Young Readers

Current Post on Kitti's List:
"Young Adult"

Two Young Readers
from the Belvedere Museum ~ Vienna

Left: Lesender Knabe ~ Reading Boy, 1860
johann Baptist Reiter, 1813 - 1890 (to see more)

Right: Lesendes Madchen ~ Reading Girl, 1850
Franz Eybl, 1806 - 1880 (to see more)
I love the innocence and earnestness conveyed in these two portraits. In their seriousness of purpose, the youthful readers look amply prepared to take on the Great Books of World Literature, every bit as much as the more tender fiction reserved for teen and pre - teen readers. If only we could see the titles of those books in their hands!

Likewise the face of the thoughtful letter reader / writer below. The title says "Writer," but in fact this girl is reading -- perhaps a letter she has just received. Good news or bad? Maybe she is scanning her own response, just now composed in reply to the open pages on the table. Her companion, who is not so much reading over her shoulder as gazing out in consternation, appears filled with worry, if not worse, while she remains calm and self - composed. The contrast of their expressions, illuminated by candlelight, is puzzling. What could be the situation that causes him so much more anxiety than it does her?

The Letter Writer, 1760 - 62
Joseph Wright of Derby, 1734 - 1797

For more paired paintings
check out the recent post on my Fortnightly Blog:
Perfect Twins: Going Out, Coming In

For a number of current YA titles,
check out the latest post on my book blog:
"Young Adult"

Sunrise, Sunset

Architectural detail of the
beautiful 2 Park Avenue Building

Sunrise

Sunset

More poetical beautiful New York Buildings
on my current post

~ "Poetry in Steel" ~

@The Fortnightly Kitti Carriker:
A Fortnightly [every 14th & 28th] Literary Blog of
Connection & Coincidence; Custom & Ceremony

Empire State by Ben McCartney

Moon After Yule

Moon After Yule, as seen from my front window
Dan Albergotti's introspective list might also be applicable should you need some things to do in the bleak mid-winter, by the light of the Moon After Yule. I'm thinking that the belly of the whale might be a time as well as a place. So, here you go -- some thoughts to occupy your mind when the yuletide festivities are a fading memory, the nights are long, and the moon is full:

Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale
Measure the walls. Count the ribs. Notch the long days.
Look up for blue sky through the spout. Make small fires
with the broken hulls of fishing boats. Practice smoke signals.
Call old friends, and listen for echoes of distant voices.
Organize your calendar. Dream of the beach. Look each way
for the dim glow of light. Work on your reports. Review
each of your life’s ten million choices. Endure moments
of self-loathing. Find the evidence of those before you.
Destroy it. Try to be very quiet, and listen for the sound
of gears and moving water. Listen for the sound of your heart.
Be thankful that you are here, swallowed with all hope,
where you can rest and wait. Be nostalgic. Think of all
the things you did and could have done. Remember
treading water in the center of the still night sea, your toes
pointing again and again down, down into the black depths.

by Dan Albergotti
from The Boatloads, © BOA Editions, Ltd., 2008.

Also called
The Old Moon or The Full Wolf Moon

See also
"Staying Alive" by David Wagoner
"The Journey" by Mary Oliver
as well as parables from Erica Jong and Franz Kafka

Delilah Williams Pierce

A few more of my new favorites from American artist
Delilah Williams Pierce, 1904 - 1992

The following are on view at the
University of Maryland University College Art Gallery &
The Maryland Artist Collection in the Inn and Conference Center

The skills of this multi - talented artist range from nature to still life,
from animals to architecture; from abstract design to story - book fantasy,
and, of course, portraiture, as seen here:

In the Studio (Self Portrait)

Angel Wing Begonia

Untitled (F Street), 1955

Peter Pan, 1939

Foraging Friends

Twins, 1952

~ and so many more! ~

Currently on my Fortnightly Blog
Perfect Twins: Going Out, Coming In

Perfect Twins

Currently on my Fortnightly Blog
Perfect Twins: Going Out, Coming In

A coincidental series of twinned artworks,
starting with this beautiful painting
by Delilah Pierce

Twins, 1952

And the best thing about visiting this exhibit
at the University of Maryland?
Being able to enjoy it with my sister and her family:
Triplets: Dan, Brit, Peg!

Christmas Forward Backward

from One Increasing Christmas
by Winifred Kirkland
"The study of Christmas as a shining date growing ever clearer and more significant in human thought, is the study of a dream. And the dreams of humanity are tricksy things to examine, not susceptible to argument or statistics. One may hazard only guesses into the subtleties of human wistfulness. It is a curiously interesting search to gaze far back into the dusk of history as slowly, hesitantly Christmas appears. . . .

