Author Archives: maedez

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About maedez

Writer, biographer, poet. History nerd, silent movie maven. Punk rocker, amateur baker, bookworm. Cricket fan, Scotch drinker, craft beer snob.

A Year in Books/Day 197: Me of Little Faith

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  • Title: Me of Little Faith
  • Author: Lewis Black
  • Year Published: 2008 (Riverhead Books)
  • Year Purchased: 2010
  • Source: Clearance rack, unknown bookstore
  • About: During the 90 minutes it took to read Me of Little Faith, I did so with Lewis Black’s voice in my head. It was like a book-on-tape experience without the tape part. Or disc, as this isn’t 1984. If you’ve ever seen Black do, well, anything, you know what to expect from his religious diatribe/angry memoir. It reads like one of his stand-up routines, which is a good thing: he’s witty, smart, articulate, inappropriate, honest and decidedly on-point about nearly everything he touches. Unless you disagree with him, in which case you’ll find this book, and my review of it, a miserable read. Continue reading →

[Intermezzo] Five Minutes

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After I fall in love with a book, whether it happens with the opening sentence or mid-way through chapter five, in an effort to finish it I operate at one of two speeds: molasses-slow or maniacally fast. The process is involuntary, organic: I don’t choose the rate, it chooses me. Whether I’m pulling apart paragraphs sentence by sentence, and sentences word by word, or running through chapters to the rhythm of a hummingbird’s beating wings, one thing is true: I’m savoring every moment, every thought, every element. The paths are different, but the enjoyment is similarly intense.

Reading is ritualistic, with individual ceremonies developing around each book: fugitive but nourishing, their ordered peculiarities decorate the mosaic of my days. Continue reading →

The Dead Writers Round-Up: 22nd-24th August

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  • Dorothy Parker was born on 8/22/1893. “Take care of the luxuries and the necessities will take care of themselves.”
  • Kate Chopin died on 8/22/1904. “To be an artist includes much; one must possess many gifts-absolute gifts-which have not been acquired by one’s own effort. And, moreover, to succeed, the artist must possess the courageous soul.”
  • Ray Bradbury was born on 8/22/1920. “I don’t try to describe the future. I try to prevent it.”
  • Edgar Lee Masters was born on 8/23/1869. “To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness, But life without meaning is the torture Of restlessness and vague desire-It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.”
  • Jean Rhys was born on 8/24/1890. “A room is, after all, a place where you hide from the wolves. That’s all any room is.”
  • Malcolm Cowley was born on 8/24/1898. “Be kind and considerate with your criticism….It’s just as hard to write a bad book as it is to write a good book.”
  • Jorge Luis Borges was born on 8/24/1899. “Art always opts for the individual, the concrete; art is not Platonic.”

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[All images are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and are in the Public Domain]

 

Daily Diversion #36: Then You Realise That You Got to Have a Purpose*

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I came across this whilst wandering around Half Price Books last night. It called my name to the scream of a punk beat. “I’m yours, yours, YOURS, Maeeedezzzzzzzzzzz!”

Route 19 Revisited

Route 19 Revisited

How could I resist, especially on the eve of Joe’s birthday?

Route 19 Revisited, The Clash and London Calling

Route 19 Revisited, The Clash and London Calling

He would have been 60 years old today.

*From Clash City Rockers by The Clash

Voices from the Grave-Joe Strummer Birthday Edition #1

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For one day only, I’m switching from literature to punk, from the imagination to concrete humanity. Today is dedicated to Joe, on what would have been his 60th birthday. He had a heart bigger than the world, and lyrical ability to match. With compassion, clarity, and righteous anger, he, along with George Bernard Shaw*, pointed me in the only direction I am meant to face.

One of my favourite songs by The Clash.

My wedding song.

I still cry when I watch this video.

*If you think they are an odd pair to be so heavily influenced by, in equal and often parallel  measure, please check out the Pinterest board I have dedicated to them: As Far as Thought Can Reach. It might not offer an intellectual explanation, but it is fun to see them side by side.

