Mad Men

I don't watch television during school. I never figured out what channels are what when I moved to Grand Rapids and never bothered, because I have theology and Dostoevsky to read. But in my experience on the Art of Manliness

I started hearing about this show called Mad Men on AMC. Now I love classic movies and so I trusted that the show was equally loveable (I mean it was mentioned on the Art of Manliness after all). Over break, between waking at 1pm and lounging in my slippers, I started watching full episodes

of Mad Men and am enjoying it.

The show is set in the 1950's and centers around these guys who work in an advertising firm. The center character is Don Draper, pictured above, who has a wife kids and a good job in the advertising industry. He also has a mistress. Nobody's perfect, and that's the whole point of the show.

Now if you're a feminist, watching a series about 1950's androcentic society probably is not the top thing on your list, but even you gals should check it out. The guys in this show are both scoundrels and gentlemen. It offers you a glimpse at what a different culture it was back then. Housewives being nervous wrecks, men thinking that every "doll" they saw was at their disposal, disconnection and affection between parents and children was sporadic, not to mention the whole business of women drinking and smoking while they were pregnant (The Surgeon General wasn't so big back then).

It offers a moving portrait of a flawed time. Hopefully we can look back and resurrect the classy and chilvalrous elements from this period, while also casting off the utilitarian sexuality and general stoicism. Watching the show I'm interested in seeing how these intricately flawed characters are able to bring themselves together again, because Lord knows we all have tendencies that impede our journey towards order, unity, and communion. They're flawed characters: they're human characters.

I also loved the fact that you can Mad Men Yourself

, whether you're a lady or a gentleman. Give it a shot, they can be pretty spot on . . .

Tübingen Wörter
Wort: das Geheimnnis: mystery
Verb: reden (redete, geredet): to discourse

Art and Sam

I've been an artist all my life (sketching predominantly) . . .



I think it's because my full name is Samuel Ward Granger. Ward is "draw" spelled backwards and I've been doing that since before I can remember. Today someone in the Art of Manliness caused me to ask "What is art according to Sam?" "Where did I get my sense of aesthetics?" I hope to define where I started and look where I'm going artistically.

I've always been a bit fan of Albrecht Dürer and his wood cuts, because of his ability to create depth with definitive lines. There is a staunch Germanic character to his work that nonetheless is very intricate . . .

I've always enjoyed Salvador Dalì's work. I appreciate how though his subject matter is at times ridiculous, he always treats it with depth, detail, and sincerity. That makes it surreal rather than absurd (also known as why bother? ).


My roommate (Owen Fifield) is a Fine Art's major and I've been enjoying his work because he does incredible photography with a great sense of depth and also deals with complex and simple subject matter with the same attention and sincerity . . .

As I grew to appreciate the robustness of my Catholicism and especially Eastern Catholicism/Orthodoxy, I got into Iconography. I appreciate how icons don't pretend to be real images, they try to be symbols or signs that direct you to a higher reality. They facilitate prayer and that practical element makes for some beautiful functional art, especially if you see them in a church . . .

I also became a huge fan of Mikhail Nesterov, who incorporated iconographic elements in his scenes of Russian life. This offers the viewer an awesome look at how intertwined the live of Russian peasants and the presence of icons had become. If you're interested in Russian history focusing on the cultural inspiration of Orthodoxy read The Icon and the Axe. Or just look at Nesterov paintings . . .

I think art is something I can take out of me. I look at everything artistically. I've drawn long enough to have an eye for depth, contrast, and texture. I think of the labor and love that goes into anything someone does in terms of how a devoted artist gives himself for his work. There comes a time in life when one needs to stop debating beliefs and morality, long enough to look back on life and say, "It's a beautiful thing."

