City of Writers: A Weekly Newsletter
Of all the pop girls that I've listened to from the U.K., she has consistently put out high-quality music since she went solo from her band, theaudience, in 2001. Hit after hit. My favorite song of hers is If You Go from the "Trip the Light Fantastic" album. It's sonic…
The novel was published in 1920 about 1870s New York society. It's fascinating how one look, one casual phrase could destroy a person's entire reputation. I think that's still true, but for the most part, we can start over somewhere else and bounce back. If someone is ruined (the Beauforts,…
Vegas is never short on entertainment. We boast some of the most diverse types of entertainment: musicals, Cirque du Soleil, magic, and so forth.
One that sticks out to me is impersonator shows or even shows that co-opt another style, like Human Nature or Rock of Ages.
My friend and her husband invited me to a show at the Boulevard Theater called Stars in Concert. It was an impersonator show.
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I have decided to elevate Ray Bradbury to be the grandfather of my literary aesthetic, which is cinematic absurdist.
I found an essay (an interview, really) in this book where he states
“all my stories are cinematic. … I may be the most cinematic novelist in the country today. All of my short stories can be shot right off the page. Each paragraph is a shot.”
I KNEW there was a reason why I enjoyed his work so much!
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If you're familiar with the species relations in Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (movie version) or even Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (book version), it brings up the question: who decides who is savage or not? The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is…
I thoroughly enjoyed the film. I knew exactly what to expect, and got it. You can't ask too much of any action/adventure film anymore. Say what you want about Keanu, but you cannot take your eyes off of him. I'm not saying that as a red-blooded woman. Keanu has that…
I vividly remember watching the footage of Oscar Grant’s murder on New Year’s Day 2009. Phones were becoming smarter every day. Citizen journalism was on the rise, even if it didn’t have a name then. The videos disturbed me greatly. So I resisted watching this movie until I was better…
Gifted is a wonderful, heart-wrenching picture. Chris Evans headlines as Frank Adler, uncle to the precocious and uber-talented McKenna Grace's Mary, the gifted of the title. Jenny Slate, Lindsay Duncan, and Octavia Spencer round out the intimate cast. I loved Evans and Grace's chemistry. My favorite line of his is…
You have cleverness, dexterity, and creativity—all of which powerfully combine when you are at risk—if you listen to your intuition.
Gavin de Becker, the Gift of Fear
I’ve been meaning to read this book for ages. I finally was able to get finish it with my Digital Silent Book Club and burning through it during my WFH lunches. It’s so nice to not have to bring my lunch every day; it’s already in my house! Then I can focus on simply reading and eating.
Anyway, I digress.
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I had the pleasure of seeing former Santa Clara County poet laureate Nils Peterson at the Willow Glen library in December 2016.
What I enjoyed about his overall style, compared to other poetry readings I’ve been to, is that he repeated himself. He would recite a poem or a thought, and repeat it, in case we didn’t hear him for the first time. After he would do that, he would take it one step further and make comments on it, as though it were a dialogue between speaker and attendee. It helped the audience comprehend what he was saying. To me, that was a fun and engaging way to present the material, rather than intoning on it like the work was sacred. He made the poetry accessible in this way.
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