Sunday, January 29, 2017

Down Time

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It's time for a mental health and sanity check, as it's been too long since my last one.   I need to reduce my time in front of the ...
9 comments:
Friday, January 27, 2017

Jane Austen's Mansfield Park: In Defense of Fanny Price

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The following is a quotation from Carrots for Michaelmas, a blog belonging to Haley Stewart.  This link will take you to the complete artic...
8 comments:
Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Lawrence Durrell: Justine, Part I

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Lawrence Durrell Justine :  the first book in the Alexandria Quartet This is my fourth visit to Alexandria with the aid of Lawrence Durre...
10 comments:
Sunday, January 22, 2017

N. Scott Momaday: In the Bear's House, an overview

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N. Scott Momaday In the Bear's House In the Bear's House is a rather unusual work, as will be seen from the Table of Contents I...
12 comments:
Thursday, January 19, 2017

Lawrence Durrell: Justine

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One of my New Year's resolutions was to read as much of Lawrence Durrell's works this year as I could.  Today I begin with Justine ,...
15 comments:
Monday, January 16, 2017

Baltasar Gracian: Luck

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No. 139 "KNOW YOUR UNLUCKY days:  for such there are ,  when nothing goes right, and even though the game change, the bad luck does n...
11 comments:
Thursday, January 12, 2017

Two by Timothy Zahn

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Timothy Zahn   Pawn's Gambit and Other Stratagems short stories Pawn's Gambit  is a collection of  fifteen short stories, many o...
5 comments:
Saturday, January 7, 2017

A Minute Meditation

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We exist in the element of language.  Someone  has said that to think is to talk to oneself.  The implications of this equation are critic...
15 comments:
Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Resolutions for the New Year

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Well, this is that time of the year again, so I thought I would post my few resolutions.  Making them public might encourage me to work more...
16 comments:
Tuesday, January 3, 2017

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: Second Edition, Quatrain LXXXIV

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Would God punish us for tasting certain of the pleasures that He created?  Second Edition:  Quatrain LXXXIV What!  out of senseless Not...
5 comments:
Friday, December 30, 2016

Ryokan: time and memory

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This poem by Ryokan seems very appropriate for this time of year. Time passes, There is no way We can hold it back--- Why, then, do th...
23 comments:
Tuesday, December 27, 2016

A Vietnamese Poem: The Cherished Daughter

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There's a suggestion of a story here in a poetic form.  It took me several readings to pick up several hints.  Part of my problem is my ...
18 comments:
Sunday, December 25, 2016

A Minute Meditation

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I found this on Pat Cadigan's blog Ceci N'est Pas Une ,  http://tinyurl.com/j835slj One night, Confucius had a dream about chops...
10 comments:
Wednesday, December 21, 2016

N. Scott Momaday and Emily Dickinson

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The following excerpt comes from N. Scott Momaday's The Man Made of Words: Essays, Stories, Passages.   The chapter title is "A Di...
18 comments:
Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Elizabeth Jennings: "The Diamond Cutter"

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Here's another one by Elizabeth Jennings (1926-2001) , a recent discovery, for me anyway.  She was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, and mov...
5 comments:
Friday, December 16, 2016

Jane Austen's Fanny Price: A Taoist Sage at Mansfield Park

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Jane Austen Mansfield Park Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 and died on July 18, 1817.  Fanny Price, of Mansfield Park, ( M...
20 comments:
Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Kazuo Ishiguro: The Buried Giant

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Kazuo Ishiguro The Buried Giant In a review, Neil Gaiman calls this novel one "that's easy to admire, to respect and to enjoy, b...
7 comments:
Sunday, December 11, 2016

A Minute Meditation

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Ten Thousand Flowers in Spring, The Moon in Autumn Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn, a cool breeze in summer, snow in...
9 comments:
Thursday, December 8, 2016

Basho: autumn haiku translations

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Once before I had posted a number of different translations of a haiku by Basho.  Well, inspired by a discussion on at least one other blog ...
20 comments:
Sunday, December 4, 2016

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: Second Edition, Quatrain LXXX

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Quatrain  LXXX is linked closely to the previous quatrain, LXXIX. Second Edition:  Quatrain LXXIX With Earth's first Clay They did t...
8 comments: