Black Swan--I Get Her

Okay, I went to see the Black Swan. I knew a little about the movie, but not a lot. Natalie Portman is a crazed ballerina struggling to play the Black Swan in Swan Lake. She can be the sweet White Swan, but the seductive Black Swan is a bit of a challenge.

I went with my family who had problems with the movie. Of course, going to see this kind of movie with your mother is NOT a good idea. I mean I really wanted to enjoy the sex scenes, but with mom next to me, I was rather self concious.

My family wasn't as enthused about the movie as I was. I loved it. Afterall, I connected with the protagonist. Not the crazy, schizo part, but the creative part. The ultimate challenge for any artist: you must win the war against...yourself!

This is something I live with every day. Write, write, create, paint maybe, perform another show--but how, when?

Black Swan was a sumptious tribute to the creative mind. One of the best movies I'd seen in a long time.

Literary Hotspots

There I was, winding down my evening. I do some internet surfing, reading peices in the Huffington Post. There is a link to Literary Hotspots in Los Angeles. I think, oh, this might be cool. The first paragraph makes mention of the regulars that you might read about when it comes to Literary Los Angeles--Raymond Carver, Joan Didion.

It mentions places in Los Angeles that have been named in books. What a pleasant surprise it was to see my first novel mentioned! Well, this sleepy head just perked right up.

Read here

Painting Stories

Last month, I went to see the artist Gronk (above) at the Museum of Contemperary Art. For the last twenty years, he'd been painting a character named Tormenta, a faceless woman depicted in various scenarios. I thought that was marvelous. She's on ongoing character carried through in images.

I ran into Poet Marisela Norte at MOCA. Here she is with a statue of Tormenta.

I started painting last Summer and I felt inspired to do my own Tormenta. She's simply called "Pinay," (pronounced pin-eye') slang for a Filipino woman. This first piece is called "Pinay Causes Energy in the City."

Difficult Writing: Eulogy

I had one of the hardest writing assignments ever! I was asked to write a eulogy. A friend and colleague passed away suddenly just before Thanksgiving. A handful of people were asked to eulogize him. I was one of them. I kept putting it off and putting off. Finally, I had to get down to it and write the best way I knew how. It's an emotional experience because it is ultimately a good-bye note.

The last time I wrote a eulogy was when my father died. To this day, my dad's eulogy was the most difficult thing I'd ever written.

Writing novels or plays is nothing compared to having to write one of these suckers.