Be Completely Yourself

Notes for Radical Living by Tilda Swinton

Notes for Radical Living by Tilda Swinton

Make friends with chaos
Hold a calm mind
Let things shake
Forgive human frailty
Champion second chances
Defy kindness
Reverence fellowship
Listen to the quiet
Respect the young
Seek growth
Trust in change
Treasure learning
Inspire faith in evolution
Reach beyond the binary
Be wary of the doubtless
Honor the bright headed
Grow plants
Attend to the weather
Be electric
Cherish language
Celebrate silence
Dance daily
Bless the handmade
Sing into pain
Challenge assumptions
Follow the wind
Look upwards
Swoon under clouds
Feel your courage
Face forward
Read history
Open your ears
Drop your shoulders
Bend your knees
Raise the roof
Keep breathing
Be trustworthy
Take care of yourself
Believe in goodness
Head for the light

--from Tilda Swinton’s 2025 book “Ongoing”

https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9780847860517/

"To Line"

Here is a delightful video from Atelier RZLBD, a boutique art and architecture practice based in Toronto founded by Reza Aliabadi, about the concept of a line. A line can be drawn, a line can be made of objects, a line can be a crease, an interruption, a line can be shadow, a line be the destruction of something and the creation of something else.

"A drawing is simply a line going for a walk."
--Paul Klee

Over a charrette, Atelier RZLBD pursued an open series exploring the act of drawing an analogue line. We present 64 lines, each created to push the boundaries of how we understand line.

As computer aided drawing takes over the art and architecture disciplines, traditional methods of design, sketching, and drafting have become a lost art. A digital line is defined merely by a start and end coordinate, existing in an infinite realm with no character or imperfection. Lacking any sense of scale, a computer can generate a line of any length instantly. To some, this is an ideal – a sense of perfection, mathematical precision, efficiency, and reliability. However, the complex interaction between humans, tools, intentions, motivations, expressions, purposes, cultural customs, cognitive routines, techniques, and materials cannot be forgotten.

A drawn line is not merely one-dimensional. By the touch of a human hand, each line is drawn through the intimate interaction of a tool onto a medium; we are bound by the limits of these materials. The medium has a distinct size, coloration, and consistency, while the tool has a specific thickness, function, and agility. Uniting two contrasting materials creates texture, intricacy, detail, and uncertainty. How you draw a line determines the outcome. The expression of the line reflects the lived experiences of its creator and the material itself, making every drawn line unique with its own personality.

A line is more than precision and efficiency – it carries time, space, weight, and spirit. A line is the first act of creation. A line is a verb: a performance, a process rather than a result. And last but not least, a line has a soul, like the one who draws it. _ RZLBD

http://www.rzlbd.com/

If By "Liberal" You Mean...

Considering the upcoming election, this is worth a repost:

Address of John F. Kennedy upon Accepting the Liberal Party Nomination for President, New York, New York, September 14, 1960:

"What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label, 'Liberal'? If by 'Liberal' they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of 'Liberal.' But, if by a 'Liberal,' they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people - their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties - someone who believes that we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a 'Liberal,' then I'm proud to say that I'm a 'Liberal.' [Applause.]

But first, I would like to say what I understand the word, 'Liberal,' to mean and explain in the process why I consider myself to be a 'Liberal,' and what it means in the presidential election of 1960.

In short, having set forth my views - I hope for all time - 2 nights ago in Houston, on the proper relationship between church and state, I want to take this opportunity to set forth my views on the proper relationship between the state and the citizen. This is my political credo:

I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, and the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas. It is, I believe, this faith in our fellow citizens as individuals and as people that lies at the heart of the liberal faith, for liberalism is not so much a party creed or a set of fixed platform promises as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man's ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of Justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves. [Applause.]

I believe also in the United States of America, in the promise that it contains and has contained throughout our history of producing a society so abundant and creative and so free and responsible that it cannot only fulfill the aspirations of its citizens, but serve equally well as a beacon for all mankind. I do not believe in a super state. I see no magic to tax dollars which are sent to Washington and then returned. I abhor the waste and incompetence of large-scale Federal bureaucracies in this administration, as well as in others. I do not favor state compulsion when voluntary individual effort can do the job and do it well. But I believe in a government which acts, which exercises its full powers and its full responsibilities. Government is an art and a precious obligation; and when it has a job to do, I believe it should do it. And this requires not only great ends but that we propose concrete means of achieving them.

