#don sexton

[roysexton]

A Tale of Two Closets: Maestro and Fellow Travelers

Gay film and television drama always includes suffering. A lot of suffering. We in the LGBTQIA+ community don’t get a lot of Julia Roberts/Hugh Grant frothy rom coms. Hell, we don’t get any Marvel epics, Disney fables, sci-fi adventures, or even glitzy musicals of our own. C’est la vie. But sometimes in the suffering, Hollywood gets it right. That is indubitably the case with…

[waugh-bao]

“The last time Shirley saw Charlie playing the drums that I know of was at the Hyde Park show in 2013. She sat right next to my work area and was so happy to be there watching him again. And he just couldn't keep his eyes off her. I just felt that it was really special for both of them, since it was also how they first met, when she would go and see him play!”-Don McAuly, Charlie’s drum tech (2022)

[moonstoast]

Can you do one about the ambiguity in the unspoken language of touch? Guessing if you're about to hold hands, or waiting to pull away from a hug

don snyder // you are jeff by richard siken // don snyder // the touch by anne sexton // callie porcher

[wheretheharekissesthefox]

Lavender and Starflower (Mobster AU) - Chapter 1

The Dekarios Clan reigns over Waterdeep as the city’s protector for centuries. Suddenly, the Clan gets challenged by Cazador, the head of the Szarr Clan that rules over Baldur’s Gate. Of course, such an attack won’t be tolerated and the intruder must be forced back and out of the City of Splendors. While fixing destroyed protection sigils, Gale, wizard prodigy and heir of the Dekarios Clan, meets a charming stranger called Astarion. And Gale makes the biggest mistake of his life; he invites the pale elf into his home.

Trigger warning (18+): graphic description of sex, graphic description of violence, non-con/rape, smut, angst, emotional rollercoaster, mobster AU

I have no idea where I'm going with this one yet, but I was inspired to start writing it when I saw this artwork by @arczism (I hope you like this mobster AU, Arczi <3)

The poem's my own, but is inspired by 'The Starry Night' by Anne Sexton. Also, I named the poet after her, lol.

This is obviously an AU that isn't related to my other work.

Ah, yes, Waterdeep. The City of Splendors. It was especially beautiful at this time of the year: autumn.

Gale Dekarios, wizard prodigy and heir of the Dekarios Clan, watched the pigeons on the balcony's parapet as he drank his cup of lavender tea. When he caught a motion in his peripheral vision, he smiled and said: "Not today, Tara. Leave the pigeons be."

The calico tressym – it's a tressym, not a cat, mind you – huffed.

"Can't a lady have hobbies?" she asked, miffed.

"You can hunt as many pigeons as you want, my dear Tara, but not the ones on my balcony because some of them are carrier pigeons and I need them."

The addressed sighed deeply, but walked back to the fluffy pillows in front of the crackling fireplace.

"Alright, I'll leave them be – for you. Because I love you oh-so much, Mr. Dekarios,"she said, long-sufferingly.

"Thanks, Tara," chuckled Gale and finished his tea.

Right on time, as always, there were three quick knocks at the door.

"Come in!" the wizard prodigy shouted while he stood up and took the jacket from the back of his chair.

A massive half-orc entered, long, black hair in a messy bun and a pair of glasses on his big nose.

"Good evening, Murk. How are you?"

"'m good, Gale, Sir. Are ya ready to go? The boss wants to see ya."

The addressed sighed, but nodded. While he followed his quasi-bodyguard across the halls of the Dekarios Estate, Gale straightened the collar of his black jacket. Modern formal wear. That's all the boss got today. Gale wasn't in the mood to don the traditional robes for the visit.

Murk knocked at the office door, opened it, and stuck his head in.

"Uhm, boss? Your son's here."

"Excellent. Come in – both of you."

Murk held the door open and Gale took a deep breath before he entered the spacious office.

Morena Dekarios, head of the Dekarios Clan and Archmage of Waterdeep, stood in front of the window and watched the vespertine hustle and bustle of the harbour. Her long, brown hair flowed over her shoulders and her back, spilling and curling like the sea. The dark purple robe she wore – she demanded to call it a robe even though it was more of a dress in Gale's opinion – hugged her curvy body and looked absolutely stunning. Morena was a gorgeous woman and anyone who claims that women over forty are unattractive has no idea what they're talking about.

Gale indicated a small bow.

"Hello, mum, how can I help?"

His mother smiled, closed the short distance between them, and stroke Gale's cheek tenderly.

"My darling boy," Morena said, "you look dashing tonight – even without the family robe."

She kissed his cheek – she was a rather tall woman – and hugged him tightly. Gale returned the warm embrace happily, but muttered: "What's wrong, mum?"

The addressed sighed.

"It's that pretentious prick of Baldur's Gate. That greedy bastard of a clan leader. Cazador." Morena spat his name like it was putrid. Then, she finally let go of her son, with furrowed brows and visibly enraged. "He already reigns over all of Baldur's Gate, but no, that's not enough for that utter prick! Now, he's waltzing into our city and thinks he can take it too! How dare he!"

"But," Gale furrowed his brows, "what's he doing here? The Szarr Clan never tried to expand their territory before. Why now?"

"I don't know, and that's what worries me," replied Morena. "As Waterdeep's Archmage family, it is our duty to keep the city safe. Szarr's lackeys already tried to break multiple protection sigils in the city. And for some reason, they're attacking brothels first." Morena frowned. "I don't know what Cazador's goal is exactly, but I won't let him run around in our city and frighten our prostitutes! They're very important for our business and the best unconventional way to receive certain information. I won't tolerate Cazador's behaviour and we will show him where he belongs and with whom he's messing with." She sighed and brushed a stray hair behind her ear. She looked at Gale and continued in a much softer tone. "Dear, I'd like you to check on the brothels and fix the broken protection sigils. Meanwhile, I'll have some meetings to attend to calm down certain politicians, nobles, clerics, and other people in power who act like scared chicken."

