Painting

I looked at some of Connie Chadwell's art. It was the kind of stuff I envision doing, but doesn't turn out well. That can be frustrating.

As a matter of fact, the last painting I did was horrible. I have these ideas of what things should be, but I don't have the knowledge or skill to put it on the canvas. (The one at right is a favorite of one of my own pieces. I forget at the moment whose house it's hanging in, but someone asked for it & I gave it to them. It required little skill, it was just colors & canvas, as most of my paintings are.)

My mom always says I should take art lessons and learn how to do things correctly, but it seems so contrary to the spirit of art for art's sake. If I have to learn how to do it, am I really an artist? I suppose the answer is, of course, yes, because even the greats usually apprenticed under some master or started out admiring someone else's work. I just can't bring myself to do that yet.

Of course, that may also come from that deep-rooted part of me, that wouldn't study for tests so that, if I failed, I could sheepishly admit that I didn't study in an "Oh, well.." type of attitude, as opposed to failing at something I actually tried - which would make me a failure.

Wow - look at that. I went from art to psychotherapy in, like, 20 seconds.

Connie Chadwell

Check out these paintings by Connie Chadwell. I've been looking at art recently and teaching Kayley a little about it, and I've been interested in Texas artists. She's located in Junction, on the other side of Austin. I would love to have some of these!

To the Teacher of Literature

Somehow I found myself reading some lists of the 100 greatest novels of the last century, of the English language, etc. I realized I wanted to read some of them and thought I'd give it a shot. I'm always intrigued by things like this, and I although I never complete any such list, it's fun to get started. So the first novel on the list I decided to go with was James Joyce's Ulysses. I've heard of James Joyce but never read anything of his, and I had never heard of Ulysses. It happened that the Chambers County Library on Eagle Drive had a copy, so I picked it up on my lunch break one day.

The thing is, I can't make heads or tails of it. It's a pretty long novel, but if it's good, that doesn't bother me. I've read 25 pages. I keep having the sensation that maybe a page was ripped out and that's why it makes no sense. But no, the page numbers are there and nothing's missing. It does throw me that there are no quotation marks when a person is talking. You just have to infer where they should be.

I didn't want to have my impression of the book spoiled by reading summaries and things on the web first, but I think I'm going to have to. Have you read Ulysses? Have you read any James Joyce? Is it just his style? I know the problem isn't just the age, because I've read older things than this with no problem, but maybe the style just isn't timeless? If not, how did it make number one on this list?

Not sure what to think, probably off to research it now. I'll try to find sources other than just wikipedia. :)

Nickel Creek, again

I know I keep saying this, but I really like Nickel Creek. They are my default music when I need to chill out or when I'm driving. When I listen to Robin & Marian or Out of the Woods, I feel a mix of passion and chill, which, I like to think, is the balance I live in ('cause I'm a scorpio? well-rounded? grown-up? I don't know.). As far as I know, there's no sound like theirs, because there's an energy in the instruments and a sweetness to the vocals that I just can't find anywhere else. Yes, I've been exposed to the instruments of bluegrass (I come from a heritage of Southern musicians), sweet ballads in young voices, and some minstrel-ish storytelling reminiscent of the singer-songwriters of the 70s, but for every track on their eponymous first album, I instinctively smile and say to myself, "Yep, I LOVE this song. There's just nothing else like this."

Am I wrong? Is there something else out there that I should be liking, too?

And also, Emma Thompson.

I watched Blow Dry a while back. If you're looking for that Brit/indie feel and Alan Rickman, try Truly Madly Deeply. I watched it for the combination of him and Juliet Stevenson (she cracks me up). I'd have a hard time telling you how I feel about the movie without giving away some major plot points. Let's just say it made sense to me.


I feel the need to point out that Alan Rickman also played a part in my number one "movie to watch over and over". He played Col. Christopher Brandon in Sense & Sensibility, and that was the first time I had seen him in a role that wasn't, well, the Sheriff of Nottingham. His voice in that film just underlines the gentle strength of his character. He is, of course, brilliant. Also, that led to the satisfaction of seeing him paired with Emma Thompson again in Love Actually. Her part is my favorite; I still feel for her. In fact, when it comes to Emma Thompson, I love almost all of her parts. Even in Junior with Arnold Schwarzenegger, I find her charming. There's something un-glamorous about her that still resonates as disarmingly sophisticated.


I forgot to add Love Actually to my list, too. I love the movies that tie together different lives and stories into one cohesive story. (Like Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her & Playing By Heart, although neither of them are as brilliant as Traffic and Crash.) I've heard criticism of Love Actually being too cheesy at some points, but, honestly, I don't care. I love cheese in romantic comedies. Another little plus to this movie is that it features some of the best of British actors, most of whom have played in the best of Jane Austen movies: Keira Knightley, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, and Colin Firth.

(I agree with liking Alan Rickman for the name, too. I've always been fond of 'Patrick' and the Rickman sounds manly and sexy.)

