Weekend, "Venus"

This weekend, I was sick. I spent most of my time writing my short story for Creative Writing class, which is due the Tuesday after this coming one. In between, I also got plenty of cups of coffee and tea and saw the movie Venus.

On Saturday night, Austin's cute-as-a-button friend Shea came to visit us and watch You've Got Mail, which was, as always, delightful. Oh, newly-sharpened pencils, that movie has 152 insights to my soul.

Venus was a wonderful character study of Maurice, played by Peter O'Toole, and his unlikely friendship with a young woman to whom he bestows the name "Venus," played by Jodie Whittaker. It was definitely one of the best movies I've seen this year, if not the best, and I'm actually quite astonished it was recognized with more Academy Award nominations (it received only one -- for O'Toole). It did a wonderful job portraying an unlikely relationship and imbuing that relationship, as well as the subjects of death and aging, with great dignity. Vanessa Redgrave, Leslie Phillips, and Richard Griffiths also make memorable appearances.

Hillary!

Hillary Clinton for President in 2008: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/video/ . Girlfriend's in it to win it. Vagina in the White House!

Weekend Update

So, it's been a lovely weekend. A recap:

Friday night, I went to see The Fever, a one-man play written and performed by Wallace Shawn (that schlumpy looking character actor who shows up in Woody Allen movies/was in The Princess Bride/was in My Dinner with Andre, pictured below). Anyway, Austin and I had just been talking about Wallace Shawn after watching the Before Sunrise/Before Sunset movies, so he came with me.

There was an onstage champagne reception before the show and then a brief humorous introduction to the play by Shawn before he launched into his 90-minute diatribe against the privileged. I suppose that was his way of making you feel luxurious before plunging you into his serious message. It was a pretty heavy-handed affair with some standout moments interspersed. The lighting, by Jennifer Tipton, was especially notable, helping to transition between the moods of the piece. It was an overall worthwhile experience, but mostly as a sort of lesson on theatre and what works and what doesn't. I was glad it was a comp ticket; I wouldn't have paid to see it.

On Saturday, I spent a fair while shopping for some used Tom Stoppard plays for one of my classes with only partial success. I was also looking for some poetry books by Rainer Maria Rilke and Li-Young Lee (a book called Rose -- why is it so hard to find!?), but I didn't find very much by either, which was surprising, especially in the case of Rilke. I feel really bad paying full price for books that are so short. Most plays/books of poetry are under 100 pages, and you often pay as much as $15 per book. I also like the feeling of supporting used bookstores, which often struggle financially.

After shopping for a bit, I met up with Emma and got tea at the Tea Spot on MacDougal Street directly below Washington Square Park. Much fun ensued.

In the evening, I went uptown to visit Christina, Richard, and Olga. We played Cranium, and I won each of the three games I played, one while teamed with each of the three. Thus, we were all winners. It was quite a bit of fun.

Today, I went to the Annie Leibovitz exhibit at Brooklyn Museum. It was the last day, so it was pretty crowded. Besides for the fact that there was a wait of somewhere between 90 minute and 2 hours, it was worth it. Despite her notability for photographs of celebrities for magazines, the ones I ended up liking the best were the photos of her friend (lover?) Susan Sontag (at right) and her parents and children. It was a great exhibit. Also notable were the Dippin' Dots at the museum.

Another busy week ahead.

New beginnings

Today was the first day of a new semester.

My classes for spring are as follows:

Monday:
8-9:15 Conversations of the West: Antiquity and the 19th Century Recitation
9:30-10:45 Major Playwrights: Caryl Churchill, David Hare, and Tom Stoppard

Tuesday:
9:30-10:45 Creative Writing
11-12:15 Intermediate German II
12:30-1:45 Conversations of the West: Antiquity and the 19th Century

Wednesday:
9:30-10:45 Major Playwrights: Caryl Churchill, David Hare, and Tom Stoppard
11-12:15 Intermediate German II

Thursday:
9:30-10:45 Creative Writing
11-12:15 Intermediate German II
12:30-1:45 Conversations of the West: Antiquity and the 19th Century

Between classes and work, I have a relatively busy schedule, probably about as bad as last semester. I have Tuesdays off from work, and I'm thinking of asking to have Thursdays off as well.