"Still dawns yearly upon our human calendar an ever more beautiful Christmas. Clearer, brighter each year there glows upon the dark expanse of time the recurrent luminous picture . . . Before it, after it, extends the long, long fabric of dark days, fog-ridden . . . But steadfastly the glow of Christmas spreads forward, backward, upon the stretching murk of the years. . . . Back over the black mystery of old years, forward into the black mystery of the years to come,* shines ever more confident the golden kindliness of Christmas."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Kind of like Janus, the Roman god of doors, choices, beginnings and endings, with two faces, one facing forwards and one facing backwards, representing time, looking into the past with one face and into the future with the other.
Janus ~ January 8, 2010

January: Forward Vision, Backward Glance ~ January 28, 2011

Janus, Orpheus, Obsolescing ~ January 30, 2011

Fast Away the Old Year Passes ~ December 28, 2009


Left: "Janus" / Right: "Janus"- watercolour by Tony Grist

And currently on my Fortnightly Blog:
Perfect Twins: Going Out, Coming In

Have Gun Will Travel

This poster from my sister - in - law Pam
reminds of a little poem that my dad used to quote to me:

"And before the fridge so often,
my poor mind is filled with doubt:
Have I just put food away,
or have I come to take some out?"
When thinking of old songs, one that comes immediately to mind is the television theme song: "Have Gun ~ Will Travel, reads the card of a man."

These lyrics are often in my head, though they're not much help when I'm wandering absentmindedly around the basement, trying to recall why on earth I went down there in the first place!

My brother Dave kindly supplied the remainder of the lyrics:

Have gun will travel, reads the card of a man
A knight without armor in a savage land
His fast gun hire heeds the calling wind
A soldier of fortune is a man called Paladin

Paladin, Paladin, where do you roam
Paladin, Paladin, far, far from home

He travels on to where ever he must
A chess knight of silver is his badge of trust
There are campfire legends that the plainsmen sing
Of the man with the gun, of the man called Paladin

Paladin, Paladin, where do you roam
Paladin, Paladin, far, far from home
Far from home, far from home

As a little kid, with no knowledge of business cards, I merely thought that "Have Gun Will Travel" was somehow part of the very mysterious sounding name of this swashbuckling radio / television hero. In similar fashion, as little tykes, Ben and Sam referred to Kevin / McCauley Culkin as "Home Alone" -- because, to them, that was not only the title of the movie, but also the name of the hero!

The recent movie Inside Out offers an amusing explanation for why some of those old television songs ("Flinstones, meet the Flintstones . . . ") and cigarette advertisements ("You can take Salem out of the country, but . . . ") and early childhood phone numbers (GL-endale 1 0580, HI-lltop 7 5662, 828 - 5761 ) remain forever lodged in our brains.

It's because clever little "mind - workers" are busy inside our heads, clearing out old memories that we might want to keep, along with current information that we might actually find useful. Instead, we are left with a bunch of random silly nonsense that won't go away while the pertinent material that we need to get through the day is nowhere to be found. On many a befuddled occasion, I could almost believe it!

Not Supposed To Be Any Way

Thanks to my friend Barbara Serratore
for this poster from Purple Clover
Why do I keep forgetting this, even though I'm one of the first people around to quote Toby Maguire / David at the end of Pleasantville, when he tells his mom that it's not supposed to be any way:

Mom: I mean, it's not supposed to be like this.
David: It's not supposed to be anything. Hold still.
Mom: How'd you get so smart all of a sudden?
David: [long slow smile] I had a good day.

Or when Romeo complains:
"There is no world without Verona walls"

Despite the wise advice of Friar Lawrence:
"Be patient, for the world is broad and wide."

Guess what? There are lots of ways!

~ Happy New Year! ~ Happy New Way! ~

Thanks to my friend Donna Postel
for this one from "Let it always be known . . . "

Uncle Samuel

Vintage Uncle Samuel Santa
from Victorian Trading

a keepsake ornament for my son Sam

in honor of his namesake and great - great uncle
Samuel Gordon Lindsey
born this day 123 years ago
January 5, 1893

and his great - great - great - great - grandfather
Samuel Lindsey
1789 - 1883

See also Time to Write a Letter & Veterans Eve

A Day in the Garden

"At Christmas I no more desire a rose . . . "

Oh . . . wait . . . yes I do!

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Photographs from the British back gardens
of Rosanne & Ron McCartney ~ Great Crosby
and Tina & Alastair McFadyen ~ Sutton Coldfield

L to R: Tina, Rosanne, Gerry, Ron, Richard ~ August 2015