The Natural Depth in Man

http://reflight.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/wilson-van-dusen-1-looking-at-madness.html

562732_10200197585195760_396877548_n

Wilson Van Dusen was a very interesting man.Some of his views I am unsure of but his book,The Natural Depth in Man,shows how much we don’t see normally when we look at others.

He was a mystic in a sense.And he worked with people with severe disturbances.His definition of  madness that it renders the person useless.Also introspection is bad when one is in a vulnerable state.. better to do useful,practical tasks like sweeping the floor.And always be polite.In other words,stay in touch with others and this world.

I didn’t know I knew

s:

“Once I begin the act of writing, it all falls away; the view from the window, the tools, the talismans, and I am unconscious of myself… one’s carping inner critics are silenced for a time… there is always a surprise, a revelation. During the act of writing, I have told myself something that I didn’t know I know.”

Gail Godwin

Whatever is true

The students said  I was too warm to be British,so turn off your heating now or face  execution as a  traitor.What people forget is we Brits are a mixed race… then we have the nerve to call people,wogs,dagos and foreigners.we are all foreigners here apart from the Welsh.

Some students told me their dreams;s,anything to avoid studying Lacan

I  personally found quantum theory helps to avoid emotions

and topology  is useful for dressmakers and knitters

Dreams and love are all very well… if you are a millionaire.Till then keep on with figures,asymmetry and words.And courtesy.Obscenity is for dummies or the fragile

Friends are no use unless you are a real person.Whatever she is.

Schizophrenia is to some extent cowardliness………….keep your feet on the ground and say straight out what you mean without entering into wordplay,fey ways,being a seer and seeing how life veers.Be plain.You have a right to your views but speak kindly

Some bulls are only  e-male.

Depression is mainly the result of being driven.So give up the chauffeur and take your time.

Find your own rhythm and stick to it.

Some loose women are fast  and vice versa.Isn’t logic trying?

I was so thin  when I began lecturing I got half fare on the bus and I was 25.So studying keeps you young.Never say Schoenberg aagain.

I was so thin then I bought children’s clothes but now I am  twice the size.Then they said I might have TB,now they say I could get diabetes.Take your pick……there’s something in me that will never take the middle way.My middle gets in the way.

We all eat too much considering how little we do.Bring back the scrubbing  board,brush and hard green soap.But if I eat less I faint…. what an ‘orrible feeling as your vision shrinks to a pinpoint and you sweat all over but more on the top of the head…. and you throw yourself onto the floor… or the ceiling.

Once we were having a meal with another couple…with one of those heated plate things on the table.I passed out and for years they talked about it.They divorced later and blamed me!Still,I gave them something to talk about so maybe I helped.Take the rough and smooth it

If you get disturbed stop introspecting and sweep the floor or the pavement.Do useful things with your hands and help others.Be polite even if you think they are the Devil,.Even if it really is be nice…He is only  human,after all.

God is Love and  plain as plain.

Related articles

A writer who began to get published late in life

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/01/penelope-fitzgerald-hermione-lee-reviewof

 

Penelope-Fitzgerald-A-Life

This is a review of Penelope Fitzgerald’s biography by the well known Hermione Lee.

But the main reason I am putting  it  here is that it will tell you about her lovely books,not to mention her unusual life.She was the niece of the Fr Ronald Knox,the famous convert to Catholicism.Her grandfather was an Anglican Bishop.Despite all that plus a first from Oxford she managed to live  a  life of weird poverty….

He makes me wet my elf daily.

English: Logo of No Nonsense
English: Logo of No Nonsense (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
centre
centre (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

All the praise has gone to  my tongue.

I feel very reimbursed.

Can I ring whine,whine whine,please?

Can I test  the Samaritans?

My face was read and I was flown to the door.

I was so nervous I bled .

The doctor never whistles for me any more.

She said I was the test!

He said,he’s  never hated a woman like me before.

There is always that first rhyme.Chime.

Does your bladder  make you frown?

He makes me wet my elf daily.

