In the garden strains of music, Full of inexpressible sadness.Scent of the sea, pungent, fresh, On an ice bed, a dish of oysters...-Anna Akhmatova ("Evening")For me, there was no music, there was certainly no sadness and, instead of an elegant dish of oysters on an ice bed, we had a big old paper bag full of oysters.…
Let your soul be whole or split, let your perception of the world be mystical, realistic, skeptical, or even idealistic (if you are so misfortunate), let the creative devices be impressionistic, realistic, naturalistic, the content lyrical or narrative, let there be mood, impression -- whatever you like; only I beg you, be logical -- and…
To be running breathlessly, but not yet arrived, is itself delightful, a suspended moment of living hope. -Anne CarsonThe longer the semester goes on, the stranger things begin to seem. It's almost like I'm trapped in a California version of Groundhog Day--I meet the same people everyday in the some place. While things are always…
Become the sky. Take an axe to the prison wall. Escape. -Rumi I recently watched the documentary, Oma and Bella, which tells the story of two widowed Holocaust survivors who live together in Berlin and spend most of their days cooking. Food seems to be one of the only things that eases the burden of their…
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. -William Arthur WardI've always considered myself an optimist--a great believer that things will work out for the best, that people will do the "right" thing, that there is good to be found in every nook and cranny of…
Dining with Dostoevsky 