Category Archives: USA

The Swimmer

Posted on August 20, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

I’ve just returned from a short road trip that took me to barrier island towns on the Atlantic coast from Delaware to Virginia. While I was staying in the lovely town of Fenwick Island in Delaware, I noticed the same … Continue reading →

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Meaning is a shaky edifice

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Salman Rushdie // “But human beings do not perceive things whole; we are not gods but wounded creatures, cracked lenses, capable only of fractured perceptions. Partial beings, in all the senses of that phrase. Meaning is a shaky edifice we … Continue reading →

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Bookstore Tourism: Secret Bookshop Brooklyn

Posted on August 18, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Hidden within an iconic New York City bodega in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood you can find the newly launched Burnt Books. No secret passwords or handshakes are required to browse their stock of secondhand and collectible books; you just need find … Continue reading →

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A Night at the Garden

Posted on August 16, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

As we face an existential crisis which challenges whether the United States will remain a democracy or sink into a cesspit of neo-Fascist, Christian White Nationalist repression, it is worth remembering our history and examining how close we came in … Continue reading →

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The Parable of the Blind

Posted on August 12, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

“The Parable of the Blind” by William Carlos Williams This horrible but superb painting the parable of the blind without a red in the composition shows a group of beggars leading each other diagonally downward across the canvas from one … Continue reading →

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Sunday Funnies

Posted on August 7, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

 

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“Ten percent of what I write is immortal”

Posted on August 6, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

You Never Had It – An Evening with Bukowski is a documentary from director Matteo Borgardt that transports you back to January 1981 for an intimate evening conversation with legendary writer and poet Charles Bukowski at his San Pedro home. … Continue reading →

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Death and Mayhem in National Parks

Posted on August 3, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Over recent months, it seems that there has been a story about tourists in Yellowstone National Park being gored by bison, mauled by bears, bitten by wolves, or scalded by steaming pools every week. In most cases the deaths and … Continue reading →

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A Summer Reading List You Can Trust

Posted on July 28, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

President Barack Obama has released his annual summer reading list. On Facebook, he wrote, “I’ve read his summer reading list. “I’ve read a couple of great books this year and wanted to share some of my favorites so far. What have … Continue reading →

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You’re Not Alone

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

When I saw this street art mural I was reminded of a comforting quote from the great writer Kurt Vonnegut: Nothing I can say can have any effect, except to say to somebody else, “You’re not alone.” That’s as far … Continue reading →

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