"Keeping an Eye Open: Essays on Art" by Julian Barnes

As an art enthusiast, I figured that this book would be right up my alley. Barnes is a rather well-known novelist who has written about art and artists for a while. This is a collection of his essays on the subject.

To be honest, I felt as though the quality of these essays was rather variable. I quite liked the first one, but it's fundamentally different from all of the other essays in the collection. The first one is a deep dive into the circumstances surrounding a particular painting, while the others are typically essays about a painter's general life and work. I can't help but wish he had the increased focus of the first essay on a single painting instead of the broader focus which often feels like too much in the other chapters. Similarly, I liked his essay on "So is it art?" towards the end, but again, it stands alone in this book.

On a related note, I'm not sure what the order was of these essays. I would have ended with "So is it art?" but that essay is followed by two more chapters on specific artists. My best guess is chronological by the artist he's talking about, but then the more meta essay is just thrown in at random. Possibly it's chronological based on when he wrote the essays, but that just seems so insufficient for a work that is focused on art rather than collecting all of Barnes' essays. Either way, I don't understand the order, for the most part it flows alright but I have no idea what the overall structure is.

My biggest problem though with this book is that it has this annoying tendency to allude to all of these fancy painters and pictures, but doesn't show examples of half of them! This leads to either pulling out a phone and Googling every other sentence or just accepting that the example goes over your head and moving on. Books about art need to show art as well, just describing it is hardly enough. And even if I was familiar with the painting being referenced, the work would still benefit from giving an example right there, next to the text.

I'm being rather harsh though, Barnes has a number of interesting insights into the lives of the painters he writes about, and how their work affected the world around them. I quite liked the chapters on Manet, Degas, and Hodgkin in particular. But I do wish that I went into this book knowing a little more about what to expect and what I would be getting out of it.

This Is Beautiful: The Online Ace Community

Seriously, the online asexual community has proven itself to be a safe haven for me so many times. Partially this is because I'm ace, for sure, so having this supportive community was excellent while I was coming out and answering any questions that I had. But it's also just a very supportive community in general.

This is a group of people who are continually told lots of really hurtful things by others, including people in the wider LGBTQ+ community, and they make it their mission to build each other up instead of tearing each other down. As a result, regardless of the issue, it's a very supportive, loving group of people.

Happy pride month! I hope you feel supported and loved because you are worthy of all that and so much more.

Variations on a Theme: My Favorite Songs

The playlist to end all playlists!

1. “Emoticons” by The Wombats

I love this song, it’s the opening track from their third album, “Glitterbug.” It’s so catchy and melodic, I could listen to it all day!

2. “What A Catch, Donnie” by Fall Out Boy

Taking things down a little here, this is a song that really goes on a journey. It starts off slow but slowly builds and builds into this insane number. You just have to listen to it to really understand what I mean.

3. “Reckless Serenade” by the Arctic Monkeys

Another favorite band of mine, off of my favorite album of theirs, “Suck it And See.” I’ve always been into slow songs by the Arctic Monkeys, and less the faster single-like songs. This is classic, angsty them with plenty of emotion and elegant guitar riffs.

4. “Starman” by David Bowie

This playlist would not be complete without our man Bowie. I was first introduced to his music through this song/album and have been hooked ever since. It’s a gorgeous song, one that never quite seems to age, only grow more timeless.

5. “The Asphalt Jungle” by Duke Ellington

I first found this tune through a youth jazz group I was in, funnily enough. We performed an arrangement of it and I’ve been hooked since. It’s a very catchy melody, heightened by Ellington clapping along with the beat. Originally I believe it was for a tv show called “The Asphalt Jungle” but I have yet to find a clip or anything of it so I don’t know much about it’s plot.

6. “Oh Love” by Green Day

This song was everywhere for like a month and now I never hear it. It’s such a good song though, very catchy melody. It doesn’t really sound like typical Green Day, much more lyrical and less angry, but I think it’s A+.