A Year in Books/Day 196: The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations from Shakespeare

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  • Title: The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations from Shakespeare
  • Editors: Mary and Reginald Foakes
  • Year Published: 1998 (Columbia University Press)/This Edition: 2000 (Barnes & Noble Books)
  • Year Purchased: Early 2000s
  • Source: Barnes & Noble clearance rack
  • About: There is something off about heading to the Internet for your Shakespeare needs. If any writer cries out for an old-fashioned hard copy experience, it is the Bard of Avon. I will take this cheap clearance book over a Google search box every time. If you cannot find the quote you are looking for-or a suitable one you do not yet know exists-then you are a terrible, terrible contrarian in need of a scolding. Nearly 4000 quotations have been cross-indexed under a dizzying array of topics. The kicker? It was a labor of love by scholar Reginald Foakes and his wife, Mary (who died before it reached publication). How very Shakespearean.
  • Motivation: A dictionary + quotes + Shakespeare? This book practically screamed my name.
  • Times Read: Only as a reference tool, never cover-to-cover (it feels odd typing those words).

    English: Title page of Shakespeare's Sonnets (...

    English: Title page of Shakespeare’s Sonnets (1609) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  • Random Excerpt/Page 83: “Well you deserve. They well deserve to have That know the strong’st and surest way to get.”
  • Happiness Scale: 10

Shopping for the Bookworm: William Faulkner Mini-Edition

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I put together this edition for the purpose of showing off a painting that I adore! Lest you get bored, I padded it with a few more related products from Etsy. Enjoy!

William Faulkner Canvas by CustomLife

William Faulkner Canvas by CustomLife-$359.00

What an inspiring, center-of-attention piece! I’m not sure how much writing I would get done with Faulkner lording it over me like that. I’m afraid I’d have to banish him from my studio. He would look wonderful above my bar, though.

William Faulkner Necklace by ART HISTORY NERD

William Faulkner Necklace by ART HISTORY NERD-$20.00

I love jewelry that hasn’t been mass-produced by the tens of thousands. It’s a good thing that I have self-control, or I would own way too many pieces featuring writers’ mugs. I like Faulkner’s pipe and pensive pose here.

A handsome1956 edition of Faulkner’s 4th novel (originally published in 1929). I love old books. Okay, I love books in general. Older ones just happen to be my favourites. This volume, with its gold embossed spine, is no exception.

Original Illustration-William Faulkner Quotation by Obvious State

Original Illustration-William Faulkner Quotation by Obvious State-$24.00

Quote + Art=happiness.

A Year in Books/Day 195: Murder on the Menu

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  • Title: Murder on the Menu Cordon Bleu Stories of Crime and Mystery
  • Editor: Peter Haining
  • Year Published: 1991 (Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc.)
  • Year Purchased: I have no idea when this book was purchased, but it was given to me in 2010
  • Source: A hand-me-down from my mom
  • About: Murder on the Menu is a collection of stories about killing people by poisoning their food, or other dark dinnertime deeds. So fun! So lighthearted! So hunger-inducing! I love literary meals. I think it’s fascinating how authors represent the most basic of human needs in their writings. If you’ve never looked at fiction from that angle, you should give it a try. This crime compilation naturally focuses on the macabre, but the principle stands. The selection of authors is unexpectedly varied, offering a wider appeal than similar books.
  • Motivation: People are always giving me books they no longer want. They know I will be kind. Or sell them when they aren’t looking.
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Page 76: “Captain Michel had but one arm, which he found useful when he lit his pipe. He was an old sea dog whose acquaintance, with that of four other old salts, I made one evening on the open front of a cafe in the Vieille Darse, Toulon, where I was taking an appetiser. And in this way we fell into the habit of foregathering over a glass within a stone’s throw of the rippling wave and the swinging dinghys, about the hour when the sun sinks behind Tamaris.”
  • Happiness Scale: 7