(If you haven’t yet read Storybox Part 1, it is available HERE and Storybox Part 2 is available HERE.)
It is important for you to understand, before we get too far into our 5 hour workshop that culminated in two performances of Jonathan Pitts' Storybox, that we were not actually preparing for a full production of the show. When Storybox is directed for a full run and a full time slot it is roughly a ninety minute show. Storybox's tag line is "Within Every Story Is Another Story" and in 5 intense hours we were really only learning how to tell the one story and perform for roughly 25 minutes.
Now I can't detail out for you everything that happened during this workshop (which kills me because every moment was savory) because you would be reading about 20 installments, the magic would be ripped away from your next viewing of the show and and Jonathan Pitts would be disrespected by me putting a blueprint for his creation out for any old hack to try without permission (notice I say "try.") I will however take you through some of the highlights from the structured opening through our performance that night.
Story Story - The opening of the show that I hint at in the beginning of Storybox Part 1 is called "Story Story." Jonathan, in no uncertain terms, told us that the opening of the show is the most important part of the show. Everything about the show stems from "Story Story." The opening itself is a tribute to an improv game of the same name by guru Paul Sills of Second City fame.
The Breath - Jonathan lined us up across the stage, each of us with a cloth draped around our necks and the sticks cupped in our palms like canes. He explained that it all starts with a group breath. He chuckled as he gently disarmed all of us with his charm... "Who is this guy making us practice breathing?" He joked, "I have a masters degree!" and after a big laugh from the group "I have done 500 shows!"
It took us a bit of time to get on the same page about the breath and the opening but after we felt the true power of us all breathing and speaking together as one, we were ready to move forward and conquer foreign lands together. I believe that the practice we did working together in pairs, balancing and working with the sticks, combined with the breath work locked us all in together as a cast. I still feel pretty strongly about the guys in the cast to this day, and I really only got to spend what amounts to a full day with them. Pretty powerful stuff is Storybox.
Character Invocations - Because the entire cast is a group of Storytellers even if they are also characters, it is really important that everyone be involved when creating the characters. They belong to the group and not to the actor. The Character Invocation was our opportunity to endow highly detailed specifics onto a single character and flesh them out before they even say their first line. I love this group approach to character creation and the cast took to it immediately and really made it work.
Playing scenes as Storytellers - Jonathan said it was vital for the lead character in the show to step out and be the storyteller at some point in the show so that they didn't end up feeling like they were trapped in their choices or being conducted in their scene-work. He wanted to make sure that at all times during the show
Musical Instruments - The last real piece of the show we added in was musical instruments. Which for a few of us was like dangling a bone in front of a puppy. Available to us as we performed was a wide selection of percussion and wind instruments... My favorite was the Melodica.
House of Daggers - We learned an awesome warmup game a few minutes before hitting the stage called "House of Daggers." The group lines up almost like a marriage dance and one person runs between the two lines while they all moved their hands like daggers back and forth. Of course when the person gets to a dagger, it avoids them by inches... The end effect is a feeling of being Indiana Jones for a moment and successfully making it through peril. Lots of fun. Will definitely use this in my workshops in future.
Fingertip Flight is another warmup game I learned that night. One person stands in the middle of the circle, closes their eyes and crosses their arms across their chest. Then, silently and all at the same time the group rushes to the center and with just their fingertips, lifts the person up into the air. Naturally everyone wanted to do this more than once. The end effect is of a mashup of flying and "stiff as a board, light as a feather."
The Shows were great. I was more partial to our the first night when we still had Topping Haggerty and George Akers but both nights were improv heaven. Pat Young became the lead character and portrayed a young woman in an upper-class lifestyle in New York who had no connection with her emotions and focused only on work. Through a series of amazingly touching and funny scenes we took her through a gauntlet of emotional upheaval until, in the final scene, her heart did a 180 and she connected to both her emotions and her family.
