tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-98879382009-11-09T08:17:14.570-05:00Notes from an adventurous life at the forward edge of pop culture<br> and the backward edge of style<p> <b>Think! Beautiful.</b>Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.comBlogger278125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-85299670037439806792009-11-09T07:30:00.003-05:002009-11-09T08:17:14.586-05:00

Saturday night I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Madison Square Garden, a spectacular show as always, made even better with the inclusion of The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle played all the way through for the first time. That 1973 album, which he introduced by referring to his “romantic ideas about New York,” is sonically rich, requiring the addition of a horn and

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/11/those-romantic-young-boys.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-9694460170683889402009-10-28T06:29:00.005-04:002009-10-28T06:38:23.881-04:00

I'm only sorry it took me so long to think of this. Go Yankees!

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com1http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/10/so-its-root-root-root-for-home-team.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-49547962104453760042009-10-16T07:46:00.005-04:002009-10-17T09:34:41.483-04:00

Continuing the theme of my last post: I want to say that I categorically hate the term "cougar" as applied to women over 35. For one thing, it implies that women interested in younger men must of necessity pursue them aggressively. I have not found that to be the case; in fact, the charmer 17 years my junior whose company I enjoyed for quite a while chased me. That was my biggest age gap in

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com1http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/10/other-c-word.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-23378750636902529642009-10-12T11:37:00.004-04:002009-10-12T11:59:43.996-04:00

Scene: A packed, invitation-only hip-hop event in Manhattan, with many boldface names both on the stage and off it.Dramatis personae:An affable, inebriated twenty-something, surrounded by his posseMe, wearing a sleeveless, curve-hugging stretch-wool Dolce & Gabbana dress, vintage Peter Fox suede heels and very red lipstickHe (slurring): Heeey, can I ask you something?Me: Sure.He: Well... I mean,

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com1http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/10/mad-bad-and-dangerous-to-know.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-11681260033049151102009-10-01T22:09:00.007-04:002009-10-02T07:12:08.408-04:00

I greatly admire Roman Polanski's films, but I had largely forgotten the details of the 1977 charges brought against him that caused him to flee the U.S. Now, just thinking about him is starting to nauseate me, for most of the same reasons that I shed no tears for Michael Jackson and can no longer listen to his music without revulsion.I am no prude, nor would I have been nominated for sainthood

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/10/fathers-be-good-to-your-daughters.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-27094782687087555132009-09-28T22:48:00.003-04:002009-09-28T23:25:51.468-04:00

As a confirmed romantic, and a fan and occasional author of poetry (and not just haiku), I strongly recommend that you get yourself to a movie theater soon to see Bright Star, about the romance between John Keats and Fanny Brawne. The film is a stunningly beautiful exercise in alchemy, demonstrating clearly how love becomes poetry and vice versa.I have been thinking about the Romantics a lot

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/09/thing-of-beauty-is-joy-for-ever.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-73041181265245806412009-08-30T11:16:00.002-04:002009-08-30T11:58:52.668-04:00

I'm currently:a) having a conversation with myself about what this blog is for (join me, won't you?); andb) too pressed for time to post much, as I do tend toward the prolix (though not on Twitter, where it's 5/7/5 haiku 24/7).But when I see something this charming, given my interests in burlesque, Bettie Page and Nuggets-era music, I have to share it. (If you could theoretically watch a Katy

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/08/i-cant-seem-to-make-you-mine.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-74436799050882206562009-08-10T22:58:00.011-04:002009-08-11T01:52:22.990-04:00

Amidst all the passings-on of the past month, there's a small one that should not go unmentioned: the 20-gig iPod I'd had since early 2004.That little white brick with "La beauté sera CONVULSIVE ou ne sera plus" (from Nadja) inscribed on its back was my soundtrack, my road-trip companion and my record collection. Eventually it also became my stereo and alarm clock, and I think that's what killed

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/08/seeing-world-in-grain-of-sand-theres.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-27132843365226381502009-07-29T22:38:00.008-04:002009-08-02T22:06:00.433-04:00

