Netflix Recommends What?

Weirdest Netflix suggestion ever:

"We recommend 'Curious George Goes to the Doctor' because you enjoyed 'Delicatessen' and 'Down By Law.'"

Somehow someone somewhere has profoundly misunderstood the nature of these films. Or someone at Netflix has a wicked sense of humor.

San Francisco Notes: Navigating My Imagination*

* The title of the Joseph Cornell exhibit at SF MOMA which was the impetus for my trip was “Navigating the Imagination.” So, yes, this blog post title is almost 100% stolen.

It’s been over a month since my fairytale trip to San Francisco (getting to see the major Cornell exhibit, traveling with someone who actually wanted to go to thrift stores, seeing an art show about book covers, etc. etc. etc.) and I have yet to go back and find the books, websites and artists I made notes about. Here - do it with me (and enjoy some stories on the way):

• Reading the New York Times (Friday, 10/26) all the way through while waiting for my flight out of PDX. Things from various articles I wrote down:
- www.carstennicolai.de
- L.A. artists Amir Zaki, James Welling, Catherine Opie, Matt Mullican
- David Lynch to his actors: “You are solid.”
- Sleepwalkers video by Doug Aiken projected on the side of NYC MOMA
- Ghiberti’s “Gates of Paradise” will be at the Seattle Art Museum in the next year- and won’t leave Italy again after
- Mary Cassatt drypoint/aquatint print “Gathering Fruit”
- “Staring Back” photos at Peter Blum Chelsea gallery by Chris Marker. Films of his?

• From AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers exhibit at Chronicle Books HQ:
- Robert Polidori: After the Flood

• At the AIGA event, running into a woman in a red hat and cape we had chatted with earlier that day during an incredibly crowded, rowdy bus ride. Turns out she’s the co-founder of the San Francisco Center for the Book.

• The Ferry Building in general as a wonderful wonderland of incredible food. Especially Brianna’s Corner’s Custard Bomboloni and just about anything from Boulette’s Larder.

• Seeing a guy at the crowded farmer’s market and thinking - I think that’s Rena’s husband. But no, I’m sure it’s not - I’ve only seen, like, two pictures of him on flickr. Then asking Rena later in the day if Derek had been in the market that morning, to which she replied, “Yeah, did you see him?” to which I replied, “Yeah, I totally did.”

• Also at Rare Device, running into Susan Stars, a fellow Portlander and national craft celebrity. I’d brought a few of my necklaces along on the trip with the thought of giving one or more away to people if the occasion presented itself. There it was. That was neat.

• The engulfing, spectacular, and magical rooms at SF MOMA where I saw more things by Joseph Cornell all in one place than I’ll probably ever see again in my life. And the accompanying ginormous book has the most beautiful reproductions of his work I’ve ever seen. Yes, I bought it.

• From one of the curator’s placards in the Joseph Cornell exhibit:

“European royalty and affluent professionals from the 1500s to the 1700s gathered works of art, illustrated texts and maps, coins, scientific devices, seashells, and other natural specimens from around the world to create "cabinets of curiosities." Dense arrangements in drawers, chests, and glass-fronted cases in private chambers suggested a collector's highly personal view of the cosmos in miniature. Like his European counterparts, Cornell assembled elements in a matrix of metaphors designed to incite wonder, curiosity, and contemplation about the physical and spiritual interrelationship of man and nature.

Cornell also absorbed his family's Victorian sensibility of gathering and recycling things as talismans of ‘what else were scattered and lost.’ Well-furnished Victorian homes featured ‘art corners’ with assorted natural and cultural souvenirs displayed on shelves or in curio cabinets. For the first time in Western culture, children were encouraged to collect as an educational activity, and their containers of personal treasures were dubbed ‘schoolboys’ museums.” In combining the traditions of two eras, Cornell expressed his appreciation of curiosity as an ongoing and intimate pursuit of knowledge and experience.”

Read more text from the exhibit here.

• Books mentioned in the exhibit as being influential for Cornell at some time in his life that seem worth finding out more about:
- The Riddle of Emily Dickinson
- Ann of Oxford Street

• My own note: “Love of birds: willingness to accept on a deep level the otherness of animals.”

• On a crowded elevator, listening to an SF MOMA tour guide recount a story about the first group she ever led, which was comprised of senior citizens: “'I think we can fit everyone on the elevator - I don’t want to lose anyone.' To which a voice in the back corner of the elevator replied, ‘There are a few people I wouldn’t mind losing.’”

• Books at the SF MOMA store:
- Tico and the Golden Wings
- Stones, Bones & Stitches
- The Art Book for Children
- Pre-Zolo
- Reading Women
- The New Earth From Above
- Living Artfully
- Punk House
- The Plentitude, Rich Gold
- Wabi Sabi
- Foolsgold
- Atlas Schmatles
- Picturing & Poeting
- The Age of Feminine Drawing
• Notes from the SF Museum of Art & Craft
- Book: Celebrating Modern Art: The Anderson Collection
- Book: The Arts & Crafts Movement in California
- Artist: Squeak Carnwath
- Web: hirokokurihana.com
- Artist: Marcie McGoldrick - ceramics

• Made note of the name “Marie Watts” ?

