Six Word Memoirs
2008-02-23 10:36:00
Can you describe your life in six words? That's what the editors of storytelling magazine SMITH asked readers in 2006; the results, though decidedly uneven, make for compulsive reading and prove arguably as insightful as any 300+ page biography. Taken as a whole, this cascade of quotes from contributors famous and unknown creates a dizzying snowball effect of perspectives and feelings. Highlights from professional writers and artists include journalist Chuck Klosterman wondering, "Nobody cared, then they did. Why?"; pop singer-songwriter Adam Schlesinger lamenting, "We still don't hear a single"; and comic strip artist Keith Knight illustrating "I was a Michael Jackson impersonator." At their best, these nano-memoirs evoke the same kind of rich emotional responses as a good story: 9 year o
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Namagiri
2008-02-22 10:41:00
This is a representation of the goddess Namagiri, in the arms of her consort, the lion god Narasimha. The goddess was credited by the Indian mathematician Ramanujan with inscribing theorems on his tongue as he slept. David Leavitt uses this information in his new novel, The Indian Clerk . The book deals with the relationship between the "Hindoo calculator" and the English mathematician G.H.Hardy. This biographical fiction uses the novelistic element of transformation very well, painting a portrait of a repressed Hardy changed and opened up by the genius he felt responsible for, and the upheaval of war. No wonder Hardy considered his experience with Ramanajan the most "romantic" of his life.
Tam Bram In a Jazz Jam
2008-02-20 16:54:00
Talking about speaking pianos, how about that Madhav Chari?
Shira Erlichmann, "The Piano Speaks"
2008-02-19 14:14:00
Collaborators
2008-02-18 13:17:00
I was just putting together a packet of my poems with my sister’s art for INTHEFRAY Magazine, and started thinking about what it means to collaborate with a visual artist. Poet Anne Waldman said in this article that“To conjure a particular knowledge you visualize an architectural structure and then you walk around and see the details that then bring back the words or the poetry or the line of thought”. As an illustration, Kristin Prevallet offers the story from the Bhagavata Purana in which Krishna opens his mouth to show his mother the universe. “ She wonders, is this a delusion of my own perception? She sees that her entire world is constructed with false beliefs. She questions her ego, and she suddenly sees herself as one among a series of cosmic particulars...The mother Ysoda,
Plotting
2008-02-17 10:48:00
I'm looking out my office window, trying to write, but mostly watching a low-slung fox hunt a squirrel. The fox makes me think of a coat I once had with a collar that color. That, in turn, reminds me of my mother, sitting in my Chinese chair, swaddled in her old mink stole.(I'm sure it's faux).I'm not concentrating. My girl Nela has to get out of a situation I put her in just this morning.Christopher Booker says there are only seven plots: comedy, tragedy, voyage and return, overcoming the monster, quest, rags to riches, and rebirth. Thanks to John Baker for reminding me of that. It's strangely comforting.
Mahler and Bjork
2008-02-16 09:05:00
If you think you’re boring your audience, go slower not faster. Gustav MahlerI'm a fountain of blood. In the shape of a girl.Bjork
(clickable title)
Power Crazy Senior General Than Shwe
2008-02-15 07:58:00
Steve Schroeder's journal Anti- includes a poetry chap entitled Power Crazy
Senior General
Than Shwe. It's edited by A. J. Patrick Liszkiewicz, and includes a poem by jailed Burmese poet Saw Wai .Read the backstory here.
Cupid
2008-02-13 13:16:00
In keeping with the Valentine vibe, I give you a painting of Kamadev and Rati.In Indian mythology, Cupid
is known as Kamadev. He once shot Shiva with his arrows, and was burned to ashes by Lord Shiva’s third eye. Kamadev’s grief-stricken widow, Rati, begged Shiva to restore her husband's life. He did, with the stipulation that Kamadev would live without physical human form. The day Shiva burned Kamadev is commemorated on Holi, next month’s big festival.
