Friday, May 31, 2019
Thursday, May 30, 2019
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Sunday, May 26, 2019
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Literacy
Writing puts us in an active relationship to literacy where the emphasis is on the writer as a builder of meaning. Reading puts us into a passove relationship with literacy where the emphasis is on other people's words and we have to question our interpretation rather than express what's on our own minds.
(Paraphrased email from Peter Elbow to ?)
AWA 5 Essential Affirmations
1. Everyone has a strong, unique voice.
2. Everyone is born with creative genius.
3. Writing as an art form belongs to all people, regardless of economic class or educational level.
4. The teaching of craft can be done without damage to a writer's original voice or artistic self-esteem.
5. A writer is someone who writes.
Sunday, May 19, 2019
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Friday, May 10, 2019
Sunday, May 05, 2019
Wednesday, May 01, 2019
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Monday, April 15, 2019
Sunday, April 07, 2019
Saturday, April 06, 2019
Thursday, April 04, 2019
Michael Ondaatje's WARLIGHT
Quotes:
"I suppose there are traditions and tropes in stories like this. Someone is given a test to carry out. No one knows who the truth bearer is. People are not who or where we think they are. And there is someone who watches from an unknown location."
"(Just as) no score relies on only one pitch or level of effort from musicians in the orchestra. Sometimes it relies on silence."
"I suppose there are traditions and tropes in stories like this. Someone is given a test to carry out. No one knows who the truth bearer is. People are not who or where we think they are. And there is someone who watches from an unknown location."
"(Just as) no score relies on only one pitch or level of effort from musicians in the orchestra. Sometimes it relies on silence."
Tuesday, April 02, 2019
Pre-Raphaelites
https://artuk.org/discover/stories/seven-female-pre-raphaelites
I've always been enthralled by the pre-Raphaelites because of the symbolism, but this post is mostly an excuse to post this amazing image.
I've always been enthralled by the pre-Raphaelites because of the symbolism, but this post is mostly an excuse to post this amazing image.
Saturday, March 23, 2019
Sunday, March 17, 2019
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Tuesday, March 05, 2019
Monday, March 04, 2019
Monday, February 25, 2019
Saturday, February 23, 2019
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Found Poem
Pot of Soup
A Simple Life
Fir Street
PNW (Pacific Northwest)
Bake at home garlic loaf
Ready in minutes
Onions sizzle transparent
to rich terroir brown
$7 French 2016
Bordeaux far Superieur
to any overpriced Cali
Red Hot Chili Peppers sing
Dani California
"Just another way to survive"
Mis en bouteille chateau
Grand Vin
A Simple Life
Fir Street
PNW (Pacific Northwest)
Bake at home garlic loaf
Ready in minutes
Onions sizzle transparent
to rich terroir brown
$7 French 2016
Bordeaux far Superieur
to any overpriced Cali
Red Hot Chili Peppers sing
Dani California
"Just another way to survive"
Mis en bouteille chateau
Grand Vin
Friday, February 15, 2019
Saturday, February 09, 2019
Monday, February 04, 2019
Sunday, February 03, 2019
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Friday, January 18, 2019
Friday, January 11, 2019
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Wednesday, January 09, 2019
Tuesday, January 08, 2019
Monday, January 07, 2019
Friday, January 04, 2019
Thursday, January 03, 2019
Wednesday, January 02, 2019
Literary Quotes
http://www.litquotes.com/
The sun did not rise, it overflowed. ~ Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Any woman who is sure of her own wits is a match at any time for a man who is not sure of his own temper. ~ The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Books—the generous friends who met me without suspicion—the merciful masters who never used me ill! ~ Armadale by Wilkie Collins
Scattered wits take a long time picking up. ~ Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
"It's but little good you'll do a-watering the last year's crop." ~ Adam Bede by George Eliot
One must be poor to know the luxury of giving! ~ Middlemarch by George Eliot
"What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?" ~ Middlemarch by George Eliot
"It hath been often said that it is not death, but dying, which is terrible." ~ Amelia by Henry Fielding
"There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired." ~ The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
It was always the becoming he dreamed of, never the being. ~ This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I don't want to repeat my innocence. I want the pleasure of losing it again. ~ This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Mistrust all enterprises that require new clothes. ~ A Room With A View by E. M. Forster
People have their own deaths as well as their own lives, and even if there is nothing beyond death, we shall differ in our nothingness. ~ Howards End by E. M. Forster
"The proper study of mankind is books." ~ Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley
Reason is the first victim of strong emotion. ~ Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
The concept of progress acts as a protective mechanism to shield us from the terrors of the future. ~ Dune by Frank Herbert
If wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets. ~ Dune by Frank Herbert
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. ~ Dune by Frank Herbert
"I call people rich when they're able to meet the requirements of their imagination." ~ The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
To read between the lines was easier than to follow the text. ~ The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
Impropriety is the soul of wit. ~ The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham
"Life isn't long enough for love and art." ~ The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham
Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heaven. ~ Paradise Lost by John Milton
For the first time he perceived that if you want to keep a secret you must also hide it from yourself. ~ Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past. ~ Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
My tongue will tell the anger of my heart,
Or else my heart, concealing it, will break. ~ The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
To sleep! perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come. ~ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
We know what we are, but know not what we may be. ~ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
A dream itself is but a shadow. ~ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. ~ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
Brevity is the soul of wit. ~ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
All that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity. ~ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
"Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, As self-neglecting." ~ Henry V by William Shakespeare
"We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep." ~ The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Nothing contributes so much to tranquillize the mind as a steady purpose. ~ Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The sun did not rise, it overflowed. ~ Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Any woman who is sure of her own wits is a match at any time for a man who is not sure of his own temper. ~ The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Books—the generous friends who met me without suspicion—the merciful masters who never used me ill! ~ Armadale by Wilkie Collins
Scattered wits take a long time picking up. ~ Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
"It's but little good you'll do a-watering the last year's crop." ~ Adam Bede by George Eliot
One must be poor to know the luxury of giving! ~ Middlemarch by George Eliot
"What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?" ~ Middlemarch by George Eliot
"It hath been often said that it is not death, but dying, which is terrible." ~ Amelia by Henry Fielding
"There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired." ~ The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
It was always the becoming he dreamed of, never the being. ~ This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I don't want to repeat my innocence. I want the pleasure of losing it again. ~ This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Mistrust all enterprises that require new clothes. ~ A Room With A View by E. M. Forster
People have their own deaths as well as their own lives, and even if there is nothing beyond death, we shall differ in our nothingness. ~ Howards End by E. M. Forster
"The proper study of mankind is books." ~ Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley
Reason is the first victim of strong emotion. ~ Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
The concept of progress acts as a protective mechanism to shield us from the terrors of the future. ~ Dune by Frank Herbert
If wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets. ~ Dune by Frank Herbert
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. ~ Dune by Frank Herbert
"I call people rich when they're able to meet the requirements of their imagination." ~ The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
To read between the lines was easier than to follow the text. ~ The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
Impropriety is the soul of wit. ~ The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham
"Life isn't long enough for love and art." ~ The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham
Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heaven. ~ Paradise Lost by John Milton
For the first time he perceived that if you want to keep a secret you must also hide it from yourself. ~ Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past. ~ Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
My tongue will tell the anger of my heart,
Or else my heart, concealing it, will break. ~ The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
To sleep! perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come. ~ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
We know what we are, but know not what we may be. ~ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
A dream itself is but a shadow. ~ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. ~ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
Brevity is the soul of wit. ~ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
All that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity. ~ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
"Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, As self-neglecting." ~ Henry V by William Shakespeare
"We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep." ~ The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Nothing contributes so much to tranquillize the mind as a steady purpose. ~ Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Ursula K. LeGuin THE DISPOSSESSED
"He held the contemporaneity of two moments in his left and right hands: as he moved them apart he smiled to see the moments separate like dividing soap bubbles. he got up and scribbled down, without really waking, the mathematical formula that had been eluding him for days. He saw space shrink in upon him like the walls of a collapsing sphere driving in and in towards a central void, closing, closing..."
