- Jules Verne was born on 2/8/1828. “Reality provides us with facts so romantic that imagination itself could add nothing to them.” (A Journey to the Center of the Earth; From the Earth to the Moon; Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea; Around the World in Eighty Days)
- Kate Chopin was born on 2/8/1850. “A person can’t have everything in this world; and it was a little unreasonable of her to expect it.” (Bayou Folk; A Night in Acadie; The Awakening)
- Elizabeth Bishop was born on 2/8/1911. “If after I read a poem the world looks like that poem for 24 hours or so I’m sure it’s a good one-and the same goes for paintings.” (North & South; Poems: North & South. A Cold Spring; The Complete Poems)
- Iris Murdoch died on 2/8/1999. “We can only learn to love by loving.” (Under the Net; The Bell; The Sea, The Sea; The Green Knight)
- Amy Lowell was born on 2/9/1874. “Happiness, to some, elation; Is, to others, mere stagnation.” (A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass; Sword Blades and Poppy Seed; Legends; A Critical Fable) Continue reading
Author Archives: maedez
[Book Nerd Links] 10 of the World’s Greatest Hotels Inspired by Literature
10 of the World’s Greatest Hotels Inspired by Literature [courtesy of Flavorwire]
Where do you want to stay?
[Intermezzo] Not Quite a Fairy Tale, in Four Lines
I’m Facebook friends with a garden gnome. His name is Robert. He plays Jazz guitar. True story.
A Bookish Impulse Buy, Zombie Edition
What happens when two of my favourite things, zombies and the Edwardian era, are combined? This:

The New Deadwardians
I could not resist.
Daily Diversion #90: She’s Into Dickinson Now

Caught in the act of reading one of my favourite literary biographies.
“I dwell in possibility.”-Emily Dickinson

Pondering Dickinson
[Book Nerd Links] The Remains of Richard III Found
“Conscience is but a word that cowards use,
Devised at first to keep the strong in awe.”-William Shakespeare, King Richard III
Richard III dig: DNA confirms bones are king’s [courtesy BBC News]
Quote

Robert Frost Quote
Daily Diversion #89: Urban Snowscape, Two Ways
“Is it snowing where you are? All the world that I see from my tower is draped in white and the flakes are coming down as big as pop-corns. It’s late afternoon-the sun is just setting (a cold yellow colour) behind some colder violet hills, and I am up in my window-seat using the last light to write to you.”-Jean Webster, Daddy-Long-Legs

Urban Snowscape, Colour
“Winter is not a season, it’s an occupation.”-Sinclair Lewis

Urban Snowscape, B & W
Voices from the Grave #57: Robert Frost Reading ‘Birches’
[Book Nerd Links] Passports of 20 Famous Artists and Writers
The Intriguing Passports of 20 Famous Artists and Writers [courtesy of Flavorwire]
These documents are a fascinating time-waster. Also: Rene Magritte had the coolest pipe. Be sure to come back and leave your impressions in the comments section.