Book 'Em

[shanmonster]

I'm feeling very tired today, probably because I didn't eat very much yesterday. A few sweets and a can of salmon don't supply sufficient energy to take a ballet class and traipse around the city for a few hours. I've eaten much better today, though, and the food has fueled my gumption. I've been working more on my new dance costuming book, tentatively titled So Hip it Hurts: Costuming the the Belly Dance Fusion Dancer. Right now, I'm working on the "easy" stuff (ie. the bits I don't have to illustrate). I know I'll have to knuckle down and do drawing again. I'm just reluctant to do it, because my illustration skills are very rusty. Honestly, I'd farm it out to a professional illustrator, but I can't afford to pay them, and I don't think there are any graphics artists in the area who'd be willing to trade their skills for dance instruction and cookies (let me know if I'm wrong, though!). So this makes my book a big ol' DIY operation.

Now, I don't want to promote just myself, but the independent dancer/artisan community as a whole. So if you have some good links for alternative dance costuming resources, dancer/designer websites, and the ilk, please pass them on!

And now I just had a big brainstorm as to what to do for my teal dance costume. I wonder if I have enough fabric? Hmm....

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I read Animal Farm today. I believe it's the first time I've ever read it, although I've been very familiar with the story since I was a little girl.

When I was about four years old, I remember turning the television on to watch Mr. Dressup. A message came up: "Mr. Dressup will not be shown today. In its place, we will be presenting the animated feature, Animal Farm."

"Oh goody!" I thought. "I like cartoons!"

So I sat down and started to watch.

Bear in mind that I was a very hyper child who never watched anything on television except by fly-by. I'd zoom back and forth, playing as hard as I could, occasionally pausing to catch a couple of moments of tv programming. I sat perfectly still in front of the television for the entirety of Animal Farm, and when Boxer, the faithful, hardworking horse was sent off to the glue factory, I raged and screamed and cried and stamped my feet and shook my fists. I screamed, "It's not fair! It's not fair!" over and over again.

Well over three decades later, I still remember watching that cartoon. I remember the sense of helpless rage and horror. I may not have understood the concepts of communism or absolute power doing its absolute corruption, but I was able to recognize when something wasn't right.

I can't say an episode of Mr. Dressup ever effected me similarly.

So I read the book today, and I felt the same sense of righteous indignation with those pigs that I did as a four-year-old. But this time I didn't stomp and scream. I sat quietly and my brain barraged me with parallels, feeling rather like Alex in the forced eye-opening scene from A Clockwork Orange.

There aren't many books which engage me so viscerally.

I wonder how the next book I read will be? I picked up a copy of Hiromi Goto's Hopeful Monsters: Stories during my last trip to Toronto. I have no idea what to expect with this one.

Comments

[sarcasm-hime.livejournal.com]

I am an illustrator. I also make costumes.

I can't say I'd work for nothing, but maybe we could figure something out.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

We must talk!

[stuffguy.livejournal.com]

Heh. In my quest to use my daily commute for something other than a chance to pick my nose in private, I've been chewing through a zillion books on mp3cd. The books I could never sit through as a kid, but have signifigance..

The works of George Orwell dwell among them. Animal Farm was one of those that I've gone through recently. And I'm with you. Its conclusions and parallels were not what I was expecting when I started. I hadn't seen the cartoon, I just knew it was something I should read.

Slaughterhouse 5 was not what I was expecting, but wasn't a waste of time..

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I've yet to read Slaughterhouse 5, but it's on my to-be-read list.

[idiolekt.livejournal.com]

There's a pretty good live action film version of Animal Farm in which Patrick Stewart does the voice of Napolean.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Interesting!