"The reality is pain--you said that! But it's the ies, the evasions of reality, that drive you crazy. It's the lies that make you want to kill yourself."
"...unless the past and the future were made part of the present by memory and intention, there was, in human terms, no road, nowhere to go..."
"we think that time 'passes,' flows past us, but what if it is we who move..."
"It is only in consciousness, it seems, that we experience time at all."
"In a dream there is no time, and succession is all changed about, and cause and effect are all mixed together. In myth and legend there is no time. What past is it the tale means when it says "Once upon a time'? And so, when the mystic makes the re-connection of his reason and his unconscious, he sees all becoming as one being, and understands the eternal return."
"Where is beginning or end? Infinite repetition is an atemporal process."
"...time has two aspects. There is the arrow, the running river, without which there is no change, no progress, or direction, or creation. And there is the circle or the cycle, without which there is chaos, meaningless succession of instants, a world without clocks or seasons or promises."
"Can one dismiss either being, or becoming, as an illusion?"
"it is not the answer we are after, but only how to ask the question..."
"You can only be the Revolution. You cannot make the Revolution."
"Those who build walls are their own prisoners."
"The reality is pain--you said that! But it's the ies, the evasions of reality, that drive you crazy. It's the lies that make you want to kill yourself."
"...unless the past and the future were made part of the present by memory and intention, there was, in human terms, no road, nowhere to go..."
"we think that time 'passes,' flows past us, but what if it is we who move..."
"It is only in consciousness, it seems, that we experience time at all."
"In a dream there is no time, and succession is all changed about, and cause and effect are all mixed together. In myth and legend there is no time. What past is it the tale means when it says "Once upon a time'? And so, when the mystic makes the re-connection of his reason and his unconscious, he sees all becoming as one being, and understands the eternal return."
"Where is beginning or end? Infinite repetition is an atemporal process."
"...time has two aspects. There is the arrow, the running river, without which there is no change, no progress, or direction, or creation. And there is the circle or the cycle, without which there is chaos, meaningless succession of instants, a world without clocks or seasons or promises."
"Can one dismiss either being, or becoming, as an illusion?"
"it is not the answer we are after, but only how to ask the question..."
"You can only be the Revolution. You cannot make the Revolution."
"Those who build walls are their own prisoners."
Saturday, December 29, 2018
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Friday, November 16, 2018
Saturday, November 10, 2018
Tuesday, November 06, 2018
Monday, November 05, 2018
Saturday, November 03, 2018
MOOC Psychology of Art Syllabus
Of special note to bibliotherapy is Module 5: Can Creativity Heal?
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Monday, October 29, 2018
Saturday, October 27, 2018
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund
Quotes:
When I read I withdraw from the phenomenal world. I turn my attention "inward." Paradoxically, I turn outward toward the book I am holding, and, as if the book were a mirror, I feel as though I am looking inward. ...
When I read I withdraw from the phenomenal world. I turn my attention "inward." Paradoxically, I turn outward toward the book I am holding, and, as if the book were a mirror, I feel as though I am looking inward. ...
When I read, my retirement from the phenomenal world is undertaken too quickly to notice. The world in front of me and the world "inside" me are not merely adjacent, but overlapping; superimposed. A book feels like the intersection of these two domains--or like a conduit; a bridge; a passage between them. ...
An open book acts as a blind--its boards and pages shut out the world's glamorous stimuli and encourage the imagination.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20758127-what-we-see-when-we-read
Also, the read-alikes associated with the title look quite promising for the obsessive/compulsive reader appetite.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20758127-what-we-see-when-we-read
Also, the read-alikes associated with the title look quite promising for the obsessive/compulsive reader appetite.
Monday, October 22, 2018
Lucy at Tolstoy Therapy's 12 Calming Books
https://www.tolstoytherapy.com/2018/06/12-calming-books-to-help-you-take-deep.html
Lucy does such a good job on her blog.
Can't recommend her site enough for bibliotherapy enthusiasts.
Lucy does such a good job on her blog.
Can't recommend her site enough for bibliotherapy enthusiasts.
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Art Therapy Gains Credibilty in UK
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-doctor-prescribing-art-classes-future?utm_medium=email&utm_source=14510920-newsletter-editorial-daily-09-20-18&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=st-V
Institute for Poetic Medicine
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1100357188737&ca=9867054a-862f-485b-9718-a2a7b0df0561
Some books popularizing poetry therapy
https://www.amazon.com/Poetic-Medicine-Healing-Art-Poem-Making/dp/0874778824
Dystopian Feminist Fiction for our despair on the day of the scrotus
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/10/feminist-speculative-fiction-2018/571822/
Sunday, October 14, 2018
Monday, October 08, 2018
OVERSTORY Richard Powers
Powers is holding his spot as my favorite contemporary writer. OVERSTORY exceeded all expectations. I'll never look at trees the same way again. Here are a few quotes to ponder:
"...cuing, priming, framing, confirmation bias, and the conflation of correlation with causality--all these faults, built into the brain of the most problematic of large mammals."
"As certain as weather coming from the west, the things people know for sure will change. There is no knowing for a fact. The only dependable things are humility and looking."
"Everything in the forest is the forest. Competition is not separable from endless flavors of cooperation. Trees fight no more than do the leaves on a single tree. It seems most of nature isn't red in tooth and claw, after all. For one, those species at the base of the living pyramid have neither teeth nor talons. But if trees share their storehouses, then every drop of red must float on a sea of green."
"There are a hundred thousand species of love, separately invented, each more ingenious than the last, and every one of them keeps making things."
"Disaster is, as actuarial science proves..., just another number."
"...myths are basic truths twisted into mnemonics, instructions posted from the past, memories waiting to become predictions."
