Take Care of Yourself

I received an email telling me it was over.

I didn't know how to respond.

It was almost as if it hadn't been meant for me.

It ended with the words, "Take care of yourself."

And so I did.

I asked 107 women (including two made from wood and one with feathers),

chosen for their profession or skills, to interpret this letter.

To analyze it, comment on it, dance it, sing it.

Dissect it. Exhaust it. Understand it for me.

Answer for me.

It was a way of taking the time to break up.

A way of taking care of myself.

In 2007, Sophie Calle did what all of us have always wanted to do but didn't have the talent or social clout to pull-off. She asked all the women she knew--or at least 107 of them--to interpret why he was just not that into her. Sure we run over the details of break-ups with our close friends, but we quickly become conscious of the fact that even our best friends grow sick of hearing about it. But when Sophie Calle was broken-up with, she wanted answers. And not from him, but from them: other women. She displayed the replies--a mixture including installations, poems, an operetta, and a copy-edited version of the email--on the French Pavilion of the 2007 Venice Biennale. We missed her show in NYC this past summer, but maybe if we're really lucky we can catch it in Brazil.

See more information on her show at the Paula Cooper Gallery in NYC here.

Kind of in Love

With Laura Gibson.

Who is with me?

yes, yes please

For one human being to love another: that is the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the work for which all other work is but preparation.

-Rainer Maria Rilke

It's About the Leaf

This morning my parents and I drove out to Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, enjoyed a late brunch at Hank's Place, and then headed across the street to the Brandywine River Museum, one of my favorite places to go as a kid right up there with nearby Longwood Gardens. The museum is built right on Brandywine River not far from the battlefields of the same name and I swear each time I have gone--including today--the weather has been chilly and drizzly. Perfect museum weather, if you ask me.

We lucked out on the temporary exhibits because they happened to be showing off some beautiful original illustrations from Caldecott Medal winners, including Maurice Sendak illustrations from Where the Wild Things Are, Barbara Cooney illustrations from The Ox-Cart Man (and I have to add that my favorite of hers is Miss Rumphius), and John Schoenherr illustrations from Owl Moon. The main attraction at this gallery, though, is the collection of N.C. Wyeth & Andrew Wyeth artwork. N.C. is probably best known for his illustrations of classics like Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island,

which I think are gorgeous, and I'm pretty sure Andrew's most recognizable piece is "Christina's World."

I'm especially impressed by Andrew Wyeth's tempera paintings, which each took four to six months of layering and layering and layering paint to create incredibly precise, realistic landscapes and still lifes, which I know because we also lucked out on the 2pm tour of the Andrew Wyeth gallery guided by his granddaughter, Victoria Wyeth. Let me tell you, Victoria is intense. She's a bit of a firecracker and full of great stories about her family and Andrew Wyeth's work. For example, she told us that Andrew's wife titled and framed all of his paintings throughout his career, which I thought was really interesting. Also, when Andrew went to Victoria's college graduation, he showed up in black lycra spandex shorts, a black turtleneck sweater, and a light blue, puffy L.L. Bean lady's winter coat. Also, Andrew insisted on painting simple stuff, taking as his subjects his friends and neighbors and his neighborhood's rolling hills and dilapidated barns and expansive fields--he wanted to paint only what he knew and loved most. Another thing I love that Victoria told us: Andrew never used black paint. He always used colors, layers and layers of colors to create the black on his canvases. And another: He loved fall and winter, finding inspiration and fullness in what other people found barren and lifeless: overcast skies, muddy roads, fields of snow.

I think one of my favorites was this piece from the Helga series:

Andrew spent many years studying Helga and produced some really wonderful images of her. Andrew once told Victoria who told us today that this painting isn't so much about Helga as it is about the leaf floating in through the window, which may or may not be true but it's a lovely idea, I think.

I wish I could bring all of you here and show you around places like this museum and Longwood Gardens and Valley Forge. I'm reminded each time I come home of how much history and beauty there is in this area. I just love it.

I Am Not a Robot

Courtesy of a new acquaintance of mine, who shared this song with my friend Adam and I along our eight-hour drive from Athens to Philly this morning. Thanks, Louise!

Appalachia Waltz

I have been in the Appalachian mountains before, in Pennsylvania as a teenager and in Virginia as an adult, but only as a visitor--camping on them, hiking over them, or driving through them. Tonight I am grateful to be living among these hills, even if only for a short while, which is why I am listening to Mark O'Connor's "Appalachia Waltz" over and over and over...

OMG Edible Crayons

Using a variety of natural ingredients including crushed nuts, seeds, dried fruit, melted marshmallows, AND fruity pebbles (for sweetness instead of sugar), Luxirare made these edible crayons that read and look quite delicious. Be sure to check out the website for fantastic photos of the entire process.

gorgeous

i found this courtesy of a lovely friend's blog. it makes me feel like everything is possible. such, such beautiful things happening

4 times in a row and counting

I can't imagine a time when this song will get old. And it just feels so good to listen on repeat right now.



I remember a conversation I had with AS about Raymond Carver's short story "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love." Her professor had her take that title and write an original poem. And now I think about it when people use: love.