I  deranged his new duvet on the bed.

He was totally lighted

He  fainted me quite  naked.

She found cotton bulls handy

I was disseminating.I rest my case.It was my time off

MUSIC: 200603-200803 Listening History Graph
MUSIC: 200603-200803 Listening History Graph (Photo credit: Rev. Xanatos Satanicos Bombasticos (ClintJCL))

the runs

I am a rude model.

Is  it a portrait of  me as I might have dreamed?

Why do we get the runs when verbs take over?

Vivian Gornick and her writing [including an interview]

Gornickhttp://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/gornick-vivianhttp://therumpus.net/2010/08/conversations-with-writers-braver-than-me-1-vivian-gornick/

 

I’m au fait,you are auto da fe.

I CAN EXPLAIN EVERYTHING ...
I CAN EXPLAIN EVERYTHING … (Photo credit: mrbill78636)

What a toad of evil.Re laugh
Damned if you bare and damned if you swear.It’s obscene or a scheme for a wife.
He flinched at my heat and then did a runner.
Strangle a carrot and hunt for a whim.You will be deprived of words
He’s a cart horse trying to make out with a gazelle on steroids
The day came late when a follower took fright and I killed my blog by a blow
What is as dead as door mail?
Think not that the postman is no longer doing a service.
I am late as your dead cats pounced on me by the gate… for ghosts they sure can bite
Dead presidents don’t ring twice
You head wringer!You neck clinger!Leave me alone…don’t torture my verbs
I said it to give my defence not to give offence.Anyway he took offence and ran off
He gave a deadly flow to my brain..he savaged my self esteem.Now mt emotional intelligence has gone  too far
I’m au fait,you’re auto da fe
Health by a thousand cuts this winter in the NHS
I saw fear in his headlights…akka his eyes..
Dig for the cold bloggers in Iceland
Why dip your brow in the water when the horse won’t drink it?
Does dirt weep inside the vacuum cleaner and why do vacuums need cleaning?
You can have milk from my breast… how it got there is a mystery
Do words fly?
Does God ever cry?
And why?

Winds that blow. Leaves that glow.

English: Wayland Smithy in Autumn Taken in a l...
English: Wayland Smithy in Autumn Taken in a late Autumn. A carpet of leaves making the ancient monument glow (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After summer’s sultry flowers,
We get autumn showers.

Winds that blow.
Leaves that glow.
Nature’s wealth is ours.

Harvest grain and harvest corn.
All our food from earth is born.

Warmth of sun-
Ripeness come-
Fruits and nuts adorn.

Trees are turning red and gold
In the glancing sun.

Leaning down I see your face.
Autumn love has come.

Philosophy blogs

http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/

A little hard but good and worth noting

Heidegger and other scholars

http://www.egs.edu/faculty/slavoj-zizek/articles/why-heidegger-made-the-right-step/

This is very interesting and not too difficult…he gives a longer account than I have seen elsewhere.

I can’t understand fully but am drawn to it  wondering about our  problems now

I’ll try and try all by myself.I don’t need anybody

????

I am absolutely determined to relax.

I’ll relax even if it kills me.

I shall not be beaten

I’ll try  and try

and if that doesn’t work…

I am sure I can think of some way to achieve

the most relaxed state a human being has ever reached

Because I have to win.

Even if it kills me.

Obsession,it’s the. new way to relax.

My will power is astonishing.

I am better than you

Thinking,not living?

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-childhood/201306/the-secret-summer-kids

Sometimes we think too much.22261308-circus-artists
Is thinking always bad?
Thoughtfulness is praised
but sometimes we need just to perceive;
To lose ourselves in this world
In the sun and in the rain
In the joy and in the pain.
We must engage
in the game of living,
though some
seem better than others,
like those children who stood on their heads,
or turned cartwheels.
I envied them,was awkward,clumsy,

Was already thinking too much

about the reasons for people’s behaviour
and looking for the patterns;

Was I a sinner?Where was Love?
Do we discover  patterns or create them?
Some can live with chaos more easily.
Better not think about that.
Better to see the sun hitting the water
and the ripples where the geese swam;
Reflections,refractions,distractions.
We have to face life in the end

Play wholeheartedly

Take the knocks and come back.