If you've been wondering where I've been - it's been more than three weeks! - wonder no more. I have been working, seemingly endlessly, since I returned from vacation. And when not slaving away over a hot keyboard, I've been traveling, and not entirely for fun.I mentioned last month that the mothers of two of my best friends were not doing well. Both have now passed on, and live in their

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/07/every-day-is-winding-road.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-5844819036227197272009-07-07T08:40:00.005-04:002009-07-07T08:53:28.042-04:00

I just returned from nine days in Nicaragua, where I learned many things. Here are a few:1. It is possible, in the 21st century, to live somewhere that looks like this, the Granada home of San Francisco friends of surpassing good taste and generosity:(I do recognize that it is not possible to live like this without the centuries-long labors of those who cannot. In the Americas, Nicaragua is

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/07/what-i-did-on-my-summer-vacation.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-44450454278492806312009-06-20T14:37:00.014-04:002009-06-23T06:22:44.053-04:00

I just noticed that I have not posted in two weeks. My apologies to those of you who read this regularly; it has been quite a tumultuous time, with many ups and a few downs and a lot of living to do before, during and after same.Last Sunday was an 'up' day. I started it with a trip to the new High Line, which is landscaped with an unerring regard for both the "natural" and the manmade (a couple

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com1http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/06/eveything-that-rises-must-converge.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-43126050902074350982009-06-07T20:56:00.012-04:002009-06-08T06:26:25.009-04:00

I love theater, but I generally skip the Tony Awards. This year, though, was a great year for Broadway, and I had to watch despite not having seen nearly enough of the nominated productions to have an opinion. Now I do, and here they are, in no particular order. Overall, the show did its job, which was to make me want to buy tickets.Musicals I won't be seeing: Shrek (weak songs) and Rock of Ages

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/06/they-say-neon-lights-are-bright-on.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-30825864704470245342009-06-03T06:22:00.005-04:002009-06-03T07:23:58.826-04:00

Early this rainy morning, my dog, off-leash in Central Park, was sniffing around in some ground cover under a stand of trees populated by many chirping birds. Suddenly, she got very excited, seemed to pounce on something, and started whipping her head from side to side. I was standing about 15 feet away, and after a few minutes she proudly brought her find to me: a baby bird, stiff-legged,

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com2http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/06/silent-chirp.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-34762055922334000352009-05-28T06:18:00.005-04:002009-05-28T07:38:16.820-04:00

I was not an athletic or especially graceful child - the many dance classes I started then and have continued since were intended as a corrective - and I was always chosen last for kickball and other recess games. To my great shame, I was never able to do two specific things, besides that awful shimmying-up-a-rope test: cartwheels and hula-hooping. Those who read this blog closely will recall

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com2http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/05/hoop-dreams.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-47671148561983159142009-05-25T17:24:00.006-04:002009-05-25T20:09:48.420-04:00

"A second marriage," said Samuel Johnson, "is the triumph of hope over experience." This is a quotation I should have considered before my second wedding, which took place in a drive-up chapel in Reno, after a few margaritas and a stop at an ATM. (Fashion note: The bride wore a white Anne Fontaine swimsuit coverup and matching Keds.) Despite my request for a non-religious ceremony, the officiant

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com2http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/05/member-of-wedding.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-49495094633851230752009-05-20T00:11:00.004-04:002009-05-21T06:09:09.300-04:00

I am not generally privy to academic brouhahas, unless you count all the times I heard my English-professor dad complain about the chairman of his department when I was a child. Thus, I was unaware of the raging debate among scholars of folklore recounted in The Chronicle of Higher Education and picked up by the Times' Idea of the Day blog today.The argument is between those who assert that fairy

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/05/and-they-all-lived-happily-ever-after.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-31674679799005193752009-05-18T06:29:00.003-04:002009-05-18T07:52:33.939-04:00