The performance on night two was also a lot of fun and had Keith Habersberger playing the lead character. This one was a lot more complex because the chracter started out very positive and nice and through a series of events, almost has his optimism ripped from his grasp by the very people in his life that he previously inspired. Really great serio-comic piece. And a great end to the whole process.
Obviously reading a one paragraph description of the show isn't the same as watching it, so I would highly suggest that you seek it out and watch it for yourself.
UPDATE: Jonathan Pitts will be teaching Storybox in Atlanta for Jackpie in the coming months. Check out Jackpie.com/play for details!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Storybox Part 2: Sticks and Cloth
If you haven't yet read Storybox Part 1, it is available HERE.
As Jonathan gathered us into a circle to start our 5 hour rehearsal of Storybox I looked around and saw what a great cast had been put together. Our age range, gender mix and levels of experience were going to work together really nicely. I also noticed how everyone was really focused. I have been to a lot of workshops before where you have two thirds of the participants really paying attention, one or two have knowing smirks on their faces and the others have checked out a bit and are picking belly lint. This group was all ears and all eyes. Everyone was there ready to learn and ready to have a good time.
Jonathan started by telling us what Storybox is and how it differs from other forms of improv. This was vital to me because I do a particular style of improv ALL THE TIME and whatever was different about this from my norm I was going to have to grasp quickly lest I ruin the show that night for everyone.
I won't reveal the secrets of Storybox here in the blog but I will give the biggest difference between this style and regular long-form improv. Storybox at its core is about the story of one main character and how they CHANGE. If you aren't an improviser you can still appreciate the simplicity and difficulty that are inherent in this goal. If you watch movies and plays you can certainly figure out who the main character is and by the end of the show you should be able to see how they changed. The clarity of this point at the very top of the rehearsal was exactly what I needed for my own personal success. In long-form at Jackpie everyone is a main character and all characters are driven by wants. In Storybox all of the cast members are storytellers and they are there to change one main character.
The next phase of the rehearsal was my favorite. Jonathan brought out 10 - four foot tall, 3/4 inch wooden sticks made of sturdy dowel rod and passed out one of them to each player. He explained how we would use these sticks to give a strong visual to the audience, mark special moves within the show by pounding them on the floor and use them in combination with one another to "draw" locations and objects for the story and the audience. I have to say, the little boy in me flipped out a bit that we were going to get to play with sticks.
Jonathan told us he would give us 5 minutes and he would leave the room while we came up with 5 stage pictures using the sticks. We did this with relative ease. The group's first project together showed that all of the cast had strong brains in their skulls and we were not going to be at a loss for ideas in the workshop or in our show. Right away we started to trust each other and listen to our group "heart" as Jonathan called it. After we created a flat screen tv, a house, a raft and a few other locations we went on to our next addition... cloth.
Jonathan pulled out a big pile of different colored cloths and spread them around the room. He instructed us to do the same activing as with the sticks but to use just the cloth instead. It was slightly more difficult but we accomplished this goal as well within our alloted time and were pretty pleased with our results. The cloth worked so differently than the sticks for us. It added color and a malleable shape but lacked the strength and clean lines of the sticks.
We worked together for a third exercise using just our bodies to make locations and shapes and finally put all of these together to make use of the sticks, cloth and our bodies. It was during this time that we really saw the full potential of Storybox environment. Need a bed? Two sticks for the frame held by two storytellers, add a large draped cloth over the top and it really gave the impression of a bed. This is something that you would never see in a normal long-form show at Jackpie because we do everything in mime. The striking use of color combined with the physical strength of the cloth and sticks transformed our environment at a moments notice. If a storyteller said we were in a garden, different shades of green cloth came flying across the stage from all angles and was placed in lines and varying heights to show the rows and oranges and reds and it really did give the impression of a healthy garden.
By this point I was a hundred and fifty percent on board for the show. We hadn't even gotten to the storytelling and I was already bonded with the cast and psyched about the environment work.
