tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51872559190424302632024-03-20T03:00:50.577-07:00From Brum to Berlin175 Words from ME to YOUZabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-59100823037312811732012-04-13T10:40:00.008-07:002012-04-13T11:47:57.544-07:00L’Étranger<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSQF1bu0SYs0d5ot-KvForH3l0XUPrts_Qsa_Lar2MWT1NwnBl_-wYEFKnNiwdYcVyGeCTgV_XTzgl1iHfrIxosCDW7MwPv13RKWK-_5iZ22Y0xNWoqDEc1WQGgSaBITjhKwSKL3Dr1-M/s1600/images.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 224px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSQF1bu0SYs0d5ot-KvForH3l0XUPrts_Qsa_Lar2MWT1NwnBl_-wYEFKnNiwdYcVyGeCTgV_XTzgl1iHfrIxosCDW7MwPv13RKWK-_5iZ22Y0xNWoqDEc1WQGgSaBITjhKwSKL3Dr1-M/s400/images.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730957174813443202" /></a>still-life-l'etranger by Astrid Tr<span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";">ü</span>gg</div><p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div align="center"> <em><span style="font-family:arial;">Way past midnight –</span></em><em><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></em></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><em><span style="font-family:arial;">Need to connect.</span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><em><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Betwixt the mediocre</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">And the Never Again</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">The Anger</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">The Cry</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">The Why</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">My darling boy</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">My precious one</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Will you be</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>L’Étranger</em>, too?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">I want to point to Conrad</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Read Nabokov out loud…</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">So hard</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">So futile</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">So wrong</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">My darling boy</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">My precious one</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Will you alight,</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">And get it right?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Chaos clings to me like ivy</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Paralyses every urge</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">The wherefores</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">The wrongs</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">The cries</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">My darling boy</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">My precious one</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Will you succeed </span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">To break the spell?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Lowliness and schemes</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Gorge on the backbone</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">I weaken </span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">I lose</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">I quit</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">My darling boy</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">My precious one</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Will you asphyxiate </span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Your talent, too?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>Ent-t</em></span><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>ä</em></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>uschung; Ent-zauberung</em></span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em> </em></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>Zweifel und Zaudern</em></span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">No salvation in the</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Arms of <em>La Bohème</em></span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Mauled by Amoebas</span><b><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></b></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Their tunnel vision versus</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">My kaleidoscopic eyes</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">From the histrionic mistress</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Back to the lawfully wedded wife:</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">To Socratic Discourse</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Of Our Wretched Time</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">My darling boy</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">My precious one</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Will you conquer</span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">Its rotten heart for me?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>One finger in ten -</em></span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em> </em></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>Saved by the Dell.</em></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><b><br /></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-10222550364396536082011-07-27T19:36:00.001-07:002011-07-27T19:46:05.754-07:00Zero<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-lI0Gx1RKE_r3nP7oGhCVQu3K32jJ4v_qC4PuKOehVFFHJl5LmLiWcBvSSFIyIAGEiNE3T-WazgGuazbz2yOnDgMl9xXZi-RnY3uqJ9tE7XCdAqPUYUdPN-EGqE78NRqV8xyOVj8TVfU/s1600/zero.svg.med.