Ball of Fire

Much like the furniture sale at Art Van, my Presidents Day wishes are being held over until today... so Happy Presidents Day! I was sick this last week and not able to muster much energy for this admittedly ambitious (inane?) project. But then, dear readers (mom and dad), I happened to catch one of my very favorite movies on television: Ball of Fire, the 1941 Howard Hawks/Billy Wilder classic, starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. I have love, love, loved this movie since I was 16 years old. I first saw it while volunteering at a nursing home run by nuns--who incidentally tried more than once to lure me into their order with gifts of little gold-plated guardian angel pins. At this nursing home, many of the old lady wards suffered from dementia, but would gladly wile away hours watching American Movie Classics, with occasional commentary by Nick Clooney, father of George and a fox in his own right. This particular classic film is about eight professors writing an enclycopedia (!) who, upon reaching the "S" volume, discover that they must venture outside their ivory tower in order to complete an entry on "slang." The youngest professor (and the resident lexicographer/grammarian) meets and is instantly enchanted by Sugarpuss O'Shea, a nightclub singer and girlfriend to a local mob boss. Worlds collide and hijinks ensue. It's magical! And hilarious! Two thumbs up! The movie reminded me why I acquired this old set of World Book in the first place: namely, the charm of something so completely obsolete. Just imagining a team of gray-haired, rolly-polly professors, slaving away at something that is already a superannuated relic before it even hits the printing press somehow warms my heart. The movie also reminded me how much I love any story in which the protagonist is essentially a group of persons. Here the professors each offer vital expertise in different areas: Freudian psychoanalysis, botany, Greek mythology... In the end, the combination of this knowledge is what saves the group from imminent danger. Sort of like The Goonies or X-Men. Ai ai ai. Weak analogy. So weak.




Later, I'll be adding an entry for Franklin Pierce, numero catorce, a "doughface" and the only president from New Hampshire. Frankly (and with apologies to the Fillmore/Pierce/Buchanan fans), these antebellum presidents are starting to bore me, but I'll press on. Mr. Lincoln awaits just around the corner.

Recap

The entries have gotten long-winded and unwieldy, so I'm rethinking this project a little. In the meantime, here's a recap of the first 10 presidents, the first fourth of this enterprise!

1. George Washington - Revolutionary War hero, our first President

2. John Adams - accomplished statesman

3. Thomas Jefferson - father of the Declaration of Independence

4. James Madison - shaped the system of Separation of Powers

5. James Monroe - oversaw grand expansion and Missouri Compromise

6. John Quincy Adams - didn't get much done

7. Andrew Jackson - opposed the Bank of the US, drove the Indians out

8. Martin Van Buren - presided over the first major recession, refused government aid

9. William Harrison - died after 30 days in office

10. John Tyler - wigged out the Whigs by going his own way

Interlude

A friend just sent me this, from the New York Times. A photographer is compiling a series of portraits of people who share presidential names. It's wonderful!

Another friend wrote to say that he had once tried memorizing all the presidents by investing in a placemat and mug. It did not work. In our house growing up, we had placemats with the flags of the world, a world map, a US map, and the American Sign Language alphabet. I can spell my name in American Sign Language, but this skill has not served me well.

An introduction

I am embarking on a quixotic journey to draw the first forty U.S. presidents in the next forty weeks. As I draw them, I will be reading about each fellow (and sadly, they've all been fellows) in my newly acquired, old set of World Book Encyclopedia, and posting interesting tidbits here.

Why forty? Three reasons:

(1) My new, old set of World Book Encyclopedia was published in 1981. I got the complete set (including an atlas!) for free from a nice family in Ypsilanti. 1981 is the year Ronald Reagan, our 40th president, was elected. Thus, the project is in part circumscribed by the limits of my primary source.

(2) 1981 is also the year I was born. I have meaningful memories of all the presidents that followed Reagan. This project therefore allows me to explore the 40 presidents that preceded my life as a sentient and politically aware being.

(3) Finally, and perhaps most important, I am in Michigan, in my current job (as a law clerk) for about 40 more weeks. As much as the job presents interesting new challenges, I worry that other parts of my brain are suffering for lack of creative stimuli. These 40 weeks are a finite period within which to try something new and to practice my rather rudimentary drawing.

A word regarding accuracy: I am not an artist, nor do I pretend to believe that the 1981 World Book Encyclopedia is an authoritative source on these historical figures. Accuracy isn't really the point.