Days to Seize.

Words for the weekend from poet Billy Collins, who delivered them as part of a speech to the graduates of Connecticut College in 2008:

"In the wake of the terrorist arracks on September 11th, many people, especially in New York City, spoke of how the event prompted them to make adjustments in their personal lives, to speed things up. An engaged couple who had planned to marry the following year decided to get married the following week. Plans that had been put off jumped to the tops of people’s lists. Without knowing it, people were simply following the advice that poetry has been delivering since the Roman poet Horace wrote the words carpe diem quam minimum credula postero — seize the day and trust little in the future – in the first century before Christ. Some of us require a catastrophic experience to remind us that we are indeed alive. Some need major surgery to realize that life is precious. Some have to go through a windshield to see that today is all we are given. Others know this from their reading of poetry—a somewhat less traumatic experience.

And the corollary to carpe diem — a vein that runs deeply through the rock of poetry – is gratitude, gratitude for simply being alive, for having a day to seize. The taking of breath, the beating of the heart. Gratitude for the natural world around us — the massing clouds, the white ibis by the shore. In Barcelona a poetry competition is held every year. There are three prizes:. The third prize is a rose made of silver, the second prize is a golden rose, and the first prize: a rose. A real rose. The flower itself. Think of that the next time the term 'priorities' comes up."

Find the speech in its entirety, here, and have a wonderful weekend. (Next week: non-career advice continues, a new POV on Friday.) Photo by Emily Johnston.

Taste the Rainbow.

As a writer, I've spent a lot of time wondering about words: the sound of them, the look and feel of them, the shapes they make and the images they conjure. (Robert Pirosh captures this fascination to a tee here.) "What's the texture of 'anger'?" an old English teacher asked once. "If each season had a scent, what would it be?"  

With a six-part collection she calls COLORS, ice cream maker Jeni Britton brings a similar curiosity to the culinary world: when you see a color, she asks, what do you think you will taste? To her mind, for starters, the building blocks of velvet green are spirulina, lemongrass, and coriander. The sprightliness of yellow comes from lemons crushed whole. And the mysteries and many layers of black are laced with sea salt, licorice, and a splatter of dark chocolate. See more, here.

See also: pencils for dessert; edible forests; pickable, lickable chocolate walls.

Have a happy Thursday!

Growing Bolder.

On the new site Bolder, Helen Cathcart and Dominique Afacan share words of wisdom on "how to grow older" from inspiring figures over 70 (a demographic thus far missing from Non-Career Advice).

Interviewees include British photographer Terry O'Neill, record-setting helicopter pilot Jennifer Murray (who only became licensed in her mid-50s), and painter Tess Jaray, who confirms that a certain (healthy) creative doubt is ageless: "One of the problems with being an artist is that you never really know if you've cracked it, so you have to keep on going because it's always the next one that's going to be perfect. My idea of happiness is completing a painting that for five minutes I think I've got right."

See more at Bolder, here. Thanks to It's Nice That for the introduction.

Recommended Reading / 26.

Every Monday, words to start the week. 

This week: Bill Nye opens his doors to The New York Times. Among a hodgepodge of science-themed treasures: Eddy tubes "to teach visitors about magnetism," a Stirling engine, and a midnight blue map above his bed that "shows the lights of humankind." Read the story by Joanne Kaufman, here. Photos by Jake Naughton.

A few more, just because:
-Fifty chefs' hands.
-Thoughts on travel, from 1932.
-Jewelry dishes inspired by spoon indentations in yogurt.
-From NPR: "[Music] fills the empty space of solitude even as it stimulates a desire for it."

More recommended reading, here. Have a wonderful Monday.

Non-Career Advice: Dez'Mon Omega Fair.

Non-Career Advice is a series that asks people - young, old, and in a range of occupations - for words of wisdom unrelated to work, career-building, dollars, or getting ahead.

Dez'Mon Omega Fair / Painter

Also: Sun king / scavenger / man of many hats

Age: late twenties        

Don't take offense to questions — invite them. "I’m used to people making assumptions about me. It happens all the time, on so many different levels — based on race, sexuality, looks, gender, the clothes I wear. I used to be very offended by people assuming that I should be one way or another because of the way I look. They’re shocked that I’m from the South but don’t speak a certain way, or that I wear the kinds of clothes I wear, or that I could be an artist. Someone recently told me that I was ‘a new concept.’ These days, I use being seen as mysterious as a sort of shield or filter — and it’s reminded me to assume that everyone is multifaceted until proven otherwise. More often than not, questions about 'what I am' open up an interesting dialogue that’s helped me learn more about people, as they learn more about me. On top of everything, I’ve realized that I don’t want to be someone who’s easily figured out. So I invite the questions — I’m not offended by them anymore."

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Thank you so much, Dez. More from the Non-Career Advice series, here. (Also, you can read my interview with Dez for FvF, here.) Photograph by Jane Houle.