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-lI0Gx1RKE_r3nP7oGhCVQu3K32jJ4v_qC4PuKOehVFFHJl5LmLiWcBvSSFIyIAGEiNE3T-WazgGuazbz2yOnDgMl9xXZi-RnY3uqJ9tE7XCdAqPUYUdPN-EGqE78NRqV8xyOVj8TVfU/s400/zero.svg.med.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634227207011600434" /></a></p><p> <p class="MsoNormal">Zero done. Zero left.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Start over. Tabula Rasa.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Can’t carry on, can’t carry on,</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Can’t carry on.</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"> </i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It’s the night train</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Speeding into darkness.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"> </i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How long from here to the planning stages?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">How dare I wish to die </p> <p class="MsoNormal">When others have no chance to live? </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Zap, zap, zero.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">When the pounding pain in my head subsides</p> <p class="MsoNormal">When I ignore the nasty twitches </p> <p class="MsoNormal">When my words carry me to Elsewhere…</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I had such exclusive arrangement -</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Circumnavigating the Need </p> <p class="MsoNormal">For Identity’s Balance.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Broken, washed-up, manqué.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ein gescheiter, gescheiterter Mensch. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Every day I do as I like </p> <p class="MsoNormal">But do I like what I do?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Following every impulse</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Driven by avoidance</p> <p class="MsoNormal">And fuelled by fears --</p> <p class="MsoNormal">A Chaos Creating</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Wastelife</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">“Actors eat no Onions”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">“The Passion and the Ecstasy”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">“The Long Road”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Shoes and Handbags</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Kaffee und Kuchen</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Damage and Neglect</p> <p class="MsoNormal">And the Howls of Despair</p> <p class="MsoNormal">From the Opposite Side</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Of the street</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I wish I were Black Cat</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sprawled out, </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Basking in 5 o’clock </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sun-roof warmth.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Did I mention I came close</p> <p class="MsoNormal">To burning down the house?</p>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-76329565232731365142011-07-04T18:48:00.000-07:002011-07-15T02:34:35.285-07:00Ins Wasser gehen...<p align="center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW982DGy-D_6p3GZ3Vef-At6uDKZmrp51xcI77etDU4Ag0MvjD2l1pNjGWBh26yw2ClHlMZuBKabt-gBpGl_CtlLCvl8GueinaXZ15oBf3rkmds-pjiWB_Uc8Ruw-yGpIEN6TALIITgzQ/s1600/ophelia.webp"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW982DGy-D_6p3GZ3Vef-At6uDKZmrp51xcI77etDU4Ag0MvjD2l1pNjGWBh26yw2ClHlMZuBKabt-gBpGl_CtlLCvl8GueinaXZ15oBf3rkmds-pjiWB_Uc8Ruw-yGpIEN6TALIITgzQ/s400/ophelia.webp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625681480778211234" border="0" /></a><strong><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Millais, Ophelia</span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">B2B – and what does 175 mean to you? It’s <i>paragraph 175</i> to me. Throughout my youth, my adolescence, <span style="font-family:Arial;">§</span> 175 was homosexuality, and someone born on May 17<sup>th</sup> would invariably be labelled as such. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> The only other paragraph that was as well known was <span style="font-family:Arial;">§ </span>218 – the one prohibiting abortion. We were the generation who wrote dialectic essays about the abolition of <span style="font-family:Arial;">§</span> 218 and never ever had to face the choice between <i>“Engelmacherin”</i> and <i>“ins Wasser gehen”</i>. Such euphemisms, both of them! The first refers to an abortionist as someone who makes angels. How sick is that? The second is a reference to a popular method of suicide for girls who found themselves in the family way. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> Was Ophelia their role model? Did it become fashionable in the 17<sup>th</sup> century, or did it take the Pre-Raphaelites to popularise it?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> I knew someone whose birthday was the 17<sup>th</sup> of June, and that, to me, held far more significance: 1953. Uprising. Squashed. Claimed by the West. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> Now usurped by October 3rd as <strong>Day of German Unity</strong>.</p>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-70070730872439564982011-06-26T03:46:00.000-07:002011-06-26T04:05:13.573-07:00Green With Envy?<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2SQPYJU3_P3xJRjP58cUBCbxitIFB79QS1CKOwNmcxwiRVIqB45B4QOMvc8CK49XEK6B0EiziSDd-mjylhyphenhyphenD3iwV8aNf_bvc5jcIpYtDJXHVDVI-MUpE-thlU2jC7c0uLLNmiDoqMG0k/s1600/DSC00057.