Category Archives: Writing

A Turn of a Phrase

Posted on April 26, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

I am often impressed by the cleverness of artist/illustrator/cartoonist Ella Baron’s work, but this week she out did herself with this brilliant cartoon puzzle published in the TLS. I tried but could not discover all 57 idioms depicted in the … Continue reading →

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Diary of a Bad Year

Posted on April 25, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

“The recent successes of human reason in its long contest with virus thinking should not delude us, for it has held the upper hand a mere instant in evolutionary time. What if the tide turns; and what if the lesson … Continue reading →

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An Unknown Hobbit

Posted on April 24, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Slovak illustrator Peter Klúcik was commissioned to illustrate a new version of J R R Tolkien’s The Hobbit in 1988. For the project he created 40 illustrations that were rich in detail and quite different from previous works for Tolkien … Continue reading →

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Perhaps the world ends here

Posted on April 21, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Perhaps the World Ends Here Joy Harjo The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live. The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, … Continue reading →

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Read Your Way Across The U.S.

Posted on April 18, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

According to Good Reads this map offers the most popular book in each U.S. state.

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Every Book Cover Tells a Story

Posted on April 17, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

You may have seen this clever visual short story making the rounds on the interwebs this week. Take the time to read the spines to follow the theme created by Phil Shaw; it’s quite clever.  

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In April

Posted on April 10, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

In April Rainer Maria Rilke Again the woods are odorous, the lark Lifts on upsoaring wings the heaven gray That hung above the tree-tops, veiled and dark, Where branches bare disclosed the empty day. After long rainy afternoons an hour … Continue reading →

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Oh, but it’s weird and wonderful

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

I generally avoid making many reading recommendations as people’s tastes and interests are so varied. However, in these strange days with some much time on our hands, many folks are clamoring for book suggestions. Fortuitously, I stumbled on an endorsement … Continue reading →

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Word on the Street

Posted on April 8, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

In an example of the aphorism everything old is new again, the Pandemic has inspired a resurgence in the publication of local zines. It appears that a number of them have embraced the clever title “Quaranzine” . This one has been surfacing around … Continue reading →

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dark as it is

Posted on April 4, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Thanks W.S. Merwin 1927-2019 Listen with the night falling we are saying thank you we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railings we are running out of the glass rooms with our mouths full of food to … Continue reading →

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