World So Wide
This world is so wide that, even if you flitted around and around it, you would never reach the end of it. This blog is a collage of more or less literary and humorous, outlandish or sometimes even serious glimpses at this great wide world.
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
So one night we did that
Nico and I were walking around in the neighborhood with our cans, around midnight it must have been, looking for a good empty spot to decorate. All we had along that night was white, black, two shades of red and some weird mix of grey and blue. And this is part of what we did on the wall of an open staircase. What's it supposed to mean? Don't know. That's not the point at all. The point is that this ugly grey piece of concrete wall now looks a lot better. Don't you think?
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
Giacomo – Love For Ever
Seven years later, the tattoo was still there, while Giacomo, including her love for him, was long gone. And Jimmy, the new flame, wasn’t too keen on seeing Giacomo around whenever he looked at her arm. Would she really have to have it removed? How long was Jimmy going to last? Frankly, her belief in eternity had been shattered – a bit.
– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2024)
Notes
Photo art courtesy of AI but based on a true story.
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Sub
Oh come to me!
What is sub? the Siberian said
(from what I’d understood
before he was from some place
around Lake Baikal, which,
he’d managed to tell me some-
how, was not only the world’s
oldest but also its deepest lake)
In my incorrigible tendency
to speak the many-faceted truth
whenever called for or uncalled
for, I went into the multiple
meanings of sub – and noticed,
after having said about five
words, that this was overkill
and way beyond what was
wanted or needed
I broke it off, but then added:
– could be short for submarine
– could be short for submarine
sandwich, a sandwich resembling
a submarine
– could be short for substitute,
as in subbing for a teacher who
is sick or absent for some other
reason
– could refer to ...
What was I doing? The
look in the Siberian’s face
was half pain, half wonder,
adding up to full incompre-
hension. Sub, I pointed
at the building across,
and mimicked eating.
He said Is good? Upon
which I nodded. That
should be universal
enough, right? Shook
hands and left.
– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2024)
Note
The prompt was substitutions, so a teacher would give me an F for this. Oh
dear, I have been known to ramble occasionally!
Thursday, September 19, 2024
The Original Zengela Band (Kenya)
Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Seems like a repeat
for invisible reasons (as if they
ever needed any),
fan whirring, installing a semblance of cool
in here while the immense summer heat
drags on into September.
While I’m trying to keep my cool
as I’m going through rows and rows
of written materials that would most likely
not be missed had they not been written.
But that’s what ya get paid for, me boy.
– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2024)
Note
This should be blunt enough not to require any explanation.
Part of Weary Outpourings of a Grump Ground Down by Life and Other Things.
Friday, August 9, 2024
Lonely, strong, nearly symmetrical
Thinking back to the days when kids
were running around here,
when cows were mooing, roosters
crowing, dogs barking and cats
meowing – life.
Unlike now when there’s only
mechanical clatter of machines –
sometimes.
– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2024)
Note
This was written to accompany the photo, which shows a tree next to the remains of what used to be a farm (Lazio, Italy, southeast of Rome).
Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Momentary account
Rome, July 31, 2024
Burning heat, sometimes
crying of children, howling
of dogs, power cuts.
– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2024)
Note
Razor-edge-of-time reporting from the climate change front.
Tuesday, July 30, 2024
No respect, no tears good-bye
Discarded technology
Title chosen in variation of lyrics by Tom Rush ("no regrets / no tears good-bye").
Once a means of communication, now a piece of high-tech trash carelessly thrown away. Photographed in Rome, but this could be just about anywhere on the planet.
Thursday, July 11, 2024
Mrs. A’s sweet dilemma
“Today I have a slight headache – probably overdid it at the Tutta birthday party ... hmmm ... I think the Lamborghini might be the cure for that. Or not?
Maybe the Rolls because of its softer springing?
Where do I have to go anyway? – Ah yes, the golf course to meet hubby.
It’s going to be so hot there! Thank God there’s a highly effective AC in the clubhouse.
Which one reflects our status more accurately? – Tell me, dear Sher Singh – Italian or British?”
– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2024)
Photo credit
AI - no real people or cars are shown here.
Friday, June 14, 2024
Tiger Shroff in Bade Miyan Chote Miyan
Indian actor Tiger Shroff in a film still from the action movie Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (2024).