What My Eyes See

[wlotus]

I have been reading the NY Times. (T bought a weekend subscription.) What started out as a delightful intellectual exercise eventually devolved into disgust over protests against a mosque near the site of the World Trade Center (blaming all Muslims for the attack on NYC is as ridiculous as blaming all men of betraying their marriage vows a la Tiger Woods) and angry disbelief over multi-million dollar apartment prices in the city (push us average people right on out of here, why don't you). I wish Chelsea Clinton well, but the fuss over her wedding is pushing my buttons, too. (No reflection on her in the least, especially since I am a big fan of her parents. I just have issues with fairy tales of that sort coming true for others.) Time for me to retreat into a book.

Comments

[grandwoobah.livejournal.com]

I heart Frida!

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

As a budding, mostly self-taught artist myself, I am growing to love her more and more. I became fascinated with her after seeing "Frida"--I don't remember how I originally found out about the movie--and my cousin bought me this book as a birthday gift, I believe. I also own a copy of her diary, which I found in Strands one day; I snatched it up as though I had just found a gold brick and bought it without any thought.

[mallorys-camera.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of the Clintons too. Hillary didn't have much of a wedding way back then -- so I figured this was her wedding too in a way. It was hard for me to begrudge her.

The mosque protests... Dunno. I can see both sides there. Would Saudi Arabia support a Congregational Church being built in front of the Kaaba? Of course not. I guess the thing to remember is that America has always been about setting a higher standard of freedom -- but given the current economic crisis, under-reported so far as I can see: where i am, people are really, really struggling -- it's hard to remember to be magnanimous.

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

I can see both sides of the mosque issue, too. What I canNOT see is the attitude, "Because I am hurt, I will use legal means to hinder someone else's freedom." While we are all entitled to our feelings, whatever they will be, we are not entitled to remaking the world to suit our feelings, especially when doing so means cramping someone else's life and liberty.

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

The book was part of the promotion for the movie, I believe; it has the movie information on the back cover. I would have preferred a photo or self-portrait of Frida, though that photo impresses me with how well Selma Hyack embodied her.

[openscarf.livejournal.com]

The news of the day and hour makes me ill, but I still read it. I wonder if it's because I'm looking for the good news? And I don't mean tiny fluff news stories. It seems to me there's tons of good things happening on the community level by so many organizations and groups having to continually adapt to diminishing budgets (education and youth agencies) while the 'news' is about city and national government and their lack of ethics, responsibility, screw-ups. At least you have the style and book sections!

I love Frida! I read the book before I saw the movie and was blown away by both. When you're done and if you're still in the Frida mood, you may want to read The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. (http://www.harpercollins.com/books/The-Lacuna-Barbara-Kingsolver/?isbn=9780060852573) It's historical fiction, and a great read!

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

"The Lacuna" sounds fascinating! Thank you for the referral. I've put it on my To Read list on Goodreads.