Kurt R.A. Giambastiani's Blog, page 60
April 8, 2014
Magnolia
. Old friends sit beneath magnolia’s springtime glory, sipping thered promise of summer suns. We recallour past, think of children’s futures, and listen to the quiet air in sunlit branches. .
April 2, 2014
Naught but Death
Last year, I brought to your attentionRipper Street,the BBCcrime drama set in Whitechapel (London) in the years after the Jack the Ripper murders. Last year, the premiere season was showing on BBC America, and I was all atwitter about it. It’s back for a second season–a good bit of news–but it’s also back in the […]
March 31, 2014
In the Cold Air of Evening
In the cold air of evening Wrens forage on a red-barked tree Cry here here here Robins flee from my footstep Eye me from amid apple blossoms Coughing rum-rum-rum like old cars in the morning Juncos steal past below me Seeking midges mid-air They leap silently through the gloaming Sunset breaks the lidded sky Limns […]
March 27, 2014
R A
Names are interesting. They are (in general) the one permanent thing about usthat someoneelse has chosen. Our parents, knowing nothing about us, saddle us with these monikers, and we grow up with them. How do they change us? How might we have been different, had we been given a different name? And for those who […]
March 25, 2014
Vignette 25Mar14
He had not wept, not for years, so when he broke, it was as if a mountainside hadcracked and slid down, carrying everything–trees, homes, lives–into the valley below. His rage and frustration burst throughhis controlswith a powerthat surprisedeveryone, himself most of all. She was silent, wide-eyed in the face ofhis despair. “I tryto be a […]
March 20, 2014
Not Listening
Character study… Some people do not have a volume switch. Or, to be more precise, there are some people whose volume switch is stuck at ten. Or eleven. We have this guy at work.Everything he does, he does loudly. He talks loudly, and as he’s on phone meetings almost all the time, we hear him […]
March 18, 2014
Circular Wordplay
Back in the late ’70s, James Burke introduced me to interdisciplinary thinking. His book and documentary series,Connections, showed how (for example) the use of lateen sails in the 14th century led to the discovery of electricity. The process was far from linear, but Burke made the connections along the way clear and irrefutable. Mark Forsyth, […]
March 12, 2014
Cold Comfort
My feet, it seems, are a medical marvel. I don’t get colds too often. The average adult gets 2-4 colds per year, but I haven’t had a real cold in about 2 years.Until last Friday, that is, when I awoke with the surefire signs of a coming cold. Often I can fight them off, but […]
March 3, 2014
Bring Out Your Dead
London is built upon its dead. On our last visit to London, during an unseasonably warm April, we opted to flee from the Holy Week/Royal Wedding crowds that thronged the city center and seek a quiet, shaded walk. We found it inKensal Green,one of the six great Victorian cemeteries that ring London. It was a […]
February 28, 2014
Un-Friending Facebook
Originally posted on Jumping From Cliffs:
Debate rages as to whether up-and-coming authors (yep, that’s us!) should set up Facebook pages as part of their marketing and promotion strategy. Until very recently, I would have said yes, they definitely should; spread oneself as widely as possible in order to reach the largest and most diverse…
Debate rages as to whether up-and-coming authors (yep, that’s us!) should set up Facebook pages as part of their marketing and promotion strategy. Until very recently, I would have said yes, they definitely should; spread oneself as widely as possible in order to reach the largest and most diverse…
