Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
5 things
I like about Cali Dewitt: He and Jenna in their bathrobes; how they always look like they're having fun and how their friends all have the best terrible haircuts; this t-shirt; how I kinda want, but am strangely reticent, to buy the blind bargain bag.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
the skins are naked
Some glasses for the ugly earring. And a quote from un fille comme moi via Google Translate, "Funny this gradual disappearance of makeup. The skins are naked, eyes less responsible..."
Photo from CaféMode.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
waiting for home
Home, by Marilynne Robinson. Excerpts from an interview with The Paris Review:
On character: In the development of every character there’s a kind of emotional entanglement that occurs. The characters that interest me are the ones that seem to pose questions in my own thinking. The minute that you start thinking about someone in the whole circumstance of his life to the extent that you can, he becomes mysterious, immediately.
On teaching: I try to make writers actually see what they have written, where the strength is. Usually in fiction there’s something that leaps out—an image or a moment that is strong enough to center the story. If they can see it, they can exploit it, enhance it, and build a fiction that is subtle and new. I don’t try to teach technique, because frankly most technical problems go away when a writer realizes where the life of a story lies. I don’t see any reason in fine-tuning something that’s essentially not going anywhere anyway. What they have to do first is interact in a serious way with what they’re putting on a page. When people are fully engaged with what they’re writing, a striking change occurs, a discipline of language and imagination.
On writing essays: To change my own mind. I try to create a new vocabulary or terrain for myself, so that I open out—I always think of the Dutch claiming land from the sea—or open up something that would have been closed to me before. That’s the point and the pleasure of it. I continuously scrutinize my own thinking. I write something and think, How do I know that that’s true? If I wrote what I thought I knew from the outset, then I wouldn’t be learning anything new.
On character: In the development of every character there’s a kind of emotional entanglement that occurs. The characters that interest me are the ones that seem to pose questions in my own thinking. The minute that you start thinking about someone in the whole circumstance of his life to the extent that you can, he becomes mysterious, immediately.
On teaching: I try to make writers actually see what they have written, where the strength is. Usually in fiction there’s something that leaps out—an image or a moment that is strong enough to center the story. If they can see it, they can exploit it, enhance it, and build a fiction that is subtle and new. I don’t try to teach technique, because frankly most technical problems go away when a writer realizes where the life of a story lies. I don’t see any reason in fine-tuning something that’s essentially not going anywhere anyway. What they have to do first is interact in a serious way with what they’re putting on a page. When people are fully engaged with what they’re writing, a striking change occurs, a discipline of language and imagination.
On writing essays: To change my own mind. I try to create a new vocabulary or terrain for myself, so that I open out—I always think of the Dutch claiming land from the sea—or open up something that would have been closed to me before. That’s the point and the pleasure of it. I continuously scrutinize my own thinking. I write something and think, How do I know that that’s true? If I wrote what I thought I knew from the outset, then I wouldn’t be learning anything new.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
making pictures
Trudy White, who did the illustrations in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, runs writing and visual art workshops for children and adults.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
feeding merlin
Friday, September 19, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
a collaboration with the world
"I trust my work. It's a collaboration with the material, and when it's viewed, it's a collaboration with the world." Kiki Smith.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
a blue quality
The Chicken Mask was sorrowful, Sis. The Chicken Mask was supposed to hustle business. It was supposed to invite the customer to gorge him or herself within our establishment. It was supposed to be endearing and funny. It was supposed to be an accurate representation of the featured item on our menu. But, Sis, in a practical setting, in test markets -- like right out in front of the restaurant -- the Chicken Mask had a plaintive aspect, a blue quality...
From "The Mansion on the Hill" by Rick Moody.
Photo by Johanna Reed on Wheat Toast via Fortysixth at Grace.
Photo by Johanna Reed on Wheat Toast via Fortysixth at Grace.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
a dance to the music of time
"The pens are essentially props-they remind me that I’ve got to get back to writing, which means turning on the computer, and that’s a whole new world of distractions." David Coggins. Photo and post from A Continuous Lean.
Monday, September 15, 2008
what it is to be a human being
AM Homes: "...it [Wallace's death] reminds us all of how fragile we are, and how close at hand the darkness is."
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
yes, I have friends
My friend Kenny came to visit last week. Check out his documentary about Bolivian women wrestlers here.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
four saints in three acts
The Lee Miller exhibit at SFMOMA is only up for a few more days. Photo of Lee Miller and Picasso from Art Tattler.
my criterions
I could spend all day on the Criterion site. Here are Kate and Laura Mulleavy's Top 10 Criterion picks. And Jane Campion's. Or howabout Jonathon Lethem's?
Friday, September 5, 2008
stone animals
Tilly has divided the yard in half. Carleton is not allowed in her half, unless she gives permission.
From the bottom of of her half of the yard, where the trees run beside the driveway, Tilly can barely see the house. She's decided to name the yard Matilda's Rabbit Kingdom. Tilly loves naming things. When the new baby is born, her mother has promised that she can help pick out the real names, although there will only be two real names, a first one and a middle. Tilly doesn't understand why there can only by two. Oishi means "delicious" in Japanese. That would make a good name, either for the baby or for the yard...
From the bottom of of her half of the yard, where the trees run beside the driveway, Tilly can barely see the house. She's decided to name the yard Matilda's Rabbit Kingdom. Tilly loves naming things. When the new baby is born, her mother has promised that she can help pick out the real names, although there will only be two real names, a first one and a middle. Tilly doesn't understand why there can only by two. Oishi means "delicious" in Japanese. That would make a good name, either for the baby or for the yard...
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
this morning
This photo by Ed van der Elsken via Horse Hunting. All of Horse Hunting, and speaking of hunting, hunter <> gather, too. Downloading Now Voyager's Sunday Soul Party.
This excerpt on the creative personality by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly found on the new shelton wet/dry. Stuff like "Creative people tend to be smart yet naive at the same time. How smart they actually are is open to question."
And invoicing for my August work, in between taking breaks from my break taking.
This excerpt on the creative personality by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly found on the new shelton wet/dry. Stuff like "Creative people tend to be smart yet naive at the same time. How smart they actually are is open to question."
And invoicing for my August work, in between taking breaks from my break taking.
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