Keep tumbling

And flying.

God save the Queen

As if I were

November
November (Photo credit: Cape Cod Cyclist)

I was walking behind you

on the footpath

by the river

and I stopped for a moment because

I could see some wrens inside a shrub.

When I looked up

I saw you were

quite far away and  walking fast

as if you were already leaving me

and going on to

the next phase.

The sun shone on the playing field,

It was obscenely green for November,

as if to deny the end of the year

is getting nearer.

I left the wrens fluttering

inside the shrub

and hurried after you

as the swans eyed their five cygnets

and a few drops of rain

ran down my cheek

as if I were weeping

in the sunshine.

You looked smaller,

more determined,

as if anxious

to be off….

A thin poem

POETRY SOCIETY POSTCARD
POETRY SOCIETY POSTCARD (Photo credit: summonedbyfells)

I have to write

these very thin poems

because

my hand hurts

So,

if I make them thin

they look longer

as if I’ve written

much more

than I really have.

And also

it’s easier to read

a short line

than a very long one like I sometimes write when I get that feeling

of

wanting to tell you

the whole story.

But now

this way

You have plenty of lines

To read between.

See what I mean?

It gives you more

chance to invent it yourself

which means

I talk to you and you

talk to me

even when we can’t hear.

What is a poem so thin called?

I got my linear poetic licence now.

So I’ll write

as best I can

and listen for an answer!

Linear or non-linear.

As we say

It’s the thought that counts.

Tutorial. Working from a colour ground, using watercolour/Gouache

So beautiful.just look!

janetweightreed10's avatarMy Life as an Artist (2)

Given that we have entered a truly Brave New World, it is time to re-think everything.

Like everyone else my plans have been changed and so I will not be giving a course at the School in Portugal this April….however, what I plan to do is mimic my course here during the week of 15th til 22nd April which will include daily demonstrations  and tutorials. 

We will need to use our collective imaginations with regards to the wonderful atmosphere of the school, the fabulous people, food,  (including wine and ice cream:) and of course sunshine.   (http://www.artinthealgarve.com)

A watercolour of  courtyard from my course at the School last October…20191104_091721Meanwhile I will continue to give tutorials to hopefully keep everyone’s creative juices flowing during these most difficult of times.

 

Here I am using watercolour and designer gouache.

Watercolour is a transparent medium….Designer Gouache is an opaque watercolour medium. 

In this…

View original post 200 more words

Judgment is not measurable in numbers,so it does not exist!

 

A public demonstration of aerobic exercises
A public demonstration of aerobic exercises (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Photo1745Well.I read the Times,The Guardian and The Independent yesterday.And all I remember is that pink coats and pnted trousers are in fashion  and that the USA has read all my posts and emails including myriads of love letters or love mails.Joan Collins was raped on a date at 17 and later married the man.Very mysterious.I read the I on S today and did half a crossword before doing aerobic exercise whilst lying  on my bed.Meanwhile the sun shines and my joints ache.It’s correlation ,not causation.Just because you fell downstairs  doesn’t mean that’s why your leg broke.It was a coincidence….this is philosophy of science!

And the biggest issue for some of us that staff  in hospitals are worried  the facilities  in  the NHS are already over stretched before winter has started.So if I get chest pain I shall all not go there;I’ll just pass over quietly.Since when is it good for me to lie on a trolly for 13 hours in a noisy corridor and be given morphine after the pain has gone better?Then when you do need it they won’t give it to you.I felt it was like Alice in Wonderland.Blunderland?They treat you by a rubric not by assessing your actual condition… that’s my view.
I think it’s for legal reasons.Judgment may be left out as it’s not measurable it does not exist

