So, Electric January went out with a kind of fizzle, having been more or less a success from the 1st through the 20th.
I had not meant this blog to be political in any way, but I realized, as January bled into February, that I hadn’t posted anything on the blog since Inauguration Day and that I hadn’t really intended to. I was, as millions were, waiting and watching in anticipation of the return (minor though it may be, it is a start, a step in the right direction, away from the autocrat) of democratic thought and leadership. And as Electric January was my project, designed to get me through those first 20 days of January, I count it a success!
Not many people follow this blog, but I am not out for gathering many followers. I blog for my own interest and to record some of the pursuits and discoveries I’ve made over the years (or months or days). I would love for this to be a more academic thing, or even a more consistent thing, but it is what it is and I’m simply pleased it exists at all.
The weekend is upon us. For several months, before I began my new degree in earnest, I had no concept of weekends, much like the darling of Downton, the Dowager Countess Violet Grantham. I would wake up on a Thursday and assess the Nothing I had to do and it would rather depress me.
There is an entire Backstory to how my weekends reappeared, and it is an interesting tale, even for the uninitiated, but it will be penned at a later date.
Media: Prayer (by monk and video)
Location/Length: BBC/only a few minutes (valuable minutes)
How I found it/Reason for Sharing: Certain prayers are often on my radar. This one, being presented by a soft-spoken Father Giles, a Benedictine monk, puts my heart right every time I watch it.
This is undeniably a LONG read, but once you start in, it may happen that you will love that it is long, because it means the beautiful, soft, humorous voice of the author will be in your mind and your thoughts for that much longer.
Media: Article
Location/Length: A lovely journal called ‘The Point’/About 15 pages
How I found it & Reason for Sharing: This is one of those articles I filed away in my ‘Good Stuff/To Read Later’ folder and recently pulled out for an examination. I filed it, I am certain, when I was doing a course on Drama and Audience for my MA in English. The course asked us to look at various interpretations and stagings of Shakespeare, from Classical Elizabethan to Leo DiCaprio to…Ninagawa.
I share this because it’s a piece that really surprised me for its sleekness, honesty, and elegance. I know very little about Japan, even less about Japanese theatre, but the author of this piece introduces us by leading us by the hand through the classroom and the streets of Tokyo to her experience. It is lovely, but mysteriously so.
What I love: There are lines that connect this article to Helena Bonham-Carter. Those lines are obvious to those who wish to find them.
Location/length: The Cornell University digital library/PJ Mode collection.
How I found it & Reason for Sharing: I’ve been looking at a variety of Spiritual Journeys for my PhD and one of the representations of such a journey is a visual ‘map’ or ‘landscape’ of the mind/soul. I’ve been reading John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress as a companion text to the one I am studying, CS Lewis’ The Pilgrim’s Regress and I’ve found there are a lot of really interesting visuals to accompany this 17th century work.
The video lecture, posted below, outlines the thrill we all feel when we ‘decode’ something, like we’re ‘in’ and able to read a secret language. These maps are like that.
What I love: I’ve wasted the entire afternoon on this pseudo-academic bunny trail so if I post this, I can feel like at least 78% of that time was well spent.
Dives and Lazarus: This post is a love letter from me to Ralph Vaughan Williams, the early-20th Century English composer.
Media: Song. “Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus”
Location/Length: This 11-minute version of Dives and Lazarus is found on YouTube. I chose this version because the vlogger knows his stuff and I appreciate that. The comments are worth reading as well. Intelligent, thoughtful viewers/commenters. Rare, and to be appreciated.
Found/Share: If I told you the entire history of my obsession with Ralph Vaughan Williams (pronounced ‘Rafe’, the upper-class English way) we would be here until long after lockdown #3 ended. So I will just say: I was 19 when I first heard “Lark Ascending” and that was 27 years ago. Once you hear “Dives and Lazarus” you will not soon forget it.
‘Dives and Lazarus’ is an English folk song based on the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man in Luke 16:20. The pathos and glory of the Lord’s beauty are caught up in this melody and, even without the lyrics, you know there is something aching and sublime taking place in the heart and mind of the composer. I’ve linked a few websites below with lyrics and history.
Let’s just take a minute to look at Schott’s Miscellany, shall we?
Media: Book? Website? Personality?
Length/Location: A Miscellany; Ben Schott himself; the Mind
How I found it & Reason for Sharing: I’ve been into stuff like this my entire life. In fact, my life IS Schott’s Miscellany, only with a different surname. ‘Baalke’s* Miscellany’ sounds pretty good.
*Fun fact: In England our last name is pronounced ‘Balk’ and in America it is pronounced ‘Ball-key’. If we were to name a miscellany after ourselves we would use the British pronunciation.
I’m sharing because I like how well-adapted to the Interwebs this guy is, despite the fact he is a rather traditional sort of bloke. He’s interested in the anti-technological aspect of intellectual life, but seems quite at home in places like Blogs and Online Interviews.
