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Guess What’s Coming to Dinner!

BY DIANNA MACLEOD
Whidbey Life Magazine contributor
May 28, 2014

Two different things inspired me while pointing me in the same direction.

The first was local author Vicki Robin’s experiment to survive on foods grown close to home. She committed herself to part of a year of eating mostly local food. Displaying her usual creativity and tenacity, she wrote up the experiment and sold it to a publisher, resulting in the book “Blessing the Hands that Feed Us.”

Second source of inspiration: a PBS program called “Can Eating Insects Save the World?” In graphic detail and gory color, folks are shown feasting on water bugs, grasshoppers, and tarantulas. (Yes, you read that right.) Given the tonnage of insects per human being, eating insects might just be the solution to world hunger. After all, insects are high in protein, mature rapidly, consume little energy (think cricket versus cow), and are plentiful. (At times, alarmingly so.)

Inspired and curious—we all know that’s a dangerous combination—I asked myself the question: could I find enough to eat, here in my own island backyard, to sustain me? Not for a year. Not even for a day. Just for a single meal. One dinner.

I decided to find out.

And it was, after all, dinnertime.

My only piece of foraging gear consisted of a Tupperware container with a snugly-fitting lid. Thus equipped, I ventured out into the mist descending on Saratoga Road.

The pickings were not slim.

They were slimy.

Within the first few minutes of walking, I noticed three kinds of slugs making their way out of the nettles and onto the shoulder of the road. (I happen to know that nettles are indeed edible but sting fiercely when picked, and I had brought no gloves.)

The first kind of slug I encountered was big and brown with an orange rim around its fleshy parts (which is all of it). Big Brown seemed to crawl in patterns, leaving a trail that glistened in the twilight and, to my eye, spelled out assorted messages: “I am Delicious!” and “Bursting with Flavor” and “Eat Here!”

“Long Snot” (photo by Jan Shannon)

I resisted Big Brown’s blatant advertisement in favor of a more subtle slug just ahead—a long, bilious looking creature the color of, well, snot. I was about to pluck Long Snot from the pavement and deposit it in my Tupperware when I saw, further on, a third slug that really got me retching…er, salivating. It was shiny black and resembled nothing so much as a piece of writhing licorice.

“Writhing Licorice” (photo by Jan Shannon)

While I stood deliberating whether I wanted to become part of a local food movement, all around me local food was moving, the road crisscrossed with slugs—as many as my empty stomach could stomach.

As I walked on, observing these meals-under-wheels, I noticed another critter in plentitude. Turns out my first-time search for local food had coincided with a massive hatch of—ta da!—tent caterpillars. These little orange and black goodies were humping along the road at remarkable speeds, making the slugs look…well, sluggish.

Still I demurred.

Because…because…because…prior to plundering nature’s bounty, I should have a plan for preparing my slugs and caterpillars. A recipe for these roadside hors d’oeuvres. An idea of how to cook these creepy crawlies.

I was desperately hoping I would have no idea whatsoever.

I immediately thought of oysters.

I love oysters. More particularly, oyster burgers. And what is the slug if not a kind of land oyster? Indeed, the slug is a terrestrial gastropod mollusk. “Gastro” as in “gastronomy.” “Gastro” as in the art or science of good eating.

I felt encouraged. Inspired. Along with Vicki Robin, I, too, could be creative in my quest for local food.

I could prepare the slugs—Big Browns, Long Snots, Writhing Licorices—the same way I prepare oysters for burgers: dip the slugs in an egg batter, dredge them in flour seasoned with pepper and salt, fry them in a skillet.

And the caterpillars? Spread out on a cookie sheet, baked in the oven, could they pass as onion morsels—with fur?

I envisioned a slug burger—hold the mucus—with a side of crispy caterpillars. Served with a stinging nettle salad.

Yum.

I was bending down to pick my first caterpillar off the pavement when I realized I had no clue whether the thing was safe to eat. Whether it was safe to eat any of the three varieties of slugs sliming up the road with their assorted messages: “We Dare You!” and “Yankee, Go Home!” and “Coward!”

The ubiquitous tent caterpillar (photo by Jan Shannon)

Then and there, I realized I would have to put my experiment on hold, at least for as long as it took me to hoof home and check the internet. Surely it would tell which bugs were safe to eat. Why else is it called the net? The web?

I returned home with an empty Tupperware container. Not so much as a nettle leaf inside, the lid never even lifted.

With the small amount of enthusiasm left to me, I turned on my computer. Would slugs slime my insides? Would tent caterpillars spin cocoons in my gastrointestinals? Once I had answers, I would go back out there. I still had enough time to hit the road, enough light to glean by.

But my server was down.

Whew! No serving tonight.

I blessed the technical failure as I made myself a sandwich (cheese from foreign lands, salami from a factory farm, bread from a faraway oven). As I chowed down, I recalled that the PBS commentator had mentioned—more than once—that bugs are an acquired taste. Especially tarantulas. (He should’ve added tent caterpillars and slugs to the list.)

Devouring my nonlocal, delicious sandwich, I wondered if I’d be writing my own book about my own experiment. What would I call it? “The Squeamish Scavenger”? “Stooping Low for Local”? “The Quarter-Mile Diet”?

Until whatever-it’s-called hits the shelves…please…nobody tell Vicki Robin about this.

Dianna MacLeod holds a degree in journalism from the University of Michigan. An alumna of Hedgebrook, she moved to the island in October of 2011 to complete a novel—and never left.

CLICK HERE to read more entertaining and informative WLM stories and blogs.

WLM stories and blogs are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Linking is permitted. To request permission to use or reprint content from this site, email info@whidbeylifemagazine.org.

