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Thursday, September 6, 2012

Journal entry, August 7 (strictly private)

Something new is wrong with my body. Has been bothering me for the past 3 or 4 days. Yesterday it got worse and last night was a very disturbed night, with all kinds of crazy dreams. Woke at 3:30 a.m. The pain is in the region of where I believe my appendix to be. Only thing I can think of is a... Sign in to see full entry.

Where does love go when it's over?

Where does love go when it's over? Where does truth hide when in love? Is self deception the bunker Where the dreams are kept alive? I am reading a book about Konstantin Simonov, the Russian World War Two poet. He composed his war poem, Wait for me, in 1941. It is addressed to the actress Valentina... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

The Way of All Flesh

François Villon was born in Paris in 1431. His ballads tell of what nowadays would be described as ‘lowlife’, but who can now be sure today that in fifteenth-century Paris it was a lowlife or the norm. His ballads are full of symbolism and oblique references to events of the period; deciphering them... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Autumn Fair (pictures)

The pictures were taken on 3 September 2012. Multicultural (cultural?) Britain. The pictures are in no particular order.. 648 Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Medley

MEDLEY Why? Because I like them (More about the poets some other time) Symptom Recital I do not like my state of mind; I'm bitter, querulous, unkind. I hate my legs, I hate my hands, I do not yearn for lovelier lands. I dread the dawn's recurrent light; I hate to go to bed at night. I snoot at... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

There are concepts and perceptions of the human condition that transcend time, culture and continents. I doubt if Robert Herrick, writing in 17th century England, had heard of Omar Khaiyam, let alone read any of his poetry written some five-hundred years earlier. Yet consider the timeless... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

The express train

Some months ago, I was in northern Hungary for a few days. I wanted to see a man there whom I had met on a hiking trip in 2006. I was too late; he passed away at the end of last year. I was sad and disappointed and took lodgings in a small village inn near the Bükk Forest Reservation. The natives... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Taking stock - and contemplating the sagacity of Cheshire Cat

Today is my anniversary - one month old on Blogit. Methinks it may be suitable time to take stock. So had a look at some of the stats and some other numbers of my life and times on Blogit. I’ve read 504 pages posted by 70 different Blogit members. Actually, some of these members have lapsed or are... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Well, if God doesn’t play with dice perhaps he plays Chess?

The first time I came across FitzGerald’s translation of Omar Khaiyam’s Rubaiyat (quatrains), the one that spoke to me most was this one: 'Tis all a Chequer-board of Nights and Days Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays: Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays, And one by one back in the... Sign in to see full entry.

Does God play dice?

JimmyA’s recent post about chance and coincidence, inspired me to reflect on the narrow distinction between the two. so narrow as to be barely perceptible. In December 1976, I was passing through San Francisco on my way to Vancouver. Just off Union Square, I noticed a small jewellery boutique with... Sign in to see full entry.

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