One of my favourite things about the Kindle is being able to buy long essays or short stories in the form of Kindle singles such as The Heart of Haiku by Jane Hirshfield, an American author and poet. I have always wanted to know more about haiku and was able to satisfy my curiosity for [...]
Archive for August, 2011
The heart of haiku
Posted in What I'm reading, tagged books, haiku, Jane Hirshfield, Japan, Matsuo Basho, poetry, The Heart of Haiku on August 31, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Midtown after Irene
Posted in My photos, tagged Colum McCann, Hurricane Irene, Let the Great World Spin, My photos, New York on August 29, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Around the watchers, the city still made its everyday noises. Car horns. Garbage trucks. Ferry whistles. The thrum of the subway. The M22 bus pulled in against the sidewalk, braked, sighed down into a pothole. A flying chocolate wrapper touched against a fire hydrant. Taxi doors slammed. Bits of trash sparred in the darkest reaches [...]
Hurled by the hurricane through bird-less ether
Posted in What I'm looking at, What I'm reading, tagged Hurricane Irene, NASA, poetry, Rimbaud, The Book Bench, The Drunken Boat on August 26, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
After feeling the tremors from the Virginia earthquake on Tuesday, New York is now preparing for Hurricane Irene – I never had this kind of weather in England. NASA’s footage from International Space Station, 230 miles above the Earth, captures Hurricane Irene over the Bahamas at 3:10 p.m. EDT on August 24, 2011. Meteorologist Eric [...]
There is no reason not to follow your heart
Posted in Serendipity, What I'm reading, tagged Apple, Steve Jobs on August 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
This is dedicated to my nephew who did fantastically well in his GCSE exams and now has to decide what to do with the next stage of his life. I can’t think of a better advisor than Steve Jobs, who stepped down as chief executive of Apple this week, and his commencement address at Stanford [...]
I carry your heart with me
Posted in What I'm watching, tagged books, EE Cummings, I Carry Your Heart With Me, In Her Shoes, Jennifer Weiner, poetry on August 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I don’t expect to be introduced to new poetry when flicking through channels on my TV but that is what happened this weekend. I caught the end of In Her Shoes and it included a moving recital of I Carry Your Heart With Me by E E Cummings – I cried even though I hadn’t [...]
Things to ponder : 19 August 2011
Posted in Things to ponder, tagged Christopher Hitchens, Tariq Jahan, Things to ponder, UK riots on August 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Last week I wrote about Tariq Jahan, who managed to speak with dignity and compassion after his son was killed in the UK riots, and this week 20,000 people attended a prayer event before the funeral: ” Atif Iqbal, from the multi-faith group United Birmingham, said the number of people turning out to show their [...]
Conversations with Nelson Mandela
Posted in What I'm reading, tagged books, Nelson Mandela on August 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
On a timely basis, I have just finished reading Nelson Mandela: Conversations with Myself, a collection pulled together from the great man’s letters, notebooks, taped conversations, prison diaries, calendars, and an unfinished autobiography. A few on my favourite quotes: “Those Greek plays are really worth reading. It’s like the classics, you know, the works of [...]
Echo in New York
Posted in My photos, What I'm looking at, tagged art, Echo, Jaume Plensa, Madison Square Park, New York, sculpture on August 15, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa has a site specific work in Madison Square Park: Echo depicts a nine-year old girl from Plensa’s Barcelona neighborhood, lost in a state of thoughts and dreams. Plensa’s sculpture also refers to an episode in Greek mythology in which the loquacious nymph Echo is forced as punishment to repeat only the [...]
Things to ponder : 12 August 2011
Posted in Things to ponder, tagged Tariq Jahan, Things to ponder, UK riots on August 12, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The words of Tariq Jahan, who managed to speak with dignity and compassion after his son was killed in the UK riots, are truly inspirational : From The Guardian : “Tariq Jahan, said he was nearby and rushed to help. “I ran towards the commotion and the first guy I found was someone I didn’t [...]
That mighty heart is lying still
Posted in NY-LON, tagged Composed upon Westminster Bridge, London, riots, William Wordsworth on August 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Composed upon Westminster Bridge Earth has not any thing to show more fair: Dull would he be of soul who could pass by A sight so touching in its majesty: This City now doth, like a garment, wear The beauty of the morning; silent, bare, Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie Open unto the [...]
