COFFEE BREAK
As we enter the week of deadlines, breaks become more and more rare. Take these few precious moments to let out all of your frustrations. Try some breathing exercises, yoga, slam dancing — or just read about some cool stuff to check out after you make it to the DPC. Good luck this week!
Truman Capote’s writing is sinuous and dark. Clear and simple, it weaves tales that pull your heart in captivating ways. His short novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms might be lesser known than his number one seller, In Cold Blood, but it is not lesser written. The characters are bright and smart with all of their own secrets and faults. The protagonist, Joel Harrison Knox, recognizes his own demons when he’s sent to live with his long-lost father in a long-lost town.
Grey Gardens is almost morbidly interesting and devastatingly entertaining. What happens when women of blue-collar New York cannot handle the loss of their lifestyle? They hold on with every fiber of their being. Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, also Edith Bouvier Beale, are the focus of this documentary from 1975. After her husband leaves her, Big Edie is devastated and refuses to sell her Long Island home even though she no longer has the funds to lead the lifestyle it requires. Her sons move away, leaving only her daughter, Little Edie, to take care of her. Together, they spiral into a reclusive madness. That is, until documentary makers, Albert and David Maysles, offer them an insulting amount of money to film their eccentric lives. The forgotten cousins of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, the Bouvier-Beales are a fascinating tale of riches to rags and the psychological influence that kind of journey can have on family.
A friend of mine showed me this video recently, and I die every time I watch it. I’m sorry if I am the last to find out about this, but we can all use some humor this week, right? For instant gratification press play!