• 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.
Good morning Claudia! Katie looks really cute! We’re heading into a bit of a break from all the rain we’ve had… it’ll be good to dry out for a while. Yes, the next couple years, politically, are going to be thought provoking for sure. I just don’t understand how we’ve gotten here…numbing! Anyway enjoy your walks and books today!
So glad you’re getting a break from that rain, Barrie.
Stay safe!
Welcome to my bubble…enjoyed listening to Don today…
Glad to join you in that bubble, Brenda!
I’ll let Don know that you listened to him.
Stay safe!
Every time you mention War and Peace, I’m reminded of Crime and Punishment. I think I must have read both authors and books during the same summer when I was a teen. Crime and Punishment turned my good little Baptist beliefs about “wrongdoers” upside down, and, I think, changed the trajectory of my life. How grateful I am now that we were exposed, in my home and in our schools, to the world’s great writers and not restricted to texts produced by a religious leader who may or may not have any educational background.
So true, Linda. I feel the same way.
Stay safe!
those books and that tv show sound good. the political messes are frustrating. also very scary! a news break can be helpful.
same with a walk. i need to get one in yet today … three to six inches of snow/ice/rain is in our forecast for tomorrow into thursday. we need the moisture (and i need the walk). i hope it comes only as rain.
glad to hear you will be sketching in your planner. i find creative interests and nature helpful as well as enjoyable, delightful (no matter how my paintings turn out).
happy tuesday! stay safe.
kathy
Oh, I hope it isn’t too messy out there, Kathy.
We have something coming on Thursday, when I will likely have to go into NYC, but it looks like it might be all rain. Very very messy while walking around in the city, but better than slippery roads on the way home.
Stay safe.
Katie’s new hair do is cute as is her sweet corduroy dress. Your post today was very interesting. Can you walk to your library, Claudia? I remember feeling so bad for Debbie Reynolds when Eddie Fisher left her for Elizabeth Taylor. They never seemed to be a good match. Enjoy your days at home before you head to NYC again. Hugs, Elaine
No. We live outside the tiny little main street area of our town. I have to drive there. But it’s only a few minutes away.
Stay safe, Elaine.
I wish they had included more photos of the journals themselves — they’re lovely pages. I often do drawings in mine (usually at least one per entry) but I’m certainly not a daily writer. I’m behind in painting them in so right now there are a lot of black and white sketches. They’re fun because I don’t feel the pressure to obsess — theoretically no one will see them but me. Of course, I wonder if Rickman thought that, too!
Like you, I’ve more or less turned off the news — at least stopped paying attention to it when it is on for BG noise. It’s chaos and life is chaotic enough! Take care!
Yes, I wish they had, too.
Rickman didn’t journal daily either. Sometimes there would be a gap of a week or so.
Stay safe, Jeanie.