• A Coloring Book For the Lazy by Harriet Russell - seen at Rare Device in “Play Pen” a book featuring children’s illustrators.

• In the Castro District, trying to get to Tartine Bakery and having major navigational challenges. Forced to get breakfast at the nearest location or face fainting/escalation of crankiness. Ending up at Little Orphan Andy’s, the hangout of pretty much exclusively gay men. One of the waiters was wearing a utilikilt, S&M suspenders, and a black leather belt with the word NUDIST spelled out in silver studs. Despite being outsiders, we were treated with extreme kindness by our waiter, who referred to his customers as “my darlings,” “my pumpkins,” etc. We were referred to as “gentlewomen.” I’ll take it. Laurie took a picture of the menu.

• Seeing the Darjeeling Limited at the Sundance Kabuki Theater in Japantown.

• Looking hard for a particular store that held the promise of being like walking though a Jospeh Cornell box , being disappointed with the reality of it then stumbling on Yone Beads (thanks to Laurie's keen eye), without a doubt the most magical and amazing bead store I've even been in. Yone Beads was like being in Joseph Cornell's basement workshop - special trinkets and colors and history everywhere.

Truly amazing trip. Good thing I scheduled in all that serendipity.

“Breathing rarified air, special and pure, like on Mount Everest.”

Clouds 4, originally uploaded by Poundstone.

I read an interview with Lucinda Williams a few years ago and remember her saying that oftentimes, the take of a song that ends up making it onto an album is the take she does when she’s dog tired; the last take.

About a year ago, my friend Craig Laurie (who has just put out a new album) said he had experienced the same thing during his recording process.

A few nights ago, I watched Au Hasard Balthazar, and afterwards a documentary that featured the director of the film, Robert Bresson, saying he sometimes had the non-actors he cast rehearse their lines up to fifty times before he shot a scene.

And this afternoon on NPR’s “This I Believe,” dancer and choreographer Judith Jamison said:

“Once, I had a dancer who was a beautiful dancer with a gorgeous body. But I couldn't get him to express himself. He had to go further. He had to tell me his journey, his emotional center, but he wouldn't. One time we were in rehearsal. He had a five-minute solo. He did it once. He was breathing hard. I said, ‘Do it again.’ The second time he was so exhausted he had no choice: He had to go deeper. He was honest. He arrived. It was exquisite.”

I don’t really know what to make of this idea, which seems to have been following me around for several years. It's counter-intuitive that work produced in some state of fatigue or exhaustion (as opposed to zeal or frenzy) would turn out to be the most excellent work produced, but apparently it happens. And, going by the products in the examples above, work produced in a depleted state of body may have a more intense spiritual resonance than would be possible otherwise. Or, to borrow the phrase Judith Jamison used to describe a rehearsal studio space, the work could make us feel we are “breathing rarified air, special and pure, like on Mount Everest.”

"I love the idea of taking everyday images, and giving them a graphic sophistication."

The title is a quote from Juan Gatti, who has designed titles for Pedro Almodóvar's films for the past 20 years or so. I just saw Almodóvar's "Volver" last night. Wow on so many, many fronts.I'm still processing the film, but the lush visual feast of it was enough to think about for many weeks to come. I was especially astounded by the Gatti's graphics during the end credits, and went to find more information and images. I came across an article "Graphic images to seduce the filmgoer" by Alice Rawsthorn from the International Herald Tribune, and learned about Pedro Almdovar's longtime collaboration with Juan Gatti. Exerpts are below; see the whole article here.

"For Volver's titles, or end credits, [Gatti] created an animation of the flowers, leaves and spots on the women's aprons and dresses. 'Pedro is very clever at building his characters with details like that,' Gatti says. 'And I love the idea of taking everyday images, and giving them a graphic sophistication.'"

"Gatti's collaboration with Almodóvar has lasted for more than 20 years, since the director was making short films in Madrid. Together they have produced some of the most memorable graphic images in contemporary cinema. 'A good title sequence should be seductive," observes Gatti. "It should have a hypnotic quality that gets the audience into the mood of the movie.'"

"Few designers and directors have enjoyed as productive a relationship as Gatti and Almodóvar. They met at a party in the early 1980s shortly after Gatti, who was born in Buenos Aires in 1950, had moved to Madrid. Both belonged to La Movida, the group of artists, designers and writers who were then defining the cultural identity of the newly democratic Spain."

"For each film, Gatti first reads the script, then he and Almodóvar identify reference points for the graphics, such as books, works of art and different characters. 'One of the reasons why we work so well together is because we have a similar frame of reference,' Gatti says. They then discuss possible styles and techniques, but do not develop them until Gatti has seen the first cut of the movie. He sketches his ideas as a storyboard, and refines them in dialogue with Almodóvar."