"...anchoring, causal base rate errors, the endowment effect, availability, belief perserverance, confirmation, illusory correlation, cuing--all the biases you've learned about..."
"Mastery gets on board, goes online, and a million more lonely boys emigrate to the new and improved Neverland."
"Play becomes the engine of human growth."
"...memory is always a collaboration in progress."
"You can't see what you don't understand. But what you think you already understand, you'll fail to notice."
"Dying is life, too."
"Life has a way of talking to the future. It's called memory."
"Ta-ne Mahuta, Yggdrasil, Jian-Mu, the Tree of Good and Evil, the indestructible Asvattha with roots above and branches below. Then she's back at the original World Tree."
"...what life wants from people, and how it might use them."
"This is how it must go. There will be catastrophes. Disastrous setbacks and slaughters. but life is going someplace. It wants to know itself, it wants the power of choice. It wants solutions to problems that nothing alive yet know how to solve, and it's willing to use even death to find them."
"Our home has been broken into. Our lives are being endangered. The law allows for all necessary force against unlawful and imminent harm."
In reading this novel, I searched for the connecting tendrils between the stories of the many diverse characters. I searched for the story's hero, but instead found not one but many. The psychologist, the scientist-forester-ranger, the artist, the vet, the death survivor, the actuary, the advocates, the lawyer, the wannabe actress, computer programmer, academics, engineers, even the supporting characters radiate intention and quest. The background characters blocking evolutionary pathways, whether judges-police-lumbermen, are as incidental as mountains and life goes on growing around the unsympathetic groundswell.
The Pacific Northwest is the setting for much of the story, but the entire U.S. is traversed with Powers connecting roots of characters and trees from coast to coast. Botanical drawings are interspersed throughout the text, almost like portraits, the trees themselves the real heroes.
Chapters are divided: Roots, Nicholas Hoel, Mimi Ma, Adam Appich, Ray Brinkman and Dorothy Cazaly, Douglas Pavlicek, Neelay Mehta, Patricia Westerford, Olivia Vandergriff, Trunk, Crown, Seeds. Each chapter is a novel in its own right and each main character is associated with a tree species: chestnuts, pine, elm-ash-ironwood-maple, oak-linden, fig-banyan, redwoods, beech, ginko, apple. The myths, historical and factual information alone are mind-blowing, but all together they transcend the novel form into a text that can only be described as a lesson in life.
(paraphrased) Three trees: Lote-boundary of the 7th heaven that none shall pass, mulberry-of the magical elixir of life, and Now--the tree that grows all around us and in us and follows us wherever we go. Luohan Arhats-adepts who have passed through the four stages of Enlightenment and now live in pure, knowing joy. A sacred tapestry: leaning on a staff in a forest opening, peering through the narrow window in a wall, sitting underneath a twisted pine. Powers is the silkworm weaving the spirit of all of these disparate experiences together in one massive tome, a testament to the beauty and power of nature.
"...cuing, priming, framing, confirmation bias, and the conflation of correlation with causality--all these faults, built into the brain of the most problematic of large mammals."
"As certain as weather coming from the west, the things people know for sure will change. There is no knowing for a fact. The only dependable things are humility and looking."
"Everything in the forest is the forest. Competition is not separable from endless flavors of cooperation. Trees fight no more than do the leaves on a single tree. It seems most of nature isn't red in tooth and claw, after all. For one, those species at the base of the living pyramid have neither teeth nor talons. But if trees share their storehouses, then every drop of red must float on a sea of green."
"There are a hundred thousand species of love, separately invented, each more ingenious than the last, and every one of them keeps making things."
"Disaster is, as actuarial science proves..., just another number."
"...myths are basic truths twisted into mnemonics, instructions posted from the past, memories waiting to become predictions."
"...anchoring, causal base rate errors, the endowment effect, availability, belief perserverance, confirmation, illusory correlation, cuing--all the biases you've learned about..."
"Mastery gets on board, goes online, and a million more lonely boys emigrate to the new and improved Neverland."
"Play becomes the engine of human growth."
"...memory is always a collaboration in progress."
"You can't see what you don't understand. But what you think you already understand, you'll fail to notice."
"Dying is life, too."
"Life has a way of talking to the future. It's called memory."
"Ta-ne Mahuta, Yggdrasil, Jian-Mu, the Tree of Good and Evil, the indestructible Asvattha with roots above and branches below. Then she's back at the original World Tree."
"...what life wants from people, and how it might use them."
"This is how it must go. There will be catastrophes. Disastrous setbacks and slaughters. but life is going someplace. It wants to know itself, it wants the power of choice. It wants solutions to problems that nothing alive yet know how to solve, and it's willing to use even death to find them."
"Our home has been broken into. Our lives are being endangered. The law allows for all necessary force against unlawful and imminent harm."
In reading this novel, I searched for the connecting tendrils between the stories of the many diverse characters. I searched for the story's hero, but instead found not one but many. The psychologist, the scientist-forester-ranger, the artist, the vet, the death survivor, the actuary, the advocates, the lawyer, the wannabe actress, computer programmer, academics, engineers, even the supporting characters radiate intention and quest. The background characters blocking evolutionary pathways, whether judges-police-lumbermen, are as incidental as mountains and life goes on growing around the unsympathetic groundswell.
The Pacific Northwest is the setting for much of the story, but the entire U.S. is traversed with Powers connecting roots of characters and trees from coast to coast. Botanical drawings are interspersed throughout the text, almost like portraits, the trees themselves the real heroes.
Chapters are divided: Roots, Nicholas Hoel, Mimi Ma, Adam Appich, Ray Brinkman and Dorothy Cazaly, Douglas Pavlicek, Neelay Mehta, Patricia Westerford, Olivia Vandergriff, Trunk, Crown, Seeds. Each chapter is a novel in its own right and each main character is associated with a tree species: chestnuts, pine, elm-ash-ironwood-maple, oak-linden, fig-banyan, redwoods, beech, ginko, apple. The myths, historical and factual information alone are mind-blowing, but all together they transcend the novel form into a text that can only be described as a lesson in life.
(paraphrased) Three trees: Lote-boundary of the 7th heaven that none shall pass, mulberry-of the magical elixir of life, and Now--the tree that grows all around us and in us and follows us wherever we go. Luohan Arhats-adepts who have passed through the four stages of Enlightenment and now live in pure, knowing joy. A sacred tapestry: leaning on a staff in a forest opening, peering through the narrow window in a wall, sitting underneath a twisted pine. Powers is the silkworm weaving the spirit of all of these disparate experiences together in one massive tome, a testament to the beauty and power of nature.
