Cathy Carey I am best described as a contemporary expressive colorist. I use color to create emotional meaning and visual depth. I want my paintings to be more than just the reality of a description, and I strive to fill viewers with a sense of joy. Inspired by Henri Matisse, my goal is to paint what my subjects feel like, not what they look like. The natural world of animals and landscapes are my favorite… read more →
See recent interview of me by Marilyn Moore of the Atlas Society: https://atlassociety.org/commentary/commentary-blog/6318-member-spotlight-diana-amsden. It reveals facets of me that may be new even to my relatives. In May, 2014, in the Santee YMCA parking lot (spaces for ~314 cars), I tripped over a tire stop in the walking lane between two parking spaces, indistinguishable in color from the adjacent pavement. I did a face plant, sustaining nasal and left suborbital fractures. My vision corrected after… read more →
Government is handling youth unemployment with: 1. student loans––which financially hobble recipients 2. the Peace Corps––which exposes volunteers to criminal attack 3. the military––which risks life and limb. Destroying and rebuilding are big businesses with political clout. 4. prison for victimless crimes––which cripples economically and socially. Incarcerating fellow citizens is another lucrative business with political clout. All require extorting from taxpayers money they might otherwise have used to hire youth.
Why do I write? There are important things that demand, even clamor to be known. They chose me to express them, so I struggle to find the words that will give them voice. An actor can express truths more compellingly by wearing a costume, mask, and makeup. An author can express truths more fully in literary fiction because it loosens inhibitions. My vehicle is a multigenerational family saga that follows identical twins reared apart.… read more →
No Way Out, flawless acting by Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman. A masterpiece of intricate plotting, layer upon layer, twist upon twist, surprise after surprise.
Taxes: Bureaucrats want higher taxes to increase their salaries, pensions, and turf. Politicians want higher taxes so they’ll have more largesse to bestow and trade. Most citizens want tax money for education, research, welfare, etc., etc., etc. The few who pay more in taxes than they gain in benefits join the above or perish. This is why we can expect a fate like Rome’s.
1. When a character walks out to his car, pulling the camera back to take in a wide angle tips us off, making the explosion anticlimactic. 2. When two characters talk in a car and you show road conditions, I am too nervous and worried ––keep your eyes on the road!––that what the characters say doesn’t register. 3. A criminal’s memory of his crime (Ian Richardson in House of Cards) or a victim’s flashback (Christina… read more →
I didn’t expect to like this TV series because plots involving drugs bore me. However, the characters instantly engaged me, and the plot gripped me. Excellent casting, acting, direction, and photography. The most memorable moment: a roll of toilet paper is scooted across the floor. Congratulations to the show’s creator, Vince Gilligan.
Ballet and opera 1951 “Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger create a phantasmagoric marriage of cinema and opera in this one-of-a-kind take on a classic story. In Jacques Offenbach’s fantasy opera The Tales of Hoffman, a poet dreams of three women––a mechanical performing doll, a bejeweled siren, and the consumptive daughter of a famous composer––all of whom break his heart in different ways. Powell and Pressburger’s feverishly romantic adaptation is a feast of music, dance, and… read more →