I couldn't wait for our next section... luckily Jonathan only gave us 3 minute breaks every hour, so I wouldn't have to wait long :)
Coming up Next: Storybox Part 3: The Story
As Jonathan gathered us into a circle to start our 5 hour rehearsal of Storybox I looked around and saw what a great cast had been put together. Our age range, gender mix and levels of experience were going to work together really nicely. I also noticed how everyone was really focused. I have been to a lot of workshops before where you have two thirds of the participants really paying attention, one or two have knowing smirks on their faces and the others have checked out a bit and are picking belly lint. This group was all ears and all eyes. Everyone was there ready to learn and ready to have a good time.
Jonathan started by telling us what Storybox is and how it differs from other forms of improv. This was vital to me because I do a particular style of improv ALL THE TIME and whatever was different about this from my norm I was going to have to grasp quickly lest I ruin the show that night for everyone.
I won't reveal the secrets of Storybox here in the blog but I will give the biggest difference between this style and regular long-form improv. Storybox at its core is about the story of one main character and how they CHANGE. If you aren't an improviser you can still appreciate the simplicity and difficulty that are inherent in this goal. If you watch movies and plays you can certainly figure out who the main character is and by the end of the show you should be able to see how they changed. The clarity of this point at the very top of the rehearsal was exactly what I needed for my own personal success. In long-form at Jackpie everyone is a main character and all characters are driven by wants. In Storybox all of the cast members are storytellers and they are there to change one main character.
The next phase of the rehearsal was my favorite. Jonathan brought out 10 - four foot tall, 3/4 inch wooden sticks made of sturdy dowel rod and passed out one of them to each player. He explained how we would use these sticks to give a strong visual to the audience, mark special moves within the show by pounding them on the floor and use them in combination with one another to "draw" locations and objects for the story and the audience. I have to say, the little boy in me flipped out a bit that we were going to get to play with sticks.
Jonathan told us he would give us 5 minutes and he would leave the room while we came up with 5 stage pictures using the sticks. We did this with relative ease. The group's first project together showed that all of the cast had strong brains in their skulls and we were not going to be at a loss for ideas in the workshop or in our show. Right away we started to trust each other and listen to our group "heart" as Jonathan called it. After we created a flat screen tv, a house, a raft and a few other locations we went on to our next addition... cloth.
Jonathan pulled out a big pile of different colored cloths and spread them around the room. He instructed us to do the same activing as with the sticks but to use just the cloth instead. It was slightly more difficult but we accomplished this goal as well within our alloted time and were pretty pleased with our results. The cloth worked so differently than the sticks for us. It added color and a malleable shape but lacked the strength and clean lines of the sticks.
We worked together for a third exercise using just our bodies to make locations and shapes and finally put all of these together to make use of the sticks, cloth and our bodies. It was during this time that we really saw the full potential of Storybox environment. Need a bed? Two sticks for the frame held by two storytellers, add a large draped cloth over the top and it really gave the impression of a bed. This is something that you would never see in a normal long-form show at Jackpie because we do everything in mime. The striking use of color combined with the physical strength of the cloth and sticks transformed our environment at a moments notice. If a storyteller said we were in a garden, different shades of green cloth came flying across the stage from all angles and was placed in lines and varying heights to show the rows and oranges and reds and it really did give the impression of a healthy garden.
By this point I was a hundred and fifty percent on board for the show. We hadn't even gotten to the storytelling and I was already bonded with the cast and psyched about the environment work.
I couldn't wait for our next section... luckily Jonathan only gave us 3 minute breaks every hour, so I wouldn't have to wait long :)
Coming up Next: Storybox Part 3: The Story
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Storybox Part 1
(This one blog entry has turned epic as I try to include every single thing that happened during my Storybox experience. Here is Part 1.)