Tübingen Wörter
Wort: die Seligkeit: blessedness
Verb: jmd./etw. werden (wurde/ward, geworden): to become something

Folk Stories

Today my mother, the dental hygientist, cleaned my teeth. In order to kill some time while the fluoride settled into my enamel, I decided to stop by the local antique shop. I love antique shops, but this one stands heads-and-tails above the others I've stopped in, because it has a guy selling classic guitars next door. I've been meaning to do this since I came back home to Allegan and I leave tomorrow morning, so it was about time I went there. I left my acoustic in Grand Rapids and though I've been enjoying my Malden Karma and the jazzy tone of my Mesa Boogie F-30, I truly need to be folksy.

I love the sound of wood, string, and fingers playing off each other. There are times when you're playing that perfect acoustic guitar and you feel as though every note you play leaves the guitar swelling to harmonize with all the other musical ideas and flaws in your own soul. It's a simple thing. I bought of one of those guitars from this guy last year and it's always at hand.

I went in and chatted with John and fiddled with his guitars for about two hours today. He has a wall of vintage guitars that it seems there aren't two from the same decade and style. He likes the odd guitars and especially likes to take broken ones and have them restored. Some of these guitars are beautiful and yet he found them in shards. He said he could sell them for three times what they're worth, but he doesn't because he knows that someone was meant to come in and buy those guitars. Each one of those guitars is praying for someone to take them home, show them love, and make beautiful music. It sounds like a romantic comedy, but only if you don't play guitar.

John's an eclectic fellow and he has about as many stories as his guitars do. I noticed he had a few ethnic instruments including a couple bouzikis which is an instrument used in Celtic and Greek music that I've been meaning to get my hands on for a while. John was happy to oblige. After I had my fun for a while, I handed it over to him telling him I'd love to hear him play a bit. He played a few jigs and reels that would make anyone raise a pint of Guinness and stomp their foot. Getting to know him a little more, he told me about his stories as a UN soldier and his delight in sharing in an other's culture (except for the French because they're "the most inhospitable bastards" one could ever meet "especially if they knew you were American"). He told me about Irish pub songs, German cooking, and a particularly charming episode where he got a a bunch of Welsh guys to sing a sweet song in Crymraeg in the middle of a crowded farmer's market.

He told me that in 1972 he lost feeling in his left hand, and thusly lost the ability to play guitar. He said there was a point where he had this very (beautiful) bouzouki over his head ready to crack it into splinters and firewood. Today he doesn't claim to play well, but every note of that Irish jigs sounded positively blessed to me.

You can see in his humble eyes and jolly bearded grin that he's a man who's overcome that frustration and found a peaceful place in the world where grace comes rushing from strummed strings and the mouths of a few laughing friends. That's a good place to be.

. . .

Tübingen Wörter
Wörter:
I. der Zusammenklang: Harmony (literally translated as "that which rings together.")
II. die Überlieferung: tradition or lore
Verben
I. etw. an jmdn. weitergeben (gab weiter, weitergegeben): to pass something down to someone
II. aufzeigen (zeigte auf, aufgezeigt): To demonstrate something

Inglourious Basterds

So today I watched Inglorious Basterds and finally have found a Quentin Tarantino movie that didn't want me to stab my television until a comical amount of ridiculous bloodflow erupted. There was plenty of German and French to sink ones teeth into (including some awesomely butchered Italian via-Brad Pitt). I suggest it.

American Trailer
German Trailer

The trailer has some good parts. But there's just something so wrong about Brad Pitt's character speaking German so well that doesn't make sense.

Tübingen Wörter
Wort: die Vergnügung: pleasure
Verb: ersetzen (ersetzte, ersetzt): to exchange

Erster Tübingenabsatz

So today is Sunday and I'm going to take all the words gathered throughout the week and assemble them into some kind of paragraph. If this German Catholic paragraph isn't good enough for you, I brought along the pope and he's about as German Catholic as one can get.

Have a blessed week.

