Dreams Fighting Reality is a poem I wrote a while ago. I recorded it as a poetry reading back in 2014.
Dreams Fighting Reality
My dreams danced away together
from my very own reality.
Like ballerinas trapped within my mind
They danced away
so I could not find the love I wanted;
The love I wished was mine.
Yes, my dreams slowly danced away
when reality told me
he was here to stay
But he seems to have strayed
because here comes my dreams
on this new day.
My dreams once again dance near by
as I force my reality to be mine.
Because this fight for what is right,
what is fair and what must be
has left a hole deep inside of me
so I fight to keep my dreams
and I fight to change my reality
Here is an older poem of mine called The Sea Limerick. I do have another poem that is just called, The Sea. They are two completely different poems and I honestly didn’t realize that I named two poems basically the same thing until I was looking for videos to do Throwback posts for.
The Sea Limerick
I went to the sea to see you see. Yet, I  could see nothing but the sea. So I went to the shore Just so I would be sure That I could still see beyond the sea.
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The original post is still available to read, along with other poems of mine. If you would like to watch more poetry readings I do also have a YouTube Playlist for that.
Here I stand is an original monologue I wrote in 2014. I noticed a few months ago it wasn’t on this site, so here it is.
Here I stand: Monologue
Here I stand. I am standing on my own two feet, wishing that they were not attached, so that I could move around and see exactly where I am standing. Where am I standing? What am I doing and why am I staying?
Still at least I’m standing on my own two feet, right? And I have the world ahead of me. I am making it on my own. Yes, I am doing my own thing living this adult life. Still I have questions and I never know if I’m doing everything right.
Most days, actually, I know I’ve done at least one thing wrong. But I’m making it on my own. Living my own adult life, alone. Yes, I am standing on my own two feet, but you know what sometimes I wish I wasn’t. I wish that there was some sort of clear arrow pointing me one way or the other. But, I guess the adult life doesn’t entirely work that way. So, here I stand. I am standing on my own two feet.
This week was a stressful week at work with later hours. It burnt me out most days and by the end of the week I was done with people and anything productive. I did not go to my improv group on Thursday or do anything Friday night. Instead both nights I stayed home and vegged out with YouTube, Pinterest, and Netflix.
I was able to get a lot done with my writing and videos the first part of the week though. I was able to record Step 7 of Goal Getters, which means it’s all tips now. I also recorded a monologue and an about me video.
The monologue was Dory’s monologuee from Finding Nemo. It has been my favorite one so far. It was fun and a character type that I would love to do more of. Of course it seems more people are watching the classic monologues from plays. That could be because they were the ones done first, so they have had more time to get more views. It seems though people are still watching them and as long as they are watching my videos I will be happy.
No was far as writing goes I wrote my 5 creative posts. One was about being a bagel, which will become a series and then a video series. The video series will happen when I figure out how I want to do it.
Also, during this week this blog reached 152 followers. I almost did an actual happy dance, but I was at work so only let out a tiny wiggle.
I believe that is all the news about my week. Here is the list that tells you what I did.
A week or two (maybe three), you may have noticed a change to my blog. I changed the theme and added a logo/ painting to the top of the site. This same painting is on my YouTube channel, Twitter profile, and Facebook page as backgrounds.
This painting was a fun one to do because the only rule I gave myself was that it had to represent me in some way. I used my favorite color combination, which is blue and yellow. I tried to add in something other ones, but it the end it was blue and yellow that lasted. I also made sure to throw in some wave looking things at the end, since I love the water so much.
I recorded myself painting this video and sped it up. Then I added The Beetle’s song From Me To You. So take a minute or two to watch this painting that is a little part of myself that I give to you.
Thank you for reading, watching, and generally supporting me. Please let me know what you think.
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On YouTube, I do have a playlist dedicated to sped up paintings. I also have a section on this site where I share my visual arts portfolio along with my painting portfolio.
I just recorded a video that talks about connecting with a character. I had written everything out, but I did not memorize what I wrote so the video is a bit different. I wanted to make sure I shared both though, because I believe they both have value.
First here is what I wrote. The video is below the write up.
