Monday’s Watch, Listen, Read

An ongoing series where I share what I’m watching, listening to, and reading. Here are this Monday’s picks:

Watch

As someone who loves to take pictures, and is a big fan of street photography, this story really touched me. It’s nothing short of amazing and is absolutely inspiring.

Listen

It felt appropriate to introduce this week’s Read pick with a song by the author. Especially this song.

Read

I must confess, it took me a while to get into the rhythm of this book. There’s something different about reading poets who turn to novel/non-fiction writing. Their language is laden with a beautiful density. It’s like the breath of their sentences is deeper than that of book writers because they typically have so much less space to work with. Their words are more carefully chosen and layered with meaning. Novelists have that, too, but not in the same capacity as poets. Patti Smith is a poet. Once I let her voice take over, I dove into the depths of words and language. “Just Kids” is about art, sacrifice, and most importantly, love. There were moments where I entirely identified with Smith’s thoughts, feelings and actions. Other moments, the more brutal ones, made me think about art and its place in my life: How much would I be willing to sacrifice for my passion? It also brought to mind this Carl Jung quote:

“The artist’s life cannot be otherwise than full of conflicts, for two forces are at war within him—on the one hand, the common longing for happiness, satisfaction and security in life, and on the other a ruthless passion for creation which may go so far as to override every personal desire. There are hardly any exceptions to the rule that a person must pay dearly for the divine gift of creative fire.”

There’s a ruthless passion in both Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe, but I wondered if Smith ever wanted or needed the force of security. She makes clear Robert Mapplethorpe wanted it, but, during the time period the book covers, I wasn’t so sure about her. They sacrificed themselves physically, mentally and emotionally for the “divine gift of creative fire” and, through their sacrifice, changed the world(s) of art/music/photography/poetry — all of this while they were still just kids.

P.S. It always excites me to read books that take place literally outside my front stoop. There’s inspiration in stepping in the invisible footprints of the world’s great adventurers. While reading this book, there were a few times I stopped, walked out my door and over to the Hotel Chelsea just to read about that very building while standing in the lobby. I drank sangria in El Quijote while Smith’s words took me back to what it was like there in the 1969/1970. New York is a place full of ghosts and magic. Luckily, there are poets like Patti Smith who lead the exploration and became cartographers to the generations of young New York artists who will follow their paths.

Monday’s Watch, Listen, Read

Watch

So you want to write a novel …

This video encapsulates it all.

Favorite quote: ‎”It’s Science-Fiction crossed with Chick-Lit, crossed with Literary Fiction.”

Maybe I need to stop going to book parties …

Listen

I know what you’re thinking. This song is incredibly random. It’s coming at you from summer 2007. I remember laying  with my sister on narrow beds in a old world hotel in Rome, watching this video. It was 107 degrees outside. If we sat still, we could feel the central air-conditioning blowing into our room through a tiny little vent. Apart from BBC, the only channel we somewhat understood was MTV Italy. They played this song on a continuous loop. (Guys, remember when American MTV played music videos? Like, when it was the reason the station was created?) My sister loved the fact Italian MTV played back-to-back music videos. It was a novelty compared to the Real World, MTV reality show network she was used to. I was amused by the fact an Italian pop star recorded this song in Spanish and it was a hit in Italy, but not in Spain. After our afternoon of MTV-watching, we started hearing this song everywhere; while walking in the Trastevere, waiting on a two-hour long line for the Vatican tour, on the train to Florence, and in the airport as we boarded a plane (along with a shackled prisoner) to Sicily.

When we returned to the states, Alexandra and I would catch each other humming this song for months after our trip, a sheepish smile crossing our faces when we called the other out on it. This song was a musical souvenir that bonded us in a land where we could only communicate with each other, where words ended in vowels, MTV played music videos, and everyone hummed along.

Read

I’m starting Steve Martin’s latest book this week. I attended a reading and Q&A he did at Barnes & Noble (Union Square) University last week and it blew me away. His prose writing achieves greater heights with each book he writes. Even if he wasn’t Steve Martin (genius and master of pretty much every medium he chooses) I would still be in awe of writing and exquisite sentence structure. An Object of Beauty takes place in the New York art world of the 1990s through to today. I can’t wait to get lost in the word canvas Martin paints in this book.

P.S. If, like me, you’re on the Twitter, you should be participating in #FridayReads

Monday’s Watch, Listen, Read

Watch/Listen

Let’s talk for a moment about Seth Rudetsky. Seth is like that musical theater guy you knew in high school. and college. and post-college. But there’s more to Seth than just his (INSANE amount of) musical theater knowledge. There’s his (INSANE amount of) music knowledge, too. If there’s one thing I miss about all the vocal coaching and music classes I was entrenched in growing up, it’s the people like Seth who made me excited to understand technique and sing correctly. Because, when you get it for the first time — when your mind and body finally connects and creates that beautiful sound the way it was meant to be heard — it’s an exciting moment. Seth’s fancy deconstruction videos allow me to relive everything I learned and look at it from a fresh (and pressure-free) perspective. Even though I don’t sing apart from Karaoke nights anymore, watching his videos remind me of those connections. The elation, the enthusiasm, and the sheer joy. Simply A-MAH-zing.

I chose this particular video for Monday’s Watch/Listen pick because it features one of my favorite performers/people, Christine Ebersole, and it’s a deconstruction of one of my favorite musicals (and documentary!), Grey Gardens.

P.S. Christine has a new CD out, Christine Ebersole sings Noel Coward. It’s a gorgeous pairing of two extraordinarily talented human beings.

 

Read

Maira Kalman’s work is my hot cocoa. It’s sweet, strong, rich, reminds me of childhood, warms my body & soul, and keeps my imagination stimulated, like the perfect combination of caffeine and sugar.

Maira’s latest work, And the Pursuit of Happiness, is based on her blog for the New York Times, where she spent a year traveling the United States chronicling (through paintings, sketches, photography, writing, and some embroidery) what democracy means to people in government, in history, and with ordinary citizens, in their in daily lives. It’s a beautiful and inspiring look  at humanity and how we individuals choose to pursue our own happiness in the land of liberty.