Quote of the Week - Bronowksi

"Learning to understand that people are not really as unkind as they express themselves is probably what I learned in Germany and what I learned as a small boy.  It did me a world of good." 

- Jacob Bronowksi

I have a huge crush on Dr. Bronowski! He's fascinating!  Thanks to Fiddes Smith for introducing me to him via The Ascent of Man series.  (You might want to check out Fiddes Smith, too.)

Not everyone uses language for good or uses it well.  Not everyone is capable of strong verbal self expression.  Listening is a full body act.  Encouraging positive expression is a lifetime commmitment.

Happy first Monday of the Olympics!

TABARNAK SUNDAY BETHNAL GREEN

Will be doing a set at The Gallery Cafe in Bethnal Green on Sunday as part of Tabarnak's Mini-Olympic Festival - come out!  It's free and it will be fun!  Starts at 2pm.


Line up so far!

E. AMATO
MELV
JAMES WILLS
ANTONIO LULIC
THE SEA KINGS
JONNY TAYLOR

New Kindle Book!

I've finally managed to stop tweaking and just upload my new tiny book for Kindle.  It's called 5 and it has some poems I wrote in Morocco, plus 2 French translations (originally commissioned by Red Ochre Lit) by Catherine Webster, PhD., as well as some photos (which definitely vary in quality and range depending on what type of Kindle viewer you might be using!).

Special thanks go to Francesca Barrientos who provided technical and creative support in the transition from Word doc to Kindle!

I like the idea of doing a very small book of poems that are closely linked, and hope to do more.  Since it's a very small book, it has a very small price ($1.99 US), too.  I hope you like it!

Quote of the Week - Plutarch

"It is therefore essential for us to make sure, first, that we approach words in a way that is beneficial to ourselves, and second, where other people are concerned, that we do so not because we empty glory or public recognition, but rather because we want to be taught and to teach.  Above all, we must make sure that, when investigating issues,there is no trace of rivalry and contentiousness, and that we have stopped supplying ourselves with arguments as if they were boxing thongs or padded gloves to be used against one another, and no longer prefer bludgeoning others to the ground to learning and teaching,  Reasonableness and civility during discussions, neither embarking on conversations competitively nor ending them in anger, neither crowing if an argument is won nor sulking if it is lost -- all this is the behaviour of someone who is progressing nicely." 

- Plutarch

For all my verbal pugilists...maybe it's time for some rethinking?

Happy Monday.

Quote of the Week - Drake

"So leave the ways that are making you be
What you really don't want to be
Leave the ways that are making you love
What you really don't want to love." 

- Nick Drake

Yeah, so, didn't really know what I wanted from a quote this week til this song came up in my playlist.  This feels right to me.   Nick Drake was not long on this planet, and he knew all of this before leaving.  And he left it for us to pick up.  

Quote of the Week - Blake

"Let no one drag you to casket depth. Instead, hope they retrieve their soul from whatever well of pain they dropped it in. Pray the darkness they submerge themselves in, daily, be a birth canal, let them feel the kiss of a new mother, one more loving than the one they must have had, let that opaque hole only bring new light for them to focus on. Do not respond, Do not ask what was said in the sewing circle, at the rumor mill, around the poetry slam. Write. Read. Continue. Look for light, turn your music up, listen to those that truly love you. Let go." 

- John S. Blake

Yes yes yes yes and

yes.

Oh Monday, go easy.

Quote of the Week - Nouwen

“The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares.”


- Henri Nouwen

Thanks, Terry!

Hope you have at least one such friend and are such a friend.

Aw...she used to be sassy!