View allAll Photos Tagged GoodReads
"Send one away, I'm feelin' tired."
www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/259666.Mae_West
Queen Square, Liverpool.
"On the far planet Wing IV, a brilliant scientist creates the humanoids--sleek black androids programmed to serve humanity.
"But are they perfect servants--or perfect masters?
"Slowly the humanoids spread throughout the galaxy, threatening to stifle all human endeavor. Only a hidden group of rebels can stem the humanoid tide...if it's not already too late.
"Fist published in Astounding Science Fiction during the magazine's heyday, The Humanoids--science fiction grand master Jack Williamson's finest novel--has endured for fifty years as a classic on the theme of natural versus artificial life."
[Source: www.goodreads.com/book/show/11970.The_Humanoids]
This classic robot story was titled ". . . And Searching Mind" when it first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction as a three-part serial in March, April and May, 1948.
Craft, Show & Sell by Torie Jayne, a beautiful new book I am featured in! I can't wait to have my own copy to show you more... x
magic-in-every-book: Read PoC//Historical Fiction I only listed one book per author, usually their most popular or highest rated book/series, so make sure to check out their Goodreads page for more of their hardwork!! Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezevani A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam The Lovers of Algeria by Anouar Benmalek The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel Ancestor Stones by Aminatta Forna When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro The Book of Night Women by Marlon James The Known World by Edward P. Jones Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones In Praise of Hatred by Khaled Khalifa The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz The Rice Mother by Rani Manicka Cloud of Sparrows by Takashi Matsuoka One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez Empress Orchid by Anchee Min The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See The Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan The Makioka Sisters by Jun’ichiro Tanazaki Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama The Color Purple by Alice Walker The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon More Recommendations Recommended Historical Fiction, Memoirs, and Mysteries by People of Color (Blog) Best Black Historical Fiction (Goodreads) Literary Fiction by People of Color (Goodreads Group) “Historical” Tag @readpoc2016 Read PoC Posts Young Adult//Fantasy and Science Fiction//General Fiction//Autobiographies and Memoirs
“James Myers Thompson (1906-1977) was a United States writer of novels, short stories and screenplays, largely in the hardboiled style of crime fiction.
Thompson wrote more than thirty novels, the majority of which were original paperback publications by pulp fiction houses, from the late-1940s through mid-1950s. Despite some positive critical notice, notably by Anthony Boucher in the New York Times, he was little-recognized in his lifetime. Only after death did Thompson's literary stature grow, when in the late 1980s, several novels were re-published in the Black Lizard series of re-discovered crime fiction.
Thompson's writing culminated in a few of his best-regarded works: The Killer Inside Me, Savage Night, A Hell of a Woman and Pop. 1280. In these works, Thompson turned the derided pulp genre into literature and art, featuring unreliable narrators, odd structure, and surrealism.
The writer R.V. Cassills has suggested that of all pulp fiction, Thompson's was the rawest and most harrowing; that neither Dashiell Hammett nor Raymond Chandler nor even Horace McCoy, author of the bleak They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, ever "wrote a book within miles of Thompson". [1] Similarly, in the introduction to Now and on Earth, Stephen King says he most admires Thompson's work because "The guy was over the top. The guy was absolutely over the top. Big Jim didn't know the meaning of the word stop. There are three brave lets inherent in the forgoing: he let himself see everything, he let himself write it down, then he let himself publish it."
Thompson admired Fyodor Dostoevsky and was nicknamed "Dimestore Dostoevsky" by writer Geoffrey O'Brien. Film director Stephen Frears, who directed an adaptation of Thompson's The Grifters as 1990's The Grifters, also identified elements of Greek tragedy in his themes.”
[From the Goodreads website at www.goodreads.com/author/show/7621.Jim_Thompson]
Washington, D.C. (est. 1790, pop. ~690,000)
• Dolley Madison House, aka Cutts Madison House [1883 photo] • 3-story Federal style residence, originally gray stucco with a large garden • considered pretentious at the time [c.1910 photo]
• built by Former MA Congressman Richard Cutts (1771-1845) whose wife, Anna (1779-1832), was Dolley's younger sister • Cutts secured a mortgage to build the house • encountered financial difficulties • landed in debtors’ prison,1828
• bank sold the mortgage to Dolley’s 2nd husband, James Madison who, although his term as 4th U.S. president had recently ended, never lived in the house • Cutts family remained here until Anna died
• James first met Dolley, a recent widow, on a street in Philadelphia • ascertained her identity, learning that his college friend, Aaron Burr (1756-1836), rented a room from her mother • Burr agreed to introduce Madison to her —Smithsonian
• Dolley was 17 yrs. younger & 3” taller than James, who was 5’4” (163 cm) • she would often grab his legs, lift him onto her back and run around the room or • when James died, Dolley [portrait] inherited the house • occupied it 1837-1839, then moved to Montpelier, her late husband’s Virginia country estate, then suffering financial difficulties • unable to resolve them, she returned to this house in 1843 • sold Montpelier, 1844 • remained here until her death in 1849
• throughout her life she ignored politically inspired, unsubstantiated rumors of conjugal infidelity and sexual insatiability, e.g., Thomas Jefferson had supposedly pimped her to foreign visitors —A Perfect Union, Catherine Allgor