Valentine
2008-02-13 13:15:00
Married to GeometryCan a circle catch a circle? Follow the curve of your pursuit until all the windows intersect the ceiling at obtuse angles. Sashes drift past cubed corners, rounding the point which has no part, and under the bedroom door (swollen shut on your syllogism) oblong light stretches and yawns. A implies B, you say. The proof falls in perfect syzygy along the grooved love line of your palm.
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The Great Man
2008-03-13 09:16:00
Here is where you'll find information about The Great
Man and its creator, Kate Christensen, 2008 winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award.
Savitri
2008-03-12 18:26:00
Savitri Nombu
2008-03-12 18:14:00
Tomorrow, married Tamilian women will pray for their husband's longevity. It is Savitri Nombu, the festival with the Satyvan – Savitri legend at its center. The princess Savitri used all her powers of intellect and persuasion to get the god of death to release her husband, Satyvan, in this story from the Mahabharata. It is interpreted as symbolic of how conjugal love can conquer death-- “Satyavan is the soul carrying the Divine Truth of being within itself but descended into the grip of death and ignorance; Savitri is the Divine Word, daughter of the Sun, Goddess of the Supreme Truth who comes down and is born to save" wrote Sri Aurobindo's in his Savitri - A Legend and a Symbol.On this day, women wear a sacred yellow thread adorned with flowers and turmeric, and pray that their husb
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2008-03-12 18:07:00
Why Pi?
2008-03-14 11:16:00
I have it on good authority (thanks, Kim!) that today is Pi Day. It's also Einstein's birthday, so party on, dudes.Piby Wislawa Szymborska The admirable number pi:three point one four one.All the following digits are also initial,five nine two because it never ends.It can’t be comprehended six five three five at a glance.eight nine by calculation,seven nine or imagination,not even three two three eight by wit, that is, by comparisonfour six to anything elsetwo six four three in the world.The longest snake on earth calls it quits at about forty feet.Likewise, snakes of myth and legend, though they may hold out a bit longer.The pageant of digits comprising the number pidoesn’t stop at the page’s edge.It goes on across the table, through the air,over a wall, a leaf, a bird’s nest, clo
Not for Leprechauns
2008-03-17 14:52:00
Had enough green beer? Try a lassi with cumin and jalapeno. The pepper turns it a delicate shade of green.1. Combine 2 cups of plain yogurt with 8 cracked ice cubes.2. Cut a single jalapeno in half and remove the seeds, unless you like it really hot. Toss it in the blender, and blend.3.Stir in a pinch of cumin and a little salt.4. Serves both of you. Enjoy!
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Lang Lang
2008-03-16 07:25:00
Both pianists were in town recently. One is often characterized as a show pony, the other too cool by half. Which is which?
Li Yundi
2008-03-16 07:17:00
Q & A
2008-03-19 14:20:00
Secrets revealed! Truths uncovered! Nic Sebastian's Ten Questions, posted at Scattered Light, asked and answered!
Cursing Bagels
2008-03-18 09:08:00
The Strathmore continued its stellar series last night with pianist Alfred Brendel. Did you know he also writes poetry? This is from his collection Cursing Bagels(Faber & Faber, 2004)That pianosshould not merely be cookedbut also smokedhas recently been discoveredby pure chanceA fire in the local piano storesurprisingly revealedthat smoked pianossound nobler than cooked onesIn huge fireplacesthey now hangthose dispensers of musical delightlike blackened hamsbeforesmokey-grey and spicythey satisfy the cognoscentiHenceforththe famous house of Bösenstein will refrainfrom boiling pianos hard or softaccording to taste
Holi, the festival of color and togetherness
2008-03-22 08:20:00
Today, I'm happy to introduce you to our guest blogger,Jennifer Kumar. Also known as Jayanthi, she has been creating and maintaining a website about India, Hinduism, and spirituality since 1997. Jennifer has had the extraordinary experience of living two years in Chennai, India as a college student, and was the first American to earn a Master’s degree in Social Work from Madras Christian College. Here, she tells us how Holi is celebrated in South India.Holi in a Different Hue: Exploring Connections to Holi in KeralaBy Jennifer Kumar If one wants to celebrate Holi in all its colored splendor, a trip to almost anywhere in North India during the Holi season in March is the first choice. Though Holi is celebrated all over India, South India, in particular Kerala, is not famous for Holi revel
Pooram Kerala India Festival 2008
2008-03-24 16:51:00
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, India
, Festival
Easter Communion
2008-03-22 16:11:00
Pure fasted faces draw unto this feast: God comes all sweetness to your Lenten lips.You striped in secret with breath-taking whips, Those crooked rough-scored chequers may be piecedTo crosses meant for Jesu's; you whom the East With draught of thin and pursuant cold so nipsBreathe Easter
now; you serged fellowships, You vigil-keepers with low flames decreased, God shall o'er-brim the measures you have spentWith oil of gladness, for sackcloth and friezeAnd the ever-fretting shirt of punishmentGive myrrhy-threaded golden folds of ease.Your scarce-sheathed bones are weary of being bent: Lo, God shall strengthen all the feeble knees. --Gerard Manley Hopkins
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Bad Blood
2008-03-26 13:04:00
I've posted a story, first taken by the Princeton Arts Review, at Scattered Light. This story, Bad Blood
(purely fiction, of course, of course) contains the germ of what became Shiva's Arms. Enjoy!
