We enjoyed the five minutes or so of sun we got this a.m. It was very nice.
We have a lot of bananas now. These are in the backyard.
And these in the front yard. Wish I had the tools to sharpen this image, but it's a rare shot of a gold-dust gecko. Might help to clean the lens, too.
I spent an hour or so on an Annie Lennox nostalgia trip, brought on by this piece in The Awl. Her videos really have held their value. They still mean exactly what they meant when they were made. They are so glamorous and yet transgressive, in a good way. Little girls do like to dress up and carry on and play act. Is that so wrong? Lennox is such a great artist, and the productions have never been surpassed. Just: wow. It's hard to choose, but I think this is my favorite:
I was reminded of a friend (a guy) who thought Cindi Lauper's video, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun was terrible, because it encouraged girls to be trivial. I snarled in retort, "Yes, girls just want to plow the south forty." How about we do what we want?
Sigh. I always wanted to be glamorous. I am about as glamorous as an old shoe. And for anyone who wants to get into this a little more by looking at the article: I did not like the Bowie video. The music was awful, for starters, and this crap about how miserable it is to get old is really their problem, not mine. I guess it would be pretty bad for them, with all those images of their young, hot selves floating around mocking them.
I have no focus today.
You need some magic today, some FOCUS POCUS.
Posted by: Henry Hank Chapin | February 27, 2013 at 12:20 PM
It's funny how we see ourselves versus how others see us. I haven't seen many photos of you but you have an interesting face, strong and very earth mother which to me is beautiful. As for what glamor is, who knows. It doesn't look to me as though you lead a life where spending a lot of time trying to be glamorous is on your agenda. As a sculptor, give me an interesting looking face any day which might also be beautiful but often isn't the kind of beauty we are told is. A lot of what I am told is beautiful by the media just looks boring. Truly unique looking people have to have surgery to fit into some mold of beauty coming from this culture.
Still I understand how you feel. I've been feeling particularly unattractive lately myself. I wonder if it's the weather ;).
Posted by: Rain Trueax | February 27, 2013 at 12:56 PM
Hattie, Good post. Sometimes I think some women that are my age, 70s, are brain washed on aging. They are quick to adopt all the cliches about women and aging. They view aging as all exterior no soul. I get rather tired of it. I wish they could shed this pinning away about growing old and just live passionately. That is my soap box for today. -- barbara
Posted by: barbara | February 27, 2013 at 06:10 PM
I like to think that we are as beautiful as we feel, but the mirror often proves it's wistful thinking. Still, when I'm with someone, it's the smile that makes me think how attractive they are.
Gorgeous bananas! Apple bananas? You're going to have a lot to share with your neighbors. I wish we lived next to you.
Posted by: Musings | February 27, 2013 at 10:30 PM
Funny, but I really was thinking about glamor, in the old Hollywood sense. It's an illusion. It really isn't about looks. I was looking at an old clip of Gloria Swanson, who was the epitome of glamor. It's a protest against drab everydayness. It's artificial. This is weird. She was on the Dick Cavett show with Janis Joplin! The things I find on You Tube! I'll post it tomorrow, maybe.
Posted by: Hattie | February 27, 2013 at 11:10 PM
To me, Gloria Swanson was the epitome of drag queen ;) There are a couple of good films out on drag queens and I always love them but that's not glamor to me. I think of glamor as sexy, exciting, and emphasizing right to the epitome of all that is female. Drag queens take it a step beyond that. I am trying to think of a Hollywood star that epitomizes glamor to me but can't come up with one. If I do, I'll be back with the name... Don't wait up ;)
Posted by: Rain Trueax | February 28, 2013 at 05:42 AM
I've got it and it was easier than I thought-- Michelle Obama is glamorous as I see the word glamor.
Posted by: Rain Trueax | February 28, 2013 at 07:32 AM
Rain: Perhaps Jackie Onassis, too? But I think glamor is a campy notion in itself. It's dress up and play-acting. If driven too far, it becomes kitsch. Maybe we need another word? Ahh. How about elegance?
Elegance is not reachable for me, although I can, upon occasion, come off as distinguished for as much as five minutes at a time.
Posted by: Hattie | February 28, 2013 at 12:00 PM
funny and yes, Jackie as well as Diana. I don't do glamor either as it takes too much time and doesn't actually flatter me. My features are too strong to use a lot of makeup and wearing jewelry is too much work. I am more the 'pagan' type ;)
Posted by: Rain Trueax | February 28, 2013 at 12:22 PM
Interesting views of what constitutes glamor and elegance -- truly is in the eye of the beholder. I was never impressed with Jackie Kennedy Onassis nor did I admire her. Maybe it's partially a generational thing and her so-called strong emotional demeanor seemed relatively easy to understand given what she was putting up with. Oh well....
Posted by: ui | March 01, 2013 at 12:55 AM
ui: Jackie Kennedy suffered a lot of the typical tragedies of a woman's life, even before her husband was assassinated. Since we are all human, I think whatever happiness she managed to have in her life was a good thing. Did you read the piece about her sister, Lee Radziwell? What a piece of work she is!
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/the-real-lee-radziwill/
She says that when Kennedy was killed she cried and cried and never cried again. She got cried out. That can happen.
Posted by: Hattie | March 01, 2013 at 12:36 PM