GJ Willis' Art Notes

olivia1, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

Yesterday, I saw Olivia Newton John at the Joseph Myerhoff Symphony Hall. It was a pretty good concert. I was not disappointed with concert. I bought my camera and binoculars to the concert. I never used my camera but I did use my binoculars. The website onlyolivia.com has a copy of her setlist as well as various photographs from concerts she’s done this year.

Olivia looked great through the binoculars I bought with me. She looked better than the average 56 year old. I’d have to say she has a really good plastic surgeon.

Sorry, to say I never used my camera. However, I did see down below near the stage a heavy set 30-something black woman who had gotten out of her seat and was taking pictures. She was the only one there that I could see who was taking pictures that night. She never got back in her seat. She just stood and watched Olivia throughout the entire concert. I wanted to show solidarity and go down below and join her. Then I began to worry about what other people might think about seeing two big black woman standing by the stage with camera’s in hand watching Olivia.

Throughout the concert I was intrigued by her music director, Andy Timmons. He looked vaguely familiar to me but I couldn’t place where I’d seem him before. It wasn’t until after the concert when I googled his name that things started to fall into place. It turns out the reason I found his face so familiar is that he was once in the pop metal band,Danger Danger. Who would have ever thought that someone could go from Danger Danger to Olivia?

As expected the crowd was a little less gray haired than usual. One concert goer that particularly stood out in my mind was this guy who seemed to have brought his grandmother or maybe his grandmother brought him. He looked to be in his early 30’s. He had long hair black hair and wore a black heavy metal style t-shirt. He seemed more into the concert than she. He was leaning into the balcony watching Olivia’s every move. He looked simply mesmerized by her. I had never seen a more enraptured concert goer in my life. It looked as though there was a 50-50 chance he might leap from the balcony and shout, “I want you Olivia!”

Another difference I saw was in the way the concert goers were dressed. A portion of the crowd were casually dressed in jeans and t-shirts. I, myself for the concert, wore black slacks and my long sleeve denim shirt with the black shoes I recently found. The reason I don’t wear jeans to the Meyerhoff is because I promised my father many years ago that I would always dress up a little when I go over there.

I hope I’m not giving you the impression that the Meyerhoff become wall to wall with young people. There was still quiet a bit of the usual senior citizen crowd, after all, they’re subscribers like me.

I’m not sure if the old man I sat next to was a subscribers or not. He came with a plump elderly lady. From the conversation he was having with the lady they seemed to be on a date. I’m not sure if this is the same old guy I sat next to last month when I saw the BSO perform, The Phantom of the Opera. The symphony played the background music while the original 1925 silent picture ran. At that show he was with a different woman, that is, if it’s the same old man. If so, he is a geriatric player!

WHAT I’M WEARING: This morning I have on a green turtleneck with blue jeans and ratty old tennis Payless shoes.

peop1a, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

Today, both lenses are intact on my glasses therefore I was on time. This time the #20 was being driven not by the stern looking woman but by a man I’d never seen before. The female bus driver was also aboard. For the first time I noticed that she has to pay bus fare. I suppose it’s a reduced rate...

The light rail train was on time. It’s being driven by the gray haired man. The baby is also aboard the train. It’s sound asleep inside it’s stroller.

OLIVIA NEWTON JOHN CONCERT TONIGHT!!! I will be going to the Olivia Newton John concert at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall later this evening. This I know is the one event at the Meyerhoff where I will hopefully not be the only person there under 70. This was the one concert in my whole symphony subscription this year that I truly cared about seeing.

I don’t know why but I really like Olivia Newton John. She seems like a truly, genuinely, adorably, sweet person.

I know it’s weird. Here I am this black girl from the hood who’s into Olivia.

However, I have to admit that I’m more partial to late 70’s into the 80’s Olivia. I really don’t get that much into early 70’s country music Olivia.

WHAT I’M WEARING:Today, I have on a print long sleeve mock turtleneck, blue jeans, and black canvas sneakers. I plan on changing into something a little more sophisticated for the concert.

AUSTJBLW, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

This morning the right lens fell out of my glasses while standing at the bus stop. I had to search around by street lamp to find it. This resulted in me missing my usual bus.

I wasn’t about to go to work with just one lens in my glasses. I need to see when I’m at work. The tricky part was screwing the frame back in place.

I hope it doesn’t fall out again. I’m blind without them. All right, not literally blind, but squinty eyed blind.

Overall, I think I’ve been late an abnormally large amount of time this week.

MORE ELECTION NEWS: Jon Lieberman, the fill in for Lopez on 98 Rock reported about the big to do in Ohio. Again, he discredited it. If you’re going to discredit something why keep reporting on it? This was of course the news about Bev Harris’ recount efforts in Ohio.

WHAT I’M WEARING: Today, I’m wearing a dark blue long sleeve mock turtleneck pullover with blue jeans and black canvas tennis shoes.

The bus was on time. I got on the #20 which was driven by the stern looking woman. Her fellow female driver got on board right after me. It appears that she likes to park her regular car across from the stop and then get on board the bus. From their conversation I learned that the other woman drives the #3 bus and that the stern looking woman gets off work at 3 in the afternoon.

On the bus I saw a lot of the people who were late along with me yesterday who today will be on time. I still wonder what happened to delay the two buses yesterday.

