One of my favorite musicals of all time is Tony Award winning Best Musical Fiddler on the Roof.  This is just a stunning work, both on-stage and on-screen.  Topol is the embodiment of a time and place that no longer exist, and I cry every time!

When I was in high school we did Fiddler on the Roof my sophomore year, and that was when the theatre bug grew into the theatre interest that has brought me to where I am today.  I had always enjoyed theatre and thought it was a fun hobby, but that was the time when I realized that I needed to spend all my free time in rehearsal!

Fun fact: Fiddler on the Roof was the first run of a musical in history to surpass the 3,000 performance mark!

Once I start getting tired from the Blogathon, I’ll most likely pop in the Fiddler on the Roof DVD!

This post is for the Blogathon 2009! I am blogging for The Actor’s Fund. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

• 7/25/2009 -- Theatre in 1960 (Blogathon ’09 #5)
• 7/26/2009 -- Theatre in 2004 (Blogathon ’09 #44)
• 7/26/2009 -- Theatre in 2001 (Blogathon ’09 #41)

The play is a re-enactment of the conflicts between King Henry II and Thomas Becket as Becket, best friend to Henry II, ascends to power becoming the King’s enemy. Becket begins as a clever, but hedonistic, companion; as a result of being created Archbishop of Canterbury, he is transformed into an ascetic who does his best to preserve the rights of the church against the king’s power.

Ultimately, Becket is slaughtered by several of the king’s nobles, and the king is then forced to undergo penance for the murder.

And now . . . a little info about a contest!!!

At the end of Blogathon 2009, I will be sending either the soundtrack to a musical or the script to a play that I mention today. Yes, that’s right, you get a free dose of theatre!!! I’ll take the top three sponsors (largest donations) and let them pick one of the shows I mention today. If it’s a musical, then they’ll get the soundtrack. If it’s a play, then they’ll get the script. Don’t you want to sponsor me now?!?!?!

This post is for the Blogathon 2009! I am blogging for The Actor’s Fund. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

• 7/25/2009 -- Theatre in 1965 (Blogathon ’09 #10)
• 7/25/2009 -- Theatre in 1960 (Blogathon ’09 #5)
• 7/25/2009 -- Theatre in 1953 (Blogathon ’09 #2)

I have blogged for The Susan G. Komen Foundation during Blogthon 2006 and Children’s Literacy Initiative during Day of Blogs 2008.  This year I am going to be blogging for The Actors Fund.

The Actors Fund is actually a bit of a misnomer since it benefits actors as well as all other performing arts and entertainment professionals (which, as you may have guessed, includes me, LOL).  Here’s some general information from their website:

The Actors Fund, a nonprofit human services organization founded in 1882, serves all professionals – and not just actors! – in film, theater, television, music, opera, and dance through programs that address their unique and essential needs. As a national organization with offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, The Fund directly serves over 8,000 entertainment and performing arts professionals across the country, and approximately 300,000 more through Web resource programs. In providing care and service to professionals throughout the industry, The Fund’s programs are wide in scope, responsive in nature, and produce significant results, affecting the lives of people in our community year after year.

Employment in any division of the entertainment and performing arts industry is unpredictable. The life of an entertainment professional is very similar to any worker or independent contractor that moves from job to job to make their living. Work is erratic, security is fleeting and health insurance is often just a dream. For all of these reasons and many more, The Actors Fund is an indispensable and deeply significant part of the entire entertainment community.

I always think it’s important to know the mission statement of an organization before I decide to give money to that organization, so here is their mission statement:

The Actors Fund Mission Statement

The Actors Fund is a nationwide human services organization that helps all professionals in performing arts and entertainment. The Fund is a safety net, providing programs and services for those who are in need, crisis or transition.

If you would like to view their profile on Charity Navigator, then click here.

As always, I will be sharing fun facts and trivia throughout the evening as well as some nice ramblings!  Please consider sponsoring me for Blogathon 2009. Even one dollar an hour would help! You can either sponsor by the hour or a flat sum for the day.  If you have questions about sponsoring, please visit the Blogathon FAQ.  Essentially, you click on my sponsor link to pledge your donation – then after the Blogathon you will receive an email directing you to the correct place to make your donation.  Yes, it’s that easy!

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask – otherwise, I’ll see you at Blogathon 2009!

This post is for the Blogathon 2009! I am blogging for The Actor’s Fund. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

• 7/22/2008 -- Are you ready to stay awake?
• 7/26/2008 -- Recycled Reading Meme (Day of Blogs ’08 #17)
• 12/18/2005 -- 101 in 1001 – 67.33% Complete

1 – One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
2 – The 2-Second Commute: Join the Exploding Ranks of Freelance Virtual Assistants, Christine Durst
3 – Three Plays: Desire Under The Elms, Strange Interlude, Mourning Becomes Electra, Eugene O’Neill
4 – The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis
5 – The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom
6 – Six Prayers God Always Answers, Mark Herringshaw and Jennifer Schuchmann
7 – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey
8 – The 8 Colors of Fitness: Discover Your Color-Coded Fitness Personality and Create an Exercise Program You’ll Never Quit!, Suzanne Brue
9 – Nine Stories, J.D. Salinger
A – Angels & Demons, Dan Brown
B – The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
C – Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul, John and Stasi Eldredge
D – Drowning Ruth, Christina Schwarz
E – East of Eden, John Steinbeck
F – The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand
G – The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis
H – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
I – Ishmael, Daniel Quinn
J – Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling
K – The King Must Die: A Novel, Mary Renault
L – Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
M – Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis
N – Not Tonight Honey, Wait ‘Til I’m a Size Six, Susan Reinhardt
O – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey
P – The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren
Q – The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life, Armand M. Nicholi Jr.
R – Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers
S – The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis
T – The Tenth Gift, Jane Johnson
U – Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe
V – The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides
W – Wizard and Glass, Stephen King
X – X-teams: How to Build Teams That Lead, Innovate and Succeed, Deborah Ancona and Henrik Bresman
Y – Y2k, Arthur Kopit
Z – Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values, Robert M. Pirsig

I’ll cross off books as I finish them, and when I get all done I’ll be able to mark this off my 101 in 1001 list! Anyone else up for the challenge?