• 1st president’s wife to reside in White House a full term • 1st to fully embrace first lady role • worked with the architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764-1820) to furnish the White House • preferring cooperation to coercion, her parties, dinners & White House receptions — she called them “drawing rooms,” — were politically neutral • wearing one of her trademark turbans, she circulated to engage & charm each of her guests, regardless of party, setting at ease those who appeared uncomfortable • visiting author Washington Irving was nearly blinded when he “emerged from dirt and darkness into the blazing splendor of Mrs. Madison’s drawingroom.” —White House History
• amid the chaos of the War of 1812, Dolley Madison emerged a heroine • she & Paul Jennings (1799-1874), a young, slave who served as President Madison’s body servant, saved the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington & other treasures before the White House was burned by British troops • she remains one of the few White House occupants ever to attain legendary status —Dolley Madison Letter on the Burning of Washington
• Paul Jennings went on to write the first White House memoir, A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison, precursor to Behind the Scenes, an insider’s view of the Lincoln White House, written by former slave Elizabeth Keckley (1818-1907)
• with Dolley Madison as host, this house became the epicenter of Washington social life • among her visitors: Presidents James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk, and Zachary Taylor & Senators John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, & Daniel Webster —[video: Dolley Madison & Politics]
• house purchased by Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes, 1851 • commander of the first United States naval exploration of the Pacific Ocean (i1838-42) • moved entrance to the H Street side, added 1st floor balcony
• housed George B. McLellan (1826-1885), head of the Union Army at the beginning of the American Civil War • on 13 Nov., 1861, Pres. Lincoln arrived here to discuss the progress of the war • McClellan, who reportedly referred to Lincoln as “nothing more than a well-meaning baboon,” remained upstairs 30 minutes before before sending word that he was sleeping • Lincoln conducted subsequent meetings in the White House until, with losses to the Confederate Army mounting, on Wednesday, 5 Nov., 1862, he removed McLellan from command
• bldg. became Sanitary Commission headquarters, c.1865 [photo]
• purchased by Cosmos Club, early 1880s • numerous modifications included a full 3rd floor, 1st floor additions & a bay window on H Street [photo]
• bldg. configuration little changed since 1893 • purchased by U.S. federal govt., 1940, leased back to Cosmos Club until it moved out, 1952 • housed National Science Foundation and, until 1964, NASA • in April 1959, the 1st class of astronauts - the “Mercury 7,” were presented to the press in the house’s ballroom [photo]• NASA information director Walter Bonney: “These are our astronaut volunteers. Take your pictures as you will, gentlemen.” —White House History
• bldg. was endangered for most of the 1st half of the 20th century • plans completed for a courts bldg. to replace Dolley Madison House • drive to preserve Lafayette Square’s historic blogs. lead by Jacqueline Kennedy & architect John Carl Warnecke (1919-2010)
• when restoration completed, 1968, Dolley Madison House became part of Federal Judiciary Center complex, then used by U.S. Court of Appeals —DC History Center
• although no record is extant, at Dolley Madison's funeral President Zachary Taylor is said to have eulogized her as “the first lady of the land for half a century” • thought to be the first known use of the title in connection with a president's wife The First Ladies • funeral procession was reported as th largest in Washington up to that time • Dolley Madison’s passing ended the line of direct links to the Founding Fathers —Presidential History Blog
National Register # 78000256, 1978
• contributing property, Lafayette Square Historic District, National Register # 70000833, 1970
Charleston est. 1670, pop. 127,999 (2013)
• aka (erroneously) James Hartley House after the man who owned the house next door • 3½-story single house stands on part of Lot No. 1 of the Grand Modell, which in 1682 was granted by the Lords Proprietor to Messrs Maurice Mathews and James Moore, both future governors who profited from trafficking w/pirates & the illegal Native American slave trade
• Moore, who immigrated to Charleston from Barbados w/37 slaves, was a fur trader • Matthews, the colony's surveyor general, was an organizer of St. Philip's Episcopal Church -"Historic Goose Creek, South Carolina: A Definitive History 1670-1980", -"Old Charleston Originals: From Celebrities to Scoundrels"
• in 1755, this portion of Lot No. 1 was conveyed to George Sommers (1700-1777) • property described as "having a Tenement thereon" • this house, which stylistically dates from c. 1755, is either the "Tenement" mentioned in the deed or was erected by George Sommers soon after the purchase • remained in the ownership of Sommers and his family at least until the 1790s -Charleston Copunty Public Library
• a surviving plat shows the single house layout & 2-story outbuildings • lies close, if not immediately adjacent to the site of Charles Town's original city wall • originally maintained a street entrance & ground-floor room for commercial use • entrance removed, piazzas added, early 19th c. • the bend in East Bay St where it connected w/E. Battery, was known as "Sommers' Corner."
• passed through several prominent merchant families, including those of John Teasdale (1753 - 1818), a British officer who became the first Charleston factor to ship cotton to Europe, and Scottish immigrant John Fraser (1777-1854), founder of important mercantile firm Fraser and Trenholm
• deteriorated [photo] in the early-20th c. • restored, 1935, by pioneer Charleston realtor Elizabeth Hanahan (1905-1994) as her family’s residence, w/assistance of preservation architects Simmons & Lapham • Albert Simmons (1890-1980) was a pioneer & major influence in both the Charleston & U.S. preservation movements • Samuel Lapham (1892-1972) -Roots & Recall
• SC-471 Charleston Historic District, National Register # 66000964, 1969 • declared National Historic Landmark District, 1973
(c) Copyright 2018 by Neall Calvert. . . . Rockland Avenue view of Georgia Strait / Salish Sea at evening. Campbell River, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.
"End of rainy season --
the whole bay
smooth indigo."
--Mitsu Suzuki,
"A White Tea Bowl: 100 Haiku from 100 Years of Life," page 90.
from William Gass's often brilliant & occasionally infuriating* 'Reading Rilke'
*why? - partly nailed here by reviewer Miriam, though she understates the brilliance of section 1...