The light rail train is being driven by the gray haired man. When I got on the train there was the strong odor of nail polish. It could mean only thing, the makeup monster was aboard. Just as I got on she was closing up the bottle of her nail polish. Luckily, she gets off at the very next stop. Is it really necessary to polish your nails daily?

MAN HELD FOR 27 YEARS: A Baltimore man who was in jail for 27 years for a crime he did not commit may receive compensation of over 1 million dollars. This is something that I have mixed feelings about.

On one hand I feel upset that he was in jail for that long for a crime he had nothing to do with. On the other I hand I’m thinking, that Lucky Bastard!

WHAT I’M WEARING: Today, I have on a long sleeve olive green mock turtleneck pullover along with blue jeans and beige Muppet shoes.

9964_14a, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

Today, both buses were late, the #2 and 20. I suppose maybe there was some kind of an early morning traffic incident or the division that they run from, the Bush Division, had a morning meeting or something.

How do I know the division name that some of the buses run out of? That’s easy. The woman who runs the Bush Division for some odd reason has small posters up of herself on some of the buses that she runs, along with a contact number. This I feel was very ballsy of her.

To the best of my knowledge no other bus division head in Baltimore has ever dared to put there mugs up on the buses that they run along with a contact number.

Anyway, to make a long story short I was late today. I left out for work at my usual time but the buses made me late. Oh, well those are the breaks, kid.....

WILL RALPH NADER SAVE DEMOCRACY? Recently, former presidential candidate Ralph Nader filed for a recount of New Hampshire. He did this not because he felt that he had won the state but to check on allegations of voter fraud.

New Hampshire is being used as a test case for voter fraud. It’s perfect because it is a state that went to Kerry so it is unlikely that after a recount the state would flip in favor of Bush. This news story has gotten next to no coverage in the main stream media. Media critic Bob Somerby, of the Daily Howler website has it right. People in the media are basically idiots and do not like to think very hard. They are spoon fed facts as opposed to investigating them on their own. The most they’ll probably do is visit factcheck.org

WHAT I’M WEARING: Today, I have on a v-neck lavender top with a t-shirt underneath along with blue jeans and black canvas tennis shoes.

I caught the #1 bus this morning. Curiously, for the first time that I can recall I did not see the man with the two small children. However, the young couple with the baby in the stroller was on and got off at their usual stop. The baby started crying when they got near the stop. I suppose he knew that they were about to drop him off.

Even though the bus got me to the light rail station on time. I still decided to run down the street for the heck of it. It was a nice little work out.

OF CELEBRITY DEATHS AND ILLNESSES...: I learned over the weekend that ODB died. I have to admit that I do not know a single song that he does. However, I did like hearing about his various exploits over the years.

The Heart Attack Man, Dick Cheney was in the hospital over the hospital. He complained of shortness of breath after returning from a hunting trip in South Dakota. According to his wife Lynn Cheney the doctor’s found that he was suffering from a bad cold.

One thing I have to say about this is that I worry greatly about who would be running the country if something happened to Cheney. I’m afraid of what the chimp would do to this country if he were left to fly solo.

Another illness slightly improved, 98 Rock, newsman Lopez sounds great this morning. Last week when he returned to work after suffering a seizure on election day he sounded a lot like channel 13’s weatherman, Bob Turk. To give you a clearer picture, Lopez, was sounding like a male version of Marlee Matlin.

All in all it’s nice to hear him sounding like his old self again. However, I do not understand why Jon Lieberman is still there doing the news while Lopez is left covering the weather. This is an absolute disgrace!

However, it’s nice to see that Lieberman has not crawled under a rock and died. In case you do not know Jon Lieberman was the former Sinclair Broadcasting Washington Bureau Chief who was fired because he disagreed with the company’s plan to air the anti-John Kerry propaganda piece. In my opinion he’s a great guy, someone to be admired. I just wish that the circumstances that brought him back to the airwaves were different.....

WHAT I’M WEARING TODAY: I have on a periwinkle blue long sleeve pullover with blue jeans and my traditional beige Muppet shoes.

background, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

It was very frigid yesterday. Despite the cold weather I managed to complete two of my goals, do grocery shopping and the laundry. I did my grocery shopping at Lexington Market. I like to go there because everything there is cheap. One day I would like to go the Whole Food Markets. I see a lot of bags from that store. I wonder what they sell there. I wonder if it’s a regular supermarket or a place for the well to do to shop. I also see a lot people get on at the Mount Washington stop of the light rail with bags from that store. I suppose they must have a store somewhere near by. One day I’ll figure out where they are and see for myself if it is a place for people who live on a budget to shop.

LAUNDROMAT:When I got to the laundromat it was a little after 4PM. The first time I went there it was evening. I had no problems with any of the machines I picked. It was clear sailing. I even washed and dried the winter coat I had on. The only time I believe in using the dryer is if I have comforters, sheets, pillows, or coats to dry. You, know big ticket heavy items. I especially had to dry the coat because I had to put it back on.

While there there was this little boy who looked about 5 or 6 who kept running wildly throughout the laundromat. He was deeply in need of Ritalin. His mother did nothing to control his behavior. She just let him run wild. I began to get a headache. The headache went away when they left.....

WHAT I’M WEARING: Right now I’m wearing a lavender flannel long sleeved night shirt with lavender terry cloth slippers.