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Dad and VettrianoDad and Vettriano

2003-05-10 - 8:41 a.m.
Alright its Saturday morning. Just made the coffee, R. is still asleep, J. has crashed out on the Sofa again. Not sure why, I can't get a handle (or a decent answer from him) on why he has trouble sleeping in his own room sometimes.

If anyone has any ideas, please let me know!

I just finished 'Voyage' by Stephen Baxter. He is a really great writer with a far reaching imagination. But Voyage is kind of a let down. It is about what would have happened between 1969 and 1986 if JFK had not died; specifically, it's about us going to Mars. It was an ok book, but its not blowing my skirt up. Either way, I need to get a review done for it, and rearrange the existing reviews, and review about three other books from Red Wheel.

Class is tonight, which means I have to get off of here in a minute and go write it up, then tidy up the house.

I think I popped my back out last night moving the swing thing from the porch to the patio. That should help matters immensely :/

Oh, I did lesson 7 on Witchschool.com yesterday, too. Gave me some ideas for fixing up PaganNews.com. I need to make sure I have the seven major deities from each of the major pantheons, and that all the correspondences are correct.

I have a lot of crap to do. Let me get a list going here:

  • Do the class for tonight
  • Burn it to CD
  • Pick up around the house with R. & J.
  • Check, correct, add deities to PaganNews.com
  • Book Review on Voyage, by Stephen Baxter.
  • At least two more Book Reviews from the lastest batch from Red Wheel
  • Re-org the 'New Releases' section on the website.
  • Follow up on 'Z' interview.
  • Email Jack Vettriano

    Jack Vettriano, in case you didn't know, is an incredible artist. Here is an example of his work. This is called 'Dance me to the End of Love'

    Copyright (C) Jack Vettriano

    This is from a collection of works called, 'Lovers and Other Strangers', which you really should get hold of if you get a chance.

    Last year, when dad was having some of his bad days, and couldn't get out of bed, he and mum would lay on the bed and make up stories to go along with the different Vettriano pictures they had hanging in their bedroom. 'Dance' was one, the 'Singing Butler' was another. They would pretend they were this elegant, young, affluent couple and this imagination would carry them through the worst of Dad's pain (He had Stomach Cancer (his 3rd Cancer)).

    Now one time, Mum wanted to get hold of another painting of Jack's, but the local 'Athena' had run out, so she called JV's gallery to see if they could tell her where to get them from. Now since she was not the kind of customer they were used to dealing with (usually it would be other galleries or retail chains), she actually built up quite a rapport with one of the ladies (I think her name was Natalie, we'll call her that for now) there and over a period of weeks, they would occasionally call my mum and ask if she wanted tickets to some new Vettriano exhibition in New York etc (which of course my mum refused, politely - she can't travel much anymore). At one point she ended up telling Natalie about how they would lie on the bed and imagine themselves as the people in Jack's pictures etc..

    Skip ahead two months. A package turns up at the door of my parents' house. Its a copy of 'Lovers and Other Strangers', and it is signed to my parents by name, by Jack Vettriano!

    Mum calls the gallery and talks to Natalie, who tells her that she had told their story to Jack. Jack had been moved, and extremely pleased, because this imagining, placing oneself into the picture was exactly what he had hoped people would do with his art :)

    Isn't that neat? I looked at the book when I was over there last, and it is incredible, and highly erotic! I bought two copies of it over here - one for us and one for Rs. bosses who like Vettriano too.

    Dad died in February, just a few days before his 84th birthday, and I need to email Jack, let him know and thank him for his thoughts and a gesture which meant so much to my parents, and to me.

    Dad is second from the right, in the blue shirt and yellow glasses. This was taken just a few months before he died.

    .........

    Ok, Sorry, didn't mean to bring you all down! I better get started on my list, I guess!

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