StumbleUpon | Overwined's blog posts

http://Overwined.stumbleupon.com/review/27122423/

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:26:07 -0800

more Baudelaire becuase I can't get enough lately:

The Confession
Once, only once, beloved and gentle lady,
� � � � � Upon my arm you leaned your arm of snow.
And on my spirit’s background, dim and shady,
� � � � � That memory flashes now.

The hour was late, and like a medal gleaming
� � � � � The full moon showed her face,
And the night’s splendour over Paris streaming,
� � � � � Filled every silent place.

Along the houses, in the doorways hiding,
� � � � � Cats passed with stealthy tread
And listening ear, or followed, slowly gliding,
� � � � � Like ghosts of dear ones dead.

Sudden, amid our frank and free relation,
� � � � � Born of that limpid light,
From you, rich instrument, whose sole vibration
� � � � � Was radiancy and light —

From you, joyous as bugle-call resounding
� � � � � Across the woods at morn,
With sharp and faltering accent, strangely sounding,
� � � � � Escaped one note forlorn.

Like some misshapen infant, dark, neglected,
� � � � � Its kindred blush to own,
And long have hidden, by no eye detected,
� � � � � In some dim cave unknown.

Your clashing note cried clear, poor, prisoned spirit,
� � � � � That nothing in the world is sure or fast,
And that man’s selfishness, though decked as merit,
� � � � � Betrays itself at last.

That hard the lot to be a queen of beauty,
� � � � � And all is fruitless, like the treadmill toil
Of some paid dancer, fainting at her duty,
� � � � � Still with her vacant smile.

That if one build on hearts, ill shall befall it,
� � � � � That all things crack, and love and beauty flee,
Until oblivion flings them in his wallet,
� � � � � Spoil of eternity.

Oft have I called to mind that night enchanted,
� � � � � The silence and the languor over all,
And that wild confidence, thus harshly chanted,
� � � � � At the heart’s confessional.

http://Overwined.stumbleupon.com/review/27122253/

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:20:44 -0800

The Poison
by Baudelaire

O wine can clothe in luxury
�� The ale-house foul and low,
And build a golden portico
�� With its red alchemy . . .
Like cloudy sunset in the evening glow.

And opium dreams can roam and rove
�� Past that which has no bourne,
Can plumb eternity, and mourn
�� The emptiness of love
And satiate the soul with joys forlorn.

All is nothing to the bane
�� That trickles from your eyes,
True mirrors of my miseries . . .
�� Green lakes where dreams in vain
Would quench in bitter gulfs their agonies.

Ah, nothing to the monstrous flow
�� That mingles with your breath
That brings oblivion beneath
�� Its waves of vertigo,
And bears me fainting to the brink of Death!

http://Overwined.stumbleupon.com/review/24971550/

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:11:10 -0700

You should be a snob, just like me

As I (slowly) approach my 1000th stumble, I have been ruminating on what it means to be a cynic, a critic, a snob. While I will probably post more thoughts on this topic, I would like visitors to my page to consider, perhaps, a world in which the great bell curve of grace and inspiration is pushed just ever so slightly upstream. That is where I would like to be, just a little upstream.

http://Overwined.stumbleupon.com/review/21876106/

Tue, 27 May 2008 17:38:17 -0700

I have been receiving more than a few PMs about how "negative" I appear to be and would like to clarify a few things so that people who stumble across my comments don't think I make light of these negative comments or do them out of some sort of misplaced personal spite.

First, it is my firm belief that nothing is worth doing if your goal is not excellence. As a harsh self-critic myself, I honestly believe that leveling criticism against endeavors of yours is doing you and I both a service. If you want to make some sort of claim that you aren't trying to put something out on the internet in order to prove its excellence, then might I suggest writing and posting these things to yourself and keeping them out of the public eye. This act we do, sharing content, is communal and as such we enjoy the liberty to comment on that content on behalf of ourselves and the community. No one person dictates how a piece of content is received, but the commune does.

Secondly, you will find many more positive reviews than negative reviews on my blog here, as I find that positive reinforcement is just as necessary as negative. I am, however, very selective on what I comment positively or negatively as well as what I give a thumbs up or down.

You may have deduced that I write and run a website called banishcare.com which is about wine and bringing new and unlearned wine drinkers into the fray. It appeals to a small niche, I know, but nothing I've done illicits any response positive or negative and so I am left always wondering how I can craft it to be more useful to my readers. Silence is by definition unconstructive. So maybe I should urge YOU, those readers who think I'm overly negative, to join the conversation. Maybe you should try to put yourself in the shoes of others and think about what you would or wouldn't do. Maybe this one moment of stepping out of yourself to provide constructive criticism will teach you more than a lifetime of rubber-stamping every mediocre piece of everything you see with universal, unthinking approval.