Day One on the Farm

Today was the long awaited day on which I became a more intimate aquaintance of Mother Earth. (She's amazing!) The farm work began.

One of the green houses

Days for the farm crew begin at 8 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. although sometimes they run a little longer, like today--because we were planting  potatoes. I learned that there are tons of varieties! Fingerlings (Banana Fingerlings and French Fingerlings), Red Pontiac, All Blue, Mountain Rose...aren't these names fabulous? They remind me of my distant dream of creating the names of crayon colors, or maybe wall paint--I'd be thrilled with anything of that sort--creativity begs to be expressed! And the Pontiacs reminded me of the black Pontiac my parents had when I was a wee little babe and made me smile.

I also heard cows today in the distance--they graze a ways away from the rows we were working on today but they reminded me of how my dad used to tell me scary stories about THE COWS in Russia in order to get me to quiet down in rowdy states. A more personal form of the boogie man, Russian village style I guess...

Anyhow, the work was good, it was lovely to be out in the fresh air all day. Delicious vitamin D everywhere! I had to cut my nails today after farming because you hands get dirty and the shorter ya nails, the betta. Annie is extrordinarily hardcore and wears no work gloves but I can't handle that! Gloves and lotion for these cracked hands! And chapstick is a must. P.S. I got a small sunburn today, I love it! She says I will defintely have a different skin tone by month's end. Maybe I should do a before and after shot--that would be funny.

With regards to the farm labor specifically, today we prepped rows for planting broccoli and cauliflower wich entailed clearing out the beds of old produce that had bolted, argicultural term--or slang? for the plant going to seed, which makes it bitter and unsellable at market. So they all had to be uprooted, and then the soil had to be raked. After finishing that it was only 9:30 AM, what!?!?!?!? Time passes differently on the farm.

I then helped Lori clean up the swiss chard remains after a batch of it was picked and bundled in the greenhouse...and I was absolutely taken by how amazingly beautiful it looks in its stalks, all green and red!! The color is alarmingly vivid. Also, I had a dear English professor who goes by Chard for short and is a poet and that connection made me smile big.

Leafy romaine <3

We also put an irrigation system together for all the rows after all the plant refuse was cleared, and that was cool to watch. The system consists of three hollow, strawlike hoses being laid out on the soil beds, which were connected to three faucet-like fixtures at the start of the row. Looks like a T with three offshoots rather than one. We then planted the broccoli and cauliflower and then put rowcover on all of the transplants.  Rowcover is a microfiber sheet (I think) that is put over the plans as protection from bugs and harsh sun. It was billowing in the wind today and looked like God's comforter.  I'm sure he also has a pretty awesome bed. (of brocolli!) I love watching the wind go through things. The natural contours are so affecting.

We then planted potatoes all together after Tripp, the farm manager plowed the rows with the tractor. I liked the sense of comraderie, weeee.

We ate dinner. We drove back home. Day One Done. Now I finish this post and go to bed.

XOXOXOOXOXOXOXO
Svet

 

First Day in Georgia

Dear friends,

I'm finally in the land of peaches and pecans! With the lovely and amazing Annie Keithline. I arrived in Albany, Georgia yesterday afternoon and Annie picked me up. I was so happy to finally get off the bus. My legs were screaming in delight. Annie and I walked around the metropolis of Albany for a while and listened to some jazzy jazz at Ray Charles plaza. It was architecturally very cool, part of it was these life size piano keys right on the ground.

Annie then took me to Riverside BBQ, finest BBQ joint in town. We feasted on Southern fare like fried okra (!!!!!) which I've wanted to try for a looong time and Brunswick stew, a chili like concoction named after the city in Georgia. Lots of people here love it.

We then found ourselves at the Flint RiverQuarium, a beautiful aquarium that features local marine life and educates about local water supply and water water everywhere. We saw amazing species of fish and got to play with sand and water and recreate erosion...it brought me back to school science classes. Ohh yeah.