May 28, 2014
Minding the Sky | More about the dog here

BY JUDITH WALCUTT
May 23, 2014

These beautiful days have been very unsettling. Like everybody else in the Northwest, when the sun shines, I just want to be in it. I have all kinds of very good reasons to do so—whack the weeds, transplant rhodies, empty the shed, wash the car, clean the gutters, and sweep up cedar debris that has accumulated on the roof. I can’t believe it’s time to do that again—it feels like only yesterday when I got fanatic about moss eradication and spent days up on the roof scrubbing and scraping the green stuff away. Also, I am determined to wash the windows, so I can mind the sky from both sides of the glass. Today is absolutely perfect for any and all of the above.

There’s an equally long list of Things to Do inside, of course. “Things” like cleaning the laundry room and pantry. I’ve been waiting, I tell myself, for a good day like this one to do it—not too hot, not too cold, Goldilocks’ favorite temperature for opening all the doors and windows to air out the stale corners of seasons past. There’s also vacuuming the ceiling and capturing dust bunnies in a dust bunny trap made of micro-fiber and wielded on an extending wand, to get behind the dryer. I can’t wait!

Author Judith Walcutt at work on current draft of her novel—So near the end and yet so far from finished! (Photo by David Ossman)

And believe it or not, it is time to make preparations for jam, soon to arrive with strawberries and rhubarb from backyard gardens and, on the wild side, salmonberries which are already coming into their colorful pink, yellow and red hues of ripeness. I better get picking if I am going to catch that first batch in a jar!

But what about the storage units? For those of you who read me semi-regularly, you may remember it was about a year ago that I forewent excavating the caverns of STUFF stashed at Waterman’s—two medium-large units full of rubber snakes, plastic dinosaurs, and old records (both tax and vinyl)—in favor of cleaning my office. I took that Herculean task on at a point when, more than anything in the world (except maybe oxygen), I needed a clean desk and a fresh start.

I was about to begin a year during which I was fully committed to writing my own work, in my own way, on my own time. It was not easy. The layers of detritus blocking the way were decades thick. My children’s childhoods rose and fell in the mottled tides I paddled through—reams of paper, pictures and handmade Valentines. I made it through, though. I started my year of living word to word with a clean desk, knowing where my paper clips were, and recognizing the moment for what it was—a true golden one in which to write and hear myself think for the first time in many years. Finally, I had the time and space to write and no excuse not to.

That year went by in no time flat, as I somehow knew it would. I did my best to make the most of it and, even now, as I write this and contemplate all the chores I might be doing, both inside and out, I am playing hooky from my novel, which is in its 29^th draft. And yes, there will be at least one more before the edifice leaves home without me.

This most recent rewrite was all about culling the notes from the twenty or so readers who kindly lent their time, minds, and eyes to Draft 28, to ferret out the typos, the mis-punctuation, some faulty adverbials, and, very occasionally, actual incoherence. Yes, incoherence—moments I was trying so hard to make sense, I made no sense whatsoever. Since it is a book about painters painting paintings and the people who love them and then don’t, or do, but then can’t, I have been dealing quite a bit with the ineffable nature of a primarily visual experience. I have made every effort, using good words I have stored up for decades, to describe the experience of seeing and then feeling a really spectacular piece of art work in a visceral way. I have equated, in the resolution of those words, the sum of that experience with love and if not love, then the thirsty longing for it.

Have I regarded what genre I might be writing in and have I tried to make it more or less like everything else allegedly like it? No, I have not. My story is its own snowflake. Why look for a crowd to stand in line with?

Have I written something true to the voice in my head, the one that is telling this story? I certainly hope so. I would not want to be lying about my character’s truth.

Will anyone else want to read it? We’ll find out.

Salmonberries begin to ripen, signaling the start of Jam-Making Season and the end of one writer’s concentration. (photo by the author)

I was extremely encouraged by the news from most of the readers (eighteen out of twenty-one) who shared an experience of starting the book and then feeling compelled to read it straight through to the end. That’s just what a writer wants to hear: “I couldn’t put your book down!”

Say that again, slowly, so I can enjoy the sound of the words!

The three dissenting opinions were all writers themselves, albeit of different genres and styles and, like writers do, gave me a sense of what might have been done, had they been the authors of this book. One suggested starting in the middle of the story and working back from there, which is a well-known writing-school technique. I sort of did do that, but in a different way than she prescribed.

Another dissenter just didn’t resonate with the voice, the style, or perhaps even the subject matter. That happens sometimes. I have all sorts of books I just couldn’t get into. I have never read Moby Dick or Mill on the Floss, for instance. Also, I ducked out at the end of Mona Simpson’s Anywhere But Here because I just lost the feeling for the final beat of the book. And as for David Foster Wallace––you can keep him! Not my cup of tea!

A third reader wanted more—more about everyone and everything. The book as written is a long novella or a short novel at around 50,000 words. Could it be a bigger? Yes, it could. Is bigger necessarily better? Not always.

I respect the critiques of all three, but know that I have to attend my own inner ear and sense of rhythm for the length and breadth of this work. The story has a simple arc—longing, love, smashed hearts, and making art. How many words are enough to tell it? I’ll find out when I am finally, really done.

Harvey the Half-Coyote, proto-dog for his fictional self (photo courtesy of the author)

As I sort through this 29^th rewrite, however, I am considering certain remarks that some readers have made in common, such as including “more about the dog.” Yes, spoiler alert, there is a dog in this book. And he is no ordinary dog—this is a half-coyote, who, it is true, is very under-written. The dog upon which this dog is based undoubtedly would have enjoyed more time to lift his leg on the page and sniff around the underside of the story. But since three people said the same thing, I have to pay attention, by virtue of the Rule of Threes most often found in fairy tales. When the same observation crops up three times, it could be a vital clue and I may have to rewrite large sections of the book to accommodate this insight—or I may just have to write another book and call it, “More About the Dog? Here!”

But I am not there yet. I am still maundering through past participles and perhaps one too many semi-colons. It is slow going but once done with this literary equivalent of sanding the edges, I plan to go through it one more time, just to see what kind of book I ended up writing.