Sunday, October 07, 2018
Friday, September 28, 2018
Saturday, September 22, 2018
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Music (off topic)
https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/13831/what-is-and-what-is-not-syncopation
http://hubguitar.com/rhythm/off-the-beat-syncopated-rhythms
https://makingmusicmag.com/a-guide-to-syncopation/
https://www.musical-u.com/learn/rhythm-training-101-study-syncopation/
http://www.tomweissmusic.com/chords/
If you have a piano or guitar, try playing each primary chord in C major: I (C major - which contains the notes C, E and G), IV (F major - which contains the notes F, A and C) and V (G major - which contains the notes G, B and D).
http://hubguitar.com/rhythm/off-the-beat-syncopated-rhythms
https://makingmusicmag.com/a-guide-to-syncopation/
https://www.musical-u.com/learn/rhythm-training-101-study-syncopation/
http://www.tomweissmusic.com/chords/
If you have a piano or guitar, try playing each primary chord in C major: I (C major - which contains the notes C, E and G), IV (F major - which contains the notes F, A and C) and V (G major - which contains the notes G, B and D).
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
References from 2017 Person-Centered Medical Journal
. Mar RA, Oatley K, Peterson JB. Exploring the link between
reading fiction and empathy: Ruling out individual differences and
examining outcomes Communications. 2009;34(4):407-28.
. Mar RA, Oatley K, Hirsh J, Dela Paz J, Peterson JB. Bookworms versus nerds: Exposure to fiction versus non-fiction, divergent associations with social ability, and the simulation of fictional social worlds. Journal of Research in Personality. 2006;40(5):694-712.
. Kidd DC, Castano E. Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind. Science 2014;342(6156):377-80.
. Dovey C. Can Reading Make You Happier? : The New Yorker 2015 [cited 2015 September 30 ]. Available from: www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/can-reading-make-you-happier
. Cloninger CR, Salloum IM, Mezzich JE (2012): The dynamic origins of positive health and well being. International Journal of Person Centered Medicine 2: 179- 187.
. Katz G, Watt JA. Bibliotherapy: The Use of Books in Psychiatric Treatment Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 1992;37(3):173-8.
. McCulliss D. Bibliotherapy: Historical and research perspectives. Journal of Poetry Therapy. 2012;25(1):23-38.
. Cohen L. Phenomenology of Therapeutic Reading with Implications for Research and Practice of Bibliotherapy The Arts in Psychotherapy 1994 21(1):37-44.
. Hynes AM, Hynes-Berry A. Bibliotherapy: The interactive process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press 1986.
. Shrodes C. Bibliotherapy: A theoretical and clinical-experimental study. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation ]. In press 1950.
. Furness R. An evaluation of a Books on Prescription scheme in a UK public library authority Health Information & Libraries Journal. 2012;29:333-7.
. Macdonald J, Vallance D, McGrath M. An evaluation of a collaborative bibliotherapy scheme delivered via a library service. Journal of Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing. 2013;20(10):857-65.
. Neville P. Prose not Prozac? The role of book prescription schemes and healthy reading schemes in the treatment of mental illness in Ireland. Health Sociology Review. 2013;22(1):19-36.
. Marrs RW. A Meta-Analysis of Bibliotherapy Studies American Journal of Community Psychology. 1995;23(6):843-64.
. Cuijpers P. Bibliotherapy in Unipolar Depression: A Meta-Analysis Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry. 1997;28(2):139-47.
. Gregory RJ, Schwer Canning S, Lee TW, Wise JC. Cognitive Bibliotherapy for Depression: A Meta-Analysis. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 2004;35(3):275-80.
. Gellatly J, Bower P, Hennessy S, Richards D, Gilbody S, Lovell K. What makes self-help interventions effective in the management of depressive symptoms? Meta-analysis and meta-regression Psychological Medicine. 2007;37:1217-28.
. Fanner D, Urquhart C. Bibliotherapy for mental health service users Part 1: a systematic review. Health Information & Libraries Journal. 2008;25(4):237-52.
. Chamberlain D, Heaps D, Robert I. Bibliotherapy and information prescriptions: A summary of the published evidence-base and recommendations from past and ongoing Books on Prescription projects. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. 2008;15(1):24-36.
. Kreuter EA, Reiter S. Building resilience in the face of loss and irrelevance: Poetic methods for personal and professional transformation. Journal of Poetry Therapy. 2014;27(1):13-24.
. Conlon A. The use of poetry in reconciling unfinished business near end-of-life. Journal of Poetry Therapy. 2012;25(1):1-8.
. Schneider NM, Peterson M, Gathercoal KA, Hamilton E. The effect of bibliotherapy on anxiety in children with cancer. International Journal of Child Health and Human Development. 2013;6(3):337-45.
. Wexler M. A poetry program for the very elderly-Narrative perspective on one therapeutic model. Journal of Poetry Therapy. 2014;27(1):35-46.
. Bembry JX, Zentgraf S, Baffour T. Social skills training through poetry therapy: A group intervention with schizophrenic patients. Journal of Poetry Therapy. 2013;26(2):73-82.
. Tamura H. Poetry therapy for schizophrenia: A linguistic psychotherapeutic model of renku (linked poetry). The Arts in Psychotherapy. 2001;28(5):319-28.
. Cocking A, Astill J. Using literature as a therapeutic tool with people with moderate and borderline learning disabilities in a forensic setting. British Journal of Learning Disabilities. 2004;32(1):16-23.
. Duffy JT. A heroic journey: Re-conceptualizing adjustment disorder through the lens of the hero's quest. Journal of Systemic Therapies. 2010;29(4):1-16.
. Petrescu I, MacFarlane K, Ranzijn R. Psychological effects of poetry workshops with people with early stage dementia: An exploratory study. Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice. 2014;13(2):207-15.
. Mohammadian Y, Shahidi S, Mahaki B, Mohammadi AZ, Baghban AA, Zayeri F. Evaluating the use of poetry to reduce signs of depression, anxiety and stress in Iranian female students. The Arts in Psychotherapy. 2011;38(1):59-63.
. Dowrick C, Billington J, Robinson J, Hamer A, Williams C. Get into Reading as an intervention for common mental health problems: exploring catalysts for change. Medical Humanities. 2012;38(1):15-20.
. Tegner I, Fox J, Philipp R, Thorne P. Evaluating the use of poetry to improve well-being and emotional resilience in cancer patients. Journal of Poetry Therapy. 2009; 22(3):121-31.
. Mar RA, Oatley K, Hirsh J, Dela Paz J, Peterson JB. Bookworms versus nerds: Exposure to fiction versus non-fiction, divergent associations with social ability, and the simulation of fictional social worlds. Journal of Research in Personality. 2006;40(5):694-712.
. Kidd DC, Castano E. Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind. Science 2014;342(6156):377-80.
. Dovey C. Can Reading Make You Happier? : The New Yorker 2015 [cited 2015 September 30 ]. Available from: www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/can-reading-make-you-happier
. Cloninger CR, Salloum IM, Mezzich JE (2012): The dynamic origins of positive health and well being. International Journal of Person Centered Medicine 2: 179- 187.
