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Sketches II

Because sometimes the most convenient thing to sketch is just what's in front of you...

Sketches

Bought myself a 12-piece set of watercolor pencils last weekend. Trying to tap into some of my creative energies again.

There were larger sets of watercolor pencils available--from the still rather modest 24 and going up to the substantial 36. I chose the smallest set because I wanted the fun (and challenge) of mixing my own colors, layering one over the other without sometimes not knowing what effect it would have. I sort of wanted to go back to the basics and re-familiarize with color theory, and working with a limited palette would force me to do that. (I wasn't one of those kids who went crazy over those big boxes of Crayola.) So, doing my first couple of sketches, I surprised even myself with how my technique has changed even if I haven't done any sketching in such a long time. My approach to color has also changed; I don't see objects or planes as big blobs of color anymore. Having studied and long admired Impressionist and post-Impressionist painters, one would think that their philosophy would have rubbed off on me, so to speak. I did try to copy them, but therein lay the problem. Copying was not the same as seeing.

I've recently come to depend on the computer to help me in many of my creative projects. It is rather nice to be able to hold hold something in my hands, other than a mouse, and have that familiar control over something more organic like a pencil.

Bicoastal

I have never lived in the west coast of the United States. I have called New York, Washington, DC, and Boston (Cambridge) home in the last few years and the east coast lifestyle and sensibility, however one might choose to define them, seem to suit me very well. However, I find that songs about California seem to have found space in my list of favorite songs. Two of them are Joni Mitchell and Rufus Wainwright songs. Joni Mitchell's 'California'  is probably in my top five. A track from Mitchell's superb album Blue, she accompanies herself on an Appalachian dulcimer while plainly singing about wanting to go home to California, a haven from the life she has been living. I love the simplicity of it--the lyrics, the sparse arrangement, and the purity of Mitchell's voice.

Oh it gets so lonely
When you're walking
And the streets are full of strangers
All the news of home you read
Just gives you the blues 

Then there is Rufus Wainwright's more lively song about California. Most of the lyrics do not make sense to me, and the song seems to be more cynical, even sarcastic--"Life is the longest death in California"--rather than sentimental. I like the playfulness of it anyway. (Besides, how many songs mentions Bea Arthur by name?)

And if anyone's missing the now defunct series 'The O.C.,' we also have the Phantom Planet's song, which served as the show's theme. Very pop but still enjoyable.

But what really inspired this post was Jill Sobule's new song, 'San Francisco,' from her album California Years.

"I like to go to San Francisco
I like to go
Put flowers in my hair
I like to go to San Francisco
I like to meet
Some people there"

And in Golden Gate Park
She'll throw a Frisbee
She'll bring a dog
And she'll meet a boy
And they'll fall in love
And she'll feel so free.

Listening to all these songs, especially Sobule's, makes me wistful for a place I have never lived in...

When parents join Facebook...

The name of the blog says it al: Oh Crap. My Parents Joined Facebook.

John Mayer, "Dreaming With a Broken Heart"

I remember first hearing 'No Such Thing' on WFUV, my radio station in New York. It was the first single out of Mayer's first CD Room for Squares. I was in grad school and WFUV was my arbiter of good music. Although the song came from the perspective of a high schooler, I was then approaching my own threshold and, in some ways, felt that I needed to prove something--if not to the world, then to myself, at least. I guess I was going through my quarter-life crisis. (That was also around the same time that Jonathan Safran Foer came out with his debut novel, Everything Is Illuminated, and I wanted to hate him for being so young and talented, but he he turned out to be a real mensch when I actually got to meet him at a signing. Here's a short story by Foer that others might find gimmicky but, personally, I found it delightful and heart wrenching at the same time.)

I got to see John Mayer one summer after having received from WFUV a free ticket for an afternoon concert at Central Park. I took my eternally snarky friend LT, who's also a big music snob, with me and he complained about the bubblegum-ness of the songs. It did not help that there were way too many teen-aged (or at least, teen-age looking) girls in the audience. And it was raining just before the concert started. I enjoyed it, though. That was just right before John Mayer broke through as an artist.

Mayer has mad skills as a guitar player, and he can do pop, rock, jazz, or blues. And not only does he know how to write good melody, his lyrics resonate with me. Must be an age thing.

Oh, Johnny Boy... You might have questionable taste in women--Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Aniston, and God knows who else--but I still think you are a great musician and a thoughtful songwriter.

Dreaming With A Broken Heart

When you're dreaming with a broken heart
The waking up is the hardest part
You roll outta bed and down on your knees
And for a moment you can hardly breathe
Wondering was she really here?
Is she standing in my room?
No she's not, 'cause she's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone....