Anyway, I mainly wanted to post to write about my first impressions of classes. So far, I've had three out of four, so I'll write about Churchill/Hare/Stoppard tomorrow.

Creative Writing

I was really nervous to find out about exactly what this class would be about. It turns out, it doesn't seem nearly as scary as I thought it would. Each of us has to write two short stories and five poems over the course of the semester, which doesn't seem like it's going to be too bad. One of our short stories will be workshopped with the class in addition to the poems. I had thought that we'd have to read our work aloud to the class though, which seemed scary, but we don't. We just have to provide copies for outside reading. That means that the reading load will be pretty hefty, but it should be fine. My teacher, Matt, seems nice and laid-back.

Intermediate German II

So, I was absolutely terrified as I sat down for this class, especially because I haven't really spoken any German for about nine months. Turns out, however, that I had no need to be. I always freak out and think I'm going to be the worst student of German in the room, but inevitably there are a few people who still can't grasp basic concepts. Also, the German teachers, for some reason, seem to be nothing but friendly and funny. My teacher this semester, Natalie, seems quite funny and personable. I'm sure it'll be a good class. The only drawback is that we have a tiny little classroom that feels a bit cramped. We played a name game to introduce ourselves and did a few little interview exercises, which seems to be the norm for first days of German. Overall, it was harmless. I guess I always assume I'll have a harder time with German classes than I end up actually having.

Conversations of the West ("Con West"): Antiquity and the 19th Century

So, admittedly this class might be a little bit harder for me to get into than my other classes, but it also seems genuinely interesting. My teacher, Professor Ertman, did a good job providing a clear outline of the course. We're going to study antiquity (ancient Greece, Israel, and Rome) and then the 19th Century (Marx, Freud, Nietzsche, John Stuart Mill, Darwin) keeping the comparisons between the two periods in mind. A lot of the readings will probably be hard to trudge through, but they're all things that anyone studying liberal arts should probably be familiar with (On Liberty, Plato's Republic, The Origin of Species, The Communist Manifesto, the Bible, etc.) I'm sure it will inform my general knowledge base and maybe even my writing. While Professor Ertman doesn't seem overaly jovial, he seems like he'll at least keep my attention and command the classroom, which is more than I can say for some of my previous lectures.

Overall, it looks to be a good semester. I'm looking forward to the second day of classes!

Lazy days are going, going, gone

So, today was the last of my lazy days. Starting tomorrow, I have class and work most days and will have plenty of academic pursuits to keep up with: writing stories and poems, reading plays and other books, speaking in German (good God, I'm rusty!).

Today I saw Emma, which was nice. We had coffee at Bowery Poetry Club and then wandered around for a bit. While we were walking along on Lafayette Street, a crazy lady threw a milkshake (or other milky-looking drink?) directly behind her legs, splashing her with its contents. She then tried to pretend it was a mistake. It was bizarre.

I'm addicted to a new song, "Murder on the Dance Floor" (check out the awesome YouTube video) by Sophie Ellis Bextor. It's infectious! I also discovered Joanna Newsom, an up-and-coming harpist and folk singer/songwriter who's quite good. her latest album is called Ys, and it's worth checking out.

I also checked out a lot of the fashion week collections for men that are starting to come out of the woodworks: Dolce and Gabbana (bizarre), Burberry Prorsum (mostly good), Roberto Cavalli (odd), Jil Sander (simple and tasteful), Costume National (eccentric but fun), Missoni (ugh), and Versace, which was probably my favorite. I'm really into a lot of the double-breasted coats I've seen lately.

