Random Acts Founder and supportive friends
How cool are these cats? Cathrine Sevenau, the brilliant woman of wit, wisdom, rhythm, and rhyme, is the reason Random Acts exists. She’s a powerhouse of feathers, able to get things done with the most delicate and diplomatic of touches. She’s direct, without being pushy; I guess I’d call that “being clear.” I admire her grace, dignity, humor, sensitivity, creativity, and her femininity. On her left is Chris Giovacchini – the sound-man. He often reads in Spanish, and his accent is sensational. I could listen to him read the phone book in Spanish and be thoroughly entertained. David, to Catherine’s right, is keeper of the stopwatch, bell-ringer, and story teller. His stories often have a high-wire quality to them, where I sit up in my seat marveling at his skill in navigating difficult subjects such as stealing, sex, and male stereotypes.
I’ve talked about Random Acts on several occasions here on this blog. It’s held the second Saturday of every month at our local bookstore — Readers’ Books. Basically, it’s Open Mic Night. Five dollars gets you in the door, and, if you care to, you can throw your name in the hat and get five minutes at the microphone to do with as you wish—sing a song, play an instrument, tell a joke, recite poetry, read prose, perform a skit, etc. Pretty much almost anything goes as long as you’re done in five minutes. It’s a great time, and the audiences have been engaged and wonderfully appreciative.
This last Saturday, Random Acts celebrated its first year. Woohoo Random Acts! Year one has been a terrific success; the number of participants is growing and the talent is exceptional. A special treat on Saturday was Andy playing guitar and singing a couple of lullabies from his childhood. Andy owns Readers’ Books. There were twenty performers on Saturday, each with their own truly unique style. I contributed a reading of last week’s blog post, “The Beast.” Here are a couple of pictures I took while I was at the podium:
Audience to my right with Catherine (front left) and Andy (standing).
Partial audience to my left.
Did I mention that it was a pot-luck? Lots of delish food and drink arrived.
Have a great week. Actually, have a great two weeks; I’m taking next Friday off. I’ll look forward to posting on September 30th. It’s sure to feel like autumn by then, shouldn’t it? Other than the days growing shorter and a few leaves changing color, I haven’t seen much of Fall yet. Have you?