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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- “I don’t represent anything.” — Liz Phair
- “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- “Some syllables are swords.” — Metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan
- “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- “All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.” — Charlie Chaplin
- “As a cinematographer, I was always attracted to stories that have the potential to be told with as few words as possible.” — Reed Morano
- “Even though I’m writing about very dark material, it still feels like an escape hatch.” — Olivia Laing
- “It’s just one of the mysteries of filmmaking that sometimes you do something that you don’t even think it’s important, then it turns out to be.” — Lili Horvát
- “Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella
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- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- Mike Molloy on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
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- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- Scott Abraham on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- Mike Molloy on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on March 2026 Snapshots
- sheila on “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- Jessie on March 2026 Snapshots
- Helen Erwin Schinske on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- Maddy on “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- sheila on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- Helen Erwin Schinske on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- Joseph Pedulla on Susan Hayward Sleeps Raw
- sheila on “For I am of the seed of the WELCH WOMAN and speak the truth from my heart.” — Christopher Smart
- P Nickel on “The realization of ignorance is the first act of knowing.” — Jean Toomer
- Melissa Sutherland on “For I am of the seed of the WELCH WOMAN and speak the truth from my heart.” — Christopher Smart
- Bryce on The Books: “Nine Stories”- ‘The Laughing Man’ (J.D. Salinger)
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Tag Archives: friends
December 2025 Snapshots
The days are short but they feel very long. So much has happened in the last four months. I have not even begun to process it. Did I enjoy it? I think so! But I had no time to linger … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged animation, family, Frankenstein, friends, Japan, Joan Crawford, snapshots
7 Comments
November 2025 Snapshots
Started off November with a book signing event at the Barnes & Noble near my house in my home state. It was very meaningful for me because my friends could come, my family, my mother, my aunts and a couple … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged Emily Dickinson, family, Frankenstein, friends, Robert Kaplan, snapshots
5 Comments
October 2025 Snapshots
This fall was way too busy for me to write anything, anywhere. I spent three weeks in New York in October, a lot of back and forth, for screenings, meetings with friends, and then the Frankenstein New York premiere where … Continue reading
Posted in James Joyce, Personal
Tagged Emily Dickinson, Frankenstein, friends, Guillermo del Toro, nonfiction, poetry, Robert Kaplan, sci-fi, snapshots, Ulysses
11 Comments
A conversation about improvisation with a familiar figure round these parts
There’s a podcast called “Yes, Also”, hosted by Suzi Barrett, an improviser and teacher at Upright Citizens Brigade. In the podcast, she interviews people who come from improv, Second City alum, Improv Olympic alum (RIP), and etc. I was in … Continue reading
“If you feel blocked, do not turn to others, but look inside, in silence, for the enemy of your progress.” — Jeff Buckley
I saw him just before Grace was released. The groundswell had started, which was why we were there. He basically hit the following month. We saw him in the moment before. I will never EVER forget that night. Jeff Buckley … Continue reading
Today, the Sheila Variations turns 23.
I don’t even know what to say. And now I will proceed to say some shit. The above pic of me – taken by Michael – graced the top of my original blog, when I set it up 23 years … Continue reading
Posted in On This Day, Personal
Tagged Block Island, Cary Grant, Croatia, Dean Stockwell, Elvis Presley, family, friends, Hope, Humphrey Bogart, Iran, Ireland, Jafar Panahi, Joanna Hogg, July and Half of August, Martin Scorsese, Memphis, politics, Raging Bull, September 11, Supernatural, Tilda Swinton, war
127 Comments
September 2025 Snapshots
Attended some of the press screenings at the New York Film Festival. I haven’t been in a couple of years, for various reasons, and it’s been so sad for me. I loved getting up in the morning and heading to … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged Alexander Hamilton, Elvis Presley, family, Frankenstein, friends, Gena Rowlands, John Cassavetes, Memphis, Paul Thomas Anderson, Sam Shaw, snapshots
2 Comments
“I grew up believing that I was fundamentally powerless.” — Thom Yorke
It’s his birthday today. My associative memories involving Radiohead are a little bit too intense and specific, and so I find it difficult to listen to them anymore. Some music is like that. It’s so associated with something specific you … Continue reading
August 2025 Snapshots
What a month. Old and new friends and also new televisions. New York. Birthday parties and grown-up parties. Authoritarianism. I have so much more free time since my “obligations” to the Frankenstein book ended in July. Work on the book … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged Elvis Presley, essays, family, fiction, friends, Lord Byron, snapshots
2 Comments
Maps and letters and, finally, the dreaded white longjohns
Another meetup with Antonio, my boyfriend from long ago. It’s been so fun and something I couldn’t have seen happening for years. What’s been cool is it affirms why the whole thing happened in the first place: we are friends. … Continue reading