#Independence day Poetry 2017

[linepauvert]

Who am I? I am Line,

Who am I? I am Line, a free and sensitive soul, the creator of your universe. "CREATING BEAUTY IS ABOUT MAKING LIFE CIRCULATE IN AND AROUND US, IT MEANS BRINGING JOY AND MAGIC INTO PEOPLE'S LIVES. "

Welcome to the world of La Main au Coeur, which I nurture and nurture according to my joy, my rhythms and my explorations.

La main au coeur is a graphic design workshop that reveals the face of your company, drawing its outlines, colors and visual universe. La main au cœur is a sensibility that explores the essence of things through drawing and writing and helps you express yourself.

La main au cœur is the realization of conscious communication that allows you to present yourself, yourself and what you offer, in a poetic dimension and with heart.

La main au coeur are poetic creations that allow you to get in touch with the magic that lives within you.

Are you also a soul deeply sensitive to the Beauty of the world and to poetry?

Do you prioritize making things beautiful around you, welcoming people into a warm universe, and finally expressing yourself with the right words?

Are you an entrepreneur and work related to nature, the elements and life cycles?

Do you work in care, support and holistic therapy?

Have you created an association or brand of creative, textile or beauty products that help people live better lives every day? YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE!

illustration of the poor hand in heart line MY PATH TO "HAND IN HEART."

In 2017, I completed my study of philosophy with a thesis on wisdom.

This path of study teaches me to observe, listen, and choose. Then I choose an illustration I've put to sleep for too long.

And I get started!

In 2019, after months of independent practice and artistic experimentation, I finally present my work professionally. Gradually, I create a style and universe that combines softness, poetry and femininity. That same year I met Marie Cauchard of Druidéesse magazine who responded deeply to my creations and I became a regular contributor.

What a joy!

A line of poor hand in the heart. I like to paint attitudes about ourselves, attitudes about the place we live in, and attitudes about the objects that accompany our habits and our emotions. The images I create carry a spiritual dimension that attests to my daily exploration of faith and what "more than myself" means.

My art practice also allows me to explore what it means for me to be a Woman, and to heal the dissonances I have encountered in my life regarding my own femininity. Little by little, by drawing women over and over again, I recreate a connection with my body and my sensuality.

I would be happy if my drawings invited you to explore both outside and inside!

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 2.24

Holidays

Day of Stripes & Dots

Dia de la Bandera (Flag Day; Mexico)

Dragobete (Lover's Day; Romania)

Edwin Dickinson Baker Day (Oregon)

Engineer’s Day (Iran)

Flag Day (Mexico)

Forget Me Not Day (Disabled Veterans)

Gregorian Calendar Day

International EBM Day

International Family Drug Support Day

International Repetitive Strain Injury Awareness Day

International SCN2A Awareness Day

Loud Shirt Day (New Zealand)

National Artist Day (Thailand)

National Dance Day

National Day for War Animals (Australia)

National Remembrance Day (Papua New Guinea)

National Trading Card Day

N'cwala (Thanksgiving; Zambia)

Nylon Toothbrush Day

Obnoxious Day

Showza-Shinzan International Yukigassen Tournament (Snowball Fight; Japan)

Sweden Finns Day

Twin Peaks Day

Ukrainian War Anniversary Day

Voice of America Day

World Bartender Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Caesar Salad Day

Defend the Donut Day

Gouden Carolus Cuvée van de Keizer Open Day

National I Hate Coriander Day

National Tortilla Chip Day

National Tortamali Day

4th & Last Friday in February

International Stand Up to Bullying Day [Last Friday] (Also 3rd Friday in Nov)

Katsuyama Sagicho begins (Japan) [Last Friday]

National CSA Day (Small Farm Central) [Last Friday]

National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend begins [Last Friday thru Sunday]

National Skip the Straw Day [4th Friday]

Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering begins [Last Friday]

Thank a Resident Day [4th Friday]

Yukon Heritage Day (Canada) [Last Friday]

Independence Days

Iseseisvuspäev, Independence Day of Estonia (from Russia, 1918)

Feast Days

Æthelberht of Kent (1st Christian Anglo-Saxon King) [original date]

Ascensión Nicol y Goñi (Christian; Blessed)

Ayyám-i-Há begins (Baha’i) [thru 2.28]

Beard Day (Pastafarian)

Carthaginian Ghost Spotting Day (Pastafarian)

Feast of Vartan (Armenia; Saint)

Friday after Shrove Tuesday (Western Christianity) [44 Days before Easter (a.k.a. ... 

Friday Fish Fry (Midwest US)

National Tartar Sauce Day

Kissing Friday

Nippy Hug Day (Westmoreland, UK)

Hammie Swinette (Muppetism)

Huey Newton Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lethard, Bishop of Senlis (Christian; Saint)

Lindel Tsen and Paul Sasaki (Anglican Church of Canada)

Lucan (Positivist; Saint)

Matthias the Apostle (Christian; Saint)

Modest, Bishop of Trier (Christian; Saint)

Montanus, Lucius, Flavian, Julian, Victorious, Primolus, Rhenus, and Donation, martyrs at Carthage (Christian; Saint)

Pretextatus, Archbishop of Rouen (Christian; Saint)

Regifugium (Flight of Kings; Ancient Rome)

Robert of Arbrissel (Christian; Saint)

Sergius of Cappadocia (Christian; Saint)

Sepandārmazgān (Women's Day; Zoroastrian Iran)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Chips Ahoy (Disney Cartoon; 1956)

Cocaine Bear (Film; 2023)

Fleetwood Mac, by Fleetwood Mac (Album; 1968)

Get Out (Film; 2017)

Help Me Rhonda, recorded by The Beach Boys (Song; 1965)

How to Ride a Horse (Disney Cartoon; 1950)

Johnny Cash at San Quentin, recorded by Johnny Cash (Concert Album; 1969)

Kidnapped (Disney Film; 1960)

L’Orfeo, by Claudio Monteverdi (Opera; 1607) [1st Modern Opera]

My Life as a Zucchini (Animated Film; 2017)

Peer Gynt, by Henrik Ibsen & Edvard Grieg (Musical Play; 1867)

Philadelphia Freedom, by Elton John (Song; 1975)

Physical Graffiti, by Led Zeppelin (Album; 1975)

The Practical Pig (Disney Cartoon; 1939)

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Film; 1969)

Rinaldo, by George Frederic Handel (Opera; 1711)

Rock Dog (Animated Film; 2017)

Silk Stockings (Broadway Musical; 1955)

Wanderlust (2012)

When You Wish Upon A Star, recorded by Frances Langford (Song; 1940)

Working Class Dog, by Rick Springfield (Album; 1981)

Today’s Name Days

Matthias (Austria)

Goran, Modest, Montan, Sinerot (Croatia)

Matěj (Czech Republic)

Mattias (Denmark)

Madi, Madis, Mäido, Maido, Maidu, Mait, Mati, Matis, Mats, Matti, Mattias (Estonia)

Matias, Matti (Finland)

Modeste (France)

Matthias (Germany)

Elemér (Hungary)

Edilberto (Italy)

Diāna, Dina, Dins, Gatins, Gatis, Kurbads (Latvia)

Gedmantas, Goda, Motiejus (Lithuania)

Mats, Mattias, Mattis (Norway)

Bogurad, Bogusz, Boguta, Bohusz, Lucjusz, Maciej, Piotr (Poland)

Ioan (Romania)

Matej (Slovakia)

Modesto, Sergio (Spain)

Mats, Mattias (Sweden)

Taras (Ukraine)

Maddison, Madison, Madisyn, Madyson, Mateo, Mathew, Mathias, Matt, Mattea, Matthea, Matthias, Mattias, Mattie, Matty, Modesto (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 55 of 2023; 310 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of week 8 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Nuin (Ash) [Day 6 of 28]

Chinese: Month 2 (Yi-Mao), Day 5 (Gui-Chou)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 3 Adar 5783

Islamic: 3 Sha’ban 1444

J Cal: 25 Xin; Foursday [25 of 30]

Julian: 11 February 2023

Moon: 25%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 27 Homer (2nd Month) [Lucan]

Runic Half Month: Tyr (Cosmic Pillar) [Day 1 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 66 of 90)

Zodiac: Pisces (Day 5 of 29)

Calendar Changes

Tyr (Cosmic Pillar) [Half-Month 5 of 24; Runic Half-Months] (thru 3.10)

[otherpplnation]

How to Write a Poem

A new 'Craftwork' episode about how to write a poem. My guest is Matthew Zapruder, author of the poetry collection I Love Hearing Your Dreams, available from Scribner.

Zapruder is the author of six collections of poetry, including Come on All You Ghosts, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; Father's Day; Why Poetry; and Story of a Poem, a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, the William Carlos Williams Award, a May Sarton Award from the Academy of American Arts and Sciences, and a Lannan Foundation Residency Fellowship. His poetry has been adapted and performed by Gabriel Kahane and Brooklyn Rider and Attacca Quartet at Carnegie Hall and San Francisco Performances and was the libretto for Vespers for a New Dark Age, a piece by Missy Mazzoli commissioned for the Ecstatic Music Festival at Carnegie Hall. He was Guest Editor of Best American Poetry 2022, and from 2016 to 2017, he held the annually rotating position of Editor of the weekly Poetry Column for TheNew York Times Magazine. He lives with his wife and son in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he is editor at large at Wave Books, and teaches in the MFA in creative writing program at Saint Mary's College of California.

***

Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers.

Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc.

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Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com

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www.otherppl.com

[brookston]

Holidays 6.27

Holidays

Atari Day

Attwari (Tharu people; Nepal)

Black Pound Day (UK)

Canadian Multiculturalism Day (Canada)

Captain Kangaroo Day

Celebrate Joy Day

Commemoration Day for the Victims of the Communist Regime (Czech Republic)

The Day of the Apocalypse (in the TV show “Dark”)

Day of Workers of Culture and Art (Turkmenistan)

Day of Unity (Tajikistan)

Decide To Be Married Day

Dragon Festival (Guild Wars)

Festival of Neither Nor

"Happy Birthday To You" Day

Helen Keller Day

Industrial Workers of the World Day

International Day of Deafblindness

Kent Flew the Coop Day

London Tube Day

Lottery Day (in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”)

Magtymguly Poetry Day (Turkmenistan)

Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith (Mormon)

Micro-, Small-, & Medium-Sized Enterprises Day

Mixed Race Day (Brazil)

Multiculturalism Day (Canada)

National Bingo Day

National Chirashi-Zushi Day (Japan)

National Fatherless Children’s Day

National Fink Day

National High School Mountain Bike Day

National HIV Testing Day

National Jim Day

National Journalist Day (Día del Periodista; Venezuela)

National Orange Blossom Day

National PTSD Awareness Day

National Sunglasses Day

National Women’s Fly Fishing Day

National Young Rider Day (UK)

NPE Awareness Day

Parosmia Awareness Day

Press and Media Workers Day (Uzbekistan)

Shirley Jackson Day (North Bennington, Vermont)

Siebenschläfertag (Seven Sleepers Day; Germany)

Sturge Weber Syndrome Awareness Day

Sunglasses Day

To Have or to Be?, by Erich Fromm (Science Book; 1976)

Unity Day (Tajikistan)

World ATM Day

World Fisheries Day (Russia)

World Fragrance Day (Germany)

World Microbiome Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Absinthe Day (a.k.a. Wormwood Day; French Republic)

International Pineapple Day

National Ice Cream Cake Day

National Indian Pudding Day

National Lemonade Day

National Onion Day

Orange Blossom Day

627 Ale Day (Hoops Brewing)

Independence & Related Days

Djibouti (from France, 1977)

