Apple Gathering

My family received a bumper crop of fruit on their trees this year, and a few times this week we have gone out into the back yard in order to pick apples off of the trees (and also off of the ground). Lucy has loved gathering the apples and putting them into bushel baskets, and she particularly has liked sorting the "yucky" ones from the good ones.

I do think that this experience has affected (and perhaps tainted?) her thoughts about apples and picking apples. Tonight, my brother A pointed to a picture on our dining room wall, The Apple Gatherers (1880) by Frederick Morgan, and asked Lucy, "What are they doing?"

Lucy replied, "Picking apples...yuck!"

We all chuckled at the thought that she now things picking apples consists of yucky fruit, and even more that the S family's trees make (solely?) yucky fruit. Oh dear! Ha ha! Some of the apples are tart or have worms, but some of the fruit is quite good.

This painting by Frederick Morgan has been in our dining room for years and years, and it is something that I associated with my family's home (as well as my mom's aesthetic preferences). However, it just occurred to me this week that the painting is on the same wall that faces the fruit trees in the yard, which makes me wonder if my mom thought about the subject matter and the physical alignment with our miniature orchard when she placed the painting on the wall.

Ironically, this painting portrays a romanticized view of orchard workers gathering a bountiful harvest, but my two-year-old isn't old enough to think about the romanticized effort or the suggestions of fertility and bounty by having (mostly) women collect the fruit! Maybe one day she'll think more than "yuck" when she sees this painting.

Celebrities Project: Louis Armstrong

I finished my study of Louis Armstrong last week, when I finally finished reading the informative, yet tedious, book Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life by Laurence Bergreen. but I haven't had a chance to write because we have been at the Weber. In some ways, I struggled with learning about Louis Armstrong, simply because I couldn't really relate to much of his life or his interests outside of music. I was surprised to discover how much I seek to relate to these celebrities when I have been learning about them, which must indicate something about how I learn or what type of connections I find meaningful. One thing that I really did admire about Louis is that he was an extremely generous person. It is easy to tell that gift giving was his "love language," since he loved to gift expensive items and money to the people that he cared about.

Some interesting things that I learned:

• Louis always pronounced himself as it is spelled ("Lou-is") not "Louie." He also went by the nicknames "Satchelmouth" and its abbreviated form "Satchmo." The names referred to when he use to hold coins in the side of his mouth while playing, to ensure that no one would steal the money that was being given to him while he played.

• Outside of music, Louis was passionate about laxatives and marijuana. He was such a fan of the laxative Swiss Kriss that he would give cellophane-wrapped packets to everyone he met: journalists, diplomats, fellow musicians, etc. In fact, you can purchase Swiss Kriss in the gift shop of the Louis Armstrong House Museum.
• Louis Armstrong had four wives, not to mention numerous affairs on the side. It also appears that he fathered an illegitimate daughter, news which was just made public about four years ago.
• One of the most influential moments in Louis Armstrong's life was when he was sent to a juvenile detention center as a young boy. During Mardi Gras, he decided to take his stepfather's gun and shoot it off in the air during the celebrations. When authorities caught Louis with the gun in his possession, he was placed in jail and then moved to the detention center.  As a poor black boy in New Orleans, he wasn't given a chance to be proven innocent. However, this time in the center really changed his life and helped introduce him to more formal instruction in music.
• One of the main reasons that Louis Armstrong would stop and sing during his musical numbers was simply out of necessity: he needed to give his embouchure a break from all of the tension and pressure that it sustained during trumpet playing!
• Louis Armstrong even created an album of Disney songs: Disney Songs the Satchmo Way

It was easy to segue into Louis Armstrong performances this month, since I saw his appearances in the film High Society during last month (when I focused on Grace Kelly). The other shows that I watched were Hello Dolly (1969), The Glenn Miller Story (1954), A Song is Born (1948), and The Five Pennies (1959). In several of these movies, I didn't really feel like I got a great sense of Louis Armstrong as a performer, since his appearances were short (and he really just seems to serve a more secondary, even caricatured, role as a black entertainer in order to support the white leading actors). But I do think that his energy, personality, and love of music are apparent in this rendition of Danny Kaye and Louis Armstrong singing "Oh When the Saints Go Marchin' In" from The Five Pennies:

Another sweet scene from The Five Pennies is when Louis Armstrong, Danny Kaye, and the child actress Susan Gordon perform a trio medley. The person who posted this video mentioned how these people are all very different and from different backgrounds, but they are brought together by music.

