CHRISTMAS EVE ~

Paul Desmond & Gerry Mulligan

twilight

THE KING ~

Elvis Presley

always sounds great when it comes on the radio

RUDOLPH! ~

morrisanimalfoundation.org

PLAY ON . . .

Eartha Kitt

photo: Gordon Parks (1952)

STILL PLAYING. . .

The Ronettes

holiday party

NOW PLAYING. . .

holiday party

CHRISTMAS TREE ~

Season's Greetings!

from Bob & Susan Arnold








photo © susan arnold

one of the rare small balsam trees found and hiked home from our woodlot ~
a place more willing of hemlock & white pine families
our thanks to the bird or animal who moved the seed thar

EARTH ~


Eric Gill

AKA Arthur Eric Rowton Gill

Born: 22-Feb-1882
Birthplace: Brighton, Sussex, England
Died: 17-Nov-1940
Location of death: Uxbridge, Middlesex, England
Cause of death: Complications of Surgery
Remains: Buried

Gender: Male
Religion: Roman Catholic
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Bisexual
Occupation: Typographer, Sculptor

Nationality: England
Executive summary: Typographer, Gill Sans

Military service: British Royal Air Force (1918)

Studied calligraphy with Edward Johnston, author of the font used on London Underground signage, upon which Gill's ubiquitous Gill Sans is based. Gill also authored the seriffed fonts Perpetua and Joanna.

Lived in a bohemian artists' community in Ditchling, Sussex, from 1907-24. Numbered among its residents was author G. K. Chesterton. Gill founded two other such communities in his lifetime.

The Fiona McCarthy biography of Gill alleges, based on study of his meticulous diary, that Gill committed incest with both of his sisters and two of his daughters; Gill also mentions tersely that he "continued experiment with dog after and discovered that a dog will join with a man."

Father: Arthur Tidman Gill (non-conformist minister)
Mother: Cicely Rose King Gill
Brother: Cecil Ernest Gaspar Gill (physician)
Brother: Kenneth Gill (d., plane crash)
Brother: Vernon Gill
Brother: Evan R. Gill
Brother: MacDonald Gill (cartographer)
Sister: Angela
Sister: Gladys
Sister: Enid Clay
Sister: Cicely (d. 18-Jan-1897)
Wife: Mary Gill (Ethel Hester Moore, b. 1878, m. 6-Aug-1904, d. 1961, 3 daughters)
Daughter: Betty (b. 1905)
Daughter: Petra (b. 1906)
Daughter: Joanna (b. 1910)
Son: Gordian Gill (adopted 1917)
Mistress: May Reeves

High School: Technical and Art School, Chichester, England
University: Calligraphy, Central School of Arts and Crafts, London, England (1902)

Fabian Society 1905
Royal Academy of Arts Associate (1937)
Royal Institute of British Architects Honorary Associate (1935)
Royal Society of British Sculptors Honorary Associate (1937)
Society of Wood-Engravers
Converted to Catholicism 22-Feb-1913
Nervous Breakdown 1930
Risk Factors: Smoking, Lung Cancer

Is the subject of books:
The Life of Eric Gill, 1966, BY: R. Speaight
Eric Gill, 1966, BY: R. Brewer
Eric Gill, The Man Who Loved Letters, 1973, BY: R. Brewer
The Letter Forms and Type Design of Eric Gill, 1976, BY: R. Harling
Eric Gill: A Lover's Quest for Art and God, 1989, BY: Fiona MacCarthy

Author of books:
Essay on Typography (1931, typography)
Autobiography (1940, memoirs)

PLUS!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/24/arts/design/printing-for-kingdom-empire-republic-review.html?hp




www.nndb.com
figure : eric gill
ny times

EARTH ~

I wish when I was born
my first word had been
"Quote"
so my last word could be
"Unquote".

~ Steven Wright

On a quiet street where old ghosts meet
I see her walking now ~

Raglan Road, Dublin

Pardon me for indulging and repeating a favorite song of a friend now gone a year ago today.

I played this song the other day over the phone for my 84 year old mother, born & raised from Belfast Ireland, now snug as a bug down there in Florida where she lives, and from faraway she said, "O this takes me back!"

It was a favorite song and poem of Janine's, as it speaks to loss & love all around.








ON RAGLAN ROAD

On Raglan Road of an Autumn day
I saw her first and knew,
That her dark hair would weave a snare
That I might someday rue.
I saw the danger and I passed
Along the enchanted way.
And I said,"Let grief be a fallen leaf
At the dawning of the day."

On Grafton Street in November, we
Tripped lightly along the ledge
Of a deep ravine where can be seen
The worth of passion play.
The Queen of Hearts still making tarts
And I not making hay;
Oh, I loved too much and by such and such
Is happiness thrown away.

I gave her gifts of the mind,
I gave her the secret signs,
That's known to the artists who have known
The true gods of sound and stone.
And her words and tint without stint
I gave her poems to say
With her own name there and her own dark hair
Like clouds over fields of May.

