February Light

"The world seemed cracked open and the extra light...promised" – Elizabeth Strout

NOTES:

Writing this during a howling blizzard, but yesterday I saw a crocus pushing up through snow.

CHARITY:

I contribute to nonprofits certified as cost-effective that support compassionate leadership, enforce international law, and understand their history.

This month I feature a charity that directly supports the defense of Ukraine. Putin's invasion of Ukraine was illegal and unjustified. He murders innocent civilians and his own soldiers.

Comebackalive.org supports the training of medical personnel, supports Ukraine veterans, and pays for demining and defense. Please donate directly on their site. Beware of fake sites. Ukraine websites are under constant attack. Comebackalive.org takes PayPal (sorry about using that platform, but choices are limited). Donations are tax deductible. They are based in Washington, D.C.

SCREEN: The Choral directed by Nicholas Hytner and written by Alan Bennett, starring Ralph Fiennes

This film unites my love of music, especially amateur community music, with a drama that illuminates the echoes of history in our present. The script was written by Alan Bennett who is ninety-one years old and still kicking it.

The director Nicholas Hytner and Bennett have collaborated before. They weave together comedy and tragedy perfectly. Bennett is also a playwright and memoirist. He turned down a knighthood in 1996, as well as an appointment as a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1988. He said the designations "would be like wearing a suit every day."

Presently this film is in theaters.

BOOKS: "The Life of Crime: Detecting The History of Mysteries and Their Creators" by Martin Edwards

This book is 736 pages long and packed. Martin Edwards is a one-man crime wave.

Edwards won the Crime Writers' Association (CWA) Diamond Dagger in 2020, the highest honor in British crime writing for a sustained, significant contribution to the genre. He has also won the CWA Dagger in the Library (2018), CWA Short Story Dagger, and the Edgar, Agatha, and H.R.F. Keating awards for his nonfiction.

He has edited more than forty anthologies and published multiple short stories and novels which include the Lake District Mysteries and the Rachel Savernake series.

I read one of his collections of essays by successful fiction writers, but frankly, that was a slog. It seems many fiction writers are bores. So noted.

This book, however, rolls along nicely and Edwards lets a pointed opinion bang around once in a while. He can be funny and knows detecting fiction backward and forward.

Here is a taste of the audiobook. This introduction clearly describes the book's tone and purpose.

PHOTOGRAPHY: "Hanging Out In Burma: Laundry Lines and Democracy Hanging in the Balance" by Charlie Costello

This 2023 finely constructed and beautiful art book is a masterpiece of text and photography. The "Prelude" introduction describes the political pressures of the perilous time in Burma when Charlie Costello traveled there taking photographs highlighting the way of life of ordinary people at risk. He was told by an experienced traveler to that country to "never trust anyone."

A note: Burma is now known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. The military government changed the name from Burma to Myanmar in 1989. The United Nations and many countries use Myanmar, but the U.S. government still uses the name Burma.

I have limited access to his photographs to share, but I will say that no screen can do the colors of this book justice.

The book is available on Blurb as a hardcover, image-wrap version of the 10" x 8" landscape coffee table style book. It is also sold as a PDF download.

Costello is also well known as a "seed saver." You can find an article about this aspect of his work at Penobscot Bay Pilot "Charlie Costello, The Seed Saver and His Journey with Heirloom Tomatoes."

OPINION: The Shakespearean monologue delivered by Ian McKellen on the The Late Show with Stephen Colbert--a fantasy of empathy.

I wrote an essay about the Shakespeare monologue that Ian McKellen delivered on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. But who has time to read that?

OPINION SUMMARY:

• The monologue went viral not just for its artistry, but because it encouraged empathy towards marginalized groups. It asks the rioters to identity with the immigrants. This request for empathy for others feels right and natural for the majority of us because we are empathic people so the monologue feels good--as if it would work to quell the mob.
• Experience taught me that many people misunderstand psychological differences. It is hard for most people to understand that some others do not experience empathy in normal ways. These others either do not have empathy, fake it to gain advantage, or can turn it on and off. I call these special people "frozen" to avoid clinical labels.
• Wouldn't it be wonderful if parents and teachers made a point of teaching empathy from an early age and, more importantly, helping young people to identify false displays of empathy?
• Why? Because some of these "frozen" individuals are driven to place themselves in positions of authority as leaders which can be extremely harmful to the vulnerable and dangerous to all of us. Knowing the signs of a "frozen" person enables us to demand community safeguards and to protect ourselves from those who seek power without genuine empathy.

The above is a great short introduction. I would disregard the clinical labels.

But this one below is the best I have found. Again, the label is not important. When you can see past the label you realize the depth of the problem we are living in. This last one is an investment of your time, but worth it.

MUSIC: "Joy of Cooking" recorded live

Cafe music. Smooth, improvised, and fun.

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