Dana Gioia’s “Summer Storm”
I always liked Dana Gioia’s poem “Summer Storm” and as we leave summer I thought I would share it with the blog. My friend Hazel says this was the poem […]
Thoughts on Plague Literature
by Fraser Hibbitt In Albert Camus’ The Plague (1947), the narrator comments that ‘there have been as many plagues as wars in history; yet always plagues and wars take people […]
Variations of Beauty and the Beast
By Asia Leonardi “Amor vicit omnia”, “love triumphs over all”, even with the most monstrous appearances, is what the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast seems to invoke, a tale […]
The Case for Dreams
by Fraser Hibbitt During his imprisonment, Socrates supposedly composed some lyrics, something he had never bothered himself with before. Puzzled by this behavior, his friend Cebes asked him on the […]
That Day When Elephants Marched Across Brooklyn Bridge
by Vittorio Compagno The history of New York City is studded with unusual and extravagant events. From the annual traditions that take place New Years Eve in Times Square, to […]
Murakami’s Norwegian Wood: Death, Winter, and Love
by Hazel Anna Rogers I first read Haruki Murakami’s ‘Norwegian Wood’ when I was 17, in my first relationship. As it happened, it was my first foray into Japanese literature, […]
Happy Anniversary to J.R.R. and Edith Tolkien
Here at the blog we celebrate some dates and anniversaries in our quirky way. The seasons, DNA Day, Bitcoin Pizza Day, Bitcoin’s Birthday, and in today’s post the anniversary of […]
Writing In Winter
by Hazel Anna Rogers It is snowing outside today, a rare sight on the south coast of the UK. Rarer still would be for the snow to settle and stay, […]
Psychogeography: Maps, Borders, Paradise
by Hazel Anna Rogers When I was young and being driven somewhere or other, I would always notice and ponder the physical space between signs indicating where we were arriving […]
Homage to Samuel Beckett
by Fraser Hibbitt There is a myth from Ancient Greece – containing a well-known proverb that reverberated in Greek thought. It involves the creature Silenus, the teacher of the wine […]
On the Wonders of Classical Music
by Hazel Anna Rogers I have always listened to classical music, though perhaps that’s rather too vague a term for all of the wonderful varieties of music the name “classical” […]
Farewell Alto Reed – Saxophonist Extraordinaire
by Fraser Hibbitt and Carl Kruse Just before the new year, Alto Reed passed away, adding a sad note to an already challenging year. The saxophonist and friend who spent […]
How I fell in Love With Winter
by Hazel Anna Rogers I was always a “summer” person, as it were, despite my tendency to overheat and get exceptionally sweaty the minute the weather went above 17 […]
Check Point Charlie Berlin
by Carl Kruse During the Cold War, Checkpoint Charlie was a border between East and West Berlin or more appropriately, the ONLY border where you could legally cross between the […]
A Poem by Hazel Anna Rogers
I wake, open, Into the arms of the gentle night. Not yet do the silhouettes of naked boughs Charm the light, Nor has the soft chatter of sharp beaks Set […]
The Art of Journaling
by Fraser Hibbitt There can be a stifling freedom around a blank page, and that is all a journal is; a collection of blank pages. A journal is comprised of […]
Reveries of Starvation – Proust, Melville & Donuts
by Hazel Anna Rogers I spent a large part of my teenage to early adult life starving myself, to various degrees. My memory around these five or six years is […]
Tips For Better Conversations From Celeste Headlee
by Carl Kruse Apologies for the click-baity title though fortunately no click bait here only notes from a Celeste Headlee TED talk in Savannah, Georgia on how to have better […]