Natalie Leonard

1.  Have you ever had a transcendent experience?  If so, what happened?

The most transcendent experience of my life was meeting my daughter, Gates.  Seeing her for the very first time surpassed all my expectations and the immediate and all consuming love I felt was and still is incomparable.

2.  If you had to pick one sense and lose all others, what would it be?

I love to eat and would therefore have to say that taste is the sense I would want to keep BUT if you lose your sense of smell it seems your ability to truly taste would be greatly reduced so I'm not entirely sure this is a fair question. :(

3.  What is your favorite attribute in a person?

I wish my answer were more imaginative but honestly... it is all about the honesty.  Lying is so easy and it seems that many people take the easy way out these days.

4.  Describe your happiest accident.

Missing the deadline to submit applications to most colleges.  I never had any intention of attending Sam Houston State but when I missed the chance to pursue other schools, they ended up being the easiest route to getting an education.  At Sam, I made life long friends and met my love (who, if you refer to question #1, was instrumental in my transcendent experience:) ).  I wouldn't trade that time at SHSU for anything in the world.  Some may say that it was good old fashioned procrastination rather than an accident that led me there but I will say that I am thankful that I accidentally procrastinated. :)

5.  If you had to choose one personal object to leave behind when you are gone, what would it be?

There isn't much that I have of any real value or importance but I think I would want my engagement and wedding rings to be left for Gates.  They are a symbol of the love that created her and it's endurance.  I would want her to always have a reminder of that.

Lauren Hunt

1.  Have you ever had a transcendent experience?  If so, what happened?

I once saw 30 seconds into the future for a period of 5 minutes. It was one of the strangest experiences of my life. I was about 12 and was sitting in the waiting room of my small-time family dentist looking out the window. In my mind I imagined a truck pulling into the parking lot and one of my former camp councilors getting out. I was in shocked when just a short time later that very thing happened. But it didn’t stop there. As the truck was parked and the camp councilor was exiting, in my mind I saw another truck pull next to the truck and the councilor get out of that truck too. Impossible, right? Well, imagine my shock when another truck pulled into the parking lot and the councilor got out of that truck too! (Actually, it turned out that the second councilor was the real one and the first was his twin that I didn’t know existed.) The experience was overwhelming and frightening, but it really has made me a much more open-minded person when it comes to the paranormal. After that day I knew that there were things in this world that go beyond the realm of explanation. I have never had another experience like I did that day.

2.  If you had to pick one sense and lose all others, what would it be?

I suppose I would pick hearing as music has always been an extremely important part of my life. Also, I need to be able to communicate with people and I know would be WAY too lazy to learn ASL or how to read lips.

3. What is your favorite attribute in a person?

Understanding. The world is a big place and people are bound to disagree on many points. I think it is important to listen to all sides and understand where they are coming from. Different views makes the world a much more interesting and rich place.

4.  Describe your happiest accident.

In about the spring of 1998 I stumbled into a MSN chat room on a whim. There I met a young man my age and we began chatting and talking on the phone. We would lose touch every couple of years and then pick up again where we left off. In 2008 we finally met in person after almost 11 years of long distance romance and have barely left each other’s side ever-since.

5. If you had to choose one personal object to leave behind when you are gone, what would it be?

I am stumped on this one. I don’t have any personal items that I feel deeply connected to. I guess I would choose a necklace that was my grandmothers because it reminds me of her.



