Nearly Kirk

"I was twenty. I will let no one say it is the best time of life. Everything threatens a young person..."

Fri, 24 May 2013 08:43:14 -0400

“I was twenty. I will let no one say it is the best time of life. Everything threatens a young person with ruin: love, ideas, the loss of family, the entrance into the world of adults. It is hard to learn one’s part in the world.”

- Paul Nizan, Aden Arabie (via adieufranz)

Tweet me @victoriapengill for some smaller, more regular updates!

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:48:16 -0400

Tweet me @victoriapengill for some smaller, more regular updates!

ululationsofthenewzeitgeist: A fantastical play about the...

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:33:00 -0400

ululationsofthenewzeitgeist:

A fantastical play about the mythic Jimi Hendrix

written by Hawkwind vocalist Robert Calvert

I’ve directed this, and it’s pretty rad, so if you’re in London, come by!

I’ve been unnecessarily absent for a myriad of reasons, one of which is because I’ve been working on this play! Please help advertise, we feel watching this at Pentameters is like watching a play in someone’s attic.

"When I wake up just before dawn and hear the throbbing voices of birds as they echo against the..."

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:29:50 -0400

“When I wake up just before dawn and hear the throbbing voices of birds as they echo against the silence, I am overpowered by yearning. When I ride in the dark on stark roads through dry, bald hills, I ache with desperate longing. I don’t know what I am longing for, maybe for some place of my own within these images, some place where I fit, instead of being the one human being still awake, the only thing moving across the hills in the arid darkness. Maybe that ache is loneliness. I haven’t found a name for the feeling yet, nor do I know exactly what awakes in me. But instinct warns me that it is too potent for me, that my soul is on the verge of cracking when I feel it that way. I cannot handle the sheer power of those wild emotions by myself. I have to find some way to share them. That is why I write. It’s instinctive. I just have to—because it is awake like lava in my blood, and sustains me.”

- Rachel Corrie, Let Me Stand Alone (via feuille-d-automne)

“Cate Blanchett is mesmerizing. I don’t know why. It’s beyond...

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:45:47 -0400

“Cate Blanchett is mesmerizing. I don’t know why. It’s beyond my understanding. Why we all want to work with her is she elevates the rest of us. She’s just got some ethereal grace and elegance that’s beyond me, and an acute understanding of human nature. She’s just exquisite. She’s otherworldly.” — Brad Pitt

Happy Birthday Catherine Élise “Cate” Blanchett | May 14, 1969

"The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And..."

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:17:24 -0400

“The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.”

- Unlikely advice from Bilbo Baggins

visitheworld: Medieval streets of Turenne in Limousin, France...

Sat, 11 May 2013 09:58:42 -0400

visitheworld:

Medieval streets of Turenne in Limousin, France (by PierreG_09).

Mary Shelley’s handwritten poem “Absence”, on the death of her...

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:22:37 -0400

Mary Shelley’s handwritten poem “Absence”, on the death of her husband. The poem reads:

Ah! he is gone — and I alone;
How dark and dreary seems the time!
‘Tis Thus, when the glad sun is flown,
Night rushes o’er the Indian clime.

Is there no star to cheer this night
No soothing twilight for the breast?
Yes, Memory sheds her fairy light,
Pleasing as sunset’s golden west.

And hope of dawn — Oh! brighter far
Than clouds that in the orient burn;
More welcome than the morning star
Is the dear thought — he will return!

Colour photographs of Egypt, ca. 1920. Autochromes taken by...

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:14:25 -0400

Colour photographs of Egypt, ca. 1920.

Autochromes taken by Gervais Courtellemont and W. Robert Moore for National Geographic.

My French mother, Ginger (Geraldine) Geoffroy has just returned from Egypt and is gushing over the experience. Her anecdotes have me dreaming about Egypt myself and wandering through beautiful autochromes. Have I mentioned my autochrome-obsession?

I dream of flowers in the midst of Reading Period (another case...

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:51:00 -0400

I dream of flowers in the midst of Reading Period (another case of self-indulgent Harvard jargon denoting the two week exam period and break from formal class). The floral be-patterned Erdem trend is having me gush over the flush of my European Summer.