Woche I

In meiner Kinderzeit, habe ich deutsches Essen gegessen. Meine Großeltern haben für mich immer Sauerkraut, Wurst, und Spinat gekocht. Sie haben das mir gegeben, aber sie haben auch mir meinen Glaube gegeben.
Ich bin in der romanisch-kathölische Kirche getauft. Wann ich ein Jung war, habe ich zur Messe gedient. Durch meinem Leben, habe ich immer Räucherwerk gerochen, und das riech mir wie Heiligkeit. Ich habe die Kerzen ausgelöscht und habe Belustigung der Katholischwitzern genommen. Ich finde Freude über die Messe und gehe täglich. Es gibt eine große Auswirkung wie in der Messe, kann ich meinen Gott bekommen, den mich geschöpf hat. Ich staune über ihn. Er leucht und er ist eine Kerze, die ich kann nicht auslöschen.



Wörter
I. die Kinderzeit: childhood
II. der Spinat: spinach
III. die Kerze: Candle
IV. die Heiligkeit: Holiness
V. die Auswirkung: Impact
VI. die Belustigung: Merryment or Amusement

Verben
I. taufen (taufte, hat getauft): to baptize
II. riechen (roch, hat gerochen): to smell
III. aus.löschen (löschte aus, ausgelöscht): To extinguish or annihilate
IV. leuchten (leuchtete, geleuchtet): to shine
V. schöpfen (schöfte, geschöpft): to create (something)
VI. staunen (staunte, gestaunt): to be amazed

Rejuvenate Yourself

Rejuvenate: To make young or fresh again; to restore to youth or to the appearance of youth; (also) to give new life to; to refresh, reinvigorate (OED).

Iuvenis, youth, Kinderzeit. It's a good thing. Rejuvenation, being made young again, requires recreation. So many people think recreation means wasting time. Not the case. Recreation means being made again. Sports, art, prayer, music, conversations . . . basically anything can be made into recreation if you make enough room for grace. Recreation turns a moment becomes a beginning. It makes you wonder, it makes you excited, it makes you want to live fresh.

Sometimes you just need to break out the crayons and remember what it's like to have a world of possibilities open to you.

Usually I just listen to Breathe Owl Breathe . . .
Breathe Owl Breathe



Tübingen Wörter
Wort: die Belustigung: Merryment or Amusement
Verb: staunen (staunte, gestaunt): to be amazed

From the Study to the Studio

Today my dad and I fixed my windshield wipers so that they squirt. My manliness has been wanting to fix something for a while and it reveled in the chance to tinker with my dad. There was a oily-handed hi-five which sealed this male bonding.

My manliness has also been hungry for steak, which it's getting tonight. I'm gonna help Mutti (mom) with the mushrooms, potatoes, and such. So my manhood is edified while I'm also bonding and cooking with my mom. Score.

Despite all these domestic delights, I've been distracted by GR. I started looking at houses for next year. I'm so excited because the Grand Rapids around Aquinas has so many eclectic and quaint houses. Please God, let us find one with a fireplace. I found one that was on Hollister that I thought was pretty cool. It's a charming red house with a ample front porch (a must). I've seen it before . . . it's right next to Rowsters.

That revelation unfortunately turned me to the thought that I'm almost out of coffee. Scheiße. I miss making coffee. Being in a place where I can waft the aroma of roasting coffee. Where touchingly extracted espresso and velvety milk are right at hand. I love letting coffee be my medium and my craft and me being an artisan.

I remember a friend of mine constantly reminds me that I should be an Art major, but artistry, your aesthetic perspective, is something you take with you where ever you go. In his Poetics, Aristotle recognizes that in life you can live your life in thinking, doing, or creating. The creative life is the poetic life (poiētiké).His poetic life synthesizes all sorts of words, ideas, things, and experiences in order to be “a beginning of change in something else.”

I see theology as a medium. I like to turn my study into my studio. Theology should strike people as beautiful, because as Dostoevsky wrote "The world will be saved through beauty." I haven't drawn as much as I would like, but be it theology, conversations, life, or even coffee I don't think I've ever stopped trying to be an artist.



"An artist cannot fail. It is a success just to be one."
-CH Cooley (Thanks to Richard App for telling me this)

Tübingen Wörter
Wort: die Auswirkung: Impact
Verb: schöpfen (schöpfte, geschöpft): to create (something)