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Monthly Archives: April 2014
[Book Nerd News] Arthur Conan Doyle/Edgar Allan Poe
- AN UPDATE ON SAVE UNDERSHAW: Arthur Conan Doyle’s house to be converted into special school [courtesy The Guardian]
- Boston’s Edgar Allan Poe Statue Will Be Unveiled in October [courtesy Boston Magazine]
Happy 100th Birthday, Marguerite Duras!
Marguerite Duras was born on 4 April 1914.
“She had lived her early years as though she were waiting for something she might, but never did, become.”-Marguerite Duras, The Ravishing of Lol Stein
The tomb of Marguerite Duras
3 April 1783: Washington Irving, American Dreamboat
Washington Irving, a titan in the annals of American Literature, was born on 3 April 1783.
“There is a serene and settled majesty to woodland scenery that enters into the soul and delights and elevates it, and fills it with noble inclinations.”-Washington Irving
Surprisingly, the father of Ichabod and Rip was something of a dreamboat as a young man.
Washington Irving at 22.
Portrait of Washington Irving by John Wesley Jarvis, 1809.
Washington Irving in 1820.
[Alternative Muses] Birthday Mashup: Émile Zola/Buddy Ebsen
“If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud.”-Émile Zola (born 2 April 1840)
Buddy Ebsen, 1936. He was born on 2 April 1908.
Shirley Temple and Buddy Ebsen in Captain January (1936).
[Intermezzo] No Concentration, or Why I’m as Happy as Clara Bow with a Beach Ball
The winter-encrusted inhabitants of this drafty house are agog at the most gladsome of all tidings: spring is here! It is here! It is here! Glorious. Insistent. Blustery. She’s a grand dame, is Spring. I should be writing. I could be cleaning. I would, I would…but it is 77 degrees outside! The day that a season elbows her way back into our lives is a cause for celebration, not concentration.
I’m as happy as Clara Bow with a beach ball!
This is where I put words about how the contented chirping of birds, barking of dogs, and mewing of small children have all joined to create the newest soundtrack sensation. Ice cream trucks, green shoots of plants I am constitutionally unable to recognize but overjoyed to see, and motorcycle engines belong here, too. Tank tops, sandals, and Margaritas for the win!
The front porch boards are warm beneath my feet.
Darwin on Poetry
“If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week.”-Charles Darwin
The Drawbridge by Vincent van Gogh, 1888. I’d add “look at beautiful things as often as possible” to the list.
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea. 