“We were talking about old age and he said that nothing could be done about it, and that he had a very strong feeling that people died at the right moment, and that the greatness of a person included the time when he was born and the time he endured, but that this was difficult to understand.”
~ Benjamin Britten (quoted in Imogen Holst, diary entry, September 29, 1952)
~ Benjamin Britten (quoted in Imogen Holst, diary entry, September 29, 1952)
Let everything happen to you
Beauty and Terror
Just keep going
No feeling is final.
(The forest scenes were filmed in the Czech Republic, and it “was full of weird European bugs, and I was in a fat suit for the entire shoot.”)
A kinky kangaroo with a love for frilly knickers has embarked on a lingerie looting spree after escaping its owner in the city of Prague in the Czech Republic
Crossword editors are strange arbiters of cultural relevance. But it really matters what makes it into the grid — and what is kept out
- The key to emotional intelligence is "emotional granularity"— Lisa Feldman Barrett (Northeastern) explains
Shrinking news coverage, online consumer reviews, the withering of literature in public esteem: an audit of book reviewing in uncertain times
If you are at home, take some time each day to enjoy, learn, and travel safely! Via Lifehacker: “Google Arts & Culture has a collection of more the 500 different museums and galleries
up on its site that you can visit virtually. Clicking through to each
one will bring up images of some of the museum or gallery’s collection,
and in some cases full virtual tours of the museum you can take to
pretend like, in a way, you’re actually there. You can check out the
full (massive) list of included galleries and museums here. The list
defaults to listing some of the most popular options first, but you can
also sort them in alphabetic order or look at where they all are on a
map…”
First Known When Lost: Ephemeral.
Marcus Aurelius has wise words for us: "How ridiculous, and like a stranger is he, who is surprised at any thing which happens in life!" (Marcus Aurelius (translated by Francis Hutcheson and James Moor), Meditations, Book XII, Section 13.) Spring is here. But not for long. Anything is possible.
EMERALD CITY: Being isolated in
your home leaves ample time for reading. Here, a paean to the aesthetics of
crime books.
Amazon Flooded With Fake COVID Books
The retailing giant has already been removing “tens of thousands” of listings from “bad actors” attempting to artificially raise prices on items such as face masks and hand sanitiser. Now it is fighting a losing battle against the writers rushing out self-published books to profit from coronavirus fears. Generally shorter than 100 pages, dozens have been published in the last few weeks, promising worried readers ways to prevent or avoid the virus. –The Guardian
First Known When Lost: Ephemeral.
Marcus Aurelius has wise words for us: "How ridiculous, and like a stranger is he, who is surprised at any thing which happens in life!" (Marcus Aurelius (translated by Francis Hutcheson and James Moor), Meditations, Book XII, Section 13.) Spring is here. But not for long. Anything is possible.
Gypsy Blood
for my father
.
I wear shoes that are worn out
soles worn thin
dirty
leather cracked
creases clear
.
sometimes even a gap through which
I can feel rain or snow
.
I wear shoes that I don’t wash or shine
I let them soak in the shit in the city streets
feel the ocean water
or the Gulf of Mexico
a place my father dreams about
even when he is there
.
I dig these shoes out from the back of my closet
like pulling bones from a grave
blowing the dust off
.
stepping in piss
in a corner of Venice
.
where as a kid
I always dreamed of going
.
finally walking those streets
wearing jeans that made me
look like my gypsy ancestors
the Romani who still live
sometimes
outside of the city
a purple button down
blazer bleached from Italian sun
and shoes
that will never forget why
the soles are worn thin
and the leather
is cracked
.
or the moment when she kissed me
for the first time
in ten years
or ten days
.
or the moment when I hugged my father
for the first time
in ten years
or ten days
.
maybe the first time I ever saw him cry
and definitely the first time
I cried with him
.
as I watched my grandfather’s body
weak and frail
carried out to be burned
to be made into dust
.
my father told me
during a call to him
from a diner
in Poughkeepsie
that we have gypsy blood
like my grandfather
and my great grandfather
.
maybe this is why
my leather lasts
.
soaked in blood
my blood
my father’s blood
my father’s blood
gypsy blood
 |