"In the titles of 'Bad Education' of 2004, he drew on his love of street art by collaging trashy images with religious ones to resemble fliers pasted on a street hoarding. 'I love seeing fragments of old posters peeping out from behind new ones,' he says."

Overwhelming Beauty All Around

Succulent Planters
Originally uploaded by Poundstone.

• Trees beginning to turn colors - marking one year in the place we live and Sophie's first Fall

• Werner Herzog's film "The White Diamond" - the music, the long looks at unexpected details in amazing landscapes, the way the people who live in Guyana see the beauty they're surrounded by...that Werner Herzog is using his considerable powers to make a film like *this* makes my heart surge with joy. Is that enough of a recommendation?

• Finding dozens of shiny, mahogany chestnuts in the street a block away from my house (any tips on what to do with these little jewels?)

• More films: Little Miss Sunshine, The Chorus, Tony Takitani, Mass Games

• These succulents (above) ready for their photo opportunity on our neighbors' porch

• After months of not doing it, finally cutting roses and hydrangeas from our plants and bringing them inside

• Finishing Carol Drinkwater's "The Olive Farm." I loved her in the role of James Herriot's wife on "All Creatures Great and Small. I looked her up recently to find that she's written three books about renovating a dilapidated olive farm in the south of France with her husband; "The Olive Farm" is the first in the series. The book should have had some serious editing help, but the storyline is mostly there, and it's easy to get carried away by her rapture for the place: the olive, flowering almond and orange trees; the ever-changing view of the "Med," happy dogs and geckos and foxes running around; a crystal clear pool to dip into; whitewashed walls of a writing room; blue shutters and red geraniums outside the front door....etc.

• Amazing light here the last few days - warm, bright, promising...

I've had a post-it note on my desktop for ages and ages, which I will now post here, thus finally erasing the post-it. These are snippets from a Babelfish translation -- from French to english -- of a review of the movie Dodgeball. I have no idea why I have these (did Ben try it out for fun?) but they make me laugh every time.

(Speaking of laughing every time, and along the movie theme, go check out the Bad Review Revue over at Defective Yeti.)
***************************************
(Movie is) "a tank of jokes."

"Without history, the festival is more insane!"

"Then, Dodgeball, it is what? Roughly speaking, a light deviation of the "Ball to the prisoner", small sporting play which made vibrate our merry years of colo and outdoor centre "

"Vince Vaughn and her distributed shingling..."

"Under the ambient idiocy which works us with the body to tear off a smile..."

"And this, in spite of a Ben Stiller in free wheel which does not move back in front of any eccentricity to give volume to film, with the image of its 'air pump among legs'."

Talking About Beauty

Pink Poppy 2
Originally uploaded by Poundstone.

Pedro Almodovar kept an online journal during the making of his new movie "Volver," and it (the journal - the movie is not available to me yet) is so wonderful. I so admire people who can be so precise and incisive in their writing -- especially about things that are so internal; things it would not immediately occur to me to write down.

"...a [film] shooting is a closed home from which you do not leave until it is finished. My existence in 'Volver' is very poor in anecdotes not related to the shooting. I read at nights but I can’t really grasp a thing, I don’t watch TV. I do listen to music during the long trips to the set. I don’t see anyone (I don’t go out). Sometimes someone comes to visit. There’s not much worth mentioning and that is why the rare things that leave an imprint and manage to captivate me acquire an enormous proportion, for sure an exaggerated one. I’ll mention some of them. Music.For me, finding an album that stuns me (or a book) is as tremendous and important as finding a good friend...I cannot think of better company than the one this music has provided during the daily journeys to the sets were we were shooting."

Another person who has this precision is the photographer I love, Frank Horvat. From this page, which introduces the photographs of a friend (whose photographs are astonishing):

"...But, as Italians say: non tutto il male vien per nuocere - not all bad things come to do harm. Christine hasn't been able to make as many photos as she would have liked - but the ones she took were photographs that she had to take...I don't know many photographers whose work conveys to me this feeling of necessity, both in the sense that the subject had to be photographed, and that the photographer felt the urge to shoot."

I feel the need to point out the amazing fact that each of these men have managed to convey their emotions so clearly in English, which is their second or third language.

I think am getting better at being able to write more precisely what I think and feel ,and am more interested in doing so. It's an extremely freeing and exhilarating sensation, to move toward a fuller expression of core internal truths. I think it's a combination of writing practice and a kind of bravery (the only kind I have)— a willingness to appear vulnerable to myself and others. Hmm. How deep : )

Uniforms, Fashion, and A Fond Farewell To Maternity Wear

The Pregnancy Wardrobe
Originally uploaded by Poundstone.

