Rainy Days are Good for Reading: https://devonellington.wordpress.com/2025/06/18/wed-june-18-2025-rainy-days-are-good-for-reading/
https://youtube.com/shorts/A5pe7MKjcgA?si=oLxbNhPQiSdDHFQL
Drake Ghostwriting Scandal Exposed by Lil Wayne's Son!
Linktr.ee/562AlexD
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#HipHopNews
#Drake
#LilWayne
#Ghostwriting
#RapBeef
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#YoungMoney
#HipHopDebate
#MusicSecrets
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#DrakeVsWayne
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A Creative Weekend: https://devonellington.wordpress.com/2025/06/17/tues-june-17-2025-a-creative-weekend/
#Writing #WritingCommunity #Freelance #Ghostwriting #Theatre #Art
Let's Turn This Luck Around!
https://devonellington.wordpress.com/2025/06/13/fri-june-13-2025-lets-turn-this-luck-around/
#Ghostwriting: nikdy nevíte, kdo napsal ty přirozeně působící #texty a #rozhovor.y
už o vás psali ve Forbes?
o mně taky ne - ale pár finančích analýz, textů i kompletních rozhovorů jsem klientům napsal i pro něj
(#upscale img obstaralo #AI #AIartyImageEnhancer)
Tues. June 10, 2025: Art and The Perfect Cocktail
image courtesy of ArtandHome via pixabay.comTuesday, June 10, 2025
Day Before Full Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Rainy and cool
I hope you had a good weekend!
The Community Tarot Reading for the Week is here.
Friday morning, I wrote and submitted the review first thing, and requested my next assignment (which I received).
I did a polish on the ghostwriting and submitted it. Fingers crossed it’s what they want! Or at least close to it.
I expected to get the notes on the outline I submitted a couple of weeks ago, with either a rewrite on it or moving forward to the 20K version, but they won’t have it to me until tomorrow. Which takes pressure of me while company is here.
Headed to the library to drop off/pick up books. Did a big grocery shop at Big Y (because, you know, company – gotta have the meals planned and snacks and all the rest), and the liquor store. Hauled it all home and up the stairs.
Worked with my friend on the logistics, because we both have shows that were originally in the same town, but the venue of mine was moved to a different town and my start time is earlier than hers, and it’s her opening night, and it all became much more complicated that we hoped. We decided I’d pick her up Monday morning instead, which takes a lot of pressure off both of us.
Got my next book review assignment.
Turned around the two small coverages, did a bunch of admin. Tried not to feel the absolute exhaustion I feel every time I turn in a ghostwriting project. I have to figure out a better balance there.
The weather was awful, so I skipped First Friday. Cooked dinner, read, played with the cats. By Friday night, I’m usually too tired to go out.
Up early on Saturday. Did a bunch of housework. The bench that’s usually out on the back balcony, which was stored in Tessa’s room while the painters are here, is now in the living room, with the cushions on it. We were taking book to see who would be the first cat on it. Did housework, read. Read Agatha Christie’s CROOKED HOUSE (this month’s Read Christie pick). I’m sure I read it ages ago, but I didn’t remember the twist at the end. Finished Josephine Tey’s TO LOVE AND BE WISE, which was very good.
Bea spent most of the day out on the porch. She’s happy out there.
After dinner, I put on Real People clothes and makeup and headed to the Adams Theatre, to see the dance piece my advisor invited me to see. Absolutely fell in love with the space. I would love to do one of my own readings there, and it would be a great space for WAM, too.
The performance was the world premiere of LA PLAYA, by choreographer Olga Rabetskaya, with music composed by Maria Vasilevskaya. It was danced by Carl Ponce Cubero, Lavy, Elliana Lynch-Daniels, and Emma Weiss. The first half was fairly straight-forward, character-driven storytelling, and the second half was more abstract. Live music onstage was mixed with various sound cues, projections were used, it was a fascinating multi-disciplinary piece. It received an enthusiastic response, and there was a short Q & A after. The trust those four performers had to have with each other to execute the choreography was immense, and that was as beautiful to watch as the actual content.
It was a collaboration between the artists who were in residence at Floating Tower at Chase Hill (run by my advisor) and the Adams Theatre, as part of their Incubator Program. Yina Moore, the Artistic Director of the theatre, has really done a wonderful job since she took over.