"But, mum, it's Friday night. Everybody's out partying with their friends," Gale objected.

"Dear," Morena look at him with raised eyebrows, "you neither have friends, nor do you like partying."

"Ouch."

"Well, don't try to fool your mother. See you later, my darling boy."

"See you later, mum."

Chuckling, Gale kissed his mother goodbye and left the Dekarios Estate with Murk. Together, they made their way through the city, from brothel to brothel, and took a look at the damage.

Gale was confused about Cazador's attempts to break the protection sigils of brothels. It would make much more sense to do this to spells cast on the bank, government buildings, or the homes of nobles instead.

Maybe, it's some kind of reverse psychology trick, pondered Gale. What else would the Szarr Clan want to achieve with unsafe brothels?

After repairing the last protection spell, Murk fidgeted around, slightly bashful.

"Uhm, Gale, Sir? Since we're done with work, could I stay here and order a drink or two? And maybe a girl?"

"Of course, Murk. I'll find home by myself," Gale answered with a chuckle. He waved everyone goodbye and left through the back door. Sighing deeply, Gale looked up at the small strip of the night sky that was visible between the buildings' roofs.

"Lovely night, isn't it?"

Startled, Gale turned to find the man who'd spoken the words - and the sight took his breath away.

There were silver-white curls, striking eyes, pale skin, and black leather. So much black leather.

The man, an elf, smirked. A haughty little thing that didn't show his teeth (which were probably perfect too, Gale imagined).

"Cat got your tongue?" the stranger teased.

"No." Gale cleared his throat. "I simply didn't expect company for my stargazing.

'And the day drowns in the darkness of the sky,

while the night boils with sparkling stars.

Painted with fae dust and magic in jars,

oh, starry night, this is how I want to die.'"

"Hmm... Annelore Nixton. I love her poems," the elf mused. "They always have a certain inclination towards the macabre."

Gale beamed at him, asking: "You know her poems? You have no idea how rare it is to meet someone who knows her. I mean, sure, Elven poets aren't popular with most humans, but -"

He paused when he heard the stranger chuckle.

"An admirer of Elven poetry. How droll." The handsome stranger smirked again and held out his hand. "My name's Astarion and with whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?"

"Gale. Gale of Waterdeep," replied the wizard and shook the offered hand. It was cool to the touch and Gale wondered for how long Astarion had been standing out here.

"Well then, Gale of Waterdeep, how about a drink? Or something else?" the pale elf asked.

"Something else?"

"Mh, yes, darling." Astarion placed a hand on Gale's upper arm and stepped closer. A wave of rosemary, bergamot, and brandy wafted over, and Gale inhaled deeply. Gods, Astarion smelled so good. Smirking knowingly, the latter leaned in, purring: "You could recite more poetry to me. Or, we could have some fun."

Gale swallowed thickly.

"Fun?" he squeaked.

"Sex, darling. Only if you want to, of course."

Gale paused, looking Astarion up and down.

"Are you a prostitute? I mean nothing against said profession, I'm very openminded. You're just very blunt about your approach and –"

"Even if I would be a prostitute, I wouldn't charge you," interrupted Astarion. "You caught my eye and I think you're endearing and sweet. I can even imagine that you have a library at home."

"I do, in fact," Gale said proudly. After a moment of hesitation, he asked the one thing his mother forbade him to ask. "Would you like to see it?"

The elf's smirk widened.

"I'd loved to, darling. Take me home."

And Gale opened a portal and, for the very first time, invited a stranger into his home.

[socialshakespeare]

Reading 4: Saturday, February 24

The fourth read-through of Much Ado About Nothing!

(Most of you are double or triple cast, so double check which lines you have to read.) You can look up the lines of the characters here. The names listed below all go with the Folger Edition.

Please submit your confirmation or any request to understudy here. If you’re in any doubt, please ask.

Times and time zones:

EST (US): 12:00 PM CST (US): 11:00 AM MST (US): 10:00 AM PST (US): 9:00 AM GMT (UK): 5:00 PM AEDT (AU): 4:00 AM (Sunday, February 25)

Leader: @purplemuskrat

Benedick:  @maplelantern Leonato, 1st Lord:  @sirenofthetimes Prince (Don Pedro), 2nd Watchman:  @musingsofaretiredunicorn Beatrice, Sexton:  @thuriweaver Claudio, 1st Watchman:  @bottom-of-the-riverbed Dogberry, Leonato's Brother, Antonio:  @infinitelytheheartexpands Borachio, Messenger, Boy:  @tinyfrenchowl Hero, Verges, Balthasar:  @thehamletdiaries Don John, Ursula, Seacoal:  @normallyparenthetical Margaret, Friar Francis, Conrade:  @purplemuskrat

Please submit your confirmation here. - liking/reblogging this post does not count!

Read the Guidelines. To avoid the differences between editions that make for confusion and missed cues, please use the Folger edition of Much Ado About Nothing during the read-through.

Be on time, be prepared, and make sure you know which lines to read. Good luck!

[blaseballshipbracket]

BLASEBALL SHIP BRACKET ROUND 1

64 ships enter, one ship leaves! who will reign supreme? how will your faves fare? it's a tlournament for the ages!

this is a seeded bracket generated from ships suggested in a google form. round 1 begins thursday, 03/30/23 and will run for one week. propaganda is encouraged - tag this blog and i'll share it!

