange," thought the photographer, but of course he accepted it and began drinking. Ginsberg kept asking if he was done. Finally, when he was finished, Ginsberg rinsed the bowl and poured himself some cereal. The photographer realized it was the only bowl the poet had.

He ate Grape Nuts with sugar on them.

New Funny Ha-ha

Check out the new run of shows from Washington Improv Theater.

Do it!

San Francisco

...is where I am. Jordan and I came here together 10 years ago on what was essentially our honeymoon, even though we weren't married yet - it was our first trip together. Being here again, together, is very surreal - we're staying in the same neighborhood we did last time, but a different hotel, and everything is familiar as if from a dream.

We haven't been on a real vacation in a long time, and being here feels like diving into a deep, clear pool...

Savoring the Fruits of Farmer's Markets, Vineyards in Virginia and More

I just came across the absolutely loveliest post over on the blog of a woman I work with. It is a gentle accounting of her morning walks in nature, trips to the farmer's market where she savors (and I mean savors) the weekly bounty, an ode to pumpkin ice cream, creative get-togethers with friends (some involving wigs) and a trip to a local vineyard. It is written as if in a dreamy stupor - that state so many of us try to get into to write that poem on the tip of our tongues...

Enjoy.

Wondering If She Still Has Feelings

I discovered this print last night at Bedrock Billiards in Adams Morgan, where it's currently on display. I saw it and was riveted, the way two people's eyes lock from across a crowded room, only I was the only one doing any looking. It reminds me of an Edward Hopper painting - the starkness and loneliness of it...and yet it still has warmth, a love of the woman being portrayed. I truly love it, and it would be hanging in my living room right now if I could afford it ($1,100). The title is, interestingly, "Wondering if She Still Has Feelings." The artist is Bridget Sue Lambert.

Check out the artist's website.

Geeky question alert

Hi - sorry for the geeky question, but I noticed that traffic to Creative DC spiked yesterday, thanks to a site called stumbleupon.com. Can anyone tell me how I can track down which post of mine was recommended by a stumbleupon user? Thanks in advance!

*End geeky transmission*

People-watching at Cafe Sureia

People-watching in a cafe has to be one of the best indulgences on earth.

Step 1: Go to a cafe, preferably one you've never been to before. Think of yourself as an anthropologist on a mission.

Step 2: Order the beverage of your choice. (Today I chose a mango smoothie. I watched sadly as the barista made it from "Mango Smoothie Mix" or somesuch. Oh well, I'm not in the tropics, what was I expecting.)

Step 3: Find a comfortable spot, and commence observation.

Currently, I spy:

• An overly serious man next to me on the couch who looks very busy but is actually just surfing the web
  
  
• 2 men at a table near the door playing chess. One man is African American with a goatee in an airy purple shirt and khaki linen pants. The other is white with a trucker hat, enormous sunglasses, and a black tshirt tucked into khaki pants with a cell phone holder clipped to his belt, and Teva sandals. He just stepped closer to me and has some really gnarly toenails.
  
  
• 2 young women sitting next to me gossiping madly. Both have very sunny dispositions. When I noted a roach on the wall behind them, they did not seem to care it was there. (Aha: nature lovers!)
  
  
• Dude with headphones on his laptop by the window. Big puffy wavy dark hair. Has not looked up from laptop since I walked in.
  
  
• A man and woman - he in a suit, she in a tshirt and dress pants - engaged in passionate conversation about what seems to be a business plan or other project they're collaborating on. Hmm, sounds like they're planning a school....
  

You know how when you're depressed, people say, "you should volunteer, it gets you out of your own head to help other people"? Same thing with spying on people (because, let's face it, that's what I'm doing). You notice all the details of the way they present themselves, the way they interact with others, how they contrast with the people around them to tell the story of the place you're in together at this very moment.

I highly recommend it.

You Got Sushi?!

I just came across this illustration on my friend Mal Jones' website and had to share it. I think anyone who has ever craved sushi can appreciate the truth that this work of art portrays :).