Motes for Inspiration

[Zara]

Magic.

Unicorn, by Eugene Bádusev

[Zara]

1960s New York

[Zara]

Slawomir Zubrzycki's contemporary incarnation of Leonardo da Vinci's Viola Organista

(You may wish to turn on the English closed captioning in the first video link.)

I can just imagine hearing underworld musical themes played on this fascinating instrument!

[Zara]

A painting that crystallizes the spirit of a recent storytelling project of mine...so beautifully.

The Guardian by Taly Reznik

[Zara]

The New York State Museum has discovered in its archives the only known recording of a speech given by Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1962 to commemorate President Abraham Lincoln's Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Visit the New York State Museum's online exhibit here.

[Zara]

Children are children in every era of history.



13th Century Birch Bark Drawings

[Zara]

We've all been there, right?

Inexplicable

[Zara]

"Unending Love" by Rabindranath Tagore

[Zara]

A haiku by charlotte that put me in mind of a certain favorite star-gazer.

[Zara]

If Mouse ever had children...

A father constructs a gizmo-tastic Mission Control Desk for his son.

[Zara]

The Periodic Table of Storytelling by James Harris

[Zara]

Everyday images of the city at the end of the '70s!

Viewoftheblue NYC Photography:

New York City - 1978-1979 - Part I

New York City - 1979-1980 - Part II

New York City - December, 1979 - Part III - Macy's Christmas

[Zara]

In another time and place, in another world...Diana and Vincent.

ACEO Beauty and the Beast, by Athina Poda Konstantinidou

[Zara]

Just for fun...

Muppet Babies: "Look a Little Bit Closer" song from the September 17, 1988 episode "Beauty and the Schnoz"

For those unfamiliar with the Muppet Babies premise, it's a cartoon featuring child-sized animated versions of Jim Henson's famous muppet characters. All these children live together in a nursery, attended by an adult (human) Nanny. The mini-muppets spend most episodes deconstructing and reconstructing stories, music, movies, and television programs to explore a specific theme-of-the-day through their child's play. It's an interesting ongoing adventure that introduces the audience to postmodern media literacy. I enjoyed watching this show when I was a girl. The full episode is currently posted on YouTube in three segments, but who knows how long it will stay there.

Song Lyrics:

Hey guys, listen to this!
Well, the Beast loved Beauty
but she was scared
till she began to see--
What?
--that deep within
his monstrous skin
was a sweet personality.
And the Beast said:
"Look a little bit closer.
Dig a little bit deeper.
There's more to see
than just the outside of me."
Yeah, like the ugly duckling?
Or that giant guy--
Woah!
--made by Doctor Frankenstein.
He's great!
Misunderstood by the neighborhood,
but their hearts were good and kind.
Well, what are they saying?
"Look a little bit closer.
Dig a little bit deeper.
There's more to see
than just the outside of me."
So don't change the outside.
Okay!
Let the inside show.
Gee, maybe I am kind of beautiful.
Let everybody know...
[Gonzo's line unintelligible to this transcriber]
Look a little bit closer.
Like this?
Dig a little bit deeper.
La la la la!
There's more to see
than just the outside of me.

[Zara]

To shed a little compassionate and realistic light on the painful mystique of violence and death in the B&B show, here are two articles that discuss the effects of killing in a warrior's life.

To better understand "The Unforgiven" article, it helps to be familiar with Grossman's Stages of Killing (which can be connected in many interesting and useful ways to Kübler-Ross's Stages of Dying).

Svinth's review of Grossman's 1995 edition of his landmark book offers a decent introduction. Basically, the Stages of Killing are a cycle, which the warrior must repeat with each new confrontation that occurs. The warrior may not go through every stage of the cycle every time, or the warrior may face them all. The cycle can break down at any point along the way, spiraling into serious disorders of the psyche. Note the many possible "f" breaking points throughout this outline:

Stages of Killing

1. Concern about being able to kill
(1f. Fixation with ability to kill)
2. Killing circumstance/event
2a. Ability to kill confirmed, or
2b. Inability to kill confirmed
(2f. Fixation with inability to kill)
3. Exhileration from kill
(3f. Fixation with exhileration)
4. Remorse and nausea from kill
(4f. Fixation with remorse, shame, and guilt)
5. Rationalization and acceptance process
5a. Rationalization/justification fails --> identity disintegration --> illness results from trauma
5b. Rationalization/justification succeeds --> identity integration --> health is retained or restored after trauma

The point of Grossman's examination of the killing process, and that of the following Aeon article, is to tell the truth about the moral injury sustained by soldiers, police officers, and other protectors...anyone called upon to kill.

Here is The Unforgiven, by Kevin Sites. (Yes, it relates the stories of contemporary soldiers, and includes soldierly language in the text. Be advised.)