The Commonplace
Still a work in progress. Archive of 1274 posts migrated from tumblr
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Everybody fled / everybody flung away / arms and name.
Everybody fled / everybody flung away / arms and name....
All things become islands before my senses, which accept them as a matter of course: a murmur of sil
All things become islands before my senses, which accept them as a matter of course: a murmur of silence. All things in this darkness—I can know all of them, just as I know that blood flows in my vein...
To be alone, if she wants, / in the morning. To sit in a café. To not look for anyone.
To be alone, if she wants, / in the morning. To sit in a café. To not look for anyone....
It’s a pleasure to spend the morning sitting in the shade, / where the stink of oil’s cut with the s
It’s a pleasure to spend the morning sitting in the shade, / where the stink of oil’s cut with the smell of green, / of tobacco, of wine, and where work comes to them, / right to the door....
For most of the past decade, our Wagstaff family tradition has been to run a single, simple gift exc
For most of the past decade, our Wagstaff family tradition has been to run a single, simple gift exchange for Christmas. Instead of buying presents for anyone, we draw one family member’s name and the...
I forgive everyone and ask everyone’s forgiveness. OK? Don’t gossip too much.
I forgive everyone and ask everyone’s forgiveness. OK? Don’t gossip too much....
For the next several weeks, I’m going to be posting a new mixtape each week. Most of these were CD m
For the next several weeks, I’m going to be posting a new mixtape each week. Most of these were CD mixes that I made at some point in the past half dozen or so years. I don’t remember the occasion for...
David Foster Wallace’s subscription postcard to The Believer.
David Foster Wallace’s subscription postcard to _The Believer_. ...
Here’s a playlist of 100 songs I listened to and liked from the month of September. Some favorites f
Here’s a playlist of 100 songs I listened to and liked from the month of September. Some favorites from the month were Sarah Jaffe, The War on Drugs, Flume, Shad, Larry Gus’s Years Not Living, Eef Bar...
The Isley Brothers’ ‘It’s Your Thing" is the soundtrack to my afternoon. Couldn’t be funkier!
The Isley Brothers’ ‘It’s Your Thing" is the soundtrack to my afternoon. Couldn’t be funkier! ...
Five photos taken by Arthur Rothstein for the FSA-OWI in New York City during the mid-1930s.
Five photos taken by Arthur Rothstein for the FSA-OWI in New York City during the mid-1930s. ...
“Crowds around post office. Lower East Side, New York”, Dorothea Lange, June 1936.
“Crowds around post office. Lower East Side, New York”, Dorothea Lange, June 1936. ...
jellobiafrasays: up we go me & shortie (1942) this might be my favorite found photograph o
jellobiafrasays: _up we go me & shortie _(1942) this might be my favorite found photograph of all time ...
“Picket, Madison, Wisconsin” John Vachon, July 1941.
“Picket, Madison, Wisconsin” John Vachon, July 1941. ...
“Children playing in the gutter on 139th Street just east of St. Anne’s Avenue, Bronx, New York”, Ru
“Children playing in the gutter on 139th Street just east of St. Anne’s Avenue, Bronx, New York”, Russell Lee, November 1936 ...
“New York, New York”, Jack Allison, 1938
“New York, New York”, Jack Allison, 1938 ...
“New York, New York”, Jack Allison, 1938.
“New York, New York”, Jack Allison, 1938. ...
“New York, New York”, Jack Allison, 1938.
“New York, New York”, Jack Allison, 1938. ...
“Wife of pea farmer at vinery near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin”, Russell Lee, June 1937
“Wife of pea farmer at vinery near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin”, Russell Lee, June 1937 ...
“Men on Main Street, Watertown, Wisconsin.” Photographer: John Vachon. Part of the FSA-OWI collectio
“Men on Main Street, Watertown, Wisconsin.” Photographer: John Vachon. Part of the FSA-OWI collection and Yale University’s Photogrammar project. ...
Most mornings, Cedar and I like to kick out the jams and dance it up. With special thanks to Bev Bur
Most mornings, Cedar and I like to kick out the jams and dance it up. With special thanks to Bev Buretta, Nana C, Kevin Boettcher, Grandpa Bastian and others for sharing their suggestions, here are 50...
jellobiafrasays: FUN and PROFIT (1964)
jellobiafrasays: _FUN and PROFIT _(1964) ...
mailorderapocrypha: THE AMAZING CONE HAT (1984)
mailorderapocrypha: _THE AMAZING CONE HAT _(1984) ...
jellobiafrasays: how to know the immature insects (1949)
jellobiafrasays: _how to know the immature insects _(1949) ...
