Happy Birthday "Phantom of the Opera," Jane Austin (Pride and Prejudice), Poe and Burns from a small town in Indiana

Happy 25th Anniversary "The Phantom of the Opera"

Dear Friends,

 

The day started with fog and ice which quickly turned to gray skies of continuous rain.

 

It is also Monday morning and the studio calls to me for attention. I organize, file, get ready for new projects while listening to the "Phantom of the Opera"  and the rain beating out my window. I do not know how many years I have loved the show. During the end of my marriage we took the train to Toronto for the weekend to see the show. It was our last chance for survival. I thought we would make it as we had the best time, but it just didn't work. I remember those last moments with my heart in my throat wanting the marriage to work, wanting it to end. There are things women know.

 

Now years later I listen to the music. I saw the show many more times after that, but alone. It is the 25th birthday of this great masterpiece by Andrew Lloyd Webber. How can we thank him for the brilliance of his work?

 

 

                                            Happy 200th Birthday "Pride and Prejudice"


What young girl did not read Jane Austen? Even grown ups want to wear the dresses, and live a life we can only read about. So, Happy Birthday "Pride and Prejudice." Thank you Jane Austen for giving us grown up fairy tales.

The rain continues to fall and I come across a scrapbook my dad kept of my letters home, report cards and various other mementos. How I miss him on this day. He taught me to love art, music, Broadway, literature....I would like to call him and tell him about all the anniversaries. We would talk literature. He would call me Holly Go-Lightly and I would hang up the phone laughing.

And I can't stop there for it is also the birthdays of Mozart and Poe and Burns. Happy Birthday to all of you as well.

So it seems the images of my life...the endings, the beginnings have come to me through music and art and literature.

Here is a glimpse into my studio, at least one of the shelves! Also a link to this week's column toasting Poe and the Bard!

Thank you for coming into my world for a rainy Monday. Maybe you have memories or stories such as mine. Please share.

Lou Ann

Click here for the birthday celebrations for Poe and Burns
 



What is your passion?

This week found me stashed away in my studio (when I wasn't teaching) working on new shows and reviewing old shows.

What is it that causes us to find the passion and hold on to it? I read, write, study and lunch passes and I forget as I read poetry by Burns, rehearse my "Gathering Coal for the Lord" show and put two new shows onto the back burner ready to begin simmering.

I ask my kids at school about their passions. The answers are varied as they have never been asked that question. I want them to think. I get answers...jobs, making money, golf. But then I get a few others that are deeper that causes them to go inside themselves where the world is a little scary.

"My passion?" I look at them. "It's easy. Life."

Castle Howard in Winter

Castle Howard

 

I found this photo early this morning. It is a spectacular view of Castle Howard. This was one of our favorite visits when Philip and I were in England. My mom and Dick took us there for the day to let us hike, roam around, and enjoy the beauty. We had tea and lunch there as well. Of course, Philip was thrilled and thought he should be Lord. Does that make me the Lady?

 

It sounds a bit like a John Denver song.

 

Alas we are back doing what we do in Ocracoke and in Indiana, but what a nice surprise to see this photo with all the snow! 

Making a blue snow cloud...

It is cold here in northern Indiana. The thermometer is still hovering between 4 and 6 degrees, so I decided to do an experiment outside with my grandson Matthew. (He is 11)

Actually I have tried this before with much the same rate of success.

First you boil up a pot of water. (I use my spaghetti sauce pot, not the spaghetti pot.) I added food coloring so that you could actually see the cloud. Blue was my choice.

With Matthew as my photographer we went outside to make a cloud of blue snow. Matthew was freezing, but he did a great job on the photo shoot. This video was actually our third try, and I can't say we did much in the way to improve science, but we had fun.

You could try this yourself at home if your temperatures dip below zero!

Please notice the giant coat I am wearing in the video, this is my "twice a winter when nothing else will keep me warm coat." Just saying. By the way, it appears to have a very loud volume. Either the wind was tossing my voice towards the camera or I was shouting in order to keep warm!

Enjoy.

A winter's morning in the Midwest...

My street

 

My house at White Picket Gardens

 

Art Out My Window

 

 

Dear Friends,

Winter has arrived in the Midwest. Wind, blowing snow and below zero temperatures blanketed my town this week.

We wait for this weather, even though everyone complains. In fact, most are joyous that cold weather has arrived. It is good for the fruit growers, the gardeners, the children (two hour delay at school), and for artists.

I was up before dawn sweeping off porches, letting the world wake up slowly. Most folks wanted to cozy down under those quilts with their sweeties, or babies, or household pets. Coffee does call us to the kitchen, however, sleepy eyed and shivering in old bathrobes.

I took these photos early this morning as the sun was coming up.

Enjoy. Winter is laced with beauty, don't miss it!

Lou Ann

Lincoln

Dear Friends,

Indeed we walked down to the circle to see the film "Lincoln". It was a cold walk even using my scarf as a muffler.

With all three movies in town, there was a nice crowd. Tickets for my theaters are reasonable, just $5.00 a ticket. Popcorn is a bargain as well and a must.

Both theaters, the Brokaw and the Strand, were built in 1932. Walking inside them is like walking into history. They are small theaters, and you always know the folks inside!

The seats are faded red velvet and do not swivel or bend much. They do not serve wine, nor had 3-D capabilities, or even your tickets. The truth is, I very seldom see movies anywhere else. Supporting our small towns and communities is very important to me.

"Lincoln" was stunning...the cast, the cinematography, the script. I began to cry at the beginning and was crying so hard at the end, that I had to just sit in my seat for a while.

Lincoln's words are haunting me still on this Inauguration Day and Dr. Martin Luther King Day. They are words we should live by in our personal lives, our communities, and our nation.

"Malice towards none,

Charity towards all."

 

Lou Ann

A funeral takes a look into my own past.

This week's column...a good read for a winter's day. (Click here)

Today is a cold winter's day here in the Midwest. We call each other to see what we can do today...movies? In my small town our two theaters (each built in 1932) are showing Lincoln, Les Mis, and Life of Pi. All three are academy award nominees and films I want to see. Today, I think it will be Lincoln. We, my friends and I, will wear our warmest clothes and walk down to the circle to spend the afternoon.

Days and nights like this bring out all the quilts for the beds. All the beds in my house are covered with quilts from my great-grandmother Chloe.

The one in the photo is one of my favorites. I love this quilt along with the others. (There is another one of her quilts on the chair by the curtains.)

So, let's tie together this week's column and the photo.

As always, thanks for reading.

Lou Ann

Chloe's Quilt