Tragedy and Christianity are incommensurable,
he declared, which we’d have chalked to bluster
had he not, within the month, held a son
hot from the womb but cold to his kiss,
and over a coffin compact as a toolbox wept
in the wrecked unreachable way that most resist,
and that all of us, where we are most ourselves,
turn away from.
                              Bonded and islanded 
by the silence, we waited there,
desperate, with our own pains, to believe,
desperate, with our own pains, not to.

Started tomato plants by seed today in the garage. Will use grow lights when (if) they sprout, then repot, then into the ground come Spring. Never tried doing it this way before. Fingers crossed.

📷

... the third place tavern combines drinking with conversation such that each improves the other. The talking/drinking synergism is basic to the pub, tavern, taverna, bistro, saloon, estaminet, osteria -- whatever it is called and wherever it is found... [J]ust as conversation is enhanced by the temperate use of alcohol, the artful and witty game of conversation moderates consumption of liquor. As Tibor Scitovsky remarked with respect to those who know how to use a public drinking facility, "a half-pint of beer is to talk as bed is to making love -- one can do without, but does better with.”

• .75 oz Old Tom Gin
• .75 oz London Dry Gin (Tanq or Beefeater)
• 1.5 oz dry vermouth (I prefer Dolin)
• .25 oz Luxardo liqueur (worth having around for other classic cocktails, such as the Aviation)
• 2 dashes anise liqueur (absininthe, pernod, etc.)
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• lemon twist garnish (important!)

So beautifully balanced. [chef's kiss emoji goes here.]

“We aim to humanize those who have been objectified.”
   – Jessie Kornberg, Director, Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles

From the wonderful Spitalfields Life: "In the seventies, while living in Mile End Place ... photographer Philip Cunningham took these tender portraits of his friends and colleagues."


📷

📷

Sparrows were feeding in a freezing drizzle
That while you watched turned to pieces of snow
Riding a gradient invisible
From silver aslant to random, white, and slow.

There came a moment that you couldn’t tell.
And then they clearly flew instead of fell.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.
In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.