If you were an audience member watching a Storybox show you would be in for quite an experience. As the performance starts and the lights fade up you are met by the smile of one of the storytellers acting as host. He welcomes you to the show and meanwhile his fellow storytellers are moving about the stage laying out cloth and sticks and then forming a line toward the audience. Each of them has a scarf like piece of cloth around his neck and is holding a four foot wooden stick. After welcoming you, the host storyteller gets a suggestion of a "man or a woman" and then heads back to stand in the line with his comrades.
There is a moment of silence and the storytellers all close their eyes and breathe in deeply together. Suddenly, three things happen in rapid succession... The cast in unison loudly states "IN THE BEGINNING" then stamp their staffs on the ground with a boom and then takes a unified single step toward the audience. Chilling, fun and theatrical all hit you at once as the show begins.
Here is a bit of background on the show according to the Storybox website:
That's where I come in... I get a call from Jonathan Pitts (Executive Producer of the Chicago Improv Festival) who asks me to be a part of his Storybox rehearsal and show as a part of Spontaneous Combustion Festival. He has been given a short list of names of those who would be strong candidates from J Star at the Basement Theatre who is hosting the festival.
The idea was to take a group of people that had never worked together before from a variety of locations and have them fuse together under the instruction of Jonathan Pitts as they learned how to perform the improvised structure known as "Storybox".
I had only heard good things about the form and so I signed up and agreed to bring two improvisers from Jackpie with me to flesh out the cast. I got on the horn immediately and it wasn't long before I came up with two young improvisers who fit the bill... Jackpie Student George Akers who recently joined us from Improv Athens at UGA and Pat Young from Improv Monster and Free Kittens at Jackpie.
On the night before I was to start rehearsal for the show, I was still pretty sick from what appeared to be Bronchitis and a sinus infection. I was worried whether I would have a voice at all and even if I did, would I be able to make it through a 5 hour rehearsal and then a live performance without hacking up a lung and distracting the whole process. To my surprise, when I woke on Saturday morning my sinuses were manageable and I had full use of my voice.
I arrived at 11am bearing muffins from the Whole Foods across the street and met the group with whom I would be workshopping and performing. Keep in mind as you are reading that NONE OF US besides Jonathan had ever performed Storybox before. Only one of us in fact had even seen the show!
Here is the breakdown of the cast:
Topping Haggerty - Topping's one-person improvised show, Topping Haggerty Experience (THE), has been performed in many cities including New York, Chicago, Buenos Aires, Austin, Atlanta, Miami and Toronto. She joined the cast at the request of Jonathan Pitts. Here is her website - http://www.toppinghaggerty.com
Jonathan Pitts - Jonathan is the Co-Founder of the Chicago Improv Festival, and this is his eleventh year working on CIF. He is also the Creator and Founder of the College Comedy Championship the Teen Comedy Fest and CIF's education outreach programs. For three years in a row he was selected by New City as one of Chicago’s "Top 50 Theatre Players". He is also the creator of Storybox.
Shannon Noll - Shannon is a performer at IO Chicago (Formerly Improv Olympic) and plays on a team called Archimedes. After seeing her play the previous night at Spontaneous Combustion, Jonathan pulled her into the following day's workshop of Storybox.
F. Tyler Burnet - F. Tyler is currently attending University of Georgia in Athens for his Masters degree in Theatre. You can catch his details on Atlantaperforms.biz I believe he got in on the cast because Jonthan heard how amazing he was from Amy Roeder of both Improv Athens and Storybox fame.
Chris Bogue - Chris is a recent grad of ISU and rode down with Jonthan as a pre selected member of this cast. I don't have as much info collected on him but he was really amazing throughout he rehearsal and the show.
Keith Habersberger - Keith is a recent grad of ISU. With 4 years in the ISU Improv Mafia and currently performs with Mission Improvable. He also came down from Chicago with Jonathan Pitts as a pre selected member of the cast.
