I’m enjoying my second read even more Shawna☀️

Lovely to see! @palimpsestpress.bsky.social

Sometimes you just need to scream “I embrace the world!” (Gojira song. Very therapeutic!) And another saying that has always helped is one @shawnalemay.bsky.social always says: “you are required to create something beautiful.” That’s all I know. Hopefully it’s enough. ❤️

“People do things like read or look at art because they want to be delighted, or be shocked by beauty, or for joy or surprise or to be taken outside of where they are. … How can we show people that more? I mean, of course we can. We need to keep trying.” – @shawnalemay.bsky.social

“Once I’ve read one thing by an author that I’ve loved, I tend to read all. I’m a re-reader, too, often re-reading the entire book or just favourite passages. I’m the dog-earing type, the underlining type. I like to have a few books on the go at all times.” – @shawnalemay.bsky.social

On finding your next read. transactionswithbeauty.com/home/finding...

“The most important thing I go on learning from Jane Austen is to view the world at a comedic distance. I read Jane Austen because she’s funny and she’s sharp and she’s tender. I read her for her layers of understanding and for the way she sees.” – @shawnalemay.bsky.social

“Every re-reading will reward you with a new and deeper understanding of humanity, of her genius. If you truly wish to understand the meaning of ‘wit,’ it is there in Austen’s works.” – @shawnalemay.bsky.social

Millions of Canadians work full-time and still struggle to afford a new pair of shoes. As costs rise, here’s one person’s story of making (and faking) it in Canada as part of the working poor. macleans.ca/society/conf...

I needed these kinds of blessings today. Maybe you do too. 💖 @shawnalemay.bsky.social transactionswithbeauty.com/home/blessin...

What is the best Love you’ve ever had in this world? Be quiet while thinking about that Love. If someone comes along and starts talking, quietly shoo them away, you’re busy, you’re a poet… Be quiet so quiet, let the very sounds of that Love be heard in your bones. —CAConrad, from “(Soma)tic 6”

Read @amandaearl.bsky.social's review of @shawnalemay.bsky.social's Apples on a Windowsill (pub. @palimpsestpress.bsky.social)! Lemay teaches us how to be attentive to the beauty in our lives, in ordinary things and their poetry, and in our own ordinariness... www.thetemzreview.com/earl-lemay-3...

The greatest invention: transactionswithbeauty.com/home/thegrea...

“Painting is no guarantee of happiness. Neither is not painting.” – Benjamin Moser @shawnalemay.bsky.social

"... what I know is that if you use the same music for a piece of writing it does something to your brain — fast tracking you to the space of your work."

Two of the marvellous photos taken this past weekend by official @yegindiebookstores.bsky.social Extravaganza photographer @shawnalemay.bsky.social.

Well done you!

A nice review of my book of essays on Galleries West. Very chuffed to see my work discussed in an art magazine. www.gallerieswest.ca/magazine/boo...

“Our valleys will no longer sustain us” A poem by Diane di Prima.

Heather Swann considers the many roles of Jane Hirshfield (with poems!). lithub.com/an-incomplet...

On #poetry… Side note, the title of the first poem shared in the post (Allegro Ma Non Troppo) reminds me of why I love the Italian language so much. (“Happy, but not too much” is literal translation, better English would be “happy but not too happy”)

"How fragile we are, between the few good moments." - Jane Hirshfield

I need poetry breaks maybe you need one too. transactionswithbeauty.com/home/poetrym...

This article's a great example of how humans think and communicate: carefully, with nuance, with ACTUAL learning! Art history is a long way from my own expertise, but @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social's insights about AI ring utterly true for me over in composition and literary studies. #againstAI

“We need more adults, dude.” That sums things up nicely.

Reminds me of this.

Five hits for my work. Oof.

It's like they're going after anyone whose job could be found in a Richard Scarry book.

The beauty of art restoration. transactionswithbeauty.com/home/artrest...

A small mention in this article in University Affairs: universityaffairs.ca/career-advic...

"It appears like an innocuous illness. Monotony, boredom, death. Millions live like this (or die like this) without knowing it." Anaïs Nin, born on this day in 1903, on how reading awakens us from the slumber of almost-living

Thinking about typewriters and pianos and disco balls. As one does. transactionswithbeauty.com/home/typewri...

Extremely pleasant to be asked "why I wrote this book" by Miramichi Reader alongside authors Saad T. Farooqi, Jamie Kitts, and sophie anne edwards. miramichireader.ca/2025/02/why-...

Thinking about hope. transactionswithbeauty.com/home/hope

Last spring I was asked to write a piece with tips on how to suss out AI-generated images. I countered that that premise weakens democracy by promoting the idea that everyone can claim expertise regardless of their credentials, a key tenet of anti-democratic technoutopianism. What strikes me now…1/n

“With his authoritarian orders, the president—and his unelected South African Rasputin—have eliminated the fundamental tools of discussion and debate, namely words themselves.” @robspillman.bsky.social on self-censorship and why we shouldn’t obey in advance.

“People should still be encouraged to read and to analyze information without the aid of LLMs or video because it is good for society.”

Another way #AI is stealing from people: Ingesting academic IP without permission or compensation. Disgusting.

"I assumed that everything would lead to complete failure, but I decided that didn't matter – that would be my life." - Jasper Johns

Poetry break: transactionswithbeauty.com/home/half-hour

Sundog, yesterday morning, Edmonton.

Still life has always commented on trade. I talked about this in my book on still life and the creative life, Apples on a Windowsill (published by @palimpsestpress.bsky.social ) and it's obviously true today.

It’s cold with a windchill of holy fucking shit in Edmonton today.