November 26, 2002
Dinner with the actress. Of course we are all in love with her. Immediately. There is no falling. One would expect a little self-respecting resistance when it comes to such things, but it is pointless to attempt even a temporary stance of detachment. I don’t want to stare at her across the dinner table, but I do. I’m afraid of occupying the seat next to her for fear I will bore her or attempt to monopolize her gaze. My husband is not afraid to sit next to her. Or to gaze at her. She talks about her babies, and makes it interesting. She makes me want to be a mother. She makes me understand what it is to be a good mother, that it is not impossible. There is no impossibility with her. Perhaps the genius of her beauty is in the palette she was assigned. She would have made Titian weak at his painterly knees. She is further proof that beauty is a form of intelligence, of a conspiracy of cells, a collusion of color, flesh, form, proportion, and the light that emanates from within all of those elements. She is thin, tall and strong, not that usual acterly miniature that has an easier time of making proportions perfect on film. She eats the apple pie I have baked; she likes whipped cream. She talks of her vegetable garden. We are truly lost to her now. We all want to move in with her. Into her house with no furniture and the fecund, walled vegetable garden. As the evening closes the four other women present end the dinner feeling more beautiful rather than less beautiful. The real gift of intelligence, beauty, grace, and talent is that being in its presence can make you feel connected to intelligence, beauty, grace, and talent, can make you feel that by witnessing it you have become a part of it. It doesn't exclude the observer, it beckons you into the walled garden where you can partake of all the bounty even if it is not your own. It is a generosity.
very lovely:>)
Precisely how I feel about your writing, Rachael.
Same here. I love your observations.
She alone who that employs,
Well deserves her beauty.
-John Gay-
(Applies to all kinds, I do believe.)
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Dinner with the actress. Of course we are all in love with her. Immediately. There is no falling. One would expect a little self-respecting resistance when it comes to such things, but it is pointless to attempt even a temporary stance of detachment. I don’t want to stare at her across the dinner table, but I do. I’m afraid of occupying the seat next to her for fear I will bore her or attempt to monopolize her gaze. My husband is not afraid to sit next to her. Or to gaze at her. She talks about her babies, and makes it interesting. She makes me want to be a mother. She makes me understand what it is to be a good mother, that it is not impossible. There is no impossibility with her. Perhaps the genius of her beauty is in the palette she was assigned. She would have made Titian weak at his painterly knees. She is further proof that beauty is a form of intelligence, of a conspiracy of cells, a collusion of color, flesh, form, proportion, and the light that emanates from within all of those elements. She is thin, tall and strong, not that usual acterly miniature that has an easier time of making proportions perfect on film. She eats the apple pie I have baked; she likes whipped cream. She talks of her vegetable garden. We are truly lost to her now. We all want to move in with her. Into her house with no furniture and the fecund, walled vegetable garden. As the evening closes the four other women present end the dinner feeling more beautiful rather than less beautiful. The real gift of intelligence, beauty, grace, and talent is that being in its presence can make you feel connected to intelligence, beauty, grace, and talent, can make you feel that by witnessing it you have become a part of it. It doesn't exclude the observer, it beckons you into the walled garden where you can partake of all the bounty even if it is not your own. It is a generosity.
- rachael 10-26-2002 10:46 pm
very lovely:>)
- Skinny 10-27-2002 9:44 pm [add a comment]
Precisely how I feel about your writing, Rachael.
- frank 10-27-2002 10:18 pm [add a comment]
Same here. I love your observations.
- steve 10-27-2002 10:40 pm [add a comment]
She alone who that employs,
Well deserves her beauty.
-John Gay-
(Applies to all kinds, I do believe.)
- alex 10-28-2002 6:24 pm [add a comment]