Lots of Christmas carols refer to the first Christmas as somehow being quiet. There is "Silent Night, Holy Night, all is calm...." There is "O Little Town of Bethlehem, how still we see the lie...How silently, how silently the holy gift is given..." And, there are others. No doubt inspired by some late night stroll in a snow covered small town, sometime in December.
However, it is obvious that none of these people were ever present at a real birth. It is noisy as "H", "E" double hockey sticks. After Mom screams or groans or cusses (as I did) for several hours, then the baby takes over, making more racket than you would ever think a 7 pound person could generate. On top of that, at least in my case, the nurses were shouting at me and at each other because my son's birth did not go as they had anticipated.
Silent Night? You must be kidding!
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Friday, December 7, 2012
Art?
The college where I work has a great theater program, and I try to catch all of their productions. Last night I saw a very thought-provoking play called The Shape of Things.
It starts slowly, with two college students, Adam and Evelyn, meeting each other and starting to date. The play, up until the very last scene, is actually kind of boring - just typical dating angst. The only non-typical aspect is that Evelyn is very manipulative of Adam. At first, it's minor stuff - suggesting he cut his hair differently, then she moves on to more and more manipulatiion, designed to improve his appearance. The last thing is she actually persuades him to have plastic surgery on his nose, which he doesn't really need and cannot afford. Evelyn is an art major, and makes vague references throughout the play to a big art project she is working on, but she is never specific.
Then, in the last scene, we find out that Adam IS Evelyn's art project. She has re-made his appearance just as a sculptor would carve an image out of marble. Her art project presentation includes several "artifacts" of their relationship, including video tapes of their love making. The whole thing was an act, and we find out that very little of what she told Adam was true. Adam, on the other hand, is madly in love, and has presented her with an engagement ring. In her public presentation of her "art project" she rejects his proposal.
Evelyn makes it very clear that the whole thing with Adam was for art's sake alone. Art is her highest good. She doesn't understand why Adam is devastated. She sees everything she has done as something that has helped Adam.
I guess there is a fine line between artist and sociopath.
It starts slowly, with two college students, Adam and Evelyn, meeting each other and starting to date. The play, up until the very last scene, is actually kind of boring - just typical dating angst. The only non-typical aspect is that Evelyn is very manipulative of Adam. At first, it's minor stuff - suggesting he cut his hair differently, then she moves on to more and more manipulatiion, designed to improve his appearance. The last thing is she actually persuades him to have plastic surgery on his nose, which he doesn't really need and cannot afford. Evelyn is an art major, and makes vague references throughout the play to a big art project she is working on, but she is never specific.
Then, in the last scene, we find out that Adam IS Evelyn's art project. She has re-made his appearance just as a sculptor would carve an image out of marble. Her art project presentation includes several "artifacts" of their relationship, including video tapes of their love making. The whole thing was an act, and we find out that very little of what she told Adam was true. Adam, on the other hand, is madly in love, and has presented her with an engagement ring. In her public presentation of her "art project" she rejects his proposal.
Evelyn makes it very clear that the whole thing with Adam was for art's sake alone. Art is her highest good. She doesn't understand why Adam is devastated. She sees everything she has done as something that has helped Adam.
I guess there is a fine line between artist and sociopath.
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