OT ~ Welcome to Saturday!
Sit-a-while
on swinging porch
where tin-dippers and
sweet water
in cool touches
meet lips
from hand dug wells.
Good morning good people,
It begins in blindness: taste of invisible ink;
black mouthful of discreet syllables,
punishable. Shrouded in touch, at the shut
wooden door of the visible world.
In tutelage I told a static time with my fingertip—
miniature clock, ideogram of itself—then traced
the profile of Victoria (undistinguished,
dough-chinned). Learned tracery, griffonage.
This was not the only language.
Amongst ourselves: Pins in the Pincushion,
the Lexicon of Notched Sticks, Glass and Wooden
Beads on String. A Tactile Library.
Then explosion: pin-type primer and wire stylus.
I was the least reluctant. The index finger never blinks,
is filmed only by labor's callus. File it down.
(In secret I read with a genteel tongue.)
The Stippled Alphabet, poked up as if
with threadless needle, regular as lace,
was bound into this new word, BOOK.
My embossed illumination. Still I do not see—
Were it not for curiosity I would as lief
have long arms. My hands, I think,
would inform me better of what is doing
in the moon than your eyes, your telescopes.
On the Invention of Braille
~ Elizabeth Grainger
My house is mine:
the choice of menu,
the radio and television,
the unpolished floors,
the rumpled sheets.
It’s like being inside
a rolltop desk. I have
no maid who takes care
of me. Sometimes,
during breakfast,
I speak French with
a taxidermied wren.
There is no debt
between us. We listen
to language tapes:
Viens-tu du ciel profond (Baudelaire)?
Always, I hear a little oratorio
inside my head. Moths
have carried away my carpets,
like invisible pallbearers.
I like invisibleness,
except in the moon’s strong,
broad rays. Some nights,
I ask her paleness, Will I be okay?
I am weak and fruitless at night,
like a piece of meat with eyes,
but in the morning optimistic again,
like a snowflake that has traveled
many miles and many years
to be admired on the kitchen pane.
Alone, I guzzle
and litter and urinate
and shout. Please do not
wake me from this dream,
making meals from discrete
objects—a sweet potato,
a jar of marmalade,
a bottle of sauvignon blanc.
Today, I saw a sign
in majuscule for free dirt
and thought, We all have
chapters we’d rather keep
unpublished, in which we
get down with the swirl.
The little wren perched on my
finger weighs almost nothing,
just nails and beak. But it
gives me tiny moments—
here at my kitchen table—
like a diaphanous chorus
mewling something
about love, or the haze
of love, a haze that makes
me squint-eyed and sick
if I think too much about it.
What am I but this flensed
syntax, sight and sound,
in which my heart, not
insulated yet, makes
ripple effects down the line?
Free Dirt
~ Henri Cole
Today, museums are being used for another use: therapy.
The Royal Ontario Museum (or ROM, as Torontonians refer to to the city’s landmark) has recently started offering free admission to those bearing a doctor’s or medical worker’s prescription or referral.
The concept is being promoted as part of a one-year pilot project from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Alliance for Healthier Communities. Dr. Kate Mulligan of the Alliance for Healthier Communities told The CBC that the idea of social prescriptions is based on efforts in the UK, where similar non-medical interventions have helped shift some issues to community support workers.
In Montreal, a recent partnership between physician members of the Médecins francophones du Canada (MFdC) and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts allows doctors to prescribe museum visits as part of treatment. “The MMFA-MFdC Museum Prescriptions program is a new treatment tool that makes museum visits accessible to thousands of patients suffering from a variety of physical and mental health problems,” reads a statement on the MMFA’s website. “By offering free admission to a safe, welcoming place, a relaxing, revitalizing experience, a moment of respite, and an opportunity to strengthen ties with loved ones, MMFA-MFdC Museum Prescriptions contribute to the patient’s well-being and recovery.” The museum even dedicates specific areas to art therapy, as well as offering a medical consultation room. https://www.forbes.com/sites/lesliewu/2018/12/30/museums-are-entering-th...
