Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar

On Saturday night, I went to see Ayad Akhtar’s play “Disgraced” (2013 Pulitzer Prize winner for drama) at Lyceum Theater.  This play centers around Amir, a New York corporate lawyer who finds himself reckoning with his heritage –born in Pakistan, raised Muslim – in a series of conversations and confrontations.  Amir, played by the magnificent Hari Dhillon, begins to devolve after a lifetime of tamping down his background.  Mr. Dhillon is nuanced and subtle in his portrayal as each layer is peeled away. When Amir’s desperation and displaced anger lashes out in the crescendo scene, every moment has been earned. His performance gave me goosebumps it was so raw and powerful. 

Emily, Amir’s wife, played by Gretchen Mol is a wonderful counterpoint.  Emily is an artistic idealist who tries to push Amir to embrace his heritage only to slowly discover how deeply he’s buried that part of himself.  At times, there is a naiveté that Ms. Mol brings to the role that works without being disingenuous.  Josh Radnor playing Isaac and Karen Pittman as Jory share a memorable dinner with Amir and Emily.  Jory had some of the best one-liners and Ms. Pittman delivered them beautifully. 

There is one scene with Amir’s young cousin Abe played by Danny Ashok at the end of the play that is heartbreaking.  After the aftermath of the previous scenes, it felt like adding salt to the wounds but so well done nonetheless.  This play is directed by Kimberly Senior. 

 “Disgraced” began preview performances on Sept. 27 and opens on Oct. 23.

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2014 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

A Most Wanted Man

I know I'm late on the upswing on this movie, it's been out for months and months but I finally saw A Most Wanted Man last weekend.  What an amazing film!  Phillip Seymour Hoffman is subtle and nuanced in this role and Robin Wright as the American counterpart is flawless.  It's filled with tense political intrigue and the ending made me gasp out loud. Truly. There is something about these spy movies that have always captivated me. I wouldn't have the stones to be in that life.  Who could you trust?  The world is such a dark and twisted place full of enemies of the state and national security is always at stake, how could anyone sleep at night? Ever?

Of course, this makes me think about how Power needs to create an "other"/ an enemy in order to justify torture, murder, rape all in the name of nationalist or religious rhetoric.  Wow!  How did I get here on this one?  You get my drift though, political structures and tactics created for the sake of power.  Maintaining that power.  Ends justifying the means.  We create this fear and FEAR is contagious.  I've gone down the rabbit hole. I won't go on tho'.  That's for a different entry on another blog.  :-)

Peace, L~


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2014 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

accidental art

F-Line, Broadway-Lafayette, 2014

On the F-Line at Broadway Lafayette there is this wall where rusted water has leaked down and created this pretty amazing abstract piece.  There is texture where the paint is coming off the wall.  The background wall is brown but there is this reddish hue mixed in with yellows and white.  And it keep developing out, especially after it rains.  Yes, this wall is probably a toxic combination of mold and who-knows-what else but it is absolutely beautiful to me. Sometimes these hidden gems are enough in themselves.  Water created this piece and it continues to change and grow. I'm sure some inspector will see this one day and decide it's hazardous to our health and wipe it clean but until that happens more visual stim for me.  

In the meantime, I've picked up a couple of sketch books to paint again. I had set aside art for awhile when I was trying to figure out my writing "focus."  I'm learning that I could paint and sketch and write at will.  The only limitations are the ones that I impose upon myself. Time to break out my knives/brushes and paint for the sheer joy of it.  I've decided to go back to painting on paper because they are easier to store than canvas.  Let's see how long that stays true once I start working.  

All for now.

Peace, 

L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2014 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Kill Your Darlings

I watched Kill Your Darling the other night and man was it an awful film. This is one of those moments when I wish they had done more with the actual writings of Burroughs, Kerouac, Ginsberg.  Someone should have killed this movie.  What crap!

I did spend tonight working through some new poems for the reading next week, so that's something.

More later.
Peace,
L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2014 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

The Invisible Woman

Wednesday--what a needy bitch of a day it has been today. Work was crazy busy which I always enjoy. The busier it gets the calmer I get, or at least that's how I was on this day.  There is lots more to take care of tomorrow but hump day was all rock and roll.  It will be a low-key early night for me...trying to pay attention to my body cues for a change.  My cell phone keeps ringing which puts me on edge.  I may shut it off completely but I need an alarm clock if that's the case.

I did want to make mention of a movie I saw recently (and if I've already written about it forgive me) but it's worth a second and third mention if that's the case. The Invisible Woman, directed by Ralph Fiennes, screenplay written by Abi Morgan.  Ralph Fiennes played Charles Dickens and Felicity Jones plays the part of Ellen...It's a movie about Charles Dickens and a young woman that he took on as his lover despite his married state, in the height of his writing career.  He kept her a secret from the world but they were together until his death.  This movie is so well written and Felicity Jones is wonderful. I remember her from another favorite of mine, Like Crazy.  I will admit I have a soft spot for period pieces but the dialogue of this movie is exquisite and the quiet moments are heart-wrenching.  I watched this movie weeks ago and it's still lingering in my brain. Scenes still haunt me. Fiennes is amazing to watch. I love when movies affect me so deeply.  * happy sigh *

All for now, I am about to watch Kill Your Darlings.  How I do love movies about writers!!

