“There are Reddit threads dedicated to post-show comedowns. And the tour has surpassed the previous record for highest-grossing by a solo female artist, which was previously held by Madonna in 2009. By its close, Beyoncé will have generated an estimated $4.5 billion for the American economy, about as much as the 2008 Olympics did for Beijing.”

A Silvery, Shimmering Summer of Beyoncé (Published 2023)

The Renaissance tour is a blueprint for how to cultivate pleasure and hold onto it at all costs.

“To worry or to smile, such is the choice when we are assailed by the strange; our decision depends on how familiar we are with our own ghosts.” ~Julia Kristeva

Reading some books written by Julia Kristeva— fascinating material & the author is also intriguing. “As I talked with people about Kristeva’s dossier, I kept thinking about her code name, Sabina. It is not a typical Bulgarian name—according to one expert I spoke to, it is unique in State Security’s nomenclature. Agents would often, though not always, choose their code names. Did officers catch an allusion to the classical myth of the Sabine women, who were invited to attend a festival in Rome, only to be abducted by the Romans and forced to marry them? Kristeva, the mother of intertextuality, has insisted that she never heard that “whimsical pseudonym” before her dossier came to light, and that may be the case. But traces of her intelligence, in every sense of that word, appear all over the files. One of the last items preserved in Kristeva’s dossier is an extensive interview titled “What Is the Function of Intellectuals?,” which she gave to Le Nouvel Observateur, in 1977. “ ~ Dimiter Kenarov

The New Yorker

Was the Philosopher Julia Kristeva a Cold War Collaborator?

The Kristeva affair has become a major case in the ongoing public debate about how to deal with the dark legacy of Bulgaria’s Soviet-era secret p...

Back home with my books & my favorite tree! #October

Me & some dead writers— my favorite way to spend an afternoon ☠️📖

Love her work— Carnegie Museum of Art #Pittsburgh displayed one of her poems last fall for The 58th Carnegie International.

The Paris Review

Beginning with Color: An Interview with Etel Adnan by Laure Adler

October 4, 2023 – “You make a mark, and the mark creates a situation, and this situation calls for other gestures.”

I try, but truth be told… my husband is a better cook than me— and I’m so grateful because I love great food. I’m enjoying Tilapia & pasta prepared by him tonight. #foodstr 🍁(my books hang out on my dining room table 🤷🏻‍♀️)

“In Oslo, in September, I attended the preview of Jon Fosse’s play “I Svarte Skogen Inne” (“Inside the Black Forest”). The theatre was small and dark, without a stage, and the scenery was minimal: a large illuminated rock in the middle, some scattered trees…” ~Merve Emre’s new piece about Jon Fosse 📖💫 Jon Fosse, the Nobel Prize, and the Art of What Can’t Be Named

The New Yorker

Jon Fosse, the Nobel Prize, and the Art of What Can’t Be Named

In his novels and plays, the Norwegian author has continually probed the limits of the perceptible world.

I have this— somewhere in my bookshelves.

I’ll read some Trakl poetry tonight. “Fosse has, in recent years, added to his long list of translations into Nynorsk two modern, lyrical classics: Georg Trakl’s Sebastian i draum (2019) and Rainer Maria Rilke’s Duino-elegiar (2022).” https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2023/bio-bibliography/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social_media&utm_campaign=nobel_prize_announcements_2023&utm_content=post

Blessed with another beautiful sunrise… seconds before the announcement.

✨ https://www.youtube.com/live/gnN_po2389E?si=5zVCzLgm090UKfZd

#Morning read: Book 1: The Quarrel (The Iliad Translated by Emily Wilson) “At this, the seer took courage and replied, ‘The god is not upset about a broken vow, or lack of lavish offerings to him. It is the priest whom Agamemnon scorned, whose daughter he would not give back for ransom. That is the reason that the archer god gives us these troubles and will give yet more. He will not drive away the deadly plague that now afflicts the Greeks till Agamemnon returns the bright-eyed woman to her father without a ransom or reward, and carries a hecatomb to Chryse. Then we may appease the god.’ With this, he sat back down. But Agamemnon, son of Atreus, the mighty lord and warrior, stood up aggrieved, his black heart full of furious rage. His eyes shone bright as fire. He scowled at Calchas and said to him…” #Homer

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE: “I first began reading Homer in high school, early in my study of ancient Greek. I liked The Odyssey, but I loved The Iliad with a passionate devotion. I have now lived with this poem for some thirty-five years-rereading it, teaching it in the original and in various translations, and, now, rendering it into English. For the past six years, I have worked intensively on this translation. But even now, when I turn back to lines I have read hundreds of times already, I find that the raw power of the Greek still startles me, like Athena suddenly tugging Achilles by the hair to stop him in his tracks. Often, I am unable to read without goose bumps, tears, or both.” ~Emily Wilson

“ST. ANTHONY’S CHAPEL, set in a small neighborhood overlooking #Pittsburgh, PA, houses the largest collection of religious relics in the world outside the Vatican. Father Mollinger, an immigrant from Belgium, left the world of medicine to serve his faith. When he learned of mass amounts of relics without homes in Europe, he personally collected them with his own funds. When there were too many in his home to continue living alongside them, he built the chapel and housed the relics there.”

Atlas Obscura

St. Anthony's Chapel in Pittsburgh

This church in Pittsburgh is home to the largest collection of religious relics in North America.

My colleagues shared this with me today! The Baseball Study by Recht and Leslie Findings: Knowledge of the topic had a MUCH bigger impact on comprehension than generalized reading ability did (pg. 18) With sufficient prior knowledge "low ability" students performed similarly to higher ability students. (pg. 19) The difference in their performance was not statistically significant.

Octavio Paz & Pablo Neruda — thinking of these two poets tonight— mostly Paz.

Hope everyone has a great week— blessed with this sunrise this morning on my way to school— sharing the light. #October

Audible comes in handy for book club— listening in the morning for October’s book meeting— my friend’s choice— first book of a new season.

Audible.com

The Sanatorium

Check out this great listen on Audible.com. REESE

I should be sleeping… one more (because I’m excited for Thursday). Night ✨📖 “This year’s Nobel Prize in Literature will be awarded next week, on October 5th. If you’re wondering who will win the prize, well, no one knows. No one ever really knows (though last year, some people guessed), considering that the nominations and deliberations are shrouded in secrecy, and also Swedish.”

Literary Hub

Here are the bookies’ odds for the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature.

This year’s Nobel Prize in Literature will be awarded next week, on October 5th. If you’re wondering who will win the prize, well, no o...