Charleston est. 1670, pop. 127,999 (2013)
(R) No. 47, Mrs. Anne Boone's House (c. 1740)
• 3½-story Georgian style house is one of the oldest surviving examples of the Charleston single house, "one room thick and two rooms long, with a staircase in its middle set endwise to the street" • typically, single houses had a ground floor room used as an office or shop with a street-facing entrance which, for this house, was probably where the middle window is now
• thick, brick exterior walls could be those of the house Anne Boone (1677-1751) inherited in 1733 from husband Joseph, serving as a basis for reconstruction after the Great Fire of 1740 —College of Charleston Library
• in 1680, Joseph Boone (1678-1734) came to Carolina from England with a large company of Puritans, led by Anne's father, Landgrave Daniel Axtell (c. 1645-c. 1683) • his father, Daniel Axtell (1622-1660), had been hanged, drawn & quartered for participating in the regicide of King Charles I
• the British Lords Proprietors granted the right of free worship in Carolina & the 1st governor appointed was a Puritan, William Sayle (c. 1590–1671) • other Puritans & persecuted groups followed, e.g., Huguenots, Quakers • some of the ships bearing settlers were underwritten by wealthy Jews, who immigrated later
• when Anglicans gained power, dissent was restricted • Joseph Boone was a leader in opposing this • both of the Boone's are buried at their Mt. Boone Plantation —The WPA Guide to South Carolina: The Palmetto State • Daniel & Rebecca Axtell
• Doric columned piazza replaced earlier porch c. 1840 • gable end with it's 19th c. closed pediment profile rebuilt after collapsing in Hurricane Hugo, 1989 - The Buildings of Charleston, J.H. Poston for the Historic Charleston Foundation, 1997
(L) No. 45, Somersall-deSaussure House (c. 1780-1800)
• in 1757, merchant James Hartley purchased this lot -- part of Lot No. 1 of Charles Town's Grand Modell -- from Adam Daniel • in the will he executed the same year, Hartley directed his executor to take charge of the dwelling house, then under construction on this site, to insure that it would "be Completely finished upon the Plan and present Design thereof" • apparently the house didn't survive • the present 3-story single house seems to have been constructed by Hartley’s son-in-law, merchant & planter William Somersall, an immigrant from St. Kitt's
• Somersall is said to have loaned the South Carolina govt.£23,580 during the American Revolution • served in the SC General Assembly, 1787- 90 • delegate to the 1788 state convention to ratify the U.S. Constitution • married Hartley's daughter Sarah, 1774, the second marriage for each
• after 1807 the house was occupied by the Somersalls' daughter Mary & her husband, attorney John Ward (1767-1816) • Ward was a State Representative & Senator, twice president of the State Senate, 1801-02 lntendant (mayor) of Charleston & a Colonel in the SC Militia
• in 1850 the house was purchased by Wilmot G. de Saussure (1822-1886) [photo] • brigadier gen., SC militia • as a colonel in the Confederate Army, led his regiment in the occupation of Fort Moultrie & the bombardment of Fort Sumter • as brigadier gen. commanded artillery during the Union siege of Charleston, 1863 • led Confederate troops in opposition to Major General William T. Sherman's march through the Carolinas
• served five 2-year terms in the SC General Assembly, 1848–1863 • SC Sec. of the Treasury, 1861-62 • post-war was a prominent lawyer active in civic affairs • wrote several works of SC history • grand master of Freemasons, president of the Huguenot Society, Cincinnati Society, etc. • genealogy
• c. 1850-60 de Saussure remodeled in the taste of the period, adding Greek Revival & Italianate detailing, a wide overhanging eave, heavy window hoods, a bracketed piazza door hood & a triple-tiered piazza with fluted Doric columns • the mansion was converted to condos, 1985 -Roots & Recall
• Charleston Historic District, National Register # 66000964, 1969 • declared National Historic Landmark District, 1973
Chota Khoti, Ruth Bryan Owen House (1911), 3504 Royal Palm Ave, Miami, FL, USA
Miami est. 1896, pop. 2.6MM
• significantly altered & largely forgotten, this was the 1920s-30s home of notable Miamian Ruth Bryan Owen (1885-1954) [photo], daughter of 3-time Democratic Presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan, a Populist Democrat known as "The Great Commoner" • she was the Old South’s 1st U.S. congresswoman, 1st woman to serve on the House Foreign Affairs Committee & as Minister to Denmark, 1st head of a U.S. diplomatic mission [photo], appointed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt • the journey that led her to this distinguished career began in Coconut Grove
"Ruth had been overseas in the war, sent to Egypt as a nurse with the British. There she had met a retired major, Reginald Owen, who had some kind of service-induced malady called Bright’s Disease and was told to live in a warm climate. The two of them got married and came back to Coconut Grove and bought a big house called Chota-Khoti — which in Burmese means 'little house.' The little house behind it was called Burra-Khoti, which means 'big house.' Reginald's family had had tea plantations in Burma." —Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Voice of the River
"The house is a two-story white stucco building with two wings connected by a semi-open-air living room enclosing a patio. It is a combination of Mexican and Spanish styles, set well back from the street and bordered with shrubbery." — Guide to Miami & Environs, 1941
"The great living room is filled with furniture which has seen service in many quarters of the globe, and carries its own mellow charm with it. The grand piano is open and often in use." —Arkansas Gazette, December 6, 1928
"The neighbourhood spends happy evenings at Chota Khoti, curled up on cushions, in the white paneled drawing room with Chinese cabinets of red. The Major and his pipe sit in the chimney corner. Ruth Bryan ruffles her auburn hair, leans against the piano and sings: "I am not fair, but that he thought me so." —The Whole World and Company, 1936, by Gretchen Green, whose La Cabana Tea Room occupied a small cabin next door to Chota Khoti • the Owens hosted many events, e.g., parties, recitals, cultural activities, meetings & various YWCA & Miami Woman’s Club affairs [photo]
• the Royal Palm Ave. address notwithstanding, Chota Khoti's location was usually described as "on the Ingraham Highway" (later Main Highway) where the property had an entrance at the corner of Hibiscus St. [photo] • this entrance shortened the 10 min. walk to Marymont mansion, home of Ruth's parents
• photos: family portrait at Chota Khoti • 1924 photo of daughter Helen Rudd Owen (1920-2015), a Democrat who ran for Congress in California as Rudd Brown, losing in 1958 and 1960 • Ruth Bryan Owen pruning shrubs c. 1931
• Ruth Bryan Owen ("Big Ruth" to her grandchildren) was born in Jacksonville, IL • she loved fast cars • competed in the high jump & was a champion distance runner at the U. Of Nebraska • excellent polo player • spoke 3 languages • praised for her singing (mezzo-soprano) • championed feminist causes, • sponsored the designation of the Florida Everglades as a national park [photo] • vice chairman of the University of Miami board of regents • president of the Miami Woman's Club
• never one to be intimidated by predominantly male domains, Ruth was attracted to the movie industry, c. 1920 • considered it as a possible career & thought about studying professional direction
• she envisioned Miami as a major motion picture production center & in fact, a few movie companies had already sprung up, including Brush Photoplay Co., with 2 stages at 966 S.W. 8th St. • Field Feature Film Co. on S. Miami Ave. at 25th St. (Rd.) • Miami Studios w/ a lab & 4 stages at W. 9th St. & 2nd Ave. in Hialeah [photo] • Biograph Studios veteran Wray Physioc at 151 N.E. 5th St. — he had directed The Gulf Between (1917), world's 1st Technicolor movie • Dudley Read at 330 Ft. Dallas Park, arrived in Miami c. New Year, 1921, soon became known as the "Miami Cameraman"
• Mrs. Owen decided to finance, produce, write, direct & perform in Once Upon a Time, a motion picture she based on One Thousand and One Nights • she hired Dudley Read as cameramaman, an actor & a costume designer from NY & a cast of local amateur actors, members of the Community Players of Cocoanut Grove • she approached the project believing that if a movie looks good, it is good, i.e., poetic imagery sans any of the usual hackneyed storylines could & would engage an audience
"You know the movies have always had a lure and just the atmoSpehre [sic] spoiled them for me. Well it struck me this winter that I might plunge in [and] direct movies of my own, with no objectionable atmoSpehre. I wrote scenario, raised finance for the photography, hired a camera, organized over two-hundred amateurs, played a five-reel film, direct[ed] all five hundred pictures [shots] myself, designed costumes, trained the actors."