Our responsibility is not discharged by an announcement of virtuous ends. Our responsibility is to achieve these objectives with social invention, with political skill, and executive vigor. I believe for these reasons, that liberalism is our best and our only hope in the world today. [Applause.] For the liberal society is a free society, and it is at the same time and for that reason a strong society. Its strength is drawn from the will of free people committed to great ends and peacefully striving to meet them. Only liberalism, in short, can repair our national power, restore our national purpose, and liberate our national energies. And the only basic issue in the 1960 presidential campaign is whether our Government will fall in a conservative rut and die there, or whether we will move ahead in the liberal spirit of daring, of breaking new ground, of doing in our generation what Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and Adlai Stevenson did in their time of influence and responsibility."

For the complete speech, follow this link to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum:
https://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/JFK-Speeches/Liberal-Party-Nomination-NYC_19600914.aspx

BEAUTY: Interior Design--Lathem Gordon's Art-filled Home

Interior designer Lathem Gordon's Decatur, Georgia home is a brilliant lesson on living with art in one's home. Not for minimalists, her chock-o-block, art-filled gallery walls are a delight and an inspiration. I love curated maximalism, so her sensibility appeals to me. If I were visiting, I would have to tour each room like a museum and ask about every fascinating piece...

https://www.gordondunning.com/

Tips To Learning A New Language Quickly

The 75 most common words make up 40% of occurrences

The 200 most common words make up 50% of occurrences

The 524 most common words make up 60% of occurrences

The 1257 most common words make up 70% of occurrences

The 2925 most common words make up 80% of occurrences

The 7444 most common words make up 90% of occurrences

The 13374 most common words make up 95% of occurrences

The 25508 most common words make up 99% of occurrences

EXPRESSIONS OF POLITENESS (about 50 expressions)

--‘Yes’ and 'no’: yes, no, absolutely, no way, exactly.
--Question words: when? where? how? how much? how many? why? what? who? which? whose?
--Apologizing: excuse me, sorry to interrupt, well now, I’m afraid so, I’m afraid not.
--Meeting and parting: good morning, good afternoon, good evening, hello, goodbye, cheers, see you later, pleased to meet you, nice to have met.
--Interjections: please, thank you, don’t mention it, sorry, it’ll be done, I agree, congratulations, thank heavens, nonsense.

NOUNS (about 120 words)
--Time: morning, afternoon, evening, night; Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday; spring, summer, autumn, winter; time, occasion, minute, half-hour, hour, day, week, month, year.
--People: family, relative, mother, father, son, daughter, sister, brother, husband, wife; colleague, friend, boyfriend, girlfriend; people, person, human being, man, woman, lady, gentleman, boy, girl, child.
--Objects: address, bag, book, car, clothes, key, letter (=to post), light (=lamp), money, name, newspaper, pen, pencil, picture, suitcase, thing, ticket.
--Places: place, world, country, town, street, road, school, shop, house, apartment, room, ground; Britain, name of the foreign country, British town-names, foreign town-names.
--Abstract: accident, beginning, change, color, damage, fun, half, help, joke, journey, language, English, name of the foreign language, letter (of alphabet), life, love, mistake, news, page, pain, part, question, reason, sort, surprise, way (=method), weather, work.
--Other: hand, foot, head, eye, mouth, voice; the left, the right; the top, the bottom, the side; air, water, sun, bread, food, paper, noise.

PREPOSITIONS (about 40 words)
--General: of, to, at, for, from, in, on.
--Logical: about, according-to, except, like, against, with, without, by, despite, instead of.
--Space: into, out of, outside, towards, away from, behind, in front of, beside, next to, between, above, on top of, below, under, underneath, near to, a long way from, through.
--Time: after, ago, before, during, since, until.

DETERMINERS (about 80 words)
--Articles and numbers: a, the; nos. 0–20; nos. 30–100; nos. 200–1000; last, next, 1st–12th.
--Demonstrative: this, that.
--Possessive: my, your, his, her, its, our, their.
--Quantifiers: all, some, no, any, many, much, more, less, a few, several, whole, a little, a lot of.
--Comparators: both, neither, each, every, other, another, same, different, such.

ADJECTIVES (about 80 words)
--Color: black, blue, green, red, white, yellow.
--Evaluative: bad, good, terrible; important, urgent, necessary; possible, impossible; right, wrong, true.
--General: big, little, small, heavy; high, low; hot, cold, warm; easy, difficult; cheap, expensive; clean, dirty; beautiful, funny (=comical), funny (=odd), usual, common (=shared), nice, pretty, wonderful; boring, interesting, dangerous, safe; short, tall, long; new, old; calm, clear, dry; fast, slow; finished, free, full, light (=not dark), open, quiet, ready, strong.
--Personal: afraid, alone, angry, certain, cheerful, dead, famous, glad, happy, ill, kind, married, pleased, sorry, stupid, surprised, tired, well, worried, young.

