Polly Castor’s Blog an online journal of art, photography, spirituality, ideas, books, movies, food, poetry, and hope

My New Painting: Fertility

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 11:13:17 -0500

Here is my newest painting titled Fertility. It is large, 20”x 30” on stretched canvas. It is a bit of a departure from the other paintings I’m working on. I hope you like it. See a larger version of it below...

So Today was my Birthday

Sun, 7 Feb 2010 08:27:42 -0500

So today was my birthday. There was no fanfare, no surprise parties on yachts encircling Manhattan, no two seater bright orange Porsche convertible sitting in the driveway with a big bow on it, no dazzling diamonds, nor all expense paid tickets to Switzerland or New Zealand. Which of these things would I have preferred? Definitely the travel, of course...

But since we are pinching our pennies, our taste buds traveled instead. For breakfast, my husband made me one of my favorite things he makes: a gougere (see above). It is French (he majored in French in college) and he uses Julia Child’s recipe. It is heavenly, kind of cross between a popover and those twisted gourmet cheese straws, which are both wonderful in their own right, but this is way better! Then at lunchtime we jumped whole continents when he took me out to a Mexican restaurant (see here) so I could get my guacamole fix; it was made fresh at the table-side. After a light dinner came frosted gingerbread cookies the way my mother used to make them and I was home again from my world travel. So you can see I was quite gastronomically indulged.

As far as gifts, both my sisters were generous as usual. You can see their gifts before and after opening below. One gave me two more dishes for my collection of fiesta-ware, and the other, two shirts from Coldwater Creek. My husband says he ordered “something he knows I want” but we’ll all have to wait to find out what that is, since it’s not here yet. (When it does arrive I’ll add it in here for those that are curious.)

After reading sweet birthday wishes on Facebook, I capped off my evening with the last installment of a new version of Jane Austin’s Emma, on Masterpiece Theater. It is the best version I’ve seen yet. The actress that plays Emma is much more likable than any other of the many that I’ve seen in that role. (Check it out here.)

Well, I’ve been around the sun one more time, so I guess I get in some real traveling after all. I look forward to at least as many more of these solar orbits as I’ve had already! And I’m remembering that there will be a day when I look back on this current age and think how young I was then. I do feel young – just getting started really– and only beginning to get it together. I’m so glad you’re along for the ride!

Movie Review: Up in the Air

Sat, 6 Feb 2010 19:24:39 -0500

I went to this move on the strength of my pottery teacher’s recommendation, and the fact that I like George Clooney. In this film, Clooney is a frequent flyer for a firm that lays people off, and in one year he clocks more miles than it takes to get to the moon, flying 325 days of the year. He likes it and he’s good at it: smooth and polished, down to the last nuance. He is unattached and preaches motivational speeches about living with less baggage, both of the physical stuff variety and the relationship kind. He migrates around in the an impervious impersonal world dispassionately filled with faceless people.

There are plenty of cameos depicted of distressed people being told they are fired, when to their bafflement they are also being told to look for a silver lining. There is a conversation between a twenty-something girl and a forty-something woman about what they want out of life and a man, where the older woman makes clear that as you get on you lower your standards. Trying to help his soon to be brother-in-law get over cold feet on his wedding day, Clooney admits that there is no real point to life, but also concedes that perhaps it is better to get through it without loneliness. The end of the movie finds Clooney positioned finally where he always thought he wanted to be, only to realize that’s not what he wants after all.

The movie is effective enough to get you thinking, especially in face of the rampant joblessness and widespread loneliness in this country, and for that I give it three stars. It is truly a classic study in what people like to call post-modernism. But despite Clooney’s wonderful face, this movie is not a good time and leaves you “up in the air” so to speak. If I had known that, I would have opted for anything else from a wide range of choices that actually do provide “connection.” This is no film for an optimist, and as I’m no cynic, I’d recommend something more hopeful instead.

What Oprah Knows for Sure

Fri, 5 Feb 2010 21:38:50 -0500

I admire Oprah and the authenticity she has stood for; she has been an example to America that authenticity can be profitable, and I applaud that in anyone. I also admire her courage and willingness to publicly explore her spirituality, her can-do attitude, her love for books, and her faith in what is good and right. I’m not a TV watcher, but still do admire these things in her from the far sidelines. Oprah has written down some of her hard won wisdom, which I think is beneficial reading, and I’m sharing her list here, which was originally printed in her November 2009 column:

Oprah’s List of: What I Know for Sure
■ What you put out comes back all the time, no matter what. (This is my creed.)
■ You define your own life. Don’t let other people write your script.
■ Whatever someone did to you in the past has no power over the present.
Only you give it power.
■ When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.
(A lesson from Maya Angelou.)
■ Worrying is wasted time. Use the same energy for doing something about whatever worries you.
■ What you believe has more power than what you dream or wish or hope for.
You become what you believe.
■ If the only prayer you ever say is thank you, that will be enough.
(From the German theologian and humanist Meister Eckhart.)
■ The happiness you feel is in direct proportion to the love you give.
■ Failure is a signpost to turn you in another direction.
■ If you make a choice that goes against what everyone else thinks, the world will not fall apart.
■ Trust your instincts. Intuition doesn’t lie.
■ Love yourself and then learn to extend that love to others in every encounter.
■ Let passion drive your profession.
■ Find a way to get paid for doing what you love. Then every paycheck will be a bonus.
■ Love doesn’t hurt. It feels really good.
■ Every day brings a chance to start over.
■ Being a mother is the hardest job on earth. Women everywhere must declare it so.
■ Doubt means don’t. Don’t move. Don’t answer. Don’t rush forward.
■ When you don’t know what to do, get still. The answer will come.
■ “Trouble don’t last always.” (A line from a Negro spiritual, which calls to mind another favorite: This, too, shall pass.)

What do we know for sure?
Can we all write our list down?
What would yours look like?

Book Review: Sweetgum Knit Lit Society/ Knit for Love

Thu, 4 Feb 2010 11:20:09 -0500

When I read the first of these two books, I was unsure if it was good enough to review here, but I liked it enough to read it’s sequel which I thought was even better. And after recently reviewing a book I didn’t like half as much which I gave five stars, I felt compelled to rave about these two books that I liked far more than their probably three or four stars would indicate!

These books may be simplistic, easy reads. Without looking deeper into them they may seem trite, based so much in the banalities of everyday small town life to be beyond note. But this is exactly what makes them genuine and sweet, which is sometimes just what you want to read. Nothing sexy, nothing violent, none of the ten commandments broken here, just heartwarming stories that are down to earth and based in unadorned truth. Quite refreshing, that, I’d say!

The women of the Knit Lit society get together once a month to discuss books and knit, both activities that I enjoy. But beyond that, they share their lives, their trials and as well as their joys and progress. Parallels can be drawn between the women in the story and the books they are reading: in the first book the women read “girlhood classics” like Little Women and PollyAnna, and in the second book they read romances like Gone with the Wind and Pride and Prejudice. Each individual woman is sketched so real that you enjoy getting to know them better, so much so that I was sorry when the second book was over, and now I’m counting on a third book to come out in this series!

These books are much better than the recently popular Friday Night Knitting Club, and would be more aptly compared with Jan Karon’s bestselling Mitford series. See the backs of both the books below. I’m better for having read them, and thought you might enjoy them too.

Thirteenth Page Done in My New Box-A-Day Art Journal

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 11:34:24 -0500

This page represents January 22, 2010 to February 2, 2010
See close-ups of recent entries below.
Enjoy!