This is wonderful. Please watch it.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Ex. New Jersey Govenor McGreedy
Ex-Governor Jim McGreevey, who left a great paying job as Governor of New Jersey is now claiming that, due to his entering a seminary at the age of 50 while being supported by his lover, he can only afford to pay $100.00 a month (Yep, you read that right $100.00 a MONTH) in child support.
Perhaps Mr. 50 Years Old Looking For A Second Career isn't too good at math. Perhaps he doesn't understand that $100.00 a month translates to $23.80 a week...or $3.40 a day.
In other words, if Dad has his way, his child will be able to eat at Taco Bell twice a day - so long as said child eats from the 79 cent value meal and drinks nothing but tap water.
It's nice Mr. McGreevey's finally found his life's calling - being a minister is surely good work - it'd be nicer, however, if he manned up and realized, like millions of other parents have realized, that sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do - which is not necessarily gonna be what you wanna do. Supporting your children to the best of your ability would probably be a good way to start a do-gooding career. The question is, how do you minister unto others if you cannot, will not, minister unto your own? Has Mr. McGreevey never heard of the phrases "second job" or "part time job?"
Many parents would love to switch jobs, many parents would love the luxury of being supported by a new lover while going to school - virtually all of them realize that with parenthood comes responsibility - and their dreams remain dreams and reality becomes working their asses off in order to give their children a better world than the one they had to live in.
That includes divorced women, single women, widowed women, lesbians, divorced men, single men, widowed men and gay men. One would think that would include ex-governors, too.
Apparently it doesn't. Not in New Jersey, anyhow.
I'd like to see Mr. McGreedy live on $3.40 a day.
Really I would.
Perhaps Mr. 50 Years Old Looking For A Second Career isn't too good at math. Perhaps he doesn't understand that $100.00 a month translates to $23.80 a week...or $3.40 a day.
In other words, if Dad has his way, his child will be able to eat at Taco Bell twice a day - so long as said child eats from the 79 cent value meal and drinks nothing but tap water.
It's nice Mr. McGreevey's finally found his life's calling - being a minister is surely good work - it'd be nicer, however, if he manned up and realized, like millions of other parents have realized, that sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do - which is not necessarily gonna be what you wanna do. Supporting your children to the best of your ability would probably be a good way to start a do-gooding career. The question is, how do you minister unto others if you cannot, will not, minister unto your own? Has Mr. McGreevey never heard of the phrases "second job" or "part time job?"
Many parents would love to switch jobs, many parents would love the luxury of being supported by a new lover while going to school - virtually all of them realize that with parenthood comes responsibility - and their dreams remain dreams and reality becomes working their asses off in order to give their children a better world than the one they had to live in.
That includes divorced women, single women, widowed women, lesbians, divorced men, single men, widowed men and gay men. One would think that would include ex-governors, too.
Apparently it doesn't. Not in New Jersey, anyhow.
I'd like to see Mr. McGreedy live on $3.40 a day.
Really I would.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Latest Issues
Bumbershoot
Umbrella
Shit Creek Review
The Chimaera
The Barefoot Muse
Great stuff - enough to keep you busy reading for the rest of the month.
There's even a "me" poem in Bumbershoot - doing what I do best - making fun of something.
Writer, Writer.
Umbrella
Shit Creek Review
The Chimaera
The Barefoot Muse
Great stuff - enough to keep you busy reading for the rest of the month.
There's even a "me" poem in Bumbershoot - doing what I do best - making fun of something.
Writer, Writer.
Clinton Supporter Thrown Out of Rules Committee Meeting
Makes me want to be identified as anything but a middle aged white woman.
It would be laughable if it weren't quite so embarassing.
I wonder if she was there with "Women Count?" You know - the ones who claim to speak for all of us.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
If You Even Think About Driving Drunk
I was a medic for a whole lot of years - both on an ambulance and in a moderately busy ER. I've seen things and cleaned things that are, basically, untellable and unimaginable.
And yet, reading
this story sent chills through my spine. I've seen decapitations - they're not pretty. In fact, they're probably the single most horrible sight in the world - and the thought of some mother, someone like me, someone like you, someone like us - sitting by the side of some dark road holding her baby's severed head in her lap - and then refusing to give it up - and then finally handing it to the baby's uncle so she can tend to her remaining family members, each of whom was also terribly injured - my mind just shuts down.
What this woman will relive - what her family will relive - what the medics and firefighters and police officers will relive each and every day of their lives is almost more than I can bear to even imagine.
And all because some 24 year old man got drunk and got into his car and turned the key and drove away.
Two of his victims lost their lives instantly.
One man lost a leg.
One man broke his back.