Peace,

Lily~


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2014 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

A Short Writing Update

After trying to make the last scene work in Clara Betta, I decided to cut it out altogether.  Another 6 pages cut.  I hope it works.  Anyway, I'm done with it for now and I've sent it out to the writing group.
I'll find out soon enough if it's working or not.  Eek!

What's next?  There are a couple of poetry readings I'd like to do in the next couple of weeks so I'll be writing up some new material for those events.  I'll post info when I know better.

All for now...

Peace,

Lily~


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2014 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Quickie Post

I've spent the past five hours working on the short story Clara Betta today.  Last night, I put in a couple of hours worth.  It still needs more work tho'. So I probably won't send it to the group until tomorrow.  Call me cautious but I'd rather send them something as close to a finished state as possible. Eek!!  Nervous butterflies in my belly.

I love this quiet writing time.  I used to write while listening to music but I've noticed that I need the quiet space to hear the voices trying to come through to tell their story.  It helps the process and there is less resistance when there's quiet to feel my way through the story arc. I saw this great mug online the other day. It read, "Writer's Block: When the voices inside your head stop talking to you."  It made me laugh out loud...'cause it's true.

Tonight I am going to a play reading. I think it's going to be several people presenting work so I'm excited at the prospect of seeing works-in-progress.  I have ideas swirling around my head and I have to keep reminding myself to just jot things down. I never know what will be used or what the next project may need to give it a fresh perspective and those mini-ideas come in handy.

I read an article by Quiara Alegria Hudes in this month's The Dramatist magazine on Subject Matter and it was a great reminder about love for the writing craft. Pen to paper is the only way to build that writing muscle.

I hope this entry makes sense because I'm now on my way out the door.

Peace,

Lily~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2014 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Jack White - Would You Fight For My Love

Jack White came out with his latest video - Would You Fight For My Love?  (As I write this blog entry, it's 12 hours old) I love his music, I really do!!  But something is missing for me in this song...too much angst, not enough crescendo. The video in the blue filtered hue makes my day tho'.  Click on the link above to watch it on YouTube.  Vevo has new guidelines that won't allow me to post it onto my blog.  Booo!

Photo from Jack White's FB page- Still from video

Rock on people!! Rock on!!

Peace,
Lily~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2014 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Tidbit on Light

This morning as I was walking to the train, there was this gorgeous sunlight breaking through the cloud cover...i absolutely love the light in the Fall. It's diffused but the edges are bright. Burnished gold. I had a mild migraine so I'm sure there was aura from the headache but it was a moment worth taking in.


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2014 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Radio Silence is Over

Well folks it’s been awhile. I’ve been acclimating to my new schedule, 6 months into my new day job, and finding time at lunch or after work to spend time on the creative writing.  I’m currently working through a short story right now (not science fiction). The ending is bugging me.  I keep re-writing it but blah, it’s just not coming out quite right.

Let’s see, I’ve joined a new writing group since my old writing group has split off.  I present this month so I need to keep working through the problems of this short story before I send it out to the group on Saturday night.  That’s my internal deadline otherwise I’m going to be putzing with it until it’s a tortured mess of a story.  We want to avoid that result. 

Movies-Must make mention that my crush on actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt continues. I recently saw a few of his movies back-to-back.  An earlier movie called Mysterious Skin (2004) where he plays a young gay hustler and the key moments when the character is the most vulnerable are heartbreaking. I also watched Premium Rush, ‘cause who doesn’t love a good chase movie but really it was candy (no nutritional value). Then I watched Don Jon, this movie surprised me.  He wrote and directed this film which made it better for me.  His character Jon is a player who sleeps with anyone he can get his hands on.  He meets “the one” in Barbara played by Scarlett Johansson, who plays a Jersey girl so well she scared me a little. Haha.  But when Jon doesn’t get his happily ever after, he meets Esther, played by the the wonderful Julianne Moore. The movie was a lot better than I anticipated.  Sweet, sweet, sweet.  Don't you love it when a movie makes you smile from all the way inside?

Health, I have my good days and I have my challenging days.  All the doctor visits haven't helped pin-point the underlying problem but I've managed to strike off a few illnesses off the list.  I guess that's the silver lining. Then I came down with a rebounding migraine that left me feeling a bit hollowed out. The food restrictions had washed down the headaches to once or twice a month. So to have this last one come on so strong and for so many days was a surprise  This week, I've slacked off on the food restriction list, it's amazing how quickly the weight starts to creep up. I just have a soft spot for baked mac & cheese. I have to get back on my strict guidelines again. The one thing that I have been struggling with is going to yoga classes on a more consistent basis.  Being healthy is hard work sometimes.  I know i feel good after a class, just have to show up for them.

Peace,

Lily~ 

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2014 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.