Word.
Saudade.
A Portuguese word. A deep, emotional longing for something that is lost or that one is fond of. Something that no longer exists or perhaps never existed.
End of an era: Oscar Goodman. “Flamboyant on steroid”. Even for Las Vegas standards.
Oliver Miles on Moussa Koussa
Former British Ambassador to Libya Oliver Miles spoke in an interview with BBC on Moussa Koussa, whom he had known since 1980s.
Miles had not known Moussa Koussa for long before the latter was thrown out of London for endorsing the killing of Libyan dissidents abroad. Yet Miles was fond of Moussa Koussa, describing him as a business-like Gaddafi-man with an “extraordinary hair-do”. The interviewer then pressed him, asking if Miles was contradicting himself for liking someone who allowed the slaughter of dissidents.
To that Miles said, “Look, I was a professional diplomat. Diplomats are always talking to murders of one kind or another.”
First post from my iPhone
I just had to do this
Facets of Berkeley
I sit by the restless all the dark night - some are so young;
Some suffer so much - I recall the experience sweet and sad.
—Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, 1876
Flora on the Berkeley Hills
The Third & the Seventh
Words That Don’t Exist in the English Language
L’esprit de escalier: (French) The feeling you get after leaving a conversation, when you think of all the things you should have said. Translated it means “the spirit of the staircase.”
…Waldeinsamkeit: (German) The feeling of being alone in the woods.
…Meraki: (Greek) Doing something…
Thursday Nights are “Muhallibieh”
Thursday night Will & I cooked together again. For dinner he made me fried Salmon <3
I remembered about two years ago having had an absolutely delightful Middle Eastern milk pudding while living with a Lebanese family. I browsed around for recipes and tried it on my own. It might be the world’s easiest desert to make but one that will surely impress your guests.
Here’s what we’ve got:
Recipe (for 8 servings)
- 4 cups of whole milk
- 3/4 cup of white sugar
- 5 tablespoons of corn starch, diluted with 1/4 cup of warm water
- 3 tablespoons of rose water or orange flower water (available at all Middle Eastern grocery stores)
- Some dried fruits or chopped nuts of your choice
Directions
- Put the milk and sugar in a pot and bring to a boil
- While stirring, gradually pour the corn starch-water mix and the rose water into the pot. (Stirring is very important because you don’t want the starch to grow into a clump.)
- Cook on medium and continue stirring until the texture is thick and completely smooth. (No more than 5 minutes or the milk will overcook)
- Pour into a large bowl and put into refrigerator to chill for about 2 hours
- Serve by itself or with dried fruits/nuts
Voilà!
As I said, it is probably the world’s simplest milk pudding. The highlight really is the rose water, that makes the milk and sugar taste incredibly refreshing, almost like a mouthful of summer breeze.
Enjoy!
Back from the National Gallery with an overdose of art. Here’s a 1200s Italian Gothic painting depicting Madonna & the Child. I wonder if the artist really thought that with such menacing faces these figures would actually inspire any faith & hope ?
The story of the beautiful is already complete - hewn in the marbles of the Parthenon - and broidered, with the birds, upon the fan of Hokusai
—James Whistler, 1885
I do not know much about art, but I know that Norman Rockwell is a good artist. My favorite artist. Every imagine so telling, every story so vivid, and every sentiment so sweet and genuine.
I cannot think of a better subject to make a documentary out of: criminal lawyer Jacques Vergès.
What I found most riveting was the story between Vergès and Djamila Bouhired. During the Algerian War, Djamila Bouhired was a known Algerian terrorist who planted bombs in pubs and clubs in the European quarters. Her stories made the scenes in Gillo Pontecorvo’s film La Bataille d’Alger. When Djamila was captured, Jacques Vergès, then a young French lawyer barely 30, was hired by the FLN to defend Djamila and her comrades. Vergès had always been on the frivolous and humorous side in court, but when he saw Djamila come in, a young woman tortured by the French army, he broke down crying. Other say that it was then that he fell in love with Djamila. In his own words, Djamila embodied the revolution itself, the cry of Algeria: young, beautiful, tormented, yet strong and unyielding. Djamila was sentenced to death and Vergès traveled the world to advocate for her cause. He published books, wrote on magazines… he drew the whole world’s attention on Djamila. Students went on demonstration to demand her pardon. And pardoned she was.
They traveled together to China and were received by Chairman Mao. Aside from al the formalities, the only real question that Mao asked Vergès was, “When are you going to marry her?”
They did get married. For that Vergès had to convert to Islam and settle as a small divorce lawyer in Algeria. Djamila was an icon of the revolution and the pride of Algeria. They were married for almost a decade until one day Vergès decided to disappear from Djamila’s life and become what he ought to be. For such a beautiful love story, this is not what most people want to see. But how then would we have the Jacques Vergès who stood alone against 39 lawyers to defend Klaus Barbie, and who uttered those words, “I can’t stand a man being humiliated, even an enemy, for a lone man to be insulted by a lynch mob…”