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2SQPYJU3_P3xJRjP58cUBCbxitIFB79QS1CKOwNmcxwiRVIqB45B4QOMvc8CK49XEK6B0EiziSDd-mjylhyphenhyphenD3iwV8aNf_bvc5jcIpYtDJXHVDVI-MUpE-thlU2jC7c0uLLNmiDoqMG0k/s400/DSC00057.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622479395978788354" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 102, 0);">Greens: forest, olive, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 102, 0);">verdigris, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 102, 0);">reptile, broad bean, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 102, 0);">apple fool... </span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Depth and spread of recorded words found wanting, we rummage for similes in the natural and made-made world - with varying success. Rendering the precise colour of what we behold being one of the less demanding tasks. One would have thought.<br /> Yet, even clichés fail to deliver. Clichés: those victimised linguistic gems, deemed so apt when first conjured into being that their very popularity eventually turns them into the object of derision.<br /> And yet, so imprecise, so utterly wrong. <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Emerald green</span> – some traffic lights are; eyes? Never. Mine own are green, essentially; but also grey; there’s a hint of blue; there are speckles of gold and blotches of brown; and they change from day to day and mood to mood.<br /> How can they be green when that is the colour of grass, of peas, of mint? How can ‘mint green’ be palest green with shades of blue when the herb is nearly as dark as cucumber skin? How can that same ‘mint green’ be called ‘jade’ elsewhere, and ‘jade’ in turn stretch to cover ‘turquoise’?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-39451035894221062332011-06-16T07:40:00.000-07:002011-06-16T08:04:37.843-07:00Strength<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp513YaKgKP2GxMihzYcg6lFDK4ugof9tdEgQ3-e_c6_Nb0w6BTd7szMDrN-8U8SmqnM9wErqP_mrH0heY5lVLP4eBph4bbI-PzKpR86DVlu1qPl3OomWTxa6g2nQDHk0m2X3cj67z1h4/s1600/strength-and-courage.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp513YaKgKP2GxMihzYcg6lFDK4ugof9tdEgQ3-e_c6_Nb0w6BTd7szMDrN-8U8SmqnM9wErqP_mrH0heY5lVLP4eBph4bbI-PzKpR86DVlu1qPl3OomWTxa6g2nQDHk0m2X3cj67z1h4/s400/strength-and-courage.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618829730991426722" /></a></div><div align="center"><strong>Image found <a href="http://anvithktgowda.blogspot.com/">here</a></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><br /></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><br /></strong> <span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Butterfly-winged, all shiny chiffons and mischievous smiles, the sprite thinks you’re her possession, her iron reserve, her nest egg for a rainy day.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></span></span></div><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent:36.0pt" align="justify"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Weakness, dependency, interminable infatuation – is that what she thinks when you endure what she hurls at you? When you, without so much of a whimper, bear up to the acid burns she administers? When your hot-tempered heart suffers searing sorrow but begs for further torture? When you tear out your soul like the gory innards from a disembowelled body, and lay it, as a cat places a slain starling, to her feet like a gift? </span></span></span></p><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></span></span></div><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent:36.0pt" align="justify"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The little fool, projecting her very own personality defects! It is Strength! Strength, Courage and Perseverance. Does she not know you’re a Dragon?</span></span></span></p><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:36.0pt" align="justify"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="font-size:100%;">When she eventually comes round, will you concede that she’s a mere moth? Nothing but a figurine from a cheap Christmas cracker made of pewter; dull to behold, cold to the touch and hollow through and through.</span></span></span></p><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Ironically, you’ll always have her because you felt it. She’ll lose you forever because she did not.</span></span></span> <span style="';font-family:Verdana;font-size:12.0pt;"> </span> </div>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-88988809817432767342011-06-10T10:50:00.000-07:002011-06-10T11:03:23.161-07:00Triptych<p><br /></p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-NoBWAS6j6Qpj7rZC7N8xZExpIYyj1Np4aEcIBDVPSbCUvaavGZ_uv7G-o_tzXrVXQCuPXEjwACPOjGMxiMvRg0ff-AlsFlWXVwhBG-nEwqIkpUSilEnsYhj6r9-BBIQ9hc_T86JlEg/s1600/triptych.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 356px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-NoBWAS6j6Qpj7rZC7N8xZExpIYyj1Np4aEcIBDVPSbCUvaavGZ_uv7G-o_tzXrVXQCuPXEjwACPOjGMxiMvRg0ff-AlsFlWXVwhBG-nEwqIkpUSilEnsYhj6r9-BBIQ9hc_T86JlEg/s400/triptych.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616650966679009906" /></a><strong>Triptych for soprano and string</strong><strong><br /></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><a href="http://www.patriciamorehead.com/1992/11/triptych-1992-for-soprano-and-string-quartet-18-min/">Patricia Morehead</a></strong></p><div align="justify"><span style="font-weight:bold;">1.</span><br />Ascot & Arcadia, Brum & Berlin: Cycling & Cancer, Death, Equations & Fractal Geometry, Honesty (brutal; lack thereof), Infuriating Juxtaposition of Kindness and Loss of self. Mask (slipping), Narcissistic Offender, Propaganda (your Dad’s). Quintessentially: Rights, Sex, Truth & Uterus. Venom Winning? X-axis, Y-axis… Za-bee-na.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2.