Making me ponder, what are the recurring themes in my biography and what will be the defining one? Worth pondering, possibly even rumination. Thank you. [post pertains to artist, Joan Mitchell]
There was a great exhibit of Joan Mitchell at the Baltimore Museum of Art, of all places, a couple of years ago. She was a force. Her work is genius. So moving.
"I want to be worshipped," is the undercurrent that occurred to me. Men partake in their share of that, I think. (--Not trying to make things "equal," only just sayin.)
I got it. Individually we all have characteristics. Some are more endemic to men or women. It's OK to want to be unforgettable and free. Even better if there are other fervent wants. But that line struck me as so poetic and typical, in part of some women.
Your appreciation of the line as a poetic truth is beautiful in its innocence.
Even if I see nothing more than a powerful siren song from which one must eventually awaken, I agree with you that, in the meantime, "it's OK" to dance to it as long as one wishes.
I wouldn't go that far and say it's OK to dance to it as long as one wishes. If excessive, it sounds narcissistic and a pointless life, but to each his/her own.
That was my point. To me, the statement is already excessive: It's born that way.
We dance that song for however long it takes to recognize how nihilistically empty it is. Therefore, I don't celebrate or admire it, even if I don't judge it.
And if you are somewhat young, and romantic, and possibly nostalgic, and feeling differently; I am maybe raining on your parade, and that's not what I want.
Salinger, was indeed a deep creative storyteller and on a personal note, a thoughtful and kind man. In 1965 I was recovering in an Army hospital at Fort Campbell when I received a very kind letter from Salinger. He started by saying, “I am at best a one shot letter writer…” clearly telling me we were not going to be pen pals. I nevertheless wrote back telling him he inspired me to become a writer (I was 19) and did he have a word of advice. Salinger did write back taking me literally his note contained one word, “Haiku.” In his short story, “A Perfect Day for Banana Fish,” Seymour left a suicide note. No, you don’t learn that in “Banana Fish” the information is cleverly and seamlessly sprinkled through his several other stories. Once you discover the whole note you notice it is written as a haiku. Brilliant and beautiful.
Maria Ressa. Nobel Prize winner and author of How To Stand Up To A Dictator.
Filipino American who faced down Dictator Duarte.
She is a fantastic speaker. And her depth of understanding of why and how Americans can deal with the rapid rise of Trumpism will leave you….speechless.
The last 1/2 of chapter 14 of her book should make you want to tell her story and read her book.
Timeliness? Duarte just has been arrested and he is currently jailed at the criminal court awaiting trial at the international court in The Hague!
Thanks for the read, I'm so excited to find Finn Harries and Julius Roberts in The Seeds Will Grow and The Farm Diaries. I'm obsessed with farming, nature, and the environment and so happy to have discovered in Substack Reads!
Such a beautiful piece. I recently had a similar experience. I’m an artist, a painter. All last spring and summer l painted landscapes in oils. I gifted myself a fall trip to Paris to see Courbet’s landscapes. They’re all in the ‘Dorsey. I did see his studio narrative, but the gallery with landscapes was closed. I guess I’ll have to go back.
Easy to get lost in and just dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand —
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep — while I weep!
O God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
-EA Poe
Thank you Wendy, it's all about words, Poe paints with them. This piece is a masterpiece!
Making me ponder, what are the recurring themes in my biography and what will be the defining one? Worth pondering, possibly even rumination. Thank you. [post pertains to artist, Joan Mitchell]
Hard for me to say ,sorry!
There was a great exhibit of Joan Mitchell at the Baltimore Museum of Art, of all places, a couple of years ago. She was a force. Her work is genius. So moving.
“I want to be looked at and never forgotten, desired and never owned” ... such a female sentiment. Best if not the dominant sentiment.
"I want to be worshipped," is the undercurrent that occurred to me. Men partake in their share of that, I think. (--Not trying to make things "equal," only just sayin.)
I got it. Individually we all have characteristics. Some are more endemic to men or women. It's OK to want to be unforgettable and free. Even better if there are other fervent wants. But that line struck me as so poetic and typical, in part of some women.
Your appreciation of the line as a poetic truth is beautiful in its innocence.
Even if I see nothing more than a powerful siren song from which one must eventually awaken, I agree with you that, in the meantime, "it's OK" to dance to it as long as one wishes.
I wouldn't go that far and say it's OK to dance to it as long as one wishes. If excessive, it sounds narcissistic and a pointless life, but to each his/her own.
That was my point. To me, the statement is already excessive: It's born that way.
We dance that song for however long it takes to recognize how nihilistically empty it is. Therefore, I don't celebrate or admire it, even if I don't judge it.
And if you are somewhat young, and romantic, and possibly nostalgic, and feeling differently; I am maybe raining on your parade, and that's not what I want.
We're good. Discussion is where you learn and/or teach things, and/or sort things out in your own mind and soul. Thanks,
Salinger, was indeed a deep creative storyteller and on a personal note, a thoughtful and kind man. In 1965 I was recovering in an Army hospital at Fort Campbell when I received a very kind letter from Salinger. He started by saying, “I am at best a one shot letter writer…” clearly telling me we were not going to be pen pals. I nevertheless wrote back telling him he inspired me to become a writer (I was 19) and did he have a word of advice. Salinger did write back taking me literally his note contained one word, “Haiku.” In his short story, “A Perfect Day for Banana Fish,” Seymour left a suicide note. No, you don’t learn that in “Banana Fish” the information is cleverly and seamlessly sprinkled through his several other stories. Once you discover the whole note you notice it is written as a haiku. Brilliant and beautiful.
Maria Ressa. Nobel Prize winner and author of How To Stand Up To A Dictator.
Filipino American who faced down Dictator Duarte.
She is a fantastic speaker. And her depth of understanding of why and how Americans can deal with the rapid rise of Trumpism will leave you….speechless.
The last 1/2 of chapter 14 of her book should make you want to tell her story and read her book.
Timeliness? Duarte just has been arrested and he is currently jailed at the criminal court awaiting trial at the international court in The Hague!
Please help Americans wake up!
I just want more bacon.
Awesome !
It's Ramadan right now and I'd love to see some content around it. My wife has done such an incredible piece on a day in the life in Ramadan, sharing here: https://aslowafternoon.substack.com/p/issue-no-18-spend-a-day-with-me-in
https://open.substack.com/pub/amyboyle
I love J.D. Salinger…not the other J.D.
Thanks for the read, I'm so excited to find Finn Harries and Julius Roberts in The Seeds Will Grow and The Farm Diaries. I'm obsessed with farming, nature, and the environment and so happy to have discovered in Substack Reads!
Pay me a visit I have nothing to sell.
You will soon realize it yourself!
Why did substack send this BS to me?
Hahahahahahaha
Such a beautiful piece. I recently had a similar experience. I’m an artist, a painter. All last spring and summer l painted landscapes in oils. I gifted myself a fall trip to Paris to see Courbet’s landscapes. They’re all in the ‘Dorsey. I did see his studio narrative, but the gallery with landscapes was closed. I guess I’ll have to go back.