Zelda Knapp

1.  Have you ever had a transcendent experience?  If so, what happened?


I've had some pretty intense experiences in the audience at a play, but am not sure that counts as transcendent. However, if it does, I remember one night in particular - it was the first performance of the John Doyle-directed revival of Company after the Tony Awards. The show had won for Best Revival, but Raul Esparza (who had been the favorite to win) had not won for Best Actor, and the producers had announced the show was closing in two weeks. On an impulse, after work I went to the box office to see if I could snag a student rush ticket to the show - I met several others there who had done the same thing, also on an impulse. Before the doors opened to let us in to the theatre, I could hear applause within. That night in the theatre, there was a feeling of cameraderie and support in the audience - we had most of us come to say "We are here for you. We wish you would stay longer," and to Raul especially, "We think you should have won." Near the end of the show, when he finished singing "Being Alive," the audience response was immediate and intense - we were roaring into applause, and it did not taper and it did not stop - for a full minute we clapped like that, and then - as one - we all stood up. This was my first time being part of a standing ovation that occurred during the show, and I think it was the first time for the cast as well - Raul Esparza was visibly taken aback, and then he started sobbing. Never before, and never since, have I felt as in tune, as connected, with an entire room full of strangers.

2.  If you had to pick one sense and lose all others, what would it be?

This one kills me, as the loss of any breaks my heart. But I think perhaps sight - I'm a very visual person, I save pictures in my memory of past events, of art, of people - and I'd hate to lose that faculty.

3.  What is your favorite attribute in a person?

Integrity. I think it encompasses a lot of other attributes as well - like honesty, self-awareness, intelligence, loyalty, consistency - Integrity - someone who is fully him/herself, without contradiction or apology.

4.  Describe your happiest accident.

Not exactly an accident, but - on a school assignment, several people from my class were at DIA, exploring the roof exhibit - Judy, one of my classmates, and I discovered that the cyllindrical glass enclosure on the wooden deck had a hidden door that rotated open. We both crept in and lay on the deck in the sun, like cats on a summer day. We stayed there for maybe two hours, just talking, and eventually ended up going back to my dorm and watching Talented Mr. Ripley together and getting food. She's now one of my best and most important friends.

5.  If you had to choose one personal object to leave behind when you are gone, what would it be?

I don't want to leave! I would like to leave something good behind me - something I made, something that's worth something, something someone will care about. A book maybe. But you wanted a personal object. Perhaps one of my notebooks - I had these hard-bound notebooks that I would collect lyrics, poems, quotations, funny things people said, and postcards and pictures - I made twelve of them through high school and college, and still carry some of them with me in New York.

Stephen Gracia

1. Have you ever had a transcendent experience? If so, what happened?


I’ve had a few; sitting in the audience, listening to some one speak words I wrote for the first time (I may have taken leave of my physical form), and the night there was a Mayan temple in my shower (a story for another time) leap to mind, but I would say my first transcendent moment was my first time seeing live music on my own. It was Suicidal Tendencies at L’Amours, (an old Brooklyn Rock club), I was 16 and right up against the stage, surrounded by what seemed like every Brooklyn Punk and Metalhead-- all older, bigger, and drunker than me. The lights dimmed, feedback filled the room, and Mike Muir said: “First off-let's take it from the start; Straight out, can't change what's in my heart; No one-can tear my beliefs apart….”

I knew right then that my life would be filled with small, filthy clubs and Hardcore Punk.




2. If you had to pick one sense and lose all others, what would it be?


I’ve thought about this a lot, since I have a family history of blindness, and the fact that I may lose a sense is a very real concern.

I would say that the one sense I couldn’t do without is hearing. The thought of never experiencing music is terrifying.

I could make due as a sightless writer. Milton did it. And he didn’t have a Mac with voice recognition software. He probably just had an urchin with a quill pen.




3. What is your favorite attribute in a person?


A sense of humor. Hanging around me can get a bit tiresome, as I am constantly making up stories, songs, and noises, not to mention grabbing props, doing shtick, and commenting on Every. Single. Thing that goes on around me. If you don’t find at least some of that funny, our friendship just isn’t going to last. I love people who can make me laugh, who are natural storytellers, and who can mercilessly attack my own personal foibles. 




4. Describe your happiest accident.


I sometimes think that everything I’ve ever written is a “happy accident” as I’ve never sat down to write with anything approaching an outline. I put two people in a room and let them talk and eventually, something psychotic happens. Often, it takes me completely by surprise.




