Food and "Democracy"
If you live in New York — or are planning a visit — you will surely want to know about these fine dining establishments.Come along with me on a tour. Bon...
Talkin’ Old Man Blues'n'Views
Get Me While I'm Here Since 2016, I — writer, visual artist, philosopher, autodidact, and curmudgeon — have published over 300 short stories and essays on...
The Power of Music and the Noise of Power
A truly amazing concert last night at Lincoln Center. 4 minute sample. First, the Rajasthani folk group SAZ. Next, Vinayakram family — featuring legendary...
July 2 and July 4
JULY 2 Letters to my mother, written by me (and my girlfriend Gail), in 1970-1971, bundled up and hung at the Temple at Burning Man in 2017. They were burned...
PREJUDICE
PREJUDICE The chickens have come to roost on the ass (donkey). The Democratic Party who weaseled in Biden when Bernie Sanders was rising (thanks, Obama!) —...
PRIDE
👍 PRIDE 👍 Some art I designed in the past for the B in LGBTQ+.SwitchKissers Magazine — Montreal, Canada Spring 2000 — Front cover art by AleXander Hirka....
The Sense of An Ending
There are two books in the past that I read and had the need to re-read immediately upon completion. One was “Against The Day’ by Thomas Pynchon. At 1085...
Hole Or Soul (klaatu barada nikto)
Written some years ago. Thoroughly revised recently.Just published on Medium/Rainbow Salad. “Hole vs “Soul: Pseudonyms for The Emptiness”Two minute read....
All Aboard!
I wrote a piece a few years ago — a brief sketch of a ride of the subway.I recently looked at it, found it seriously wanting, so I hopped on the subway again...
SH*TS & GIGGLES - DARKNESS & LIGHT
As I drink my coffee on the morning after “Memorial Day” — military jets in flyover maneuvers vomit that sound of threatened violence in the sky over New...
His Bobness and the Truthteller
Happy completion of 83 spins around the sun to Bob Dylan. I am very grateful that his amazing work has coincided with my visit to the planet. I have followed...
Revelations Or More Camouflage?
If you’ve read some or all of the six episodes of my series “Withdrawing Fables From The Memory Bank” you will surely want to know the background as to how...
"Arise, then, women of this day!"
Julia Ward Howe (1879) — “Say firmly: ‘We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies, Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with...
Choo’n Gum and other Gnawables
A new four minute “short story”. See if you can read it, chew gum, and sing along at the same time. Choo’n Gum. Of Course He Spilled The Beans. | by...
We Are Stardust
Tomorrow will be one month since I shared with you Part Five of my series Withdrawing Fables From The Memory Bank. The writing has been slow but Part Six: We...
Satire, Music, and Intactitude
Welcome to this week's Tempest Tossed Stardust newsletter. Let's begin with fifteen minutes of beautiful music by Frédéric Chopin (1829-1847), accompanied by...
Bang Bang
This is the 147th edition of this newsletter which I began two years ago this week.Here's the link to the fifth installment of my "Withdrawing Fables From...
Flooded with Memories
I am currently working on the fifth installment of my "Withdrawing Fables From The Memory Bank" short stories. Being a fictional account of events from the...
Many Returns
The latest (fourth) episode of my Withdrawing Fables From The Memory Bank has just been published. I had begun work on it when my health hit the wall on 23...
Serious Shit — Parts #1 & #2
Part #1 My Body Conspires Against MeI don’t want to have you running out of the room screaming TMI (Too Much Information) so I’ll skip on many of the details...
Old Clothes and Newspapers
Just published . . . Part THREE of Withdrawing Fables From The Memory Bank. A six-minute meta-fictional pseudo-biographical magic-realism historical-fantasy...
All The Rage
Just published . . . Part Two of my Withdrawing Fables From The Memory Bank. A five-minute meta-fictional pseudo-biographical magic-realism historical-...
Penguins and Goof Gas
This week, while the world continues to burn, the propagandists extolling their Mediocrity, I'll set aside my raging essay pen, and making like Nero — I'll...
Dont Look Back
Bob Dylan wrote: "She's got everything she needs / she's an artist / she don't look back"Do the work and don't look back at the response. I usually run with...