</span><br />Bizarre maybe, but encapsulating my week. Incidentally, I used to accuse this word - <span style="font-style:italic;">“bizarr” </span>(~ bi:tsar) - of being a false friend. I believed its connotations of grotesque contrasts and incongruities pertained to shapes only, not people, moods, behaviour.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3.</span><br />Tell you what <span style="font-style:italic;">was</span> bizarre – in its 'weird', 'freakish', 'ludicrous' guise – raking through the books at Oxfam. Hoping for striking titles such as “Howzat” (my sudden interest in cricket being of a purely theatrical nature), I spied, scattered amongst the sports themed tomes featuring predominantly male-oriented topics, a handful of surprising paperbacks: “How to save your marriage”, and “How to make your marriage work”.<br />Clever Oxfam volunteers with a wicked sense of humour?<br />And would the (exclusively male!) authors advise: “Less Sky Sports, more costume drama” ?<br /><br /></div>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-67066600004330554952011-05-31T20:34:00.000-07:002011-05-31T20:43:10.022-07:00Flat Green Sphere<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMi5xJ118kbmTOf4Cr5-0Yfo-QIvEzR0AcXkvjz06Zb-Dl3VUiCczmjqKmMUY58S04TGUDsxpD_d_TQ9qTJJz5orpKkAKmSK369Li38QCZJNb5U9qc7GGP0Xyazv3CmMiUty_FwCNzOwA/s1600/flat+green+sphere.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 262px; height: 193px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMi5xJ118kbmTOf4Cr5-0Yfo-QIvEzR0AcXkvjz06Zb-Dl3VUiCczmjqKmMUY58S04TGUDsxpD_d_TQ9qTJJz5orpKkAKmSK369Li38QCZJNb5U9qc7GGP0Xyazv3CmMiUty_FwCNzOwA/s400/flat+green+sphere.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613091299872066338" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Green Hearted Sphere</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Artist: Beatriz Cruz</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">http://www.redbubble.com/people/bettycruz/art/5638175-green-hearted-sphere</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />Your flat green sphere dangling from my wrist, my parking ticket snug in your back pocket. Midway to ruinous hours all around the Wrekin, when you can’t place Chelsmley Wood and Brownhills north-south-east-or-west from HOME. Never ending dual carriageways into nowhere, while impatient sunbeams and white lux cars are encroaching at frightening angles. Finally a sign: Heartland’s Hospital. Inexplicable standstill relates to cardiac <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> traffic arrests. In reverse it’s German: Stillstand - which the PC corrects immediately. (Auto-correction gone mad!) Consider B2B revival - you’re good for my writing when you’re gone. The rest is unnecessarily kabbalistic: AG at 20 to 4, later than you in AMS? 7 pages from Kontra-B. into Double B, more fun than 3 times 1 by Coen this morning. Red hatted Fly Agaric splashed with white polka dots and its connections with insecticide, shamanism, trance, berserkers, soma, luck, New Year, Father Christmas, and prancing, flying reindeer. At 4:10, 175 words for my darling boy, my enfant terrible, my prodigal son. Contemplating amalgamation of blogs. Restraints good, Freedom of Expression better.<br /></div>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-66972573577618048672010-01-13T16:20:00.000-08:002010-01-13T16:20:00.128-08:00Room With A View<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2uBDpwIoqR43E6YMNgstcm1OeQNJ6M5e9FABYwP71fo23-8_M3ph98YZbef08CL962dmS_LIAfQXLB-gv-rxkY3ytuPZnEhr8PDcVDjTmdnXrFmrnqIwLr84gpqg2zQVbvyRN8SFrenE/s1600-h/lilac+in+the+snow.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 379px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2uBDpwIoqR43E6YMNgstcm1OeQNJ6M5e9FABYwP71fo23-8_M3ph98YZbef08CL962dmS_LIAfQXLB-gv-rxkY3ytuPZnEhr8PDcVDjTmdnXrFmrnqIwLr84gpqg2zQVbvyRN8SFrenE/s400/lilac+in+the+snow.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426221449896483186" border="0" /></a>Pristine<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq91kQ-lR7uhyUTqRD5wm0Fzvk0o5OyWBUKabnA0JGBSuJQtoUluua8it6GGGE3zynlMTDb9yFOgN1sPuC94dRcs9aupWbftGmeTnPPLPRNX7YHyuhd4kMrVaeVZT1GnIAdBVVoS3N2fY/s1600-h/DSC04092.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq91kQ-lR7uhyUTqRD5wm0Fzvk0o5OyWBUKabnA0JGBSuJQtoUluua8it6GGGE3zynlMTDb9yFOgN1sPuC94dRcs9aupWbftGmeTnPPLPRNX7YHyuhd4kMrVaeVZT1GnIAdBVVoS3N2fY/s400/DSC04092.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426221444387608498" border="0" /></a>Waffled<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD46DRwMW0Z_wboNO3eqn_5tDSB2zqdWhKeZT_g9DZH9JVWX63Ps8VkDR8glnbyCJBUTJSTlTejs9rF4gODAa_NeUBGZPaod-5lbJYfoDMF3BgylVJWn4qCunVQ-wHAq8URLBf7T-5veA/s1600-h/snowy+day+jan+10.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 379px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD46DRwMW0Z_wboNO3eqn_5tDSB2zqdWhKeZT_g9DZH9JVWX63Ps8VkDR8glnbyCJBUTJSTlTejs9rF4gODAa_NeUBGZPaod-5lbJYfoDMF3BgylVJWn4qCunVQ-wHAq8URLBf7T-5veA/s400/snowy+day+jan+10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426221430877884226" border="0" /></a>Laden<br /></div>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-33421326633252084782010-01-06T07:49:00.000-08:002010-01-06T07:52:10.731-08:00AG last night<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvJYmogq2kSt9g0Ux5nmuc9OlxDQaY0e4hLiDmjO5PWFXWmlnkbBFG-JkYVJTsAsjrdyt2RSP3onozsXphTrgRsJju0nOmZ0bbmcWtyrrpX-eVac5zCugP7ES0TxMrIQK5OSfHLGhxdjI/s1600-h/AG+05012010+%282%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 264px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvJYmogq2kSt9g0Ux5nmuc9OlxDQaY0e4hLiDmjO5PWFXWmlnkbBFG-JkYVJTsAsjrdyt2RSP3onozsXphTrgRsJju0nOmZ0bbmcWtyrrpX-eVac5zCugP7ES0TxMrIQK5OSfHLGhxdjI/s400/AG+05012010+%282%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423654888253184946" border="0" /></a>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-44243914783539661852009-11-11T11:50:00.000-08:002009-11-16T03:54:11.187-08:00Can you (make a) spell?