“The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.”― Émile Zola How frustrating it is to have a question answered with another question. But often the most provocative, insightful, and thoroughly engaging explorations come after just that kind of beginning. This one, what is talent, came from a young composer during… Continue Reading
“A historian must “reconstruct” history by using “historical imagination” to “re-enact” the thought processes of historical persons based on information and evidence from historical sources.” The Idea of History– R. G. Collingwood ******** If we’re referring only to the images in our brains from light hitting objects in front of us, then people from the… Continue Reading
“writing is, in the end, that oddest of anomalies: an intimate letter to a stranger.”—Pico Iyer Most of you have heard my stories about readers challenging my sanity when I started the blog almost ten years ago. It was hard for people to understand why I’d put so much time and energy into writing not… Continue Reading
The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web. — Pablo Picasso “Emotions are not an affliction we must strive to keep in check”, writes Sy Montgomery in the NY Times,… Continue Reading
“Peace is liberty in tranquility.” —Marcus Tullius Cicero A marvelous montage of four very recognizable ladies graced an article in the NY Times on February 1, 2019. The title is, ‘70 and Female Is the New Cool’, and the pictures were of Nancy Pelosi, Glenn Close, Maxine Waters and Susan Zirinsky, all superstars from media,… Continue Reading