Jelisava

Insubordinately curious

It was just me and the just-rising man in the moon on my walk; we discussed my curious streak of insubordination (“not submitting to authority”) / New Jersey / Dec. 2009

“This I always remember — insubordination: it became a way of life for me after that.”

~ Azir Nafisi in her wonderful book about curiosity and insubordination in the face of tyranny Reading Lolita in Tehran

“Curiosity is insubordination in its purest form.”

~ Vladimir Nabokov (as quoted by Nafisi)

The idea of movement

Katica and Mitza / Sv. Vid, Croatia / May 2005

“The idea of movement was more important than actually going somewhere.”

~ Persis M. Karim writing in her story Paris Rendez-vous

The qualities that keep us human

Taking time to celebrate together / New Jersey / Nov. 2008

“Malaka Nazli hadn't simply been a place, I realized, but a state of mind. It was where you could find an extraordinary, breathtaking level of humanity. What it lacked in privacy, what it failed to provide by way of modern comforts — hot running water, showers, electric stoves, refrigerators, telephones — it more than made up for in mercy and compassion and tenderness and grace, those ethereal qualities that make and keep us human.”

~ Lucette Lagnado in her book The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit

Celebrate the freedom to read

A google book online: Historical Collections of the State of New Jersey containing a General collection of the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, etc. / published in 1844

Did you know that this is banned books week? Did you know that google books has thousands of books that you can read online? Go to www.books.google.com and search any topic. The window above gives you a peak into one of the online books. You can search within this book (published in 1844), zoom in and out on the page, and browse up to 20% of the book.