Photo a Day: Me!

I've always been fascinated by artists' self-portraits, especially those painted in the era where we have photographs to compare what the artist looked like in reality. Do most people see themselves the way the camera sees them? Do they see themselves the way others see them? Do they see themselves the way they wish others see them? Or perhaps they see themselves the way they fear others see them.

Here are how a number of extremely famous (and a few not-quite-so famous) artists depicted themselves.

 

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is well-known for her scorn of traditional ideas of female beauty, so it is no surprise that her most famous self-portrait emphasizes her mustache and full, unplucked brows. She stares directly at the viewer with pride and perhaps even a bit of derision. She does not soften or sweeten her looks in this portrait, but show her own unvarnished truth about herself and her "imperfections."

Kahlo's husband, fellow Mexican artist Diego Rivera, also painted multiple self-portraits. Rivera also seems to emphasize his imperfections, adding an extra-sagging chin, several weals on his face, and droopy, pouched eyes. And yet, there is a decided intelligence, perhaps even a bit of a smirk as he looks at himself. Like his wife, he sees value in himself beyond his physical looks. 

 

Lesser-known Austrian artist Egon Schiele painted a number of self-portraits. Rather than depicting himself realistically, Schiele was a figurative and expressionistic painter who painted himself disproportionately, with grimaces and twisted facial expressions, often turned at strange angles and with his body contorted. Schiele seemed to want to show not his looks, but his thoughts. He was conscripted into the army during World War I and served as a guard and escort for Russian prisoners, and no doubt this experience shaped his self-image.

 

Pablo Picasso painted numerous self-portraits, from realistic charcoal drawings to his more familiar cubist style paintings. He emphasized his eyes, staring boldly at the viewer with a solemn expression. 

 

One of my favorite self-portraits is Norman Rockwell's triple self-portrait. This photograph is one of the reference photographs Rockwell used when painting the self-portrait. His sense of whimsy is clear in the blank reflection in his glasses, the pipe dangling from his lips, and his splay-kneed posture, as well as the fact that the self-portrait is signed by the artist as part of the painting within the painting.

 

Perhaps the most famous self-portrait of any artist is by Vincent Van Gogh. His expression is grim as he turns his face from the viewer but angles his eyes outward almost in a glare, as if daring them to judge his work. The swirling background around him is reminiscent of his turbulent thoughts and emotional state. His features, in comparison to the photograph, are realistic but starker and more angular than reality, with sharp cheekbones and a narrow, pointed noise and chin. The portrait is not so much flattering as it is haunted.

So what does this have to do with today's Photo a Day subject of "me!"? Well, I'm terrible at taking selfies, so I considered drawing a picture of myself. But I'm even more terrible at drawing. So instead, I opted to depict myself not as I see myself, but as my daughter sees me. She is a wonderful and enthusiastic artist who loves to draw pictures of everyone, including her friends at school and her family. This is a recent portrait she drew of our family.

For those of you who don't know my family personally, from left to right, depicted are me, my husband, my 7-year-old son, and my 5-year-old daughter (the artist). We each have very definite hallmarks that are present in every portrait drawn by my daughter. She herself always sports full yellow hair (she's a curly blonde), a purple dress, and some kind of jewelry or hair accessory or crown. My son sports brown hair and blue eyes; my husband has short, stubbly blond hair and blue eyes. And I always have red (occasionally red mixed with brown) hair, blue eyes, and bright red lips (I don't often wear lipstick, but my daughter is fascinated whenever I do).

So how does my daughter see me? She sees me as part of our family, as someone who is always smiling. She sees me as someone who is beautiful and happy and loving. She sees me as I sometimes am, but as I want to be always. Seeing who I am in her eyes makes me want to be that person. She sees the "me!" I could be. She makes me want to be that "me!".

Photo a Day: A Fave Thing

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things." Like Maria, I can't cut down my list of favorite things to a single favorite thing. If I were writing that song for myself, it would be something like, "Warm cozy blankets and bubbles in bathtubs, extra cheese pizza and snuggling with my hubs, shiny red crockpots and an oven that sings, these are a few of my favorite things."