Dear V, shall we down the rest of my Summer, post-Germany, in...

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:42:00 -0400

Dear V, shall we down the rest of my Summer, post-Germany, in some far-flung Mediterranean villa with a decrepit piano, a sanguine, quick-tempered housekeeper and far too many tuscan temptations…or shall we aim for the clean and verdant northern climes where conversational walking, historical delights and vegan fettishes will be the order of the day…

V's manifesto

Wed, 08 May 2013 10:16:37 -0400

I’m not usually one to profusely rant about plays (let me think about that), but if you are in London and are wanting to dabble in some culture then I earnestly beseech you to see The Arrest of Ai Wei Wei at Hampstead Theatre until the 18th of May. A somewhat parred back recount of Wei Wei’s arrest in Hong Kong, it skilfully manages to balance hard core politics with the sentimental sincerity of his work without seeming preachy or trite in the process. It really is an example of fantastic direction, acting and artistic vision and for £15, it shines a beacon upon the importance of changing art with a changing world and our society’s preoccupation with retrospect as we ironically seem to be looking forward.

http://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/whats-on/2013/main-stage-aiww-the-arrest-of-ai-weiwei/

Frédéric Chopin, Preludes, Op. 28: № 19 in E-flat major...

Tue, 07 May 2013 10:38:41 -0400

Frédéric Chopin, Preludes, Op. 28: № 19 in E-flat major
[Maurizio Pollini]

Nothing like Chopin to enliven the soul and transport it from the earthly cares of exams, packing and the like

Just casually before heading off to Ghent. (at Jubelpark / Parc...

Mon, 06 May 2013 09:58:01 -0400

Just casually before heading off to Ghent. (at Jubelpark / Parc du Cinquantenaire)

More photo porn, la grande place aux Bruxelles. I jumped on the...

Sat, 04 May 2013 12:29:27 -0400

More photo porn, la grande place aux Bruxelles. I jumped on the Eurostar this morning, rebooked my hostel in a taxi and am currently eating champagne chocolate in some markets by some Tin Tin graffiti.

shinebythree: Quiet on set 💃#workingweekend We’ve...

Sat, 04 May 2013 03:15:24 -0400

shinebythree:

Quiet on set 💃#workingweekend

We’ve chanted it before, but dear Margaret has such effortless class and style, her outfits can’t help but garner admiration. We think she is the epitome of classic meets moderne chic.

I’ve been in London for nearly a month! I sort of can’t believe...

Fri, 03 May 2013 12:29:09 -0400

I’ve been in London for nearly a month! I sort of can’t believe it, it feels as if I arrived yesterday. To commemorate, here’s a glowing St Paul’s that I snapped up after seeing Miss Julie at The Barbican.

This is a meek attempt to appease my absence from Nearly Kirking...

Thu, 02 May 2013 09:37:17 -0400

This is a meek attempt to appease my absence from Nearly Kirking since my arrival in London. Be sure that a detailed post on the past three weeks is in the oven and there are various theatre reviews begging to be written. For now, drink in the shimmering beauty of Hampstead Heath Pergola & Hill Garden, it’s said that these gardens were the resplendent dream of a Lord Leverhulme, designed for 1920s garden parties and evening summer strolls and later used as a manor house for the local hospital during WWII. Living only 5 minutes down the road does have its perks and I often like to imagine I’m in a Poirot drama to pass the time.

Unnecessary photos of my secret garden. So cheesy, but I’m...

Wed, 01 May 2013 09:39:03 -0400

Unnecessary photos of my secret garden. So cheesy, but I’m so darn grateful for living 5 minutes from this 🙏 (at The Pergola and Hill Garden)

May look like a cheerful, red-faced London butcher but...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:56:26 -0400

May look like a cheerful, red-faced London butcher but don’t be fooled, official Make-up artist for Shiseido, Dick Page, has a gentle artist’s soul…wrapped up in a philosopher’s crystallined cerebral cortex. Browse through some of his travel videos to Hong Kong, New York, Paris, and Tokyo, for some tranquil wanderlust.