— letter from close friend Carrie Dunlap, June 13,1921, quoted in Women Film Pioneers Project, Columbia University
• following multiple rejections, she secured a distribution deal • the film (now lost) was released in 1922 • at least one review approved of a few of the visuals but beyond that found little to like: "amateurish attempt; society folk act out serious Arabian night drama with little regard to screen technique; story: told mainly through long Biblical titles, presents Sunday school ethics; direction: some fair effects, but as a whole very uneven; star: not the type for the role, often photographed to disadvantage; support: actors have a good time playing in pictures, but can't keep their eyes off the camera; exteriors: some pretty effects" —Film Daily, Jan-Jun 1922
• in spite of several unfavorable reviews and, apparently, disappointing revenues, Ruth was already thinking about her next project • with her father's decision to write screenplays, she planned to provide the "picturing" (produce) • when nothing came of this, she decided to go into the "family business"
"The community as well as the home needs a woman's viewpoint and it would be a good thing if Uncle Sam had a wife to help him with the national economy and national housekeeping." —Ruth Bryan Owen
"I've never asked a woman to vote for me because I was a woman, but I always ask men not to vote against me because I am a woman." —Ruth Bryan Owen
• Mrs. Owen lost her 1st election in Florida's 4th Congressional District, then won on her 2nd try after logging ~8,000 mi. at the wheel of her campaign car — a flivver she christened The Spirit of Florida • during the tour, she delivered about 500 stump speeches, a tactic her father invented for his presidential campaigns • like her “silver-tongued” dad, she was a gifted speaker who, represented by the Coit-Alber Lyceum Bureau or the Redpath Bureau, periodically incremented her wealth & fame by touring the Chautauqua Circuit, her appearances promoted with material such as this 1920s brochure that called her "one of the world's few great women"
• although Chota Khoti remained Congresswoman Owen's Miami residence well into the 1930s, in 1927 & '28 — the year of her 1st her successful campaign for Congress — she listed the address of this Coral Gables house on Avenue Altara as her residence, & received guests there • the house is said to have been built for her, possibly facilitated by her father who was a stellar salesman for the developers of Coral Gables until his death in 1925, annually earning $50,000 in cash and $50,000 in property, equivalent to about $1.36 million in 2016 dollars • Mrs. Owen built another of her houses, Golden Clouds, on 6 oceanfront acres at Oracabessa, Jamaica • there, as at her other residences, she entertained celebrity friends such as Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Noel Coward Ian Fleming & Charlie Chaplin
• Chota Khoti was eventually purchased by native Miamians who continued to refer to it by its given name, as did local tour guides in the 1970s-80s • over the years, rooms were enlarged & its facade altered • by the beginning of the 21st c., immigration had transformed the city around it from a racially segregated tourist Mecca to a dynamic Latin American metropolis which still happens to be located in the U.S. • with the passage of time, the location of Ruth Bryan Owen's Chota Khoti has nearly vanished from memory
"This is rather as if you imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in — an interesting hole I find myself in — fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!' This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, frantically hanging on to the notion that everything's going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for."
— Douglas Adams (The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time)
Somewhere in the South Pacific... :-)
Looking across the snowcapped mountains overhead the American SW I thought about how the Earth's cracks looked like magnified dendrites as if it was the brain control center of our deep synaptic secrets.
It is difficult to live on this Earth and it is difficult to be a human being when the mountains know all of our secrets before we even think them and the lakes carry our thoughts from us to strangers.
And yes, this landscape is also how I feel, whether I'm on a way to a holiday or escaping just that.
Pessoa's The Book of Disquietude is perhaps the most brilliant thing I've ever read...and I haven't even read all of it yet. I savor it. I open to random passages. Think of a literary truffle, as deep and as chocolatey and as honest as anything you can imagine. Such is Pessoa and The Book of Disquietude.
www.goodreads.com/author/show/7816.Fernando_Pessoa
**All photos are copyrighted. Please don't use without permission**
"No one expects the rug to be yanked out from underneath them; life-changing events usually don’t announce themselves. While instinct and intuition can help provide some warning signs, they can do little to prepare you for the feeling of rootlessness that follows when fate flips your world upside down. Anger, confusion, sadness, and frustration are shaken up together inside you like a snow globe. It takes years for the emotional dust to settle as you do your best to see through the storm."