This month I also watched Louis Armstrong: The Portrait Collection, which included some televised performances of Louis Armstrong and Velma Middleton. Their interactions are entertaining (such as in the performance of "That's My Desire"). One of my favorite television performances, though, is when Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra sing "The Birth of the Blues" together. Frank's singing is actually rather bland here, I think (and really is only kept lively through Louis's trumpet playing), but the thing that I live is that Frank is genuinely jamming when Louis starts singing at about 1:16:

I read that Louis Armstrong never made great friendships with the wealthy white entertainers within Hollywood, but they did seem to respect and greatly admire his musicianship and showmanship. And I feel the same way: although I don't feel like I have a great connection with Louis Armstrong's personal history, I really respect the way that he could move his audiences. His rendition of What a Wonderful World is such a inspiring, heartfelt song.

"Love and Friendship" Quotes

My good friend Rachael and I went and saw Love and Friendship this evening. What a fun show! Rachael and I laughed heartily throughout the movie, especially during the scene when the inane - yet pleasant - Sir James Martin first arrives at the Churchill country estate. It was a really fun evening. 

One critic said that this film is "the sort of movie that fans will quote to each other to affirm membership in a secret club."  I definitely can see that. Here are two quotes that I found particularly clever:

• “We bring these delightful creatures into the world—eagerly, happily—and then before long they are spying upon and judging us, rarely favourably. Having children is our fondest wish but, in doing so, we breed our acutest critics. It is a preposterous situation—but entirely of our own making.” 
• "Americans really have shown themselves to be a nation of ingrates, only by having children can we begin to understand such dynamic."

The movie is based off of a book by Whit Stillman, but now I'm anxious to read Lady Susan and see how it compares to the film (and Stillman's book).

Lucy is Two!

Our Lucy Loo is two! We had a really fun birthday weekend, especially because B and J's family was visiting in town that day, as well as some O-family cousins from Oregon. This birthday was especially fun because Lucy had a really good idea of what happens on your birthday, having recently seen three other family birthdays take place in the weeks preceding her special day. She practiced singing the "Happy Birthday" song and blowing out pretend candles on her toy cake for weeks. (And now, come to think of it, she hasn't pulled out her toy cake since!)

The day before Lucy's birthday we took her to the Woodland Park Zoo.  Beforehand she made a specific request to go and see the gorillas, and we were happy to oblige. However, her favorite "animal" during our visit was a sculpture of a fox, since she thought it looked like Swiper from "Dora the Explorer." 

On Lucy's actual birthday, we got her dressed and went downstairs to open presents. She was thrilled that we got her a birthday balloon. This balloon actually lasted for almost a month before deflating. Lucy's present from us was a set of Fisher Price Disney Princesses. I really wasn't anticipating that she would be "into" princesses, but she really does love musicals and I ended up showing her Cinderella and Snow White a few months ago (which started the "princess ball" rolling). The feminist in me feels better about having her play with the cute, round Little People figurines though, since they are less objectified than the Disney characters themselves.

We ate brunch with B and cousins at a cafe in Issaquah that morning, and then spend the afternoon playing at RB. Lucy got a bubble machine as a gift from her caretaker at day care, and it was a huge hit! Lucy's other main request was to watch Beauty and the Beast in the upstairs room at RB, specifically the moment "when Belle comes" (which is when she walks down the stair in her gold ball gown, at 1:00 in this clip).

This was taken right before we started singing to Lucy. I think it's cute that Sam crouched down to smile and share the moment with his little sister.

I took this photo just as we started to sing. She knew exactly what was happening (after weeks of practicing on her toy birthday cake). Her expression says, "This is it! This is the moment! I can't believe this is happening!" When she blew out the candles, she got a very loud cheer from her extended family members.

