“Life is short”
Life is short, eat the doughnut. Life is short, go for the long walk. Life is short, think deeply. Life is short, take chances. Life is short, write the damn book. Life is short, love hard. Life is short …
Iva Morris’ Day of the Dead Series (2012)
Jubilee (2012) Southwest Gothic. Pas de Deux. More at the artist’s website.
Aubade, by Philip Larkin (Devs, 2020)
A mesmerizing scene from the penultimate episode of Devs, written and directed by Alex Garland. Set in the near-future, the series posits the creation of a quantum computer that can be used to experience any moment of the past or future, and which may bring about the end of reality according to natural law. The … Read moreAubade, by Philip Larkin (Devs, 2020)
“What Justifies a Life? In Memory of Liam McCarty”
Jared Morningstar writes for Medium in memoriam of his friend Liam, and on the intrinsic value of life in relation to death: To be is also to experience, and the conscious experience of human life is something of both irreducible individuality and incomparable richness. In merely experiencing life as ourselves — in all its complexity … Read more“What Justifies a Life? In Memory of Liam McCarty”
Totenpass ritual 2023
Incense burned, words were spoken, honey was tasted at midnight this evening, beneath a certain tree, overlooking a certain river. Memento mori ergo carpe diem, while you still can.
“This Halloween, Let’s Really Think About Death”
Elizabeth Bruenig writes for The Atlantic: Halloween is no approximation of the firsthand experience of death. But it does foreground the visceral fear of death (occasionally via viscera itself). And it offers an opportunity to engage playfully with the idea of dying, through community celebration rather than solemn contemplation—or jarring confrontations with violence in headlines … Read more“This Halloween, Let’s Really Think About Death”
Fall is Falling
Some photos from recent river walks, as we approach the Day of the Dead: Fallen leaves blur the edges of the path, as befits the season. Layers upon layers … The first owl I’ve ever spotted along the river path. Fire and water. When the river runs gold – that’s the cue. The riffle, where … Read moreFall is Falling
“How Do I Make Sense of My Mother’s Decision to Die?”
Dr. Lindsay Ryan writes for The Atlantic: One doctor told us of a landscape architect who drank the fatal cocktail while exulting in her garden in full bloom. It sounded perfect—except that in all my years as a doctor, I’ve never seen a perfect death. Every time, there’s some flaw: physical discomfort, conversations left unfinished, … Read more“How Do I Make Sense of My Mother’s Decision to Die?”
Silverweed’s poem and the Death Cult of the Shining Wire
In Richard Adams’ 1972 masterpiece Watership Down, a group of rabbits must leave the doomed Sandleford warren and embark on a perilous journey to find a new home. Along the way they encounter many strange things, including a warren of curiously fatalistic and decadent rabbits, whose philosophy is represented in verse by their poet, Silverweed: … Read moreSilverweed’s poem and the Death Cult of the Shining Wire