links for 2010-04-30

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Arline Groenwoldt

Arline Groenwoldt
My Grandmother, Arline Groenwoldt

My maternal grandmother, Arline Groenwoldt, died on Thursday, April 15th. I waited to mention it here because I wanted to be sure that my family had a chance to attend her services first. And then I waited some more because I’m having such a hard time figuring out what to say. I can’t adequately capture her likeness in words, and it’s overwhelming to try to explain what she meant to me. I have a vivid memory of her voice, and I keep replaying things she said in my head, afraid that I’ll forget what she sounded like and that little piece of her will be lost to me.

We drove to Iowa for her memorial last week. She is interred in Davenport Memorial Park next to my grandfather, Julius H. Groenwoldt, who died on March 30, 1996.

From the Quad City Times:

Arline Groenwoldt

PERRY, Iowa — Arline V. Groenwoldt, 86, of Perry, Iowa, and a Davenport native, died Thursday, April 15, 2010, at Mercy Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa. A year after her husband Julius’ death in 1996, she moved from Davenport to Perry to be near family. Memorial services will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Runge Mortuary in Davenport. She will be buried next to Julius in Memorial Park Cemetery.

She is survived by her son, Jim Groenwoldt (Debbie), of Indianapolis, Ind.; and daughters Pat Mineart, of Noblesville, Ind.; Judy Barden, of Des Moines, and Nancy Wright (Dave), of Perry; 14 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and one brother, Richard Koos (Beverly), of Davenport.

Grandma Groenwoldt’s love of reading is a legacy she passed to my mother and her siblings, and then to me and my siblings. She and my grandfather also loved flowers and their garden was full of gorgeous blooms – one of my most vivid memories from childhood.

Some flowers from our garden, for my grandmother.

Garden Blooms
Garden Blooms
Garden Blooms

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Evan vs. Johnny, part 3897

I’ve never liked Evan Lysacek. I can sense the underlying homophobia in all of his comments about Johnny Weir, and he always has seemed to suffer from insecurity badly masked by snottiness. All of that could be forgiven if he were an interesting skater, (hell, I LOVE watching Tonya Harding skate, and look at her issues!) but on the ice Evan just seems really ill-at-ease to me.

Even so, I felt sorry for him after Evgeni Plushenko’s asinine behavior following the Olympics – in the battle of skating douche-baggery, Plushenko takes the gold over Evan all week long.

But my sympathy for Evan lasted all of 5 minutes – witness the latest go-round between Evan and Johnny over the Stars on Ice controversy. In March, the show declined to have Johnny skate with them, despite the really beautiful job he did at the Olympics (he was robbed of a medal, frankly) and Johnny thinks it’s because he’s not “family-friendly.” That’s probably right on target; Stars on Ice is rather on the white bread, homespun, booooooooorrrrrrrrring side. Bring your snooze alarm to the show. Johnny can occasionally court controversy (although I think he really does this at pretty strategic times) and they were probably worried about him upsetting the apple pie genera image the show maintains. (In reality, I’ve never seen Johnny bite the hand that feeds him – he genuinely appreciates his fans and treats his coaches well even when he’s not getting along with them. He works hard at his sport and always had great things to say about the figure skating world in general.)
In response to Johnny’s comments, Evan had this to say:

“Stars on Ice” is really selective of who they hire and they only hire the best of the best to skate. It would’ve been hard of them to justify hiring him, and I think he was really upset because he wanted the financial benefit of the tour. A lot of us in the skating world were really disappointed in the way he reacted, basically whining that he wasn’t chosen.

I call bullshit on that one – They do have some amazing skaters, but I’ve also seen some of the crash test dummies they’ve had on their programs – talent ain’t exactly a requirement for the gig. It’s more of a showcase of the wholesomeness of figure skating, geared towards tween girls, rather like Disney’s princess movies.

Johnny has been a U.S. Nationals champion (beating Evan!) three times, and he’s qualified for the Olympics numerous times and won a Bronze at worlds. He’s a very good skater and better than Jeremy Abbott, who’s a sweetie but just not the same caliber.

Johnny fired back today, saying he wouldn’t join the cast if asked, and calling Evan a “slore.” The Urban Dictionary definition if you need it. I can’t see the video yet to see whether Johnny was pissed or playful. I do think he has a point, though. I thought the Dancing with the Stars gig was on the whorish side.

Continue ReadingEvan vs. Johnny, part 3897

Diane Arbus

I picked up Diane Arbus: A Biography at the library without really having an idea who she was. It happened to be on a kiosk of other photography books that the Nora branch was featuring, and I thought – “hey a woman photographer. I should check her out.” I’m not sure why I have that gap in my education, but I was until recently pretty unaware of iconic photographers other than knowing the names of a few, like Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Annie Liebovitz.