I’m really intrigued by the idea of normal people developing and wearing uniforms. In the movie “The Gleaners and I,” narrator (and director) Agnes Varda features a friend of hers – a man with long Santa Claus grey hair - who has worn all white for years. One couple I read about decided to wear uniforms for a year. They stored each day’s outfit – which consisted of a pair of elastic-waisted pants and a v-neck t-shirt - in clear pod-type containers mounted to the wall of their industrial-chic apartment. Sarah Neuberger of The Small Object just posted a blog entry here revealing that she makes all her own pants – which are based on a pajama pant pattern - and wears them exclusively. She has done this for 10 years. As a kid I remember reading about a soap-opera star who only had clothes in the colors black, white and red.

While I was pregnant, I had about 10 core clothing items I was wearing. And I must say, it was pretty freeing. I really enjoyed not having to think much about what I was going to wear each day. And I guess that’s the point of uniforms – that and consistency. Which I also like the idea of – that people can always count on you to look pretty much the same. It seems comforting.

I have never tried to express myself artistically through my clothing. I’ve used other outlets for that. My clothing goal has been mostly to wear stuff that made me look leaner than I ever actually expect or feel compelled to be. So that means I own an awful lot of black. A lot.

But there is a part of me that loves fashion. The idea that people can walk around looking like beautiful pieces of artwork. I think I’ve just come to accept the fact that it’s not really my cup of tea at this time in my life, and to really enjoy the fashion sense of others. And as long as I stay away from New York and Paris – the places that, having returned from them, I always feel guilty that 99% of my wardrobe comes from The Gap – I’ll be fine. (It’s crazy – I can spot Gap clothes a mile away at thrift stores. Just about everything they make fits me really well -- although I’ve been distressed by their focus on making stretchy shirts for the last few years. Pants involving stretch are my friends. T-shirts involving stretch are not.)

What’s interesting is that I may have now entered into a new fashion phase. No, I’m not going to start wearing Mom Jeans. But now, only rare occasions will call for me to wear business-y clothes. Though as my former co-workers will tell you, I hardly ever wore business-y clothes to begin with, despite the fact that my office sort of called for it. I always felt like an imposter in them. So now that that charade can be dispensed with, I can ask myself: what do I really want to wear? What do I feel good in? Maybe colors aren’t such a bad thing after all? Right now, during the transition from big ol’ pregnant body back to something resembling my pre-pregnant body (I hope), the answer is one size bigger than my regular size, and lots of hooded, pockets-hide-the-belly-area, zip-up sweatshirts. And I love them! One thing I’ll definitely be doing is purging any clothing items that the “What Not To Wear” ladies Trinny and Susannah disapprove of. They’re spot-on. And Susannah and I have very similar bodies (Though the “tummy” she always complains about looks nonexistent to me. Perhaps that says more about my tummy than hers.) Anyhoo, perhaps more thrilling adventures and ruminations in dressing myself to come. And I’ll definitely have to write about some unexpected reactions I had while dressing Sophia soon…

Pier in Early Morning

Pier in Early Morning
Originally uploaded by Poundstone.

I have a pretty bad habit of jotting notes down on random scraps of paper – whatever’s close at hand. Now that we’re moving (and trying to purge/organize) I’ve run across a lot of these bits and pieces. And it’s far from clear what to do with them. I’m working on some systems, and things are coming together. But I found these scribbled lists today – on post-it notes; on the back of one of my business cards; and on the back of some baseball ticket stubs – and I figured this was the perfect place to “archive” the notes, allowing me to throw away these pesky scraps.

:: Three Post-It Notes List ::
(Apparently these are all movies I thought at some point in time that I should check out.)

I, The Jury
Witch Hunt
The Late Show
Kill Me Again
The Two Jakes
Under Suspicion
Unsuitable Job for a Woman
Farewell, My Lovely
Shadow of Fear
Come Dance With Me (Voulez-vous danser avec moi)
A Gentle Woman
Whistling in Brooklyn
School of Flesh
The Elegant Criminal
A Murder of Quality
Anthony Mann – Director
- T-Men
- Raw Deal
- Border Incident
The Drowning Pool
Thin Man
Murder, My Sweet
Night Moves
Gaslight
Madigan
Naked Kiss
Kiss Me Deadly
Lady in the Lake
Dr. Mabuse vs. Scotland Yard
The Black Tower
Bulldog Drummond…
Dishonored Lady

:: Business Card List ::
(From browsing at a book/music store?)
Once (Wim Wenders)
The Artful Dodger
London Museums – A Handbook (Andrew Wyllie)
Catie Curtis – My Shirt Looks Good On You (CD)
The Incredible Moses Leroy (CD)
500 Self-Portraits
Lucy Kaplansky
Timeless (?)

:: Baseball Ticket List ::
(More movies - many of which have exclamation points for some reason…)

The Source
Streetwise
A Perfect Candidate
Okie Noodling
Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chas..?
The Filth & The Fury
Point of Order!
Wegman’s World
The Real Weegee
Wonderland
6 O’Clock News
The Big Bang!
Blast Em!
Martha & Ethel
Feed

Heathery Tree

Heathery Tree
Originally uploaded by Poundstone.

