*Hope*Is

The Artistic Mind: Staying Creative through Depression By Da vid (Wolverton) Farland Depression is a common ailment.  At one time or another, the average person suffers through at least one episode of major depression in their lives.   Among writers, according to one article in the Scientific American, rates of depression may be as much as ten times higher than in normal populations, the rate of suicide as much as 18 times higher.   So what can you do about it?  I’m not a doctor.  I’m just a writer who has suffered through depression a number of times in my life.  It runs in my family.  Both my father and my grandfather attempted suicide on multiple occasions. You should know that there are several types of depression, and each needs to be treated differently.  I suffered with bipolar disorder as a teen and into my early twenties.  By my mid-twenties it went away, but in my early thirties I began to suffer from seasonal affe...

David Wolverton who has published under both his pen name David Farland , has penned nearly fifty science fiction and  children's books. Dave has been a Judge for one of the world’s largest writing contest, WRITERS OF THE FUTURE ! F iction and fantasy novels for both adults and yound adults. David Farland will be guest blogging here on Oct 28th ! Ask him anything...This blog is specially designed toward the artistic mind and depression, anxiety, bipolar, borderline personality disorder.... Questions about WRITING, ACTING, SCREENPLAY'S anything goes. If you miss this chance, you will regret it. !!!!! Hit me up with a message on my gmail. hopeacrenshaw@gmail.com. All questions are anoymous. You can post your questions on my last blog and don't leave a signature. Please do this. Creative minds can be confusing and we are not alone . This blog is to let us artistic types to know we are not alone. That goes for Writers, Actors, Artist's, Designers, Musicians etc. P...

I want to thank all that served before,and all that will protect our country in the future....   Especially those that gave their lives.    My hero- Marine Lance Cpl. Scott E. Dougherty   Died July 6, 2004 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom My nephew, Scott Dougherty, 20 of Bradenton, Fl. was killed July 6,2004, when his Humvee struck a tank mine in Anbar province, Iraq. His Humvee ran over a tank mine, flipped over a ravine and exploded. He was a proud Marine in the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He was fun loving kid with a great sense of humor. He always knew how to make everybody smile. He wasn’t a big guy but he made up for with physical training & a great attitude. He joined ROTC in high school and enlisted in the Marines in 2002 after graduating. He was just two days out of combat training when he was deployed to Iraq for five months. He was three months i...

       The first class I went to was Michigan Actors Studio in Ferndale. We worked on theater games and were each given a monologue to work on for the "semester" and we had the same monologue every week. This was Acting 1 (I think, beginners class) and since i've had some experience before this, I wasn't as happy because I was past this point. I do wish we were able to pick our own monologues. The teacher was a great guy and I think they just need to tweek that class alittle bit. I would have loved some feedback. Here, It is all about who teaches your class and they do have great teachers. You just have to find the right one. My friend took the second class at MAS and it was more geared toward commercials and industrial videos. That is great because if we lose the incentive, this is what is going to pay our bills as actors.  My second class that I am currently taking is at The Actors Workshop in Royal Oak and I love it. We do relaxation technique...

Once again i am posting a note from a friend and not an original work. My brain is going to explode so If you don't like it, go jump off a building! This is a very comprehensive list of acting schools in Michigan and a few out of town. If you want to act, you need training. Even the most polished actors continually hone their craft. How else do you think they got so good? By Donavan Darius Many people have asked me how to get into acting. One step is to learn the craft of . . . wait for it . . . acting. Below is a list of acting schools and workshops. I will only leave notes for classes that I have attended and can speak from experience on. My comments are opinions based on my experience there. My personal philosophy is that everyone has something you can learn from. Find the school that is right for you and go with it. There are no favorites here, simply a list of resources. Some of those listed also offer Voice Lessons and childrens acting. Also note: Most Universit...

Courtesy of The Whitney            If you've ever been on set, it's hurry up and wait. That is how the beginning to our evening started. I rushed, he waited and the roads were messy but we made it to the Whitney where the wrap party was being held. Low and behold we find a line of twenty cars or more waiting for the valet. The wind was biting and neither one of us really wanted to get out and walk the block or so to the entrance. So we waited, and waited. I really wanted one of THE GHOST BAR's famous martini's. Courtesy of The Whitney-Ghost Bar          One of the doors opened on the white stretch limo basically "parked" in front of us and who walked out to get to the ATM? Shaun Majumdar. As he picked his way through the snow, we just hoped we weren't going to have to jump out and save him from getting mugged.  Moi and Shaun Majumdar       As he yelled to his buddies in the car,...