George Akers - George recently graduated from the University of Georgia in August2009 with a degree in Theatre and Advertsising. While in Athens, he performed with the "Improv Athens" troupe for 2 years and acted in several University productions, including a contemporary version of the radio drama *War of the Worlds*. Since coming back to Atlanta, his hometown, he has been active with Jackpie sketch and improv. Besides acting, George enjoys playing tennis and squash.
Pat Young - Pat has been performing improv for a while, because that’s all he’s wanted to do. He got his BA in Theatre at Florida State University, while also performing on the school’s improv troupe Oncoming Traffic. He has also performed at the Miami Improv Festival, the Dirty South Improv Festival, and the Black Box Improv Festival. He moved to Atlanta in July of 2006, where he began peforming at The Basement Theatre under the artistic direction of J*. One of his most memorable moments at the Basement was when Mo Collins of MadTV fame performed a scene with him where she became the physical manifestation of his pirate “man jewels.” Currently, Pat performs at Jackpie in Free Kittens, Improv Monster, In Harm’s Way, and Metal Maniax.
Read Part 2 HERE
If you were an audience member watching a Storybox show you would be in for quite an experience. As the performance starts and the lights fade up you are met by the smile of one of the storytellers acting as host. He welcomes you to the show and meanwhile his fellow storytellers are moving about the stage laying out cloth and sticks and then forming a line toward the audience. Each of them has a scarf like piece of cloth around his neck and is holding a four foot wooden stick. After welcoming you, the host storyteller gets a suggestion of a "man or a woman" and then heads back to stand in the line with his comrades.
There is a moment of silence and the storytellers all close their eyes and breathe in deeply together. Suddenly, three things happen in rapid succession... The cast in unison loudly states "IN THE BEGINNING" then stamp their staffs on the ground with a boom and then takes a unified single step toward the audience. Chilling, fun and theatrical all hit you at once as the show begins.
Here is a bit of background on the show according to the Storybox website:
Storybox is an improvised play that draws upon the theatrical techniques of Story Theatre, Noh Theatre, Viewpoints, Grotowski and long-form narrative improvisation. It was created and developed by Chicago Improv Festival co-founder, Jonathan Pitts and was invited to perform at Atlanta's Spontaneous Combustion Improv Festival on March 10-14.
That's where I come in... I get a call from Jonathan Pitts (Executive Producer of the Chicago Improv Festival) who asks me to be a part of his Storybox rehearsal and show as a part of Spontaneous Combustion Festival. He has been given a short list of names of those who would be strong candidates from J Star at the Basement Theatre who is hosting the festival.
The idea was to take a group of people that had never worked together before from a variety of locations and have them fuse together under the instruction of Jonathan Pitts as they learned how to perform the improvised structure known as "Storybox".
I had only heard good things about the form and so I signed up and agreed to bring two improvisers from Jackpie with me to flesh out the cast. I got on the horn immediately and it wasn't long before I came up with two young improvisers who fit the bill... Jackpie Student George Akers who recently joined us from Improv Athens at UGA and Pat Young from Improv Monster and Free Kittens at Jackpie.
On the night before I was to start rehearsal for the show, I was still pretty sick from what appeared to be Bronchitis and a sinus infection. I was worried whether I would have a voice at all and even if I did, would I be able to make it through a 5 hour rehearsal and then a live performance without hacking up a lung and distracting the whole process. To my surprise, when I woke on Saturday morning my sinuses were manageable and I had full use of my voice.
I arrived at 11am bearing muffins from the Whole Foods across the street and met the group with whom I would be workshopping and performing. Keep in mind as you are reading that NONE OF US besides Jonathan had ever performed Storybox before. Only one of us in fact had even seen the show!
Here is the breakdown of the cast:
Topping Haggerty - Topping's one-person improvised show, Topping Haggerty Experience (THE), has been performed in many cities including New York, Chicago, Buenos Aires, Austin, Atlanta, Miami and Toronto. She joined the cast at the request of Jonathan Pitts. Here is her website - http://www.toppinghaggerty.com
Jonathan Pitts - Jonathan is the Co-Founder of the Chicago Improv Festival, and this is his eleventh year working on CIF. He is also the Creator and Founder of the College Comedy Championship the Teen Comedy Fest and CIF's education outreach programs. For three years in a row he was selected by New City as one of Chicago’s "Top 50 Theatre Players". He is also the creator of Storybox.
