figure drawing and charcoal class continues. my charcoals are getting quite good, and i'm very proud of the last three I did, especially the big back piece... which i was ready to give up on a few days ago, but its great now that its finished
I'm starting to realize using charcoal as a value study for other mediums isn't going to work as well as I'd hoped. also that figure drawing and anatomy is a really really really difficult thing that will take more time than i really feel like throwing at it. I hate it when a discipline suddenly seems to be as difficult as everyone else has made it seem - i love it when things come naturally and you don't have to work very hard for them.i reorganized the library/baby room, took down one of the bookshelves, put a bunch of books i don't want to read very often in tupperwares in storage. installed the blinds (finally) - the continuous cord loop system has irritatingly to be attached to the wall now, so its not so easy to use them. sometime safety is irritating, but i suppose i'll have to get over that with having kids soon.
lately i've decided writing reviews of things you watch/read makes you remember them much better!
movie reviews:
avatar: best movie i've seen in awhile. such a wonderful utopian view of what life could be like. so what if its naive and the warrior-race really is probably pretty anti-woman and expressive and has authoritarian discipline and a poorly communicative or representational ruling class. or that they're rude and mean. the living world i believed in was very inspiring and i left the movie wishing that i could stay... i found jake's acceptance as one of them very surprising to the point of disbelieve, but it worked with what i wanted to hear so i let it go. his transformation from no legs to avatar creature was so beautiful i cried (alot). it spoke of coming of age in a different way - becoming the creature and person you were always mean to be. they portrayed his navu character so powerfully and capably, it spoke to the inner confidence we could all have..
alice in wonderland:
the 3d wasn't nearly as compelling as it was for avatar. I liked the premise wrapped around the novel. or perhaps it was in the novel and I just don't recall very well - i haven't' read it since i was a teenager. Johnny depp's scottish version of 'twas brillig' was awesome. I liked the general element of madness to it, it left me in a very poetic and beautiful state. the scenes and graphics were excellent, I just didn't feel the 3d added very much. it was fun to see in the theater still though. her riding the bandersnatch was pretty awesome. nice parallels brought through confronting the jabberwocky with confronting her marriage proposal, though I figured the way it was leading she'd accept it, as it was her "destiny"...
meet the abbots: yet another coming of age movie about sex/love. confusing, frustrating, and at times unbelievable. interesting character drama, though i never really liked or respected any of the characters. they changed some, but not much. they were easy to identify with because of their ambiguity. i was left with wondering whether she really was the right girl for him since he didn't seem to look around much in college...
book reviews:
a deepness in the sky by verner vinge: one of my favs of his, I'd just reread this a year ago so I just flipped to the fun/awesome scenes in the middle and end. the awesome premise is of a world where the intelligent life form are 'tines' - a pack of puppies that act with one consciousness. They have 'intra-pact' speech so can't get close to other packs without losing themselves to madness. Vinge is obsessed with middle age conspiracy and does it well again in this example, combining this with an ultra-high-tech one that seemed very believable to me. He builds such wonderful worlds, and does a fairly good job of establishing characters, though they don't seem to grow through the books as much as do what you always expected of them.
hammer of lucifer: the relationships in this book are fascinating. The premise is that a comet has hit the earth (takes like 100 pages but they're not the best ones), and its about the world created in the wake (get it?) of the 10m high tidal waves that take out most major cities, earthquakes, etc. Roads are all broken, midwest starves, china and russia nuke each other. Cannibals attack the stronghold and the magician helps them defend against all odds. and the saving of a nuclear power plant with the strong hope of future re-industrialization. But its really about the people, and how they feel and react to their hopeless, always-in-danger situation. Loving and sex when you are 99% sure but not 100% that your spouse is dead, and people who seem to move on much faster than you'd expect because of the rawness of reality after the hammer hits.
songs of earth and power: this was my fav book for a long time as a kid. but i don't remember it very well so am taking awhile to reread it this time. another coming of age book. clearly greg bear's first novel, as its way overstuffed and worked with ideas. the middle part, what I'm on now, is very much like the oddysey, as he makes his way across the blasted plain having encounters - rather similarly to the gunslinger (below) as well, interestingly. i love the world and the casual detail thrown about. the system of magic and history are fascinating. the portrayal of love and sex... left me wishing for more, he seems so distant, which lets us take over his personality to a certain point, but also makes him feel washed out and uncertain.
stephen king the gunslinger: not my fav book. his intro says its his idea of 'tolkien-esque' fantasy, but it seems anything but. Lots of long boring sections through the desert, and speaking of destiny and a lack of control. Overall people didn't feel responsible for their actions and no-one seemed to change, which left me feeling ambiguous about why we 'saw' it. The history sections were the best, showing us how the gunslinger grew up, but i wasn't challenged enough to read further into the series. Some interesting philosophy as he talks to himself and tries to decide whether the people he meets are real or just illusions left by the mage/priest.
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