love in the mail from Scotland!

"Oh, my! JinHi did get to go to the Festival Fringe after all??"

Yes, she did! Indomitable as ever, not even a recent round of chemo treatments could stop her! She is a force of nature, she is! This is her, on the stage for her last performance of her one-woman show. I'm so glad she has had a great run there, and I am so proud to have been a kickstarter supporter for that travel.

"Oh, my! Is that the postcard from the Fringe???"

Yes, yes it is! Some of those sites have been posted on fb by her and her entourage, but others have not. What a perfect choice to share a bit of the trip with me! I've already sent her a message to let her know it's arrived, but I have a big hug waiting for the next time I see her!!!

"Oh, my! And she even wrote you a personal message???"

Yes, yes, she did! "We couldn't be here without you!" Isn't that marvelous? All I can say is: Thank you, JinHi!  (smile!)

ciao, bella!!!

Toward the end of last year, I deleted my Kickstarter account.

It had been years since I'd spent any time on that site, so I ditched it.

Today, I opened a new account on Kickstarter... to help JinHi.

She has written an autobiographical play about her life with cancer, and the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, has accepted it at that prestigious event.

Wow.

She has an entourage who will travel with her: stage manager, producers, light tech, sound tech, prop master, director, wardrobe mistress, and all the others who help bring this creation to life on stage.

This won't be the first time I've helped to send a production across the Atlantic Ocean, but that time was well over a decade ago.

Here's the difference: I know JinHi Soucy Rand.

I've supported fundraisers for her benefit before.

The first time was for the very first 24-Hour Play Festival here in Savannah, a fundraiser promoted by her one-and-only brother, Chris Soucy.

I treated that as a birthday gift to myself, as it was in May (of 2011).

The next time was also promoted by her brother and was that same summer, as a way to bring new folks to the fledgling Muse Arts Warehouse performance space that JinHi created for this seaport and its artist community.

The third time was in 2015 and was also to raise funds for that space, with artists contributing their creations as repayment for the lives JinHi had enriched.

The fourth time was two years later, with her brother putting on a one-man show titled "Fears My Sister Taught Me". 

Now, it's all about JinHi.

The kickstarter campaign, started by Erin Muller, has a big ask of $15,000.

Erin created a special funding opportunity just for me: Pen Pals Plus.

That's because I wanted to get a postcard from Scotland, but also wanted a ticket to the premiere of the show here in Savannah next month.

Like magic, Erin made that opportunity happen!

So far, I am the first to make that choice.

Sure, a postcard for $77 sounds a bit steep... but it's for my bday68... and it's doing the traveling for me, to benefit my friend.

That's worth every penny. 

GH the girl travels to Tallahassee

At long last! "God Help The Girl" is in the United States and will holiday this very weekend in Tallahassee, Florida!
Of course I will be there.
I'll even be sporting that snazzy badge I made. Cool, right?
Oh, come on, I won't be getting my real enameled "CREW" pin until the DVD has been made and released. That's when I, and one hundred two other collaborators at this reward level - will receive our special packages with the DVD, the T-shirt, the enamel pin badge, and "the exclusively designed poster from the film". The actual date is rather up in the air, as it is dependent upon the date of the DVD's release in my area of the world.
So, until then, I shall make do.
That is, I shall make my own badge, based on the photo of the enamel pin badge created for the musical.
I am traveling with my bfe (that's best friend extraordinaire) and will be staying with my blue-sky cousin and her family. It is my ardent hope that we shall all go to the Saturday screening at the All Saints Cinema. With good fortune on my side, I hope we can view it one more time, early Sunday afternoon, at that same location, before the bfe and I head back to Savannah.
The Tallahassee Film Society is hosting the screenings. I have no idea how they came to do so. Perhaps the proximity of Florida State University, with its College of Motion Picture Arts held some sway over the booking? Perhaps Stuart Murdoch's collaborator Barry Mendel has ties to the area?
I honestly do not know.
I'm just elated that the musical will soon be close enough to set my toes tappin', while also allowing me time to visit with family I see too seldom.
I'm going to enjoy seeing my name in the credits, too.
I hope to get a screen shot of that.
If naught else, it will be quite wonderful to have my cousin, her family, my Aunt Linda, and my bfe sitting right there with me on a fine Saturday evening in the South, witnessing the work done with some of Mama's money.
I know she will be there, too.

sustainable love from hawaii

Using the vintage scarves which are her specialty,
the flowing beach blouse on the card
is one of the many designs by
Katrina Langford.
I am so fortunate to be counted as
one of the 133 supporters
of her kickstarter campaign to grow her business!

