|n|otabilia 0618 ⁂ Albert Camus (translated by Justin O’Brien)

Then Sisyphus watches the stone rush down in a few moments toward that lower world whence he will have to push it up again toward the summit. He goes back down to the plain. It is during that return, that pause, that Sisyphus interests me. A face that toils so close to stones is already stone itself! I see that man going back down with a heavy yet measured step toward the torment of which he will never know the end. That hour like a breathing-space which returns as surely as his suffering, that is the hour of consciousness. At each of those moments when he leaves the heights and gradually sinks toward the lairs of the gods, he is superior to his fate. He is stronger than his rock. If this myth is tragic, that is because its hero is conscious. Where would his torture be, indeed, if at every step the hope of succeeding upheld him? The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is tragic only at the rare moments when it becomes conscious. Sisyphus, proletarian of the gods, powerless and rebellious, knows the whole extent of his wretched condition: it is what he thinks of during his descent. The lucidity that was to constitute his torture at the same time crowns his victory. There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn. —Albert Camus (translated by Justin O’Brien) —from “The Myth of Sisyphus” —found in The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays (1942; this translation 1955) Notabilia by Notabilia Every day, 365 days a year, like a sparkling word machine, we send a single carefully chosen short poem, flash fiction, prose poem, interesting list, provocative quotation, or brief excerpt from a book or letter. A kind of commonplace book, one day at time, direct to your inbox. 6824 19th St W # 317 University Place, WA 98466 USA

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Update: Orphanage Summer hours

This gallery contains 4 photos.

Originally posted on The Orphanage:
We spent last week preparing The Orphanage for the summer. All cars have been exercised and serviced. The ’51 Crosley is on the turntable, the Plymouth and Lark are back on the floor. Summer hours are Tuesday-Sunday 1-5pm. ?

|n|otabilia 0560 ⁂ Jay Parini…why #poetry matters

…adieu National Poetry Month until next year. Intermittent #poetrybombing ongoing…

For most of us, there is only the unattended Moment,
the moment in and out of time,
The distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight,
The wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightning
Or the waterfall, or music heard so deeply
That it is not heard at all, but you are the music
While the music lasts.

[T.S. Eliot]

Poetry matters because it provides this music, which at its best is heard so deeply that it approximates silence. Poetry matters because it serves up the substance of our lives, and becomes more than a mere articulation of experience—although that articulation alone is part of its usefulness. Its adequacy to experience, in fact, is profound and lasting in the many different ways I have suggested in this book. Mainly, it allows us to see ourselves freshly and keenly. It makes the invisible world visible. It transforms our politics by enhancing our ability to make comparisons and draw distinctions. It reanimates nature for us, connecting spirit and matter. It draws us more deeply into conversation with the traditions that we feed off, modify, and extend. In the end, it brings us closer to God, however we define that term. It provides, in some cases, a reason for life itself. “How gladly with proper words the soldier dies,” writes Stevens, “If he must, or lives on the bread of faithful speech.”

—Jay Parini
—found in Why Poetry Matters (2008)

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That’s it for Poetry Month! I hope you’ve enjoyed the selections this year and that you enjoy and share poetry all year.

This is Just to Say: NPM 2019 Day 2

a #NationalPoetryMonth Day dose of @dogtrax and students for today’s excellent #NPM19 digital #poetrybombing (just to say)

Thinking Through My Lens

Today we turned to William Carlos Williams for inspiration.  Using the book A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant, I introduced my students to William Carlos Williams.  I wanted to continue the focus on the ordinary as well as show a poet who continued his writing while working as a doctor.  I’ve been working to dispel the myth that poetry has to rhyme…and this book definitely helped make that point!

Once we learned a bit about Williams, we studied two of his poems to use as mentor texts for our own poems.  The Red Wheelbarrow surprised my students.  It seemed so short and so simple at first glance…and then they started to notice.  The word glazed really caught their attention…and made them think of doughnuts rather than rain coated wheelbarrows.  Then we started to play around with how to put our own content…

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Creating a New Healthcare Paradigm

occupy the paradigm

Clay Forsberg

The healthcare community has been abuzz the last couple weeks over the Apple Watch’s ability (or not) to detect irregular heartbeats in attempt to predict atrial fibrillation. Enthusiasts, naysayers, survivors, Eric Topol, and everyone else in between have been giving their assessment of the results of 400,000+ person study done in conjunction with Stanford University. Some praised the results, others obsessed on the chance of false positives causing unnecessary alarm in apparently healthy young adults. I’m guessing where someone’s opinion fell is pretty much where it started out.