Europa (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

4th & Last Thursday in June

Festival of the Tarasque (France) begins [Last Thursday]

National Bomb Pop Day [Last Thursday]

National Handshake Day [Last Thursday]

National Relationships & Sex Education Day (UK) [Last Thursday]

National Work From Home Day [Last Thursday]

RSE Day (UK) [4th Thursday]

Throwback Thursday [Every Thursday]

Weekly Holidays beginning June 27 (4th Full Week)

National Prevention of Eye Injuries Awareness Week (thru 7.4)

Watermelon Seed Spitting Week (thru 6.30)

Festivals Beginning June 27, 2024

Ashland BalloonFest (Ashland, Ohio) [thru 6.29]

Beauregard Parish Watermelon Festival (DeRidder, Louisiana) [thru 6.29]

Bixby Green Corn Festival (Bixby, Oklahoma) [thru 6.29]

Cotton Fest (Lubbock, Texas) [thru 6.29]

Festival International De Jazz De Montreal (Montreal, Canada) [thru 7.6]

HellFest (Clisson, France) [thru 6.30]

Jazz à Vienne (Vienne, France) [thru 7.16]

JazzBaltica (Niendorf, Germany) [thru 6.30]

Linn County Fair (Central City, Iowa) [thru 6.3]

L'International des Feux Loto-Québec [Montreal Fireworks Festival] (Montreal, Canada) [thru 8.1]

Luling Watermelon Thump (Luling, Texas) [thru 6.30]

Monmouth Fair (Monmouth, Maine) [thru 6.29]

Montreal International Jazz Festival (Montreal, Canada) [thru 7.6]

OpenAir St. Gallen (St. Gallen, Switzerland) [thru 6.30]

Provinssi (Seinäjoki, Finland) [thru 6.29]

St. Helen Bluegill Festival (St. Helen, Michigan) [thru 6.3]

Turku Medieval Market (Turku, Finland) [thru 6.30]

Feast Days

Anansi’s Day (Pagan)

Arialdo (Christian; Saint)

Blue-Footed Booby Day (Pastafarian)

Crescens, one of the Seventy disciples (Christian; Saint)

Cyril of Alexandria (Coptic Church, Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion and Lutheran Church)

Dan Jurgens (Artology)

Day of the God of Walls and Ditches (Pagan)

Day Sacred to the Lares (Ancient Rome)

Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Festival of Jupiter Stator (Ancient Rome)

George Mtasmindeli (Christian; Saint)

Gilson Lavis (Artology)

Helen Keller (Writerism)

Initium Aestatis (Old Roman Summer Festival)

James Dean Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

John of Moutier and Chinon (Christian; Saint)

Kate Carew (Artology)

Ladislaus I of Hungary (Christian; Saint)

Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Christian)

Paul Colin (Artology)

Philip Guston (Artology)

Richard I (Positivist; Saint)

Sampson the Hospitable of Constantinople (Christian; Saint)

Sandy the Snake (Muppetism)

Seven Sleepers Day (Siebenschläfertag; German-speaking Culture)

Sun Dance Ritual (Plains Indian tribes; Everyday Wicca)

Voyage of Maelduin (Celtic Book of Days)

Write Your Own Prayer Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Zoilus and His Companions (Christian; Martyrs)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Airplane! (Film; 1980)

Babooshka, by Kate Bush (Song; 1980)

Bathing Beauty (Film; 1944)

Belladonna of Sadness (Animated Film; 1973)

Captain Video & His Video Rangers (TV Series; 1949)

Cosmic Thing, by The B-52s (Album; 1989)

Country Grammar, by Nelly (Album; 2000)

Days of Thunder (Film; 1990)

Destination Moon (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1950)

Dream On, by Aerosmith (Song; 1973)

Face/Off (Film; 1997)

Freak Out!, by Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention (Album; 1966)

Girl Meets World (TV Series; 2014)

Good Old Irish Tunes, featuring Candy Goose (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1941)

Hawaiian Aye Aye (WB MM Cartoon; 1964)

Hercules (Animated Disney Film; 1997)

The Ipcress File Len Deighton

Labyrinth (Film; 1986)

Larry Crowne (Film; 2011)

Live and Let Die (James Bond Film; 1973) [#8]

Live Free of Die Hard (Film; 2007)

Manhattan Island (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1947)

Mirror Ball, by Neil Young & Pearl Jam (Album; 1995)

Nightfall and Other Stories, by Isaac Asimov (Short Stories; 1969)

Oddities, Abnormalities, & Curiosities, by the Circle Jerks (Album; 1995)

The Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling (Novel; 2003) [Harry Potter #5]

The Other Side of Midnight, by Sidney Sheldon (Novel; 1973)

The Penultimate Truth, by Philip K. Dick (Novel; 1964)

Pink Streaker (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1975)

Postman Pat: The Movie (Animated Film; 2014)

Presto (Pixar Cartoon; 2008)

Really Scent (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

Symphony No. 2 (a.k.a. The Nottingham Symphony, or Robin Hood), by Alan Bush (Symphony; 1949)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, recorded by Gene Autry (Song; 1949)

Ruthless People (Film; 1986)

The Saint See Through It, by Leslie Charteris (Novel 1946) [Saint #27]

The Sea Around Us, by Rachel Carson (Science Book; 1951)

Snowpiercer (Film; 2014)

The Stunt Man (Film; 1980)

Sweet Smell of Success (Film; 1957)

Tom Tom Tomcat (WB MM Cartoon; 1953)

To Sir, With Love, by E.R. Braithwaite (Novel; 1959)

Trail of the Lonesome Pink (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1974)

28 Days Later (Film; 2003)

Twinkletoes: Where He Goes — Nobody Knows (Animated Antics Cartoon; 1941)

Wall-E (Animated Pixar Film; 2008)

Wanted (Film; 2008)

West End Blues, recorded by Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five (Song; 1928)

When I You Hoo (WB MM Cartoon; 1936)

Who Killed Cock Robin? (Disney Cartoon; 1935)

Zapped (Film; 2014)

Today’s Name Days

Cyrill, Heimo, Hemma, Maxim (Austria)

Ćiril, Ladislav, Vlatko (Croatia)

Ladislav (Czech Republic)

Elfi, Elfriide, Elva, Elve, Elvi, Elviira, Viire (Estonia)

Elvi, Elviira (Finland)

Fernand (France)

Cyrill, Daniel, Heimo, Hemma (Germany)

Pierre (Greece)

László (Hungary)

Andrea, Cirillo, Leilo, Tosco (Italy)

Malva, Malvīne, Malvis (Latvia)

Ema, Gediminas, Norgailė, Vladas, Vladislovas (Lithuania)

Aina, Ina, Ine (Norway)

Maria Magdalena, Władysław, Władysława, Włodzisław (Poland)

Samson (România)

Ladislav (Slovakia)

Cirilo, Ladislao, Socorro, Zoilo (Spain)

Fingal, Selma (Sweden)

Lacey, Laci, Lacie, Lacy, Lance, Lancelot, Schuyler, Skye, Skylar, Skyler (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 179 of 2024; 187 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of week 26 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Duir (Oak) [Day 19 of 28]

Chinese: Month 5 (Geng-Wu), Day 22 (Red-Xu)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 21 Sivan 5784

Islamic: 20 Dhu al-Hijjah 1445

J Cal: 29 Blue; Eighthday [29 of 30]

Julian: 14 June 2024

Moon: 64%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 10 Charlemagne (7th Month) [Richard I]

Runic Half Month: Feoh (Wealth) [Day 4 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 8 of 94)

Week: 4th Full Week of June)

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 7 of 31)

[arissascreativejournal]

Research: Sustainable Digital Art Installations

A creative concept I wanted to implement at Northshore is an sustainable digital art installation. I find myself pondering the dearth of interactive digital art installations in Brisbane. It struck me how such a vibrant city could lack a space where technology and creativity converge to captivate and inspire.

Before listing down the places I researched, I want to emphasise what a digital art installation is. Digital installation art is a large field of activity that takes various shapes. Some resemble video installations, particularly large-scale works that use projections and live video capture. The theme of the digital art installation I want to implement in Northshore is a sustainable theme. Here are some examples

Solar Equation by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Solar Equation is a large-scale public art work featuring an accurate reproduction of the Sun that is 100 million times smaller than the real thing. The Light in Winter Festival in Melbourne commissioned the piece, which features the world's largest spherical balloon, custom-manufactured for the purpose, suspended over Federation Square and animated with five projectors. Solar animation on balloons is created using real-time mathematical algorithms that recreate the turbulence, flares, and sunspots found on the Sun's surface. This results in a continually changing display that never repeats itself, offering spectators a glimpse of the beautiful phenomena that may be seen on the solar surface but have only just been discovered by astronomers. Powered entirely by solar energy, Solar Equation engages viewers by allowing them to manipulate the sun's appearance through a touchscreen interface.

2. Light Barrier by Kimchi and Chips: Kimchi and Chips' work Light Barrier (2014) creates phantoms of light in the air by crossing millions of calibrated beams. The light installation generates floating visual objects that move through space as they do in time. Impressionist painters' style was driven by a fascination with natural light; they experimented with new colours and the passage of time. Kimchi and Chips' exploration of digital light explores a new visual mechanic, with their installation expanding the visual language of space and light.

3. Aqueous by Jen Lewin:

Aqueous is a series of interactive LED platforms that create light trails. During the day, the sculpture changes colour and reflects the sky. At night, AQUEOUS shines with full lit interactivity, engaging groups in a constantly changing world.

AQUEOUS is one of the first pattern-based sculptures created at this scale, inspired by the symmetry seen in natural systems. The sculpture is made up of hundreds of interactive modular platforms developed from the Golden Ratio and can be erected in a variety of configurations. Each platform is controlled by code provided by the artist, allowing them to feel human interaction independently while also linking together to produce interconnected paths of light effects.

4. Waterlicht by Daan Roosegaarde: is a dream landscape about the power and poetry of water. As a virtual flood, WATERLICHT shows how high the water level could reach. WATERLICHT is a collective experience to remind us of the importance of water innovation and the impact of climate change.

References:

Kimchi and Chips. (2014). Light Barrier. https://www.kimchiandchips.com/works/lightbarrier/

Lewin, J. (2017). Aqueous. Jen Lewin Studio. https://www.jenlewinstudio.com/portfolio/aqueous/

Lozano-Hemmer, R. (2010). Solar Equation. RAFAEL LOZANO-HEMMER. https://www.lozano-hemmer.com/solar_equation.php3

Roosegaarde, D. (2013). Studio roosegaarde. Waterlicht. https://www.studioroosegaarde.net/project/waterlicht

[laurishore]

Hello, everyone !

Yesterday I finally did it.

I published my 1st ever Amazon Kindle book, "Poetry Within Me, Forgotten" part 1, a collection of poems I wrote between 2005 to 2017 (when I was 15-27, heh).

The collection consists of 50 poems in which I explored different themes, styles, forms & languages. (Any poem in a language other than English has been translated). It is going to be a series, each with 50 poems, yet they can be read in whichever order the reader prefers or completely independent from each other.

I was actually once told by a few people I understand nothing about poetry. Perhaps so, but I still kept at it... & now I put out this collection. ✨ My poems are pretty down-to-earth, & usually there's no hidden meanings or special allegories or anything like that: it's like talking to me in person - I say what I mean, I mean what I say. (A lot of it also stems from the fact that I am no native English speaker, heh).

Yet many poems are experiments. Experiments on how to express emotion like grief, states like depression. Experiments on different forms like haiku, sonnets, cut-up poems. Introducing fictional characters. Ponderings about the surrounding world. Life experiences. Random ideas that just popped up.

