daily intentions

At the beginning of the month you challenged me to go public with my intentions:

Lastly we come to week 4. Because it’s so easy for all of us to get wrapped up in the one billion things we have going in our lives and fall behind, I dare you to post your daily to-do list on our blog AND check-off each item. That’s right, for the week of 9/24-9/30, you will have to blog your non-job-related tasks for the day (appointments, reading, errands, yoga class, etc.) and then let us know how you did. The whole idea is to focus on what you need to accomplish and then make it happen. I think it’ll be a little difficult, but for one week totally manageable. And even more, it’s a great practice of letting go of distractions and impulsive procrastination.

I decided to start a few days early. I’ve said YES more than NO lately, which is exciting, but it means juggling a fair amount of commitments. I am hoping this little experiment will help me get back on track, or at least teach me a few lessons along the way.

If people can lose weight by tweeting out their weight every day, I can certainly check of some to-do’s.

Here’s today’s list. There are definitely other items that I should do but probably won’t happen, so why kid myself. I’ll report back tonight on how it all went.

free fallin’

Alright Brendan,

I am quite inspired by your scheme to use this transitional month to catch up on the last three dares. And touché on that last challenge to blog my to-do list every day. I hear you loud and clear… follow through.

In the spirit of accountability, I’d like to set my intention for this first week revisiting the Pride dare.

By next Thursday the 9th I will have:

– scanned & uploaded all of my photos from “If I were a boy…”
– edited & posted the video of the showing at Mission Minis
– followed up with any of the participants from the project

How are you going to revisit your flash mob?

And just in case you are wondering about your 4th week challenge… you’ll have to wonder a little longer. I think it will be better a bit more spontaneous.

doc syllabus

Brendan,

This month certainly was a challenge. I always admired my professors but now I have a tremendous amount of empathy for the time and energy they pour into teaching.

Here’s what I learned while attempting to create a syllabus for “The Contemporary American Documentary” imaginary college course:

a. The more you know, the less you know. I thought I knew a thing or two about docs, but the deeper I dove the less grounded I felt. There is nothing more humbling than trying to wrap your brain around teaching someone else about something you love.

b. The internet is a mixed blessing. Yes there is more information at your finger tips, but while searching for relevant criticism about filmmaking I was reminded yet again that there is a lot more noise than signal online. One of the beauties of affiliating with an institution of higher learning is access to periodicals and journals. I miss that access.

c. I still love documentaries. Love. Love. Just as I am far more inclined to read narrative nonfiction than pick up a novel, I tend to gravitate more to documentaries than mainstream features. When compiling the list of films to watch for the course I impressed myself with how many of them I had already seen.

d. It would be super fun to actually teach a class on documentaries. For years I’ve harbored some fantasy of starting a film club, perhaps this is the motivation I need to make it a reality.

I’ve put up a 15-week syllabus online for you and others to review. I built the class off of pairs of themed movies in order to spark discussion about technique, genre and content.

The bones are there, but it is definitely a work in progress. You’ll notice that while I have two required texts, I haven’t yet figured out the reading schedule nor have I identified the right articles to supplement each weeks’ readings.

I have a sample lecture and lesson plan in the works… I’m planning on lecture on the basics of film language and a lesson plan on writing a treatment.

More to come, thank you for the challenge…

doc hustle

For the past month I have been thinking a lot about hustle. I first learned of the concept through sports when our mother used to describe how a baseball player might not be the fastest but he “had hustle.” Now I understand a whole host of other meanings, but putting them aside for now, I’m interested in hustle to represent that energetic push towards something.

It takes a special kind of underdog drive to make a documentary film. Most docs emerge out of a filmmaker’s passion, rather than a Hollywood studio’s bank account. Many spectacular documentaries are by first time filmmakers who learn as they go, beg for financing, borrow off credit cards and heavily rely on the goodwill of others. And then comes the hustle to get subjects to agree to be filmed, which only matters of course if you have secured the necessary equipment. It makes me tired just thinking about it.

For a fantastic mediation on hustle in documentary filmmaking, take a look at “Street Fight” Marshall Curry’s 2005 documentary on Cory Booker’s run for mayor of Newark, NY. As Booker campaigns to unseat a popular incumbent, Curry struggles to just cover the race without interference from the opposition.
As I come close to the end of this month, I am in my own hustle trying to finish this syllabus on time.

Let’s pretend… classes are about to start. You’ve signed up for a new course offering this semester,”The American Documentary“, intrigued by the course description promising “an investigation into the history, theory & craft of American non-fiction films”. You are headed to the campus bookstore tomorrow to buy your books, but first you are going to head out for the evening and get to know your new neighbors on the hall.

Meanwhile, your professor is up later than planned typing away putting that syllabus together…

doc watch list

Bren,

Just like a real professor I’ve been cramming getting this syllabus ready for the “semester”. I am really enjoying reading through a variety of books pulling together a reader/book list for the doc class. And this project is a super excuse to watch loads of documentaries. But where to begin?

For kicks I asked my community on Facebook which documentaries they would recommend and I received a tremendous response. Here are their suggestions, in the order that they were received, linked to corresponding websites/wikipedia entries.

