“Give them pleasure. The same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.” -Alfred Hitchcock
Category: Culture
Aug 01 2022
August 1st Birthday Love: Herman Melville
“It is not down on any map; true places never are.” -Herman Melville, Moby-Dick Happy birthday to Herman Melville, born on this day August 1, 1819 in New York City. Widely acclaimed for his 1851 novel Moby-Dick, a.k.a. The Whale, Melville is a literary icon. He is also well known for his novella Billy Budd and his …
Jul 26 2022
July 26th Birthday Love: Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was born on this day, July 26, 1928, in Manhattan, New York, NY 🎈 “The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent, but if we can come to terms with this indifference, then our existence as a species can have genuine meaning. However …
Jul 25 2022
July 25th Birthday Love: Richard Ballantine
Cycling writer and advocate Richard Ballantine was born on this day July 25, 1940 in Kingston, New York. “Possibly the tragedy of the bicycle is that it was invented too close in time to the car. In the historical scheme, pedal power hardly got under way before the combustion engine appeared and, not only took over …
Jul 22 2022
George Nelson, Designer of the Architecturally Stunning Nelson Bench
While avoiding a rainstorm, Nelson ducked into the architecture school building to stay dry. While walking through the building he stumbled across an exhibit called “A Cemetery Gateway”. After, unfolded his interest and progression in the field of architecture. During his time as an undergraduate, he was published in press pieces called “Pencil Points” and …
Jul 12 2022
July 12th Birthday Love: Pablo Neruda
Happy birthday to one of the most widely read poets of the Americas, Chilean poet-diplomat Pablo Neruda, born on this day July 12, 1904 in the city of Parral in Chile’s Maule Region. Gabriel García Márquez once called Neruda “the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language.” Neruda achieved recognition as a writer at the …
Jul 07 2022
Discovering Hemingway’s Cuba
I fell in love with Cuba, or at least the idea of Hemingway’s Cuba, in my mid teens. I read an article about the writer and delighted in the romance of a bygone age, salsa and adventure preserved in time. Maybe the idea of vintage cars made the historic more tangible. I determined that one …
Jun 25 2022
Honor the Dead with Bon Odori
For many, summer is a time for freewheeling fun, without the typical responsibilities of an academic year or simply maintaining one’s own comfort in the winter. But for the Japanese, summer is a time to reflect on those who have gone before us with gratitude and appreciation. One of Japan’s biggest festivals happens in mid-summer …
Jun 22 2022
Astrid Cabral’s Love of Her Home, The Amazon
This World Rainforest Day I am celebrating novelist, poet, environmentalist, diplomat, and mother of five, Astrid Cabral, who sings the songs of her Amazon home in her exemplary poetry. Some of Cabral’s most well-known books include Through Water (2003), Anteroom (2007), and Cage (2008). In Cage, Cabral explores the real and symbolic animals of the Amazon. She …
Apr 23 2022
April 23rd Birthday Love: William Shakespeare
There was a star danced, and under that was I born.-William Shakespeare It is believed that the great William Shakespeare was born on this day, April 23, 1564 in Stratford upon Avon, England, and also died on April 23 in 1616. Shakespeare is often referred to as “The Bard of Avon,” and is possibly the most famous …