After Octavian
@afteroctavian.bsky.social
Sintesa. Bibliophile. Lieder Enthusiast. Operavore. Balletomane. Gourmand. Oenophile. Eavesdropper Extraordinaire. She/Her They/Them
Fav Film Starring an Animal? (non-human) (y'all are going to hate me because it is so so sad but 'Au hasard Balthazar'. *sob*
September 27, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Fav Film Starring an Animal? (non-human) (y'all are going to hate me because it is so so sad but 'Au hasard Balthazar'. *sob*
Beautiful! Although my mood is such that when I see sunflowers lately I immediately think of Dorothea Tanning and her eerie depictions of them.
September 27, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Beautiful! Although my mood is such that when I see sunflowers lately I immediately think of Dorothea Tanning and her eerie depictions of them.
Name a Film from before 1950.
September 23, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Name a Film from before 1950.
Your last saved pic is your philosophy (Ummm...reading is good, I guess.)
September 6, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Your last saved pic is your philosophy (Ummm...reading is good, I guess.)
I think Hedwig Francillo-Kauffmann might be the most delightful and unlikely vintage opera singer name I've yet encountered. She looks like a most charming lady, too.
September 5, 2025 at 12:13 AM
I think Hedwig Francillo-Kauffmann might be the most delightful and unlikely vintage opera singer name I've yet encountered. She looks like a most charming lady, too.
Drop an old person you are going to turn into in the future
September 2, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Drop an old person you are going to turn into in the future
7th book for #WITMonth is 'Solitaria' by Brazilian writer, Eliana Alves Cruz (trs. Benjamin Brooks). A bit more straightforward in style and form than what I normally read, I still found this affecting and engrossing with very appealing mother/daughter characters.
August 26, 2025 at 1:55 AM
7th book for #WITMonth is 'Solitaria' by Brazilian writer, Eliana Alves Cruz (trs. Benjamin Brooks). A bit more straightforward in style and form than what I normally read, I still found this affecting and engrossing with very appealing mother/daughter characters.
Wishing the happiest of birthdays to the great Jose van Dam. A remarkably versatile singer fully at home on the operatic stage, in the recital hall, and on film.
August 25, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Wishing the happiest of birthdays to the great Jose van Dam. A remarkably versatile singer fully at home on the operatic stage, in the recital hall, and on film.
6th #WITMonth book is Banine's 'Parisian Days' (trs. by Anne Thompson-Ahmadova).A must read for anyone who liked Banine's first memoir, 'Days in the Caucasus'. Here we follow her life and that of her family as émigrés after the October Revolution. I would love to read more about her later life.
August 22, 2025 at 4:36 AM
6th #WITMonth book is Banine's 'Parisian Days' (trs. by Anne Thompson-Ahmadova).A must read for anyone who liked Banine's first memoir, 'Days in the Caucasus'. Here we follow her life and that of her family as émigrés after the October Revolution. I would love to read more about her later life.
Happiest birthday wishes to one of my favourite singers, the great and beautiful (in every way) French baritone, Robert Massard, who is 100 years old today! Truly a master of French music, he was also impressive in bel canto and Verdi roles and a fine teacher.
August 16, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Happiest birthday wishes to one of my favourite singers, the great and beautiful (in every way) French baritone, Robert Massard, who is 100 years old today! Truly a master of French music, he was also impressive in bel canto and Verdi roles and a fine teacher.
First book for #WIT is Bolivian author Liliana Colanzi's 'Our Dead World', translated by Jessica Sequeira. An exceptional collection of very brief, dark, occasionally surreal short stories.
August 5, 2025 at 5:52 AM
First book for #WIT is Bolivian author Liliana Colanzi's 'Our Dead World', translated by Jessica Sequeira. An exceptional collection of very brief, dark, occasionally surreal short stories.
A lovely way to wind the day down: drinking a Lopsidely Perfect Martini (drink created by Toby Maloney at The Violet Hour) and listening to Mariam Batsashvili play Liszt.
May 20, 2025 at 2:37 AM
A lovely way to wind the day down: drinking a Lopsidely Perfect Martini (drink created by Toby Maloney at The Violet Hour) and listening to Mariam Batsashvili play Liszt.
If you see this, post a vampire and pass it on.
April 26, 2025 at 7:33 AM
If you see this, post a vampire and pass it on.
I mentioned J. K. Rowling's utterly disingenuous, clearly mendacious response to Pedro Pascal's awesome takedown to my partner and they pointed me to this cartoon and it is the best riposte ever.
April 26, 2025 at 5:10 AM
I mentioned J. K. Rowling's utterly disingenuous, clearly mendacious response to Pedro Pascal's awesome takedown to my partner and they pointed me to this cartoon and it is the best riposte ever.
Book 22 for National Poetry Month is probably the most obscure thing I've posted yet. It's Heldris de Cornuälle's 13th century romance, 'Le Roman de Silence' in the bilingual edition translated and edited by Sarah Roche-Mahdi. This is a remarkable work and still much debated; hard to describe here.
