Author Archives: maedez

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About maedez

Writer, biographer, poet. History nerd, silent movie maven. Punk rocker, amateur baker, bookworm. Cricket fan, Scotch drinker, craft beer snob.

A Year in Books/Day 212: The White Blackbird

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  • Title: The White Blackbird A Life of the Painter Margarett Sargent by Her Granddaughter
  • Author: Honor Moore
  • Year Published: 1996 (Penguin Books)
  • Year Purchased: 2004/2005
  • Source: A bookstore in Buffalo, New York
  • About: I love stumbling across books about people whose names and faces don’t register. It is fair to say that I am obsessed with the obscure and the odd and the oddly obscure, especially when the subjects in question are creative and rebellious women. Anyone determined to live a life of artistry has to break some barriers. Deterrents come in many forms, but we all have expectations that we must push past in order to have the freedom to create. Continue reading →

A Year in Books/Day 211: Leading Ladies

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  • Title: Leading Ladies
  • Author: Don Macpherson
  • Year Published: 1986/This edition: 1989 (Conran Octopus Limited/Crescent Books)
  • Year Purchased: 1990s
  • Source: It was a Christmas gift from my Aunt Lauree.
  • About: This is a coffee table book, not a scholarly work. The text is nice, but not genre-shattering; it’s the standard drill for this kind of product. The images are from The Kobal Collection, so the writing stands no chance of taking first place, anyway. The whole gang is here, from Theda Bara to Doris Day, Jean Harlow to Jean Seberg, Anna Magnani to Debra Winger, represented by an array of unusually stunning photographs. Since that is the dominant reason for buying a book like this, you’ll walk away happy.
  • Motivation: I’ve been fond of old movies since I was a child.
  • Times Read: Multiple
  • Random Excerpt/Page 22: “By the time she was twenty-five, Colleen Moore was earning a weekly salary of $12,500, a reflection of her value to a studio for whom she was a highly profitable jazz baby. With her bobbed hair, cheeky face and alert eyes, she resembles to modern eyes an uncanny combination of the better remembered Clara Bow and Louise Brooks. But in the 1920s, it was Moore who was the incarnation of the twenties flapper girl.”
  • Happiness Scale: 10++
    Publicity photo of Colleen Moore for Argentine...

    Publicity photo of Colleen Moore for Argentinean Magazine. (Printed in USA) (Photo credit: Wikipedia). Here, in her post-Flapper days.

     

A Year in Books/Day 210: Great Lives Great Deeds

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  • Title: Reader’s Digest Great Lives Great Deeds
  • Author: Various
  • Year Published: 1964 (The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.)
  • Year Purchased: 1966, by my Grandma
  • Source: Reader’s Digest
  • About: When my mom was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, a normal American family with kids owned a car, a television, a full set of encyclopedias, and at least a few Reader’s Digest books. Continue reading →

Sunshine Award

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I’ve been nominated for the Sunshine Award by Maryam at Mary Clever. Thank you for throwing the light of appreciation my way. It’s very sweet of you.

Sunshine Award

Sunshine Award

Rules:

1. Copy and paste the award logo to your post.

2. Answer the eight questions.

3. Nominate ten other people.

Questions:

1. What is your favourite Christmas/festive movie?

The original Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Also, Love Actually (2003) for all of Bill Nighy’s lines.

2. What is your favourite flower?

I don’t particularly like flowers, but dahlias are okay.

3. What is your favourite non-alcoholic beverage?

Properly brewed, strong hot tea.

4. What is your passion?

Writing, words, the English language, reading. Also, silent movies.

5. What is your favourite time of year?

Autumn, specifically October. Also, my birthday month of July because I am really self-absorbed that way.

6. What is your favourite part of the day?

Not morning!

7. What is your favourite physical activity?

Hiking, yoga, marathon drinking.

8. What is your favourite vacation?

All of them, including those taken through great books.

Who I Nominate:

I’m feeling generous, am way behind in my work, and haven’t even had a cuppa yet, so everyone! If you want to participate, please do. I’d love to hear more about you. You’re all lovely  in your own way, and I like your blogs for different reasons. So there. Thanks again to Maryam at Mary Clever. You have made my day much brighter.

Daily Diversion #43: Dying is an Art*

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I took the day off from writing…

Dying is an art.

Dying is an art.

to play with skeletons and drink hard cider. See you tomorrow!

*”Dying is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well. I do it so it feels like hell. I do it so it feels real. I guess you could say I’ve a call.”-Sylvia Plath