Friday, March 27, 2009
DINAH: Finding Her in Other People
For my observations, I chose to observe Erin Boettcher. I chose her mainly because she has the same element of clumsiness I find in Dinah.
I am with Erin throughout most of the day. Although we only share Theatre class, I often ride the bus with her, hang with her during break and lunch, as well as after school. However the time I most actively observed her was after she performed her I.P. and was discussing with the audience. Although she wasn't outwardly clumsy in this moment, she had the feeling of awkwardness mixed with an inner grace that I really want to portray as Dinah having.
One thing I noticed about Erin is her long strides. This is because of her long legs, and while I do not have long legs myself, Dinah does. She takes long strides that are graceful in themselves, but once interrupted become sharp and clumsy. For example should Erin drop a piece of paper from her purse or something, she is able to quickly pull the breaks on her advance. However, the movements that follow are equally as jagged and awkward.
Another habit Erin has that I imagine Dinah having would be her constant fiddling with something in her hands. As a hairdresser, her hands are her only source of income. She does a lot of working with them and hence, when she's NOT working, she is constantly picking up something and messing with it while she talks. Whether it be a piece of paper, a pen, or even just some random thing she found on the flooor, Dinah experiences the constant need to keep her fingers occupied.
With this being said, Erin also tends to fidget. I don't see Dinah as much of a fidgetor, except if she gets excited, in which case she gets a case of the wiggles and does not stop moving. Her husband finds this just adorable, however it has a been a blessing and a curse for her all her life. When she is about to do something important and exciting, like graduate, Dinah is the girl fidgeting in her seat or messing with her hair.
I am with Erin throughout most of the day. Although we only share Theatre class, I often ride the bus with her, hang with her during break and lunch, as well as after school. However the time I most actively observed her was after she performed her I.P. and was discussing with the audience. Although she wasn't outwardly clumsy in this moment, she had the feeling of awkwardness mixed with an inner grace that I really want to portray as Dinah having.
One thing I noticed about Erin is her long strides. This is because of her long legs, and while I do not have long legs myself, Dinah does. She takes long strides that are graceful in themselves, but once interrupted become sharp and clumsy. For example should Erin drop a piece of paper from her purse or something, she is able to quickly pull the breaks on her advance. However, the movements that follow are equally as jagged and awkward.
Another habit Erin has that I imagine Dinah having would be her constant fiddling with something in her hands. As a hairdresser, her hands are her only source of income. She does a lot of working with them and hence, when she's NOT working, she is constantly picking up something and messing with it while she talks. Whether it be a piece of paper, a pen, or even just some random thing she found on the flooor, Dinah experiences the constant need to keep her fingers occupied.
With this being said, Erin also tends to fidget. I don't see Dinah as much of a fidgetor, except if she gets excited, in which case she gets a case of the wiggles and does not stop moving. Her husband finds this just adorable, however it has a been a blessing and a curse for her all her life. When she is about to do something important and exciting, like graduate, Dinah is the girl fidgeting in her seat or messing with her hair.
DINAH AND CHELSEA: the Venn Diagram
The things Dinah and I have in common are either trivial or life changing - we can both be very loud and attention grabbing, however for Dinah this is more of a mask of deeper roots of pain. We share a lack of a true father figure in our life, as well as a very strong mother figure, with whom we are very close. Physically Dinah is nearly the complete opposite - we share curls, but hers are far more forced.
DINAH: The Lifetime Story.
Dinah Robin Dinozzo was born on March 5th, 1975. She was born to a hippie mother and alcoholic father. Although her father wasn't abusive, he did get around quite a bit. When she asked her mother about it after her father left, she said he was just trying to ease his pain. It clearly upset Dinah's mother that she couldn't take the pain of losing his twin brother away from him. But after a while it became too much to bear and Dinah's father left when she was twelve years old, dying when she was fifteen.
Dinah grew up with her best friend Shawna next door. They were attached at the hip and always getting into mischeif as children. As they got older, that mischief turned into boys and parties. Once they entered high school, however, Shawna left Dinah to her own devices and the girls actually became strangers. While both girls were popular, Dinah was more of the girl next door. Shawna was a rising success and eventually left their small town for a private college on the East Coast, never to return. Dinah had another best friend throughout high school though, by the name of Hannah. They were similarly chronically small town girls. Hannah became pregnant at the age of seventeen and married the father, moving to a small town in the next state. While Dinah and Sandy were always friends, they didn't really become close until after their high school years.
