My life’s stem was cut,
But quickly, lovingly
I was lifted up,
I heard the rush of the tap
And I was set in water
In the blue vase, beautiful
In lip and curve,
And here I am
Opening one petal
As the tea cools.
I wait while the sun moves
And the bees finish their dancing,
I know I am dying
But why not keep flowering
As long as I can
From my cut stem?
What Made Elena Ferrante Into A Writer
from The Guardian
But quickly, lovingly
I was lifted up,
I heard the rush of the tap
And I was set in water
In the blue vase, beautiful
In lip and curve,
And here I am
Opening one petal
As the tea cools.
I wait while the sun moves
And the bees finish their dancing,
I know I am dying
But why not keep flowering
As long as I can
From my cut stem?
What Made Elena Ferrante Into A Writer
from The Guardian
Hollywood and literary agents, take note
The Chicago Sun-Times chronicles
how the arrest of El Chapo, the Mexican drug lord, had a lot more to it
than that visit from Sean
Penn. Indeed, "Authorities have never revealed that the
case against the man who some believe was the biggest drug kingpin in the world
began with (Christopher) Baines, a
mid-level dealer whose father owned a grocery store in Austin and also drove a
bus for the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority)."
A key source here is Thomas Shakeshaft,
a former federal prosecutor intimately involved in the case. "The El Chapo
case was the highlight of Shakeshaft’s career as a prosecutor. And it exacted
an enormous toll. He says the pressure of keeping witnesses alive while
overseeing an international drug investigation drove him to drink and led to a
diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder."Here's an early shout-out for your wonderful loyalty
Playwright’s Estate Accuses “Shape Of Water” Studio Of Stealing

David Zindel, son of the Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright Paul Zindel, told the Guardian "he believes his father’s work Let Me Hear You Whisper, a play about a female janitor in a research laboratory who bonds with a captive dolphin and tries to rescue the creature, is a source of inspiration for The Shape of Water. Del Toro’s film was nominated on Tuesday for 13 Oscars, including best picture, best director and best original screenplay." … Read More
An entertaining glimpse from Little Atoms into what it takes to produce the straight-to-DVD, low-budget gangster films that constitute Britain’s “hard-man” movie scene (as exemplified in the trailer above for Bonded by Blood 2).
Most of the films follow a predictable pattern. Set in London or Essex, they simultaneously borrow from and contribute to the bubble of gangster folklore beloved by local hard men in village pubs. Their plots are simple; hackneyed tales of heists and hooligans, tooled-up enforcers, and old-school grandees for whom gentleman is more than just a world on a toilet door.
Why Art Selling Has Been Slow To Succeed Online

While other industries, such as music and publishing, have been transformed by online retailing, the needle has been slower to move in the art market. … Read More
‘Call Me By Your Name’ Author André Aciman On Watching A Fraught Scene In The Novel Be Filmed

"For me, the message was clear: film cuts and trims with savage brevity, where a shrug or an intercepted glance or a nervous pause between two words can lay bare the heart in ways written prose is far more nuanced and needs more time and space on the page. But the thing is, I couldn't write silence. I couldn't measure pauses and breaths and the most elusive yet expressive body language." … Read More