What I love: This is what I imagine the English Eccentric to look and be like. England is known for its eccentrics and eccentricities–Oscar Wilde, Beau Brummel, Queen Elizabeth II, Bowie, the list goes on–and one only has to live here a few months to understand how deeply rooted in tradition are England’s eccentrics.
Here’s the Original Miscellany.
Below are some Supplementary Misc’s. (Click photos for links.)
I have an odd sort of interest/fascination with the Periodic Table of the Elements. It’s tidy. Organized into brilliant little squares, each square a form of containment within the larger Table of containment, each element equipped with its name, abbreviation, atomic number, atomic weight, and coloured for distinction.
This Elemental Table is somewhat different, though equally awesome. This table, in fact, speaks to those of us who struggle a bit (or a lot) with molarity, maths, and writing up Lab Reports. This is a Periodic Table of Haiku. Click the element and, like the chemical magic the internet is, a 3-line poem will magically appear, telling you all you need to know (at least for now) about the element of your choice. Feel like composing some Elemental Verse yourself? Excellent! There’s room on the Table for everyone.
Media: Hot-linked Periodic Table of short poems.
Length/Location: Not really applicable. Online.
How I found it & Reason for Sharing: Clearly this is something one finds only when one is supposed to be Doing Something Else. The real question here is: What didn’t I get done while I learned about Boron and Neon in 17 syllables?
What I love: Tell me why I shouldn’t love this and I will haiku you a response.
Today’s post for Electric January is the Instagram account of a lovely, lovely young woman I ‘met’ via The Chateau Diaries at Chateau de Lalande. Marie is a florist from Norway who lives at Lalande: she is one of the ‘Lalanders’, as they are affectionately known by their following. Marie’s story is less sparkle and more glow; she has a kindly way with art and image and I value her work very highly. The consummate florist, the sly humourist, the bold and beautiful presenter of bold and beautiful online content.
Media: Marie Wiik on Instagram
Location/Length: @MarieWiik1 Although it is Instagram, you do not need an account to view Marie’s bio and posts.
How I found it and Reason for Sharing: Like most lovely things, this one more or less found me, or tumbled into my screen life (we all have that life these days, don’t we? It’s inescapable in the Age of Covid). I joined Instagram in early 2020 so that I could follow Isabella Rossellini (she’s amazing, don’t judge) and since then I’ve found a sort of Brilliant Community within the frames of the photo-based platform.
I share because I simply adore Marie. Her training is floristry, but her vocation, I believe, is Making Life Beautiful. She has an honest and open spirit, and really reminds me of something out of medieval life–in a very positive way.
What I love: I do have many creative talents, but floristry and flower arrangement is not one of them! That is why I am in love with this: I recognize her talents and skills and wish to honor them.
Here is a link to her Instagram–I’ve included the link below, too.
Today’s Electric January Post is an homage to one of the BEST things to come out of Year of Our Lord 2020 (also known as The Year of Covid-19): The Chateau Diaries.
Media: YouTube channel
Location/Length: The Chateau Diaries Channel; since 2019.
How I found it and Reason for Sharing: There is a lovely write-up by CNN, which I will link at the bottom of this post, covering Stephanie’s story in much more depth than I can or should here. However, the succinct version is that Stephanie is co-owner of a stunning 16th-century chateau in rural central France and she has begun to document her life there in video-blogs, or vlogs. These vlogs are charming, to say the very least, and they highlight the best of what humanity can offer, as well as much of its beauty.
Now, Stephanie Jarvis and the Chateau Diaries have been around on TV and YouTube for a while now, since before March 2020, but her style and spirit have taken on a new role in my life, one which would not have been noticed without Covid. “Rose from the Thorns”, so to speak.
We have been watching this YouTube channel since the early days of the First Lockdown, March 2020. The channel began airing several months before then, and Stephanie and her Chateau appeared in the English TV programme ‘Escape to the Chateau: DIY.’ But, becaue of Covid restrictions preventing us from getting out and doing what we normally would, many people world-wide wished for and turned to something to take their minds off of the pandemic and the confusion and/or sadness that frequently ensued. Many people recognized the need to supplement their lockdown lives with something altogether different and altogether uplifting or encouraging. Enter Stephanie Jarvis!
The timing of this post is rather ideal, as Stephanie is taking some time off from vlogging to rest up after an incredibly busy holiday season. She and the ‘Lalanders’ produced 24 videos in 24 days–for Advent. In celebration of this dedication I am sharing the vlog she did about ‘the story so far’, so that, if you wish, you can spend the next few weeks ‘catching up!’
What I love: Like yesterday, though I am spotlighting a single video, I want to raise awareness of the channel, presesnt the entire ouvre, so to speak, for it is lovely and an excellent way of looking at the world as a global community, for that is what Stephanie has done at Chateau de Lalande. There are, at any given time, volunteers and guests from all over the globe, and English is second-language to many who appear in the Vlog. This alone is reason to celebrate it.
Nigel Valentine 