Favela Rising (2005)
Devil’s Playground (2002)
Beautiful Losers (2008)
Man on Wire (2008) +2
Night and Fog (1955)
Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010) +1
The Cove (2009)
Grizzly Man (2005) +1
Touching the Void (2003)
Young @ Heart (2008)
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2005)
Our Daily Bread (2005)
Harlan County USA (1976)
When the Levees Broke (2006)
Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony (2002)
War /Dance (2007)
Spellbound (2002)
Mad Hot Ballroom (2005)
Ready! Set! Bag! (2010)
Born into Brothels (2004)
Waiting for Superman (2010)
King Corn (2007)
The Corporation (2003)
My Architect (2003)
The Natural History of the Chicken (2000)
Trouble the Water (2008)
Supersize Me (2004)
Seeing Red (1983)
Hands on a Hard Body (1997)
Fast, Cheap and Out of Control (1997)
Valentino: The Last Emperor (2008)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000)
The September Issue (2009)
The Fog of War (2003)

As you can tell, it is a very current list with majority of the titles released in the last decade. And the great news is that only a fraction of these I have seen (which I italicized to keep track). For some reason I feel it is also worth nothing that I’ve watched The Eyes of Tammy Faye at least three times.

Right now I’m re-watching For the Bible Tells Me So, which is outstanding. I had the privilege of seeing a screening with the director, Dan Karslake, at work a few years ago. Never before had I been in at work surrounded by so many people with tears in their eyes. That’s the power of a good movie.

More to come… I’m hoping to catch Exit Through the Gift Shop this week before it leaves the theater.

docs 101

Brendan,

I am so excited about your challenge to conceive a college-level class about a topic of my choosing. At first I thought about using this challenge as a way to dig deeper into my yoga practice, but I still feel way too fresh to even begin to think about teaching.

Instead I want to go back to my undergraduate roots. At the University of Virginia I studied Anthropology and Media Studies (which is as close as we got to having a film department). Overlap my two subject areas and you get one of my true loves: documentaries.

For the next month I am going to consume myself with studying the history, craft and production of documentary films. I’ll post little bits and thoughts along the way (especially to make up for my lack of posts last month) and by the end of the month I’ll have a class worked out.

Thanks for the challenge, I can’t wait to get started. Especially since this is an outstanding excuse to watch a bunch of films that I have had on my list for years!

Meanwhile, tell me, what is your favorite documentary?

not too cool for school

Brendan,

In our house August always means back-to-school as Leah prepares to educate another group of young minds. For the past two years, the last days of summer have also signaled my return to the classroom, but not this year. Diploma in hand I am free to explore other opportunities, like this project with you, but eager to keep the spirit of the season alive.

Rather than the dread that is often associated with returning to the books, I see back-to-school time as a yearly renewal. Like New Year’s without the baggage. Remember buying new school clothes? Prepping your supplies? Returning to school is such an optimistic endeavor, I always feel like the opportunities ahead are limitless. “This year, I can do anything.”

Opportunity is also the promise of learning something new. When you push yourself, or push others, to expand upon what is known, the previously unfathomable becomes possible. I am trying to keep that spirit with me this weekend at the Wanderlust Yoga + Music Festival where I just took more yoga in one day than ever before. I’m pushing myself, in every pose, to be vulnerable, to explore and to learn new things.

So, before I get to this month’s challenge, I want to point out that we both slacked a bit on our blog posting in July. I’m the bigger culprit for sure, but I thought I’d shake things up a bit to see if it gets us online more.

With the preamble out of the way, here is your challenge, or rather, here are your three. You must complete one each week for the first three weeks of August, in any order. The challenge is complete when you have taken action on the prompt and posted a response. The fourth week I’d like you to reflect back on the three weeks and how this new structure worked for you.

a. Teach something new to someone, preferably something you aren’t known for teaching. (i.e. not some choreography)
b. Have someone teach you something. Could be from a friend, could be in a class. I’d love to see you learn something you’ve always wanted to know more about.
c. For years you have been talking about going back to grad school but haven’t quite found the right program. Take the time to dream about the perfect program that would get you back-to-school. And somehow visualize that dream, either with imagery or words.

There you go. I hope you enjoy.

Kate

P.S. I typed this sitting outside, nestled in Squaw Valley high in the Sierras. It is a little bit of heaven.

invisibility tent

It is fitting that on the eve of the last day of exploring invisibility, I feel the most invisible. I am blogging this entry from my phone, inside a chilly tent set up at a campground near Lake Tahoe.

I’m alone, arrived at dark and searched long and hard to find the toilets. The sink will have to wait until tmw.

I have to admit, I had my moment of panic… Who thought this was a good idea? Really, me? But once the tent was constructed and my bed laid out I found some peace in this plan.

You were right from the very beginning Brendan that I spend most of my life being very visible. So sometimes it is probably healthy for me to slip into a more anonymous, less noticeable, state. I just have to push past my inherent resistance.

superhero image capture

Brendan,

The photos from the Superhero Summit Image Capture Station are uploaded and ready for viewing.

Hats (masks…?) off to you for coming up with an incredible fun, not to mention beneficial, way to manifest Storm’s powers. I know we raised money for charity:water, but I also think that we raised some consciousness. And for anyone who wasn’t able to attend, there’s still time to donate to our goal.

This month felt so special because we got to spend so much of it in the same geography… may our superpowers cross paths again in the future…

Kate aka “Hipster Green Lantern”

reappearing

Brendan,

Give me the power of invisibility and I’ll do as told…

In all seriousness, I’ve been (appropriately) in stealth mode researching, contemplating & discussing invisibility. That and flying out to spend 10 days in your super hot (in both senses) city.

Pictures from the Superhero Summit and Invisibility Insights are forthcoming…

In the meantime, here’s a moment when we were both quite visible in the Ace Hotel photobooth doing our best super hero poses.