Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
William S. Burroughs: The Cat Inside
The big white cat became the first house cat and he and Ruski would sleep together on the same couch in brotherly acceptance. One day the big white cat came back with an ugly wound, evidently from a dog. The teeth had torn through his flesh on both sides of the tailbone as he was running and he managed to shake free or climb a tree. I blame myself now for not taking him to a vet. I merely rubbed on some penicillin ointment and he seemed to be on the road to recovery. Then one day he disappeared and was never seen again.
A car? A dog? A coyote? Perhaps another home?
"I think he's dead, Bill," James said.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
First Lines: Nathaniel Hawthorne - The Scarlet Letter
A throng of bearded men, in sad-colored garments, and gray, steeple-crowned hats, intermixed with women, some wearing hoods and others bare-headed, was assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with oak, and studded with iron spikes.
First Lines: Franz Kafka - The Trial
Someone must have been spreading slander about Josef K., for one morning he was arrested, though he had done nothing wrong.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
New Stuff: Watching TV: Six Decades of American Televisio
Finally found a good comprehensive book on the history of American TV.
Monday, May 17, 2010
First Lines: Kate Chopin - The Awakening
A green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door, kept repeating over and over:
"Allez vous-en! Allez vous-en! Sapristi! That's all right!"
