web analytics

My Dream of Amsterdam

I dreamt of Amsterdam last night; I’ve never been there, and I don’t even know which part of the city I’d seen, but my inner voice told me in the dream that I came to Amsterdam, and I believe it knew better.

This postcard was given to me by a unimate; in the summer of 1999 he went to visit the Benelux countries with his grandparents and brought me a few Belgian chocolates and this card, which was actually printed in Amsterdam. In our second year at the university we spent a lot of time together, went to museums and galleries, although I doubt either of us had had strong feelings for each other. We did appreaciate each other’s intellect and interests, however. I was given a lot of postcards around that time, it happens a lot when you’re 18-19, but suffices to say that all of those are stored somewhere in a box, and this one stands on the bookshelf.

I was surprised, however, to find out that Amsterdam is also called “the Northern Venice”, like St Petersburg (Russia) and even Manchester (UK). Which makes me want to visit it even more…

Quotes: Henry Miller on Writing – 1

To be born a writer, one must learn to like privation, suffering, humiliation. Above all, one must learn to live apart. Like the sloth, the writer clings to his limb while beneath him life surges by steady, persistent, tumultuous. When ready, plop! he fall into the stream and battles for life. Is it not something like that? 

Henry Miller, Nexus (The Rosy Crucifixion).

Below is a fragment from the novel, stored in Big Sur, California, courtesy of ManhattanRareBooks. More images available on ManhattanRareBooks website.

error: Sorry, no copying !!