Wallace Stevens, right, with Robert Frost in Key West, circa 1940 (Photo, Alfred A. Knopf) In today’s New York Times Book Review, Helen Vendler reviews the first edition of Wallace Stevens’ poetry to be published in 20 years. This new volume is the work of John Serio, editor of the Wallace Stevens Journal and by […]
Goddessing
A Muse of Water We who must act as handmaidens To our own goddess, turn too fast, Trip on our hems, to glimpse the muse Gliding below her lake or sea, Are left, long-staring after her, Narcissists by necessity; Or water-carriers of our young Till waters burst, and white streams flow Artesian, from the lifted […]
August City
I just returned from several days in New York. Some gallery shows and museums yes, but more than anything this was a set of days devoted to reconnected with old friends. Collen Burke. Eliot Lable. Mimi Kramer-Bryk and Bill Bryk. One of the best moments: Walking the High Line in its late summer majesty of […]
Science of the Subtle
Another note in keeping with the theme of Science: It works, bitches (see the posting below): The New Scientist has also reported on research into the “smell” of fear. While the article focuses on particular research testing “stress sweat” and the brain’s reaction to it, don’t we all have our own personal experience of the […]
In Praise of Horizontality and the Scientific Method
There are so many things about being horizontal that are worthy of praise. Look at what great things can happen in the supine position: Sex. Sleep. Meditation. And inspiration, something I came to understand from a novelist friend. While writing a complex trilogy, she would lie down whenever the direction wasn’t clear. In that position, […]
Lean Out a Window
Just Thinking Got up on a cool morning. Leaned out a window. No cloud, no wind. Air that flowers held for awhile. Some dove somewhere. Been on probation most of my life. And the rest of my life been condemned. So these moments count for a lot – peace, you know. Let the bucket of […]
(Still) Lovin’ Rocco (Part 2)
Transgressives like me are always pleased when the political masks drop and the truth spills out, unencumbered by cautious, diplomatic strategery (thank you George Bush for one of my favorite neologisms). But there are cooler and more sagacious heads who point out that candor can be dangerous in worlds where egos have no check. One […]
Lovin’ Rocco
Rocco Landesman (Damon Winter/The New York Times) Straight talk. That’s in shorter supply in the Obama administration than a lot of us had hoped. And by that I mean straight as in right at ya rather than around, over or not at all. But newly-installed head of the National Endowment for the Arts Rocco Landesman […]
Hesse in the Beyond
Eva Hesse. She’s one of those artists in the Influencer Pantheon who just keeps giving. Her work lights up my dashboard again and again. And how I wish I were going to be in Edinburgh in October rather than November—50 works by Hess, never before seen in public, are being featured in a show as […]
Best Year Ever
The Economist’s More Intelligent Life conducted an online poll asking the question, What was the most important year in human history? The winner as of right now is 1439, the year Gutenberg invented the printing press. Here’s the list as it currently stands. BTW, it isn’t too late to cast your vote, which you can […]