. Katz G, Watt JA. Bibliotherapy: The Use of Books in Psychiatric Treatment Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 1992;37(3):173-8.
. McCulliss D. Bibliotherapy: Historical and research perspectives. Journal of Poetry Therapy. 2012;25(1):23-38.
. Cohen L. Phenomenology of Therapeutic Reading with Implications for Research and Practice of Bibliotherapy The Arts in Psychotherapy 1994 21(1):37-44.
. Hynes AM, Hynes-Berry A. Bibliotherapy: The interactive process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press 1986.
. Shrodes C. Bibliotherapy: A theoretical and clinical-experimental study. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation ]. In press 1950.
. Furness R. An evaluation of a Books on Prescription scheme in a UK public library authority Health Information & Libraries Journal. 2012;29:333-7.
. Macdonald J, Vallance D, McGrath M. An evaluation of a collaborative bibliotherapy scheme delivered via a library service. Journal of Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing. 2013;20(10):857-65.
. Neville P. Prose not Prozac? The role of book prescription schemes and healthy reading schemes in the treatment of mental illness in Ireland. Health Sociology Review. 2013;22(1):19-36.
. Marrs RW. A Meta-Analysis of Bibliotherapy Studies American Journal of Community Psychology. 1995;23(6):843-64.
. Cuijpers P. Bibliotherapy in Unipolar Depression: A Meta-Analysis Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry. 1997;28(2):139-47.
. Gregory RJ, Schwer Canning S, Lee TW, Wise JC. Cognitive Bibliotherapy for Depression: A Meta-Analysis. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 2004;35(3):275-80.
. Gellatly J, Bower P, Hennessy S, Richards D, Gilbody S, Lovell K. What makes self-help interventions effective in the management of depressive symptoms? Meta-analysis and meta-regression Psychological Medicine. 2007;37:1217-28.
. Fanner D, Urquhart C. Bibliotherapy for mental health service users Part 1: a systematic review. Health Information & Libraries Journal. 2008;25(4):237-52.
. Chamberlain D, Heaps D, Robert I. Bibliotherapy and information prescriptions: A summary of the published evidence-base and recommendations from past and ongoing Books on Prescription projects. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. 2008;15(1):24-36.
. Kreuter EA, Reiter S. Building resilience in the face of loss and irrelevance: Poetic methods for personal and professional transformation. Journal of Poetry Therapy. 2014;27(1):13-24.
. Conlon A. The use of poetry in reconciling unfinished business near end-of-life. Journal of Poetry Therapy. 2012;25(1):1-8.
. Schneider NM, Peterson M, Gathercoal KA, Hamilton E. The effect of bibliotherapy on anxiety in children with cancer. International Journal of Child Health and Human Development. 2013;6(3):337-45.
. Wexler M. A poetry program for the very elderly-Narrative perspective on one therapeutic model. Journal of Poetry Therapy. 2014;27(1):35-46.
. Bembry JX, Zentgraf S, Baffour T. Social skills training through poetry therapy: A group intervention with schizophrenic patients. Journal of Poetry Therapy. 2013;26(2):73-82.
. Tamura H. Poetry therapy for schizophrenia: A linguistic psychotherapeutic model of renku (linked poetry). The Arts in Psychotherapy. 2001;28(5):319-28.
. Cocking A, Astill J. Using literature as a therapeutic tool with people with moderate and borderline learning disabilities in a forensic setting. British Journal of Learning Disabilities. 2004;32(1):16-23.
. Duffy JT. A heroic journey: Re-conceptualizing adjustment disorder through the lens of the hero's quest. Journal of Systemic Therapies. 2010;29(4):1-16.
. Petrescu I, MacFarlane K, Ranzijn R. Psychological effects of poetry workshops with people with early stage dementia: An exploratory study. Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice. 2014;13(2):207-15.
. Mohammadian Y, Shahidi S, Mahaki B, Mohammadi AZ, Baghban AA, Zayeri F. Evaluating the use of poetry to reduce signs of depression, anxiety and stress in Iranian female students. The Arts in Psychotherapy. 2011;38(1):59-63.
. Dowrick C, Billington J, Robinson J, Hamer A, Williams C. Get into Reading as an intervention for common mental health problems: exploring catalysts for change. Medical Humanities. 2012;38(1):15-20.
. Tegner I, Fox J, Philipp R, Thorne P. Evaluating the use of poetry to improve well-being and emotional resilience in cancer patients. Journal of Poetry Therapy. 2009; 22(3):121-31.
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Saturday, September 01, 2018
Nursery Rhymes
https://www.thoughtco.com/classic-nursery-rhymes-4158623
https://www.nurseryrhymes.org/nursery-rhymes.html
http://mentalfloss.com/article/55035/dark-origins-11-classic-nursery-rhymes
http://www.theoccultmuseum.com/secret-origins-9-classic-childhood-nursery-rhymes/
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150610-the-dark-side-of-nursery-rhymes
http://www.mothergoose.com/Rhymes/Azrhymes.htm
https://www.littlethings.com/truth-behind-nursery-rhymes/
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Monday, August 20, 2018
Read More Online Poetry: Ink Node
https://www.inknode.com/emilypettit/because-you-can-have-this-idea-about-being-afraid-of-something
It's hard for me to rationalize buying books of poetry. Whether I see it as too self-indulgent, or I'm too miserly, as much as a bibliophile as I am it's been one of the lesser evils in terms of my book buying obsessions. It's like buying art... Am I really that kind of person--the person who can afford to buy art?
That's changing a little as I allow myself to write more poetry and do more art. Using art as the clearer example: I am learning to see more since I've begun drawing and painting. I've learned to not just see what I expect to see but to acknowledge there's more there there than meets the eye, if you know what to look for. In art, there are shadows and edges and white spaces. In poetry, there are pauses, shadings and reflections.
Online is ideal territory for finding and viewing both art and poetry, whether it's the classics at some of the well-known museums or universities:
ART
https://images.nga.gov/?service=category&action=show_content_page&language=en&category=16
http://mentalfloss.com/article/75809/12-world-class-museums-you-can-visit-online
or specialized wiki-type encyclopedias
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/
or virtual art galleries
https://www.deviantart.com/
POETRY
(search "poetry" on this site for some links)
It's hard for me to rationalize buying books of poetry. Whether I see it as too self-indulgent, or I'm too miserly, as much as a bibliophile as I am it's been one of the lesser evils in terms of my book buying obsessions. It's like buying art... Am I really that kind of person--the person who can afford to buy art?
That's changing a little as I allow myself to write more poetry and do more art. Using art as the clearer example: I am learning to see more since I've begun drawing and painting. I've learned to not just see what I expect to see but to acknowledge there's more there there than meets the eye, if you know what to look for. In art, there are shadows and edges and white spaces. In poetry, there are pauses, shadings and reflections.
