Heather King's Blog, page 61
February 15, 2020
THE LAMENESS OF SINGLES AWARENESS DAY
Here’s how this week’s arts and culture column (which in fact is not in defense but rather a critique of) begins:
Let me say up front that I am not one of these people who feels oppressed, discriminated against and marginalized by the mere fact and station of another’s existence.
That you’re a man and I’m a woman doesn’t mean I feel called
to mope about the world feeling victimized. That you like blue doesn’t make me
jump to the conclusion that you hate me because I like green.
Because we have a day celebrating romantic love doesn’t make
me feel I need a corresponding day to call attention to the value of my own
station in life, which happens to be an unmarried, childless, “contemplative
laywoman” as “Magnificat Magazine” (for whom I also write) sort of thrillingly
puts it.
I especially don’t need such a day with the acronym SAD:
Singles Awareness Day.
Who in God’s name came up with such a notion? And gave it such
an unfortunate name!
In this culture God forbid anyone should feel a moment of
existential exile, depression, sadness, loneliness, feeling apart from,
different than, left behind or left out—in other words, God forbid anyone
should feel a moment of the admittedly shocking reality of the human condition.
I’ve felt all those things as a single person, but I felt
them as well, maybe more so, during the 14 years I was married. I’m not saying
twenty years of being single, and following the teachings of the Church, have
been a picnic.
But what is? Certainly not marriage. St. Paul himself
advised that if you’re unmarried—stay that way. You won’t be torn between
family obligations and will be able to devote yourself single-mindedly and
single-heartedly to God.
February 12, 2020
HAPPY ALMOST VALENTINE’S DAY
“When I finally got wind of how things were, I wanted to be sure. And I was mad. Why should everyone know but me? I found my mother upstairs in my bedroom, butting new white sheets on my bed. ‘I want you to tell me where babies come from,’ I screamed. And I made her do it. In two clipped sentences, which was all she could manage, she diagrammed the mechanics of sex. So it was true. It was awful. ‘You just have to put up with it,’ she said smoothing out the last wrinkle, ‘it doesn’t take long.’ “
–Eveyln Shakir, Teaching Arabs, Writing Self: Memoirs of an Arab-American Woman
And here, from November 30, 2019, is a Podcast with Deal Hudson of Ave Maria Radio in which we discuss DEPICTIONS OF LOVE in four films: The Days of Wine and Roses, Brief Encounter, Gone with the Wind and I Know Where I’m Going .
February 8, 2020
THE STORRIER STEARNS JAPANESE GARDEN
Here’s how this week’s arts and culture column begins:
Located at 270 Arlington Drive in Pasadena and comprising
two acres, the Storrier
Stearns Japanese Garden is a hidden LA treasure.
The pond-style stroll garden was
created in the 1930s by Japanese immigrant Kinzuchi Fuji for his patrons
Charles and Ellamae Storrier Stearns.
After their deaths, most of the
property was sold off, Caltrans seized part by eminent domain in the 1970s, and
by 1985, when Jim Haddad and his wife Connie inherited it, the remainder was in
severe decline.
Their concerted efforts, along with
the heroic contribution of Takeo Uesigi, one of the country’s leading experts
on Japanese garden design, led to the garden’s restoration.
In 2005, the Storrier Stearns was
listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It claims the distinction of being the only intact example of a major Japanese-style garden created before World War II for a
residence in Southern California.
This is not the place if you’re
looking for vivid and splashy. The garden, like most things Japanese, is subtle:
a single pink azalea bloom against a background of moss tones; the flash of an
orange koi gliding through the soft green-gray pond water. Patience, quiet
observation, and attention to detail yield results.
In fact, before going you might want to read “In Praise of Shadows,”the 1933 classic essay on Japanese aesthetics by Japanese author and novelist Jun’ichirō Tanizaki.
READ THE WHOLE PIECE HERE.
February 5, 2020
AND OF THESE THREE, THE GREATEST IS LOVE
“Hatred can rot a person’s wisdom and conscience,” Mr. Liu said in a statement he prepared for the trial. “An enemy mentality will poison the spirit of a nation and inflame brutal life and death struggles, destroy a society’s tolerance and humanity, and hinder a country’s advance toward freedom and democracy.”
these were taken on december 5 when la was in the throes of late autumn/early winter.
yesterday i noticed the pomegranate trees are already
sprouting fresh spring leaves!
February 2, 2020
ALEXANDER GIRARD AT THE PALM SPRINGS MUSEUM
Here’s how this week’s arts and culture column begins:
Through March 1, the Palm Springs Museum is featuring “A
Designer’s Universe,” an exhibit based on the multi-talented twentieth-century artist
Alexander Girard (1907-1993).