We did a bit of grocery shopping since nearest food store is about 15 miles from the farm and then took a BEAUTIFUL scenic drive to Bluffton, where Annie lives with her housemates that also work on the farm. I was struck dumb by how gorgeously GREEN the grass was-- and also saw a lot of Spanish Moss on the trees, which Annie says is a parasitic organism that gets everywhere.

Annie had a gig at a restaurant and bar called Kuntry Rooster's yesterday and we saw her name advertised in the limelight while driving back! She was absolutely shocked but I thought it was fantastically appropriate.
 


Annie's billboard!

We made a quick stop at the farm where I met one of Anne's farm co-workers, Jesus, and got a quick tour of the facilities. White Oak Pastures is an organic farm that grows vegetables and livestock, and they have a slaughter house right on the facility. We got some lettuce and eggs for the house and some rosemary too. I loooove herbs and spices, and picked right off the bush--herbaliciousness.
We got to the house and settled in. She gave me ze tour and I met the other housemates, Gil (named after Gilbert Blythe of Anne of Green Gables!!), Frankie, Lori, and Trip--farm workers one and all. I had some coffee Gil made for me (sleeping on a Greyhound demands early evening coffee) and Annie practiced for her Rooster's gig. There's all these good books for me to read here too, Wendell Berry, Joseph Campbell, Harville Hendrix. Yay.

Plus Annie's cooking totally rocks. I am always amazingly and deliciously well fed whilst in Annie Keithline's vicinity. Actually, I'm always fed well when I'm in the company of others because meals become an event of mutual caring and sharing! It's harder to do by yourself, although still mighty rewarding.

Annie and I created a groovy ambiance at Rooster's with dry ice dissolving in bowls and creating a foggy white haze. And candles. Lots and lots of candles. Hearing her perform live with an adorable guitalelee in a smashing dress was very special. And we had a great crowd there too :)


Annie K doin her thang

Tomorrow farm work begins. I think we're going to take a bike ride around the area to get more aquainted!

Oh there is also a playful dog here named Onyx and cats! Bacon, Stripey, and Sigmund. 

On the Road

I've been on a Greyhound bus (regrettably not a Peter Pan, my magical favorite) since 8 a.m. yesterday morning. I am at my last transfer spot in Florida. Yes, FLORIDA. Jacksonville, so northern Florida, but nonetheless quite weird and excellent to see palm trees in the middle of winter. I wish my good friend Viviana could come up from Miami--it would be so lovely to see her. Oh, my long distance friendships!

Anyhow, after this connection we go back up to Georgia, which I should reach before noon. I've gotten some sleep on the bus and noticed travel companions, a few people who have been on all of the same buses as me from the morning. A silent sense of camaraderie exists between us. Yesterday in Fayetteville, NC a man named Bruce sat next to me and we talked some about our families and work.

Bruce has had a lot of jobs in his lifetime and quite a few medical procedures too. We talked about the body's amazing ability to heal itself under the right conditions and about learning biofeedback to lower heart rate. He likened biofeedback to a sort of meditation and I would like to learn more about that with my mind-body connection fascination. Bruce is going to care for his dad out in Georgia before and after an eye surgery. Both Bruce and his father served in the military, and they both went to Vietnam. Thank you for your service, Bruce. I loved one thing especially that he said with regards to work--if work is your whole life its easy to become discontented and bored, but with other hobbies, interests, and involvements, jobs are put in perspective. Seek balance. What you do is not necessarily what you are. Hmmmm.

Talking about our families made me miss mine and spurred phone calls to my parents. I got to talk to Andrey Jr.!!

With that, I can't wait to see Annie in under six hours! The Greyhound bus has no WiFi. Whenever I bring a laptop I generally don't use it--I am typing this up on my phone. Oi.

By the way, I do feel like y'all are in my pocket. This is wonderful. Off to do some stretches before boarding again. Gotta be good to the body that's so good to me!