"Cozy" and "warm" and "comfy" are all words that come into play often when I think of my favorite things. Cozy sweaters, warm slippers, comfy pajamas. I like to wear things and spend time in places that make me feel physically warm and relaxed. My bed, the sofa with a blanket, in front of the fireplace. Ah, the fireplace.

My fireplace is cozy and pretty and welcoming at any time of the year, but I think it's an especially favorite place for me at Christmastime. Not only are there lots of cold nights that time of year when we build a cozy fire in it, but also the decorations are "emotionally cozy". The stockings with the names of all 5 members of my family bring us close even if not all of us are physically present. The Nutcrackers on the mantel remind me of my late parents-in-law who had a beautiful Nutcracker collection (which no doubt inspired my husband's collection), the candles and greens and lights in the center of the mantel always represent a group decorating effort (my husband usually cuts and often arranges the greens with help from the kids while I add the candles and other decorations), and of course the general aura of Christmas inspires the joyous awe and wonder and anticipation of my young children.

My fireplace also evokes memories of the happy family gatherings that are often around it. We sit on the floor for special family or romantic dinners; we host large and small parties, dinners and cocktail parties and cast parties and champagne tastings; we play games as a family - Battleship and the Disney Princess Cupcake Game and Twister and Candyland and War; many is the pleasant nap that one or more family members have enjoyed in front of a cozy fire there.

So the fireplace evokes memories of coziness, both physical and emotional. It is, indeed, "a fave thing."

Photo a Day: Animal

Today's Photo a Day topic is "Animal". The only "pet" stage we've reached at our house is fish, so other than family members, there are no living animals in our house. What we do have in abundance, however, is stuffed animals.

I have become quite accustomed to finding some fuzzy little creature staring at me with its beady little eyes from some corner or another everywhere I turn. I have found stuffed animals in my bed, in the bathtub, on the kitchen counter, under the dining room table, in every nook and cranny in my car, on the porch, and in every other imaginable spot in and around my house.

Between my two children, there are easily well over 100 stuffies living in my home. Bears, dogs, giraffes, elephants, penguins, pandas, monkeys, zebras, hedgehogs, hippos, foxes, even a rather sad-looking chicken. And they are dearly loved, each and every one. The older ones have become threadbare from endless hugging, snuggling, and dragging around from pillar to post. As much as I adore being snuggled and hugged by my kids myself, there are moments when I need to detach those small beings from my legs to do other important things, like making dinner or cleaning the house or taking a shower or peeing. These fluffy little friends have served as substitute snugglers for any time that Mum is not available for cuddling.

They are symbolic of both my children's affection and of my occasional freedom from that affection. They remind me that my children are learning to love and take care of creatures smaller than themselves. They're not yet capable of taking care of a living animal, but the affection and attention they lavish on their stuffies convinces me that it will not be long before they will be ready to be in charge of a real, living, breathing animal.

Animal.

Book Review: "Spaceman" by Mike Massimino

This book can be summed up in a single passage, a response to a question at a NASA press conference about whether we would ever send kids into space: "'We have sent kids into space. We sent Mike Massimino.'"

On paper, Massimino is a pretty impressive and even intimidating character. He holds a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Columbia University, and both a master's in technology and public policy and a PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT. He has been a professor at Georgia Tech and Columbia. He's an expert in robotics, specializing in human-machine interfaces. In 2002 and 2009, he performed multiple spacewalks servicing the Hubble telescope as part of the crew of the Columbia and Atlantis space shuttle missions. You would expect a book written by someone with those credentials to be dry, technical, and boring. But Massimino's voice is still that of the wide-eyed 7-year-old from Queens who fantasized about being either an astronaut or a pitcher for the Mets. It is quite telling that one of the prized possessions he brought with him into space was the stuffed Astronaut Snoopy he'd had as a kid and saved all those years. His voice in Spaceman is a delightful combination of technical expertise and childlike wonder.

