The There There Letter: Yes-And, Year of Lear, and Yquem
Three things from DAH.
DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. I write, organize, plan, produce, manage, direct, act, sing, promote, and make change (not the coin kind).
First up this week, Yes-And …
Another thing I need to regularly remind myself: think and say, "Yes, and ..." It's a rule of improvisation and a reasonable rule for living. Not really news to anyone, I suppose, but if we approach every person and situation with the endorsement/acknowledgment of "yes" then add to that with "and" thoughts, outcomes are likely to be more positive and more energizing. I think of all the "No, but ..." people I've known. They usually killed the conversation or situation. I don't want to be that person.
Tina Fey’s Rules of Improvisation That Will Change Your Life and Reduce Belly Fat
Second up this week, Year of Lear …
I have really been digging into James Shapiro's books on Shakespeare. Most recently, the introduction to his new one, "Shakespeare in a Divided America" brought me to tears. Nutty. It's a really great book that's only sort-of about Shakespeare, and a lot about American political history told through our society's presentation and reaction to Shakespeare's plays in performance. I was reminded by reading Shapiro that I'd been avoiding one of his books: "The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606" ... only because Lear can be such a downer. Well, one way Will filled his days isolating during a plague year in London: writing King Lear. I could do (I do do) a lot worse.
An incredible burst of creative labour was the playwright's response to an era of 'troubled national mood'
Third up this week, Yquem …
With all the home baking going on, I thought maybe this "Y" should be for yeast, but it's difficult to find now in shops, so … In later years of the last century, I ran with a wine crowd that enjoyed tastings of Bordeaux first-growths (then still marginally affordable, for a group tasting -- no longer) and we all delighted in late-harvest dessert wines. Locally, in Mendocino County, we had Late Harvest Rieslings. From the Bordeaux-area, we had Sauternes and Barsac. We reveled in them …and I haven't had one in, well, decades. I'm sure that Chateau d'Yquem (great Sauternes) is still expensive, but there were so many other fun late-harvest noble-rotted Semillons to find. Whatever happened to their popularity? Am I avoiding them, as well as Lear? Should I be saying "Yes, and … serve me some Sauternes?" More likely Barsac, because, you know, money.
The Bittersweet Tale of Sauternes
That's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's poem "Sometimes" …
DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. I write, organize, plan, produce, manage, direct, act, sing, promote, and make change (not the coin kind).
First up this week, Yes-And …
Another thing I need to regularly remind myself: think and say, "Yes, and ..." It's a rule of improvisation and a reasonable rule for living. Not really news to anyone, I suppose, but if we approach every person and situation with the endorsement/acknowledgment of "yes" then add to that with "and" thoughts, outcomes are likely to be more positive and more energizing. I think of all the "No, but ..." people I've known. They usually killed the conversation or situation. I don't want to be that person.
Tina Fey’s Rules of Improvisation That Will Change Your Life and Reduce Belly Fat
Second up this week, Year of Lear …
I have really been digging into James Shapiro's books on Shakespeare. Most recently, the introduction to his new one, "Shakespeare in a Divided America" brought me to tears. Nutty. It's a really great book that's only sort-of about Shakespeare, and a lot about American political history told through our society's presentation and reaction to Shakespeare's plays in performance. I was reminded by reading Shapiro that I'd been avoiding one of his books: "The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606" ... only because Lear can be such a downer. Well, one way Will filled his days isolating during a plague year in London: writing King Lear. I could do (I do do) a lot worse.
An incredible burst of creative labour was the playwright's response to an era of 'troubled national mood'
Third up this week, Yquem …
With all the home baking going on, I thought maybe this "Y" should be for yeast, but it's difficult to find now in shops, so … In later years of the last century, I ran with a wine crowd that enjoyed tastings of Bordeaux first-growths (then still marginally affordable, for a group tasting -- no longer) and we all delighted in late-harvest dessert wines. Locally, in Mendocino County, we had Late Harvest Rieslings. From the Bordeaux-area, we had Sauternes and Barsac. We reveled in them …and I haven't had one in, well, decades. I'm sure that Chateau d'Yquem (great Sauternes) is still expensive, but there were so many other fun late-harvest noble-rotted Semillons to find. Whatever happened to their popularity? Am I avoiding them, as well as Lear? Should I be saying "Yes, and … serve me some Sauternes?" More likely Barsac, because, you know, money.
The Bittersweet Tale of Sauternes
That's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's poem "Sometimes" …
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
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