Category: Awareness
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Globes
Working tonight on a program note for an old piece of mine – as it happens the final composition I ever wrote, in 1986 – Seven Last Haiku, which will have its premiere by the students in late March this year. One or two pianists are looking at it, and we have a cellist (Bennett…
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History
Over the past few days, Mubarak's reign in Egypt has finally collapsed; a remarkable video of a song that appeared just before he gave up and left the country. I don't know a translation, but it hardly matters – you see the faces, some of which look tired (it has been a long vigil) and…
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Samhain
Today, the second of what I estimate to be three astoundingly difficult days of change: I would have said before, of disaster and loss, but now I'm not so sure. A great crisis at work that has been held at bay for eight years. And crashing into the new medications, which has all gone –…
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Air
Something remarkable about today's air: cool, damp, sharp – an almost Scandinavian feel to it. Although northern England is close to the latitudes of Denmark and southern Sweden, we don't often get quite that kind of air – it reminds me of that sense of clarity one gets in Copenhagen some days, where everything seems…
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Awakening Conscience
Sometimes, especially when watching TV or wasting time by various means, I have that feeling of exhaustion, surfeit, revulsion, retreat: somewhere among the parts of my rather dull life over the past decade as an aging academic living alone in a small northern city with lots of wet, cold weather, and despite seeking some sort…
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Light, air
About six weeks since my last post. No serious reason for this – not especially in stasis, not down, not depressed; busy but not immensely so, just many things to do in a long row. There are changes – new plans, changing plans, changing dreams – most of which bode well in one way or…
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Snapshot
After last night's slightly dense blog entry, which seemed to involve working through my feelings about the past year through the plots and changes of a television show: today was spent waiting, rather uselessly, for the electric company to come replace some sort of switch. They had reserved me from 8 am to 8 pm,…
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Dying / not-dying
Feeling well today. Then feeling very tired, so went and laid down. Then well again. And talking to Alfred, who has more success and fame than I ever will, and who is thirteen years older. After having been treated yesterday by Jambo, my acupuncturist, who is twenty-eight, full of life and presence and direction. I…
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Braw
Fragmentary entries on Lars' blog about writing, about finishing his second book. A friendly flag from Patrick on Facebook about finishing his book. Both times I'm interested, impressed, glad for them, and then – envious – am I the jealous Iago, the Loki of these dramas? Or worse, am I merely someone more pathetic and…
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Sub specie aeternitatis
I am very, very lucky – despite hosts of administrative things happening this week, most have gone off well; most answers to e-mails today were yes, okay, done; and I don't leave for Zürich until Sunday. Therefore there is some quiet time to finish reading some of the Jung I wanted to read before leaving;…
Paul Attinello 