5. If you had to choose one personal object to leave behind when you are gone, what would it be? 


The photo of a 14 year old me hanging out backstage with Poison’s Brett Michaels. It’s goofy as hell and not at all Punk Rock, and it’s impossible to look at it without laughing hysterically. 

George Hirst

1.  Have you ever had a transcendent experience?  If so, what happened?

watching a scene I wrote transformed by the improv of the players involved.  I love good writing, and I love my writing (may I be blessed with the two converging with greater frequency) but this was something special - for all it was a dark and terrible scene, I sat mesmerized.  I started that night with a pocket full of seeds; I ended it with a garden.

2.  If you had to pick one sense and lose all others, what would it be?

whichever one is appropriate to the moment - surrounded by beauty, let me see; in a concert hall let me hear.  At dinner let me taste, and in love, let me touch.  The experience may not be as complete to my mind now, but to experience your everything as the one thing I should think would be quite different.  Later on, let me look or listen or taste or touch and know what I might've missed - again, one at a time.

3.  What is your favorite attribute in a person?

humanity.  We spend so much time in our lives dedicated to the rote and the mechanistic, to processes that satisfy other processes, all of which have exactly zero to do with our humanity.  Those who embrace their humanity and create for no more reason than it's what they Must Do, are truly special.

4.  Describe your happiest accident.

A steak pan sauce I once made with a Special Reserve bottle of Cognac.  Trust me, it had religion.

5.  If you had to choose one personal object to leave behind when you are gone, what would it be?

God willing someday I'll be published - after that day, it'll likely be my stories.  Until then, I don't have terribly personal objects, so I'll check that 'organ donor' card, and hope someone can get some miles out of what I leave behind... though you might want to pass on my liver; just sayin'...

Eric Kritzler

1. Have you ever had a transcendent experience?  If so, what happened?

a.       Not sure about this one. I had an out of body experience once when I was playing in a Jazz Band competition in Niagara Falls, It was hot and I was playing tenor sax. At one point I completely stopped thinking about what I was doing and started to see myself playing detached from actually thinking about the music. I marveled at how I could do that and sound good and then I drew further and saw myself and the band from above. I wondered how I would get back to myself for a moment and the song ended, and I lingered. I actually thought I might be dying but I shook my body and all was back to normal. Never had that happen again.

b.      As for actual transcendence, I often feel life is VERY karmic and see it happen all around me often. I do good things for others because it makes me feel good (which is good-selfish) and in turn I feel that the universe does good things for me. I am reminded how lucky I am everyday and sometimes it is a little overwhelming. I remember once I went to go walk my dog, Jake, one night and it was a 65 deg night, clear and beautiful. I sat down on my back stoop, he sat next to me pressed tightly and I had an overwhelming sense of how lucky I am to be alive, and there at that moment.  

2. If you had to pick one sense and lose all others, what would it be?

a.       I would have to pick smell as although it would highly impact taste, it would be the least intrusive of senses to lose. Sight is so important, Hearing is losing things I love, Touch is critical for my mental and physical health, Taste is crucial to enjoyment of food (even if I lose smell).

3. What is your favorite attribute in a person?

a.       Besides a smoking hot body, you mean? LOL. That is a tossup between sense of humor and desire for truth and knowledge. Honesty is really up there as well.

4. Describe your happiest accident.

a.       I suppose that many of the things that got me to where I am were accidents in their own right. Surely, Luck favors the prepared and I’ve been preparing for the last 40 yrs, but being here right now, typing this email is my happiest accident.

5. If you had to choose one personal object to leave behind when you are gone, what would it be?

a.       If you were to ask me this question 10 yrs ago, I’d say it was my old Porsche 914 as it defined me in many ways. However, since the birth of my daughters, Although they are not objects, they are what I am most proud to leave behind. Cliché? Yes, but it is so true. Each one is a wonderful human being.