Lucy is such a sweet girl. She loves to snack, and it is a common sight to see her going over to the pantry door to help herself to whatever is inside. She constantly asks to eat Goldfish crackers, Creamies, or baby food "crushers" during the day. (Although she is extremely picky about crusher flavors, and will only eat the peaches, apple-carrot, or blueberry-purple carrot-pear flavors made by Plum Organics. She's way too old to eat these anyways, but we are trying to help her cut back on her addiction!)

Lucy has been introduced to potty training and has had some success, but she's not really interested right now. She usually asks to use the potty so she can watch "Cookie Carnival" on my phone. We have tried to bribe her to use the potty by rewarding her with M&Ms, but she isn't interested. On two occasions, though, when she really felt like eating candy, she beat our system: she would use the potty (only relieving herself the tiniest bit) and eat her M&M reward after we all cheered, and then go back to the potty and eek out a little bit more so she could have her next M&M. I think she ate five or six M&Ms within fifteen minutes! Silly Bubba.

Lately Lucy has gotten in the habit of asking "Where are we going?" when we get in the car, and then responds, "Oh!" after I tell her our destination. She also asks if we can "go somewhere" in the car, and last weekend asked (when we were driving away from our house) if we could go shopping. She loves that her car seat has now been turned to be front facing, and she likes to talk about how "red means stop" and "green means go" when we get to stop lights.

Lucy loves singing, dancing, reading books, stickers, drawing and painting. She has quite good fine motor skills, and she can hold a pencil correctly and make little spirals or straight lines. Her favorite shows are Anastasia, Cinderella, Thumbelina, Swan Princess, Wreck-It Ralph, Toy Story 3 and Letter Factory. She also likes to watch episodes of "Dora the Explorer." Every night she asks to wear Sam's toy astronaut helmet while we have our bedtime routine. She loves to listen to music in the car, and we continually have either a Disney compilation, Yo Gabba Gabba, the Rio soundtrack, or a Nancy Stewart CD playing while we drive.

We love Lucy's cheerful little personality, and her curly blonde hair is perfect for her usually-sweet temperament. She has only had a few major tantrums in her little life; most of the time she is very easy going and happy. She's very chatty and social, and she especially loves to play with her brother (whom she often calls "Sammy" or "Sammy Loo"). We love having this little light in our lives.

Sam is Eight!

It has been several weeks since Sam had his birthday, but things have been so busy around here that I haven't had a chance to write anything down about it. Sam is now eight years old! He had a special day. That morning we took him and his two best friends (Lewis and Sky) to the Family Fun Center. The boys played laser tag, arcade games, and miniature golf. Sam won a lot of tickets on one particular game, which made him especially happy.

After Sam opened his presents, we called this day "The Lego Star Wars Birthday." He got several things that weren't Lego Star Wars, but the majority of his presents were Lego Star Wars sets, and we also gave him a Kylo Ren Lego figurine.

The boys wanted to pose for a picture inside the play gym circle (see above). The glare of the light sin the building made it hard to see their faces, but I want to remember that they had the cute idea to pose for a picture. It was really amusing to listen to them chat as I drove them to and from the Family Fun Center. The dare that they were giving each other - which no one would agree to do - was to say the phrase "Girls rule and boys drool!"

After Lucy's nap that afternoon, Sam wanted to go and see the Angry Birds movie as a family. We met up with Bop and Gram afterward, and we ate at Panera (Sam loves their macaroni and cheese) and then returned home for brownies.

It's hard to believe that Sam is eight years old. He still loves to read, and his currently favorite books are the Geronimo Stilton series, Garfield comics, Calvin and Hobbes comics, the My Weird School series, and the Boxcar Children series. This year Sam read Alice in Wonderland with J, and currently he and I are reading The BFG together.  

I am still teaching Sam how to play the piano, and sometimes J will also help teach Sam in the evenings. Really, though, Sam does a good job at figuring out how to play things on his own. Right now his favorite song to play on the piano is "The Magician" from the Alfred's Basic Piano Library series. He likes to play Minecraft and Survival Craft on the iPad. Just about two weeks ago, I downloaded "Pokémon Go!" onto my phone, and he likes to play that game when we go on walks. He also really loves to play with Legos, especially Lego Start Wars figurines. He is involved in swimming lessons (he was just promoted to "Flying Fish" level), but still isn't interested in learning how to ride a bike. Right now he wants to be an inventor when he grows up; the other day he was telling me about his idea for creating a robotic hand that uses "The Force" by manipulating atoms.

