SPEECH SCHOOL?
seriously??
My brain still hurts from the italian speech I had to know for my trip to Italy----now that I am moving to Atlanta----I guess I will have to brush up on the language of the locals.
Maybe on the 2 days off a week I can sign up here at the Atlanta school of speech. Really get down the whole "Y'all" thing.
posted by Rachel Reenstra @ 12:30 PM
5 Comments:
Rachel--
You post, I comment. You're an artist, I'm an artist. Artists know
other artists need support. So, you
post, I comment. It's symbiotic.
And now, to your latest post. It is yet another
example--helpful, for the future
generations that will endlessly
study you and your legacy, let alone for the raw data it provides
clinicians should you ever wish to
be institutionalized--of the way your mind works.
It's an unhinged mind, for sure.
"Speech School?" reminds me of the whole premise
(and flawless execution of) the "Jo
the Cat" video.
You take what is available, and you just shift it a tiny bit, and...
I appreciate the result.
For you, praying, fervently and
effectually,
A
And now, it's time for...
WHAT IF BBC-TV DID A NIGHTLY NEWS
SHOW ON THE LIFE OF RACHEL REENSTRA?
(We join tonight's episode in progress...)
Clive: My own feeling about the absence of posting--which has now
gone on nearly half a fortnight--
is that something rather meteorological has taken place...
Gwyneth: The snowflake effect?
Clive: Exactly.
Huw: Clive, for our viewers, explain the "snowflake
effect"...
Clive: Well, though in many ways
she is quite decidely unlike most human beings, Reenstra is still, of course, ninety-eight percent water.
And given the unseasonably cold
temperatures in Atlanta right now,
and Reenstra's diminutive...
Gwyneth: "Diminutive" I would say!
Clive:...presence...
Gwyneth (laughing): Yes, yes, I see
where you are heading here...she, of course,
has been called, "Uncle Sam's Little
Pepper Pot"...
(Entire panel, including Lord Beaverbrook, laughs knowingly.)
Clive (composing himself): ...Well, what I am suggesting is that she has quite
possibly turned into...
Gwyneth: Yes, yes, a snowflake--which would, of course, be a testament to her...well, to her absolutely smashing uniqueness,
wouldn't it? But then, of course,
you have all sorts of logistical
questions, don't you--could a snowflake host a television show,
could a snowflake be paid for doing
that show, would standard television resolution be sufficient to display the snowflake against a variety of
backgrounds...
Lord Beaverbrook: It is my understanding that many of the episodes of DESIGNED TO SELL involve homes with white walls...
Gwyneth: Exactly...
Huw: But I think we are getting
rather off point here. I think that
from what I have seen of the weather reports from Atlanta--I've
just looked at one moments ago--
there might be other possibilities
we should equally consider. Frost
on a windshield, for example. Or
a sort of white-tipped dew on a
Marietta lawn...
Clive: I had not allowed myself to
even consider these possibilities,
because I found them so unmanageable. But, my committment
to intellectual rigor demands that
I fully grant you your point...
Gwyneth: Well, that exactly is the
point now, isn't it? I mean, here
you have Reenstra--the epitome of
"wee"--changing form, in sort of
a, I suppose you could say, "molecular event"...
Lord Beaverbrook: Precisely.
Gwyneth: And, as such, all bets are
off now, aren't they?
(Panel murmurs in unison)
Huw: And so, do all of you think
that, at the very least, the situation will bring a fresh comment from "Anonymous?"
Lord Beaverbrook: I, at least, most certainly do.
Huw: Clive?
Clive: He's shown great willingness
to comment in the past, under any
and all circumstances. So, I see no reason why he should hold back
now. As the Americans say, "Commenting is what he does."
So, why should he let the absence
of posts prevent his "commenting"?
Huw: Gwyneth?
Gwyneth: Yes, he will comment. And,
if I may, I think it is safe to say
that he will continue to remain
anonymous, and that he will continue to pray...
Clive: Effectually and fervently...
Gwyneth: For Reenstra, yes, absolutely...
Huw: Snowflake or not, then...
Gwyneth: Absolutely.
MEMO
To: Reenstra
From: Anonymous
Subject: Encouragement
As I typed the word "encouragement"
just now, I noticed that word
"courage" all up inside it. I don't want to sound like something embossed on a piece of driftwood, but it was strongly impressed on me this morning (from within, where
such impressions come)that you might appreciate some encouragement
today...so perhaps our sermon can
begin with a meditation on that
word "courage"...
