God always offers us a second chance in life. – Paulo Cuelho My father’s death in 2007 is the real deal, with a casket and flowers and everything. There is a wake and a mass, there is a burial. People come from all over to pay their last respects, to say goodbye. For all of … Read more
The soul is healed by being with children. – Fyodor Dostoyevsky Antoine stands quiet and motionless at the edge of the table, studying the drawings in front of him. Behind him I wait, expectant. Finally, a chuckle through the nose. “Tu aimes?” I ask him. “Quelle fripouille,” he says, then: “Quelle chipie.” He loves it. … Read more
I will instruct you and teach in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. – Psalm 32:8 Early November 2023, Brooklyn. The leaves are dry, brittle; remnants of what they once were. They crunch underfoot, they fill the cracks. These ones on Dean Street, for example. “L’Architecte … Read more
A good father will leave his imprint on his daughter for the rest of her life. – Dr. James Dobson The original title for this week’s feature painting was Madame l’Inspectrice et son chien Boris. It didn’t stick. Neither did Crisse de grosses chipies. Understandably so. The first one, a little boring, fails to capture … Read more
Receiving a gift is like getting a rare gemstone; any way you look at it, you see beauty refracted. – Proverbs 17:8 Under a crescent moon, a dog takes her cat for a walk. Steadily forward this dog moves, unafraid of the dark, sure of her footing on the flat, even terrain. She could stop … Read more
The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. – Henry Ford A woman in a coonskin cap stands at the window, her footless legs as rooted to the floor as the plant beside her is rooted to its pot. This pot is blue, like the woman’s pants and tunic, its clusters … Read more
Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight. What more is there to say than goodnight? – Jimmy Durante “Allô, bonjour,” says the bird. “Allô, bonjour,” it says again three days later. “Allô, bonjour!” say the others that have gathered around it on this bright, sunny last day of June. In a couple hours, the movers will arrive to pick … Read more
Art is a ripening, an evolution, an uplifting which enables us to emerge from darkness into a blaze of light. – Jerzy Grotowski Penny Pocket lives in Windy City. Those are leaves flying past her in the air, not snow, and yet she is dressed as if for winter. It’s not just windy in Windy … Read more
Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen. –Orhan Pamuk In the Jeux olympiques maison (30 April 2021), two athletes compete in the Stack the Blocks on the Tower of Drawers Behind a Vase Full of Long, Skinny Branches Covered in Little Red Flowers game. Will the green team win, or … Read more
Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. – Steve Jobs A king stands in a stone water well talking softly to himself. Why? His clothing is neither ripped nor sullied, his bejeweled crown sits perfectly on his head, and his long hair and beard are both perfectly coiffed. If … Read more