I’m really glad I went. I want to support my advisor, and I want to support the creation of work like this whenever possible (and, in turn, have my work supported). The cohort program I was a part of in 2024 continues to make a huge, positive difference in my life.
Home, went through the mail, was happy to receive a check I wasn’t expecting until the end of the month. It was hard to settle down after the performance.
When I got home, Tessa had claimed the bench! She was lounging on it like the queen she is.
Sovereignty won the Belmont Stakes. Because he won the Derby and the Belmont, and Journalism the Preakness, both horses won’t get the acclaim they should. All because Mott wants to force restructuring of the Triple Crown. It’s supposed to be a challenge. If it’s “better for the horse” to skip one of the races, then that horse is not Triple Crown material. And, as I’ve said dozens of times, because of the way they’re being bred (not for stamina), even fewer horses are than ever were before. We’re not going to have another Secretariat. The problem isn’t the race schedule. It’s the breeding choices. They’re being bred for fragility (calling it speed) instead of stamina.
Finally got to sleep. Woke up early. It was nice and cool in the apartment.
Up early Sunday. Did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which was not as upbeat as I hoped, and the computer was an absolute pain the butt. Did some more housework.
Put on Real People clothes and makeup and headed out. First stop, Wild Soul River to make a contribution to their matching grant fund. It’s not as large as I wish, but it is something and little bits add up to big bits.
Drove down Rt. 7 toward Lenox. It was lovely until I hit Pittsfield, but it seems that every road in that city is torn up right now.
Once I got past Pittsfield, it was okay, although the tourist drivers were asshole nightmares. Once I got into Lenox, there was an art walk, which meant tents everywhere and lots of traffic, both by car and foot. I inched my way through there, took a wrong turn and ended up at Tanglewood instead of Ventfort Hall, and had to backtrack.
I finally got to Ventfort Hall. Last time I was there, for an Elsewhere Shakespeare performance, it was a gravel drive and I nearly missed it. Now it’s been paved and the signage is better.
Parked, chatted with some staff, checked in. In spite of all the kerfuffle, I was early enough to chat with fellow WAM members, and have a pastry and a drink on the lovely terrace.
The reading was ROOTED, by Deborah Zoe Laufer, directed by Tatyana-Marie Carlo. It was stage managed by my fellow literary committee member, Sara Recht, and the cast was Jayne Atkinson, Jennie M. Jardow, and Hero Marguerite.
It was a lovely, layered, beautiful play. Jayne, as usual, was radiant, and Jennie and Hero were wonderful, too. It was a lovely experience, that made me laugh and also get a little teary at times.
Eavesdropping in the audience ahead of the reading was a trip (and material I will use for my own work). The audience is mostly older, white, and affluent. So there were a lot of conversations about opening the cottage and being up for the summer, like something out of the Gilded Age. Since we were in a mansion from that era, I guess it was appropriate.
The talkback was good after, and included Jenny Hansell, of Berkshire National Resources Council, which was terrific (the play takes place in a treehouse, where the central character has lived for 20 years). It was also meaningful that Genée, the Artistic Director, thanked committee members (including me) for being there.
All in all, it was a lovely experience in a beautiful space.
The drive home was less fraught than the drive down, fortunately, once I’d inched through Lenox again, and scooted around the worst of the construction in Pittsfield.
Picked up groceries for dinner and dessert at Adams Fresh Market on the way home. Changed clothes, cooked, and after dinner, cleaned the bathroom. You know, the glamorous theatre life.
Started reading a biography of Moss Hart, which is an interesting contrast to his autobiography.
Caught up on news headlines. Needless to say, I am angry about how the feds are mishandling L.A. How about following the Constitution? Which would have avoided the situation in the first place? Oh, wait, those in charge use it for toilet paper.
The Tony Awards were unabashedly defiant this year, and good for them. It was also interesting that gowns were either huge swaths of fabric or very elegant outlines.
Charlotte woke me up at 4 on Monday and was such a pest, I gave up and got up at 5. Got some stuff done around the house. Headed down to Pittsfield to pick up my friend. We had hoped to stop at Red Shirt Farm for produce (and I had checked the website for hours), but it was closed. So we went to Wild Oats instead, and chose vegetables to go with the meals for last night and tonight.