When that’s done, I can reward myself by doing anything from Column A or Column B—I can get on the roof or I can clean the closets, whichever is my pleasure at the moment. And then I can get onto the next part of this long and infinitely detailed process––which is the scary part!

What’s that you ask? Oh, the small matter of moving the manuscript from my desktop to somewhere out there, to the world at large, by some means as yet to be determined, to readers I have never met, who might read it and like it or might not, or else just wish for more about the dog here!

***

I am really hoping to be done with Draft 29 in time to take a day’s break and go to the Whidbey Island Garden Tour. Tickets are on sale now for the June 28th event. Go to http://wigt.org/ for more information. As for this weekend, I’ll be deserting book and chores to catch “Good People,” the play in its final weekend at OutCast Productions’ Black Box Theatre, located on the Whidbey Island Fairgrounds. Visit http://www.outcastproductions.net/ for ticket links.

Either way is a great way to spend time avoiding those vexing storage units once again!

Judith Walcutt is an award-winning writer living on Whidbey Island. Her new novel, “The Painter’s Girl,” is nearly ready for a trip to the Big City. She is a grateful alum of Hedgebrook.

CLICK HERE to read more entertaining and informative WLM stories and blogs.

WLM stories and blogs are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Linking is permitted. To request permission to use or reprint content from this site, email info@whidbeylifemagazine.org.

May 23, 2014
Sue the Screenwriter | From Script to Screen: The journey of ‘Our Father’

BY SUZANNE KELMAN
Whidbey Life Magazine Contributor
May 16, 2014

As a storyteller, I have the privilege of telling stories, and as a filmmaker, I have the pleasure of telling stories in lots of unique and interesting ways. Over the last couple of months I have had the opportunity to create a story from a different perspective; instead of as a writer or director, I joined Linda Palmer’s team—Runaway Productions—as one of her Associate Producers and I really enjoyed the experience.

Always fascinated by a story’s journey from script to screen, I caught up with Palmer to talk about the project.

“Our Father” starring Michael Gross, is Linda’s production company’s eighth film and is one close to her heart—one she felt compelled to tell. Based on an experience with her own family, it is a poignant story of how, through a fleeting moment of clarity, dementia opened a portal to her father’s past and a love he was denied—a glimpse that provided understanding and began to heal her family.

Four of the cast members, left to right: Michael Worth, Michael Gross, Eileen Grubba and David Topp (Photo by Malik Sooch)

The journey through pre-production was an interesting one, Palmer admitted. In the beginning, she found it challenging to get talent attached because it was a “short” and most agents don’t want actors to do shorts. But spurred on by the encouraging response from a script reading and from those around her, she continued to send it out to agents and entered it into competitions, where it did very well.

Eventually her persistence paid off; the script was seen by Michael Gross, who is known for his role in “Family Ties” and “Tremors,” and who wanted be involved. Having had a family member who had suffered with Alzheimer’s disease for many years, he was very understanding and sensitive to the subject matter. So much so, in fact, that he told Palmer, the writer on the project, that he didn’t want to change her script at all. He prepared for the role by spending time with dementia caregivers and sufferers so he could really understand the disease.

Other gifted actors also became attached to the project after Michael Gross signed on, including Eileen Grubba, “Sons of Anarchy; Michael Worth, “God’s Ear;” Ally Iseman, “Criminal Minds;” Julia Silverman, “Grey’s Anatomy;” Isaiah Lucas, “Waiting in the Wing;” Patrick Censoplano, “Fame;” Aaron Stall, “The Ruffian” and David Topp, who just won “Best Performance in a Short” at the 35^th Young Artists Award ceremony.

Michael Worth and Michael Gross in a scene from the film “Our Father” (Photo by Malik Sooch)

Admitting she is a very collaborative filmmaker, she also surrounded herself with a remarkable team of creative individuals and a group of associate directors, introduced to her by Hal Croasman of Screenwriting U, which is how I connected with her.

Palmer worked with Hal on a previous movie when one of her soundtrack songs was an Oscar contender, and he suggested she approach the Screenwriting U Alum to champion her cause. We came together—most of us from all over the country—to support her vision. It was a fascinating experience for me and I enjoyed every aspect of it, from reading the script to seeing the storyboards and the footage of the final auditions. Palmer did a great job keeping all her producers connected on the project and through our own Facebook group.

“Having everyone share this story and be a part of its process is what is going to make this a successful movie,” Palmer said.

Now that the movie has wrapped, she has moved onto post-production and preparations for the film festival circuit at festivals such as Sundance, where I think it will do very well.

Adding one last story to the film’s journey, Palmer talked about a moment during the audition process when she was preparing the two young actors to play their scene. I said to them, “it is this moment, it is this moment in this man’s life—and because he can’t have this person, he is denied this person, it is going to make him the way he is. So everything the two of you bring to these characters comes from this one moment, the entire story is because of this moment.”

This is one of the many reasons I personally love to write—the treasure of being able to delve into and explore the core of human experience that is shaped by an invisible chain of such moments.

Thank you, Linda, for a great experience and for your passion to tell a story. You are a true inspiration.

(Photo at top: Four cast members: (l to r) Michael Worth, Michael Gross, Eileen Grubba and David Topp Photo by Malik Sooch)

Suzanne Kelman is an awarding-winning screenwriter of a screenplay that has recently been optioned.

CLICK HERE to read more entertaining and informative WLM stories and blogs.

WLM stories and blogs are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Linking is permitted. To request permission to use or reprint content from this site, email info@whidbeylifemagazine.org.

May 16, 2014
The Storied Stylist | Unearthing those hidden gems in your own backyard

BY JULIE CUNHA
May 9, 2014

Several years ago, a friend (also a design enthusiast) told me about a store that sold gently-used furniture and building materials for the home—at next to nothing prices! I had stopped listening to her talking about “all these incredible deals” because I was wondering: how on earth had I missed a store like this?

