Bunnies & Rain
I was really happy the morning I painted these paintings, because it was one of those sunny mornings where the sun shines through the window real nice and there's a pleasant fragmentation of light. Bright in some places on the wall, a little more subdued in others. And later it became super gloomy all of a sudden and began to rain really hard against the window. I thought that it was perfect weather. A beautiful, sunny morning, and then calm rain all afternoon. It made me feel so happy, and I spent a good while painting. It was so nice.
I used some black, red, and yellow paint and I just thought I'd make some lumpy little friends and not think too much about it. I had started fairly early, and you know sometimes doing something creative and a little bit energetic early in the day just makes me feel so good and makes the whole day feel really good. Although I guess I also talked to a couple of friends and had a good lunch, which combined with the weather probably did a lot to make it a great day too.
I always do a lot of stuff without thinking too much or planning ahead too much, but I love to think about... thinking. I mean, I find that I get things done and feel accomplished often when I just go ahead and start doing something without making up my mind about the specifics of it. I like to be spontaneous with a lot of things and I find it helps me to be creative when I just start something and let it sort of happen without knowing exactly what's happening. However I also really like to organise ideas and keep lists, and stuff like that, so it's interesting to think about how combinations of being organised/utilising planning and acting spontaneously can be used to best effect.
I really like thinking lately about how I might be able to better organise myself or plan things. I have particular ways of keeping notes, memos, or lists - which I like to do a lot. Recently I've been making to-do lists every morning, because being able to cross things off a list later in the day helps me to feel a bit more focused and accomplished, but also reminds me of what I've done throughout the day. I definitely have a habit of forgetting what I've done in a day, so it's handy to be able to itemise things in a way, and it helps me to better prioritise also. I always keep lists, but shifting their format in small ways can be really invigorating. But then, I'm a passionate list fan and cannot be stopped.
The point is, it was such a relaxing day of painting. It made me remember why it is I love painting enough to do it on an often near-daily basis. I'm lucky to have all these weird little bunnies, and every day I'm gonna write "make bunnies" on a sticky note shaped like a piece of toast, and later I'm gonna cross it off, and that's the best.
Also, I hope it rains again. The rain fuels me.
Miscellaneous Nice Things
I'm gonna talk about a bunch of miscellaneous things in this post since I'm currently listening to David Byrne's 2018 album American Utopia, which rules and is kinda helping all of my thoughts to pull together right now. So I guess the first thing I'll talk about is this album. It's so interesting. It feels like it's sort of twisting around a lot but it's full of really satisfying moments and lines and funky stuff. It's one of those perfect constructions to me, one of those albums that feels like scattered confetti mid-fall, just a perfect moment of time captured. In motion. I don't know, I really like it.
Secondly, here's this picture of Rick Moranis. It's from a Little Shop of Horrors screenshot I used recently in a post about songs from musicals that I like, but it makes me happy. Look at the flowers. Very nice. Very good. It makes me want to make some kind of aesthetic mood board. But I won't. I'll just put it right here and we can enjoy it, and we can gaze lovingly at Rick Moranis. That's what feels right.
Next, please allow me to draw your attention to this perfect and beautiful fluff dog. This is funwarinecolon, a San-X character. I love the cute, fluffy, washed out style of the illustrations, and you can find a bunch of them on the ふんわりねころん Twitter account. My heart... I can't stand it. Why must I be so susceptible to Sanrio/San-X's charms? I am powerless against them. I also have recently become very interested in Corocoro Coronya - a cat who likes to be inside bread. Please, I love these characters so much. Please save me.
Also, here's me:
Yeah, that's me. There I am.
That's all for now.
Dogs
Oh, what's this? Just some dogs, nothing to see here. Only dogs. Sometimes there are just dogs. Sometimes that's how it is. This is one of those times. The dog times.
Yeah, there are a lot of dogs. They're just here. Being dogs. Look at them go! They sure are dogs.
The traditional dog hymn detailed in the above picture must be performed to the same melody as the chorus of the holy song 'Sexbomb' by Tom Jones. What a beautiful, reverent tune.
