April 2012
15 posts
Change
Change does happen. Just when you think that attitudes could not be more retrograde, witness the GOP primaries, you get evidence that modest change does occur.
I have been reading a very handsome older ( 1975) book on the National Gallery. All good, though only one woman gets a substantial mention, Mary Cassatt, and our writer was at pains to ask whether her sacrifices were worthwhile, given that...
Night Light
One of the pleasures of living in the country is that you are spared night lighting- security spots and show off garden lights and other suburban innovations.
Night should be dark so that you can see the stars. However, there are times when a single neighbor’s light is both reassuring and attractive. Our neighbor’s north window has a warm orange glow that is very pleasing.
J. S. Bach
Lately, we heard two performances of J.S. Bach works, a violin concerto and the St. Matthew Passion. The concerto was particularly interesting, because it was followed by the Beethoven fourth symphony and it suddenly became clear to me what distinguished Bach’s works from most other composers.
The Beethoven was lovely, warm and human with a wide range of emotions. So was the Bach, but the...
New story
It is always nice to get stories published, especially an older story which you liked but which the world ignored.
One looking a long way back to my childhood appears in this issue of the Connecticut Muse. It’s called “The Chef” and is probably as close to memoir as I’m ever going to get.
It’s at http://connecticutmuse.com/files/ctmusespring2012_1_.pdf
Turkey love
It’s breeding season for wild turkeys and the other day we looked out to see a very impressive male displaying all his feathers for three bored hens.
I almost felt sorry for the male, who had puffed himself up to twice his size, elevated his handsome tail feathers and dropped his wings so that he looked like a massive, slowly rotating ball of black, silver and copper feathers. He was...
Brave New World of Writing
Back in the old days, writers wrote, editors edited, and publicists drummed up the business.
No more. Writers still write, poor souls, but if they can’t edit their own stuff (or if they don’t have a handy family member) they may well have to hire a pro to massage their prose before it goes to the publishing house.
And once the book is out, they’d better be prepared to push back...
