Something In the Air

Happy Birthday Pablo Picasso! Today, October 25, 2009 is the 298th day of the year there are 67 days remaining. Its amazing how quickly time slips through our fingers, isn't it? Well, with the winter settling in I wanted to take some time to talk about something that has always tickled my spine, which nearly always happens in the winter. I feel a spirit of curiousity, surrealism, whimsy, adventurousness, and nostalgia take hold of me. Well to be accurate, I think I should say that this feeling had been suppressed for quite some time, I believe in connection with my smoking habit. It has nearly been a year since I quit, and now I definitely feel those expectant shivers of inspiration arising.

It seems also as though this feeling has often accompanied being sick. Its a lot like a wriggly nervousness within your body, and a sudden awe-struckenness that precludes the experience of enjoyable things. It can at times be overwhelming and send you into inexplicable melancholy or weepiness. It can make you crave a soft embrace, or a long yearning gaze into the night sky. It often drives you into solitude, and finds annoyance with brash, overbearing attitudes or superficiality. It is probably the gayest thing you have ever felt.

LOL.

Take that for what you will, but it is quite real, and full of feverish ecstacy. I used to call this my inspirational mode, and now it has arisen.


This week I have Raymond Carver's Where I'm Calling From on loan from the library for the 2nd week. I have only read the first story. I picked up (on Saturday): Time Bandits (again), Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland on audio cd, The original radio broadcasts of The Shadow on audio cd, and Invincible Ultimate Collection Volume 1. I had set down an audio cd of some novel about the last days of Pompei after seeing that it was an abridged version, but I may go back and pick it up. Maybe when Graham Greene's The Comedians comes in (and hopefully The Time Traveler's Wife with it!). This reinterest with full text novels, I suppose, was precipitated by reviewing my living social booklist and it comparing it to a friend's list.

John Carrera lovingly obsessed about these engravings and hand-made thousands of books. Better yet, he documented this process so that we may all fall in love with the craft of bookmaking all over again. The Pictorial Webster's is a masterpiece!

Pictorial Webster's: Inspiration to Completion from John Carrera on Vimeo.

This caricature map of 1914 Europe by Keith Thompson is just one example of the beauty of ostranenie.

I love these cut-out comics by Philippa Rice. My Cardboard Life is good clean fun.

I recently discovered GeGeGe No Kitaro, the book of Yokai Anatomy, and this awesome scroll through a drawn tweet. That's a three-for!

Okay I better stop for now because by now Sunday Afternoon has definitely come and gone. I'm sorry I keep getting these out late. I'll try to get things back up to speed soon. Have a happy Sunday and a great week!