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Hello friends,
It is a very sad day in the YouTube community as fellow mother, homemaker, and YouTuber, Andrea Mills, has passed away. If you have ever been touched by Andrea's videos and her commitment to her family, please consider donating to the family's Go Fund Me. Any amount helps. She has left 9 precious children behind. Thank you for your consideration...
Welcome to The Chic Assignment check-in for August. I have really enjoyed hearing from you this month! Today's video is nice and long and takes its time as we delve into the various assignments.
Chic Assignment no. 1 Scott Joplin
Here are some interesting facts on Scott Joplin from Kid's Music Corner
He was the greatest composer of ‘ragtime’. In fact he is often called the ‘King of Ragtime’. (Ragtime is a mixture of Black American folk music and classical music. It is not quite jazz, but is certainly where a lot of the ideas for jazz came from.)
He made ragtime very popular. This made people ready to hear and write the jazz that came afterwards. It also set the scene for American popular music over the last century. Put simply, Scott Joplin has had a very big influence on jazz and popular music over the last 100 years.
Like classical music, Scott Joplin’s rags are written down exactly. They are pieces to be played as written on the piano. This is quite different from jazz, where it is normal for the musicians to make up some of the music as they play.
He became famous with his piece ‘Maple Leaf Rag’. This piece appeared in 1899. It sold over 75,000 copies in the first six months! The piece was named after the Maple Leaf Club where Scott Joplin used to play the piano.
His father had been a slave.
He was very lucky to learn music. Most Black American children around the time Scott Joplin was born would not have had this chance. His father certainly didn’t want him to learn music. However his mother was keen. And a kind local music teacher taught him for free.
He also composed two operas as well as some other classical music. Scott Joplin tried very hard to make these operas popular, but didn’t succeed. In the end he died very disappointed with the failure of his operas.
After Scott Joplin died, ragtime music was almost forgotten about as jazz became popular.
His music became popular again in the 1970s—especially when ‘The Entertainer’ was used in the 1973 film ‘The Sting’. His music has been popular ever since!
Chic Assignment no. 2 Frederick Childe Hassam
Discovering Childe Hassam has been such a joy for me this month. His paintings really speak to me. Here are some of the ones discussed in today's video:
The Room of Flowers, 1894
Bowl of Goldfish, 1912
Listening to the Orchard Oriole, 1902
The Terre-Cuite Tea Set, 1910
Street Scene, Christmas Morning, 1892
At the Grand Prix in Paris, 1887
The South Ledges, Appledore, 1913
The Avenue in the Rain, 1917
Chic Assignment no. 3 Letter Writing
When I recently uncovered my treasure trove of vintage Victoria Magazines, I also uncovered a box of old letters from my past. Letters from family and friends brought me back in time and it was so amazing to read these letters. I hope that letter-writing makes its way into your regular routine.
Chic Assignment no. 4 Prepare your wardrobe for the upcoming season
This week you will see my recap of the ten-item wardrobe from spring summer 2019. I have had many revelations about my wardrobe. With the ten-item wardrobe, you never stop learning. Truly!
The book I mention in the video is Introverted Mom by Jamie C. Martin
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Fuwa W writes, "Hi Jennifer, Thank you so much of your book that I have found in HK library. It had attracted me by the content of your university life in French family. So, I share with my best friend of your book. Do you know what happen? Your book have change my friend s life, especially the ten items warobe! I can t believe it!"
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7 comments:
Thank you for these assignments! I am glad you introduced us to Frederick Childe Hassam; I'd never heard of him and his paintings are beautiful.
Hi Jennifer, Thank you for introducing the painter Frederick Childe Hassam who I have never heard of before. Such beautiful pictures.
My favourite Jopin piece so far is "Little Black Baby', it is played in the film Coco Before Chanel. However my own playing of it does not match the quality in the film!
My book recommendation is something I started reading today. The Bridge Ladies: A Memoir by Betsy Lerner. So far I am enjoying it immensely.
Checking in!
1. No ragtime for me.
2. Oh my goodness, Jennifer, this was fabulous! I LOVED your thoughtful, engaging review on the various pieces of Hassam's works. (I cannot elaborate or I will take a full page!) My personal favorite is "Summer Evening", a woman seated at a window with potted geraniums. I almost selected the fishbowl (shown by you) as my favorite because I love how the light catches right in the bowl of water. But what surprises me is that I like many paintings with a woman or other people in them. Usually I like scenery. I bought a book of his work, as well.
3. Wrote a letter to my niece to accompany the family heirlooms I'm passing on to her as she gets married. As I said in an earlier post, I used to write constantly to many people, but no more. I do have a cousin who has handwritten notes and letters to me for 45 years! She decorates every one with little stickers or cutout pictures. The last 10 years she's made handmade cards as well.
4. My wardrobe is still a bit of a mystery to me. I think I've got the hang of it then it "falls apart". But even with 2 steps forward and 1 step back, I'm still making progress, right? See, I like everything until I get tired of it, then I donate it. I love variety. And I like newness, but I can't seem to find quality clothes that won't fade, or pill, or shrink, no matter how well I try to take care of them. I'm not willing to spend big money unless I'm positive it will work for my personal style and comfort. So until I'm really certain of what I will love, and how to detect quality, (price actually seems to have little to do with it), I'll buy middle-of-the-road quality and enjoy the clothes coming in and going out regularly. At least I still have breathing room in the closet, which is a BIG improvement. And I wear everything on a rotation basis. Oh...the assignment...for the autumn season I need nothing. LOL
BOOK: Shaye Elliott's "Welcome to the Farm". I'm enjoying it as much as my Tasha Tudor books! So much variety, she writes so well, the photos are lovely...
PS "Introverted Mom" book... when you mentioned it my mouth dropped open! JUST 2 days ago I'd discovered it and put it in my Amazon cart. Thanks for the recommendation! I can't wait to read it and pass a copy on to a friend.
How neat that your books are graphic novels in Japan ♡
It's always a thrill to discover a wonderful new artist. As for the photo you showed of people in modern dress, the thing that struck me the most was how much heavier people are, and how bad modern posture is! The ladies in the painting looked so poised by comparison.
A great tip I learned from an Alexandra Stoddard book regarding letter writing is to make sure you always have plenty of supplies - note paper and envelopes, cards, art postcards and stamps. That way when the urge to write hits you everything is at the ready, including the ever important stamp. I had actually taken out a card to write to my daughter today and thought, I must encourage her to write back as sadly I do not have that many cards with her handwriting on them - letters and cards from loved ones are so precious!
Madeleine
From one introvert to another, I think you'll also enjoy following a Twitter account called @IntrovertDear. They post amusing memes as well as insightful articles, and there are many revelations and instant feel-better moments about seemingly confusing aspects of the personality.
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