Sunday, July 22, 2018

The memoir as manual

The desire of the man is for the woman, but the desire of the woman is for the desire of the man.
— Madame de Stäel, who died in 1817


INK BOTTLE“That so many writers have been prepared to accept a kind of martyrdom is the best tribute that flesh can pay to the living spirit of man as expressed in his literature. One cannot doubt that the martyrdom will continue to be gladly embraced. To some of us, the wresting of beauty out of language is the only thing in the world that matters.”

Anthony Burgess, English Literature: A Survey for Students

A first sign of the beginning of understanding is the wish to die. 
~Franz Kafka


Amy Winehouse was only 27 years old when she died on July 23, 2011. As news of her passing broke across the globe, the English singer was quickly compared to other famous musicians whose lives ended at the same age, a group that has long been referred to as "The 27 Club." Amy joined Kurt Cobain, Janis JoplinJimi Hendrix, and a handful of other stars whose deaths were unexpected and, in many cases, caused by substance abuse.
Amy Winehouse emerged as one of the most talented singers of the decade thanks to her 2006 album Back to Black. She racked up tons of industry praise and awards, becoming the first British woman to win five Grammys. But fame was not her friend. Amy's short life was plagued by bouts of depression, self-harm, eating disorders, and drug and alcohol addiction. She was in a toxic, volatile relationship with husband Blake Fielder-Civil, which led to even deeper spirals of substance abuse and outrageous behaviour and made her an increasingly easy target for the press and paparazzi. At the height of her notoriety, she was most known for being (for lack of a better word) a mess.
Amy Winehouse - The Official Website
Amy Winehouse - The Official Website

Good night. Your mind is yours alone and you decide who and what gets in. Draw the curtains. Make yourself at home.

Good morning. Do NOT get stuck in the comments section of life today. Make, do, create the things. Let others tussle it out. Vamos!

Gnight. Don’t forget to look up your work & let real life in. It makes your work better.

Good morning. You are perfectly cast in your life. I can’t imagine anyone but you in the role. Go play. 
Will Stephen ever get to read Cold River I wonder ... "I think the reason why Spielberg is so popular with audiences is because he is so adept at putting the viewer through the ringer. He doesn’t just objectively play out a scene, he engages the viewer directly and makes them experience the same emotions as his characters. I just saw Jaws for the first time. AMA.



The hyperrealistic drawings by this 11-year-old Nigerian artist are incredible 

Waspa
The memoir as manual is a most irksome publishing craze. As if life were a tidy moral lesson, and every idiosyncratic experience worthy of extrapolation... The memoir as manual

The Western canon emerged from a textual culture. Now we're in a digital age, when information is infinite. What authority do the Great Books still possess? - What authority do the Great Books still possess


Are you spending time with the right people for your health and happiness?

While many of us focus primarily on diet and exercise to achieve better health, science suggests that our well-being also is influenced by the company we keep. Researchers have found that certain health behaviorsappear to be contagious and that our social networks — in person and online — can influence obesity, anxiety and overall happiness. A recent report found that a person’s exercise routine was strongly influenced by his or her social network.
Sometimes I think I understand why we women increasingly read novels. Novels, when they work, use lies to tell the truth. The information marketplace, battling for an audience, tends, more and more, to transform intolerable truths into novelistic, riveting, enjoyable lies. Elena Ferrante finds keeping up with the news “an extremely difficult task.”