Happy Halloween

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. He opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff-- including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc.     Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see.

                                         Happy Fall to All!

Blue Monday

Thelma and Louise

People Are Awesome

It's that guy balancing his chair on the edge of the roof that got me . . .

I Am Contented and Pleased

I have a simple, four-line prayer that I say often:

I am protected and safe

I am contented and pleased

My physical body holds me with ease

This day unfolds gently with grace

I am protected and safe: Because I have to feel safe in order to function well.

I am contented and pleased:  I would rather focus on being contented and pleased than on being happy. Happiness comes and goes at the drop of a hat, but contentment is longer lasting and feeling pleased is the utmost in contentment.

My physical body holds me with ease:  This covers all the health issues.  If I am able to go through my day with a minimum of aches and pains, these old bones are doing their job.

This day unfolds gently with grace: My favorite line and by far the most difficult. So many times during my day I will mishandle something, slight somebody, or simply blow it. The sledge-hammer approach is my usual mode of operation. When I do, I just glance upwards and say "well, that wasn't either gentle or graceful. Sorry, I'll try harder next time." 

Marion Bolognesi

Check out these beautiful water color faces by Brooklyn artist, Marion Bolognesi:

http://www.marion-b.com/

Sister Corita

During my latest thrift shop prowl I found this wonderful bronze-like nun.  She is the sweetest thing, I named her Sister Maria Corita.

Sister Corita was enormously popular in the 70's, she painted brightly-colored prints.  Approaching Boston, one of her paintings can be seen on a large white gas tank.

When my sons were growing up we loved Sister Corita so much we named our Siamese cat Sister Corita. She was a vital part of our family for 17 years.

This is why I was thrilled to find Sister Corita today at my thrift shop.  She has come full-circle.

Monday Monday

Thousands of Hits

Refrigeration

Much to my surprise I received a notice from my landlord the other day telling me that I was getting a new refrigerator! Although there was nothing wrong with my old one, I am not a person who looks a gift horse in the mouth and so my puppets and I got to work: 

First everything needed to be removed.  How embarrassing: small items of heaven only knows what in sandwich bags, stale bread, you know how it is . . . 

The tension mounts as the refrigerators arrived.  Down the hall they came, a parade of proud white refrigerators.

Oops! It's a head with a mouth with very white teeth.  I was glad to see he could wiggle out of that space, he was a very large man . . .

He plugged it in, turned it on, gave me a big smile and out the door he went, off to deliver more refrigerators.  Everything from my counter went into my new baby.  Life is good.

Fiona

Fiona

Slow But Steady Wins The Race

I love turtles.  Whereas I tend to be rather ungrounded, they are just the opposite so I was thrilled to receive the following message in my inbox from "the universe."

www.tut.com

". . . I still don’t get why people are so surprised that the turtle beat the rabbit over the long run.

Consistent effort, Anne, no matter how small, sparks magic, fills sails, butters bread, turns tides, instills faith, summons friends, improves health, burns calories, creates abundance, yields clarity, builds courage, spins planets, and rewrites destinies.  No matter how small," The Universe

Turtles rule! If you would like a daily message from "the universe" check out www.tut.com and sign up for "words of wisdom."

Dmitri Karamazov and Amanda Knox: A Tale of Two Trials

 Dmitri Karamazov

Dmitri's defense lawyer: "He was a tall, spare man, with long thin legs, with extremely thin, pale fingers, clean-shaven face, demurely brushed, rather short hair, and thin lips that were at times curved into something between a sneer and a smile.  He looked about forty.  His face would have been pleasant, if it had not been for his eyes, which in themselves small and inexpressive, were set remarkably close together, with only the thin, long nose as a dividing line between them. In fact, there was something birdlike about his face.  He was in evening dress and white tie."

Dimitri Karamazov (what a hunk!)

Amanda Knox (they would have made a cute couple)

Guiliano Mignini, the Vindictive Prosecutor

I fear that unlike Amanda, this trial will end poorly for Dmitri but I haven't finished it yet.  I am reading as fast as I can . . .

Blue Monday

I May Not Be Much But I Am All I Think About All Day Long

Breaking Bad

I am experiencing Breaking Bad withdrawals because I have to wait until next summer for the next installment.  No TV series, not Madmen, or 24, or Big Love, none of them has pleased me as much as Breaking Bad.  It is the story of a high school chemistry teacher, Walter White, who, for a variety of reasons, becomes a drug dealer, manufacturing meth in an enormous meth lab under a laundromat. 

Bryan Cranston

The show focuses on drug dealing and chemistry, which is appropriate because the chemistry between the characters in Breaking Bad is impeccable. White teams up with Jesse Pinkman, an improbable, much younger partner in crime to do his dirty work. His wife, Skyler, is at first clueless, and then, after discovering the truth, quickly becomes part of the conspiracy. Hank, the brother-in-law works for law enforcement but unable to put the pieces together that would implement Walter White.  