Here is the best part: it was in my own backyard. NOT, literally but—if it’s anywhere on the island—it might as well be.

“What are we waiting for,” I said to her.“Let’s go NOW and check out this new place in Freeland, called Habitat for Humanity!”

In case you happen to be like me and you let this wonderful store slip under your radar, and if you don’t have a clue what this organization is all about, please allow me to give you a VERY brief explanation: It’s a non-profit that provides affordable housing for people regardless of their race or religion by selling household furnishings and building materials to the public from their restore outlets.

Okay, that explanation may be a little clunky, but I wholeheartedly encourage you to read a bit more about this wonderful organization by visiting their website.

My friend was in the process of building her own home and she wanted to cut down on her expenses by furnishing her home with items purchased at Habitat. And I became her sidekick for the next several months.

We went to the Freeland location on a regular basis and then, on the weekends, we went to other stores such as Oak Harbor, Mount Vernon, Port Townsend and Seattle. Needless to say, we were able to find some amazing things. It wasn’t unusual for me to end up on the floor of her car, sandwiched between a chair and a light fixture. On one occasion we had managed to stuff her car to the limit and I was beginning to get a little concerned about our safety. Sure enough, our last stop resulted in a major find that we simply could not pass up! Originally a light fixture resembling a mini version of the space needle, it was now going to live the second half of its life transformed into a fountain for her back yard.

We wrestled this bulky thing into the front seat of her mid-sized car. The only possible way it would fit was for me ultimately to ride shotgun, lying down with this monstrosity between my legs. Oh, did I forget to mention? We found this industrial looking sculpture in Mount Vernon and I had to assume this position all the way to LANGLEY.

Most people would find this kind of behavior dangerous and ridiculous. What can I say? Collecting artifacts from the underbelly of the American sophisticate is not for the faint of heart.

Here is a small glimpse of those items we discovered on our adventures. Please note: all of them (with the exception of the hairpin legs on the coffee table) are from Habitat for Humanity stores.

Some of our findings need a lot of work but if you happen to have a few skills, then the results can be truly breathtaking!

The mid-century chair covered in black vinyl had a super high gloss finish that virtually destroyed the true beauty of the wood (maple), so I wet-sanded tirelessly, for a couple of weeks, and this is the result!

I found a bunch of doors that screamed “we want to be something else for a change!” So, I converted one into a coffee table. The hairpin legs came from another table that was rescued from the garbage. Also, all of these items pictured were purchased for $35 or less.

I hope I’ve inspired you enough to take a look inside these fabulous stores and—who knows? You might get lucky and find some hidden gems in your own backyard!

To get more information about Habitat stores, or to find locations near you, click here.

Julie Cunha Interiors specializes in expertly edited restyled vintage and modern interiors. Lucky to be living and working on Whidbey Island, she is currently working on a memoir.

CLICK HERE to read more entertaining and informative WLM stories and blogs.

WLM stories and blogs are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Linking is permitted. To request permission to use or reprint content from this site, email info@whidbeylifemagazine.org.

May 8, 2014
Play That Song Again | Sky songs, dream songs and the great unknown

BY ERIK CHRISTENSEN
May 2, 2014

One of my songwriting heroes, Jason Isbell, said something recently that really struck me. I scribbled it on the inside cover of my notebook: “Inspiration likes to find you busy.” The gist was that you should work on your craft, not just wait around for inspiration to strike.

I’m a big fan of songwriter interviews, liner notes, and “Behind the Music” documentaries. I’d like to think my favorite songwriters slaved over their lyrics, worked and polished the verses and choruses until they were as tight and cohesive as a Shakespearean sonnet. Hard work, Thomas Edison’s “inspiration/perspiration” dictum, nose to the grindstone, yes?

But…I’ve also heard about songs that come quickly, “out of nowhere,” and suddenly there is a song on the page that wasn’t there before. The poet Garcia Lorca called it “duende,” the creative spirit that resides in all of us. He referred to a “mysterious power that all may feel and no philosophy can explain.”

Songwriters? It’s time for a top five list of the out-of-the-blue variety.

“Inspiration comes suddenly, quick scribbles in the middle of the night…” (and a quick photo of Erik’s scribbles, by Erik)

Number one: Townes Van Zandt, the bard of Texas country music, said that sometimes songs would just fly in an open window. “Sky songs,” he called them, and for someone who spoke about the craft in almost every interview, he would always acknowledge the mystery, the unknown presence that seemed to fill him up at times. Townes was famous for working and reworking his songs until every syllable was right, but I remember an interview in which Susanna Clark said that Townes called her up in the early morning—many times—to play her a song over the phone that had just come to him.

Number two: Bob Dylan, “License to Kill.” Back in the days when I would take home a new vinyl record, sit down on the floor and play it loud through headphones, no lyric went without scrutiny. I remember being blown away by this couplet from the song on the “Infidels” album:

“Oh, man is inventing his doom
His first step was touching the moon…”

Wow, I thought. What an interesting statement about hubris and technology, maybe meaning that we’ve overstepped our bounds and pushed technology too far. A few years later, a Rolling Stone journalist asked him about those specific lines in the context of technology and responsibility and I almost dropped the magazine when Bob said “no, not really,” the idea just came to him quickly and he thought it sounded cool.

Damn.

Number Three: “Yesterday,” the most-covered song, recorded by hundreds of artists, came to Paul McCartney in a dream. He woke up one morning with the melody, and—as the story goes—played and sang it for family and friends, sure that it was somebody else’s song he was just mimicking. The original lyrics, meant to just be nonsense syllables while he worked out the final copy, were a bit simple: “Scrambled eggs/baby I just love your legs.”

