Blog No. 223: 42: T.S. Eliot The Hollow Men, Animal Communicator Laïla Del Monte, Kakatsitsi Drummers

March 29, 2025

The powers that be say we have about two months to turn this thing around and it all depends on us showing up in the street en masse…Wherever you go (there will be protests across the country) , please go! So important to show numbers…
And in the words of Robert Hubbell, “If you are feeling anxious and helpless, the single most important thing you can do is to exercise the First Amendment right of every American to “*assemble peaceably and to petition their government.*” The time is now!

T.S. Eliot,
The Hollow Men

THE HOLLOW MEN by T.S. Eliot 



I was introduced to this poem fifty years ago by my first boyfriend, who is the one who turned me onto poetry in the first place.  This poem stuck with me and I came across it recently and thought it particularly apt today...


Here goes...


The Hollow Men


T. S. Eliot (1888 –1965)

I

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men 
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when 
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass 
Or rats’ feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour. 
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death’s other Kingdom
Remember us—if at all—not as lost 
Violent souls, but only 
As the hollow men

 
                              II

Eyes I dare not meet in dreams 
In death’s dream kingdom 
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are 
Sunlight on a broken column 
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind’s singing
More distant and more solemn 
Than a fading star.

Let me be no nearer 
In death’s dream kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat’s coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves 
No nearer—

Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom


                              III

This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man’s hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.

Is it like this
In death’s other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are 
Trembling with tenderness 
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.


                              IV

The eyes are not here 
There are no eyes here 
In this valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms

In this last of meeting places 
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river

Sightless, unless 
The eyes reappear 
As the perpetual star
Multifoliate rose 
Of death’s twilight kingdom 
The hope only
Of empty men.


                              V

Here we go round the prickly pear 
Prickly pear prickly pear 
Here we go round the prickly pear 
At five o’clock in the morning.

Between the idea 
And the reality 
Between the motion 
And the act 
Falls the Shadow

     For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception 
And the creation
Between the emotion 
And the response 
Falls the Shadow

     Life is very long

Between the desire 
And the spasm 
Between the potency 
And the existence 
Between the essence
And the descent 
Falls the Shadow

     For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is 
Life is
For Thine is the

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends 
This is the way the world ends 
Not with a bang but a whimper.


This poem is in the public domain.

Animal Communicator
Laïla Del Monte

Meet Laila Del Monte, animal communicator, better known in France and Spain for her ability to communicate with animals as well as to heal them. She has worked with birds cats, dogs, ferrets, goats, hamsters, horses, parrots, rabbits, rats, and turtles. Although she recognizes that she has a gift, she also believes that everyone is capable of what she does. For that reason, in addition to being the author of six books, she also teaches. To see a full 50 minute documentary about this fascinating woman and the work she does, click here.

Kakatsitsi Drummers

There are certain sounds that I find soothing and energizing at the same time--the beat of these African drums does just that for me. As a little interlude and respite from all the turmoil of our day, listen to the power of this group of traditional drummers, dancers and singers called Kakatsitsi, from the Ga tribe of Southern Ghana. They have their roots in the fishing community of Jamestown, Ghana and combine traditional rhythms and chants from their own Ga tradition while also mixing in a variety of other Western African cultural traditions.

Bulletin Board: You are Invited

A friend of mine, Pessi Margulies, is hosting an initial free zoom session on Tuesday, April 1st at 7:30pm. Entitled PRACTICAL MINDFULNESS WRITING, It promises to be a transformative, simple and yet powerful method that can bring clarity and peace to one's life. To learn more about it, click here to sign up with your email and a link will be sent to you on the day of.
You're Invited! ✨ Come curious, leave inspired!

Painting of the Week

Gert Mathiesen’s self portrait—it would have been his 73rd birthday this week!

Charity of the Week: American Civil Liberties Union

About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow, began writing the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.

Source: T-s-eliot-the-hollow-men-kakatsitsi-drumme...

Blog No. 222: 42: Jackie Robinson, Guts, Update on Spirit, the Black Leopard

March 26, 2025

42: Jackie Robinson

So many times I find myself on a plane with good intentions of getting a lot done: cleaning out old emails, getting rid of duplicate photos, writing this blog... but most of the time I find myself doing absolutely nothing but sitting there as if I am in a trance. This last trip, I decided instead of just sitting there, to investigate the movies--something I rarely do. And I came across this film, 42, about Jackie Robinson, which I had heard of, but somehow missed in 2013 when it came out in the theatres. My dad was a big Brooklyn Dodger fan so the story interested me by osmosis.