Online is ideal territory for finding and viewing both art and poetry, whether it's the classics at some of the well-known museums or universities:
ART
https://images.nga.gov/?service=category&action=show_content_page&language=en&category=16
http://mentalfloss.com/article/75809/12-world-class-museums-you-can-visit-online
or specialized wiki-type encyclopedias
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/
or virtual art galleries
https://www.deviantart.com/
POETRY
(search "poetry" on this site for some links)
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Saturday, July 28, 2018
100 Best Loved Books List from PBS
At least a dozen of the ones I see here have no redeemable value,
but...people will love where they love.
https://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/books/#/
but...people will love where they love.
https://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/books/#/
Saturday, July 21, 2018
Thursday, July 12, 2018
More FutureLearn Poems
No matter how much
stretching
our hearts attempt,
even at a distance,
I see you hurt
because we do not fit.
Keith lives on Young Street,
West of Olympia,
Mudd Bay Freeway
to Steamboat Island.
Drive carefully,
soft shoulders.
stretching
our hearts attempt,
even at a distance,
I see you hurt
because we do not fit.
Keith lives on Young Street,
West of Olympia,
Mudd Bay Freeway
to Steamboat Island.
Drive carefully,
soft shoulders.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Thoughts on Rhyme from How to Make a Poem
I have found it fun and helpful to play with rhyme when I am suffering from writer's block. It's like the block occurs because there are too many words from which to choose, creating a blockage in the conscious channel of the mind. By limiting the words to ones that rhyme, the blockage is loosened and flow can be reinstated. Later, it may be desirable to go back and edit out the rhyme if it sounds too cliche, but the rhyme has served a purpose either way. Rhyming seems to allow the mind to drift to a more lyrical, unconscious level where Pete picks a peck of pickled peppers (obviously not a rhyme, but an example of how a little silliness can loosen the death grip our hyper conscious censors wield over our creative efforts.
Futurelearn How to Make a Poem exercise
Why so many?
Because these
bound
pages
of ink
are my tools.
My hammers,
My squares,
My drills
for repairs.
The right tool
for the job...
You say,
with blue collar
confidence,
makes all the
Difference.
Cento by Hsintao Chang
Hugged by my plain old wrapper of no-expectation
What falls away is always. And is near
"when you have forgotten Sunday: the love story" By Gwendolyn Brooks
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49269/when-you-have-forgotten-sunday-the-love-story
"The Waking" By Theodore Roethke
https://www.poetryarchive.org/poem/waking
Compliments of Hsintao Chang
From FutureLearn.com How to Make a Poem
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Found Poems
Another exercise from FutureLearn.com: How to Make a Poem
Not My Mother's Keeper
Mothers are dying after childbirth
and are all slightly insane
You can't fix your mother
We are all hard-wired for bonding
how strong you are to have made it this far
Mothers are like that, yeah they are
Sources:
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/too-many-mothers-are-dying-after-childbirth-hospital-hopes-save-n873531
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10858-mothers-are-all-slightly-insane
https://www.bustle.com/articles/123975-6-signs-you-have-a-toxic-mother
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yZJLWkzYyE
Not My Mother's Keeper
Mothers are dying after childbirth
and are all slightly insane
You can't fix your mother
We are all hard-wired for bonding
how strong you are to have made it this far
Mothers are like that, yeah they are
Sources:
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/too-many-mothers-are-dying-after-childbirth-hospital-hopes-save-n873531
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10858-mothers-are-all-slightly-insane
https://www.bustle.com/articles/123975-6-signs-you-have-a-toxic-mother
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yZJLWkzYyE
Monday, July 09, 2018
Cento = a poem collage
A cento is a poem that is made from lines of other poems, a poetic collage.
An exercise from the Future Learn free course on How to Make a Poem:
An exercise from the Future Learn free course on How to Make a Poem:
No longer the light of my dream before me
But ah! thought kills me that I am not thought
Langston Hughes "As I Grew Older" https://allpoetry.com/As-I-Grew-Older
Shakespeare's "Sonnet 44" http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/44.html
Poem collage! How brilliant...I could do this all day long. : )
The thing that really gets me, is how not only are the lines and words of the poem descriptive, but there is an invitation to read the whole of both poems in relation to the selections as well as consider the works and life of the poet's experience in relation to the poem. Layers upon layers of meaning and insight...
But ah! thought kills me that I am not thought
Langston Hughes "As I Grew Older" https://allpoetry.com/As-I-Grew-Older
Shakespeare's "Sonnet 44" http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/44.html
Poem collage! How brilliant...I could do this all day long. : )
The thing that really gets me, is how not only are the lines and words of the poem descriptive, but there is an invitation to read the whole of both poems in relation to the selections as well as consider the works and life of the poet's experience in relation to the poem. Layers upon layers of meaning and insight...
Thursday, July 05, 2018
Thursday, June 28, 2018
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
What We See When We Read
by Peter Mendelsund
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/237251/what-we-see-when-we-read-by-peter-mendelsund/
https://www.amazon.com/What-We-See-When-Read/dp/0804171637/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530125983&sr=8-1&keywords=what+we+see+when+we+read
Described as a phenomenology of reading, I thought it might be interesting to record my impressions here as I am reading the book.
Published in 2014, so not a new title, but new to me and welcome as I am experiencing my own renaissance as reader with a big toe holding open a doorway to the visual arts.
Mendelsund is an artist/designer and visual thinker. The book is as much about processing the images as it is about reading the words.
One of the first questions in the book asks the reader to visualize one of their favorite characters. Then asks us to describe the character.
I found myself wanting to default to the author's appearance or my mind wandered to what the "consensus" version from movies or other predefined images might be out there circulating.
Though when I thought about it later, I conceded that these first impressions were not what I experienced while reading.
While reading, I am all of the characters. Good and bad. Saintly and wicked. Ugly and beautiful.
So, my answer to your question, Peter, is they look like me. But male, or younger, or another species, bigger, or shorter, wiser, sillier.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/237251/what-we-see-when-we-read-by-peter-mendelsund/
https://www.amazon.com/What-We-See-When-Read/dp/0804171637/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530125983&sr=8-1&keywords=what+we+see+when+we+read
Described as a phenomenology of reading, I thought it might be interesting to record my impressions here as I am reading the book.
Published in 2014, so not a new title, but new to me and welcome as I am experiencing my own renaissance as reader with a big toe holding open a doorway to the visual arts.
Mendelsund is an artist/designer and visual thinker. The book is as much about processing the images as it is about reading the words.
One of the first questions in the book asks the reader to visualize one of their favorite characters. Then asks us to describe the character.
I found myself wanting to default to the author's appearance or my mind wandered to what the "consensus" version from movies or other predefined images might be out there circulating.
Though when I thought about it later, I conceded that these first impressions were not what I experienced while reading.
While reading, I am all of the characters. Good and bad. Saintly and wicked. Ugly and beautiful.
