Category Archives: Writing

It’s a small world

Posted on January 31, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

I’m a huge fan of tilt-shift and timelapse videos. Some of my favs are from Little Big World. Here is a compilation of some favorite clips from previous Little Big World episodes, including Sudan, Hallstatt, Ore Mountains, Melbourne, Doha, Dubai, Kyiv, Chernobyl, … Continue reading →

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We’re dancing animals

Posted on January 30, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

It’s just Kurt Vonnegut talking to his wife about going out to get an envelope (we’re here on earth to fart around):  

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Kafka is not buried here

Posted on January 24, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

“Frog in Prague” by Stephen Dixon They stand still. “And Kafka?” Howard says. “Kafka is not buried here.” “No? Because I thought—what I mean is the lady at my hotel’s tourist information desk—the Intercontinental over there—and also the one who … Continue reading →

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Orwell is turning in his grave

Posted on January 20, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

I thought that I had stumble on something from The Onion when I saw a story about a £2 George Orwell commemorative coin being minted in the UK. Shockingly, it was a true story. The Royal Mint will honor author George … Continue reading →

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Oh, horror upon horror!

Posted on January 19, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

No writer has the ability to evoke a sense of horror and dread more effectively than Edgar Allan Poe, born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts. Poe’s parents were actors. Their brilliant and unstable son grew up to be a … Continue reading →

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“back when tigers used to smoke” (호랑이 담배 피우던 시절에)

Posted on January 17, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Once upon a time… korean: “back when tigers used to smoke” (호랑이 담배 피우던 시절에) czech: “beyond seven mountain ranges, beyond seven rivers” (za sedmero horami a sedmero řekami) georgian: “there was, and there was not, there was…” (იყო და არა იყო … Continue reading →

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heaped with shining hills

Posted on January 16, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

First Snow by Mary Oliver The snow began here this morning and all day continued, its white rhetoric everywhere calling us back to why, how, whence such beauty and what the meaning… The silence is immense, and the heavens still hold … Continue reading →

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We all want to be told stories

Posted on January 8, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

“We exist for ourselves, perhaps, and at times we even have a glimmer of who we are, but in the end we can never be sure, and as our lives go on, we become more and more opaque to ourselves, … Continue reading →

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Waiting for the Barbarians

Posted on January 6, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

The great performance artist Laurie Anderson and company presented a concert of new works inspired by poet C. P. Cavafy. Filmed at the Saint Thomas Church in New York City, the performance is commissioned by the Onassis Foundation. About “Archive … Continue reading →

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“They’ve been going in and out of style”

Posted on January 5, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Continuing a tradition started in 2016, Chris the Barker has made another collage frequently updated and up to the last minute to eulogize Olivia Hussey and Jimmy Carter, in tribute to those passed away this year. The field more crowded than … Continue reading →

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