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7 -- Two's a Crowd
NOTE: This blog is a continuing dialog between the two faces of rilla. The identity crisis is explained (if such a thing is possible) in the first edition. Click here to read: 1 -- Introduction
rilla: …
Rilla: Hello?
rilla: …
Rilla: Hello, is anyone there?
rilla: …
Rilla: Hello..oh! hello…oh! Wake uh..up!
rilla: Go away.
Rilla: Huh?
rilla: GO AWAY!
Rilla: You… want me… to go away?
rilla: That’s what I said, isn’t it?
Rilla: Umm…that’s a little difficult given the circumstances?
rilla: All right then, SHUT UP!
Rilla: Have I done something?
rilla: Can’t you see?
Rilla: See what? You’ve got your hands together over your heart, your feet are touching at the soles, you’re in a reclining chair, but your eyes are wide open… Frankly, you had me terribly worried. I thought you’d gone into some kind of coma or something…thought I was doing you a favor getting you out of that horrible condition …
rilla: I’m trying to meditate!
Rilla: Oh!... Looks kind of painful. That contorted expression you have on your face…
rilla: …is one of rage because I’M TRYING TO MEDITATE.
Rilla: OK. I’m sorry. You go right ahead. Meditate, or whatever. I’ll just sit here twiddling my thumbs…
rilla: Thank you!
Rilla: …
rilla: …
Rilla: mm…you’re breathing very deeply, is everything all right?
rilla: Yes…
Rilla: …
rilla: …
Rilla: You know that brown spot on the lawn? It’s getting browner. The sprinklers really need to be reset for every day now that it’s getting so hot…
rilla: …
Rilla: Hey, I went for a walk around the side of the yard, and you know that flower bed by the west fence…it’s FULL of weeds. That’s the place that was missed last time you weeded.
rilla: …
Rilla: Gosh, I was looking at the car…it’s FILTHY. Hasn’t been washed in a month. It looks awful.
rilla: …
Rilla: Oh no! You remember we got the cats their shots and they were supposed to go back for boosters…? That was a week ago…
rilla: “I had this strange little thought, well, maybe it’s not so strange. Anyway…I would wonder, sometimes, what might keep me here, what might be worth staying for…”*
Rilla: WHAT? Tell me that’s a meditation mantra or something. Talk to me…you’re not thinking of going anywhere are you? Talk to me!
rilla: Stop slapping my face. I’m fine. It’s no mantra. I gave up trying to meditate long ago. It’s for my class. I’ve finals in a week. Thought I might as well get something constructive done since only the truly enlightened could meditate to the tune of you twiddling your thumbs …
Rilla: What class?
rilla: Why acting class, of course. I have to know my lines by Monday.
Rilla: Acting class? I thought you were a writer? Now I’m really confused.
rilla: You know, I would recommend every writer take a theater arts class.
Rilla: Why’s that?
rilla: The things I have learned about dialog and scene-setting are invaluable to my writing.
Rilla: But still, should you really be wasting time with all this hoo haa when you really should be writing?
rilla: DON’T YOU LISTEN TO ANYTHING I SAY? THE CLASS IS HELPING…
Rilla: You’re taking a class on how to ACT? What you really need is a class on how to BEHAVE…
rilla: You’re telling ME how to behave? Here I am going crazy and all you can talk about is every little thing that needs to be done, the car, the cats, the lawn, the…
Rilla: Stressed…that’s what you are. There, there. Calm down. Too much anxiety in your life.
rilla: I KNOW THAT!
Rilla: What you really need is to take a class in stress reduction.
rilla: THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN SAYING ALL ALONG.
Rilla: I know what’ll help…
rilla: What?
Rilla: It’s an age-old method, certain to calm you down and get rid of all those niggling thoughts that keep bothering you and bogging you down in the nitty-gritty of the everyday. This method is proven to improve your health and your quality of life …
rilla: Well, WHAT IS IT?
Rilla: Why meditation, of course. You should try it sometime. Do you a world of good.
* Quote taken from the play 'night Mother by Marsha Norman
Read a Review of the Play
Related Links
Meditation Handbook
Meditation for Stress Relief
Notes on Meditation
Meditation as Alternative Medicine
Four Basic Elements of Meditation
Meditation and Health
Meditation to Prevent Memory Loss
If you're interested in a great theatre arts program and live in the inland empire, Crafton Hills has the best teacher in the world...Tom Bryant. Tell him rilla sent you and...you're in trouble...
Crafton Hills College Theatre Arts Department
You are the fabulously quirky and independent woman of character. You go your own way, follow your own drummer, take your own lead. You stand head and shoulders next to your partner, but you are perfectly willing and able to stand alone. Others might be more classically beautiful or conventionally woman-like, but you possess a more fundamental common sense and off-kilter charm, making interesting men fall at your feet. You can pick them up or leave them there as you see fit. You share the screen with the likes of Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant, thinking men who like strong women. 
6 comments:
Great entry, Rilla. I think I like this one the best. Very clever. I think everyone can relate to that nagging little voice in the back of our minds. So you're also taking acting? I agree that it would help with writing. Especially with body language and actions. I watch actors on TV to see their gestures, facial expressions, and movements. But I don't need to take an acting class. I practice acting everyday. My role is to act the part of a sane person, which is very difficult for a crazy person. But I'm not getting graded, so it's okay if I'm not convincing.
Anyways, I like the way your dialogue between rilla and Rilla came full circle with the meditation. Also, I love the word "niggling." I'll have to add that to my word collection!
Dear LynNerd,
Delighted that you like this niggling little piece. You're absolutely right about the body language, gestures and facial expressions that you can observe from actors. When you're learning to act, obviously, you spend a great deal of time thinking about actions appropriate to dialog. It's ALL about 'show not tell' here! In other words, I can't tell you enough how much help the acting class has been to my writing.
Frankly, if you're only acting sane, lady, you should get an oscar ;)
"I like it here, and I will stay until ... Who am I talking to? You're gone already, aren't you? ... This is just like you." But which you, rilla or Rilla?
Hasta lunes,
Joanne
Well backgammom, Mama, I was looking for a reason to stay, but the only one would be to keep you company and...that's not reason enough... ;) Have you learned your lines yet? I'm still working on them.
Well, I'm up at 7 in the morning, which is totally unheard of for me - unless you are in town, of course - and reading your last post is just the BEST way to start a long day of work trying to meet a deadline. I love it, Rilla. There again, this is totally me : trying to meditate, and after a few seconds, a million niggling thoughts, indeed, start teeming, swarming, crawling into my poor little mind, and that's it. Meditation is over and lasted a whole one minute ! And you are taking acting classes, too ??? Agh would love to do that. Maybe I'm just gonna move in with you, what do you say? I'll sleep with the cats... no wait, I have two kids. OK, the kids sleep with the cats, I take the the pool :)
Love
Katia
Love this one. You must have really tried. Else HOW could you have known what really happens in meditation? Just do not let out all our secrets!
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