I think I mean: dependance and commitment. But all the time I am delighted to find that it means other things too. Like acceptance and warmth and fuzzy cheeks. Or shiny. Or surprise. Tonight it meant: longer than expected.

A sixty-nine year old love letter

My grandma promised to send me one of the letters and today it came. The pages are thin, the folds pronounced, it is typed out with penned in corrections of his English.

“How can I ever doubt your esteemed character when I have spent five days and six evenings in your company…I like to recollect all my memories. But you I shall always see in my mind that way as I first met you when I was introduced to you by the Senator whose name I cannot remember. If you could only know how beautiful you looked that night when you appeared at the dance and you so tall in the dress which fell to the toes and made you look so lady like. So there you see I remember you. Perhaps you think I am saying this as an excuse for my lateness in answering your letter but do believe me I would have the same to say if I had answered immediately.”

This part is handwritten in a green pen: “I am writing a long letter because I wish to write to you always. You are truly to me very dear. Every moment of that thought gives me great pleasure. Your remembrance has been a great reward for that trip. Speaking in English I shall save everything for you… yes just for you.”

The letter is dated December 26, 1940 and Yugoslavia was on the brink of being taken over by the Axis powers. “Can you forgive my tardiness? Believe me I was away where it was impossible to write as I was on duty as you know todays situation in the world…We are preparing to celebrate our great day the birth of Christ a moment when we Yugoslavs realize peace and a future in the wings of our home. We are at peace now when from all sides blood is being spilled of young and good sons of different lands.”

I tried googling his name but got absolutely no responses, not a single thing even appeared. I can’t help but conjure in my mind the possibilities of who this man is – endless elaborate concoctions, piecing together the bits I know, weaving through them varying negative or positive contemplations. Whatever his intentions, for whatever reason the letters stopped coming, whoever he was, he was a man who closes tender letters by saying “Always I am to you.”

Do I post this and share? Or is it too sacred perhaps? Did she really love him or is this letter really nothing? She was about to destroy the letters, worried that people would gossip about the romance, but my grandma had protested and kept one of the letters all these years. Thelma was an avid traveler, going to every continent, and she did make it to Yugoslavia at one point, it was actually her last international trip, two weeks in Dubrovnik in 1982. Had he faded from her memory years before that, or did glimpses of him and that voyage still appear on lonely nights?

BABIES!!

The credit for sharing this gem goes to Shark Gillins. Check it out!!

For Amy...

In honor of Amy's engagement I have a different kind of transpacific proposal...

Much has been written, composed, sand, performed, painted, etc about the ol' idea of "Love" - may I suggest now a time to share with Amy and the rest of us our favorites of all variety on the matter...

for amy!

so when composer schumann asked dear clara for her hand in marriage back in 1837, she wrote in response...

‘you require but a simple yes? such a small word – but such an important one. but should not a heart so full of unutterable love as mine utter this little word with all its might? i do so and my innermost soul whispers always to you.’

oh how beautiful! it popped into my mind when i heard the blessed news of amy + warren = eternity. congrats dearest amy! i'm so so happy for you two! a grand huzzah for the small word "yes" and all that it embodies as the starting-point of a full life together :)

a few lovelies for all you lovelies

last night was a beautifully calming show in williamsburg of keren ann and claire + the reasons.

(embedding is broken! but go to the links for loveliness! the video links on "ann" and "claire + the reasons" are wondrous)

and do you all know about habit? if not, please acquaint yourself now.

Tragic European Secret

*sorry i haven't posted anything in a long time, but here is something that changed my world today

For as long as I can remember my Great Aunt Thelma has been a huge factor in my life, both during the few shorts years I knew her and after her death. The main descriptions people give of her are driven and compassionate. She never married and spent her whole life striving to serve others as well as reach her utmost potential. You have likely heard me speak of her before.

Today I interviewed my Grandma, Thelma's only surviving sibling. I asked many questions, including this one I have always been afraid to ask,"did she have any romance in her life?"
"Why, yes!" my grandma said and her face lit up, waiting to tell me the dramatic story.

In 1939, at the age of 35, she left for her first trip to Europe for an international meeting of women. Her voyage to Europe was on the luxury ship the 'Queen Mary', and it was filled with movies stars, senators, and other elites of the world. On the boat she met a man from Yugoslavia who had been in Washington DC for some uncertain, but high-profile meetings. Thelma and the man fell in love, and he said he would find her once this ever present war ended. She received two letters from him, professing his love and asking about the possibility of marriage. After the 2 letters, she never heard from him again. (My grandma said she has one of the letters and will give to me).

In 1944, Thelma went back to Europe abroad the 'Queen Mary' again, but this time it was a troop ship and she was to spend the rest of the war working for the American Red Cross in Liverpool. She then spent 2 more years helping rebuild the continent. During that time she was invited to Buckingham Palace and met the King, Queen, and future Queen, drove a jeep alone all night to see the Nuremburg trials, and did much tiring work in Paris, Munich, and elsewhere.

- The 'Queen Mary' 1939.

Captain Von Trapp....sigh...

perfect

Edelweiss - Sound of Music - Christopher Plummer's own voice from Mark on Vimeo.