Which brings up an important point: while the origin of the song was a gift, showing up unannounced, Sir Paul spent a few weeks singing “Scrambled eggs” over and over again, and refined it into a song loved by millions.

One must meet the muse halfway. No one can pinpoint where this stuff comes from, but craft and hard work are still part of the equation. As Mr. Isbell stated at the beginning, inspiration likes to find you busy.

Number four: And speaking of dream sequences, journey back now to Clearwater, Florida in 1965. One night after a Rolling Stones gig, Keith Richards woke up with a horn line buzzing in his head. He sang it into a cheap cassette recorder at his bedside, and said a musical phrase that seemed to match the feel of the riff: “I can’t get no satisfaction.” He woke up the next morning, hit the rewind button, and said the tape contained the exact “Satisfaction” riff we’ve all heard, followed by 40 minutes of him snoring as he fell asleep and left the cassette running. Three months later: a number one single, and maybe the Stones’ most famous song.

Number five: While I would never assume to be in their company, all of the above have influenced me to keep my notebook at my bedside. With everyone from Federico Garcia Lorca to “Keef” from the Stones as my guide, I know what to do.

I have woken up to scribble down a dream, or a line, or a scene that has popped into my head. I have written down songs almost verbatim, like dictation. I have also worked on song ideas endlessly, playing the same chord sequence around the house for months, driving everyone crazy.

Last month, I woke up, knowing I had blinked awake in the middle of the night and had scribbled something down. I seemed to remember it was kind of a funky, braggadocio line, some character flaunting his high-class, refined taste. My notebook said:

2:12 AM

…sometimes I like to paw at the comfort
of a custom mattress

I always fall out of favor
With a southern actress…

What the heck? I have no idea where this came from. There are also a few lines trying out a “boom box/way she walks” line. Crazy. I’m definitely no smooth operator, bragging about my lifestyle. I’m not confident enough to espouse my exploits to anyone, or even talk about myself that way.

What I AM, though, is smart enough to know this could be an interesting character study, and I’m stubborn enough to mess with it and figure it out. I also know that with a snarky guitar line and maybe some Little Feat or Booker T and the MGs background music, it could be a really cool song.

It’s a “sky song.” And I happened to have the window open. Stay tuned.

Erik Christensen teaches at Oak Harbor High School, writes songs and poetry, and waits patiently for the Seattle Mariners to develop their young pitchers.

Erik Christensen Band will play at Mo’s Pub in Langley from 7 to 9 p.m. on May 7 and at Blooms Winery in Bayview from 3 to 5 p.m. on June 15.

CLICK HERE to read more entertaining and informative WLM stories and blogs.

WLM stories and blogs are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Linking is permitted. To request permission to use or reprint content from this site, email info@whidbeylifemagazine.org.

May 2, 2014
Sirithiri | Thank Blog it’s Friday: In Print!

BY SIRI BARDARSON
April 23,2014

Whidbey Life Magazine is delivering its first print edition this week!

In tandem with its highly successful online magazine billed as “Your #1 Resource for Arts and Culture,” WLM founders Sue Taves and Jan Shannon have made the move to provide a 40-page, high-gloss magazine that captures the flavor of creative life on Whidbey, plus a roster of seasonal arts events. WLM is celebrating the release of the 2014 Spring/Summer edition at a release party this Friday night at Freeland Hall in Freeland. Be there or be square!

Do I love things in print? Let me count the ways. The paper, the pictures, the tangibility, the font variety, the keepsake, the reference, the shared experience—those are just the graphic and physical qualities. Then there is content! Anyone who has been following WLM online knows that the content has been a wild and wonderful bunch of prose, pitches, pictures and visual poetry delivered weekly by a fraction of the amazingly talented creatives here on Whidbey Island.

Isn’t that what WLM is all about? Come one, come all to this lush island to experience a creative destination, and let the print version of Whidbey Life Magazine be your perfect guide.

Let’s talk magazines and guides! I just gave 15 years of Gourmet magazines to a local thrift store. That gesture of “letting go” was tougher than my son’s first day of kindergarten. I can see the beautiful covers in my mind’s eye, the colored eggs in the clear glass basket of the March 1995 issue. Well, what can I say, these magazines meant a lot to me and they filled up three shelves in my pantry.

How about those beautiful paintings of food items on the back of Cook’s magazine? I saved those for years to wallpaper the summer cabin that has yet to enter my life.

Then there’s the Helix magazine my twin and I bought off the streets of San Francisco in 1968. Two sixteen year olds from Renton, Washington—about to have their minds blown by cartoons of the Kama Sutra and advertisements for music at the Filmore. Our mother was not amused.

And not just news, events and information but my favorite writers! At the back of House Beautiful, Phyllis Theroux would write her 600-word essay about some aspect of home that was really a philosophical treatise on place and beauty and human longing. And there was the photo journalism of Life—so political, so American, so comforting in its red, white and blue way. New Yorker cartoons cut out and stuck on the refrigerator. The gorgeous typeset movie schedule from our local Clyde movie theater, (I collected those for years). And all the advice that didn’t help me with any of my relationships from the Ladies Home Journal’s columns, “Can This Marriage Be Saved?” And Twiggy in Vogue, and Seventeen, the fashion diva of thin, freckles and eyeliner.

And guides? I have the exhibit guides from every art exhibit I have ever gone to. In the text is the tiny detail, the extra explanation, perhaps a chronology and a diagram stating “YOU ARE HERE.” So wasn’t it a wonderful idea to consolidate the huge number of noteworthy art events, galleries, working studios and work to define this special place, Whidbey Island?

And when I am done with my magazines? Ah, a magazine’s second life: cut up, collaged, ripped pages for wrapping paper, the beautiful pictures on the refrigerator or bathroom wall, the fire starter on Labor Day weekend for roasting marshmallows at your Fort Ebey campsite, a memento of an inspired visit, a lovers’ picnic or the beginning of a long love affair with this unique place that holds so much creative juice.

