The January Inspiration Log

This is the fourth Inspiration Log, a series of posts noting the things that inspired me from the previous month.

Fran Lebowitz

Last year someone asked me: "Dream dinner party guests, dead or alive?" Easy answer: Nora Ephron, Anthony Bourdain and Fran Lebowitz, so that we can all talk about our love for New York. Unless you eschew Netflix, then you know that Fran is very much alive, and very much of the moment thanks to Martin Scorsese's show "Pretend Its a City". I don't know how many people outside of the city were aware of her until now. I was having one of my nightly Discord chats with my Reddit friends, and when I squealed the night her show hit Netflix, they all responded the same way: 

Friends: Who?
Me: She's a great New York treasure. 

You see, there's loving New York, which is that baseline appreciation of it that one can get on a first visit. Then there is loving New York York in a deeper level, where one loves New York so much they need to analyze it and understand it. You'll never hear someone on that deeper level say "New Yorker's are rude" but instead say, "New Yorker's are misunderstood." Now, that's not to be confused with a delusional view of the city. No, people on that deeper level criticize the hell out of the city, and can still understand it. 

You may wonder, well, "What level am I on?" I have a simple test for that: when you tell someone you went on vacation and they respond with "it's good to get out of the city for awhile" and you want to say, "no, that's not it at all" then you love New York. I can't describe it well besides that, but I know Fran Lebowitzis the queen of it. 

One last reason to love her: she's an original. As culture becomes more and more homogenized (thanks social media) I feel like there are less original people and more people who fit into predetermined "slots". and I am inspired by Fran because she reminds me that there are still a few totally original people left.

Ballet (again)

Yes, yes, I wrote about ballet last month, but I have been further inspired by my good friend in Nice, France, who pre-COVID was taking beginner ballet lessons. I decided to give myself a ballet class in the living room two times a week. Thank god there are few mirrors in the living room, otherwise I'd spend my 45 minute class scowling. I'm so competitive with myself. Then there is the matter of my almost-old bones. They make noises now, believe me.

Madame

I happened upon this lighthearted film one night scrolling Amazon and I was completely tickled by it. It tells the story of a maid in a wealthy home in Paris, asked one evening to pretend to be a guest at a dinner party, and then of course, madness ensues. I'm usually frustrated by Pollyanna's -- you know the type, positive, pie-in-the-sky -- but there is something in the lead actress that makes you love her and her world view and embrace her naiveté. Oh, and, there is the usual class consciousness that I like to see exposed in art.