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Mirko B

Mirko B

"...I'll be the wind,
The rain and the sunset
The light on your door
To show that you're home"

(The Velvet Underground & Nico)

I'm coming from Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina and am about to graduate from college. I read books ever since I can remember. When I don't read, I write. I have published two...more »
  • Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina
  • member since Wednesday, November 7 2007

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Mirko B’s last login was Friday, June 20 2008. show recent activity »

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Public Notes

  • Joseph the Bald

    joseph the bald says

    I want to recommend 'Goedel, Escher, Bach....' to you, seeing as you are a Bach lover. I have used it in parts to present lecture recitals, but it's just something you could spend your entire summer pondering. It would be good for your beautiful brain.

    posted 2 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Joseph the Bald

    joseph the bald says

    Yes, I love Eco. It is one of the reasons I wanted to send you that first note, noting that you liked him, too. It's as if he's out of his epoch; working with ideas and relationships that one hardly finds anymore, or at least, one hardly finds being dealt with in the way that he does.
    JB

    posted 2 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Joseph the Bald

    joseph the bald says

    I'll send you a few of my favorites; one is the rooibos, the other is my daily staple, Irish Breakfast. And I'll look for some other special teas, too. We have an entire revolving cupboard of teas and tea paraphernalia. Some day, you will have to come enjoy it with me. --JB

    posted 2 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Joseph the Bald

    joseph the bald says

    My goodness, Mirko. I have only just returned, yesterday evening, from a visit with my spiritual director, who helped me see the movement in me toward emptiness, how that has been there for so long, and how pieces of it have caused me fear, too. I have danced around Basho, and the Orient, for a long time, but have not jumped in: The Book of Tea tricked me gently, and I am amazed to find you in the tea room, too.

    In a few weeks I will, for the first time, make a week-long silent retreat, and I know now that I will take Okakura with me, and you, too! I have been learning to open doors, instead of waiting for the knock. Your graciousness to me affirms that movement. I am drawn again to the passage in the book describing the samurai stowing art within his corpse as the building burns down, saving it. This is the life of the poet, too, with what must be saved being stored while things burn around us, only to bring it forth later, which is a kind of death. The piece I love in your bio is of writing a sentence at least, every day. This is life. And the heroism of it, to go to the page over and over, and face the emptiness. What comfort, then, to find a tea friend to face the emptiness with.

    I could never reconcile Dickinson's comment that prose was fire to her and poetry utter chill. Perhaps that's why I always return to Whitman and Ginsberg and Chaucer, who keep spinning and dancing and flying. It is a crazy life, this, and it keeps getting better, especially as I keep trying to spit out the fishbone of bitterness and self-pity that seems to pervade poetry. I accuse myself, too, of too much of that, and work with each new piece to move on.

    Yes; I'm on Facebook--under Joseph Byrd, lutheranwarrior@yahoo.com. I'm going to send you an e-mail from another account presently.

    Peace and all good,

    Joseph

    posted 2 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Joseph the Bald

    joseph the bald says

    It would seem we have struck a vein, Mirko. 'The Book of Tea' surprised me so much, particularly as I am a tea fiend, and was thinking it would be much more pedantic/brew related. But somehow he just breathes off the page, and it almost wouldn't matter whether it's about tea or not. I felt crushed by the flower chapter, and can't get it out of my mind. And the pages relating American/European rooms, compared to the Asian asymmetry of the tea room, knocked me over, too. I've not read anything else by him, but I, too, am drawn to the tea ceremony: the preparation, the savoring, the holding. I've a desire to take a tea retreat/vacation someday, and spend a few weeks doing just that. Part of what has affected me so much is the idea of emptiness, and vacuum.

    I think you're dead on about Whitman; the idea of mission. I hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense, with his organic style and his desire to graft himself on to everything and be a part of it. I have found in my own writing a similar sense, and something which I regarded as foolishness for a long time, but now see as a kind of evangelism (a word which I don't like). Let's change the world! One poem at a time.

    I would like to read your work.

    I watched the Walt Whitman piece on-line, just before going to New York last month, and that was serendipitous. The people!

    Let's have tea. Forgive my verbosity.
    JB

    posted 2 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Joseph the Bald

    joseph the bald says

    Mirko--more power to you on your shelf. I connected to it through 'The Book of Tea' which is taking my breath away right now. I do still hope that poets can change the world. Have you see the Walt Whitman 'American Experience' on PBS?

    Peace--Joseph

    posted 2 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Elisabeth B

    elisabeth b says

    Morning Regards Mirko,
    Sorry to have been so long in my answer but my computer crashed badly and I couldn't send anything.
    I feel extremely sorry to hear about your loss! My heart goes out to you in this moment and I send you my deepest symphaties. You will be on my prayers despite I am not a firm believer in any religion but I am convinced that we're here on a visit, in our path in the spiritual journey. Take care and my best thoughts,
    Elisabeth

    posted 4 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Elisabeth B

    elisabeth b says

    Hi Mirko,
    Just a short note to wish you a very happy Easter! Hope you are having a great rest and enjoying time with your family and friends.
    I hope you don't mind if I browse your shelfbook from time to time in order to share tastes in books.
    A Shelfari Spanish friend,
    Elisabeth

    posted 4 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Taxidermist

    taxidermist says

    aaaaa fala fala kolega =]
    zelim i tebi sve isto =)
    pozdrav

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Ivana C

    ivana c says

    ej vidim da si citao od Barthesa Mitologija, pa mi reci od kud si je nabavio, zanima me ova knjiga?

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • rhett_darcy

    rhett_darcy says

    makes me scared of the time when i'm going to have to write my thesis.. nyahahaha.. good luck with your thesis!!.. ^_^ ..

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • rhett_darcy

    rhett_darcy says

    you have anything lined up to read for the holidays?.. ^_^ ..

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Clarisa

    clarisa says

    Happy Holidays to you you, too, Mirko!

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • rhett_darcy

    rhett_darcy says

    just dropping by to say happy holidays!!.. ^_^ ..

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • rhett_darcy

    rhett_darcy says

    no, clark gable would be the one to say that.. the line from the movie is different than the one from the book..the word "frankly" appeared only in the movie.. but nevertheless, it's one of my favorite lines of all time.. thank you!!.. ^_^ ..

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • poppet

    poppet says

    Like your profile--no time right now to look at your shelf but am sure it's good. Just wondered if you've read any Chinese poetry? I love, and think you would also very much appreciate, the work of Li Po, Wang Wei and others. For me, Kenneth Rexroth is the best translator. Good luck with your studies--hard work!

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Elysse

    elysse says

    Hi Mirko B! Don’t worry, I’ll join the group :D

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Ivana C

    ivana c says

    p.s. dobra slika! ; )

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Ivana C

    ivana c says

    ej ma molim te ko je ovaj usha r, a kuzis li ti da je ovo igra riječi? usha r; usha-r, tj. ušar na mostarski usha je ono kad nekog tjeras, to ti ne trebam objasnjavati, ma kladim se da je ovo netko koga znamo, pa me zanima jesi ti frend s njim i tko je ovo?

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Taxidermist

    taxidermist says

    uf....
    mislim da jesam citao al prilicno davno, al nemoj me sto-postotno drzat za rijec, jel.
    nego, jesi ti citao The Collectora od John Fowlesa?
    ako nisi, e to ti je toootalno moja preporuka s obzirom da je to knjiga koja mi je ono prilicno pomutila mozak i neka razmisljanja na neko vrijeme.
    spukiiii as hell XD

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )


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