When I did "The London Eye" study abroad last summer, my colleague M-A (who ran the program) would encourage students to "climb into [another person's] skin" (using a phrase from To Kill a Mockingbird). M-A would use this as a way to teach students - especially white students - to place themselves in the position of a BIPOC person (someone who has been characterized and defined by their skin color) in order to build empathy and understanding for the racism that marginalized people experience on a daily basis. This "skin climbing" is a powerful visual and I think it had an impact on students, as it had an impact on me.
Today I was reminded of this skin-climbing comparison in an anecdotal story found within The Ogress and the Orphans, a children's novel by Kelly Barnhill. The full story is can be read on Google Books, but I wanted to remember a few points that stood out to me and quote them here. The story is about an ancient dragon who put on the skin of an antelope and learned what it was like to live like an antelope.
The part that I love the most is when the dragon has an awakened moment after wearing the antelope skin:
"He was, he realized, more now. He was a dragon who had learned what it was like to be an antelope. He had been an antelope who knew what it was to be a dragon. Each experience expanded the other. There was more him in himself now - his mind was enlarged, and his soul was enlarged as well.
Very carefully, he picked up the magic-imbued antelope skin and held it tenderly in his arms. It felt previous to him now, and the key to something important. "Others should experience this," he said to himself. Other dragons need to know."
The Dragon took the antelope skin around the world, to all of dragonkind. One by one, the dragons put on the antelope's skin. One by one, they learned the delight in an antelope's speed and agility, as well as the joy of being a part of a herd. . . Most dragons, as a result of this experience, became vegetarians. The antelope skin - the First Antelope - became a holy object to dragonkind. They wanted to understand all creatures in this way. All places. They wanted to understand the whole world.
Over time, skin-wearing became a sacred practice for dragons. By becoming other creatures, they could better understand how dragons were perceived by others, and through understanding they could endeavor to make themselves nobler, kinder, more generous. It was through skin-wearing that dragons could seek enlightenment and openheartedness. Wearing skins became prayerful, holy, a state to be admired, and often dragons who had done so would listen. Temples were built. Icons adorned treasure caves. And the dragons who had taken on numerous points of view were venerated as saints. This came at a physical cost, of course. It took magic to animate the skins, and magic to wear them. The dragons would emerge weakened and ill after their time in the skins - made worse they longer they did it. Still, dragonkind considered this discomfort a worthwhile fee for their benefit. The enlightened dragons spent their recovery time in a state of contemplation and gratitude." (Kelly Barnhill, The Ogress and the Orphans, p. 81-82).
I like this comparison in how living in someone else's skin can not only build empathy, but it can allow for personal growth, self-reflection, contemplation and gratitude. I want to point out to my kids these truths when they read this short story, in hopes that they will be skin-climbers in their own lives.
Lucy made this self-portrait earlier this month, which depicts her in her bedroom. I love that she included details like window, her heart stained-glass decoration, her three dolls (Blondie Bloom, Felicity and Molly), as well as three of her Lego sets (camping, Poppy from Trolls and the hair salon with a pair of scissors on top). The closet is marked with a snowflake, because Lucy thinks the air in her closet is cold instead. And best, of all, the window overlooks our yard, and Violet is dutifully barking at a neighbor who is walking past with their dog.
When I saw this self-portrait, on one hand I loved to see a happy girl who was smiling in her room. And I think she is genuinely happy. But I also couldn't help but think about how that bedroom - and our house - has been so much of what she has known the past two years because of the pandemic. Sometimes I lament about how her childhood is so strange right now - the other day I got a little emotional realizing that she was not going to get the "recorder unit" in her music class because the kids can't blow on recorders and expel their breath into the classroom air.
I've also been reminded of how Lucy's childhood is so different because Lucy and I have been reading the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace. We are just about to finish the fourth book in our Betsy-Tacy treasury, which is the last one! And while the girls in those stories lived about a century ago, some of the things they experience are timeless parts of childhood: playing with friends, using your imagination, and exploring the outdoors. I wish Lucy had a friend who lived across the street, so they could spend going to each other's houses, and spending their free time imagining and pretending together. She does have some friends that she likes, but the pandemic has prevented us from doing too many playdates.