Georgia, Baby

Dear friends and family,

I am embarking on an exciting adventure. In the next few days I will be travelling to Albany, Georgia to visit one of my best friends, Annie Keithline. Annie is walking accross (actually more like around) the country for peace. You can read more about her amazing journey here. She has been working at White Oak Pastures, a farm in Bluffton, Georgia, for the past few weeks. I'm going to be dancing into some farmwork with her, and then we're going to walk Georgia and I will experience the peace walk.

I am deeply excited and certainly jittery about this trip. I've dreamed of joining Annie soon after she began this soulful journey last March and I have finally created room to actually do it both in my heart and in my life. (Thank you to the people that have given me support--it means so so much.)

I will be farming for two weeks and walking for two weeks. One month. From this trip I am going to choose what my next step is going to be with regards to beginning a new job. I left an office job last December after a year.  Being in a confined space was hard for me. My body was crying out!  I've worked a few part time gigs since then and the next adventure is wanting to be born. I know I'm going to get much more out of it than an answer to a profession, though. A few things I want to learn/work on:

- Learning about growing food. Witnessing and being a part of this natural and essential process.
- Deciding and following through on personal projects/dreams/aspirations
- Learning to better deal with fear, doubt, anxiety and frustration
- Directing my ecstatic energy in meaningful, cogent ways (last two are Annie's goals as well).

I'm going to be updating this blog lots while journeying, so my family knows where I am and so I can update all my new friends from NYC as well as my older buds. Also, it'll give me a good opportunity to work on my writing. Please leave me comments if you feel at all compelled. Correspondence and meeting people are two of my greatest joys.

Thanks for your interest! LOVE to you all!

Svetlana

Leapfrogs, Renting Rooms & Running Around Manhattan. Amazing.

I just had the craziest, most amazing day. Whirlwind of activity, whirlwind of emotions!!!

I got to see special friends today and drink cappuccino with them and talk about the joy of movement and dance and art and tree houses.

I felt the impulse to go home to RI for my brother's birthday. I bought a bus ticket on a whim and didn't get a seat on the bus due to a reduced bus schedule because of Nemo the snowstorm monster. (Oiii, Svet!)

I had my first taste of Turkish food with my beautiful Turkish friends and finally meet my good friend's special someone :) ...with more great conversation.

And I come home feeling very full and inspired. Wanting to write lots and collage lots.

Oh and also an important need, friends:

If anyone knows anyone who needs a room in Astoria from mid February to mid March, please contact me! I'll give a reasonable rate and my room totally rocks. Here's the Craigslist ad. I have an airbnb add up too with a more comprehensive description. Email me through that if you want more information.

 

 

Talking Improv with Yoanna Wei

I met my friend Yoanna Wei while taking a Level 0 (yes, they exist) improv class at the People's Improv Theater in NYC. She's been going strong and hard since the class and really quite involved at the PIT and the improv scene. She sat down over tacos to talk to me about it.



Svetlana: Yoanna, how long have you been doing improv?

Yoanna: Since September 2011. A year and a half.

S: We met through that PIT (People’s Improv Theater) class, Level 0, but you were doing improv before that, right?

Y: Before Level 0 I was doing jams at the PIT, not much formal instruction. Then I was at a jam and they were giving away a free Level 0 so I put my name in the pot and won it.

S: Awesome. And then your improv career just took off, right!?

Y: Sure. I just finished Level 3 at the PIT so I’m not there yet.  There are 5 levels at the PIT and I just started taking level 1 at UCB (Upright Citizen’s Brigade).

S: What’s the difference bw UCB and the PIT? I’ve heard that UCB is more hardcore.

Y: Well, UCB classes are accredited, and it’s more like a school type environment—they are more stringent about their requirements. To move from 201 to 301 you have to get approval from a teacher. At PIT there aren’t those kinds of requirements. And yes, UCB is competitive, but it’s also like family—when I go to jams there I don’t feel like people are stepping on each other—they’re nice about it. UCB produces a lot of up and coming comedians like Kate McKinnon who is on Saturday Night Live and she’s from UCB so, if you wanna go big, you definitely want to start at UCB. But at the same time, PIT also produced good comedic actors like Kristin Shaw, she’s on Bob’s Burger, and she was on a house team at the PIT.