The book's subtitle is "An Astronaut's Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of of the Universe," and it is an excellent description of the book. The story is not so much about being an astronaut as it is about becoming one. Massimino talks about his motivation to become an astronaut, about the many stumbling blocks he encountered and overcame on that journey - personal issues, medical issues, educational issues, about what kept driving him to achieve his dream against all odds. He repeatedly explains that there is no one single predictable, prescribed path to becoming an astronaut; each person's journey is as different as their skill set, experience, and personality. He personalizes the process in a way that keeps you on the edge of your seat - you know he eventually becomes an astronaut, but how? How did he manage to beat the odds? Throughout the book, you are rooting for him to succeed.

One of the themes Massimino refers to often is the importance of teamwork. Teamwork among the members of the astronaut training class, teamwork among the members of a shuttle crew, teamwork among the mission control team. He explains the psychology behind how the members of a shuttle crew are chosen: partly for the necessary combination of expertise to complete that particular mission, but just as important is the balance of personalities. Being trapped in space with the same people, 24 hours a day for days or weeks at a time, under intense pressure, brings on conflicts in even the closest of teams. Massimino admits that he was chosen for his missions partly because of his expertise in robotics, but partly because of his role as the guy who cracks jokes to break the tension. And his sense of humor is what makes his story so interesting.

Massimino's abilities as an entertaining storyteller served him well after his active career as an astronaut, as NASA called upon him to be a PR representative. He realizes that most post-mission press conferences are dry and dull, and he takes it upon himself to express the awe and wonder of man's exploration of space. He thinks back to the American fascination with space during his childhood in the early 70s, and thinks, "...maybe I could be one of the best at telling the story of space. Maybe I could make it fun and lively and adventurous like it used to be."

In Spaceman, Massimino succeeds completely in telling a fun and lively and adventurous story of space. Even if you're not particularly interested in space exploration, Spaceman is a worthwhile read simply as the story of one man's journey to follow his dream. All the way into space.


I received this book for review from Blogging for Books. For more information about Spaceman by Mike Massimino, please see the Penguin Random House website.

Photo a Day, January 2017

As I was reviewing my files in order to write my retrospective on 2016, it struck me that I haven't done any Photo a Day challenges in a while. So for the month of January, I'll be posting a daily photo - along with commentary, of course - based on Fat Mum Slim' s prompts:

Since it's already January 3rd, I'm several days behind. Fortunately, I'm pretty sure I can knock off the first three subjects in a single photograph.

1: my fave colour
2: delicious
3: circle

My 5-year-old daughter is fascinated by the idea that everyone has a favorite color, so one of the first questions she asks everyone she meets is, "What is your favorite color?" (usually followed by the happy exclamation, "Mine's purple!"). She also repeatedly confirms with everyone in the family that our favorite colors have not changed. She's totally flummoxed by the fact that her brother changes his favorite color on a regular basis. But fortunately, she can always rely on Mum and Dad to confirm that indeed, we do both still love green. Any time she brings me a something with a choice of colors, she offers me the green one. I can't remember the last time I ate an M&M that wasn't green. And you can be quite certain that I am not allowed to eat any of the Kisses in this bowl other than the green-wrapped ones. She, of course, always chooses a purple for herself. Fortunately, my son's current favorite color is red, so eventually we will polish off all these Kisses.

This photograph also carries out the theme of delicious, because not only are the objects in the photo chocolate, they are DARK chocolate. My whole family shares a love of dark chocolate. Milk chocolate is fine, in limited quantities, but it feels like a pale, sickly-sweet imitation of the real thing. White chocolate is fabulous, but it's a completely different flavor. Dark chocolate, though...the richness, the perfect balance of bitter and sweet, the smooth texture on the tongue. It is the embodiment of the word "delicious."

And finally, the simple circle of a bowl is rarely used in our house except at Christmas time. It's simple white circle never competes with the embellishments of Christmas candy, whether it be red and green M&Ms, miniature red-and-white striped candy canes, or - as here - brilliantly purple, red, and green foil wrapped Hershey's Kisses. Growing up, my family always had a bowl of ribbon candy set out at Christmas, and it was nearly always displayed in a similarly plain, unadorned silver dish. Complexity is set off by simplicity. The white circle needs the brilliant colors and the brilliant colors need the white circle.