And I realize some things can't be helped or changed. Hopefully the virus will get under control, of course, but we may never have a little girl move into our neighborhood. I am glad, though, that she has her brother to play with. It's not quite the same as a little friend that is your same age, but she really loves Sam and is really happy to spend time with him. And I'm glad that she does have one friend that she is getting to "grow old" with: Abby H. I like thinking about how Lucy and Abby have known each other just about their whole lives, and I like that they have a history similar to how Betsy, Tacy and Tib go through different adventures in each book as they grow older. Abby doesn't live across the street or even in walking distance, but I'm glad we can drive to her house in just 10-15 minutes.
I've been thinking a lot about age over the past few days. One of my best friends, Rachael, turned forty last week, which has prompted lots of reflection and celebration. Rachael, Carrie, and I went to the MarQueen Hotel to celebrate, as we have all been fully vaccinated - it was the first time I had been in a hotel in over fifteen months due to the pandemic! We took a lot of pictures, although I couldn't help but reflect on how we looked old in the pictures. Not just young moms, but like seasoned moms on a middle-aged "girls" night. Which, in truth, that is what we are: seasoned moms who have been raising our kids together for the past 10+ years.
I'm not even forty yet, but Rachael's birthday (and Carrie's impending 40th birthday) have made be reflective. There is so much that one can accomplish in the first forty years of life, and it also make one wonder what is left in store. And it just so happens that this week other articles about Millenials turning forty came out, stating that it is the "old age of youth" (the term "geriatric Millenials" has gone viral over the past week or so) and that better things happen when one is in their fifties. I guess we'll see how the next decade pans out for me and my friends!
These things about aging were in the back of my mind yesterday, as I was listening to C. S. Lewis's "The Last Battle" on audiobook (read by Patrick Stewart, who did a fantastic performance). I was struck by this quote about Susan Pevensie, who at this time must be in her late teens or twenties:
“Grown-up, indeed,” said the Lady Polly, “I wish [Susan] would grow up. She wasted all her school time wanting to be the age she is now, and she’ll waste all the rest of her life trying to stay that way. Her whole idea is to race on to the silliest time of one’s life as quick as she can and then stop there as long as she can.”
This quote has made me think about what period in my life do I want to enjoy the most, and I hope that my answer will continually be "the present." I'd rather not spend time wishing that I was trying to stay at a time in my life that has already passed me by. Of course, I want to keep my body as healthy as possible, but I think that's different from trying to stop myself from aging or wish that I was a different age. I hope that I can be a person who is content about their stage in life and the things that happen to one's body with age. If I'm going to be a seasoned mom of older kids right now, then so be it.
I've been listening to an audiobook of Northanger Abbey (read by Juliet Stevenson) lately. I haven't had much time to listen, apart from when I'm watering the flowers. But I hope that I'll get to listen more frequently, once I'm able to start running outside again. (There have been terrible wildfires in on the West Coast lately, and Seattle is covered in a thick blanket of smoke. The air quality fluctuates between the Unhealthy, Very Unhealthy, and Hazardous levels. We haven't really gone outside for several days, except to water flowers or get groceries. And it looks like the smoke will last for at least four more days. It's just one more crazy thing to add to the stress and craziness of the Covid-19 pandemic. This year has been unbelievable in terms of hardships and natural disasters.)
Anyhow, the audiobook is quite fun. Stevenson reads the text a little bit faster than I would have liked, but her inflections and delivery capture the silliness of Mrs. Allen and the wittiness of Mr. Tilney. I was so amused by this passage, that I listened to it several times. Mr. Tilney has been dancing with Catherine Morland at a ball, and he had this teasing exchange with her:
“I see what you think of me,” said he gravely — “I shall make but a poor figure in your journal tomorrow.”
“My journal!”
“Yes, I know exactly what you will say: Friday, went to the Lower Rooms; wore my sprigged muslin robe with blue trimmings — plain black shoes — appeared to much advantage; but was strangely harassed by a queer, half–witted man, who would make me dance with him, and distressed me by his nonsense.”
“Indeed I shall say no such thing.”
“Shall I tell you what you ought to say?”
“If you please.”
“I danced with a very agreeable young man, introduced by Mr. King; had a great deal of conversation with him — seems a most extraordinary genius — hope I may know more of him. That, madam, is what I wish you to say.”
“But, perhaps, I keep no journal.”
