@MLClark

.

@corlin

💛 Lovely choice. I had a suspicion from the title that this was inspired by Lebanon.

"The album is a reference to Jallad’s Historic Preservation ... thesis, in which she detailed the history of the “Battle of the Hotels”, a 5-months battle that took place in Beirut at the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War, from October 22nd, 1975 to March 29th, 1976. Jallad saw architecture as a main protagonist of the battle, as she discovered it was the first high rise urban battle in the world."

@corlin

We build up.
We tear down.

Human ebb and flow.

@MLClark

And personal to me:

My best friend, had been living in Beirut for some time, fled in the fall of 1975, never to return. And she still today suffers the trauma of losing one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

@corlin

Thank you for sharing that.

What a deep ache to carry.

I don't know if she reads much these days, but a potent tale of migration, Hala Alyan's THE ARSONISTS' CITY, has some excellent depictions of more recent Beirut, with all the complexity of art & minority subcultures woven in. The story follows a family in diaspora trying to keep the father from selling their ancestral home in Beirut. The book reflects on the complexity of longing for what's lost amid what's risen from the ashes.

@MLClark

Thanks I will look into this.

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-arsonists-city-hala-alyan/17211302

@corlin

(Of course, if she's got any recommendations of her own, I am a very ready ear and eye for more learning!)

@MLClark

Well she reads mostly French, Levantine Arabic, and some Berber. She was born and raise in Algeria and France.

She speaks fluent English, but it is not her first nor favorite language.

I will ask.

@corlin

I have been an incompetent student of Levantine Arabic for the last few years - the poetry especially! So an Arabic recommendation would be well-received; I mostly practise with music these days (the piece you linked is clear enough for me to grasp most of the words, for instance, though it still takes time and I can only speak in painfully short sentences).

I used to help a Syrian poet in Canada with his work, & now Arabic is an excellent aid to my understanding of Spanish's history.

@MLClark

Ok.
I will let her know. Might be a while since we mostly communicate, by pen paper, and snail mail.

لا تثق في التكنولوجيا، فهي ترسل رسائل القلب

(Trust no technology, for messages of the heart)

@corlin

That, I could read! :)

And I am heartened to know someone else who corresponds at a distance with one who is most dear. It is a strange, private, and wonderful thing to do.

Thank you again for sharing.

@corlin @MLClark How have l been keeping sane!? ( or not going more crazy?)
I try to go for a walk every day, these aches and bones don't do well if l go over 3k, so shorter walks to keep my head from imploding. I took this picture yesterday, this beetle-runed log was where l got the most exhilaration points, by walking/balancing along it's length a few times. It was very "springy" as it wasn't quite level which added to the experience
Tonight we go to a percussion recital!

@KarenSohne @corlin

💛 I ADORE that you knew what to do when you found this log. Of course one has to hop on it and test its strength!

I hope to get back to waking early and being out in nature.

I have exactly one person in my life who can take me out of my nonsense (& many others I can be a good chameleon around, adapting my performance of self to their needs) but to just *be*... that takes nature. That takes existing among lifeforms who know not the meaning of ego at all.

Happy music-ing!

@corlin

Really beautiful. Somehow both grounded and ethereal at once.

@MLClark

@stueytheround

Do we get to see some pieces, when completed?!

@MLClark Here's what I made yesterday.
A pumpkin and a robin (christmas bauble)

@stueytheround

Love the colours on your pumpkin, and the healthy plumpness of that Christmas robin! Really lovely work, Stuey. Thanks for sharing. 🤗

@MLClark we have spent time with the newest member of my family, my nephew Bryn Rafferty.

@stueytheround

@Mauve_matelot @MLClark @stueytheround that's a great name 👏👏👏

@Mauve_matelot Altogether precious! @MLClark @stueytheround

This picture was taken by @Mauve_matelot mere moments before I nommed Bryn's little fingers! 😍

@MLClark

@stueytheround @Mauve_matelot

😬 How much of the baby did you leave for everyone else?

