“ You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be—
I had a Mother who read to me. ”
from The Reading Mother by Strickland Gillilan
“ Seek mercy, my son. We are all poor and what’s left to be said is the poor people’s word - thanks. ”
Black Orpheus
“ Names enclosed in italic brackets indicate originators of conjectural emendations when these did not originate in an edition of the text, or when this edition records a conjecture not accepted into its text. ”
From the General Editors’ Preface to the Arden Shakespeare Troilus and Cresida
“ First-rate people hire first-rate people; second-rate people hire third-rate people. ”
Leo Rosten
“ Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought. ”
Albert Szent-Gyorgy
Rocco Landesman interviewed by Frank Rich
I saw Rocco Landesman, the new Chair of the NEA, interviewed by Frank Rich at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia in NYC last night. I was deeply impressed and excited by his vision of the purpose of the NEA, and of Art and Culture in the USA. He wants to see to it that Art and Culture are made part of Presidential policy, and that the arts are used, among other things, as significant elements for the renewal of declined urban environments. Beyond the Galleries, people!
It was clear to me that the agency is in good hands, and that Rocco is determined to give lion-like care to the artists of this country.
To quote Tony Kushner, “It’s potentially the best news the arts community in the United States has had since the birth of Walt Whitman. He’s [Landesman] an absolutely brilliant and brave and perfect choice for the job.”
I left the theatre humbled and filled with optimism.
Dead Bluebirds
This morning I went into my kitchen, excited to light the first wood fire of the season. When I opened the firebox of my wood stove, I discovered two dead bluebirds, one male, one female.
According to a Wikepedia entry,
“The mythology of the bluebird of happiness has deep roots that go back thousands of years. Indigenous cultures across the globe hold similar myths and beliefs about the bluebird. It is a widely accepted symbol of cheerfulness, happiness, prosperity, hearth and home, good health, new births, the renewal of springtime, etc. Virtually any positive sentiments may be attached to the bluebird.
In magical symbology, bluebirds are used to represent confidence in the positive aspect and egotism in the negative. A dead bluebird is a symbol of disillusionment, of the loss of innocence, and of transformation from the younger and naive to the older and wiser.”
Personally, I’ve always felt the presence of bluebirds was a sign of profound environmental health (what does this say about my wood stove?).
A very melancholic beginning to the wood fire season.
“ The people sensible enough to give good advice are usually sensible enough to give none. ”
Eden Phillpotts
“ You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. ”
Dale Carnegie
“
There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is or how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware of the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. As for you, Agnes, you have a peculiar and unusual gift, and you have so far used about one-third of your talent.
“But when I see my work I take for granted what other people value in it. I see only it ineptitude, inorganic flaws and crudities. I am not pleased or satisfied.” “No artist is pleased.” “But then is there no satisfaction?” “No satisfaction whatever, at anytime. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”
”
Martha Graham to Agnes DeMille
