A Post Noir - For Dorothy Parker On Her Birthday
My twenties were my most tumultuous decade. At least so far. Full of much angst and despair. At the time, I was listening to a lot of Prince and loved the song The Ballad of Dorothy Parker. Something about the song is really hypnotic and I wondered just who was Dorothy Parker. I don't remember exactly when it was, but one day I found some of her poetry and immediately loved it. In her words, she captured what I had often felt. I knew that I wasn't the only one to feel so badly, especially when it came to matters of the heart. She had a quick wit, sharp mind, and felt my future pain even though we both existed on this earth at the same time for a few short years.
Dorothy Parker was born in New Jersey on August 22, 1893 and died on June 7, 1967. I found this picture of her in her Wikipedia entry. Besides her poetry, what I found fascinating about her is that she left her entire estate to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. After he was killed, her estate was transferred to the NAACP.
I love her poem below, Symptom Recital from The Collected Poetry of Dorothy Parker.
I do not like my state of mind;
I'm bitter, querulous, unkind.
I hate my legs, I hate my hands,
I do not yearn for lovelier lands.
I dread the dawn's recurrent light;
I hate to go to bed at night.
I snoot at simple, earnest folk.
I cannot take the gentlest joke.
I find no peace in paint or type.
My world is but a lot of tripe.
I'm disillusioned, empty-breasted.
For what I think, I'd be arrested.
I am not sick, I am not well.
My quondam dreams are shot to hell.
My soul is crushed, my spirit sore;
I do not like me any more.
I cavil, quarrel, grumble, grouse.
I ponder on the narrow house.
I shudder at the thought of men....
I'm due to fall in love again.
Dorothy Parker was a great talent, but she was also deeply troubled and made several attempts at suicide. There is a pretty good movie about her life called Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle starring Jennifer Jason Leigh. I just watched the movie, Double Indemnity for the first time, which is a great film by the way, and sets the standard for the film noir genre. The music is moody, there are lots of shadows and the cruel and gritty side of life is highlighted.
When I thought of Dorothy Parker's poetry and life, it reminded me of those films, so I thought that I would adapt the film noir genre to a new genre of blog post. The post noir. Noir is black in French and I couldn't help but think of my prior post about the color black. It all seemed to fit.
I took some night pictures around the city and converted them to black and white to try and get that same noir feeling. I was hoping for something special. Out of the blue, these two old cars appeared the two nights in a row that I was taking pictures, so I was able to take a bunch of shots of them. It was almost surreal. Like the cars just appeared from a different time. I'm sure there is a very rational explanation to it, but I like the mystery.
Happy Birthday Dorothy Parker. This post is for you. Rest in peace.
*Updated 8/22/2012* Here's a newer blog post to celebrate her birthday.
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Comments
DP was beautiful just like her words!
asha - It was a tough time, but there were fun times too. A lot of it was just the way I reacted to things. She was a very pretty lady. ; )
(From a review of a play starring Katherine Hepburn) "She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B."
"If all the girls who attended the Yale prom were laid end-to-end, I wouldn't be a bit surprised."
Your pictures are awesome!!I dabbled in photography in high school, black and white photos are my fav.
cynthia - Thank you so much! I love my camera!
bipolarlawyercook - Thank you! I had so much fun working on this post. Please feel free to copycat! And I have no doubt that proper attribution will be given counsel! ; ) Actually I've been having a really good week!
capcity - You're welcome! Her work is definitely not all happiness and cotton candy, but neither is life. She has a great use of rhythm in her poetry. I haven't read much of her other type of works, but I want to look into them further too.
tsiporah - I think it really helps to know that other people feel the same way sometimes. And you are making sense. I think being in your twenties is a really difficult time. It gets better!
I'm glad that you like the pictures. I'd like to see some of your photos on your blog. Are you taking many? I love how I see things differently when I'm thinking about them for a picture. It makes even the mundane seem exciting to me.
long time no see!
How have you been? well nice to know about dorothy parker...it is interesting to know she left her entire estate to dr. martin luther king. ...who would have done that?....maybe people have and they have not been noted...but since i know of her she is to be commended.....
:)
I never heard about her but when I read her lines, I was in another world. I am now searching and reading all her stuff from the net.
Thank you, anali...you are a Boston peach.LOL
I loved, well still do, that song by Prince. As you well know, Prince rocked back in the day! I did know a little about Dorothy Parker, but you just piqued my interest some more. Thanks for the information, I want to dig deeper now, and even go and find the song again. Thanks for the blast from the past!
Also, I like your B&W photo work – you know I have a soft spot for Bugs. When I was a poor little chap flipping burgers at Jack in the Crack.... I mean Box; a VW Bug was the 1st car I purchased that ran. I had many after that – they were fun and unique.
Have a great weekend friend - I see we have been eating well! LoL
Happy Sipping!
Dezel
jac - You're welcome! I'm so glad that I've piqued your interest! ; )
dezel - Prince rocked back in the day and he's still doing it! It's funny that one of the cars is a Bug considering how much I love them. They are great little cars! I hope you are enjoying what's left of the summer!
Having said that however, I, too, have received a lot of my education from songs...I remember first learning about Rasputin, the evil Russian preacher, from the Boney M song, "Ra Ra Rasputin". And then,my first exposure to Van Gogh was from Don McLean's song 'Starry,Starry Nights". How about "Bangladesh" by Joan Baez, it so eloquently told the story of Bangladesh's fight for independence from Pakistan. I could go on and on, perhaps I should just write a post!
I enjoyed reading your write up on Dorothy Parker, she was a fascinating person, thanks!