There are no voices here, just 86-year-old moving images. A frayed, preserved receipt from a beautiful and warm world long gone. Memories turned to history.
There are no voices here, just 86-year-old moving images. A frayed, preserved receipt from a beautiful and warm world long gone. Memories turned to history.
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Dead [courtesy of HuffPost Books]
Roger Ebert Dead [courtesy HuffPost Entertainment]
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.
Ten of the many reasons I am glad there is a major disconnect between film and reality.
10 Movies That Make Writing Look Incredibly Dangerous [courtesy of Flavorwire]
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.
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.
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
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
REASON: Who could pass up a book with a title like this? Continue reading
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)

Sullivan’s Travels (1941)