Mid-Week Libation: You Are Not Alone

Music from Mavis Staples, poetry & wisdom from Demetria Martinez, painting from Helene Schjerfbeck, a delicious red wine from Albania & The Last American Gay Bar!

Mid-Week Libation is our weekly curated splash of inspiration and culture!

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Happy 85th Birthday to Mavis Staples! (born July 10, 1939)

• Mavis Staples Shares New Song “Worthy”: Listen (via Stereogum)

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Wildstar’s Wednesday Wine Pick: Kantina Bardha Mavrud Rezervé (Drashovice, Albania)

Purchase via Vivino

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Poem of the Week: “Song” by Demetria Martinez (born July 10, 1960)

• vocalisms #35: Demetria Martinez (via U. of Arizona Poetry Center)

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Artist Spotlight: Helene Schjerfbeck (July 10, 1862 – January 23, 1946)

1) Self-Portrait (1884); 2) Self-Portrait (1895); 3) Self-Portrait (1912); 4) Self-Portrait in Black Dress (1934)

1) Girl with a Madonna (1881); 2) Girl on a Red Sofa (1882); 3) Masquerade Picture - Rococo Woman (1887); 4) The Convalescent (1888); 5) Fragment (c. 1904); 6) The Woodcutter I (c. 1910-11); 7) The Family Heirloom (c. 1915-16); 8) Robber at the Gate of Paradise (c. 1924-25); 9) The Picture Book (1927)

• Face Masks – The Enigmatic Art of Helene Schjerfbeck (via Apollo)

• Helene Schjerfbeck Review – A Strange and Silent Beauty (via The Guardian)

• View many more paintings by Helene Schjerfbeck (including more self-portraits) at Wikimedia Commons

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Important New Docuseries: The Last American Gay Bar (OUTtv)

Watch the first episode here:

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Interesting Artists Born Today: July 10th

Visual Artists:

Today is the birthday of Ulrika Pasch, Pierre-Joseph Redouté, Sanford Robinson Gifford, Camille Pissarro, Sarah E. Bender de Wolfe, Helene Schjerfbeck, Will H. Bradley, Otto Freundlich, Giorgio de Chirico, Doris Patty Rosenthal, Isabel Nicholas, Joe Shuster, Reg Smythe, Harvey Ball, Nell Blaine, Olavi Lanu, Bernard Buffet, Paco Gorospe, Siah Armajani, Jimmie Durham, Amalia Mesa-Bains, Michael Lyons, Trevor Key, Ronnie Cutrone, Steven Montgomery, Simone Bianchi, Younhee Yang, Rodel Tapaya and Leila Alaoui!

Writers, Philosophers & Scholars:

Today is the birthday of Mary Hutton, Solomon Northup, Nikola Tesla, Marcel Proust, Mary McLeod Bethune, Nicolás Guillén, John Wyndham, Salvador Espriu, Jean Kerr, George Clayton Johnson, Alice Munro, Julian May, Kevin Gilbert, Susan Sherman, David G. Hartwell, Demetria Martinez, Karen Russell, Juno Dawson and Nic Stone!

Musicians & Composers:

Today is the birthday of Sophia Maria Westenholz, Henryk Wieniawski, Noble Sissle, Jimmy McHugh, Carl Orff, Mitchell Parish, Blind Boy Fuller, Ivie Anderson, Cootie Williams, Milt Buckner, Amalia Mendoza, Major Holley, Jerry Herman, Takekuni Hirayoshi, Lee Morgan, Mavis Staples, Erkki Kurenniemi, Sixto Rodriguez, Arlo Guthrie, John Whitehead, Cheryl Wheeler, Neil Tennant, Béla Fleck, Sandy West, Jacky Cheung, Rebekah Del Rio and Angel Haze!

Film/TV/Stage:

Today is the birthday of Terry-Thomas, Don Herbert, Earl Hamner Jr., Ross Lowell, Fred Gwynne, Carleton Carpenter, Nick Adams, Neile Adams, Jerry Nelson, Tura Satana, Ron Glass, Fiona Shaw, Ellen Kuras, Alec Mapa, Gale Harold, Alexandra Hedison, Sofía Vergara, Gwendoline Yeo, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Anita Wigl'it!

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This Week’s Words of Wisdom: Demetria Martinez (born July 10, 1960)

“I want to be a troublemaker when I grow up.” — Demetria Martinez

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