That said, the new Apple Watch, Version 4 is not a FitBit. This is not about adoption of a new-fangled gizmo that after a month will end up in the top drawer of your nightstand next to the (no offense to the FitBit). This is the next generation of that smart device that never leaves your side, or your wrist. I’m not…

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More |n|otabilia 0523 ⁂ Samuel Beckett

My previous by email was a test. Now that I know it still works, I’ll (try to) remember to add a credit link, appropriate lede and, time permitting, even the occasional modest paragraph. I should also check this one for formatting and display.

Future Notabilia snippets from Katexic Clippings may appear on occasion but not daily or on anything resembling a regular schedule. Why should I, when you can subscribe to your very own clippings and daily notabilia?

But here’s more about Katexic and creator Chris Lott:
about Chris Lott

Fairbanksan shares love of language, insights with ‘Katexic Clippings’

My Vocabulary Loves Katexic Clippings | bavatuesdays

l anguagehat.com : Katexic Clippings.

Thursday, March 21, 201: |n|otabilia 0523 ⁂ Samuel Beckett

Nothing remained but to see what he wanted to see. Any fool can turn the blind eye, but who knows what the ostrich sees in the sand? —Samuel Beckett —found in Murphy (1938) The crazy chess game from Samuel Beckett’s Murphy The crazy chess game from Samuel Beckett’s Murphy � Help me get a silver button by subscribing to my channel https://goo.gl/5JntDA

|n|otabilia 0521 ⁂ Ursula K. Le Guin

Children know perfectly well that unicorns aren’t real, but they also know that books about unicorns, if they are good books, are true books. All too often, that’s more than Mummy and Daddy know; for, in denying their childhood, the adults have denied half their knowledge, and are left with the sad, sterile little fact: “Unicorns aren’t real.” And that fact is one that never got anybody anywhere (except in the story “The Unicorn in the Garden,” by another great fantasist, in which it is shown that a devotion to the unreality of unicorns may get you straight into the loony bin). It is by such statements as, “Once upon a time there was a dragon,” or “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit”—it is by such beautiful non-facts that we fantastic human beings may arrive, in our peculiar fashion, at the truth. —Ursula K. Le Guin —found in The Language of the Night (1979)

The New Green Deal: Moving Beyond the Hype

Clay Forsberg

A couple of weeks ago we saw the unveiling of the New Green Deal. In the spirit of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with a second from Senator Ed Markey from Delaware, stood in front of the media and laid down an ultimatum to the American public and political elite alike.

The New Green Deal makes a compelling case that we have to act now on carbon emissions or face the consequences of climate Armageddon. I agree with this. In fact I’ve been saying it for years. Ocasio-Cortez and Markey’s plan outlines several broad objectives. Among them; our electric grid must be powered entirely by alternative energy by 2030, and by 2050 our nation’s automotive fleet is to be converted to electric power. There are several other ambitious environmental goals, including retrofitting buildings for conservation. You can dig deeper here for the details.

The New…

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Week 4: Identity – E-Learning 3.0 MOOC #el30

…aspects of digital identity and/or our identities as online users: tracked, mapped, decentralized — but still us or (fractal) reflections thereof

learning reflections

This post is part of my reflections on week 4 topic, Identity, on Stephen Downes’ E-Learning 3.0 MOOC   #el30. Though the topic got to an end some days ago, I found writing my first blog post a bit daunting, (!). As things are, I am now ready to join in the online conversation.

 Initial thoughts

This topic reminded me of a recent visit to a portrait exhibition at a nearby museum. After the visit, I kept on thinking about what our faces told us (and others) about ourselves, about how our uniqueness and sameness interweave in creating who we are, and what made us “us”: similar to others, though unique. To use the concept on this course, I was thinking about what defines our identity.

In E-Learning 3.0 MOOC the focus narrows down to online identity. Here, the questions related to whom I am are still valid but…

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Say hello to WaterCalculator.org #ActOnClimate

Coyote Gulch

It takes a tremendous amount of energy to get water to your tap. Click here estimate your footprint and then learn ways to cut into each wedge of the pie.

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