March 22, 2003 - A
"More Art Explorations"
So I gave up and simply looked under 'art' and then 'Expressionism'. Maybe it was this Austrian fellow Oskar Kokoschka I'd been remembering.
The Artcyclopedia site was rather useful, and I used my morning surf time examining Oskar's pictures.
His portraits in particular captured my attention.
Portrait of the actress Maria Orska, 1922
Self-Portrait, 1921
Portrait of the Artist's Mother,
all lithographs
@ Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
I thought, ''Oh, my gosh, that poor actress looks to have been maybe a bit of an overwrought drug addict.'' And then I saw the one of his mother. ''Poor woman, she REALLY looks tattered and worn!'' And then, evaluating the one of his own self, ''Well, at least he used the same harsh judgment on himself. He appears to be rather a nervous and depressed young man!''
I had a good laugh with Julia on this artist's critical eye, and then continued my explorations. He got better as he aged.
Self portrait at 70
Looking at his portrait paintings, I found myself impressed with the characteristics of an Ambassador Ivan Maisky. It seemed I was in the very presence of the man. Here was a hard worker, concerned with important matters, who would not want to be disturbed.
''Maybe there is something MORE going on with this artist's portraiture. Maybe that actress WAS that bad off, and his mother just that tired!'' My judgment warmed.
Another site revealed two more portraits, one of a thin Baron Dirsztay who seemed to possess a wiry energetic nature and an art dealer named Walden who exuded an air of self-importance.
''He's doing something here, he's capturing their personality!'' My esteem of Kokoschka rose. I can learn something from this artist.
(As a side note, once again there is the CZECH connection. I notice from his bio ''His father was Czech and came from a well known family of Prague goldsmiths.'')
March 22, 2003 - B
"Want To Be Damn Sure"
Praying for the openness to know my next creative adventure, I gave myself to the Mystery. Good fellowship was had and after a rest, Julia and I went to Mandarin Palace, where I ate far too much. But, oh, so tasty! Then came the fateful cookies. I grabbed the one on the left, which promised 'a new lease on life'. Then Julia said I should have had the one on my right, which said 'you are multi-talented'.
Hm, so I wonder which was mine? Both? I am still waiting for 'the awakening' and new inspiration. But that never ends, you see. I finish one thing, and right away, I am thinking about the next.
Such noisy debate I've seen on the war on one of my more chatty Yahoo groups!
One pro-war person said:
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So if we
do nothing here like all you guys want, which makes me utterly sick, we
let Saddam continue his Tyranny and do all the things to his people
that aren't right. Do you know that if someone disagrees with him he
will take that persons family and stand the man aside and have him
watch as he has his soldiers RAPE the women of the family? He kills
his own people. But if you like a guy like that and say he should
live, then I think you should go move to Iraq and live with him.
(my response) What will they replace him with? Just another despot?
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(Both AP and Reuters news sources today confirm ''U.S. forces in Iraq have yet to find any evidence of the suspected chemical or biological weapons that prompted the invasion'')
Those fully in favor of the war are fond of quoting a song by Darryl Worley, ''Have You Forgotten?''
I hear people saying
We don’t need this war
But I say there’s some things worth fighting for
What about our freedom and this piece of ground
It goes into ''Have you forgotten when those towers fell?'' on 9-11. This song is their rallying cry.
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The Darryl Worley song is a great song.
(my response) Just because I am wary of decisions Bush makes certainly does not make me worthy of deportation to some other country. Though, I must admit, the United States is NOT the only free country in the world. I'm sure Canadians, Britains, Australians, New Zealanders, Swedish people, oh gosh, the list goes on and on, will tell you they have freedom in their lands. |
Thus was my response to the young woman who wrote so passionately in favor of the war.
War may sometimes may be necessary. I just wish to be damn sure it IS necessary. People die in wars, and it is a shame if it is needless.
Our local news reported a local man died in the current war effort.
Capt. Jay Aubin, 36, a pilot from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, died late Thursday along with 11 others in a helicopter crash on the Kuwaiti side of the Iraq-Kuwait border, an MCAS spokesman said.A smiling picture of the clean-cut smiling dark haired Marine accompanies the story. It gives an aura of him being a likeable, earnest person. His death has left his wife and two children without a husband and father.Three other U.S. Marines and eight United Kingdom Commandos also died in the crash, said 1st Lt. Kevin Hyde.
My sympathies go to all who knew him, including the eleven others who died in this crash.
March 23, 2003 - A
"The Difficulty of Virtue"
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TECH ENDEAVORS
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Ooooh, yeah, I get that. Oooh, I do.
The web debate over the war continues:
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Another chatter had this opinion: Anyway, over these past two years, my respect for the U.S. and for the President have been dropping. I do not think that this country is what everyone thinks it is. This a corrupted nation . . .
(my response):
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And so the verbal 'war' continues. I was glad current events were discussed at the Unitarian/Universalist meeting this morning.
The Statement of Conscience, a UU-UNO Statement on Iraq, was shared. The Board of Directors support the United Nations, and 'oppose a unilateral, pre-emptive attack on the people and country of Iraq'. Also, a print-out of an ad written by Wendell Berry which has appeared in the New York Times was handed out. The following paragraph was circled:
| For a nation to be, in the truest sense, patriotic, its citizens must love their land with a knowing, intelligent, sustaining, and protective love. They must not, for any price, destroy its health, its beauty, or its productivity. And they must not allow their patriotism to be degraded to a mere loyalty to symbols or any present set of officials. |
I like that definition of patriotism very much. Later, the speaker had an interactive session on the 52 virtues espoused by The Virtues Project
The speaker told a story, and we were to evaluate which of the characters behaved the most virtuously, and how they might behave more virtuously. They'd behaved quite in average human fashion, displaying a mixed bag of characteristics.
