Wednesday, February, 2, 2011 — Happy Birthday Chuc

Well, here it is — Chuck's birthday is today. Groundhog's Day has always been on our minds in the Wollenberg family because of the special tone Chuck's birthday adds to the day. Sorry we're not all there to help you celebrate, but we're all doing it on our own. Feliz Cumpleano.

Last night I took a vacation from the Brothers K. and dipped into a book that one of our classmates shared with us. It is titled, "The Confident Creative." I had planned to just take a peak at it but once in, I couldn't put it down. It includes a very thought provoking introduction by the author. The illustrations actually translate quite well on the Kindle, which is not the case with all books transferred over by their duplicating method. This a book about drawing and how it affects an indivual's life. It is about seeing and freeing one's self.

Just before I fell asleep I came upon a paragraph referring to Akira Kurosawa that resonated so completely with my inner convictions of long standing. I'm going to reproduce it for you because it says so much about how I feel. I have always thought that when people fall prey to fear or anger or any other strong emotion in a complete fall apart fashion, they become incapacitated. That runs against all my survival instincts. Here's what this book says about Kurosawa's take and how it came to be.

"The great Japanese film director, kurosawa once said, 'An artist is someone who never averts his eyes.' In 1923, the Kanto earthquake killed 100,000 people and destroyed Tokyo. Kurosawa was 13 years old and walked amongst the devastation of human and animal corpses. When he tried to turn away his older brother instructed him not to avert his eyes. As a result, Kurosawa came to believe in fear as a teacher. As artists we're building our courage, and drawing can be a great teacher. It teaches us to look no matter what's going on, and it uncovers all the shadowy, hidden places in our heart that want to come up into the light."

We're weaving up to the last minute, then leaving at 2:00 in the afternoon for Puerto Vallarta.

I'll say, "Chao" for now and say a word or two about the opening when we return from the opening.......... I'm back and it's the next day after the best opening I've ever attended. Check next blog for details. Love you.