ROUND 1 MATCHUPS:

Megan Ito/Parker MacMillan VS Leon Duncan/Andrew Trebek

Finn James/Kennedy Loser VS Hewitt Best/Yeong-Ho Garcia

Flattery McKinley/Niq Nyong'o VS Jessica Telephone/Betsy Trombone

Tillman Henderson/Declan Suzanne VS Don Mitchell/Percival Wheeler

Baldwin Breadwinner/Alyssa Harrell VS Axel Cardenas/Miguel Wheeler

Dominic Marijuana/Andrew Solis VS Eduardo Ingram/Leach Ingram

Pedro Davids/Valentine Games VS Anathema Elemefayo/Patty Fox/Hatfield Suzuki

Stevenson Heat/James Mora VS Baby Triumphant/Castillo Turner

Yosh Carpenter/Sebastian Woodman VS Cannonball Sports/Bees Taswell

Igneus Delacruz/Howell Franklin VS Mcdowell Mason/Sexton Wheerer

Allison Abbott/Kichiro Guerra VS Eugenia Garbage/Ziwa Mueller

Caleb Alvarado/Isaac Johnson VS Conner Haley/Sebastian Telephone

Brock Forbes/Adalberto Tosser VS Domino Bootleg/Theodore Honeywell

Lenny Marijuana/Chorby Short VS Moody Cookbook/Landry Violence

Margarito Nava/Nic Winkler VS Riley Firewall/Geraldine Frost

Inez Owens/Bees Taswell VS Paula Turnip/Hiroto Wilcox

Tyreek Olive/Landry Violence VS Fitzgerald Blackburn/Math Velazquez

Val Hitherto/Nerd Pacheco VS Ortiz Lopez/Pitching Machine

Luis Acevedo/Tot Clark VS Derrick Krueger/Sebastian Telephone

The San Francisco Lovers VS Gita Sparrow/Jayden Wright

Tillman Henderson/Mike Townsend VS Famous Owens/Mclaughlin Scorpler

Alaynabella Hollywood/Magi Ruiz VS Nerd Pacheco/Lars Taylor

Nagomi Mcdaniel/York Silk's Mom VS Qais Dogwalker/Grollis Zephyr

Jacob Haynes/Alaynabella Hollywood/Moses Mason VS Burke Gonzalez/Brock Watson/Joshua Watson

Jaylen Hotdogfingers/Jessica Telephone VS Juice Collins/Sutton Dreamy

Sandford Garner/Don Mitchell VS Famous Owens/Nerd Pacheco

Rivers Rosa/Lou Roseheart VS Jode Crutch/Rush Ito

Declan Suzanne/Edric Tosser/Baby Triumphant VS Lady Matsuyama/Bottles Šuljak

Cornelius Games/Richardson Games VS Mags Banananana/Eugenia Bickle

Workman Gloom & PolkaDot Patterson VS Shannon Chamberlain/Kennedy Loser

Caligula Lotus/Beck Whitney VS Steals Mondegreen/Silvaire Semiquaver

Summers Preston/Stephanie Winters VS Haruta Byrd/Bright Zimmerman

[beardedmrbean]

A small-town Alabama mayor died apparently by suicide just days after a conservative news site published pictures of him allegedly wearing women's clothes and makeup, officials said Sunday.

Smiths Station Mayor F.L. "Bubba" Copeland, who was also a pastor at First Baptist Church of Phenix City, fatally shot himself and was pronounced dead at 5:01 p.m. CT Friday, Lee County Coroner Daniel Sexton told NBC News in a statement.

An autopsy was scheduled for Monday.

Thank you all for your prayers and expressions of sympathy and support," First Baptist Church said in a statement Saturday. "First and foremost, we ask that you keep Pastor Bubba Copeland’s family in your prayers today, and in the days ahead."

Copeland died two days after the 1819 News published a story with photos of the mayor donning women’s clothes and makeup.

Copeland was best known for leading his town through a tornado that killed 23 people in eastern Alabama in 2019.

"I am so saddened at the death of my friend Mayor Bubba Copeland," Jones said. "He was a good man and a great mayor who led the small town of Smith Station through the tough times of a devastating tornado a few years ago."

Then-President Donald Trump visited damaged communities, and Jones said Copeland played a vital role in communicating the region's needs to the White House.

"I toured the destruction with him, helped him navigate the FEMA recovery efforts and made sure that he was able to plead his case directly to President Trump," Jones said.

The city of Smiths Station, about 80 miles east of Montgomery, Alabama’s capital, near the Georgia border, has a population of about 5,400 people.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support _________________________________

[sidicecheilibri]

I libri nominati da Rory Gilmore

1 – 1984, George Orwell

2 – Le Avventure di Huckelberry Finn, Mark Twain

3 – Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie, Lewis Carrol

4 – Le Fantastiche Avventure di Kavalier e Clay, Michael Chabon

5 – Una Tragedia Americana, Theodore Dreiser

6 – Le Ceneri di Angela, Frank McCourt

7 – Anna Karenina, Lev Tolstoj

8 – Il Diario di Anna Frank

9 – La Guerra Archidamica, Donald Kagan

10 – L’Arte del Romanzo, Henry James

11 – L’Arte della Guerra, Sun Tzu

12 – Mentre Morivo, William Faulkner

13 – Espiazione, Ian McEvan

14 – Autobiografia di un Volto, Lucy Grealy

15 – Il Risveglio, Kate Chopin

16 – Babe, Dick King-Smith

17 – Contrattacco. La Guerra non Dichiarata Contro le Donne, Susan Faludi

18 – Balzac e la Piccola Sarta Cinese, Dai Sijie

19 – Bel Canto, Anne Pachett

20 – La Campana di Vetro, Sylvia Plath

21 – Amatissima, Toni Morrison

22 – Beowulf: una Nuova Traduzione, Seamus Heaney

23 – La Bhagavad Gita

24 – Il Piccolo Villaggio dei Sopravvissuti, Peter Duffy

25 – Bitch Rules. Consigli di Comune Buonsenso per donne Fuori dal Comune, Elizabeth Wurtzel