Words used to just come to me. Words that wanted to take form, needed to. I was very prolific, though admittedly that meant many pieces were just... crap. Heh. But there were gems, too, & those gems are being collected into this collection series.

In 2017, the stormier phase of my life calmed down... & the words vanished. Not completely, but rare have been the times when I have put words together in the form of a poem since those days. Hence the title of the series.

I am currently working on the 2nd part of the collection, as well as a short story collection. Working on their cover art, too. Later, I will work on the drafts of my novels.

"Poetry Within Me, Forgotten" part 1 is out now on Amazon Kindle for about 4USD, & I will put out a print version as well ! The book will also be added to Google Play Books.

Shares & reviews are welcome ~✨

You can also find me on Twitter, Instagram, WordPress, & Wattpad !

[psitrend]

Interview with Alice Poon, author of Tales of Ming Courtesans

New Post has been published on https://china-underground.com/2020/04/30/interview-with-alice-poon-author-of-tales-of-ming-courtesans/

Interview with Alice Poon, author of Tales of Ming Courtesans

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Alice Poon steeped herself in Chinese poetry and history, Jin Yong’s martial arts novels, and English Literature in her school days.

This early immersion has inspired her creative writing. Always fascinated with iconic but unsung women in Chinese history and legends, she cherishes a dream of bringing them to the page. She is the author of The Green Phoenix and the bestselling and award-winning non-fiction title Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong. She now lives in Vancouver, Canada and devotes her time to writing historical Chinese fiction.

Official Site | Instagram | Twitter

Where does the interest in the lives of these three fascinating female figures come from?

When I did research in 2014 for a subplot minor character Chen Yuanyuan for my earlier historical novel The Green Phoenix (published in 2017), I accidentally stumbled on Liu Rushi’s biography, titled An Ulterior Biography of Liu Rushi, written by the eminent historian Chen Yinke, who lauded her as the embodiment of the Chinese nation’s spirit of independence and liberal thinking. My interest in Liu was immediately piqued, and a vague idea of blending Chen’s story with Liu’s was formed then. Between 2015 and 2018, on and off, I plowed through the 800,000-word, 3-volume, biographical tome.

In 2016, I also chanced to read Kong Shangren’s famous classic historical play The Peach Blossom Fan, and Li Xiangjun’s story left a deep impression. It then struck me that these women were among the Eight Great Beauties of Qinhuai and their lives were the most dramatic. I felt strongly that they had far more moral courage and integrity than people are willing to give them credit for.

By early 2018, the idea of writing a novel featuring them took concrete shape.

How long did it take you to make this volume? How did you go about finding information?

The research started in 2014 and continued in fits and starts until early 2018. In mid-2018 I started to work on the first draft. The full manuscript was completed in mid-2019.

The main source of information for Liu Rushi was her epic biography by Chen Yinke. For Li Xiangjun, I relied on The Peach Blossom Fan and Hou Fangyu’s short biography of her. As for Chen Yuanyuan, Wu Weiye’s narrative poem Song of Yuanyuan and Mao Xiang’s memoir Reminiscences of the Plum Shaded Cloister were the key source.

Other information about the period and cultural details mainly came from Yu Huai’s Banqiao Zaji (Diverse Records of the Wooden Bridge), Jonathan Spence’s Return to Dragon Mountain: Memories of a Late Ming Man and Zhang Dai’s The Dream Recollections of Taoan, plus various English-language reference books related to women, culture and the literary world in Ming China.

Why did you choose this particular historical period? What did the invasion of the Qing mean for Chinese society and culture?

The period in question is one that straddles two ruling regimes: the Ming and the Qing dynasties. I have a particular interest in this turbulent period because growing up I had come across intriguing and poignant human stories of love, sacrifice, divided loyalties and patriarchal cruelty from the period through books, operas, movies and TV dramas. As a grown-up, I’ve found these stories highly relatable, as they seem to reflect in some way our present-day human condition. Also, this period in Ming history saw the culmination of literary (in particular poetry) and music development. It witnessed a dynamic interaction between cultured courtesans and the literati, both in the romantic and literary sense. In short, in my new novel I wanted to highlight three courtesans’ love stories and their gritty struggle against a misogynistic society, as well as the era’s unique and vibrant artistic tapestry.

The Qing’s invasion into Han China certainly stirred up violent resentment in Chinese society, especially during Regent Dorgon’s oppressive reign as he tried to use brutal force to subdue the Han Chinese by foisting Manchu customs on them despite their repulsion (a notorious example was the shave-head mandate on pain of death). Luckily his violent rule didn’t last long, and thanks to the benevolent rule under Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang/the Shunzhu Emperor and later the Kangxi Emperor, there came a chance for war-torn China to heal and prosper as the Manchu rulers realized that only civilized ways could win hearts and minds.

The Han culture and civilization had very deep roots and had always been the Han Chinese’s pride, so the initial violent clash with the Manchu couldn’t but leave gaping wounds on society, both physical and emotional. As a matter of interest, this part of Chinese history is fleshed out in my 2017 novel The Green Phoenix.

How does the fate of these three women intertwine with the fate of China?

While alive, all three women struggle for survival, dignity and hope for a better life, but that struggle is in vain, much like the Ming Dynasty’s futile fight to avert its fate of humiliation and defeat.

But in the story, the women refuse to give up hope.

How were courtesans socially considered in China at the time?

Courtesans, like actresses, entertainers and prostitutes of the time, were socially classed as “jianmin” (worthless people).

They were considered below the commoner class, which effectively meant they were social outcasts.

Alice Poon

What was the fate of the protagonists?

Liu Rushi, upon her husband’s death, was bullied by her husband’s relatives into taking her own life. Li Xiangjun passed in her sickbed with a broken heart, having been abandoned by her lover.

Chen Yuanyuan lived into old age, but her fading years were said to be spent in quiet solitude in a nunnery.

What were the episodes that most touched you?

To tell you the truth, I teared up in several places of the story while writing the first draft.

One episode that touched me most was where the child Liu Rushi faces the death of her mother. I still choke up whenever my mind goes over that scene, because it always brings back the sad memory of my own mother’s death from lung disease.

There was a scene where Liu Rushi and Chen Yuanyuan have a heart-to-heart talk on the night before Liu’s wedding. They have been estranged from each other for a while due to an earlier row based on some misunderstanding. The way they are able to bare their souls to each other that night moved me deeply.

Are there traces in contemporary Chinese culture of the influence of these female figures?

Many Chinese people are familiar with the folklore about Chen Yuanyuan. One of Jin Yong’s famous novels – The Deer and the Cauldron – recreates Chen’s story and features her daughter as one of the wives of the protagonist. There are numerous movies and TV historical drama series that feature Chen.

Iconic historian and intellectual luminary Chen Yinke (1890 – 1969) spent ten years of the latter part of his life to write the 800,000-word An Ulterior Biography of Liu Rushi. He reconstructed Liu’s life story from her impressive collection of poetry and letters as well as her peers’ literary works (poetry, epistolary writings and memoirs). Some of Liu’s paintings are in the custody of The Freer Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. There is a 2012 China-produced film that features Liu Rushi as the protagonist.

Both Chen Yuanyuan and Li Xiangjun were both renowned kunqu opera singers. This operatic art reached its peak of development in the late-Ming era. Kunqu opera was named one of the masterpieces of Intangible Heritage by UNESCO in 2001.

Related articles: The Story of Princess Shanyin’s Harem

#ChineseWomen, #Concubines, #Courtesans, #MingDynasty, #QingDynasty

[april-is]

April 30, 2021: In Defense of a Long Engagement, Mairead Small Staid

In Defense of a Long Engagement Mairead Small Staid He ringed my finger in the golden hour, late day Of  a long winter, & it has been spring

Ever since. This isn’t true, I know, & still: I will say it. I will say it again: yes, yes. To marry,

My ancestors were first handfasted: A handshake, an assurance. The promise Was the more important ceremony, the word Given & received. After that, the wedding

Hardly mattered. Spring ever since—

The sun always about to set & never setting. Children bloom with the tulips, filling the empty street With their little shouts & bicycles. The couple, Once handfasted, were married

Upon consummation. We marry

& marry again, spent. The golden Hour glances off my hand, a ring

Of  light. My coat unbuttoned to the sun-stroked air, & when he knelt, he rose steady as the perennials

Keep their yearly promise: all blossom & green. My hand in his fist, my fist in his hand, my betrothed, Engaged, affianced, intended—yes— My intended, for all I could not say

But meant & mean.

==

Today in: 

2020: Lines Written in the Days of Growing Darkness, Mary Oliver 2019: Starlings in Winter, Mary Oliver 2018: Born Yesterday, Philip Larkin 2017: Thus, He Spoke His Quietus, Thomas Lux 2016: Trees, W.S. Merwin 2015: Today and Two Thousand Years from Now, Philip Levine 2014: from For a Long Time I Have Wanted to Write a Happy Poem, Richard Jackson 2013: Tear It Down, Jack Gilbert 2012: from An Atlas of the Difficult World, Adrienne Rich 2011: Wandering Around an Albuquerque Airport Terminal, Naomi Shihab Nye 2010: from Pioneers! O Pioneers!, Walt Whitman 2009: from The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot 2008: from Five-Finger Exercises, T.S. Eliot 2007: Journey of the Magi, T.S. Eliot 2006: Preludes, T.S. Eliot 2005: A Song for Simeon, T.S. Eliot

As they say: the days are long but the years are short. And these Aprils sure fly by. I hope you are doing as well as you can be; I hope you found a couple of poems here this year that did something meaningful to your insides. See you here in 2022 (gosh!), same time, same place?  And in the meantime, if you need a poetry fix: 

- The Slowdown podcast shares one poem every episode (& is hosted by Tracy K. Smith!) - Pome tinyletter email by Matthew Ogle - poetryisnotaluxury, if Instagram is your timewaster of choice - This overstuffed Tumblr. - Finally, if you can, order some poetry from your nearest independent or secondhand bookstore; they could really use your support. (Sometimes I can’t believe how lucky we are, to have so many poems in the world to discover.)

[thesims4blogger]

The Sims 4: Sims Sessions Official Details and Web Page

The Sims team has announced Sims Sessions, a social media and in-game experience that will be free for players who own The Sims 4. Maxis has launched the Sims Sessions web page with details and information on the music artists featured in the event.

Sims Sessions (Key Features)

Light up your summer with the hottest tracks from your favorite artists. Experience Bebe Rexha, Glass Animals, and Joy Oladokun for the first time all over again—in Simlish! Catch the live event from June 29 at 10 a.m. PT to July 7 at 10 p.m. PT.

Shop the Festival – Buy artist-themed merchandise, run your own craft sales table, or snack like a rockstar at a food stand!

Camp Out – Festivals are fun but exhausting! Get some sleep in one of the tents—or Woohoo to the music.

Enjoy the Show – Gather around the stage to watch, dance, and cheer on the performances!

Perform on Stage – After the performances, go on stage and keep the tunes flowing. Jam on the piano and sing your heart out.

Sims Sessions (Featured Artists)

Bebe Rexha

Diamond-selling and two-time GRAMMY®-nominated New York City native Bebe Rexha is a musical force to be reckoned with. Her RIAA Platinum-certified debut album Expectations (released June 2018 on Warner Records) contained the Platinum single “I’m a Mess” and the global chart-topping smash “Meant to Be” (featuring Florida Georgia Line), now RIAA Certified Diamond. “Meant to Be” held the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for a record-setting 50 straight weeks, the longest reign ever by a female lead artist, and won Top Country Song at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards and Best Collaboration at the 2018 iHeart Radio Music Awards. It was subsequently nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 61st annual GRAMMY Awards® in February 2019, where Bebe was also nominated for Best New Artist.

