Kids

For today’s second reblog, or ‘press this’ as I thought I would attempt one of those instead is a belated call for attention to Resa’s upcoming kid’s month in March.  I myself will be participating and submitting my entry soon.  Whilst you’re at it check out Resa’s stunning art gown created for her post with Aquileana on Artemis as well at https://aquileana.wordpress.com/2017/02/20/%e2%96%bagreek-mythology-artemis-dual-archetype-collaboration-with-resa-mcconaghy-and-mirjana-m-inalman%f0%9f%8c%9b%f0%9f%8f%b9/

Also don’t forget to check out my first reblog, of the day too, great content abounds through WordPress all the time and it is good to spread it.

**************************************************************************************

Here are some youth friendly street art pieces I’ve taken photos of & saved for Kids’ Month.

There are single shots and  selections of 2 or 3 shots. Perhaps you’ll feel inspired to do a poem or short story.

You can post it on your blog, and I will reblog it, or send me the poem or story & I will post it with your chosen pic as a guest post.

There is a row of stars between the possible posts. Leave a comment to let me know your choice. I’ll reserve the pics, pronto! The name of the artist, if known is above the shot.

Source: Kids

Save

Save

 

A Dance to the Music of Time: Summer – Anthony Powell

Anthony Powell’s brilliant twelve-novel sequence chronicles the lives of over three hundred characters, and is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England. It is unrivalled for its scope, its humour and the enormous pleasure it has given to generations.

Volume 2 contains the second three novels in the sequence: At Lady Molly’s; Casanova’s Chinese Restaurant; The Kindly Ones

Having no other blurb would usually be inadequate for the eager reader but in this instance I’m glad of it.  It would take a talented writer to not only quantify the story of all these collected lives but to tease out a discernible thread within the whirl of time and meeting, both chance and planned.

Sometimes a story is not about the end goal but about the experience, the furthering of this particular encounter is a pleasurable one.  I loved the first omnibus and books four to six better it in a lot of ways but I still prefer the overall consistency of the ‘Spring’ books.

A couple of months since reading the last omnibus, which I loved, I was slightly worried I would lose the thread of some of the characters and their convoluted histories but Powell always allows for that and made it easy to recall them through the narrative.  It may have helped that I read the Spring omnibus straight though, rather than taking my time but with a writer such as Powell, it is doubtful the reader will wish to leave long between novels.

Along the walls frescoes tinted in pastel shades, executed with infinite feebleness of design, appealed to heaven knows what nadir of aesthetic degradation.

It was easy to slip back into that world of gossip and dinner parties framed with plenty of references, to art, literature, and music.  This time it felt more world-weary as Narrator Nick Jenkins takes us into further through all these lives and most notably opens up gradually about more himself, rather than being the detached observer he was in the previous volume. There is a sense of time catching up and of a growing maturity. the zest of the young lessening and life taking its toll in myriad ways.

 

A Dance to the Music of Time: Spring – Anthony Powell

Anthony Powell’s brilliant twelve-novel sequence chronicles the lives of over three hundred characters, and is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England. It is unrivalled for its scope, its humour and the enormous pleasure it has given to generations.

These first three novels in the sequence follow Nicholas Jenkins, Kenneth Widmerpool and others, as they negotiate the intellectual, cultural and social hurdles which stand between them and the ‘Acceptance World’.

This first omnibus contains the books A Question of Upbringing, A Buyer’s Market, and The Acceptance World; and is a thoroughly captivating start to a series that promises to yield so much in the way of pleasurable reading.

Straight away it grabbed me, with its meditations on life which, those of which only become evident as one reminisces of times past.  This is where the reader’s journey begins, with the narrator Nicholas Jenkins recalling thoughts of times long ago;  his coming of age in which he is almost a passive character in all matters.

As we are led through this life with the aid of rich writing, characters frequently disappear and reappear in unexpected combinations and when least expected.  This continual turnover keeps the books fresh and by the end I appreciated so many characters due to Powell’s perfect observances on the idiosyncracies of his fellow humans.

