Leaves by Tree

"For myself, I am never satisfied that I have handled a subject properly till I have contradicted..."

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:25:08 -0600

“For myself, I am never satisfied that I have handled a subject properly till I have contradicted myself at least three times.”

- John Ruskin, Cambridge School of Art inaugural address, 1858

"Just as the universal family of gifted writers transcends national barriers, so is the gifted reader..."

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:13:03 -0600

“Just as the universal family of gifted writers transcends national barriers, so is the gifted reader a universal figure, not subject to spatial or temporal laws. It is he—the good, the excellent reader—who has saved the artists again and again from being destroyed by emperors, dictators, priests, puritans, philistines, political moralists, policemen, postmasters, and prigs. Let me define this admirable reader. He does not belong to any specific nation or class. No director of conscience and no book club can manage his soul. His approach to a work of fiction is not governed by those juvenile emotions that make the mediocre reader identify himself with this or that character and “skip descriptions.” The good, the admirable reader identifies himself not with the boy or the girl in the book, but with the mind that conceived and composed that book. The admirable reader does not seek information about Russia in a Russian novel, for he knows that the Russia of Tolstoy or Chekhov is not the average Russia of history but a specific world imagined and created by individual genius. The admirable reader is not concerned with general ideas; he is interested in the particular vision. He likes the novel not because it helps him to get along with the group (to use a diabolical progressive-school cliche); he likes the novel because he imbibes and understands every detail of the text, enjoys what the author meant to be injoyed, beams inwardly and all over, is thrilled by the magic imageries of the master-forger, the fancy-forger, the conjuror, the artist. Indeed of all the characters that a great artist creates, his readers are the best.”

- “Russian Writers, Censors, and Readers” by Vladimir Nabokov

"The saints and mystics might point out to us that every true friendship in this life is a..."

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:35:41 -0600

“The saints and mystics might point out to us that every true friendship in this life is a participation in the affection of a greater Friend, and that the nostalgia which tugs so intensely at times is ultimately a homesickness for a more permanent abode – one the other side of death, reunited with all those we have loved so briefly in our brief lives.”

- Stephen Hough - Promiscuity required – Telegraph Blogs

Scroll Clock

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:36:05 -0600

Scroll Clock

Bizarro cartoon - November 14, 2009

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:22:39 -0600

Bizarro cartoon - November 14, 2009

Adults are allowed to sleep over only in the company of...

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:48:56 -0600

Adults are allowed to sleep over only in the company of children.

Dallas Morning News | Habitat fit for hobbits

Hellhound On My Trail historic bike ride

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:56:18 -0600

Hellhound On My Trail historic bike ride

Dallas’s First Tweed Ride

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:54:54 -0600

Dallas’s First Tweed Ride

Terror on Two Wheels. A Haunted Dallas Group Bike Ride

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:54:11 -0600

Terror on Two Wheels. A Haunted Dallas Group Bike Ride

The Archbishop of York asks a question about sheep tagging in the House of Lords

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:32:30 -0600

The Archbishop of York asks a question about sheep tagging in the House of Lords

Fashion penguin, NorthPark Mall, Dallas, Texas

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:59:09 -0500

Fashion penguin, NorthPark Mall, Dallas, Texas

"With such massive potential oil reserves, Greenland is poised to achieve a geopolitical importance..."

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:05:33 -0500

“With such massive potential oil reserves, Greenland is poised to achieve a geopolitical importance it hasn’t had since the invention of Risk.”

- Oil on Ice - The Atlantic (November 2009)

Candlecopyright S. Byrd 2009

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:05:51 -0500

Candle
copyright S. Byrd 2009

Radiology art

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:48:40 -0500

Radiology art

Flickr set: Les lions de Belfort (via zopeuse)

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:51:48 -0500

Flickr set: Les lions de Belfort (via zopeuse)

Exotic Fruit Juice of Ecuador: Guanabana | Suite101.com

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:01:00 -0500

Exotic Fruit Juice of Ecuador: Guanabana | Suite101.com

35 Years of the World’s Best Microscope Photography | Wired.com

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:39:39 -0500

35 Years of the World’s Best Microscope Photography | Wired.com

Garlic, October 11, 2009copyright S. Byrd

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:31:39 -0500

Garlic, October 11, 2009
copyright S. Byrd

City Hall bike rally participant, October 7, 2009Dallas,...

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:23:03 -0500

City Hall bike rally participant, October 7, 2009
Dallas, Texas
copyright 2009 S. Byrd

"How and when did he start writing these poems? “More than a dozen years ago,” he replies. “But to be..."

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:25:43 -0500

“How and when did he start writing these poems? “More than a dozen years ago,” he replies. “But to be accurate, they started to write themselves. I was somehow involved, but I’m not quite sure how.””

- Alfred Brendel on retiring from the concert hall and his books of poetry - Times Online