The husband bought me this little 3 inch figure yesterday. Isn't he marvelous? (I'm talking about my new toy, although my husband is pretty marvelous, too) He's now resting at the top of my computer.
I guess there is a whole line of artists and authors in this figurine series. On the back of the package I can see Frida Kahlo, Edgar Allan Poe and Virginia Woolf among others. But I am glad John brought Salvadore home.
Also on the back of the package, there is a list of trivia about Dali.
Did you know....
..that he designed the logo for Chupa Chups (the lollipops)??
or that when signing autographs for fans, he would always keep their pens??
I didn't!!
While I'm talking trivia, here's another one.
What do Heath Ledger,Johnny Depp and Adam Sandler have in common?
(besides being male and famous for being in movies)
The answer: When asked what their favorite movie was, all three answered "The Wizard Of Oz".
I got this illuminating information out of a book I picked up at the bookstore at lunchtime today. It's called "You Gotta See This; More Than 100 of Hollywood's Best Reveal and Discuss Their Favorite Films". This book was marked down to 3.99 and when I went up to the register to pay for it I was told it was marked down another 50% so I got it for 2.00!! I also purchased three more books, at 2.00 each. (Now, aren't you just dying to know what Salma Hayek's, Helena Bonham Carter's and Minnie Driver's favorite films are??)
Now, the real reason I went to the bookstore in the first place was to pick up the book I had special ordered so I could read it in time for the book club meeting. Which is this Saturday evening.
And..it looks like I may not have even read the chosen book in time, since the bookstore ordered a completely different book from the one I requested!
They called me yesterday to let me know it had come in. I was happy since I figured I would have plenty of time to read the stories in the collection of short stories by Irish author Willliam Trevor, "Cheating At Canasta". It's the last thing he published before his death last year and since I had read nothing but glowing reviews about this book, I picked it as our bookclub's choice for June.
But when I saw the book on the counter, it was a 5 inch thick paperback and my first thought was, "The ladies in the club must hate me for chosing a book with that many stories in it!" As I soon discovered, it was a collection of all his short stories up until 1998. Not what I had wanted at all. The two ladies at the counter in the store weren't very apologetic at all about this mistake, even.
Of course, I will admit this is, as usual, partly my fault for waiting so close until the book night to even see about getting hold of the book. It is even more embarrassing not to even have read the book when it's the book you yourself chose!!
At any rate, I am going to pick up the book from a friend after work tomorrow. And stay up late reading. If the stories are as good as I have heard, that won't be so bad.
15 comments:
Interesting trivia about Dali. Those were things I didn't know. I'll have to admit to being completely in the dark about art and artists.
Shouldn't the book store have called to verify which book you wanted? That would have been a wiser choice, I would think. It's' good that you have a friend who owns the book...that way you can at least try to read it before your book night!
Hey...you are pulling an English major stunt! I haven't done that in years! Of course it was usually for a discussion or journal entry or essay....Ahhh, my English major days!!
Have you done "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" by Kim Edwards, yet? Or her short story collection? Both are very good and hard to put down and would be lovely for dicussions.
I totally adore Dali, when I was in London last summer I had the opportunity of seeing an exhibition of his work, by the South East bank of the Thames, near the Aquarium, really spectacular! Of course, some of his works are also displaye at the Tate modern, but I loved the exhibition best. He was this unique individual and I've got plenty oof his quotes I love:
"There comes a moment in every person's life when they realise they adore me."
"Life is aspiration, respiration and expiration."
"The fact that I myself do not understand the meaning of my paintings at the time that I am painting them does not mean that they have no meaning."
"Is it hard to love Dali? No, it's soft."
"Ideas are made to be copied."
As for the trivia book...oh, I think it's really interesting!;)
Wow, I did not know he designed the logo for Chupa Chups!! Interesting :-)
What a cute figure to get! Very thoughtful of the husband!
Hope you will manage to read the book before bookclub after all!!
LOL... cute statue, Tina!! ... and interesting tidbits of info!! :)
I wish you luck with the reading.... yes, hopefully it will be interesting and that will make it a breeze!!
Wish I would find some time to read myself. Maybe it would help wake up my foggy brain too?!! I'd better use it before I lose it!! :D
i have that very same trevor book here in my studio. Ive had it for quite a while and i brought it up here from the basement shelves 2 weeks ago so i could read some of the stories again...he's a great writer...