VERBS (about 100 words)
arrive, ask, be, be able to, become, begin, believe, borrow, bring, buy, can, change, check, collect, come, continue, cry, do, drop, eat, fall, feel, find, finish, forget, give, going to, have, have to, hear, help, hold, hope, hurt (oneself), hurt (someone else), keep, know, laugh, learn, leave, lend, let (=allow), lie down, like, listen, live (=be alive), live (=reside), look (at), look for, lose, love, make, may (=permission), may (=possibility), mean, meet, must, need, obtain, open, ought to, pay, play, put, read, remember, say, see, sell, send, should, show, shut, sing, sleep, speak, stand, stay, stop, suggest, take, talk, teach, think, travel, try, understand, use, used to, wait for, walk, want, watch, will, work (=operate), work (=toil), worry, would, write.

PRONOUNS (about 40 words)
--Personal: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, one; myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.
--Possessive: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs.
--Demonstrative: this, that.
--Universal: everyone, everybody, everything, each, both, all, one, another.
--Indefinite: someone, somebody, something, some, a few, a little, more, less; anyone, anybody, anything, any, either, much, many.
--Negative: no-one, nobody, nothing, none, neither.

ADVERBS (about 60 words)
--Place: here, there, above, over, below, in front, behind, nearby, a long way away, inside, outside, to the right, to the left, somewhere, anywhere, everywhere, nowhere, home, upstairs, downstairs.
--Time: now, soon, immediately, quickly, finally, again, once, for a long time, today, generally, sometimes, always, often, before, after, early, late, never, not yet, still, already, then (=at that time), then (=next), yesterday, tomorrow, tonight.
--Quantifiers: a little, about (=approximately), almost, at least, completely, very, enough, exactly, just, not, too much, more, less.
--Manner: also, especially, gradually, of course, only, otherwise, perhaps, probably, quite, so, then (=therefore), too (=also), unfortunately, very much, well.

CONJUNCTIONS (about 30 words)
--Coordinating: and, but, or; as, than, like.
--Time & Place: when, while, before, after, since (=time), until; where.
--Manner & Logic: how, why, because, since (=because), although, if; what, who, whom, whose, which, that.

Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation by John Lewis

Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation

By John Lewis
Mr. Lewis, the civil rights leader who died on July 17, wrote this essay shortly before his death, to be published upon the day of his funeral.

July 30, 2020

While my time here has now come to an end, I want you to know that in the last days and hours of my life you inspired me. You filled me with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you used your power to make a difference in our society. Millions of people motivated simply by human compassion laid down the burdens of division. Around the country and the world you set aside race, class, age, language and nationality to demand respect for human dignity.

That is why I had to visit Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, though I was admitted to the hospital the following day. I just had to see and feel it for myself that, after many years of silent witness, the truth is still marching on.

Emmett Till was my George Floyd. He was my Rayshard Brooks, Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor. He was 14 when he was killed, and I was only 15 years old at the time. I will never ever forget the moment when it became so clear that he could easily have been me. In those days, fear constrained us like an imaginary prison, and troubling thoughts of potential brutality committed for no understandable reason were the bars.

Though I was surrounded by two loving parents, plenty of brothers, sisters and cousins, their love could not protect me from the unholy oppression waiting just outside that family circle. Unchecked, unrestrained violence and government-sanctioned terror had the power to turn a simple stroll to the store for some Skittles or an innocent morning jog down a lonesome country road into a nightmare. If we are to survive as one unified nation, we must discover what so readily takes root in our hearts that could rob Mother Emanuel Church in South Carolina of her brightest and best, shoot unwitting concertgoers in Las Vegas and choke to death the hopes and dreams of a gifted violinist like Elijah McClain.

Like so many young people today, I was searching for a way out, or some might say a way in, and then I heard the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on an old radio. He was talking about the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence. He said we are all complicit when we tolerate injustice. He said it is not enough to say it will get better by and by. He said each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up and speak out. When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something. Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself.

Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.

You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time. People on every continent have stood in your shoes, through decades and centuries before you. The truth does not change, and that is why the answers worked out long ago can help you find solutions to the challenges of our time. Continue to build union between movements stretching across the globe because we must put away our willingness to profit from the exploitation of others.

Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.

When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.

