The Alonzo King ballet was amazing - the dancers fabulous, yet I found the whole strangely without emotion. The conversation between Ashley Page and Alonzo King was fascinating. A wonderfully articulate man who said 'We live in ideas. As artists we become obsessed with ideas and we want to communicate those ideas.' But I wasn't clear about which ideas he was trying to communicate in these two ballets....I was full of admiration for the dancers' skill, but was moved by only one little gesture: two dancers moving slowly across the front of the stage, where the other dancers continued to move frenetically, she dabbing his forehead with a cloth, very tenderly. I would have liked to see more touches like this - a touch of charm, a touch of intimacy, a touch of humour perhaps....to touch our emotions.

I think this applies to painting too. That skill, no matter how brilliant isn't enough, isn't 'art'. (Presumptious of me?). 'Art moves you.' said David Hockney - as good a definition as you'll get I think. Would you agree?

Type in 2010 Alonzo King Dust and Light You Tube for a taste...

In Princes Street a small man is inverted - feet in the air, arms by his sides, head in a bucket - perfectly still. Beside the bucket with his head in is another bucket, into which passers by are putting money. The crazy world of Edinburgh at Festival time! Nice way to earn a crust - all you need is two buckets, the ability to stand on your head, and a little bit of pavement.

How I wish I'd had my camera - because I know  you don't believe me....

Off to the Edinburgh Festival to see the Alonzo King Lines Ballet from San Francisco, and to hear the choreographer King talk about the global perspective and empathy in his work.

   '...the furious abandon and exhilarating freedom of his company's contemporary classical style.'

There's nothing like live performance. Simply the real thing.

I was up early this morning and it was sunny and warm so I thought I'd have a very civilised breakfast outside (I often eat breakfast absentmindedly, standing in the kitchen).

I sat down to this treat, with the sound of the wonderful Rachel Podger playing a Bach partita drifting from the studio window....and the sun went immediately behind a cloud and a big fly plopped into my tea!

You have to laugh, and start again..

The NYC ballet workout DVDs have arrived.

How inspiring. How difficult.

I will not be discouraged, but will take Babatua's advice and start light, very light. Start small he says, so small that success is almost guaranteed.

Ten to fifteen minutes at a time.

Warm up exercises only.

Most nights.

Already I find myself slouching less! There is hope!

A full waterproofs August walk up Puck's Glen yesterday. At least heavy rain is good for something - the waterfalls were gorgeous!

The bit of Leo Babtua's book that speaks to my condition most at present is 'Create Habits'.

What habit would you like to create? I'm trying to get the exercise habit as you know if you read this blog.

Babatua says 'First start light'. As the DVDs haven't arrived yet, I'm doing my routine from a seven minute you tube clip - that's pretty light I guess!

Second 'Schedule your workout time' - easy - late at night. I'm an owl, no doubt about it, and late at night the house is warm, there won't be any interruptions, it's totally private and I can follow my exercise with a relaxing bath and a good sleep.

Thirdly 'Dont allow your self to miss a day'. H'mm, we'll see...

Fourthly 'Don't give up'. I'll give it a month and review.

'Be accountable to others' - well, I'm committing publicly here, now! Hold me to it. And/or join me anyone?

And finally 'Enjoy it'. Well that's my major breakthrough. The fact that I really enjoy the ballet warmup workouts increases enormously my chances of actually sticking with it, and successfully getting the exercise habit.

The Power of Less by Leo Babatua (he of the blogs Zen Habits and mnmlist) is another 'this will change your life' book. Well, some books have changed my life..

He says 'The simplicity I seek in my life is simplicity in what I do. Do less, not more, but achieve more because of the choices I make'. And what he wants to do are the things he loves.  

His six Power of Less Principles are:

                        Set Limitations
                        Choose the essential
                        Simplify
                        Focus
                        Create habits
                        Start small

So far so sensible. I'm liking this (thank you Maggie!)

The minimalist architect John Pawson (see posting of 25 April, under Simply Beautiful) designed the sets for the Royal Ballet production of Chroma. The 'manic' part of the ballet was choreographer Wayne McGregor. There is an interview with him on You Tube-Chroma-Royal Opera House. I would love to see this ballet someday. I think it would be fantastically exciting - Click here to take a look at some of the images on www.dezeen.com/john-pawson-on-stage-at-royal-ballet  Such  fascinating, dedicated creative people....

