My Website

[Ypsilanti]

Hello, Good People!

My website is finally finished and is on line. If any of you would care to take a look, I'd love to have you see it. I'd also be glad for any feedback you might want to give me. You will literally be the first people to see it--haven't told anyone else yet.

http://heidisanna.com/

[mood swung]

way cool!

[Who Shot Sam?]

Very cool. I love "Saint Elvis"!

[Christopher Sjoholm]

Impressive! Both design and interactive wise. Can see the influence of Klimt, Gaudi, Watts Towers, tramp art, even Harvey Pekar, but am curious about Susan Orlean[if this is the author of The Orchid Thief fame] or Bruce McCall, if as well of The New Yorker, as to where they fit in. Enjoyed the usage of the EC "North" picture. I think my favorite is St. Johnny, even with, and expecially for, the monochromatic layout. Liked Guttenberg, as well, though this medium is killing off his progeny. Still struck by the effect in your icons of the ringing references not too unlike what I observed in Blake's lithographs at his special show this past year at the Morgan. Curious as to why the usage of icons given your referral to yourself as an 'atheist'? Asperger's Syndrome- a sign of greater than average intelligence. Is the art work a form of therapy as well as a creative outlet?

[Ypsilanti]

Thanks, everybody!!!! So I guess the flash animation works and it's not too hard to navigate?

Yesterday I showed the site to my pal Larry and when he saw St. Elvis he said, "Remember when Patti Smith hit him over the head with her guitar?" WHAT?! What the fuck?!! Surely that didn't happen or I would have heard about this by now. Why on earth would she do that? Have they even ever been on the same stage together?

Chris--in answer to your questions...It's true--religion has no place in my life, but I am fascinated by religious art. I love the way it communicates to the faithful--each icon is loaded with such specific imagery--cryptic to the uninitiated, but meaningful to the believer. I admit I've read The New Yorker every week since I was in Jr. High. I'm not sure how Bruce McCall relates to my artwork, but my love for his illustrations & writing is boundless. "Golf Carts of The Third Reich", for example makes me laugh till I cry. Susan Orlean--like the way she uses words--perhaps even to excess--for example, The Orchid Thief is full of lists, which seems kind of odd, but I really enjoyed it--speaks right to me. I hate the phrase "less is more". For me, less is less and more is more. And more is better, particularly when it comes to things that I experience through my eyes--more words on the page, more colors, more patterns, more images. This is part of the Asperger's, I'm sure--I have very busy eyes. I'd also say objects are alive for me in a way people really aren't. Sad, but true. That's another part of the Asperger's. But I'm pretty mildly impaired--I have a career and a marriage and I own a home-- a fairly normal life. Many Aspies aren't as lucky as I am in this regard. I have a theory that there are millions of adults, like me, who are mildly Autistic but have never been diagnosed (the guy who sits next to me at work, for example--total Asperger--has no idea). Forty years ago it was an unheard of condition--no one was diagnosed. We just all got punished when we acted too weird and we learned how to fit in (or at least appear to fit in).

[Christopher Sjoholm]

Share that love of The New Yorker going back to 1965. My intro was the cartoons and covers[come to think of it that is how an idol, Updike, was drawn[bad pun]to the magazine]- still gravitate first to those when my new issue comes-my middle daughter shares my love of the magazine and found her way to it through the same way-I am an inveterate player of their cartoon caption game but have yet to be selected-get the occasional good effort email from a New Yorker cartoonist but no approved caption-Bruce McCall is funny and I would add George Saunders[great story writer] and Ian Frazier- my eye is drawn more to a cleaner line which is why I suppose I greatly admire the great Japanese and Chinese lithographers-looking forward to viewing the current exhibit at the Met "500 Years of Japanese Art"-I can appreciate the bursts of color and design in Klimt-even have a very good quality substantially sized poster of "The Virgins" framed in the living room which my oldest daughter has claimed when I tire of it as a focal centerpiece- I love how the women meld into one another and merge with the riot of color and shapes and hair into a vortex of color, forms and energy-Aspergers is rarer among women-sounds like you have it very much under control and I have to imagine your art is a big part of that- again, enjoyed your site.

[Christopher Sjoholm]

Do not know if you get HBO but tommorrow night there is a movie on called "Temple Grandin" starring Claire Danes and Julia Ormand that by all accounts is a much better than average TV movie involving Ms. Grandin's dealing with her autism as she has gone on to be a noted animal behaviorist and livestock consultant. Per the Times it "avoids the mawkish cliches of the genre without draining the narrative of color and feeling." Thought you might be interested.

