Elizabeth Edwards RIP

Elizabeth Edwards died this morning. Condolences to her family, especially her children Cate, Emma Claire, & Jack. The loathsome boor who smeared her in a book was invited to speak about her this afternoon. Such breathtakingly bad taste, even for Washington, it's making me dizzy. Here is EE's Senior Fellow page at the Center for American Progress; you'll get a much better idea of her accomplishments there. (Update - the CAP link changed after Elizabeth died; I've put in the link to the CAP Fellow announcement press release.)

All the Way to the End

"Surely all art is the result of one's having been in danger, of having gone through an experience all the way to the end, where no one can go any further. The further one goes, the more private, the more personal, the more singular an experience becomes, and the thing one is making is, finally, the necessary, irrepressible, and, as nearly as possible, definitive utterance of this singularity." --Rainer Maria Rilke

I'm running out of steam for the week, but I've been thinking about Ted Hughes' theory that all art originates from a wound in the artist. He does a better job of 'esplaining it. But Rilke certainly will do.

I heard from a friend today in Prague (he's been living with his wife Vera in an apartment in Prague Castle that Václav Havel arranged for them. It didn't even faze me - of course, you're living in the Castle. I'd already heard but didn't want to spoil his moment.) He is a novelist & filmmaker & friend of perv Milan Kundera. When The Unbearable Lightness of Being was released as book (& then as film later), I asked Arnošt. Well? "Exactly, exactly how it was. That bastard, he did it!" Then he picked me up & whirled me around the room.

It was/is a tight circle of friends/frenemies & a highly competitive bunch, of course: writers, painters, photographers, filmmakers, journos, etc. They supported the "wrong" person in 1968 & were invited to leave. Kundera's success spurred them all on (including director Miloš Forman). I hope someone writes a book about this gang of devils. (There are more.)

Arnošt & Vera lent me 'the borrowed flat' in Jerusalem for many weekends. They sat with me in the - I am not kidding - Elizabeth Taylor Cafeteria...or maybe it was the Frank Sinatra cafeteria (there were two) & tried to make me laugh. One time I got in a car with them. Only once. I was in the back seat with an old friend who then lived in Israel. He started to laugh hysterically...maybe it was the idea of the two of us tootling around the city with our friend--who should never drive (do you hear me, A?) anywhere. Ever. I accessed my "if I go, I go" attitude used to good effect in Greek & Italian taxis. Anyway, those wild & crazy Czechs, they lent me the flat for which I'll be eternally grateful. Now I want to stay at Prague Castle.

Here's to brave people - who, amazingly, miraculously laugh (with a large side of irony). And take it all the way to the end.

[two stills from Unbearable Lightness of Being, still photographer-genius Phil Bray; the "real" iconic photograph via filmwell(dot)org]

The Interrupted Concert

It was on this day in 1936 that the 38-year-old Spanish poet Federico García Lorca was executed, a few weeks after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. In those first weeks, people on both sides — the leftist republicans and the right-wing nationalists — were rounded up and killed, as many as 50,000, with particularly heavy casualties against the republicans. Lorca was a leftist sympathizer, an open homosexual, and a writer who wrote about oppressed people like gypsies, so he was an easy target for the nationalists.--The Writer's Almanac

"Seventy years after his death, his voice is just as alive as on that 19 August night when bullets tried to silence it." --conclusion to this 2006 article, Poet's Death Still Troubles Spain.

Here is the link to the bilingual Fundacion Federico García Lorca (in Madrid) created by Lorca's sister, Isabel. BBC link of Lorca's life in pictures, here. I can barely write a thing as this horrific murder makes me weep.

The Interrupted Concert

The frozen sleepy pause

of the half moon

has broken the harmony

of the deep night.

The ditches, shrouded in sedge,

protest in silence,

and the frogs, muezzins of shadow,

have fallen silent.

In the old village inn

the sad music has ceased,

and the most ancient of stars

has muted its ray.

The wind has come to rest

in dark mountain caves,

and a solitary poplar—Pythagoras

of the pure plain—

lifts its aged hand

to strike at the moon. (trans. W.S. Merwin)

Dorothy Height - RIP

An elegant celebration of an extraordinary life at the Cathedral this morning (in a sea of hats, no doubt, thank goodness). You can watch a live webstream from the Cathedral's site. We recommend it. We love you, Miss D. [photograph via civil rights flickr]

Worlds Collide (Always)

"There is within these peoples' souls a tremendous amount of beauty and [conviction] that they can actually make a difference.." - Tom Block, artist & activist

This event is more detailed on Giulia Geranium; also here on the festival site. My entire life as a writer & poet (& let's face it, as a bon vivant:) has a tension that I wish I could work out as Tom has. (I've spent my life trying.) We're fellow members of a local Amnesty International group; he's founder/producer of a humongous Human Rights Art Festival in our neighborhood. The list of executive producers, sponsors, & other helpers is quite impressive. Last year, about 4 of us sitting around a table in a now-defunct café, talking with Tom about the festival seems a million years ago. Many local (& beyond) bloggers are having great fun with this, of course. Like the answer is...do nothing? Well, I guess I won't be kissing them at the booth.

I really am thinking of taking Julie to a few events but concerned about her asthma. Will try to borrow decent camera. I'm not officially volunteering as I didn't know how I'd feel on any given day...but I'll be hanging out at various venues...so come up & talk to me, already. Two fun words to tempt you: Flash Mob. (I know, I know...technically not if people know...simmer down, people.)

The YouTube video is worth watching...just a few moments with Tom. I tried to embed it but it's not cooperating.)You should be there when he meets someone he's painted. (You want/enjoy surreal? I can't even begin to describe it at this moment.) The funny thing about the video though...I forgot that Tom wore a suit that day...I barely recognize him. (Don't tell him. Puhleeze.)

[image by Tom Block/all rights reserved/used with permission of artist]

Benjamin L. Hooks - 1925 -2010

Today's loss is to be reminded that we are losing the direct connections to the brave men & women, famous & not famous, of the civil rights movement. These are the people who helped form the conscience of a little white girl in Ohio & Pennsylvania (among millions of others). If you don't know who he was, or even if you did, here is quick link to Washington Post. [family photographs via Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tennessee; they also have a good timeline slideshow]

Lucille Clifton

Come celebrate with me/That every day/Something has tried to kill me/And has failed. ~Lucille Clifton

Beyond upset. Just found out. Here's a link. Funeral arrangements are pending. (I'm still in exile but hope to be home later today.) Update: Here's a poem written for Lucille, by Grace Cavalieri.

[photograph via famouspoetsandpoems]

Miep

Miep Gies, a hero no matter what she said, died at 100 yesterday. She was the last living person connected to the Frank family. Her website is here; here is the Anne Frank website. Condolences can be left here. I was going to name a cat for her in November but then didn't adopt the cat. Will think about it for the future. I don't think she'd mind. I'd love to call out "Miep, Miep, Miep." (pronounced "Meep")

[photographs via Miep Gies & Anne Frank websites]

Week's End - Albert in Black & White

Camus, A Romance by Elizabeth Hawes is quite enjoyable. Here's an amusing review about literary obsession. Back to work.

Update: That's it. The end. (I mean for the week.)

bonne nuit

[molto famoso photograph by H. Cartier-Bresson/Magmum; other photographs of Camus at work & play by Loomis Dean via LIFE archives]