Month: April 2014

• A Brilliant Object Lesson on Good Acting

  The most awesome thing happened in my Intro to Theatre Arts Class today. We were in our drama circle, and I was debriefing an exercise we did two days ago where one person sat in a chair and was told that if she left the room, her family would die. Another person was outside and…

  sassevn

  April 10, 2014

  drama

  acting, acting techniques, acting tips, great acting, intro to theatre arts, teaching acting

• Are you using “Creative Commons”?

  Any type of creative artist is concerned with the proper usage of his or her works. No one wants their works to be reproduced or used without proper permission and attribution. Creative Commons is a not-for-profit organization which gives simple instructions for authors and artists of all kinds to determine which type of license that…

  sassevn

  April 9, 2014

  Indie Author

  copyright, creative commons, licensing creative works, public domain

• My Story: I Stand Out in an Asian Crowd

  I wrote this for another website a while back. It sums me up well, though, so I thought I’d post it here. I stand out in a crowd in Asia. That may seem like a strange place to start in telling my story, but it has been the one constant truth in my life for…

  sassevn

  April 8, 2014

  Indie Author, Life, Penang

  Asian experiences, expat in Asia, living in Asia, malaysia, Penang, Pirates, Vietnam, Western Pennsylvania

• The Sistine Chapel Dramatic Sketches

  Our school is pretty cool. Each May we have a week we designate as our Fine Arts Festival where we have band concerts, live theatre (that’s my category), and art displays. We hold it at the Penang Performing Arts Centre. It’s a great event. My original musical, “Boardwalk Melody”, will be debuting during that week…

  sassevn

  April 7, 2014

  10-minute play, drama

  dramatic sketches, fine arts festival, michelangelo, Penang, penang theatre, PenangPAC, rosselli, sistine chapel

• Abstract: “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple and architecture for liberal religion in Chicago, 1885-1909.”

  One of the things I like about writing this blog is that I get to continually expand its scope into a myriad of topics which have, at one point or another, held my fancy. This one is, I’ll admit, a little more limiting in scope as it is an abstract I wrote about an article…

  sassevn

  April 6, 2014

  History & Culture

  Abraham Lincoln Center Chicago, all soul’s church Chicago, architecture, chicago architecture, fallingwater, frank lloyd wright, Gothic cathedrals, iconographical studies, Joseph Siry, Unity Temple Chicago

• I am not chaff. I am a serious writer, thank you.

  Elitism always frowns on democratization. I was reading an article which quoted two well-known mainstream authors, who gave their thoughts on the changing face of the publishing industry. One of them said that the traditional publishing model – with all our familiar and well-loved gatekeepers including literary agents and publishing executives (wait, scratch that “well-loved”…

  sassevn

  April 5, 2014

  Indie Author

  21st century publishing, changes in publishing, indie author, indie publishing, literary agents, traditional publishers, writing

• There’s no way to know if you should “blow-up” your writing

  You’re cruising along in your writing, following a certain idea, a certain rabbit trail that has you darting and dogging over and under a thrilling maze of obstacles until you are satisfied that you have what you want. And then, you get another idea – an idea which will completely restructure everything you just wrote.…

  sassevn

  April 4, 2014

  Writing Process

  approaches to writing, brainstorming, clarity in writing, creative writing, plot, writing ideas

• This is not a book cover

  But it soon will be! Be watching in April for the unveiling of my ultra-amazing new cover to my third novel, The Reach of the Banyan Tree. Kindle & Paperback Release Date: July 1, 2014 In the meantime, I have some great promotions up my sleeves over the next couple of months. It’s exciting to move…

  sassevn

  April 3, 2014

  Indie Author, Promotion

  book promotion, Book review, indie author, new book cover

• Know Your History: Christopher Columbus

  Did Christopher Columbus discover America? No, Columbus never stepped foot on any of the land we now know as the United States. Was Columbus Spanish? No, he was Italian. Did he command three Spanish ships in search of a new trade route to the Far East? Yes. If he didn’t discover America, what did he…

  sassevn

  April 2, 2014

  History & Culture

  1492, Christopher Columbus, Colon, Columbus, founding of America, hispaniola, Spain

• There is a Difference between Fairness and Equality

  Besides writing, directing drama, and coaching softball, I also teach American Government. I purposefully stay away from politics on this blog because that’s not what this blog is about. But I do state at the top of the page that this blog is about “life” and so from time to time I might slightly dip…

  sassevn

  April 1, 2014

  Life

  equality, equality in government, equality of opportunity, equality of outcome, fairness in government, government overreach, Michigan, michigan baseball seats removed, WJBK