Tag Archives: Beauty

[15th August Inspiration Board] Visually Inclined

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My writer’s brain requires a lot of different stimuli to keep on churning fast enough to function. A slowed down thought process is detrimental to my creativity. If you jumped out on the obvious limb and guessed that I probably have a hard time meditating, you were correct. Although I relish being alone, I do not handle quiet well. I need noise: a slightly too-loud television, a wide-faced Labrador crunching on a bone, a cat scratching on a door frame, low but audible music (The Clash or Patti Smith) pulsing from my laptop, discordantly lovely street noise breaking in through a few open windows, dogs racing and barking down the halls. Sirens. Car alarms. Screaming, skittering children. The sound of my bare feet beating against a table leg. A bus breaking to a stop. I could write with a baby squawking in my face. Noise. It’s beautiful. Continue reading →

Daily Diversion #32: A Little Kindness

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I work at a gallery. Downtown, part-time. I manage the company-wide blog, answer random questions about grammar, dole out directions to places I have never been, and sell artsy things. If you lack the ability to visualize how artwork should be framed, I will come to the rescue with the perfect design. My eye is better than yours, anyway.

The postal worker assigned to our route is fantastically nice and funny. He slathers it on a bit thick at times, but is unfailingly amusing. He also has the solid recommendation of being a playwright.

We did not have any incoming mail today. This was the only delivery.

The pink really popped in the bright light of the gallery.

The pink really popped in the bright light of the gallery.

Every day, the mailman gives one customer a rose. Continue reading →

Daily Diversion #31: This is the easy time…*

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Holed up in a beam of sunshine. Earl Grey on the side, steam lifting from its dark surface. A fugitive book that’s been on my to-read list for 9 years.

Wintering by Kate Moses

Wintering by Kate Moses

Captured from Daedalus for $2.98.Turned in to a reason to get up early, when the sun dazzles without heat. Doing its part to wake me. Efficient. Now I can read.

The perfect combination, rendered wistful. Out of reach.

The perfect combination, rendered wistful. Out of reach.

In the company of words, time is pliable. Plastic. Continue reading →

Daily Diversion #30: My Immobile Friend

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Doughboy

Doughboy

Our neighborhood doughboy has been in residence,  across the street from our flat, since 1920. My husband and I salute him on our evening walks. In 2010, we posed for engagement photos standing on his base. He moves me to recite the poetry of his contemporaries, allies and enemies alike. He’s a wonderful audience of one. I haven’t been so smitten with a statue since Montreal, circa 2004. That’s another story, and one you shan’t be told.

Daily Diversion #29: A Riverside Perambulation

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My mom was in town this weekend. I didn’t write anything, but I exchanged ideas with the clouds hanging over the river.

Riverfront view across to Kentucky.

Riverfront view across to Kentucky.

Hardier souls in running shoes were doing drills up and down the stairs. We sat, staring off into the distance or talking. The clouds were almost close enough to pluck from the sky.

Riverfront Steps, Clouds Through the Bridge

Riverfront Steps, Clouds Through the Bridge

We walked for miles, and met some very strange creatures…

A Pig Statue (it's a Cincinnati thing)

A Pig Statue (it’s a Cincinnati thing)

Clouds hovering over the Princess Diana Tiara on Queen City Tower.

Archway, with a Sliver of Skyline in the Distance

Archway, with a Sliver of Skyline in the Distance

One sunburn and several lovely memories later, I’m ready to hit the keyboard again.

