Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Various Forms of Entertainment

I've been busy this past week, I guess. On Thursday, I stopped to watch Where The Wild Things Are on my way home; I'd been to the Toy Story 3D double-feature a couple weeks earlier, so I guess I'm falling for the kids' movies lately. I know the former book is such a classic and I remember seeing advertising and such for it, but I don't remember actually reading it. I knew the gist of the story, at least, though. It makes for an interesting movie, not the average fuzzy family film. Even better that I saw it on the Harkin's Cine Capri screen for the first time. That screen is huge, especially given that there were only sixteen people watching. Yes, I counted.

Sunday night I went to the Fireflight concert. I've known they'd be in Arizona for a while, but I didn't think I'd be able to make it. I was glad I did. Abandon and Remedy Drive also played; nice to hear live, but I don't plan on getting into their music. This was probably my first rock concert . . . I didn't like "loud" music before. And the upside to liking a small band is that you can actually meet them. I got to have my bag (which I bought there before the show started) signed by the band.

Yesterday, I finished Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones. It was one of those books I'd heard about, thought I should maybe read, never got to. With Peter Jackson's movie version coming out soon, which I thought I might like to see, I decided I'd better get to reading first. I knew the basic story: a girl is murdered and she watches her family in the aftermath from heaven. I can't say it was quite what I expected, though. I don't want to go off and give spoilers, but I will say that it was a good read. I like imagery (along with metaphors and such), which this book has in clear originality. And predictable can get boring . . . this book wasn't all predictable. I expected Susie's case to be solved at the end; it wasn't really because there was another point to it all. I like that this book remains simple while still making you think. (Molly really liked it, too. She said it tasted delicious, hence my taping together of the cover after her teeth attacked it. All this time, I thought she was a good dog.)

And today I got the CD's for the audio drama on CS Lewis's The Screwtape Letters (which happens to star Andy Serkis aka Gollum as Screwtape.) So far, I'm loving the design work on the website and packaging. It fits in perfectly with the crazy tone of the book. I listened to the first two letters when I got home; I'll give my opinion when I've moved through the whole thing.

Last thing: today was freezing. I know, a high of 60 degrees isn't that bad, but it was 87 two days ago. A little transition, please? And the wind. It would've been nice weather (except for the cold morning -- and evening that's settling in) without the wind. I don't like wind. A bit of breeze on a hot day is nice; rushing wind on a cold day is horrible. But it seems that the weather will go back up soon.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Word of the Week 7: Excited

Excited (n) - 1. stirred emotionally; agitated 2. stimulated to activity; brisk

When people ask me if I'm excited about such and such upcoming event or other, I'll often say that I'm trying not to think about it much because I know that won't help. If I look forward to something, I can't stop thinking about it, which doesn't allow me peace of mind and mars the moment when it finally comes. Excited, it almost has a bad connotation as applies to me, unless it's for a short time period. I'm quite quite pleased with this definition, then. "Agitated?" That's never a good thing. "Stimulated to activity," that follows naturally. When excited isn't a bad thing, activity should come next. Either you see that movie you've been waiting for or you work for that cause you just found out about. The only thing I'm surprised isn't in this definition is time. People usually use it to describe looking forward to something. That's covered in the second part only in a round-about way. Dictionaries are usually so detailed, but this time it could be more specific.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte

Although the cover and the words "Charlotte Bronte" had a magnetic pull on my hand when I saw the book in the new authors section at Barnes & Noble, I must admit, I'm not keen on the title. I have a sort of bias against the word "diary;" I prefer "journal" as it sounds less like a girly book of girly confessions. Add "secret" to "diary" and I really don't like it. But I have absolutely nothing against getting into Charlotte Bronte's head, which is exactly what this book does.

