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“I lived for art...”

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... synopsis of Puccini's opera Tosca Tosca Opera Synopsis Mario Cavaradossi, a painter and republican sympathizer, helps Cesare Angelotti, an escaped political prisoner and former consul of the Roman Republic, hide in the Church of Sant’Andrea della Valle. His lover, the famous opera singer Floria Tosca, arrives, jealous upon seeing Cavaradossi’s painting of Mary Magdalene—inspired by Angelotti’s sister, the Marchesa d’Attavanti. She storms off after suspecting infidelity. Baron Scarpia, the sadistic chief of police, arrives searching for Angelotti. He uses a fan with the Attavanti crest to manipulate Tosca into believing Cavaradossi has betrayed her. Cavaradossi is arrested and tortured in front of her; under duress, Tosca reveals Angelotti’s hiding place. Scarpia then demands Tosca surrender herself to him in exchange for Cavaradossi’s life. She agrees, and Scarpia arranges a mock execution. In Act III, Cavaradossi awaits execution on the parapet of Castel Sant’Angelo. Tosca arr...
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The Carnival Came To Town

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... info on Berger & Luckman "the social construct of reality" 1971 The book The Social Construction of Reality was originally published in 1966, not 1971, by sociologists Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann.  It is a foundational text in the sociology of knowledge, arguing that reality is not an objective given but is actively created and maintained through human interaction.  Berger and Luckmann propose that reality emerges through a three-step process: 1. Externalization – Individuals express their subjective experiences into the social world through action and communication.  2. Objectivation – These expressions become institutionalized and take on an independent existence, appearing as objective facts or social structures and, Internalization – Individuals absorb these social structures through socialization, accepting them as natural and real.   3. This cycle creates a stable social world that feels as real as the natural world, even though it is human-made...
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Code 4

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... fact check medical claims in today's news story about Teddi Mellencamp's cancer -she maintains it is melanoma but her father John Mellencamp says it is “in her brain” Teddi Mellencamp was diagnosed with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, in 2022. The cancer metastasized (spread) to her lungs and brain, leading to a stage 4 diagnosis in April 2025. This is consistent with medical facts: melanoma can spread to distant organs, including the brain and lungs, and when it does, it is classified as stage 4.  Her father, John Mellencamp, stated on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on January 14, 2026, that she has cancer in her brain and is “suffering right now.” Teddi Mellencamp clarified on her January 28, 2026, Two T’s in a Pod podcast that her father’s comment referred to her mental and emotional state, not a new physical deterioration.  She confirmed that there is still no trace of cancer, but she remains stage 4 and is still undergoing immunotherapy.  Medical e...
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Say the Word: Clitoris

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As a child, my mother chided me for speaking bluntly. She said I was tactless, a concept with which I was unfamiliar, and required explanation. This biographical detail has bearing on my critical thinking about semantics —as will become apparent. As a particular detail of my life-long inclination, the planet Mercury was transiting the fixed star Algol, the day I was born. Studying the symbolism of astrology, as an adult, I asked a seasoned interpreter what the significance of the dire transit might be to me. My take-away from the reading was that if I “ruled my stars,” the conjunction might signify (to me) a singular order of self-expression. Accordingly, my self-expression came to be ruled more by what I elect not to say, than what I say. The result which I aim for is to define a figure against a void background. As a student of art, and art history, I asked a lot of questions that teaching faculty was at a loss to answer. It wasn't meant to put the teacher “on the spot.” I was cl...
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Beyond Art

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... what are the French words for “ambient pornography” used by Beaudrillard in his essay “The Conspiracy of Art” 1996 French Words for Ambient Pornography Jean Baudrillard used the French phrase ”pornographie ambiant" in his 1996 essay "The Conspiracy of Art", which translates into English literally as "ambient pornography." This term describes the pervasive, all-encompassing nature of pornographic imagery and transparency in contemporary culture, where the boundaries between reality and simulation have collapsed, rendering traditional notions of desire and secrecy obsolete. ... sense checking my understanding that Baudrillard uses the term “ambiant” in the sense of an ever-present low background hum or droning, one that diminishes the effect of pornography due to lessening restrictions on its distribution Your understanding is correct. Baudrillard uses ambiant (ambient) to describe a cultural condition in which pornography, as a form of hyperreality, becomes ...
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Artistic Dyspepsia

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... synopsis of Jean Baudrillard "The Conspiracy of Art" “The Conspiracy of Art” by Jean Baudrillard is a critical examination of contemporary art’s transformation in the hyperreal age. Baudrillard argues that art has lost its desire for illusion and now feeds endlessly on itself, turning its own vanishing into an artistic strategy. Rather than lamenting the "death of art," he identifies its new role in the military-industrial complex of the art market, where aesthetic nihilism spirals into a commercial frenzy of added-value. Art has thus become trans-aesthetic, making it indistinguishable from the broader socioeconomic conditions of exploitation, banality, and the spectacle. The book critiques contemporary art claims of insignificance and meaninglessness while simultaneously justifying its existence through discourse and market mechanisms, creating a conspiracy of emptiness. A central piece, "War Porn," analyzes the Abu Ghraib prison images as a new genre...
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My Camp

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... Christopher Isherwood's novel "The World in the Evening" (1954) includes a discussion of camp Christopher Isherwood's 1954 novel The World in the Evening contains one of the first literary discussions of the concept of camp, distinguishing between Low Camp—a superficial, stereotypical caricature like a "swishy little boy with peroxided hair, dressed in a picture hat and a feather boa, pretending to be Marlene Dietrich"—and High Camp, which is characterized by underlying seriousness.  In the novel, the character Charles, an openly gay doctor, explains that High Camp is not mockery but a way of expressing something deeply serious—such as religion, love, or art—through fun, artifice, and elegance. He gives examples: Mozart, El Greco, and Dostoevsky are camp, while Beethoven, Flaubert, and Rembrandt are not. This definition emphasizes that true camp requires emotional investment and reverence, making it a sophisticated, ironic form of expression.  The discus...
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