Imaginary overheard snippet of conversation…
“Don’t be fooled by the big ears, big hands and big feet…”
Fun with Flags – 5
Which is the Russian Federation flag and which is the Ukrainian flag?
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 5,539
…yeah I know you did not ask!
Robin referred to me today as David Cop-a-feel. I think I like it.
The Story of Mary MacLane by Mary MacLane
The Story of Mary MacLane by Mary MacLane
This is a memoir that was very popular in its time. It was “lost”, and then rediscovered. It is written by a 19 year old woman who lived in Butte, Montana in 1901. Ms. MacLane was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Butte, Montana of 1901 was a mining time, and for many reasons Ms. MacLane did not feel like she fit into it. For the times she had more than the usual education for a man and certainly for a woman. She tells us she is a genius, and who am I to argue with her. Later in life she became openly bisexual. The memoir openly speaks of her love for a woman that is beyond platonic. I cannot imagine trying to come to terms with those stirrings in that place at that time. It had to be difficult. The following passage is but one of many that speaks of this.
“I feel in the anemone lady a strange attraction of sex. There is in me a masculine element that, when I am thinking of her, arises and overshadows all the others.
“Why am I not a man,” I say to the sand and barrenness with a certain strained, tense passion, “that I might give this wonderful, dear, delicious woman an absolutely perfect love!”
And this is my predominating feeling for her.
So, then, it is not the woman-love, but the man-love, set in the mysterious sensibilities of my woman-nature. It brings me pain and pleasure mingled in that odd, odd fashion.
Do you think a man is the only creature with whom one may fall in love?” Continue reading “The Story of Mary MacLane by Mary MacLane”
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 2,681
…yeah I know you did not ask!
A person is simply the sum of his/her rationalizations.
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 1,661
…yeah I know you did not ask!
Man is simply a machine for creating rationalizations.
Oscar Wilde – His Life and Confessions by Frank Harris
Oscar Wilde is best known for his quips, quotes and aphorisms, at least to me. The Importance of Being Ernest gave to me my first real appreciation of plays. It is a light, comic romp full of misdirection and subtle and not so subtle puns. For various reasons I have seen the play three times over the years. The Picture of Dorian Gray is a classic of this epoch. The novel also in many ways led to his downfall. While he wrote the book before his fall from grace I found The Picture of Dorian Gray metaphorically autobiographical of his entire life. In the end Oscar Wilde ended up destroying himself. The book raised the rancor of puritanical 1890 England due to its homoerotic theme, and allusions of an underworld of what was then considered deviant behavior.
I knew Oscar was gay(in the modern sense of the word) and had gone to jail for two years for this “crime”. However, I had always pictured him as this bon vivant, a social gadfly. The Oscar I discovered in this book Continue reading “Oscar Wilde – His Life and Confessions by Frank Harris”
And John Kerry called it…
Speaking at an international security conference in Munich, Germany, Kerry said:
“The aspirations of citizens are once again being trampled beneath corrupt, oligarchic interests – interests that use money to stifle political opposition and dissent, to buy politicians and media outlets, and to weaken judicial independence and the rights of non-governmental organizations.”
Most folks thought he was talking about Ukraine, but sounds a lot like what is going on the good old USA.
Neil deGrasse Tyson on Science Literacy
An Interesting side of Mark Twain: 1601
The full title of this work is, 1601: Conversation, as it was by the Social Fireside, in the Time of the Tudors. It is written by Mark Twain. I stumbled upon it a little accidentally. Well, that is almost true, librivox.org has a genre entitled Erotica. Considering that all their books are in public domain I wondered what was in there. I found this little gem.
We all know that Samuel Clemens had a colorful and varied life. Occasionally he has been criticized for his language. A recent brouhaha about the use of the N* word comes to mind. However, there is not a book of Mark Twain’s that is commonly read that I would have an issue with any of my children reading when they were of tender age. This little volume I would have had them wait a few years.
As I understand it, he wrote this work between The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Without giving too much away, I have a picture of Samuel Clemens sitting in his octagon writing studio and passing the mother of all flatulence. To me it is utterly delightful to think of this American legend writing something like this.
The actual oeuvre is very short, and circulated as a pamphlet for many years. If you download the Librivox version it runs 17 minutes or so, but the whole download is about about Continue reading “An Interesting side of Mark Twain: 1601”