Author Syrie James explains that it is almost entirely taken from fact, based off of letters and other writings, though a couple of things are added to or embellished to suit it better to a book. And my goodness, is it real. I had thought I knew a decent bit about the Brontes, but this book has so much information in it. It's a fascinating look at the lives of the Brontes (with a particular emphasis on Charlotte, of course, since she is the one telling the story.) It discloses many inspirations they had for their writings. I already knew about Roe Head School and how the two older sisters died there, but I didn't know, for instance, about Monsieur Heger, Charlotte's Belgian professor whom she based many of her male leads on. Or, most tragic, much of Heathcliff (Emily's creation, not Charlotte's) was based off of their brother Branwell. This book drove me to tears more than a couple times. I hadn't read much about Branwell before, now I see the tragedy of his story. Then there's Arthur Nicholls, Charlotte's father's curate. All I had known was that she married him and died soon after, having gotten sick while pregnant. I had wondered, though. It sounded like a "convenient" marriage (since he worked for her father), but wouldn't Charlotte want to marry for the love her characters followed? I won't go into what I found out so I don't spoiler it, but I highly recommend picking the book up for yourself. It's highly potent.

Reading this was simply amazing. It both reminded me why I picked up on Charlotte's vision and reinforced that connection I feel with so much of her work. I can understand the perspectives in here more than anywhere else; so many things I've felt are there in another form. Unfortunately for Syrie James, I'm lead to read the last of Charlotte's books, The Professor, rather than her other book, The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen. She did such a flawless job at putting this book together in truth that I'm sure she did the same for that one. While I adore being able to read Charlotte's voice, I don't like Jane Austen's, so I don't see much point in reading the book. I'm sure it's as well done, though, for any Austen fans out there. I'll just stick to the Brontes myself.

Monday, October 12, 2009

The Hayley W's

That's Hayley Westenra the classical crossover singer and Hayley Williams of alternative group Paramore that I'm referring to. There's something about their voices that makes them each remind me of the other. Despite their quieter/louder styles, they both have voices smooth and soft and feminine, yet full and powerful. They're both so easy to listen to. My reason for this comparison: some of my music just seems so different, but I feel like I'm pulled to the same aspects in it all. Rock or classical or folk, I think music can still be speaking the same language. It's what it gets across just as much as how it does it.

That said, I also wanted to give a quick commentary on Paramore's new album, Brand New Eyes. It's been out a couple of weeks now, so I've been able to listen to it quite a bit, and I'm very happy with its direction. Though All We Know is Falling and Riot! have distinctive sounds, I was worried that with a third album, there wouldn't be enough space left to do much new. I was wrong. Songs like "Ignorance" and "Careful" have that same Paramore sound, but interpreted with more depth as the band has grown. There are also some quieter songs like "The Only Exception" and "Misguided Ghosts." The latter is one of my favorites. It lets you hear that Hayley has a compelling control over her voice; "All I Wanted" also does this. What Brand New Eyes confirms is that Paramore isn't the average alternative band; they can take their music beyond the standards, infusing it with all the richness of their experience. I think I've really keyed into them shining through their songs.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Paintings and Seasons

I love this painting. I got it in August at an antique store. It was $11 or $12, a little thing of 9''x7'' including the frame. But I love it. It's kind of hard to tell in the picture, but it's so sweet. Simple strokes of paint in vibrant colors create an almost fantastical atmosphere. The tone is wonderful. It takes the desert and depicts it not as bare, but as rich and full of life. Beautiful.

Only thing is, it looks to be a painting of April, not October. It's very funny how with October, the edge came off of the sun so that it doesn't instantly burn anymore, but it still gets hot. What's funnier is that the mornings and evenings feel cold when they're only in the 70's. Something very weird there. Anyway, though, it is nice to sort of simultaneously have two seasons. I can start bringing the fall fashions into my wardrobe, while still wearing summery things like short sleeves and skirts. I'd hate to actually be dressing for cold, cold weather. Even though I don't like shorts, big jackets are just . . . I don't like them. Part of the reason for that might be that I've lived most of my life in a place not unlike the painting. So I say again, I'm so glad for Arizona, the most wonderful place.