So, you had to make that tough decision about the show right after
your vacation--no small thing, but
you did, and it was courageous. Because you had to completely blow
up whatever stability you had in your life--and follow the artist-
path. And, it wasn't just that you
had to abandon home and hearth and
head for Atlanta--no, once you got
to Atlanta, you had to bond with
a bunch of strangers, accept a
taxing work schedule without complaint, look for a place to live, weather loneliness, overcome
fatigue and perfectly normal human insecurity...all the while being
perpetually "on" and funny and
focused and doing whatever it took
to be in service of your talent.
So, despite the unfortunate memory
of Dan Rather's voice saying the
word with great sanctimony...
Well, it all took: courage.
There is no way, to this observer,
that the spectacle of you, doing
what you do, in the way you do, is
not inspiring. And there is no doubt in my mind God is acutely
aware of your situation.
So, be encouraged...
Praying for you, e. and f.,
A.
Rachel--
It's always good to know, when I see one of my comments go up on the big
board, that you have therefore read
it, and maybe found something in it
to lighten your load.
It's a quiet acknowledgement--one
in which actions speak louder than
words.
In its manner and spirit--well, I
just appreciate it.
Hope things are well in every way
on your end.
Love,
Anonymous
P.S. Prayer, for you, continues--with, of course, great
fervor and effectuality...just
in case you weren't sure, or were
wondering, or had forgotten, or
had gotten foggy about the whole
thing, or...
R--
Blogger.com's top-drawer technology, which is apparently powered by intoxicated and aged
squirrels on treadmills, erased, before they were finished, my first
two versions of this note.
But, when it comes to giving the
Reenster stuff to chew on, no effort is too herculean to not complete successfully, so, nearly
catatonic, I press on...
My vast and limited experience in
the media business tells me that
your greatest talent is you--what
is inside you, what is uniquely
you. It is what has illuminated all
the Reen-gigs along the way--and, to my mind, it is what has yet to be seen in anywhere near its fullest light.
What would that "fullest light" be?
A one-woman show.
In other words: a piece of theater,
a performance piece, a high-end two
hours, a piece that says "Reenstra
equals artist."
This is where I was headed when I
brought up Geoff Hoyle a few months
ago.
Now, you may have no interest in
such a thing. But, you have done
stand-up and improv, so perhaps
I have the young Michigander's
attention...
Because if you did it--and I have
every faith you could absolutely
hold an audience spellbound for
two hours--well, to paraphrase
Jack Nicholson at the end of "Somethin's Gotta Give," your "life
would be made."
Career-wise, at least. Everything
else would flow toward you, from then on.
In this spirit, and given the fact that there must be one store in Atlanta that rents the biggest
selection of foreign DVDs in the
city (as a fallback, there's always
Amazon.com), I beg you to see a
2006 film called WHEN THE SEA RISES
(in French, Quand la mer monde). It
is a fictional work about a comic actress who travels northern Belgium doing...a one-woman show.
If you watch the sections of the
film in which this character is onstage, I think you will be inspired--and be able to see yourself doing something you maybe
have never seen yourself doing
before. For one thing, the actress playing the role actually is a
leading French comedian, and does
a similar (or even the same) show
herself in real life--and she thus invests her performance with a
power, a confidence, that is
remarkable...
For another, she's not selling her
looks--she's wearing a mask, just
like the kind of one Hoyle wears,
just like the court jesters used
to wear centuries ago. The effect
that mask has--well, it elevates
everything...to the level of art,
to what can be done with everything
other than pulchritude, to
a way of getting what is inside you, where the real talent lies,
out...
I keep writing, in part, because
I feel like I have been grabbed
by the scruff of the neck and told:
"Give her the best you've got."
This is an example.
So, perhaps I fit into that trapeze
metaphor you shared with us a while
back--the advice in this missive is
free for the taking, but only functional is you grab it.
And, if you do grab it, and see the
movie, and start thinking as a
result, I was just also told to
tell you this:
You could start writing--seeing in
your mind, in advance--this show, now.
Oh, wait--I've just been handed a
note...Let me...Oh, yes, it says,
"Tell her you're praying for her,
fervently and effectually."
Done.
L,
A
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