f|break: dance to pancakes

zoey ... in nurse jackie (on imdb) is kind of a fave character of mine. 

photo: from IMDB

there is something about zoey (played by merritt wever, on imdb, march 2010 movieline interview, interview by the tv chick) that makes me smile. (your turn to smile)

enjoy a fiber break* for breakfast with jackie and zoey

for ~ 56 seconds over pancakes

pancakes make me want to dance

*it has been a relatively LONG time since 

the last fiber break . . . too long!

week 2 MUTers #improv

MORE @madeuptheatre fun (on web, facebook, yelp, foursquare, youtube) as we wrapped up our second week of short form improv.

(4 games we played during week 1 over here - acronym-mania, hostage negotiations, chain murder, one eighty five)

six more games ... after a quick warm-up of interviewing between two players, we had quite a sprinkle of games using verbal wit, listening, scene work, and a l'il bit of guessing ...

• BLIND LINES - scene game ... everyone playing leaves the room. lines of dialogue are collected from the audience and written on strips of paper that are then strewn around the stage before the players return. the performers do a scene, and every so often, they pick up a strip of paper with a line, read a line, and incorporate it into their scene.
• Tips:  explore, say exactly what is on paper when you pick it up, don't make line more convoluted- just say it, make bold choices, WANT (!), develop strong relationships, create concise story lines, do scene transitions
• DIME STORE NOVEL - scene game, give and take of focus ... with four players, one person is the NARRATOR (who  is the writer of the novel), while the remaining three players serve as CHARACTERS for the story/scene. after a first few set-up lines by the narrator, the other players being the scene. the narrator sets up the scene, may set up transitions, keeps the scene going and moving along. characters respond to the narrator's set-up.
• Tips: make bold choices, characters give and take of focus, give gifts to each other, be mindful of the beat of the story
• NAIVE REPLAY - scene game, l'il guessing (kinda) ... with four players, one player leaves the room, while the remaining three players do a scene as if the character, who is outside, is in the scene. when the player outside returns, the scene is replayed exactly the same way with the other player stepping into the scene and filling in/responding to the lines
• Tips: remember your scene, keep dialogue short and concise, set-up a ton of action, guessing player does alot of "yes-sing"
• NO YOU DIDN'T - verbal wit ... a suggestion is given, and a player starts off by saying "i kissed a *BLANK (from suggestion)* last night." and other players yell, "no you didn't" . . . then the player replies with something witty/PUNCHLINE
• Tips: think of word association, pun
• WHAT'D YOU GET? - verbal wit ... a suggestion is given, and a player starts off by saying "i crossed a *BLANK (from suggestion)* with a *BLANK (player's choice)." and the other players yell, "what'd you get?" . . . then the player replies with something witty/PUNCHLINE
• Tips: think of paired word association to create punchline, pun
• LAST ACTION HERO/JOKE - verbal wit ... player kills someone with the suggestion and says a cheesy "action hero" line associated with that suggestion.
• Tips: think of word association, pun

until next week

and more bold choices!

happy morning ears

podcast me! ... in addition to a few podcast staples for my morning commute, including history of philosophy, wtf with marc maron, and the nerdist, i have just wrapped up what is available for dad and the dude (from british tech network). described as - 

"Ewen and Ellis provide an alternative viewpoint on the world and the inner workings of a young boys mind. ... This is Ellis’ view of the greater world and how it works and affects him. It's not always right to the rest of us, but to Ellis…it makes perfect sense. Each week Ellis chooses what he wants to talk about and we just sit and discuss it. Here are the best bits…"

and again and again ... with only 6 episodes, i've decided i will (re)listen to the episodes because they are quite entertaining, and i can practice having a little british boy accent if such an accent might ever be handy. right?! right.

double-duty #improv

THANKS @madeuptheatre (on web, facebook, yelp) for our summertime sundays with you all and with where the fun kids are hangin' out! 

MUT's class of advanced short form improvisers represent!

hello improvisers ... 12 improvisers taking MUT's advanced short form class over the next 8 weeks. and of the 12, 10 improvisers are taking MUT's advanced long form class (also over the next 8 weeks - back-to-back classes, kinda sorta). a fun mixin'-it-up with improvisers from different MUT classes. 

show time ... as we've done before, our "graduation" for each class will be a performance for friends and family wanting to have a little evening fun out in fremont, off of auto mall parkway/osgood road. our performance dates are yet to be determined, therefore, stay tuned for a likely late july (or maybe early august) set of shows. and of course, we'll be performing at made up theatre where MUT's cast (and also class instructors) performs every SATURDAY. 

meet MUT's Cast - BOBBY, SEAN, DUSTIN, BEN . . .  FUN GUYS!!!

learning us some games ... yes, there are four of us who were part of the previous short form class. in fact, we performed this past may 20 showcasing 8 games (among more than 30 games for which we had learned). during yesterday evening's first advanced short form class taught by bobby, we played 4 games ...