So, my answer to your question, Peter, is they look like me. But male, or younger, or another species, bigger, or shorter, wiser, sillier.
Monday, June 25, 2018
Saturday, June 23, 2018
Monday, June 18, 2018
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Sunday, June 10, 2018
Bibliotherapy experts
https://www.peoplemaven.com/p/6Qq30a/marianne-woodruff?refLoc=/l/4pq9gP/Best-Bibliotherapy-Experts,-2018
Saturday, June 09, 2018
Wednesday, June 06, 2018
Sunday, June 03, 2018
Recent Recommendations from Lucy @ Tolstoy Therapy & Lit Therapy
https://www.tolstoytherapy.com/p/bibliotherapy-recommendations.html
Only wish I were this organized and focused in my intentions...
https://www.littherapy.com/
Only wish I were this organized and focused in my intentions...
https://www.littherapy.com/
Monday, May 21, 2018
Friday, April 27, 2018
Book Riot Cyberpunk List
https://bookriot.com/2018/04/26/cyberpunk-books/
For anyone that's been reading any of my posts, few and far between as they might be, you know cyberpunk is my favorite genre fiction.
For anyone that's been reading any of my posts, few and far between as they might be, you know cyberpunk is my favorite genre fiction.
Book Riot List of Literary Memoirs
https://bookriot.com/2018/04/26/great-literary-memoirs/
A well-written memoir can be just the bibliotherapeutic prescription for solace when feeling that it's you against the world. In reading you find, it's you and the author battling many of the same battles, staring down the barrel at many of the same enemies.
A well-written memoir can be just the bibliotherapeutic prescription for solace when feeling that it's you against the world. In reading you find, it's you and the author battling many of the same battles, staring down the barrel at many of the same enemies.
Friday, April 20, 2018
Monday, April 09, 2018
Saturday, April 07, 2018
Friday, April 06, 2018
Lynda Barry Analog is revoltionary...
http://thenearsightedmonkey.tumblr.com/post/172244630859/dear-students-writing-by-hand-on-paper-is
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Sunday, February 18, 2018
Saturday, January 20, 2018
Friday, January 19, 2018
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Tuesday, January 09, 2018
Aspects of the Novel
The novelist E.M. Forster (1927) explains a story is ‘a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence’ and a plot is ‘also a narrative of events, with the emphasis falling on causality.’ (Forster, E. (1927) Aspects of the Novel, Harmondsworth: Pelican. p. 87.)
For example, ‘The king died, and then the queen died’ is a story. ‘The king died and then the queen died of grief’ is a plot.
This is because there is a reason given for the queen dying. In a story, someone dying is not in itself interesting. It is the reason for the death that fascinates the reader, especially if the reason is connected with something that has happened to, or been done by, another character.
Monday, January 08, 2018
Blank pages
"Remember, sometimes the best inspiration comes after the first few pages."
Prep
Gathering information or research.
Visualization: 'Unpacking’ an image, and discovering its significance through writing about it.
Length: Approximate before you write it.
Shape: Dialogue or description? Sections or scenes?"
Prep
Gathering information or research.
Visualization: 'Unpacking’ an image, and discovering its significance through writing about it.
Length: Approximate before you write it.
Shape: Dialogue or description? Sections or scenes?"
Continue
The schoolroom was full of light, yet a bit worn at the proverbial heels. So many anticipations and expectations thwarted or encouraged in the space of 60 minute intervals, day in, day out. Each student wondering: Will this be mentor? Will this be nemesis? Will this teacher "hold forth" or be an "active learner" along side us? Give me your fresh ideas and enthusiasm, share with me your dreams and aspirations, and I will reach deep inside my soul to find my own. The scuffed and chalky floors, the lack of air conditioning, the noise from down the hall won't matter as I am transported through transference to a mystical, magical place full of pure, shared thought.
I stopped my flow of thought for the umpteenth time that day, hell, more like hour. I knew the words wouldn't be there when I turned back to the page. Well, there would be words, but they would be different. The direction would have shifted slightly and the rhythm would have skipped a beat or two. Perhaps the change would be noticed by the reader, perhaps not, but here was a another destination I would miss, another depot without a connection. Laying tracks requires some degree of privacy, I noted, and sounded the whistle.
Writing and routines
Routine seems antithema to my creative process. However, having a "room of one's own" aka space physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually is paramount. A window in one's mind, from which to survey experience, allows the muse to enter and also allows for the curtains to be drawn when we are not yet ready to reveal or confront what we know.
FutureLearn Start writing fiction...
So different and yet so much the same as her predecessors, the shy little kitten had become a young feline, strong and agile, full of attitude, replete with studied indifference. I watched her move from cat tree to cat bed to a corner of crumpled covers where I had just been sleeping. As I stretched a hand out to cuddle her, she jumped lithely to the window seat where a bird chattered enticingly, yet comfortably, out of reach.
I lie here propped up with a million pillows, observer of the observing. Her view is limited by a screen and panes of glass; she would not welcome full access even if it were to tasty tweetful feathers. She is a shy and cautious cat, hesitant to accept a caress, hiding at the first sign of infringement on her space. Her favorite spot always wherever I am not.
I yearn to hold her silky soft and purring, feeling the weight of her relaxation as she melts into my lap. But no, her spot is high on my chest, as close to being wrapped around my neck as she once was when a wee fur ball tucked under my chin.
No, now, her big feet with the extra toes, pick the tenderest spot on my chest to plant themselves, whether coming or going from my furtive, stolen embraces.
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Obama's 2017 read/play list
During my presidency, I started a tradition of sharing my reading lists and playlists. It was a nice way to reflect on the works that resonated with me and lift up authors and artists from around the world. With some extra time on my hands this year to catch up, I wanted to share the books and music that I enjoyed most. From songs that got me moving to stories that inspired me, here's my 2017 list — I hope you enjoy it and have a happy and healthy New Year.
The best books I read in 2017:
The Power by Naomi Alderman
Grant by Ron Chernow
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
Janesville: An American Story by Amy Goldstein
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Five-Carat Soul by James McBride
Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
Dying: A Memoir by Cory Taylor
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
*Bonus for hoops fans: Coach Wooden and Me by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Basketball (and Other Things) by Shea Serrano
My favorite songs of 2017:
Mi Gente by J Balvin & Willy William
Havana by Camila Cabello (feat. Young Thug)
Blessed by Daniel Caesar
The Joke by Brandi Carlile
First World Problems by Chance The Rapper (feat. Daniel Caesar)
Rise Up by Andra Day
Wild Thoughts by DJ Khaled (feat. Rihanna and Bryson Tiller)
Family Feud by Jay-Z (feat. Beyoncé)
Humble by Kendrick Lamar
La Dame et Ses Valises by Les Amazones d’Afrique (feat. Nneka)
Unforgettable by French Montana (feat. Swae Lee)
The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness by The National
Chanel by Frank Ocean
Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man
Butterfly Effect by Travis Scott
Matter of Time by Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Little Bit by Mavis Staples
Millionaire by Chris Stapleton
Sign of the Times by Harry Styles
Broken Clocks by SZA
Ordinary Love (Extraordinary Mix) by U2
*Bonus: Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen (not out yet, but the blues version in his Broadway show is the best!)
