QOTD: "Politics does not make strange bedfellows; it only seems that way to those who have not been following the courtship." - Kirkpatrick Sale
Reading: Loren Niemi and Elizabeth Ellis, Inviting the Wolf In: Thinking About Difficult Stories
Listening to: Brazzaville, Somnambulista
Decluttering accomplishments: threw out a few more papers from the living room
I forgot to mention in the last entry that I'd gone to see Zoolander on Monday night. It's very silly, but the broad parody of the fashion industry is also very very funny. On my way home, I stopped in at Tower Records and bought the DVD of Genghis Blues and a few CDs, including the new one by Brazzaville that I'm listening to now.
The major event of my weekend was going to the Once Upon a Story Festival in Capistrano. Barbara and I timed it so we got there for a workshop by Donald Davis. He based it on Peter Pan and the idea that the ultimate freedom is being able to tell your own stories. When Wendy helps the Lost Boys recover their memories and rediscover their own stories, Peter Pan loses his control over them. It was an interesting and well-developed presentation. He had some suggestions on how to trigger memories that are the raw material for stories. I always like hearing other people talk about their process, though most of what I hear has little effect on mine.
We spent the rest of the time going to various performances. (Well, except for browsing around town and eating meals and socializing.) I was particularly impressed with Antonio Sacre, who I hadn't seen perform before. He has a very casual style, like someone just talking around the dinner table, and is very funny, with well-structured stories about his family. And, of course, it is always a delight to hear Angela Lloyd and Bill Harley. The one disappointment was Clara Yen, who didn't seem quite in control of her material. It's painful when someone at a fairly major festival stops in the middle of a story and says, "sorry, I'm out of my element." The overall mix had surprisingly few folk tales, with a lot of personal stories and literary stories. The grand finale was a solo show by Donald Davis, in which he told one story I'd heard before, one that he said was "medium old" but I hadn't heard previously, and one new story. His stories are so well-structured and, in the car going home, we talked about how well he sets up the context. All in all, it was a very enjoyable day.
Today was far lazier, though I did get out to see the exhibit of Shaker gift drawings at the Armand Hammer Museum. I'd been planning to see it for a while and it's closing next weekend, so I dragged myself over. The manuscripts have as much text as drawing, not always in recognizable words. Or recognizable languages for that matter. They also had Shaker songs playing in the background. It was a reasonably good collection, but I'd have liked some more specific explanatory material about the individual pieces. For example, why are so many of the pieces in the shapes of hearts or leaves? Information on general Shaker history and practices would also have helped. I know who Mother Ann and Father William were, but I'm not sure other museum goers would. I think I know who Father Joseph was (he took over after Mother Ann died) but I'm very vague about Mother Lucy. And I had no clue about the significance of Christopher Columbus to the Shakers.
I also looked through the museum's permanent collection, which is decidedly mediocre. There are a few minor Van Goghs, but most of the collection is generic French 19th century art - including both the academics and the Impressionists. The museum bookstore is, however, excellent, and had I been in the mood to spend money, I saw several things I'd have liked to get.
Copyright 2001 Miriam H. Nadel