7. “In the Stone” by Earth, Wind, & Fire

One of my favorite Earth, Wind, & Fire songs. Also have heard a couple decent jazz band arrangements of it. The rhythms in it are so good, very danceable. Definitely deserves more attention than it gets.

8. “Somebody to Love” by Queen

Queen is one of my favorite bands and this is definitely one of my favorite songs by them. It really doesn’t get much better than this.

9. “Give Me Love” by Ed Sheeran

This is the closing song off of Sheeran’s first album, and I just think it’s so good. It’s fun to yell and is a great note to end an album on. The fact that there’s a lil bonus song thrown in is just icing on the cake.

10. “All You Need is Love” by the Beatles

Yeah, can’t forget my favorite band and my favorite song on this list. And that’s just the way I want to end my last playlist.

Thanks for listening, I’ve had fun with this experiment. 😊

“Daring Greatly” by Brene Brown

Another book that was recommended to me by my counselor. This is a book about vulnerability and how to try and overcome your worries to live a full life. Brown has spent her life researching shame and vulnerability, and her advice is very sound and thorough.

I will say that she can get repetitive at times, you read over and over again how we need to accept our vulnerability and walk right into it instead of avoiding it, but her tone is always wonderful and very readable. It feels like a note from a friend rather than advice from a researcher. It is evident that she is also someone who struggles with vulnerability and with turning her advice into reality, as the many anecdotes in the book attest. And that just makes her more believable and relatable as a person.

If you are interested, but aren’t sold yet, she does have a great TED talk (and several others) on the subject. This was what drew me to her work initially, so I would highly recommend checking it out!

This Is Beautiful: Good Food

You ever just buy yourself a nice meal and sit there appreciating it like "dang that's a nice looking burger I'm about to put into my mouth"? I feel like we need to do this more often, so much of the work week I'm just stuffing a sandwich into my face between tasks. Need to slow down and appreciate the food I'm eating, as well as just eating nice food instead of the mediocre pb&j I made 10 minutes before leaving.

Food is nourishment, and we should treat it as an important part of our day. Good food is important, and I'm going to try and recognize its beauty more often.

"Leave a Cheater, Gain a Life" by Tracy Schorn

Speaking as a recent chump (aka someone who has been cheated on) I thought this book was exactly what I needed. Every chapter is like a mini pep talk or slap of sense in the face. I wish that I found it sooner.

Schorn divorced a serial cheater years ago, and since then has realized that most sources about infidelity focus on the cheater's needs or have a huge emphasis on reconciliation. Nothing mirrored her history where leaving a cheater was the best choice she's ever made. So she created her blog (chumplady.com) and ended up writing this book as a resource for chumps.

It's one heck of a resource, the chapters cover everything from the initial reaction to stupid things cheaters say to stupid things friends can say. The tone is light, as though a knowledgable friend were talking to you, and quirky cartoons adorn several of the pages. It really lifts your spirits, and adds some humor to an otherwise depressing situation.

Honestly can't recommend it enough, I'm so glad that I only picked one self-help book and that it was this one. World needs more people like Shorn who are trying to get others through challenges that they have already overcome.

This Is Beautiful: Tattoos

I got my first tattoo this past weekend. It was totally unlike any experience that I've had before. I always thought the idea of tattoos were really cool. Here's this body that I didn't exactly sign up for, now I'm going to turn it into a piece of art. So tattoos themselves I think are gorgeous.

But also the experience of getting one has been beautiful. My tattoo artist was saying how when you get a tattoo you are in an inherently vulnerable position, laying there while someone sticks something that means a lot to you into your skin. And the pain is very different from anything else as well. It didn't actually hurt as much as I thought it would. And since mine is on my left ribs, feeling when he was going over a bone or not was a really cool experience.

I'm thrilled that I got a tattoo, between the art now on my body and just the whole experience in general, I'm very happy with it. Definitely something to try if you have been thinking about it or just want to do it!