Vangroovy! Accelerated city. Rain today, and such rich air. Forsythia and cherry blossoms, mossy grass, rooftops, sidewalks; slickened sweet-scented city on the move.

Matilda, Queen of the Algonquin Hotel.

Perhaps even more urgent than meeting Steve (see earlier post) is the need to meet Irja & Lucille. This is a fabulous documentary that cuts through the pathos of aging. If you need a reminder of how many common heroes make the world go around, check these two out. Brilliantly conceived.

Poems from Mairead Byrne on Dead Drunk Dublin. Do check them out. And do meet Steve. Everybody needs one.

Europe marks anniversary of Iraq invasionAssociated PressSaturday March 19, 2005"From London's Trafalgar Square to the streets of Istanbul, tens of thousands of people across Europe protested against the Iraq war today on the second anniversary of the US-led invasion."Photo from the 2003 anti-war demonstrations here in NYC.

And why we take them. This led me to Susan Sontag once more. Here’s the essay on looking at war that appeared in The New Yorker, and here you can hear her talk about the war in Bosnia. Too bad we couldn’t hear Woolf read from Three Guineas at the same time?

If you’ve never heard her speak, you should. Click here. It’s quite unexpected, her voice, I mean. Very Victorian. Clearly Nicole Kidman did not study it in preparation… There is a rhythm to it that seems very much like her line. Giving yes, but playing it out too, enjoying the pull and tug of syntax...

Attended a master class at the Julliard on Tuesday with James Conlon, principal conductor of the Paris Opera. A pleasure listening to up and coming sopranos and tenors, and to hear his critique of their performances. Refreshing to note the similarities of disciplines: close reading, close reading, close reading. What does the word mean? What...

Ah, fashion week in New York. I think the temperature refers to inside the coats…

Read with the kick-ass Tara Rebel at the Four Faced Liar on Sunday. Definitely recommend her book–the “I’m not Jenny” series is wonderful. Would be great in an undergraduate classroom as it pushes the whole teenage identity drama to a its most complex best. And it does it with cheeky fun aplomb. As well, it’s...

Here’s an excerpt from Lytton Strachey’s letters, a new version recently published. It sheds light on several aspects of Woolf’s relationship to both of these men–and is worth thinking about in terms of women and power and genius and in the final analysis, management… Clearly Virginia Woolf was luckier than Dora Carrington. To Leonard Woolf,...

Frederico Guida was my favourite discovery last night. This wasn’t his best painting, but I neglected to bring my digital. There was a series of portraits like this, of people in his neighbourhood in San Marino, Italy. Absolutely burning. The actual brushstokes are much more precise than the quality of this photo (lifted from the...