— Slash (Slash)
after the storm...
Friday, 30 August 2019 PHOTO OF THE WEEK at exbphotos2019.blogspot.com/2019/09/friday-30-august-2019-...
11 x 17 Poster
Elvert Barnes 2019 FPOTW at elvertbarnes.com/2019fridaysphotos.html
_________________
Waiting for Broad Street Southbound Train at SEPTA 15th Street Station in Philadelphia PA on Saturday afternoon, 24 August 2019 by Elvert Barnes Photography
The Race Underground: Boston, New York, and the Incredible Rivalry That Built America’s First Subway book by Doug Most at www.goodreads.com/book/show/17934384-the-race-underground
THE RACE UNDERGROUND / PBS / AMERICAN EXPERIENCE at www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/race-underground/
PEOPLE READING Series
RIDE BY SHOOTING / SEPTA Philly Project
En route to 11th PHILLY NAKED BIKE RIDE 2019 Pre-Ride Festival
Elvert Barnes 11th PHILLY NAKED BIKE RIDE 2019 docu-project at elvertbarnes.com/PNBR2019.html
Nordic Gods - Tales simplified and well told. Illustrated by Willy Pogany.
Lost Books - fascinating read for fans of classical mythology and philosophy.
Manhattan, NY (settled 1624, pop. 1.6MM) • East Village
• Grace Episcopal Church • French Gothic Revival design by 25 yr. old James Renwick, Jr. (1818-1895), his first major commission • cornerstone laid, 1843 • church consecrated, 1846 • church history
• built of “Sing Sing marble,” actually Tuckahoe Marble quarried from the Sing Sing Quarry [photo] by Sing Sing Correctional Facility prisoners
• spire, 226’ high, was among the tallest points on the early NYC skyline • originally wood, was replaced by a marble spire, 1883
• situated in one of the most visible locations in Manhattan, the corner of East 10th St. where Broadway bends S/SE, aligning w/ the city’s avenues [c. 1900 photo]
• for much of the mid/late 19th C., considered NYC’s most fashionable church & most prestigious site for marriage or burial • like many other churches, charged “pew rents,” an annual fee for the use of its seats • initial pew rents were $3/wk. (= $114 today), thus the congregation in the early years consisted largely of wealthy New Yorkers [1918 video]
“In his 1882 New York by Gaslight, author James, D. McCabe, Jr. would point out, “At the morning service a greater display of wealth and fashion is presented here than at any other city church. Grace Church has been the scene of more fashionable weddings and funerals than any other place of worship.” —Daytonian in Manhattan
• on 10 Feb, 1863, the American Civil War was raging, demonstrations, protesting the country’s first military draft were on the verge of becoming full-blown draft riots, and a widely anticipated event took place in Grace Church; Charles Sherwood Stratton (1838-1883) — a wealthy, international celebrity better known as General Tom Thumb — and Mercy Lavinia Warren (1841-1919) exchanged wedding vows • both were proportionate dwarfs in the employ of P.T. Barnum, performers at his American Museum
• Stratton was a gifted entertainer who sang, danced & performed physical comedy, stage name taken from “The History of Tom Thumbe,” a story first published in 1621, attributed to London romance writer Richard Johnson (1573–c.1659) • Lavinia began her career performing on a river boat, signed w/Barnum, age 21
“The church was comfortably filled by a highly select audience of ladies and gentlemen, none being admitted except those having cards of invitation. Among them were governors of several of the States, to whom I had sent cards, and such of those as could not be present in person were represented by friends, to whom they had given their cards. Members of Congress were present, also generals of the army, and many other prominent public men. Numerous applications were made from wealthy and distinguished persons, for tickets to witness the ceremony, and as high as sixty dollars [= $1,400 today] was offered for a single admission. But not a ticket was sold; and Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren were pronounced ‘man and wife’ before witnesses.” —P.T. Barnum, “Struggles and Triumphs”
• the Brooklyn Eagle editorialized, “We are surprised that the clergy, or representatives of so respectable a body as the Episcopal Church should, for a moment, allow themselves to be used by this Yankee showman to advertise his business”
• amid widespread criticism of the church for it’s complicity in what was widely viewed as another Barnum publicity stunt, Stratton responded, “It is true we are little but we are as God made us, perfect in our littleness. We are simply man and woman of like passions and infirmities with you and other mortals. The arrangements for our marriage are controlled by no showman.”
“The more than 2,000 invited wedding guests [photo] appeared to be a who’s who of American nobility, including a number of congressmen and high-ranking generals, in addition to the thousands of average New Yorkers who showed up hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous tiny couple.” —A General, a Queen and the President
“The wedding party’s arrival outside the church at half past noon touched off a stampede among combatants fighting for a close-up view. The police restrained them only with extreme exertion. Inside, ‘an instantaneous uprising ensued,’ The New York Times reported the following day. ‘All looked, few saw. Many stood upon the seats, others stood upon stools placed on the seats. By many, good breeding was forgotten. By very many the sanctity of the occasion and the sacredness of the ceremonies were entirely ignored. As the little party toddled up the aisle, a sense of the ludicrous seemed to hit many a bump of fun, and irrepressible and unpleasantly audible giggles ran through the church.’” —Boundary Stones
• the couple received wedding presents from wealthy Americans, including a miniature horse-drawn carriage fashioned by Tiffany & Co. • the ceremony, officiated by Stratton’s hometown minister, Junius Willey, was followed by a reception at the Metropolitan Hotel, attended by guests who had purchased tickets from Barnum
• the newlyweds [illustration] then traveled to Washington where Charles’s brother was stationed w/ the Union Army • checked in to Willard’s Hotel
• on 13 Feb, 1863, a well-publicized reception for the couple was held in the East Room of the Lincoln White House, hosted by First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln & America’s tallest president [illustration] —Andrew Martin
Livinia Warren: “[The] President took our hands and led us to the sofa, lifting the General up and placed him at his left hand, while Mrs. Lincoln did the same serve for me, placing me at her right… Tad, the favorite son, stood beside his mother and gazing at me… whispered to his mother, ‘Mother if you were a little woman like Mrs. Stratton you would look just like her.'”