<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQUAglO-lO-9s4uxT2OrEcjZpOGEhugKcXCWDEDgbhPSQtzO1RT7ydZYGrgd_oN7Jgv1oibH6BFJEWNKCFaGQwDLINaIlGACZA5w8aQO50QleqXUzRSjhxyY9zF_G629-q44B9ZO0K2FE/s1600-h/Ben+school+boy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 319px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQUAglO-lO-9s4uxT2OrEcjZpOGEhugKcXCWDEDgbhPSQtzO1RT7ydZYGrgd_oN7Jgv1oibH6BFJEWNKCFaGQwDLINaIlGACZA5w8aQO50QleqXUzRSjhxyY9zF_G629-q44B9ZO0K2FE/s400/Ben+school+boy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402936254318645602" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Schoolboy by Ben Brotherton<br /></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; 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mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoBodyText"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: arial;">Bratt, Brunt and Brotherton not only serve as an example of alliteration, they also commit embarrassingly silly acts. It was impossible to separate them because pupils had to sit in alphabetical order. Appearances can be deceptive, they say, but those lads possessed no devastating disguises, they were as wilful as their countenance suggested. Certain peculiar practices will have to remain undisclosed but there cannot be any doubt that it was this thoroughly untrustworthy threesome who threw the Principal quite off course during his lecture on the necessity of accelerated learning. The speaker appealed to the audience to “think this thought through”, and implored them not to compromise their grades by succumbing to time thieves such as TV, MSN and other acronyms. He laughed aloud, pleased with his metaphor. “Appreciate your privileges… the first class edification you receive….”, he proclaimed, and he meant it. </span></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoBodyText"><span lang="EN-GB">Suddenly, three whispered interjections - <i>“ars longa”</i>, <i>“viola bastarda”</i> and <i>“impunity”, </i>with emphasis on “puny”. Audience participation was not encouraged. Somebody squeaked, and it was not the one with the straight As.</span></p> </div>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-66930068180034277682009-11-09T01:39:00.000-08:002009-11-09T17:40:43.581-08:00Octember and the 2 Henrys<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBXBL-YSl2s0d1XZ90LMJXnQo5VIAANzkxXXOxZJIuSyh_v8aUai3eEJqvTlXkNo3jB_PEFC0nz_YPCXB9aFCmmuCY4IriAigMgNjgcCqadXujtBijgfyXBXols_sK0R7n3zI8B_-XlNs/s1600-h/Lamb_House,_Rye.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBXBL-YSl2s0d1XZ90LMJXnQo5VIAANzkxXXOxZJIuSyh_v8aUai3eEJqvTlXkNo3jB_PEFC0nz_YPCXB9aFCmmuCY4IriAigMgNjgcCqadXujtBijgfyXBXols_sK0R7n3zI8B_-XlNs/s400/Lamb_House,_Rye.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402282468348113762" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Lamb House, Rye, East Sussex, Henry James' Residence, 1898 - 1916<br /><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><1></span><br />The yellow leaves of the lilac<br />happily dapple the last of the green grass,<br />a lush golden flush before winter.<br />Palest sky and no cats,<br />only a fat lonely magpie,<br />and another wake at the Club.<br />Mirrored inside and outside:<br />the sacred and the profane,<br />prose to the left, prosaic to the right:<br />The Master and The Masterpieces Guide,<br />Funk, spunk, junk and bunk.<br />You couldn’t make it up if you tried.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><2></span><br />A book by a German born in Amsterdam, translated into English from French, about a German philosopher notorious for posing translation problems.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><3></span><br />Wry Rye-mmmh:<br /><br />Bread, Henry’s house, Catcher, whisky and rye;<br />But it was shandy we drank in the heat<br />On the tombstones - oblivious to James (why?) -<br />Which is made from lemonade ‘n wheat.<br /><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;} h1 {mso-style-next:Normal; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; page-break-after:avoid; mso-outline-level:1; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning:0pt; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><4></span><br />A quote:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-style: italic;">“And this in the black frenzied nothingness of the hollow of absence leaves a gloomy feeling of saturated despondency not unlike the topmost tip of desperation which is only the gay juvenile maggot of death’s exquisite rupture with life.”</span><br /></div><br />(Capricorn, p 99; yes, he was.)Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-6590059762021935622009-11-03T03:09:00.000-08:002009-11-03T03:19:46.552-08:00Sweeping Brushstrokes<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5WnuZEymvh2OtdA3V1nzefIFiis6EFZ-1fSDN7j8crgTIc177HmhAvQQjnpHzu-xtax42D6Zpg7NQbSXaEeadLKaJNd1qz3ySl3JfulZ-_8aH-FXfP1Kdfed9EUhS7uQwhdu9uzHqBfI/s1600-h/231.x600.art.BigYouth.rev.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 399px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5WnuZEymvh2OtdA3V1nzefIFiis6EFZ-1fSDN7j8crgTIc177HmhAvQQjnpHzu-xtax42D6Zpg7NQbSXaEeadLKaJNd1qz3ySl3JfulZ-_8aH-FXfP1Kdfed9EUhS7uQwhdu9uzHqBfI/s400/231.x600.art.BigYouth.rev.