Visit to Boston, Day 1

Last Friday, Jim and I flew to Boston to visit with Anna and her fiance, Matt. They arranged for us to stay at the Colonnade Hotel on Huntington Avenue that's very near Anna's office. Our room was gorgeous with a spectacular view. We had a lovely lunch at the hotel's restaurant, Brasserie Jo.

After lunch, we walked down to see where Anna works.

Friday night, we saw the Huntington Theatre Company's excellent production of Two Men of Florence by Richard Goodwin.



At intermission, Anna introduced us to the playwright and his equally famous wife, Doris Kearns Goodwin. Jim was very excited because he is a huge fan of Doris, an authority on the presidency. Doris' most recent book, Team of Rivals, a book about Lincoln's cabinet, is being made into a film by Steven Spielberg and our friend, Tony Kushner, is writing the script. Richard's play was excellent and we particularly loved the performance of Jay O. Sanders, the actor who played Galileo.

More on Boston, day two tomorrow.

Tony Kushner visits Greensboro

My husband Jim, my son Dan, and I enjoyed a brief visit from our friend, Tony Kushner last week. Tony was here to speak to Jim's class at UNC-G and for a public event in the evening. Jim asked questions and Tony talked about a host of interesting things including President-elect Obama, gay rights, and being a writer. He said writing was not taking dictation from your head. He spoke about the importance of just getting your hand moving across the paper, getting something down that you could then begin to rework, edit, and revise. Not only is he an incredibly wise man, he is also one of the kindest it's ever been my joy to know.

I could really relate to his creative process. I've discovered that just getting myself moving on something in the studio is vital. Even if it's just mending or straightening things up, just being in a place with the raw materials gets things moving for me creatively. For pictures and another perspective, go to Dan's blog for more on Tony's visit.