dual personalities

May 8, 2017

“All who confess his name, come then with hearts aflame”*

by chuckofish

Well, this weekend was beautiful–70+ degrees and sunny. Gorgeous. We needed it.

I had a very busy weekend–estate sale-ing, attending “an event,” working in the yard, dining with friends (ordering a cocktail!), going to church, and so on.

Two of the estate sales I went to were at homes of people I had known and loved. This is always sad and a bit awkward. Both were at homes where the husband had died suddenly and the wife had been whisked off to an assisted living home immediately afterward. Both wives are suffering from dementia and I wonder if they had any idea what was happening to their homes. Maybe that is just as well.

I did rescue two embroidered/needlepoint bricks.

This weekend I also read a fair amount of the two books I am currently reading.

I found Whip Hand on a basement bookshelf and brought it upstairs to read. Written by Dick Francis, the British steeplechase jockey and prolific crime fiction writer, it is the second in the Sid Halley series about a former jockey, who has been crippled in a racing accident and now works as a private investigator. The novel received the Gold Dagger Award for Best Novel of 1979, as well as the Edgar Award for Best Novel of 1980. I am really not a big fan of the crime fiction genre, but I am enjoying this book as much as I did back in 1979 when I read it for the first time. It is Dick Francis at the top of his game.

I had to interrupt Dick Francis when Elizabeth Strout’s new book, Anything is Possible, arrived in the mail. You may recall that I loved My Name is Lucy Barton, which was published last year, and this book, which is sort of a sequel–in that Lucy Barton is a character in this new book. She has written a memoir (My Name is Lucy Barton) and we read about the people in the small town she has written about and how they react to the book. It is wonderful and I am racing through it. Strout is such a good writer, it is kind of unnerving.

The boy and his wee family came over for Sunday dinner, forcing me to close my book for awhile.

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And I saw a flicker close-up on the patio.

(not my photo!)

Weekend complete! Have a good week!

*Hymn 478, F. Bland Tucker

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May 6, 2017

“You are the music while the music lasts”*

by chuckofish

The weeks certainly do fly by, don’t they? At this time last Saturday the DH and I were on our way to scenic Vermont to attend son #3’s senior recital.

It was a beautiful day and the performance went perfectly — at least if you don’t count that idiot who took pictures (aka yours truly). This is the BEST photo I took.

Tim is the blur at the piano and his friend, Roland, is the blur with the violin. Despite my photo-fail, I had a wonderful time. The music — all original Tim Melville compositions — was great and ranged from conventional piano, guitar, violin pieces to much more experimental works, including a very cool digital composition and an avant-garde a capella sound piece performed by six singers. I confess that when Tim told us that things would get abstract, I pictured the first part of the great piano scene from Green Card (watch it all), but I’m happy to say it wasn’t anything like that. I know I’m his mother and I don’t know much about music, but I was very impressed! He sure makes his parents proud.

After all that excitement, we packed up the car with some items from Tim’s apartment and went off to a main street deli for some much needed sustenance. Tim’s girlfriend, and her parents and sister, who kindly drove up for the recital, joined us, but I took no pictures because I was having too much fun. However, this is what main street looks like.

We’ll be back in Vermont next weekend for Tim’s graduation — this time accompanied by good photographers who can record the event without shaking! And guess who the graduation speaker is going to be? Yep, Vermont’s most famous son, Bernie Sanders. I can hardly wait…

I will miss those car trips to Vermont, the antique stores, and the beautiful scenery.

But at least we’ll get to see more of Tim and his cat — at least for a few weeks. Stay tuned for part II, or “Weekend at Bernie’s”.

*T.S. Eliot, “Dry Salvages”

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May 5, 2017

“Twas in the merry month of May when green buds all were swelling”*

by chuckofish

I am so sick of rain! But I am cautiously optimistic about the weekend.

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Dare we hope for a little sun?

I hope so, because it will be a relatively busy weekend. Tonight we have the annual Print Fair and preview party at the St. Louis Mercantile Library, which is right up my alley, as you can imagine. What could be better than strolling around, wine in hand, checking out “thirty local and national fine print and rare book dealers presenting a broad array of exceptional materials?” Last year I even won something at the silent auction.

Then there’s a book fair at our local library and a few estate sales to go to. And I’ve got to get my house ready for daughters #1 and 2 who arrive next week for another quick visit–the wee babes are getting baptized next weekend! Nate, the fiancé, is coming too, so we’ll have a full house.

May is whizzing by, isn’t it?

Have a good weekend and let’s hope we can sing Here Comes the Sun. I tried to find a Youtube video of this song, but I guess there is an issue with Beatles songs. I have always liked this song, ever since I went to a concert my sophomore year at Smith College featuring a lot of acapella groups from other Ivy League schools. The Williams College Ephlats sang Here Comes the Sun. The soloist was a very cute guy with long blond hair. When I arrived as an exchange student at Williams the following year, this same guy literally climbed in my first floor dorm window on my first day. I took that for a good omen.

Enjoy your weekend!

