.
Alameda, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga, January 2017
Alameda, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga, January 2017
Alameda, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga, January 2017
Jorge Luis Borges: Borges y yo / Borges and I
Self-Portrait with Eyeshade: Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, 1775 (Musée du Louvre, Paris)
The other one, the one called Borges, is the one things happen to. I walk through the streets of Buenos Aires and stop for a moment, perhaps mechanically now, to look at the arch of an entrance hall and the grillwork on the gate; I know of Borges from the mail and see his name on a list of professors or in a biographical dictionary. I like hourglasses, maps, eighteenth-century typography, the taste of coffee and the prose of Stevenson; he shares these preferences, but in a vain way that turns them into the attributes of an actor. It would be an exaggeration to say that ours is a hostile relationship; I live, let myself go on living, so that Borges may contrive his literature, and this literature justifies me. It is no effort for me to confess that he has achieved some valid pages, but those pages cannot save me, perhaps because what is good belongs to no one, not even to him, but rather to the language and to tradition. Besides, I am destined to perish, definitively, and only some instant of myself can survive in him. Little by little, I am giving over everything to him, though I am quite aware of his perverse custom of falsifying and magnifying things.
Spinoza knew that all things long to persist in their being; the stone eternally wants to be a stone and the tiger a tiger. I shall remain in Borges, not in myself (if it is true that I am someone), but I recognize myself less in his books than in many others' or in the laborious strumming of a guitar. Years ago I tried to free myself from him and went from the mythologies of the suburbs to the games with time and infinity, but those games belong to Borges now and I shall have to imagine other things. Thus my life is a flight and I lose everything and everything belongs to oblivion, or to him.
Spinoza knew that all things long to persist in their being; the stone eternally wants to be a stone and the tiger a tiger. I shall remain in Borges, not in myself (if it is true that I am someone), but I recognize myself less in his books than in many others' or in the laborious strumming of a guitar. Years ago I tried to free myself from him and went from the mythologies of the suburbs to the games with time and infinity, but those games belong to Borges now and I shall have to imagine other things. Thus my life is a flight and I lose everything and everything belongs to oblivion, or to him.
I do not know which of us has written this page.
Self-Portrait: Samuel Palmer, 1825 (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)
Al otro, a Borges, es a quien le ocurren las cosas. Yo camino por Buenos Aires y me demoro, acaso ya mecánicamente, para mirar el arco de un zaguán y la puerta cancel; de Borges tengo noticias por el correo y veo su nombre en una terna de profesores o en un diccionario biográfico. Me gustan los relojes de arena, los mapas, la tipografía del siglo XVII, las etimologías, el sabor del café y la prosa de Stevenson; el otro comparte esas preferencias, pero de un modo vanidoso que las convierte en atributos de un actor. Sería exagerado afirmar que nuestra relación es hostil; yo vivo, yo me dejo vivir para que Borges pueda tramar su literatura y esa literatura me justifica. Nada me cuesta confesar que ha logrado ciertas páginas válidas, pero esas páginas no me pueden salvar, quizá porque lo bueno ya no es de nadie, ni siquiera del otro, sino del lenguaje o la tradición. Por lo demás, yo estoy destinado a perderme, definitivamente, y sólo algún instante de mí podrá sobrevivir en el otro. Poco a poco voy cediéndole todo, aunque me consta su perversa costumbre de falsear y magnificar. Spinoza entendió que todas las cosas quieren perseverar en su ser; la piedra eternamente quiere ser piedra y el tigre un tigre. Yo he de quedar en Borges, no en mí (si es que alguien soy), pero me reconozco menos en sus libros que en muchos otros o que en el laborioso rasgueo de una guitarra. Hace años yo traté de librarme de él y pasé de las mitologías del arrabal a los juegos con el tiempo y con lo infinito, pero esos juegos son de Borges ahora y tendré que idear otras cosas. Así mi vida es una fuga y todo lo pierdo y todo es del olvido, o del otro.
No sé cuál de los dos escribe esta página.