Shannon Noll - Shannon is a performer at IO Chicago (Formerly Improv Olympic) and plays on a team called Archimedes. After seeing her play the previous night at Spontaneous Combustion, Jonathan pulled her into the following day's workshop of Storybox.
F. Tyler Burnet - F. Tyler is currently attending University of Georgia in Athens for his Masters degree in Theatre. You can catch his details on Atlantaperforms.biz I believe he got in on the cast because Jonthan heard how amazing he was from Amy Roeder of both Improv Athens and Storybox fame.
Chris Bogue - Chris is a recent grad of ISU and rode down with Jonthan as a pre selected member of this cast. I don't have as much info collected on him but he was really amazing throughout he rehearsal and the show.
Keith Habersberger - Keith is a recent grad of ISU. With 4 years in the ISU Improv Mafia and currently performs with Mission Improvable. He also came down from Chicago with Jonathan Pitts as a pre selected member of the cast.
George Akers - George recently graduated from the University of Georgia in August2009 with a degree in Theatre and Advertsising. While in Athens, he performed with the "Improv Athens" troupe for 2 years and acted in several University productions, including a contemporary version of the radio drama *War of the Worlds*. Since coming back to Atlanta, his hometown, he has been active with Jackpie sketch and improv. Besides acting, George enjoys playing tennis and squash.
Pat Young - Pat has been performing improv for a while, because that’s all he’s wanted to do. He got his BA in Theatre at Florida State University, while also performing on the school’s improv troupe Oncoming Traffic. He has also performed at the Miami Improv Festival, the Dirty South Improv Festival, and the Black Box Improv Festival. He moved to Atlanta in July of 2006, where he began peforming at The Basement Theatre under the artistic direction of J*. One of his most memorable moments at the Basement was when Mo Collins of MadTV fame performed a scene with him where she became the physical manifestation of his pirate “man jewels.” Currently, Pat performs at Jackpie in Free Kittens, Improv Monster, In Harm’s Way, and Metal Maniax.
Read Part 2 HERE
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Catch-up Blog Post
So I have been out of commission again for a few days with a pretty intense cold turned sinus infection. This on the tail of that Stomach Flu I had a few weeks back has been a frustration but now that I am feeling better, here are a few things I experienced while m.i.a. that I thought worth sharing:
JACKPIE SKETCH SHOW - Even though I was sick, I couldn't miss my last opportunity to see the new sketch show "Two Presidents" at Relapse Theatre. I bundled myself up, leanded on Mary and made my way to the theatre with cough drops and kleenex. I was really impressed. The addition of music and images during the scene changes covered really well and the variety in the sketches skyrocketed thanks to our new sketch classes and workshops. Overall I'd say each new sketch show has been at least twice as good as the one that proceeded it as far as production value, creativity of presentation and variety of content go. Well done folks!
JACKPIE STAND UP COMEDY - On Saturday night I headed back to the theatre again (glutton for sinus punishment) so I could see the newest incarnation of Jackpie... STANDUP COMEDY! Brad Binkley is the creative mind behind the Standup Program and with just one 8 week class he took a group that had no prior standup experience and got them onstage doing 5-10 minute sets each! Whe I saw the show I seriously had trouble believing that they had only been working for 8 classes. All of them were solid and a few of them looked as if they could head right over to an open mic at a local club and get started on their careers. Truly impressive work all the way around.