26 – Un Fulmine a Ciel Sereno ed altri Saggi, Mary McCarthy

27 – Il Mondo Nuovo, Adolf Huxley

28 – Brick Lane, Monica Ali

29 – Brigadoon, Alan Jay Lerner

30 – Candido, Voltaire

31 – I Racconti di Canterbury, Geoffrey Chaucer

32 – Carrie, Stephen King

33 – Catch-22, Joseph Heller

34 – Il Giovane Holden, J.D.Salinger

35 – La Tela di Carlotta, E.B.White

36 – Quelle Due, Lillian Hellman

37 – Christine, Stephen King

38 – Il Canto di Natale, Charles Dickens

39 – Arancia Meccanica, Anthony Burgess

40 – Il Codice dei Wooster, P.G.Wodehouse

41 – The Collected Stories, Eudora Welty

42 – La Commedia degli Errori, William Shakespeare

43 – Novelle, Dawn Powell

44 – Tutte le Poesie, Anne Sexton

45 – Racconti, Dorothy Parker

46 – Una Banda di Idioti, John Kennedy Toole

47 – Il03 al 09/03 Conte di Montecristo, Alexandre Dumas

48 – La Cugina Bette, Honore de Balzac

49 – Delitto e Castigo, Fedor Dostoevskij

50 – Il Petalo Cremisi e il Bianco, Michel Faber

51 – Il Crogiuolo, Arthur Miller

52 – Cujo, Stephen King

53 – Il Curioso Caso del Cane Ucciso a Mezzanotte, Mark Haddon

54 – La Figlia della Fortuna, Isabel Allende

55 – David e Lisa, Dr.Theodore Issac Rubin M.D

56 – David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

57 – Il Codice Da Vinci, Dan Brown

58 – Le Anime Morte, Nikolaj Gogol

59 – I Demoni, Fedor Dostoevskij

60 – Morte di un Commesso Viaggiatore, Arthur Miller

61 – Deenie, Judy Blume

62 – La Città Bianca e il Diavolo, Erik Larson

63 – The Dirt. Confessioni della Band più Oltraggiosa del Rock, Tommy Lee – Vince Neil – Mick Mars – Nikki Sixx

64 – La Divina Commedia, Dante Alighieri

65 – I Sublimi Segreti delle Ya-Ya Sisters, Rebecca Wells

66 – Don Chischiotte, Miguel de Cervantes

67 – A Spasso con Daisy, Alfred Uhvr

68 – Dr. Jeckill e Mr.Hide, Robert Louis Stevenson

69 – Tutti i Racconti e le Poesie, Edgar Allan Poe

70 – Eleanor Roosevelt, Blanche Wiesen Cook

71 – Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Tom Wolfe

72 – Lettere, Mark Dunn

73 – Eloise, Kay Thompson

74 – Emily The Strange, Roger Reger

75 – Emma, Jane Austen

76 – Il Declino dell’Impero Whiting, Richard Russo

77 – Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective, Donald J.Sobol

78 – Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton

79 – Etica, Spinoza

80 – Europe Through the back door, 2003, Rick Steves

81 – Eva Luna, Isabel Allende

82 – Ogni cosa è Illuminata, Jonathan Safran Foer

83 – Stravaganza, Gary Krist

84 – Farhenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

85 – Farhenheit 9/11, Michael Moore

86 – La Caduta dell’Impero di Atene, Donald Kagan

87 – Fat Land, il Paese dei Ciccioni, Greg Critser

88 – Paura e Delirio a Las Vegas, Hunter S.Thompson

89 – La Compagnia dell’Anello, J.R.R.Tolkien

90 – Il Violinista sul Tetto, Joseph Stein

91 – Le Cinque Persone che Incontri in Cielo, Mitch Albom

92 – Finnegan’s Wake, James Joyce

93 – Fletch, Gregory McDonald

94 – Fiori per Algernon, Daniel Keyes

95 – La Fortezza della Solitudine, Jonathan Lethem

96 – La Fonte Meravigliosa, Ayn Rand

97 – Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

98 – Franny e Zooeey, J.D.Salinger

99 – Quel Pazzo Venerdì, Mary Rodgers

100 – Galapagos, Kurt Vonnegut

101 – Questioni di Genere, Judith Butler

102 – George W.Bushism: The Slate Book of Accidental Wit and Wisdom of our 43rd President, Jacob Weisberg

103 – Gidget, Fredrick Kohner

104 – Ragazze Interrotte, Susanna Kaysen

105 – The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels

106 – Il Padrino, Parte I, Mario Puzo

107 – Il Dio delle Piccole Cose, Arundhati Roy

108 – La Storia dei Tre Orsi, Alvin Granowsky

109 – Via Col Vento, Margaret Mitchell

110 – Il Buon Soldato, Ford Maddox Ford

111 – Il Gospel secondo Judy Bloom

112 – Il Laureato, Charles Webb

113 – Furore, John Steinbeck

114 – Il Grande Gatsby, F.Scott Fitzgerald

115 – Grandi Speranze, Charles Dickens

116 – Il Gruppo, Mary McCarthy

117 – Amleto, William Shakespeare

118 – Harry Potter e il Calice di Fuoco, J.K.Rowling

119 – Harry Potter e la Pietra Filosofale, J.K.Rowling

120 – L’Opera Struggente di un Formidabile Genio, Dave Eggers

121 – Cuore di Tenebra, Joseph Conrad

122 – Helter Skelter: La vera storia del Caso Charles Manson, Vincent Bugliosi e Curt Gentry

