I can't sleep…
It crossed his mind that maybe one of the most telling differences between the young and the old lay in this detail.
As you aged you cared less and less about what others thought of you, and only then could you be more free.
— Elif Shafak, The Island of Missing Trees: A Novel (Bloomsbury Publishing; 1st edition (November 2, 2021)
Notes:
On Aug. 29, 1952, in an open-air converted barn in Woodstock, N.Y., pianist David Tudor, known for his interpretations of contemporary music, gave the premiere of a work by John Cage (1912-1992) remarkably different from anything else in the classical repertoire. Tudor had been familiar with the full range of the avant-garde, from the spacious pointillism of Morton Feldman’s “Extensions 3” to the thorny complexity of Pierre Boulez’s First Piano Sonata, both of which were also on the program.
For the Cage piece, however, the pianist curiously sat motionless at the keyboard, holding a stopwatch. The composer had indicated three separate movements with specific timings. Keeping an eye on the timepiece, Tudor announced the beginning of each section by closing the keyboard lid, then paused for the required duration before signaling its end by opening the lid again. All the rest was stillness; throughout the performance he didn’t make a sound.
But Cage’s “4’33”” is actually not about silence at all. Though most members of the audience were focused on the absence of music, there were also ambient vibrations they ignored: wind stirring outside, raindrops pattering on the tin roof—and, toward the end of the performance, the listeners themselves making “all kinds of interesting sounds as they talked or walked out. Music is continuous,” the composer explained. “It is only we who turn away.”
— Stuart Isacoff, from “The Sounds of Silence” (Wall Street Journal, November 5, 2021)
Notes:
I mean seriously. Look at him. Is this a picture of sanity?
First it was a gentle nudge.
She sends me an article. “You might check this out.” I skim it.
“The Ice Man.”
“Ice baths.”
“Deep breathing”
“Inner fire meditation and how it alters body chemistry.”
“You can experience lightheadedness, as the arteries and veins to the brain and body close slightly in reaction to the alkalizing blood.”
“You are inducing voluntarily a short stress response which ultimately will lead to more resilience towards everyday stress, mentally and physiology and feeling more in control.”
Blah, blah, blah. Total Bullsh*t. Whack job.
A few days pass.
She comes at me again. Continue reading “Alkalizing Self. Or, Something.”
What is it
about this twilight hour?
Even the sound
of a barely perceptible breeze
pierces the heart.
– Izumi Shikibu, (976 A.D. – 1030) from The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems
Notes:
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