Up to date…

Hello! It’s been a while. Life has made a fool of me on this blog! Spring is well on the way and it’s much needed. It’s been a dreary winter. Christmas rolls around and then the luster of the snow and ice dissipates after the New Year. It’s always a sad and dark time for me until March. Then it’s 45 degrees and you think “WOW! It’s summer! I’m going outside!” — But that’s Upstate New York for ya…. I suppose I should catch you up to date, now. Although I won’t dwell on what seems to be common public news….Just what is news in my life.

The pandemic has surely made it difficult for an artist to work, especially those in theatre. For me, it has forced my brain to creatively think outside the box in ways I never have before. A few months ago, I started a job with The Starstruck Players (Orpheus Theater’s children’s group) and began choreography for Moana Jr. The circumstances have not made my choreography suffer by no means, but have been a challenge in the creative process thus far. It is becoming easier, planning formations and traffic patterns that allow the appropriate distance, but I do at times miss the partnering, contact, and lifts I once could do, both for the musicals I choreograph and dance pieces in the studio. I hope the pandemic is on a down swing (as it seems to be headed now) and this will all be over soon.

In addition to the pandemic, having a child could throw a hop and a skip in a streamlined life plan. I am a single mom now, my daughter Luna just turned one in January. Having her has been the best thing about my life so far – far more than any of my artistic endeavors in the past, present, and future. While I wouldn’t change a thing about her coming into my life, it has certainly become an adjustment. Only now, fourteen months after her birth and twenty three months if you want to include pregnancy, have I started to get back into the swing of my theatrical, writing, and photography pursuits. As she gets older (not that she has already) she will no doubt be a model for my portfolio shoots. What a cutie….

As far as writing goes, I’m waiting to get a book back from a friend. I had one other friend and an editor go through it with a fine tooth comb and finally (yes finally) I think I have the notes I need to finish publishing. It will definitely be this year and the excitement is overwhelming! I have been waiting for this for so long and I keep beating myself up for not attempting the traditional route before. While I am going the self published route this time around, I have a series I plan to send through the traditional route. It’s a series I’ve been working on since 2010 and the characters are like family, best friends, people (and creatures) I know so well — every tick and every flaw, every strength and every habit. I actually miss writing about them. I haven’t in a while because I’ve pursued this other story for self publishing, but I think, once this is finished, I will dive back into the world of Ivy and Bane.

That’s all for now. It’s been a busy morning budgeting and preparing Portrait Forms for the recital packets at work, but I think Luna will be waking up soon and she needs some morning mommy time.

-M