I had Thai food with Austin for dinner at this place on Avenue A near Tompkin's Square Park that's consistently good. Then I took a long walk and contemplated the busy coming days, relishing the final hours of my leisure. It's going to be a challenging semester, but I think it'll be a worthwhile one as well.

Met

Today, I went to the Met. It was a lazy day, and it was nice to feel like I was doing something productive.

Then I painted for a little while.

Last night, I hung out with Christina, Richard, Austin, and Jacob uptown. We had quite a bit of fun as well.

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with Emma for coffee, and on Tuesday classes start up again. I guess I'll have more to write about once classes are in full swing.

It's also been an excrutiatingly long time since I've seen a play or musical.

"Notes on a Scandal," dabbling

So last night I finally saw Notes on a Scandal, one of the films I had most been anticipating lately. Since I generally love both Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench I went in expecting to love the movie, and I wasn't disappointed.

With a screenplay by Patrick Marber, who wrote the play Closer and the screen play for its adaptation as well as the upcoming Howard Katz at Roundabout Theatre Company, based on a book by Zoe Heller, the movie works as a sort of quasi-camp but seriously thrilling pulp movie, with Judi Dench playing the pervy old dyke and Cate Blanchett as her younger confidant and crush. Blanchett's character has gone off and cheated on her older husband (played sharply and sympathetically by Bill Nighy) with one of her students, bringing her dangerously close to Dench once she spies the two together in one of the classrooms during a school assembly.

Dench is the strongest asset of the movie though Blanchett is certainly formidable. Watching her character's build throughout the plot was thrilling, and the ending really gave the movie its punch.

Anyway, today was nice as well. After a long day of work, I sat around my room painting with watercolors and listening to Joni Mitchell. Then I got some sushi. So restful. I'm looking forward to the long weekend.

Here's the first successful watercolor painting of my adult life:

Stuff

So, this week is nice since I don't yet have classes and my work schedule is relatively limited. I'm also looking forward to the long weekend because of Martin Luther King Day.

Yesterday, I met up with Lisa, Peter, and two of their friends to hang out for a while before work. We did a little bit of shopping, and I got a pretty new cardigan and a new white shirt to replace the tuxedo-style shirt that I'm sensing will soon be too ratty to wear in civilized society.

After work yesterday, I went and invested in a huge bottle of Viktor and Rolf's cologne, Antidote, which I've been eyeing for a while:

I read Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire today, which is a wonderful play. Cynthia Nixon won the Best Actress Tony Award for the lead role last season, which Nicole Kidman is going to play in the upcoming movie version. I have to say I don't really see her in the role, but I'm still interested to see the result.

Today was a nice day for quite a few reasons.

Break

So, winter break was nice.

I read some: The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud, which is a wonderful novel about young professionals and socialites in New York City and some various poetry by Ted Hughes, Walt Whitman, Carl Sandburg, and others. It's always nice to have some more time to read again. Breaks are always useful for that purpose.

As far as movies go, I saw Children of Men, Dreamgirls, The Queen, and Charlotte's Web, which I enjoyed in that order (from best to worst), though they were all quite good. Children of Men was extraordinarily unnerving, and I recommend that everyone go see it. It just won't be the same on DVD. Dreamgirls was also spectacularly entertaining, but I guess a lot of people have some odd aversion to musicals and will avoid it for that reason. But they shouldn't! The Queen was a bit slow for my tastes, but Helen Mirren was quite good as Queen Elizabeth.

I fell in love (guiltily) with "Irreplaceable" by Beyonce, and also listened to a good deal more of Joni Mitchell's music.

I also fell in love with the show Ugly Betty, which was recommended to me by Khiem before I left for break, as well as the old Carol Burnett spinoff Mama's Family starring Vicki Lawrence, who's absolutely hilarious.

Overall, I'm glad to be back in New York City, but there will be things and people I'll miss.