So haven’t been posting anything lately. I’ve been experiencing computer burnout I think. So I’ll post some lists.

The blogs I visit regularly:

:: Illustrator/Writer/Artist Type People ::
Penelope Illustration
Keri Smith
Danny Gregory
Lori Joy Smith
Loobylu
Susie G
Ikastikos

:: Friends & Family::
Jeff Overstreet
Tim Poundstone
Kortney & Andy

:: A List About Movies::

(Questions courtesy Blue Calico's May 17 post)

1) Total number of films I own on DVD/video: Let’s just say there are dozens, not hundreds.

2) The last film I bought: Ben tried to buy The Singing Detective on my behalf (the British version with Michael Gambon) from a video store that was going out of business. I’ll spare you the sad details, but it didn’t work out. Before that, I was going to buy Lost in Translation, but then my brother bought it for me. Next planned purchase: The Criterion edition of Rushmore, which includes the poster of drawings by Wes’ brother.

3) The last film I watched: In Good Company, then part of The Last Waltz, the Scorcese documentary on The Band

4) Five films that I watch a lot or that mean a lot to me:
*Blue (and all Kieslowski films)
*Moonstruck
*Beau Travail (and all Claire Denis films)
*La Promesse
*You Can Count On Me

Your answers?

Stuff I’m Thankful For

Yep, the requisite list of thankfulness, only two days late.

* Going to France soon
* Mr. Horvat wrote me back
* Learned a lot about my graphics program
* Started making jewelry that I really, really like (if I do say so myself)
* Love my church
* Dogs are healthy and happy (as far as I can tell)
* English Breakfast tea with lots of milk and sugar (okay fake sugar, but still)
* French movies
* Our computer was not completely killed and I did not lose all my files
* Making copies of my files on disk
* Drawing
* Sakura travel watercolor set
* Sketchbooks
* So many colors out there
* Fotolog
* Books: Wishcraft & Teenage Liberation Handbook
* Strange coincidences and mysterious ways
* All things about Ben (the guy I’m married to) – especially the fact that he makes me laugh *every single day.*
* That two of my close friends moved back to town and that we still like each other
* Movie: Coffee & Cigarettes
* Illustrators' Web sites
* Singer Laura Veirs -- especially her new one Carbon Glacier: crikey, it is so so wonderful, and the artwork is just crazy good
* Live music in general, and the Wilco show at the Roseland Theater here in Portland in particular

So much other stuff too. It’s been a really, really cool year.

Man oh man I love the library. You know why? Free!!! It’s all free!!! I can learn about all kinds of new stuff without spending hundreds of dollars on books or classes. I almost always have about 60 books checked out of the library. No, I haven’t had a massive overdue crisis – yet. Since I check my library card almost everyday online via the library’s Web site, it’s pretty easy to keep up.

One down side about checking things out of the library is having no record of stuff you’ve had, be it books, movies or music. Well, again thanks to the library’s Web site, I’ve decided that periodically I’ll cut and paste the items I have checked out into a Word document so I’ll have a record. It occurred to me that it could be fun to put the list on the blog occasionally. So here’s the first list, grouped into categories. I couldn’t stop myself from including notes on some of the materials, particularly the ones I’ve already read, watched, or istened to.

:: Short Stories ::
Because sometimes you need a break from novels. And because great short stories are so elegant.

* The collected stories of Chester B. Himes, Chester B. Himes
The French film director Claire Denis recommended this author. Himes’ stories are vivid, insightful, and just plain well put together. This is a book I would buy.

* Complete novels and stories, Kate Chopin
Got this book to read "The Story of An Hour" which had been recommended by someone online as an interesting portrayal of a woman.

:: Cookbooks ::
Ben does all the cooking. So I get these books to try to get him to make slightly healthier meals. I did try two recipes out of the Cooking Light titles – both were disasters, through no fault of the books. Sigh.

* Cooking light superfast suppers: speedy solutions for dinner dilemmas

* Cooking Light 5 ingredient, 15 minute cookbook

* The ultimate Southern living cookbook
The Hummingbird Cake recipe is reeeeeally good. And even I could make it successfully.

* Three bowls: vegetarian recipes from an American Buddhist monastery, Seppo Farrey
A friend who is attending the Oriental College of Medicine made me lemon ginger tea from this book, which - while sounding suspiciously similar to the flavor of that hideous TheraFlu concoction - was extremely tasty.


:: Publishing ::
I’ve been trying to learn about the book publishing process – there’s been an idea for a book rattling around in my head for a long time. I’ve done about a year’s worth of research, and I’m finally ready to send a query letter to an agent. Goal is to send the letter before the end of the year. Given today's date, I guess I’d better hop to it.