This print magazine idea is a little retro in its feel—but a magazine by and for artists and all those who appreciate and support art—I know a print magazine aimed at this niche demographic will succeed and I dig the heck out of the substance, form and function.

And if someone spills coffee on the console between the passenger seats, they can rip off a back page and wipe up the mess; they can tear off half a page to create a space for the ketchup for their fish and chips. Or they might clutch it to their heart as they doze on the ferry ride back to town and dream about Whidbey Island and its creative possibilities. When they get home, they’ll stow it in the storage spot behind the passenger seat for next time.

Try doing that with a bookmarked page in your virtual world. Cheers to Whidbey Life Magazine—“Your #1 Resource for Arts and Culture!”

For more information on the launch party, go to https://www.whidbeylifemagazine.org/wlm-print-magazine-announces-launch-party/.

Siri Bardarson is a musician devoted to creative projects that synthesize her classical and popular music background via her cello. She is ecstatically happy!

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April 23, 2014
Perspective, Pigments, and Pandas | Getting Real

ANNE BELOV
April 18, 2014

Sometimes, I just need to get real.

I don’t mean as in get a better grip on reality, although sometimes that can be a good thing. I mean that even with all the gazillions of images of paintings that are available on the internet, I love to get out and see actual paintings. And by paintings I mean paintings that were done by masters of their craft more than 56 minutes ago.

Last fall, Mr. Badger and I did just that. We read about an exhibition of John Singer Sargent’s watercolors that was being shown at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Mass. We said, “Let’s go…and while we’re in the neighborhood, why don’t we go to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. While we’re at it?”

The exhibition of Sargent’s watercolors was made up of two separate collections, one owned by the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the second group owned by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Together, there were more than 100 watercolors. The MFA also has an extensive collection of Sargent’s oil paintings, including the transcendent Daughters of Edward Darley Boit.

Painting by John Singer Sargent; MFA Boston (photo by Anne Belov)

The six-foot tall blue and white Chinese porcelain vases (a matching pair, no less) that are depicted in the painting sit flanking the painting. It’s the first thing you see when you walk into that gallery. Many painters carp and complain about painting “white stuff,” whether it’s fabric or flowers. No one ever did it better than Sargent. Except maybe for Whistler.

Nah, I think Sargent was better at it.

One of the other treats in store for us in Boston was the murals that Sargent (him again???) painted in the third-floor entry hall in the Boston Public Library. (Have I mentioned how much I like Sargent? Or Boston?) It took some time to figure out where they were, and despite the fact the lighting hadn’t been changed since Sargent completed the murals, it was a veritable visual feast.

Going to 19 museums in 19 days (and mind you, some of those 19 days were travel days, which means more than once we went to more than one museum in a day) is not for the faint of heart. The Metropolitan Museum of Art on New York City’s upper east side has killed less obsessive people, I’m sure. But, hey! They had a bunch of Sargents’ so I was a happy, if footsore, camper.

I’ll have to save the rest of my creative revelations for some other posts. But let me leave you with this thought: life is fleeting and if you have a passion for something, don’t let too much time go by before going and experiencing that object of your enthusiasm in real life. I recently have had a reminder of just how fleeting life is.

Portrait of Madame “P” by Anne Belov

Go get real, with the real thing. Oh, pardon me, I have an appointment with some pandas.

Anne Belov paints, writes, makes prints, and is the founder of The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire. You can find her paintings at the Rob Schouten Gallery, her cartoons on The Panda Chronicles, and her new book coming out soon.

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WLM stories and blogs are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Linking is permitted. To request permission to use or reprint content from this site, email info@whidbeylifemagazine.org.

April 17, 2014
The Chief Milkmaid | Spring on the Farm

BY VICKY BROWN
Whidbey Life Magazine Contributor
April 11, 2014

It’s spring!! Yee-haw!!

Days are getting longer. The weather is cooperating, even giving us flirtatious peeks of summertime.

The world is green. We are surrounded by the bright green of the Big Leaf Maple blossoms, the deep green of the nettle leaves and the green swords of the daffodil leaves framing their bright blooms.

Honestly, I’m so exhausted I barely notice.

Little Brown Farm’s Big Leaf Maple (photo by Vicky Brown)

Today was another 19-hour day on the farm. Considering most people work closer to eight hours a day on their jobs, it sounds like a long day. It is. Many people don’t believe we actually work those long days on farms. We do.

Georgie Smith of Willowood Farm (photo courtesy of Vicky Brown)

Every day isn’t that long, but it’s spring. For farms that depend on livestock, spring means new life. In our case 24 new lives so far. For produce farms, they have starts and plantings and rows to hoe. For farmers, spring is the season of exhaustion.

Fortunately, it is often motivated by a passion so deep in the soul the farmer could only be taken from the land by force. These extreme hours, this torturous sleep deprivation, this backbreaking work is what feeds us. For the farmers, it feeds our soul and our stomachs. We hope it feeds you too.

In spring a farmer is tending seedlings under perfect heat and light, nursing newborn calves or goats until they can figure out this cold new world on their wobbly legs and watching chicks replace their fuzzy down with awkward feathers—sometimes all in one morning.

Farmers work this hard simply because we must. We hope you will help us continue this wholesome pursuit of satisfaction by rewarding our labors with your appreciation. Since most farmers I know are too tired to tell you, let me give you a few hints of what you can do to help the farmers in your community right now.

Christine Maifeld bottle-feeds one of the new baby goats at the LBF (photo by Vicky Brown)

1) Buy your local farmers’ goods directly from the farm (farm stands, farmers markets, CSAs). We know you’re ready for spring greens. We know you’re ready for tomatoes too, but it’s NOT tomato season. Buy what we have now. Keep us growing, producing and working so we can continue to get you the freshest, seasonal best throughout the seasons.

