Month: February 2021

  • Personal Review: Bluets by Maggie Nelson

    First of all, I am having trouble with getting motivated to work on my projects this week. Taking time to examine art that has influenced me has been helpful.

    And as such…

    Back at the start of 2016, I was in a world of professional turmoil. I had been promoted to a senior leadership position in a theatre company/school that was in the process of a slow painful death, that most people in the company were in denial about. I was ambitious and thought I could save the company, but by April of that year, it was clear to me that nothing could be done to save it. I was captain of a sinking ship. And at this time, I started to realize that what I was doing to pay the bills, had come to dominate my life, and pull me a million miles away from all the reasons I had moved to New York City in the first place; I didn’t come to run a company, I had to come to artistically create.

    In this state of feeling lost, I read a profile on the author Maggie Nelson. The article was in support of The Argonauts which had just won a National Book Award. When I read the profile, I identified with Maggie Nelson’s love of reading, and a curiosity for artistic expression as well as self-examination, and well, examination of everything. There was also a deep honesty from Nelson that was at once shocking, and revealing of how easily I could be shocked by honesty. Half way through the article, I knew that I need to read that book.

    I went over to the Barnes & Noble in Union Square, and when I got to where her books were, they only carried one of her’s; Bluets. Better to have something by Nelson, rather than nothing. I bought the very slim, blue book that was supposed to be poetry, but on the back of the book was listed as essay.

    What I got from Bluets was what I had been looking for but could never put my finger on. The book read like someone sharing the thoughts that come in and out of their head. Not early 20th century stream of conscious, but more like thoughts from in my head, like a monologue for the audience of me. Thoughts come, develop, repeat with revision, and are funny, and also melancholy. I keep going back to Bluets often. I love the structure, and the idea of meditation by using words on a theme that has no answer or conclusion. Nelson’s writing for me is more than honest, but feels like a living thing. Insight that welcomes me to sit and ponder along with her.

    It’s funny how the right thing shows up when things are going wrong.  

  • Revisiting Paul Simon’s “One-Trick Pony” – Film and Album

    I had trouble sleeping the other night, and thought it would be fun to revisit an old movie that I hadn’t seen in years; One-Trick Pony, staring and written by Paul Simon from 1980. The reason the movie popped into my head was that one of the songs from the soundtrack popped up on a playlist the other day. (The soundtrack, made up of original Paul Simon songs for the movie, is excellent, but more on that in a bit.)  Though I love this movie, it’s not a particularly good movie.

    To sum up, the movie is about a fictional one-hit-wonder singer/songwriter, Jonah Levin, in the late 70’s dealing with divorce, career disappointment, and general male midlife crisis where things didn’t work out the way he thought. I wouldn’t say this movie is autobiographical, though Simon in real life was dealing with a divorce, and switching record labels. For me, I see Jonah Levin to Paul Simon the same as Kilgore Trout to Kurt Vonnegut; a reflection by the artist as to who they would have been if they weren’t successful artists in real life.

    When watching One-Trick Pony again, I was struck by how tired everyone in the movie is, and feels. In context, the film was released in 1980, but was filmed in 1979, and most likely was written in 1977/78, which means America was coming out of the end of the Vietnam War, Watergate, the energy crisis, economic downturn, and the Iran Hostage Crisis. In the 1970’s, America went from crisis to crisis, and by the end of the decade, I think people just wanted normalcy and stability. This is what I see reflected in the movie, even to the point of having an unhealthy nostalgia for the 60’s.

    The reason I would say that you should check out the movie is the music. The scenes of Jonah’s band playing are the highlight of the film, as these are the musicians who actually did record and tour with Simon in real life. One of the songs from the movie “Late in the Evening” was a hit for Simon, and has appeared on several greatest hits compilations, but the rest of the songs on the soundtrack are rarely heard today. It’s too bad as “One-Trick Pony” and “Ace in the Hole” are truly great songs. Also, when looking at Simon’s catalogue of music, the One-Trick Pony album does mark the end of his 70’s sound, as his next album Hearts and Bones went in a new, more modern synthesizer sound that would dominate the 80’s.

    I still find One-Trick Pony as an entertaining movie, though it has a few inconsistencies. Some of the acting can come off as wooden, and all the female characters seem to only exist to support the male characters, which does make the narrative feel very dated. Yet, I found myself identifying with the themes of the movie; the onset of middle age, wondering if the best years are behind you, and learning that the way you have been living just can continue forever. All thoughts I have been contemplating while in lockdown.

