Margery Kempe was a bloody-minded woman, living in a time when England was still Catholic. Bishops, priests and friars held worldly and spiritual power. bloody-minded: Chiefly Brit. Perverse, contrary; cantankerous; stubbornly intransigent or obstructive. Cf. bloody adj. OED She came from the provinces, had no education and bore 14 children to a husband socially beneath… Continue reading Less Holy Than Thou
735 posts categorized as follows, where numbers alongside are the number of posts: category Angels 13 Animals 18 Beginnings 4 Being human 38 Bible 9 Blessings (in disguise?) 9 Books 50 Childhood 55 Chilterns 15 Civilisation 30 Curiosity 19 Dreams 17 Encounters 46 Films 8 God 14 Interviews 4 Life-story 7 Make & mend… Continue reading Site map
There are certain authors, that is to say certain books, that we are especially glad to have discovered. And when we discover something new and significant in our lives, the moment when it occurred is memorable. I discovered Todd Mcewen by looking up “happenstance” in the OED and finding an illustration of its use in… Continue reading Who Sleeps with Katz, by Todd McEwen
Art is a way of giving to the world what one holds most precious John Sebastian Bach had good reason to be grumpy. There was scant appreciation for his enormous efforts. He didn't get paid for writing music. In those days there was a system of patronage. He'd be engaged by a city council or… Continue reading Art as Generosity
From In Defence of Sensuality, by John Cowper Powys, 1930: . . . To return to the lonely ichthyosaurus-ego. This ichthyosaurus-ego exists in every man, woman, and child. It is the feeling of the soul in relation to its body and in relation to what surrounds its body. It is profoundly susceptible to moods of… Continue reading Under the surface
