"seek the lofty by reading, hearing and seeing great work at some moment every day"
- Thornton Wilder.

so, what about EVERY moment of every day? i'm feeling like my relationship with The Internet is growing stronger every day, but that we have only just held hands. digging the hell out of this tumblr bidness, wow the blogosphere is CORPULENT with greatness. i don't know why this comes as such a surprise.

also, more photographs by William Eggleston. these were taken in the 60s. y'know, when it was really fucking hard to take photographs this good. it's worth looking at the other stuff on his website, he's got quite a portfolio.













in other news, we did a seance on saturday night. we talked to a boy named max, age 6, who told us that i was going to die in eight years and that Risky should get naked. also, he likes candy. anyway, important thing is that it "worked" (whatever you say, rationalists). evidence: i don't think any of us would have told me i was going to die in eight years, even as a joke; all of us took our fingers off the cocktail shaker lid (our makeshift planchette) at some point; it really didn't feel like pressure was coming from any one side; it just seemed really legit, and i don't think any of us have been secretly mastering seance-fakery (particularly not enough to have kept it up for TWO HOURS). also, this is not the first seance i have been in that has "worked". the first time, i was in year 11, and i had to conduct an interview for English. i donned a white robe, dragged my mum and meg into it, we lit 6 tea-light candles and started asking questions. we talked to three spirits, one of them being my grandmother (who i've never met). i didn't end up using the seance for my english task... although i did manage to find what i did write. if you would indulge me:

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The scrutiny of self is an eternally popular pastime, so it comes as no surprise that the subject for Vivienne Winter’s enquiry into the nature of reinvention and the folly of human drama would be her own dead self. The interviewee has requested she be referred to as The Duchess of Death.

Winter: Duchess of Death, thank you so much for transcending time in order to be here this morning-
Duchess: Morning! Ah yes now I recall that naïve celebration of light. Things are so quickly forgotten when one is no longer consigned to one’s earthly vessel.
W: Well I could only imagine. Though now that you are in a somewhat more objective position to survey mortality, what would you say is the fundamental drive behind human endeavour? And furthermore, how does this link to reinvention?
D: Ahem. Well, child, allow me to explain. All human activity is quite simply attributed to change – reinvention if you will – in the name of “progress”, following a desire to better ourselves. This all relates to survival – though not in a purely literal sense. As soon as there is the feeling that a person’s survival in their ideal existence has come under threat, they will seek to reinvent themselves or their environment according to an ideal that they presume will separate them from the threat.
W: What is the importance of this “ideal”, and how does it affect the reinventions taking place?
D: Of course, it is necessary to have some idea of how and where this reinvention will take a person – some vision of progress, an image of perfection to mould their silly skins around. Just as a person’s identity is shaped by their social environment, so will their perception of improvement. People will seek to adapt to an image that they have been socialised to believe will lead them to a better life with fewer imperfections. Essentially, reinventions will take place until satisfaction is reached.
W: Surely you do not suggest our will is controlled utterly by chance influence and exposure to external social models of behaviour? This would leave us at the complete mercy of fools!
D: Ay, with the perspicacity of death this truth becomes increasingly apparent-
W: Duchess-
D: Viv, pipe down for a second. It is impossible to teach oneself the lessons of life, just as it is impossible to imagine a state of increased wisdom, for personal growth is reliant on observation and the re-evaluation of the self in new contexts. Do not forget that society is made up of individuals. Will not you concede that all are part of this insoluble continuous “development” – in a living and growing organism at one with the fools, our personal reinventions contributing to a common reality, and thus a common ideal for further reinventions? We are together with our environment an inextricable mess of influence, adaptations and ideals, tumbling in an infinitely futile torus of perceived survival. Progression is an illusion, my love.
W: What do you propose should happen otherwise?
D: The making of merry! And also, the helping of those who are in desperate need of the basics in order to survive.
W: Thankyou for coming, Duchess of Death.
*The Duchess of Death disappears into the ether, with the distant clanking of chains*

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my journo name is Vivienne Winter. and i'm pretty sure that, at the time, i imagined the duchess of death to look something like this. but i (severely) digress. the seance. now, i know that i wasn't moving the glass, and i know that neither my mum or meg would have either (both of them being super hippies). so, now that we know that spirits are real etc, i'm planning on doing an exorcism to rid myself of the demon of future-confusion. volunteers to help and/or participate? you will be given a choice of robe!