Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Closing the Curtain....

I am not a person who likes ending...when I get to the end of a book I usually slow way down...or a visit or trip or the ending of a school year....So you can only imagine how I felt when the curtain closed on Saturday night on our show of The Vagina Monologues.

Even though I am a person of words, I am not sure there are enough of them to describe the night...the hype...the thrill...the groundbreaking work that we accomplished on Saturday night.

To an almost sold out crowd, we performed as absolute confidence....the standing ovation was a roar to my ears as the clapping and cheering continued.

I was presented with a dozen roses on the stage and thanked over and over. It was a golden night, one that will not come again, and one that I will never, ever forget.

We (my 12 actresses and myself) made history on Saturday night here in Steuben County. The newspapers are still filled with praise for the show.

We raised over $4,000.00 for CAVA.

We partied til after 3 a.m. back at my house...the entire cast.

Where do we go from here? I don't know the answer to that. But I do know that I already miss the rehearsals...the deadlines...the friendships.

I guess tonight I will work on my scrapbook for the show....put away the script and spend a nice quiet evening with Philip. How glad I am that he was here for this monumental time in my life!

Lou Ann Homan is a writer, teacher, and storyteller who lives in Angola, Indiana. She is available for writing seminars, storytelling, and speaking engagements. She can be contacted at locketoftime@aol.com. You can read more at www.louannhoman.com

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Lights, Camera, Action....

We are down to under twelve hours to production. Two late night dress rehearsals with lights and sounds...a bit ranting and raving (at least no one quit the show) and we are just about ready to take to the stage.

The planning and work has been more than even I expected...but oh, what a great evening is planned for everyone attending. We are even featuring a reception in the intermission time for all of the actresses. And at last count it looks like we might be close to a sell out!

The women in the cast have become sisters to each other...taking care of each other...encouraging each other...pushing each other.

I feel so honored and proud and a bit of the pioneer spirit to bring Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues to Steuben County.

So, without further adieu...let's open the curtains...let the show begin!

Lou Ann Homan is a writer, teacher, and storyteller who lives in Angola, Indiana. She is available for writing seminars, storytelling, and speaking engagements. She can be contacted at locketoftime@aol.com. You can read more at www.louannhoman.com

Thursday, February 23, 2006

A Thousand Miles...

Tonight Philip is in a hotel room about 500 miles from here....he is usually a thousand miles away, but he is on his way to visit me. We haven't spent any time together since Christmas, or as I casually would say, seven weeks and three days, but whose counting???

He should be here tomorrow night just in time for the first dress rehearsal and then for the big week end. How wonderful it is that he has traveled so far to share in the Vagina Monologue week end...it is going to be a whirlwind.

So, tonight I spent baking cookies, arranging fresh flowers, and ironing his pillowcases with lavender water...maybe that's why he comes for a visit???

Lou Ann Homan is a writer, teacher, and storyteller who lives in Angola, Indiana. She is available for writing seminars, storytelling, and speaking engagements. She can be contacted at locketoftime@aol.com. You can read more at www.louannhoman.com

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Tying up loose ends...

Tonight was our last Vagina Monologue meeting...we have been meeting since the first Tuesday in December at Rachael's coffeeshop...These have not been the rehearsals, but the core committee dedicated in putting this show together. Our last job tonight was to proof the program...Bert bought a round of pappermint lattes for everyone and we just sort of sat there stunned. We did it. Well, we will have done it on Saturday. The work has been large...but I will miss it so much and the wonderful women that have come into my life.

So, tonight as I reflect on what has been and what is yet to come...I say raise the coffee cups a little higher, and a toast to V-Day in Angola, Indiana!!

Lou Ann Homan is a writer, teacher, and storyteller who lives in Angola, Indiana. She is available for writing seminars, storytelling, and speaking engagements. She can be contacted at locketoftime@aol.com. You can read more at www.louannhoman.com

Saturday, February 18, 2006

The Way It Was....

It has been a busy week with rehearsals and shows...so many things I could talk about, but I want to share just one small event.

Two nights ago I had a show on the poetry of James Whitcomb Riley woven with my own Indiana stories. It was literally a "dark and stormy night" with wind and rain and tornado warnings. In the small town in which I would be sharing my stories I was stopped by a freight train. I put my car in park and watched the trains pass...felt the rumble up through the ground...all the lights of red and yellow and car lights were all woven into streaks as my windshield wipers could hardly keep up with the rain. But...I noticed movement to the right of my car. I noticed a young boy on a bike..no jacket, no helmet or adult supervision..just a young boy racing to a hill of gravel next to the railroad yard. In the pouring rain, he tossed down his bike, climbed up on the gravel hill and watched the railroad cars speed by into the night...into the rain..into oblivion. When the train passed, he hopped back onto his bike and returned...home? I had to smile as I watched him watch the trains. So many rules for kids these days...how nice to see a boy dreaming a top a gravel hill on a rainy night...Ernest Hemingway? Carl Sandburg? One never knows.

It made my whole evening worthwhile to think about the future writer and storyteller...maybe some day in years to come he will take my place on the stage and share stories of his childhood sitting on a gravel hill listening and watching the roar of the freight train during a rainstorm.