As the Museum points out: “Alexander Girard (1907–1993
in Santa Fe) was one of the most important and prolific designers of the
20th century. He created stunning interiors for restaurants, private
homes, corporate offices, and even airplanes! He created textiles, typography,
and tableware. He designed exhibitions, toys, and a whole city street in
Columbus, Indiana. Inspired by folk art and pop art, Girard created a
bold, colorful, charismatic universe. He warmed up modernism with his
whimsical, optimistic patterns and designs.”
That optimism and whimsy are on full display. The exhibition, organized by Germany’s Vitra Design Museum and accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, includes more than 400 objects: from board games and flags Girard created as a child for the imaginary Republic of Fife, to textiles, drawings, carpets, radios, restaurant ware, and folk art, much of which he collected and some of which he made himself. Girard worked closely with the iconic mid-century design firm Herman Miller. One of his most well-known interiors, the 1957 Miller House in Columbus, Indiana, appears here in the form of a full-scale replica of its famous “conversation pit,” featuring a tomato red wrap-around-the-room sofa strewn with vividly patterned pillows.
READ THE WHOLE PIECE HERE.
January 28, 2020
ST. ANDREW’S ABBEY
Here’s how this week’s arts and culture column begins:
If, like me, you’re forever in search of a day or two of
silence and solitude—do I have a place for you.
That would be St. Andrew’s Abbey, a male Roman Catholic Benedictine
monastery, in the high desert an hour and half outside LA. You can either cut
through the Angeles Forest, or take the long way around up the 5 to the 114 to
Route 138 aka the Pearblossom Highway.
That will land you in the unincorporated community of
Valyermo, on which, down a winding back road, St. Andrew’s is located.
Pearblossom, Valyermo: pure poetry, and wait till you actually arrive!
Benedictines are known for their hospitality, and one of the
Abbey’s main offerings consists in retreats. I’ve done many over the years: a
few directed, most private. You get a room with heat, a swamp cooler, a bed, a
desk, a patio and a crucifix. (Wifi is available in the Guest Lounge). You get
acres of gorgeous desert to explore and roam. At 3600 feet, nestled in the
northern foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, you get four seasons.
Spring is an explosion of colors, textures, and the
fragrance of chaparral and sage. Summers are hot, all the better to enjoy the
shade of the Lombardy poplars, cottonwoods, and chapel. In fall, the trees
change color. I spent Christmas here the year my mother died and woke December
25 to snow.
The Abbey is named for its mother house in Brugge, Belgium. Several missionary monks who had been expelled from Communist China bought the Hidden Springs Ranch in Valyermo and in 1955 established the monastery. Today, twenty monks make their lives of ora et labora—work and prayer—there.
READ THE WHOLE PIECE HERE.
January 23, 2020
SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEW SITE, PLEASE: SIMPLE!
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January 22, 2020
“OUTSIDER” ARTIST JAMES CASTLE
Here’s how this week’s arts and culture column begins:
Artist James Castle (1899-1977) was born to a large Irish Catholic family in rural Idaho. His parents farmed and served as postmasters in Garden Valley. Profoundly deaf since birth, he attended the Idaho State School for the Deaf and Blind for five years, but learned neither to read, lip-read, nor sign.
He also left
behind an astonishing body of work estimated to run between 5000 and 20,000
pieces. Falling into three main categories—drawings, assemblages, and handmade
books
and text pieces using letters, numbers, and
characters, many self-invented, Castle’s is
possibly the largest existing oeuvre
for a single artist.
Almost as
astonishing as Castle’s output and sophistication was the fact his family, also
from the start, respected, honored and accommodated his craft.
To a person they agreed that Jim
was never much on chores, nor did they require him to be.
The family moved twice within Idaho—first to Star in 1923, then
to the outskirts of Boise in 1931. Castle had no contact with the “art world,”
no mentor, no formal education beyond those five years.
He reportedly had three basic hand signals: “go,” “eat,” and
“love”—the last of which consisted in placing his hand over his heart.
With those, and his evidently vast intelligence and imagination,
he taught himself: painting, perspective, construction. He made his own “ink”
from soot and spit. With scrap paper and
cardboard, dime-store watercolors, home-made paste, scissors and twine, he
created a world—an empire.
READ THE WHOLE PIECE HERE.
January 19, 2020
SIGN UP FOR MY WRITING WORKSHOP!
NEW 8-WEEK WRITING WORKSHOP
WITH AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR, COLUMNIST AND SPEAKER HEATHER KING
THE WORKSHOP:
Eight weeks, Wednesday nights from 7-9, at my beautiful Craftsman apartment in Pasadena. Coffee, tea, and snacks provided.
DATES:
February 12 through April 8, with a week off on March11.
