I read a couple of Cather books: The Professor's House and My Antonia. Cather wrote in a very different style than I'm used to . . . sort of rambling and taking its sweet time to get to a point, but the journey was worthwhile and there were all those vivid descriptions.
Been re-reading the last few pages of this thread, and...OH, MY GAWD...based on He Who's description of her writing, I must be a distant descendant of Willa Cather! Will seek out her writings today, as I'd already planned a trip to a nearby branch library to do research for future fics. Thanks, all, but, of course, special thanks to Cleome.
I thought that she imparted others with the gift of photosynthesis. The increased metabolism resulting in little happy flurries of posting when she passes by.
"...not having to believe in a thing to be interested in it and not having to explain a thing to appreciate the wonder of it."
I haven't read enough good fiction in several years (too many work-related books to cover). This year is fiction year. I just added O Pioneers to my list.
"Everything about this is going to feel different." (Saturn Girl, Legion of Super-Heroes #1)
I'm glad my latest prolonged disappearance has been forgiven so easily.
I'm still not getting enough offline reading done, though. I got a copy of June Jordan's We're On from the library two weeks ago, but I've only picked at it a bit.
On the other hand, my Photoshop doodling is progressing nicely. Don't forget to click the sig line link if you like seeing open-faced sandwiches morphed into propellers, etc.
Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on DeviantArt! Drop by and tell me that I sent you. *updated often!*
This is also a good place for me to tell her about that Stanley Dance book, "Jazz Age: The 40s", which she inspired me to borrow from the library.
It's basically a jazz guide with a very long introductory essay by Dance (the individual artists are reviewed by Dance along with several other writers.) I found it very informative and well-written, as well as a good primer for someone like me who only knows a handful of jazz artists by name. The one part that made me raise my eyebrow was Dance's seemingly disdainful attitude towards the Bop movement, and in particular its visual signifiers (berets, dark glasses, etc.) At the same time, since the book was written in 1960, just before all the young white college kids started appropriating those very same signifiers, made it hard for me to not indulge in a chuckle.
That's interesting, because Duke Ellington, who was so close to Dance, had lots of praise for bop founders like Monk and Mary Lou Williams. (He wrote a piece called "Frere Monk," in fact.)
Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on DeviantArt! Drop by and tell me that I sent you. *updated often!*
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