123 – Enrico IV, Parte Prima, William Shakespeare

124 – Enrico IV, Parte Seconda, William Shakespeare

125 – Enrico V, William Shakespeare

126 – Alta Fedeltà, Nick Hornby

127 – La Storia del Declino e della Caduta dell’Impero Romano, Edward Gibbon

128 – Holidays on Ice: Storie, David Sedaris

129 – The Holy Barbarians, Lawrence Lipton

130 – La Casa di Sabbia e Nebbia, Andre Dubus III

131 – La Casa degli Spiriti, Isabel Allende

132 – Come Respirare Sott’acqua, Julie Orringer

133 – Come il Grinch Rubò il Natale, Dr.Seuss

134 – How the Light Gets In, M.J.Hyland

135 – Urlo, Allen Ginsberg

136 – Il Gobbo di Notre Dame, Victor Hugo

137 – Iliade, Omero

138 – Sono con la Band, Pamela des Barres

139 – A Sangue Freddo, Truman Capote

140 – Inferno, Dante

141 – …e l’Uomo Creò Satana, Jerome Lawrence e Robert E.Lee

142 – Ironweed, William J.Kennedy

143 – It takes a Village, Hilary Clinton

144 – Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

145 – Il Circolo della Fortuna e della Felicità, Amy tan

146 – Giulio Cesare, William Shakespeare

147 – Il Celebre Ranocchio Saltatore della Contea di Calaveras, Mark Twain

148 – La Giungla, Upton Sinclair

149 – Just a Couple of Days, Tony Vigorito

150 – The Kitchen Boy, Robert Alexander

151 – Kitchen Confidential: Avventure Gastronomiche a New York, Anthony Bourdain

152 – Il Cacciatore di Aquiloni, Khaled Hosseini

153 – L’amante di Lady Chatterley, D.H.Lawrence

154 – L’Ultimo Impero: Saggi 1992-2000, Gore Vidal

155 – Foglie d’Erba, Walt Whitman

156 – La Leggenda di Bagger Vance, Steven Pressfield

157 – Meno di Zero, Bret Easton Ellis

158 – Lettere a un Giovane Poeta, Rainer Maria Rilke

159 – Balle! E tutti i Ballisti che Ce Le Stanno Raccontando, Al Franken

160 – Vita di Pi, Yann Martell

161 – La piccola Dorrit, Charles Dickens

162 – The little Locksmith, Katharine Butler Hathaway

163 – La piccola fiammiferaia, Hans Christian Andersen

164 – Piccole Donne, Louisa May Alcott

165 – Living History, Hilary Clinton

166 – Il signore delle Mosche, William Golding

167 – La Lotteria, ed altre storie, Shirley Jackson

168 – Amabili Resti, Alice Sebold

169 – Love Story, Eric Segal

170 – Macbeth, William Shakespeare

171 – Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert

172 – The Manticore, Robertson Davies

173 – Marathon Man, William Goldman

174 – Il Maestro e Margherita, Michail Bulgakov

175 – Memorie di una figlia per bene, Simone de Beauvoir

176 – Memorie del Generale W.T. Sherman, William Tecumseh Sherman

177 – L’uomo più divertente del mondo, David Sedaris

178 – The meaning of Consuelo, Judith Ortiz Cofer

179 – Mencken’s Chrestomathy, H.R. Mencken

180 – Le Allegre Comari di Windsor, William Shakespeare

181 – La Metamorfosi, Franz Kafka

182 – Middlesex, Jeoffrey Eugenides

183 – Anna dei Miracoli, William Gibson

184 – Moby Dick, Hermann Melville

185 – The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion, Jim Irvin

186 – Moliere: la biografia, Hobart Chatfield Taylor

187 – A monetary history of the United States, Milton Friedman

188 – Monsieur Proust, Celeste Albaret

189 – A Month of Sundays: searching for the spirit and my sister, Julie Mars

190 – Festa Mobile, Ernest Hemingway

191 – Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf

192 – Gli ammutinati del Bounty, Charles Nordhoff e James Norman Hall

193 – My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and Its Aftermath, Seymour M.Hersh

194 – My Life as Author and Editor, H.R.Mencken

195 – My life in orange: growing up with the guru, Tim Guest

196 – Myra Waldo’s Travel and Motoring Guide to Europe, 1978, Myra Waldo

197 – La custode di mia sorella, Jodi Picoult

198 – Il Nudo e il Morto, Norman Mailer

199 – Il Nome della Rosa, Umberto Eco

200 – The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri

201 – Il Diario di una Tata, Emma McLaughlin

202 – Nervous System: Or, Losing my Mind in Literature, Jan Lars Jensen

203 – Nuove Poesie, Emily Dickinson

204 – The New Way Things Work, David Macaulay

205 – Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich

206 – Notte, Elie Wiesel

207 – Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen

208 – The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, William E.Cain, Laurie A.Finke, Barbara E.Johnson, John P.McGowan

209 – Racconti 1930-1942, Dawn Powell

210 – Taccuino di un Vecchio Porco, Charles Bukowski

211 – Uomini e Topi, John Steinbeck

212 – Old School, Tobias Wolff

213 – Sulla Strada, Jack Kerouac

214 – Qualcuno Volò sul Nido del Cuculo, Ken Kesey

215 – Cent’Anni di Solitudine, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

216 – The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life, Amy Tan

217 – La Notte dell’Oracolo, Paul Auster

218 – L’Ultimo degli Uomini, Margaret Atwood

219 – Otello, William Shakespeare

220 – Il Nostro Comune Amico, Charles Dickens

221 – The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, Donald Kagan

222 – La Mia Africa, Karen Blixen

223 – The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton

224 – Passaggio in India, E.M.Forster

225 – The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition, Donald Kagan

226 – Noi Siamo Infinito, Stephen Chbosky

227 – Peyton Place, Grace Metalious

228 – Il Ritratto di Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

229 – Pigs at the Trough, Arianna Huffington

230 – Le Avventure di Pinocchio, Carlo Collodi

231 – Please Kill Me: Il Punk nelle Parole dei Suoi Protagonisti, Legs McNeil e Gillian McCain