[Ypsilanti]

Thank you! Sadly I had to give up HBO (and many other luxuries) due to the recession, but I read about that movie. I believe Ms. Grandin designs slaughterhouses so they're less frightening to the animals. That's a pretty rough vocation. Apparently, due to her Autism, she has an unusual rapport with animals. I believe it--My father, who might also have had Asperger's--not sure--he died when I was 6--could talk to crows.

Asperger's is an unusual affliction--I guess I learned early on how to "fit in" by behaving to other people in whatever way I sensed they wanted me to behave. I wasn't conscious of this until after I was diagnosed and a ton of stuff all of a sudden made sense. To some extent, I'd say "a personality" is something I do, rather than something I have. To a "normal" person this probably sounds kind of pathetic--and I do wish I could genuinely connect with other people more easily--but I am what I am, so I try not to dwell on it too much or it makes me really sad. I'm certain Asperger's is what's fueling my obsession with Elvis' music. And I'd be very surprised if I was the only Aspie on this message board--it's the perfect forum for those of my ilk--we tend to be on the nerdy side, we're very passionate about our pet obsessions, we love making lists, cataloging things, amassing collections...

I LOVE Ian Frazier! "Coyote v. Acme" is possibly the funniest thing I've ever read. But even his non-humor stuff is so lively and full of finely rendered detail. Always a pleasure to read his work!

Thanks so much, by the way, for taking a look at the website and you nice comments about it. You're a good egg, Chris!

[Christopher Sjoholm]

Often those HBO movies show up at your local Blockbuster as rentable or as well through Netflix. Think she designed a shoot where the animals could be squeezed and calmed as they were innoculated and in observing their reactions thought it might work well for her as well so she created a plywood structure which applied pressure to her body and was able to greatly calm herself. Understand better now the usage of Icons and the amassing of detail in the pieces. I have a real fondness for "Bags in Trees" by Frasier, that peculiar urban phenomenon of 'plastic spanish moss'. Equally enjoy "Dating Your Mom" as well as his The Rez and The Great Plains. Do believe he hails from your neck of the woods as he grew up in Hudson, Ohio.

[Ypsilanti]

Yes! Bags in Trees!!!! I wish I had a Bag Snagger! I had forgotten that Ian Fraizer was from Hudson. My crazy Aunt Barbara (who was a massive Asperger) lived there.

[ice nine]

You're left handed!!! That's affliction enough.

[Ypsilanti]

Ha! Exactly! Condemned to a life of using "special" scissors!

[Christopher Sjoholm]

Viewed the movie last night. Exceptional in many ways just like the subject. Thought it caught, though not personally suffering from her condition, how it must feel to be so visually and audibly bombarded by the world around oneself. The film was filled with evocative images of such a life. Ms. Danes was a revelation giving a vey nuanced performance. It was not one-note and as the character aged she was capable of subtly demonstrating that aging with new inflections showing the characters ability to handle her condition and make positive usage of her unique abilities. If you get a chance to view it I think you would not be disappointed.

Left handed-yet another sign of above average intelligence.

[Ypsilanti]

Yeah--Claire Danes is really something. I hope I'll get to see it sometime. I imagine you've already read "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon, but if it has escaped your notice, I highly recommend it--a really suspenseful mystery, a touching portrait of an Autistic boy & a clear-eyed look at contemporary family relationships all at once.

[Christopher Sjoholm]

Oddly enough have never read the book-purchased it a few years back for my daughters but never opened it myself-will make a space for it on my night bookcase and give it a go. Thank you for the suggestion.

[Christopher Sjoholm]

Ypsilanti, do not know if you saw the op-ed page of today's NY TImes but there is nice and touching piece on Aspergers by a professor at George Washington University re his daughter. Thought you might enjoy it given its positive message of no stigma.

[Ypsilanti]

Yes, I did see it. Thanks for mentioning it. So if these proposed changes take place, Asperger's Syndrome will cease to be? And I'll just be a person with an Autism Spectrum Disorder? Not sure if I'm happy about that or not.

[Christopher Sjoholm]

Finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the other day. Thank you for recommending the book. Found it very claustrophobic being in the mind of the boy but I did appreciate the way the author kept you in the character. I now have a much stronger appreciation of the thought process a person with this condition utilizes. Combined with the presentation given in the movie, I now have a vivid image of how such a mind works and I marvel at the mathematical abilities.