My Peachtree Street: High Madness Of The Summer Night

Or Drinking With Dali

"Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it." he said, looking right through me.

I kept my silence.

He touched the flower woven in his waxed mustache and said: "I don't do drugs. I am drugs."

I didn't say a word. What could I say?

He broke an egg into his glass with absinthe, mixed it thoroughly and turned his head: "A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others."

I made a sip of Classic Z in total silence.

He was already at the door, when I heard this: "The only difference between me and a madman is I'm not mad."

I finished my cocktail and closed the door.

The night was hot. The sense of madness was still flowing in the air. The yellow disc of moon was dripping honey through the open window. "Like melting time," I thought.

comments (8)

Ray
Manila, Philippines
22 Jul 2011, 01:09

A sensitive but potent narrative.

vz-nostalgia:

sensitive BUT potent? Not sensitive AND potent?

Delia Badulescu
Romania
22 Jul 2011, 10:01

very inspiring indeed.and the text belongs to...?

vz-nostalgia: Haven't we been though this before, Ms. Delia? Remember, you asked me a while ago about the authors of the little poems on Nostalgia? And I answered that I find it distasteful to put someone else's words under my pictures.

So, what's your question now?..
What Salvador Dali said here, while we were drinking, he actually did say. Go to the library and roam through a few books on Dali. You'll see that it's true. Those phrases are as pure Dalisms as mine are Nostalgisms.

Anne
United Kingdom
22 Jul 2011, 12:34

I like your idea of 'melting time'

vz-nostalgia:

When I visited Dali's studio the next day, I noticed a picture in teh corner. The paint was still wet. Apparently, he worked at it last night, after we met for a drink.
We had the same thought/idea, looking at the same melting moon.

http://www.paintinghere.com/painting/Melting_Watch_1876.html

Louis
South Africa
22 Jul 2011, 18:06

Say 'Hi' to Sali next time you meet. Maybe he likes to know there is someone else in the room at the time.

vz-nostalgia: I left with an impression that he likes no one, but himself, Louis. Well, add to this his Russian muse and wife, Gala, whom he loved all his life despite her cheating on him left and right (which he encouraged her to do). Among her numerous lovers, by the way, was her first husband, a French poet Paul Éluard, one of teh founders of Surrealism.

Yep, Dali's married life was as surreal as his paintings.

Suzanne
san francisco
23 Jul 2011, 01:17

a sip of classic Z? Don't tell me you're a Zima fan?! :->

Are is time melting from the heat?

vz-nostalgia: :
Zima? You must be kidding.

By the way, "zima"Â in Russian means winter.
I invented Classic Z many years ago and it served me well ever since. Even Salvador had a sip.

To prepare the cocktail you will need:
-a bottle of good rum (Dominican is my favorite)
-a bottle of sweet vermouth (not dry), better two bottles: one red (for red juices) and one white (for light juices). My favorite brand is Martini Rossi.
- your favorite juice (pulp free orange would do just fine for a starter, but buy the best brand). I do mango, apricot, cranberry, guavaââ‚¬¦ But some juices don’t work well, say apple juice.

Fill the glass in half with ice cubes, add vermouth, add some rum, top the glass with juice and stir. Enjoy.

You got to experiment with proportions of the ingredients until you find the right one for you.

The other way to serve is: to do the same but in a cocktail mixer/shaker.
http://www.amazon.com/Premium-Cocktail-Shaker-Set-Stainless/dp/B000796F1W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307737940&sr=8-1
Pour the cocktail from teh mixer into the shallow wide glass (like a martini glass). There should be no ice in teh glass, but you can add a few frozen berries (whole strawberries will do just fine, but large blueberries are good as well). Keeping a bag of frozen berries in your freezer is always a good idea.

You're welcome.

eva
Great Britain (UK)
23 Jul 2011, 17:05

He also said "there are only two bad things that can happen to you: being Pablo Picasso or not being Salvador Dali".
Both masters of surrealism but couldn't be more different! Dali was obsessed with fame and money and accused of being a fascist, Picasso was an anarchist friendly to communists. Dali was asexual , never had sex with Gala but encouraged her to have sex with others, whereas Picasso was obsessed with young women and had as many young mistresses as he could. One was called the "dreamer" the other one the "ugly". Both geniuses

vz-nostalgia: He said many smart or outrageous things, Ms. Eva. I couldn't possibly incorporate all of them into my little sketch.

Picasso... One can hardly assign Picasso to surrealists. He did pick a thing or two from them, and even was a very good friend with Paul Eluard, and maybe even banged Gala, who knows,

but to say he's a surrealist would be a stretch.

Despite being sympathetic to communism at some point of his life, he always loved and chased money, in contrast to his rival Amadeo Modigliani.
"Dali was asexual...". Well, not exactly. He had a rare disease, a fear of vagina. I'm not sure if there is a medical term for this condition.

On his opposite, Gala was a pure ball of fire. She was banging young men in her 70s.

How in teh world Dali and Gala managed to live together for so long, I have no idea.

paul
Great Britain (UK)
23 Jul 2011, 21:33

thank you for the recipe - I shall drink a Classic Z tomorrow. No thanks for the nightmare your picture will probably provoke though

vz-nostalgia: How did you like Classic Z, Paul?
Old fart Dali would be pleased to hear that you had a nightmare just from glancing at his face.

Suzanne
Canada
24 Jul 2011, 06:41

After such an encounter, Nostalgia thought to himself, "shattered dreams like mental splinters got stuck into my sleepless brain." He couldn't tell if he was waking from a dream, still in it, or making it all up as time melted all around him, dripping on the floor . What else could he expect. "The persistence of Memory " can be tricky, and he was under its influence. He heard Dali's voice in his mind: "The difference between false memories and true ones is the same as for jewels: it is always the false ones that look the most real, the most brilliant " Which was it? He couldn't tell. In the distance, Dali wrapped himself in his long cape, tapped the end of his walking stick on the ground and said out loud: "The secret of my influence has always been that it remained secret." Yeah, right....
He turned a corner and all that could be heard was the sound of bells.

vz-nostalgia: :
And so he followed the sound of bells, which lead him to the public square. There, in the middle of the cobblestone piazza stood three big fig trees, all dead, as a symbol of lost memories. Bells and chimes of all sorts covered the long naked branches, like strange fruits waiting to be harvested. It was believed by the citizens of Figueres, the home town of Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol, commonly known as Salvador Dalí, that the sound of chiming bells helps to bring their lost memories back.
He had no bell to hang, but he wanted the memories of events never happened to come back to him. And he wove a thread from his long silky hair. And he hung his golden ring in between the singing bells.

NostalgiaMigranta