Social Media, All These Years In

The way I’ve come to use social media personally is four is gathering, entertainment, and making new connections. Where is a few years ago it was more about keeping in touch with friends and basic entertainment, these days, it’s as much a means of cure ration and discovery, particularly now that I’m into visual art more so now than back then.

Have you found that the way you participate in order to use social media has evolved over the past, say, five years? Has it become more integrated into your routine or other activities? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Let Love Lead You

What’s the worst that can happen, really?

Art by Chris Houk

Narure's Great Promise

Narure's Great Promise, a photo by rsmithing on Flickr.

A Good Man Is Hard To Find Read by Flannery O’Connor

Flannery O’Connor reading her short story “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”

My all-time favorite author, Flannery O’Connor, reads here one of my all-time favorite stories, A Good Man Is Hard To Find. It’s so interesting to hear the creator of such a widespread work (the story appears in many college “English 101″ college compilations) reciting her own creation.

A Southern Accent

I know many people who sound exactly like this around where I’m from. To me it sounds comforting. And that’s saying quite a bit, considering how disconcerting the subject matter of the story is.

I wonder what O’Connor would have thought of Breaking Bad. If I ever meet Vince Gilligan or any of the writers, I’ll bring this up.

What do you think? Have you ever heard any of your favorite authors reading one of your favorite works? Do you think hearing the words from the person who wrote them affects the interpretation? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Characters of “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”

Related articles

• Flannery O’Connor’s Private Life Revealed in Letters (npr)


• Flannery O’Connor “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” (katelamianskaya.wordpress.com)


• Flannery O’Connor On Mystery (windupwire.wordpress.com)


• Dramatic Irony on A Good Man is Hard to Find! (kcrosby1932.wordpress.com)


• Flannery O’Connor on Teaching Literature (drquantum.wordpress.com)

Find What You Love

Find What You Love, a photo by rsmithing on Flickr.

“And let it set you free.” This is a play on the phrase by Charles Bukowski, “find what you love and let it kill you.” I like his phrase, but I also like the idea of setting something free or being set free in the name of love. This is a montage I assembled on my iPhone using a shot of a couple of treetops at sunset (with the moon rising), a roadside view of some wildflowers, and a gash of peeling paint in a parking deck. Click to see the originals and full-size version in greater detail at my Flickr photostream.