*Barbara Allen, traditional Scottish ballad

6 Comments

May 4, 2017

Waitin’ ’round the bend

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of the lovely and talented Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993). I mean, who doesn’t love Audrey Hepburn? And if you don’t, what’s wrong with you?

Of course, she starred in one of my top-five favorite movies of all time–Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)–but I like her in anything. Indeed, she is like John Wayne in that she makes even an average movie worth watching.

She only made 20 American movies and they weren’t all Breakfast at Tiffany’s. But some of them are pretty darn good:

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The Unforgiven (1960)

Charade (1963)

Paris When It Sizzles (1964)

How to Steal a Million (1966)

I prefer her movies from the 1960s. The movies she made in the 1950s–when she was in her 20s–frequently match her with co-stars who are old enough to be her father. Think Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Fred Astaire–kind of creepy, don’t you think? What were they thinking?

Anyway, it’s a no-brainer what to watch tonight while toasting the wonderful Audrey.

Any one of her films will do (even those ones from the 1950s!) What’s your favorite Audrey Hepburn movie?

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May 3, 2017

“The water prevailed upon the earth”*

by chuckofish

Good grief–more “historic” flooding in flyover country.

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Our hands-on governor fills sandbags.

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The scene in downtown Eureka

People were just beginning to recover from the December 2015 flooding and now we have another “100-year” flood. In fact, we’ve had three 100-year flood events in the last five years! Crests now are expected to reach or surpass levels from the December 2015 flooding.

The Gasconade River

Eureka High School

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The Meramec River in Valley Park

And now this:

Screen Shot 2017-05-02 at 1.33.47 PM.png Zut alors! I can’t like this.

God of compassion,
you hear the cries of all who are in trouble or distress;
accept our prayers for those whose lives are affected by storms and flooding:
strengthen them in their hour of need,
grant them perseverance and courage to face the future
and be to them a firm foundation on which to build their lives;
this we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

*Genesis 7:24

The photos are from STLtoday.com.

5 Comments

May 2, 2017

“Socks up, boss!”

by chuckofish

Last night I watched Teahouse of the August Moon (1956) on TCM–a comedy about postwar Japan. Marlon Brando plays Sakini in a bit of casting which these days would be considered extremely offensive.

Marlon Brando, Paul Ford and Glenn Ford

I”m sure Brando just thought he was “acting” and meant no offence.

The original play and movie satirize the U.S. occupation and Americanization of the island of Okinawa following the end of WWII in 1945. It is all pretty silly.

Daughter #1 appeared in her high school production of the play when she was in the 9th grade.

There she is, the second from the right.

Her little sister and two admiring 4th grade friends congratulate her after the play.

Heavens to Betsy! How innocent/oblivious we were in 2000.

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May 1, 2017

We die to sin and live to God*

by chuckofish

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Oh brother. It rained all weekend. All weekend. Lots of flooding in flyover-land and many cancelations. The March of Dimes Walk for Babies, which I had planned to walk in on daughter #3’s team, was canceled.

There were a ton of good estate sales, but going estate sale-ing in the rain is not a lot of fun. I went to a few, but headed home after a while empty-handed.

It was definitely a weekend for puttering and I did quite a lot of that. I also read a lot of The Shadow of the Wind, which I finished. I can’t really recommend it. I guess I don’t like novels that have that consciously storybook/fairy tale quality where the author seems to be trying way too hard to convey a feeling. Oy. This book takes place in Barcelona before, during and after the Spanish Civil War, but you learn nothing about the history, only that a lot of bad things happened. The characters are too wrapped up in their own love story–which is childish–to care that anything is going on around them.

Meanwhile, daughters #1 and 2 were together in D.C. where #2’s friends from home had congregated to celebrate her bachelorette weekend. This is something new that modern bachelorettes do.

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Daughter #1 sent me the goodie bag that she, as Maid of Honor, gave to the other girls. She organized a party on the rooftop patio of one of her old friends–very cool–and they went to a winery. Luckily it didn’t rain on their parade.

I went to church and listening to the constant rain on our big roof

just made me want to go home and crawl back into bed. Well, I had to get ready for the boy and his wee brood who came over for dinner that evening.

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Thankfully, these wee babes can cheer up even the dreariest of weekends! Enjoy your Monday!

*From the Pascha nostrum, Episcopal Church; the painting at the top is by Betha Lum, 1912.

2 Comments

April 29, 2017

It’s a lonely road, full of tired men*

by chuckofish

Last weekend I drove down to Claremont, New Hampshire to attend a memorial service for our uncle, Donald K. Ellsworth. At 87, he had led a full life. He and our aunt were married for sixty-one years! The service was lovely; we sang “The Old Rugged Cross” and “How Great Thou Art”, which always make me tear-up. Later, we had dinner at the Common Man Inn, where I also happened to be staying. It’s a converted 19th century (?) mill overlooking the Connecticut River.

I hadn’t seen some of my cousins in years and years, so that part of the trip was particularly nice.

