“the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes, aww!” — Jack Kerouac
Bonjour Tristesse
Another Jean Seberg moment. Moving backwards in time: from 1960 to 1958; from Breathless to Bonjour Tristesse; from black-and-white Paris to a startling Technicolor Riviera; from Jean-Luc Godard to Otto Preminger. The jumps are wild, and yet Seberg, as Cécile, remains the gamine, this time guileful and in Givenchy.
Feufollet - the storytelling in the music
Feufollet - the sweetest Acadian band around - has an album out that moves into new territory while keeping to traditional standards. The songs of En Couleurs have an old feel to them, with moments that are lovely and new. After listening over and over to the album, it becomes clear that the arrangements move through old patterns, in turn evoking new ones. The instruments - fiddle, guitar, accordion, bass, drum, glockenspiel, omnichord - and the voices blend in a way that reveals the deep allegiance to Louisiana and all things French Acadian. The foundation and tradition of Cajun songwriting and performing is revealed and then opens up into dimensions that are quirky, beautiful, somehow sad and imperfect. But what seems imperfection is in essence a new kind of truth. The old crosscut with the contemporary results in a new kind of Cajun music, chansons colored with reeling, playful attitudes.
And here, inside of these songs, is the kind of storytelling that you can dance to. Sad narratives set to lively music, surreal and longing tales surrounded by the haunting sounds of fiddle and lead singer Edmiston's layered, ever-changing vocal chords. To understand the stories, you don't necessarily have to know French, though that certainly makes the experience all the sweeter.
Merci, merci! A beautiful album by a group of talented, inspired musicians!
Anna Laura Edmiston - lead singer, guitar
Chris Stafford - vocalist, fiddle
Chris Segura - fiddle
Philippe Billeaudeaux - bass
Michael Stafford - drums
Andrew Toups - keyboard
What I've Been Meaning to Say
There's so much I've been meaning to write, say, sing, dance that I've become overwhelmed and haven't written anything. Instead of veering away once again, I'll forgive myself and report less eloquently than I'd wished and simply list what I've been meaning to write, say, sing. Dancing will just have to stay in the kitchen, where it belongs.
- Perigee Moon 2012 - afternoon shadows at midnight
- Kennedy Space Center - a kid's dream realized 40 years later
- Falcon 9 Rocket - how space exploration has evolved
- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - "the Sixth Borough"
- Holding one's tongue - think of how thoughtful that is
- How amazing silence can be - proverbial pin dropping
- Not holding one's tongue - dangerous
- How some words are louder than others - fireflies vs. fireworks
- Drinking Blanton's bourbon - sipping, really
- Baseball! - the boy's final high school season
- The beach - fishermen at 6 am, sharing bait with a wounded heron
- Reading hundreds of manuscripts - exaggerating
- Longing to read the story collections and novels on my shelves, and then reading more manuscripts - not exaggerating - Megan Mayhew Bergman, Caitlin Horrocks, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Lori Ostlund, Myfanwy Collins, Claire Keegan, Nell Freudenberger, and Shannon Cain are just some of the authors whose books are waiting
- Spending far too much time on unimportant things - Facebook
- Proofing galleys - and compromising on edits
- Discovering "En Couleurs" - les chansons de Feufollet!
- Writing, not writing enough - the novel
- Thinking too much - the novel
- Submitting stories - not the novel
- Coming up with a plan - at the end of each day for the next
- Heading into days of graduations and goodbyes - how to cry while laughing
- Summertime - the weather and the song
And that list is long enough.
Virginia Woolf, Inspiration, & AROHO's Orlando Prize for Short Fiction
A Room of Her Own (AROHO), a foundation taking its name from Virginia Woolf's credo that women must find the space, means, and solace in order to create, holds a writing competition for women poets, essayists, and short story writers each spring and fall. That Virginia Woolf, a writer who has always inspired me, and a foundation for women writers and artists have come together in such a perfect and telling way is extraordinary. This spring I've had the honor of receiving AROHO's Orlando Prize in Short Fiction for the story, "The Geography of First Kisses." I'm in awe of this award and all it promises, and in receiving it, I'm further bolstered to keep writing and reading and being a part of the literary world.
The Orlando Prize Winners will be published in the Los Angeles Review, Issue 12, in Fall 2012. Thereafter, the winning pieces will be posted on AROHO's website.
"AROHO is a transformational collective that changes the lives of creative women by honoring our artistic excellence and moving us out of isolation to a rich and whole community."
http://aroomofherownfoundation.org/the-geography-of-first-kisses-by-karin-davidson/