Eric Hunt

1. Have you ever had a transcendent experience?  If so, what happened?


i used to have them all the all the time.  at least those kinds of moments where i felt a deep connection to life and the universe as a whole.  when i first moved to the city and had little to no money and wasn't getting work, i'd go on many artist's dates, as they are referred to in the book the artist's way(although i hadn't read it yet), and these solo trips around the city would often find me having to stop and sit down or prop myself up against a wall while i blissed out.  it was like a drug.  maybe i was just starving.  money was pretty tight.  i don't have those as often these days, or maybe i do and, like any drug, the effect begins to wear off as you grow accustomed to it.  or maybe im talking about something else entirely.  semantics.




2.  If you had to pick one sense and lose all others, what would it be?


hearing.  but does losing one's sense of touch mean you can't do things like pick up a glass or open a door or brush your teeth?  maybe i'm approaching the question too pragmatically.




3.  What is your favorite attribute in a person?


self-awareness.  when someone understands who they are and how their actions can affect others, they tend to be more honest and open minded and just decent, overall.  or they are complete assholes, but know it.  which i appreciate because then i can dislike them and not feel guilty about it.




4.  Describe your happiest accident.


meeting my fiance.  she was visiting my sister.  i was home working.  we flirted when they stopped by the house before going out.  and if my sister hadn't come down sick, i might have never seen my future wife again.  but she did get sick, and keely had time to kill in a big city all by herself, so i spent the afternoon with her applying my charms.  we ended up spending most of the rest of her week in town together, she eventually moved to nyc, and we are getting married in a few months.  being a man over thirty who spent a year living with his two sisters and three cats, this happy accident probably saved me from a life of animal hoarding and muttered conversations with myself on the subway.




5.  If you had to choose one personal object to leave behind when you are gone, what would it be? 


i have no idea.  there isn't really a physical object that i have given that sort of power or meaning.  i think i gave up any sort of deep spiritual connection with any of my belongings after a fire destroyed everything i owned shortly after moving to nyc.  there were things lost i could never replace, in particular tape recordings of my grandfather reading me bedtime stories like he did so often and well too.  but losing the artifact did nothing to diminish my memories of those actual times. maybe without the tapes, i hold onto them even tighter.  i certainly replay them more, which enhances their power.  so yeah, i can't think of anything i'd leave behind...besides a trail of stories, fond memories and times i'd share with those i've known.

Jim Swimm

1.  Have you ever had a transcendent experience?  If so, what happened?

~ This is probably not the type of answer you're looking for, but...the closest to 'transcendent' experience I've ever had was the funeral for my friend, Earnest Straughter, while I was in college. Being amongst hundreds of people, sharing that sadness and mourning, escalated my grief to such a level that I nearly lost consciousness.  It was awful to go through but thoroughly cathartic.

2.  If you had to pick one sense and lose all others, what would it be?

~ Sight.  While the thought of living in a world with no sound or taste is absolutely miserable to me, I think living sightless would be far more difficult and an overwhelming challenge.

3.  What is your favorite attribute in a person?

~ I'm not really into picking a 'favorite' anything, for something like human attributes especially.  There are so many wonderful characteristics mixed up into a unique blend in all of us.  Picking one above all others just seems...pointless.

4.  Describe your happiest accident.

~ I don't know if it counts as an 'accident' but I sure wasn't looking to fall in love so deeply with my dog, Louis, on the day I found him.  I wandered into a pet store, held him for five minutes, and instantly decided I would fall over dead on the spot if he didn't come home with me that very day.  And I couldn't be happier that it happened.

5.  If you had to choose one personal object to leave behind when you are gone, what would it be?

~ Honey...if I'm gone, then what the hell do I care what object is left laying around without me?  Of course, I don't give much of a damn about 'objects' while I'm still here, so I guess I would say that, wouldn't I?

* Please forgive the heavy use of the single-quotation marks.  I don't know 'what' got into me.