• 7/27/2008 -- Longest Meme Ever (Day of Blogs ’08 #32)
• 12/18/2005 -- 101 in 1001 – 67.33% Complete
• 9/15/2008 -- 101 in 1001 #2 – 47.52% Complete

How do you receive your RSS feeds?

This post is for the Day of Blogs 2008! I am blogging for Children’s Literacy Initiative. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

• 7/26/2008 -- Recycled Reading Meme (Day of Blogs ’08 #17)
• 7/26/2008 -- Brick and Mortar or Online? (Day of Blogs ’08 #16)
• 7/22/2008 -- Are you ready to stay awake?

While I don’t consider my blog to be of great literary value, there are a lot of blogs out there that are creating some truly valuable content.  Blogging is like the modern-day newspaper column, except you have no censorship and you get a live, active community of readers that become involved with all your writing.  Blogging creates a unique creative outlet, and in my opinion can be used educationally if you do it right.

That said, there are many technical aspects that determine whether anyone actually gets involved with a blog.  Things like Search Engine Optimization fall into this category, but right now I’m thinking about the stickiness of a blog.  How likely are you to stick around and read that blog?  We’re superficial creatures.  Looks count.

If you want to do it up right, the best way to go is to get a custom design.  However, some people can’t justify the expense of something customized.  Today it was announced that free WordPress themes will now be available on WordPress’s actual website!  Take a look at the WordPress Theme Directory and pick out a shiny new suit to wear!

• 7/27/2008 -- Children’s Literacy Initiative (Day of Blogs ’08 #42)
• 7/22/2008 -- Are you ready to stay awake?
• 1/31/2006 -- Questions from you!

This post is for the Day of Blogs 2008! I am blogging for Children’s Literacy Initiative. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

• 7/22/2008 -- Are you ready to stay awake?
• 7/27/2008 -- Children’s Literacy Initiative (Day of Blogs ’08 #42)
• 7/27/2008 -- Longest Meme Ever (Day of Blogs ’08 #32)

“The Bible is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced. A single line in the Bible has consoled me more than all the books I ever read besides.” – Immanuel Kant

“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.” – Erasmus

“A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.” – Theodore Roosevelt

“I feel that a comprehensive study of the Bible is a liberal education for anyone. Nearly all the great men of our country have been well versed in the teachings of the Bible.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Give me a used Bible and I will, I think, be able to tell you about a man by the places that are edged with the dirt of seeking fingers.” – John Steinbeck

“It is impossible to mentally or socially enslave a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom.” – Horace Greeley (1811-1872), publisher and journalist

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.” – Robert Frost

“What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.” – Samuel Johnson

“A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it.” – William Styron

“I always begin at the left with the opening word of the sentence and read toward the right and I recommend this method.” – James Thurber

“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.” – Henry David Thoreau

This post is for the Day of Blogs 2008! I am blogging for Children’s Literacy Initiative. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

• 7/27/2008 -- Longest Meme Ever (Day of Blogs ’08 #32)
• 7/22/2008 -- Are you ready to stay awake?
• 7/27/2008 -- Illuminated Manuscripts (Day of Blogs ’08 #39)

Book Collector is awesome for cataloging everything, but I’m a blogger, and as a blogger, I must have the ability to share every detail of my life with the world, LOL.

Enter LibraryThing.

It’s a free website that allows you to completely manage your personal library. You enter in the ISBN for your book and it looks up all the information for you from either the Library of Congress or Amazon (your pick). Then it adds it to your collection! If you want, you can add tags to your books, label them with their Bookcrossing BCID numbers, and even see who else owns that book! There’s a feature to connect you with popular book swapping sites if you decide you want to swap for something else, and there are places to discuss books, authors, anything “library” related!

I’ve got my library started, though I have quite a long way to go to get everything added. I like how the call numbers are a part of the book info because that is how I have arranged my personal library. It’s easy to find any book now!!!

This post is for the Day of Blogs 2008! I am blogging for Children’s Literacy Initiative. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

• 7/26/2008 -- Another Book Meme (Day of Blogs ’08 #12)
• 7/26/2008 -- Brick and Mortar or Online? (Day of Blogs ’08 #16)
• 7/27/2008 -- Books in the Workplace (Day of Blogs ’08 #44)

I LOVE books, and I love bookstores.  I can spend hours at Barnes and Noble.  However, I often walk out with about four times the number of books I told myself I could have, so it’s a place I try not to go to often.

Amazon.com, on the other hand, is probably my favorite website.  I can always find great deals, I’m a member of Amazon Prime so, I get things with free 2 day shipping (WELL worth the $75/year), and I have an Amazon.com credit card, so for every $1 I spend I get s free penny to Amazon.com – and since I use my credit card for EVERYTHING, it doesn’t take long until I’m getting free $25 for Amazon.com!

So, I tend to go both ways.  Which way do you prefer?

This post is for the Day of Blogs 2008! I am blogging for Children’s Literacy Initiative. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

• 7/26/2008 -- Library Thing (Day of Blogs ’08 #22)
• 7/27/2008 -- Books in the Workplace (Day of Blogs ’08 #44)
• 7/27/2008 -- NaNoWriMo (Day of Blogs ’08 #36)