aletdownsquid

[aletdownsquid]

Patrick Rosal's poem "Gift," performed by the poet. Part of the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation's Read By series of poetry films. Directed by Williams Cole and produced in collaboration with ‪@Poetsorg-fz4hx‬.

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Still one of my favorites in the game.

"Really the problem is I'm gay, and these niggas don't read."

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"I don't want more choice. I just want nicer things."

-Edina Monsoon (Se. 3, Ep. 4)

Rewatching all of Absolutely Fabulous.

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The Ladder of St. Augustine

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Saint Augustine! well hast thou said,

      That of our vices we can frame

A ladder, if we will but tread

      Beneath our feet each deed of shame!

All common things, each day's events,

      That with the hour begin and end,

Our pleasures and our discontents,

      Are rounds by which we may ascend.

The low desire, the base design,

      That makes another's virtues less;

The revel of the ruddy wine,

      And all occasions of excess;

The longing for ignoble things;

      The strife for triumph more than truth;

The hardening of the heart, that brings

      Irreverence for the dreams of youth;

All thoughts of ill; all evil deeds,

      That have their root in thoughts of ill;

Whatever hinders or impedes

      The action of the nobler will; —

All these must first be trampled down

      Beneath our feet, if we would gain

In the bright fields of fair renown

      The right of eminent domain.

We have not wings, we cannot soar;

      But we have feet to scale and climb

By slow degrees, by more and more,

      The cloudy summits of our time.

The mighty pyramids of stone

      That wedge-like cleave the desert airs,

When nearer seen, and better known,

      Are but gigantic flights of stairs.

The distant mountains, that uprear

      Their solid bastions to the skies,

Are crossed by pathways, that appear

      As we to higher levels rise.

The heights by great men reached and kept

      Were not attained by sudden flight,

But they, while their companions slept,

      Were toiling upward in the night.

Standing on what too long we bore

      With shoulders bent and downcast eyes,

We may discern — unseen before —

      A path to higher destinies,

Nor deem the irrevocable Past

      As wholly wasted, wholly vain,

If, rising on its wrecks, at last

      To something nobler we attain.

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"When I became a writer my desk became home; there was no need for another. Every story is a foreign territory, which, in the process of writing, is occupied and then abandoned. I belong to my work, to my characters, and in order to create new ones I leave the old ones behind."

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Untitled, c. 2003; quilted by Irene Bankhead, 2006; undetermined, mostly velvet, velveteen with faux pearl beads; 40 x 74 in. Photo © BAMPFA

[aletdownsquid]

Object Details

Medium

cotton, polyester, batting

Dimensions

28 1/2 × 24 1/2 in. (72.4 × 62.2 cm)

Caption

Brightly colored African batik and printed fabrics are set within a matrix of black cloth, rendering vividly the effect of a stained-glass window. Viola Canady, a gifted quilter, often applied her skill to spiritual themes, and used quilting to build community. She founded the Daughters of Dorcas and Sons, a Washington, DC quilting guild that teaches and shares a love of quilting in local schools, hospitals, and civic centers. This piece visually honors the communities that form around African American religious practices and quilting traditions.

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"A groundbreaking printmaker and mixed-media artist, Belkis Ayón Manso (Cuban, 1967–1999) is celebrated for her powerful, haunting works that delve into Afro-Cuban mythology and cultural identity. Using the complex imagery of the Abakuá, a secret male-dominated society, Ayón explored themes of spirituality, ritual, and gender dynamics. Her distinctive style often employed large-scale, monochromatic collography, a printmaking technique that allowed her to build rich textures and layers of meaning in shades of black, white, and gray. Ayón conveyed a deeply personal yet universal message, connecting her heritage to broader questions of secrecy, faith, and resilience. Her legacy as an artist who dared to confront complex cultural narratives endures, inspiring contemporary art and Afro-Cuban discourse. In her short life, Ayón achieved significant recognition in Cuba and abroad. Tragically, she died under mysterious circumstances at the age of 32. Despite her untimely passing, her work has continued to gain international acclaim, and she is now regarded as one of the most significant Cuban artists of the 20th century, with her pieces held in prominent collections worldwide."

(Saw this piece earlier this week at Sager Reeves Gallery)

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My favorite writing utensils.

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"I believe matter begets life, life becomes single cells, single cells become strings, strings become chains; chains network. And this is the paradigm that we see throughout the universe."

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Defining Albums of 2024.

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"Impressionism was not greeted with love at the outset. In 1874, the first Impressionist exhibition was derided in the press as a “vexatious mystification for the public, or the result of mental derangement.” A reviewer called Paul Cézanne “a sort of madman, painting in a state of delirium tremens,” while Berthe Morisot was privately advised by her former teacher to “go to the Louvre twice a week, stand before Correggio for three hours, and ask his forgiveness.” The very term Impressionism was born as a diss, a mocking allusion to Monet’s shaggy, atmospheric painting of the Le Havre waterfront, Impression, Sunrise (1872). Few people saw affability: In 1874, the term commonly applied to Monet and his ilk was “intransigent.”"