Thursday, May 15, 2025

Born on this day – Katherine Anne Porter:


Katherine Anne Porter


Writer

May 15, 1890 – September 18, 1980

Credits:

Books:

40 Short Stories: A Portable Anthology (2000); 50 Great Short Stories (1952); A Wreath for the Gamekeeper (1959); Collected Essays and Occasional Writings (1973); Collected Stories and Other Writings (2008); Conversations (1987); Downhome (1995); Downward Path to Wisdom (1939); Eudora Welty (1941); Flowering Judas and Other Stories (1935); Gertrude Stein, a self-portrait (1953); Gracious Greatness (1964); Growing Up in the South (1991); Hacienda (1934); Katherine Anne Porter's Poetry (1996); Letters of Katherine A. Porter (1990); Noon Wine (1937); Outline of Mexican popular arts and crafts (1922); Selected Letters of Katherine Anne Porter (2012); Ship of Fools (1962); Short Story Masterpieces: 35 Classic American and British Stories from the First Half of the 20th Century (1954); Stories of the Modern South (1977); The Best American Short Stories of the Century (2000); The Collected Stories (1965); The Cracked Looking-Glass (2018); The Days Before (1952); The Flower of Flowers (1950); The Grave (2013); The Leaning Tower And Other Stories (1944); The Never-Ending Wrong (1977); The Old Order (1955); The Short Story: 30 Masterpieces (1992); This Strange, Old World and Other Book Reviews (2008); Uncollected Early Prose (1993); Women and Fiction (1975).

Movies and television:

ABC Stage 67 (1966); American Masters (1986); American Playhouse (1985); Boston Blackie (1952); Camera Three (1956–1964); Camera Three (1959–1961); Climax! (1956); Ship of Fools (1965); The Circus (1990); The DuPont Show of the Week (1962); The Fig Tree (1987); The Jilting of Granny Weatherall (1980); The Martyr (2010); The Wednesday Play (1964).

Recommended reading - Keats, by Andrew Motion (1997):


Keats

By Andrew Motion.

Filmed as Bright Star (2009), directed by Jane Campion.

Published by Faber & Faber.
First published 1997.
Paperback.
ISBN-10: 0571346669
ISBN-13: 978-0571346660

Description:

“A definitive life of a great poet, and one of the finest biographies of the decade.” – New Statesman.

First published in 1997, Keats was the first major biography of this tragic hero of Romanticism for some thirty years, and it differs from its predecessors in important respects. The outline of the story is well known - has become, in fact, the stuff of legend: the archetypal life of the tortured genius, critically spurned and dying young. What Andrew Motion brings to bear on the subject is a deep understanding of how Keats fitted into the intellectual and political life of his time. Important friendships with such anti-establishment figures as William Hazlitt and Leigh Hunt are given their full due, and the closeness of his own spirit, as expressed in his poems, to the ferment all around is made clear. Many significant facts about Keats's schooldays and medical training, in particular, enrich the picture. Keats emerges as a more political figure than he is usually portrayed, but his personal sufferings, too, come into closer focus. Most importantly, Andrew Motion – himself a distinguished poet and former poet laureate – demonstrates how the poems continue to exert their power.

Introvert insight:


I hold this to be the highest task for a bond between two people: that each protects the solitude of the other.

- Rainer Maria Rilke.

Solitude is creativity's best friend, and solitude is refreshment for our souls.

- Naomi Judd.

The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.

- Albert Einstein.

Without great solitude no serious work is possible.

- Pablo Picasso.

Barbara Kingsolver, on writing:


Close the door.
Write with no one looking over your shoulder.
Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you;
figure out what you have to say.
It's the one and only thing you have to offer.

- Barbara Kingsolver.

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

On this day in music history - Little Queen, by Heart (1977):


Little Queen

Album by Heart,
released May 14, 1977.

Track list:

Barracuda; Love Alive; Sylvan Song; Dream Of The Archer; Kick It Out; Little Queen; Treat Me Well; Say Hello; Cry To Me; Go On Cry; Too Long A Time; Stairway to Heaven.

On this day in movie history - Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975):


Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

directed and written by Chantal Akerman,
was released at the Cannes Film Festival in France on May 14, 1975.

Cast:

Delphine Seyrig, Jan Decorte, Henri Storck, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, Yves Bical, Chantal Akerman.

Born on this day – Daniela Dessì:


Daniela Dessì


Opera singer

Soprano

May 14, 1957 – August 20, 2016

Credits:

Albums:

Antonio Vivaldi, The Farnace; Daniela Dessì sings Verdi; Domenico Cimarosa, Gli Horatii e i Curiazii; Enrico Toselli, Le Romanze Ritrovate; Francesco Cilea, Adriana Lecouvreur; James Puccini, Madama Butterfly; Giacomo Puccini, Manon Lescaut; Giacomo Puccini, Tosca; Gioachino Rossini, Ciro in Babilonia; Gioachino Rossini, The Barber of Seville; Giuseppe Verdi, Aida; La Traviata; Love Duets; Puccini Arias; Umberto Giordano, Andrea Chénier.

Movies and television:

Adriana Lecouvreur (2000); Aida (2003); Così fan tutte (1989); Don Carlo (1992); Don John oder Der bestrafte Wüstling (1992); Elizabeth, Queen of England (1985); Francesca da Rimini (2004); Jordan: Fedora (2018); Sicilian Vespers (2010); Il Regio nel paese del melodramma (2015); La Bohème (1998); The Maiden of the West (2005); The Touchstone (1982); Madama Butterfly (2004); Mephistopheles (1989); My Favourite Opera (1991); Norma (2008); Work Across the Atlantic (2007); Pavarotti 30th Anniversary Gala (1998); Profil, Poveste, Personaj (2009); Puccini: La Bohème (2016); Tosca (2004); Tosca (2010).