GJ Willis' Art Notes

Today, I’m going in to work so that I can make extra money for Christmas. As usual I have no idea how buses run on Saturdays. So today it’s pretty much catch as catch can.

THE SATURDAY MORNING SHOWDOWN: On the walk towards the light rail station this morning I saw a whole gang of neatly dressed people carrying what appeared to be pamphlets. They were all clad in long black woolen coats with leather bags across their shoulders. In an instant I knew what was contained in their leather bags. I knew who they were.... It was gang of bible thumpers cruising the early morning streets for souls to convert.

As I was walking down the street one of them broke away and started walking directly towards me, Watch Tower in hand. I didn’t know what to do. So in a panic I shrieked and ran off. I was surprised that they didn’t pursue chase.

This has got to be, bar none, the most outlandish thing I’ve ever done to avoid contact with a Jehova’s Witness. I still can’t believe I did that!! I actually let out a yelp and ran down the still dark early morning streets of Baltimore!! Needless to say I was laughing my head off afterwards. I admit that this was the most childish and immature thing I’ve done in years, and you know what? DAMN, IT FELT GOOD!!

WHAT I’M WEARING: Today, I’m wearing an olive green sweatshirt with blue jeans and ratty Payless tennis shoes. Since it’s 42 degrees outside I’m wearing a mock turtleneck underneath the sweatshirt.

I took a cab down to the light rail station because I got fed up waiting for the substitute buses. As the cab drove down the street I saw a lot of the people that I normally catch the bus with walking down the street. I wanted to offer them all ride. However, I think that would have been a bit too much for the driver to handle. In total it was about six to seven people I saw walking down the street at various points.

STAR WARS PREVIEW:Yesterday, I watched the teaser trailer to the upcoming Star Wars movie,
Episode III, Revenge of the Sith. It was awesome. Right now, I’m psyched to see the movie. I hope that my optimism does not fade away by the time reviews come out....

I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that perhaps this time Lucas gets it right.....

WHAT I’M WEARING: Today, I have on a purple mock turtleneck with lavender and tan leaf designs on it. I’m wearing it with stone washed jeans and beige canvas shoes aka the Muppet shoes.

rather, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

It’s drizzling lightly outside. I’m starting to feel deeply distressed. It looks like today will be the third day in a row that I’m late for work. I left out for work on time and everything. I know that this can all be attributed to the fact that the majority of the regular bus drivers have opted to take the week off and have left their routes to fill in drivers.

I hope that the regular bus drivers return next week. I also hope that Brian, my supervisor, doesn’t call me aside to tell me that I’ve been late a lot these past two weeks.

It seems as though even when I try to leave out early something happens to detour me (missing ID work badge, glasses popping out of eyeglass frame). I feel confident that next week things will be better. If not I guess I’ll have to get used to the idiosyncrasies of the new drivers.

OH NO, THEY RETIRED KENNY!:( I’m deeply saddened to hear that long time CBS anchorman Dan Rather will be stepping down from his evening news post. He was a true original. I loved hearing all those bizarre Texas sayings he would use during election nights like: “This race is hotter than a Times Square Rolex.” I found a website that lists many of the unusual sayings that were uttered by Rather.

The other thing that I will remember most about Rather was the very odd incident that happened to him back in 1986. He was physically attacked by a man who kept calling out, “Kenneth, what’s the frequency?”. This incident was the inspiration for the song title of a really cool REM song, What’s the Frequency Kenneth.

Personally, I don’t feel that he is retiring from the news desk of his own free will. I feel that this is a direct result of the report he did a couple of months ago on Bush aka chimp’s time in the National Guard during the Vietnam war.

I guess I shouldn't be too sad because Rather will still be a 60 Minutes correspondent. Thus, Rather’s existence will not be completely erased from the US air waves.... The again maybe I should feel sad his replacement in rumored to be Toronto born, John Roberts. If Roberts gets the job that would means that two Canadians will be anchoring the US news. The other Canadian is of course ABC News’ Peter Jennings.

WHAT I’M WEARING: Today, I have on stone washed jeans, a periwinkle or cornflower blue colored long sleeve pullover along with my old reliable beige Muppet shoes aka beige canvas tennis shoes.

Just as I was heading out the door nice and early so that I wouldn’t miss the bus I noticed that my work ID badge was missing. The cord was there but the badge was missing. I had to go and quickly backtrack my steps. I still could not find it. For the second day in a row it looks like I’m going to be late. The majority of the bus drivers I see are substitutes. The buses are all running later than there usual schedules. Maybe, I’ll leave out fifteen minutes earlier tomorrow and pray that no mishaps happen.

I’m not sure if I’ve written about this before but I’m not a very good cook. The only things I’m good at cooking are basic things like spaghetti, which I eat a lot of, and soy meat products. Soy has the advantage of not being real meat so it’s nearly impossible to under cook it.

