Lisa Firke

If in Doubt, Quote: L.P. Jacks on Work/Play

Lisa — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:21:57 +0000

Rabbit Rabbit Moon Party (Etsy print detail)
Click to view in the shop

“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.” —L.P. Jacks in Education as Recreation, 1932. (Hat tip to Frank Chimero and Liz Danzico.)

Except for that pesky pronoun, “he”, this strikes me as a great description of a perfectly balanced life.

It’s all work. It’s all play. Rinse and repeat.

The Art of Long Hair

Lisa — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:24:01 +0000

Lisa, on stage circa 1970

For the better part of my life, I have been one of those women with Very Long Hair. There have been only two times I’ve worn it short, once in college (when cutting it seemed like a Brave Thing to Do) and again early in my marriage, when I was trying Work a Real Job. Oh, and that time I let my daughter pretend I was a Cut ‘N Style Barbie and let her chop great hanks off. (Yes, I WAS the greatest mother ever.)

The rest of the time it’s been long. Sometimes very long, past my waist, most of the time at least past my shoulders. Right now it’s elbow-length.

Occasionally well-intended people tell me I should cut it. Not so much now, when longer hair seems to be Back, but during those times when short hair is In, I get told pretty regularly that a short do would “give my face a lift”. Blergh.

Sorry. It’s not that I revere it—more that it’s part of me. I don’t want to fuss with it, any more than I want to wear makeup (aka “fancy dirt”), fashionable shoes and clothes, and all sorts of other things that would seem to be normal for an American woman in the 21st century.

The tragedy of long hair is that the wearer doesn’t ever really see it—it’s all behind her. The risk is that she might lose things in it:

from the Life Underground Sketchbook: Pages14-15, © Lisa Firke.
Click to view the whole sketchbook as a slideshow.

If in Doubt Quote: Bill Murray on Lightness

Lisa — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:54:49 +0000

Bill Murray and Punxsutawny Phil

In honor of Groundhog’s Day (the funnest, silliest holiday we have), here’s a good bit from an interview with Bill Murray:

Q: Do you ever feel any pressure to keep things fun on set?

“I feel that pressure in life. Actually I don’t feel like it’s a pressure, it’s sort of an obligation – not to entertain and be funny but to have a certain levity. I don’t mean in terms of just being jocular, I mean that there’s got to be a lightness in your way. There has to be a lightness; you have to be as light as you can be and not get weighed down and stuck in your emotion, stuck in your body, stuck in your head. You just want to always be trying to elevate somehow.”

“There’s got to be a lightness in your way.” I like that!

More here.