Today I had an all day training session for clients and an essay to finish for Open University and I lost £20 somewhere between taking it out and crossing the road. I think I left it in the machine because I was thinking too much. Sadly the locals are mostly feral so the chance of them calling out and letting me know I hadn't removed the cash is as likely as Steven Segal ever becoming a remotely decent actor. (the reference comes from him being on my TV right now and acting shit.)
My print of American Gothic arrived, it is framed and on the wall. I really do like it. I loved how the Iowans were furious at their depiction as "pinched, grim-faced, puritanical Bible-thumpers"*.
I've kind of gone a bit mental with the Arthur Hailey books and have now bought them all even though I've never actually read one. The covers are too appealing. Retro gets me every time. I'll post the collection online when they all arrive. I also found some Acorns and bought a tub of candy floss.
The last few days might have been one thing after another but the essay is complete and submitted and I can now rest in peace. GOODBYE ESSAY! YOU WON'T BE MISSED!
Picture time!
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| Reviving Machine |
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| SUUGGGAARRRR! |
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| ACORNS = AUTUMN! |
I have book club tomorrow and we are discussing 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist'. I hated it. Apparently it's 'amazing, beautifully written, thought-provoking' but I hated the style it was written in. Shit. 3/10. 3 because I liked the cover and it fooled me.
Time for some University Challenge and bed socks.
10-4.
P.S I told you... Fat doesn't mean unfit....
*Iowan ref: Andréa Fernandes. "mental_floss Blog » Iconic America: Grant Wood - Mentalfloss.com.
*Iowan ref: Andréa Fernandes. "mental_floss Blog » Iconic America: Grant Wood - Mentalfloss.com.
I lost twenty bucks today...somewhere between the Kitty Glitter and Sex and the City penny slot machines at Harlow's.
ReplyDeleteThis business about American Gothic, the motivations of the artist and the couples reaction is part of wider phenomenon that started among American "intellectuals" in the mid 20's...and really has carried on to this day.
The US was flush with money in the 20's. Young people were able to travel to Europe for the first time in numbers. When they got there they found all these serious people with really hard ideas...God was dead, the bougie West was done, representative government was over. All they had to do was point to the destruction of the First World War for proof...and when they talked about Fascism they could point to actual Fascists.
The American's came back fired up and ready GO! There was a problem though...America was fat and happy*. No fascists in the street.
Undeterred our tourists pointed to the closed doors of tidy homes and claimed that the head of every middle class family was a fascist. Genius because the lack of evidence was all proof that was necessary.
Tom Wolfe gives a great overview of this in an essay called The Land of Rococo Marxist. It was published in Harpers and included in the collection Hooking Up. You can find it on the nets.
Sorry...you can have your blog back now.
*America meaning not The South...we had only barely come out of post-occupation ourselves...cotton had generated a lot of money during the war years but, we aren't really phony enough to produce "intellectuals" :).
Bartlam, feel free to do this any time. I am highly entertained. I <3 your blog.
DeleteP.S.
ReplyDeleteThe new Dallas is awesome but, Bobby's still insufferable.
Hahahaa, especially at that P.S.... Make me go like WOOHOO! (I am size 16/18 and ever so proud)
ReplyDeletexx
The Young Bridget Jones