Early in her career, Bebe won the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences’ Best Teen Songwriter Award, and then formally burst onto the scene when she wrote “The Monster,” a worldwide hit for Eminem and Rihanna that was certified 6x Platinum by the RIAA. Bebe went on to co-write and carry the instantly recognizable hook for the 3x Platinum “Hey Mama,” by David Guetta, which was nominated for a Billboard Music Award for Top Dance/Electronic Song. Bebe also hit #1 on the Billboard Pop and Rap charts with her 5x Platinum “Me, Myself & I” with G-Eazy. In 2017, Bebe released the critically acclaimed EPs, All Your Fault: Part 1 (with the Platinum single “I Got You”) and All Your Fault: Part 2 (with “Meant to Be”). In conjunction with GRAMMY® Week 2019, Bebe launched the GRAMMY® Music Education Coalition’s (GMEC) national campaign on behalf of its new All-Star Ambassador program. Better Mistakes, her new album, includes the hit singles “Baby, I’m Jealous” feat. Doja Cat and “Sacrifice.” To date, Bebe has amassed over four billion YouTube views and over 12 billion total global streams.

Glass Animals

Since 2010, Glass Animals have redefined alternative pop with their experimental sounds, cinematic visuals, and narrative lyrics. The Platinum-Certified UK quartet—Dave Bayley [lead vocals, guitar], Drew MacFarlane [guitar, keys, backing vocals], Ed Irwin-Singer [bass, keys, backing vocals], and Joe Seaward [drums, backing vocals]—first presented their signature style on their 2014 breakout debut, ZABA. It yielded the Platinum single “Gooey” and elevated the band into the global spotlight. 2016’s How To Be A Human Being notably garnered a nomination for the prestigious Mercury Prize. However, Glass Animals lifted off to a new stratosphere with Dreamland in 2020. It marked their first Top 10 debut on the Billboard Top 200, while their global smash hit “Heat Waves” has amassed millions of streams to date, went Platinum in numerous countries, gave the band their first #1 on the U.S. Alternative Radio Chart, Top 15 at Top 40 Radio, and hit Top 10 on Spotify’s US Chart. Skyrocketing to the forefront of popular culture, they garnered nominations in the categories of “Top Rock Song” and “Top Rock Album” at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards, delivered knockout performances on Billboard Music Awards, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Late Late Show with James Corden, and Ellen, and lined up global headline dates for the 2021 Dreamland Tour everywhere from legendary amphitheaters such as Red Rocks to Bonnaroo, Life Is Beautiful, Outside Lands, and more. The band sold over 130,000 tickets in three days for their 2021-2022 North American tour, with the majority of the tickets selling out instantly. All the while maintaining their unique connection to their fans by creating their open sourced website where fans can create artwork based on the world of Dreamland, putting on a “Live In The Internet” concert that sold 25,000 tickets worldwide, and more. They created unique music videos during the 2020 pandemic by DIY-shooting solo in Dave Bayley’s apartment directed solely over Zoom (“Dreamland”), asking neighbors to shoot on their iPhones while Dave walked down the street (“Heat Waves”), and inviting fans to take 3D scans of their heads (“Tangerine”). Racking up billions of streams across their catalogue, they even made history as “the first UK band to capture #1 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 since 2009” with “Heat Waves” down under in Australia, leading to the longest run at #1 in 2021 on the ARIA Official Singles Chart. Ultimately, Glass Animals continue to redefine what alternative can be, while they quietly overtake the mainstream.

Joy Oladokun

With a guitar in hand, baseball cap over her eyes, and hooded sweatshirt loose, a woman sings with all of the poetry, pain, passion, and power her soul can muster. She is a new kind of American troubadour. She is Joy Oladokun. The Delaware-born, Arizona-raised, and Nashville-based Nigerian-American singer, songwriter, and producer projects unfiltered spirit over stark piano and delicate guitar. Her music and story galvanized a growing fan base as she completed a successful Kickstarter campaign to release her independent debut, Carry. Her song “No Turning Back” soundtracked a viral baby announcement by Ciara and Russell Wilson, opening up the floodgates. She landed a string of high-profile syncs, including NBC’s This Is Us, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, and Showtime’s The L Word: Generation Q. On the heels of in defense of my own happiness (the beginnings), she garnered unanimous critical praise. Billboard touted the album as one of the “Top 10 Best LGBTQ Albums of 2020,” while NPR included “i see america” among the “100 Best Songs of 2020.” Predicted as on the verge of a massive breakthrough, she emerged on various tastemaker lists, including Spotify’s RADAR Artists to Watch 2021, YouTube “Black Voices Class of 2021,” NPR’s 2021 “Artists To Watch,” and Amazon Music’s “Artist To Watch 2021.” Not to mention, Vogue crowned her #1 “LBTQ+ Musician To Listen To.” She kicked off the new year by making her television debut on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with a stunning and stirring performance of “breathe again.”After attracting acclaim from Vogue, NPR, and American Songwriter, her words arrive at a time right when we need them the most.

[radinadequacy]

I wrote a poem in celebration of the fourth

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 6.27

Holidays

Atari Day

Attwari (Tharu people; Nepal)

Black Pound Day (UK)

Canadian Multiculturalism Day (Canada)

Captain Kangaroo Day

Celebrate Joy Day

Commemoration Day for the Victims of the Communist Regime (Czech Republic)

The Day of the Apocalypse (in the TV show “Dark”)

Day of Workers of Culture and Art (Turkmenistan)

Day of Unity (Tajikistan)

Decide To Be Married Day

Dragon Festival (Guild Wars)

Festival of Neither Nor

"Happy Birthday To You" Day

Helen Keller Day

Industrial Workers of the World Day

International Day of Deafblindness

Kent Flew the Coop Day

London Tube Day

Lottery Day (in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”)

Magtymguly Poetry Day (Turkmenistan)

Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith (Mormon)

Micro-, Small-, & Medium-Sized Enterprises Day

Mixed Race Day (Brazil)

Multiculturalism Day (Canada)

National Bingo Day

National Chirashi-Zushi Day (Japan)

National Fatherless Children’s Day

National Fink Day

National High School Mountain Bike Day

National HIV Testing Day

National Jim Day

National Journalist Day (Día del Periodista; Venezuela)

National Orange Blossom Day

National PTSD Awareness Day

National Sunglasses Day

National Women’s Fly Fishing Day

National Young Rider Day (UK)

NPE Awareness Day

Parosmia Awareness Day

Press and Media Workers Day (Uzbekistan)

Shirley Jackson Day (North Bennington, Vermont)

Siebenschläfertag (Seven Sleepers Day; Germany)

Sturge Weber Syndrome Awareness Day

Sunglasses Day

To Have or to Be?, by Erich Fromm (Science Book; 1976)

Unity Day (Tajikistan)

World ATM Day

World Fisheries Day (Russia)

World Fragrance Day (Germany)

World Microbiome Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Absinthe Day (a.k.a. Wormwood Day; French Republic)

International Pineapple Day

National Ice Cream Cake Day

National Indian Pudding Day

National Lemonade Day

National Onion Day

Orange Blossom Day

627 Ale Day (Hoops Brewing)

Independence & Related Days

Djibouti (from France, 1977)

Europa (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

4th & Last Thursday in June

Festival of the Tarasque (France) begins [Last Thursday]

National Bomb Pop Day [Last Thursday]

National Handshake Day [Last Thursday]

National Relationships & Sex Education Day (UK) [Last Thursday]

National Work From Home Day [Last Thursday]

RSE Day (UK) [4th Thursday]

Throwback Thursday [Every Thursday]

Weekly Holidays beginning June 27 (4th Full Week)

National Prevention of Eye Injuries Awareness Week (thru 7.4)

Watermelon Seed Spitting Week (thru 6.30)

Festivals Beginning June 27, 2024

Ashland BalloonFest (Ashland, Ohio) [thru 6.29]

Beauregard Parish Watermelon Festival (DeRidder, Louisiana) [thru 6.29]

Bixby Green Corn Festival (Bixby, Oklahoma) [thru 6.29]

Cotton Fest (Lubbock, Texas) [thru 6.29]

Festival International De Jazz De Montreal (Montreal, Canada) [thru 7.6]

HellFest (Clisson, France) [thru 6.30]

Jazz à Vienne (Vienne, France) [thru 7.16]

JazzBaltica (Niendorf, Germany) [thru 6.30]

Linn County Fair (Central City, Iowa) [thru 6.3]

L'International des Feux Loto-Québec [Montreal Fireworks Festival] (Montreal, Canada) [thru 8.1]

Luling Watermelon Thump (Luling, Texas) [thru 6.30]

Monmouth Fair (Monmouth, Maine) [thru 6.29]

Montreal International Jazz Festival (Montreal, Canada) [thru 7.6]

OpenAir St. Gallen (St. Gallen, Switzerland) [thru 6.30]

Provinssi (Seinäjoki, Finland) [thru 6.29]

St. Helen Bluegill Festival (St. Helen, Michigan) [thru 6.3]

Turku Medieval Market (Turku, Finland) [thru 6.30]

Feast Days

Anansi’s Day (Pagan)

Arialdo (Christian; Saint)

Blue-Footed Booby Day (Pastafarian)

Crescens, one of the Seventy disciples (Christian; Saint)

Cyril of Alexandria (Coptic Church, Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion and Lutheran Church)

Dan Jurgens (Artology)

Day of the God of Walls and Ditches (Pagan)

Day Sacred to the Lares (Ancient Rome)

Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Festival of Jupiter Stator (Ancient Rome)

George Mtasmindeli (Christian; Saint)

Gilson Lavis (Artology)

Helen Keller (Writerism)

Initium Aestatis (Old Roman Summer Festival)

James Dean Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

John of Moutier and Chinon (Christian; Saint)

Kate Carew (Artology)

Ladislaus I of Hungary (Christian; Saint)

Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Christian)

Paul Colin (Artology)

Philip Guston (Artology)

Richard I (Positivist; Saint)

Sampson the Hospitable of Constantinople (Christian; Saint)

Sandy the Snake (Muppetism)

Seven Sleepers Day (Siebenschläfertag; German-speaking Culture)

Sun Dance Ritual (Plains Indian tribes; Everyday Wicca)

Voyage of Maelduin (Celtic Book of Days)

Write Your Own Prayer Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Zoilus and His Companions (Christian; Martyrs)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Airplane! (Film; 1980)

Babooshka, by Kate Bush (Song; 1980)

Bathing Beauty (Film; 1944)

Belladonna of Sadness (Animated Film; 1973)

Captain Video & His Video Rangers (TV Series; 1949)

Cosmic Thing, by The B-52s (Album; 1989)

Country Grammar, by Nelly (Album; 2000)

Days of Thunder (Film; 1990)

Destination Moon (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1950)

Dream On, by Aerosmith (Song; 1973)

Face/Off (Film; 1997)

Freak Out!, by Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention (Album; 1966)

Girl Meets World (TV Series; 2014)

Good Old Irish Tunes, featuring Candy Goose (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1941)

Hawaiian Aye Aye (WB MM Cartoon; 1964)

Hercules (Animated Disney Film; 1997)

The Ipcress File Len Deighton

Labyrinth (Film; 1986)

Larry Crowne (Film; 2011)

Live and Let Die (James Bond Film; 1973) [#8]

Live Free of Die Hard (Film; 2007)

Manhattan Island (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1947)

Mirror Ball, by Neil Young & Pearl Jam (Album; 1995)

Nightfall and Other Stories, by Isaac Asimov (Short Stories; 1969)

Oddities, Abnormalities, & Curiosities, by the Circle Jerks (Album; 1995)

The Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling (Novel; 2003) [Harry Potter #5]

The Other Side of Midnight, by Sidney Sheldon (Novel; 1973)

The Penultimate Truth, by Philip K. Dick (Novel; 1964)

Pink Streaker (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1975)

Postman Pat: The Movie (Animated Film; 2014)

Presto (Pixar Cartoon; 2008)

Really Scent (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

Symphony No. 2 (a.k.a. The Nottingham Symphony, or Robin Hood), by Alan Bush (Symphony; 1949)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, recorded by Gene Autry (Song; 1949)

Ruthless People (Film; 1986)

The Saint See Through It, by Leslie Charteris (Novel 1946) [Saint #27]

The Sea Around Us, by Rachel Carson (Science Book; 1951)

Snowpiercer (Film; 2014)

The Stunt Man (Film; 1980)

Sweet Smell of Success (Film; 1957)

Tom Tom Tomcat (WB MM Cartoon; 1953)

To Sir, With Love, by E.R. Braithwaite (Novel; 1959)

Trail of the Lonesome Pink (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1974)

28 Days Later (Film; 2003)

Twinkletoes: Where He Goes — Nobody Knows (Animated Antics Cartoon; 1941)

Wall-E (Animated Pixar Film; 2008)

Wanted (Film; 2008)

West End Blues, recorded by Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five (Song; 1928)

When I You Hoo (WB MM Cartoon; 1936)

Who Killed Cock Robin? (Disney Cartoon; 1935)

Zapped (Film; 2014)

Today’s Name Days

Cyrill, Heimo, Hemma, Maxim (Austria)

Ćiril, Ladislav, Vlatko (Croatia)

Ladislav (Czech Republic)

Elfi, Elfriide, Elva, Elve, Elvi, Elviira, Viire (Estonia)

Elvi, Elviira (Finland)

Fernand (France)

Cyrill, Daniel, Heimo, Hemma (Germany)

Pierre (Greece)

László (Hungary)

Andrea, Cirillo, Leilo, Tosco (Italy)

Malva, Malvīne, Malvis (Latvia)

Ema, Gediminas, Norgailė, Vladas, Vladislovas (Lithuania)

Aina, Ina, Ine (Norway)

Maria Magdalena, Władysław, Władysława, Włodzisław (Poland)

Samson (România)

Ladislav (Slovakia)

Cirilo, Ladislao, Socorro, Zoilo (Spain)

Fingal, Selma (Sweden)

Lacey, Laci, Lacie, Lacy, Lance, Lancelot, Schuyler, Skye, Skylar, Skyler (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 179 of 2024; 187 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of week 26 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Duir (Oak) [Day 19 of 28]

Chinese: Month 5 (Geng-Wu), Day 22 (Red-Xu)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 21 Sivan 5784

Islamic: 20 Dhu al-Hijjah 1445

J Cal: 29 Blue; Eighthday [29 of 30]

Julian: 14 June 2024

Moon: 64%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 10 Charlemagne (7th Month) [Richard I]

Runic Half Month: Feoh (Wealth) [Day 4 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 8 of 94)

Week: 4th Full Week of June)

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 7 of 31)

[vajranam]

Drifting Yogi

DRIFTING YOGI– A rare modern day story of a spiritual adventure

PART -- 1 LEAVING HOME

"On December 13th 2004, I gave up my class 12th board exams and fled to India to become a monk.

I was brought up by a single mother along with three sisters. Growing up through dire poverty, my early childhood years were unforgettably sad and painful.

Having been a dreamy boy, i took comfort from reading poetry and spiritual books at school. I was a lazy, dull-witted student and did not perform well in exams.

Since i couldn't figure out an ambition

for my future, i remember studying the academic subjects only to get through the exams; so that i don't disappoint my guardians who were spending for my schooling.

To distract my attention from the troublesome situations of a boarding school life those years, where resources were scanty... and the constant bullying by elders, i drove my emotions deeper into spirituality and consoled myself through writing poems.

Sometimes gazing at the serene images of Lord Buddha.... i started dreaming of studying and practicing meditation to achieve that amazingly peaceful and hypnotic composure of a sitting Buddha.

And i didn't care about achieving anything otherwise.

So in December 2004 in Zhemgang higher sec. School, aged nineteen i gave up my bio-science exams and embarked on an extremely uncertain, risky and adventurous journey to India without a penny in my pocket.

Making the long story short.......

I arrived in india somehow and with much jubilation got admitted in a renowned Tibetan buddhist monastery in north India.

But soon i was disappointed to learn that the monasteries are just another institutions to study ethics, philosophy and rituals in their respective traditions. And no monastery offered direct meditation instructions to the monks/students to realise for themselves.

After just about one year in the Shedra, i quit the monastic life and started wandering in search of a master or a 'Tsa wai Lama'.

Which happened to be yet another crazy decision.

PART -- 2 MEETING WITH MASTER

AND PRACTICE

After a couple months of leaving the monastery i happened to travel in Lahoul valley near Ladakh.

There i met a wandering Tibetan Yogi building an old-style rock Stupa on the mountain.

Our meeting sparked in me a curious sense of emotions that was mixed with joy and tears when ever he talked to me.

Tired of wandering and pilgrimage, the desperate me requested him to take me to where ever he was based, so that i can serve him and learn more from him and about him.

Living with him, my life became more difficult and uneasy.

Since his nature was extremely harsh and extremely loving sometimes. But at the end of each passing day i found out that my emotions were being tested to the limit and he was teaching me a lot in disguise.

So considering his arrogance to me as a rare blessing i made a firm resolution to never leave him in no matter what situation.

After much waiting, i received instructions and his protection to pursue solitary retreats. Constantly wandering from one mountain cave to another, from deep forests to deserts,

From sea shores to solitary islands, sleeping on the roadsides, under the trees and cemeteries, i wandered like a fallen leaf carried by the wind.

Once i walked about 700 miles and bicycled 2000 miles under the heavy rains and scorching sun of tropical India. They were all a part of my yogic practice of drifting without a particular aim.

For more than twelve years, being so lost and carried away in retreats and wandering... i have almost forgotten my home country Bhutan.

PART -- 3 A VISION

During my retreats in the forests of central India, my provisions were taken cared by the innocent villagers, who were newly converted buddhists due to caste issues in indian social system.

Villagers were more than happy to have me, a buddhist practitioner from a foreign land in their remote villages.

So moved by their innocent reverence i started teaching them meditation, the essence of all the teachings of the buddha.... Although i struggled to interpret my thoughts to them through my extremely poor spoken Hindi.

Later in early 2017 i travelled to south east asian countries invited by some friends.

There i was surprised to discover a vibrant culture of education and youth who were equally enthusiastic to practice meditation to enhance their quality of lives through spiritual values and understanding.

We can all agree to one inevitable challenge, that our pursuit of modern lifestyle and it's glamour, is costing a serious toll on mental health to everyone.

And simultaneously dragging our beautiful home planet into a disaster of pollution and over-exploitation.

It was highly nourishing for me to meet amazing young people in those countries, who were raising concerns about the future of humanity and giving their commitments to spiritual lives through the practice of meditation in their daily lives.

In late 2018 i came back to Bhutan to visit my mother.

And started travelling and teaching meditation in Bhutan without the pre-requirements of arduous ngondro practices.

To my surprise many students young or elderly, literate or illiterate, started giving me amazing feedbacks through their own experiences just after a few months of practice. And were thoroughly inspired to follow the path of meditation in order to understand the dharma deeper for further enlightenment.

Some students have stopped drinking and smoking as a natural effect of meditation. And a few more have recovered from depression and migraine.

But at the same time, some people seemed still confused and quite suspicious regarding my initiatives.

While i welcomed their doubts and criticism, i was also scanning the psychological landscape of people influenced by their own belief systems.

So my dear elders, youngers, friends and relatives in Bhutan.

Let me take some space to share my humble opinions of what meditation is all about.

In other countries buddhist meditation is taught in school systems to enhance the performance of students.

i have seen buddhist meditations practiced in christian churches to generate faith and devotion in christ.

Buddhist meditations are practiced by psychologist and psychiatrists and implemented on their patients to recover from their mental disorientation.

Buddhist meditations are taught in high profile leadership and business management courses to enhance their productivity.

Buddhist meditation is practiced in the military of some countries for better focus and precision in their training.

Buddhist meditation is practiced by hard-core criminals in prisons to recover from their corrupted state of minds.

One friend in Philipines, a school teacher is teaching meditation in a catholic school, and the school administration approves her initiative.

In Burma, Sri lanka and thailand politicians practice meditation to render their political service more effectively.

So my dear friends in Bhutan,

those people in other countries may never have heard of arduous ngondro practices but they are still practicing meditation as the heart of all teachings of buddha and getting benefited immensely.

Now.... one can definitely argue my statements that those meditations are from different origins, like the Theravada from Burma or Srilanka,

Zen from Japan and ours is secret Dzogchen from the path of vajrayana.

To this possible argument, i can simply answer that even if the meditation practices originate from different, different countries and traditions....... ALL THOSE MEDITATION MANUALS EXIST IN THE VAST COMPILATION OF KANJUR AND TENJUR, TO WHICH WE ALL PROSTRATE UN-KNOWINGLY

WHEN WE VISIT THE TEMPLES AND MONASTERIES.

Ngondro, a set of mandatory preliminary practices that require five to 6 months to complete is an amazing tool to enter the Vajrayana buddhist path.

But at the same time...... Buddhas meditation teachings, being the answer to all human quests....sadly remain inaccessible to a large section of devout buddhists in our country. Simply because most aspiring meditation practitioners cannot fulfill the obligation to complete the long and arduous ngondro which is the standard practice required by tradition, as the gateway to the path of meditation.

But dear friends.... I speak with conviction through what little experience and observations i have gathered, that ngondro can be also practiced after meditation.

in fact NGONDRO BECOMES MUCH MORE AUTHENTIC AND JOYFUL IF PRACTICED WITH A PRIOR EXPERIENCE OF MEDITATION.

A few weeks ago a friend of mine sent me the Royal Kasho granted by our beloved His majesty the king, regarding the reformation of educational system.

As a humble citizen, I was deeply moved by the concerns made by His majesty the King, regarding the future of our youth and education in comparison to the extremely fast changing environment we live in.

My heart was throbbing.... and while i was holding my breath, i realised that even as a humble and a nameless citizen, living lonely as the road, i have fondly entertained many dreams.... if my independent research in the field of meditation therapies from the deep buddhist wisdom, can contribute an additional facility to our existing model of education.

So on this beautiful social networking platform i drifting yogi would like to share my deep prayers and aspirations

To teach meditation further in Bhutan,

Purely as a science of self discovery under secular setting.... and also as the essence of our Vajrayana path.

I have a dream to teach meditation to our budding youth to empower themselves to pursue their passion in life and achieve their goals to live a life of contentment.

And recovering from any kind of addictions from substance abuses through mental strength cultivated from meditation.

In 2019 when i was still in India, i heard some horrifying news from Bhutan about a series of rapes of minors in Paro, Dagana and somewhere.

My senses went numb.... and my mind was in dilemma out of sheer terror.

Because deep down.... i felt, if our youth can be educated in the practice of meditation, then such horrors can be totally prevented, by transforming the emotions of the practitioner into a naturally joyful and liberated state of being.

Finally, before i end this story,

I will drop a wish, that this story reach as many readers as possible.

And I deeply apologise if reading this story was a waste of time to some readers.

If any reader like this story, then i thank you for ur gesture of support.

And if any reader find flaws in my statements,

I welcome your valued criticism, so that i can learn a little from you.

MAY ALL BEINGS BE HAPPY!"