“The marriage of Gen. Tom Thumb cannot be treated as an affair of no moment -- in some respects it is most momentous. Next to LOUIS NAPOLEON, there is no one person better known by reputation to high and low, rich and poor, than he…
“Those who did and those who did not attend the wedding of Gen. Thomas Thumb and Queen composed the population of this great Metropolis yesterday, and thenceforth religious and civil parties sink into comparative insignificance before this one arbitrating query of fate -- Did you or did you not see Tom Thumb married?” —NYT 22 Feb, 1863
• Stratton retired wealthy • couple lived in a Bridgeport, CT mansion, owned a yacht, a summer home in Massachusetts [photo] and a custom-built cottage on Cut in Two Island East in Connecticut’s Thimble Islands • in 1855, when bad investments forced Barnum to file for bankruptcy, Stratton provided financial assistance d& became Barnum’s business partner
• 28 yrs. later, Charles died of a stroke • the couple’s lavish lifestyle had reduced their wealth but enough remained to support Lavinia’s retirement • chose instead to return to the stage, used the stage name “Mrs. Tom Thumb” & assembled a troupe of touring “Liliputians”
• married Italian proportionate dwarf Count primo Magri (1849-1920), who, with his brother, joined the troupe • Count & Countess [photo] lived in Middleborough, MA, • summers, operated a roadside general store for auto tourists called Primo’s Pastime, where they posed for photos w/customers —Atlas Obscura
• the Mrs. Tom Thumb company toured the country [photo], garnering favorable reviews, e.g., “The entertainment given by the Mrs. Tom Thumb Company Saturday was really a fine thing. The little people cannot help being interesting and the tricks of magic were also good, as were the music and trained birds, but the suspension in mid- air of the little countess and change of character was the best thing of the kind ever seen here,” —Newburyport (MA) Herald following a 2 July, 1889 performance at the Exeter (NH) Opera House
• shortly after Stratton’s death, theaters began staging re-enactments of the couple's nuptials • “Tom Thumb weddings,” aka "miniature weddings, became a fad in the 1890s-1900s and continued to be staged by churches, community organizations and charities well into the late 20th C., mainly as fundraisers [photo]
• Grace Church is a National Historic Landmark designated for its architectural significance and place within the history of New York City, and the entire complex is a New York City landmark • one of seven New York City buildings designated by the Municipal Art Society as being of national importance, to be preserved at all costs
designations:
NY Landmarks Preservation Commission:
• church & rectory landmarked, 1966
• Fourth Avenue church houses landmarked, 1977
National Register of Historic Places:
• church & dependencies, # 74001270, 1974
• national historic landmark, 1977
Hi everyone! I'm hoping to get your help with nominations for my YA supernatural horror novel, Breath of Dreams. By clicking on this link: kindlescout.amazon.com/p/ZR4GZ20UP4U5 you can choose "Nominate Me" and if my book is chosen for publication by Kindle Scout at the end of the 30 day period, all nominators get a free e-copy of the book! Thanks for your help! Here's a description of the book:
A string of teen murders has Portland, Maine gripped in fear. When someone from their high school is abducted, 16 year old Max and his two friends decide to take action. Their quest puts all three teens in mortal danger as they uncover clues that point to a supernatural being, and follow leads to an ultimate showdown with the killer. To further complicate things, Max is worried because his father refuses to tell him why his mother is missing or where she has gone for the past six weeks.
Enjoying his library book with Uncle James.
Uncle James enjoyed it so much he even reviewed the book: www.goodreads.com/review/show/433917083
Charleston est. 1670, pop. 127,999 (2013)
• this stucco double tenement is a larger 3-story version of William Hendrick's Tenements • retains its early 19th c. shop fronts, central passageway arch & late-18th c. wrought-iron lunette, w/scrollwork & central pendant -Roots & Recall
• for decades after the American Civil War the bldg. housed up to 100 impoverished Gullahs -- African-American families of freed slaves • because vegetables were grown in the courtyard & sold from street-facing sills & steps, this bldg. & nearby 83-85 Church St. became known as Cabbage Row, described as "Probably the vilest human habitations in a civilized land." -W.E.B. Du Bois, 1908
• by the 1920s, white neighbors were complaining of unsanitary conditions, knife & gunfights, prostitution & "the most vile, filthy, and offensive language" • this would become the setting for the critically acclaimed 1925 novel Porgy by DuBose Heyward (1885-1940)
• despite the notoriety conferred by a best-selling book, the building continued to deteriorate • in 1928, it was purchased & saved from demolition by Emily (Barker) Briggs (1893-1950) & her husband, landscape architect Loutrel Briggs (1893-1977)
• Mr. Briggs restored the exterior, added old woodwork to interiors for rental apts., renovated the gutted outbuildings as new units & named the bldg. Briggs Apartments -A Golden Haze of Memory: The Making of Historic Charleston, Stephanie E. Yuhl, 2005
• the restoration was criticized by a "shocked" Sons of Confederate Veterans historian, writer Clement Wood (1888-1950), who complained that -- typical of Charleston's commercialization -- the authentic "Catfish Row" bldg. had been transformed into a "high class residence" • Wood proposed that Negroes continue to live there to preserve the traditional atmosphere
• Briggs responded in the local paper: "DuBose Heyward, with an artistry, to which my unskilled pen cannot do justice, has preserved for posterity the picturesque life of 'Catfish Row,' and I have attempted to reclaim, with as little external change as possible, the building and restore it to semthing of its original state in revolutionary time." -Charleston News & Courier, 25 Dec, 1933 • Briggs bio -The Cultural Landscape Foundation
• "Porgy" author Heyward lived just a block away from Cabbage Row • he was a descendant of Thomas Heyward, Jr., a wealthy planter & signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence
• the author's mother, published poet Jane Screven DuBose Heyward (1864-1939), loved Gullah music & stories, which informed much of her work, e.g., "De Happy Lan"
Little Sonny, Little Gal
Trabblin down de road
War is you two gwin
Wid such a funny load?