* The complete idiot's guide to publishing magazine articles, Sheree Bykofsky

* The shortest distance between you and a published book, Susan Page

* The complete idiot's guide to getting published Sheree Bykofsky

* Get organized, get published!: 225 ways to make time for success, Don Aslett

* Writer's guide to book editors, publishers, and literary agents.

:: Movies ::

* Eva/ Jeanne Moreau
Whoever wrote the blurb on the back of this film is a genius – I’ve checked it out from the library twice already, and twice I’ve shut it off after 20 minutes, as it's seemed unbearably boring/bad. This is my third time renting it; will I try to watch it yet again?

* The films in my life, Francois Truffaut (book)
What a thrill to Truffaut’s quirky thoughts on films.

* La Belle Noiseuse/Emmanuelle Beart
Three hours long, so I haven’t dug in yet.

* Crazy/Beautiful
Since Ben started student teaching high schoolers, I’ve been watching a few movies that are popular with teens. Haven’t watched this one yet, but have found others, particularly Save the Last Dance and 10 Things I Hate About You surprisingly good.

* A Fine Romance Series 2 & 3
Love British sitcoms. Love Judy Dench.

* Maya Lin a strong clear vision, American Film Foundation
Recommended by a co-worker. I watched this director’s film on Annie Lammott (see earlier entry) and thought it was quite well done.

* Underground, Emir Kustarica
Loved Black Cat, White Cat by this director. I’ve had this film for many months and still haven’t watched it. Another long one, so it’s tricky to find the right time to get started. Guess I need to face the reality that I’ll have to break it up into several viewings, even though I hate doing that.

:: Graphic Design ::
Ah, the Amazon "people who’ve bought this book also bought this book" system. It’ brilliant. I usually have a browser window with Amazon up side by side with the library catalog – I mosey through the recommendations, checking to see if the library has the books I'm interested in as I go. That’s how I came to have these graphic design/illustration how-to books. I figured it was high time I got some learning on graphic design and layout techniques. Perhaps finding a new way of thinking about ordering drawings, zines, etc.

* The education of an illustrator

* The rapid vis toolkit: an intriguing collection of powerful drawing tools for the rapid visualization of ideas, Kurt Hanks

* How to understand and use design and layout, David Dabner

* Graphic design cookbook: mix & match recipes for faster, better layouts, Leonard Koren
This is precisely the book I've been looking for for years: line drawings of various layout schemes. Leave it to fabulous Chronicle Books to publish this one.

:: Art/Craft ::

* Winogrand: figments from the real world, Garry Winogrand
* Public relations, Garry Winogrand/Museum of Modern Art
Recommended by a photographer friend, mentioned in a Frank Rich New York Times editorial. Thought I’d better check him out. Good stuff.

* Vogue knitting baby gifts
The easiest and cutest baby cardigan.

* How to draw a cup of coffee and other fun ideas for home & garden, Joy Sikorski
While this is not an entirely satisfying book, there are some very fun ideas in here. Good impetus for productive doodling.

* Watercolor journeys: create your own travel sketchbook, Richard Schilling
* How to keep a sketchbook, Michael Woods
After seeing a jaw-droppingly stunning artist's sketchbook on view in the artist’s workspace - and wanting to start drawing more this year, I did a keyword search for every book the library had with the word sketchbook in the title. These are two that have come in so far.

* Joseph Cornell: stargazing in the cinema, Jodi Hauptman
Someday I’ll buy this. Until then, I just want to have it near me.

* The transfiguration of the commonplace: a philosophy of art, Arthur Coleman Danto
Harvard University Press.
Fascinating book so chock-full of ideas that’s hard to read for more than a few pages at a time. I want to buy this book – I’ve had it on and off from the library for about five years – but it’s proven a bit difficult to come by. It’s one of those I look for in every used book store I visit.

* The stamp-pad printing book, Florence Harvey Pettit

* Felines: great poets on notorious cats
It’s no secret that I don’t love cats. But I do love the linoleum prints in this book. I bought the companion book Doggeral for the same reason.

:: Dogs ::

* How to draw dogs, Laura Murawski

* Draw 50 dogs, Lee J. Ames

* The encyclopedia of the dog, Bruce Fogle
Need to buy this. But until I’ve renewed it for the 99th time (the legal limit) I’ll just save the bucks.

* Multiple dog households, Miriam Fields-Babineau
Marginally useful book that I checked out after we got dog number 2.

* The complete idiot's guide to positive dog training, Pamela Dennison
I reeeally need to be reading this book. Wendell is out of control.

* Good owners, great dogs, Brian Kilcommons
Brian Kilcommons is like your mom: bossy in a way you know you need to be bossed.

:: For Lack of a Better Term - Self Help ::

* I could do anything if I only knew what it was: how to discover what you really want and how to get it, Barbara Sher
Sher’s book Wishcraft was a much more straight-to-the-point resource for me – I bought a copy. I need to get back into the momentum of that book, which, despite it’s corny title, is an amazingly hands-on, practical blueprint for achieving goals that seem too much to hope for.