Of course I had heard of Jackie Robinson and how he broke the color bar in baseball in the 1940s, but I didn't know any of the details. This film fills it all in. Chadwick Boseman (1976-2020) did a brilliant job of portraying Jackie Robinson, as did Harrison Ford as the courageous Branch Rickey, president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who dared to sign the first Afro-American player into major league baseball.

When asked by Robinson why he did decided to go out on a limb to integrate baseball, Rickey explained that he loved the sport but was haunted by something he did many years previous, as a college player at Ohio Wesleyan. He felt he didn't do his part and stand up enough for a black teammate, Charlie Thomas, who was attacked for the color of his skin. From that day on, his love of baseball was tainted by that feeling of shame that he didn't do enough. Fighting for Jackie Robinson and breaking the color barrier allowed him to love baseball again, untainted. I found these letters between Rickey and Robinson that touched my heart, showing the depth of their love and respect for each other.

Can you believe we are really here again? Jackie Robinson’s Army career was just wiped from a military website this week in another of the DEI purges. It has since been reinstated in at least one website, but this attempt at rewriting history will hopefully not work in the end...Each one of us, like Branch Rickey, has a role to play...

Guts

Representatives Keith Self and Sarah McBride

Once and a while I am going to feature someone that stands out like a beacon of light during these incredibly troubled times--someone who has the guts to stand up and fight for human decency, respect and kindness.

In this case, it is a small act but in light of what is going on in congress, it stands out. I am celebrating Congressman Bill Keating of Massachusetts, who had the courage to stand up to Texas representative Keith Self, punk that he is, who refused to recognize his fellow congressperson, the first transgender member of the house of representatives, Sarah McBride, by the correct gender title. Watch here to see how acts of resistance, no matter how small, can make a difference, serving as an example for us all...

Update on Spirit, the Black Leopard

Photo courtesy of Larry Linton and Happy Tails Magazine

I often wondered what became of Spirit, the black leopard Anna Breytenbach made famous many years ago when she connected with him at the Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. Jukani is a rare animal park that is truly ethical, providing lifetime care for animals on their own terms. This is where Spirit lived out her 20+ years, happily living life on his own terms as explained in this short youtube video

Painting of the Week

Flashback from the past, Pam Smilow/Gert Mathiesen Collaboration, Vessels, mixed media on canvas, approx. 72” x 130”

Charity of the Week: American Civil Liberties Union

Source: jackie-robinson-guts-spirit-black-leopard-...

Blog No. 221: Hope Sandoval Music, Laser Painting, Coming for Social Security

March 15, 2025

Hope Sandoval

Hope Sandoval and Colm Ó Ciosóig of Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions

Hope Sandoval has one of the most hypnotic, mesmerizing, and beautiful voices you might never have heard of in the music world. Originally lead singer of the LA group along with the late David Roback called Mazzy Star, Sandoval went on to play with a variety of bands including her own band Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions along with Colm Ó Cíosóig . Here is a selection of some of my favorite songs beginning with perhaps the most famous from Mazzy Star: the ethereal
Fade Into You

Quiet the Winter Harbor

Flowers in December

Blue Flower

The Peasant

"The Jesus and Mary Chain

"Wild Horses (cover)

If you want to hear more from Sandoval herself, here is an interview that goes back to 2017 on New York's WFUV Fordham University radio program

Laser Painting Program

I had the privilege of meeting Deborah Dawson at Rancho La Puerta a week ago and hear about her amazing work with children and young adults with multiple disabilities and the laser painting program she facilitates with them.  Through a laser that they wear on a headband or somewhere on their body, those with limited physical mobility are able to give direction to Deborah, the facilitator, and complete large scale abstract paintings using the red laser dot as an indicator of how to apply the paint.  The choices are theirs and she is just the conduit for their expression.  Here is a video that shows the process, bringing joy and a sense of accomplishment to all those involved in creating these large scale paintings. 

Georgios. We use a hand rig for Georgios, play Greek music and he chooses the largest of brushes.

Chelsea. Delightful disposition. Also non verbal with multiple disabilities. We get loud and messy. She also wears a head laser.

Hazel is in a wheelchair with limited hand use. Her sessions are exploratory and therapeutic.

Vicky. age 21. She is non-verbal has multiple disabilities. She wears a head laser and is very clear about her color choices, brush sizes and when she's done with a painting.

Coming for Social Security

I have tried to stay away from politics in this newsletter, instead publishing upbeat inspirational entries to keep our spirits up during these incredibly hard and perilous times. But avoiding the subject is increasingly hard these days when the outrage keeps coming, assaulting the very heart of democracy and our country to the core.

But here is a story where pushback seems to be working, at least for the moment. Listen to representative John Larson delivering an outcry and appeal to his fellow committee members in Congress as it relates to social security. And the subsequent effect it seems to have had...Public outcry does work. Keep it coming!