“Perhaps you are not sitting in this room, and I am not sitting by you. These are points in which a doubt is equally possible. Not keep a journal! How are your absent cousins to understand the tenour of your life in Bath without one? How are the civilities and compliments of every day to be related as they ought to be, unless noted down every evening in a journal? How are your various dresses to be remembered, and the particular state of your complexion, and curl of your hair to be described in all their diversities, without having constant recourse to a journal? My dear madam, I am not so ignorant of young ladies’ ways as you wish to believe me; it is this delightful habit of journaling which largely contributes to form the easy style of writing for which ladies are so generally celebrated. Everybody allows that the talent of writing agreeable letters is peculiarly female. Nature may have done something, but I am sure it must be essentially assisted by the practice of keeping a journal" (Northanger Abbey, Chapter 3)
As someone who likes to write in a journal (and blog!), I was amused to think about trivialities of journal writing. I'm sure many of the things that I write down are trivial, and really only important to me. Sometimes I don't even know why I write things down, other than that I want to think about them further in that particular moment as I write. I don't anticipate "constant recourse to a journal" and re-reading my entries at some point, although I do go back to read previous entries occasionally. But I don't really think about chronicling things for personal future amusement and recollection. (At least not in my personal journal. I do put things in my art history blog to have as for future reference.) And I'm not sure if I want others to read my journal in the future. Maybe? Or maybe only some entries that my kids would find meaningful? I'm not sure how much to share or what is worth sharing.
The exchange in the book continues on to think about females and writing, with Mr. Tilney's observation that both men and women can excel in writing, singing, and drawing. He says, "In every power of which taste is the foundation, excellence is pretty fairly divided between the sexes." It seems clear to me that Jane Austen is expressing her own opinion here, and not just Mr. Tilney's!
Sam is twelve years old! He had a special - and unique - day, despite some of the restrictions for Covid-19. He has grown a lot this year and always seems to be hungry, so we wanted to make sure that his birthday was filled with his favorite foods. We had crepes for breakfast, Subway sandwiches for lunch, and Panera mac & cheese for dinner. He even surprised us by choosing a birthday dessert that was not brownies this year: he saw a picture of chocolate lava cakes in our recipe book and asked that we try it:
Sam got lots of books from his family members and friends, which is great because I want to make sure he has plenty to read, since we will likely be spending most of our time at home this summer due to the virus. He also got some LEGO sets from us, including a Bantha, Tusken Raider minifigure, and also an AT-ST walker from the Mandalorian series.
At lunchtime, we ate Subway sandwiches and had a birthday celebration in my in-law's garage! It was raining and we couldn't stay strictly outdoors, but we opened the garage doors to have air circulation while we visited at a social distance across the garage. I bet this is the only time Sam will have a birthday party in a garage!
Sam also received a fun candygram and oversize balloon from the Hong family, which was special. We caught the Hongs as they were leaving the gift, and got to say hello to them from a social distance. I feel like the Hongs and the Roses are like our kids' surrogate cousins, aunts, and uncles.
One of the things that I thought was special, is that Sam and Lucy chose to spend their allowance money on Harry Potter wands. On Sam's birthday I let them come into the store to see the toy aisle, if they promised to wear their masks. It was the first time they have been in a physical store since March. They chose some "mystery" Harry Potter wands. Lucy ended up getting James Potter's wand, and Sam ended up getting Snape's wand. They spend much of Sam's birthday afternoon playing some sort of Harry Potter wand game up in Sam's room. Sam also got a little music player for his birthday, so that he could listen to his Spotify playlist offline, while in his room. While they played, the Harry Potter film score music from Sam's playlist appropriately accompanied their game.
I think the most special thing for Sam, though, was that he got to see his two best friends, Lewis and Judah, this weekend. Due to the lockdown restrictions, he hasn't seen his friends in person for about three months. The restrictions have eased slightly so that people can have outdoor gatherings, but you are only permitted to see five people outside your household over the span of a week. The boys sat and chatted for most of the time, but we did serve a pizza picnic lunch and they played a round of bocce.
He sure has grown a lot this year. He is about as tall as me, and he can slip his feet into J's sandals (although they are still a bit big on him). His voice has gotten lower and he looks more like a teenager with each passing day. Still, though, Sam is his constant and cheerful self. He is such a great kid. He's responsible, caring, obedient, smart, and very kind to his sister. I have no doubt he will graciously play with his sister this summer too, even at times when he'd rather do something else. Tonight Lucy wanted to hold his hand on our family walk, and even though I could tell he'd rather not hold hands anymore (he feels too old for that), he sweetly acquiesced and they held hands down the hill. I'm sure proud of him.