Today's photo: The Royal Ontario Museum
Wherever you are, hoping you've a marvelous day.
Comments
A light snows falls; from the picture window cars roll
up entrance drive, snaking their way to anticipated delights of going downhill. Feeling some better, think i'll join them in a couple of hours.
Storm forecast to last until Tuesday.
My PC prescribed new physical thearpy and scheduled an appointment for the Pain Clinic at hospital and gave me a few prednisone pills for the meantime. So, it's back to white-coats for a while; thankful on one hand to have the help; but, tired of endeavors to keep going as well.
Hurray, i'm the proud owner of a 21-year-old Toyota Corolla with no rust. Update on molded interior: After spraying one gallon of vinegar, soaking everything, removing the carpet completely then covering the seats with a box of 20-muleteam borax and after another day, scrubbing everything with a solution of borax and dove soap then adding a carpet-odor-cleaner, the fragrance has changed; think i was successful.
Now to find a home for my sweet 97 Nissan 200 SX which runs great but is rusted out.
Bout all the news; finishing up a dogsit tomorrow; miss the babies already ...
Have a great one.
Part the
200sx out, if you're handy mechanically.if not, put it up on craigslist AS a parts car.
You Did let everything dry and vacuum the interior with a Good shopvac? Several times?
I also pound on the upholstery As I vac to knock more dust out.
Enjoy the slopes, after a spiral frac and a blown shoulder, my days on the slope are barside.
Snowboarding in my forties, Smaht Guy!
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
Good morning TBU; yes to the vacuuming a lot
in hopes of getting out the deep spores. The Nissan is a great little car only 150k on the engine, so i hope to find someone in need around here; she's also great in the snow.
Know what you mean, i'm better at après-ski than on the hill now-a-days
How Hospitals and Insurance Companies Screw Us
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeDOQpfaUc8]
And I'm sure this just scratches the surface.
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
Tell me about, Aspie; the double-billing and error codes
drive me mad at times; must eventually take the profit from health care delivery.
Thanks for the Vid and hoping you've a peaceful day and week.
Museums are also "Problematic" these days.
Nope, Not kidding.
But here's the funny thing. Display Western art? Even MORE PROBLEMATIC.
So, pretty much, The corporate media has decided that museums and old art are to be... quietly retired. Look forward to the next paint by numbers CGI fest, shut up, and consume...
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1-OOQajQLc]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Hi Detroit, you remind me that i've been planning to
write about the WPA and art; and maybe i'll get around to it one Saturday.
Peaceful day to you, sir.
Happy Saturday, s7!
Dims leadership still ‘same as it ever was’, but Sanders and Cortez at least talk a good game.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Here is another good article comparing Chuck&Nancy's lame
response to Bernie's:
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/01/pelosi-and-schumer-played...
Good evening, kath, good to see you and a hearty welcome to
c99 and Saturdays; c99 is a special place, glad you've chimed in and are posting.
Bernie supporter here, always have been, no real regrets, he's the best of many. Granted, we've work to do, it's never-ending, but not fruitless unless we let it be.
Thanks again for the link and for being here and have a great evening and week.
Hi do; cheers to as many good voices blasting away as possible.
Perhaps, in time, this pendulum will swing; i've faith in the young people of the world and pledge to do my best in preventing the oligarchs from drowning their voices, one person and one step at a time.
Hoping you two a splendid evening and week.
Good morning Smiley. Entering a brief lull in the
hurly-burly here. A chance to perhaps catch up on mounds of unfinished business and establish a modicum of order and organization in my tiny "work" zone here. Hope the new PT and new wheels both work well and bring satisfaction.
The Nissan conjures up images of what a creative ambitious youngster with far more time and skills could make of it, especially if it were in Az, Nv, SoCal. I see it stripped to the frame and wiring, cleaned and polished and serving as the foundation for somebody's automotive fantasy, be it swoopy-sporty, brutalist transport, or retro-rod.. I'd start any of them with cycle fenders up front just to make life easier.