10,000 STEPS - Sunday was the official start of my work's compeition for most steps taken in 2 weeks. I only accomplished about 5k on Sunday because I was sick but yesterday I cleared 10k! That is huge considering that my day job is extremely sedintary. I am still behind a coworker for 1st place but that is mainly because she went out dancing Saturday night just before midnight and danced for 4 hours in the wee early hours on Sunday morning. Knowing that I am in a friendly competition is certainly helping me to push myself to be more active. Must defeat competition. Must... take... more... steps...
JACKPIE SKETCH SHOW - Even though I was sick, I couldn't miss my last opportunity to see the new sketch show "Two Presidents" at Relapse Theatre. I bundled myself up, leanded on Mary and made my way to the theatre with cough drops and kleenex. I was really impressed. The addition of music and images during the scene changes covered really well and the variety in the sketches skyrocketed thanks to our new sketch classes and workshops. Overall I'd say each new sketch show has been at least twice as good as the one that proceeded it as far as production value, creativity of presentation and variety of content go. Well done folks!
JACKPIE STAND UP COMEDY - On Saturday night I headed back to the theatre again (glutton for sinus punishment) so I could see the newest incarnation of Jackpie... STANDUP COMEDY! Brad Binkley is the creative mind behind the Standup Program and with just one 8 week class he took a group that had no prior standup experience and got them onstage doing 5-10 minute sets each! Whe I saw the show I seriously had trouble believing that they had only been working for 8 classes. All of them were solid and a few of them looked as if they could head right over to an open mic at a local club and get started on their careers. Truly impressive work all the way around.
10,000 STEPS - Sunday was the official start of my work's compeition for most steps taken in 2 weeks. I only accomplished about 5k on Sunday because I was sick but yesterday I cleared 10k! That is huge considering that my day job is extremely sedintary. I am still behind a coworker for 1st place but that is mainly because she went out dancing Saturday night just before midnight and danced for 4 hours in the wee early hours on Sunday morning. Knowing that I am in a friendly competition is certainly helping me to push myself to be more active. Must defeat competition. Must... take... more... steps...
Thursday, March 4, 2010
I am a Virgin... Healthmiles Member
As I was trying to find something that would get me exercising more during my day and while I am at the theatre at night, I discovered "Virgin Healthmiles" via my day job's corporate website. The idea behind the program is pretty simple... I take 7,000 or more steps each day which are recorded into a free pedometer they provided me and they credit me with "health miles" that I can use to lower or even pay for my copay for my doctor visits. Quite ingenious. Get people to stay healthier so you don't have to pay huge amounts in insurance claims when their lethargy and obesity cause other more expensive health problems to arise. I jumped on this right away and ordered my free pedometer. I have been using it for a few weeks now and love it!
Then I hit a wall... What would drive me to take MORE than the minimum needed to pay for my doctor copay? I know that I SHOULD take more steps but it is the program itself that is keeping my fitness in focus. In steps the "challenges" portion of the Virgin Healthmiles website. When my co-workers got hold of their own pedometers, they started right in on challenging each other to contests. Yesterday I was challenged by some of my teammates and I gladly accepted. Seven of us are now competing for the most steps taken in two weeks. The person who comes in last place buys lunch for the person who comes in first place. Thanks to the pedometer's ability to upload to the website, we are all able to see where we stand in the contest and make adjustments accordingly. The competition gives just enough of a nudge for my progress in daily steps to be in the forefront of my mind. I look forward to seeing what affect this has on the rest of my health in the coming months!
Then I hit a wall... What would drive me to take MORE than the minimum needed to pay for my doctor copay? I know that I SHOULD take more steps but it is the program itself that is keeping my fitness in focus. In steps the "challenges" portion of the Virgin Healthmiles website. When my co-workers got hold of their own pedometers, they started right in on challenging each other to contests. Yesterday I was challenged by some of my teammates and I gladly accepted. Seven of us are now competing for the most steps taken in two weeks. The person who comes in last place buys lunch for the person who comes in first place. Thanks to the pedometer's ability to upload to the website, we are all able to see where we stand in the contest and make adjustments accordingly. The competition gives just enough of a nudge for my progress in daily steps to be in the forefront of my mind. I look forward to seeing what affect this has on the rest of my health in the coming months!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Jim's RSS Roundup
I have been trying to streamline my online reading using Google Reader. It has really worked. I pulled in a few news feeds, a few personal interests, some theatre and improv and Presto! a one stop shop for me to absorb in my few free minutes each day.
