Invocations: In Praise of Folly
In seeking inspiration for Odd Salon FOLLY, we looked to the words of Desidirous Erasmus and the intimate link between folly to happiness and to wisdom, and to the very "play of life".
Invocations: Seek & Ye Shall Transform
The author Robert Louis Stevenson mused on the idea of El Dorado as the ultimate unobtainable dream, a stand in for all of those personal quests in our lives where the perfect version always remains out of reach.
Invocations: Intercourse of Minds
Our memories are tricky things, adapting and evolving, sometimes unduly influenced by outside sources. Our own minds often can not be trusted to hold anything related to objective reality. But in a essay written in 2013 for the New York Review of books, neurologist Oliver Sacks, himself the author of many wonderful explorations of memory and loss, wrote on what is perhaps a silver lining.
Invocations: Science & Beauty
A spirit of adventure, intellectual curiosity, and a passion for science drove Marie Curie to explore, discover, and excel despite the myriad obstacles placed in her path.
Invocations: The Byronic Vampire
For inspiration for UNDEAD, we turned to an unseasonably cold and stormy night in the summer of 1816 and the words of the original English vampire... Lord Byron In April,…
Invocations: Saint-Exupéry’s Silver Lining
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's 1935 airplane crash into the Sahara Desert, and his reflections on his unlikely rescue. Invocation from Odd Salon ACCIDENT ~ July 21, 2015
Invocations: Morals of the Secret World
Reflections on fiction and the mythology of espionage from John Le Carre, former intelligence officer and master of the spy novel. Invocation from Odd Salon COVERT ~ June 23, 2015
Invocations: Open Eyes
Odd Salon INTREPID ~ June 9, 2015 A children's short story from the turn of the century reminds us to open our eyes and look around us as explorers.
Invocations: Wonders of the World
Sociobiologist, author, and "father of biodiversity" Edward O. Wilson describes the abundance found in a small patch of forest at dawn. Invocation from Odd Salon MYRIAD ~ April 21, 2015.
Invocations: Fireworks & Joy
Thoughts on the exhilaration of genius from the beautiful and haunting Flowers for Algernon written in 1958 by Daniel Keyes. Invocation from Odd Salon GENIUS ~ March 17, 2015.
