2/19/2017

Weekly Update 2/19/2017

I'm thinking of changing this blog from Wilma's Weekly Update to The Lectures I Went to This Week. Seems like that's all I ever do.

I went to the movies Monday with June and Tom. June wanted to see Fifty Shades Darker because she LOVED Fifty Shade of Grey. I have neither read the books, nor seen the first movie, but June wanted to go, so I went. I have often spent worse afternoons, so I guess for the couple of hours it took me sit there, it wasn't so bad.

Jane and I went out to Fort Pulaski on Tuesday to walk. There is still a lot of hurricane damage along the hiking trail, and because the bridge across Lazaretto Creek needs immediate attention to be made safe, the removal of debris is low priority now. We didn't get to walk out to the Cockpur Lighthouse, but we did spend almost an hour on the trails that were open.

Wednesday seemed like a long day (many days this week seemed long). I began with a talk at noon at TLC about Why I Converted to Islam. Unfortunately, the speaker wasn't able to make the appointment, so instead of a personal discussion and journey, we only heard about some of the beliefs of the religion. I had two hours to kill before the next lecture, another in the series of Savannah architects that I have been attending for six weeks, so I went downtown. I wanted to check into property tax breaks and exclusions I might be eligible for because I'm so old. There is a limited time frame (between January and March each year) to sign up, and my financial adviser alerted me last summer that I should apply. I was apprehensive. Of course, I felt hadn't taken the documents I would need, or that my income would exceed the minimum (because I had a large withdrawal from an investment account in 2016 to purchase a car), or that somehow I wouldn't do it right. But I was out of there in 10 minutes and everything is in place to have a slight lowering of my obligations for 2017. Whew! And since I had almost an hour left on the Parking meter, I went to the Location Gallery. There was an exhibit there called Page Rippers. They do this occasionally where they tear pages from a book, and artists create a painting, a collage, a sculpture, or something, that relates to the page they are given. This book was The Damned Don't Cry, which is a novel written in 1939 about a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks in Savannah, who makes good.  

Location Gallery on Whitaker St

Thursday morning, DH had a meeting of interested workers about the proposed expansion. It will be years before this is even started, but they are beginning to think about using the entire house as a museum, and converting the adjacent pharmacy to the gift shop and admissions center. They were brainstorming what docents and guides view as roadblocks to an expanded tour. This will be a continuing work in progress. In the evening, I went to a n exhibit opening lecture at the Jepson Center. A curator had assembled several photos of art galleries, each a picture of a picture, but with an unusual placement. After the speaker finished, I toured the exhibit, and it was quite amazing.

model of the proposed expand ion of  DH

time lapse photo of the Mona Lisa - the crowd changes; she remains the same

an athlete posing in a gallery with Greek sculptures

the Jepson guests, viewing the exhibit

The 10^th Annual Savannah Book Fest was this weekend. I had wanted to hear Colson Whitehead talk about his book, The Underground Railroad. I had recently read it and found it disturbing, so I was interested to learn about some of the symbolism and meanings he was hoping to reveal with the fiction book. As with past book fests, the evening speakers are not free (Saturday speakers are), and it was impossible for peons like me to buy tickets; they are reserved for corporate sponsors and large wealthy contributors - not the likes of me. Luckily, I know someone who's wife works for Georgia Power, who is a sponsor, and had an extra ticket, which they offered to me! Although I was thrilled to have a ticket, I was disappointed in the talk. He only spoke about the central figure, Cora, but not the settings she was placed in. And he read from the book. Well, I'd already read it, so I didn't need that. But I'm glad I didn't miss it. Saturday, I got up early to be downtown and ready for the first lectures at 9 am. I'm living in the past (as I often do), remembering how wonderful this festival was when I first went about six years ago. Now it is HUGE! There were seven time slots, and a total of forty-one lectures. I only went to five, because by the time I stood in line for two that I wanted to hear, the hall was full and those in line were turned away, and it was too late to get to another venue. I did hear some very good authors, however, and I've got some great reads ahead of me in the next months.

Colson Whitehead

the Book Fest at Telfair Square