Panguni Uttiram
2008-03-25 10:02:00
Panguni Uttiram is a festival celebrating the celestial marriages of Shiva to Meenakshi and Subramanya to Theivanai, among others. It is celebrated over a ten day period, and goes back to the time of the Chola King, Rajaraja Chola. Shiva, Perumal and Murugan are all worshipped during this festival.Here's a story about the temple of love in the birthplace of the poet Thiruppaan Azhvaar. He composed ten famous verses on Lord Ranganatha (one of the celebrants) called Amalanaathipiraan. The text can be found here.
Fighting Words
2008-03-28 09:39:00
Frost and Stevens had a famous argument in Key West in 1940. They were drunk and making fun of each other's writing. Stevens tells Frost, "The trouble with you, Robert, is that you write about--subjects." Frost responded, "The trouble with you, Wallace, is that you write about bric-a-brac." For a discussion on being difficult, click this.
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, Words
Galway Kinnell at Split this Rock
2008-03-27 09:10:00
See what you missed?In this clip Kinnell reads ananti-war poem by Paul Celan titled"Black Milk of Daybreak."For more about Split This Rock,the biennial poetry festival ofpoetry of provocation and witness,visit www.splitthisrock.org
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Baseball
2008-03-31 08:25:00
DC's first exhibition game of the season was played yesterday in the new Nationals Stadium. Here's my tribute-- A Small Perturbation in the Stands Shock rocked the stadiumthe day the pitcher struck out the seagull.Someone flipped a fair coin into thin air. Its glint bribed the sky with false promises.When the bird dropped from a flock overheadwings fanned the coin ambiguously.Heads or tails? No one could have predicted such perfect syzygy of bird ball and bat! The pitcher’s true arm waylaid tried instinctswith a powerhouse thwack. A flutter of feathers sprayed the uppermost sky as if a pillow had been shot.Mathematicians & gambling men know: the rarer the event the larger the deviation.From the norm? From what’s true? The long hard jock begs the question from the back of his stretch li
Spring!
2008-03-29 18:18:00
Here in DC, the Cherry Blossom Festival is well under way. In Kerala, spring and the new year will be celebrated with customs very similar to those of the Iranian Nowruz. In India, if a tray set with good luck objects--mirror, money, jewelry, flowers, a lamp--is the first thing a celebrant sees upon waking, he'll enjoy good fortune all year. The Persian Haft Sin table includes these objects, among others, as you see in the photo. Here is my poem for Vishu:She bends over daffodils, clippers glinting in moonlight. Bells harvested, she blots dew in a wad of nightgown, slides back into the house like a thief.Her ponytail pantomimes a question,but she knows the answer—the whole year’s luck depends on her.She arranges silver rupees, an oil lamp, the scripture on a mirror. The heater cuts on
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Quote of the Day
2008-04-02 15:45:00
"If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud."---Emile Zola, born on this day in 1840.
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