  • New Tom Stoppard Bio, And Personal Reflections

    In a quest to look for things in the news that are not political, I saw today in the New York Times a review of a new biography on Tom Stoppard. The book is entitled “Tom Stoppard: A Life” by Hermione Lee, which feels rather blunt for a subject as witty as Stoppard. The review seemed to be lukewarm to the biography, but the article does illustrate that this book contains new insights into the subject, as this is the second biography on the famed playwright and screenwriter. I have a feeling a will read it.

    In college, Stoppard was a favorite of several professors, and his works were taught extensively. In fact, my department presented “The Real Thing” and I was lucky enough to take on the lead role of Henry. I spent a great amount of time going over Stoppard’s words, not only in that play, but many of his others. I remember many late nights, over beers with friends, debating what aspect of his plays were autobiographical, and what role does philosophy play as character motivation, or is it just used as a joke?

    When I was doing my research on Stoppard, I took a trip down to Austin to visit the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas. The Center is great because they will let you handle original papers and manuscripts for research purposes. There are a few hoops to jump through, but nothing detrimental to one’s ambition. (I still keep my Ransom Center card in my wallet.) I went to the reading room having requested the earliest draft the Center had of “The Real Thing,” and I was given a manila folder that contained a typed draft of the play. And there, on the first page of the draft, was coffee/tea ring stain on the paper. There was a thrill in me, knowing that I was holding the same paper that Stoppard put his mug down on. It wasn’t exactly bridging time, but it was a nice reminder that he wasn’t the “god” I was taught in school, but just a guy who is sloppy with a beverage.

  • Mid-Winter Recess: Keeping the Kid Occupied

    The kid is out of school this week, as it is the Mid-Winter Recess. I am still getting used to the school schedule around here. Growing up in Texas, school started in August, and ended in May. There was a Thanksgiving Break, and Christmas Break, Spring Break, and then it was all over by Memorial Day. New York City starts at Labor Day and goes to the end of June. But with Covid and remote learning, I have no idea what is or is not normal when it comes to the school schedule.

    Thinking back, I can’t remember what it was like to be her age and being at home on a break. Growing up in Texas, we always had an outside to go play in. There was a backyard, or a friend down the street who we could play with in their yard. Even in Winter, it really only got down to forty-five degrees, and though we thought it was cold, it wasn’t cold.

    My daughter is having a tough time. Though we all agree that remote learning is not ideal, it at least gives her contact with other kids. This week it’s cold, icy, and going to snow some more. It’s just icky out, and when the snow comes, at least we will have the ability to go sledding again. (That seems to be the hit of the winter.) In the meantime, I am coming up with things for us to do, as I don’t want her sitting around and watching tv all day. We made surf boards out of cardboard boxes, and did puzzles. Today, reading book, drawing pictures, and I think a walk. Maybe a puppet show tomorrow.

  • Personal Review: “Casting Shadows” by Jhumpa Lahiri

    In a very strange twist, we had a relaxing weekend. I say this because there was a holiday, Valentine’s Day, which I completely forgot about. I thought of myself as the type of dutiful husband that never misses important dates, but I want to say that this was Covid’s fault. Either way, the wife was on top of it, made sure the kid and I had a good day. For me, that meant I got time on the couch to listen to music and read.

    I decided that I wanted to catch up on the latest issue of The New Yorker, which is the February 15th & 22nd issue. I particularly enjoyed the short story in the issue “Casting Shadows” by Jhumpa Lahiri. She might not like this comparison, but I found the narrator’s tone reminiscent of Rachel Cusk’s protagonist in The Outline Trilogy, if the protagonist talked more about herself, and wasn’t letting the other people she came in contact speak. Lahiri’s narrator in her short work observes the people and the city she lives in, through never mentioned it feels very much like Rome, which creates a melancholic optimism of the small encounters and how they slowly affect her.

    Personally, I have an issue with first person past tense narration in fiction, as it never feels realistic to me. First person past tense is clearly a reflection, and will always break in the narrator’s favor, thus it always has the potential of being untruthful. But with Lahiri’s narrator, I felt that she was a person who has come to enjoy her own honesty and truth. There was no judgement, but still an ethic she was holding too.

    It was a story that reminded me that good fiction can be very inspiring.