S: So, what made you want to try improv?

Y: I started doing improv with a student group on campus, and we were doing short form improv and I was intrigued to see what long form improve was like. I really liked improv and have always wanted to be in theater, and so improv is a form of theater in my mind.

S: Did you do drama in high school? Where did you get the acting bug?

Y: My sister is a math major in college. She enjoys it. Both my parents were originally in medical school. They don’t have any artistic things going on. I guess they watch TV…I don’t want to say they don’t have artistic pursuits…I mean a lot of it was when I was little I always preferred to read novels, and sort of gravitated towards that. When I was in high school I did theater tech and got a chance to see student actors practicing, and that is when I knew I wanted to do theater. In my last semester of undergrad, I was in a play and I just knew it was something I wanted to do. It was a student written play called Finding the Light.

S: It is so interesting to me when people say “I just knew,” when you feel so drawn to something.  Another thing—when we were talking about creativity and your parents, and you know, when someone says that they write, or they sculpt, or whatever, if one does not do that, it doesn’t mean they’re not creative. There is something special about practicing creativity with other people.

Y: Mhhm. In creativity, you are literally creating something with somebody else with no preplanning.

S: Which can be pretty scary if you think about it! And it’s fun.

Y: Yes. I love the spontaneity of improv. Part of the reason for that is I am lazy and don’t like memorizing lines and also, if a director does not give you a part you have nothing to say, but in improv, you are your own director.

S: You can always have something to say. I feel like there is something vitally important about creating something of your own.

Y: Yeah, I get it. A lot about creating something is expressing your emotions and yourself and finding out about yourself.

S: Yes, like “I didn’t even know this was in me!” When I did my first play in college, I wasn’t every really drawn to it, but when I was finally on stage acting it out, I was like “I LOVE THIS.” We all have this creative impulse. Such self growth happens through creativity. Yes and it!

Y: Yes Tina Fey said that—you can apply a lot of improv rules to life. It helps in saying yes to more.

S: How did the improv team you’re with now form?

Y: That is sort of an odd situation. All three of us knew that we were the only three Asian people who hang out at the PIT so one night all three of us were sitting at the bar and Sean was like, “You guys want to start a team?” And yeah, that’s how it happened.  But we aren’t racially exclusive. We want to include other people and are looking for new members.

S: How long has XOXO been a team and how did you guys get your name?

Y: Since July/August, so half a year now.  We got our name while standing outside the PIT one night before a show and Sean (again) saw XOXO on a poster and said, “That should be our team name.” And that’s how it happened.

S: Ahhh. So what are the other rules of improv?

Y: “Yes and” is the huge one—then, you know, take your partner’s offers, support your partner’s moves…all other rules stem from “Yes, and.”  Just go with what’s happening and add your own information…because literally you are creating something out of thin air. Also, a lot of acting rules apply to improv: be vulnerable, show your emotions, let your partner affect you,  be real, be honest. All those really help what happens on stage.

S: Another thing I like about improv is that when watching it, a lot of it is fantastical and exaggerated, but a lot also humorously reflects the awkward interactions in day to day life, and that makes me feel less alone!  People are laughing at it, and so am I! I’m not the only one that that’s happened to! It’s a great reminder to do that in real life. To embrace our weirdness, our quirks…

Y: Yeah, definitely. The audience usually laughs when some form of truth is arrived at in the scene.  

S: Ohhh I like that!

Y: Nate Starkey taught me that. He teaches level 4 and 5 at the PIT and he’s on the Big Black Car house team.  I’ve observed many shows and I’ve found that to be very true. They recognize the realness.

S: The audience recognizes themselves in that truth and so laughs—an instant community of knowing is created.

Y: Yes. Art imitates life. So if you’re being real on stage, it is organically funny.

S: Not trying too hard.

