by Marty Coleman | Aug 8, 2009 | Kenneth Tynan |
I hope you are enjoying a peaceful and joyful weekend. I am offering another vintage napkin today from around 1999 or so. I started drawing them back then but didn’t start to date them consistently until later.
This isn’t a harsh criticism of critics, as a matter of fact it seems to be saying they are pretty good at part of the journey. They just don’t happen to be able to get there by themselves. But it’s nice to have people pointing the way and I think critics have an important place in doing that to some degree.
The creative person should always realize they control the ‘car’ and don’t have to go where the critic tells them to!
Drawing © Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 7, 2009 | Art, Pauline Kael |
First off, a Philistine is what Goliath was in the Old Test. Over the centuries since that little spat the tribe came to represent those who as have no class and no taste or interest in the finer things in life; art, music, dance, books, ideas, etc.
Think how messed up this is. One has a set of tastes. He thinks his tastes are pedestrian and common. He looks up to others who he thinks have better taste. Those are the very people who make fun of his tastes.
So, a few questions:
Aren’t the snobs actually judging the Philistine exactly as he judges himself, as inadequate and ignorant?
What should the Philistine do? Try to acquire the tastes and sensibilities of the snobs or accept himself and his tastes as they are and stop thinking others are superior to him?
What should the snob do? Lower his perceived standard of taste to include the philistine? Change his mind and realize that all tastes and cultures are equal?
What do you think? if you get this via a reader, go to the actual blog and put in your two cents worth!
Drawing © Marty Coleman
“One of the surest signs of the Philistine is his reverence for the superior tastes of those who put him down.” – Pauline Kael, American movie critic
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 6, 2009 | Buckminster Fuller |
Apart from artists it seems scientists and mathematicians are the most in tune to the idea of beauty. You constantly hear them talk about the elegant simplicity and beauty of an equation or a principle. I like that. It proves to me that beauty isn’t something apart from life, it is the essence of life.
Since we have brains that can think about these things we also have the ability to not think about them. Some people never are able to contemplate and enjoy beauty on a large or small scale with any consistency. Most of those people seem to end up being pretty sad and angry it seems to me.
Beauty is a salvation.
Drawing © Marty Coleman
“When I’m working on a problem, I never think about beauty. But if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.” – R. Buckminster Fuller, 1895, 1983, American author, inventor, architect, visionary, futurist.
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 5, 2009 | Henry J. Kaiser |
It is good not to interrupt but it is smart to have a good translator handy in case your boss doesn’t understand the language your work is speaking!
……………………………………
Don’t forget to pass the napkins along if you find them of interest!
Drawing © Marty Coleman
“When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.” – Henry J. Kaiser, 1882-1967, American Industrialist
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 4, 2009 | Fame, John Churton Collins |
This quote is SO TRUE!
Think of all the things people are paranoid about that have a truly miniscule risk. maybe it is elevators, or boats or sidewalks or spiders or a million other things. Is it really likely you will be hurt by any of those? No.
But think about your desires; drink, sex, gambling, money, fame…Man, those things can kill you!
Drawing © Marty Coleman
“There is often less danger in the things we fear than in the things we desire.” – John Churton Collins, 1848-1908, English Literary Critic
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 3, 2009 | Christian Morgenstern |
I am home now, after a 10 day trip to California to tend to my father, who broke his hip.
Coming home always reminds me not just of the joy of being home right now, but of the many homes I have had over the years; at work, at play, among family, friends, cottages, cabins, apartments, restaurants, and beaches.
What do they all have in common? That I felt great joy in being there among people who knew me, understood me, and loved me, and I them.
That is where home can always be, no matter where you live.
Drawing © Marty Coleman
“Home is not where you live but where they understand you.” – Christian Morgenstern, German author/poet, 1871-1914
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 2, 2009 | Martin Buber |
What you expect to see and learn vs. what you really end up seeing and learning is usually different when you go on a journey. As a matter of fact if you know everything that will happen and everything you will experience in advance, what’s the point of going, right?
When my daughters and I went to Europe a few years back, the coolest experiences were ALL things we had no idea were going to happen. They included the Monaco Grand Prix, a bull fight in a roman empire arena in the south of France, a poetry reading in Italian at the Guggenheim piazza in Venice, going to see one of the matrix movies in Germany (in german) and surfers on a river in the middle of Munich. The fun and joy and excitement of coming across those things made the vacation worth while, all by themselves!
Allow for wonder and the unexpected, it’s fun.
Drawing © Marty Coleman
“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” – Martin Buber
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 1, 2009 | Andrew Jackson, Mary Little |
No more series for a while. Just a relaxing, funny quote and drawing for you to consider.
I know there are many who don’t like having anything hanging over them and can’t relax as long as that is there. But there are others who allow that things will get done, and some things won’t and it’s ok. They are the ones who can relax and enjoy life in spite of having things to do and people to see.I am in that category. What category are you in?
Drawing © Marty Coleman
“There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it!” – Andrew Jackson
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by Marty Coleman | Jul 30, 2009 | Aging - 2009, Pearl S. Buck |
Ok, one final drawing for ‘Aging week’. Next I think I will do completely random stuff that comes out of nowhere.
My feelings about aging all seem to revolve around not doing it. I don’t mean physically aging, and I don’t mean growing in wisdom. I mean becoming old in attitude.
The attitude that so often sees things ‘as they had been’ as being the best it will ever be. ‘Back when I was a kid’ or ‘When we were raised’ are clichés that are covers for not being willing or able to see new ideas and new ways of doing things.
The resistance to the new can start early, just think about how the best music ever probably was the music that came out when you were in high school and college. After that it all went down hill. Did it really? Didn’t you simply get use to certain musical ideas and then closed yourself off to new ones?
When Igor Stravinsky debut of the ‘Rite of Spring’ the audience became enraged and revolted against it. Why? Because it was an idea so new that it actually caused them pain. That of course changed over time, until now that same music is seen as almost safe and boring. It took time, but people have accepted it, it’s not new, it is not painful.
What I try to do is withhold judgment of the new until I can get use to the idea, start to understand its value. It is one way I work to not be ‘old’.
Drawing © Marty Coleman
“You can judge your age by the amount of pain you feel when you come in contact with a new idea.” – Pearl S. Buck, Author
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by Marty Coleman | Jul 30, 2009 | Aging - 2009, Henry David Thoreau |
Day 4 of aging week! I missed yesterday, just a bit too busy between visiting my dad in the hospital and taking some time off. Sorry about that.
Having dealt with my elderly father all week, trying to get him up and moving after a hip break, I have seen once again how important motivation and enthusiasm is to recovery. In his case we are helping him remember his friends back at his assisted living home (his girlfriends at his dining table in particular)!
But enthusiasm is more than motivation. It is about interest, curiosity, feeling like you have something to reach for, something you want to know about. In my father’s case he has started to think he might want to live to 100. It’s a goal, it’s something to think about and imagine.
We are encouraging that by saying we are expecting another party (we have one every 10 years for his big birthdays) so we expect him to live to 100. He might not make it, we understand it, and he understands it. But we have hope, and we have enthusiasm and we impart that to him as best we can. That is the key, not just to have it in yourself, but to figure out ways to impart it to others.
Drawing © Marty Coleman
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I hope you are enjoying a peaceful and joyful weekend. I am offering another vintage napkin today from around 1999 or so. I started drawing them back then but didn’t start to date them consistently until later.