We two is bound for Happy Land,
Kin tell we war it lies?
We darsn't leabe de goose behin
Cos Sah, she allus cries.
De Happy Lan is "Long Ago"
To dose who now am old.
So tun aroun, an trabble home
Befo de night gets cold.
"Once the Heywards were among the richest planters of South Carolina... It was good fortune for literature and for young Dubose Heyward that the family joined the ranks of the newly poor after the War Between the States," said the New York Times, which also hailed him as the chronicler of the "strange, various, primitive and passionate world" of the Negro -"Goat Cart Sam a.k.a. Porgy: Dubose Heyward's Icon of Southern 'Innocence'", Kendra Hamilton
• in Heyward's novel, the location of this Cabbage Row building is moved to the waterfront (possibly the location of today's Rainbow Row) & renamed "Catfish Row"...
"Catfish Row, in which Porgy lived, was not a row at all, but a great brick structure that lifted its three stories about the three sides of the court..... and pierced in its center by a wide entrance way. Over the entrance there still remained a massive grill of Itialian wrought iron, a battered capital of marble surmounted each of the lofty gate-posts." -"Porgy," DuBose, Heyward, 1925
• the story's protagonist is Goat Cart Sam, based on crippled Charleston street vendor Samuel Smalls • "World Knew him as Porgy — He died a Beggar", Tuscaloosa News, 1989 • "The Man Who Breathed Life Into 'Porgy and Bess'" -New York Times, 03/2000 Porgy & Bess, The Charleston Connection
• following up on the novel's success, DuBose & his wife, playwright Dorothy Heyward (1890-1961), wrote the non-musical play "Porgy," which opened on Broadway in 1927 • in 1934 Heyward & composer George Gershwin collaborated on the opera Porgy & Bess, first performed in NYC, 1935, with a cast of classically trained African-American singers • Gershwin's "Catfish Row Suite" premiered in Philadelphia, 1936 • the 1959 Porgy & Bess movie was directed by Otto Preminger • "Porgy & Bess at 80" -Wilson Quarterly
DuBose Heyward Epitaph, by DuBose Heyward
Here lies a spendthrift who believed
That only those who spend may keep;
Who scattered seeds, yet never grieved
Because a stranger came to reap;
A failure who might well have risen;
Yet, ragged, sang exultantly
That all success is but a prison,
And only those who fail are free;
Who took what little Earth had given,
And watched it blaze, and watched it die;
Who could not see a distant Heaven
Because of dazzling nearer sky;
Who never flinched till Earth had taken
The most of him back home again,
And the last silences were shaken
With songs too lovely for his pen.
HABS SC-447 • Charleston Historic District, National Register # 66000964, 1969 • declared National Historic Landmark District, 1973
These are all the apps currently on my iPhone. There are many, many notes with links. If there isn’t a note on an app leave a comment and I’ll add one. I just did my favorites at the moment. To get a closer look, see the original size.
Tip: to get an idea for what I added notes to see tags at the right.
Here’s a guide:
* I use MobileMe to keep my calendar, contacts, preferences, and other data in sync. I went without it for 6 months… it is worth the cost.
* Screens 1-3 contain my general use apps.
* Screens 3-4 contain music creation apps
* Screens 5-6 contain my video game apps
* Screen 6-7 board game apps (some of which are video games)
* The end of screen 7 is trial apps and apps I’m trying out.
* I arrange each section alphabetically. I tried one large alpha index but found that the categories help.
* The only app I have liked that I do not have installed (because I beat it!) is Flight of The Amazon Queen. If you like Monkey Island or Maniac Mansion try it out.
* Some of these will get deleted next time I clean up. I keep games around because my taste and time available to play them changes.
* I’ve been making music with just the iPhone, and sometimes using Ableton Live to record and overlay tracks.
* I prefer music instrument apps over ones that sequence.
* I keep plenty of different music apps on there in case the desire to make that kind of sound strikes me.
* I misaligned the last screenshot in Photoshop before closing out and didn’t save my progress. It is driving me crazy.
Manhattan, NY (settled 1624, pop. 1.6MM) • East Village
• Grace Episcopal Church • French Gothic Revival design by 25 yr. old James Renwick, Jr. (1818-1895), his first major commission • cornerstone laid, 1843 • church consecrated, 1846 • church history
• built of “Sing Sing marble,” actually Tuckahoe Marble quarried from the Sing Sing Quarry [photo] by Sing Sing Correctional Facility prisoners
• spire, 226’ high, was among the tallest points on the early NYC skyline • originally wood, was replaced by a marble spire, 1883
• situated in one of the most visible locations in Manhattan, the corner of East 10th St. where Broadway bends S/SE, aligning w/ the city’s avenues [c. 1900 photo]
• for much of the mid/late 19th C., considered NYC’s most fashionable church & most prestigious site for marriage or burial • like many other churches, charged “pew rents,” an annual fee for the use of its seats • initial pew rents were $3/wk. (= $114 today), thus the congregation in the early years consisted largely of wealthy New Yorkers
“In his 1882 New York by Gaslight, author James, D. McCabe, Jr. would point out, “At the morning service a greater display of wealth and fashion is presented here than at any other city church. Grace Church has been the scene of more fashionable weddings and funerals than any other place of worship.” —Daytonian in Manhattan
• on 10 Feb, 1863, the American Civil War was raging, demonstrations protesting the country’s first military draft were on the verge of becoming full-blown draft riots, and a widely anticipated event took place in Grace Church; Charles Sherwood Stratton (1838-1883) — a wealthy, international celebrity better known as General Tom Thumb — and Mercy Lavinia Warren (1841-1919) exchanged wedding vows • both were proportionate dwarfs in the employ of P.T. Barnum, performers at his American Museum
• Stratton was a gifted entertainer who sang, danced & performed physical comedy, stage name taken from “The History of Tom Thumbe,” a story first published in 1621 • Lavinia began her career performing on a river boat, signed w/Barnum, age 21
“The church was comfortably filled by a highly select audience of ladies and gentlemen, none being admitted except those having cards of invitation. Among them were governors of several of the States, to whom I had sent cards, and such of those as could not be present in person were represented by friends, to whom they had given their cards. Members of Congress were present, also generals of the army, and many other prominent public men. Numerous applications were made from wealthy and distinguished persons, for tickets to witness the ceremony, and as high as sixty dollars [= $1,400 today] was offered for a single admission. But not a ticket was sold; and Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren were pronounced ‘man and wife’ before witnesses.” —P.T. Barnum, “Struggles and Triumphs”
• the Brooklyn Eagle editorialized, “We are surprised that the clergy, or representatives of so respectable a body as the Episcopal Church should, for a moment, allow themselves to be used by this Yankee showman to advertise his business.”