* 20-minute yoga workouts, American Yoga Association.
Does keeping this book around burn any calories, or dissipate any stress? Sadly, no. I'd have to actually do the yoga.

:: Books from the Christian Intellectual Tradition::
Most of the stuff that you find on the shelves at a so-called "Christian bookstore" is quite simply embarrassing. Just because you’re writing about your faith doesn’t mean that you get to turn off your brain, stop your critical thinking process or take shortcuts. These folks didn’t, thank God.

* Lifesigns: intimacy, fecundity, and ecstasy in Christian perspective, Henri J. M. Nouwen

* True spirituality, Francis A. Schaeffer

* The best Christian writing. HarperSanFrancisco.
You know the "Best Essays" and "Best Short-Stories" collections in the bright colors with the big-name guest editors, right? This is the same deal, only with pieces that focus on all aspects of Christian life. I was stunned to find this on the library shelves: it opened all kinds of doors to more and better sources for finding similar kinds of writing.

:: Random ::

* The last days of disco: with cocktails at Petrossian afterwards: a novel, Whit Stillman
This book cracks me up. I had seen and loved the movie. I wanted to see it again, and was going to check it out from the library. When I went to look for it, I saw a listing for this novel. Whit Stillman, who wrote and directed the movie, had written a novel? Was this book some kind of novelization of the movie?? That would be weird! It turns out, the conceit of the novel is this: the characters in the movie the Last Days of Disco were real people, and one of them wanted to set the record straight on the events portrayed in the film. Clever, no?

* Ask me, Antje Damm
A very cool kids’ book that links interesting images – both drawings and photographs – that appear on the left page with questions that appear on the right page. The questions are meant to spark conversations between children and adults. "How did your parents choose your name?" "If you could become an animal, which animal would you choose?"

* The consolations of philosophy, Alain De Botton
I love that De Botton’s books freely intersperse images and text. It’s like those stories you’d read in Highlights magazine, where words were replaced with images, i.e. the letter "I" as replaced with a picture of an eye, or a picture of a house was substituted for the word. This book is mildly interesting, but I haven’t gotten very far with it yet.

* Girls who looked under rocks: the lives of six pioneering naturalists, Jeannine Atkins
My sister-in-law is currently in the Peace Corps in Suriname. This book features the story of a naturalist who went to Suriname - I'll be sending along a copy to my sister-in-law soon.

* Wonder Tales
A serendipitous library search: while looking for a book with the word "wonder" in the title, which I didn’t find, I ran across this book of French fairytales. You knew there was more out there than just the Brothers Grimm, right?

* Secret thoughts of an adoptive mother, Jana Wolff
Having read Broken Cord, I got interested in learning more about adoption.

* Entre nous: a woman's guide to finding her inner French girl, Debra Ollivier
Propped up on the shelf of new books at the library, I grabbed this on a whim. The title makes it sound fluffy. Actually, it’s an interesting look at French folks - particularly women - through the eyes of an American who lived in Paris for several years. With some beauty tips thrown in.

* Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson
A high school English teacher friend of mind is hoping that his class will soon read this book. I’m halfway through. So far I've been struck by how much another book ripped off the idea of this book. "Please Don’t Kill the Freshman," a book written by an actual high schooler who has thus far remained anonymous, takes a lot of its sensibilities from Speak. Speak is the far more interesting book of the two.

* Rolling dreams: portraits of the Northwest's railroad heritage, D. C. Jesse Burkhardt
The author of this book is the best friend of a co-worker. If you’re fascinated by trains, go for it. If not, and the author is not the best friend of a co-worker of yours, you might not be so excited about it.

* Geisha, Andi Watson
Plucked on a whim from the library's small shelf of graphic novels.

* Trouble is my business, Raymond Chandler
Since one of my most favorite authors Ann Patchett hasn’t published a new book yet, I’m reading some of her favorites.

* The Hanged Man, Francesca Lia Block
From Zine Scene, a book about making zines that Block co-authored, I went to Weetzie Bat, a rather disturbing but compelling novella (for young adults??). Thought I would try one more of hers.

:: Music ::
I’ve been on a David Byrne bender. The other CD on the list I spontaneously remembered one day at the library; I had heard an interview with Corey Harris on NPR about a year ago.

* O samba
A David Byrne collection of samba music

* Cuisine non-stop: introduction to the French nouvelle generation
A David Byrne collection of French music – some kooky cool stuff.

* Look into the eyeball, David Byrne
I love this entire album. After checking it out, I found a quote of David Byrne’s I wrote down in high school – something to the effect of "If you dance, you’ll understand the words better."

* Downhome sophisticate, Corey Harris

:: England ::
I long to go to England. However, being a fairly reluctant traveler, and living with the awareness that a European trip is not likely to make it into our budget for a few more years, I thought I’d do some armchair traveling.