8-PERSON MAX , CAUSE WE WANT THINGS INTIMATE. SO SECURE YOUR PLACE!
EMAIL: hdking719@gmail.com
COST: $550.
PAYABLE UP FRONT.
FORMAT:
The workshop (with one-on-one instruction, editing, and/or coaching-critique available separately) is for those interested in honing their fiction, nonfiction, and poetry writing skills.
We’ll read from our works-in-progress, give/receive notes, and share our concerns, challenges, and triumphs.
We’ll talk about ordering our lives and hearts to our craft.
________________________________________
QUALIFICATIONS:
I’ve published twelve books, including top NY-agented, unagented, and self-published. For the last six years, I’ve written a weekly arts and culture column for Angelus News, the archdiocesan newspaper of LA, and a monthly column on an unsung saint.
TOP EDITING/STORY SKILLS:
I’ve been writing my life for 25 years. I’ve written and recorded over 30 slice-of-life commentaries for NPR’s “All Things Considered.” I’ve published memoir, essay collections, creative non-fiction, blog posts, spiritual reflections, columns, and features.
TEACHING AND EDITING EXPERIENCE:
I’ve been providing editing, critique, and one-on-one coaching services for writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for over ten years.
I’ve taught at the LA Writer’s Lab. I’ve received a dramaturge credit for a play that was nominated for Best Play by the LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards. I’ve edited and helped shepherd over 50 manuscripts of nonfiction, memoir and poetry.
I’m also a nationwide speaker, lecturer, and retreat giver.
SUCCESS:
I’ve been featured in the Best American Spiritual Writing series, and received numerous “Notable Essay” citations in the Best American Essays series. My memoir Parched was named by The Fix as one of their top ten addiction memoirs. My memoir Holy Desperation (Loyola Press) won both “Book of the Year” (2018) and also placed first in the Inspiration category from the National Association of Catholic Publishers. I’ve received countless awards over the years from the Catholic Press Association for columns, reflections, and essays.
For my history, sensibility, and approach, this INTERVIEW is a start.
BETTE DAVIS, THE LETTERTHAT’S RIGHT–THE STAKES ARE LIFE AND DEATH!
TESTIMONIALS:
Heather is one of the country’s premier writing coaches. Just when I was ready to give up on my project and myself, she rescued me. It’s amazing to sit back and listen to her brilliant mind spill forth as she shapes my rambling thoughts and pulls out all the good stuff. Heather can look at a piece of my writing and give me more insight into what it’s really about than I even knew was there. My fear, anguish, and head-banging (so to speak) have turned to confidence. I’m eternally grateful.
–Karin Esterhammer, author of the 2017 memoir So Happiness to Meet You, based on an L.A. Times Travel section article about her two years in Vietnam that received the most hits of any piece that year.
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Heather King is queen of encouragement for new writers. She has helped me to be consistent and confident in my work.She is a writer’s companion.
–Rita A. Simmonds, Winner of the Catholic Press Association Award, Best Original Poetry, 2010, 2011, and 2012
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Thanks to the editing and the mentoring skills of Heather King, my book, The Oxygen Mask Rule – How My Struggle With Anorexia Taught me How to Survive, is a finalist in the International Book Awards and was given Honorable Mention in the New York Book Festival awards in 2012.
–Martha L. Thompson
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“Heather King is an incredibly honest and insightful critic. She helped me see the issues in my new poetry manuscript and suggested ways to correct the problems in tone, image, and even at the level of the word. Heather is an astute and generous reader. She is also very responsive and clear. I’m so glad I asked for her help!”
–Leslie Williams, author of Success of the Seed Plants (Bellday Books, 2010), winner of the Bellday Prize, and Even the Dark (2019), winner of the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition.
“THE TRUTH DOES NOT CHANGE ACCORDING TO OUR ABILITY TO STOMACH IT.”FLANNERY O’CONNOR’S DESK AND CRUTCHES: ANDALUSIA, MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA
January 17, 2020
I’VE MIGRATED!
Pray for me. I’ve been hosted by blogger for over 10 years now!
And for the last going on five months, I’ve been in trying to migrate over here to wordpress.
The site is up, if not totally fine-tuned. Check everything out. I especially like this cool page I worked up with some of my ALL-TIME FAVORITE memoirs and films.
I think I managed to re-direct the RSS feed over for those who have subscribed.
I do like the new, cleaner look, and I hope you do, too.
The new decade has called for a housecleaning in many areas: material, emotional, and psycho-spiritual, with the emphasis for me on psycho.
Once I get a few other things squared away, I hope to be posting more regularly.
Eternal thanks to all who have read, supported, commented upon and prayed along with me.
Adventures await!