The Power by Naomi Alderman
Grant by Ron Chernow
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
Janesville: An American Story by Amy Goldstein
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Five-Carat Soul by James McBride
Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
Dying: A Memoir by Cory Taylor
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
*Bonus for hoops fans: Coach Wooden and Me by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Basketball (and Other Things) by Shea Serrano
My favorite songs of 2017:
Mi Gente by J Balvin & Willy William
Havana by Camila Cabello (feat. Young Thug)
Blessed by Daniel Caesar
The Joke by Brandi Carlile
First World Problems by Chance The Rapper (feat. Daniel Caesar)
Rise Up by Andra Day
Wild Thoughts by DJ Khaled (feat. Rihanna and Bryson Tiller)
Family Feud by Jay-Z (feat. Beyoncé)
Humble by Kendrick Lamar
La Dame et Ses Valises by Les Amazones d’Afrique (feat. Nneka)
Unforgettable by French Montana (feat. Swae Lee)
The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness by The National
Chanel by Frank Ocean
Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man
Butterfly Effect by Travis Scott
Matter of Time by Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Little Bit by Mavis Staples
Millionaire by Chris Stapleton
Sign of the Times by Harry Styles
Broken Clocks by SZA
Ordinary Love (Extraordinary Mix) by U2
*Bonus: Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen (not out yet, but the blues version in his Broadway show is the best!)
Friday, December 29, 2017
Bowie's 100 fav reads
http://open-book.ca/News/Special-Feature-How-to-Read-Like-Bowie-David-Bowie-s-Top-100-Books
David Bowie's Top 100 Must Read Books:
The Age of American Unreason, Susan Jacoby, 2008
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz, 2007
The Coast of Utopia (trilogy), Tom Stoppard, 2007
Teenage: The Creation of Youth 1875-1945, Jon Savage, 2007
Fingersmith, Sarah Waters, 2002
The Trial of Henry Kissinger, Christopher Hitchens, 2001
Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder, Lawrence Weschler, 1997
A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1890-1924, Orlando Figes, 1997
The Insult, Rupert Thomson, 1996
Wonder Boys, Michael Chabon, 1995
The Bird Artist, Howard Norman, 1994
Kafka Was The Rage: A Greenwich Village Memoir, Anatole Broyard, 1993
Beyond the Brillo Box: The Visual Arts in Post-Historical Perspective, Arthur C. Danto, 1992
Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson, Camille Paglia, 1990
David Bomberg, Richard Cork, 1988
Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom, Peter Guralnick, 1986
The Songlines, Bruce Chatwin, 1986
Hawksmoor, Peter Ackroyd, 1985
Nowhere To Run: The Story of Soul Music, Gerri Hirshey, 1984
Nights at the Circus, Angela Carter, 1984
Money, Martin Amis, 1984
White Noise, Don DeLillo, 1984
Flaubert’s Parrot, Julian Barnes, 1984
The Life and Times of Little Richard, Charles White, 1984
A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn, 1980
A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole, 1980
Interviews with Francis Bacon, David Sylvester, 1980
Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler, 1980
Earthly Powers, Anthony Burgess, 1980
Raw (a ‘graphix magazine’) 1980-91
Viz (magazine) 1979 –
The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels, 1979
Metropolitan Life, Fran Lebowitz, 1978
In Between the Sheets, Ian McEwan, 1978
Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews, ed. Malcolm Cowley, 1977
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, Julian Jaynes, 1976
Tales of Beatnik Glory, Ed Saunders, 1975
Mystery Train, Greil Marcus, 1975
Selected Poems, Frank O’Hara, 1974
Before the Deluge: A Portrait of Berlin in the 1920s, Otto Friedrich, 1972
In Bluebeard’s Castle : Some Notes Towards the Re-definition of Culture, George Steiner, 1971
Octobriana and the Russian Underground, Peter Sadecky, 1971
The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll, Charlie Gillete, 1970
The Quest For Christa T, Christa Wolf, 1968
Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock, Nik Cohn, 1968
The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov, 1967
Journey into the Whirlwind, Eugenia Ginzburg, 1967
Last Exit to Brooklyn, Hubert Selby Jr. , 1966
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote, 1965
City of Night, John Rechy, 1965
Herzog, Saul Bellow, 1964
Puckoon, Spike Milligan, 1963
The American Way of Death, Jessica Mitford, 1963
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea, Yukio Mishima, 1963
The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin, 1963
A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess, 1962
Inside the Whale and Other Essays, George Orwell, 1962
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark, 1961
Private Eye (magazine) 1961 –
On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious, Douglas Harding, 1961
Silence: Lectures and Writing, John Cage, 1961
Strange People, Frank Edwards, 1961
The Divided Self, R. D. Laing, 1960
All The Emperor’s Horses, David Kidd,1960
Billy Liar, Keith Waterhouse, 1959
The Leopard, Giuseppe Di Lampedusa, 1958
On The Road, Jack Kerouac, 1957
The Hidden Persuaders, Vance Packard, 1957
Room at the Top, John Braine, 1957
A Grave for a Dolphin, Alberto Denti di Pirajno, 1956
The Outsider, Colin Wilson, 1956
Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov, 1955
Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell, 1948
The Street, Ann Petry, 1946
Black Boy, Richard Wright, 1945
The Portable Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker, 1944
The Outsider, Albert Camus, 1942
The Day of the Locust, Nathanael West, 1939
The Beano, (comic) 1938 –
The Road to Wigan Pier, George Orwell, 1937
Mr. Norris Changes Trains, Christopher Isherwood, 1935
English Journey, J.B. Priestley, 1934
Infants of the Spring, Wallace Thurman, 1932
The Bridge, Hart Crane, 1930
Vile Bodies, Evelyn Waugh, 1930
As I lay Dying, William Faulkner, 1930
The 42nd Parallel, John Dos Passos, 1930
Berlin Alexanderplatz, Alfred Döblin, 1929
Passing, Nella Larsen, 1929
Lady Chatterley’s Lover, D.H. Lawrence, 1928
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925
The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot, 1922
BLAST, ed. Wyndham Lewis, 1914-15
McTeague, Frank Norris, 1899
Transcendental Magic, Its Doctrine and Ritual, Eliphas Lévi, 1896
Les Chants de Maldoror, Lautréamont, 1869
Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert, 1856
Zanoni, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1842
Inferno, from the Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri, about 1308-1321
The Iliad, Homer, about 800 BC
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