Monday, May 18, 2020

Ramblings of an artist 5-18-20

 5-7-20 It takes money to make money - that was my post on facebook 5-6-20. I am not sure where I heard this or if I read it some place, but it has stayed with me and I understand it. Whatever you want to do you have to have some money to get it started. If you are looking for a job, you have to have money for gas or bus fare. If you want to buy a house you need to have the down payment in most cases, but you have to be ready to make the first payment and you have to have a job to secure that it will be feasible. What I was referring to was me getting the internet so that I can decide what my next plan of action will be. So I can take care of business and join in on any invitations I get via the net from colleagues and friends.

5-9-20 I've started communicating with a friend that I hadn't spoken to in a while. It's been the case with many people. Everyone is looking for some sort of connection. I don't usually have a problem being by myself, but when you don't really have a choice in the matter that can make a person a bit antsy. I've been copying music to my laptop and trying to decide which music CDs I want to get rid of. There's a lot music and movies that I won't watch. And since it'll be a while before I invite anyone over... the chances of them wanting to see a certain film or movie are probably slim. Still, sometimes I am in the mood to watch one of those movies that I hadn't seen in over 30 years.

5-10-20 Today is Mother's day. It's one of those days that I just prefer to be by myself. When I started going back to church I would have an issue with this day because the priest would ask all the mother's to stand up so they could be acknowledged. My mother passed away in 2005, a few days before her birthday. Which makes me remember lots of things for several weeks. When I used to travel a lot I used to always make it a point to make it home for my mother's birthday or Mother's Day. The year she passed away, I was on the Big Island of Hawaii. Prior to leaving New Orleans for my trip, my mother was rushed to the hospital and wasnt supposed to live through the night, but that wasn't the case. I had made all the possible arrangements by Louisiana law that I could make. I knew my mother wouldn't have wanted me to cancel my trip. I was confident in my decision and I had instructed the family not to call me if she were to pass while I was away. Of course there is always someone that doesn't listen. The doctors and nurses all had instructions and told me they would take care of everything. Most of what happened when I got back home is a blur. I do remember planning the day in which the services would actually take place. It was the end of May when we finally had the services and buried my mother. It was somewhat of a difficult time as I didn't know what I was going to do. I had been retired at this point for 5 years.
There was still a lot of stuff that needed to be taken care of and I had to get myself focused. I didn't want to be around other people who were able to celebrate their mother's. Now I just have memories of certain things.

5-13-20 I finally contacted Spectrum to order the least expensive offer to access the internet. It'll be a while before the modem arrives, but I shouldn't have to limit my time online. I am not planning to spend a large amount of time online like in the past, but I will be able to conduct business. Get my taxes done, do some research. Get back to writing on all of my blogs and not just this one.
During the Quarantine it's allowed me more time to remember certain things. Memories are all some of us have to get us through. Hopefully there are more good memories than bad. I was thinking about how I got my first computer and internet access.
The year was 1993 and I was had gone to Seattle for the first time to visit and friend and attend the Seattle Internation Film Festival (SIFF).
I had the opportunity to attend one of the parties and met this woman. Before leaving she had given me her business card so that we could stay in touch, but she said she would only do business with me if I had an email address. Shortly after returning to New Orleans I went to Radio Shack and bought my first computer. For a brief moment Prodigy was my email and the quickly discovered AOL and it all changed from there. I never actually did business with the woman that started it all, but we did stay in touch for a while. The internet opened a whole new world. I met new people and I was able to keep in touch with some of the people I had met. I didn't know many people with computers at the time,but that soon changed with AOL's chat rooms and soon the list was growing. I met lots of artists and we were able to share ideas and art.
This weeks films and movies, all have to do with fashion. Ready to Wear ("Pret-A-Porter") the Robert Altman film about fashion week in Paris.The large ensemble casts includes Julia Roberts, Tim Robbins, Sophia Loren, Francois Cluzet, Ute Lemper, Linda Hunt, Tracy Ullman, Sally Kellerman, Stephen Rea, Forest Whitaker, Richard E. Grant, Danny Aiello, Teri Garr, Lyle Lovett, Jean Rochefort, Rupert Evertt, Lauren Bacall, Kim Bassinger, Michel Blanc and Marcello Mastroianni. Featuring Cher, Gianfranco Ferre, Jean Paul Gaultier and many others.
Saint Laurent is about the iconic fashion designer. It jumps around, but for those interested in fashion it's worth a look. Creative liscense is usually taken in biographies to make it more interesting.
Phantom Thread stars Daniel Day Lewis as a designer set in his ways, that secretly hides notes in his designs. He meets a woman that is the perfect mannequin and they start a relationship that becomes some what toxic.

Unzipped is a documentary about Isaac Mizrahi preparing for his collection and how he wanted to try something new. I preferred the documentary over Ready to Wear when I first saw it. Ready to Wear seemed to want to make fun of the fashion industry which when I look back on how things were some things can be funny. I like looking at films and movies many years later to see if I still feel the same way about them as I did the very first time. Unzipped features many celebrities, including Eartha Kitt, Sandra Bernhard and Super models Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Veronica Webb and Christy Turlington.
The September Issue is a documentary about Vogue's staff preparing the biggest issue of the year.
Mahogany starring Diana Ross as a wanna be fashion designer turned model until she finally fulfills her dream. The movie stars Anthony Perkins as a domineering photographer and Billy Dee Williams as a wanna be political activist.

Things didn't workout with me getting the internet through Spectrum. I am not ready to have someone come into my home so the self install needed the cable box to be activated. Just wasn't meant to be. We'll see what happens next.

5-17-20 I went to the grocery this morning. I wasn't as anxious as I had been the last two times. I'm going to try and wait another 14 days before I go to the store again. There were some people not wearing masks. I'm not sure if they just don't care or if they like taking risks or they want someone to tell them something so they can get into a confrontation. I got what I needed and came home. I had thought about going over to ZACH and just park for a change of scenery, but I decided to watch a few episodes of Mannix. I had been watching epic classic movies from my collection on Sunday. A few weeks ago it was Lawrence of Arabia, Easter Sunday it was The Ten Commandments, last Sunday it was Gone With The Wind and today it was Cleopatra. Next Sundady I'm thinking The Bridge on the River Kwai. This coming week will begin Foreign Films including Leolo, Like Water For Chocolate, Cinema Paradiso, House of Angels, To Live, Fanaa and Y Tu Mama' Tambi'en.

Thanks for stopping by; Keep an open mind. Do return to see where the journey leads.

www.dlonzo-OpenYourMind.blogspot.com
www.artbyDlonzo.blogspot.com
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