"I’ve looked at my relatives this Thankgiving break–the aunts, uncles, cousins, and parents I’ve grown up with. They are flawed people like the rest of us who work hard to keep each other happy, succeeding much of the time."
Memories of My Melancholy Whores
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ Memories of My Melancholy Whores was not the best of his novels, and in comparison to the others I’ve read (Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude), it was lighter and more casual. Still it sparkled with gems of wit and wisdom throughout. While I wouldn’t recommend this book to everyone, from a personal/psychological /introspective viewpoint, there was a good deal to be gained.
The book was at times depressing. Like with Love in the Time of Cholera or Goethe’s Sorrows of a Young Werther, unrequited love was an ever-present theme. I know I’ve certainly been through the frustrations of “wanting what you can’t have” or relationship things working out “imperfectly”–and Memories is all about those emotions. One passage on this theme that made me smile (and sniffle):
For a week I did not take off my mechanic’s coverall day or night, I did not bathe or shave or brush my teeth, because love taught me too late that you groom yourself for someone, you dress and perfume yourself for someone, and I’d never had anyone to do that for. Page 82-83
It caught me because we’ve all seen how different we are when we’re in love or have lost love. (more…)
Emily & Mike Dancing — my first youtube video
So I gave in and got a new camera. So far I’ve taken a lot of pictures and videos. There’ll be more later on the camera decision and my revised thoughts on why I’m taking photos. In the mean time, here’s the first clip that I’ve posted online (well, my first streamed clip). It was also my first experience with Windows Movie Maker–and I must say it was super painless to rotate the video and give it a title.
As for the characters in the video, they’re Emily and Mike. Emily is one of my favorite people (we used to stay out late dancing every Wednesday…those were the days). Mike is her boyfriend and also one of the most creative dancers I know. This film was taken at Glen Echo on Friday the 13th. There’s nothing particularly special about the video (Mike & Emily are even better when they’re performing) but I just wanted to try this out and capture a fun dance.
It turns out that I’m going to have to update WordPress to fully support YouTube embeds, and hopefully to solve the issue of the ugly white border on the video…
What happened to personal letters?
I was deciding between my blog and my (paper) journal tonight–where to capture the emotion I’m feeling right now? And then it occurred to me that I hadn’t written one of those long, serious, personal letters I used to write all the time. And that just seemed like the right way to let it out.
I’m fairly outspoken and have friends who listen–so normally I’d just grab the phone and reach out. For how many years has this been possible? I mean, it was always possible, but there was a time when people were generally away from a personal line most of the day, when long distance was expensive, when people had to share phones. That was a time when I would write to my friends to seek out advice, to share a thought, to let out an emotion. No matter whether it was email or paper, it was a very different process.
It’s not that we can’t write seriously anymore; arguably, it’s easier than ever. (more…)