Lou Ann Homan is a writer, teacher, and storyteller who lives in Angola, Indiana. She is available for writing seminars, storytelling, and speaking engagements. She can be contacted at locketoftime@aol.com. You can read more at www.louannhoman.com

Monday, February 13, 2006

The Page Turners

Welcome to The Page Turners. This is a new column which will discuss literature, informally, as seen from the eyes of a Book Club Guru.

The Page Turners have been in existence for four years studying books the third Wednesday evening of every month. To date we have 47 book titles under our belt (or on our bookshelf!) I don't know what happened to the 48th book? Anyway, this space will be dedicated to the reviewing of our book and maybe a word or two of the delicious dinner that our hostess has provided! (We really just go for the books!)

This month we read The Rock Orchard by Paula Wall, copyright 2005 printed by Washington Square Press.

It was a delightful book and we all loved the book, that does not always happen. The book is centered on the lives of a family of rich, independent, free thinking women of which you immediately admire and perhaps even covet!

The characters are clearly defined and as the plot thickens more characters are introduced. It does not, however, become cluttered with folks!

The story takes place in a small town. The main attraction is gossip and there is plenty to gossip about. In the end, all live happily ever after, although we go in circles getting there! I would definitely call this a romance novel. (Lest you worry that we divulge ourselves in this type of writing, we have also read The Grapes of Wrath, The Kite Runner, The Scarlet Letter, etc.)

We gave the book four pages our of five and have moved on to the next read. Why not read along with us as we discover the first works of Elizabeth Kostova in her new book, The Historian.

In case you are interested, we had a great chicken casserole, garlic bread, salad, and a luscious lemon dessert!

Until next month, happy reading!

Maggie Mae

Lou Ann Homan is a writer, teacher, and storyteller who lives in Angola, Indiana. She is available for writing seminars, storytelling, and speaking engagements. She can be contacted at locketoftime@aol.com. You can read more at www.louannhoman.com

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

VDay in Angola

It has been two months now that I began the project of organizing and directing The Vagina Monologues in my town. There have been countless hours of meetings, auditions, rehearsals, planning, and stepping out on the edge.

Tickets are now on sale and posters announcing this upcoming event are scattered all over the county. Wherever I go I am stopped, once, twice, no three times with questions about the event. Over a hundred tickets have been sold within the first 24 hours! I am expecting a sell out...groups of women are planning pot lucks, dinner parties around the event. I heard that the Red Hat Society will be there along with a group of teen age girls...as well as University students and the Methodist.

We have just begun. I feel honored and proud that my town in stepping out on the edge.

Come join us, Saturday evening, February 25th. Tickets can be reserved at the CAVA office or purchased at Rachael's Coffee House. Donations are $20 and all proceeds go to our local CAVA chapter and the national organization of VDay!


Lou Ann Homan is a writer, teacher, and storyteller who lives in Angola, Indiana. She is available for writing seminars, storytelling, and speaking engagements. She can be contacted at locketoftime@aol.com. You can read more at www.louannhoman.com

Monday, February 06, 2006

My heart belongs to Jonah...

This week end Aaron and Karen took a well deserved week end trip to Chicago. They had been planning for weeks and could hardly wait to board that train.

My job as Nannie was to be in charge of 16 month old Jonah. Now I must confess, really this was my first chance to have him to myself for a whole week end. I had dreams every night leading up to the event that I would go off and forget him or something else disastrous would happen. As it was, we had a wonderful week end. We spent time in town at the library and the coffee shop and even a little shopping in the downtown.

We played in the snow...read books, watched birds, danced and had serious talks, of course.

My house is not full of baby toys...I guess I'm just not into that....but never fear, I have plenty of colorful items...mardi gras beads, wine corks, prisms, a piano, musical instruments...and lots of books. Jonah was quite well entertained.

I cooked ahead and fed him the best I could find (alright he wasn't crazy about baked salmon so I did bring out the peanut butter on that meal!) but he humored me well with all my other good intentions. So between bubble baths and rocking to sleep, it was a wonderful week end.

I almost cried when his mommy and daddy took him home.

Almost.


Lou Ann Homan is a writer, teacher, and storyteller who lives in Angola, Indiana. She is available for writing seminars, storytelling, and speaking engagements. She can be contacted at locketoftime@aol.com. You can read more at www.louannhoman.com

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Our Town

Last night the Community Center was full of folks attending a meeting saving, restoring, developing our Historic downtown.

The room was full of business owners, city council members, and residents like myself.

The air was electric as we all gave visions of what we wanted to see happen within five years...art galleries, a truck bypass, more parking, our retail stores filled, park benches, landscaping.

Single words flew like pelting rain...colorful, friendly, quaint, historic, cultural.

It was an inviting and engaging evening. Needless to say I added several comments of my own (imagine that!) Among the many comments I made, one was a quest...that all of us at that meeting that are so concerned about preserving and restoring our downtown practice what we preach. We need to be the ones at the movie theatres, the coffeeshop, strolling the city streets. I already practice what I preach.

So, come on over to Angola, we have a long way to go, but we are here and want to show you the remnants of small town, USA.

Lou Ann Homan is a writer, teacher, and storyteller who
lives in Angola, Indiana. She is available for writing seminars, storytelling, and speaking engagements. She can be contacted at locketoftime@aol.com. You can read more at www.louannhoman.com

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