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Author, Artist, Storyteller

LIFE'S SECOND ACTS
a blog by Marilyn Woods
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Brutalist architecture in my own backyard...
Ten days after Trump demeaned Brutalist architecture and its heavy imposing aesthetic, I stood in the background as Robert, a man I care...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Mar 83 min read
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My musings on Maria, the movie:
·     Angelina Jolie is brilliant as Maria. Oscar-worthy. ·     As he claimed in the film, Aristotle was ugly and filthy rich. ·     ...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Dec 8, 20241 min read
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Grateful to be invited!
Thanksgiving is late this year which gives me time to talk books before talking turkey! Just back from an extraordinary trip to Andalucia...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Nov 5, 20241 min read
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Autumn... the year's last, loveliest smile
I can't help but smile when I read William Cullen Bryant's quote about this time of year being a lovely smile. Bookended by Labor Day and...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Sep 18, 20243 min read
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Home from another adventurous road trip!
Two-thousand miles in seven rollicking days. We are firm believers in St. Augustine ’s adage “The world is a book and those who don’t...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Sep 5, 20246 min read
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Art Smart Kids!
I’ve always been partial to the little kids. Both as a teacher and in my work now giving tours at The San Diego Museum of Art. I stood...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Jul 20, 20245 min read
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Sky High on that roller coaster again . . .
"except for the Presidential s**t show..."

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Jul 8, 20242 min read
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My summer obsession . . .
...gets at that "wild, silky part of ourselves."

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Jun 29, 20244 min read
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A walk on the slightly wild side...
Like everything else on my body, my earlobes have sagged. Not surprising for earlobes more than eight decades old. Not really a concern...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Jun 5, 20242 min read
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Does anybody really need four and a half cups of brightly colored paper clips in their desk drawer?
Existential questions like this over an extended period of time led me to re-imagine my office recently. My corner office. Before you get...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
May 11, 20243 min read
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Art alive and flowers in bloom!
Art Alive, the spectacular smashing together of art and flowers, happened a few days ago at The San Diego Museum of Art. I spent Saturday...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Apr 29, 20241 min read
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The Games People Play...
I am a docent. At an art museum. The San Diego Museum of Art. Before you roll your eyes remembering that boring academic lecture in front...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Mar 24, 20243 min read
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Not long after After Goya!
The purpose of this blog post is a giant mushy thank-you to all you hopeless romantics who believe in fairy tales and their power and...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Feb 29, 20243 min read
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I love love.
"Let's fall in love. For if I loved you, time and again you would hear me say that I want to be loved by you, by you, and nobody else but...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Feb 11, 20242 min read
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Adjectives are words that describe the qualities or states of being of nouns: rapturous, reluctant, rowdy...sculptural, sexy, silly...head-splitting, hilarious, hallowed.
Both in my newly formed writing group and my touring at the art museum, I’m focusing on newer, stronger, adjectives in my...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Jan 9, 20242 min read
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Sometimes it's hard to turn the page . . .
Erica Jong, celebrated novelist and essayist, was flying high in the late sixties and early seventies when I was chasing toddlers....

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Dec 30, 20233 min read
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No need for rose-colored glasses...
I’ve been gone from Ventura County for almost thirty years but will never forget Ojai’s legendary Pink Moments there. The Shangri-La-ish...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Jul 15, 20234 min read
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Rise. Bloom. Fade
Over the years—make that decades—I have been a character in many plays. Teacher. Administrator. Trainer. Interesting fields like art and...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Jun 12, 20235 min read
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Coming soon...
I’ve got Georgia on my mind. O’Keeffe, that is. A new exhibition opens in days at The San Diego Museum of Art featuring the iconic artist...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
May 1, 20232 min read
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No "Sunshine on my Shoulders"...
Vincent Van Gogh, who experienced many tumultuous seasons as he created his radically idiosyncratic, emotionally evocative art,...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Mar 20, 20232 min read
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