Y: Yeah, trying to be funny is another improv no no. You don’t want to be jokey. You want to really be honest.

S: Good distinction. When I was taking my class I would try to do that sometimes, and it would feel off, inauthentic. Just doing the improv is enough. Being there and responding.

S: So, have you met any famous people at the PIT?

Y: A few, yes. Aubrey Plaza. One time Abby Elliot was doing a show at the PIT as well.

S: That’s neat. I don’t even know who they are. Hyper links above to their bios! Yoanna, did you do any acting in college besides improve?

Y: Yes, I was in a few plays with a group of Columbia med school students called the Bard Hall Players—I was in the chorus of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, in the winter production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I played Robin Starling and I was an extra in Rumors. It was fun. Theater is definitely one of the best experiences I’ve had. I wish I did more plays in college.

S: Me too.

S: One thing with theater is you can become close to the people you are doing it with. It’s like you are bringing something into the world with them.  Almost like childbirth—the play is practiced, gestates, grows—until it’s ready to come out. Is that one of the things you really enjoy about it? Why do you think you enjoy acting and improve so much?

Y: A lot of it is gut feeling. When you’re doing improv on stage you just feel so liberated—like “Oh man, I am creating something right here.” And also, acting is like being as human as possible. You are living life in a way that no other profession can give you. You are creating characters. You are experiencing these emotions. It’s like you’re living simultaneously in many parallel universes. And you get to experience more of life that way.

S: I think that’s right. You’re experiencing more.  I feel like it’s similar with reading, but in acting, you are actually embodying who these characters are, so it’s different—it comes alive. It is so exciting.  It expands your awareness and experience so much.

S: Who are your favorite improvisers/comedians?

Y: Ashley Ward is very funny. She taught level 1 and 3 at the PIT and she’s in Big Black Car (a PIT house team). Brigid Boyle—she is on The Baldwins (another PIT improv team) and she is very funny. I really like the house team Birds too. Very good improvisers.

S: Thanks so much for your time and willingness to share your passion Yoanna!

Introduction to Chipmusic with Invisible Robot Hands (James Winters)

James Winters isn’t your average college dude. I met him on the streets of Providence, Rhode Island where I was mesmerized while watching him play music from his 1989  original Game Boy plugged into an amp. Something else, right? That’s exactly what I thought. So after jumping up and down for a moment (you can get that footage at the bottom of this article) I, at the peak of intrigue, had to ask what was happening.  I recognized bits of sound from my brothers' video games...crossed with the electronic music genre. Sweet party/rave music is born! Not that I go to raves! But maybe I should…

Invisible Robot Hands going at it.

After James (stage name Invisible Robot Hands) stopped the Game Boy alchemy I asked how it all worked.  James introduced himself and his art as chipmusic, where “people use outdated gaming/computer hardware with (often newly written) audio software in order to synthesize sounds from the hardware’s soundchip and sequence those sounds into entire songs.” Did you get all that? Me either. And James was kind enough to go into more detail via email.  I learned that what appeared to be "video game music" or fun party music to my untrained eye is so much more...Chipmusic does incorporate old video games' "bleepy tones," but in many ways it has evolved from the simplistic tunes from Mario to a craft with more room for artistic license and creativity.
 

'80s Europe popularized chipmusic via the Demoscene, where the public started trying their hands at it.  Chipmusic itself was actually born by select individuals who would hack into established video games and rip the music from them, and then insert their own music and graphics as--ready? Digital graffiti.  (Kinda like a techy Banksy...) But generally, the Demoscene used old computers like the Atari ST and the Commodore 64 (Aren’t those cooler names than Apple and Windows??) rather than old Game Boys; this came later.

