An Artist's Balance

Started a beautiful spring day at home. I read Maisie Dobbs in bed for an hour and did the first pages for The Artist's Way. I already write in a journal every morning; I'll just answer the questions put forth in the first chapter in this morning's entry. Mostly it talked about the traumas and doubts that can build up in your mind and block creativity, which is a major problem for me.

When I finally got out of bed, I had oatmeal and a half of a grapefruit for breakfast, then cleaned the bathroom. I had four Sailor Moon episodes on during the morning that involved the Soldiers rescuing artists who are having problems or are experiencing a block.

In the first one, from the original series, Serena and Raye are thrilled to be visiting the animation studio that's bringing their favorite comic book heroine, Sailor V, to life. One of the animators isn't acting like herself; when she starts talking about how she'll turn the movie into the tale of the glory of evil, even Serena can't help but smell a Negaverse plot.

The second first season episode had Serena and Darien modeling for a shy artist who hides her plain exterior under a glamorous name and persona. Serena does her best to convince the young woman that she's as beautiful as her artwork, inside and out...even after Zoicite of the Negaverse attacks!

The theme of the fourth season was dreams, dreaming, and how we dream, the perfect background for two more artsy tales. Lita's old friend Tomoko has become a successful romance writer with the publication of her novel "The Moonlight Pegasus" that has everyone in Tokyo talking. Tomoko, however, has had her heart broken and is trapped in a serious case of writer's block. It'll take support from Lita, Rini, and Serena and an encounter with Tiger's Eye of the Amazon Trio to inspire her to write again.

In the second half of the season, Serena and Rini encounter an artist who believes in painting only the truth. The truth, however, doesn't sit well with many of his clients, who think too well of their beauty to believe what they see in the pictures. He's flat broke and is so starving, he even wolfs down Serena's notoriously bad cooking. CereCere of the Amazon Quartet is determined to make the young man an offer he can't refuse, but it may end up costing him his dreams of artistic freedom.

Made this week's errand and library runs in Collingswood and Westmont next. I had a quick roast beef and cheese on a pumpernickel bagel at the Bagel Shop. (Picked off the American cheese. I forgot to tell them to use provolone or Swiss. I'm not fond of American; it's mostly fillers.) Bought a pile of birthday and Easter cards and toothbrushes at Dollar Tree. Hit the Haddon Township Library, then rode over to the Collingswood Library. There wasn't much going on at either place. It's too nice for people to be spending a lot of time in a library! I mostly just shelved DVDs. Did take out DVDs for Max and Ruby  and the Barbie As version of Thumbelina, along with the massive MGM musical Rosalie.

I guess it was too nice for yoga, too. There was only one other student in the class besides me. Even the teacher Lee wasn't there; one of the weekend teachers, Scott, took her place. He was really nice, though. We mostly concentrated on opening sore and tight hips and legs. I really like these afternoon classes better than the morning ones. They go slower, and because they're usually smaller, they allow for more intense instruction.

I took the long way home through Newton River Park to take advantage of the lovely weather. Made a stop at CVS on the way. I needed new hair bands, and I wanted a second plastic head band with teeth that really hold your head. The fabric headbands tend to slip down my hairline. Treated myself to something I'd never seen before, too, a Peeps krispie cereal treat. It was a very marshmallow-y yellow "chick" with little crunchy Easter sprinkles mixed in.

When I got home, I ran most of Rosalie while making Pasta Primavera with Asparagus and leftover chicken for dinner, then Spiced Crumb Pudding for dessert. Rosalie is pure musical fantasy. A West Point cadet and football star (Nelson Eddy) and his buddy (Ray Bolger) pursue the pretty girl Eddy met at a nightclub overseas to a fictional Balkan country. He's stunned to discover his sweet and strong-willed Rosalie (Eleanor Powell) is really a princess, and she's engaged to marry a prince. The prince, however, would rather marry her lady in waiting (Illona Massey). The goofy King (Frank Morgan) has no desire to be a ruler, either. He'd rather be a ventriloquist. It's his wife (Edna Mae Oliver) who is determined to marry her daughter for political reasons. It's Bolger and Rosalie herself who finally come up with a way to make everyone happy, including the stubborn Eddy.

Some of the most elaborate musical numbers ever filmed (check out Powell's famous dance on the drums to the title song) are undercut by miscasting. Powell is nobody's Balkan princess; Eddy and Bolger aren't exactly football material, either. This was originally a Broadway show in 1928 with Gershwin music and Marilyn Miller as the title character. MGM had planned on filming it with Marion Davies during the early talkie era, but her ongoing problems and the rapid end of the first musical cycle caused them to cancel the production.

When they picked it up again in 1936, they retained the rather ridiculous semi-operetta plotline, but dropped the Gershwin songs. Maybe that wasn't a bad idea. I've heard it wasn't the Gershwins' best score to begin with, and Cole Porter came up with some fabulous songs. The title song is so awkward in this context, I can believe Porter wrote it as a joke. On the other hand, the quiet "In the Still of the Night" sequence still smoulders. Eddy looks and sounds so darn hot singing this classic ballad, I'm surprised Powell wasn't a puddle on the soundstage. Not the most necessary MGM musical, but fun if you ever run into it or pick it up with a Warner Archives order (it's been available there for several years); recommended for fans of the cast, Cole Porter, or the big 30s musicals.