Finally watched the Sylvia Plath movie the other night. I wanted to see it when it came out, but like usual, didn’t. It was excellent and of course depressing, but you know, what else would one be expecting when dealing with Sylvia Plath.
What I liked the most about the movie is that they addressed how she distracted herself with making cakes while she was supposed to be writing. They never really go into that when talking about artists/writers/musicians etc’s. That is something I have talked about within my circle of creative friends, but you never really see that displayed or demonstrated in a movie when they go into their life stories and the pursuit of their craft. The very real aspect of distraction and procrastination. And the fact that they showed her husband Ted Hughes calling her on it was even cooler yet. And you certainly never expect accomplished “well-knowns” to do the same tricks you do to avoid making your things. I don’t know why the very thing you want and need to do – you try to avoid sometimes like the plague. The “why bother, nobody cares, you suck” voices come out and do a slight of hand with internal dialogue like “guess I’ll cut the grass and obsess about my lawn, make some cherry crisp, experiment with soup recipes, get a part-time job at the library or make 15 appetizers for the hell of it and distract myself with what the rest of the world views as real because hardcore artistic pursuits aren’t”.
I mean, all of those things are all admirable things mind you, it is just the way they are applied and to what degree. But it takes over quicker if one is not careful and art/music/writing gets avoided or not done at all. Just speaking from my own personal experience.
Plus she was a woman in the 1950’s so we all know what extra voices from society she probably had pushing her into making cakes when she should have been writing. Oddly enough, some of that society chatter is still in existence for female creatives in my humble opinion, but certainly not as intense as before The Women’s Movement of course. Anyway, I really liked that they addressed the art of distracting yourself aspect. It was good to see. Reassuring in an odd sort of way and noted when I start veering into that direction. Which I do. Often.
September 23, 2009 | | Views (194)
Busy yet an incredibly fun weekend for me. Just got back from hanging out with my family who came in from out of town for Saturday night’s event and just getting time now to give a little report.
Kind of goes without saying that I had a crazy good time on Saturday night performing and being a part of The Capitola collective. Also had a great time helping out with hanging all the art, making wall tags for the pieces, and getting to help out with the overall setup of the whole event. It was great to be immersed in it all.
We had a nice crowd too (pictured below) which was pretty awesome. Incredibly gracious and kind as well. A lot of kind words were said to me after the show about my art and vocals that really meant a lot to me. And many, many, many thanks to the 40-50 people that crammed themselves into the hot one room schoolhouse to check out the readers of poetry & short stories, the makers of art and our little musical ensemble which all make up The Capitola. You really all made it quite special for all of us.
I was kind of busy with other matters before and during the show to take pictures, but these were floated past me and thought I’d share.
Mark (left), Aaron (right), and me (center).
Mark (left), Aaron (right), and me (center).
Crowd/audience shot middle of room.
Back of the room audience shot.
Looking forward to being part of the next Cap event which will take place October 25th, 2009 at Foundry Books in Mineral Point. I’ll post more details here as soon as more become available.
September 20, 2009 | | Views (234)
New 2009 Fall Capitola Issue is officially out and the opening gala is tonight. Come out to the White School Studio [which appropriately enough is the huge white schoolhouse at the corner of E.Jefferson & Lexington a bit off HWY 23 in Spring Green, WI] and join us 6:00pm -10:00pm-ish. All of us would love to see you.
September 19th, 2009
6:00pm-10:00pm
White School Studio
242 N. Lexington Street
Spring Green, WI 53588
608.588.3331
Monday night we threw some microphones up and recorded some tunes, including Mary Gauthier’s tune that we’ll be covering tonight (lyrics featured within the Capitola publication).This version now includes Aaron’s upright bass work.
Enjoy and hope to see you there. Shall be a fun evening indeed!
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September 19, 2009 | | Views (163)
One, I decided to change my appearance today. I’m saddened by the fact that I didn’t decide to do this sooner. My hairdresser did an amazing job, I feel. At first when I was driving to the salon, I wondered if I had made the right decision and for the first time in a very long time I didn’t give a damn if I had or not. That felt so good. I’m sensing a trend with me as of late. Perhaps it’s really living inside my life. Yeah, I think that’s it. So watch out world. This is just the beginning and the tip of the iceberg.
The second item is at rehearsal last night we grabbed great takes of some of the tunes we’ll be doing for the reading and art viewing Saturday night. Continuing my bravery streak, I’m debuting my kiddie concertina “skills” at said show along within this clip. This is “Used To Be” which we’ll be performing. I am totally digging this rendition of my song and I hope you will too. With this upbeat Calypso feel (suggested by Aaron) I won’t ball my eyes out. Which is nice. Nobody wants or needs to see that. And the reason I say that is because Mark Miskelly and I had worked on this tune where he put a beautiful Spanish classical guitar-esque piece behind the lyrics and it was pretty heartbreaking. For me anyway. We still might investigate that avenue further, but for now, we’ll keep it where it’s at.
We also got a great grab of my rendition of Mary Gauthier’s tune too, but I will unveil that perhaps Friday to entice you further to come out to the show Saturday night to see it live.
PS: Hey, remember that blog post about being an empath? And me being a wimpy ass’d Pisces? Don’t worry. Lots of people think Pisces are wimpy pussies. Including Pisces themselves. Well, that isn’t the case. Johnny Cash was a Pisces. I will leave it there. Pick it up at another time. Save “The Intricacies of Astrology” dissertation for another blog post.
Used to Be ~ Carol Kroll © 2008
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September 15, 2009 | | Views (198)
The Capitola’s creator (Richmond Powers) provided the official poster for the Fall 2009 issue’s launch which I present here:
It includes a complete listing of this issue’s artists and locations of where you can purchase a copy. I also listed these locations to the main page/right side of my website under news and events for safekeeping and easy access. If you’re out of the area, please feel free to give one of these locations a call to see if they could send you a copy. I am sure they would be more than happy to have your business as would the artists, poets, photographers and writers featured inside the publication itself.
In preparation, this past Saturday Aaron Johnson was kind enough to lug his upright bass up to Madison to accompany Mark Miskelly & I and let me tell you, it added a great dimension to our little ensemble. I am a total sucker for upright bass but that is neither here nor there. No wait. It is. We’re going to try to grab some decent recordings this week when we meet again tonight (Mon night) and perhaps I will post them here to entice you further to come out Saturday on the 19th to join the fun at the Capitola’s fall issue’s opening gala.
Sure there are more Capitola live events planned, but this is opening night! And I am getting super excited. Can you tell? Come out and join the fun!
September 19th, 2009
6:00pm-10:00pm
White School Studio
242 N. Lexington Street
Spring Green, WI 53588
608.588.3331
September 13, 2009 | | Views (198)
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