Sometimes, virtue isn't easy. Especially when war tensions cause people to become divided and unity is lost, this is particularily apparent.
I'll now go back in time, from the end, back to the beginning of the service. I had been asked to light the challice. It's not always easy bringing the light into the world. The matches I was to use were very long and slender. The first one broke in half, just before it ignited.
It ignited, yes, it did, and flew over the altar, and across the room landing on the very flammable dark blue carpet. My foot acted quickly, as I stomped out the flame.
The next weak match also broke on my first attempt, but did not ignite. When the person who gave the invocation spoke of 'strengthening that which is weak' exactly when this match broke in half, I smiled and stared at it, willing 'strength' into it. I hoped it would not break again, as I tried several times to make it ignite. Either something was 'old and unworkable' with the head of the matches or the box's dark strip on which they were struck.
After over a dozen attempts, the short match finally caught fire. The person repeated his invocation, thanks to another who'd been distracted by my struggle, for which I was grateful. Though the rest of it has faded, I'll never forget the part about 'strengthening the weak'. But I showed the virtue of 'perseverance' and kept trying until a flame grew out of the wick on that green candle.
Never having been much of a cynic nor a pessimist, it is a story I now laugh about. Yes, indeed, it's not always easy bringing the light into the world, and it's nice there can be such amusing illustrative anecdotes of this.
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acceptance |
generosity |
prayerfulness |
March 23, 2003 - B
"A Good Sign"
It's late at night. My eyes are sticky. My throat hurts. My lungs are gunked up. Oui, I am weeth 'cold'. Ah-choo! But my mind is full of thoughts.
I'm quite glad 'Chicago' won so many awards. Catherine Zeta-Jones did sizzle in that film. It was great. And I've learned the names of so many other wonderful films we will be sure to rent and view at home. 'Gangs Of New York' certainly looks inspiring, as well as the film about the three women, 'The Hours'. And I must not forget 'The Pianist'.
And, should anyone ever want to make a movie out of ''All Things In Good Time'', I surely know who I want to play Sebastian. Adrian Brody, who won the best actor for his role in 'The Pianist', could certainly convey Seb's wirey, affectionate energy. I loved the way he was so flabbergasted, and the way he kissed Halle Berry. Oh yeah, that man can! And while he'd need a lovely, red haired wig, his NOSE seems already perfectly angled for the part.
Such a fun game that would be, to name people to play in my fiction pieces. I've a new story to add to the collection. I had great fun imagining a young man who has never met another human being in his entire life. Seventeen year old Vashan had waited patiently until after he was made, for he knew that prior to this event, he was 'unfinished' and 'vulnerable', to explore the world. Once 'finished', however, he is no longer patient. But the first human he ever meets proves MOST frustrating.
Ah, Laura would like this story. If you're familiar with her views on things, you'll know what I mean if you read the story. This, unlike my previous dark story, is light and happy. ''Transformations'' bummed Julia out royally when I read it to her.
This one, my throat hurt too much for me to read, so she read it silently herself, making correction notes as she went along. She laughed at its end. That's always a good sign.
Oddly, I notice many similarities with the Sunday exactly one month ago. I am 'Sick Again', this time with a cold, and am happy once again with creative award choices. Yet again, many of the winners found ways to express their wishes for peace. Some were loud, like all the nominees for best documentary film who grouped together when the winners received their golden statue. And others were quiet, like Susan Sarandon, who simply held two fingers up, in the recognizable PEACE SIGN, as she faced the audience, before walking to the podium.
Perhaps, now that I've got my thoughts exorcised, I will try again for sleep.
March 25, 2003
"On The Mend"
This morning, I am feeling much more like myself. There are still remnants of the bug, but I am on the mend.
7:30pm
"End Of Day Bits and Pieces"
Will it inspire me? I don't know. Or will this be a short reportage of events? Reportage is not always bad. I used to get one or two emails from Laura's mother each day. Then there was silence. The last time of silence, it was computer failure. This time, much more serious, as it is her EYES that are failing. She cannot see the computer screen. Eleanor will see the doctor soon.
My uncle sent a new picture of my mother. Her camera reluctance shows in this cropped close-up:
March 2003
Interesting news of my favorite author (Anne Rice). Her last phone message of March 12th is full of 'enthusiasm' and she says she PROBABLY won't write about Lestat again. All those hoping she won't abandon the future of her vampires to mystery are now having hopes again. I say she must follow her muse, where ever it leads, though.
Most importantly, she sounds happy. Anne encourages the ''writers out there; keep writing, keep writing. If you don't write the classics of tomorrow, who's going to do it?''
I shall persevere in such efforts, hoping tomorrow will look kindly on my efforts.
March 26, 2003 - A
"Peace Meme"
Get into symbolism, icons and signs. Creative visualizations are very helpful now. Above all, this is a period to seek peace and love.
I say to the The Trollish Bardboy, YES, the 'Peace Meme' will spread!
I shall trot out a favorite PEACEFUL symbolic icon I've had for years. I've had the SCAN of it for years, too. (Reading the old link, I forgot I'd brought this scan into webland during 1998 when President Clinton initiated an earlier attack on Iraq!)
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