Lately he and I have been reading The Ickabog online (J. K. Rowling has released it on her website as a gift to children during the pandemic), and it's been fun to read a fantasy book out loud to him again. I hope we have many chances to read together this summer. Even though he gets older, I hope he doesn't outgrow his love for fantasy and fiction.
I'm cleaning out my desktop while I wait at the airport for a flight. Before I organize these beautiful works of art into oblivion, I want to make sure I highlight them so I can remember:
Sarah Paxton Ball Dodson, "Butterflies," 1891
Mary Cassatt, "Lilacs in Window," 1883
This painting and the lilacs remind me of my mom
Gustave-Leonard de Jonghe, "First Born," 1863
This painting reminds me of when I went to meet my niece Mabel, the first child born to one of my siblings. I would be the lady in the yellow traveling clothes, and V is the mom in white
Tissot, "Reading a Story," c. 1897
Some of the most quiet moments I have with Lucy are when we are reading a story together. This curly-haired blonde girl reminds me of her
The photograph below and the Homer painting above have been saved on my desktop, right next to each other. I've thought lately about how their compositions are similar in some ways, with the straight horizon line of the sea. I guess I'm really drawn to the same aesthetic Something resonates with me in both subjects, too: solitude and playfulness. The photograph particularly reminds me of my mom (with her own short dark hair) and her investment in her kids. I adore this composition, particularly the curve of Caroline's tummy, her round legs, and how she has one foot just peek over the horizon line.
Mark Shaw Kennedy, "Jackie Swings Caroline in the Shallows of Hyannis Port," 1959
Yesterday, by coincidence, Lucy the book, "Just Being Jackie" by Megan Cardillo. It's a delightful book and I really like the illustrations, too. I've realized how much I truly admire Jackie Kennedy and all that she did, in her pursuit of her career, her dedication to her children, and her desire to preserve historical buildings and monuments (and I already had an inkling of this latter point before, since I am familiar with her involvement in saving Egyptian temples).
Having worked recently to restore an heirloom dollhouse this past summer, I am now anxious to see what Jackie Kennedy did on a greater scale with her restoration of the White House. I hope to watch "A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy" (the 1962 documentary) soon. I'm saving a clip below as a starter, but I need to track down the whole documentary:
Sam and Lucy are at a fun stage right now, where they enjoy playing with each other. I love this picture that I took of them about six weeks ago, when they had an impromptu after-school snuggle after Sam got home from school. And recently, since the weather is getting warmer, I have loved watching them run around the house and chase each other on the lawn. About a week ago they were speaking to each other in a gibberish language during our lunch, and Lucy was laughing so hard that she was crying! Sam is such a sweet big brother and has a lot of patience for his strong-willed and oft-demanding little sister. One of the moments that I captured on video is when Sam willingly obliged to be a prince and dance with Lucy while she watched "Cinderella" a few weeks ago:
We went to IKEA for a few things in February, and the kids loved getting ice cream and pizza at the bistro afterward.
J took the kids to the Museum of Flight (I think I was volunteering at the art museum this day). Sam's gooney face is typical of the silly faces that he likes to do in photographs right now (unless we force him to "merely" smile).
Ferris Wheel ride!
Fancy dress-up: check
Pajamas underneath: check
Crazy hair: check
Sam on the climbing apparatus in the new KidsQuest. I think I was also volunteering at the museum when J took the kids here
Lucy continues to love snacks. She eat snacks continuously thoughout the day, and she particularly likes eating goldfish crackers, dried cereal, and baby food "crushers" (she only likes three specific flavors that are made by Plum Organics: peaches; a blend of blueberry, pear and purple carrot; and and apple-carrot). We are trying to get her to stop eating crushers, but she loves them so much that it has been hard to scale back. I have to vacuum my car on a very regular basis, because it is constantly filled with crumbs from her snacks. She also loves chocolate (she spits out most fruit-flavored candy), and would probably have all of her snacks consist of chocolate if I allowed it. And I had to promise her a snack so that she would pause for this picture (shown above).
Walking in Kubota Gardens when ixoj and phin came to visit with their families!
Sam won third place in the Pinewood Derby this year! He isn't a competitive person and didn't want to race this year (he only wanted to make a car that looked like a Mustang), but he changed his mind and then ended up doing pretty well in the race!
