A Photo Round-Up of Some Things My Mom Sees on Her Walk Home from Work, Part 1: Public Art

My mom works and lives downtown. She takes different routes to and from her job, depending on weather, inclination, and schedule. She’s lucky to see the city from such an intimate angle. Being on foot allows her to stop and actually look at things, to take them in with consideration and deep thought. Columbus is a city awash with public art. It’s everywhere you turn: bold, unique, subtle, provocative, demanding attention, always evolving. Boredom is turned away; it has no place there. I accompanied my mom on her Wednesday commute. I am a writer, but the profound human experience conjured by urban surroundings-gritty, beautiful, humorous- is one of the things that fuels my creativity. These images represent a handful of the aesthetic wonders we saw that rainy day, that she sees several times a week as a matter of routine. Lucky lady.

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”-Pablo Picasso

“A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament.”-Oscar Wilde

Daily Diversion #88: Ghostly Church

“Miracles occur,

If you dare to call those spasmodic

Tricks of radiance miracles. The wait’s

begun again,

The long wait for the angel,

For that rare, random descent.”-Sylvia Plath

Ghostly Church

Ghostly Church

Happy Birthday Anton Chekhov, You Sexy Beast

Anton Chekhov was born on 29 January 1860. In addition to being quite the looker…

Anton Chekhov, 1889

Anton Chekhov, 1889

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…he ranks as one of my favourite writers.

QUOTE: “There is nothing new in art except talent.”

SOME WORKS: The Bear; The Seagull; Uncle Vanya; Three Sisters; The Cherry Orchard; The Death of a Government Clerk; The Huntsman; At the Mill; Easter Eve; Grisha; The Bet; The Darling; The Bishop.

A KEEPSAKE:

Anton Chekhov Pocket Mirror by Tartx

Anton Chekhov Pocket Mirror by Tartx. $7.00 USD

 

 

 

Daily Prompt: Through the Window

Men on a roof. Bending, crouching, arms open to the sky. Hammering, drilling, sawing. Moving silhouettes on a cityscape set. Dress extras bringing atmosphere. Skyscraper backdrop with painted clouds. The foreman stands, his back to the audience. Directing the action. Immobile. Neon-vested. Empty hands in warm pockets. The workers’ raucous laughter slides through the whirring whinge of their tools. Perfectly timed. They’ve given this performance before.

Men at Work

Men at Work

My response to the Daily Prompt.

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.

Daily Diversion #86: Vacation, Holiday, Mini-Break

Whatever you want to call it, I’m on one. I’ll re-cap our amazing Burns Night Supper after I return home in a few days. Until then, you can expect some odds and ends posts, like this optical-illusion filled view from my mom’s apartment. Enjoy!

Partial Columbus Skyline

Partial Columbus Skyline

“I have lived in the East nearly thirty years now, but many of my books prove that I am never very far away from Ohio in my thoughts, and that the clocks that strike in my dreams are often the clocks of Columbus.”-James Thurber

“Columbus is a town in which almost anything is likely to happen, and in which almost everything has.”-James Thurber