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- “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” — Willie Nelson
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- “Sometimes I think no matter how one is born, no matter how one acts, there is something out of gear with one somewhere, and that must be changed. Life at its best is a grand corrective.” –Jessie Redmon Fauset
- “I’ve had my best times trailing a Mainbocher evening gown across a sawdust floor. I’ve always loved high style in low company.” — Anita Loos
- “I only began to sing because I couldn’t get a job as an actress.” — Barbra Streisand
- “I would rather take a photograph than be one.” — Lee Miller
- When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim, / Hath put a spirit of youth in everything …
- “We look at the world once, in childhood. The rest is memory.” — Louise Glück
- “True success is figuring out your life and career so you never have to be around jerks.” — John Waters
- “After all, when God created Adam and Eve, they were stark naked. And in the Garden of Eden, God was probably naked as a jaybird too!” — Bettie Page
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- Israel Rivera on The Books: “Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah” (Richard Bach)
- Bill Wolfe on “The reminder that there are people who have worse troubles than you is not an effective pain-killer.” — Mary Astor
- sheila on When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim, / Hath put a spirit of youth in everything …
- sheila on “I don’t cook and I don’t care.” — Ann-Margret
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- sheila on “I only began to sing because I couldn’t get a job as an actress.” — Barbra Streisand
- Kristen Westergaard on “I only began to sing because I couldn’t get a job as an actress.” — Barbra Streisand
- sheila on “I only began to sing because I couldn’t get a job as an actress.” — Barbra Streisand
- Kristen on “I only began to sing because I couldn’t get a job as an actress.” — Barbra Streisand
- sheila on “I only began to sing because I couldn’t get a job as an actress.” — Barbra Streisand
- sheila on “I only began to sing because I couldn’t get a job as an actress.” — Barbra Streisand
- Stevie on “I only began to sing because I couldn’t get a job as an actress.” — Barbra Streisand
- sheila on 2024 Books Read
- Thomas Murphy on When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim, / Hath put a spirit of youth in everything …
- Larry Aydlette on 2024 Books Read
- Lyrie on March 2025 Supernatural Viewing Diary Season 15-12, working backwards
- Lyrie on March 2025 Supernatural Viewing Diary Season 15-12, working backwards
- sheila on March 2025 Supernatural Viewing Diary Season 15-12, working backwards
- sheila on March 2025 Supernatural Viewing Diary Season 15-12, working backwards
- Lyrie on March 2025 Supernatural Viewing Diary Season 15-12, working backwards
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Tag Archives: David McCullough
R.I.P. David McCullough
“And so many of the blessings and advantages we have, so many of the reasons why our civilization, our culture, has flourished aren’t understood; they’re not appreciated. And if you don’t have any appreciation of what people went through to … Continue reading
2021 Books Read
I lived at three addresses this year. I moved twice. In the middle of a pandemic. It’s been a year of upheaval, transition, as well as endurance. For most of this year, the majority of my stuff was in storage. … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Austria, Balkans, Billy Wilder, Biography, books read, Cary Grant, Croatia, Czeslaw Milosz, David McCullough, Dubravka Ugrešić, Edvard Radzinsky, Elinor Lipman, England, essays, Eve Babitz, Evelyn Waugh, fiction, Germany, Hitler, Howard Hawks, Ireland, Italy, Liz Phair, Memoirs, Nancy Lemann, Nick Tosches, nonfiction, Olivia Laing, Poland, politics, Robert Conquest, Robert Kaplan, Russia, Sergei Kirov, Stalin, Sweden, Thomas Mann, Tom Wolfe, Vladimir Nabokov, war, WWII, Yugoslavia
1 Comment
Recommended: Biographies
For starters: My recommended Fiction books My recommended Non-Fiction books BIOGRAPHIES: American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, by Joseph Ellis I’ve written a lot about Joseph Ellis’ work here. While I love David McCullough’s work so much, Ellis is … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books, Directors, Founding Fathers, James Joyce, Theatre, writers
