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Hi Coco ~

So, you really were serious, eh [just projecting/transferring]? Yes, No Middleman was computer art and had lots of colour, but was a drawing rather than a self-portrait. The only colour I'm seeing in the self-portraits themselves are in the titles, and those are all in yellow, the only difference being that the "Tough" one is a slightly-dull yellow.

With the portraits themselves, however:

Inner Sweetness ~ drawn January 9 [submitted April 5] has a more positive [than not ~ unless you see it as saying the reverse, i.e. that he's not sweet at all on the inner]

Father Theresa ~ drawn April 17 has a very positive message, ".....begun to smile at everyone....."

Too Tough ~ drawn February 8 [prior to Father Theresa], so positive follows "negative."

Yes, they do get more complex in their number of lines, etc. However, per above, Too Tough preceded Father Theresa. So , in that regard.

This one [Too Tough] also suggests that others are speculating about him, not necessarily him about himself. So, who are those others? His people in India? Hard to imagine that..... So, that would leave what? Him as the outsider speculating about himself? I still come back to him having difficulty with his writing and reflecting on that. Yet, even so, things sure got better in April!

I can definitely go with the "you don't really know me" message !

~ Lizzytysh

Partisan ~

Oh, well, in keeping with your [since-when-have-you-been-polite-in-regard-to-Leonard-or-anyone-else] cop-out, I think it surely must mean that one of us is already right; or half-right; or will be right, once we get to 3/4 right [rounding off the fractions]; or one of us who has yet to speak or may never speak, has surely nailed it, or will! It surely must be so "important" [your advisement] that, despite his putting it here for all of us, it should not be speculated upon or discussed ~ out of sheer "politeness."

Thank you for sharing .

If i am right you will come to regret cheapening this thread Tysh Darling. Those emoticons will haunt your dreams.

p.

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Partisan ~

No I won't. And the emoticons won't haunt me either. At least I'm saying what I'm thinking. And at least I'm giving my own ideas, right or wrong. How would anyone know if you are "right" when you would only claim same, ex-post-facto? Cheapening by pointing out the absurdity of your "conjecturing"? No.

~ Elizabeth

To tell you the truth I got a queasy feeling when I read the words and saw the picture of Leonard in the Star Trek uniform. My first thought was, "Heaven's Gate." Of course, I immediately rejected that thought. (But who knows what new guru he's gotten hold of now.) And then it could all just be a huge joke! Who can tell with Leonard

My first thought was similar to yours, Moonlight, but I'm determinedly in denial about that. I'm telling myself it's much more likely a farewell to art while hoping it all turns out to be a joke.

Hi Lizzy,

I went back and checked the self-portraits again. I could not find the "Yellow" color in any of them. I don't know how I saw it before.

So are you saying that the "Father Theresa" portrait was actually drawn before the "Tough Guy" portrait? That was a total "miss" on my part.

It's too bad that we can't have a typtrich of them. So we could compare the self-portraits more easily.

And I hope that Leonard's message in "tough guy" doesn't mean that he is sick of us. I wonder if that is what that creature partisan means.

Hi Coco, hi Lizzy

if I count correctly there are four self portraits made this year:

Father Teresa unfortunately is not dated (April 17th is the posting date, not the drawing date); of the dated ones "Inner Peace and Harmony" is the first (Jan 7th), then comes "The Inner Sweetness" (Jan 9th). The tough guy is latest (Feb 8th).

I reckon Lizzy refers to the yellow of the title line, but this has been added by the site admin. However, the first of the portraits ( http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/innerpeace.html ) includes some yellowish green. That's the only color I detect in the self portraits.

As to the messages: I fear that the "tough guy's" message is the latest, and to my mind he expresses difficulties with his writing, some kind of a creative block, just like Lizzy suggested. Knowing that these come and go - I'd say there's hope...

Tom

I'll respond to you later, Coco, when I have time to revisit them all. [No need to be embarrassed ~ and, Tom refers to a yellowish-green that you may have been citing. I'll have to check it all out later.]

~ Elizabeth

i can't be objective on this, but i hope that he's saying that he no longer wishes to write 'hard boiled' poetry, but rather some light weight songs with lot of irony and humor...

i sure hope he's not saying that we always misinterpret him and that we are too dumb to understand his art...

i also hope he didn't decide to go away forever.

Your second paragraph occurred to me, as well, jurica.....that we just don't seem to "get," to understand the meaning of his songs and poetry.....or maybe we miss the message, as evidenced by our interactions. That would require his watching us, or having us reported back to him, which I think unlikely. This also could be a response to the grueling onslaught of interviews related to Ten New Songs, and interviewers forever asking him "the meaning" of them. I don't know.

~ Elizabeth

To me he looks like he just got up in the morning, wearing his Star Trek pajamas, he looked at himself in the mirror, and this is what followed as he sat having his coffee and a cigarette. This cannot be as serious as it sounds.

Linda,

Star Trek pajamas! Is there such a thing? And where can I get some?


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