Yesterday was, just like my last nasty-ass dream of the morning, 98 kinds of grey. The rain managed to stay offstage though so Joe and I motored on down to Nantasket. There was enough wind to weeble the shit outta me, the tide was high, high, HIGH and the water was a dark green/blue/GREY. Beach walkies were not a solid, happenin' thing.It was beautiful though. Nantasket, in every single donned suit of weather, is stunning. Still, I think I prefer experiencing these mondo tippy, wet, chilly days on the inside where I can watch the subtle shifts of light and color in an easy chair while sipping a hot toddy.
Cloudy
My thoughts are scattered and they're cloudy,
They have no borders, no boundaries
They echo and they swell
From Tolstoy to Tinker Bell
~ Paul Simon, Cloudy
I remember, as a child, having a collection of Tolstoy short stories that I absolutely loved. Then, as a teen, I read War and Peace and Anna Karenina and the love affair came to an end. I friend-zoned Leo. Maybe I should try to read him again now. I might, quite possibly (!!!), catch a different vibe at 59 than I did at 19. (Gee, ya think?!)The gray-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night,Fleckled. FLECKLED! GodDAMN I love Will!
Checkering the eastern clouds with streaks of light,
And fleckled darkness like a drunkard reels…
~ Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
You must not blame me if I do talk to the clouds.Hey, I do too! Of course. I talk to everything – the waves, grass, rocks and trees – especially the trees.
~ Henry David Thoreau
Did I mention yet that my thoughts are scattered and they're cloudy?
Inspiration is highly overrated. If you sit around and wait for the clouds to part, it's not liable to ever happen. More often than not, work is salvation.Yup. Truth. I haven’t painted at all this past week and I suspect that’s contributing to my grey mood. I want to try working on paper, in watercolor, marker and crayon again. Cian McLoughlin's work expanded the hell outta my bean. He showed me that portraits can be fun, expressive, wild AND, as much as I feel bestest when painting on giant canvases, I can capture a head on a 24”x36” sheet.
~ Chuck Close
We escaped the wind in the beautiful, now open-for-the-season carousel.
“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said.”I believe I’m halfway between Pooh and Piglet plus someplace completely separate. This morning’s first thoughts were:
~ A.A. Milne
- Damn, I’m havin’ that baby chick cake-pop for brekkie!
- ‘the fuck was that dream all about?
- RILLY didn’t need that third cuppa Chianti. *groan*
- and I wondered, is that Coco sleeping on my hip or a hippo.
I haven't read Tolstoy.
ReplyDeleteThe big Russian guys always seemed too intimidating to me, and then I tried Nabakov and hated him.
I'm finally reading Dostoevsky, though, and I'm absolutely loving it. The idea that I can relate so closely with a book written in Russia in the 1870s is weird.
Hope your week gets more colorful.
I'm embarassed to say that I've never read Dostoevsky. What should I start with?
DeleteThe only Nabokov I've read is Lolita. I didn't love it (who could love such a skeevy story) but I certainly respected and enjoyed his writing. NOT enough to read more though, apparently.
I am reading "The Brothers Karamazov," which I think was his last one. Can't vouch for any others... yet... and as long as his books are, it might be a while before I can.
DeleteThanks! I'll start with the Brothers.
DeleteI remember, as a child, having a collection of Tolstoy short stories that I absolutely loved.
ReplyDeleteSeveral years ago I stumbled across a collection of Eric Blair/George Orwell essays that I found fascinating. It was a library book so for various reasons I didn't get a chance to finish them before my time was up. I keep meaning to buy the book on Amazon instead of dealing with the proles at the local library.
That's the big reason that I buy books instead of hitting up the library – it's the time limit. It's silly. Some books I'll devour in a day or 3. Others may take a couple weeks. Still more, I'll read a few chapters and set aside, never to return. I could SO handle the time limit (she says, encouraging herself to save money :-)
DeleteCan't say much about Rooski writers, not having subjected myself to their thousands of pages. I can tell you, however, that your photo of that dramatic Nantasket sky is a prefect reflection of my current state of mind and is now the photo that I see every time I wake up my phone, so thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteEmmm...you're welcome? CLEARLY, what would improve BOTH our moods would be pizza, beer and Star Wars. When the hell is Passover over, Buddy? I hear the yeast calling your name – LOUDLY!
Delete