ADVENTURES IN BAKING:Instead of coming over my father’s house for Thanksgiving to eat I got the bright idea to bring a dish along with me. I decided on a pumpkin pie. So yesterday I bought pumpkin filling, a pie crust and all the ingredients that it says to include on the back of a Libby’s can of pumpkin filling. I mixed the ingredients according to the instructions. I got the correct 9 inch pie shell. However, nowhere on the packaging did it say it could hold 4 cups of pie filling like the Libby’s can suggested. So that point was kind of iffy.

I made the pie filling according to the directions on the can of pumpkin filling. I preheated the oven at 450 for 15 minutes as directed. I poured the pie filling into the shell then it began to slosh onto the floor of the oven. My first thought was “Oh, No! How am I going to clean that up?!”!” The oven was already hot from preheating. I thought at the time that the best thing to do was to wait until the pie was done. I didn’t want to risk getting second or third degree burns cleaning up a hot oven.

An hour after the pie was out of the oven I cleaned the dark hardened substance off the oven floor with a spatula and put a box of arm and hammer inside the oven to absorb the burnt smell that permeated throughout my apartment and apparently the entire the building.

The reason why I found out that everyone in the building could smell the burnt pumpkin filling was because the woman who lives upstairs knocked on my door. At first I wasn’t quiet sure if I was hearing knocks because she was tapping ever so lightly. Then I heard talking outside the door. When I heard talking I knew that I should investigate. It turned out she was at the door with the person she shares her apartment with. I’m not sure if he’s her husband or boyfriend....

Anyway, she told me that she was worried that someone might have fallen asleep with something burning. I tend to live under ambient lighting. Bright lights tend to hurt my eyes. So I could see how she could get the impression that I was asleep because it was dark to her eyes. I explained to the best of my ability what had happened then they both went back upstairs.

A couple of years ago when she first moved in the apartment she went around knocking on every ones door because she smelled gas and was worried. I wonder if something bad happened in her past involving fire....

WHAT I’M WEARING: Today I have on a sage green v-neck pullover with a white t-shirt peeking underneath along with stone washed jeans and beige canvas tennis shoes.

I got to the bus stop ten minutes early. This did me no good. The bus was still late. I suppose all this week I’ll have to contend with substitute drivers who arrive according to their own personal schedules.

I hate being late especially when I make the extra effort to leave out early. The light rail train I got on has the light rail baby on board. It’s very feisty this morning.

WHAT I’M WEARING: Today, I have one a dark purple henley, blue jeans, and black canvas tennis shoes.

Yesterday, I went to Center Stage to see, The Price, by Arthur Miller. This was the first show I’ve seen this season. I missed Lady Windemere’s Fan which opened up the season.

This season it looks like I will be sitting again next to the elderly black lady with the oxygen tank. This time I found from the conversation she was having with another elderly lady in the row in front of us that her niece left college but decided to return and go to pharmacy school.

THE PRICE by Arthur Miller

The production was directed by Will Frears

Jeff Allin........Victor Franz

Maryann Urbano....Esther Franz

Howard Witt.......Gregory Solomon

Kevin O’Rourke....Walter Franz

Overall, I liked the show a lot. I found it to be very thought provoking. I was surprised to learn after seeing the show that the director of the show is the son of British film director Stephen Frears.

The Price was about two grown brothers who meet for the first time in 16 years after their father died. They meet to divide up their inheritance, which is the old furniture that was contained in their childhood home. They have to do this because the building they lived in is about to be demolished.

One brother sacrificed his own future to support their ruined father, while the other pursued a hollow success as a doctor. In the company of a wise-cracking old junk dealer, self delusion grows into self knowledge. In The Price Arthur Miller challenges our ideas of success and investigates whether, without moral foundation, any gain can guarantee happiness.

In my opinion the best standout performance was that of Howard Witt as Gregory Solomon the furniture appraiser. As Solomon the 90 year old furniture dealer, Witt finds himself in the middle of an uneasy family reunion between two brothers. His unease brought much needed wit and wisdom to the play. He seemed to make all the scenes he was in sparkle and shimmer with life.

Kevin O’Rourke who played Walter Franz, the pompous yet well intentioned brother was also quiet good. His character brought a deeper meaning to the play. At first you feel contempt for Walter abandoning his destitute and ailing father. Walter appears to be a cold blooded reptile of a man. Later you learn that things are not necessarily as they appear to be. Oddly, you end up feeling sympathetic towards his character.

Jeff Allin and Maryann Urbano both gave adequate performances. Of the two Allin gave the better performance as Victor the anchor and protagonist of the play. Urbano seemed to only occasionally be on stage.

Scenic designer Alexander Dodge did a very interesting thing with the set. It appeared to consist of a background piled high with furniture. This was a good way of conveying that the family lived stowed away in an attic with all their worldly possessions around them.

WHAT I’M WEARING: Right now I’m wearing a long sleep shirt that has a picture of a cartoon dog on it. The caption on it reads, “Dog gone tired”. I’m wearing this with blue fuzzy slippers.