Better Than Friday - 35 (Patreon)

Hello ya'll, back in quarantine from the (much unwanted but unfortunately necessary) cross-country trek part 2 of 2.

A review of Camus' The Plague is on its way...It's eerie how close the description of isolation mirrors what many of us are now experiencing. 

Take care and stay safe. 

1. Book in the pipeline - The Obscene Madame D 

I was recommended the work of the Brazilian author Hilda Hilst. 

She sounds like a compelling writer. 

The Obscene Madame D is the first work by acclaimed Brazilian author Hilda Hilst to be published in English. Radically irreverent and formally impious, this novel portrays an unyielding radical intelligence, a sixty-year-old woman who decides to live in the recess under the stairs. In her diminutive space, Madame D―for dereliction―relives the perplexity of her recently deceased lover who cannot comprehend her rejection of common sense, sex, and a simple life, in favor of metaphysical speculations that he supposes to be delusional and vain.

2. Same as it ever was.  

A good friend of mine sent me this. 

It helps.

3. The Virus On Our Minds by Aysha Taryam

A thought-provoking article about the virus in Gulf Today by Aysha Taryam, a friend and patron.

There is no doubt that the world after COVID-19 will never be the same, it has forced on us a form of survival of the fittest but in this case, it would be the fittest mind which is able to withstand this challenge. This traumatic episode in history is proving to be one twisted psychological experiment on a massive scale, a testing whose effects on the mind will be studied for years to come for we know that after trauma comes the post-traumatic episodes and the world needs to be ready to help those of us who will need to be mentally supported once the worst is behind us. 

4. The Origin's of Hell 

I was curious about the idea of hell and how that came to be. 

Now seems like the time to finally read the Bible. 

5. Bonnie and Clyde 

Terrific song by Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot that's been stuck in my head. 

Here's the music video. 

Mick Harvey from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds also did a pretty solid cover. 

One strange trip.