Shooting Pool with Scrooge McDuck

 Rat Pack Shooting Pool

One time when I was very young but drinking age I went with some friends to a bar in the small town down the road from mine in Iowa. I mean where I am from was so small (population 1000) and back then there were dirt roads but still we looked down on people from this town. Ridiculous but true. Anyway, I put my quarter down on the table and started playing and then started winning ... and winning ... and winning. I didn't know the guys I was playing and at first they thought it was cute and funny and then suddenly it wasn't and they started getting ANGRY and finally I just quit I couldn't take it anymore. It was very random, most of the time I can't play at all but sometimes I channel this movie I saw in 8th grade. It was Scrooge McDuck explaining geometry and angles and using pool to demonstrate. And the room was dark. That's the only explanation I have for this occasional genius at pool.

Frightening all the dogs

I really liked the music of "Sherlock Holmes" (soundtrack by Hans Zimmer) and downloaded it thanks to a gift card (thanks Judi!) But one song wasn't there -- an Irish song that played while Sherlock Holmes is in a boxing ring. The scene combines the cerebral and the physical in an exquisite manner, sort of like the acronym in the driver's manual which I am studying in preparation for the test to get my Minnesota driver's license: SIPDE. This is a 5-step process used to make appropriate judgments. Scan, Identify, Predict, Decide, Execute.

Anyway, for anyone who wondered what the song was, listen above to the High Kings singing "Rocky Road to Dublin." 

In the merry month of June
from my home I started
left the girls of Taum
nearly brokenhearted
saluted me father dear,
kissed me darling mother
drank a pint of beer,
my grief and tears to smother
then off to reap the corn,
leave where I was born
cut a stout blackthorn
to banish ghosts and goblin,
brand-new pair of brogues,
rattling o'er the bogs
frightening all the dogs on the rocky road to Dublin.
1-2-3-4-5

Silliness

Mystery Guitar Man

One of my (only three) New Year's Resolutions is to learn to play "Appalachian Round" on the guitar. I used to play the guitar when I was in high school, performing on stage and everything. Not in a band, I wasn't that cool, I wasn't cool at all in fact, but I did like to play that guitar. Now I am rusty and my fingers are soft so I went on Youtube to look for instruction/brushing up. Found a really great guy, David Taub who also has a website: http://www.nextlevelguitar.com.

I also I found this extremely talented and extremely silly guy named Mystery Guitar Man, above. He has other videos where you can choose whether he plays his guitar or a toothbrush.

I bought a Psychology Today and read it from cover to cover. OK, so life is a little boring at the moment. Anyway, I learned all kinds of things about myself one of which is that I am a Future Oriented Person and I need to switch my Time Perspective. I need to become more Present-Hedonistic-Oriented. (I like that Hedonistic part) So I should "plan for periods of spontaneity -- set aside a weekend day and decide what to do only when the time arrives. Say yes to most invitations. Don't wear a watch." Evidently future oriented people think that by filling up their schedules they are expanding time so I need to slow down, smell the coffee, no I mean smell the roses and play a little guitar.

Sherlock Holmes

 Cool sketch of Sherlock Holmes

(Says nidin.com but that doesn't lead anywhere)

I went to see Sherlock Holmes. I read mixed reviews but I liked the previews so I went anyway and enjoyed it so much!!! I felt completely satisfied. Even the one thing I didn't think would be tied up was tied up at the end. A lot of the reviews were complaining about the change from the cerebral depiction of Sherlock Holmes, to emphasizing the physical strength and agility, etc. There was plenty of cerebral stuff -- I wouldn't mind seeing it again -- and as for the physical stuff does no one remember in the books of Arthur Conan Doyle that Sherlock Holmes bent an iron rod in half?!! Or someone else bent it and he bent it back but anyway HE BENT AN IRON ROD IN HALF!! I've read every single Sherlock Holmes story, some of them more than once, and I liked this movie. This is not a rant, it just seems like it.

Christmas memories

 Downtown Minneapolis in a snow storm/heated bus stop.

Fifth Street Blizzard, Norbert Marklin

I'm stuck inside today with 20 inches of snow predicted. And I even had somewhere to go -- a birthday party with homemade chili. Oh well. The snow is beautiful and later I will try to take the bus downtown to see "Sherlock Holmes."

My favorite Christmas memories center on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day. Because of the anticipation, the quiet before the storm of packages and relatives, more focus on the sacred and spiritual part of the season.

