Christmas With Bebe

Jessica has been away, so I was going to cancel Christmas. Debbie vetoed that idea, which was good, since no Christmas was even more depressing. So I put up most of my decorations, but not the big tree. Even that was depressing so, I bought a tiny pre-lit artificial tree, and decorated that. Much better. But, for the first time ever I did not want to be at home. So, our friend Bebe invited us to stay with her, and there wasn't anywhere else I'd rather have been for Christmas. She is a true joy, and we had a ball. She just got a new gallery, a really good one, and a show in April. So, for the first time, she let me help her in her studio, WOW! It was great! Bebe is amazing. So much energy, passion, fun, and a huge heart. Thanks for a great Christmas!

Another cool indie

We recently watched two cool indie films. Guaranteed Enlightenment is a quirky, hand-held video, natural light film. Two very different brothers head off from Germany to a Zen monastary in Tokyo. The first half of the movie explored how annoying & self absorbed they both were, although in completely different ways. It was so effective that Debbie walked out of the "theater"! The second half was filmed in the monastary. I was going to say "staged", but it wasn't staged at all. We see how the brothers slowly collide with the disciplines of this world, adapt to it, and learn a lot about themselves. The film gives a very real picture of a novice's experience in the monastary, as opposed to the glossy portrayals one might see in prettier films or coffee table books. Watching the sweating, overweight Gustav polish the hallways on his hands and knees really honed in on a big part of the monastary's message. Test your quirkiness and give it a look!

Delightful Movies

My Architect is a documentary by the "illegitimate" son of the renowned architect Louis Kahn. You could not have written a stranger and more touching tale, in the truth is stranger than fiction category. Kahn was 5'6" tall, had an odd voice, and his face was covered with scars from a childhood burn. He was a terrible businessman, had few clients, and few buildings despite enormous talent and vision. Knowing all of this, it seems unlikely that in addition to his marriage with one child, he also had two other families, with women who worked with him. Despite the odd, and seemingly heartless, treatment by Kahn, the women were still totally in love with him thirty years after his death. The film is his son's attempt to discover his father, his art, and his life. For architecture buff's there are some fabulous interviews with biggie 20th century architects and clients. The film is touching, beautifully photographed, and very much worth seeing.

Jessica!!

We visited Jessica last weekend, it was great to see her after four months!! These trips are emotionally exhausting, even when they go well, as this one did. We got to spend some time chillaxing like in the good old days, which was really nice. And, it was chilly, so my new winter coat came in handy. She gets up at 530 am and has morning chores on "farm crew" outside most days of the week, so the Florida girl is getting her second dose of real winter! We have all been working hard on her college application, and she is excited about it. If all goes well we will have two B.F.A.'s in our household in 4 years, and I believe my father would get quite a chuckle out of that!! She has been training for the school's annual Quest trip. This will be 11 days and nights of skiiing, backpacking and camping in the Canadian mountains. Oh, yes, it will be in February! We are very proud and excited about how hard she is working and impressed with the strong emotional footings she is learning at the school.