Tag: 2014
TED Talks: Billy Collins, Two poems on what dogs think (probably)
I don't know a lot about poetry, but I do know I love Billy Collins, former two-time Poet Laureate of the United States. He was my first high-profile author interview; somehow I talked my way into a phone interview for the first incarnation of this blog. Wires were crossed, somehow. No doubt he wouldn't have …
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magnolia cemetery, charleston, s.c. Few things make me more irate than seeing the confederate flag placed on a grave as a supposed gesture of honor. There is no honor for traitors.
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magnolia cemetery, charleston, s.c. I don't want to hear about the weird lighting affect in this photo, how the sunspot and lighter area on the statue is weird or spooky or what-not. I was shooting against the light; I was bound to get a lens flare. I found the level of detail in this statue …
mood music: to the ends of the earth by lord huron
My daughter introduced me to Lord Huron and I'm smitten. We have strangely similar taste in music. Well, mostly. I like all the same indie music she does. Most of the same indie music, let's not go crazy. Pretty weird. I never had that degree of affinity with the woman who happened to conceive and …
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Summary: My Ireland
“We survive. We're Irish. We have the souls of poets. We love our misery, we delight in the beauty of strange places and dark places in our hearts.” - Ellis Flynn, Wear Black Having finished posting about the first leg of my adventures in Ireland I'm feeling rather contemplative re: what it meant to …
a tramp’s abroad: photo essay of Galway city and the Cliffs of Moher
Yeah, I realize it's taken me more than double the time to tell you about my two weeks in Ireland and Wales than it did to experience them. And you're probably sick of hearing that old excuse about how busy I am and how exciting my life is and how my social life consists of rubbing …
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Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch
“Summer House With Swimming Pool” reveals at the start that Ralph is dead and that Marc’s medical techniques contributed to his send-off. Anyone looking for a comparison to “Gone Girl,” winner and still champion in the realm of books that begin with deceptive death reports, will find no stiff competition here. Yes, Ralph is …
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PEN America\ shortlists – 2014
On Bluestalking's Tumblr
Summer books rising with the mercury
It's yet another amazing summer for books. Major writers, major quality literary fiction. Here are a few that have caught my eye: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Scribner) Doerr has written short story collections, a memoir and two novels, all to great acclaim. His collection Memory Wall (2010) was his major …
