Growing Up

I'm a bit afraid of getting older and losing my rabid interest in art, music, and literature. I don't want to abandon my whimsical fantasies for cold, boring practicality. But it happens to so many people when they grow up, have a family, take on responsibilities, and enter the "real world." I'll just try to soak up as much creativity as I can in my early twenties, so if it dies when I start my career, I'll still have collected some beauty to hold with me in my later years. Or maybe I can do something creative work-wise, and maintain my mind a while longer.

Just a few quotations to remind me that imagination can live on:

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities."
-- Dr. Seuss

Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young.
-- W. Somerset Maugham 

Bob Dylan

I just finished Bob Dylan's memoir Chronicles: Volume 1. It's mostly a great book, but at points he goes on and on about things I'm sure most of his readers do not care about. It's also interesting how he basically skips over the height of his career. He jumps from pre-fame Greenwich Village Dylan to late sixties hermit Dylan. I guess enough has been said about Blonde on Blonde. But anyway, his voice and insights are amazing. He writes his book like he croaks his song lyrics: Dylan has an unmistakable way with language. I'm now confirming that he's a genius (just kidding, no one cares what I think). Also, I came away with a lot of sympathy for a man I'd previously regarded as cold, cruel, and distant.

Dylan variously talks about his "wife" in different stages of the book. But I looked up his relationships, and it's not always the same woman. I'm not sure if he's being sexist or just vague and mysterious.

Strangely enough, the woman in this photo, Suze Rotolo, is the only lover he mentions by name. And from outside research I found that they never married and weren't even together very long. But she must have influenced him a great deal. Then again, maybe he used those "my wife" labels to protect certain women's privacy. He hardly says anything personal anyway. We know he has kids, but he doesn't tell us who their mother is or even their names. If you want to find that out, you need to look elsewhere (which of course I did). It's interesting to see Dylan's privacy maintained in a form so confessional as the memoir. 

As is the case with most musicians' memoirs I've read, Bob Dylan's Chronicles educates the reader with a wide range of background knowledge. From this book I've learned about folk music, the poet Archibald MacLeish, and Robert Johnson. I've picked up some new favorites including Brecht's song from the Threepenny Opera "Pirate Jenny" and Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Bells." My summer reading lists are often enriched by these kinds of memoirs. I can't even tell you how much I've learned from Marianne Faithfull's wonderful books (see William Burroughs and Bulgakov's  The Master and Margarita). I think most of these figures from the sixties are just highly intelligent, curious, and self-educated people.  

Paul Newman

I've been meaning to do a Paul Newman post for a while, and since a friend and I just watched Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, now seems as good a time as any. After seeing his beautiful sad face in that wonderful Tennessee Williams movie, I'm particularly caught up in Paul Newman fever. So here he is, the most beautiful man in the world (seriously, science has already proven it):

With the lovely Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Here we have young and sexy. 

With good friend and fellow beauty, Robert Redford

Older, wiser, and sexy.

With wife Joanne Woodward, talented actress and luckiest woman in the world-- 

the "steak" he had at home.

Ah, whenever I watch Paul Newman movies, I just want to marry him.

Also, you know he's done some nice stuff: great actor, married to the same woman for 50 years, supporting civil rights and gay rights, and of course Newman's Own. But above all, those EYES!

Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall

Some images I found:

Great flapper dress! 

I think this is a paparazzi shot, but it looks so fabulously stylized.

T. Rextasy

I've been obsessed with glam rock lately. This is mostly due to my discovery of Marc Bolan and T. Rex.

I'd been aware of Marc Bolan before mostly through his association with David Bowie, but I've started listening to his music and I just love it. He has an interesting and enticingly mellow voice.

Poor dear died in a car crash when he was only 29 years old.

What's interesting is that my parents (who were teenagers when he was most popular) have no idea who he is. I guess he wasn't as big in the US. (Neither of them were really into glam rock either.)

Stones 50

I like this one, from the new book.

carry on my wayward son

Supernatural is a pretty great show. Its mix of classic rock, beautiful men, supernatural action, and comedy is irresistible. The subject matter and humor remind me a bit of Buffy (one of my favorite shows). I also like the conceptual homage to On the Road: Sam and Dean traveling across the country like Kerouac's Sal and Dean. In a very cool vintage Chevy Impala nonetheless.

Also, nothing can break your heart like this guy's sad face:

Jared Padalecki. For those who remember his sweetness from Gilmore Girls, his sensitive (most of the time) Sam Winchester is just wonderful. Note the "puppy dog eyes."

This show always has me swooning. It's just so hard to be a Winchester! They're so pretty, but they have to deal with so much...

Haha, I'm a sucker for troubled heros.