I’ll recommend the guava flavour condom. When I was growing up, we had a guava tree in our garden an
I’ll recommend the guava flavour condom. When I was growing up, we had a guava tree in our garden and that’s a flavour and aroma that’s very good for romancing....
Antifreeze Discharge Warning. Photo by Jennifer Bastian.
Antifreeze Discharge Warning. Photo by Jennifer Bastian. ...
Grandma’s shoes!!! Walker Evans, “Bud Fields and His Family, Hale County, Alabama”
Grandma’s shoes!!! Walker Evans, “Bud Fields and His Family, Hale County, Alabama” ...
Typography with anything to say therefore aspires to a kind of statuesque transparency. Its other tr
Typography with anything to say therefore aspires to a kind of statuesque transparency. Its other traditional goal is durability: not immunity to change, but a clear superiority to fashion. Typography...
Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form, and thus an independe
Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form, and thus an independent existence. Its heartwood is calligraphy – the dance, on a tiny stage, of the living, speaking han...
A true revelation, I am convinced, can only emerge from stubborn concentration on a single problem.
A true revelation, I am convinced, can only emerge from stubborn concentration on a single problem. I have nothing in common with experimentalists, adventurers, with those who travel in strange region...
Walker Evans, “Sunday Singing”
Walker Evans, “Sunday Singing” ...
Walker Evans, “The Church of the Nazarene. Tennessee”
Walker Evans, “The Church of the Nazarene. Tennessee” ...
Walker Evans, “Roadside stand near Birmingham, Alabama”
Walker Evans, “Roadside stand near Birmingham, Alabama” ...
Walker Evans, “Negro flood refugee in the Red Cross temporary infirmary of Forrest City, Arkansas”
Walker Evans, “Negro flood refugee in the Red Cross temporary infirmary of Forrest City, Arkansas” ...
Walker Evans, “Floyd Burroughs, sharecropper”
Walker Evans, “Floyd Burroughs, sharecropper” ...
Walker Evans, “Mississippi Butcher Sign”
Walker Evans, “Mississippi Butcher Sign” ...
Walker Evans, “Show Poster in an Alabama Town”
Walker Evans, “Show Poster in an Alabama Town” ...
Walker Evans, “Sidewalk Scene, Alabama”
Walker Evans, “Sidewalk Scene, Alabama” ...
So good! Hat tip to Spencer for sharing this with me. Vulfpeck ft. Antwaun Stanley, “1612"
So good! Hat tip to Spencer for sharing this with me. Vulfpeck ft. Antwaun Stanley, “1612" ...
This is the soundtrack to my afternoon at work today. Sarah Jaffe, “Clementine”
This is the soundtrack to my afternoon at work today. Sarah Jaffe, “Clementine” ...
Scotsman pictured at Peebles voting station just after casting his vote on the referendum on Scottis
Scotsman pictured at Peebles voting station just after casting his vote on the referendum on Scottish independence. Courtesy of the BBC. ...
Red Flannel Festival Cedar Rapids, Mich.Photographer: Walter Sanders
Red Flannel Festival Cedar Rapids, Mich.Photographer: Walter Sanders ...
Facebook novices
Facebook novices...
Some images that brought me joy in recent weeks.
Some images that brought me joy in recent weeks. ...
It’s like everything in football – and life. You need to look, you need to think, you need to move,
It’s like everything in football – and life. You need to look, you need to think, you need to move, you need to find space, you need to help others. It’s very simple in the end....
But oh alas, so long, so far, Our bodies why do we forbear? … We owe them thanks, because the
But oh alas, so long, so far, Our bodies why do we forbear? … We owe them thanks, because they thus Did us, to us, at first convey, Yielded their senses’ force to us, Nor are dross to us,...
During seven centuries a lot of subject matter of no great present interest has been stuffed into Ge
During seven centuries a lot of subject matter of no great present interest has been stuffed into German verse that is not very skilful. I can see no reason why a foreign writer should study it....
The sum of human wisdom is not contained in any one language, and no single language is CAPABLE of e
The sum of human wisdom is not contained in any one language, and no single language is CAPABLE of expressing all forms and degrees of human comprehension. … AT ABOUT THIS POINT the weak-hearte...
Amid all the innovations, one thing that hasn’t changed: the ball, still 2.8 ounces of steel a
Amid all the innovations, one thing that hasn’t changed: the ball, still 2.8 ounces of steel and 1 1/16 inches in diameter....
Lorine Niedecker talks to Cid Corman about writing more poetry. Recorded at Niedecker’s home in Nove
Lorine Niedecker talks to Cid Corman about writing more poetry. Recorded at Niedecker’s home in November 1970, less than two months before her death. ...
George Oppen UC San Diego holds the literary papers of George Oppen (1908-1984), objectivist poet an
George Oppen UC San Diego holds the literary papers of George Oppen (1908-1984), objectivist poet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1969. Most of the materials date from the period 1958-1...