Painting of the Week

Pam Smilow, Childhood’s End Series, mixed media on paper, 22” x 30”

Charity of the Week: American Civil Liberties Union

Source: hope-sandoval-the-warm-inventions-mazzy-st...

Blog No. 220: Luis Barragán, Women Politicians Take the Lead, Turmeric Morning Health Shot,

March 7, 2025

Architect Luis Barragán

Luis Barragán, Pritzker Prize in 1980, is known as Mexico's most influential architect of the 20th Century for his mastery of Mexican Modernism.

Interior of Barragán’s own home, courtesy Jennifer De Witt, Jenny in Transit

Ortega Garden House, courtesy Arch Daily

Photo: Courtesy of Armando Salas Portugal / 2016 Barragan Foundation

Luis Barragán, click for wikipedia entry

People used to make fun of me when I went on a trip and came back with only pictures of walls--they would say, where have you been?  we don't see the places you visited, the landscape...all I had were photos of facades and maybe a few doorways mixed in...

Walls were one of the inspirations of Luis Barragán as well...Greatly influenced by they way people painted their houses in the countryside, Barragan was attracted to the color of these modest dwellings and the combinations...

Color, light and water were the guiding characteristics of Luis Barragán's architecture as well as the simplicity of his designs. His geometric buildings and his exquisite use of bold color both on the facade and interior plaster walls gets me in the gut...Deep pinks, reds, yellows, blues combine into beautiful, unusual juxtapositions...

In addition to what goes on in the interior, there is a seamless transition from inside to outside in his work.  Barragán perceived the gardens as outside rooms and he paid serious attention to them, including carefully placing trees and plants to complement the colors of the walls.  He was attracted to water and his fountains, anything but typical, seem more like troughs for the horses he loved and spent a lot of time with.  "In the gardens and homes I have designed, I have allowed for the gentle murmur of silence and in my fountains, silence sings." 

According to the renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando, someone else in the field I greatly admire, the importance of Barragán's work today is "the creation of beauty in daily life, making the inhabitants realize their own pursuit of beauty and happiness."

There is a Luis Barragán Museum in Mexico City that I hope to visit one day...

Women Politicians Take the Lead

Ursula von der Leyen, German politician, serving as the ***13th president of the European Commission***.

Those who know me know that I am a big fan of the Danes. Here Danish PM Mette Frederiksen speaks out and tells it like it is regarding the European community and Ukraine. Yay Mette Fredericksen for leading the way!

It is exciting to see women in power. Ursula von der Leyen, German politician, serving as the 13th president of the European Commission also speaks out on current events and European unity.

And Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada also has something to say in a loud and clear voice on the state of the world and Canadian American relations.

All worth a listen to these forthright women leaders.

Morning Turmeric Healthy Shot Recipe

This is one of the things I look forward to most when I go to present and teach at Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico:  starting the day with this shot glass of healthy deliciousness.  Here is the recipe which I plan on making and drinking at home as well...

INGREDIENTS:
2 inches fresh ginger
1-inch unpeeled fresh turmeric or 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
1 large lemon, peeled
1 green apple, cut in quarters and seeded

METHOD
1. Place the ingredients in a cold press juicer or regular juicer and process.
2. If you don’t have a juicer, you can use a blender, and strain with a cheese cloth.
3. If using ground turmeric*, be sure to add it after juicing the other ingredients.
4. Serve in a shot glass and enjoy with a pinch of pepper or cayenne.
5. During winter, you can drink it with ½ cup warm water and a teaspoon of honey.
* Turmeric can stain surfaces and clothing, so handle it with care, especially when using fresh turmeric.

Painting of the Week

Pam Smilow, Tulip, linocut, 44” z 30 approx.

Charity of the Week: American Civil Liberties Union

Source: luis-barragan-architect-women-politicians-...

Blog No. 219: Noah Verrier, Animal Whisperer Anna Breytenbach, Song: Fix Yo

February 28, 2025

Artist Noah Verrier

Noah Verrier's art could not be more different than mine--tight, detailed, precise, representational...His work jumped out at me, especially his still lives, from his posts on Instagram: exquisite realistic painting like some of the old masters, but unique in their subject matter of contemporary everyday objects, and sometimes even junk food.
From his artist statement: "What I enjoy most is working from life. Through the act of quietly observing, my aim is to accurately yet personally discern color and light. My subjects have included still life, portrait, and landscape. Not unlike the great painterly realists of the late 19th century, my work emerges through painting directly, while striving to retain gesture and emotion...“For me every painting is like a prayer to God, I can be still, look closely, and interpret the colors, shapes, and emotion before me”

Noah Verrier in his studio in Tallahassee, Florida

Animal Communicator Anna Breytenbach

This is a repeat of an entry on a previous blog--the story is one of my favorites involving an angry black leopard named Diablo living in an animal sanctuary in South Africa and his transformation due to the insight of animal whisperer Anna Breytenbach. This short video tells the incredible story: watch Breytenbach "talk" to a rare beautiful black leopard and get answers back.

