Jozef Imrich, name worthy of Kafka, has his finger on the pulse of any irony of interest and shares his findings to keep you in-the-know with the savviest trend setters and infomaniacs.
''I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.''
-Kurt Vonnegut
Meanwhile, police inspector Commissario Luigi Ricciardi and his loyal partner Brigadier Raffaele Maione try to avoid politics and do their jobs. But solving crimes against the great and the downtrodden inevitably brings them into contact, and sometimes conflict, with the power of the national regime. A regime that is reaching deeper into ordinary citizens' daily lives: "Lucia wasn't interested in politics, as far as she cared one party was as good as another, but now things were starting to change. Every day she heard reports of a beating, an injury, an arrest.
People said that spies were everywhere, that if you said a harsh word about a public official, or a government institution, there were people who would hurry to inform on you and someone would quickly come calling for an explanation of what you had said. Lucia was convinced that it was best to keep your mouth shut and mind your own business." (Viper, p. 207)
The historical setting is one of the most unusual and compelling elements of Maurizio De Giovanni's Commissario Ricciardi novels. Each novel takes place during a particular time of year, and De Giovanni vividly renders the characteristic sights, sounds and smells of Naples (including its seasonal festivals, cuisine and other traditions).
In gardens everywhere, plants are taking over. “Loosening up” has become the catchcry of our times. Flowers are spilling into lawns, succulents are spreading into gaps and ground covers are butting up against shrubs.
While gardening trends come and go, this enthusiasm for the unruly is proving something of stayer. Having been building over decades, it shows no sign of waning and is starting to feel like a full-blown shift in thinking.
A new book charts how we have got to this point and where the approach is taking us. In Wild: The Naturalistic Garden, Australian photographer Claire Takacs and British garden designer and writer Noel Kingsbury survey wilder, freer, more biodiverse gardens everywhere from the UK, Europe and the US to Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
They look at how these landscapes are appearing around houses, botanic gardens, city centres and industrial estates in all sorts of climate zones and with a wide range of soil types. More useful still, they get down to the nuts and bolts of how these gardens, many of which have sustainability at their core, work.
Kingsbury, who is living in Portugal, and Takacs, who is mostly based in England but is currently in Australia, began documenting gardens together more than 13 years ago, initially for the UK magazine Gardens Illustrated. His text and her photographs have always been closely enmeshed and one of the great things about this book is that it has a good balance of both.
While the 41 spaces profiled are the work of leading designers and horticulturalists, there is much here that can be adopted by home gardeners.
As always, paying close attention is the key to success. Plants grown in close quarters will inevitably compete for space, light and nutrients. This means you need to keep extra close tabs on the different growth patterns – and manage plants accordingly – to stop sturdy plants displacing weaker ones and thereby diluting the visual impact.
… But it is up to every gardener to experiment with what works for them and their site. As this book shows, people have been adopting wild gardening techniques for more than 100 years, and there is room for lots of twists and turns yet.
Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk's The Books of Jacob is now also out in the US, and at the Yale Review Rhian Sasseen now has a Q & A with the author about the novel.
treat others today like they are about to be gone tomorrow
pray like the world is about on its final spin
laugh like your tears are about to return
give like Heaven is about to audit you
watch a sunrise like you’re about going blind
hold someone like you’re about to become a ghost
~ it’s all about time
be desperate to live and to love a little bit recklessly
caution is a luxury for those who have endless days to be patient
~ we don’t
everything is temporary
the calendar is flipping so fast that it’s become a wind tunnel
it’s all about time
~ that’s what makes it such an adventure
fall into this sacred moment ~ it’s really all we have
spend every second as if you are stargazing from a hospice bed
fall into this sacred moment with me
no more unspoken words no more unmentioned mercies no more unthawed hearts no more unforgivable sins no more unopened eyes no more unfelt tendernesses no more unlit candles no more unkind comments no more unattended gardens no more unfinished poems no more unheard pardons no more unremarkable kisses no more unbelieved compliments no more unaware ignorance no more unappreciated miracles no more unopened doors no more unhealthy relationships no more unrecorded songs no more unclimbed mountains no more understated sentiments no more unwritten love letters no more unfollowed dreams no more unheralded angels no more unrealized opportunities no more untouched conversations no more unthought wishes no more unuttered prayers no more untrue sermons no more unneeded desires no more unnecessary worry no more unused dancing shoes no more unlocked vaults no more unthoughtful insults no more untied knots no more unhappy compromises no more unread psalms no more unsealed tombs no more untaken journeys no more unseen wonderment
~ no more
these seconds are racing by
let’s not waste any more of them
sit with me now and wrap your legs between mine
and let’s laugh together wildly under this beautiful falling sky
fall into this sacred moment with me
it’s really all we have
it’s all about time"
~ john roedel (johnroedel.com)
It's long, but it is great advice as we start a new week:
"forgive like a comet is about to hit
hug like the hourglass is about empty
sing like your voice is about to go mute
kiss like the candle is about to burn out
howl like the moon is about to be stolen
dance like the ground is about to break open
write like the ink is about to run dry
treat others today like they are about to be gone tomorrow
pray like the world is about on its final spin
laugh like your tears are about to return
give like Heaven is about to audit you
watch a sunrise like you’re about going blind
hold someone like you’re about to become a ghost
~ it’s all about time
be desperate to live and to love a little bit recklessly
caution is a luxury for those who have endless days to be patient
~ we don’t
everything is temporary
the calendar is flipping so fast that it’s become a wind tunnel
it’s all about time
~ that’s what makes it such an adventure
fall into this sacred moment ~ it’s really all we have
spend every second as if you are stargazing from a hospice bed
fall into this sacred moment with me
no more unspoken words no more unmentioned mercies no more unthawed hearts no more unforgivable sins no more unopened eyes no more unfelt tendernesses no more unlit candles no more unkind comments no more unattended gardens no more unfinished poems no more unheard pardons no more unremarkable kisses no more unbelieved compliments no more unaware ignorance no more unappreciated miracles no more unopened doors no more unhealthy relationships no more unrecorded songs no more unclimbed mountains no more understated sentiments no more unwritten love letters no more unfollowed dreams no more unheralded angels no more unrealized opportunities no more untouched conversations no more unthought wishes no more unuttered prayers no more untrue sermons no more unneeded desires no more unnecessary worry no more unused dancing shoes no more unlocked vaults no more unthoughtful insults no more untied knots no more unhappy compromises no more unread psalms no more unsealed tombs no more untaken journeys no more unseen wonderment
~ no more
these seconds are racing by
let’s not waste any more of them
sit with me now and wrap your legs between mine
and let’s laugh together wildly under this beautiful falling sky