Iowa. You know the little church in the countryside all lit up from within and surrounded by a dark Christmas eve night, snow on the fields and stars above? The one on the Christmas card, the one in your dreams. I had the good fortune as a child to go to that church. As you walked in the door, you were given a candle to hold and then light from your neighbor's candle. Carols sung by candlelight with big candles on the altar and low lights on a side altar where Mary and Joseph, a donkey and cow, shepherds and the three kings gathered around a manger, still empty. After church we piled back into the car (seven of us) and went home where my mom made a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and hot chocolate. Then back to bed so Santa could come.

Zell am Zee. One Christmas, while living in Budapest, we took a ski trip to Zell am Zee, Austria. On Christmas Eve we had hot chocolate and then walked through the small, beautiful town. It started to snow, big soft beautiful flakes. As we came to a street, Santa Claus came around the corner in a sleigh drawn by big draft horses. No fake beard -- this was Santa. He saw my 4 year old and threw her a bag with an orange and candy in it. We walked on and heard music -- a whole chorus of men singing Christmas carols. As we made our way back up the hill to our house, fireworks exploded in the starry sky. Even as it was happening it was kind of unbelievable.

I discovered that the little church in my neighborhood (nestled in the trees between houses) had a "Lessons and Carols" traditional Christmas Eve service so last night at 11 pm I walked over. It is a Methodist church but their website sounded welcoming and they said "music inspires us" so I felt I would be among kindred spirits. It was very lovely. Inside this old (1914) church was an impressive pipe organ. The Lessons (readings from the Bible centered on Christmas) were spaced between Carols sung by a choir; a cello, violin and clarinet played a beautiful version of "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" and the pastor gave a provocative meditation.

The Rose Ensemble

On Saturday a friend and I went to see the Rose Ensemble in the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis. The Rose Ensemble is a vocal group singing medieval and ancient music. They sing a capella or accompanied by a drum, lute, violin, cello, harp, etc. It was beautiful and peaceful and the perfect holiday event. The video above is only half the group (the other half are men) but you can hear the echoey quality of the voices in this old Italian church.

The Basilica is immense and beautiful. The ceiling above the altar goes up to the stars and the voices echoed beautifully. The altar is open and there were potted birch trees surrounding it. The image of that is still in my head.

The Sisterhood Holiday Sing-Along

My friend Marion Roach Smith wrote this song for the holidays. Enjoy! 
The Sisterhood Holiday Sing-Along

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This week I am trying to give myself a break. I went and got my Minnesota license plates, got a parking citation removed but not the towing charge, yet. (Another story basically boiling down to the fact that I do not understand the Snow Emergency Rules and neither does anyone else). I promised myself a movie so I went to see "Avatar." I had no idea what it was about, just a vague notion that it might be cool and Sigourney Weaver was in it (I loved "Alien").

Well it was very cool. Lots of great techno stuff and beautiful scenery, etc. But by the end of the film I felt like I was being beat about the head with simplistic propaganda. Bad guys and good guys with no shading. And, even worse, glaring plot inconsistencies. The movie ended and my first thought was "That was a lot of money to spend for a political message."

The last word on this topic

Yeah, If you're going through hell
Keep on moving, face that fire
Walk right through it
You might get out
Before the devil even knows you're there

-- "If You're Going Through Hell"

Rodney Atkins

Part of the reason I deleted the blog about the doctor I met on the plane was because I sent him a short email telling him about it and the email got bounced back. I felt uneasy about the privacy thing and not knowing what he thought so I took it down. But today I got an email from him. He liked the blog and being blogged about. On the plane, he had told me about his divorce and just before we parted ways, I mentioned that I was going through one myself. In the email he said, "You certainly didn't seem to be so fresh from your divorce.  Maybe you should write a book, 'recovery from divorce for dummies'." 

That made me think about things. A few blogs ago, I said that divorce is horrifying and accompanied by physical waves of grief that can knock you over. It's scary to start over at any age, scarier when you are older. But life has its saving graces and here are a few that I have managed to retain, sometimes only temporarily. 

1. Don't complain, don't explain. Don't know who said this, Lady Something or Other, maybe the same one who said "I don't care what people do in the bedroom as long as they don't do it in the street and scare the horses." I don't like to talk about my troubles, except maybe to close friends. If you complain then you are asked to explain. If you don't complain, no one asks you to explain. And even if they do, you are absolutely not obliged to answer because you didn't complain. It's that simple.

2. Take care of things now, in the moment. Say what you mean to say. Do what you mean to do. Begin as you mean to go on. It's OK and even advisable to rehearse and research these things and consider kindness both to yourself and others. But kiss the joy as it flies. And the pain. Especially the pain. Do it. Feel it. If you put it off it just festers and it will bring you down.