I always thought if we humans are so smart, how come we don't know what the birds are saying? I have been very interested in the subject of animal intelligence and animal communication ever since I was a kid and I read my first book on the subject called "How Smart Are Animals." From then on, I knew that common knowledge that humans were the only ones with superior intelligence, self reflection and the ability to use tools was not true. I think discoveries in the field of interspecies communication will lead us to the next big frontier--something that the ancients and indigenous peoples across the globe knew very well intuitively but which most of us have totally lost touch with today.

If you are interested in learning more and you don't think I am totally crazy (I'm not), here is an hour long, fascinating interview with Anna where she explores this subject matter. It is well worth a listen.

For those of you with kids and grandkids, Anna has even written a children's book about this black leopard entitled How Diablo Became Spirit (in collaboration with Andrew Newman).

Click image to read an article in Vie Magazine on Anna Breytenbach

Song: Fix You

Here are two versions of one of my most favorite songs: Fix You written by Christopher Anthony, John Martin, Guy Rupert Berryman, William Champion and Jonathan Mark Buckland.

Just click on the videos above to first hear Cold Play's version and then a very touching rendition by Fred Kittle and the chorus of 70+ years olds out of Northampton, Massachusetts, The Young at Heart Chorus.

Lyrics
When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse
And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
And high up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try, you'll never know
Just what you're worth
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face, and I
Tears stream down your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face, and I
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Christopher Anthony John Martin / Guy Rupert Berryman / William Champion / Jonathan Mark Buckland
Fix You lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Mgb Ltd.

There is a full length documentary about Young at Heart Chorus--click to watch it below

Painting of the Week

Hummingbird, mixed media on canvas, 50” x 80”

Charity of the Week: American Civil Liberties Union

Source: Noah-verrier-animal-whisperer-anna-breyten...

Blog No. 218: Elizabeth Strout's book Amy and Isabelle, Songs for Our Times, Things To Do

February 21, 2025

Author Elizabeth Strout

Elizabeth Strout, courtesy of photographer Greta Rybus and The Guardian

I don’t claim to be a book reviewer but occasionally I’ll read something that I find so extraordinary that I want to tell about it on this blog. I just finished Amy and Isabelle, the first novel of Elizabeth Strout and this is a gem of a book! It explores the deep, complex relationship between mother and daughter in small town America. Although Strout's characters inhabit rural Maine, I think all of us mothers and daughters will find something familiar, touching, poignant and human in this universal story. She tells it with such grace and sensitivity. Strout is a master at human relationships and she has the uncanny ability of acute observation--noticing the smallest simple gestures of every day life and turning the mundane into such a profound picture of human emotion.

"With a plain voice and a bountiful spirit, Strout paints a full array of emotion from despair to delight on a small canvas...Strout makes these souls real. They are our townspeople, and we are theirs." --O: The Oprah Magazine

...
"Strout crawls so far into her characters you feel you inhabit them..."
USA Today

Amy and Isabelle won the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, and was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize in England.

2 Songs for Our Times

Good Old Leonard Cohen telling it like it is
Everybody Knows

THe Makepeace Brothers
Hero
"This is the kind of hero we need: noble, wise, human, kind"

Things To Do

One of our most useful tools right now is boycotting. Boycott all advertisers on Fox--as long as they exist spreading lies we don't have a chance. Boycott companies who donated to the current administration.

A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict some economic loss on the target, or to indicate a moral outrage, usually to try to compel the target to alter an objectionable behavior. The word is named after Captain Charles Boycott, agent of an absentee landlord in Ireland, against whom the tactic was successfully employed after a suggestion by Irish nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell and his Irish Land League in 1880.

The NAACP wants Americans to steer their buying power toward companies that haven’t pulled back from diversity, equity and inclusion programs under conservative pressure, and the nation’s oldest civil rights organization is listing which brands have stood by — or reversed — past commitments to DEI. Here is more information on their spending guide. The advisory praises Costco for standing by previous commitments, as well as Apple, Ben & Jerry’s, Delta Airlines, e.l.f. Cosmetics and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Painting of the Week

Music is Life 82” x 56” mixed media on canvas

Charity of the Week: American Civil Liberties Union

Source: Elizabeth-strout-amy-and-isabelle-boycott-...