Tagged A. Scott Berg, Abigail Adams, Alexander Hamilton, American Sphinx, Benjamin Franklin, Biography, Bruce Springsteen, Charles Lindbergh, Charlotte Bronte, David McCullough, Dean Martin, Edie Sedgwick, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Ellen Terry, Elvis Presley, Emily Bronte, George Washington, Henry Irving, His Excellency, Howard Hawks, Howard Hughes, James Dean, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Adams, John Wayne, Joseph Cornell, Joseph Ellis, Marlon Brando, Mitford sisters, Montgomery Clift, Nick Tosches, Nureyev, Orson Welles, Oscar Wilde, Patricia Bosworth, Patricia Highsmith, Richard Ellmann, Ron Chernow, Sam Cooke, Simon Callow, Tennessee Williams, Thomas Jefferson, Truman Capote, W.B. Yeats, Zelda Fitzgerald
9 Comments
Recommended Books: Non-Fiction
I have been meaning to do a Part 2 to my Recommended Books: Fiction list – put together years ago. I wanted to recommend non-fiction, from history books to biographies to essays to whatever. Here is the Non-Fiction list. I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Founding Fathers, Theatre
Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Afghanistan, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Alexander Hamilton, Austria, Balkan Ghosts, Balkans, baseball, Belfast, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Catherine Drinker-Bowen, Central Asia, China, Crowds and Power, Dava Sobel, David McCullough, Edmund Burke, Edvard Radzinsky, Elias Canetti, Elvis Presley, England, Federalist Papers, Founding Brothers, France, Germany, Group Theatre, Gulag Archipelago, Hitler, Hunter S. Thompson, Imperium, Ireland, Iris Chang, Isaac Newton, James Madison, Janet Malcolm, Japan, Joseph Ellis, Michael Schmidt, Miracle at Philadelphia, nonfiction, Olivia Laing, Philip Gourevitch, poetry, Primo Levi, Rasputin, Rebecca West, Red Sox, Robert Conquest, Robert Kaplan, Roman empire, Russia, Rwanda, Ryszard Kapuściński, science, Serbia, Shakespeare, Stalin, The Great Terror, The Soccer War, Tom Wolfe, true crime, Ukraine, Vincent Bugliosi, WWI, WWII, Yugoslavia
19 Comments
Today in history: April 13, 1743
Thomas Jefferson was born. James Parton: A gentleman of 32 who could calculate an eclipse, survey an estate, tie an artery, plan an edifice, try a cause, break a horse, dance a minuet, and play the violin. From David McCullough’s … Continue reading
2007 Books Read
(in the order in which I finished them, understanding that very often I read many books at the same time). I count re-read books, by the way. I’ll include links to any posts or book excerpts I might have done … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged A Tale of Two Cities, A.S. Byatt, Anne Fadiman, Billy Budd, Bleak House, Bob Balaban, books read, Born Standing Up, By the Lake, David McCullough, Dean Stockwell, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Dubliners, Elinor Lipman, George Washington, Graham Greene, Gulliver's Travels, Harry Potter, John Adams, John McGahern, Mary Gaitskill, Master & Commander, Michael Chabon, Never Let Me Go, Orson Welles, Philip K. Dick, Robert Kaplan, Scoop, Self-Help, Veronica
15 Comments
Dear Staring Lady on the Bus:
Got a couple questions. I’m not mad that you were staring. I just have some questions. I cannot figure out why you were staring at me the entire ride. And so I began to obsess about possible boogers, bird shit … Continue reading
The Books: “John Adams” (David McCullough)
Next Daily Excerpt: Next book in my American history section is John Adams by David McCullough You know, I read a lot of biographies and most of them are kinda crappy. I read them for the TOPIC mainly. I have … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Founding Fathers
Tagged Benjamin Franklin, David McCullough, John Adams, politics, US history, war
10 Comments
Today In History: April 30, 1789
On April 30, 1789, George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States. George Washington wrote the following on the eve of his inauguration: It is said that every man has his portion of ambition. I … Continue reading
Posted in Founding Fathers, On This Day
Tagged David McCullough, George Washington, New York, politics
1 Comment
Adams and Jefferson on “mankind”
From David McCullough’s John Adams [Thomas] Jefferson was devoted to the ideal of improving mankind but had comparatively little interest in people in particular. [John] Adams was not inclined to believe mankind improvable, but was certain it was important that … Continue reading
Posted in Founding Fathers
Tagged David McCullough, John Adams, politics, Thomas Jefferson
Comments Off on Adams and Jefferson on “mankind”