Sam is a very obedient, helpful, and kind person. Lately I've been really aware of how often he uses "please" and "thanks" when speaking to to me and J. When I ask him to help with something, he always comes over to help without complaining. He is very kind and attentive to his little sister, and he also is patient when she demands that Sam play certain games or watch specific shows with her. I have had some friends tell me that children start to get a little more belligerent and argumentative around the time that they turn eight years old, but that isn't the case with Sam. He is still very much a sweet little boy, and he still even likes to hold my hand when we go for a walk! We love Sam very much, and I feel so lucky to have him as my child.

Celebrities Project: Grace Kelly

Andy Warhol, Grace Kelly, 1984. Screen print in color. This print was created two years after Grace Kelly's fatal car accident.

I have really enjoyed Grace Kelly month, not only because she was an interesting person, but I also felt like there was a manageable number of films to watch (see post on her films HERE)! I also enjoyed learning about her interest in created pressed flower collages, and I'm glad that her creativity found a way to manifest itself in a visual form (see my post on her collages HERE).

I think Grace Kelly is a very classy and tasteful person, and I've really enjoyed following her sense of fashion in the exhibition catalog for Grace Kelly - Style Icon show at the V&A museum in 2010. I personally prefer the clothes that she wore in the 1950s and 1960s. I love her wedding dress though, especially with the detail of the row of small buttons that extends from her neckline to her waistline. However, I think she was a victim of the times when it comes to the fashion of the '70s and '80s, and some of her outfits (like this one or this one) are a little too gaudy for my taste, as well as her overly-elaborate hair coiffures. 

Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn backstage at the 28th Academy Awards on March 21, 1956

As I learned about Grace Kelly this past month, I thought of a lot of parallels between these women.  (No doubt I was influenced in making parallels because I read Donald Spoto's biography on Grace Kelly, and I had also read his biography on Audrey Hepburn a few months ago.) Not only were they fashion icons, but they also had similar aspirations to become mothers and both women retired from their careers after either marrying or becoming pregnant. Both of these women had complex relationships with their fathers, too. Grace Kelly's father never thought that Grace would amount to very much (he favored her older sister) and he consistently expressed his bafflement when Grace was successful in stage and film productions.

What struck me most about Grace Kelly was that she was consistently described by people who knew her and worked with her as a genuinely sincere, nice, and kind person. I've thought several times during this month about how this is such a tribute to her as a person, and how I would like people to think of me this way. Here are some comments that Grace Kelly made about being kind and respectful, and also what others said about her:

• "You know, I just love Grace Kelly. Not because she was a princess, not because she was an actress, not because she was my friend, but because she was just about the nicest lady I ever met. Grace brought into my life as she brought into yours, a soft, warm light every time I saw her, and every time I saw her was a holiday of its own." - James Stewart

• "I've always treated my children as beings in their own right. I respect their feelings and aspirations entirely." - Grace Kelly

• "I would like to be remembered as someone who accomplished useful deeds, and who was a kind and loving person. I would like to leave the memory of a human being with a correct attitude and who did her best to help others." - Grace Kelly

Grace Kelly Films

I've been watching Grace Kelly's films this month, in the order in which they were released, and last night I finished the last one she made before retiring (right before her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco). Some of the films I intentionally chose not to watch (and one I couldn't finish because it was so boring), but I will present them in order. In Grace Kelly's short seven-year career, she made eleven films before retiring to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco.

Film #1: Fourteen Hours (1951) - I didn't watch this whole film, because Grace Kelly appears in the film for about two minutes altogether. She appears for a few seconds in the beginning (see 14:12 in this clip), and then later in a scene in which a couple rethinks signing their divorce papers.