There are relatively few of her photos reproduced in the biography, probably due to it being unauthorized (but still regarded as the generally definitive account of her life). So I probably approached her as a topic in the opposite fashion that most people do – I suspect most people are familiar with her work first and then are drawn to discover more about the woman driven to create it. I’m rather glad I stumbled into the backwards approach, mainly because if I’d seen her work first I don’t know that I would have been driven to seek out more about her. Off-putting would be a mild description of her photos. I can definitely see why they are iconic, and her bio gives me clues into why she was compelled to create them, and I understand that need. I can also see why there are so many young photographers who fall into the trap of imitating her; it’s easy to imitate her style. It’s also easy to attempt (without succeeding) to imitate her subject matter — but not easy to capture what she was actually trying to capture – people who are genuine and lacking in artifice.

About her subjects, she said: “Most people go through life dreading they’ll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They’ve already passed their test in life. They’re aristocrats.”
I’m not sure I agree complete with her that people on the fringes are they only people in which you find that quality of authenticity and lack of guile. It might be somewhat easier to find the authentic self among people who have no use for masks, but it can be found amongst the everyday as well. And there is also an authenticity to be found amongst people who are joyous and celebratory as well.

But it seems from her biography that she was also a danger junkie, putting herself in positions quite different from her own background and upbringing. I also wonder if she was seeking something in her subjects that wasn’t actually there, or maybe was more present in her than them – like she was looking in them for an image of herself.

Either way, I found her as a subject far more interesting (to me personally) than her photographs, although I do agree that her work was extraordinary and very important. I think I just don’t see the world the same way she did.

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links for 2010-04-28

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links for 2010-04-27

  • A very long article trashing social networking and how it's "affecting the nature of friendship." I disagree completely, but don't really have time right now to write out all the reasons why he's wrong.
  • "It can happen at the most inopportune moment: in the middle of a delightful conversation at a party, at a restaurant with new friends, while you’re lunching with co-workers, during a family meal. Someone makes a wild generalization about women who get abortions, and you’re shocked. You try to remain civilized but it’s difficult. To make matters worse, you’re not sure how to reply."
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My political daily chuckle

I got a fun little email blast from the DCCC regarding the GOP “Back in the Kitchen” comments they made a few days about about Betty Sutton (I linked to a news story about it here):

Ohio GOP: Put Her Back in the Kitchen
You won’t believe this one. Every once in a while, Republicans say something that makes you wonder what century they’re living in. Or in this case, twice in a while. Days ago, a Republican operative in Ohio actually said take Democratic Congresswoman Betty Sutton “out of the House and put her back in the kitchen.” This comes not long after House Republicans said that Speaker Pelosi should be “put in her place.” GOP Sexism like this needs our strong response.

While I laud their efforts, I have to wonder where these guys were during the 2008 election cycle, when the Democratic party was busy eating it’s own by throwing out remarks like these (and stuff far, far worse) at Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton. You know, from inside the supposedly progressive, feminist party.

Pot, I’d like to introduce you to kettle. Have fun talking, boys!

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Dan Coats bumper sticker

Just spotted a Dan Coats for Indiana sticker on minivan on College Ave. I thought the Republicans were really ignorant, but that’s just chillingly nihilistic. He’s such a terrible candidate for the state of Indiana that there’s no way to plead ignorance on the issue – if you’ve got the brains to go get a bumper sticker for him, then you have to actually know what he’s about. And if you know what he’s about, how could you possibly advertise for him? I just assumed Republicans would be on the down low for him; voting for him in private but not admitting it in public. If they’re opening admitting they want one of the shittiest candidates in Indiana history in the U. S. Senate – dog help us all.

Continue ReadingDan Coats bumper sticker

links for 2010-04-26

  • Imagine that hundreds of black protesters were to descend upon Washington DC and Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Capitol and White House, armed with AK-47s, assorted handguns, and ammunition. And imagine that some of these protesters –the black protesters — spoke of the need for political revolution, and possibly even armed conflict in the event that laws they didn’t like were enforced by the government? Would these protester — these black protesters with guns — be seen as brave defenders of the Second Amendment, or would they be viewed by most whites as a danger to the republic? What if they were Arab-Americans? To ask any of these questions is to answer them. Protest is only seen as fundamentally American when those who have long had the luxury of seeing themselves as prototypically American engage in it. When the dangerous and dark “other” does so, however, it isn’t viewed as normal or natural, let alone patriotic.
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