Those shoes! Reznikoff was a inveterate walker of the city. Photograph of Charles Reznikoff taken by
Those shoes! Reznikoff was a inveterate walker of the city. Photograph of Charles Reznikoff taken by filmmaker Abraham Ravett in Reznikoff’s apartment in NYC, December 21, 1975. ...
Lorine Niedecker’s high school report card. I love that, apart from Physics, her worst grades were i
Lorine Niedecker’s high school report card. I love that, apart from Physics, her worst grades were in ‘Domestic Science.’ She’s the best. ...
Here are 80 songs that I listened to and liked in August 2014. Five plus hours of music. Very few ar
Here are 80 songs that I listened to and liked in August 2014. Five plus hours of music. Very few artists with more than one track on this list–more akin to the old school mix tapes I used to make. So...
Beautiful images. afootballreport: Ground From Above - Terrão de Cima by Renato Stockler “A ‘terrão
Beautiful images. afootballreport: _Ground From Above - Terrão de Cima by Renato Stockler_ _“A ‘terrão’ (earthen field) is an oasis in the urban landscape. The reddish tone of a soccer field turns in...
Moa and man. 1889.
Moa and man. 1889....
“Achomawi Matron,” Edward S. Curtis, Library of Congress Collection
“Achomawi Matron,” Edward S. Curtis, Library of Congress Collection ...
likeafieldmouse: PIcasso’s Self Portraits - Ordered chronologically from Self Portrait (1896)
likeafieldmouse: PIcasso’s Self Portraits - Ordered chronologically from _Self Portrait_ (1896) to _Self Portrait Facing Death_ (1972) ...
I became free,” she told me. “I met my brothers. My children go to school.” Mahmoud began crying, an
I became free,” she told me. “I met my brothers. My children go to school.” Mahmoud began crying, and tried to hide her face. “But since there is slavery in Mauritania I will always feel that I am not...
Liberal Education: At This College, Videogames Are a Varsity Sport
Liberal Education: At This College, Videogames Are a Varsity Sport...
The first match in Austria took place on November 15, 1894 between the Vienna Cricket Club and garde
The first match in Austria took place on November 15, 1894 between the Vienna Cricket Club and gardeners from Baron Rothschild’s estate, but local interest was so great that by 1911 the cricket ...
xmas gift ideas for Keef.txt (a document I found on my computer) baconwater bottlenon-perishable foo
xmas gift ideas for Keef.txt (a document I found on my computer) baconwater bottlenon-perishable foods [twinkies?/spam/MREs]chocolatechampagne OUTDOOR STORE:waterproof matchesshotgun shellsa used crow...
Wayne Rooney’s bad games are also gripping, in the same way watching an angry, dying walrus slowly c
Wayne Rooney’s bad games are also gripping, in the same way watching an angry, dying walrus slowly collapsing into the tundra can still be an interesting spectacle....
July was a fantastic month for me, musically, by which I mean that I listened to a lot of great musi
July was a fantastic month for me, musically, by which I mean that I listened to a lot of great music. Some favorites from the month included Son Lux, Bahamas (Feist’s guitarist), Actual Wolf, Alex Bl...
Bootsy Collins (w/ Al Sharpton), “JB He’s Still the Man”
Bootsy Collins (w/ Al Sharpton), “JB He’s Still the Man” ...
Give yourself three minutes to crank the volume up as loud as you can make it and enjoy this. Benjam
Give yourself three minutes to crank the volume up as loud as you can make it and enjoy this. Benjamin Booker, “Violent Shiver.” ...
Downtown Madison from Olin Park, Nick Wilkes
Downtown Madison from Olin Park, Nick Wilkes ...
Soundtrack to my work today. Loving it. BADBADNOTGOOD, “Can’t Leave the Night.”
Soundtrack to my work today. Loving it. BADBADNOTGOOD, “Can’t Leave the Night.” ...
jellobiafrasays: how chicks are born (1967)
jellobiafrasays: _how chicks are born _(1967) ...
mailorderapocrypha: the oahspe bible is a thousand times more able and available than the atom bomb
mailorderapocrypha: _the oahspe bible is a thousand times more able and available than the atom bomb _(1983) ...
jellobiafrasays: southwest #1, 2000-2002
jellobiafrasays: southwest #1, 2000-2002 ...
jellobiafrasays: things a boy can do with electricity (1938)
jellobiafrasays: _things a boy can do with electricity _(1938) ...
southeastern connecticut, 2014
southeastern connecticut, 2014...
Robert Montgomery
Robert Montgomery ...
