

if you're bored, you're not paying attention
This is the University of Chicago “Great Books of the Western World” collection, edited by Mortimer Adler and published in the 1950s. My grandmother, a single mom on a budget, scrimped and saved for months to buy this for my father when he was quite young, maybe 12, and it shaped the rest of his life. He eventually went to the University of Chicago, and became a research psychologist, a scholar, a book collector, and a deeply engaged intellectual with a broad ranging curiosity and knowledge of the world. He kept this collection with him always – I remember it in his library when I was growing up – and it’s still right here next to the bed where he slept until last January. I’m staying in this room now, visiting my stepmom, and realizing just how long the influence of something like this can last. My dad truly believed in the life of the mind and dedicated his life to it, and his life – not to mention these books – are a testament to how the mind lives on in the pages we write, the people we talk to, the students we teach, and the children we raise.
turning the page ::
a vase of dried reeds on the old bookshelf
The word “apocalyptic” is overused. Seriously, it’s just a dark, smoky orange sky. Elsewhere, fires are blazing and firefighters are crawling out of emergency shelters. That’s where the word applies. Here, it’s actually quite peaceful.
10:30am. A layer of smoke overhead so thick it has plunged us back into darkness. The streetlights are on, but no one is out.
midday darkness
what the raven will tell its children
about this day
#haiku #haibun #california #smoke
https://www.instagram.com/p/CE7K6FzJRwT/?igshid=19jkwj1se9paj
[ID: A newspaper clipping that reads: “The legendary cellist Pablo Casals was asked why he continued to practice at age 90.
“Because I think I’m making progress,” He replied. End ID]
Everything about this quote is perfect. His humility (“I think”), implication that how you feel about what you’re doing is important (ditto), and optimism (progress). Hope and an example for us all.
Philip Levine
#lifemotto #liberation #esc #ctrl
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEAJyOhp5S4/?igshid=1ehzibpw2edwh
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