Lindsay Sadowski

HEY!!!! I cannnot believe I forgot to interview you...again. Will you do homework for me? Can u text me answers to questions I text you tomorrow? Thank you for a wonderful weekend. Xo


lol I knooooow!!!! Yes I can


Yay!!! 


Hello there lovely. Question one: have you ever had a transcendental experience. If so, describe it. :) 


I don't know if I ever had a transcendental experience but I can say If I did ever have one I would hope its one I can learn something from. 




Ooo good answer. 2: if you had to pick one sense and lose all others what would it be? 


I'm torn between sight and touch. But sight def. takes the win. I'm an artist i love the beauty of the world and without that I'd probably go crazy. 




Awesome. Lindz ur an eloquent texter. 3: what is your favorite attribute in a person? 


Honesty. It's a hard attribute to find actually. People tend to not be true to others and themselves which is frustrating. 




Yep. I'm with ya. We are so similar. 4: describe your happiest accident. 


I do believe everything happens for a reason. I wouldn't be with my boyfriend Vinny of almost 5 yrs now if the series of events before him hadn't had happened. There's more... 


Good keep typing. :) 


So my happiest accident would have to be that I am happy to be with who I am with now and the "accidents" were worth every moment and I don't take them back. 




Nice Lindsay. 5: if you had to choose one personal object to leave behind when you are gone, what would it be? 


I suppose if all other traces of my being were wiped away I would want something beautiful left if only one. So I'd have to choose an artwork of mine. 




YES!!! Perfect. I love your answers Lindz and I love you. I hope you have a good week. Give Vinny a hug. 

Anonymous

1.  Have you ever had a transcendent experience?  If so, what happened?

no.

2.  If you had to pick one sense and lose all others, what would it be?

as much as I love music, i'd hate to lose sight.

3.  What is your favorite attribute in a person?

self deprecation (self defecation) It displays a lot of other attributes.

4.  Describe your happiest accident.

I was the first guy to put some chocolate in some peanut butter....and a new junk food was born....

5.  If you had to choose one personal object to leave behind when you are gone, what would it be? 

Nothing. We've polluted this planet with WAY too much material shit already.

Elizabeth Dallas Vela

1.  Have you ever had a transcendent experience?  If so, what happened? 


I've had several. Some have been conversations with God when I'd actually hear his voice in my head. Once I was driving on the freeway and I heard a voice that spoke clearly, saying "Turn around and look behind you." Saved me from an accident.




2.  If you had to pick one sense and lose all others, what would it be?


Vision. But I would really miss my sense of touch (hugs)and hearing (I love you's, Christmas carols, my children singing, compliments, babie's sounds...)




3.  What is your favorite attribute in a person?


Fairness. I can't tell you how many times in my life I've been completely obsessed about something that was unfair, and tried without success to get the person to right his wrong. 




4.  Describe your happiest accident.


My son. 




5.  If you had to choose one personal object to leave behind when you are gone, what would it be? 


My silverware. It represents something I thought I'd be when I grew up (elegant). The time for elegance is long past.  It would be a beautiful reminder of shared holidays for my kids. 

Shelly Watson-Hild

1.  Have you ever had a transcendent experience?  If so, what happened?

I don’t even know what that is! If it’s an “outer body” or “religious epiphany” type thing, it hasn’t happened as of yet but I’m certainly open to it!

2.  If you had to pick one sense and lose all others, what would it be?

Sound. I need to hear and be heard!

3.  What is your favorite attribute in a person?

Hands down integrity.

4.  Describe your happiest accident.

I had a dream I was pregnant, took 3 tests they came out negative, but I was still convinced I’d be a mother some how. The next day I got a call from the NE Boston Terrier Rescue saying they had a baby girl for me to adopt. It was not planned but I knew it was meant to be! 

5.  If you had to choose one personal object to leave behind when you are gone, what would it be?

My wedding ring. I won’t need it after I’m gone because my husband lives in my soul forever. It would be a reminder to those who are convinced there is no one out there for them. There is. Be open to love just don’t expect it.

