Library books (that's a boring title, who would want to read that?)

Usually when I go to the library I take out a couple books on paintings. I look through them and pick out ones I like.

Last week I got:
Scenes of American Life put out by the Smithsonian, and
Only In America by Pierre Rosenberg

In SoAL most of the paintings are related to the Depression or the Works Progress Administration. They'll show WPA artists ina group studio, or coal miners walking home. Most are done in a way that datestamps them to that period.

One artist, Paul Cadmus, does a golf scene in that 1930s style that looks like colored pencil. It's the same style used on the booklet illustration for the Aimee Mann The Forgotten Arm LP.
As Kathy Griffin said Anna Nicole Smith said: "I don't like it".

There are some bright spots. "Skating In Central Park" by Agnes Tait, realistic but a little like American folk art. And Tyrone Comfort's "Gold Is Where You Find It"- a painting of a man drilling in a mineshaft.

The other book, Only In America has some good pictures but the text is annoying.

As the author says, the book is made up of 100 paintings that are unique to American collections and have no match in Europe.

Along with each selection there is text and it almost always says something like, "Why would I choose this painting over _____ by the same artist?" or "How could I include this over that...?"

It's filled with excuses, and who cares. It's clear- anyone would have some different opinions about which pictures to include and there'd be a lot of reasons as to why.

It's funny. Even the book's Introduction is titled "Why this book?"

Twilight

Twilight (2008)

I was in the library's DVD scetion right after they re-stocked and I saw Twilight. I'd never read any of the books and never had any big desire to see it but I got the feeling I should take the opportunity.

For a PG-13 movie, it was good. I wish it was an R rated movie; I was watching it praying for a sex scene but I'll have to be content with the mountaintop scene.

Seeing it doesn't make me want to read the books, though. I've heard they're fun and "addicting"; I also heard Stephen King called them poorly written. I just liked the movie because of the leads- they made it good. I'll definitely see the sequels.

LtSLaS

Kristin Hersh's Learn To Sing Like A Star LP came out in January 2007 but I had downloaded the previous November. I had to delete my harddrive last year and I finally bought the album a couple weeks ago.

I think it's a fun record, even though there are a lot of dreary songs like, "Ice", "Vertigo", and "The Thin Man".

It starts with "In Shock", an OK song- I don't think it should've been the single. Even the slow 2nd track, "Nerve Endings" would've been better. "Day Glo", where she quotes Olivia Newton-John, is stronger; it's angry and fun. The two sonds that I could see being popular singles are "Under The Gun" and "Sugar Baby". Other songs like "Peggy Lee" or "Winter" would sound good on a movie soundtrack. There are a couple song fragments and instrumentals scattered throughout; most are good to ok. The album ends with "The Thin Man"- I don't know, it's a little too dramatic.

If it had been up to me I would've changed a few things: drop "The Thin Man", group the fragments at the end, and add the In Shock B-sides. Here's what it would look like-

1. Sugarbaby
2. Nerve Endings
3. Day Glo
4. Under The Gun
5. Blackstone (B-side)
6. Windowpane (B-side)
7. Winter
8. Peggy Lee
9. In Shock
10. Christian Herse
11. Piano 1
12. Piano 2
13. Ice
14. Vertigo
15. Wild Vanilla
16. Poor Wayfaring Stranger (B-side)

Download the songs and try my order- you'll like it.

Cereal Horoscopes

A friend of mine had picked up some Hannah Montana cereal (only for the taste- it's the same as the Legend of Zelda cereal they used to make). I ended up with the leftover box; it reminded me of the old days, back when I had Nintendo and used to play tLoZ all the time.

On the back of the box there's a Word Find and also horoscopes. Here's a few:

Aries- The challenge of being the first born in the zodiac is to be a fashion leader, not a follower.

Pisces- You're a Disco Diva and you love it...

Capricorn- People could feel competetive with you but there's plenty of room on the stage for everyone. Rock your accessories with a bright ring, belt, and bag. And don't forget to offer a compliment to others.

Virgo- Your friends would love to have your closet. Besides being super-organized, it's filled with stuff they envy. You look great in strong colors with just a touch of glitter. Be true to yourself!

Libra- Owning your look is how you make it rock. Sure you could fill your arm with bracelets, but why, when one or two will do. Let others come to you for fashion answers- you know they will.

There's a lot coming up

There are a few posts I'm working on (now I write and edit first before posting, except for this post cause I just wanna get on right now and write- I've been gone too long).

I've been reading a lot lately. Because I love reading, of course, but also because I'm hoping it'll maker me a better write and this, RJ Battles, a better blog.

There a lot of good advice in Stephen King's On Writing. Also in Strunk & White's Elements of Style, which SK recomends. I got that from the library last montha and read it twice, good fun. I wanted to read some Ira Levin but, unfortunately, my library has only his books which I don't wanna read- I saw the original Stepford Wives movie, and I wanna read Rosemary's Baby, not the sequel.

What I really wanna get my hands on is A Kiss Before Dying. In her Romantic Manifesto Ayn Rand raves about that book and then goes on to slam Levin for following it up with an occult book, Rosemary's Baby. Of course by the time Rand wrote that she was very bitter in general (I think) so I believe her judgement was out of whack.

My friend wants to get back on his computer now so, till next time- take care.