2) Support them through resellers when you can’t get there directly. This remarkably supportive community offers several great specialty shops for buying local goods. Even the grocers are getting in on it. If you don’t see what you want or don’t see locally grown options, request them. These stores are here to serve you. If you ask for local leeks those grocers can get them, but they need to know you’re serious about it or they will just keep buying them the same old way they always have.

3) Dine at restaurants that support local producers. I know Dairy Queen has a drive-thru and they employee local residents. Go ahead; get your Blizzard there. How about when you go out to eat you consider a restaurant that employs locals and serves up local beef (like Neil’s Clover Patch), or features local produce every night (like Oystercatcher) or makes the best collard greens—using local greens—that you’ll find, even if you head to the deep south (like the BBQ Joint)? (I know I only listed three of the many wonderful eateries that use local products—this isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list. Ask your favorite place what local goods they use. Again, you, the consumer, have the power.)

4) Ask the farmer how you can help. Can you take their kids to the 4-H meeting? Can you drop off coffee or soup? Can you run to the post office for them? We all have a million things to do and we are supermen and superwomen—we will get them all done, probably without asking for help. However, it’s really nice to feel a little neighborly spoiling when we’re stretched so thin. I know how important this is because we’ve enjoyed many gifts from our friends—from coffee to carrot cake and every course in between. During the peak of kidding season we certainly would have gone without meals if not for the kindness and generosity of our friends and supporters.

Daffodil in bloom (photo by Vicky Brown)

5) Offer them a little forgiveness. We are tired. We’re probably hungry. We’re also probably more than a little stressed. There are a lot of expenses piling up and our income hasn’t started coming in for the season yet. We’re juggling a lot. We are just getting used to being always exhausted again. In August we will be in the zone. We will be accustomed to the demands we put on our bodies. Barring any crisis, we will be feeling the financial relief of regular markets and wholesale purchases. We will be recharged by watching our neighbors delight in the fruits of our labor. For now, we might be a little prickly, so cut us some slack.

Soon, I will be back to our rhythm at the Little Brown Farm. Once Winsome has her babies and the last little goats are safe with hooves on the ground, I can relax. After that I promise you some delightful recipes featuring the fresh abundance of spring.

For now, I’ll dream of the fresh pizza I will be making when Tree-Top Baking brings their pizza dough to market and I pull my sauce from the freezer and smother it all with cheese from my winter research projects. And I’ll get back to making more of that delicious Ugly Butter for you all for that first Bayview Farmers Market. It will be here before we know it! (Coupeville Farmers Market is already open!)

Vicky Brown, Chief Milkmaid at the Little Brown Farm, puts her passions on the page writing about food, agriculture and the tender web of community.

To hear a podcast of the KWPA/Whidbey Air interview with Vicky Brown and Georgie Smith on KWPA follow this link: Farmer Gals Chat with Vicky Brown and Georgie Lea Smith

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WLM stories and blogs are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Linking is permitted. To request permission to use or reprint content from this site, email info@whidbeylifemagazine.org.

April 11, 2014
From Stage to Page | Audition Season
BY ERIC MULHOLLAND
April 4, 2014

Spring is the season for auditions…lots and lots of auditions. It feels like every theatre in the greater Seattle area is holding their general auditions this time of year and I should know—I’ve been to most of them. I don’t think most non-actors really understand what it’s like to “make the rounds.” So, in an attempt to bring people in for an up-close look, I thought I might share a little of what it’s like.

First, an actor spends months in an acting studio, honing his/her craft. We pay a lot of money to develop monologues and scenes with our acting coach, to have him pick apart our work so that we can build a stronger, more believable performance. This is the part that’s most difficult. You spend all week preparing your speech at home only to bring it to class and have it ripped apart. And no matter how much you try to understand that it’s not “personal,” it still feels personal. I think its because we, as actors, put so much of ourselves into our work. It’s hard to remain objective when taking in tough feedback.

After you feel like you’ve got a little footing with your audition pieces (usually two contrasting monologues or a monologue and a song), you bravely start putting yourself out there. There are a couple of places to find out where the jobs are, so, like anyone else looking for work, you start submitting for them. If you are lucky, you get asked to come in by a casting director to read for a part in an upcoming play, movie or commercial. I find this part the most fun! I love meeting production teams and hearing about their projects; I love the chance to perform for them and show my hard work. Even if I don’t get the job, I still love meeting new people.

This wasn’t always the case. In my early years as an actor, I spent so much time agonizing over an audition. Sometimes I would get so nervous I wouldn’t be able to sleep the night before. And forget about eating! I was so hopelessly nervous that I would get a knot in my tummy and have absolutely no appetite. I’d show up, sweaty palms, nervously pacing before being called. Then I’d go up in front of the directors and proceed to do everything 10 times louder and faster! It was not fun.

But that was then. Coming back to a full-time acting career a little older and perhaps a touch wiser is a good thing. I was on a long break from acting as a career and I forgot how much work goes into getting the work. And once you get work, its even MORE work to create the part. But that’s why we do it! For the chance to create a compelling character in a well-crafted play that has the potential to touch people’s lives in a meaningful way.

An actor doesn’t get every job he/she goes out for. In fact, we experience more rejection than work won. But I don’t really mind. Every time I am asked to audition, I get a chance to do what I love doing most—ACT! I love diving deeply into a play and sharing the humanity I discover in each character that I have the privilege to create.

In the past three months, I have auditioned for Intiman theatre, a music video, an industrial film for Microsoft, Village theatre, Theatre Puget Sound’s annual audition with over 50 production companies, a play with the newly-formed “Theatre 22,” three voice-over jobs and a talent agency.

