books — Page 24

Command Central

January 18, 2023 at 9:31 am by Claudia

Command Central.

This is my view as I read books, check out instagram, and write this blog. The rabbit pillow is upside down, for some reason. It’s since been repositioned.

The girls are directly in front of me, next to the two steps that lead to our little sunken den.

I love this little room. I spend a great deal of time in it. Don, however, only visits the den in the evening, when we’re eating dinner on a tray and watching whatever we’re watching. He’s rather particular about that. But then again, so am I. The only instance that brings me into the living room to blog or read is when there’s something amiss in the den. Sometimes, after we get a lot of rain, there might be a musty smell for a couple of days because the den is directly over a crawl space. Then I’ll visit the loveseat in the living room. But I’m not entirely comfortable there during the day. We’re both such creatures of habit; increasingly so as we get older.

I returned two books to the library yesterday, did my walking on the property, and promptly took a nap. And I read three chapters of War and Peace (trying to get ahead, since I’ll be back in the city this week) and a big chunk of State of Terror. I suspect I’ll finish that today. It’s really quite gripping! I’m enjoying being in ‘reading mode.’ So grateful to be immersed in all the books I’ve been reading, including W & P, which is simply wonderful.

Gray skies today, rain on the way for tomorrow, which means I’ll be dealing with that in the city. Ah well. Maybe there will be a lull as I’m walking to and from the rehearsal studio.

If I’m not here tomorrow, it’s because I’ve been called into rehearsal.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Tuesday Thoughts

January 17, 2023 at 9:43 am by Claudia

• The sun was making magic with this houseplant. Had to capture it. We were blessed with a consistently sunny day yesterday – a rarity at this time of year. It was lovely. I forced myself to walk back and forth and up and down on the driveway/parking area in order to get some exercise. I’ll do it again today and tomorrow so that the long, long walk to the rehearsal studio on Thursday won’t be so much of a shock.

• I finished the diaries of Alan Rickman and, my heavens, I loved it. What a gift it is to share in his impressions, experiences, highs, and lows. He was an artist as well, having attended the Royal College of Art, even partnering with some friends in a graphic design studio, before he ended up studying acting at RADA. I mention this because he sometimes illustrated his diaries and there are photos of some of those pages in the book. He was so talented. I am inspired to add some more touches like that to one of my planners. I’ve already done of bit of that in the past. I certainly am not of his caliber, but since a journal/planner is basically for oneself, I’m going for it.

Anyway, this read was pure pleasure and I’m sad that it’s over. I may have to buy my own copy someday. In the meantime, I’ll be off to the library this afternoon to return it – just in time, as it’s due today.

• More chapters today in War and Peace, which I will get to when I’ve finished this post.

• We were watching an episode of What’s My Line the other night and the mystery guest was Eddie Fisher, who, in the brief interview after his segment said that he was accompanying and supporting Elizabeth Taylor as she filmed Cleopatra. He then said it would be the greatest movie ever made (it wasn’t) and that Liz would win the Oscar (she didn’t.) His tone was worshipful, a little worrisome for a healthy relationship. Given that we know in the present that Liz was carrying on an affair with Richard Burton even as Fisher gushed about her on WML, I felt sad for him. But then again, he left Debbie Reynolds for Taylor. What goes round comes round. Watching What’s My Line episodes is great fun. We usually watch at least two of them a night. They keep us sane.

• Speaking of sanity, it is very clear to me that the next two years in the House of Representatives will be a clown show, so I have stopped watching the news and/or checking Twitter. So has Don. We’re going to live in our own little bubble, one in which we don’t feel rage every other hour over some misdeed or lie. Life is too short and we are at an age where we are acutely aware of that. I just can’t handle any more anger after 6 or 7 years of you-know-who. When and if T is indicted, please let me know. I will emerge from my bubble to celebrate and dance in the street. I mean that literally. In the meantime, it will be books, music, films, painting, and various other passions.

• We haven’t seen one of the girls in a while. I’ve been so busy that I’ve neglected them and I’ve heard some grumbles from that corner of the room.

Katie, in a cute little navy blue corduroy dress. I decided it was time to unbraid her hair and I quite like it like this.

Okay. On to War and Peace. And then, later in the afternoon, Hillary and Louise and State of Terror. Speaking of Hillary and Louise, the cast of a new musical version of Thelma and Louise is rehearsing down the hall from us. Why do they keep making movies into musicals? File it under shows I have absolutely no interest is seeing. Great movie; doesn’t need to be made into a musical with, I’m sure, a pop music type score.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Monday Thoughts; Reading and Loss

January 16, 2023 at 9:23 am by Claudia

I find myself in a rare situation – I’m actually reading more than one book at a time. I’m usually a one book only type of reader, as you know. It is to be noted that this particular state will last all year long as I am participating in the War and Peace Readalong, which entails reading a chapter a day. So that means I will be doing that as well as reading another book at the same time throughout 2023. But now, I’ve also been reading a third book: Madly, Deeply; The Diaries of Alan Rickman. I’ll be finishing that today. It’s highly readable and a wonderful picture of a busy life in the theater and film. Good to know he struggled with the same things that all of us in the performing arts do; reviews, late nights, lack of sleep when having to be on set early in the morning, joy, exhaustion, that wonderful feeling when it works and that disappointed feeling when it doesn’t. He had lots of friends in the London theater community, a demanding social life (much more than introvert me could have handled) a loving long-term relationship with his wife Rima, They decided to get married after being together for decades, a couple of years before he passed away. Reading this book very much reminds me of my time with The Noel Coward Diaries, way back in the eighties. As you can imagine, he wrote with wit and style and I remember inhaling that book when I was working in an office where I clearly didn’t belong! I don’t know what happened to my copy, but I find myself wanting to find a copy and read it again.

Yesterday, I suddenly remembered that I saw Alan Rickman in a play way back in 1991 when I was at the Edinburgh Festival. The play was called Tango at the End of Winter and I remember how powerful he was in his stillness and how elegantly he moved across the stage. How fortunate I was!

War and Peace is superb. Don and I find ourselves chatting about it quite frequently. I love that he decided to read it, too.

I’m halfway through State of Terror. It moves along pretty quickly and I quite like it.

Don and I are trying to grapple with the death of a friend of ours. He was really Don’s friend, but I knew him, too. He and his wife are musicians who are very well known and respected in the Hudson Valley. He produced and and recorded Don’s CD in his home studio. Rick and Michele performed at the CD release party. He was also an extraordinary artist. His paintings of the Hudson River and and the surrounding mountains were incredibly detailed and stunningly beautiful. (I dreamed of owning one someday.) He was so good that he was routinely featured in art galleries. Last fall, he and Michelle sang in the event that Don organized, the one highlighting the artists that Don was championing. Within a few weeks after that event, he was in the hospital with a rare form of pneumonia – one we’d never heard of – and on a ventilator. When Don first heard this news, which was being kept very quiet, he spoke to Michele. There was a real sense that he’d pull through it. That was in September. He never came home. Four months later – two days ago – he died. We really thought he would pull through. Don is devastated, as is the entire music community here, as well as so many others who knew and loved him. Rick was a kind and extraordinarily talented man. May he rest in peace.

And now I’m sad again.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Command Central

Tuesday Thoughts

Monday Thoughts; Reading and Loss

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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