Craig Bill, Top 100, The International Landscape Photographer of the Year 2019.

Just some photos and some poems this week. I’ve been in the middle of several books, but haven’t finished any yet. I’m writing this intro on Thursday night, listening to the wind wail. The library I work at has a tall atrium and the effect of the wind on it sounds eerie. Also, my nose is freezing! What is a business-casual solution for a cold nose indoors?

1. “Why are you so sturdy?” from 44 Poems for You, Sarah Ruhl. “I would trade / a large and practical room / for a room / the size of a window / from which to see the moon.” I read this collection of poems this week and I liked their simple familiarity.
2. Uglification 101 with Vaness Rochelle Lewis, Canva presentation. “You are not ugly. Ugly is a thing that was done to you.” This is a new term to me but it resonates — one of the action points is to stop liking/sharing online photos and memes that mock and uglify others. Let people live! No one is hurting you by how they look, you know? Anyway, makes me want to be a kinder person in an area I hadn’t given a lot of thought to.
3. Breathtaking Winners of International Landscape Photographer of the Year, Modern Met. Landscape photos are interesting. Are you supposed to feel disoriented, like you don’t know what you’re looking at or from what direction? They make the tongue of my soul water. This week’s blog image is my favorite of this collection.
4. Photos: Life Goes On In The Epicenter Of The Coronavirus Outbreak: Goats and Soda, NPR. The photo of the resident and their puppy struck me for some reason, and the one of the empty highways. I hope a vaccine can be created soon!
5. How to Triumph Like a Girl, Ada Limón. Reminds me of the intense girl achievers in my life, who I very much love. “…See / the huge beating genius machine / that thinks, no, it knows, / it’s going to come in first.”