Sunday, January 21, 2007

Ulysses

In James Joyce's Ulysses published in 1922, Odysseus the hero of Homer's great classic The Odyssey is recast as Leopold Bloom, an aging salesman. As Matt Blanchard describes in the book The Intellectual Devotional:

Though Bloom seems unassuming and ordinary, he emerges as a heroic figure, displaying compassion, forgiveness, and generosity toward everyone in the odd cast of characters he meets. In his mundane and often unnoticed deeds, he practices an everyday heroism that is perhaps the only heroism possible in the modern world.

I am interested in the everyday heroic acts that are found in the ordinariness of life. Shelley was a hero this weekend. She took a microscopic step in the direction of Halfland. The significance was not in the distance but in the direction.

10 comments:

Darkmatters said...

Nicely done Himself!

It's wonderful to see your powerful devotion to Shelley's project, and to see her making progress on it!

Ulysses said...

Thank you, Darkstrider. Your support and encouragement for Shelley has been inspirational.

jriggity said...

Hey man,

welcome to the blog universe!

I know how much having a supporting partner adds to creating a project.

jriggity

Sven Bonnichsen said...

Yes, yes! Welcome to the blogiverse!

Looking forward to reading your posts. :-)

mefull said...

Ayh Mate

Welcome to the blog sphere and how 'bout a spot of tea with them notes.

Ok enough of my fake english accent.

Welcome and looking forward to notes on notes as well as other topics, perhaps notes on writing etc.

cheers!

Mark

Ulysses said...

Thank you, Justin, Sven, and Mark. What a great welcome. Suddenly the blogosphere is feeling like home. It is so nice to know someone out there is "listening."

Hila said...

What a wonderful first post, Paul.
and look.. your "non anonymous comment" policy pushed me to take the first step towards my own blog - I got myself a Blogger account!
Hopefully a new project to be featured on that new blog of mine won't be far behind... thank you ulysses and hooray for microscopic steps towards completing great big projects.

UbaTuber said...

Hey, I noticed your post in Halfland, Hila, and clicked on the avatar--beautiful work! And Ulysses, it'll be great to read an insider's view of Halfland...

A big hearty blogger welcome to you both :D

Shelley Noble said...

I can add now that I am blown away with how Paul sees the profundity of life in things I gloss over. Thank you for all your help. Sounds flat to say. No way to really thank you I guess except to work.

Ulysses said...

Hello Hila, I am such a fan of your work (I'm crazy for "Cluttered"), what an honor to have you visit the site. Please come by regularly.

And Jeffrey, a big welcome to you and thanks for the encouragement.