On a quiet street where old ghosts meet
I see her walking now,
And away from me so hurriedly
My reason must allow.
That I had loved, not as I should
A creature made of clay,
When the angel woos the clay, he'll lose
His wings at the dawn of day.

~

Patrick Kavanagh

First published in 1946 as Dark Haired Myriam Ran Away

Patrick Kavanagh

EARTH ~

Buffy Sainte-Marie

An amazing survivor of the 60s folk scene who never disappeared. Instead she changed up and stylized and unstylized and kept working. From the Newport Folk Festival in its folk heyday (when the old bluesmakers came to town), to performing regularly on Sesame Street. Whatever it takes. I watched almost every one of her classic Vanguard albums go stuffed deep and untouched in dollar bins from town to town; no matter, the songs are there. And I'm sharing a favorite one here. Beverly Sainte-Marie was born 70 years ago on the Piapot Cree Indian reserve of Saskatchewan. She can rule a stage with her voice, guitar and mouthbow.

respectallbeings.com

EARTH ~

Traffic jam in rusty nails

photo © bob arnold

EARTH ~

TALKING INTO THE EAR OF A DONKEY



I have been talking into the ear of a donkey.

I have so much to say! And the donkey can't wait

To feel my breath stirring the immense oats

Of his ears. "What has happened to the spring,"

I cry, "and our legs that were so joyful

In the bobblings of April?" "Oh, never mind

About all that," the donkey

Says, "Just take hold of my mane, so you

Can lift your lips closer to my hairy ears."



ROBERT BLY
from Talking into the Ear of a Donkey
(Norton 2011)

everyone wants his, her, its ears rubbed or whispered into ~ here's a photograph I took one spring in new mexico

photo © bob arnold

New!
from Longhouse
December 2011
&
Forthcoming 2012

Reader

******* The Longhouse "Special Special" is back for another Perfect-for-the-Holiday Purchase from now until the New Year's ~

Send $50 and we will send to you 8 publications
of our choosing from the Longhouse treasure chest...

One-of-a-kind
Booklets, cards, broadsides for framing, books !

And on top of that we'll pay for shipping, too!

International orders the only exception so please inquire our Bookshop.

With this, you can gift yourself, or better:
have the bundle shipped to someone else.

Just tell us where to send the gift and we will.

Don't even ask what publications will be sent, that's half the fun.
We're capable of fitting in some real surprises and sizes.

You may pay by credit card, personal check, money order,
or use the easy Paypal link below.

Got a great friend you want to make even greater —
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Mom, Dad, brother, sister, kids, neighbor : "hate poetry"
— try this gift on them.

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Many thanks for all your support this year

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~ NEW BOOKLETS AVAILABLE NOW ~

Ray Gonzalez ~ The Mud Angels, Mesilla, New Mexico

A chapbook depth new collection of poems by Ray Gonzalez, mapping deep into poetries and the southwest. Signed copy available upon request. Unsigned $8.95 + $2 s/h

Use Paypal? Purchase now for domestic orders —

____________________


Ken Letko ~ Forgotten Inventors

Good thought and play at work here in this clutch of new poems by Ken Letko. Signed copy available upon request. Unsigned $8.95 + $2 s/h

Use Paypal? Purchase now for domestic orders —

____________________

Joseph Massey ~ Another Rehearsal for Morning



The Block (Between Seasons)


No change beyond air
smelling faintly of old piss.
A neon liquor store sign
strains to break the overcast—
how November moves.
Stunted palm tree’s
stunted shadow sutures
curb to street, street to
curb—to lawn glazed
white with television. I
walk, watch day dissolve
as if on waking’s edge;
those impossible lines
consciousness repels.

Joe Massey's third booklet from Longhouse, and it's double the size! In lovely Himalayan wraps with band. Signed copy available upon request. Unsigned $10+ $2 s/h

Use Paypal? Purchase now for domestic orders —

____________________



Mark Terrill ~ Up All Night

Enough poems to fill a book! in this fold-out bus ticket. New from our American friend long living abroad in Europe. With one of Mark's drawings from his private notebook. A signed copy available upon request. Unsigned $8.95 + $2 s/h

Use Paypal? Purchase now for domestic orders —

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J. D. Whitney ~ Other Cousins

More poems of the Cousins! A fine companion piece with the earlier Longhouse booklet Cousins in colorful cardstock with wrap around band. Signed edition available upon request. Unsigned $8.95 + $2 s/h

Use Paypal? Purchase now for domestic orders —

____________________

Bob Arnold ~ Forever








IN GLADE


I cut the smaller

trees to make the

bigger trees bigger

yet and wait for the

sunshine to pay it

all a visit

20 new poems by Bob in this handmade pocket-size companion with Himalayan wraps. One of only 50. $20 + $2 s/h

Use Paypal? Purchase now for domestic orders —

____________________

~ Looking for MORE Longhouse publications? Please visit here : A Longhouse Catalog

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Forthcoming in 2012

Helen Nearing ~ Our Backwoods Neighbor — Jarvis Green





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"reader" photo © bob arnold
all other photographs courtesy of the authors