My fave colour. Delicious. Circle.

2016 in Review: The Good Stuff

2016 was a rough year for a lot of people. American politics were contentious. There was unrest and violence throughout the world. Many beloved celebrities passed away. On a more personal level, many people I know were dealing with joblessness, illness, divorce, loss of family members, homelessness, and a host of other problems, great and small. But there was still a lot of good things about 2016. So as I reflect back on the year, I am consciously choosing to ignore the unpleasant events and look for the good, the positive, and the uplifting. These are some of the BEST things that happened in 2016 - some to me personally, and some more to the world at large.

We got our roof re-shingled, entirely covered by insurance, due to a prior hailstorm.Thanks to wise advice from friends, we covered everything in the attic with tarps and blankets so cleanup was easy. The workers were pleasant and efficient. We were even able to toss a few items into the dumpster that had been waiting for a convenient time to get rid of them. And the weather cooperated beautifully. 

Downton Abbey came to an end, and it was glorious. The Carson-Hughes wedding...Edith coming into her own...Tom and Sybbie's return...Mary getting all modern and sensible and, well, pleasant...the unbearable cuteness of Baxter and Molesley. The characters were true to themselves and their time; a new era was clearly beginning; it felt complete and satisfying and right.

Home school included making candy geodes and breaking into real ones; learning to make ukha, borschcht, naan, and Costa Rican rice and beans; making and experimenting with ooblek.

Leonardo DiCaprio finally won a damn Oscar. Probably not for his finest performance, but definitely for one of his more difficult ones. 

I finally got my courage up to go see a new primary care doctor (I haven't had one in literally 25 years). She was wonderful. She listened to me. She gave me realistic advice on what I needed to be concerned about and what I could just let go if I chose to. And she didn't yell at me for not seeing a GP for 25 years. 

My son lost his first tooth, much to his relief. He lost the second a few weeks later. The two top teeth went one day apart, just before Christmas. The first of those two went during school hours, so he came home with the tooth safely tucked into a little green plastic treasure chest which is now the official tooth vessel for delivery to the Tooth Fairy. 

My dryer died and we decided to replace both the washer and dryer. We found an LG set on sale and I have been in love with doing laundry ever since. It's fast, it's quiet, and it gets everything sparkling clean. 

My stepdaughter's college cheer squad won the national championships for the third year in a row. It was BRILLIANT. Go, Pokes!

We got our first pets, a pair of fancy guppies. One of them succumbed within 24 hours. The kids were completely nonplussed, and we replaced the dead fish the next day. Fish #2 vanished a month later (we assumed she was sucked into the filter, but her wee fishy skeleton has never been found), with a similar lack of concern from the kids. Fish #3 is still alive and well nearly 8 months later.

We brought both kids and an (adult) friend to the annual Patriots' Day reenactment in Lexington. They actually paid attention. And we ran into another friend and had a great review of the history of the battle. 

Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 90th birthday. Well, to be more accurate, all of Great Britain celebrated the Queen's 90th birthday. In related news, she has the most adorable group of grandchildren EVER. Especially the one holding her purse. 

I made homemade duck stock for the first time, then made risotto with it. I discovered new depths of flavor and deliciousness. 

My cousin got married and my husband and I and our kids were able not only to attend but to add on a nearly week-long vacation along the beautiful California seacoast to the trip.We spent much time with extended family, and spent several days at Disney, Universal, and other amusement parks. A wonderful time was had by all, culminating with a beautiful outdoor wedding.

My son wrote his first poem, entitled "Lost Soke":
      I can't believe
      I lost my soke
      I lookd under the chicin
      bawk!!!!!!! bok!!!!!
      I even lookd in the cloke
      tike toce tick tock!!!!!!!!!!!!

My daughter danced in her very first dance recital. Her grandmother (and great-grandmother, and numerous assorted great-aunts and distant cousins) was looking down from heaven and smiling. 

Both my kids were paid models at a professional modelling shoot. My son tolerated it but my daughter was absolutely in her glory. She had a wonderful time and I was extremely proud of how patient and obedient both of them were. 

