1. 2 Oct



    I have been one acquainted with the night.
    I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.
    I have outwalked the furthest city light.

    I have looked down the saddest city lane.
    I have passed by the watchman on his beat
    And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

    I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
    When far away an interrupted cry
    Came over houses from another street,

    But not to call me back or say good-by;
    And further still at an unearthly height
    One luminary clock against the sky

    Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
    I have been one acquainted with the night.
    — Robert Frost, “Acquainted with the Night” (The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry, Norton, 2003)

    (Source: gammasandgerunds, via libraryland)

     

  2. 25 Aug


    downlo: Jorge Luis Borges (August 24, 1899 – June 14, 1986) I’ve dedicated my life to reading. My father showed me his library, which seemed to me infinite, and he told me to read whatever I wanted, but that if something bored me I should put it down immediately—that is, the opposite of obligatory reading. Reading has to be a happiness, and philosophy gives us happiness, and that is the contemplation of a problem. The world continues to be more enigmatic, more enchanting. For me reading and writing are two equally pleasurable activities. When writers talk about the torture of writing, I don’t understand it. For me writing is a necessity. When I was young, I thought about what I considered the heroic life of my military elders, a life that had been rich, and mine—the life of a reader—seemed to me a poor life. Now I don’t believe that. The life of a reader can be as rich as any other life. Suppose Alonso Quijano had never left his library, or bookstore, as Cervantes called it, I believe that his life reading would have been as rich as when he conceived the project of turning himself into Quixote. (Harper’s/April 2008) Feliz cumpleanos, from one whose memory is also “full of verses and full of books”.

    downlo:

    Jorge Luis Borges (August 24, 1899 – June 14, 1986)

    I’ve dedicated my life to reading. My father showed me his library, which seemed to me infinite, and he told me to read whatever I wanted, but that if something bored me I should put it down immediately—that is, the opposite of obligatory reading. Reading has to be a happiness, and philosophy gives us happiness, and that is the contemplation of a problem. The world continues to be more enigmatic, more enchanting. For me reading and writing are two equally pleasurable activities. When writers talk about the torture of writing, I don’t understand it. For me writing is a necessity. When I was young, I thought about what I considered the heroic life of my military elders, a life that had been rich, and mine—the life of a reader—seemed to me a poor life. Now I don’t believe that. The life of a reader can be as rich as any other life. Suppose Alonso Quijano had never left his library, or bookstore, as Cervantes called it, I believe that his life reading would have been as rich as when he conceived the project of turning himself into Quixote.

    (Harper’s/April 2008)

    Feliz cumpleanos, from one whose memory is also “full of verses and full of books”.

    (via bibliofila)

     

  3. 9 Aug


    honeymuse: Louis le Brocquy Girl in Grey, 1939, oil on canvas, 93 x 93 cm. I tend to generally like artists earlier works, like this one by Brocquy.  Perhaps, it’s because my works are early and I can see the accomplishments easier.  Also, another little fact about Brocquy is that he is in love with an Irish painter named Anne Madden.  They even share website space and I imagine a gentle and sweet home life.

    honeymuse:

    Louis le Brocquy

    Girl in Grey, 1939, oil on canvas, 93 x 93 cm.

    I tend to generally like artists earlier works, like this one by Brocquy.  Perhaps, it’s because my works are early and I can see the accomplishments easier.  Also, another little fact about Brocquy is that he is in love with an Irish painter named Anne Madden.  They even share website space and I imagine a gentle and sweet home life.

    (Source: honeymuse)