When you're dreaming with a broken heart
The giving up is the hardest part
She takes you in with her crying eyes
Then all at once you have to say goodbye
Wondering could you stay my love?
Will you wake up by my side?
No she can't, 'cause she's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone....

Now do i have to fall asleep with roses in my hands
Do i have to fall asleep with roses in my hands?
Do i have to fall asleep with roses in my hands?
Do i have to fall asleep with roses in my , roses in my hands?

Would you get them if i did?
No you won't, 'cause you're gone, gone, gone, gone, gone....

When you're dreaming with a broken heart
The waking up is the hardest part

Whack band

I have a band and we have a CD. Okay, it's a made up band.

I know this meme has been around for quite a while now but I was looking for something fun (and quick) to do. (Although I did end up spending more time on it than I had planned. Hello, procrastination!) It used to be a little hobby of mine to create new covers/sleeves for existing CDs as a way to indulge my interest in graphic design. (I remember doing one for Kate Bush's The Whole Story.) The lay out I ended up doing for my made up cover, found below, reflects my basic design philosophy.

What kind of music do you think my band plays?

1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random”
or click en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random .
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations"
or click www.quotationspage.com/random.php3 .
The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
The third photo, no matter what it is, is your album cover.

4 - Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.

Annie Lennox, "Shining Light"

Annie Lennox has a new single out, a cover of Ash's "Shining Light." I like both versions. Annie put her own stamp on the song. I've listened to it only a couple of times and it's already stuck in my head.

Annie's video cannot be embedded but here is a link. (Ash's video is at the end of the post.)

This post is dedicated to... Well, you know who you are. (Yes, you.) :-P

Shining Light

Roman candles that burn in the night
Yeah, you are a shining light
You lit a torch in the infinite
Yeah, you are a shining light
Yeah, you light up my life

You've always been a thorn in their side
But to me you're a shining light
You arrive and the night is alive
Yeah, you are a shining light
Yeah, you light up my life

We made our connection
A full on chemical reaction
Brought by dark divine intervention
Yeah, you are a shining light
A constellation once seen
Over Royal David's city
An epiphany you burn so pretty
Yeah, you are a shining light

You are a force, you are a constant source
Yeah, you are a shining light
Incandescent in the darkest night
Yeah you are shining light
My mortal blood I would sacrifice
For you are a shining light
Sovereign bride of the infinite
Yeah, you are a shining light
Yeah, you light up my life

We made our connection
A full on chemical reaction
Brought by dark divine intervention
Yeah, you are a shining light
A constellation once seen
Over Royal David's city
An epiphany you burn so pretty
Yeah, you are a shining light

And these are days you often say
There's nothing that we can't do
Beneath a canopy of stars
I'd shed blood for you
The north star in the firmament
You shine the most bright
I've seen you draped in an electric veil
Shrouded in celestial light

We made our connection
A full on chemical reaction
Brought by dark divine intervention
Yeah, you are a shining light
A constellation once seen
Over Royal David's city
An epiphany you burn so pretty
Yeah, you are a shining light
Yeah, you light up my life
Yeah, you are a shining light
Yeah, you light up my life

What do you see?

This is something I discovered just today. Yes, it's an online quiz and a social networking site at the same time but it's more interesting than what you normally come across.

Here's a description from the Imagini website:

We all know that a picture paints a thousand words--so what if you could collect together a group of images that summed up how you feel and what you like across each area of your life? This, in a very simple form is what we are helping people to do--we call it discovering your VisualDNA(tm).

Check it out and tell me what you see.

Read my VisualDNA™     Get your own VisualDNA™

Musical Break

Some of the music from the other night's party. That's my cousin and his family. That's a 9-year old boy playing the bass. It was a fun night.

Sade's "Smooth Operator"

Jobim's "One Note Samba"

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

In the Cards

To fill the time... But it might actually be on to something... (I'm just not sure about being hidebound, though.)

You are The Hierophant

Divine Wisdom. Manifestation. Explanation. Teaching.

All things relating to education, patience, help from superiors.The Hierophant is often considered to be a Guardian Angel.

The Hierophant's purpose is to bring the spiritual down to Earth. Where the High Priestess between her two pillars deals with realms beyond this Earth, the Hierophant (or High Priest) deals with worldly problems. He is well suited to do this because he strives to create harmony and peace in the midst of a crisis. The Hierophant's only problem is that he can be stubborn and hidebound. At his best, he is wise and soothing, at his worst, he is an unbending traditionalist.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.