The steps towards my goals I want to talk about is connecting with a character. It is something that I believe an actor has to do to portray a character justly. Something needs to snap in place and you the actor has to feel right with the character you have to fully get the character you are portraying.
I have struggled with this as you can see in my precious videos or at least I can see it in the stated songs and poetry readings I’ve done. Something just wasn’t clicking, the character I was trying be were just words. They had no life to them.
Well this week at my improv group a character clicked with me. I really feel like I did the character justice even if it was a silly improv game. I still made that connection, which has been a while since I could say that.
Thinking about it I wonder if I just haven’t realized it at improv before or if it’s growth. Either way it is a boost of confidence for me and reassurance that I can act. I just need to find the character in the words and figure out how to bring the scripted ones to life.
Yesterday in between serving at my church I recorded an introduction video for YouTube. I realize that I will need to record this video again, but it is something at least.
I almost did not do it, then I almost did not get a chance to edit it. I had a million excuses not to, but then a quiet nudge reminded me that if I did not record this video it would be the first week (with the exception of my vacation week) that I would miss a recording since I started that goal. I was tired from waking up early, did not have anything really prepared, then my camera died before I was really finish.
Still I edited it together the best I could and uploaded it to YouTube. I watched it again to make sure that I was comfortable in publishing it and you know what it’s not as bad as I thought. However, I want to know what you think. Is it entertaining or informational? Does it make you want to know more or at least pay a bit of attention to my channel?
I just finished this week’s stated song. I tried a few little things different and at least I can see the difference. I realized I was not warming up and excepting to act as if I was. I also was just going and doing, forgetting why I was actually recording these videos. They are supposed to be my form of training and working the acting muscle. They are not just to get my name out there. I kept this in my mind before and after working on it. During I focused on what I was doing and had to focus on taking myself out of the equation.
You can not think about what you are doing when you are acting, because how many times in a day do you think to yourself I am doing xyz because of abc? I know when I’m in the moment I’m only thinking about that moment, so when I am acting I need to remember to forget about everything not it that moment or monologue.
One of the things that I’m changing is to put more content in the blog posts for the videos, including the lyrics that I used. So, here is the words I used.
Carry on  Wayward Son By: Kansas
Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond the illusion
I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high
Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think I still was a mad man
I hear the voices when I’m dreamin’, I can hear them say
Carry on, my wayward son
For there’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more
Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don’t know
On a stormy sea of moving emotion
Tossed about I’m like a ship on the ocean
I set a course for winds of fortune, but I hear the voices say
Carry on, my wayward son
For there’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more
Carry on, you will always remember
Carry on, nothing equals the splendor
Now your life’s no longer empty
Surely heaven waits for you
Carry on, my wayward son
For there’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more
I also want to make sure everyone has all the information on this song, because every song I do I do because I love the song and am a fan of the artist behind the song. Carry On My Wayward Son was written by Kansas in 1976 and recorded on LeftOverture under  Sony Music Entertainment . Kansas’ website is http://www.kansasband.com/index.php . There is no official music video for this song but there is a video of them playing live at http://youtu.be/D6bQ4EAduBg.
I hope you enjoyed all this information and if you have any request, suggestions, or feedback please let me know.
This week’s monologue was taken from Casting Crown’s song Jesus, Friend Of Sinners. This song was written by Casting Crowns in 2011 and recorded on Come To The Well under Provident Label Group . The link to the music video is youtube.com  and their website is castingcrowns.com.
I love the song and have heard it a bunch of times, so figured it would be a good song to do. I hope you enjoy it.
I also tried something a little different for the intro and closing, so feedback will be great appreciated.
In yesterday’s post I mentioned that I had a plan for my video of the week. If you are a regular here you should know my goal is to post a video every week and this past week I came up with, what I think is a great idea. Instead of monologues or poetry readings I have decided to turn songs into monologues.
The first song I stated is Drops of Jupiter by Train.  I hope you enjoy the video and please note that I know it is not perfect. I wanted get the first one out and up on youtube, because some times you just have to finish the first step so that you can grow. I hope that is what I am doing, of course no matter what I will be able to see improvements.
Please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions let me know.