James' chipmusic interest really took off in the eighth grade. He had to sit out of gym class for a few months due to a broken arm and leg, couldn’t play his guitar, and so started playing around in computer lab, specifically learning about vintage computers.  He then switched gears and got into music sequencing programs through Famitracker, a music sequencing program referred to as a tracker.  Trackers require the musician to build all of the sounds themselves before sequencing the notes.  With trackers, "everything is 'tracked' one second at a time. Every step or 'tick' in a patterm is shown in a tracker, a little bit like a bar of sheet music." This is very cool because the musician has to economize when creating, because they're restricted to the capabilities of the sound chip.  However, not all music sequencing programs are built this way. 

A different family of music sequencing progarms called Digital Audio Worksations (DAWs) baby the musician in James’ opinion: "DAWs are pretty much an infinite plane of potential layers of sounds and samples, whereas chipmusic trackers demand imagination and economic thinking of the musician, because the user is often given no more than about 4 or 5 one-note-at-a-time 'channels' of sound. What's more, in some trackers, each channel is restricted to certain types of potential tones. Half the fun in the chipmusic community is seeing how much you can do with very, very little."  So James is about the raw craftsmanship of the beat. And I like that. I liken this to purchasing an object that is made well and possibly more expensive, rather than going for the 99-cent-made-in-China-cheap-fast-easy version...or even more accurately,taking the time to make the object yourself. Not for the faint of heart! There's more craftsmanship (blood/sweat/tears/skill) in it, and it adds more soul to the finished product.

James spent 2-3 years immersed in tracking programs creating music (and saving to floppy disks to feel ‘80s chic. (I loved that tidbit!)  The hobby went to the next level when James gratefully received a classic Game Boy from a classmate. He then attained the additional necessary hardware to create chip music through the Game Boy.

“From there I spent ages in my room creating covers of stuff from the ‘80s and eventually started writing my own stuff.  I got tired of showing my songs to nobody, so I bought a crappy boom box from Salvation Army as a makeshift amp to plug my Game Boy into and started playing on the street.”

The boom box amplifier also has a certain 80s charm to it (Say Anything, anyone?), but James now has a battery powered guitar amp for his performances.  Ah, the evolution of the artist...

Performing and writing his own material then led James to create 8Bit Northeast, “a collective of people from the nooks and crannies of New England who make chipmusic as well.” Right now there are about 40 members in this collective, although James tells me that membership has fluctuated quite a bit. 8Bit Northeast has even done shows locally, collaborated with Boston 8Bit, and has even recently participated in Rhode Island’s Maker’s Faire.

James covers "I Quit" by chipmusician "Chipocrite"

 

What do I like about this? That for Invisible Robot Hands, this is an original and extremely creative outlet.  Also, it’s sustainable to repurpose old computers and gaming hardware to produce music— that strangely has some Woodstock ethos. Finally, it’s damn well entertaining, which is the broad goal, right? Very animated and energetic. Listen to some. Go ahead, jump around in yer room.

Even deeper still, James remarks that chipmusic is not caged in by a genre, like the aformentioned rave or dance music.

"It's a medium, not a genre. This means that it has the potential to be whatever the artist wants it to be."

James likened it to a guitar: "Not every song with a guitar in it is automatically rock and roll; or rather, a guitar isn't just a tool for making rock music. It's a tool for making music, in general. It's how the individual uses it that determines it. Chipmusic can be rock, techno, hip hop, classical, new wave, ambient, jazz, polka, folk, etc. I think a good example of this is the fact that there are so many bands nowadays that fuse chipmusic with traditional instrumentation.  Examples would be "Anamanaguchi", "Graffiti Monsters", or "Awkward, Terrible", bands that use 8-bit hardware in conjunction with guitar/bass/drums/vocals to create new layers of sound."

Please check out James’ site and Chipmusic.org to find out more. I didn't even get all of the technicalities of trackers and DAWs down because it's quite hard to explain and would make this post double in length. Seeing the complexity and talent that goes into creating chipmusic is fascinating and really ushers in more respect for the chipmusician.

Thank you James, for your time and willingness to share your cool, creative, and challenging craft with me.

Now go and listen to chipmusic.

Hugs,

Svetlana

Stay tuned: Next interview features one of my very best friends, Annie Keithline on why she's walking accross the country!