As Promised.

So we saw King Kong last night. Peter Jackson did a fantastic job of special effects and mind-blowing angles. There was some humor in the movie, which I did not expect, but it’s there. It’s very dry and subtle, and I doubt most of the children who saw the movie last night even caught it. I liked it, though.
What I also didn’t expect was to feel so much. It’s not just an action-packed special-effects extravaganza. In fact, the movie is three hours long, and the first two don’t even take place on Kong’s island! I don’t know what it was. Maybe it’s my inherent empathy for animals, but I was really sympathetic. It was to the point I was holding back tears! Jeez, who would expect that? Anyway, I liked the movie. I think Jackson did a great job of showing the love story beneath the freak-show. (Yes, love story.)
On another topic, I was doing a little studio cleaning yesterday and decided I needed to go through my last year and a half of magazines and cut out recipes, gardening articles and any pages that could be used for art projects. Needless to say, that took up almost my entire afternoon. I still only have about half of it done. What I wanted to share was a piece of an article I found about human connection.
As artists, we have a tendency towards solitude. (As an extrovert, I have double the need, as I can become so drained being around people. Being alone allows me to recharge my batteries, so to speak. Oh, the article!) Yes, there’s a section in it talking about how some people have a tendency towards being alone. (I vant to be alooone…haha! Oh, sorry.) There’s been recent studies showing that it all depends on innate temperament (the shy or introverted idea), and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, British psychiatrist Anthony Storr pointed out that creativity is often linked to seclusion. Beatrix Potter, Franz Kafka, Henry James, Beethoven- all were loners.
That makes me feel better, to know there’s that same tendency among artists. What the article also points out is that you can become too cloistered in your home, and everyone needs to make an effort to get out. Sometimes just making the effort to meet a friend for lunch can help improve your mood. So, take some time out, meet a friend, walk to the park. Enjoy the crisp weather outside!
Now, I have to get back to my magazines. I know, I see the irony there.