Sketchblog: DayBooks
…encircling Adriana’s cold, which may be bronchial. Adriana is Uruguayan and so I guess the cold is too. True that the ribs and shoulders can be protective, in both metaphoric and concrete sense. But it’s hard to ride the line between open and uptight. And anyway, the act of simply breathing makes you vulnerable.
I’m in Montevideo where it’s been damp a lot and I’m trying to stay out of the way (of the cold), below the sight line, or at least the trajectory of peril. But nonetheless, resisting the impulse to duck and compress, which really seems more the posture of grief than of living (I almost typed “duck and cover” but that’s another topic, another trip entirely).
We were here once before, six years ago, and at that time I thought Montevideo was a smaller, sleepier version of Buenos Aires. But now I don’t think that at all. It’s very much it’s own thing: there are echoes of the larger city across the Rio de la Plata but where Buenos Aires holds a lot in common with New York City and Paris, Montevideo strikes me as much more American, more like the North of Argentina.
Anyway, back to the ribcage, and its relationship to the shoulderblade. Or something like that. It’s tricky: too much separation and you’ve got, well, separation. But too much engagement can bring your shoulders (and your chest) up to your ears. Okay, so long neck, get the shoulder on the back, but relax them. Again, it’s complicated. It’s not easy to draw and it’s not easy to do.
Some of the skeleton is armature and some of it is shell.  Oh well, we knew that.