Anna Świrszczyńska, also known as Anna Swir wrote poems in direct, evocative language that spoke passionately and directly to the heart. She wrote affectionately about the female body, love, pain, loneliness, terror, war, childbirth, child-rearing and the passing of time. She focused a lot on the flesh – its elasticity and potential while young, alongContinue reading “The Sensual World of Polish Poet Anna Świrszczyńska”
Tag Archives: war
Captain Seeks a Sea-Going Cat to Sign on for a Trip Around the World, New York Times (1922)
Captain Edwin Dyason, master of the freighter Woodfield will welcome any ablebodied seafaring cat wishing to join the crew of his vessel, sailing today for Manila and China. “We missed the ship’s cat shortly after we put into port here,” said the Captain. “Her name was Cleopatra. She joined on in Fremantle, Australia and didContinue reading “Captain Seeks a Sea-Going Cat to Sign on for a Trip Around the World, New York Times (1922)”
Book Review: Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
*Contains no spoilers Right from the start I was hooked on this novel by the celebrated author Michael Ondaatje who wrote the classic The English Patient which won the Booker Prize in 1992 and was turned into an equally successful film. His follow up, Anil’s Ghost failed to hit the mark, at least for me.Continue reading “Book Review: Warlight by Michael Ondaatje”
Book Review: Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky: A London Trilogy by Patrick Hamilton
*No spoilers Patrick Hamilton isn’t really as well known as he should be, which is a crime and a shame. He is a fantastic and yet underrated British writers of the post-war era. You may recognise his work in the play Rope which was turned into a well-known Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name.Continue reading “Book Review: Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky: A London Trilogy by Patrick Hamilton”
Lao Tzu: Violence always rebounds upon oneself
For every force, there is a counter force.
Violence, even well intentioned,
Always rebounds upon oneself.
Book Review: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
*Contains no plot spoilers. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Pachinko is a family saga about Korean migrants living in Japan against the backdrop of the unheaval of the 20th Century. The novel traces struggles, triumphs and colourful personalities of several generations of one family. It rockets along at an amazing pace and doesn’t let up. This is a bookContinue reading “Book Review: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee”
The Black Swan Model: the domesticated chicken and what it never expected
Writer Nassim Nicholas Taleb calls the phenomenon of people being unable to predict the future based on the past the Black Swan principle. This name is inspired by the the 17th Century early explorers. People in Europe had always assumed that all swans were white. Imagine their surprise when they found that black swans thatContinue reading “The Black Swan Model: the domesticated chicken and what it never expected”
Comforting Thought: And the people stayed home by Kitty O’Meara
And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently. And the people healed. And,Continue reading “Comforting Thought: And the people stayed home by Kitty O’Meara”
On silence and idleness
“Happiness is in the quiet, ordinary things. A table, a chair, a book with a paper-knife stuck between the pages. And the petal falling from the rose, and the light flickering as we sit silent.” Virginia Woolf, The Waves Time Moves Slow by Bad Bad Good “Nothing thicker than a knife’s blade separates happiness fromContinue reading “On silence and idleness”
Exotic Ads of the Past: Golden Eyes and Her Hero Bill Over There
During the World War I era, modern young women in America were seeking new roles of equality and opportunity in education and work. American illustrator and writer Nell Brinkley was iconic for her representations during the period. She redefined femininity, fashion and trends in many ways in era before mass media – when print wasContinue reading “Exotic Ads of the Past: Golden Eyes and Her Hero Bill Over There”
Content Catnip 