April 23, 2025 at 5:51 AM
Book 22 for National Poetry Month is probably the most obscure thing I've posted yet. It's Heldris de Cornuälle's 13th century romance, 'Le Roman de Silence' in the bilingual edition translated and edited by Sarah Roche-Mahdi. This is a remarkable work and still much debated; hard to describe here.
21st book (a day late) for National Poetry Month is 'The Lost Lunar Baedeker: Poems of Mina Loy', a collection of poems by Mina Loy edited by Roger L. Conover. This collection draws from all of Loy's work and is essential for anyone interested in this remarkable poet.
April 23, 2025 at 5:42 AM
21st book (a day late) for National Poetry Month is 'The Lost Lunar Baedeker: Poems of Mina Loy', a collection of poems by Mina Loy edited by Roger L. Conover. This collection draws from all of Loy's work and is essential for anyone interested in this remarkable poet.
For Easter, the 20th day of National Poetry Month, my choice is Helen Gardiner's selection of that group of poets known as the Metaphysical Poets. A fine anthology, still in print more than 50 years after its first publication. Donne, Marvell, Herbert, Southwell, etc., they're all here.
April 21, 2025 at 2:40 AM
For Easter, the 20th day of National Poetry Month, my choice is Helen Gardiner's selection of that group of poets known as the Metaphysical Poets. A fine anthology, still in print more than 50 years after its first publication. Donne, Marvell, Herbert, Southwell, etc., they're all here.
19th book for National Poetry Month is Jonathan Bate's very fine selection of poetry by John Clare, 'I Am: The Selected Poetry of John Clare.' Clare was quite popular in his time but, sadly, less well-known now. A very great nature poet but also a keen observer of his fellow humanity.
April 21, 2025 at 12:52 AM
19th book for National Poetry Month is Jonathan Bate's very fine selection of poetry by John Clare, 'I Am: The Selected Poetry of John Clare.' Clare was quite popular in his time but, sadly, less well-known now. A very great nature poet but also a keen observer of his fellow humanity.
Listening to Malcolm Martineau and various singers' new recording of Ravel's complete chansons put me in mind of Clément Marot, one of my favourite poets. So, Marot's oeuvres complètes in whatever form you can find them is my 18th book for National Poetry Month. #pbq
April 19, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Listening to Malcolm Martineau and various singers' new recording of Ravel's complete chansons put me in mind of Clément Marot, one of my favourite poets. So, Marot's oeuvres complètes in whatever form you can find them is my 18th book for National Poetry Month. #pbq
17th book for National Poetry Month is The Mountain Poems of Hsieh Ling-yün translated by David Hinton (New Directions, 2001). Perhaps the earliest examples of wilderness poetry, these are meditative and philosophical and provide a kind of solace I'm much in need of right now.
April 18, 2025 at 12:58 AM
17th book for National Poetry Month is The Mountain Poems of Hsieh Ling-yün translated by David Hinton (New Directions, 2001). Perhaps the earliest examples of wilderness poetry, these are meditative and philosophical and provide a kind of solace I'm much in need of right now.
16th book for National Poetry Month is something a bit niche. Valery Larbaud's 'Les Poésies de A.O. Barnabooth'. Larbaud, probably best known today for his novel 'Fermina Marquez' created Barnabooth and wrote not only this poetry but a diary in his name. An oddity, perhaps, but a lovely one.
April 17, 2025 at 7:03 AM
16th book for National Poetry Month is something a bit niche. Valery Larbaud's 'Les Poésies de A.O. Barnabooth'. Larbaud, probably best known today for his novel 'Fermina Marquez' created Barnabooth and wrote not only this poetry but a diary in his name. An oddity, perhaps, but a lovely one.
15th book for National Poetry Month is 'Das Buch der Lieder' by Heinrich Heine. If you like Lieder by Schubert, Schumann, Loewe, etc. you've likely heard some of these poems. They are intensely Romantic (unrequited love is a frequent theme) but also often wry and ironic.
April 15, 2025 at 9:06 AM
15th book for National Poetry Month is 'Das Buch der Lieder' by Heinrich Heine. If you like Lieder by Schubert, Schumann, Loewe, etc. you've likely heard some of these poems. They are intensely Romantic (unrequited love is a frequent theme) but also often wry and ironic.
A day behind and a dollar short: my 14th book for National Poetry Month is Dorothy Porter's amazing verse novel, 'Akhenaten'. I love Porter, pretty much everything she wrote, but this is my favourite. If you have any interest at all in ancient Egypt, you will love it too. #pbq
April 15, 2025 at 8:49 AM
A day behind and a dollar short: my 14th book for National Poetry Month is Dorothy Porter's amazing verse novel, 'Akhenaten'. I love Porter, pretty much everything she wrote, but this is my favourite. If you have any interest at all in ancient Egypt, you will love it too. #pbq
'Helen in Egypt' by H. D. is my 13th book for National Poetry Month. Well beyond her Imagist period, this is a feminist revisioning of not just the story of Helen and the Trojan war but of the epic poem as a form/genre.
April 14, 2025 at 7:52 AM
'Helen in Egypt' by H. D. is my 13th book for National Poetry Month. Well beyond her Imagist period, this is a feminist revisioning of not just the story of Helen and the Trojan war but of the epic poem as a form/genre.