Inspiration Board-9th March 2013

Today my muses are spread so far across the map that there really is no map. Yay for eclectic inspiration. Enjoy!

I cannot get enough of John Grant’s new song, Pale Green Ghosts. It is the soundtrack for my packed writing weekend.

Voices from the Grave #56: Louis Bromfield and Malabar Farm

This video is a bit different, as it does not feature the writer’s voice. It’s a documentary clip about Ohio native Louis Bromfield. He and my mom share a hometown (Mansfield). I actually lived in the area until we moved to Columbus when I was 9; several of my close family members still reside in this corner of Richland County. I grew up going to Malabar Farm, swooning equally over its Hollywood connection (Bogie and Bacall were married there) and Bromfield’s status as a major  writer (he won a Pulitzer Prize). I hope you’ll bear with me and watch the video in its entirety, as it perfectly captures this great Ohioan’s contributions to literature and film and, most importantly, the development of conservation and agriculture practices that helped save American farming.

A Year in Books/Day 226: The Decline of Sentiment

  • Title: The Decline of Sentiment American Film in the 1920s
  • Author: Lea Jacobs
  • Year Published: 2008 (University of California Press)
  • Year Purchased: 2011
  • Source: Half Price Books
  • About: I like film criticism that comes with a healthy side of broader cultural and intellectual analysis. It is, admittedly, how I approach the subject, and view the world in general. Before proceeding, know that this review comes with a Warning. Lea Jacobs’ writing is from the crumbling cracker school: dry and without any excess flavour. If you cannot reconcile yourself to the mere thought of reading 313 pages of humourless but acutely insightful commentary, or this review about it, then move on with your bad self. No, really. I won’t be offended. As long as you promise to come back for #227. We’re still cool, right? For the 3 of you left, where were we? Ah, yes. Her writing. If you’re passionate or curious about silent cinema, The Decline of Sentiment is worth your time. Your head will eventually fall into rhythm with her writing style, and by the end of the book you will have a more comprehensive view of the subject even if, like me, you have studied and written about it for years. Continue reading

New Year’s Day Book Hunt

My favourite New Year’s Day tradition doesn’t involve parades or football games or overindulging in sweets. For this girl, it is all about books. Shocking, no?

A pile 'o books and calendars.

A pile ‘o books and calendars.

This pile ‘o goodies is the result of my annual New Year’s Day Book and Calendar Hunt. As you can see, the 2013 edition was quite successful. I decided to by-pass literature in favour of selections from the genres of art, biography, and silent film. Here are a few of the highlights:

Egon Schiele by Sandra Forty

Egon Schiele by Sandra Forty

REASON: Egon Schiele is my favourite artist (in a three-way tie with Modigliani and Pissarro).

Frontier Madam The Life of Dell Burke, Lady of Lusk by June Willson Read

Frontier Madam The Life of Dell Burke, Lady of Lusk by June Willson Read

REASON: Who could pass up a book with a title like this? Continue reading

A Year in Books/Day 223: Swanson on Swanson

  • Title: Swanson on Swanson
  • Author: Gloria Swanson
  • Year Published: 1980/This Edition: 1981 (Random House/Pocket Books)
  • Year Purchased: Mid-1990s
  • Source: Antique Barn, Ohio State Fair
  • About: “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”-George Bernard Shaw. Every Hollywood memoir should come with the preceding GBS quote as a disclaimer. That, or the generic perception is reality. Either will do. With that out of the way, we could get down to the important business of enjoying good Tinseltown autobiographies for what they are: damn fun entertainment. Underneath the ego and the stage-managed pathos, these one-person exercises in reputation preservation usually contain heaping amounts of self-deprecation, humor, and memorable industry anecdotes, with the self-subjects somehow, through a strange, magical process, coming across as down-to-earth and larger than life; normal and privileged; lucky and talented; flawed and beautiful. Continue reading

Why I’m Blowing Off Writing Tonight to Watch Old Movies and Trim the Tree

The essay I wrote yesterday in honor of my friend Frank really took a lot out of me. I’m drained. I’ve decided that I deserve a break from wading through my creativity. Tonight’s entertainment?

Top Hat Poster (1935)

Top Hat poster (1935)

Sullivan's Travels (1941)

Sullivan’s Travels (1941)