The Tony Awards opened with the statement,"The opposite of war is not peace; it is creation." And proceeded to be fabulous. A friend's sister was nominated for a Tony award - how cool is that?!?? James Corden was a delightful host; Hamilton won, like, everything; and pregnant Audra McDonald can kick higher than 20-y/o non-pregnant me.

My stepdaughter graduated from college. It was a long road, and it took a number of unexpected turns. But she hung in there and did great, and is continuing to do great. I sometimes feel like it's not quite fair for me to be proud of her, because I haven't really had anything to do with what an amazing person she has become. I just kind of stand back and watch. But I'm proud anyway, because she IS amazing. I love what a wonderful role model she is for her younger siblings. 

We got a robot pool vacuum. Let me say that again: Robot. Pool.Vacuum. Need I say more?

Harry Potter fans were rewarded with a stage play and a published script of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, as well as the release of the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Not everyone was a fan. but for those of us who were still in mourning for the end of new stories from the wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling, it was enough. And enough, as they say, is as good as a feast. 

The US Treasury Secretary announced that abolitionist Harriett Tubman will appear on the $20 bill, making her the first African-American ever and the first woman in in 100 years to appear on US paper currency. 

The herb crop in my garden in summer 2016 was AMAZING. Basil, thyme, mint, chives, oregano.So happy, so delicious. 

NASA's analysis of data collected by the Kepler telescope found that 9 of the nearly 1300 planets analyzed could support life. We are now aware of the existence of 21 planets "orbiting stars in a habitable zone where surface temperatures could allow for liquid water, creating the potential for life." Wow. 

We enjoyed several outings in Boston with my niece from France who is a student at Northeastern University. I love hearing about her adventures, and my kids do, too. I hope they follow her example and have lots of international experiences while they're young. I'm so grateful for so many wonderful family role models of completely different ways to live one's life in a fulfilling and successful way, with or without a formal education! 

Love her or hate her (I'm leading the fifth on my personal opinion), Hillary Clinton receiving the nomination of the Democratic Party for the US Presidency, making her the first female nominee of a major party, was a historic, exciting, and positive moment. 

The 2016 Summer Olympics were amazing. Michael Phelps winning pretty much every medal that he was eligible for; the women's gymnastics team; the hilarious brothers on the Irish sculling team; the runner from New Zealand who stopped to help a fallen American; the adorable Chinese swimmer who could hardly believe she'd qualified then went on to win a bronze medal in the 200m backstroke; the trampoline competition. And just the glorious celebration of human accomplishment that is the Olympic Games. 

This conversation, overheard at the public library between my daughter and another little girl: 
Little girl: I'm four. How old are you?
Katie: I'm four and a half. But tomorrow I'll be five.
Little girl (with great excitement): When I'm five, I get to have GUM!!

My kids named the bunny that hangs out in our yard "Lenny." That's probably not noteworthy by most people's standards, but LENNY!! He is SUCH a Lenny. I love Lenny. 

My daughter's big sister was able to be here with us for the little one's birthday. When you're turning 5 and you ADORE your big sis, this is a big deal. A HUGE deal. 

OMG, my kids started public school. Both of them, at the same time. Like, getting on the bus in the morning and waving goodbye and vanishing and everything. I'm happy and proud and terrified and sad all at the same time. I love that they love school so much, and I'm brokenhearted that they love school so much, all at the same time. Damn, motherhood is hard. But wonderful. But hard.

I started walking several miles 3-5 days a week after the kids got on the school bus. At first, it was really tough - I was even more out of shape than I thought - but after a while it got fun. My blood pressure was down even if my weight was unaffected. And it was lots of wonderful time spent with my husband, just chatting and enjoying each other's company. 

On the 19th anniversary of her death, Mother Teresa was sainted. Probably the most universally recognized nun in history, Mother Teresa put a human face on poverty and showed us all how to humble ourselves and be servants, whether or not we were Catholics or Christians. She single-handedly changed the world for the better. 

My brother-in-law took me shooting, for the very first time. I got to try out several different types of guns. I even hit the target a bunch of times! 