And I have many others lined up before audition season is over. And I am proud to report that I got cast in the music video, the Microsoft film, “The Lisbon Traviata” with Theatre 22 and I even got an agent for film, TV and commercial work. Not bad! I guess all those intense hours in the acting studio are paying off. Oh, I almost forgot! Want to join the fun? Here are some local opportunities to audition. Local audition announcements
- Outcast Productions is looking for actors for their current season! Visit the website for more information: http://www.outcastproductions.net
- Island Shakespeare Festival’s Classic Conservatory for Young Adults is open for audition. This year’s production is “The Importance of Being Earnest.” For more information, visit: http://www.islandshakespearefest.org/Training/Training.html
Here are some productions coming soon to a theatre near you:
“The Snow Queen,” conceived and choreographed by Asharaine Machala—Whidbey Island Dance Theatre at WICA, April 4-13   http://www.wicaonline.org
“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” by Edward Albee—Seattle Repertory Theatre, April 18-May 18   www.seattlerep.org
“Good People” by David Lindsay Abaire—Outcast Productions on Whidbey Island, May 9-May 24   http://www.outcastproductions.net

Eric Mulholland is an actor, teacher and writer living on Whidbey Island. He can be seen in upcoming productions of “The Lisbon Traviata” at Richard Hugo House in Seattle and in “The Taming of the Shrew” and “Richard III” at Island Shakespeare Festival.

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April 4, 2014
Creativity Café | Kayaking the Kickstarter

BY DEB LUND
Whidbey Life Magazine contributor
March 28, 2014

Sometimes we need shaking up. You can’t do the same thing over and over and keep it creative.

I remember when I first dabbled in white-water kayaking. I’d play in the eddies where it was safe. As I got braver, I’d inch out a little farther each time, until I got to the point where I would intentionally go under to practice my roll.

Dabbling is okay, but eventually you have to jump into the flow. To feel the exhilaration of something seemingly more powerful than you. Something that takes over—makes you aware, present, alert. To find that place where you can tilt the nose of your kayak into a hole—the swirling water that holds you at its edge as you balance there. The energy working you. The churning waters. The creative space.

“Face the Fear” Illustration courtesy of Deb Lund

We need shaking-up moments, and we’ll get them whether we want them or not. What if we planned them ourselves instead of being resigned to take what comes our way?

For years I’ve taught workshops and presented at conferences, libraries, and schools with a single homemade deck of cards created to help writers find unique ways to add tension to their stories. Soon they’ll be available to anyone. I call the set of cards and guidebook “Fiction Magic: Card Tricks & Tips for Writers.”

“Fiction Magic: Card Tricks & Tips for Writers” Illustration courtesy of Deb Lund

New ways. New directions. Twists and turns or entirely new streams to conquer.

Here’s the idea behind the cards: The “tricks” help increase the tension in stories as the “tips” help reduce the tension in the writer’s writing life. It’s a combination of my writing teaching and my creativity coaching. But honestly, most of my clients think they need help with their craft when their greatest need is to understand how creativity works.

That was true for me, too, and I’m guessing it’s probably the case for most of us.

The most creative work we do comes from our core. From balancing at the edge of the whirlpool. From the place where order emerges from the chaos.

“Magical” Illustration courtesy of Deb Lund

The cards in the Fiction Magic deck have prompts that get people thinking beyond their usual choices. I’ve seen manuscripts almost instantly come alive when writers pull out these cards and apply the prompts. But there’s nothing magical about the prompts. It’s what they trigger in the person reading them. It helps them add tension. Pushes them and their characters into the stream.

We have to shake up and wake up to create. I’m not just talking about writers here. I know you other artists can easily translate what I’m saying to your art—all art is translation, and we create from the same waters.

Too many writers and artists give up, think they can’t do it, need a nudge or someone to toss them a lifesaver. I’m humbled, watch in awe as people support my Kickstarter project, as they grab my kayak and help me right it. And then I start noticing how this practice of trying something new is opening me to other options, strengthening commitments to my goals, helping me raise my voice over the turbulence to yell, “I can do this!”

This whole Kickstarter thing makes me anxious. But I know and keep having it confirmed that anxiety is part of the creative process. It clears us for new understandings.

“Risk It All” Illustration courtesy of Deb Lund

New ways. New directions. New plans. Here’s what I’ve noticed my recent anxieties have done for me…

I’m clearing my plate for more creativity coaching because it feeds me in ways nothing else can. I’m reaching out to people who have information and skills I don’t have in order to add to my middle-grade historical fantasy novel. I’m coaching and consulting more, and critiquing more manuscripts for clients. And I’m beginning the adult novel I’ve played with in my head for longer than I want to admit. I’m taking an intensive writing workshop to support myself on this quest. It’s spring and the water can’t be stopped. It’s calling.

Take a risk. There’s always a ‘V’ in the water that shows you the best path. That’s all you get. You can’t know the rest. Just follow that ‘V’ where it leads. It’s the vein you need to open, the vision that becomes clear, the veil that’s lifted if you just go where you need to go.

It’s not as scary as you might think.

When you slip your kayak into the stream, the water carries you. You believe you’ll be pulled under, and you might be, but the rocks are cushioned with flowing water, so when you slip under, you just reset your paddle and pull yourself up. My rule was always to try three times before I crawled out of my kayak. But I always climbed back in.

If you can ride the energy of that water, you’ve got it made. New ways. New directions. New determination.

What needs shaking up in your world? What’s already shaking you up that you can harness? What new ways or directions are calling you? Find that still place in the midst of chaos. Then grab your kayak. I’ll meet you down by the stream.

These days, Deb Lund dabbles in the arts more than in whitewater. She’s an author, teacher and creativity coach. Learn more about her at www.deblund.com and check out her Kickstarter project before it’s too late.

Link to Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/479312687/fiction-magic-card-tricks-and-tips-for-writers

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WLM stories and blogs are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Linking is permitted. To request permission to use or reprint content from this site, email info@whidbeylifemagazine.org.

March 28, 2014