I met my Barcelonian friend Elena in Tokyo of all places. We were both studying at Sophia University for a year.
We met through a mutual acquaintance and the three of us ended up on a three day trip to Okinawa. Both Elena and I share an enthusiasm for Okinawan culture and were so excited to go. We managed to see everything on our checklist and had an overall wonderful time there.
As it turned out, a few weeks later, Elena ended up moving into the same dorm as me. We ended up spending memorable times together, staying up to the wee hours of the morning chatting and eating candy.
Now, having only recently moved to San Francisco, we live on practically opposite sides of the globe. But we still Facebook and tweet at each other. And, most excitingly, we send packages through snail mail to each other, back and forth from Spain to the States.
While we were friends in Tokyo, Elena had no idea I drew at all. This was during my college phase of not having time to draw. Boy, was she surprised when she learned I was working on my graphic novel The Poet and the Flea. And, quickly, she became my #1 fan!
Elena became smitten by the rose from page 27 of The Flea (as seen on Part 4 of Behind the Scenes). So, for the winter holiday, I sent her the following ink and watercolor rose.
In return, at the end of January, I received a wonderful little New Year’s present from Elena (see photos below)! She sent me a delightfully long handwritten letter, a bag of candy, and a flyer of a favorite Japanese band called exist†trace (which I believe Elena was handed by the lead singer named Jyou after a The GazettE concert).
I would love for Elena to come visit San Francisco one day, or for me to visit her in Barcelona (when I’m not an unpaid intern making absolutely no money). Elena is really the only person I keep in touch with from my year abroad and I’m proud to have such an awesome friend! Maybe someday we’ll even return to Japan and even Okinawa together.
***
For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
Yesterday, to my utter surprise, the counter hit 1,000 followers (and a little over) here at gegallas.wordpress.com.
All I can say is: “Wow!”
Many thanks to each and every one of you who has followed this blog. Your “likes,” comments, kind words, insights, and encouragement have really helped me continue to strive towards my goals.
By the way, for those of you who are enjoying The Poet and the Flea (thepoetandtheflea.wordpress.com), don’t forget to press “follow” over there too!
Happy Holidays and sweet New Year’s wishes,
G. E.
P.S. I’m excited for my family’s typical Jewish Xmas celebration — Chinese food and a trip to the movies!
***
For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the following images or video!!
One of my favorite operas is Jacques Offenbach‘s The Tales of Hoffmann(Les contes d’Hoffmann). This opera is a fantastical retelling of the life of the German Romantic author E. T. A. Hoffmann, casting Hoffmann as the protagonist of his own stories.
Placido Domingo performing the “Chanson de Kleinzach” aria.
Désirée Rancatore performing ”Les oiseaux dans la charmille.”
Through The Tales of Hoffmann, I developed an interest in Hoffmann and his stories, quickly leading me to Sigmund Freud’s The Uncanny. In Freud’s essay, he uses many of the same Hoffmann stories as Offenbach, but in this case to prove a psychological point (not that Offenbach’s opera isn’t deeply psychological). If I remember correctly, Freud even mentions Offenbach’s opera.
Portrait of E. T. A. Hoffmann
I’m sure you are all wondering, “What does all this have to do with The Nutcracker?” Well, little do most people know, E. T. A. Hoffmann wrote in 1816 one of the earliest versions of The Nutcracker story, entitled The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (Nussknacker und Mausekönig).
Alexandre Dumas was also a fan of Hoffmann, employing allusions to Hoffmann’s stories in The Count of Monte Cristo. Dumas even went as far as creating a revision to Hoffmann’s Nutcracker in 1844 called History of The Nutcracker (Histoire d’un casse-noisette), or The Tale of the Nutcracker.
Towards the end of the 19th Century, Hoffmann’s Nutcracker was adapted to ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, perhaps the most famous incarnation of the tale. I write this post because my dad purchased tickets to the San Francisco Ballet to see The Nutcracker at the end of the month. Perhaps later I’ll add my thoughts on the production to this post.
Tchaikovsky’s music is always wonderful, if not a little too overplayed for the holidays. A lot of people tend to associate The March from The Nutcracker or The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy not with Tchaikovsky, but with the thousands of Christmas commercials that use these pieces. This also happens with The Chinese Tea Dance from The Nutcracker with Disney’s Fantasia and The Sleeping Beauty Waltz with Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.
I believe the most creative and exciting production of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker is Mark Morris’s The Hard Nut. The Hard Nut is set in 1950s America with a very retro feel inspired by the comic artist Charles Burns — a strange but brilliant compliment to the classical music. I hope to one day be able to attend a live performance.
Advertisement for The Hard Nut.
***
For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
Meeting with Gabe: went very well (as usual) since Gabe is great to talk to/work with/bounce ideas off of! He liked what I’ve done so far with my character designs, but I need to go back and tweak them, which is an very interesting process and great creative practice for me. Our tentative schedule: finish mock-up of Elias by end of December; begin working on The Blanks screenplay in January.
After APE, hung out with Wes in Japantown. He showed me around the New People center (home of h. Naoto and Baby, the Stars Shine Bright), which I’ve been meaning to visit. Meandered around the area, visiting my favorite Kinokuniya Book Store and more. Ate dinner (chicken pot pie for both of us) at this really cute restaurant called The Grove Fillmore, which has a ski-lodge-type feel. Saw some strange sights, including furries and men in lederhosen. Such a fun day!
Went by Christopher’s Books in hopes of a part-time job for the winter. We’ll see what happens!
Wednesday, October 17th
Working on character designs for Gabe.
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 49 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-24, 27-30 completed, and 25-26, 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
Portrait of E. T. A. Hoffmann
Celebrating 1,000 Followers!
Yesterday, to my utter surprise, the counter hit 1,000 followers (and a little over) here at gegallas.wordpress.com.
All I can say is: “Wow!”
Many thanks to each and every one of you who has followed this blog. Your “likes,” comments, kind words, insights, and encouragement have really helped me continue to strive towards my goals.
By the way, for those of you who are enjoying The Poet and the Flea (thepoetandtheflea.wordpress.com), don’t forget to press “follow” over there too!
Happy Holidays and sweet New Year’s wishes,
G. E.
P.S. I’m excited for my family’s typical Jewish Xmas celebration — Chinese food and a trip to the movies!
***
For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
***
Copyright 2012 by G. E. Gallas
11 comments | tags: 1000, Announcement, Blog, Celebrate, Celebration, Chinese Food, Cold, Comment, Comments, Continue, Counter, December, Don't Forget, Encouragement, Enjoy, Enjoying, Excited, Family, Film, Follow, Followed, Followers, G. E. Gallas, Goal, Goals, Graphic Novel, Happy Holidays, Help, Helped, Here, Hit, Illustration, Illustrator, Insights, Jew, Jewish, Jewish American, Kind, Kind Words, Like, Liked, Likes, Many Thanks, Movie Theater, Movies, New Year's Wishes, New Years, P.S., Screenplay, Strive, Surprise, Surprised, Thank You, Thanks!, The Poet and the Flea, Thoughts, Thousand, Towards, Tumblr, Twitter, Typical, Utter, William Blake, Winter, Wishing, Wordpress, Words, Wow!, Writer, Xmas, Yesterday | posted in About, Announcement, Update