Aaron Paul

I know all this sounds rather dry, but it’s not.  It’s wonderful.  The writing by Vince Gilligan is brilliant. The violence, especially in Mexico with the drug lords, is necessary to the plot. I don't mind it, it is so bizarre. My favorite character, Saul Goodman, the wheeler, dealer lawyer is hysterical -- but what molds the show into perfection is the camera work.  I am always interested in “the sense of place” in a production, and the stark, alienation of the desert scenes is so eerie that even the homes, the suburban neighborhoods, the fast food joints are isolated and alone.

Bob Odenkirk

I suspect all the past episodes are on DVD.  Lucky you if you haven’t seen them, I can’t think of a more enjoyable way to spend cold winter evenings.

The Gustav Vigeland Sculpture Park, Oslo, Norway

My Hamburg family took a short cruise to Oslo, Norway where they visited the Gustav Vigeland Sculpture Park. 

Gustav Vigeland was born in 1869, most of his sculpture was created between 1926 and 1942.  Interesting, while World War ll raged, he was busy creating his art.

As an aside, I think it would have been thoughtful if Vigeland had supplied coats for these poor people.  Winter in Norway is COLD!

My Twin

ANNE

JAN

Most people are unaware of the fact that I have an identical twin. My name is Anne and her name is Jan. Although identical in appearance, this is where the similarities end because although I tend to be a Nervous Nellie, Jan is fearless. Fearless!  Until you have experienced the marvels of fearlessness, you have no idea how wonderful it can be. The nagging details that nibble at your ass all day are a piece of cake for Jan:  If I need to call Apple about a technical issue, I'll hand the phone to Jan and she sounds as if she actually knows what she is talking about. Amazing. A trip to the dentist, no problem, she loves the picking and scraping. Angry drivers giving me the finger?  Jan laughs it off, she's just a happy-go-lucky, topsy-turvy kind of a girl. In addition to Jan, I also have an entire puppet troupe ready, willing and able to speak their mind on any given subject. No filters with my little friends, they call it as they see it because as far as they are concerned, it's all temporary. 

                                                        

Bill Cunningham New York

This is a wonderful documentary, I love this man.  He rubs elbows with the "upper crust" in the fashion industry and yet there is not a mean bone in his body.  Roger Ebert is right, this movie will make you happy just watching it . . .

BY ROGER EBERT / May 18, 2011

Here is a movie about a happy and nice man. Bill Cunningham was lucky to find what he loves to do and do it, and win universal affection from all who know him and make a contribution to our lives and times. Doing what he loves is very nearly all he does, except to sleep and eat.

Ever since reading Thoreau's Walden, I have been teased by the notion of leading a life with only the bare essentials and peacefulness. I lacked the nerve to find that little cottage and plant those rows of beans. Bill Cunningham lives a life as pure and idealistic as Thoreau's, and he does it in the middle of Manhattan. Until a few years ago, when he was evicted by his landlord, Bill lived in a tiny rent-controlled apartment in Carnegie Hall. Yes, Carnegie Hall, in one of the artists' studios on the upper floors set aside when greed didn't decide everything.

In the documentary "Bill Cunningham New York," Bill celebrates his 80th birthday. Every day of his life he still pedals around Manhattan on his bicycle, taking photographs of what people are wearing. He has been famous for many years for doing this, and his work has been featured in such places as Women's Wear Daily, Vogue, and the original Details magazine, which once devoted 41 pages to a portfolio of his photos. These days, you can find him featured in big spreads in the New York Times, whose publisher, Arthur Sulzberger, was among the attendees at his birthday party.

Do not make the mistake of calling Bill Cunningham a "fashion photographer." He is a photographer of people and what they wear. Don't call him a "paparazzo." He doesn't know who half the celebrities are and doesn't care. He's genuinely fascinated by what people wear — not by haute couture, but by what makes people feel good about themselves. He cycles to social events and openings, to street fairs and parades, to parks and markets, and will stop in the middle of the street if he spots an interesting hat.

Sometimes his photos don't even show faces. "I've always loved clothes," he says. And shoes. And individualistic looks. Fashion editors study his work because he seems to be early to notice a developing trend. In Bill's view, fashion begins with creative individuals and not "tastemakers," and he is as interested in T-shirts as evening wear. It's not that he's a snob about the high and mighty; it's that he's sincerely affectionate about whatever people wear, and whoever they are.

Bill lives the life of a monk. His Carnegie Hall apartment was so filled with file cabinets of his decades of negatives that there was literally nothing else there but a mattress on top of some files. No kitchen. Bathroom down the hall. When he was relocated to another rent-controlled apartment overlooking Central Park, he had the landlord remove the kitchen appliances to make room for more filing cabinets.

"Who needs a kitchen?" he asks. And yet here is a man who never tastes the free food and drink at so many of the functions he covers. That would be crossing some line in his mind. Nor, despite his life of the love of clothing, does he own many clothes. He dresses in black tie when the job requires it, but otherwise always wears one of the cheap blue smocks he finds in Paris — the ones garbage men wear, because they have lots of pockets for his film. He works pretty much all day every day, taking off a little time every Sunday to attend mass.

