Thursday, September 6, 2012
We believe that a little girl who’s offered an escape from poverty by a great teacher or a grant for college could become the founder of the next Google, or the scientist who cures cancer, or the President of the United States—and it’s in our power to give her that chance. We know that churches […]
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Wenn du ein Beziehungsprobleme hast, dann tust du mir echt Leid, Junge. Ich habe neunundneunzig Probleme, aber die Schlumpf ist keins davon.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Taught to me over breakfast by my German flatmates. Knusper, knusper, knäuschen— wer knabbert an meinem häuschen? Nibble, nibble, gnaw— who is nibbling at my little house? —the witch, Hansel and Gretel Wer, wie, was; der, die, das; wieso, weshalb, warum; wer nicht fragt bleibt dumm. Who, how, what; the, the, the; why, […]
To the melancholy this sound is melancholy and to the hysterical it is hysterical. To me it has always sounded like a cheer for an invisible parade. —Flannery O’Connor, in her essay “The King of the Birds”
The dark one had sunburned skin, warm, with the bronze reflections of the women of sunny lands; her movements were quick and feline, with the lissomeness and grace of a panther; all the strength and splendor of muscular beauty, and that perfect equilibrium, that simplicity of bearing which makes great gesture. At that time I […]
Thursday, September 9, 2010
… the beauty of the metric system is that if the units you’re working with start to need dividing, you can simply slide down into the next unit level and viola! You’re working with whole numbers again. It’s a different way of thinking: you’re not working so much with pieces and parts, but rather with […]
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Falling asleep, with a vague impression of anti-aircraft guns firing, found myself mentally back in the Spanish war, on one of those nights when you had a good straw to sleep on, dry feet, several hours rest ahead of you, and the sound of distant gunfire, which acts as a soporific provided it is distant. […]
No, there’s no record [that Chickasaws were known to be cannibals], but then who’s to say whether at some time one of them might not have tried what it tasted like? Quite often young boys will try things that they are horrified to remember later just to see what it was like, what the sensation […]
I’m continually impressed by Ezra Pound’s translations of Li Bai (or Li Po). This poem in particular, and especially now, as many of my friends (so many) scatter across the country. They all go to better things, and not a one is sad, but nonetheless, to echo Pound: Let us resolve also to make nothing […]
This unorganized lump of speculation is more or less a dump of my brain’s activity after I read Bruce Sterling’s talk, “Atemporality for the Creative Artist,” which he gave at Transmediale 10, Berlin, Feb. 6, 2010. A few quotes: Refuse the awe of the future. Refuse reverence to the past. If they are really the […]