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Continue reading →Category Archives: Arts
Prepare a face…
…to meet the faces that you meet: Backstage Beauty at The New York City Ballet from Racked.com on Vimeo. Such a contrast between the relatively drab starting point and the very glam finish. And false eyelashes are only a little … Continue reading →
More child heroes
I love these stories when they have happy endings: “I had him in my arms and still screaming over and over. Then I ran outside. I saw two boys playing across the street, and I yelled, ‘Go ask your parents … Continue reading →
Sound and sense: “but I am now with you”
[NOTE: In one of yesterday’s posts I reproduced some photos of people when young alongside the very same people considerably older. Then I offered—without any commentary—one of my favorite poems, “Spring and Fall: To a Young Child” by Gerard Manley … Continue reading →
Photos: before and after
Sometimes I don’t like to confront the fact of aging. Sometimes it’s okay with me (not that anyone’s asking). These before and after photos—a person young, the same person older, in the very same pose and similar clothing—are heartbreaking, heartwarming, … Continue reading →
Obama: don’t blame me for stopping the White House tours!
It was the other guy. Obama’s tendency to pass the buck was one of the very first things I ever noticed about him. It’s one of his strongest and deepest character traits, and one of his least attractive. But apparently, … Continue reading →
Concerto Barocco
“Concerto Barocco” is one of George Balanchine’s greatest—and oldest—ballets, and one of my very favorites. This first video gives you a general idea of the piece. Note that the dancer says, “Everything feels right and I couldn’t imagine more perfect … Continue reading →
Cartoons and me
When I was nine or ten years old I was given an individual IQ test by a family friend who was getting her PhD in child psychology, and having to administer the test to a certain number of children was … Continue reading →
The salon de refuses of publishing
Here’s another of those perennial articles listing the blockbuster books that were initially rejected by publisher after publisher. I remember I used to own a book that was a collection of editors’ rejection letters for great classic and popular works. … Continue reading →
The fairest of them all?
I first heard her sing when I was in college. I had some friends who’d been to Europe and had brought back a few of her records. I didn’t much care for her music and promptly forgot about her, until … Continue reading →
Minor to major
[NOTE: It’s been a long time since I took any classes in music theory, and even back then I never learned very much of it. So I’m uncertain whether I’ve used the right musical terminology here when I compare major … Continue reading →
Anne Frank: are people good at heart?
[NOTE: This is a repeat of a previous post.] I’m currently reading Francine Prose’s Anne Frank: the book, the life, the afterlife. It’s about the process by which Anne Frank wrote and then rewrote her diary, with an eye to … Continue reading →