– By Drifting Yogi (Aka Sherab Dorji, 35)

Written on the bank of River Gamri, Lungten Zampa, Trashigang, Eastern Bhutan on 17 Feb.2021.

[brookston]

Holidays 6.16

Holidays

Academy of Experience Day

Achalasia Awareness Day

Arborist Appreciation Day

Aviation Day (Armenia)

Battle of Stoke Anniversary Day

Bloomsday (James Joyce's Ulysses)

Blues Brothers Day

Captain Picard Day

Day of Third-Hand Reports and Shaky Evidence

Engineer's Day (Argentina)

Escalator Day

Father’s Day (Seychelles)

Global Health Coach Day

Hemiplegic Migraine Awareness Day

House Divided Speech Day

International Day of Biotechnology

International Day of Family Remittances (UN)

International Day of the African Child (OAU)

International Domestic Workers Day

International Waterfall Day

Jewish Trans Poetry Day

Ladies’ Day (MLB)

Marvel 616 Day

Mature Moggies Day (UK)

Mid Year Celebration (Elder Scrolls)

Mission From God Day (Blues Brothers)

Mr. Sack Day

National ASK Day

National Casey Day

National Garden Day (Canada)

National hATTR Day (Brazil)

National Jade Day

National Mohammad Day

National Morticians Day

National Richard Day

National Wear BLUE Day (for Men’s Health)

No Orange Clothes Day

Peace of Chaco Day (Bolivia/Paraguay)

Psycho Day

Scrubwomen Tea Party Day

616 Day

Sussex Day (UK)

Thyme Day (French Republic)

Transpoon Day

Tupac Shakur Day (California)

Two Million March Anniversary Day (Hong Kong)

Water Industry Workers Day (Kyrgyzstan)

Wish Fulfillment Day

Women in Space Day

World Electrosensitivity Day

World Neurodiversity Pride Day

World Refill Day

World Sea Turtle Day

World Smell Day

Youth Day (South Africa)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Cracker Jack Day

Fresh Veggies Day

National Cannoli Day

National Fudge Day

National Tortilla Day

National Turkey Lovers Day

National Vegemite Day (Australia)

National Vinegar Day

Pepsi-Cola Day

Wagashi (Japanese Sweets Day; Japan)

Independence & Related Days

Baybay City Charter Day (Philippines)

Efransa (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Congress of Soviets 1st held (USSR; 1917)

3rd Sunday in June

Burghfield BoxKart Bash Day [3rd Sunday]

Dollars Against Diabetes Days end [3rd Sunday]

Family Awareness Day [3rd Sunday]

Father's Day (US) [3rd Sunday]

Health Worker’s Day (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia) [3rd Sunday]

Husband Caregiver Day [3rd Sunday]

Medical Worker Day (Russia) [3rd Sunday]

National Turkey Lovers’ Day [3rd Sunday]

Weekly Holidays beginning June 16 (3rd Full Week)

Carpenter Ant Awareness Week (thru 6.22) [3rd Full Week]

National Craft Spirits Week (thru 6.22) [3rd Full Week]

National Forgiveness Week (thru 6.22) [3rd Full Week]

National Grasslands Week (thru 6.22) [3rd Full Week]

National Mosquito Control Awareness Week (thru 6.22) [3rd Full Week]

National Play Catch Week (thru 6.22) [3rd Full Week]

National Roller Coaster Week (thru 6.22) [3rd Full Week]

Universal Father's Week (thru 6.22) [3rd Full Week]

Wobbly Week (thru 6.22) [Week with 6.20]]

Festivals Beginning June 16, 2024

Real Men Cook (Chicago, Illinois)

Silverton Hills Strawberry Festival (Silverton Hills, Oregon)

Strawberry Festival (Assonet, Massachusetts)

Summertime Ball (Wembley Stadium, London, United Kingdom)

Sykesville Ag & Youth Fair (Sykesville, Pennsylvania) [thru 6.22]

Tony Awards (New York, New York)

Wellfleet Strawberry Festival (Wellfleet, Massachusetts)

Feast Days

Albert Chartier (Artology)

Andy Weir (Writerism)

Aurelianus of Arles (Christian; Saint)

Aureus of Mainz (and his sister Justina; Christian; Saint)

Benno (Christian; Saint) [Dresden, Munich; Germany] *

Cettin of Oran (Christian; Saint)

Curig of Llanbadarn (Christian; Saint)

Circus and Julitta (Christian; Martyrs)

The Day of Third-Hand Reports and Shaky Evidence (Shamanism)

Erich Segal (Writerism)

Equos (Celtic Book of Days)

Ferreolus and Ferrutio (Christian; Martyrs)

Frank Thorne (Artology)

George Berkeley and Joseph Butler (Episcopal Church)

Henri Richelet (Artology)

Jim Dine (Artology)

John Francis Regis (Christian; Saint)

John Linnell (Artology)

Joseph Butler, Bishop of Durham (Anglican Church)

Joyce Carol Oates (Writerism)

Lutgardis of Tongeren (a.k.a. Lutgart; Christian; Saint)

Madonna of Carmine (Christian; Saint)

Media Ver X (Pagan)

Night of a Teardrop (Ancient Egypt)

Otto Muehl (Artology)

Prayer to Frigga for Bridges and Wives Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Quriaqos and Julietta (Christian; Martyrs)

René Seyssaud (Artology)

Rotary Doozer (Muppetism)

Silver Chalice Day (Everyday Wicca)

Tychon of Amathus (Christian; Saint)

Steppenwolf Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

William Penn (Positivist; Saint)

World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests

World Meat-Free Day (Pastafarian)

Islamic Lunar Holidays

Eid al-Adha [Muslim Feast of Sacrifice] (a.k.a. ... 

Aïd el Adha (Morocco)

Aïd el Addha (Djibouti)

Aïd el Kébir (Tunisia)

Arefa (Ethiopia)

Bakarid (Nepal)

Bakri Id (India)

Corban Bairam (Sudan)

Djouldé Laihadji (Camaroon)

Eid al Adha (Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, UAE, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen)

Eid-Al-Adha (South Sudan)

Eid-e-Qorban (Iran)

Eid ul Adha (Myanmar)

Eidul Azha (Pakistan)

Eid ul-Ad'haa (Maldives)

Eid-ul-Azha (Bangladesh)

Feast of Sacrifice (Indonesia)

Gurban Bayram (Azerbaijan)

Hari Raya Aidil Adha (Brunei)

Hari Raya Haji (Singapore)

Hari Raya Qurban (Malaysia)

Id Al Adaha (Ethiopia)

Ide el Kabir (Comoros)

Id-ul Ajad (Nepal)

Id-Ul-Alha (Sri Lanka)

Id-ul-Zuha (India)

Kurban Bayram (North Cyprus)

Kurban Bayramy (Turkey, Turkmenistan)

Tabaski (Cameroon, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal)

Orthodox Christian Liturgical Calendar Holidays

Blind Man Sunday [6 Weeks after Easter]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Dismal Day (Unlucky or Evil Day; Medieval Europe; 12 of 24)

Egyptian Day (Unlucky Day; Middle Ages Europe) [12 of 24]

Prime Number Day: 167 [39 of 72]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [35 of 57]

Premieres

Ancient Evenings, by Norman Mailer (Historical Novel; 1983)

Asteroid City (Film; 2023)

At San Quentin, by Johnny Cash (Live Album; 1969)

Batman Forever (Film; 1995)

Batman Returns (Film; 1992)

Bitter Sweet Symphony, by The Verve (Album; 1997)

The Blues Brothers (Film; 1980)

A Bully Romance (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1939)

Carl’s Date (Pixar Cartoon; 2023)

Cars 3 (Animated Pixar Film; 2017)

A Chilly Reception (Chilly Willy Cartoon; 1958)

Chow Hound (WB LT Cartoon; 1951)

Death in Venice, by Benjamin Britten (Opera; 1973)

Elemental (Pixar Animated Film; 2023)

Eliza on the Ice (Mighty Mouse Cartoon; 1944)

Euphoria (TV Series; 2019)

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (Film; 2006) [F&F #3]

First Family, by David Baldacci (Novel; 2009)

The Flash (Film; 2023)

From Bed to Worse (Ant and the Aardvark Cartoon; 1971)

Ghostbusters II (Film; 1989)

Grand Theft Auto (Film; 1977)

Grease (Film; 1978)

Half Empty Saddles (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1958)

Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (Film; 2021)

Honky Tonk, recorded by Bill Dogged (Song; 1956)

Hot in Cleveland (TV Series; 2010)

I Forget Thee, Jerusalem (f.k.a. The Wild Palms), by William Faulkner (Novel; 1939)

Jacob’s Ladder, by Arnold Schoenberg (Oratorio; 1961)

Jubal Sackett, by Louis L’Amour (Novel; 1985)

Lilo & Stitch (Animated Disney Film; 2002)

Lou (Pixar Cartoon; 2017)

Many Tanks (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1942)

Mickey’s Steam-Roller (Disney Cartoon; 1934)

Musical Chairs (TV Game Show; 1975)

My Pal Paul (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1930)

Napoleon Bunny-Part (WB MM Cartoon; 1956)

Old Wave, by Ringo Starr (Album; 1983)

Pocahontas (Animated Disney Film; 1995)

The Postman (Film; 1995)

Psycho (Film; 1960)

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, by David Bowie (Album; 1972)

Rough Night (Film; 2017)

Roxy Music, by Roxy Music (Album; 1972)

Shaft (Film; 2000)

Symphony in Slang (Tex Avery MGM Cartoon; 1951)

Tarzan (Animated Disney Film; 1999)

Three Hearts and Three Lions, by Poul Anderson (Novel; 1961)

Titan A.E. (Animated Film; 2000)

Tom Thumb’s Brother (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1941)

Trout Mask Replica, by Captain Beefheart (Album; 1969)

Unicorn Wars (Animated Film; 2022)

The Wizard of Oz (Musical Play; 1902)

Woodpecker in the Rough (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1952)

Today’s Name Days

Benno, Luitgard, Quirin (Austria)

Aurelije, Zlata, Zlatko (Croatia)

Zbyněk (Czech Republic)

Tycho (Denmark)

Heelia, Päive, Päivi (Estonia)

Päivä, Päivi, Päivikki (Finland)

François-Régis, Jean-François, Régis (France)

Benno, Julietta, Luitgard, Quirin (Germany)

Tichon, Tychon (Greece)

Jusztin (Hungary)

Aureliano, Ferruccio, Giuditta (Italy)

Justīne, Juta (Latvia)

Benas, Julita, Jūra, Tolminas (Lithuania)

Tiril, Torhild, Toril (Norway)

Alina, Aneta, Benon, Budzimir, Jan, Justyna, Ludgarda (Poland)

Tihon (România)

Julia (Russia)

Blanka (Slovakia)

Aureliano, Francisco, Juan (Spain)

Axel, Axelina (Sweden)

Aurel, Aurelia, Aurelio, Aurelius, Aurora, Dawn, Oralia, Orelia (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 168 of 2024; 198 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 7 of week 24 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Duir (Oak) [Day 8 of 28]

Chinese: Month 5 (Geng-Wu), Day 11 (Xin-Hai)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 10 Sivan 5784

Islamic: 9 Dhu al-Hijjah 1445

J Cal: 18 Blue; Foursday [18 of 30]

Julian: 3 June 2024

Moon: 72%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 27 St. Paul (6th Month) [William Penn]

Runic Half Month: Dag (Day) [Day 8 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 90 of 92)

Week: 3rd Full Week of June)

Zodiac: Gemini (Day 27 of 31)

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched (and books I read) - Week 26

I flew to Israel for a month long vacation, but was stupidly turned away at the border and had to spend some days in Latvia before being able to return home.