I have been reading like a maniac since the beginning of springtime...anita shreve's stuff, and I'm workign my way thru Annie Proulx's work...I am half way thru wendy wassersteins play The Sisters Rosensweig and the other night finished a book about the 1996 Mt Everest tragedy and rescue that was written by one of the since deceased and more famous climbers, Anatoli Boukreev...pretty exciting story...I have just begin today, Annie Proulx's Accordian Crimes...her short stories are great..
Now that was just an example of how tired I am Tina...lmao sorry for the garbled book list...I'm going to bed now....lol
Meg,
Yep, it's a very good thing I have a friend who has the book!! But, instead of reading the book last night, I ended up staying at her house hanging out until after it got dark. So, I only read one and a half stories last night once I got home...
Ms. Manders,
I have read the Kim Edwards book(for the bookclub..of course!!). Beautiful writing, although I started to lose interest by the end, to be honest. Thanks for telling me about her short stories(didn't know their was a collection)--I thought she wrote so beautifully, so can imagine her short stories are good.
Pati!
Thank you, THANK YOU for the Dali quotes! That made my morning(yesterday) when I read them. They are so..Daliesque!! ;-)
There is a Dali Museum on the waterfront in of all places...St. Petersburg, Florida. We took our daughter there a few years ago and now she is a fan, too. He was a celebrity, but a true artist, too.
~Thanks, Cessie,
I hope to get the book read, too. It's early in the morning over here and I have to leave for work..maybe I should get OFF the computer and do some reading??
~~Sherry,
No matter how busy, I always find time to read. Not as much as I used to...when I was a child, I would read whole book(s )in a weekend. I have always enjoyed reading..so I really don't mind having to stay up late(if I have to) to finish this book in time for Sat. evening.
V.C.,
Do you know, I saw a copy of Annie Proulx's "The Shipping News" at the town dump's "Library" a few weeks ago and remembered that you had recommended it to me in a message? Well, I grabbed it and it is now in my "to-be-read" pile. I hope to read it this summer.
So many books...so little time...sometimes I wish I could take a week off to just read.
No need to apologise about the "garbled book list"...it gave me a few more ideas!! :-)
That's a lovely figurine, Tina ! Personally, I've never liked Dali as an artist but I do cherish the perfume bottle he designed - a great work of art. Although I'm not an art expert, I greatly appreciate Monnet. I may not be rich and famous but I also love The Wizard of Oz. How can I ever forget Scarecrow or the Tinman ? Or the bad witch of the east ???
I LOVE the figure! I wonder if they do an Oscar Wilde one?
I have a soft spot for Dali after reading about him in Art College and seeing home movies of his. His garden was madness, filled with weird structures. He had a brother also called Salvador who died aged a few months, When Dali he was a small boy he was taken to his brothers grave and told he was a reincarnation of his brother. He apparantly said that they "resembled each other like two drops of water with different reflections".
After his wife died, after almost killing him, he tried to put himself in a state of suspended animation by dehydrating himself.
A fantastically interesting man!
How cool that he designed the chupa chups logo! Jack loves those lollies, and yet another connection for us gals and Johny Depp, The Wizard of Oz :D He's almost ours lol
~Anastasia,
I had forgoten there was a Dali perfume(he designed the bottle, I think, right?) I also love Monet's paintings, for different reason I like Dali's art.
As for the Wizard Of Oz, when I was a child I didn't really like that movie becasue I was scared of the flying monkeys(more than the wicked witch, even)
~~Ms. Cottage Crafty Lady,
More wonderful trivia and tidbits about Dali!! I would love to have seen what Dali's surreal garden looked like. :-)
Here's a link to some Oscar Wilde toys, but I couldn't find one like the tiny Dali figure:
http://www.shakespearesden.com/alloswiit.html
Thanks Tee, I love the little thinker Oscar, maybe I'll start droping hints that I would like one of those ;)
hugs xxx
Sigh , I'd happily sit down and watch The Wizard of Oz with Johnny - lucky old Vanessa Paradis!
I have to look for that book! What *is* Helena B C's favourite film? ;-O
Quirky,
Her favorite movie, according to her words in this book..."Mary Poppins" No, I would never have guessed it, either.
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