3. Don't be a slave to anyone or anything, even yourself. This is the hardest one for me, as a woman. I tried to please my man, my children, my clients, my friends, my dog, my house -- once you start the list is endless. Soon you are tired and cranky and you are pleasing no one. You have become a slave to your own impossible standards. Children especially really only need love and guidance, not slavery. The rest is complicated because in order not to be a slave you have to know who you are and what you believe and if you don't like it, change it. I had the assistance of an amazing therapist in this regard. Then you can start to admire and respect yourself, understand when to say yes and when to say no, when to consider others and to weigh the costs of your actions. That's freedom.

4. All the voices in my head are my own. I told someone that once and they looked at me like I was certifiable. Well, you can say that's my mother talking or father or teacher or whatever but if you think that then you are still tied to them. It's all your voice. Think about it.

5. Find the thing you love to do. This is almost a cliche but it is important if you don't want to waste time. Finding the thing you love (which, for me, is writing my novel) and then doing it can mean really hard work, sacrifice, long hours and fear. But if it is what you love then it's worth all of that and you will find a way to make it work.

But the good news
Is there's angels everywhere out on the street
Holding out a hand to pull you back up on your feet

The ones that you've been dragging for so long
You're on your knees
You might as well be praying

Happy Holidays

Inspired by Auguste Rodin "Cambodian Dancers"

and the Omo face painters of Ethiopia

(see "Face Painters Extraordinaire")

© Nancy Vala 2009

women and men, part 1

I got a newsletter that generated so much activity in my brain that I am now up at 3:00 on the morning. The subject that's keeping me up is women and men which could keep you up for days, weeks. I have a bunch of stuff to say but now I have to go back to bed.

http://clicks.robertgenn.com/artists-women.php 

But first, one thing. Off to the side of my blog you will see that I have joined the Creative Commons and have a license with them. This is a way of both copywriting and sharing, or more accurately, of stating how I will share or not. It made me think about how much I can say about someone's life especially if they are not aware of it. Bottom line: I took yesterday's blog down.

This newsletter I'm talking about made me really think about men and what it means to be a man these days. Yesterday I said that this man I met on the plane was "charmingly proud of his son." And he was able to tell him so. I also said the clip above, from "Michael Clayton" was profound and beautiful. I used the word profound deliberately, meaning "coming as if from the depths of one's being." It's important to say these things to the ones we love. Even though it's a movie, you can see, in the little boy's body language, how he takes it in. These are the things that can make a difference in someone's life.

Coming later this week: "Why don't women sleep?"

Face Paint Extraordinaire

One afternoon in Minneapolis a long time ago a bunch of us were sitting around with nothing to do and decided to paint our faces. It got fairly involved as most of us were artists. I remember that everyone's face was completely covered with a scene or colors or patterns. While we were talking there would be a moment when you would forget who you were talking to and marvel at who they might be behind that mask. Anyway, a friend posted this video on Facebook and I'm reposting it here. Hard to find something truly unusual and beautiful but this would be it. Better than Broadway Lion King costumes and that's saying a lot. If you must skip, go to 1:25.

My first crush

My first crush was on a mechanic. Or more correctly, a high school guy who worked summers at the DX gas station. I like cars. I used to hang around my brother and his friends while they worked on cars. I like the smell of grease and oil and steel and the look of the engine. I love the colors of the paint they use on cars. Candy Apple Red, Sea Foam Green, Cobalt Blue, all the pearlescent colors and the chrome, the chrome.

I miss my mechanics in Falls Church. Here is what they did to eternally win my heart. I was out driving my Subaru and I smelled gas. I was a block away from the Subaru dealer so I called them. This was a Thursday and they said oh maybe they could get me in the following Monday. Never expressed any concern or asked any questions. Should I be worried? Nah, I don't think so, they said. So I drove back home, thinking/hoping it was nothing.

But then I smelled it again. I was closer to Curry's, my mechanics, so I called them. Here's what they said: "Where are you? Come in right now and we'll take a look. A gas smell is not something you want to mess around with." It turned out not to be gas but a coolant leak and they fixed it. They are a bunch of fun-loving guys who take their work seriously. I always felt like they did their very best and never over-charged me. Now I've moved and I have to find a garage that can measure up to them . . .

I also have a small crush on my sister's mechanic. There's just something about a guy with grease on his hands. Anyway, here is the ultimate video for people like me -- Bruce Springsteen singing "I'm on Fire" Although I have to admit that I might have a bigger crush on the car which I think is a white '56 Thunderbird.