The central idea of the series is that life is a cycle of stages played out through a web of interconnections where people and places come together and split apart in a dance through life which only becomes clear as we progress further through this ceremony.

 

Dwelling on the Cusp

I close my eyes

Entering a forest of yellow hue

turned green, behind lids

an ever changing patina of labyrinthine leafiness.

squeeze them tight

Mingling with gossamer thoughts

Fragile, yet protected

as I finally drift off

 block out the remaining light

to inscribe fanciful thoughts

– contemplations of the forever –

in the stardust of my dreams…

~~~~~~

Thanks to Ellie Edon for allowing me to use her art, check out more at http://ellieedon.wixsite.com/artwork and as ever thanks for reading, I will be visiting again when time permits.

Save

Save

 

Plagiarism as an Art Form

Have you in the last year or so looked for free essays to plagiarise? Have you adapted what seemed to be attractive material into your essay or dissertation without properly checking or referencing…

Some of you may have asked these questions of students before and some of you may have taken part in the Koolhaus discussion on my review of ‘his’ book Creative Theory, Radical Example, well now the link between these two is revealed and discussed over at Jeff’s blog pertaining to the use of technology and how it’s changing education.  Check the link below.

Source: Plagiarism as an Art Form

Save

Save

 

Days of Reading – Marcel Proust

In these inspiring essays about why we read, Proust explores all the pleasures and trials that we take from books, as well as explaining the beauty of Ruskin and his work, and the joys of losing yourself in literature as a child.

Part of the challenge with Proust is finding plenty of time in which to become intimately involved with his approach to writing.  This is my first reading experience of P. and his style is impressively immersive and made me feel nostalgic for places  and a time I have never experienced.

Plenty of essays ramble on but P. prefers clear concise language whilst being able to digress at will, yet each meandering discovery the reader makes always – eventually – comes back to the original point but makes one feel richer for the detour.

It’s a joy to read, although it is understandable that Proust splits readers due to his technique.  This reader had to change his mindset and learn to soak up the ambience of the prose, rather than feeling I was getting somewhere with plot or idea like I usually would.  In that regard the first few pages were a grind but realising that the author was going to take his time puts the reader either resigns the reader to a long haul or to the appreciation of a slow meditation of life.

The book opens with an essay on John Ruskin’s contribution to the understanding and appreciation of art and architecture, especially inspired by Christianity.  How art in general echoes its greatness (when it is) through the centuries and reaches to us emotionally, each example studied is a communing with antiquity.  It’s a study of us as well as a celebration of what we can achieve through our own creativity.

The essays on childhood memories and in particular of reading books when the mind is still open to the most innocent wonder and imagination is gloriously evocative writing.  Proust appreciates how rereading books brings forth a tangible memory of his formative years, he mirrors the echoing of art down the ages with thoughts, of ideas from our past that define modern life; not to mention timeless characters, books and the universal joy for all seasons and people.

 

Salem

Finally drawing to a close with these travel posts, having only one or two more after this one, I couldn’t fail to include Salem being a place of historical interest.

Hopping on a ferry on yet another glorious day (complete with furious sea breeze) was a fine idea that we collectively made, even if I do say so myself, which I just did.

Whilst leaving Boston, not only did a couple of planes fly low over us on towards the airport runway but the beleaguered tour guide whose voice was blown away by the ever-present wind informed us that one of the islands was the location of the film Shutter Island which I quite enjoyed and coincidentally was on last night.

Looking (with a bit of imagination) like the L.A. skyline from the A-Team credits, it was good to get wider perspective of the city which looked like it was built in Minecraft.

Not what I expected to greet me in Salem and resembling something from Baltimore docks, it nevertheless provided an intriguing beginning to the town which has a good bar call In a Pig’s Eye which is interestingly a phrase meaning disbelief (of a statement) and some pretty grim artwork.

The Salem Witch Museum is worth a visit to get a short history of the trials and the reason they came about, yet for such a serious subject it was a shame that some of it was so unintentionally comedic.  After such a chronicle of tragedy, it seemed tasteless to have all the kid’s witchy souvenirs in the gift shop, it did take the edge off of what was a terribly wretched time but also lessened the impact of its lessons.