Beatrice descends.

Rumour control

July 18, 2010: Never confuse Nature's embrace for love: she merely wants to reclaim what is hers.

Nature will not rid you of your loneliness, though she may appear to at first, her solitude folding over your desolation. In truth, she will bury that loneliness deeper within you, where it will take root in darker soil. The creeping tendrils will coil around your heart and squeeze it into submission.

July 7, 2010: Nectar flowing over the dried and dusty river bed.

In this intense heat, consuming a chilled orange is an act of consummation: to inhale the spray of zest as you peal the outer skin, to feel the velvet pith on your lips, and to bite into those engorged wedges, all without a moan of ambrosial gratification, is to live a barren existence.

June 28, 2010: Nature is not to be contemplated in the mind's eye, but embraced with the physical body.

I can remember the feel of the fresh green grass brushing against my skin as I rushed to get in my last hour of precious play while the summer sun set and the cool shadows stretched out over me. Then I'd lay on that same grass, breathless, as the first stars were set alight, and the first fireflies began to dance. Now I worry about grass stains and traces of dog poop, about mosquito bites and tracking ants indoors. Still, after night falls, I sometimes stand at my open window, and inhale the perfume of the dewy trees carried on the breeze mixed with the sighs of sleeping flowers everywhere. But now the stars are faded behind the orange electric sky; and I wonder, are old ghosts wisping about those burning street lamps?

January 18, 2010

The ghost of Orpheus passed to the Underworld,
And all the places that he'd seen before
He recognized again and, searching through
The Elysian fields, he found Eurydice
And took her in his arms with leaping heart.
There hand in hand they stroll, the two together;
Sometimes he follows as she walks in front,
Sometimes he goes ahead and gazes back---
No danger now---at his Eurydice.

Ovid (trans. Melville), Metam., Bk. XI

Looking back means starting over. As time passes, the older content each does its own penance and finds its own way out. Every thought eventually purified and purged, the mind itself remains, begging for your prayers.

2009: Purged posts.

May 31; August 23.

January 23, 2009

Somewhat recently, OpenSet.org left ante-Purgatory, and finally hiked up to the first terrace. There he will remain for some time yet. Slow and steady.

2008: Purged posts.

January 17, 30; February 26; March 7; April 10; August 12, 23, 31; September 5; October 27.

January 12, 2008

Greetings. OpenSet.org is in Purgatory for the sin of having me as a webmaster. One day it will be back in full force, but reincarnated into a different form. For the moment however, you won't be able to use the old RSS/Atom feeds since this is a static page. That's right, I'm editing it by hand. My new domain will probably act as my personal blog. It's not ready yet, but in keeping with the early-to-mid-90s style of this page, I ask you to stay tuned to this space.