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399834302317255394" border="0" /></a>Applin, <em>Good Morning Norm Jacques</em> (detail), 2009<br />Found <a href="http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/art-design/76802/big-youth-at-corbett-vs-dempsey-art-review">here</a><br /></div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB">Damn hard this abandon, damn hard and tiring. Every day, and the days are sunny, I watch a New Zealand-All Black of a Cat. Chunky and self-assured, he surveys his territory from the top of the garage, the quintessential cat on a hot tin roof. I live the dream of having arrived in the Promised Land, while in anyone else’s reality, after 40 years of wandering in the desert, I haven’t budged from Square One. The inversion of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Bildungsroman:</span> How I came undone. No “building” to de-construct. Not here, not now!<i> </i>The cat knows this, he has probably named and appropriated me. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; font-style: italic;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB">Und die ganze Zeit: Hälfte des Lebens. Wo nehme ich, wenn es Winter wird, die magischen Mäntel her?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I want to leap like Cat, transcend myself, administer quicksilver injections, and, with sweeping brushstrokes, paint horrible beauty. If, by the end of December, my head is bald, I shall blame </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Heidegger</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> - I’d be in good company: others claim he gave them ulcers. Touched by minds so vast, mine is about to detonate. </span></span><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-84356867910489125732009-10-19T05:17:00.000-07:002009-10-28T02:34:15.954-07:00Conrad Eliot James Austen<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSKt1b_owz-UKkAMTjFMztMgVXba3gdDfsCOrUADJ9_baZxT_y1eKmciyMPwUqeoxiKUDYUPynGyPbOOX8DTv1DuHPWwJkYsZC_uw8gYBdCGn14hq_I53bBjdS819UJog456V96CAUnUU/s1600-h/610px-PM_Conrad2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 393px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSKt1b_owz-UKkAMTjFMztMgVXba3gdDfsCOrUADJ9_baZxT_y1eKmciyMPwUqeoxiKUDYUPynGyPbOOX8DTv1DuHPWwJkYsZC_uw8gYBdCGn14hq_I53bBjdS819UJog456V96CAUnUU/s400/610px-PM_Conrad2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394284359949944546" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Sir Jacob Epstein's bust of Conrad (1924 - the year of his death), Birmingham Art Gallery<br /></span><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p>I wake up and my fears have fought their way from my core to my skin after sleepless dreams and dreamless sleep. In that no-one’s land between the states of sleeping and waking, sweat demands and end to this, demands action. Yes! No more! I’m infused with change until I find my <span style="font-style: italic;">Id </span>is playing with the controls as usual. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB">Let’s see: CAD and Winterson, Erich Fried and <span style="font-style: italic;">Searching for </span><st1:country-region style="font-style: italic;" st="on"><st1:place st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region>, late Graham Greene through Martin Amis’ eyes. On a stroll through Linz and Habsburger Barock, not only the discovery of <span style="font-style: italic;">Plague Columns</span> and blatant hankering for magic numbers, but also the connection between paving stones and concentration camps. Karl Kraus and Thomas Bernhard twice, through him Wittgenstein again, and did you know that Erika Mann was married to W.H. Auden, and the bloke from Trainspotting to Angelina Jolie? He’s Mr Knightley on the BBC, and I’ve struggled with F.R. Leavis again (hence the title) – another loop closing. I could also throw 12 Lucifers at ‘Numbers’, and ‘Deuteronomy’ at genocide. <span style="font-style: italic;">Der Kontrabaß</span>, however, entertained superbly.</span></p> </div>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-76916833926548582562009-10-16T14:32:00.000-07:002009-10-19T05:40:13.302-07:00Waiting for Gold<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQAxGJfk6ifiNvuGQoTDalzh-DI2DYF1K3jTxXoG0D0fCoMOP0jchCO2d1AyLZs7YIZ1BSwa-BPJqZde6S1UyiTVTFJjKVr2XxHEygMMyt7tsNuz4no5EEepxZC6atc58I1SK4FBMX_U/s1600-h/gold-staffordshire-hoard.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQAxGJfk6ifiNvuGQoTDalzh-DI2DYF1K3jTxXoG0D0fCoMOP0jchCO2d1AyLZs7YIZ1BSwa-BPJqZde6S1UyiTVTFJjKVr2XxHEygMMyt7tsNuz4no5EEepxZC6atc58I1SK4FBMX_U/s400/gold-staffordshire-hoard.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394287656153459442" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>Photo from the <a href="http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/">Staffordhire Hoard Website</a>; added Monday, October 19th </em></span><br /><em></em></div><em></em><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;">If out of Mercia’s Earth it had not been dug, we would not gaze at Victorian brick today. If I fail to describe the filigree gold garnet gems, it's because the poodle’s core is in the hours spent. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Henry’s Capricorn, not Goethe’s Faust, wiles away the time. He thinks <span style="font-style: italic;">Dostoievsky, </span>at an age unknown; we, however, all came together, of age that is, on January first. Between then and lolling May, I read Cancer, lost <span style="font-style: italic;">Virginité, Jalousie, Bourgeoisie</span> - and the hope to write. Wilfully deliberate it was, liberating, too; painful and hard in ways of the world previously unknown, and although annihilated, I knew I would soar with him and Lawrence, and the quest had begun. Without double tonics they were not, those thirty-four years; there were Beckett, Ionesco and O’Neil, Erikson and Erica, and conquering our local bard’s tongue. Always someone hot under the stache but none as billy-goat horny as him. They say you never forget your first. Indeed.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Bar one black sheep, the horde awaiting the hoard is civil. Curse her.