Loose Leaf Notes

1. I only have a window of opportunity when poetry breezes through. It’s like watching the clouds and seeing pictures in them, but if I look away for a minute, they’re changed or gone. I can recall what blew in but it’s never quite the same putting it in words, more like recreating first-hand information into second hand leftovers.

2. This weekend, I had an IPA beer called Cigar City Fancy Papers and a Raspberry Wheat called Purple Haze HERE.

3. He mostly paints rabbits, but sometimes he paints butterflies and birds. It was Valentine’s Day at the Taubman Museum of Art, and we were surprised and delighted by the Huntopia installations of Hunt Slonem, which spanned several rooms and were arranged as home décor. We were inspired by the large works of Blacksburg artist Ray Kass. All our selfies looked better with his art – More HERE.

4. I left my luggage in the village hangout / where I played pinball in the ‘60s / I left my sons’ baby clothes in a lock box / If I have to die I hope it’s by Cupid’s arrow / and that Mark Knopfler’s Golden Heart / is on the playlist – Read The Death Wish in its entirety HERE. 

5. I listen to Mark Knopfler’s music like I imagine others listen to classical music. Knopfler (originally of Dire Straits fame) is an accomplished composer of movie scores. His guitar solos are transcendent. His singing style, which has just the right amount of lilting Gaelic air to it, reaches down deep and takes me somewhere primal, and his rock has just the right amount of dancing jig in it. His early work as a journalist with a degree in English is reflected in his masterful songwriting and storytelling. And he has a huge body of work to explore.

6. While in Roanoke, we checked out the city’s new pinball museum. Too bad I couldn’t recognize any or remember the ones I played growing up.

7. If you think this sculpture on top of the Taubman Museum is weird (it shakes in the breeze and once had birdseed on it), check out THIS “Balcony Girl” from 2018.

8. There was even a King Kong sculpture on the balcony once (2012).

9. Underwater art museums. Look HERE!

10. I grew up with the word flipper and I don’t mean the dolphin.

11. We had a dog named Dobie Gillis. Only boomers will know that reference.

12. Toy box or hope chest?

13. One thing I can tell you is you got to be free – HERE.

____________Thirteen Thursday