I stayed up way past my bedtime last night, shopping on Amazon long after I'd found what I was looking for.So, struggling to open my eyes this morning, I of course thought ofTheodore Roethke's awed and awe-inspiring villanelle,"The Waking," which begins:I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.I learn by going where I have to go.We think by feeling. What is

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/05/i-wake-to-sleep.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-79854768329770642172009-05-16T08:09:00.007-04:002009-05-16T10:22:58.491-04:00

I have been thinking a lot about photography lately, and about how the photographer creates the world he or she captures through the lens, becoming the most important presence in it. Which led me back to Susan Sontag and her notion, expressed in her seminal essay On Photography. that the profusion of photographs in our lives has actually changed the way we see the world. (Sontag, of course,

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/05/every-picture-tells-story.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-9817646849103927432009-05-13T08:14:00.004-04:002009-05-13T08:56:56.278-04:00

It's my dog Cassie's first spring in New York, and she's really enjoying the long, soft grass in Central Park (which her yard in Los Angeles didn't have) and the supremely doggy act of a luxurious roll in it, like this.As I understand it, dogs love this activity because the soft surface feels great on their skin and the rolling motion produces exquisite sensations. It's also cause for ecstasy

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/05/grazing-in-grass.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-17594831980504515582009-05-10T20:06:00.001-04:002009-05-11T06:30:05.709-04:00

I'm a confessed geek, so I enjoyed the new Star Trek movie on its own merits as a fast-paced space-opera adventure filled with plot twists and alternate realities.But it's got a very powerful subtext: as the prequel to the original TV series, which started its run in 1966, it explores the foundational mythology of a baby-boomer cultural touchstone. Forty years after that series went off the air,

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/05/to-boldly-go-where-everyone-has-gone.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-3293720972489803412009-05-06T07:04:00.006-04:002009-05-06T07:26:21.321-04:00

This the best photo I've seen in ages, from a New York Times article about the brilliant, bizarre inventor Nikola Tesla and his laboratory on Long Island, which is now for sale (the "real estate listing" sidebar: excellent!). It was a multi-exposure publicity photo. The next time I have a headshot done, I want it to look just like this.Of course I thought immediately of the silly '80s song (is

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/05/tesla-girls-no-no-no.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-89877487041345504642009-05-04T07:09:00.005-04:002009-05-04T08:46:07.302-04:00

For years, people have been telling me that I look like a movie star. Generally, they have a particular one in mind. In my teens, the comparison was Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet, so much so that when I first arrived at my college freshman orientation an upperclassman dubbed me "Liz," a name that stuck with me through my tumultuous time on campus. The "Did anyone ever tell you that you look

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com1http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/05/my-celebrity-lookalike-myself.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-66799097094273504502009-05-01T06:38:00.007-04:002009-05-01T07:40:30.819-04:00

Last night, I was lucky enough to be at the opening night of the excellent new Roundabout Theatre production of Waiting for Godot. Ben Brantley's Times review says everything I could have said about it, though I found it more poignant than he did. It is, after all, and among many other things, a study of two bickering, entirely co-dependent couples.It sent me back to the text, which my often

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/05/i-cant-go-on-ill-go-on.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-22413102194110072662009-04-29T08:26:00.003-04:002009-04-29T08:51:42.191-04:00

I have little time to post today, but with this month nearly over, I of course found myself thinking about The Waste Land:April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain.Spring seems to be the time I make fateful choices - four years ago, for instance, having decided to move back to New York, I was on a fabulous

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/04/mixing-memory-and-desire.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9887938.post-58466285210991477342009-04-27T08:00:00.004-04:002009-04-27T08:38:29.184-04:00

If you are anywhere within 20 miles of Central Park, there is a stand of cherry blossoms at their peak right now on the west side of the reservoir at around 86th Street, underneath which the Central Park Conservancy has thoughtfully placed a winding mulched path, and I would encourage you to get there as soon as you can. Walking or running that path under a canopy of low branches laden with

Glamourbrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519651913363290687noreply@blogger.com0http://www.glamourbrain.com/2009/04/cherry-pink-and-apple-blossom-white.html