• amid widespread criticism of the church for it’s complicity in what some viewed as another Barnum publicity stunt, Stratton responded, “It is true we are little but we are as God made us, perfect in our littleness. We are simply man and woman of like passions and infirmities with you and other mortals. The arrangements for our marriage are controlled by no showman.”
“The more than 2,000 invited wedding guests [photo] appeared to be a who’s who of American nobility, including a number of congressmen and high-ranking generals, in addition to the thousands of average New Yorkers who showed up hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous tiny couple.” —A General, a Queen and the President
“The wedding party’s arrival outside the church at half past noon touched off a stampede among combatants fighting for a close-up view. The police restrained them only with extreme exertion. Inside, ‘an instantaneous uprising ensued,’ The New York Times reported the following day. ‘All looked, few saw. Many stood upon the seats, others stood upon stools placed on the seats. By many, good breeding was forgotten. By very many the sanctity of the occasion and the sacredness of the ceremonies were entirely ignored. As the little party toddled up the aisle, a sense of the ludicrous seemed to hit many a bump of fun, and irrepressible and unpleasantly audible giggles ran through the church.’” —Boundary Stones
• the couple received wedding presents from wealthy Americans, including a miniature horse-drawn carriage fashioned by Tiffany & Co. • the ceremony, officiated by Stratton’s hometown minister, Junius Willey, was followed by a reception at the Metropolitan Hotel, attended by guests who had purchased tickets from Barnum
• the newlyweds [illustration] then traveled to Washington where Charles’s brother was stationed w/ the Union Army • checked in to Willard’s Hotel
• on 13 Feb, 1863, a well-publicized reception for the couple was held in the East Room of the Lincoln White House, hosted by First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln & America’s tallest president [illustration]
Livinia Warren: “[The] President took our hands and led us to the sofa, lifting the General up and placed him at his left hand, while Mrs. Lincoln did the same serve for me, placing me at her right… Tad, the favorite son, stood beside his mother and gazing at me… whispered to his mother, ‘Mother if you were a little woman like Mrs. Stratton you would look just like her.'”
NYT 22 Feb, 1863: “The marriage of Gen. Tom Thumb cannot be treated as an affair of no moment -- in some respects it is most momentous. Next to LOUIS NAPOLEON, there is no one person better known by reputation to high and low, rich and poor, than he…
“Those who did and those who did not attend the wedding of Gen. Thomas Thumb and Queen composed the population of this great Metropolis yesterday, and thenceforth religious and civil parties sink into comparative insignificance before this one arbitrating query of fate -- Did you or did you not see Tom Thumb married?”
• Stratton retired wealthy • couple lived in a Bridgeport, CT mansion, owned a yacht, a summer home in Massachusetts [photo] and a custom-built cottage on Cut in Two Island East in Connecticut’s Thimble Islands • in 1855, when bad investments forced Barnum to file for bankruptcy, Stratton provided financial assistance & became Barnum’s business partner
• 28 yrs. later, Charles died of a stroke • the couple’s lavish lifestyle had reduced their wealth but enough remained to support Lavinia’s retirement • chose instead to return to the stage as “Mrs. Tom Thumb” & assembled a troupe of touring “Liliputians”
• married Italian proportionate dwarf, Count primo Magri (1849-1920) who, with his brother, joined the troupe • Count & Countess [photo] lived in Middleborough, MA, • summers only, operated Primo’s Pastime, a roadside general store for auto tourists where they posed for photos w/customers —Atlas Obscura
• Lavinia's company toured the country [photo], garnering favorable reviews
“The entertainment given by the Mrs. Tom Thumb Company Saturday was really a fine thing. The little people cannot help being interesting and the tricks of magic were also good, as were the music and trained birds, but the suspension in mid- air of the little countess and change of character was the best thing of the kind ever seen here,” —Newburyport (MA) Herald following a 2 July, 1889 performance at the Exeter (NH) Opera House
• shortly after Stratton’s death, theaters began staging re-enactments of the couple's nuptials • “Tom Thumb weddings,” aka "miniature weddings, became a fad in the 1890s-1900s and continued to be staged by churches, community organizations and charities well into the late 20th C., mainly as fundraisers [photo]
• Grace Church is a National Historic Landmark designated for its architectural significance and place within the history of New York City, and the entire complex is a New York City landmark • one of seven New York City buildings designated by the Municipal Art Society as being of national importance, to be preserved at all costs
designations:
NY Landmarks Preservation Commission:
• church & rectory landmarked, 1966
• Fourth Avenue church houses landmarked, 1977
National Register of Historic Places:
• church & dependencies, # 74001270, 1974
• national historic landmark, 197
"Dark clouds are smouldering into red
While down the craters morning burns.
The dying soldier shifts his head
To watch the glory that returns:
He lifts his fingers toward the skies
Where holy brightness breaks in flame;
Radiance reflected in his eyes,
And on his lips a whispered name."
— Siegfried Sassoon (The War Poems)
Otaki Beach, Kapiti Island and the Tasman Sea, New Zealand
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite Places/Sacred Spaces Series #2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Pentax K20D + Pentax 18-55mm Lens - Single Shot