A Mind, Lively and at Ease

laughingsquid: Fictional Movie Locations Depicted as...

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:49:05 -0400

laughingsquid:

Fictional Movie Locations Depicted as Mid-Century Travel Posters

therumpus: Here’s today’s Daily GIF!

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 13:04:02 -0400

therumpus:

Here’s today’s Daily GIF!

"Everywhere you go will be somewhere you’ve never been."

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 13:02:43 -0400

“Everywhere you go will be somewhere
you’ve never been.”

- Natasha Trethewey, “Theories of Time and Space”

Trethewey will serve a second term as U.S. Poet Laureate. (via poetrysince1912)

Photo

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 20:11:48 -0400

"And there are millions of teens who read because they are sad and lonely and enraged. They read..."

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 20:09:23 -0400

“

And there are millions of teens who read because they are sad and lonely and enraged. They read because they live in an often-terrible world. They read because they believe, despite the callow protestations of certain adults, that books-especially the dark and dangerous ones-will save them.

As a child, I read because books–violent and not, blasphemous and not, terrifying and not–were the most loving and trustworthy things in my life. I read widely, and loved plenty of the classics so, yes, I recognized the domestic terrors faced by Louisa May Alcott’s March sisters. But I became the kid chased by werewolves, vampires, and evil clowns in Stephen King’s books. I read books about monsters and monstrous things, often written with monstrous language, because they taught me how to battle the real monsters in my life.

And now I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don’t write to protect them. It’s far too late for that. I write to give them weapons–in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.

”

- Sherman Alexie, Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood (via thegirlandherbooks)

"Poetry is a discourse, a conversation, a practice, a praxis. As Gwendolyn MacEwen said, it is “a..."

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 19:21:38 -0400

“Poetry is a discourse, a conversation, a practice, a praxis. As Gwendolyn MacEwen said, it is “a total profession”. So the “theoretical concerns” a poet has are completely embedded in the work. The concerns are actually indistinguishable from the work, they aren’t “behind” it, or driving it. I think that the social functions of poetry and theory are very similar, so it’s a profound mistake to suggest that the two should be, or even can be, kept in separate cultural drawers. There’s a misconception (or deliberate obfuscation) not only that theory “ruins” poetry (by killing the buzz of The Poetic), but that any poet who draws from theory is only using poetry to demonstrate preconceived theoretical principles. (Contemporary artists are lucky they aren’t subjected to this humiliation anymore) It’s as if the poem is only a tool of a pedagogy, a rabbit-out-of-hat magic trick / object-lesson. I mean, it infantilises poetry. […] Even when artists think that their work is didactic, there is always tremendous leakage, spill, and overflow of meaning that undermines the most literal messages a writer could write. The “general economy” of language (as Steve McCaffery’s calls language’s constant oversignification) means the work is always implicated in many more “theoretical concerns” than the mind can hold.”

- — Donato Mancini, from “12 or 20 questions with rob mclennan“

"For hundreds of years, coffee has been one of the two or three most popular beverages on earth…..."

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 16:38:45 -0400

“For hundreds of years, coffee has been one of the two or three most popular beverages on earth… Studies have linked moderate coffee drinking — the equivalent of three or four 5-ounce cups of coffee a day or a single venti-size Starbucks — with more specific advantages: a reduction in the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, basal cell carcinoma (the most common skin cancer), prostate cancer, oral cancer and breast cancer recurrence.”

- This Is Your Brain on Coffee

Also see how coffee conquered the world and Esquire’s vintage guide to the art of brewing the perfect cup.

(via explore-blog)

My dogs have both fallen into REM sleep.

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 08:07:00 -0400

One sounds like a horse neighing, although he’s sleep barking little woofs.

The other twitches and yelps in short coughs and bursts of ruffs.

My cat, after inspecting each stirring body, curls purring at my feet.

Green grass rolls above Georgia clay earth; cool and damp he lies.

Lion-head pillow cases and liquor names etched on every glass and box,

the monuments of my grandfather, his Barbasol, the comb that fit

through glossy hair, his heaving belly napping on the sofa after work.

I’ve always wondered on my pups’ dreams.

Soft turf? A neighbor’s ankle for the nipping? A bowl of food big

enough to swim in? Does death ever soil their stead?

Grandpa ate like a dog. Both hands working inside the plate.

And his dreams, what were those?

"The world is a thing of utter inordinate complexity and richness and strangeness that is absolutely..."