The first boyfriend Dinah ever had was Brent Goodwan, when she was thirteen years old. The two went on and off in that way middle schoolers do until they were sixteen years old. He was in the grade above her, and he took her to prom his junior year. They were each other firsts for just about everything, and she still holds many good memories with him. However, when Dinah was sixteen years old and Brent was just seventeen, he was coming home from a party after one too many beers, and drove his car off the side of the bridge, drowning in the local river. Local police suspect it was a suicide because he and Dinah had been in a large fight that night. Dinah took this very hard as they had been childhood friends and lovers, and she never got the chance to tell him how much she truly loved him. That would be the last time she heard Amazing Grace - at his funeral.
She met her husband when she went on a trip to Florida when she was 20 years old. He was a local bartender there for the summer rush. They met and talked all week and for once in a long time, since Brent had died, she felt alive. She found out that Jack actually graduated from her high school 2 years before she did. They had known each other only by name in conversations. He was trying to put himself through school in Florida. However at the end of the summer he showed back up at his home town and proposed to her while she was doing someone's hair.
Dinah had two boys, James and Josh. They are her pride and joy and she has pictures of them plastered all over her mirror at work.
Dinah grew up with her best friend Shawna next door. They were attached at the hip and always getting into mischeif as children. As they got older, that mischief turned into boys and parties. Once they entered high school, however, Shawna left Dinah to her own devices and the girls actually became strangers. While both girls were popular, Dinah was more of the girl next door. Shawna was a rising success and eventually left their small town for a private college on the East Coast, never to return. Dinah had another best friend throughout high school though, by the name of Hannah. They were similarly chronically small town girls. Hannah became pregnant at the age of seventeen and married the father, moving to a small town in the next state. While Dinah and Sandy were always friends, they didn't really become close until after their high school years.
The first boyfriend Dinah ever had was Brent Goodwan, when she was thirteen years old. The two went on and off in that way middle schoolers do until they were sixteen years old. He was in the grade above her, and he took her to prom his junior year. They were each other firsts for just about everything, and she still holds many good memories with him. However, when Dinah was sixteen years old and Brent was just seventeen, he was coming home from a party after one too many beers, and drove his car off the side of the bridge, drowning in the local river. Local police suspect it was a suicide because he and Dinah had been in a large fight that night. Dinah took this very hard as they had been childhood friends and lovers, and she never got the chance to tell him how much she truly loved him. That would be the last time she heard Amazing Grace - at his funeral.
She met her husband when she went on a trip to Florida when she was 20 years old. He was a local bartender there for the summer rush. They met and talked all week and for once in a long time, since Brent had died, she felt alive. She found out that Jack actually graduated from her high school 2 years before she did. They had known each other only by name in conversations. He was trying to put himself through school in Florida. However at the end of the summer he showed back up at his home town and proposed to her while she was doing someone's hair.
Dinah had two boys, James and Josh. They are her pride and joy and she has pictures of them plastered all over her mirror at work.
DINAH, THE ANIMAL!
Here are some animals that move like Dinah:
A fawn! The fawn remains me of Dinah in the way that, she is very clumsy, but has an air of beauty and the potential to be one of the most graceful people, if she can just get used to herself. She's fast and flighty, and blends in with her surroundings when threatened or displaced.
Like a fawn, she is young and still uncertain on her legs, however with a bit of encouragement she learns how to hold herself.
The mole! Dinah has the tendency to burrow deep inside herself to solve problems. She
usually not one to talk about whats going on her life that's upsetting her, but the car accident is a whole other issue in itself. It has driven a wedge between herself and her husband.Although he's always remained faithful and isn't a drinker, experience with her father makes her nervous that he is going to drown his sorrows in a bottle of booze and other women instead of turning to talk to his wife. But instead of voicing this Dinah pushes it off for a while, until her friend comes into her shop to get her hair permed, and she finally opens up. She is good friends with her, however Dinah still feels embarrassed and buries back underground into herself with the ending line, "Nevermind, she's a peace now. Finally."
The peacock! Dinah resembles a peacock in that outer appearance is very important to her. She takes great pride in her looks, being a hairdresser. She is convinced that if she does not look her best every day, her customers will look badly upon this. That being said, Dinah still believes the blue eyeshadow of the 80's is really rocking. This is a combination of a magazine she read about three years ago saying the 80s were back, and because she never really left the 80s to begin with - in a town as small as hers, time stops and doesnt really start again.
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