Melinda Chan

One of my challenges is setting aside time to draw/doodle.

To help make it easier, I'm trying the app route. I've had a stylus for a while, but it's been gathering dust in my pen holder lately. Since I'm trying to stay more active creatively and eliminate excuses for not doing anything, I'm going to give drawing on an app another try.

I figure that since I have my ipad with me most of the time and a stylus is easy to bring along, I can do more sketching during down times instead of mindlessly absorbing social media junk.

There are lots of apps to choose from depending on what you want to get out of the program. I ended up selecting a free app that had a simple user interface because my goal is to simply sketch and doodle more often. I'm not striving to produce anything that looks close to being polished.

We'll see how this goes. At the very minimum, it'll make it easier to post images of my drawings online.

What's next on my creative agenda?

I'm planning to try creating some figures using polymer clay. The last time I worked with this type of clay was probably in middle school.

This type of clay needs to be baked in the over in order to set. I still remember the distinct stink from baking my little figurines in the oven. Hopefully this brand will be easier to work with and won't give off as much of a smell.

I'm not sure what I want to sculpt at this point, but I hope by looking through some books and searching online, I'll get some ideas.

Instead of purchasing colored clay, I just got it in white. I can always paint it afterwards. Buying art supplies can get expensive and I didn't want to make that investment as I'm just starting out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We don't cook much, but for Thanksgiving this year, we tried to pull together a meal. Overall, it was a success. Nothing was burned and everything was edible.

On the menu:

1. Turkey and gravy
2. Creamed spinach
3. Mashed potatoes
4. Corn casserole
5. Roasted brussel sprouts
6. Roasted sweet potatoes
7. Soup
8. Pumpkin pie

I enjoy Thanksgiving because it's something everyone can celebrate. There's no fear of offending someone if I wish them a Happy Thanksgiving.

Being grateful is important. Though I have a tendency to complain a lot, I don't take things for granted. I'm grateful for having a job, my home and family, my health, friends, food on the table, living in America, being able to travel, technology, food, coffee, music, art, books, flannel sheets, health insurance, clean air, casual attire at work, warm cozy blankets.

And thank YOU for visiting and reading my blog!

I don't know how how cook, but I can make a Chex Party Mix.

Notes for next time:

*Bake for only 1 hour
*Add more flavor
*Add the Honey Nut Cheerios later

I finished two classes this fall. One was a four week Singing for Actors class and the other was an eight week Stand Up Comedy class. Below are some random thoughts/observations.

I didn't feel four weeks was sufficient for the Singing class. We lost the first week because the instructor forgot to tell us to look for sheet music.

I wasn't really connecting to the song I selected, which was My Funny Valentine, but I didn't have time to look for and memorize a new song.

It was great having a accompanist there to provide support for your singing.

In the last class, the instructor asked everyone to not look at me while I was singing and she gave me permission to move whatever way I wanted. That made all the difference in the world. I still had problems with the high notes, but being able to move allowed me to let go and have fun. Before then, I was just standing there and the pressure of having everyone look at me when I was standing there like a bump on the log made me extra nervous. The key was really moving  around.

Overall, I think the value of the class was in hearing my own voice released for people to hear. 

Now for the Stand Up Comedy class. The photo above is of one of my jokes. I was actually planning to scrap that joke completely, but after speaking with some of my improv buddies who were also taking the stand up class, they convinced me that there might be more potential. I took their advice and to my surprise, the class seemed to really like it.

Stand up comedy class required a lot of work. It was not something you could do part way if you wanted to get something out of the class.

It required me to do a lot of revisions and rewrites. It was about telling a point of view in a very succinct logical manner. In many ways, it reminded me of work because I work on customer communications at work and that means I must be very clear and complete in what I write. Came in handy for this class.

Taking the class with former clowning and improv buddies was fun. It was like having a built in safety net in class.

The main feedback my instructor gave to me was that I understood the structure of the joke, but I need to incorporate more fun into my act-outs.

From the Stand up comedy class, I learned that I miss the days when I used to write more. It felt good to have four jokes written out by the end of the session.

So what's next?

Fortunately because Halloween and Thanksgiving share the fall theme, it's not too hard to transition from Halloween to Thanksgiving decor.