The upshot of this screw-up was that I had a chance to finally read G.G. Marquez’s ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ (- full text here!) crying and laughing continuously and enjoying every minute of it. A perfect bookend to my favorite ‘100 years of Solitude’.

I’m going to start reading good books again!

Best book of the week!

✴️                 

And as much as I loved Marquez’s book, I hated the 2007 limp, Telenova-style adaptation of it, with Javier Bardem, full of cinematic cliches and devoid of any real feelings, magic or poetry. Boring and truly disappointing!

✴️               

The first 10 minutes in Gus Van Sant’s sad film Sea of Trees sums up the premise: Matthew McConaughey travels to Aokigahara, the Japanese "suicide forest," planning to end his life among the quiet, beautiful trees.

And the last 5 minutes wraps up the story in a moving way.

Recommended!

✴️                

3 by Steven Soderbergh (2 of which are about Spalding Gray):

✳️✳️✳️ Gray’s Anatomy, Gray’s fourth and last stage monologue about an eye condition he suffered from and the outlandish, alternative remedies he tried to heal it with (Indian sweat lodges, Philippine psyche surgeons, raw vegetable diets, etc.) Funny but graphic!

I didn’t know he also acted in porn films, but I’m not too surprised.

✳️✳️✳️ And Everything Is Going Fine is a traditional biography that Soderbergh edited after Gray’s suicide, from clips and TV-interviews, a disappointing capture showing Gray as a self-absorbed, neurotic story-teller.

(There are about a dozen of Soderbergh’s ‘personal’ films, as well as his Ocean trilogy, that I haven’t seen yet, and which I should watch now that I have the chance).

✳️✳️✳️  Also, Bill Hader’s parody of Spalding Gray, Parker Gail’s Location is Everything, which is actually just as deep, or funny, or random as the original. Really, Gray’s was basically a free-associating shtick! 

✴️                     

Soderbergh’s latest, No Sudden Move, is one of his best and most convoluted stories. Another eccentric heist thriller with great performances (except of the Matt Damon role) where everybody turns against and betrays each other.

I especially loved the music note that borrowed so clearly from Chinatown theme’s first chord!

Based on a true, historic background of the ‘smog conspiracy’ and the racism of redlining and ‘urban renewal’.

I will surely watch it again very soon, to enjoy the many, many details.

✴️                

After last week’s ‘Queen of Hearts’ featuring an affair between a mother and (step) son, I wanted to revisit Louis Malle’s 1971 Murmur of the Heart (’Le souffle au cœur‘), a perfectly sentimental bonbon about the 50′s French bourgeois in Dijon, Camus, the Beats and Charlie Parker, with a 14 year old Laurent, who looked just like young Mick Jagger. 8+/10

✴️                   

A man called Ove, a Swedish film with Rolf Lassgård, as an angry, bitter, curmudgeon widower who finds a semblance of niceness in him, after a Persian family moves to his neighborhood.

A standard, sentimental story. Eventually, the only funny parts are his continual failed attempts to hang himself.

✴️                

The Marx Brothers’ last film together, 1946 A Night In Casablanca: Chico must have gone into another large gambling debt, so he convinced the other two to make another movie.

“I've met a lot of pin-up girls, but I've never been able to pin one down.”

✴️              

2 big, loud, dumb anniversary blockbusters:

✳️✳️✳️ 30 years anniversary to Terminator 2: Judgement Day, one of the only “action” films I ever liked.

This is the 2017 3D 4K-resolution version. A blatant Pepsi product placement.

“What’s wrong with your eyes?” 4/10

✳️✳️✳️ 25 years after Independence Day, a cliche-laden video game  with mindless special effects and the worst possible dialogue (“Do me a favor. Tell my children... I love them very much... “)

The destruction was the best part of it.  2/10

✴️      

A conspiracy of Faith, the 3rd part of the Danish Nordic Noir “Dept. Q Trilogy” is a stupid, sadistic thriller about a serial killer who murders children. With Nikolaj Lie Kaas and distinct-looking Lebanese-Swedish actor Fares Fares. I guess the series was trying to emulate Stieg Larsson’s Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series, but even the religious undertones were weak and superficial.

- - - - -

Throw-back to the art project:

Schwarzenegger Adora song

- - - - -

(My complete movie list is here)

[boiledeggacademia]

Maya Angelou

Let me tell you one of the most soulful people I've learned about, Maya Angelou. She's an absolute queen with so much perseverance and wisdom. I don't think I've learned about someone with so many quirks in numerous areas from writing to dancing, to directing, to singing; she's amazing so please give this a read.

First, who is Maya Angelou? A brief preview.

An African-American author, a poet, a singer, an activist, a scholar, a scriptwriter, an actress, and a dancer

Best known for her unique and pioneering autobiographical style

Born on April 4th, 1928 and died on May 28th, 2014

She was born in St. Louis, Missouri

Maya's Traumatic Early Life

At an early age, Maya was sent to live at her grandmother’s place in Stamps, Arkansas because of her parents tumultuous marriage and eventual divorce

It was her older brother, Bailey, who gave her the nickname “Maya”

Living with her grandmother helped her develop pride and self-confidence

When she returned to her mother’s care briefly at the age of 7, she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend

When he was jailed and released not a day later, he was killed

Traumatized by his death, she later said, “I thought my voice killed him; I killed that man because I told his name. And then I thought I would never speak again because my voice would kill anyone …”

She became mute for 5 years, her usual lustrous personality crushed

She returned to live with her grandma through her teens and during the times she was mute, she holed herself in libraries, memorizing all books line by line like Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets, and Poe’s poetry; thought to be the beginning to her love for literature and writing

Her Literary Career/Famous Works

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” (1969)

Her most critically acclaimed book, spanning her childhood as she and her brother bounced back and forth from her mother's place to her grandmother's

She wrote this during her time with the Harlem Writers Guild, a safe community that supported African writers, in NYC

It narrated her experiences with racism, molestation, rape, and her chronic displacement

“Gather Together In My Name” (1974)

follows after "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" when Angelou was 17-19 years old

the book depicts a single mother's slide down the social ladder into poverty and crime

the title was from the Bible but it also conveyed how a Black female lived in the white dominated society of the US after WWII

its themes were motherhood and family, racism and identity, education and literacy

“Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘fore I Diiie” (1971)

Angelou's first collection of poetry

many of the poems were song lyrics, inspired at Angelou's time in her life when she was nightclub singer in her 20s

it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1972

“Mom & Me & Mom” (2013)

her final book and 7 book memoir series that focused on her relationship with her mother

it covered her budding relationship with her mother when she was young with themes of reconciliation and reunion

Interesting Trivia

She was the first Black female street car conductor when she persisted for work at San Francisco in high school; “I loved the uniforms”, she had explained.

She was a civil activist, advocating for African-American rights as the northern coordinator of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

After working as a dancer a club in San Diego, she had a short lived personal sex history but quit after she bought her first car, a 1939 pale-green Chrysler convertible

In 1972, she was the first African American to have her screenplay turned into a film, “Georgia, Georgia”; she’s also had a wide variety of singing, dancing, acting, and directing and producing shows and movies

She was besties with Martin Luther King Jr. and after his death, she sent flowers to his wife for more than 30 years until her death

She’s also very close friends with Oprah Winfrey, appearing on her show twice, and giving her life-changing advice during her hardships

Reflection

I had the chance to read Angelou's final book "Mom & Me & Mom" and I think it really showed a lot of how Angelou was the person she was today. Her mother, like her, was a very strong willed woman who had taught her how to be independent, to be courageous, and proud in such oppressive society. They were like two peas in a pod, two women who came together with their stories of experience, and teaching one another how to love themselves, to be empowered, and courageous. I related to the story with my own close relationship with my mother. Like Angelou and her mother, my mother and I were like a student and mentor and best friends all while still being parent and daughter. It made me appreciate and love my mother, and really keep the things she taught me close to my heart. This book was so monumentally relatable, I had to order my own copy to annotate it with my own experiences.

Angelou was a woman who wanted others to be strong, to be courageous, to love themselves, and see their misery and hard times as new opportunities that would being them happiness. Her personality was bright even when she was quite old, and she was so animated and influential, it's hard to be distracted if you watch her interviews. Like many female authors, Angelou's experiences have impacted the way she wrote her books; but her soulful autobiographical style makes her books unique; it doesn't seem like it's about the author, but a character who the reader can relate to and follow along her joys and miseries.

Thank you for reading this far and please give Maya Angelou's books a read. She has wisdom that society needs during these times of turmoil.

References:

A. Spring, Kelley. “Maya Angelou.” National Women’s History Museum, 2017, www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/maya-angelou.

Edmund, Aiyana. “10 Fascinating Facts About Maya Angelou.” Literary Ladies Guide, 22 Feb. 2018, www.literaryladiesguide.com/literary-musings/10-fascinating-facts-maya-angelou.

“Maya Angelou.” Biography, A&E Television Networks, www.biography.com/writer/maya-angelou.

Gibson, Megan. “A Guide to Maya Angelou’s Most Beloved Books.” Time, TIME USA, LLC, 28 May 2014, time.com/123030/maya-angelou-best-books.

“Maya Angelou Biography - Life, Children, Parents, Name, Story, Death, School, Mother, Young.” Encyclopedia of World Biography, Advameg, Inc, www.notablebiographies.com/An-Ba/Angelou-Maya.html.

[africanamericanpeople]

29 notable African Americans who helped change the world

From activists to entertainers to record-breaking athletes to a postal worker, 6abc shines a spotlight on the contributions of 29 influential African Americans in Philadelphia and beyond as we celebrate Black History Month.

Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander | Writer | 1898-1989

A native Philadelphian, Alexander was the first black woman to receive a Ph.D. in economics in the United States, the first black woman student to graduate with a law degree from Penn Law School, and the first African-American woman to practice law in Pennsylvania. Alexander's work and views are recorded in speeches kept in the Penn archives. The Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander University of Pennsylvania Partnership School ("Penn Alexander") in West Philly is named after her.

Richard Allen | Minister | 1760-1831

A minister, educator and writer, this Philadelphia native founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent black denomination in the United States. He opened the first AME church in Philly in 1794. Born into slavery, he bought his freedom in the 1780s and joined St. George's Church. Because of seating restrictions placed on blacks to be confined to the gallery, he left to form his own church. In 1787 he turned an old blacksmith shop into the first church for blacks in the United States.

Maya Angelou received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former President Barack Obama in 2010.

Maya Angelou | Poet | 1928-2014

Angelou was an American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist with a colorful and troubling past highlighted in her most famous autobiography, "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings". She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies and television shows spanning over 50 years. Her works have been considered a defense and celebration of black culture.

Arthur Ashe | Tennis Player | 1943-1993

Ashe's resume includes three Grand Slam titles and the title of the first black player selected to the United States Davis Cup team and the only black man ever to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open. In July 1979, Ashe suffered a heart attack while holding a tennis clinic in New York. His high profile drew attention to his condition, specifically to the hereditary aspect of heart disease. In 1992, Ashe was diagnosed with HIV; he and his doctors believed he contracted the virus from blood transfusions he received during his second heart surgery. After Ashe went public with his illness, he founded the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS, working to raise awareness about the disease and advocated teaching safe sex education. On June 20, 1993, Ashe was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.

James Baldwin | American novelist | 1924-1987

Baldwin was an American novelist, playwright and activist, most notably known for "Notes of a Native Son", "The Fire Next Time" and "The Devil Find's Work". One of his novels, If Beale Street Could Talk, was adapted into an Academy Award-winning dramatic film in 2018.