Link to original article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/opinion/john-lewis-civil-rights-america.html

BEAUTY: Clothing--Berluti

Paris Fashion Week in a virtual presentation, adjusted for COVID. And I am delighted that, unlike London Fshion Week, it seems to be working quite well! But to be fair, London was right up against the quarantine and was not able to really take the time needed to assemble something of this magnitude. Paris has had an extra few months as have the designers offering videos of their collections. It has been wonderful to see so far...so let's dive right in.

Inspiration. Collaboration. Conversation.
Head of the venerable brand Berluti Kris Van Assche and ceramicist Brian Rochefort (previously here!) speak about working together in this surprisingly engaging interview showing a very satisfying, organically textured Spring Summer '21 collection for Paris Fashion Week.

And just look at how those classic Berluti shoes are hand stained!

https://www.berluti.com/
https://brianrochefort.net/

What Happens Next: Pete For President 2020

"We know that the purpose of the presidency is not the glorification of the president. It is the unification of the American people. That is why we have the office."
--Pete Buttigieg

Pete For President 2020!

https://peteforamerica.com/

Seize This Very Minute!

“Lose the day loitering, 'twill be the same story

To-morrow, and the next more dilatory,

For indecision brings its own delays,

And days are lost lamenting o'er lost days.

Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute!

What you can do, or think you can, begin it!

Only engage, and then the mind grows heated;

Begin it, and the work will be completed.”

― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

There's No Time For Anything Else

"You Are Already Everything You Want To Be"

Inspiration by Jeppe Hein.

http://www.jeppehein.net/

Toxic Masculinity Hurts Us All

A Better Way

Concise.

Thanks, Ryan.

Pale Blue Dot

As we enter this new year, I feel a great need for us--as a species--to reflect on the classic words of the great Carl Sagan in his sobering "Pale Blue Dot" passage from his book of the same name...these important words are more relevant now than ever.

http://carlsagan.com/

If By "Liberal" You Mean...

Address of John F. Kennedy upon Accepting the Liberal Party Nomination for President, New York, New York, September 14, 1960:

"What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label, 'Liberal'? If by 'Liberal' they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of 'Liberal.' But, if by a 'Liberal,' they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people - their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties - someone who believes that we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a 'Liberal,' then I'm proud to say that I'm a 'Liberal.' [Applause.]

But first, I would like to say what I understand the word, 'Liberal,' to mean and explain in the process why I consider myself to be a 'Liberal,' and what it means in the presidential election of 1960.

In short, having set forth my views - I hope for all time - 2 nights ago in Houston, on the proper relationship between church and state, I want to take this opportunity to set forth my views on the proper relationship between the state and the citizen. This is my political credo:

I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, and the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas. It is, I believe, this faith in our fellow citizens as individuals and as people that lies at the heart of the liberal faith, for liberalism is not so much a party creed or a set of fixed platform promises as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man's ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of Justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves. [Applause.]

I believe also in the United States of America, in the promise that it contains and has contained throughout our history of producing a society so abundant and creative and so free and responsible that it cannot only fulfill the aspirations of its citizens, but serve equally well as a beacon for all mankind. I do not believe in a super state. I see no magic to tax dollars which are sent to Washington and then returned. I abhor the waste and incompetence of large-scale Federal bureaucracies in this administration, as well as in others. I do not favor state compulsion when voluntary individual effort can do the job and do it well. But I believe in a government which acts, which exercises its full powers and its full responsibilities. Government is an art and a precious obligation; and when it has a job to do, I believe it should do it. And this requires not only great ends but that we propose concrete means of achieving them.

Our responsibility is not discharged by an announcement of virtuous ends. Our responsibility is to achieve these objectives with social invention, with political skill, and executive vigor. I believe for these reasons, that liberalism is our best and our only hope in the world today. [Applause.] For the liberal society is a free society, and it is at the same time and for that reason a strong society. Its strength is drawn from the will of free people committed to great ends and peacefully striving to meet them. Only liberalism, in short, can repair our national power, restore our national purpose, and liberate our national energies. And the only basic issue in the 1960 presidential campaign is whether our Government will fall in a conservative rut and die there, or whether we will move ahead in the liberal spirit of daring, of breaking new ground, of doing in our generation what Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and Adlai Stevenson did in their time of influence and responsibility."

For the complete speech, follow this link to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum:
https://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/JFK-Speeches/Liberal-Party-Nomination-NYC_19600914.aspx

Is it tomorrow yet?

R.I.P. Stephen Hawking

We lost one of the most brilliant minds in history. He died on pi Day...seems fitting.

We Need More Strong Children

Painting by Oliver Jeffers
http://www.oliverjeffers.com/