Probably Lucy's biggest achievement in recent weeks has been giving up her pacifier. I decided to do this while I was on spring break, because I knew the transition and consistent naps might be difficult. I had her cut them up herself, so that she knew that they were irreparably damaged. She had about two or three days of poor naps and difficulty sleeping at night (she screamed with anger and frustration the first two nights), but she has transitioned pretty well. She doesn't always nap consistently anymore, but it was time to get rid of her "pacis." And the most exciting thing for her is that she earned her "princess castle" as a reward for finally giving up her pacifier! She is thrilled with this Fisher Price castle, and she loves that her princess figurines say phrases respective to their characters and sing songs from the Disney movies.
Lucy loved the eyeball benches by Louise Bourgeois when we visited the OSP last month
I love getting to spend my days off of work with Lucy. We usually go to the YMCA and run errands, but sometimes we get to go on fun outings together like our recent day at the Olympic Sculpture Park. Today I picked her up from daycare and she said, "I have an idea!" [And then she spoke in a hushed whisper, which is what I do when I'm trying to get her excited.] "Let's have a picnic at the park!" It was so cute and surprising to see how she was trying to adopt my tactics of coercion, that I just had to agree.
We took the kids to see the new live action Beauty and the Beast film. Lucy wore her Belle dress and got up in the aisle to dance during "Tale As Old As Time." Belle is probably her favorite Disney princess.
I combined two photos together (see below) to remember my most stressful moment of each day: when Sam needs to practice the piano. I really want to focus on Sam and help him improve his piano skills, but Lucy has a hard time when I don't pay enough attention to her. I try to read books with Lucy, but that doesn't always work. These twenty minutes are usually filled with Sam calling, "Mom, I need help!" every few minutes, and then Lucy whines or complains whenever I turn away from her to help Sam. If I sit down on the piano bench next to Sam, Lucy comes over and dramatically moans and burrows her head in my lap. The other week I set up Lucy outside with bubbles and sidewalk chalk, and then I opened the door so that I could see Sam and Lucy at the same time (see photo). It kind of worked, although Lucy intermittently called, "Come outside right now, Mom!" for a several minutes.
Despite the stress of piano lessons and practicing, I'm really proud of Sam and all that he is learning. Right now he is interested in figuring out how to play different songs from third Harry Potter movie ("Prisoner of Azkaban") soundtrack.
You can also get a sense of the chaos that occurs during piano practicing in these video clips, in which Lucy tries to dance and sing "Let It Go" while Sam practices "Malagueña":
Lucy is saying "I'm going down the stairs...like Belle..." in this clip.
Lucy loves to dance, sing, and lip sync. She saw a road show performance (full of musical theater scenes) a few weeks ago, and she adored it. She came to the beginning of one of my choir rehearsals last week, and she has continually been repeating, "When I grow big, I'm going to be in choir." It's very cute. You can hear some of her singing (and Sam's piano playing in the background) in these clips, which also showcase her flair for drama:
*Note how Lucy gets distracted by her fancy toenail polish at the end of this second clip. Ha ha!
The other day the kids and I spent an hour playing frisbee and catch in the front yard. I discovered that Lucy really loves to play catch - maybe she'll play softball like I did!
Lucy loves princess dresses and the color pink. I may have introduced her to some dress-ups (and she also inherited several from family and friends), but her attachment to pink was not encouraged by me! She usually goes through several rounds of dress-ups every afternoon between 3:30 pm and 5:30 pm.
Sam worked hard to spray paint a wooden board that will serve in a few weeks as a carnival balloon game for Cub Scouts. He enjoys scouts and likes getting to spend time with J (who continues to volunteer as the scoutmaster).
Sam still reads voraciously and I've had to try and get him hooked on several new series (which can be a challenge because he really judges books by their covers). He really liked the Obert Skye books (like Pinocula and Potter Wookie) and also read The Spiderwick Chronicles books during reading time at school. lately he's also liked to tell me interesting facts while he read the Einstein the Hamster books by Janet Tashjian. I also got him interested in the House of Robots books too. Just last week I got him interested in the Tombquest series. He is in Book 5 of the Harry Potter series right now (he and J read it in the evenings), and he and I are about halfway through The Adventures of Calico Cotton together. (It was my favorite book as a child, and it has been interesting to read that book as an adult: I'm noticing some flaws in the plot and editing issues that I never considered as a child).
One of the things that I love and admire about Sam is that he has a naturally cheerful disposition. He never talks back and always cheerfully agrees to help when I ask him to do something. He also enthusiastically expresses his amazement or discovery when he has learned something new, and I think that the last sentence in a homework page (see above) really captures his personality and cute sense of wonder well.
