[UPDATE: Um, I just re-read this and holy cow I was tired last night. So, yeah, editing. My apologies.]
Oh awesome! Singing in the Rain is on. Old fashioned? Yes. Hokey? Yes. Amazing? Yes. Uplifting? Yes. Sigh. I wish life really was like it is in the movies. Here’s a fave dance scene from the film. Cyd Charisse just captures and embodies the sex kitten here. I love story through movement and music. Sigh again.
Speaking of story through movement, I’ve been reading a great deal about Camille Claudel, Rodin’s lover and muse and remarkable talent in her own right. She was ultimately institutionalized at the behest of her mother (who disapproved of her choice of career as sculptor) despite very likely not being crazy a whit. Her doctors routinely wrote letters to her mother begging her to have her released from the hospital. Mom never relented and she never visited her daughter the 30 years she lived behind the walls of an asylum. Camille died there. If she was crazy at all, it’s because she had to negotiate that kind of treatment from someone who was supposed to care for her. And because she lived in a time where a great compliment to her work was the following. Take your time with it… She was described as “A revolt against nature: a woman genius”. Sigh.
Anyway, how beautiful is this?
The Waltz -- Camille Claudel
I wonder if this site accepts freelance submissions…just a thought.
Good DC band. Thanks Miss Caroline for having nice taste in music.
In honor of the late, great. This is one of those films that my family sat around and watched on Sunday evenings. This actually explains a lot about where I come from intellectually and why I have the sense of humor I have. Love. So much.
I have wanted to say the following almost … wait, let me count…yeah, one million and twenty seven times in my life at various times. Here, have a laugh:
Sister Juli felt it important to remind me of this poem. It helped Juli. Thanks. I wish I knew more people like you.
DESIDERATA
~Max Erhmann
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
And while we were talking, this song came on her radio and — well, it’s just appropriate on so many levels and will always be the sound of home.
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