June 13, 2005 A
"More Remembering and Anticipating"
6:39am
Gold and amethyst bracelet
Pectoral with the Name of Sensosret II
Gold, amethyst, turquoise, feldspar, carnelian, lapis lazuli, and garnet
Julia first noticed it, I did not, that the mirror behind this pectoral has caught my reflection!
The Royal Acquaintances Memi and Sabu
Dynasty 4 (ca. 2575-2465 BCE)
Painted limestone, probably from Giza
June 13, 2005 B
"The Art of Living"
8:40pm
Of course one must go on "making a living" somehow - but the essential thing is to make a life. Whatever we do, whichever option we choose (perhaps all of them), or however badly we compromise, we should pray never to mistake art for life: Art is brief, Life is long. We should try to be prepared to drift, to nomadize, to slip out of all nets, to make our lives better than our art, to make art our boast rather our excuse. (page 44)And now I'm in the mood for a ramble:
Bey distrusts museums. Bey thinks somehow the art loses its vitality when caged in a museum. In one way, I see his point, if all it is is very expensive cultural trinkets housed by the wealthy for the wealthy to acquire more of same or the poor to look at and vainly wish for, being reminded of the material lack of their lives, for they do not have such expensive items in their house. If it is all reduced to materialistic fashion, then of course museums lead away from the understanding of the spontaneous joy of creation that went into the making of the art.
Of course, it is not like that for me when I view a piece in a museum. I can enjoy the spirit of that artist as she created that piece at the moment, for no other reason than the truth and beauty she hoped to convey.
But I know the tired envy of those who long for status items, the hopeless yearning of the not-rich for expensive trinkets. Oh, how this materialism takes away from the value of our own souls. The winner of this game is the one with the highest pile of toys. But possibly his soul is empty. THINGs can never fill this yearning.
And I say what of experience for experience sake? The value of THINGs are because WE are the ones who give them meaning. Each of us as individuals, our thinking, feeling, unique conscious Selves, is the value. The sacred always leads to the Self. That which is not sacred leads away from the Self.
June 14, 2005
"Russian Gnosis and Regal Poses"
7:43pm
So far I have this in memory: Gurdieff, a Russian in the Caucasian regions, studied all he could from those in the varying traditions around him, and then sensing there must be more mysteries to be had abroad, found excuses to travel. Aligning with a Russian effort to spread political ideas, (and maybe spy?) he got everywhere, Greece, Tibet and Egypt, studying from the masters of various traditions. He formed his own synthesis having to do with study of energy transformation in the human body and advancing the state of human consciousness to bring about liberation.
He has the 'law of three', 'active, passive and neutralizing' principles, and then the 'law of seven', which relates to the 7 tone musical scale, do re mi fa so la ti do, though it seems he 'sings' it backwards. Anyway, there is something about a 'discontinuity' in manifestations, that interrelated events don't happen in an even linear fashion.
Anyway, I have got this far. Next I see an odd diagram, the enneagram, but I will study that tomorrow.
Next I will look again at my collection of NYC pics, specifically the Egyptian items.
Limestone Horus Falcon Head
12th Dynasty, reign of Senwosret I, ca. 1962-1928 BC
From the South Pyramind, Lisht, MMA Excavations, 1923-1924
The following dude looks quite royal, too:
Tuthmosis III
18th Dynasty, ca. 1504-1450 BC
June 15, 2005
"Of Planes, Pans and Clans"
6:26pm
The plane was a military harrier, AV8B, loaded with four 500lb bombs and 300 rounds of 25mm cannons, which crashed about 2:30pm this afternoon, landing between two houses. They've recovered the four bombs, but not the 300 rounds. Onlookers saw the pilot ejecting with a parachute. He was able to walk away. One woman nearby got hit with a piece of the plane, but there have been no serious injuries.
Apparently this type of plane is one that is known to have problems, owing to both the great speed with which it travels and its heavy weight. They don't know yet the indepth specifics of this particular accident. However, we do know the pilot was on a routine training exercise.
At ten o'clock, there will be another televised conference which will reveal more.
That is the big news here in Yuma. Now, after having watched much TV, Julia is flipping channels, unable to stay with any for very long. She now has a new frying pan to cook the delicious food she makes. I hadn't realized how awful the old pan, much too large for just two people, looked. Its non-stick cooking was buried with crud that could not be removed with the most forceful scrubbing. And it was too heavy and Julia complained that it did not distribute heat well.
So now we have a shiny new Calphalon tri-ply stainless steel ten inch omelet pan and a 'universal' lid for it. Julia's yummy omelets and pancakes should be even yummier cooked in this pan. It's a beauty!
9:08pm
Julia did decide on a channel, PBS with a live concert from NYC, Live from Lincoln Center. They are featuring a new conductor, for Loren Maazel, the usual one is sick. So now 33 year old David Robertson is doing well with various Sibelius pieces. During the intermission, Beverly Sills interviewed both the violinist and the conductor. I was impressed with their expressive faces, so I sketched them.
Shaham, the violinist
David Robertson