I really feel so lucky to have such wonderful children. Sam is so mature and kind. He is an inherently good person and I really don't need to discipline him. Several weeks ago I caught Sam in a little white lie (he claimed to have eaten some yogurt that I had set aside for his snack, when in actuality he didn't eat anything), and he sobbed and sobbed once he could tell that I realized he lied. I didn't really need to discipline him at all, beyond expressing how important it is to be honest (and that he could have just explained to me that he wasn't hungry). He really does try to do what is right, and he is willing to sacrifice his personal interests to help his family members be happy. I am grateful for him.
Lucy is also a fun little spunky light in my life. She takes a little bit more work to keep happy, but I love her cute little presence and curiosity. I enjoy watching her take interest in art, music, singing, and dance. I feel like I'm getting a well-rounded experience as a parent, because my children have different interests and personalities. Overall, though, they are very similar in their creative, curious minds and their kind hearts.
It has been fun thinking about Bing Crosby and listening to Bing Crosby music over the past several weeks, especially since I associate him so closely with the holiday season. I also liked learning about how he was from Spokane and I hope to visit the Crosby home the next time I drive out that way. This childhood home has a very different look and aesthetic to the mid-century home that Bing owned in the Coachella Valley area of California!
In order to understand Bing's life and career beginnings better, I decided to read Bing Crosby: Pocket Full of Dreams, 1903-1940by Gary Giddins. Like so many of the autobiographies that I have read this year, this one also meandered to discuss the lives of the people who interacted with Bing. Luckily, though, these tangents were a lot less lengthy than the ones that I've encountered in other biographies. This book helped me to understand more about the importance of technology in Bing Crosby's life: he really was born at the the right time for a mellow baritone voice to become famous, due to the invention of the radio (airwaves favors lower, resonant voices), the microphone, and the rise of sound recording technology. If Bing Crosby were born at a different time, without these inventions, he and his voice might not have made a great impact on popular culture.
Bing had a very prolific career, so I chose to focus on a few key points of his career in music, radio, and film. It was fun to listen to his voice, because his low tones and bright, controlled whistling remind me of my Grandpa T. One song that I particularly enjoyed discovering was "Whistling in the Wildwood." The subject matter reminds me of J's Grandpa P, and I learned from my mother-in-law that Grandpa P also was a whistler too. So it's fun to listen to this song and think of two different grandpas at the same time:
I also had my kids listen (and dance!) to Bing Crosby's Jingle Bells duet with the Andrews Sisters. I showed Lucy a clip of Sam dancing to this music when he was her age, and she was inspired to dance around too. I was surprised to learn that Bing never really formed a friendship with the Andrews Sisters. They had a strictly professional relationship and wouldn't really communicate outside of the studio. This is surprising to me, since their duets are some of the most well known and commercial recordings from Bing's career!
One of the ways in which Bing became extremely popular was through his work as the radio host for the Kraft Music Hall show. These radio shows were written out verbatim, but Bing's delivery is very natural and casual. I decided to listen to one excerpt of the show, in which eighteen-year-old Donald O'Connor is the guest (especially after learning that Bing worked with Donald O'Connor when he was twelve years old, during the 1938 film Sing You Sinners).
Over the past few several I've seen a few films with Bing Crosby (High Society, The Country Girl, and Robin and the Seven Hoods), simply due to the other actors that I've been studying. There still were many films to choose from, though, so this month I watched these Bing Crosby films:
Going My Way (1944): I've seen his movie before, but I could remember much about it. I decided to rewatch it, though, because Bing won an Oscar for Best Actor. To be honest, though, I felt like the film was slow-going (and Barry Fitzgerald's jittery character wore on my nerves).
Holiday Inn (1942): This is a fun film that also has some great comedic moments between Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. It's fun to see Bing Crosby sing "White Christmas" in this holiday film, too. I think I enjoyed this film the most, next to Road to Morocco.
Road to Hollywood: This documentary is a "bonus feature" on one of the DVDs that I own, but I never watched it before. The 1947 film purports to discuss the rise of Bing Crosby to fame in Hollywood, using a string of short subject films that Bing created in 1931. This compilation seems rather haphazard, though. It's rather boring, and the audio is very poor in the early films. I don't think I'll watch this again!
