another one

So you have to watch this to the very end. Yeah, he cut his hair, yeah he looks really good. Yeah I am obessed with Bright Eyes. Just watch. It's good.

variations on a theme

So one thing leads to another. I've already made very clear how much I loved the book The Gold Bug Variations by Richard Powers. I still haven't stopped thinking about it. I decided to listen to Bach's Goldberg Variations since they play such a role in the novel. I bought the 1955 Glenn Gould debut, and I've been listening to it (this is where my rambling on Bach will end because I am woefully uneducated about his music).

But: during the process of acquiring said Bach music, I discovered there is a book by Gabriel Josipovici titled The Goldberg Variations. Which is described as "a brilliant combination of fiction and philosophy - and an exhilarating homage to the genius and invention of J.S. Bach." And it is! Two weeks into 2008 and I may have already read a best of year candidate.

I'm going to read Poe's "The Gold Bug" because I love Edgar Allan.

my imaginary Project Runway boyfriend

Ah, Rami. See, now this would be perfect. Because he could make me dresses.

list

my favorite things I read this year:

Overlook: Exploring the Internal Fringes of America edited by Matthew Coolidge and Sarah Simons
I've already rambled on about this book

The Goldbug Variationsby Richard Powers
Likewise about the already rambling on

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
I might reread this book every year. It's beautifully sparse.

The Complete Stories by John Cheever
I sort of want to make a glib comment about how the stories induced me to become an alcoholic country clubber. But that's the cartoon take on Cheever. On of my favorite writers ever, hidden behind a veil of martinis

Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser
I'm a Coppola-worshiper, so I first saw the movie. And then had to know the details. The book is a real page-turner. Which is something considering how well-known the ending is.

The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead.
I love Colson Whitehead

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
A life-changing (seriously) book read on a plane

The Aspern Papers by Henry James
OK, this is actually the second time I've read this. But it is such a perfect look at art and life. Set in Venice!

Music for Chameleons by Truman Capote
If only for "Hand Carved Coffins" alone.

And, I'm still reading two books that I should finish before 2007 ends. So - list may be subject to change.

thanksgiving destruction

The bullmastiff continues to wage his war on pillows:

Bad dog.

I think he felt a little remorse:

Maybe.

wish I could've been there

I've been rereading parts of one of my most inspiring books The Design of Modern Design which is all about one of my favorite people George Nelson.



Anyway, I've also been reading some stuff by Buckminster Fuller and the two came together in this awesome story:

George Nelson recalls the iconic design of the Ball Clock as being a result of a night of drinking with friends and associates, Isamu Noguchi, Bucky Fuller, and Irving Harper.

“And there was one night when the ball clock got developed, which was one of the really funny evenings. Noguchi came by, and Bucky Fuller came by. I’d been seeing a lot of Bucky those days, and here was Irving and here was I, and Noguchi, who can’t keep his hands off anything, you know- it is a marvelous, itchy thing he’s got- he saw we were working on clocks and he started making doodles. Then Bucky sort of brushed Isamu aside. He said, “This is a good way to do a clock,” and he made some utterly absurd thing. Everybody was taking a crack at this,…pushing each other aside and making scribbles.

At some point we left- we were suddenly all tired, and we’d had a little bit too much to drink- and the next morning I came back, and here was this roll (of drafting paper), and Irving and I looked at it, and somewhere in this roll there was a ball clock. I don’t know to this day who cooked it up. I know it wasn’t me. It might have been Irving, but he didn’t think so…(we) both guessed that Isamu had probably done it because (he) has a genius for doing two stupid things and making something extraordinary…out of the combination….(or) it could have been an additive thing, but, anyway, we never knew.”

George Nelson: The Design of Modern Design; p.111

I love the idea of George, Bucky, Irving, and Isamu all drinking and smoking and creating.

maybe turning into a book blog

So the only things I really feel like writing about now are the books I'm reading. Nothing wrong with that. Besides, I'm reading some amazing books. The one I just finished is Overlook:Exploring the Internal Fringes of America.

I picked it up at random and was immediately captivated by its oddness. Let's see... Ohio, scale models of cities, lots of talk about nuclear testing grounds, and (one of my little obsessions) towns that were intentionally flooded for water basin purposes. Oh, and there's even a mention of one of my other minor obessions - the Amargosa Opera House. Which will lead me to mention this documentary about Amargosa's Marta Beckett:

See, not just a book blog.