232 – Una Vita da Lettore, Nick Hornby

233 – The Portable Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker

234 – The Portable Nietzche, Fredrich Nietzche

235 – The Price of Loyalty: George W.Bush, the White House, and the Education on Paul O’Neil, Ron Suskind

236 – Orgoglio e Pregiudizio, Jane Austen

237 – Property, Valerie Martin

238 – Pushkin, La Biografia, T.J.Binyon

239 – Pigmallione, G.B.Shaw

240 – Quattrocento, James Mckean

241 – A Quiet Storm, Rachel Howzell Hall

242 – Rapunzel, I Fratelli Grimm

243 – Il Corvo ed Altre Poesie, Edgar Allan Poe

244 – Il Filo del Rasoio, W.Somerset Maugham

245 – Leggere Lolita a Teheran, Azar Nafisi

246 – Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier

247 – Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Kate Douglas Wiggin

248 – The Red Tent, Anita Diamant

[starkiddreamcasting]

Starkid Much Ado About Nothing

Bringing back the bard for the final dreamcast of July! The leads were pretty easy to cast right away due to the chemistry, but even the supporting roles I think are well cast. Just be sure to check out and share around the polls for what new dreamcasts you want to see next month, and what dreamcasts you want to see revised for August.

Joey Richter as Benedick

Lauren Lopez as Beatrice

Curt Mega as Claudio

Kim Whalen as Hero

Corey Dorris as Don Pedro

Jeff Blim as Don John

Dylan Saunders as Leonato

Joe Moses as Dogberry

Davis Hamilton as Balthasar

Jim Povolo as Borachio

Nico Ager as Conrade

Rachael Soglin as Margaret 

Lily Marks as Ursula

Nick Lang as Verges

Bryce Charles as Messenger

Meredith Stepien as First Watchman

Nick Strauss as Sexton

James Tolbert as Second Watchman

Joe Walker as Friar Francis

Understudies: Bryce Charles (Hero), Nick Gage (Borachio, Verges, Friar Francis, Sexton), Arielle Goldman (Margaret, Ursula, First Watchman, Messenger), Brian Holden (Benedick, Conrade, Second Watchman), Meredith Stepien (Beatrice), Nick Strauss (Don John, Leonato), James Tolbert (Claudio, Balthasar), Joe Walker (Don Pedro, Dogberry)

Make sure to leave any show suggestions or any questions on my casting choices so I can explain them.

[antidrumpfs]

Trump once called Putin a 'genius' and 'savvy' regarding his invasion of Ukraine.

Donald Trump once described Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as “genius” and “savvy," praising his onetime counterpart for a move that has spurred sanctions and universal condemnation from the U.S. government and its trans-Atlantic allies.

"I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that's wonderful," Trump said in a radio interview with “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show." "He used the word ‘independent’ and 'we're gonna go out and we're gonna go in and we're gonna help keep peace.’ You gotta say that's pretty savvy” 

- Don-The Covidiot-Trump 

[popentertainmentconcertreviews]

KT Tunstall & Martin Sexton – Keswick Theatre – Glenside, PA – May 4, 2023

Folk-based singer songwriters KT Tunstall and Martin Sexton turned out to be a perfect pairing in their recent co-headlining gig in the Philly suburbs. Their individual styles both meshed and contrasted, making for a fine evening of smart and funny stories and tunes. Each artist performed solo, mostly on acoustic guitar (each artist did one song on piano, Sexton did a few on banjo and Tunstall also did some electric songs). Each did about 12 songs in their set, and then got together for a two-song encore.

Sexton took the stage first, mixing his homey storytelling with his sturdy voice and gentle guitar plucking. He luxuriated through a nice cross-section of his songbook, warbling (and as he pointed out, periodically yodeling) through the likes of “There Go I,” “Diggin’ Me,” “Freedom of the Road,” “Happy” and “Virginia.” Most relatable was one of his newest songs, the life-during-the-pandemic ballad “Hold On,” in which he sweetly catalogued all the things he did in his home with his family because suddenly the outside world had pretty much stopped.

Perhaps Sexton’s finest moment though was when he played his song “Hallelujah” (not to be confused with Leonard Cohen’s standard of the same name) and acknowledged that it followed a chord structure that was pretty much ubiquitous in pop music, and he proceeded to sing snatches of several other songs that had basically the same flow, including U2’s “With or Without You,” Cheap Trick’s “Surrender,” Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry” and the Beatles’ “Let It Be.”

Sexton wasn’t the only one who acknowledged that sometimes songs can be – consciously or unconsciously – inspired by other songs. In fact, in her set, Tunstall said that she’d never really acknowledged something before, but in the Philadelphia area, the home of Rocky, she felt it was the right time. Therefore in the middle of her performance of her own song “Miniature Disasters,” Tunstall demonstrated how if you change a note or two you would get “Eye of the Tiger,” and she happily sang out a couple of verses and the chorus of that song for the audience.

“Eye of the Tiger” was only one of several pop covers that Tunstall weaved into her set, some of which were done as mashups of her own songs. When doing “Dear Shadow,” a new song that she had written with popular songwriter Cathy Dennis, she played a bit of Dennis’ hit Britney Spears composition “Toxic.” When doing her own hit “Black Horse and a Cherry Tree,” Tunstall incorporated a short break from The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.” And when she asked the audience if they would like a new song or a classic cover, she decided on both, playing her own “All The Time” and following it up with a propulsive run through Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer.”

However, Tunstall did not skimp on her own music. She played a drop-dead-gorgeous version of “Other Side of the World,” as well as a spiky run through the forementioned “Miniature Disasters,” and the lovely new “All the Time.” By the time she closed her set with a propulsive version of her smash hit “Suddenly I See,” Tunstall had the crowd eating out of her hand.

