Snow...snow...snow

The weather wonks had promised snow all week, but despite their best prognostications, very few flakes fell from the sky. Wouldn't you know, all those snow clouds were apparently massing on the Utah-Colorado border, waiting to participate in a coordinated assault on this neck of the woods.

The snow started early yesterday morning, about the time I set off for work. Drew was staying home sick, and Shannon was going to look after him. I covered the two miles or so to the store without incident, but aware that if the snow continued, I'd be faced with the job of putting on chains in a snowy parking lot later in the day.

It was slow, even for a Saturday. The liveliest action concerned folks who were looking for tickets to something called the Improv-O-Rama, which was billed as an evening of stand-up comedy with audience participation The event was planned for last night, and since it had been snowing pretty steadily throughout the morning, I also started to get calls from people who were seeking information about any possible cancellation.

Talking about performances, there's a neat coffee-house/bookstore called "Wolf Tracks" in the shopping center where my store is located. I go there often for coffee or a chai (though the prices there do make me feel a little as if I'm back in a Big City). A couple of weeks ago, I noticed an announcement to the effect that an acting workshop was held at the shop every Tuesday. This past Tuesday, I decided to attend, to see what I could see.

My last "official" acting job was a bit role in my high school play, an unfortunate story called Dinny and the Three Witches. Unofficially, I've been involved in stagecraft as a close-up magician, a public speaker, and an interpreter.

As an aside, I suppose most folks would probably agree that magicians and public speakers must know a little about acting, but...interpreters? I think so, although I doubt many people who teach the craft of interpretation would agree with me. You see, just knowing two languages well is not a sufficient skill set for an interpreter, just as it is not a sufficient skill set for being a translator.

In the case of translation, it is well known that the typical bilingual person cannot translate adequately enough to do a professional job. In my opinion, the reason behind this is that most people - bilingual or monolingual - cannot write adequately enough to do a professional job. What is required for successful translation is not only an excellent knowledge of target and source languages, but also the ability to write for publication.

By analogy, an interpreter must not just have language skills, but must also be able to speak in front of strangers.

My, I have wandered off the subject, haven't I?

At any rate, the fellow who teaches the course is named Zach Nelson, and he's an experienced actor who lives now in Pagosa Springs, pursuing his own interests. There were maybe a dozen other people in attendance, all of them of college age, it seemed to me, and they were not just a random assemblage of people interested in acting, but members of the local acting company, the "Pagosa Players."

As Shakespeare's Hamlet appears to be on the group's plate for this year, most of the monologues came from that play. After each scene, the audience would comment - almost uniformly with some positive statement, which I liked - and then Zack would comment. In one case, he rose to privately give advice to the young people playing Hamlet and Ophelia in the "get thee to a nunnery" scene - just a few words - and then had the duo repeat the scene, with a noticeable improvement.

I have committed to giving a short presentation on mnemotechniques next week, and have taken it upon myself to learn a monologue. The one I've selected comes not from Hamlet, but from Shakespeare's Henry V, and is Harry's "we few, we happy few, we band of brothers" monologue. I am also trying to fathom the handouts that Zack distributed last week, but that's the subject of another post.

Sure enough, by closng time yesterday, the snow had fallen to the point where chains were needed. The jack, unfortunately, was at the house, where Drew had been using it to help repair Shannon's car. (Apart from the annoyance associated with his not having replaced the jack, I am enormously proud of Drew; he is attacking the kinds of problems that I never even considered tackling when I was his age.) Eventually, I did manage to get the chains on the tires, and my hands are still cold from that little escapade.

I woke up a couple of times during the night, and it was apparent (from the lights in the distance, or lack thereof) that the snow was intermittent, as it is now during "daylight." Ah, well...good thing it's Sunday.

I wonder if there's anything worth watching on TV today?

Cheers...