Literary friction

Reading the right type of novel makes you better at understanding people.And that must be good….
Reading Fifty Shades of … is not so useful  and if you buy some whips and such like,you are increasing your expenditure.Be creative.DIY.. use a hair ribbon.
Free  fantasy for all.Start now.. well later on…not yet
I looked at that book..I did not realise what it was.The first 3 pages seemed dull so I put it back on  Waterstones‘  table.I can’t write a novel so I shall write a limerick.. and before I get mad,why does my layout keep changing?Am I haunted?
LOVE YOUR KITTEN
There was an old lady from Britain
Whose love focussed on her cat’s kitten.
She gave it warm milk
Wrapped it in silk.
And now she is knitting four mittens.Is that literary?LITERARY LIMERICK?

A philosopher  is a person who thinks
While she washes up at the sink.
She turns over her mind
And lets it unwind…..
She writes all her thoughts down in ink.

CAN YOU TELL LIES?

Some people can’t fantasise
I wonder if they can tell lies?
Reverie  suits  me…
I daydream at tea.
Maybe my followers are spies?

Terry Eagleton reviews ‘The God Delusion’ by Richard Dawkins · LRB 19 October 2006

Amin Mughal امین مغل's avatarAmin Mughal Links

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n20/terry-eagleton/lunging-flailing-mispunching
An old piece of writing by Terry Eagleton, but it would be useful to read it in the context of the raging debate between reason and faith.

View original post

Norman Mailer biography in LRB

Andrew O’Hagan reviews ‘Norman Mailer’ by J. Michael Lennon · LRB 7 November 2013.

I strongly recommend signing up for the LRB… read their blog and more.

Uncut Cover CD November 2013
Uncut Cover CD November 2013 (Photo credit: Brett Jordan)

Booklovers don’t miss it

Related articles

It’s one law for the banks, another for the rest of us

Very well written… read it and think

roymayall's avatarGoing Postal

vince

Locust

Vince Cable’s efforts to keep the Royal Mail in the hands of “blue chip investors” and away from “spivs and speculators” was delivered a blow this week when it emerged that the Children’s Investment Fund has taken a 5.8 per cent stake in the company following its privatisation earlier in the month.

The fund was founded by Chris Hohn, described as a “locust” by German politicians, and damned by the former CEO of Deutsche Börse, Werner Seifert, for his part in scuppering a previous business deal.

The London-based hedge fund has bought 58.2m shares or 5.8pc of Royal Mail. Under stock exchange rules, TCI had to declare its stake when it reached 5pc of the company. The threshold was reached on Friday.

Mr Cable has often criticised hedge funds for being short term investors and has repeatedly insisted that Royal Mail would be sold only to “long-term…

View original post 545 more words

A TED conversation on thinking

http://www.ted.com/conversations/13165/what_is_thinking_how_thin.html

I am still wondering about thinking…. and this is very good and has good links too.But the more I ponder the

more puzzled I get.Is that good?

Top book blog

Top book blog

This is highly thought of by many literary journals

Funny Jokes : Saying The Right Thing

JOKE
JOKE (Photo credit: bertknot)

 

Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends
Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Funny Jokes : Saying The Right Thing.

Grey wheezes…

Image

An old lady may love who she pleases;
And get up to some very grey wheezes.
For nobody looks
Not even the spooks..
As with a feather she tickles and teases.

But whips are considered low class.
Ladies,please let that thought pass.
A hug and a kiss
Is what lone persons miss.
So why can’t we do it en masse?

Literary Fractions and other Fictions

11257109-old-mosaic
Reading the right type of novel makes you better at understanding people.And that must be good.
Reading Fifty Shades in not so useful  and if you buy some whips and suchlike
you are increasing your expenditure.Be creative.DIY
Free  fantasy for all.Start now.. well later on…
I looked at that book..I did not realise what it was.The first 3 pages seemed dull so I out it back on  Waterstones‘  table.I can’t write a novel so I shall write a limerick
LOVE YOUR KITTEN
There was an old lady from Britain
Whose love focussed on her cat’s kitten.
She gave it warm milk
Wrapped it in silk.
And now she is knitting four mittens.Is that literary?
LITERARY LIMERICK?A philosopher  is a person who thinks
While she washes up at the sink.
She turns over her mind
And lets it unwind…..
She writes all her thoughts down in ink.