We celebrated my husband's great-aunt's 90th birthday, surrounded by many family members from multiple generations. It was a celebration of not only her life, but of the many paths that members of the succeeding generations have taken. It was both a look back and a look ahead. Plus someone brought a puppy. 

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, publicly committed to giving $3 billion (yes, billion with a "B") over the next 10 years, to the cause of eradicating communicable diseases by the end of the century. Zuckerberg and Chan spent the past two years meeting with experts to discuss the feasibility of this goal. Chan's career as a pediatrician and the birth of their son, Max, no doubt have a large influence on this decision. 

The Chicago Cubs won the World Series. This may seem like only a big deal to actual Cubs fans, but when the team in question has not won the World Series in over 100 years, it's a big deal for all of us. There's something exciting and satisfying about seeing the perennial underdogs finally pull it together when it counts and succeed in a big way. After all, if the Cubs can win the World Series, anything is possible!

We went to a combined concert of Take Six and the Manhattan Transfer. Front row. Eye contact. Sweating on us. Singing along. AMAZING. INCREDIBLE. Fantastic show, fantastic voices, fantastic program. One of those you'll remember for the rest of your life. Wow. 

Our church got a new pastor. He loves all the things we (both the church as a whole and our family, personally) love: music, youth ministry, community outreach. He's funny, he's humble, he's talented, he's passionate, his family is delightful, and we just plain like him. We have a lot of exciting (and probably scary, too) changes to look forward to over the next months and years as he leads us in the direction we've been trying to go. 

Scientists at Ohio State University designed a device that, once implanted in the brain, send signals to a cuff on the patient's arm which allow him to control his hands and fingers in real time, just as if his nerves were still connected. A 24-year-old patient was implanted with the device, which allowed him motor control fine enough to play Guitar Hero. Somehow it seems appropriate that the success of the device was tested by playing a video game. Kind of the circle of life. 

I wrote a play. It's just a first draft, but I wrote it in about 6 hours. It's not great; it's not even good (yet); but it's not embarrassing. For a first draft of a first play, that's not bad. Not bad at all. 

My son learned to ride a bike. Without training wheels. He'd been resisting taking the training wheels off his old bike, but when Santa brought him a brand-new bigger bike with no training wheels on it, he was willing to give it a shot. And within literally 20 minutes, he was riding the length of the entire street, with confidence and very few wobbles. To say that I was a proud mom is beyond an understatement. He met his fears head-on, and he overcame. What more could a mom want for her child?

Fans of the Star Wars series, who'd just been rewarded for their 10-year wait between movies with the 2015 release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, were treated to an "extra" movie; a prequel of sorts, set in the time period just before the original 1977 film. Although some "purists" were not fans, I found it to be either an impressive example of a writer planning ahead and planting details to be used in the future (past?) or an even more impressive feat of brilliant "retroactive continuity". Either way, I thought it was fascinating. 

Our couch spontaneously disintegrated 2 weeks before we planned to host a large party. Luckily, we went to the discount warehouse of the local furniture store and found a couch and chair set that we LOVE. I hadn't realized how broken-down our old couch was until I sat on the new one and my body rejoiced. And the added benefit is that we now are almost forced to repaint the badly-in-need-of-repainting living room.

My stepdaughter came to visit for Christmas and the three kids had a complete love-fest. She got to see the four of us perform a Christmas show at the kids' school: dramatic readings of A Christmas Carol and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the kids singing "Christmas All Year 'Round", and sing-alongs of "Rudolph," "Jingle Bells," and "The 12 Days of Christmas."


I'm sure that many of this "good stuff" was not relevant to you. I'm sure that most of you don't really care that my kids got to visit with their cousins over the summer, or that I wrote a play, or about my home school lesson plans. But I'm also sure that you have personal "good stuff" that IS as exciting and positive to you as all of these personal items are to me. So I challenge each of you to try to push aside the disappointments and tragedies of 2016, both public and private, and just for a few moments, focus on all the wonderful and exciting things that happened to you and to the world around you this year. 

I bet there's more good stuff than you think. 

Happy 2017!