No Words Monday

NOT competing with A to Z bloggers...........go read their good posts

Leonardo

Leonardo Da Vinci – beyond brilliant man. Artist, sculptor, architect, inventor, imagination extraordinaire. This genius is beyond adjectives and description. Yet, author Walter Isaacson, in his opus – Leonardo Da Vinci– brings the man alive in amazing detail.  This book is heavy – both physically and linguistically. This is a rich book – the publication is beautiful: lovely presentation, rich reproductions of paintings, and dense printing – nice pages. This is not a cheap book and I advise buying the official hardcover. It’s worth the investment.

Cover blurb – Leonardo’s ability to combine art and science, made iconic by his drawing of what may be himself inside a  circle and a square, remains the enduring recipe for innovation. His life should remind us of the importance of instilling, both in ourselves and our children, not just received knowledge but a willingness to question it – to be imaginative and, like talented misfits and rebels in any era, to think different.

That’s the key to this fascinating book – question. Leonardo woke up thinking outside the box. Every day was an experiment – whether art, sculpture, defense weapons, flying, and any scientific properties, he conducted experiments, kept journals, and asked questions.  Optics, math, perspectives in art, autopsies – you name it – he dug in deep to find answers.  Every page of this book is filled with extraordinary research on a man who affects life today. Isaacson’s writing keeps the reader engaged and amazed. Contemplate the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and more. Just wow…….

L is for Leonardo Da Vinci – the man, the book – explore and learn more………and just say wow.

JUMP - movie review - A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place is truly a solid, brilliant, subtle horror flick. Directed by John Krasinski,  it stars him and his real life wife, Emily Blunt and they are SO good. She can say so much with her eyes and her face reflects so many feelings.  The first part of this movie is about family – albeit under crazy circumstances. Silence rules. The world appears to have ended. Creatures who attack,  based on sound,  rule. The key is quiet – barefoot, playing monopoly with cloth tokens, using sign language, and no sound.

The first glimpse of horror is with the “baby” boy – age 4-5. On a foray to a store, he wants a toy rocket. The dad says no – too noisy. The sister (brilliant young actress who is deaf – Millicent Simpson) grabs it for him, and he nabs the removed batteries). The family is walking home when suddenly there’s sound – the kid put in the batteries and is playing – oh the joy………..until a creature leaps from nowhere and wipes that kid away. Dang freakin’ scary. This was day 73.

Fast forward to day 473. Oh so much sadness and yet living. Mom is pregnant – now how can they bring a baby into this world?  The middle son is afraid of life. He doesn’t want to go out with Dad to learn how to survive – get fish, etc. His eyes show fear. Whereas his deaf sister wants to go, she’s resilient, but there’s a deeper issue. Do the parents blame her for the death of the youngest boy? Well, no, but she’s beat herself up about it.  This film is about family dynamics, love, and survival. It’s tight and in ninety minutes, it’s relentless. The creatures are fierce and it’s all about sound and frequency.  I will not give away more.

Hold your breath and appreciate A Quiet Place for great story telling and acting. And I dare you to sit, watch, and not JUMP!

Hello, It's Me

 Hey - It's a Monday.  H is the letter.  I'm killing time.   Here I am at the Dallas Arboretum  in March. It was a gorgeous day and everyone looks good flanked by tulips.

 History - yikes - let's go to the way  past.  Here are the siblings surrounding my grandmother. Can't say what year. We are all quite young, but yes I'm am the oldest.  I beat my brother by five years, my sister by ten. Yowza

and another in the family living room. Nothing has changed.... except us. A lot older, maybe wiser, and yep - still Humble.

Fierce - Gretchen Carlson

F is for Fierce.  Oh yeah, baby.

Ray and I saw Gretchen Carlson at the final UTA Maverick, Speaker session for this school year.
She was awesome.  This woman was a former Miss America winner from Minnesota. She's a Stanford graduate. She's a successful journalist from NBC, CBS, and Fox News.  As a registered independent, she prides herself on her lack of bias. She worked hard to get where she was, and unfortunately encountered sexual harassment along the way.

Enough was enough.  Twenty months ago, she was the first very public face to call out her harasser - Roger Ailes from Fox. She brought down this mogul fair and square and opened up a whole new world in regards to the workplace. Women from all walks of life - rich and poor, black and white, old and young said "enough was enough." Time's Up.  Me Too.  You name the tag line - we could all relate. I include myself in regards to some verbal situations. Women should not have to question themselves. They should not have to worry about their jobs if they don't "submit" to something ridiculous.

Ms. Carlson gave an excellent talk and her continuing work to empower women is awesome. She was quite inspirational and her true hope is that her kids and those of the next generation do NOT have to put up with such crap. I truly hope her work is not in vain.

Wordy Wednesday - Debrief

I am having fun shadowing our A - to - Z gang.  I'm following so many - they are listed in my Blog Followings - awesome material all around

Here are just two quotes from the news this past month. Consider this a debrief and commentary.
Interpret as you wish

This can be a very mean-spirited town, but you don't have to choose to participate in that. Each of us gets to choose the person we want to be, and the way  we want to be treated, and the way we will treat others - Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson - farewell speech to the State Department.

(my personal opinion and take - classy dude who could only take so much. He was fired, but left with his head held high)


Y'all can stare at your phones all night, but I pull a book out of my purse and suddenly I'm the anti-social one - North Texas comedian Katy Evans. 

(too funny, and too true!)

Happy Wednesday

Bonus Monday - bonnets and bouquets

 I am not doing A to Z, but I know today is the Letter B.  So I'm going with some leftover Easter pics - a boondoggle of girls ready for the Easter egg hunt

 Makyla in her Easter Bonnet

 Skylar with her Bounty, and Dakota begging for candy

 Arboretum Beauty

BRAVO!!!

Good luck and have fun to all A to Z participants. I'll be making the rounds to enjoy the themes.