• ACRONYM-MANIA - verbal wit using scene work ... when an acronym or some combination of letters are called out (e.g., radar, scuba, the, br), each player uses each letter in the order provided as the first letter of the words they speak in their opening sentence or expression. this continues until a new acronym/combo of letters are called out.
• Tips - put yourself in an environment, avoid getting to caught up
  
• HOSTAGE NEGOTIATIONS - a guessing game using listening, scene work, and endowment ... with 4 players, one person left the room. the remaining 3 players were giving a LOCATION, a DEMAND, and a WEAPON. at least one player would be a hostage. another player could be a hostage OR could be an accomplice. and the third player also could be a hostage, accomplice, OR a police officer. the idea is player 4 would come back as the hostage taker and guess his/her location, demand, and weapon. players provide hints to the hostage taker while making sure not to explicitly state where they were, what was wanted by the hostage taker, and what weapon was being wielded. 
• Tips - super annunciate your words, give progressive (rather than up-front obvious) hints
  
• CHAIN MURDER - a guessing game using gibberish + pantomime ... in yesterday's class, we learned chain murder a little differently than in our previous class. yesterday evening - a LOCATION, an OCCUPATION, and a WEAPON were given to 3 players who served to gibber-mime to one person, who would guess the location, occupation, and weapon. meanwhile, in our previous class, we played it like the games clue and telephone. a LOCATION, an OCCUPATION, and a WEAPON were given to one person, while 3 people leave the room. one by one, the guessers come in and received from the one person the clues through pantomime and gibberish. 
• Tips - the more gibberish, the better
  
• ONE EIGHTY FIVE - fast game/verbal wit ... "185 *BLANKS* walk into a bar, bartender says "We don't serve *BLANKS,* so the 185 *BLANKS* say something witty/PUNCHLINE.
• Tips - think word association, stuff related to a bar, puns

making bold choices 

and 

committing!

nutshell oct '10 - jan '11 ...

NUTSHELL will be recaps at the end of each month.* because of the random order of topics (well ... maybe except for weekend fiber breaks and bonus fiber breaks) i share on this blog, it helps out for my own reminiscing-ish.

october '10 ... shared blogkets (security-blanket-blogs) that i visited, journaling a little about my looking to SHED and CYCCYL, always several fiber breaks and pop culture related posts, just a few cubeopolis posts, several happy place posts, and just a few food related posts.  (time to roll over some food pics from facebook into a little blog post)

november '10 ... shared the blogket that i visited most this month, did a little CYCCYL, joined two efforts beginning in december, had quite a bit of fiber breaks (including several fave comedians) and pop culture moments, a bit of cubeopolis activity, started (re)cubicle (or r|cubicle) for sharing thoughts about returning to cubeopolis after 13 years, several happy place posts, a few food places, and began the visit with me section of nutshell. 

december '10 ... daily posts for reverb10, a few security blogkets, did a little CYCCYL via teleconference workshops, began healthmonth with team CDWL@edi, just a few fiber breaks including SNL bits and nostalgika, not much pop culture, not much cubeopolis except through a few reverb10 posts, several happy places, mini homage to friends, and several visit with me links.

january '11 ... daily posts listed in a mish-mash order. with the new year, quite a bit of getting in the groove for health month, the love project, and my your heart's desire goal setting. also, a new weekly effort of supporting 3 virtual friends as part of blogger bosom buddies (aka B3) - our way of encouraging each other in our inter-webs ventures. a few highlights included having an AWESOME new year's day FMK brunch moment with breakfast buds, seeing rex navarrete's live performance, starting an 8-week improv class, thinking about amy chua's tiger mom book, and my little share about initiating on-line dating contact with younger men. many fiber breaks this month!

* idea take from over here

#reverb10 december 2010 memories

UPDATE (feb 2011): what was a december 2010 daily reflecting and manifesting is evolving into a monthly reflecting and manifesting. announced in february, gwen bell and cali harris of reverb10 sent out a note saying -

"Hello Reverb Community -

Happy February! We're excited to be reconnecting with the Reverb community. At the beginning of each month, Reverb HQ will send one prompt, several reflect/manifest tools, and any other creative, useful things we come across. We're also back on Twitter, so you can follow us @reverb10."

UPDATE (jan 2011): the december 2010 month long reverb10 wrapped up on december 31. a quick list of my posts is in the december nutshell or just see further below on this page. it was a blast and has certainly (re)energized me to write and to idea generate. also, it has been great to virtually meet a few motivating/inspiring folks - notably yvette, julie, and shannon - as well as to use twitter more and get to learn about the different reverb10 prompt authors. 

what is reverb10? as described from the website of reverb10:

"Reverb 10 is an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. The end of the year is an opportunity to reflect on what's happened, and to send out reverberations for the year ahead. With Reverb 10, we'll do both."

#reverb10 ... checkin' it out and supporting all the fabulous people reflecting on 2010 and manifesting 2011 as part of the daily prompts! (my reverb10 moments over here.)
 

interactive crew ... i signed up and am on a crew where i'm hanging out with ...

