On four or five occasions I came out of the library door at exactly the moment that a student passed by wheeling an upright bass along the cobbled street, like someone guiding an overgrown child. Sometimes he had just passed the instant before, and other times he was about to pass. But once I exited…
Art is not a pleasure, a solace, or an amusement; art is a great matter. Leo Tolstoy (What is Art?)Ok, ok, I know what you're thinking: anybody can make a sandwich. That is in fact a true statement. In fact, its very truth is probably the reason that I'm telling you about it. It's not…
While she stands alone among the dripping vines she cannot make a connection that she knows is there. There is a blankness in her thoughts, a density that feels like muddle also, until she realizes: the Annunciation was painted after rain. Its distant landscape, glimpsed through arches, has the temporary look that she is seeing…
Living is an inherently emotional business.-David Brooks ("Social Animal")I'm home sick with the flu and, even though I realize that whenever you and your body are in pain, you can't help but feel like this is the worst you've ever felt in your life, I really do feel like this is the worst I've ever…
Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale/Her infinite variety.-Shakespeare (Antony and Cleopatra)So, I'm currently kind of obsessed with at least 5 things. A girl's got to have hobbies, after all.1) My bike. I love riding it, going places on it and finding pretty, scenic streets to ride on. I keep asking myself, "why didn't you…
Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place. But there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around. -E.L. KonigsburgI've never been one of those people for whom the sun must be shining in order to eat ice cream. In fact, I could (and sometimes do) happily eat it everyday; in my…
Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next.-Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland)On Saturday, it really was like I found myself in another world when I went to the Legion…
From a little spark may burst a flame.-Dante AlighieriThis afternoon I'll be getting on a plane and, poof, just like that, part one of my Christmas vacation will be over. To prepare for this trip, I've been running around madly, considering several important things: how will I fit the ice cream maker into my carry-on…
Those of you who may catch the odd whisper, the odd squeak, so easily mistake my words for breezes rustling the dry reeds...But I've always been of a determined nature. Patient, they used to call me. I like to see a thing through to the end. -Margaret Atwood (The Penelopiad) Happy New Year, dear readers!…
Dining with Dostoevsky 