 

 

A Year in Books/Day 174: Blumenfeld Photographs

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  • Title: Blumenfeld Photographs A Passion for Beauty
  • Author: William A. Ewing
  • Year Published: 1996 (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers)
  • Year Purchased: 2010
  • Source: My lovely Momma
  • About: Before reading this book, I could recognize some of the more iconic images of Berlin-born photographer Erwin Blumenfeld as his, but I knew nothing of his life. Although I place value on my own emotional responses to art, music and literature, and as a parallel it could certainly be argued that the end product is all the biography we need, I love back stories, perspective; I’m obsessively curious about context, facts, and individual versions of the creative process. Artistic pathways fascinate me. The 235 illustrations in this thick coffee table volume are, of course, extraordinary. From erotica to fashion to adverts, it is all here; the experimental nature of his work is stunningly apparent. All are sumptuous, provocative, memorable. The biggest revelation for me-and it really was a revelation, make no mistake-is the extensive text, which, in forming a serious and detailed biography, echoes back to my love of concrete information. This two-sided approach gives us a bigger picture (ha!) than either traditional biographies or coffee table retrospectives usually offer. The result is aesthetically pleasing and deeply satisfying.
  • Motivation: I love coffee table books and vintage photography.
  • Times Read: Once
  • Random Excerpt/Page 32: “It is more than likely that Blumenfeld’s mind had not been entirely focused on his work. Ever since his arrival in the Netherlands-indeed, since he had fallen in love with Lena just prior to the war-he had been making art, partly to communicate this passion, partly as a release from the mundane pressures of daily life, and partly as a means of expressing his outrage over the war and the bankrupt values which, in his view, had brought it about.”
  • Happiness Scale: 8 1/2

A Year in Books/Day 170: Sophia Style

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  • Title: Sophia Style
  • Author: Deirdre Donohue
  • Year Published: 2001 (Barnes & Noble Books)
  • Year Purchased: 2004
  • Source: Barnes & Noble clearance rack
  • About: In the physical sphere, Sophia Loren is everything I am not: tall, leggy, busty. Sure, we have a tiny waist in common but, on her, because of her height, it is more of a thing. Her style, on camera but especially in life, matches her features: striking, angular, and beautiful. Of course, even if she wore a potato sack (like Marilyn in that famous early cheese-cake photo) she would out-shine us all. Sophia Style examines and connects her characters’ wardrobes with her personal clothing choices, resulting in a book that is a melange of fashion, film, and personal history: it is really more interesting than it probably sounds.  Whether you love film or fashion, or are just looking to shade your brain from the reality of an ugly word for a couple of hours, it is a quick and fun read. It’s full of gorgeous photos from her first five decades in the spotlight.
  • Motivation: Sometimes I just like to look at pretty people in pretty clothes. It’s a nice break from thinking too much, which is how I usually spend approximately 95% of my waking hours.
  • Times Read: 2
  • Random Excerpt/Page 81: “(Marc) Bohan’s white slip gown in A Countess from Hong Kong is a unique creation, having an exceptional relationship to both Loren’s body and the character she portrays. This quality was requested by the director, Charlie Chaplin, as well as by Loren. Chaplin was very earnest and exacting about the countess’s look, and Loren, awed by this iconic film figure, uncharacteristically deferred wholly to his authority.”
  • Happiness Scale: 10+++
    Cropped screenshot of Sophia Loren from the fi...

    Cropped screenshot of Sophia Loren from the film Five Miles to Midnight (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

     

Daily Diversion #22: How Long Can I Resist?

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"An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day."-Henry David Thoreau

“An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.”-Henry David Thoreau

I’m not an early riser, but I like the idea of taking a morning constitutional. Not a plain old walk, mind you: a constitutional. Yes, yes…I know it means the same thing. The latter, however, sounds vigorous and lovely and a bit old-fashioned. As if it takes work, thought, planning. A clear head. For the last few weeks, I’ve been threatening to get up early (for me) and drag my husband to the cemetery down the street. A four-minute drive for an hour’s hike. After sunrise, but before the work day has dawned. It is such a tempting idea, in my head. On paper. The reality will likely find me achy and whiny and yawning for the first half an hour. Yet, yet… the destination is the above scene: vibrant, bright, wild. Serene. All in the shadow of the city. How long can I resist?