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Ok, so, first: such a totaly cool property. Where else can you see steam tractors, Model A Trucks, a blacksmith shop run by belts attached to a steeam engine and old looms with people making rugs and cloth? The answer is nowhere else than the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum.
You need to go if you have any testosterone on your system.
I was there doing research for a production of A Middsummer Night's Dream. No, really. You see, my contention is that Nick Bottom, the weaver, wove the play from his own fantasy after selling some silk cloth to Hyppolita. Think about it...
So here are a few photos and comments...
There were Alpacas giving wool. These cute little crestures hafe very soft wool. They also have soft teeth and feet (for climbing mountains) so they're softer on the land on which they tread and feed.
Spinners spinning. This noce woman was working on a wheel made by her husband in the 70s. She told me all I wanted to know about spinning, weaving and community organizing around teaching kids to spin and weave. Lots of great ideas about The Dream...
And weavers weaving. It was cool! Of course you know that Nick Bottom was a weaver and it is my assertion that Hyppolita came to him for cloth for a wedding dress and started the whole fantasy upon which the dream is based. You see, he tells his friend PEter Quince to write him a ballad based on this strange dream he had in which Hyppolita was also Queen of the Fairies and he got tro hang with her (and all his friends were Fairies). More on that later.
So my idea is to use human-powered items (like spinning wheels) to provide light and sound for the only Midsummer Night's Dream that the audience has to sun to keep up with.
So I was there to get some process going with regards to The Dream -- weavers weaving, tinkers tinking and joiners joining. There are w few Weavers' Guilds here in San Diego county and I expect to get a hold of them and find out how they help, educate and share with us. More soon -- espeially on all the other cool stuff at the museum! More soon...
There are so many reasons to love Kym Pappas. I started well before I met her -- almost a year before, actually. Probably the fact that it wasn't creepy for anyone should be credited to her also but she's just so full of love! So here is my top ten...
1. She is beautiful
I know this is not supposed to be the number one reason that people love one another but let's face it is. Besides, the beauty of which I speak is more than skin-deep. Her beauty starts in her soul and radiates out to the Universe. Who wouldn't love that?
2. She is just so ful of love
You know with some people. They are just loving. Kym's a hugger but, more than that, she means it. Some people give you the a-frame-ladder hug but Kym hugs you with all the beauty mentioned above.
3. She makes people better
This is not just idleness. I have seen and been the beneficiary of this. While working with her on two separate productions I saw her selflessness, caring and love-ability make situations better. She also made me a better actor, professional and person and, to those who know me, this was a miracle.
4. She loves children
She teaches kids on a high school drill team. This would be enough because high school is horrible to most people and you just know these children are being made better through Kym's liberal application of love and beauty. I know this is true because I've met a number of her former students and they are genuine, generous, lovely poeople. I also was able to witness a workshop with some kids she taught acting to and they were, to a one, uniquely talented and capable of all the things I've mentioned about Kym above. See? She gives it away!
5. She is an actress of unmistakable talent
I have worked with Kym on projects and seen her on stage. You know when actors rely on those little tricks? You know, Renee Zelwiger's forehead? Tom Cruise's smile..? Well Kym has the love and beauty and the whole making people better to rely on. And it works! In her current play, Pride and Predudice, she loves Darcy, so I love Darcy. She found in him more to love than I did. As an actor, I kept thinking how I'd have done it so that her love was more believable and more understandable. But none of it mattered. When the time came for her to love him -- there it was. True and real.
6. She tells the truth
As an actor, lying only works if you do it well. Truthfully. Does that make sense? Doesn't matter. What maters here is that we all have a truth meter and a bilshit meter and we know (sometimes not until years later) when they are ringing. I will just say that Kym rings the truth bell and the bullshit bell is rusted clean through. You will just have to trust me on that or, better yet, trust Kym -- she's worthy.
7. She rarely wears shoes
This is the coolest thing in the world to me for many reasons. But the reason I wish to put forward here is that Kym puts her peersonal comfort before most things. This is important especially when you understand that she's so loving and such a good character-builder. You see, the main thing is to put on your oxygen mask before assisting the child in the seast next to you. Or as Jesus said -- remove the log from your eye before you help get the splinter out of your friend's. Yes, people! Take care of yourself first and then it's easy to take care of others. And it's genuine. And she usually always has polish on...
8. She looks like a younger, prettier Meryl Streep
I never liked Meryl Streep until I saw her do comedy. Then she grew on me. Kym just happens to have the same bone structure as one of the best actresses of our generstion. She should use this to her advantage and become the next greatest actor of our generation.
9. She works many jobs
If you're going to act, and direct and produce theatre, you need a bunch of jobs. Kym works enough for three people BEFORE she puts those other hats on and then works enough for four more. You would do well to learn from her example of not complaining about this.
10. She accepts me
I don't know how or why. I have this mechanism where I keep people just close enough to see what I'll do next but far enough away so as not to get any of it on them. Kym has it all over her. She's seen the worst; I'd like to believe she's seen the best but I keep strivng to be better than I was last time I saw her. But, really, all of it doesn't matter because in this vortex of acceptance she runs about in, she allows me to be me and to be the person she can love and trust. This is the person I like best and hope to remember to be more often -- if only I had a pocket Kym Pappas to remind me to keep up with my gentleman practice...