• @Ordinaryshan who also is at extraordinarily ordinary 
• @emmajames who also is at pleasure notes 
• @kimsamsin who also is at the deep old desk 
• @riayn who also is at counting time 
• @esteffi who also is at heart piercing life 
• @DCPrincessQ who also is at dc princess 
• @TiaSparkles who also is at your life your way 
• @SquarePegKaren who also is at square-peg reflections 
• @divamover who also is at the feldenkrais center of houston 
• @dancingwaves who also is at strong and tender like the ocean 
• @sarah_nicolas who also is at sara nicolas

... and i'm very excited. (and note to self - #reverb10 will definitely result in my getting a mobile phone where i do not find myself regularly removing/resetting the battery so that i can reboot the phone. good times.)

update: 12/04/10 - i have upgraded to a mobile phone that will allow me to enjoy catching up on #reverb10 moments with the many other wonder people participating. now i can refrain from pulling out the battery to reboot my R.I.P. blackberry.

update: 12/018/10 - getting better with my droid, now that i am getting better using the touch screen,  remembering to use the "share" button for tweets, and adding in the URL pieces of my blog into the autoword dictionary. little timing problem ... cubeopolis day job. i'll incorporate reverb10 breaks best i can.

update: from december nutshell - the 31 topics as follows, in order of each day's author's prompt, and in its only little nutshell/highlight:

1. one word - reconnect for 2010, enthusiasm for 2011
2. writing - shiny penny moments
3. moment - adolfo at los altos art show
4. wonder - reconnecting and asking why not?
5. letting go - bye to a gentleman's agreement, hello to creating more space
6. make - my somewhat perennial cow costume
7. community - my rave about kit's clean your closet, change your life (or CYCCYL) and looking for 2011 community interested in apprentern, ignorance and knowledge, and environmental professional development
8. beautifully different - odd bird in
9. party - breakfast buds
10. wisdom - write from the heart. my story about a cover transmittal i wrote from stream of consciousness for a position for which i applied
11. 11 (eleven) things - my list of 11 things to eliminate and how it may change my life
12. body integration - my experience at my dad's gravesite
13. action - thoughts about launching environmental professional development
14. appreciate - my friendship with shiny penny andy
15. 5 minutes - capturing those 2010 moments to remember
16. friendship - silver lining friendships preferred. my take on the friendship spectrum (zip-it, bring it on, zip & bring & zip & bring (rinse, repeat) and on my click-it, pause button, check-in approach
17. lesson learned - saying step aside to mischief-speak and hello to forthright-speak
18. try - my declaration to have a healthier lifestyle where i stop paying pharmaceuticals for my bad eating and inactivity habits
19. healing - becoming more involved in things i really enjoy
20. beyond avoidance - getting my personal and business finances together
21. future self - a note from me to the me of 5 years from now and to the me of 10 years ago
22. travel - how and where i have and want to travel
23. new name - silvia (with a "y") ramirez story
24. everything's o.k. - story about connectedness via an email exchange with a woman in whose words from a film brought me to tears
25. photo - story behind the pic of piragua and me jumping as part of our flat emma jaunt around the SF bay with joel (the photog)
26. soul food - baked egg en cazeuela
27. ordinary joy - my friend sci-fi guy on the phone call and lunch
28. achieve - be speechless. this post includes a list of 10 things for 2011 to bring on a "speechless" moment ... tv appearances (funny host talk show, dr. who, reality tv show judge), philanthropist ponies up pennies for me to promote my passion, engagement, president obama moment with my epiphany, old friend random run-in, hear an angel(s) speak to me, billboard moment, vermont leaf-peeping adventure.
29. defining moment - talk-to-the-hand february 2011 moment that has shaped me
30. gift - glee gum
31. core story - i value family & friends . i make lists and mindmap . i reflect, am introspective, and expressive in writing. also a few lessons learned - think twice, be thankful everyday, don't make assumptions - be kind, reach out - there's a hug fest out there)

thank you reverb10!

cubeopolis explained

what (or where) is cubeopolis?

cubeopolis is my term of endearment for a government job - quite the contrary to how i spent nearly 13 years of my life prior to heading to cubeopolis. within one week of rejoining a more traditional work setting, i threw my thoughts down. a friend had told me about her husband's re-entry into the traditional workforce under similar circumstances - he owned his own business for many years. she said it was still taking him time (already a year and counting) to acclimate. so, so true! (and my thoughts continue to evolve)

what is cubealabras?

cubealabras is my term of endearment for the mash-up of the words cubicle (Eng.) and palabras (Sp.).

• def: cubicle (n) - kyü-bi-kəl ... a small partitioned area where work (and some frivolity) is conducted.
• def: palabras (n) - pä-ˈlä-vräs ... words

the work-in-progress cubealabras dictionary can be found in these posts. and here are all posts tagged cubeopolis.