Dog culture is truly a rich and wonderful thing. Many delights are to be found in the vastness of dog customs. Thank you, dogs. You have shown us so much. We will be forever grateful.
Why is Addams Family Values So Great?
When Addams Family Values is on, the world is different. Everything is right. It's one of those movies that just kinda seeps into me and seems to represent everything I like and care about at once in some spooky, sarcastic, silly, and sentimental way. Stripes, and goofy stuff, only the most mirthful romance, and Carol Kane grinning. All of my favourite things, all of the time.
I love the Gomez and Morticia dynamic and the way the movie mirrors this somewhat with Wednesday and the boy she meets at camp (especially at the end when he turns up with a drawn on Gomez-style moustache). Most things even resembling child romance plots make me feel a bit weird for various reasons, but growing up I always liked the whole thing they had here. The way Wednesday is extremely stoic about it despite clearly reciprocating, the way they speak with a child's version of the over the top drama and intensity of Wednesday's parents, and also just the level of awe and camaraderie shown that actually feels real in a way that I think is pretty hard to get right. I always watched those scenes and felt somehow understood in a particular way.
I also love Debbie so much. She's a great villain and of course Joan Cusack is amazing and I seem to always find her performances really affecting. I always remember the scene in School of Rock where she talks about how much she loves Stevie Nicks. For some reason it just really stuck with me. And in this movie she gets to be this incredible powder pink murderer, perfectly smug and powerful and fabulous, but with the just the right ridiculousness as well. I really would love to dress up as her and get one of her outfits perfectly matched. The dream.
It's just such a great move. It's the greatest. I just watched it, but I want to watch it again already. Please bring snacks to my house and watch it with me immediately. Thanks.
I love the Gomez and Morticia dynamic and the way the movie mirrors this somewhat with Wednesday and the boy she meets at camp (especially at the end when he turns up with a drawn on Gomez-style moustache). Most things even resembling child romance plots make me feel a bit weird for various reasons, but growing up I always liked the whole thing they had here. The way Wednesday is extremely stoic about it despite clearly reciprocating, the way they speak with a child's version of the over the top drama and intensity of Wednesday's parents, and also just the level of awe and camaraderie shown that actually feels real in a way that I think is pretty hard to get right. I always watched those scenes and felt somehow understood in a particular way.
I also love Debbie so much. She's a great villain and of course Joan Cusack is amazing and I seem to always find her performances really affecting. I always remember the scene in School of Rock where she talks about how much she loves Stevie Nicks. For some reason it just really stuck with me. And in this movie she gets to be this incredible powder pink murderer, perfectly smug and powerful and fabulous, but with the just the right ridiculousness as well. I really would love to dress up as her and get one of her outfits perfectly matched. The dream.
It's just such a great move. It's the greatest. I just watched it, but I want to watch it again already. Please bring snacks to my house and watch it with me immediately. Thanks.
Journal: Stars, Skies, & Mouths
It seems like I've been preoccupied with painting wobbly little stars in my journal most recently. I love those little guys. So wobbly. So blobby. So beautiful. The perfect forms. Truly an inspiration to us all.
I also seem to be increasingly drawing characters without mouths, which is kinda fun. They don't need them! They're just here to look at the stars! I like the even more simplified look, although with this little person above I painted more complex eyes, but sometimes that juxtaposition is fun too. Endless options. I like to switch around slightly more complex or realistically depicted features and simplified or absent features. There's so many tiny little variations and I love figuring them out and putting them together.
I also, again, am really liking using these painterly sort of backgrounds where you can see the texture of the brushstrokes and stuff. It's like some kind of abstract sky and gives this nice extra depth, like this could be a world of abstract yellow sky, maybe. You never know what's going on in these little imaginary places. But there are definitely a lot of stars.
My Top 5 Favourite Songs From Musicals
I've been thinking about all of the songs from musicals that I love and I thought it would be fun to compile a list of some of the ones I like best, so here's a list of some of my strong favourites. Will I listen to every song from Little Shop of Horrors after I write this? Quite possibly.