* In search of London, Henry Vollam Morton

* England handbook, Charles Godfrey-Faussett

New stuff.

www.wordspy.com: a very cool Web site that features up-and-coming buzzwords. Here's one: cuddletech. Defined as technology -- such as the new Volkswagen or the iMac computer -- that is marketed as cute, friendly, or just plain cuddly. Memorize a term from the top 100 list and see how many of your friends you can confuse and intimidate.

www.kerismith.com: Visit this illustrator's blog, the Wish Jar Journal for some fabulous links. Ms. Smith has just published a book called Living Out Loud: Activities to fuel a creative life. I will be running to the bookstore tomorrow to purchase this if possible. Smith is an illustrator; her site and her blog include a lot of her work. Her work has a smart, dorky, clean and personality-filled look to it. Spending time on her blog makes me wish I were her.

Broken Cord, by Michael Dorris. Ben read this book as part of a special education class - part of his Graduate Teacher Education program. It's non-fiction, about a man who adopts a child as a single father in the 1970s. The child has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome -- only no one knew what that was thirty years ago. The only thing I knew about the author of the book was that he had committed suicide a few years ago. Because of the tenderness and honesty in the book, I became very curious about what had happened to Michael Dorris. It is a complicated and very very sad tale.

In mentioning Michael Dorris to a co-worker, I got a recommendation on a documentary about writer Annie Lammott, which I was able to get from my library. She's a hoot. And she's making so many people happier -- through her writing and teaching.

Watched two difficult movies: Jean Luc Godard's In Praise of Love, and Jaques Rivette's Celine and Julie Go Boating, the latter of which was nearly three hours long! I honestly do not know what to say about these films. On the one hand, I feel like I'm further alienating myself from the majority of the moviegoing public; on the other hand, I guess that's not necessarily a bad thing. The bottom line is that these filmmakers challenge and mess with all of the basic underpinnings we think of when we think of a "movie": plot, action, resolution, etc. Their films are more about ideas than they are about stories. As Donna on That 70's Show would say, they're "thinkers." Wish there were more people around that were willing to think about them with me...

For Thanksgiving, Ben, Margaret, Thad, Suzanne and I are going to McMinnville to stay at the Hotel Oregon. We'll have Thanksgiving dinner there, stay the night, then visit some Yamhill County wineries the next day. I want us all to really enjoy ourselves; I'll be kicking around online to see whether I might be able to find some interesting car/talking games. Past searches for these kinds of activities have been relatively fruitless, but try try again...

Another book I'll be checking out soon: SPECK: A Curious Collection of Uncommon Things. A recommendation from the Wish Jar Journal. Sounds fascinating.

Another recommendation, which came from director Claire Denis, via a translated interview she did with a French Magazine, were the collected stories of Chester Himes. Himes was a black man living in Ohio who starting writing in the 30s. I've read the first story of the collection, Headwaiter, and it absolutely knocked me out. I'm afraid to read more because I want to like all the stories as well as that one.

I also tried to start Three Junes, winner of some award. It's off to a rocky start for me. Trying a bit too hard to be literary. Perhaps it will get better or my mood will change.

If you like The Royal Tenenbaums, you really should try taking a look at it frame by frame on a big TV, or close up on a computer screen. The level of detail in each frame is just astounding. And so exciting: the fact that, for whatever brief period of time each set existed, that world existed.

From Res Magazine. An article quotes Charlotte from Lost in Translation: "Let's never come here again because it wouldn't be as much fun." Then goes on to say, " Watching the film offers the same feeling � it slips by, with unexpected humor and insight, and you know you'll never get to feel the same way again."

Melancholia, like saying goodbye to a friend who's going on a long trip, sets in when some movies end. An aching for an experience -- not just a person, time or place.

Lost In Translation/Friday Night

I adore Lost in Translation. Everything about it was perfect. The script/dialogue -- a blend of depth and clever humor (ranging from subtle to laugh-out-loud). The themes -- longing, loneliness, profound human connection.The look -- a mix of pastels and neon lights.

I also recently saw the latest Claire Denis film, Friday Night. A woman living in Paris is packing up her apartment, getting ready to move in the next day with her boyfriend. That night, she's to have dinner with friends. She gets in her car and begins the drive to their house, only to become enmeshed in a gargantuan traffic jam caused by a transit strike. The radio announcer urges drivers to give rides to those stranded by the public transportation shutdown. The woman does, and the movie follows her and her stranger until dawn.

Both of these films focus on two people in sealed environments (hotel/car) surrounded by big cities (Tokyo/Paris). Both of the films' actresses wear the camera's presence lightly, allowing us to intrude on and participate in their private moments, rather than experience them voyeuristically -- a welcome change.

I haven't read a review that compares these two films to one another yet. But each film has been compared by different reviewers to Wong Kar Wei's "In the Mood For Love." A visually gorgeous film, but one that did not manage to achieve the depth of feeling of either Lost in Translation or Friday Night.

See these movies.