Today, in addition to the lovely card of thanks (ah... I can almost smell the salt air swirling the soft fabric!) and the stickers with the lovely clamshell-style design, I also received a versatile, three-way, garment bag! Not only is it made from green materials, it can be used as a traditional bag for hanging garments, or as an over the shoulder gym bag, or a pack-it-full-from-the-bottom duffel bag. Wow!
The fabric allows it to be folded, so it can be tucked into your luggage for travel. Then, when new clothes or other goods, like souvenirs for family and friends, are purchased on your trip, you have a safe place to keep them for the trip home.
The reason I am thinking of that is this: I am soon to travel to Italy! I intend to leave old clothing favorites there and bring new ones home... so maybe this garment bag will make the trip, too.
Or maybe I'll let it's first trip with me be a return to its island of origin. Yeah, I think that may be what I'll do! Now, to plan a trip to those Pacific isles!

Nick of time

The second time around, he was successful in obtaining the funds needed. Not much later, he was sending the book about time travel adventures of a teenager to his backers, including myself.
I am so proud of him.
Mahalo!

Science, time travel, history - this book has it all! AS my reward for backing his kickstarter project, I was to receive two copies of the book. Not only did I receive a copy - an autographed and nicely inscribed copy! - but the main branch of my local public library also received one to share with the young readers all around me. What a fabulous bonus!
Here is what he wrote to me in the book:
To Faustina -
For your "outside the box" thinking and your generous support of literacy.
Mahalo!
J. Lee Graham

And he sent me a bookmark, too!
(smile!)

help send the scots to scotland

What a cool idea for a school fundraiser: use of kickstarter to generate monies from outside sources! This is the first such project I've seen, and I'm very much in favor of supporting it.
Why?
Well, you know the tv show, "Glee"? Well, this school seems very much like that one. Highland Park High School, in Topeka, Kansas, is a public school. That means it doesn't have much in the way of funds for art and music and theatre and all of those creative things that make life go sizzle poom PAH!
Even so, Scott Kickhaefer has brought his group of talented thespians a long, long way, and I don't think they should be in Kansas anymore. Not when an Emerald City in Scotland beckons them to come forward to please the masses at ... the Edinburgh Fringe Festival!!!! What an honor to be one of the fifty-one high schools, in the entire United States, chosen for this privilege!!!
But I already mentioned that this troupe is in a public high school, right? So, not only does the school not have the funds to send them on this trip of a lifetime, their folks most likely don't have that kind of money, either. I recall when my (public high school) Spanish IV class was qualified to compete against other schools (mostly private) in Atlanta. We're only talking about an overnight trip, less than three hundred miles from home, but finding the money for it was a real challenge. Fortunately, we were able to hold enough bake sales and car washes to make it happen. (We even won 3rd place in the competition!!!)
A trip across the Atlantic Ocean, though, is going to take at least $15,000 - and that is the goal set on kickstarter. I'm providing them with $53, one buck for each year I've been enjoying theatre here on Earth.
What do I get? Well, the joy of helping some talented students take a giant step forward in a positive direction - and a video of their performance. You know, since I won't be able to cheer them on in person.
Go, Scots!!!!

venice, italy printmaking residency

My bff's favorite place is Venice, Italy. She and her family vacationed there several years ago, while her husband was working overseas. She and the children took advantage of his time there to visit never-met family in Germany, the treasures of The Louvre, and Harry Potter in England.
But her favorite place was Venice.
I have a fondness for Italy, too. I've been to the Tuscany region, with its rolling hills and lush greenery; Napoli and the isle of Capri, home of lemons as large as grapefruits and Limoncello; Roma, with its rich history and the building in the Forum which bears my name.
But I have never been to Venice.
Rachel Singel wants to travel from my neck of the woods to Italy to learn printmaking in Italy. Well, not exactly my neck of the woods - she's in Virginia. And, not exactly to learn printmaking - she already does that - but to participate in an international residency at the Venice Printmaking Studio.
To which she was invited.
That's a high honor.
She came to kickstarter to garner funds for the trip. All she is wanting is 50% of the daily residency fees for her four-week residency. She has already made that goal. I'm joining her current backers to help her cover more of her residency fees.
I can think of no better way for my meager $50 donation to travel to Italy. In return, I receive her thanks - and a book that she will make in Venice.
Motto bene!