the world’s an Eye

“For the world’s an Eye
And the universe is Seeing
Liquid
Rare
Radiant.”

—Jack Kerouac, ‘San Francisco Blues, 22nd Chorus’, from Book of Blues, 1995.

Kaleidoscope Eyes

I finished Lucy in the Sky friday night, and saturday I took it
to the Baton Rouge Gallery where I hung it and 9 other recent collages
for an exhibition that I call Kaleidoscope Eyes. Yes, this is what the frenetic collage-making of the last several months has been all about.
  The show, which also features exhibitions by Anne Boudreau, Mary
Lee Eggart and Mikey Walsh, will be up through July 31. The opening
reception will be held Wednesday, July 2nd, from 7 to 9pm. There will be food, there will be
wine, there will be beautiful people, and entertainment will be provided by vinyl-only DJs Neff,
Martini and Misc. If you’re in
the area, you won’t want to miss it!

Lucy in the Sky

Orange Crush

plasticated

“‘Can I have an orange?’. . .
 ‘Dat’s not a real orange, dear. All de fruit is plasticated. De flowers are plasticated also. I don’t believe the Lord meant me to spend de little housekeeping money I possess on perishable goods. Have some dates.’”

—Zadie Smith, White Teeth, 2000.

What did the zero say to the eight?

“Chalfens rarely made jokes unless they were exceptionally lame or numerical in nature or both: What did the zero say to the eight? Nice belt.”

—Zadie Smith, White Teeth, 2000.

Ems are good

“‘How are you doing on names? Any ideas?’
    Alsana is decisive. ‘Meena and Malana, if they are girls. If boys, Magid and Millat. Ems are good. Ems are strong. Mahatma, Muhammad, that funny Mr Morecambe, from Morecambe and Wise—letter you can trust.’”

—Zadie Smith, White Teeth, 2000.

Hokusai

the colour of the sky

“Alsana would say, ‘Little man, how about the blue one for Amma, hmm?’,
pushing him into the primary colours section of Mothercare. ‘Just one
blue one. Go so nice with your eyes. For Amma, Magid. How can you not
care for blue? It’s the colour of the sky!’
    ‘No, Amma. The sky isn’t blue. There’s just white
light. White light has all of the colours of the rainbow in it, and
when it is scattered through the squillions of molecules in the sky,
the short-wave colours—blue, violet—they are the ones you see. The sky
isn’t really blue. It just looks that way. It’s called Rayleigh
scattering.’
    A strange child with a cold intellect.”

—Zadie Smith, White Teeth, 2000.