Luke Leonard

1.  Have you ever had a transcendent experience?  

Today.  


If so, what happened?  


I adopted an alter ego.

2.  If you had to pick one sense and lose all others, what would it be?

The Sixth Sense.

3.  What is your favorite attribute in a person?  

Discipline.

4.  Describe your happiest accident.  

Having a splinter go under my thumbnail all the way up to my knuckle while "bear crawling" over a telephone pole during a football drill.  My thumb got infected and the knuckle swelled with puss.  For months I would sterilize a needle by burning the tip with a match, then poke a hole in my skin to push all of the puss out.  Eventually, tiny splinters began to surface.  It was quite fascinating and entertaining.

Honestly, I don't know.  I love happy accidents and look for them when making theatre.  (The answers to these questions will surely change.)  I experience and keep an eye out for happy accidents all of the time.

Maybe my happiest accident to date was attending the MFA Directing program at the University of Texas at Austin.  I applied on a whim thinking for sure they wouldn't accept me since they only take one or two directors per year, so I feel it was sort of accidental.  It turned out to be an experience that surpassed my expectations and fulfilled some wild dreams.

5.  If you had to choose one personal object to leave behind when you are gone, what would it be?  

Option 1) An archive of my work.  Option 2) My boots.  My daughter keeps saying that she wants a pair.  Option 3) A necklace my mother gave to me that reads, "Be the change you want to see in the world."  Option 4) A seed to plant from the more than 400 year old majestic oak tree that my great-grandfather used to climb when he was a boy.

Jacob Rogers

1.  Have you ever had a transcendent experience?  If so, what happened?


A recent transcendent experience? Well, my grandmother Leota just survived an unexpected and 10 day tie-up in her bowels. Being that she is 93, we (the family) were told many things... including not to expect much. She's not at home & still recovering; I'm very happy she's still with us.




2.  If you had to pick one sense and lose all others, what would it be?


The sense of sight. It provides a lot of info the way current events, and something about those we're sharing them with...




3.  What is your favorite attribute in a person?


Fearlessness is a good attribute. Explains for some the tendency to take risks & make sacrifices (or so I'm told).




4.  Describe your happiest accident.


Well, there was a "happy accident" for me in high school. Driving an old car I had to a friend's house one night, then backing into another person's car while trying to park with a fogged rear windshield. The driver of the car was upset at first; but we settled the damage and have been good friends ever since.




5.  If you had to choose one personal object to leave behind when you are gone, what would it be?


Perhaps such a personal object would be a letter or a postcard to a certain someone. Not sure which communication or important person just now, but exchanges like that have always intrigued me.

Karie Hunt

1. Have you ever had a transcendent experience? If so, what happened?

I don't know that I have. I look forward to one in the future!


2. If you had to pick one sense and lose all others, what would it be?

Sight. As much as I like to communicate with my voice, I take in so much information with my eyes. I would have a hard time going from being able to see all the amazing things in this world, to not being able to see anything. Communication, of course, would be a lot harder, but I feel confident that I could learn new ways to communicate. Losing my sight, I wouldn't even know where to begin getting past that.


3. What is your favorite attribute in a person?

Warmth. Warmth relaxes me and makes me feel like everything is going to be ok. I find real warmth in a person is something that is hard for people to fake. Anyone can be funny and charming, but not everyone can make you feel at home just being around them.


4. Describe your happiest accident.

I would have to say running into my now fiance, Louis, at a mutual friends party. There are so many small decisions that led to that night and moment, and my life is forever changed. It's more complete now.


5. If you had to choose one personal object to leave behind when you are gone, what would it be?

My teddy bear Cookie. It's one of the few constant items I have had with me my whole life, and I like to think it represents my personality: fun loving and always there if you need a hug. She is a little worn in, but all those wears are from times she was hugged and loved. All my wrinkles come from happy memories.