Self-Portrait: Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, c. 1825 (Musée du Louvre, Paris)
Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986): Borges y yo / Borges and I, from El hacedor (The Maker), 1960; English version by Antonios
Post and Polk, Tenderloin district, San Francisco: photo by Dave Glass, 6 April 2013
Market Street, San Francisco. Poverty in America, from the streets of San Francisco, Taqueria Can Cun, 1003 Market @ 6th, Tenderloin district SF: photo by Dave Glass, 15 November 2008
France - Homeless men sleep on a street in central Paris on January 8, as a cold wave hits much of Europe. #AFPphoto by @afpolm: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
Or & Argent
France - Homeless men sleep on a street in central Paris on January 8, as a cold wave hits much of Europe. #AFPphoto by @afpolm: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
Tenderloin, San Francisco. Holiday Greetings from the Tenderloin Neighborhood. Eddy and Leavenworth, San Francisco. Photographed 1987: photo by Dave Glass, 1987, posted 18 December 2008
FLOODING is ongoing or is expected to occur. DO NOT drive into flooded areas! TURN AROUND, DON'T DROWN! #CAFlood #CAstorm #nvflood17: image via NWS Western Region Verified account @NWSWestern, 8 January 2017
Industrial Ave in Petaluma this afternoon. @NorthBayNews @NWSBayArea @TurnAroundDontDrown #CAstorm #flooding: image via Kent Porter Verified account @kentphotos, 8 January 2017
Flooding in #Petaluma, #SonomaCounty @NorthBayNews @NWSBayArea #CAstorm #AtmosphericRiver #california: image via Kent Porter Verified account @kentphotos, 8 January 2017
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France - This picture shows Landsberg castle in Andlau as a cold wave hits much of Europe. #AFP Photo by @patrickhertzog1: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
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Turkey - People fish on the Galata bridge during snowfalls in Istanbul on January 8. #AFP Photo by @ozannkosee: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
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Turkey - People fish on the Galata bridge during snowfalls in Istanbul on January 8. #AFP Photo by @ozannkosee @Kilicbil: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
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Turkey - People fish on the Galata bridge during snowfalls in Istanbul on January 8. #AFP Photo by @Kilicbil: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
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Turkey - A seagull flies over the historic city centre of Istanbul covered by snow, during heavy snowfalls. #AFP Photo by @Kilicbil: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
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US - A woman crosses Greenwich Avenue in the snow as a Winter storm hits the northeast, January 7 #AFP photo by Timothy A. Clary: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
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UK MPs urge probe into Israeli plot against politicians: image via Al Jazeera News @AJE News, 8 January 2017
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This story is not going anywhere - Israeli diplomat who plotted against MPs also set up political groups: image via Ben White @benabyad, 8 January 2017
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British foreign minister Alan Duncan said in 2014 that settlement endorsement "should be put on a par with racism, sexism, homophobia and anti-Semitism". The UK foreign office minister, whom Israeli embassy official Shai Masot discussed 'taking down', has been Conservatives' most vocal critic of illegal settlements.: photo by AFP via Middle East Eye, 7 January 2017
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It seems Sir Alan Duncan's insight has rattled hard line Israelis. #Israel #Palestine #IllegalSettlements: image via Andrew @AndrewStoneman, 8 January 2017
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Shai Masot once described himself as a man with "open views" who was committed to doing good in the world. Then he described Niccolo Machiavelli, a man infamous for promoting cunning and duplicity in statecraft, as his "god".: screengrab via Middle East Eye, 7 January 2017
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Iraq - A special forces Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) member screams during a battle against IS in Mosul. #AFP Photo by @dilkoff: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
France - This picture shows Landsberg castle in Andlau as a cold wave hits much of Europe. #AFP Photo by @patrickhertzog1: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
Turkey - People fish on the Galata bridge during snowfalls in Istanbul on January 8. #AFP Photo by @ozannkosee: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
Turkey - People fish on the Galata bridge during snowfalls in Istanbul on January 8. #AFP Photo by @ozannkosee @Kilicbil: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
Turkey - People fish on the Galata bridge during snowfalls in Istanbul on January 8. #AFP Photo by @Kilicbil: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
Turkey - A seagull flies over the historic city centre of Istanbul covered by snow, during heavy snowfalls. #AFP Photo by @Kilicbil: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
US - A woman crosses Greenwich Avenue in the snow as a Winter storm hits the northeast, January 7 #AFP photo by Timothy A. Clary: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
UK MPs urge probe into Israeli plot against politicians: image via Al Jazeera News @AJE News, 8 January 2017
This story is not going anywhere - Israeli diplomat who plotted against MPs also set up political groups: image via Ben White @benabyad, 8 January 2017
British foreign minister Alan Duncan said in 2014 that settlement endorsement "should be put on a par with racism, sexism, homophobia and anti-Semitism". The UK foreign office minister, whom Israeli embassy official Shai Masot discussed 'taking down', has been Conservatives' most vocal critic of illegal settlements.: photo by AFP via Middle East Eye, 7 January 2017
It seems Sir Alan Duncan's insight has rattled hard line Israelis. #Israel #Palestine #IllegalSettlements: image via Andrew @AndrewStoneman, 8 January 2017
Shai Masot once described himself as a man with "open views" who was committed to doing good in the world. Then he described Niccolo Machiavelli, a man infamous for promoting cunning and duplicity in statecraft, as his "god".: screengrab via Middle East Eye, 7 January 2017
Shai Masot, wearing the insignia of an Israeli navy captain, or "seren", showing African dignitaries around the Gaza perimeter fence in 2013, pictured on the website of COGAT, a subordinate office of the Israeli defence ministry charged with "implementing the government's policy in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] and vis-a-vis the Gaza Strip": photo by COGAT via Middle East Eye, 8 January 2017
Iraq - A special forces Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) member screams during a battle against IS in Mosul. #AFP Photo by @dilkoff: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
Iraq - A special forces Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) unit during a battle against IS in Mosul. #AFP Photo by @dilkoff: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
Iraq - A special forces Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) unit during a battle against IS in Mosul. #AFP Photo by @dilkoff: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
Iraq - A special forces Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) unit during a battle against IS in Mosul. #AFP Photo by @dilkoff: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 January 2017
SYRIA - A fighter from the Free Syrian Army plays with a dog at a checkpoint which they've captured from IS near Qabasin. By @NazeerAlk #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 8 January 2017
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IRAQ - A man shields his daughter from seeing the body of an IS fighter as they flee Mosul's al-Mithaq neighborhood. By@dilkoff #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 8 January 2017
IRAQ - A man shields his daughter from seeing the body of an IS fighter as they flee Mosul's al-Mithaq neighborhood. By@dilkoff #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 8 January 2017
Shed with Poplars, Washington: photo by Austin Granger, 6 January 2017
Shed with Poplars, Washington: photo by Austin Granger, 6 January 2017
Shed with Poplars, Washington: photo by Austin Granger, 6 January 2017
Silo, Washington: photo by Austin Granger, 7 January 2017
Silo, Washington: photo by Austin Granger, 7 January 2017