Farmers' market today, so salmon and spuds tonight, grilling in the rain again. I need to fabricate a portable wind break for the whole process. Maybe today, or am I just avoiding my unfinished business noted above?
Have a good one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Hi el, appreciate your
conjuring; she's a sweet little two-door, sunroof, alloy wheels and a rear spoiler. Looking for the right hands to care for her and she should last two-three more years. Has new struts front and back, so she corners beautifully. But, alas the rust and the Corolla is 11 years younger, a better bet for the longer term.
Salmon sounds great with a good wine to wet the palate before.
Have a great dinner, evening and week.
Good morning
It was cool and windy this morning at trade day. Not much there but visited around with friends and neighbors.
Glad the car project worked out. Bet there's an ASU student with need of a reliable car. Rain is on the way and I've got to take care of a couple of things so have a good one everybody.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Hi Lookout, appears the lower elevations are in for
an ice storm tonight and tomorrow; man, we've had the rain this year, haven't we?
The Nissan is a good karma car, only auto i've purchased over the telephone as i was undergoing cancer treatment and living in a tent 25-miles west of Knoxville when the car i had been gifted blew an engine. The mechanic who sold it to be is local and a cancer survivor, too. So, i have faith she will find a good home with continuing good vibes.
Have a great evening and week.
Good morning!
Enjoyed the poetry as always. Hope the PT will do good things for you. It's amazing to me that you have pain and still ski! Wow.
Should be able to finish planting onions today. Lots to do outside right now.
Have a great day everyone!
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Hi Marilyn, anyone would ski like me if they
had been on the snow almost every day in winter teaching, doing drills of improvement for decades; so, skiing is second nature to me, almost effortless; plus, i only teach an hour or two of private classes during a day. It's getting from the parking lot up to the shi school that's a real challenge.
Thanks you for thinking of me and glad you enjoyed today's poetry, i did, too.
Onions in the ground, sweet, carry on ...
Have a great week.
USBA 3-Cushion Billiards Amateur Championship
Finals today, all day, from Tucson.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN-7fZxGVMk width:500 height:300]
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
Hi Azazello, good memory ...
Billiards, cool, and thank you for this treat.
Have a great evening and week.
late good evening...
crazy day, back in the saddle w organizing but with local climate folks. boy howdy. maybe nadar's right about a sea change - could happen. city wide, county wide, state wide. state is going to be a hard sell but not impossible, depending. thanks for the ot, hoping your day was great...
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp5q37fUq1Q]
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook
Ah,
this one destined to playing over and over. Thank you, magi, for a splendid poetic finish to a good day.
Beautiful song magiamma, thank you. n/t
I enjoyed every line of both poems, one by Elizabeth Grainger
and one by Henri Cole, as well as the wonderful music to match the wild and the ethereal. Thank you smiley, and the best to you always.
Thank you, janis, happy you enjoyed
the poetry; the pieces spoke to me as well. Hope Spring is treating you well.
Cheers for reading and sweet dreams.
How is your back doing?
You tweaked it a few weeks ago right? Has it gotten better yet or are you still dealing with it? If so I can sympathize. Charlie is doing so much better that yesterday she wanted to play tag and chase. I learned a new rule. Don't do that during winter when you can't see the polished marble grave markers under the snow. Whoops and down I went. Just a tadbit sore today. Just a bit ...
Did you hit the slopes today? Our snow is horrible. Started off heavy and wet then it froze and now it's crusty and yucky.
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
Been nursing the back, hip, and leg pain, beginning
physical therapy on Wednesday. Appreciate your caring.
Fantastic that Charlie's doing better, yay! Just finished a dog-sit, returned to my quiet apt and miss them already, we get so attached to the little ones.
Black ice can hurt; hope you heal quickly.
Thanks for being here and hoping for better snow for you and pups.