Alan Rickman

I have recently been thinking about Alan Rickman, and I may have to watch some more of his movies, because I’ve only seen the bigger and more recent ones, I’m sure.

I wanted to have a movie going while I was doing some other things yesterday, so I went to Netflix to find something to stream. I ended up with a 2001 British movie called Blow Dry. It’s about a hair styling competition in a small town in England. I chose it because of Alan Rickman’s name. I knew so many of the actors in it that I was surprised I hadn’t heard of it before. Alan Rickman of course, Natasha Richardson, Josh Hartnett, Bill Nighy, Rachel Leigh Cook, Rachel Griffiths, and Heidi Klum making a model appearance. This movie wasn’t some artistic wonder (but I’m a firm believer that there is a place for those kind of movies, too!), but I enjoyed it.

But I started thinking more about Alan. He has that distinctive voice, which probably keeps him from becoming more of a leading man, but I like him so much the way he is. Of course he’s a wonderful bad guy. He was such a pitiful, sniveling sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and he is the perfect Severus Snape. Perfect, I say! He’s been in things I saw and enjoyed but don’t think much about, too—Die Hard, Galaxy Quest. He was a smooth bad guy in Quigley Down Under; it’s just hard to not watch Mr. Man Tom Selleck in that one.

Oh, and Love, Actually. I’d really like to re-watch that one. I really enjoy seeing him as a regular person, not just the bad guy. That’s what was good about his role in Blow Dry.

Now I’m really looking forward to the remaining Harry Potter movies! Snape’s role becomes so much more important and complicated in these.

For some interesting tidbits, he comes from a “normal” working-class family, and he was accomplished at calligraphy as a child. Also, when I googled him, I learned that his full name is Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman, which makes me like him even more.

List o' Films

I'll start off this conversation with a list, because I like lists. I recently saw on Facebook an app to list one's 5 favorite movies to watch over and over. I had a hard time with thinking of 5.

I have to start with Sense & Sensibility, the Emma Thompson version. In high school I had a teeny tiny television in my room with an old VCR, and I would watch that movie over and over in the evenings. When I'm sick, it's a comfort, and when I'm otherwise engaged, it's a calm background of familiar sounds. My favorite part is near the end when Emma Thompson's character bursts out into unexpected tears. I always get choked up there.

I put Meet Joe Black next on my list, but, in retrospect, I can watch it every once in a while, but it's the music I really like. Thomas Newman (the composer for the movie) has his own little section on my iPod that has music from Meet Joe Black, Little Women (the Winona Ryder one), and Road to Perdition. In fact, he has two sections on my iPod: one for himself and one titled "Tom & Jane" that includes select pieces from his work and my two favorite Jane Austen movies (the previously mention S&S and the most recent P&P).

Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally are two of my favorite romantic comedies. In fact, I also like that other Tom/Meg movie, You've Got Mail. I also enjoy the previous remake of that original storyline with James Stewart called The Shop Around the Corner. I can watch those anytime. It's so easy just to sit down with old friends like Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

Speaking of older films, I always laugh at The Thin Man movies, and can watch those repeatedly. Another absolute favorite older movie that I like to come back to on a regular basis is an old Greer Garson classic, Random Harvest. You spend a good half of the movie wondering when and if they're ever going to get together again.

Actual movies that I can watch over & over must include holiday films. That brings me to The Muppets' Christmas Carol. I guess it's mostly sentimentality for watching the movie together with my sister and re-creating the fight between the two kids in the bottom corner of the screen during the song "It Feels Like Christmas". (Watch it. When the big guy starts singing, watch the bottom left corner. Cute. Funny.) I've been known to pull that out in July when the Texas heat is unbearable and I'm starting to miss the spirit of the holiday season. But that's just me.

I wouldn't be truly me, though, if I didn't admit that anytime I come across the Star Wars movies, I almost have to stop and watch it. And Dirty Dancing. Ok. That's it. For now.

So, Claire, tag.
Share your thoughts.

We're so cool....

We have such interesting conversations in person. We seem to come at the world from such different places even though we, literally, come from the same place.

It's not always easy to have the fun conversations in person, though, what with toddlers and pre-schoolers taking some of the attention away from the depth of philosophical, religious or artistic themes of the moment. Nothing like some crackers thrown at your head to distract you from the literacy of Hitchcock. Since we can't always get to the topics we enjoy in person, we've decided to converse in the space online that would allow other people to join in and should keep us from being hampered by flying tater tots.

When we were in high school, whenever we would think the same thing at the same time or find something really inspiring, we would say, "We're so cool!" A couple of times someone overheard and misunderstood, thinking that perhaps that was some kind of relative comparison. In fact, that exclamation merely meant that our friendship was such a cool thing to have. As adults, it's still cool to have a friend that shares a penchant for fun conversation.

Here we are, then.
In case you didn't know, we are so cool.