Commonplacing

Hello dear readers—sharing some links to articles and other ideas I recently loved—and always, poetry:

An essay on the work of Marx’ son-in-law, wrote an essay on the right to be lazy—and its increasing relevance to changing how and why work dominates our lives.

More women artists who were always—wait for it—ahead of their time. (sigh).

An essay on the gorgeous frozen cyanotypes of Meghan Riepenhoff, by the always great Rebecca Solnit. Very reminiscent of Anna Atkins’ beautiful botanical cyanotypes…

A site that lets you wander through the year in folklore.

I recently learned of the fabulous Welsh writer known as Cranogwen—a.k.a. Sarah Jane Rees (1839–1916)—who was a master mariner, which granted her the authority to command a ship anywhere in the world. She was also a poet, writer, orator, and activist, who ‘caused concern’ among men for speaking to sold-out, packed crowds. And her school/house for ‘Cranogwen’s Captains’ is for sale on the Welsh coast (if only my dreams of owning and managing a writer’s retreat in the UK could find an angel investor ;)….)

On finding a secret code tucked into a Victorian-era women’s dress, which is thought to note abbreviations for a weather report to be telegraphed.

Loved wandering through these historic photographs of Arctic Scandinavia.

And finally, a poem for the week—from the brief life of the poet Yu Xuanji, whose work I’m still reading with so much delight:

The Yinwu Pavilion
Blossoms of spring, the autumn moon—
you have to turn them into poems

the bright days, the clear nights—
you feel surrounded by floating gods

I rolled up the curtain idly
and never rolled it back

I moved my couch to face the mountains
and slept here from then on.

           —Yu Xuanji, trans. by David Young and Jiann I. Lin

A recent afternoon twilight visitor