Then, after a short call for an encore, Tunstall and Sexton came out together and duetted on sweet acoustic versions of the traditional standards “This Little Light of Mine” and “You Are My Sunshine.” It was an enlightening end to a wonderful night.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2023 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: May 6, 2023.

Photos by Jim Rinaldi © 2023. All rights reserved.

[roysexton]

“When I found out the patriarchy wasn’t about horses, I just lost interest anyway.” Barbie the Movie

Kudos to Barbie helmer and co-screenwriter Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Little Women), Hollywood’s first woman director (and likely NOT the last) to earn $1 billion at the international box office for a film. In just two weeks no less. I was reflecting on that milestone on the way home from seeing the fab film this morning. Why? What is it about this movie that has captured the zeitgeist so?…

[waugh-bao]

I do think Charlie’s comments about looking at pics of himself may be a bit of a ‘get out of interview’ answer. I don’t doubt that he didn’t like watching himself since there are many actors who feel the same, but he took so much care with how look that he had to appreciate it. Or why do it? Plus there are other interviews where he elaborates on clothes. Rob Shanahan said Charlie once told him he made him look like a movie star. I’d like to think this is a ‘don’t want to talk about me’ answer.

This ask is more than a year old, so obviously we know a lot that we didn't before the Paul Sexton book about just how poor Charlie's self image was and how much he struggled with borderline disordered tendencies regarding his physical appearance (and also how long it sometimes takes to me to answer asks).

That said, the Rob Shanahan story is really lovely. He set up a day long shoot to capture and photograph a meeting between Charlie, Ringo Starr, and Jim Keltner. Charlie phoned him after the fact to chat and say thank you:

"First, he asked if it would be okay to use a few of the photos for the Rolling Stones (yes, of course). Then, he said, 'You make me look like a movie star.” It filled my heart and soul beyond words.'"

What I love more than anything, though, is the end of his tribute to Charlie, set in 2003:

"Right after they wrapped up, Scott Donnell from DW and Charlie’s tech, Don, helped me quickly set up my lighting, and I got Charlie back to the kit. I asked him to grab a pair of his Vic Firth Charlie Watts signature sticks, and told him, 'Charlie, you are a movie star.' He beamed, and I made another one of my favorite photographs of all time."

[sapphireshorelines]

My 2022 Reading List

(chronologically)

The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Train to Pakistan - Khushwant Singh 5/5

Dandelions - Yasunari Kawabata 4/5 (trans. Michael Emmerich)

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth - Warsan Shire 2.5/5

The Waves - Virginia Woolf 5/5

Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis - Wendy Cope 3/5

Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston 3.5/5

Glass, Irony and God - Anne Carson 4/5 (The Glass Essay is 5/5 tho!)

Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen 4/5

Night Sky with Exit Wounds - Ocean Vuong 5/5

A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett 3.5/5

Gendering Caste - Uma Chakravarti 5/5

Heartstopper #1 - Alice Oseman 3/5

Live or Die - Anne Sexton 4.5/5

I remember - Joe Brainard 2.5/5

The Country Without a Post Office and other Poems - Agha Shahid Ali 5/5

Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf 4/5

Othello - William Shakespeare 3/5

My Life Had Stood a Loaded Gun - Emily Dickinson 3.5/5

The Waste Land - T. S. Eliot 5/5

Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories -R.K. Narayan 4/5

An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire - Arundhati Roy 4/5

Alphabet - Inger Christensen 4.5/5 (trans. Susanna Nied)

Autobiography of Death - Kim Hyesoon 3.5/5 (trans. Don Mee Choi)

A Room With A View - E. M. Forster 4/5

A Mathematician's Apology - G. H. Hardy 3.5/5

Radial Symmetry - Katherine Larson 4/5

Crush - Richard Siken 3.5/5

My Life in My Words - Rabindranath Tagore 4/5 (ed. Uma Das Gupta)

Love Letters: Vita and Virginia 4/5

Fasting, Feasting - Anita Desa 3.5/5

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz 5/5 (reread)

Slouching Towards Bethlehem - Joan Didion 3.5/5

Autopsy - Donte Collins 3.5/5

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson 3/5

Time is a Mother - Ocean Vuong 3.5/5

Dracula - Bram Stoker 4.5/5

Anne of Avonlea- L.M. Montgomery 3/5

Four Essays on Philosophy - Mao Tse-Tung 3/5

First Light - Sunil Gangopadhyay 5/5 (trans. Aruna Chakravarti)

Howl and Other Poems - Allen Ginsberg 2.5/5

[poetrywithbrian]

POETRY LIST FROM BRIAN P: This list is made up of English language “lyric” poems by poets from what would become or is now the United States of America. They are in a random arrangement, not alphabetical or chronological. Allow them to play off each other in a variety of ways. Each poet is represented by only one poem.