CAN YOU TELL LIES?

Some people can’t fantasise
I wonder if they can’t tell lies?
Reveries  suits  me…
I daydream at tea.
Maybe my best friends are spies?

LITERARY OR POPULAR FICTION?

political-pictures-darth-vader-blasphemy-style

This  is  verygood.[I was just practising how to do a lnk there!I am  not fully trained in editing.]
This is an interesting article about the difference between literary and popular fiction.I have written a few short stories but always wanted to write a novel.
I love Nicholas Freeling.His  novels are written as detective stories but they qualify as literary fiction.I especially like,Dresden Green.
You can get a full  list of his novels via the link above.I shall be mulling over the thought of writing this weekend and looking a people walking by as I stroll along.
Why do we women wear such clothes?Why is “feminine” a bad word… like flowered dresses?How can one reconcile feminism with femininity?We don’t all want abortions like Simone de Beauvoir.
The other day I wore a dress and my partner said,Auntie E!
Not a compliment is it?I was wondering how good my imagination is.It’s based on experience

The line of your lips

Big Love
Big Love (Photo credit: UMTAD)

The line of your lips is finely made,
as suffering accepted has transmuted pain
into a sculptor who
has given you much beauty;
yet the pain has shaped too
the eyes setting,
as if a slight question waits
in the back of your mind
asking,is this right?
and I perceive this and how you may suddenly tremble
with a memory too piercing;
yet how you love
the world so broken,
so humane
so vulnerable
so strong.
what are you saying to me?
I gather you ask me this of me:
Tell me it’s good to be alive.

And I do.

Family Portraits Changes Vol 1 Book Tour with Gillian Felix

Good for book lovers

Teresa Beasley's avatar

Author bio

Gillian Felix

Gillian Felix has been writing since she was old enough to hold a pencil. She enjoys creating characters that could be your next-door neighbor, but would you want them as your neighbor is another story.

Originally from the island of Trinidad and Tobago, Miss Felix moved to the United States in 1998. Since then she has been involved in the entertainment industry for over fifteen years. Her experience ranges from script supervisor to production manager on many independent features. She is trained in the Meisner and Stanislavski technique of acting, which she credits as an asset to her character development and writing.

Miss Felix is an entrepreneur and advocate for children’s and women’s rights.

Q & A with Gillian Felix

How did you become a writer?

I have always written. As a kid creative writing was one of my favorite subjects. I got my highest marks in that…

View original post 1,232 more words

Vivan Gornick reviews Hannan Arendt’s first 30 years of writing

hannaarendtsudomenica16ye8

vivian-gornick_0

http://bostonreview.net/vivian-gornick-hannah-arendt-on-being-jewish

I came across this because I am interested in Vivian Gornick’s writing but as it is about Hanna Arendt that makes it doubly interesting.I find it hard to comprehend the development of Israel and why some Jewish people are so against it.This clarifies it a little

‘Reading Minds’ Through Literary Fiction

This is a find

DigitalPlato's avatarWP Writers Group

Fiction Matters, February 2008
This is what I enjoy most from reading fiction — reading or probing the minds of characters

Difference between popular and literary fiction
‘Popular fiction tends to be focused on plot, says , professor of psychology at The New School for Social Research in New York, and the characters are rather stereotypical. “You open a book of what we call popular fiction and you know from the get-go who is going to be the good guy and the bad guy.”

‘Literary fiction, in contrast, focuses on the psychology and inner life of the characters, he says. And importantly, characters in literary fiction are left somewhat incomplete. Readers have to watch what they do and infer what they are thinking and feeling…’
full story

The Shaping of Modern Culture During WWII
How the Unlikely WWII Friendship of a Scientist & a Philosopher Shaped Modern Culture
‘What makes a good life, a…

View original post 273 more words