Film #2: High Noon (1951) - This film is described as "a Western for people who don't like Westerns." I think that's a pretty accurate description! Grace Kelly's role was a little limited in this film, and as a result she didn't have much opportunity to give a great performance. But I did think she was able to convey some depth to her character in one scene with the actress Katy Jurado:

Film #3: Mogambo (1953) - This was the one film that was so boring that I had to turn it off after about an hour. The movie was very slow paced and the screen writing was just awful. Grace Kelly's performance wasn't that great either, and I think it partly has to do with the poor screenwriting. She also didn't have a lot of substantial lines (at least in the first hour that I saw), and the amorous glances she gave to Clark Gable were silly.

Film #4: Dial M for Murder (1954) - I still feel like Kelly serves as a backdrop and catalyst for action on part of the main (male) characters in the film, but there are some really convincing and intense scenes in this movie. The scissors scene (when Kelly stabs her attacker) is very intense. This scene was filmed over and over in order for Hitchcock to get the effect that he wanted. Not only was this physically and emotionally draining on the actors involved, but Hitchcock himself allegedly lost twenty pounds in filming this scene and trying to get it right.

Film #5: The Bridges at Tokyo-Ri (1954) - I chose not to watch this complete film, partly because Grace Kelly's role was rather minor and partly because I don't really think William Holden is that compelling of an actor. But I did see this amusing clip of the family swimming in a bath house in Japan. I think Kelly gives a good sense of her comedic timing here, even in this short clip.

Film #6: Rear Window (1954) - This is one that I skipped because I've already seen it several times. This is clip of my favorite moments of her from this film. I think she has such an elegant and classy demeanor, with just the right hint of wit:

Film #7: The Country Girl (1954): This is the film for which Grace Kelly won an Academy Award in 1955. I have to say, that I think she really does give one of her finest performances in this movie. I like that she intentionally chose to look dowdy and unattractive - it was even her idea to wear her own glasses in the film. Her acceptance of this role really showed me that she didn't want to be just a glamorous blonde untouchable icon (which Hitchock wanted her to be), but she was willing to embrace a variety of roles, costumes and demeanors. Bing Crosby gives one of the most vulnerable and emotional performances I have ever seen, particularly the scene in his dressing room near the latter part of the film; it definitely is the best acting that I have ever seen him do.

Below is one of the more poignant scenes in the film, although I wish that the Grace Kelly didn't kiss the other male character in this scene - I understand how it is important for the plot but I feel like it ruins the moment:

Film #8: Green Fire (1954): This is one that I intentionally didn't watch because Grace Kelly thought that the film was terrible and she was embarrassed about her participation in it.

Film #9: To Catch a Thief (1955): This is another one of my favorite Grace Kelly films. I like the banter and dialogue that she and Cary Grant parry back and forth, and I learned that a lot of the dialogue between them was improvised. They have great energy and a dynamic that keeps the rhythm of the film more fast-paced and engaging. She also has some really great dresses in this film, particularly her blue evening dress.

Film #10: The Swan (1956) - This movie is entertaining and has some really fun comedic moments (like the curtsy shown about 2:00 in this clip). Grace Kelly's fencing is also pretty impressive, too! Her character is a little reserved and boring at the beginning of the film, but she becomes much more of an interesting character as the film continues. It's also interesting to watch this film, knowing that this is the first film that Alec Guinness made in Hollywood (I think he looks a bit like David Niven in this role as the crown prince).

Film #11: High Society (1956) - This film was made after Grace Kelly's engagement to Prince Rainier. MGM offered her wardrobe from the film as a wedding present, and she even wore her own engagement ring in the film. One favorite moments in this film is when she sings with Bing Crosby. I think she has a nice alto voice and they blend nicely. In Grace Kelly's biography by David Spoto, he writes that her lighter, less trained singing voice is akin to Audrey Hepburn's voice in Moon River, but I disagree. I think that she has a more stable tone and purer sound than Hepburn.

The other scene in this movie that I love is when Grace Kelly tries to be an eccentric wealthy woman when she meets the reporters from Spy magazine. Her sense of comedy is really entertaining and fun:

Later on in life, after becoming the Princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly made another film called Rearranged (1979). She actually plays herself, the Princess of Monaco, in the film. To date, it hasn't been released by Grace Kelly's family, but i hope they decide one day to share this short film with Grace Kelly fans.