DAILY PHOTO: Tbilisi Reservoir
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Stony Ground [Haiku]
from stony ground,
a dense cluster of yellow
grows defiantly.
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BOOKS: “Improv Wisdom” by Patricia Ryan Madson
Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up by Patricia Ryan MadsonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Website
One might expect this to be a book about how to perform improvisational comedy, but it’s better described as a philosophy of life that employs lessons from improv. There are books that take a much more tailored approach to building an improv act. This one, rather, broadens its target demographic from those interested in theater and comedy to everybody. It discusses applying lessons such as default to positivity (the famous “Yes, and…” of improv) both on and beyond the stage.
Each of the thirteen chapters is built around a maxim that might be heard in an improv theater or troupe. The crux of the matter is building the confidence and sense of freedom to be able to behave spontaneously in an environment that’s stressful and somewhat chaotic. Most of the lessons approach an aspect of the problem of surrender and free response action, though there are broader lessons such as the benefits of gratitude and helpfulness. While I call the book’s content a philosophy of life, the author doesn’t spend a lot of time drilling down into established philosophies, with the exception of Buddhism — specifically of the Zen variety. As one might imagine, Zen — with its emphasis on non-attachment and avoidance of overthinking — has a substantial overlap with the approach to living that Madson is proposing.
“Improv Wisdom” is set up as a self-help book, featuring not only lesson-based organization but also offering a few exercises in each chapter.
This is a quick read and might prove to be of great benefit to those who have never thought much about the challenges and lessons of improv. The book can’t be said to be groundbreaking in terms of the lessons it presents, but its focus on what improv elucidates about these lessons is interesting and unique.
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“Hand in Hand” by Su Shi [w/ Audio]
Hand in hand.
Plum petals floated to her skirt.
-- Love unbound --
Now, lost souls mill about:
Thier loved ones long unseen.
Old songs are heard once more,
Recalling Tower and Temple.
On ordinary days,
I'd write a thousand lines.
Now, I brush away dust,
And think of us, together.
The moon reflects in the lake.
Willows droop beside water.
A dragon-head cloud drifts on air.
Note: Translated titles vary. e.g. Xu Yuanchong entitles his translation “Song of Incense.”
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Ancient Landscape [Tanka]
ancient landscape:
boulders, remnants of mountains,
are strewn about;
prehistoric tribes lived here,
and it looked the same for them.
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Stony Spires [Haiku]
fog retreats to
reveal stony spires
like ghostly soldiers.
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DAILY PHOTO: Mother of Georgia [Kartlis Deda]
Summer Sparkle [Haiku]
summer sunlight
sparkles on a blue lake --
always distantly.
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Sonnet 104 by William Shakespeare [w/ Audio]
To me, fair friend, you never can be old,
For as you were when first your eye I eyed,
Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold
Have from the forests shook three summer's pride,
Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turned
In process of the seasons have I seen,
Three April perfumes in three hot Junes burned,
Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green.
Ah, yet doth beauty, like a dial-hand,
Steal from his figure, and no pace perceived;
So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand,
Hath motion, and mine eye may be deceived:
For fear of which, hear this, thou age unbred:
Ere you were born was beauty's summer dead.
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Dandelion Spring [Haiku]
fields of yellow
through glades and pastures:
dandelions are here!