Cousin Steve, his wife Lori, and cousin Mary

I was the only one taking pictures, so I didn’t take many. On my way out of town, I drove by the old family farm on Wheeler-Rand Rd., although the sun was in the wrong place to take pictures and I didn’t want to act like a weirdo lurker. I mention the farm because my cousin, Steve, passed on to me some things that used to live there: this lovely fruit compote;

a jug, snuff jars and an iron;

as well as a leather box, a match box (?) and a drafting set.

He also gave me a whole box full of buttons, ribbons, and other treasures,

including a tiny pair of leather gloves, two fans, and some lace sleeves.

I am so pleased that he shared these things with me and I plan on bringing a few of the items to my dual personality and our brother when we meet in St. Louis this summer. Old things like this keep us connected to the people who came before us — in this case, those hard-working men and women who settled the Connecticut Valley back before the Revolutionary War. As I drove home through the Adirondacks, I thought of all of them — working, fighting, dying, and just living so that we would have a better future.

Tupper Lake in the Adirondacks

I also thought about how we are carrying on! In fact, I’m off in about twenty minutes to drive to Vermont for son #3’s senior recital (hence, the rushed post). I’ll tell you all about it next week.

In the meantime, have a great weekend and take some time to remember your ancestors. Get out that old box of odds and ends, look at some pictures, and remember — just remember.

*The Lumineers, “The Gale Song” — I think I’ve used this as a title before, but I like it, so why not use it again? Also, sorry for the late Saturday post. Evidently, I didn’t hit the button this morning…

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April 28, 2017

“What a story! Everything but the bloodhounds snappin’ at her rear end.”*

by chuckofish

I watched All About Eve (1950) on TCM the other night.

It won Best Picture in 1950 and it is a good movie. You remember–an ingenue (Eve, played by Ann Baxter) insinuates herself into the company of an established but aging stage actress (Davis) and her circle of theater friends–the director, the writer, the columnist.

Bette Davis gives an over-the-top (but enjoyable) performance playing a Bette Davis-like star who throws off lines like, “Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night!” George Sanders has the role of his life playing Addison DeWitt. He is fabulous and won a much-deserved best supporting actor Oscar.

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But everyone else is clearly acting and they really can’t keep up with Bette and George. Celeste Holm–playing the good girl who does a very bitchy thing (you know the type)–made me want to slap her continuously. Gary Merrill and Hugh Marlowe are just not quite good enough.

Bette with the B team.

Marilyn Monroe steals her one scene and is surprisingly natural in comparison to the others. I guess she really understood her part playing “a graduate of the Copacabana School of the Dramatic Arts.”

“You have a point. An idiotic one, but a point.”

What really impressed me was the screenplay written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The dialogue is witty and sharp and the plot is clever and apparently very authentic. They don’t write ’em like this anymore!

Spoiler alert: Margo Channing, the Star played by Davis, is no feminist icon. Although she is brash and fearless, all she really wants is to settle down with the right man and get married…

Funny business, a woman’s career – the things you drop on your way up the ladder so you can move faster. You forget you’ll need them again when you get back to being a woman. That’s one career all females have in common, whether we like it or not: being a woman. Sooner or later, we’ve got to work at it, no matter how many other careers we’ve had or wanted. And in the last analysis, nothing’s any good unless you can look up just before dinner or turn around in bed, and there he is. Without that, you’re not a woman. You’re something with a French provincial office or a book full of clippings, but you’re not a woman. Slow curtain, the end.

Zut alors! Well, it’s dated, but it (mostly) holds up.

So I’ll recommend All About Eve as my Friday movie pic. You could also watch Sunset Boulevard from the same year– another classic about an aging star, this time played by the over-the-top Gloria Swanson (who was also nominated for Best Actress, but lost as well.)

P.S. Bette Davis did not win the Best Actress Oscar, because Ann Baxter lobbied to be nominated as well for Best Actress (as opposed to Best Supporting Actress) and they split the vote. Sigh. C’est la vie dans Hollywood.

Puff. Puff.

*Thelma Ritter (Birdie) in All About Eve

3 Comments

April 27, 2017

Food for thought

by chuckofish

IT IS OUT OF the whirlwind that Job first hears God say “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” (Job 42:3). It is out of the absence of God that God makes himself present, and it is not just the whirlwind that stands for his absence, not just the storm and chaos of the world that knock into a cocked hat all man’s attempts to find God in the world, but God is absent also from all Job’s words about God, and from the words of his comforters, because they are words without knowledge that obscure the issue of God by trying to define him as present in ways and places where he is not present, to define him as moral order, as the best answer man can give to the problem of his life. God is not an answer man can give, God says. God himself does not give answers. He gives himself, and into the midst of the whirlwind of his absence gives himself.

–Frederick Buechner, Telling the Truth

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P.S. Have you ever noticed that God looks like he is in a big brain in Michelangelo’s depiction of him on the Sistine Chapel (see above)? That green scarf is the vertebral artery. I did not think of this myself, but I have to admit, it really does look like a brain. Discuss among yourselves.

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