Whatever Wednesday - Ray Birthday Salute for August 1

Happy Birthday Ray  - August 1

He's my beach dude

He said "I do" back in 1989 - really - who are these children?

New truck  in 2024 - darn slick, dude

 Happy Birthday, Ray for August 1st but I post on Wed.   So Happy Birthday Eve!!!  You're still young!!!

Love ya lots.   Let's eat Cake!

Monday Moments - North Woods by Daniel Mason

My PA book club is discussing this book in August. Great  choice. North Woods by Daniel Mason  started a bit slow.  I kept putting it down.  Then - wham- the story turned and it pulled together. I became enamored with the flow and wondered what  would  happen next. That's the key to a great book - when the author engages the reader and the reader can't stop turning the pages.  

One house in the woods of New England. Through centuries, we hear about the lives that inhabit  this space - a daring, moving tale of memory and fate.  (cover  blurb)

Young lovers from a Puritan  colony

An English soldier devotes himself to growing apples

spinster  twins - yikes  - death!

crime  reporter and secrets ..............all of this in these woods,  on this home property that everyone keeps expanding

A lovelorn painter, a sinister  con  man,  plus creatures - a panther, a beetle, birds

This novel, North Woods by Daniel Mason,  brims with love and madness, humor and hope. It follows cycles of history,  nature, language, and magical  connections to environment.   

cover blurb: How  do we live on, even after  we're gone?    Yowza  - lots to process here. 

 

Finally Friday - The House of Hidden Meanings Review

The boy with the  unusual name

RuPaul Charles just knew he was meant  for bigger things in this  world. 

The House of Hidden Meanings is one  of his memoirs and it is a fascinating  read. He has a way with words. He's had an amazing life so far. And he's driven. He's had a mission.  He's unique. 

Reading  this is following  a  person into self-actualization.  He always knew he wasn't like anyone else. And when he dressed and performed in  drag - well.........magic.   He was tall. He was lovely. He had  style. He just knew........

The rest  of the world had  to catch up.  

p. 190   All my adventures, all those failed attempts at becoming something - I had just been  gathering  string. 

I really enjoyed this memoir.  He's different in a good way.  He truly found his way which I admire. He's funny as hell.  What the heck! Just be who you are,  embrace who you are, and embrace love, hard work, and  go with it.  Dang  good!

Whatever Wednesday - Just a Moment of Summer

 A friend's photo that  encapsulates summer freedom and  family (cousin) love. 

Georgie (age 8) with older high school cousin.  This tall guy will haul this girl anywhere. 

Sweetness

Family love

Just a cool summer pic

Monday Moments - A Gem in Irving TX

Enjoyed a one hour little adventure in Irving.  The Irving Archives and History Museum turned out to be a new little gem. Within 30 minutes of my house.  New modern building that opened in Feb 2020 - oops bad timing.  But now it is in full stride.  

This exhibit called Thrift Style was curated in  Kansas and featured here.  Feedbags turned  to clothing during  the Depression era.  Really cool.  Early repurposing done in style. 

Irving  history - stuff started popping  here when the original Cowboys  - Texas Stadium was built.  Had the hole  in the roof so  "God could watch his team".   Yeah,  yeah - that's the myth. 

 And a rather sobering art exhibit called "La Frontera: The Border" was coordinated by the Dallas Latino Society.  Various artists explored the heartache of the border situation.  A lot of the works gave one pause.  Wow.  Very powerful traveling exhibit. 

This "new" museum is a gem.  I will  go back as new exhibits arise.  Thanks, Irving.  Money well spent. 

Finally Friday - Amon Carter Museum

You'll  see a theme right now -  Ray and I are trying  to beat the heat.  Fortunately, a good place to  escape is a local  art museum.  After a delightful  Tex-Mex lunch at Uncle Julio's, we drove over  to the Amon Carter Museum.  The featured exhibit was Moving Pictures: Karl Struss and the Rise of Hollywood. 

Karl Struss ( 1886-1981) valued photography as an art form. His soft-focus compositions and labor intensive processes enhanced the tone.  He did commercial  work such as ads for Kodak.  He made studio portraits in Hollywood - the glamour shots of Gloria Swanson and  more.  Film  stills were staged, separate from the actual filming  of a movie.

He won/shared the first Oscar for  Cinematography for "Sunrise"(1927).  He  was also  nominated for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), The Sign of the Cross (1934), and Aloma of the South Seas (1941). 

He was an innovator  and  created the Struss Pictorial Lens for soft focus  compositions. Struss worked on over  150 films during his career.  

The  Amon  Carter's collection holds  over 2,000 photographs and 5,000  negatives by Struss. Very impressive.  I always learn something after an afternoon of art and photography. Food  for the eyes. (and a great way to  beat the heat)
 

Whatever Wednesday - Jubilee Theater

 It was the final hot Sunday in June and I treated myself to the cool  Jubilee Theater in downtown  Fort Worth. This place is a gem with fine acting, great productions, and thought provoking drama. That day's show Thoughts  of a Colored Man by Keenan Scott II did not disappoint. 

The director quoted Jesse Owens, " The battles that count aren't the ones for  gold medals. The struggles within yourself - the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us - that's where it's at. "  This show brings to light the internal struggles and unseen challenges that Black men face daily. 

The characters in this show - Love, Anger, Depression, Passion, Lust, Happiness, and Wisdom - all move about  the stage in small vignettes located in Brooklyn.  Work, barbershop, sports, expecting a child, getting over a break-up.  There's humor, sadness, struggle, and delight - all depicted with humanity. The  actors were tremendous and the stories they told  were powerful. 

I appreciated this fine afternoon  of theater. Thank you Jubilee for your presentations.