I guess I needed time off. My BP has dropped the last two mornings. I haven’t been skipping my martini while visiting my brother. I have been lazing around reading, practicing piano and guitar, and doing my daily morning Greek.
Also I drove into Chelsea yesterday and practiced organ at one of the local churches which allows me to do so. Still I tired easily and only rehearsed music for this Sunday. Afterwards I stopped at a grocery store and picked up some stuff including an ace bandage for my foot.
The bandage seems to have been a good idea. Eileen promptly wrapped up my ankle. It feels much more comfortable with the bandage on. Today I will wear it all day as well including when I go practice organ.
I read a fascinating article in Mark’s copy of the current New York Review of Books, “The Pleasures of Translation,” by Emily Wilson. I have read a book by her on Socrates and have started reading her translation of The Odyssey. She is reviewing Mark Polizzotti’s Sympathy for the the Traitor: A Translation Manifesto.
The silly article is behind a firewall online which makes me a little crazy. I had never realized how important the concept of having works in translation is to being an educated human being. No one can know all the languages of all the great human works. Thus translations are important to students, teachers, and common readers like me.
Being an academic translator, Emily Wilson admires and astutely critiques Polizzotti’s non academic approach to his subject. His freedom from the restrictions of the campus mentality was inspiring enough to me that I ordered a copy of his book, along with Kevin Young’s new book of poetry. They should be waiting for me when I get home on Saturday.
NYTimes: Michigan’s Discriminatory Work Requirements
Racism at work right here in my state.
NYTimes: Trump’s Most Foolish Decision Yet
Susan Rice’s expert critique of the decision to abandon the Iranian agreement.
Ta-Nehisi Coates: Kanye West in the Age of Donald Trump – The Atlantic
The West/Trump alliance has drifted vaguely past my awareness. I like that Coates talks music here as well as his clear dismemberment of West.