I'm moving with New York City Ballet Workout 2 - Part 1 (www.youtube.com)

What curiously clunky shoes they wear.

How beautiful the dancers are, how strong!

I fancy a pair of funky legwarmers, and one of those little short wrap around cardigans? Maybe not the tutu though....

Thanks for the suggestions but I THINK I HAVE FOUND IT - EXERCISE I MIGHT ACTUALLY LIKE!

Excuse all the capitals, but I am so excited about this I have to shout.

I searched and searched all the possibilities for exercise I could think of, and was just coming up with a longer and longer list of things I would hate to do, when I came across this....

The New York City Ballet Workout on You Tube.

Don't laugh, but I'm going to do the seven minutes that are on You Tube every night till the DVD comes from Amazon.

First position, pas de bas, pirouette (OK maybe not pirouette..)

I need to exercise!

I hate exercise and have managed to avoid it till now. The last horrible truth that struck me in a changing room was that I needed to lose weight - I did that, and have pretty well managed to keep to my new healthier weight - but exercise! That's a different matter. I'm not sporty. I walk a bit. I never run if I can help it, and I don't like swimming. I can't think of any exercise that would firm up the flab that wouldn't bore me out of my mind. Don't mention exercise bikes or gyms! All that ugly equipment and televisions and noise reminds me of torture chambers. I like yoga, but that's more about suppleness than toning - though it's probably better than nothing, which is what I do at present.

I'm not often stuck, but I'm stuck on this one....

When I googled the words live simply I got 191,000,000 results! So I guess I'm not the only one interested then....
 
Two challenging blogs about living very simply are www.zenhabits.net and www.mnmlist.com . Both are by the same author Leo Babauta, and both are worth reading, even if they are a bit too radical for me to take seriously. They do make you think about alternative ways of living which sound very attractive: When you eat, just eat.  Start small.  Reduce your tasks.  Choose an easy goal.  Don't complicate things.  Smile, breathe and go slowly. I think I'll make that my mantra for today.

Check it out (another nice thing - no ads).

Alchemilla mollis (yes, again!) is also known as Lady's Mantle - I think you can see why in this photograph. Every little point on the edge of its serrated leaf had its own dewdrop this morning, sparkling in glorious sunshine like beads around the edge of a shawl. (Aren't digital cameras wonderful?)

At midnight, with hats and gloves and a flask of hot chocolate, we drove up the Larach to an area of really dark sky where we gazed at the milky way and watched shooting stars, and sent two sky lanterns (thank you Irene!) floating up and over Loch Eck. Breathtakingly beautiful....

Alchemilla cut back hard - it looks awful for a bit! Hardy geraniums which have a haze of brownish seedheads over them. By now they may have thrown up a dome of lovely new foliage - psilostemnon and Patricia do this, and I just cut away the older leaves and seedheads, and top up the mulch on the exposed soil around them. Straggly violas can still be cut hard, sacrificing a few flowers, but it will probably flower again quite quickly, though the others I mention will probably not flower again this year, unless the weather is exceptionally good. You never know!  Not the most exciting photographs but they make the point I hope that in three or four weeks you can have some fresh attractive foliage again.

The garden, like an ageing beauty, (to use Helen Dillon's phrase) loses its freshness in August. I am reluctant to accept that it has peaked for this year - but here is the evidence - this beautiful leaf is one of the first to turn, and with it the garden turns towards late summer and autumn and that faint tinge of melancholy....

But there are pleasures to come - crocosmias, rudbeckias, aster, lythrum, japanese anemone, helianthus, phlox and more.

I try to retain the fresh vitality of the earlier garden for as long as possible, and one of the best ways to do this is to cut some plants down to the ground, water and feed, and wait for fresh new leaves to come up.

It's hard to do because it leaves holes, reveals weeds and slug damage and disturbs the whole integrated feel that the garden has attained at this point. But I steel myself and do it anyway!

next posting....which plants get the chop...

