Oh, hi friends!
Monday always feels like your heels are resting on the starting blocks. Knees bent, shoulders down, waiting for the starter pistol.
And waiting…and waiting…
Some days it’s hard to hear the noise go off. To signal to yourself, it’s begun.
I felt that way this morning, tiptoeing around my work, a little foggy.
I almost skipped an event at noon that I was looking forward to for weeks — a conversation between musical theater writers Amanda Green, Jason Robert Brown, Tom Kitt about Stephen Sondheim’s music.
Because I hadn’t done what I needed to do, wasn’t feeling like I was in the race, like my week hadn’t started on the right foot. Blah blah blah.
Still I hauled myself out of the apartment and went. And there was the pop! the pistol I needed.
“The aim is to always keep the audience listening,” said Jason Robert Brown.
Simple and true.
Keep the reader reading.
The investor intrigued.
The agent engaged.
Keep the audience listening. Resist repetition. Don’t be dull, don’t lull.
A continuation of action and surprise.
For their benefit and, mostly, for yours.
A quote I read a few years ago, by Iris Murdoch, has stuck with me: "One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats."
From Gretchen Rubin’s interview with Catie Marron.
I love a small treat!
What will your small treat be today?
But Are They Real?
Just really wanted to share the faces of these manatees, who are being released back into the wild courtesy of the Cincinnati Zoo.