Monthly Archives: April 2016

Symphony Saturday

Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony (in C minor) is an enormous work, comprising nearly ninety minutes of music. The work is scored for enormous orchestra: The 1887 version requires an instrumentation of three each of the following woodwind: flutes (the third doubling … Continue reading

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National Poetry Month, day 29

If poetry is dead, as they say, why do so many people still write poetry? Why is there so much poetry in social media outlets like Tumblr and Instagram? I’m guessing it’s because poetry isn’t dead. Like many readers, I … Continue reading

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Bad Joke Friday

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National Poetry Month, day twenty-eight

My favorite author, Guy Gavriel Kay, has a new novel coming out next month! One reason I love Kay’s writing is his luminous prose, which is greatly informed and shaped by his love of poetry and verse. Some years ago, … Continue reading

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Something for Thursday

In the “Wow, that is a Weird Cover!” department, we have…and I have video proof below that I am not making this up…the depressing song “Leader of the Pack” (in which the bad boy from the wrong side of town … Continue reading

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National Poetry Month, day twenty-seven

Are song lyrics also poetry? This isn’t quite as easy a question as it seems up front. Here’s an interesting article on the subject, and a key point is this: Words in a poem take place against the context of … Continue reading

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New Book! (not by me, but really good!)

  I was fortunate enough, as a perk for having backed her Kickstarter campaign, to get a preview copy of The Island by S. Usher Evans a few months ago, and I loved it! (Here’s my Goodreads review.) It’s a terrific … Continue reading

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National Poetry Day, day twenty-six

If love has a rival for the most frequent theme in poetry, I suppose it’s likely death. Poets have been grappling with the mystery of death for as long as they’ve been grappling with the mystery of love, and there … Continue reading

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National Poetry Month, day twenty-five

John Keats wrote this wonderful sonnet, not about Homer, but about reading a specific translation of Homer. This fascinates me. The poem is also a powerful statement on how a great work of art can transform our perceptions, even of … Continue reading

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Banning plastic bags?!

Before we get into banning plastic bags, here’s what happens to reusable paper bags in Casa Jaquandor! So…yeah.

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