lady dufresne, edwardian actress
paul ryan hearts ayn rand
“What’s unique about what’s happening today in government, in the world, in America, is that it’s as if we’re living in an Ayn Rand novel right now. I think Ayn Rand did the best job of anybody to build a moral case of capitalism, and that morality of capitalism is under assault.”
“Civilization is the process of setting man free from men." Ayn Rand
(unless those men are your fawning acolytes)
“He liked to observe emotions; they were like red lanterns strung along the dark unknown of another’s personality, marking vulnerable points.” Ayn Rand
(Hello? There's a scintillating mind at work! I guess revision was not one of her strong points.)
sister corrita kent
Here are her rules for art class at Immaculate Heart College in 1968:
(via Brain Pickings)
poets & writers
Is Life Like This? chosen as one of the best books on writng.
annals of tv journalism
(thanks to Joe in Cheese)
kim bradley
Kim Bradley reading from her story "Cheating Time" at the Taos Summer Wrtiers Conference. Kim won the Leo Love Scholarship in Prose and participated in our Novel Master Class. You can read her story here in the Louisville Review. Scroll down to page 57.
cafe pasqual's
About the best place to eat breakfast in Santa Fe or anywhere. Cafe Pasqual's. That's my breakfast pictured: GRIDDLED POLENTA WITH SAUTÉED CHORIZO, CORN AND RED CHILE
Green Chile-Flecked Fried Polenta on a Pool of Red Chile Sauce, Piled with Our Chorizo, Roasted Corn Niblets and Two Eggs Your Way (my way was poached)
abandoned house, chimayo
HOME IS SO SAD
Home is so sad. It stays as it was left,
Shaped to the comfort of the last to go
As if to win them back. Instead, bereft
Of anyone to please, it withers so,
Having no heart to put aside the theft
And turn again to what it started as,
A joyous shot at how things ought to be,
Long fallen wide. You can see how it was:
Look at the pictures and the cutlery.
The music in the piano stool. That vase.
--Philip Larkin
entomology
Phee and I discussing pill bugs and ant squishing in Taos.
he is everywhere
From the Freezer Jesus Files, lots more pareidolia:
- He is on a crab, a cliff, a stingray, a towel . . .
(thanks to Anne in Coral Springs)
the freezer jesus
Here's a video of the award winning short feature: The Freezer Jesus.
weekend in memphis
Cindy and I flew to Memphis so I could drive over to DeValls Bluff, Arkansas, to meet with Robert Craig, owner of the spectacular Craig's Barbecue. I'll be doing a presentation on the place at the Southern Foodways Alliance symposium this fall. We hadn't been back to Craig's since we left Arkansas many years ago. It's still just as wonderful and funky as ever. Here's Robert at home. The sauce recipe is a family secret.
Spent the rest of our time in Memphis. Went to a Redbirds game. Drinks at the Peabody and the Madison. Had some spectacular fried chicken At Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken. Take a look.
Two piece dark and a side of fried green tomatoes. Spicy and crisp on the outside, moist and delicious on the inside. Saveur magazine tried to copy the recipe. It has to be worth trying to duplicate.
real south
Here's a new online magazine getting ready to launch. Watch the video by clicking on the IndieGoGo image.
lefty
I wrote a story called "Lefty" that appeared in Shenandoah and later in Johnny Too Bad. Here's a piece I wriote about the story and its composition. In Bridle Path Press.
the queen of red sox nation
Ran into this woman last night after the game She and her hsband were in from Boston for the series. The hat depicts Fenway Park and has little plastic batting helmets glued all arouns. Those are Red Sox earrings. She wore sequined Red Sox espadrilles. Here's a blurred shot which shows the Citgo sign beyind the Green Monster.
Marlins won the battle of the Joshes, by the way.
storm
The last two miles of my walk today were in a torrential downpour from this storm coming in off the Hollywood coast. My book got wet. Gotta buy a new copy. Saw a yellow-crowned night heron with a land crab in her beak and was chased by a confused Cuban anole on Dania Beach Boulevard.
ray bradbury
Author Ray Bradbury has died at 91.
I DIE, SO DIES THE WORLD
Poor world that does not know its doom, the day I die.
Two hundred million pass within my hour of passing,
I take this continent with me into the grave.
They are most brave, all innocent, and do not know
That if I sink then they are next to go.
So in the hour of death they Good Times cheer
While I, mad egotist, ring in their Bad New Year.
The lands beyond my land are vast and bright,
Yet I with one sure hand put out their light.
I snuff Alaska, doubt Sun King’s France, slit Britain’s throat,
Promote old Mother Russia out of mind with one fell blink,
Shove China off a marble quarry brink,
Knock far Australia down and place its stone,
Kick Japan in my stride. Greece? Quickly flown.
I’ll make it fly and fall, as will green Eire,
Turn in my sweating dream, I’ll Spain despair,
Shoot Goya’s children dead, rack Sweden’s sons,
Crack flowers and farms and towns with sunset guns.
When my heart stops, the great Ra drowns in sleep,
I bury all the stars in Cosmic Deep.
So, listen, world, be warned, know honest dread.
When I grow sick, that day your blood is dead.
Behave yourself, I’ll stick and let you live.
But misbehave, I’ll take what now I give.
That is the end and all. Your flags are furled…
If I am shot and dropped? So ends your world.
Ray Bradbury