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 19:56:11 -0400

“The world is a thing of utter inordinate complexity and richness and strangeness that is absolutely awesome. I mean the idea that such complexity can arise not only out of such simplicity, but probably absolutely out of nothing, is the most fabulous extraordinary idea. And once you get some kind of inkling of how that might have happened, it’s just wonderful. And … the opportunity to spend 70 or 80 years of your life in such a universe is time well spent as far as I am concerned.”

- Douglas Adams

(via mydoseofreality)

explore-blog: When André was 12, he was already over 6 feet...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 17:25:09 -0400

explore-blog:

When André was 12, he was already over 6 feet tall and weighed 240 pounds. He was too big to fit on the local school bus and his family didn’t have the money to buy a car that could deal with his weight if it drove him to and from school.

Samuel Beckett, Nobel Prize winner (literature) and esteemed playwright, probably most noted for Waiting for Godot, bought some land in 1953 near a hamlet around forty miles northeast of Paris and built a cottage for himself with the help of some locals. One of the locals that helped him build the cottage was a Bulgarian-born farmer named Boris Rousimoff, who Beckett befriended and would sometimes play cards with. As you might’ve been able to guess, Rousimoff’s son was André the Giant, and when Beckett found out that Rousimoff was having trouble getting his son to school, Beckett offered to drive André to school in his truck — a vehicle that could fit André — to repay Rousimoff for helping to build Beckett’s cottage. Adorably, when André recounted the drives with Beckett, he revealed they rarely talked about anything other than cricket.

Who knew

Whoa!

huffposttv: latenightjimmy: Last night we had a Guess Who...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 17:24:24 -0400

huffposttv:

latenightjimmy:

Last night we had a Guess Who character reunion, and everyone’s looking great.

[portraits by Lloyd Bishop]

Loved this game.

We read and write poetry because we are members of the human...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 08:14:14 -0400

We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.

"Fill your house with stacks of books, in all the crannies and all the nooks."

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 08:13:30 -0400

“Fill your house with stacks of books, in all the crannies and all the nooks.”

- Dr Seuss (via somegirlslikeart)

"After the earth dies, some 5 billion years from now, after it’s burned to a crisp, or even swallowed..."

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 08:11:24 -0400

“After the earth dies, some 5 billion years from now, after it’s burned to a crisp, or even swallowed by the Sun, there will be other worlds and stars and galaxies coming into being - and they will know nothing of a place once called Earth.”

- Carl Sagan (via ssea-wolf)

carl sagan is so raw

(via bakefestatspliffanys)

bakefestatspliffanys: carrymyobituary: and she needs...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 08:11:02 -0400

bakefestatspliffanys:

carrymyobituary:

and she needs you
this is for matilda

This song became infinitely more powerful when I found out that this song is inspired by Leon: The Professional.

yes yes yes yes

parislemon: penllawen: zenpencils: A tribute to ROGER...

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 21:24:52 -0400

parislemon:

penllawen:

zenpencils:

A tribute to ROGER EBERT

Lovely.

Agreed.

El Gallo

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 18:36:46 -0400

One quick move—calculated, the skilled

dip of his head before a steady, concentrated gaze

split me open and simultaneously drowned my senses

—I drag myself back to shore, gasping.

He hovers before the kill.

I’m stranded, circled, waiting for the strike,

hoping that dying feels better than I thought,

throwing my eyes out for any chance of escape.

At times, I think him beastly. I rise to meet him.

This challenge. He holds me ever closer.

hammyandbean: It bugs me when people are unnecessarily mean. Like, you didn’t have to make that...

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 18:28:34 -0400

hammyandbean:

It bugs me when people are unnecessarily mean. Like, you didn’t have to make that comment. You could have just kept your mouth shut and left that person not feeling bad about themselves. What do you gain from making someone else feel like shit? Nothing of substance. Maybe a fleeting moment of power but that’s gone as soon as it comes so why? There’s enough unhappiness in the world without you adding to it.

Can’t reblog/heart enough!

neil-gaiman: In case you missed it…

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 11:35:59 -0400

neil-gaiman:

In case you missed it…

I just realised you haven't written awhile! Why so? :(

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 05:19:00 -0400

Man, loaded question. Mainly I became increasingly serious about my work, and therefore relentless about its sincerity/composition. In others words, I have over a hundred in drafts that I’ve been sleeping on top of as if I were a dragon protecting its hoard.

Good on you for your productivity! It looks like you’re up to your elbows in all sorts of fun things.

I used to tell myself I was saving some work to send off to literary magazines, but I’ve only entered a couple of contests.

In all honesty, though, I’ve been saving my strength. I know exactly what’s out there, and I’m not all that keen about letting my children play like they should. Overbearing mother, really.

Thanks for asking! Now I might start scanning through the list and begin sharing again.