Originally uploaded by edwardjones3.

From this hour, freedom!

From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master, total and absolute,
Listening to others, and considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.
I inhale great draughts of space;
The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine.
I am larger, better than I thought;
I did not know I held so much goodness.
All seems beautiful to me;
I can repeat over to men and women, You have done such good to me, I would do the same to you.
I will recruit for myself and you as I go;
I will scatter myself among men and women as I go;
I will toss the new gladness and roughness among them;
Whoever denies me, it shall not trouble me;
Whoever accepts me, he or she shall be blessed, and shall bless me. -- from Walt Whitman's Song of the Open Road

movies

treehugger said...
what are some of your favorite movies? That will help me know what to recommend. I am ashamed to admit that I don't know who Catherine Deneuve is (don't hate me).

Let me know how Rent is? We saw the play a couple of years ago and really loved it.

********************

On the highbrow end, I like period films: A Room with a View, Howard's End, Gosford Park, Dangerous Liaisons.
I also like foreign films: Amelie, Indochine, 8 Women, The City of God, Pedro Almodovar in general.

On the lowbrow end, I like South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, Strangers With Candy, Clerks, Mallrats, and Team America: World Police.

I like movies about women: Steel Magnolias, Clueless, Thelma & Louise, The Hunger, 8 Women, Swimming Pool.

Catherine Deneuve is a French actress, supremely beautiful. She started out with cute roles in French musical films (like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg). Then she played cold housewives who were sexually voracious outside of their marriages (as in Belle du Jour). She has aged well. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Indochine, a film set in Vietnam in which her adopted daughter falls in love with her secret lover. You may remember her from the Bjork film, Dancer in the Dark. I highly recommend her performance in 8 Women, a French murder mystery/musical/meditation on what it means to be a woman.

I liked the DVD of Rent. I haven't seen the musical before. But that will be remedied next month. A touring production of Rent is coming to Iowa City, and my friends and I have tickets.

Rufus Wainwright

Why did nobody ever tell me Rufus Wainwright is gay? I love his music. And it turns out he loves and is inspired by opera.

cigarettes and chocolate milk
these are just a couple of my cravings
everything it seems i like's a little bit stronger
a little bit thicker
a little bit harmful for me

if i should buy jellybeans
have to eat them all in just one sitting
everything it seems i like's a little bit sweeter
a little bit fatter
a little bit harmful for me

and then there's those other things
which for several reasons we won't mention
everything about them is a little bit stranger
a little bit harder
a little bit deadly

it isn't very smart
tends to make one part so broken-hearted

sitting here remembering me
always been a shoe made for the city
go ahead, accuse me of just singing about places
with scrappy boys faces
have general run of the town
playing with prodigal songs
takes a lot of sentimental valiums
can't expect the world to be your raggedy andy
while running on empty
you little old doll with a frown

you got to keep in the game
maintaining mystique while facing forward
i suggest a reading of 'a lesson in tightropes'
or 'surfing your high hopes' or 'adios kansas'

it isn't very smart
tends to make one part so broken-hearted

still there's not a show on my back
holes or a friendly intervention
i'm just a little bit heiress, a little bit irish
a little bit tower of pisa whenever i see you
so please be kind if i'm a mess
cigarettes and chocolate milk

Vagina Dialogues

I think Edward's right: A member of the "group" at issue will naturally be resistant to a non-member claiming to relate or feel their pain, so to speak.


Incidentally, some disgruntled white guys were going to put together the "Penis Monologues", but then someone reminded them that the ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE WORLD is a penis monologue.

Vaginas

So, Paul and I saw The Vagina Monologues earlier this year, for the third time (I think). This year the local production had a great new twist - one of the cast members was a transgendered woman for whom a new script was written,which dealt with her desire for a vagina and plans to have one soon. It was a lovely script and she did a marvelous job!

After the play, I guiltily found myself feeling a little uncomfortable with the new addition, wondering whether it was fair for this woman with no vagina to be a part of The Vagina Monologues. After all, isn't the play a medium for women to talk about experiences they have had with their vaginas. I found myself thinking, "wait a minute, but she doesn't have a vagina. Not yet anyway. This play is for those with vaginas."

In the end, I came around and made peace with my internal struggle. In the end, I decided that this woman's desire to have a vagina and the struggle of wanting something so bad for so long was plenty enough about vaginas. Besides, the significance of including her in the play far outweighed any discomfort I may have felt.

I felt so guilty for questioning her place in the play, but I had to acknowledge my hesitation.

Any thoughts?

What the Bleep?

DVD recommendations for recent films:

What the %$#&*(^@ ??
An Inconvenient Truth
Crash (highly recommended)
The Constant Gardener
Sideways
Hotel Rwanda
Kinsey
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (trippy)

If you're feeling a little freaky, watch The Jacket w Adrien Brody. Then write and explain it to me.

If you want an oldie but goodie list, let me know.

new stuff

So I bought a TV/DVD player last week. The screen is only 13" because I wouldn't have space for anything larger. It has changed my existence. I now stay up late watching operas and Catherine Deneuve films. A friend loaned me Rent and I'm watching it now.

I always said I would that for my third year of law school I would get a TV and watch it. I am surprised that I really did it, though. Thankfully I don't get any actual television reception. So discontinuous, with unpleasant commercials.

I welcome any DVD recommendations.