Road to Morocco (1942): I had a hard time deciding which "Road" movie to choose, but this blog post ranked the series and said that they thought Road to Morocco was the best. I've seen it before, but it had been a long time. It was quite funny and enjoyable, and I loved tons ee Bing's comedic timing. (The biography I read emphasized that people who personally knew Bing felt like the "Road" series best captured his true persona.) J even watched this film with me and laughed several times. My favorite line is when Bing and Bob Hope are walking through the desert, and Bop Hope ad libs, "This must be the place where the empty all of the old hour glasses."
I also have been really saddened by the recent news of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher's deaths, so I specifically sought out video clips of Say One For Me (1959), in which Bing Crosby and Debbie Reynolds perform together:
This song The Secret of Christmas is a little hokey with Debbie Reynolds singing next to the television screen projecting Bing's image, but it is still cute to see them singing "together":
I also was able to learn a little bit about Bing Crosby's connection to art history, which I covered on my art history blog, not only with his art collecting but also his Stagecoach portrait by Norman Rockwell. I feel more connected with him, knowing that he was interested not only in art, but also in reading. He was well spoken and intelligent. I also admire that he was a hard worker: he liked to fill his daily schedule and make sure that he was on time (if not early!) to his appointments. I can relate to having or desiring those traits!
Because I got behind on this project, I wasn't able to learn about Billie Holiday or Frank Sinatra before 2016 ended. I hope to learn about them sometime this year, but I don't think that I'll undertake a similar project for 2017. I'm ready to stop readying biographies and enjoy some fiction! My only goal for 2017 this far is to finish up my celebrities project at some point. I'm drowning in books that I've put aside for this project, and it will be nice to read some of them this coming year.
I finished my Marilyn Monroe Month (as part of my Celebrities Project) several weeks ago, but I haven't had the motivation to write a recap of my experience here. The truth is, it was terribly depressing to learn about Monroe. What a sad life she led! She never really had a loving home when she was growing up: her mother was mentally unstable and Norma Jean Baker was passed around between foster homes until she was essentially placed in her first marriage by her foster parents. Really, it seems like Marilyn didn't really have close friends throughout her life. She was always surrounded by people, but many of those people didn't care about her as an individual.
I started off by reading My Storyby Marilyn Monroe (with Ben Hecht). This autobiography was written only up to a point: the manuscript stops abruptly just after Marilyn goes on her honeymoon with her second husband, Joe DiMaggio. The abrupt ending was fitting in a way, since Marilyn's life also ended so abruptly.
In some ways, it was nice to pair this autobiography with Anthony Summer's bookGoddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe. Although this book was interminably long and repetitive, I did like that Summers tried to help distinguish what was fiction and fact in Marilyn's My Story. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this dramatic actress had the propensity to embellish and exaggerate events of her life. The book's main argument is that Marilyn actually didn't commit suicide, but that she may have wrongfully died due to her compromising affairs with the Kennedy brothers (specifically Robert). There are a lot of suspicious things about the circumstances of her death, including the fact that she was discovered with a phone received clenched in her hand (which typically would not happen if someone had overdosed on sleeping pills, which prompts the hand muscles to relax and drop things before rigor mortis sets in). Regardless of what really happened, it is certain that she had a sad ending to her life: she was mentally and emotionally unstable during the last months of her life, and didn't get the help that she needed to overcome her addictions and problems.
I obviously picked the wrong movies to watch, too. I decided to skip watching the shows that I have already seen and enjoyed, so I didn't see shows like How To Marry a Millionaire(I really love her comedic timing in this show), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes or The Seven Year Itch. Instead, I saw Monkey Business(1952) with Cary Grant, in which Monroe plays a secretary that gets involved with a scientist who has discovered a formula which makes people youthful. The film was okay, but it was a little too silly and long, and I didn't think Monroe's comedic timing was that great in this show.
I also saw The Misfits (1961), in which Monroe plays opposite Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift. This movie was really slow paced and not that interesting for the most part, except for one scene at the end of the movie (at 2:16 - 2:21 in this online video). Seeing Marilyn get so upset and scream so loud was so unexpected for me that it was really poignant. It was also interesting to just know that this movie was written by Arthur Miller (Marilyn's third husband, although their marriage was breaking down at the time this was filmed). Marilyn also had an obsession with Cary Grant (she imagined that her estranged father looked like Cary Grant), and so it was interesting to see them play together. Cary Grant died soon after this film was completed.
