Opening Boxes

Today started out slow like it always does on the weekend. I am in no hurry to go anywhere when I wake up. I already have to be somewhere five days a week when I wake up.

Yesterday I had dug out my collection of movies. The box had sat in my closet since I moved here almost a year ago. I had a carefully chosen few out, but the rest had been in storage. So I spent part of the morning watching Anatomy of A Murder with Jimmy Stewart and Lee Remick. I hadn't seen it in probably a year. Jimmy did some great stuff in that film. The country laywer wins the rape case.

My version was taped from cable and had some commentary from Geraldo Rivera talking about why he liked the movie. It was part of the Our Favorite movie series on TNT a few years ago. Each week some celebrity would be chosen to talk about his or her favorite movie. Susan Lucci chose Suddenly Last Summer, another favorite movie of mine. The nineteen fifties were a great time for film.

Later in the afternoon while watching Escape From Alcatraz, I decided to sort through some of my old artwork from years ago. No, I do not own a copy of this movie, it was on regular television. I hadn't unpacked my artwork when I moved in here. It also had been hiding in my closet for almost a year.

I think that part of the reason that I didn't unpack everything is that I had moved three times last year. I was probably tired of unpacking. In June of last year I was lving by myself, when my girlfriend and I decided to get a place together. So move number one happened in June. This lasted until September, when I moved out. This was move number two. Then in November, I moved here. That was move number three. So most of my stuff stayed in boxes, when I got here.

Now that I am going to stay here for a while, I can unpack. The current plan in my mind is to stay with my company for at least another year and then maybe move on to somewhere out of state. Another option that I have been thinking about is just going to Europe for a month after I leave my current job. Just throw it all to the wind and start over after I get back. Maybe I am just fooling myself. I didn't do the Europe thing when I was in college. I probably wasn't ready then, but I think that I am now.

Some of the artwork that I unpacked today was good and some should never see the light of day. All of it brought back memories for me though. My art is always an extension of me. It exists as a reflection of who I was and what I was thinking when I made it.

Yesterday when I was at my parents house, my mom was asking me about my paintings and what they mean. They have a shrine to me at their house. The family room is just plastered with my paintings. A retrospective of me is on permanent display in their house. Now that I think about it, the paintings are more recent than any formal photo they have of me.

I wonder how they explain the self portrait of me hung above the piano that is done in green. Yes, I said green. My face is green, but my hair is a few shades of reddish brown. The face blends into the background. Its also larger than life. When I first made it, I was very fond of it. Now I just smirk when I look at it.