Came home, got things unpacked and my friend settled, and headed to the library to pick up a pass for MASS MoCA. We spent a few hours there. I showed her the Boiler House, we went to the Anselm Kiefer exhibit, which is just beyond powerful and disturbing. The wedding dress with large shards of glass penetrating it has so much to say on so many levels. I have to go back and spend more time there. There is a temporary exhibit, called “The Archive of Lost Memories” by Randi Malkin Steinberger. She rescues lost/abandoned photos, slides, tintypes, photo albums, etc., and creates art with them, while honoring what they are. It was an amazing and moving exhibit. It’s only there until June 30, so I will return on Community Day and spend more time with it. She was there with the work, so we got a chance to chat with her about some of the specific pieces.
We spent time in the James Turrell exhibit, including Into the Light, which I’d seen with the cohort, but went into again with my friend. It was just as disorienting and fascinating the second time. We visited a bunch of the exhibits on other floors (Laurie Anderson, Louise Bourgeois , Amy Yoes, Amy Padmore, Spencer Finch), until our brains couldn’t process any more.
In the R & D store, I got a book on illusionists and the paranormal (which is relevant to multiple projects of mine and was on sale). We also discovered that Randi Malkin Steinberger had put together packets of some of the lost photographs and they were for sale in the store, which was very exciting.
We returned the museum pass to the library. The plan was to go to Bear & Bee Bookshop and browse. We’d checked online that it was open, but it was not. So we wandered Eagle Street. Gallery North was unexpectedly open, because the gallery member forgot it was Monday! So we got to go in and browse. One of the exhibits was by fiber artist Sarah George, who is a wool sculptor and animal portrait artist. The detail and precision of her work (and often, the sense of fun) was wonderful.
Then, it was off to Steeple City Social for cocktails and snacks. We had a drink called a Twinkle, which is vodka, elderflower, and lemon, served in a gorgeous vintage glass. It was the most perfect cocktail I’ve had in years. We also had some devilled eggs (very different recipe than mine, but oh so yummy) and sweet and salty nuts. We chatted, on one of the large vintage couches. Friends from tarot were there, and we had a nice catch-up. And then Randi Malkin Steinberger and her friend showed up! We told Randi that we’d bought some of the photo packets. I’d opened mine and even found a piece of original art in it, along with the slides, postcard, and photographs. Randi asked if I’d planned to let her know (she put her email with original art pieces), and I said yes, and we talked about me putting it on my Instagram and tagging her as well. So that’s on the agenda!
My friend got a taste of how you run into the same great people in cool places in this small city, which is one of the reasons I love it here.
Home, and we cooked dinner. My friend helped chop and prepare ingredients, which made things much easier to handle. It was a recipe from Patricia Wells’ FRENCH BISTRO cookbook, a chicken in tarragon vinegar and white wine, with shallots and tomatoes and fresh tarragon. We had mashed potatoes with it, and the Bok choy we bought at the market. And apple pie for dessert!
We did the dishes, and then sat in the living room for a good chat. Tessa hadn’t moved from the bench all day. Charlotte came shyly to join us. Bea kept a safe distance. Willa mostly stayed in my mother’s room, but had gotten a lot of extra attention during dinner and dishes, so she was happy.
Got a bizarre email from a potential client who wants some stuff he can use in a presentation packet by Thursday. I will figure it out.
Caught up on some news, including the ridiculous way That Thing is mishandling Los Angeles. Shame on any National Guard or Marine who “follows orders” against the people in this situation. They should outright refuse.
I never want to hear anyone defend the Second Amendment as necessary to fight tyranny. Instead of so doing, they all joined ICE to be a weapon of what they claimed to fight.
Slept well, although Charlotte fussed a lot. Up at the normal time.
I’m making us Eggs Benedict for breakfast. The plan today is to head for the Clark, and then maybe hit a bookshop (if we can find one that’s open). Yoga in the evening.
It’s raining today, but shouldn’t be too bad. Have a good one!
#adamsTheatre #art #cooking #dance #freelance #friends #ghostwriting #life #MassMOCA #steepleCitySocial #theatre #wamTheatre #writing
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