@MLClark 🤣 nomnomnom. He's so teeny. Snack size, if you will!
He's a very handsome chap with very blue eyes. @Mauve_matelot

@MLClark 99.999% of Bryn remains. Tomorrow is open house, I'm hopefully that he and his big sister (who is 4 and
¾) will cope with that, he's only a few weeks old.

@stueytheround

@Mauve_matelot @MLClark @stueytheround
Aww, welcome to the party Bryn

@Mauve_matelot @MLClark @stueytheround
💙 a rockstar name for sure💙

@Mauve_matelot @stueytheround

💛💛💛

There once was a Rafferty né Bryn
Whose birth brought pure joy to his kin--
When the rest came to visit
His little fingers were exquisite!
It was all they could do to stop nibblin'.

---

Happiest of days with new family, you two!

@MLClark Thank you xx @Mauve_matelot

@Mauve_matelot @MLClark @stueytheround
Congratulations on the beautiful new addition to your family!

@tyghebright

Well done, Tyghe! I hope you enjoy the weekend pre-rest before your vacation.

House of Leaves is just a wonderful volume to inspire your own writing practice; I wish you great success with the work ahead.

And the Pacific NW is going to be so lucky to have you!

Be a nice gent, now, and don't sweep all the young lovers off their feet with your excellent taste in art, lit, and music all at once when you get there, eh? 😉💜

@stephen_a_allen

There is something very fine and difficult to put to words about the experience of returning to classical music at different points in one's life. I'm glad you have a soundtrack for reminiscing.

When you say "writing lately", do you mean with the ghazal project, or have you been moved to return to other forms and themes?

@MLClark I have a ghazal underway, but it seems kind of stuck at the moment and I don't feel like pushing it. On the other hand, I wrote three haibun this last weekend, two of which return to the familiar theme of grief, and one of which involves my childhood, which is what had me listening to Schubert and Bach again.

@stephen_a_allen

I don't know what it is about the haibun, but I've been drawn to the form myself as of late.

Maybe it's the way the prose component captures a state of chaos, which the poetic turn distills, that makes it such an excellent medium for the moment?

(I too have been writing on grief in the form--world-grief, mainly, but still.)

How's your reading?

@MLClark My reading lately has been mainly for work and escapist: I've been working through Olivie Blake's Januaries, a collection of short stories that tends towards the fantasy and romance end of things but with a wicked sense of humor. On the other hand I have queued up Lew Watts' Eira which is a memoir in haibun that I've had kicking around on my to-be-read pile for a while.

@stephen_a_allen

That's quite a range!

I'm looking forward to some pleasure-reading, too. I have one more book review to finish first - then an SF book I started, then put aside.

After that, I want to find some small, unexpected beauty of an essay collection or short story collection (or return to that Lowell biography, Setting the River on Fire!) in which to lose myself.

I hope that haibun memoir stirs up moments of beauty for you, when you reach for it.

@MLClark Oh, and for art? I want to learn how to do 3D modeling and architectural rendering. I have my own visions. 😁 As much as I enjoy other people's art.

@MLClark
Oh! I forgot. This guy, Devon Rodriguez, inspires the daylights out of me. I saw him speak at Adobe Max (virtual) and I just love him, as well as his subjects:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DA3i3jGvfme/

@janallmac

Oh, I love the energy in your posts! Good morning, Jan! Congrats on getting care for a loved one - always a huge ordeal packed into one little sentence, eh?

Have you seen this recent design tool for free-flowing 3D sketching? I don't have the tools to make the best use of it, myself, but it looks like a wonderful way to jot down some preliminary thoughts and visions! Happy creating! #CoSoArt

https://feather.art/

@MLClark Gasp! No, I have not seen this tool. Will check it out! Thank you. I've got an old iPad, but frankly, I've never quite got the hang of drawing on it. This looks so cool though! I bet you could sketch whole rooms with it. Thanks!

@janallmac

If you ever share any sketches from it, please @ me! I would love to see what you're noodling over, whenever it's ready for public viewing! 🤗