Little Shop of Horrors is perhaps my favourite musical on a conceptual level, just because I love some evil alien plant plot, truly. How could I not? And of course, I love Rick Moranis, and I will never stop loving Rick Moranis. But also, I love the ways it touches on poverty and its downtrodden characters. In this song we're introduced to Skid Row, the miserable setting for our hapless plant feeder, and it is the best.
I love the slow building intro that develops all of a sudden into these incredible, climbing verses. It's the best.
Patti LuPone is the queen of my heart and mind in every moment, but this song is my big favourite from Evita. I live for the declaration "I need to be thrilling" and the chanting backing vocals create a wonderfully sinister theatrical feel. Like you're performing a ritual. And really, she is.
Everyone knows The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and that has some great songs (how can I be expected to resist Meatloaf? I can't), but I have a huge soft spot for this title song from the follow up musical, Shock Treatment. The way Richard O'Brien barks his lines out like he is constantly on the verge of descending into the basement of a haunted house is a delight and a pleasure, and the chorus rocks.
This is easily one of my favourite Disney movies based on the soundtrack alone. There is a perfect mix of goofiness (Bette Midler's song about the trials and tribulations of being a very beautiful dog, for example) and some stuff that will make me cry. This song is one of the things that will make me cry. It opens the movie, it sets the tone really well, and my tear ducts are instantly activated when Huey Lewis sings "keep your dream alive". Good.
This song is the only one on this list from a musical I haven't seen, but it doesn't matter because this song is amazing and I had to include it. It's incredibly gentle and melancholy and then the most beautifully rageful despair, howling into the woods. Or at least, that's what I like to imagine. Lea Michele just screaming into the night. It's an incredible expression of angst, and I can't help but feel intensely moved by this song.
1. Skid Row - Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors is perhaps my favourite musical on a conceptual level, just because I love some evil alien plant plot, truly. How could I not? And of course, I love Rick Moranis, and I will never stop loving Rick Moranis. But also, I love the ways it touches on poverty and its downtrodden characters. In this song we're introduced to Skid Row, the miserable setting for our hapless plant feeder, and it is the best.
I love the slow building intro that develops all of a sudden into these incredible, climbing verses. It's the best.
2. Rainbow High - Evita
Patti LuPone is the queen of my heart and mind in every moment, but this song is my big favourite from Evita. I live for the declaration "I need to be thrilling" and the chanting backing vocals create a wonderfully sinister theatrical feel. Like you're performing a ritual. And really, she is.
3. Shock Treatment - Shock Treatment
Everyone knows The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and that has some great songs (how can I be expected to resist Meatloaf? I can't), but I have a huge soft spot for this title song from the follow up musical, Shock Treatment. The way Richard O'Brien barks his lines out like he is constantly on the verge of descending into the basement of a haunted house is a delight and a pleasure, and the chorus rocks.
4. Once Upon a Time in New York City - Oliver & Company
This is easily one of my favourite Disney movies based on the soundtrack alone. There is a perfect mix of goofiness (Bette Midler's song about the trials and tribulations of being a very beautiful dog, for example) and some stuff that will make me cry. This song is one of the things that will make me cry. It opens the movie, it sets the tone really well, and my tear ducts are instantly activated when Huey Lewis sings "keep your dream alive". Good.
5. Mama Who Bore Me - Spring Awakening
This song is the only one on this list from a musical I haven't seen, but it doesn't matter because this song is amazing and I had to include it. It's incredibly gentle and melancholy and then the most beautifully rageful despair, howling into the woods. Or at least, that's what I like to imagine. Lea Michele just screaming into the night. It's an incredible expression of angst, and I can't help but feel intensely moved by this song.
Musicals! They're good and I like them.
Let's Run Away (a tiny poem)
let's run away
into the sky
don't know how to get there
but can't we try?
legs treading air
hands on the stars
let's run away
and make the sky ours
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