Kurt Brindley's Blog, page 104
March 8, 2015
Like it or not, President Obama will be remembered as one of America’s greatest presidents ever…
This speech should be mandatory viewing by all Americans.
Filed under: Politics Tagged: civil rights, homophobia, legacies, LGBT issues, President Obama, presidents, race issues, racism, Selma, sexism, speeches, United States of America, videos, women's issues
March 6, 2015
Country Roads Are Like No Other no.4
down in the vale deep
we sow the seeds we must reap
harvests ours to keep
Filed under: Photography, Poetry Tagged: country roads, haiku, harvests, life, nature, photography, poetry, Senryū, sin, soul, spirituality, writing, 俳句
A Meditation on an Introduction’s Second Paragraph as found in “Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Having moved slow and steady through two readings of Nature, with nightly accompaniments of Librivox audio readings that would lull me away to sleep with visions of all the vast universal wonderments dancing in my head, it is now time to sift through my sporadic notes and swirling thoughts to try to make use of what I have come across, as I look to somehow apply to my life all that which Emerson teaches with his complexly simple essays as found in Nature.
However, as I consider such intellectual derring-do, I find myself drawn back to one of the first opportunities for learning the work provides me; one found in a most bold and faith-requiring passage from the introduction:
Undoubtedly we have no questions to ask which are unanswerable.
We must trust the perfection of the creation so far as to believe that whatever curiosity the order of things has awakened in our minds,
the order of things can satisfy.
What a wonder of a statement – Undoubtedly we have no questions to ask which are unanswerable.
What a brave, perhaps reckless even, proclamation – We must trust the perfection of creation…
Must we?
Do you believe that?
Undoubtedly – without any doubt?
Do I believe that?
As wonderful and bold as this passage may be, alas can it possibly be true?
Can it be possible that the order of things can satisfy completely my curiosity? Can this perfection answer all my questions, from those of the most simple and mundane to those of the most metaphysically profound?
And even if it can be possible, will it?
Only time will tell, I suppose.
Until then, for answers to all my seemingly unanswerable questions, I rely upon the only thing the perfection of creation presently allows me…
And that is my less than perfect Faith.
Inspired by Nature? Join our Newsletter Love Emerson, First Commitment .
Must be a subscriber to participate.
Edition 003-15 is germane.
Filed under: Literary Tagged: authors, creation, essays, faith, literature, metaphysics, nature, perfection, Ralph Waldo Emerson, spirituality, the order of things, Transcendentalists, writing
March 5, 2015
Snow Patrol
The intrepid Aurelius reports that the snow continues to fall and it is now at an approximate depth of “Nose High”
#snowshouldstayupincanadawhereitbelongs
#globalwarmingwasoversoldandiwishitwasnotso
Filed under: Photography Tagged: Aurelius, dogs, pets, photography, Plott Hounds, puppies, puppies in the snow, snow, snowfall, winter
March 4, 2015
Check One, Two…
Reporting live from Guitar Center
Filed under: Music Tagged: Baltimore, business, creativity, Maryland, music, photography, sound recording
March 2, 2015
Overcoming The Grade
before the hilltop
we must overcome the grade
we must persevere
Filed under: Photography, 俳句 Tagged: affirmations, barns, determination, haiku, hilltops, motivation, persevere, photography, poetry, positive thinking, writing, 俳句
March 1, 2015
Beyond The Road’s End
beyond the road’s end
beyond where rock turns to dust
waits the horizon
Filed under: Photography, 俳句 Tagged: country roads, destinations, haiku, horizon, journeys, life, metaphors, photography, poetry, roads, spirituality, writing, 俳句
Blame it on Netflix
You’ve more than likely noticed a significant drop-off of interesting and relevant content (and by interesting and relevant content I mean posts other than this one and all the uninteresting and irrelevant others like it) lately…
Well, if Netflix would slow down on all the awesomeness it has been allowing for, then I could actually focus on some interesting and relevant writing.
You see, I’m a strong proponent for that “all things in moderation” maxim…
Except when it comes to Netflix because, baby, I be doing dome serious binging (or is it bingeing – my guess is that’s how the Brits would spell it… you know, with their love for extraneous letters and odd “proper” pronunciations, and all) for the past couple month, or so.
But hopefully things will get back on track soon as I’m just about caught up on most of my favorites such as…
Sherlock
Dexter (lame ending)
Supernatural (all 5000 or so episodes)
Sons of Anarchy (yes, like everyone else I, too, have a man-crush on Jax)
Hell on Wheels
Copper
Peaky Blinders (masterful. award-worthy)
Magic City (bad acting but still fun)
Spartacus (never fully recovered after Andy Whitfield, Spartacus I, died from cancer)
And many others I’m too embarrassed to admit I watched
Though, I still have some work to do on these favorites…
Foyle’s War
Ripper Street
The Walking Dead
Marco Polo
I’ve started these but probably won’t finish for lack of interest…
Breaking Bad
Orange is the New Black
Dr Who
Mad Men
House of Cards (boring original version)
But all things have come to a halt as the binge has begun on the crack-daddy of them all
House of Cards (awesome new version)
Oh yeah…
On second thought, it appears interesting and relevant may be lacking around here for quite some time to come…
Binge on?
Binge on!
Filed under: Television Tagged: acting, actors, Andy Whitfield, binge watching, bingeing, binging, House of Cards, movies, Netflix, Peaky Blinders, Sons of Anarchy, Spartacus, television, tv shows
February 28, 2015
Cars Are Our Friends…Until They Aren’t
Reporting live from Cockeysville, Maryland
Filed under: Life Tagged: cars, hybrid systems, life, maintenance, photography, so it goes
February 27, 2015
theliteraryreader ~ Reviews of the written word
Our good friend in literature and life, Paul Xylinides, author of the powerful and finely crafted novel THE WILD HORSES OF HIROSHIMA, among other works, has taken on the noble challenge of standing up a literary review site that I encourage each of you to visit regularly and enjoy.
The site is called theliteraryreader ~ Reviews of the written word and you can find it at theliteraryreader.com.
So please join me in congratulating Paul on this new adventure of his and thank him for furthering the recognition and advancement of the written word.
Congratulations, Paul, and may you enjoy a success such that we all may be rewarded and enlightened by it.
Originally posted on theliteraryreader:
The Sea Trials of an Unfortunate Sailor by Kurt Brindley
Review by Paul Xylinides
Kurt Brindley joins forces with Herman Melville
Before I begin this review, let me first recommend to anyone whom it persuades to read The Sea Trials of an Unfortunate Sailor, that after doing so they further benefit themselves by looking again at their copy of Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, Sailor that I shall, however, quote from extensively. Kurt Brindley’s accomplishment should come into even greater focus when looked at through the lens of the nineteenth century classic novel.
Anyone who has ever experienced the injustice of being condemned by those who characterize their sensitivities in ways fundamentally at odds with their true identity will respond deeply to the travails of Kurt Brindley”s protagonist in The Sea Trials of an Unfortunate Sailor. From a tellingly different perspective the same fate befalls Melville’s hero. One cannot help but…
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Filed under: Literary Tagged: authors, book reviews, books, fiction, genre fiction, Indie Authors, literary fiction, novels, Paul Xylinides, poetry, reviews, short stories, The Wild Horses of Hiroshima, writing
