brent56 Details

United States

Member since Jul 27 2009

Last on Mar 27 at 5:28am

Profile last updated Jun 14 2020

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Interests

Interests	Art, birds (especially bluebirds), nature, pets, politics, music, books, and writing. I'm a painter with a real devotion to modernism. I absolutely adore modern art history that covers the period from around 1905 up until 1970 or so. And I have a special fondness for what the New York school abstract expressionists were doing around mid-century--both the action painters and the color-field painters. I write a lot, too. I'm fascinated by the English language. I love the rhythm of words and how they go together to express precise ideas. To me, The Chicago Manual of Style is fun reading.
Music	In my opinion, Side 2 of The Beatles' Abbey Road has never been topped. I think it's one of the greatest artistic achievements during my lifetime. I still remember the amazement I felt the first time I heard it. And I'm still awed by it. As a young boy, I was a Ricky Nelson fan. Although I liked Elvis Presley's stuff okay, for some reason his work never overwhelmed me. The Beatles hit when I was in the first grade, and I was a fan from then on. They prepared me for Dylan. Essentially, everything radiates from The Beatles and Dylan. Joni Mitchell deserves special mention too--as does Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, The Stones, and David Bowie. There are plenty of more obscure groups and lesser groups that I've latched onto from time to time, but there's really no point in making a laborious list. Interestingly to me, especially since I was so music-focused when I was young, lately I just don't listen to all that much. Silence has become music for me. It's like a new discovery and I absolutely cherish it.
Movies	I don't see many movies these days. Thus, most of the favorites I'll list were way in the past--but they were significant to me for one reason or another. The Wizard of Oz, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, Help (I still have my Beatles photo that they gave out), Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, True Grit, Madam X, and Harold and Maude. I also liked earlier horror movies, such as Dracula and Frankenstein movies. Jaws, Star Wars (and sequels), Clockwork Orange, The Way We Were, The Sting, Animal House, and Woody Allen movies. Sophie's Choice, Stand By Me, Empire of the Sun, Walking Across Egypt, Risky Business, My Own Private Idaho, Grand Canyon, Robert Altman's Short Cuts (and I liked Altman's Cookie's Fortune, too), and Magnolia.
Television	I don't have a working TV anymore, which is not tragic for me because I absolutely detest so-called "reality" television shows. I was always a big fan, though, of well-crafted sit-coms and dramas. I miss those.
Books	I love to read and have a special fondness for somewhat contemporary southern fiction. Pat Conroy is one of my favorite authors; The Prince of Tides and The Lords of Discipline both struck resonant chords with me. I recently read The Help, but I don't stay particularly current on the latest releases in fiction. Instead, I tend to seek out things that I find at used book sales.