Hi, I'm Alison
Jumped on in today because I received a note about current discussions, one of which is Raymond Chandler. I've been a big fan -- more than fan, devotee -- of his since some time in the 1960s; I know it was the 60s, as I was so pleased to see the 70s Robert Mitchum remake of "Farewell My Lovely" in color, and I remember watching it -- listening to it -- on tv in 1979 as I was sewing. Scratching at the screen on the screen door (was it Sylvia Miles playing the part of Jesse Florian), "May I come in? I feel like a fly out here," pops into my mind as I remember listening to the screenplay. I was so pleased to see this remake, as it was the first of the genre of "past Los Angeles" made in present Los Angeles and the first film adaptation of a Chandler novel that paralleled the mental imagery Chandler conjures so well in the reader.
Uh, I suppose I should copy and paste that part to the Chandler discussion.
I'm an artist and teacher, not teaching since a move to Texas, and with my art -- I love to paint architectural gems, not necessarily places a tourist would visit, but gems, much like what is found in past Los Angeles film. However, DH's work took us to Dallas from L.A., so my life's work is on hold. I have turned art toward remaking, re-envisioning fashion dolls, most recently a Paris Hilton in orange and an Anne Coulter plugging her book, "The Clutch of Plagiarism," -- an Anne Coulter doll made much harder looking (though the sculpt is wonderfully sunken-eyed [T.S. Eliot, speak to me!]) and, in an act of mercy toward myself and anyone who buys her, with her batteries removed; by doing that I have managed to silence the screech of the harpie, something the media have not been able to do. Yes, harpie reference is allusion intended.
MA in Fine Art (not MFA, an MA with all the academics it entails) with minor in Illustration; credential and BA Art Education with Minor in English. English "came easy" to me, Art was a burning desire and a challenge, so I majored in Art and minored in English, long long before I found out that people picked something that comes easy to major in. I thought it was all about challenging yourself and learning something you couldn't learn on your own. I actually still do and am in, I am sure, a minority, a very small one, although I do see the tide shifting back to where degrees in the Liberal Arts or degrees in the Humanities will regain the stature and relevance they deserve -- as foundations for understanding of just about any field one encounters and learning in just about any field to which one may want to apply him/herself.
I guess that's enough of an introduction to who I am today. Tomorrow, it may be different.