</span></div>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-28546128116241173812009-10-03T16:11:00.000-07:002009-10-05T15:29:55.718-07:00Out of Time<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults ext="edit" spidmax="1026"> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout ext="edit"> <o:idmap ext="edit" data="1"> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style=""><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;">Neither Prozac, nor Cocaine. Whatever fuels the MadMen, <span style="font-style: italic;">our </span>sustainable source shall be Poetry and Prose! The first injection while the kettle boils: a jet of exhilaration through those vermillion veins. Pirouettes and tambourines – oh, to hang on the lyrical drip for the rest of the day!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;">Alas, time and tide waits for no man or woman. Crazy Caligulas and King Canutes pile ponzi pyramids on a bank of bubbles, and the “smarter than thou” socialites engage in verbal snowball fights.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;">Guardianistas, accused of being science illiterate and paranoid, lament the demonization of adversaries. They gleefully label each other, while food label trickery goes unnoticed. As does, amidst the arguments, the GM element of the uteri jabs for whole generations. Is this a galaxy of gullibles, divertibles, and distractibles? Easy prey for screen based poly-addictions?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;">I <span style="font-style: italic;">phone</span>, You <span style="font-style: italic;">tube</span>, We <span style="font-style: italic;">blog</span> – conjugating the 21<sup>st</sup> century. Pixels, pictograms and pictures, tweeting twitter, wicked wicki, a quick quiz, a short chat, a swig of soapy soma - TEMPIVORES, one and all!!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Back to books, the primal impulse!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></p>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-35000066866265006452009-09-27T16:48:00.000-07:002009-09-27T16:53:24.021-07:00Week 3Your grand-mothers! One admitted with pneumonia at nearly 85, the other one had a carotid artery operation at 75. Both were out of hospital within 48 hours. -- I fear they threw away those moulds!!<br /><br />Yesterday, the dining table was empty; today it’s covered in books:<br /><br />Madhur Jaffrey’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Ultimate Curry Bible</span>, Vladimir Nabokov’s Lectures on Don Quixote, Carol Ann Duffy’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Selected Poems</span>, F.G. Klopstock’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Oden</span>, Heinrich von Kleist’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Pentheselia</span>, Friedrich Hebbels’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Judith</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">The 200 best novels in English since 1950</span> by Carmen Calil & Colm Toibin, Tom Sharpe’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Ancestral Vices</span>, E.T.A. Hoffmann’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Lebensansichten des Katers Murr</span>, John Updike, <span style="font-style: italic;">Pigeon’s Feathers and other stories</span>, GEO Special: <span style="font-style: italic;">Baltikum</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Brotherhood</span>, Ernst Bloch, <span style="font-style: italic;">Widerstand und Friede</span>, Bertolt Brecht, <span style="font-style: italic;">Die Dreigroschenoper</span>, Gottfried von Keller, <span style="font-style: italic;">Der Landvogt von Greifensee.</span><br /><br />I was looking for <span style="font-style: italic;">Birdsong</span> - alI I found was the book of the Millais exhibition, and the masterpieces of the Rijksmuseum, they made your Dad’s day.<br /><br />What connects an oak tree, Che Guevara, Paco Rabanne and the footballer Lizarazu? <span style="font-weight: bold;">Basque </span>– the country, the language.<br /><br />You weren’t thinking lingerie, were you??!!Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-18601449794892306162009-09-27T15:20:00.000-07:002009-09-27T15:23:37.144-07:00Week 2 - Late Summary<o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;} p.MsoBodyText, li.MsoBodyText, div.MsoBodyText {margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span lang="EN-GB">Glorious sunshine breaks relentlessly through filthy windowpanes, but unlike the wind, it doesn’t challenge the rotten frames. I sweat, and the carpet stinks of decades of incompetence and ineffectual mothering. </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span lang="EN-GB">Could I have been an innovator of processes without compromising on principles? Badly paid women and children, alienation of the workforce through division of labour. Marx called it <i>Entfremdung.</i> Boulton “revolutionised” the shop floor. The celebrated Brummie was (and the VC of one of my Almae Maters <i>is</i>) a member of the Lunar Society. I am more destined for the Loony Bin. From the serenity of the Victorian Bath House to the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">Tower</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename st="on">Boxes</st1:placename></st1:place> on the second landing – ghosts are lying in wait for me, ready to pounce with questions. Questions as conventional as they are unanswerable.</span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span lang="EN-GB">Magic hands dispersed the crazy vaudeville in my upstairs chambers for the duration of the weekend. Facials should be prescribed on the NHS. The Gods favoured us as usual. Greasemonkeys at Jyoti’s but basking in sunshine at Halfpenny Green Vineyard, we were eagerly anticipating Rioja and Almería.