May Swenson, The Centaur

Archibald MacLeish, Ars Poetica

Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Chambered Nautilus

Lucille Clifton, The Lost Baby Poem

Hart Crane, Voyages

H.D. Elegy and Choros

Wallace Stevens, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

Amy Lowell, The Garden by Moonlight

N. Scott Momaday, The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee

Francis Scott Key, Defense of Fort M’Henry

Langston Hughes, The Negro Speaks of Rivers

Adrienne Rich, Diving into the Wreck

Robert Hayden, Letter from Phyllis Wheatley

Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin’

James Dickey, Cherrylog Road

Chen Chen, I Invite My Parents to a Dinner Party

Joy Harjo, She Had Some Horses

Bonnie Larson Staiger, Grassland

Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

e.e. cummings, “anyone lived in a pretty how town”

Carl Sandburg, Chicago

James Russell Lowell, The Present Crisis

Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Snowstorm

Robert Lowell, For the Union Dead

Tommy Pico, I See the Fire that Burns Inside You

Emily Dickinson, “I started early – took my dog””

T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men

Louise Gluck, The Wild Iris

Anonymous, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Gary Snyder, The Bath

Gwendolyn Brooks, We Real Cool

James Whitcomb Riley, L’il Orphant Annie

James Merrill, The Victor Dog

James Welch, Harlem, Montana: Just Off the Reservation

Frank O’Hara, Why I Am Not a Painter

John Ashbery, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror

William Carlos Williams, XXII, from Spring and All, The Red Wheelbarrow

Tupac Shakur, Changes

George Oppen, Five Poems about Poetry

Robert Bly, Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter

Edwin Arlington Robinson, Mr. Flood’s Party

Richard Wright, Between the World and Me

John Greenleaf Whittier, Snowbound: A Winter’s Idyl

Phyllis Wheatley, His Excellency General Washington

Walt Whitman, When lilacs last by the dooryard bloom’d

Patricia Smith, The Stuff of Astounding: A Poem for Juneteenth

Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven

R.W. Wilson, Poemable

Marianne Moore, The Mind Is an Enchanting Thing

Julia Ward Howe, Battle Hymn of the Republic

Sylvia Plath, Tulips

Patricia Smith, The Stuff of Astounding: A Poem for Juneteenth

Thomas McGrath, A Coal Fire in Winter

Growing Concern Poetry Collective, Come to Me Open

Denise Lajimodiere, Dragonfly Dance

Edward Taylor, Housewifery

Jay Wright, Benjamin Banneker Sends His “Almanac” to Thomas Jefferson

Allen Ginsberg, Howl

David Solheim, In Moonlight

William Stafford, At the Bomb Testing Site

Ronald Johnson, Letters to Walt Whitman

Marge Piercy, To Be of Use

Mary Oliver, The Wild Geese

Wendell Berry, The Peace of Wild Things

W.H. Auden, Epitaph on a Tyrant

Richard Blanco, On Today

Timothy Murphy, Mortal Stakes

Lauryn Hill, Lost One

Don J. Lee/Haki Madhubuti, A Poem to Complement Other Poems

Louise Erdrich, The Strange People

Jericho Brown, Psalm 150

John Berryman, 11 Addresses to the Lord

Thomas Merton, Love Winter When the Plant Says Nothing

Anne Bradstreet, Before the Birth of One of Her Children

Frances E. W. Harper, Learning to Read

Randall Jarrell, Mail Call, and the children’s book “The Bat Poet”

Herman Melville, The Maldive Shark

Gertrude Stein, How She Bowed to Her Brother

Anne Sexton, In Celebration of My Uterus

Theodore Roethke, In a Dark Time

Edna St. Vincent Millay, “What lips my lips have kissed, and where and why”

Stephen Crane, A Man Saw a Ball of Gold

Robert Penn Warren, The Moonlight’s Dream

Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Colored Band

Henry David Thoreau, “The moon now rises to her absolute rule”

Emma Lazarus. The New Colossus

Sugar Hill Gang, Rapper’s Delight

Allen Tate, Ode to the Confederate Dead

Muriel Rukeyser, Ballad of Orange and Grape

Elizabeth Bishop, Sestina, “September rain falls on the house”

Judy Grahn, The Common Woman Poems (complete)

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, I Am Waiting

May Sarton, The Gift of Thyme

George Moses Horton, On Liberty and Slavery

Ezra Pound, The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter

Robinson Jeffers, Hurt Hawks

James Weldon Johnson, The Creation

Sherman Alexie, Sonnet, with Pride

Kenneth Koch, In Love With You

Jupiter Hammon, An Address to Miss Phillis Wheatley

A.R. Ammons, The Brook Has Worked Out the Prominence of a Bend

Anonymous, Go Down, Moses

Yusef Komunyakaa. Facing It

W.S. Merwin, After the Alphabets

Richard Wilbur, A Baroque Wall-Fountain in the Villa Sciarra

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done

Natalie Diaz, My Brother at 3 AM

Maya Angelou, On the Pulse of Morning

Raymond Roseliep, The Morning Glory

Rita Dove, Dawn Revisted

[socialshakespeare]

Reading 6: Sunday, February 25

The sixth (and final!) read-through of Much Ado About Nothing!

(Most of you are double or triple cast, so double check which lines you have to read.) You can look up the lines of the characters here. The names listed below all go with the Folger Edition.

Please submit your confirmation or any request to understudy here. If you’re in any doubt, please ask.

Times and time zones:

EST (US): 4:00 PM CST (US): 3:00 PM MST (US): 2:00 PM PST (US): 1:00 PM GMT (UK): 9:00 PM AEDT (AU): 8:00 AM (Monday, February 26)

Leader: @mariposagal

Benedick:  @quoththegayven/@daphneblakess FIGHT IT OUT Leonato, 1st Lord:  @mariposagal Prince (Don Pedro), 2nd Watchman:  Derik M.  Beatrice, Sexton:  quoththegayven/daphneblakes FIGHT IT OUT Claudio, 1st Watchman:  @dramamath Dogberry, Leonato's Brother, Antonio:  @heartseeksthehearth Borachio, Messenger, Boy:  @redwindowpane Hero, Verges, Balthasar:  @kylasedai Don John, Ursula, Seacoal:  @faderofall Margaret, Friar Francis, Conrade:  Emma C. Understudy:  @trashprinceofdenmark

Please submit your confirmation here. - liking/reblogging this post does not count!

Read the Guidelines. To avoid the differences between editions that make for confusion and missed cues, please use the Folger edition of Much Ado About Nothing during the read-through.

Be on time, be prepared, and make sure you know which lines to read. Good luck!