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Thursday, August 27, 2015

William Saroyan

William Saroyan
photographed by Paul Kalinian (c), 1976
(source: today in literature)
no copyright infringement intended


Try to learn to breathe deeply; really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell (Saroyanesque, source: wiki)



(A Life in Books)

(Filmofilia)

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Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Adriano Celentano, Non esiste l'amor (1961)

Adriano Celentano
(source: actors-pictures)
no copyright infringement intended

For my friends my age

A couple of days ago, it was evening, and I was alone in my room, this song came to my mind, from times that were long ago, times when my generation was starting its flight. 1961, I was in high school, and the rock was the way to be.

Non esiste l'amor,
è soltanto una favola
inventata da te
per burlarti di me.

Non esiste l'amor,
è una storia ridicola,
ma non ride il mio cuor,
me l'hai detto anche tu
che non m'ami già più.

Non posso pensar
che di un altro tu sei,
che i tuoi baci non son più miei
mentre ancor ti vorrei.

Non esiste l'amor,
è soltanto una favola,
mentre ridi di me
io non amo che te.

E se piango d'amor
non mi sento ridicolo,
sono pazzo, lo so,
ma il mio cuor ti darò
finchè un palpito avrò.

Non posso pensar
che di un altro tu sei,
che i tuoi baci non son più miei
mentre ancor ti vorrei.

Non esiste l'amor,
è soltanto una favola,
mentre ridi di me
io non amo che te.

E se piango d'amor
non mi sento ridicolo,
sono pazzo, lo so,
ma il mio cuor ti darò
finchè un palpito avrò.

Non esiste l'amor!
Non esiste l'amor!
(source: youTube)







(Les Troubadours du Temps Jadis)

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Snapshots without Camera - Dialog with a Barista

Michael Godard, Martini Club
The Martini Club
of
Lost Snapshots







In a Starbucks in this town looking like an illustrated story for kids. A town where everybody's smiling at each other. A town of small miracles for kids and small indulgences for grown-ups. A story land. I'm in front of the barista. He's as old as I am.

- I would like a tall coffee.

- What coffee?

- A tall coffee.

- A hot coffee!?

- Tall, t-a-l-l, tall, a tall coffee

- Yes?

- And also a cookie.

- A ... ?

- Yes, coo-kie.

- (smiling) Where are you from?

- (returning smile) From here ... well (continuing smile), kind of.

- You have an accent, though.

- That accent I've also noticed ... (smiling) actually I'm from Romania. Kind of.

- Wow! Cool!


(Lexington)

(Snapshots without Camera)

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Helen Farish, Athens

(source: Daily Mail)
no copyright infringement intended


Did you take me for a Greek word?
Most do, but I pre-date the Greeks.

I used to describe a limestone plateau
where dusty snakes and small owls lived

with a people from whose mouths emerged
my extensive family. I miss the sound

of my original kin as I muck in
with this new crowd, biting my tongue

when I hear two or even three words stuck
together to describe skies my first family

got in a syllable – skies that occur at nightfall
in Attica after days of languor in late August

(you know the ones). But as I mourn the fall
in standards, I tell myself to be grateful

I’m uttered without nostalgia and remain
the name of this place. I’d hate to join Siam,

Byzantium, Saigon, Rangoon, Bombay –
beautiful words in various stages of decay.


(Helen Farish)

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Helen Farish

Helen Farish
image by Caroline Forbes
(source: poetry archive)
no copyright infringement intended


British poet. Her volume Intimates won the 2005 Forward best first collection. As a noun, it promises secrets and, true to her word, Farish lifts the lid on the minutiae of her life, furnishing her poems with personal possessions and unveiling and discussing her body and sexuality. As a verb, however, it hints and alludes, undercutting the simplicity of her physical candor (source: The Guardian).



(A Life in Books)

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Sunday, August 09, 2015

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
photo by AP Photo/George Osodi, 2008
(source: wikimedia)
no copyright infringement intended


Nigerian anglophone novelist, nonfiction writer and short story writer, probably best known for Americanah; divides her time between the US and Nigeria; I intend to read some of her books (including, of course, Americanah); for now, I have just read We Should All Be Feminists; I would come back to it.




(A Life in Books)

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Boston at Night



A couple of days ago, my son was doing some shopping, and I was together with him. We entered firstly a Trader Joe's to buy food, and after that went in a Micro Center nearby, where he bought a Blü phone. It looked very neat and I was wondering if I could buy also one for me, to bring it to Romania. I'll see.

Anyway, after that my son suggested to leave the car and walk a little bit on the border of Charles River. It was in the MIT part of Cambridge, near Harvard Bridge (a curious name for a bridge in the MIT section of the town). It was already night and he took a photo of me with his new gadget. On the other side of the river you could see Boston skyline.


(Boston)

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Friday, August 07, 2015

Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert
photo by Erik Charlton, 2009
uploaded on wikimedia by Raeky
(source: wikimedia)
no copyright infringement intended

American author, essayist, short story writer, biographer, novelist and memoirist, best known for her 2006 memoir, Eat, Pray, Love. The image above shows Elizabeth Gilbert at TED, sharing some interesting view on creativity...wants people to all agree that is comes from some external source like angles =0. She bases this argument on the premise that people like her who have had a great success can better deal with the expectations for their next effort. If it is not successful, then her angles let her down...



(A Life in Books)

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Monday, August 03, 2015

Camus et Gallimard

Albert Camus et son ami et éditeur Michel Gallimard
(source: Facebook page dedicated to Camus)
no copyright infringement intended


(Albert Camus)

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