Comments on: SELF-MADE MAN #11: Blood and Ceremony

By: Nicole

Nicole — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 23:06:53 +0000

This column continues to get better, which I truly did not think was possible.

By: Anisse Gross

Anisse Gross — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 17:41:42 +0000

My favorite yet.

By: Caro

Caro — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:09:47 +0000

So fine, so carefully and bravely said. Thank you.

–

I’m reminded too of another self-made man, Ishmael, and the cannibal he loves. Both are so true: that we make ourselves, that we are made in mystery…

“And this tattooing had been the work of a departed prophet and seer of his island, who, by these hieroglyphic marks, had written out on his body a complete theory of the heavens and the earth, and a mystical treatise on the art of attaining truth; so that Queequeg in his own proper person was a riddle to unfold; a wondrous work in one volume; but whose mysteries not even himself could read, though his own live heart beat against them; and these mysteries were therefore destined in the end to moulder away with the living parchment whereon they were inscribed, and so be unsolved to the last.”

By: MariNaomi

MariNaomi — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 19:38:37 +0000

Another beautiful piece! (The jocular judge made me verklempt, as well.)

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 18:27:05 +0000

This is the best one for me, Thomas. You’re getting at it. Open your heart like a watermelon and share the meat. There is a way in which we are all the same, quivering child, no matter the myriad difference. Don’t forget.

By: LL

LL — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 18:25:06 +0000

“…his most basic need will always be a home, a place among others.” This is echoing in my mind, over and over. I resisted this for so long but it’s what I wanted and needed. Thank you.

By: Johnny

Johnny — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 14:14:04 +0000

“That’s when I realized that to be “self-made” is to choose a guiding principle. There are only two, so it’s easy: you’ve got fear and its flip side, vulnerability.”

That’s the line I will be ruminating on today. Thank you once again.