Online Time

Having to Google whilst reading Dos Passos Rosinante to the Road Again

Translation (on Wikipedia) of stanzas of a poem by Jorge Manrique quoted in Spanish by Dos Passos

I

Recuerde el alma dormida              O let the soul her slumbers break, 
avive el seso e despierte             Let thought be quickened, and awake;
contemplando                          Awake to see
cómo se pasa la vida,                 How soon this life is past and gone,
cómo se viene la muerte               And death comes softly stealing on,
tan callando;                         How silently!
cuán presto se va el placer,          Swiftly our pleasures glide away,
cómo, después de acordado,            Our hearts recall the distant day
da dolor;                             the pain
cómo, a nuestro parecer,              The moments that are speeding fast
cualquiera tiempo pasado              We heed not, but the past,—the past,
fue mejor.                            More highly prize.

...
III

Nuestras vidas son los ríos           Our lives are rivers, gliding free
que van a dar en la mar,              To that unfathomed, boundless sea,
que es el morir.                      The silent grave!
Allí van los señoríos                 Thither all earthly pomp and boast
derechos a se acabar                  Roll, to be swallowed up and lost
e consumir.                           In one dark wave. 
allí los ríos caudales,               Thither the mighty torrents stray,
allí los otros medianos               Thither the brook pursues its way,
e más chicos,                         And tinkling rill,
allegados, son iguales                There all are equal; side by side
los que viven por sus manos           The poor man and the son of pride
e los ricos.                          Lie calm and still.

...

ajo blanco (ajoblanco): "... popular Spanish cold soup typical from Granada and Málaga. It is also a common dish in Extremadura. This dish is made of bread, crushed almonds, garlic, water, olive oil, salt and sometimes vinegar. It is usually served with grapes or slices of melon." Wikipedia

More googling... 
This whilst reading The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane. Its set in Australia...

casuarina: "...a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, and islands of the western Pacific Ocean.Wikipedia


Elsewhere Online...

a place I would love to visit..  La Piscine Museum  Official site - in French

Here's an overview in English La Piscine Museum Roubaix | An art deco wonder in the north of France by Janine Marsh

February (third week) 2018 Reads

This week the "Deal Me In" card is the Queen of Spades and the story is G-text by Răzvan; translated from the Romanian by Alistair Ian Blythe. (in Best European fiction 2015). Growing up in Ceausescu 's Romania. There is some word play with the letter G--mostly with proper names.

some online things...

This Medieval Walled Town with a Storied History Shows How Traditional Urbanism Can Support High Density by Kaley Overstreet at Arch Daily
Saint-Malo--one of my favorite places.

Plagiarism software pins down new source for Shakespeare's plays
by Alison Flood at The Guardian

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens 
A poem on The Art Divas, the blog of author Rabih Alameddine
(no longer available)

The Other Middle East
Franck Salameh, Associate professor of Near Eastern Studies at Boston College, discusses Arab language based identity on the Yale University Press blog, Yale Books Unbound.

from the library...

Enchantress of Numbers by Jennifer Chiaverini
Bio-fic of Ada Lovelace told in the first person. Interesting but a bit slow moving at times. I think I'd rather read a biography.

The House at the Edge of Night (Kindle Edition) by Catherine Banner
Family saga set on an island off the coast of Sicily. Covers three generations beginning a few years before World War1 and ending around 2008. Very good read.

from my shelves... 

The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela; translated from the Spanish by Enrique Munguía; Introduction by Ana Castillo
A novel of the Mexican Revolution.

February (first week) 2018 Reads

I seemed to favor non-fiction this week.

The "Deal Me In" card this week is the Ace of Hearts and the story is  Drone  by Miles Klee (in Watchlist : 32 stories by persons of interest).
Not particularly good. It may be intended as a drug induced hallucination. Whatever.


from the library...

Miss Grief and Other Stories by Constance Fenimore Woolson
I really liked these stories. Will read more by her on Gutenberg

After the Fire by Henning Mankell;  translated from the Swedish by Laurie Thompson
There is some mystery in this novel (who set the fire) but it's more about coming to terms with aging.

Istanbul: a Tale of Three Cities by Bettany Hughes
A comprehensive history of the city and its place in world history.

The Bettencourt Affair: The World's Richest Woman and the Scandal That Rocked Paris by Tom Sancton
The author says this isn't going to be gossipy--but how can it not be? A good read.

The Secret Life of the American Musical: How Broadway Shows Are Built by Jack Viertel
Another good read.