</span></p>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-27869265940113964352009-09-16T09:44:00.001-07:002009-09-16T09:46:22.846-07:00First Photograph from Berlin<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGIW3HTR7Bja9swniGcHrqkX2A-dpNGwQmHBwVZ9to0hi-ZeGnO3EuBk85dseJCbTBcz9wwImjHelQXi5PoXGvU_qFw50JYCXZbIq8wOQZGBFk5jtvgJI51JpIeIUv-Q8J1MzFZ7aFZvc/s1600-h/DSC03840.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGIW3HTR7Bja9swniGcHrqkX2A-dpNGwQmHBwVZ9to0hi-ZeGnO3EuBk85dseJCbTBcz9wwImjHelQXi5PoXGvU_qFw50JYCXZbIq8wOQZGBFk5jtvgJI51JpIeIUv-Q8J1MzFZ7aFZvc/s400/DSC03840.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382107367846041538" border="0" /></a>This is, I believe, the last squat in Berlin.<br /></div>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-76946402767952834202009-09-16T03:18:00.000-07:002009-09-16T03:45:22.777-07:00Day 3<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">With reference to our conversation about tribes and differently organised social forms: have you considered the study of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropology">anthropology</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnology">ethnology</a>? Have a look at t<a href="http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/HistoryCulture/Inupiat/1800s.html">his ethnographical account </a>of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Inupiat </span>in Alaska, for example. I came across it through <a href="http://qarrtsiluni.com/about/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Qarrtsiluni</span></a>, an online literary magazine, the title of which translates to "sitting together in the darkness, waiting for something to burst". (I thought you'd like that!)</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The description of the tribe is particularly interesting with regard to hostilities and strangers; I also thought "the mantle would pass on to more fortunate or capable families", referring to the process of determining power bases, was pertinently evocative.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Other than that, there isn't much to report. I have made a lame attempt at rediscovering the floor space in B's room, which is indeed a testament to filthy adolescence in all its glorious vulgarity, and have renewed vows to lose weight as there are a number of serviceable jeans in W30 languishing at the back of the wardrobe just waiting to be inherited.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I can dream, can't I?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></div>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-76823693791007060532009-09-15T05:03:00.000-07:002009-09-15T05:08:53.497-07:00Day 2<div style="text-align: justify;">Domestic Misery intact. The mammoths still reside in their abode, neither slaughtered, nor sliced. The lady, soon to be awarded the Black Belt, 5th Dan, in Household Mismanagement, spent the afternoon in a Trans~, while the spouse in the house dealt with the car's cardiac arrest. The tank’s vital organ was happily humming away in the hall when JD, carrying gargantuan red onions from the allotment, came by and commiserated. I wish my batteries could be recharged so easily.<br /><br />The growling grump recited <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/14/charlie-brooker-damien-hirst"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Charlie Brooker</span></a> on <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dire Shit Man</span> (anagram courtesy of <span style="font-weight: bold;">BalkanBob</span>) and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Young Cartrain</span>. She squealed with delight. Later, fittingly pickled in Shiraz, they remarked on the sorry sight of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Keith Floyd</span>. Equally fitting, if somewhat eery: this morning the news of his death. Did the booze up with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Keith Allen</span> (a mate, perchance, of the artist mentioned above, and like DH, a piss artist in his own right – for more on the connection between Art and Urine, check out <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/14/charlie-brooker-damien-hirst?commentid=ea65232e-669f-48d5-ab11-e4a4af1d238e"><span style="font-style: italic;">orpheusintheworld</span></a>), barely survived when filming, cause last night’s heart attack during the broadcast?<br /></div>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5187255919042430263.post-34500456523963856582009-09-14T17:11:00.000-07:002009-09-14T17:21:43.196-07:00Day 1My own sadness and dejection, addressed and fuelled by avoiding the necessary, i.e. facing your room and the discharge of the past. Mostly mine, not yours. But in any case a painful exercise of looking into the yawning abyss of my continual failure while simultaneously admiring my involuntary commitment to more than the material, ironically represented by such heaps of material…<br />Instead, I lounge in my blue dressing gown, ignore the coat-muffled sounds of J’s mobile, and read up on <span style="font-weight: bold;">Adorno, Horkheimer</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Reich</span>, all of whom I recommend to you, despite the knowledge that this very fact could materialise into reasons not to touch them. Interestingly, Reich was discredited by the <span style="font-weight: bold;">FDA</span> (Food and Drug Administration) in the States, which I believe ties in with the forces you were exploring in the last few days. As I have just re-read in ‘The Perfect Five’, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Max Frisch</span>, the Swiss author (<span style="font-style: italic;">Biedermann und die Brandstifter, Homo Faber, Andorra</span>), believed that there are no coincidences; that what happens to us is biographically necessary and timely: <span style="font-style: italic;">das “Fällige”.</span>Zabeenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204594909909378615noreply@blogger.com0