The movie that was most interesting to watch was the unfinished film of Something's Got to Give (1962) with Dean Martin. This was the last movie that Marilyn started to make before she died, and she was so unstable and unprofessional that she ended up getting fired from the set. She looks unhealthily skinny to me in this film, but perhaps I also had that reaction because I knew of all of the problems she was experiencing with insomnia and alcohol at the time. There are some funny moments in this unfinished film, though, and I did like to see Dean and Marilyn play opposite each other.
I'm realizing in this Celebrities Project that I don't personally connect with many of these celebrity figures, including Monroe. I guess I must have hoped to connect with these figures more, which is perhaps why I've been a little disappointed with the people that I have been studying lately. I do like that Marilyn Moroe loved learning (even though she didn't have the best formal education herself); I enjoyed discovering that she decided to take a university-level art appreciation class 1951, after she decided that she wanted to be more cultured. I also like that she collected art and loved to read. But beyond those points, it was hard to connect with someone who lived so out-of-touch with reality and who desperately craved attention. I'm just not that kind of person!
UPDATE 4/24/22: Someone on Twitter posted this picture of a rose that was painted by Marilyn Monroe in 1962. It is fun to know that she was interested in making art on her own:
If I had known what a prolific career Fred Astaire had, I think that I would have devoted two months to studying his work. Interestingly, I didn't feel like there was much to learn about his personal life (especially after coming off of learning about Louis Armstrong, who had such a dramatic and often turbulent life). It seems like Fred can be summed up in a few ways: he liked golf, horses, English fashion; he was a quite cautious person by nature, and he was a perfectionist when it came to his dance routines.
Probably the most interesting thing that I learned this month was that Fred had a long stage career with his older sister Adele (shown above). I read about an interesting biography dedicated to their work together: The Astaires: Fred and Adele by Kathleen Riley. They began taking intensive dance classes when they were children (about four and six years old) and they performed together into adulthood. Adele was really popular with the critics, and it seems like she was considered to be the more talented entertainer out of the brother-sister team. The team ended in 1932, when Adele left the stage to marry Lord Charles Cavendish. More information about Adele is in her obituary, and I posted an interesting anecdote about her on my art history blog. Although we don't have any film recordings of her performing, I do think it's interesting that her singing voice reminds me a little bit of Ginger Rogers's voice.
Fred and Adele Astaire in 1906
Another thing that was interesting to me about Fred Astaire was that he was close friends with George Gershwin. The two worked together so well, especially musically-speaking, that Alexander Woolcott wrote in 1927: "I do not know whether George Gershwin was born into this world to write rhythms for Fred Astaire's feet or whether Fred Astaire was born into this world to show how the Gershwin music should really be danced. But surely they were written in the same key, those two" (New York World, 23 November 1927).
These are the Fred Astaire films and clips that I saw over the past few weeks:
The Gay Divorcee (1934): This was fun to watch, because I watched it with my Grandma and my sister. It really is quite a funny show, and we found ourselves laughing quite a bit. This was the second show that Fred performed with Ginger Rogers. The Cole Porter song "Night and Day" is in this film, and it's fun to hear Fred sing that.
Flying Down to Rio (1933): This was the first film that Fred Astaire created with Ginger Rogers. They both had secondary roles in the movie, and honestly, it was a slow-paced film that dragged quite a bit. And only some of the speakers were authentic Brazilians, but I guess that's an unrelated issue...
Easter Parade (1948): Apparently, Gene Kelly was supposed to do this film, but he broke his foot by stomping after he lost a volleyball game. Gene recommended Fred for the film. I was really impressed with Judy Garland's comedic timing, more than anything.
Daddy Long Legs (1955): There is some fun dancing in this film, and I personally like th opening scene when there are a lot of iconically-styled portraits (in the manner of Whistler or Sergeant, for example) created with Fred Astaire's likeness. Fred does seem quite old to be paired opposite such a young actress, but he mostly pulls it off alright.
I also watched an interview with Ginger Rogers from 1968, in order to get a bit more of an outsider perspective on Fred Astaire. She tells a delightful story about how they spontaneously planned to dance for a moment on stage at the Academy Awards in 1967 (see video clip), which was fun.
All in all, I think that I had a mixed response to Fred Astaire Month. His dance routines were entertaining and fun, but I realized after a few films and video clips that I had a pretty good sense of his style. I didn't feel a compulsion to keep watching his films for enjoyment, but more so out of responsibility to this project. I did enjoy reading about his work with his sister, though, and I feel like I have a fairly good sense of who he was as a person and as a performer.
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