Beethoven, Martin Luther King, and US Military
Let's start the new year with some music.As I've written before, while I've always enjoyed some pieces by Ludwig, a couple of years ago I became an over-the-...
The Anomalous Duo At The Movies
First . . . A big welcome to the bunch of friends who recently signed up for this little newsletter.I'll keep it flowing, about every week+ — with links to...
Book/s for the New Year
A new year approaches. Make time to read some good books. I had a very lucky year in that out of the fifteen books I read, five were the amazing kind that...
Last Exit
As the new year enters I will be closing a door — one which I entered 15 years and 3 months ago. I will be leaving behind the 3 billion+ members of my...
A Figment Of Christmas Past
The final story to be published — on December 15 — by the 71-year-old writer AleXander Hirka.On 22 December he began his 72nd spin around the sun. A tale of...
Writings To Be Read
First things first.My life/art partner Tammy's book — "Plague Year —New York City 2020" has been published. Book cover design by AleXander Hirka The first...
December
December is my birth month.My astrologer (sic) said that the time I was born on, on the 22nd, just barely qualifies me as a Sagittarius. An hour or two later...
Дякую (Dyakuyu) [Thank You]
LINOLEUM - a new short poem/story New Linoleum. Stand Back And Admire | by aleXander hirka | Rainbow Salad | Nov, 2023 | Medium Stand Back And Admire </div>...
On A Roll
Following the success of my piece "Armistice Is UnAmerican" (boosted as it was by the editorial team at Medium — hope you read it) — I bring you some words...
New Words & New Art
WORDS Fast and free to my newsletter friends.Just published in Counter Arts . . . And it has been selected for a "boost" by the Medium Editorial staff . . ....
Books (Because Required Shopping Season)
Now that almost all the Halloween candy around the country has been devoured — its wrappers joining all the decorations and costumes stampeding towards the...
Time (You Can't Save It)
It's just a parlor trick!A very short story about time . . . Daylight Savings. Heliocentric II | by aleXander hirka | Medium Heliocentric II </div> "The Last...
Voices In My Head
Hope you find some Awe or inspiration amidst all the many goodies in this edition . . . My latest written piece in Counter Arts on Medium. Voices In My Head....
Ahimsa
AHIMSA is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to actions towards all living beings. It is a key virtue in Indian religions like...
Special John Lennon edition
John Lennon's birthday - 9 October 2023 - Strawberry Fields, New York City 14 minute video —In My Life / If I Needed Someone / I Want To Tell You / I Got A...
Last Words & Poetic Words
"Pity, pity — too late!" — the last words of Ludwig van Beethoven, as the dying composer was told of a gift of twelve bottles of wine from his publisher. And...
Songs of Autumn
In the 1990s I put together a mix-compilation of songs — under the banner of “September” — on something called a cassette tape (and shared it with my...
Falling Memories
What we choose to remember and what we choose to forget.Patriotism is a demanding master — and the convoluted memories that serve it are extremely selective...
Mud, and Fiction
The mass media loves disasters — it sells newspapers and gets clicks and thus makes the adverti$ers happy — and so, certainly most of you heard about the...
The Celebration of Labor - The Anguish of Greed
Let Professor Louis brilliantly ask you — what does it mean to be working class? The history of Labor Day. It was while my partner Tammy Remington and I were...
First Casualty Of War — Truth!
I am not giving up on trying to break through to my fellow citizens' to expose my government's nightmarish involvement in international politics. Currently...
Press Button For Quick Service
Ten years ago today, in Reno, Nevada, on our way to Burning Man. “Press Button for Quick Service”. A Life/Art Performance Piece in Reno… | by aleXander hirka...
Two Paintings In Motion
Two Paintings. Acrylic Paint on Canvas. Two artists (T. Remington & AleXander Hirka). Collaboration 2017. 11 Days of adding content. 66 minutes per each day....
Cinema and Art & Penes
In this edition. . . AleXander on Art and Penes — and Tammy on Cinema CINEMASuspecting my readership proclivities, I begin this newsletter with the...
Another week of Pilgrim's Progress
The external world remains in turmoil, dancing with the possibilities of cataclysm. A brief rant before the show begins: The US government, which in no way...
Pilgrims' Progress - Week 3
The external world remains in turmoil. Was it ever not? Well, not always does it get so far from critical thinking, so damn close to virtual fantasy and...