“Whatever you’re meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible.”
Doris Lessing has died. Here is what New York Times had to say. Her speech when she won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2007 is here.
thumbs up for 1960s architecture
A hallway at Cal State East Bay in Hayward, Calif. The unexpected fuchsia makes me happy every time.
selfish posing idiots
I love Facebook as much as the next person. It allows me to keep in touch with friends all over the world. Birthdays are the best, when the first congrats trickle in from Australia hours before the birthday actually begins, and the last ones are added hours after my California birthday ends if someone in Hawaii chimes in with a congrats. Almost two full days of actual birthday!
November first is a day for remembering the dead in many cultures. A friend of mine, who lost her husband and the father of their two boys early, posted a comment on Facebook on November first. She said that when she needs a good cry this time of year Amazing Grace holds a special place in her heart.
The reaction my friend got was totally surprising. Instead of notes of sympathy someone started off an avalanche by asking if her taste in music really is that bad. Others quickly started adding their suggestions of obscure, but in their mind undoubtedly more appropriate (and “better”), sad songs.
I’m not making this up. I’m not even improving the story the slightest bit. It happened exactly like this.
So, that’s where we are. People are so concerned with our their images that they’re unable to see what’s going on with another person, and spend their time making sure their choice of music tells the right story about them. Question is: where do we go from here?
one brave little girl
I heard a story today about a five-year-old girl (the mom of one of my students) who had hid her little sister for three days because the sister was going to be sold to another family to be raised by them, and later marry one of their sons. Some people make bigger decisions at five than others will make in their lifetime.
to be a little hut, when the winter gets cold
The photo that I’m using for the front page of the site right now was taken this summer in Skanör, Sweden. Skanör is a cute little seaside town, so close to the southern tip of Sweden that you can actually see the Danish coast on a clear day. It’s gorgeous, and windy, and within walking distance of Falsterbo, which is where my sister-in-law grew up. (Lucky woman.)
The beach huts are tiny, and there are hundreds of them all along the coastline.