I'm planning a black and white bed in the garden around this Lutyens bench. I have the black grass ophiopogon planiscapus nigrescens (!) and white viola cornuta. In the name of low maintenance, and for a little bit of posh (suits the bench, if not the house) have replaced annuals in these lovely pots with standard box balls - rather sweet, but will look more dramatic when they have grown a bit, and certainly easy to look after. Other nearly black plants are viola labradorica with its dark purple leaves, and viola Bowles Black (above) which I am hoping will overwinter and seed itself  in the gravel where it is growing now to provide me with enough plants. Another white is the delightful geranium robertianum 'Celtic White' which seeds itself around very prettily. I always have the native red version - herb robert - in memory of a friend Robert Murray, and the two have crossed and produced a charming pale pink version - but not for this bed....

next posting..the challenge of the garden in August ...

It seems to me that everything I have ever been interested in comes together in this concept of wabi sabi. It's very exciting.

'The Tao that cannot be told is not the eternal Tao' is the first line in the translation from the chinese of the Tao Te Ching. I suspect that the japanese wabi sabi has something of this mystery and paradox about it. That it cannot be easily put into words, but in our western way we will try anyway...

A willingness to accept that there will be mystery seem to be more prevalent in eastern philosophy, and I'm looking again at A C Grayling's book The Mystery of Things. He says in the introduction:

     'Human genius has done much, and promises much, in the way of removing the mystery from many things in our          world; at the same time it recognises and honours the mystery in things too.'

Ah, maybe I am a philosopher at heart!

The Tao Te Ching by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English, 1974, is a beautiful book. I've just bought the last new copy from Amazon (mine got dropped in the bath) but there are used copies from £2.96.

I am so surprised I have not come across wabi sabi before! Take a look at www.wabisabi.org.uk if you are interested, as I am, in aesthetics and living simply....

Some of the fashion books and magazines give lists of different 'styles' which can help you analyse what you really like, which in turn helps you when you go shopping for clothes: Classic/Romantic/Natural/Chic/Arty/Sexy/Dramatic or a recent category Eurochic - Oh, I think I'd love to be Eurochic! It sounds so elegant!

Your style of course should be compatible with your lifestyle - I adore dressy clothes, but I am a painter, gardener and garden designer and live in the wilds of Argyll - but a girl can dream....and arrange a few 'elegant shoe events' in her life.

I'd like to think my style is Classy with a fun twist/Arty not tarty...

I like to wear classic good quality trousers for example with slightly funky jewellery from Top Shop, or a beautiful piece of jewellery (I've bought recently from a website called www.scandinaviansilver.co.uk - vintage scandinavian designs) with jeans and plimsolls. Mixing styles is an art, and fun, and I think the secret is in the proportions - if you wear half and half of two styles it just looks as if you don't know what you are trying to do - but if you wear predominantly one with a touch of another - it's kind of piquant! (Well, I think so anyway.) I like the book More Dash Than Cash by Kate Hogg for inspiration - it just hasn't dated, though later versions have I think.

So what's your style Laura? And Lynne? and yours.......?

I went to the dentist and took my own magazine. I couldn't resist the cover on this expensive issue of Elle (see below). I love all the silhouettes - pages of them, and the fold out bit of rainbow colours. It has some real reading in it too. Germaine Greer grumbling as usual (but in a clever way) about older women not being catered for in the fashion world, and five short but interesting pieces by people who, from sometimes unlikely beginnings, became global fashion names, and there's some serious commentary on the fur trade and fashion. There's lots of nonsense too of course, which did take my mind off being at the dentist - the most bizarre and absurd surely being the instructions on how to make your own wimple!! 'Who, out of the thousands of people who read this magazine' I asked my husband, 'is going to make their own wimple?' (It was a rhetorical question.) 'Nun people', he wittily replied.

Since doing the workshop with Byron Katie (see previous post) I've been relaxed, and also very busy. I've realised it's possible, easy even, to be both. Am I alone in associating being relaxed with doing very little, and being busy with being a bit stressed?  Being relaxed while I work and go about my daily tasks is wonderful, and very efficient. I am doing lots, and am at ease about nearly all of it. It's like being 'in the flow', which I write about in my other blog, more often. Thank you Byron Katie!


my arty blog is at www.fredawaldapfel.squarespace.com