"It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have."

U.S. Deputy Marshals escort Ruby Bridges from William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, La.

Ruby Bridges | Civil Rights Activist | 1954-present

At age 6, Bridges embarked on a historic walk to school as the first African American student to integrate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana. She ate lunch alone and sometimes played with her teacher at recess, but she never missed a day of school that year. In 1999, she established The Ruby Bridges Foundation to promote tolerance and create change through education. In 2000, she was made an honorary deputy marshal in a ceremony in Washington, DC.

Kobe Bryant | NBA star, humanitarian| 1978-2020

Drafted right out of Lower Merion High School at the age of 17, Bryant won five titles as one of the marquee players in the Los Angeles Lakers franchise. He was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. men's basketball teams at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2012 London Olympic Games. In 2015 Bryant wrote the poem "Dear Basketball," which served as the basis for a short film of the same name he narrated. The work won an Academy Award for best animated short film. A vocal advocate for the homeless Bryant and his wife, Vanessa started the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation aimed to reduce the number of homeless in Los Angeles. Bryant, his daughter Gigi, and seven other passengers died in a helicopter crash in late January.

Kobe Bryant inspired a generation of basketball players worldwide with sublime skills and an unquenchable competitive fire.

Octavius V. Catto | Civil Rights Activist | 1839-1871

Known as one of the most influential civil rights' activists in Philadelphia during the 19th century, Catto fought for the abolition of slavery and the implementation of civil rights for all. He was prominent in the actions that successfully desegregated Philadelphia's public trolleys and played a major role in the ratification of the 15th amendment, baring voter discrimination on the basis of race. Catto was only 32 when he was shot and killed outside of his home on South Street in1871, the first Election Day that African Americans were allowed to vote. In 2017, a monument to Catto was unveiled at Philadelphia's City Hall.

Philly unveils first statue dedicated to African-American. Vernon Odom reports during Action News at Noon on September 26, 2017.

Bessie Coleman | Civil Aviator | 1892-1926

Coleman was the first black woman to fly an airplane. When American flying schools denied her entrance due to her race, she taught herself French and moved to France, earning her license from Caudron Brother's School in just seven months. She specialized in stunt flying and performing aerial tricks. Reading stories of World War I pilots sparked her interest in aviation.

Claudette Colvin | Civil Rights Pioneer | 1939-present

Colvin was arrested at the age of 15 for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman, nine months before Rosa Parks' more famous protest. Because of her age, the NAACP chose not to use her case to challenge segregation laws. Despite a number of personal challenges, Colvin became one of the four plaintiffs in the Browder v. Gayle case. The decision in the 1956 case ruled that Montgomery's segregated bus system was unconstitutional.

Medgar Evers | Civil Rights Activist | 1925-1963

Evers was an American civil rights activist in Mississippi, the state's field secretary for the NAACP, and a World War II veteran serving in the United States Army. After graduating from college with a BA in business administration, he worked to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi after Brown v. Board ruled public school segregation was unconstitutional. Evers was assassinated by a white supremacist in 1963, inspiring numerous civil rights protests which sprouted countless works of art, music and film. Because of his veteran status, he was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

Mary Fields | Mail carrier |1832-1914

Known as "Stagecoach Mary", Fields was the first African-American to work for the U.S. postal service. Born a slave, she was freed when slavery was outlawed in 1865. At age 63, Fields was hired as a mail carrier because she was the fastest applicant to hitch a team of six horses. She never missed a day, and her reliability earned her the nickname "Stagecoach". If the snow was too deep for her horses, Fields delivered the mail on snowshoes, carrying the sacks on her shoulders.

Rudolph Fisher | Physician | 1897-1934

Fisher was an African-American physician, radiologist, novelist, short story writer, dramatist, musician, and orator. In addition to publishing scientific articles, he had a love of music. He played piano, wrote musical scores and toured with Paul Robeson, playing jazz. He wrote multiple short stories, two novels and contributed his articles to the NAACP all before his death at the age of 37.

James Forten | Abolitionist |1766-1842

Forten was an African-American abolitionist and wealthy businessman in Philadelphia. Born free in the city, he became a sailmaker after the American Revolutionary War. Following an apprenticeship, he became the foreman and bought the sail loft when his boss retired. Based on equipment he developed, he established a highly profitable business on the busy waterfront of the Delaware River, in what's now Penn's Landing. Having become well established, in his 40s Forten devoted both time and money to working for the national abolition of slavery and gaining civil rights for blacks. By the 1830s, his was one of the most powerful African-American voices in the city.

Robert Guillaume claimed the 1979 Emmy for Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Soap".

Robert Guillaume | Actor | 1927-2017

Robert was raised by his grandmother in the segregated south but moved to New York to escape racial injustice. There, he performed in theatre for 19 years, gaining momentum and a Tony nomination for his portrayal of Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls. In 1976, he landed his infamous role as Benson on Soap which won him an Emmy and his spin-off, Benson for which he won another Emmy. He returned to the stage in 1990, playing the role of the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera at the infamous Ahmanson Theatre. He voiced one of Disney's most beloved animated characters, Rafiki, and can still be heard as the narrator for the animated series, Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales For Every Child.

Francis Harper | poet | 1825-1911 (died in Philadelphia)

Born free in Baltimore, Harper was an abolitionist, suffragist, poet, teacher, public speaker, and writer. She helped slaves make their way along the Underground Railroad to Canada. In 1894, she co-founded the National Associated of Colored Women, an organization dedicated to highlighting extraordinary efforts and progress made by black women. She served as vice president.

Langston Hughes was instrumental figure in the Harlem Renaissance and jazz poetry.

Langston Hughes | Poet | 1902-1967

Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. Born in Missouri, he moved to New York at an early age becoming one of the earliest innovators of a new art form, jazz poetry. In the early 1920's, his first book of poetry was published and he wrote an in-depth weekly column for The Chicago Defender, highlighting the civil rights movement. His ashes are interred beneath a floor medallion in the middle of the foyer in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, the entrance to an auditorium named for him.

Zora Neale Hurston | American author | 1891-1960

Hurston became an American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker but as a child she was unable to attend school after her father stopped paying her school fees. In 1917 she opted to attend a public school but had to lie about her age in order to qualify for a free education. She studied hoodoo, the American version of voodoo, and found her way to Hollywood by working as a story consultant. One of her most notable works, Their Eyes Were Watching God was turned into a film in 2005.

Nipsey Hussle | Rapper, entrepreneur | 1985-2019

Born Ermias Joseph Asghedom, Hussle, was an American activist, entrepreneur, and Grammy Award winning rapper. Raised in South Central, he joined gangs to survive before eventually attaining success in the music industry. Hussle focused on "giving solutions and inspiration" to young black men like him, denouncing gun violence through his music, influence and community work, while speaking openly about his experiences with gang culture. Hussle was shot and killed a day before he was to meet with LAPD officials to address gang violence in South Los Angeles.

If you stop and look around near the intersection of Grand and Ellita Avenues, a brightly-colored mural of Grammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle is sure to catch your eye.

Harriet Jacobs | Writer | 1813-1897

Born a slave, her mother died when she was 6. She moved in with her late mother's slave owner who taught her to sew and read. In 1842 she got a chance to escape to Philadelphia, aided by activists of the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee. She took it and worked as a nanny in New York. Her former owners hunted for her until her freedom was finally bought in 1852. She secretly began to write an autobiography which was published in the U.S. in 1860 and England in 1861. She lived the rest of her life as an abolitionist, dedicated to helping escaped slaves and eventually freedmen.

Cecil B. Moore | Lawyer |1915-1979

Moore was a Philadelphia lawyer and civil rights activist who led the fight to and successfully integrate Girard College. He served as a marine in WWII and after his honorary discharge, he moved to Philadelphia to study law at Temple University. He quickly earned a reputation as a no-nonsense lawyer who fought on behalf of his mostly poor, African-American clients concentrated in North Philadelphia. From 1963 to 1967, he served as president of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP and served on the Philadelphia City Council. Moore is cited as a pivotal figure in the fields of social justice and race relations. He has an entire neighborhood named after him in the North Philadelphia area.

Bayard Rustin | Civil Rights Activist | 1912-1987 (Born in West Chester, PA)

Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights. He was a key adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013. Rustin has local ties as he was born in West Chester and attended Cheney University of Pennsylvania, a historically black college. A gay man, he adopted his partner to protect their rights and legacy.

Nina Simone | Musician | 1933-2003

Born Eunice Waymon in Troy North Carolina, Simone was an American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music crossed all genres from classical, jazz, blues and folk to R&B, gospel, and pop. She learned to play the piano as a toddler and played in church where her father was a preacher. She would cross tracks to the white side of town to study classical piano with a German teacher and was later accepted into The Juilliard School. She went on to record more than 40 albums and in 2003 just days before her death, the Curtis Institute awarded her an honorary degree.

Big Mama Thornton | Singer | 1926-1984

Thornton is best known for her gutsy 1952 R&B recording of "Hound Dog," later covered by Elvis Presley, and her original song "Ball and Chain," made famous by Janis Joplin. Affectionately called "Big Mama" for both her size and her powerful voice, she grew up singing in church and eventually caught the ear of an Atlanta music promoter while cleaning and subbing for the regular singer at a saloon. An openly gay woman, she joined the Hot Harlem Revue and danced and sang her way through the southeastern United States. She played at the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theatre and continued performing sporadically into the late 70's.

Sojourner Truth | Abolitionist |1797-1883

Truth was born into slavery but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. She then sued and won the return of her 5-year-old son who was illegally sold into slavery. In 1851, Truth began a lecture tour that included a women's rights conference where she delivered her famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech, challenging prevailing notions of racial and gender inferiority and inequality. She collected thousands of signatures petitioning to provide former slaves with land.

Denmark Vesey | Carpenter | 1767-1822

Vesey was born a slave but won a lottery which allowed him to purchase his freedom. Unable to buy his wife and children their freedom, he became active in the church. In 1816, he became one of the founders of an independent African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and recruited more 1,800 members to become the second largest "Bethel Circuit" church in the country after Mother Bethel in Philadelphia. In 1822, Vesey was alleged to be the leader of a planned slave revolt. He and five others were rapidly found guilty and executed.

Muddy Waters | Singer | 1913-1983

An American blues singer-songwriter and musician who is often lauded as the "father of modern Chicago blues", Waters grew up on a plantation in Mississippi and by the age of 17 was playing the guitar and the harmonica. In 1941, he moved to Chicago to become a fulltime musician, working in a factory by day and performing at night. In 1958, he toured in England, reviving the interest of Blues and introducing the sound of the electric slide guitar playing there. His performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960 was recorded and released as his first live album, At Newport 1960. In 1972, he won his first Grammy Award for "They Call Me Muddy Waters", and another in 1975 for "The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album".

Phillis Wheatley| Poet |1753-1784

Born in West Africa and sold into slavery, she learned to read and write by the age of 9 and became the first African American woman to publish a book of poetry. In addition to having to prove she had indeed written the poetry, no one in America would publish her work. She was forced to go to England where the pieces were published in London in 1773. Years later, she sent one of her poems to George Washington who requested and received a meeting with her at his headquarters in Cambridge in 1776.

Serena Williams is arguably the greatest women's tennis player of all time, with 73 singles titles and an overall record of 831-142.

Serena Jameka Williams |Tennis Player |1981-present

Williams emerged straight outta the streets of Compton to become the world's No. 1 player. She has won 23 major singles titles, the most by any man or woman in the Open Era. The Women's Tennis Association ranked her world No. 1 in singles on eight separate occasions between 2002 and 2017. She has competed at three Olympics and won four gold medals.