Below are a few really interesting items from my reader this past month:
Enjoy!
Below are a few really interesting items from my reader this past month:
- Serious Eats - Best Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings
- Io9 - Is There a Politically Correct Term for Robot?
- All Blogs Lead to Rome - Undercover Boss?
- Lifehacker - Naps Can Improve All Day Learning?
- Io9 - TV Tropes: Themes in Film?
- Io9 - Amazing Art using Junk?
Enjoy!
Monday, March 1, 2010
minus TV plus LIFE
About six months back, Mary and I decided to make a major change in our lives. We were noticing that the small amount of time that we had with each other was being soaked up by dozens of television shows we had managed to get hooked on. Worse, when Mary was by herself and I was at the theatre, she would spend most of her spare time watching DVR'd shows. We decided to rip TV out of our lives and no longer let them revolve around the television.
The hardest part was convincing ourselves that we didn't need all of those shows in our lives. By luck, or perhaps divine intervention, four or five of the shows that we were really devoted to started to drop in quality all at the same time. We were able to say "That was awful. Why did we just watch that?" and then mentally cross it off the list of shows to watch. The next step was an addicts worst nightmare... we had to call and turn off the cable. Yikes! Visions of shows we would miss began to race through our minds... we doubted our decision. Could we really do this? Could we off our television?
We moved our entertainment system over to the other side of the room and circled our seating arrangement so that our focus was on each other and the fire place. We softened the lighting and added a few lamps, fine tuned our Pandora stations on the computer/stereo and picked a ton of books from paperbackswap.com.
Now, six months later, we can't imagine it any other way. The amount of time we spend actually talking to each other has grown tremendously and it is no longer bound in by commercial breaks (or worse, not possible because of Netflix TV or DVR fast forward capabilities.)
Last night I was able to follow up on student leads while Mary worked on recipes for the upcoming week. We had an open dialogue about food, music, books, cats, movies, the theatre, exercise and more. It was really a great night and I felt like I truly lived it with Mary instead of co-existed it while watching a trillion hours of television.
Don't worry... we still watch LOST on Tuesday nights. Once a week we turn the couch around, revive the television and pull out the rabbit ear antennae to see the final season of our favorite show.
The hardest part was convincing ourselves that we didn't need all of those shows in our lives. By luck, or perhaps divine intervention, four or five of the shows that we were really devoted to started to drop in quality all at the same time. We were able to say "That was awful. Why did we just watch that?" and then mentally cross it off the list of shows to watch. The next step was an addicts worst nightmare... we had to call and turn off the cable. Yikes! Visions of shows we would miss began to race through our minds... we doubted our decision. Could we really do this? Could we off our television?
We moved our entertainment system over to the other side of the room and circled our seating arrangement so that our focus was on each other and the fire place. We softened the lighting and added a few lamps, fine tuned our Pandora stations on the computer/stereo and picked a ton of books from paperbackswap.com.
Now, six months later, we can't imagine it any other way. The amount of time we spend actually talking to each other has grown tremendously and it is no longer bound in by commercial breaks (or worse, not possible because of Netflix TV or DVR fast forward capabilities.)
Last night I was able to follow up on student leads while Mary worked on recipes for the upcoming week. We had an open dialogue about food, music, books, cats, movies, the theatre, exercise and more. It was really a great night and I felt like I truly lived it with Mary instead of co-existed it while watching a trillion hours of television.
Don't worry... we still watch LOST on Tuesday nights. Once a week we turn the couch around, revive the television and pull out the rabbit ear antennae to see the final season of our favorite show.
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