Cunningham is vague about his life. He seems to have all the money he needs, but he didn't come from a rich family. Richard Press, the director of this documentary, asks: "You don't need to answer this, but have you ever had a romantic relationship? Bill is delighted by the question and laughs spontaneously: "Are you asking if I'm gay?" He doesn't say if he is or not, but his reply seems to suggest that he wasn't raised to think much about sex and doesn't. He loves his work too much.

I mentioned his laugh. This is a man who seems always delighted. He smiles and laughs warmly and easily. Does that makes him sound … simple? There is nothing simple about Bill Cunningham, who is an artist and a philosopher. Here's what it is: Bill is happy. He has invented an occupation he does better than anyone else ever has, he has simplified his life until nothing interferes with that vocation, and now, at over 80, he is still biking around Manhattan in his blue smock of many pockets and taking photos of people who had a little extra fun when they got dressed today.

It doesn't matter if you care nothing at all about clothing, fashion or photography. You might still enjoy "Bill Cunningham New York," because here is a good and joyous man who leads a life that is perfect for him, and how many people do we meet like that? This movie made me happy every moment I was watching it.

Drowning Beautiful

Sometimes an artist creates something so beautifully simple that it takes your breath away.  Literally. Artist Jasode Caires Taylor creates life-size cement sculptures of people and submerges them into the waters of South America.  As time passes the sculptures become part of the underwater landscape and slowly become artificial reefs ripe with marine life.  The process of experiencing artwork out of a traditional gallery and underwater is described with intimately vivid detail on his site.  Absolutely incredible execution merging art, life and the wild seas into an ever-evolving textured aesthetic that will hopefully stand the test of time.

http://24flinching.com/word/featured/drowning-beautiful/

F. Scott Fitzgerald

If you like to read the following is a wonderful, multi-faceted list of good books:

zenhabits.net/50-amazing-and-essential-novels-to-enrich-your-library.  I have been on an F. Scott Fitzgerald kick and recently finished Tender Is The Night. It was written at the end of a tragic, complex life, almost autobiographical, which is why it is so moving. I am surprised Virginia Woolf is not on this list, a great omission.  So much to read, so little time . . . It's all temporary. 

Cheryl Tall

I am attracted to Cheryl Tall's sculpture for a variety of reasons.  I particularly like her "duel-personality" pieces because I am becoming increasingly aware of my own duel nature. 

It is no accident that Cheryl Tall's early work included puppets.  More often than not I find myself zeroing in on an artist, only to find that there was a puppet somewhere in his/her creative background.  My own puppets teach me more about myself than anything else so I love people who are also able to talk to (and listen to!) their pets, dolls, puppets etc.  Try it some time, the results may amaze you . . .

www.cheryltall.com

Blue Monday

You Are Enough

Characters from Literature

I love to read descriptions of people in literature. Take for example this from the Aspern Papers by Henry James:  

"Her face was not young, but it was simple; it was not fresh, but it was mild. She had large eyes which were not bright, and a great deal of hair which was not "dressed," and long fine hands which were--possibly--not clean. She clasped these members almost convulsively as, with a confused, alarmed look . . ."    We know a lot about her in a few words. 

or this from The Brothers Karamazov: 

"He was a boy, not over twenty, dressed like a dandy, with a very charming fair-skinned face, and splendid thick, fair hair.  From his fair face looked out beautiful pale blue eyes, with an intelligent and sometimes even deep expression beyond his age indeed, although the young man sometimes looked and acted quite like a child, and was not at all ashamed of it, even when he was aware of it himself. As a rule he was very willful, even capricious, though always friendly.  Sometimes there was something fixed and obstinate in his expression.  He would look at you and listen, seeming all the while to be persistently dreaming over something else.  Often he was listless and lazy, at other times he would grow excited, sometimes apparently, over the most trivial matters."

I just love this guy.  Sounds like a lot of blind dates from my past.

Doggie Diarrhea

I woke up this morning to the most horrendous smell in my front hall.  Doggie diarrhea.  Poor Oskar had a very bad night and I slept through the entire episode.  I think he ate something while on our evening walk.  I have a habit of walking Oskar while reading my Kindle, consequently I don't pay as much attention as I should to his sniffing and eating. 

This would have been bad enough if I was lucky enough to have one of those fenced in yards, but I live on the second floor of a very large building and my apartment has wall-to-wall carpeting throughout. Oskar is now a prisoner in my very small kitchen.  I spent two hours in the prison this morning -  Oskar in his basket and me sitting on that stool because he was so upset I couldn't leave him. Thank heavens for my ipad.  I also cleaned my kitchen from top to bottom. The remedy, according to google, is white rice and canned pumpkin.  We shall see. Fortunately it's all temporary.