hi viola!

Well, I think the guy in question would agree with you that there’s art in daily life. He just thinks he’s personally incapable of creating it! At least when it comes to flower arrangements. But I really like your idea that there’s also art in social arrangements, in the choreography of daily life and shared space. What do you mean by art, though? In the sense of something with an aesthetic form? or in the sense of a well-done craft?

Also, there is something disturbing about this text, I think, in that the author still seems to at least imply that women’s work is inferior, that to be feminine is to be subordinate, something like that. He seems ambivalent about whether he believes that. Even if he doesn’t believe that, he seems comfortable employing language with those connotations… I guess this is what I was trying to say by saying “abject” without being quite clear.

I am not sure how to relate all this to your blog post but maybe there is a connection. A feeling of severe isolation. A few people in my class understood what I was talking about; most didn’t. They just couldn’t relate to it. I think this essay of a president’s husband, the writing of it, conveys the isolation of doing something that goes against the norm, against what’s expected of a man. I think my essays that were read in my class today went against the norm, too, talked about things that were not the standard things an American audience (in general) might read about. Like a kola nut. 🙂

I suppose what I’d say to the author is that there is art in the little things, however menial. There is art in polishing shoes and silverware. There is art in talking about kola nuts and other “strange” things that Africans eat. There is certainly art in the way a kola nut is shared and eaten. There is art in the way this man and his wife share their home and get the tasks done. At least, I’d like to think so.

But then, mmm, what is art? I’ve got my own definition but that’s a whole other story. 🙂