Category: Commonplace book
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I’ve been taking some time to be distant
Hi Ren… I’ve been taking some time to be distant I’ve been taking some time to be still I’ve been taking some time to be by myself and I’ve spent half my life ill But just as sure as the tide starts turning Just as sure as the night has dawn Just as sure as […]
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But then why do you write? Nietzsche on the necessity of getting rid of your thoughts
I’ve been dipping back into The Gay Science today which alongside Ecce Homo was my gateway into Nietzsche in my mid-20s. Whenever I’ve returned to them I’ve found new passages which resonate, as with this account (pg 90) of why writing for Nietzsche was a necessity: But then why do you write? – A: I […]
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If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim
If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being […]
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I’m going to make it through this year if it kills me
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I’m a lifeless face that you’ll soon forget
Well, I’ve lost it all, I’m just a silhouette I’m a lifeless face that you’ll soon forget My eyes are damp from the words you left Ringing in my head, when you broke my chest Ringing in my head, when you broke my chest And if you’re in love, then you are the lucky one […]
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The lights are out, the phones are dead
The lights are out, the phones are dead And I’m the only thing that’s running in this city Except for the clouds and man, they’re coming down If I knew my way around, I wouldn’t feel so dizzy
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On metronormativity
I was introduced to the concept of ‘metronormativity’ (Jack Halberstam) earlier today and I’m rather taken with it. This is the Wikipedia article which summarises it: Jack Halberstam relates queer metronormativity to the dominant “story of migration from ‘country’ to ‘town’… a spatial narrative within which the subject moves to a place of tolerance after enduring […]
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This place was a shelter
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Rise like Lions after slumber
‘Rise like Lions after slumber In unvanquishable number, Shake your chains to earth like dew Which in sleep had fallen on you – Ye are many – they are few.’ – Percy Bysshe Shelley
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Have a vegan Christmas
While I’m not yet a vegan (occasional eggs and cheese are the remaining obstacle) this wonderful advert at the cinema got me thinking about it again:
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You’re doing pretty well given the circumstances
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I think I thought I saw you try
I thought that I heard you laughing I thought that I heard you sing I think I thought I saw you try But that was just a dream Try, cry, fly, try That was just a dream Just a dream Just a dream, dream
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Music is the weapon
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Litany of Blooming, by Nick Cave and Nicholas Lens
From this wonderful album.
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Capitalism is tearing us apart
How have I heard this countless times without listening to the lyrics? I have to work late I’m sorry that the food’s gone cold We’ll fight when I get home (Capitalism’s tearing us apart) Just strangers passing in the dark Dreams sold to stay afloat Pulled by the undertow (Capitalism’s tearing us apart)
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Rilke on living the questions rather than demanding the answers
You are so young, so before all beginning, and I want to beg you, as much as I can dear sir, to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do […]
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Nick Cave on creating on the edge of disaster
I thought this was a powerful statement of faith in the creative process. It followed his description of improvisation earlier in Faith, Hope and Carnage in which he explains how the elements of his work choose their final form. But letting this choice unfold necessitates trusting in the creative process, believing it will come together […]
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The lavender has stained my skin and made me strange
People ask me how I’ve changed I say it is a singular road And the lavender has stained my skin And made me strange The lavender is tall and reaches Beyond the heavenly cover I plough through this furious world Of which I’m truly over There is in the world only one way, on which […]
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Nick Cave on the terrible devastating opportunities that bring transformation
I wrote recently about how Nick Cave talks about the relationship between suffering, loss and renewal in Faith, Hope and Carnage. He expands on this later in his conversation with Sean O’Hagan, who I only just discovered is an accomplished musician rather than the high brow music journalist I’d assumed. Reflecting on his last record […]
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My favourite lyrics from Nick Cave’s Ghosteen filtered through an AI art generator
Well there goes your moony man With his suitcase in his hand Every road is lined with animals That rise from their blood and walk Well the moon won’t get a wink of sleep If I stay all night and talk, if I stay all night and talk The bright horses have broken free from […]
Mark Carrigan 