Snorri Helgason, “I’m Gonna Put My Name On Your Door”
Snorri Helgason, “I’m Gonna Put My Name On Your Door” ...
Bahamas, “Lost in the Light”
Bahamas, “Lost in the Light” ...
In the last post, I looked at a few statistical measures to get at just how exceptional the 2014 San
In the last post, I looked at a few statistical measures to get at just how exceptional the 2014 San Antonio Spurs were in relation to previous NBA champions, particularly in regards to their approach...
NBA Champions & Scoring Data: Some Initial Impressions about the 2014 Spurs New blog post: “NBA Cham
NBA Champions & Scoring Data: Some Initial Impressions about the 2014 Spurs New blog post: “NBA Champions & Scoring Data: Some Initial Impressions about the 2014 Spurs”One of my personal/professional ...
We all agree there’s a biophysical limit about how much we can take out of the Earth. Our biggest pr
We all agree there’s a biophysical limit about how much we can take out of the Earth. Our biggest problem is getting people to understand there are limits....
Just about every morning, while mom pumps, makes breakfast, and goes jogging, Cedar and I use part o
Just about every morning, while mom pumps, makes breakfast, and goes jogging, Cedar and I use part of our time together to kick out the jams and have a proper dance party. Some stuff he loves, some st...
Alice Boman, Lead Me
Alice Boman, Lead Me...
humansofnewyork: “He wants to go home.”
humansofnewyork: “He wants to go home.” ...
mailorderapocrypha: IS EARTH CONTROLLED BY A HIDDEN RACE LIVING IN CAVERNS? (1983) idk, is it?
mailorderapocrypha: _IS EARTH CONTROLLED BY A HIDDEN RACE LIVING IN CAVERNS__? _(1983) idk, is it? Anyone have a Shavertron subscription? I’d sure like to know. ...
Actual Wolf, “The Lucky One”. ‘I am the lucky one, / you are the dream’. For Laurel and young Cedar
Actual Wolf, “The Lucky One”. ‘I am the lucky one, / you are the dream’. For Laurel and young Cedar Wolves! ...
The Forgotten Photos of Mothers
The Forgotten Photos of Mothers...
What's Little About Little Magazines? Part Two: To the Dictionary
What's Little About Little Magazines? Part Two: To the Dictionary...
Here are 50 songs that I listened to and liked in June 2014. Dug back into Aden (a fairly obscure ba
Here are 50 songs that I listened to and liked in June 2014. Dug back into Aden (a fairly obscure band I liked as a freshman in college, and hadn’t listened to in more than a decade!–fronted by Phil G...
Here’s a 6+ hour playlist of songs I listened to and liked in April and May of 2014. Was on paternit
Here’s a 6+ hour playlist of songs I listened to and liked in April and May of 2014. Was on paternity leave for a big chunk of this time, getting to know a new being, and away from new music on my com...
It’s a secret that after leaving the theater, I belched somewhat on a street at night, “Why can’t we
It’s a secret that after leaving the theater, I belched somewhat on a street at night, “Why can’t we live here? We are free and independent. We have the right to go anywhere. Try and do anything again...
Rodrigo Amarante!
Rodrigo Amarante! ...
Indeed, I doubt whether classical education ever has been or can be successfully carried on without
Indeed, I doubt whether classical education ever has been or can be successfully carried on without corporal punishment....
HONDA!!!
HONDA!!! ...
World Cup 2014: Italy – the secrets behind the players
World Cup 2014: Italy – the secrets behind the players...
The dudes abided. Milwaukee, May 2014.
The dudes abided. Milwaukee, May 2014. ...
Drop the beat! Clap! Clap!, “Tambacounda’s Black Magic”
Drop the beat! Clap! Clap!, “Tambacounda’s Black Magic” ...
Best Names at the 2014 World Cup Every 4 years, the world focuses its sporting attention on the Worl
Best Names at the 2014 World Cup Every 4 years, the world focuses its sporting attention on the World Cup, and every 4 years, I find a new favorite player. It’s often the little things, a rad haircut,...
The dude abided, even in HS.
The dude abided, even in HS. ...
Dianoia | · the cultural society ·
Dianoia | · the cultural society ·...
Carl Rakosi, Mary Oppen, Michael Heller (standing, L-R), George Oppen and Leah Rakosi embracing in t
Carl Rakosi, Mary Oppen, Michael Heller (standing, L-R), George Oppen and Leah Rakosi embracing in the orange seat. Photograph taken by Jane Heller in the Rakosi’s apartment c. 1979-1980 and shared by...
This statue was a charm and we removed the luck from the club and now we have to pay the price &hell
This statue was a charm and we removed the luck from the club and now we have to pay the price … When [Khan] asked me to move it I said: ‘You must be crazy.’ This is such a fantasti...