An unknown country

Eskişehir, Türkiye 20 April 2024 “What sort of diary should I like mine to be? Something loose knot and yet not slovenly, so elastic that it will embrace anything, solemn, slight or beautiful that comes into my mind. I should like it to resemble some deep old desk or capacious hold-all, in which one flings… Continue reading An unknown country

Canada Slim and the Invention of the Clear Day

Landschlacht, Switzerland, Monday 6 July 2020 Let there be no doubt: My souvenir book loves Porto.   Above from the top left corner clockwise: Clérigos Church and Tower; Avenida dos Aliados; Casa da Música concert hall; Ribeira district; Avenida da Boavista business hub; Luiz I bridge and Porto from Vila Nova de Gaia   “The… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Invention of the Clear Day

Canada Slim and the Road to Utopia

Landschlacht, Switzerland, Tuesday 27 August 2019 Sometimes a place defines a person. Sometimes a person defines a place.     Take the eminent Canarian author Alberto Vásquez-Figueroa as an example of the first.     Alberto’s grandfather was an architect. Alberto’s father was born in Guadalajara while Alberto’s grandmother was there. Alberto’s mother, the daughter… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Road to Utopia

The Emperor’s New Culture

Fort Worth, Texas, 1989: We are driving at a furious pace on the interstate. Another argument ensues between ex-fiancee sculptress Susan and I over artistic responsibility. I express disgust that one painting, American Barnett Newman’s Voice of Fire, an abstract painting of three vertical stripes – the outer two blue, the inner one red –… Continue reading The Emperor’s New Culture