Great Idea Receptacle

I need to start thinking about my plans for 2006. For life in general after today but, to make it more manageable, about 2006.

In my career counselling/life coaching/not-as-fruity-as-it-sounds-I-swear-sessions we talked about finding a place to store all your great ideas. Since you really can't act on all the great ideas at one time you need a place to put them so you can dip into the well when you're ready to start something new. This discussion happened a couple of months ago. It took me about a month to realize that, "Hey, I have a blog, what better place to keep great ideas. It's always accessible and it means that I'll get feedback, possibly some support and I'll be accountable for having said them out loud." It took another month to get my fingers on the keyboard.

You may have thought I'd be doing a Christmas recap or New Year's resolutions or something, but instead you get this. The plan is to use the subject "Great Idea Receptacle" for any entry I want to add, that way I can do a blog search and, hopefully, find all the ideas easily.

These are the ones I have rolling through my head right now, in no particular order.

1. Carolling with Carolann
It's an annual gathering in a bar or rehearsal space or cabaret where we get a bunch of musicians together to sing holiday tunes. We're willing to go wide, I'd ask MarkyB for Grampa's Seder as well as for something new. Traditional carols and popular songs will get sung and some of them will be in sing along format. Ideally I'd like to end the show with Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. 4 performers can sing up front a la the Roches but the audience would be asked to join in.
To get this going I'd need to secure someone named Carolann to headline, get together a set list, approach and secure musicians, commission pieces, research music for holidays other than Christmas, approach and secure a venue, publicize. Ideally I'd also like to commission someone to do a handout book of SATB arrangements of the sing along songs we plan to do.

2. A Christmas Carol
My dad has a concert reading version of the play that he does every year for the past 19 years. It's been a passion of his for years. Given the hectic nature of the season and whatnot I have passed up the couple of chances I've had to be part of it. I'd like to do a New York version. It would involve asking dad for the script (Hi dad!), actors, venue, timing, rehearsal, plus there's a lot of music to it, too, and I'm not sure how we'd deal with it.

3. The Gift of the Magi
Years ago Kitchen Sink Mime Theatre did a great 3 person adaptation of this O. Henry story. It's simple, it's short and it's a beautiful but lesser used Holiday tale. I've always loved the intimate feel of this particular script and the reminder of how gift giving can be frustrating and rewarding and important to a relationship. That would involve getting permission to use the script and again convincing actors it's a good idea etc.

5. A chapbook
I've got some short stories and I'd like to give them to people or sell them or something. I'd like to put them together in some sort of chapbook and get show them to people. The material is a little, er, blue? Sensitive? Adult? While still having a literary and relationship-based bent. So there are a lot of reasons I think it's a little odd or daunting to show to people. Plus there's the whole thing about not knowing a damn thing about getting one's writing published.

6. Get something published
Short story, article, poem, character sketch, something. No idea how to get that done, no idea what the next steps are, would really like to know.

7. Another cabaret show
Not sure of the theme yet but I've got so many more song options than I had when last I did one, I'd love to get another together.

8. Record a CD
The lovely core of Elizabeth Records tells me it's possible and it'll cost between $10K and $15K. Plus, you know, it might take a while. I'd need to find a producer and a place to record and a recording person and musicians and you know, the aforementioned money. Currently I'm all screwed up about money so I'm focused on that. The list of possible song options (as of now) is as follows:

1. Fly – Patty Griffin
2. Maria – Leonard Bernstein (West Side Story)
3. Johanna – Stephen Sondheim
4. Yellow House
5. Darlin’ Corey - Traditional
6. Because I Told You So – Jonatha Brooke
7. Everything I Wanted – Jonatha Brooke
8. Soon It’s Gonna Rain – The Fantastiks
9. My White Knight – The Music Man
10. Grandma’s Hands – Jen Cohen
11. Not Exactly Paris
12. Just a Housewife – Terkel (Working)
13. Dance With Me – Carolann Solebello
14. James – Billy Joel
15. Recipe for Makin’ Love – Harry Connick, Jr.
16. Travelin’ Prayer – Billy Joel
17. You Are My Sunshine - Traditional
18. Danny Boy - Traditional
19. Poses – Rufus Wainwright
20. Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk – Rufus Wainwright
21. Ice Cream – Sara Maclachlan
22. Little Bird – Fiddler on the Roof
23. If I Were a Man – Andrea Menard
24. I Won’t Mind
25. Your Big But – Mark Berube
26. Red Dress – Jonatha Brooke
27. Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You – The Music Man
28. Ready to Run – Dixie Chicks
29. See With Different Eyes – October Project
30. Woman Be Wise
31. Don’t Ask – Carolann Solebello
32. Love Me Like A Man
33. A Place Called Home
34. The Story Goes On
35. Deny – Jonatha Brooke
36. Shuffleboard Queens – Deirdre Flint
37. Somewhere – Leonard Bernstein (West Side Story)
38. The Lady Down the Hall
39. Somewhere That’s Green – Little Shop of Horrors
40. Moonshine Lullaby - Annie Get Your Gun
41. More Than You Know
42. Red Red Robin
43. You Don’t Know Me – Ray Charles
44. I Love the Boys – Patty Keogh
45. I Kissed A Girl – Jill Sobule
46. Alas For You – Godspell
47. You Move Me – Jen Cohen
48. River – Joni Mitchell
49. That’s All
50. One Flight Down – Norah Jones
51. Could That Be Us – Teddy Goldstein
52. Marry Me – Amanda Marshall
53. Red Magic Marker – Amanda Marshall
54. Dizzy – Amanda Marshall
55. Will the Circle Be Unbroken – spiritual
56. Let it Rain – Amanda Marshall
57. Brand New Beau – Amanda Marshall

9. Write a novel
Er, I have a couple of starts on this. Not sure which one I want to stick to.

10. Develop this blog into something that more people read and continue to use it to improve and explore my writing. Learning how to put links in the sidebar, commenting on other people's blogs etc.

11. Please don't read this one, I feel ridiculous putting it here but it's an idea and it's one I feel I need to keep track of
Next New Year's Eve I'd like to be going to a party with someone that I'd like to kiss.

MOVE ALONG, MOVE ALONG, NOTHING TO SEE HERE!

12. Throw a big party
Live music by MarkyB, Carolann, Red Molly, James, Lara, me...
Lots of yummy food
Big venue, preferably outdoors (so probably not for my birthday, maybe for my half birthday)
Everyone I know there, really, just everyone of all ages and from all places.

13. Learn to make those little bubble glass magnets

14. Learn to print my photography in a way that I have actual control over
So far what I know about printing and manipulating the photos is so limited that it's sort of haphazard. I want to be able to feel confident about using photo paper and where I place the photo on the paper. Ideally I'd like to be able to print art quality photos of my own taking.

There will be more, count on it. But I don't know what or when you'll see them. Suggestions, comments, loud encouragement - all welcome. Blind dates? Not welcome. (Someday I will explain my complicated position on the whole dating thing, both blind and fully sighted. Today is not that day.)