one of those classic shots

Yesterday was my 17th quit-smoking anniversary.

I looked through my photo trunk for a particular shot of my mother and me taken in the early 1980s at a bar when both of us had cigarettes in our hands, or at least that is how I recall the scene. But I couldn't find it so I brought this shot downstairs to ask Michael if it would bother him for me to post it at my blog, this being a shot of me and another man, and he marvelously said it would not bother him. He agrees that it is a great photo. So outstanding, in fact, that when Michael and I went to New York to be married in 1995 we went to this exact area there at Liberty Island and set our camera on auto-shot for a series of poses. The results were sweet b&w pictures of us, but we both agree they are not this shot in terms of photographic art. And it remains a mystery why, in our honeymoon shots, the World Trade Center was faded in the background so as to be nearly undetectable against a clear sky. In fact, in one photo neither tower is visible at all. A strange foreshadowing perhaps.

This iconic New York kissing couple shot was taken by an agreeable tourist in March 1989 of bfk and me. Many of you have seen those initials here at Writerquake when I posted about his operatic musical, bfk's Oedipus. You can hear it at the link or at the linked badge at the end of my sidebar. He also leaves pithy and astute comments here from time to time. We have known one another since 8th grade German class and continued on through high school together, when he bested the rest of us by graduating a year early. I later joined him at the University of Nevada, Reno, for some years. He moved to New York City around the same time as when my first husband and I moved to Oregon...somewhere in the mid-1970s. We stayed in touch through marriages, divorces, and other life-change units. Connected in a big way there in his city in 1989 when we both were free and we both were smokers, as shown frozen in time here. Then came the silent years that usually kill old friendships.....

Facebook. What can I say? It has the capacity to end those silent years and it brought my friend back to me last year. After a short course of getting-reacquainted messages I asked bfk if he still smokes and learned that he too quit. That was in the past.

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Liberty Island and Statue of Liberty National Monument

bfk's Oedipus (compliments from a charter member of the fan club)

Aristotle, who knew about these kinds of things, was so taken with Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus that he became a charter member of the first fan club. And now, twenty-five centuries later, you can sing along with it.

-from Introducing a New Operatic Musical, home page of bfk's Oedipus

I don't know much about these kinds of things, but I am so taken with bfk's Oedipus that I've been visiting the website and singing along with an amazing new work, a new operatic musical, that I think is brilliant.

Even if the musical itself was less than remarkable (but it is remarkable), the website is noteworthy for artistic and navigational excitement, and could/should win awards on that front alone. Ah, but the music...original, dazzling, and also (all so) fun. The cast...accomplished, excellent vocalists all. The chorus...ONE OF A KIND. How so? Let a portion of the website explain, and tantalize.

What's that? Less than perfectly synchronized? What do you expect from a demo of a demos? These are plague sufferers not the goddamn '33 Gold Diggers. An excellent way to achieve this natural effect is to not let the cast sing together. Indeed, our Chorus have never even met each other. Though some might think this a grievous break in tradition, and Choregus (exposition financier) worth his salt (salary), would immediately see the cost-benefit of this arrangement. Once again Art is sacrificed at the cruel foot of Commerce.

So complete is the website that the Virtual Tour presents all the songs performed in the Production. What I love so much about this is that you can spend as much time as you want or as little time as you have -- and I have been doing both in my visits -- and leave feeling like it was time very well spent.

bfk's Oedipus is a groundbreaking work, an ingenious leap across centuries, and a modern musical masterpiece from the brain of one mind-boggling writer and singular artist. Or, as he describes himself in his About the Author page of the website: bfk is a satirical writer living in New York City. When he's not busy writing opera, he's busy not writing satire.

While you are at the About the Author page, be sure to move your curser over the graphic at the top left of the page to uncover a picture of bfk as a tot with his Dalmatian, titled "Portrait of the Artist with a Young Dog." I didn't know bfk when he was that tot..........

.......However, I've known him since 8th grade when we were in Herr Bradley's German class together in Reno! He is one of the old friends I've recently reconnected with via Facebook, the kind of friend who, no matter the length of time since last contact, when asked "What's new?" always has a fascinating response. Composing an operatic musical more than qualifies as a fascinating response, and, that his turned out to be one of such structure, musicality, innovation, and artistic expression shouldn't have been astonishing, either. Except it was. Astonishing. Because he's still doing it, after all these years.....living a creative life. Being that creative former middle-and-high school classmate/college iconoclast idol/guitar jamming buddy to ex-husband/best original x-mas card creator ever/world traveler/follower of dreams/maker of dreams come true/romantic friend-with-benefits for a short while/author of bfk's Oedipus/Facebook and Forever Friend.


I wish great things for bfk's Oedipus, mainly that it be appreciated by a wide audience. So I'm publishing this blog post with much enthusiasm and high hopes that my readers will share it with others. I guess you could call me a charter member of the fan club.

Now, bfk, take a bow.

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Aria by the ocean

Brown and Agile Child

~by Pablo Neruda

Brown and agile child, the sun which forms the fruit
And ripens the grain and twists the seaweed
Has made your happy body and your luminous eyes
And given your mouth the smile of water.

A black and anguished sun is entangled in the twigs
Of your black mane when you hold out your arms.
You play in the sun as in a tidal river
And it leaves two dark pools in your eyes.

Brown and agile child, nothing draws me to you,
Everything pulls away from me here in the noon.
You are the delirious youth of bee,
The drunkedness of the wave, the power of the heat.

My somber heart seeks you always
I love your happy body, your rich, soft voice.
Dusky butterfly, sweet and sure
Like the wheatfield, the sun, the poppy, and the water.



I wrote in a recent post that lately I've been back in contact with quite a few old friends through Facebook. Two of them are named Bruce, ironic since I don't think that is a particularly common name. I'll introduce the other Bruce and his genius website in a post soon.

The Bruce that pertains to today's post is the photographer of this beautiful and touching shot of young Aria at the Oregon coast this month. He is also her grandfather.....

Bruce adopted Aria's mother and uncle when they were little kids themselves, when he married their mother. He and I lost contact between the time he began dating his future wife and our "becoming friends" recently on Facebook, although he and his wife did attend my mother's memorial service in 2000, and Mike and I happened upon them one day some years later in a local park. You know. Life happened.
Lives happened....... Aria and her little brother being two of them.
Lucky Bruce.

Lucky World.






When I originally posted this I included an audio stick that continuously played Bookends Theme by Simon & Garfunkel. I couldn't leave it because it started automatically, even when I published a new post. Here is a nice video of the same music...





Photo by Bruce Olson
Graphic by webweaver.nu

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