Several others suffered numerous and severe injuries.
And one young mother, sitting in the dirt on the side of a road, got to kiss the severed head of her 7 year old daughter good-bye.
He got 18 years in jail.
He's appealing his sentence.
They're stuck with theirs.
Don't drive drunk.
Please don't drive drunk.
And yet, reading
this story sent chills through my spine. I've seen decapitations - they're not pretty. In fact, they're probably the single most horrible sight in the world - and the thought of some mother, someone like me, someone like you, someone like us - sitting by the side of some dark road holding her baby's severed head in her lap - and then refusing to give it up - and then finally handing it to the baby's uncle so she can tend to her remaining family members, each of whom was also terribly injured - my mind just shuts down.
What this woman will relive - what her family will relive - what the medics and firefighters and police officers will relive each and every day of their lives is almost more than I can bear to even imagine.
And all because some 24 year old man got drunk and got into his car and turned the key and drove away.
Two of his victims lost their lives instantly.
One man lost a leg.
One man broke his back.
Several others suffered numerous and severe injuries.
And one young mother, sitting in the dirt on the side of a road, got to kiss the severed head of her 7 year old daughter good-bye.
He got 18 years in jail.
He's appealing his sentence.
They're stuck with theirs.
Don't drive drunk.
Please don't drive drunk.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Cover-Up Clinton
(CNN) -- Former President Bill Clinton said that Democrats were more likely to lose in November if Hillary Clinton is not the nominee, and suggested some were trying to "push and pressure and bully" superdelegates to make up their minds prematurely.
Bill Clinton did not explain who he was accusing of "covering up" Sen. Clinton's chances.
"I can't believe it. It is just frantic the way they are trying to push and pressure and bully all these superdelegates to come out," Clinton said at a South Dakota campaign stop Sunday, in remarks first reported by ABC News.
Clinton also suggested some were trying to "cover up" Sen. Clinton's chances of winning in key states that Democrats will have to win in the general election.
"She is winning the general election today and he is not, according to all the evidence," Clinton said. "And I have never seen anything like it. I have never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running."
Bill Clinton Cries Cover-Up
Opps, Bill, wrong election. You're jumping the gun and there is no such thing as future evidence. It's the primary election your wife is in right now. And she's not winning. There's nothing to cover up. Not only is there's no evidence she's winning the general election in November, there's no evidence she's winning the primary one in May or June either. And just who is "they" anyhow?
You've lost your shit - or you're getting ready for a future whine just in case "something happens" between now and November.
Bill Clinton did not explain who he was accusing of "covering up" Sen. Clinton's chances.
"I can't believe it. It is just frantic the way they are trying to push and pressure and bully all these superdelegates to come out," Clinton said at a South Dakota campaign stop Sunday, in remarks first reported by ABC News.
Clinton also suggested some were trying to "cover up" Sen. Clinton's chances of winning in key states that Democrats will have to win in the general election.
"She is winning the general election today and he is not, according to all the evidence," Clinton said. "And I have never seen anything like it. I have never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running."
Bill Clinton Cries Cover-Up
Opps, Bill, wrong election. You're jumping the gun and there is no such thing as future evidence. It's the primary election your wife is in right now. And she's not winning. There's nothing to cover up. Not only is there's no evidence she's winning the general election in November, there's no evidence she's winning the primary one in May or June either. And just who is "they" anyhow?
You've lost your shit - or you're getting ready for a future whine just in case "something happens" between now and November.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Hillary Misspeaks - Again
Friday, May 23, 2008
Meet Ms. PMS
This is PMS. She's 10 weeks old and weighs about 12 ounces.
Our older cats, ADD and OCT, who are 3 year old brothers and are approximately 19 and 17 pounds respectively, are not pleased with the latest addition.
They are so displeased that each of them has bitten me at least once after merely smelling my hands after holding her. I never realized how many teeth an adult cat has - nor how sharp and pointed they are. I also never realized that cats could make such strange noises.
This is going to be a LONG Memorial Day weekend - in more ways than one.
Our older cats, ADD and OCT, who are 3 year old brothers and are approximately 19 and 17 pounds respectively, are not pleased with the latest addition.
They are so displeased that each of them has bitten me at least once after merely smelling my hands after holding her. I never realized how many teeth an adult cat has - nor how sharp and pointed they are. I also never realized that cats could make such strange noises.
This is going to be a LONG Memorial Day weekend - in more ways than one.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
WOMENCOUNT
While we're on the topic of disgusting:
This is a full page ad which recently appeared in several newspapers around the country. It was paid for by a group called WOMENCOUNT
Since the text is hard to read here I'll quote the major portions for ya:
HILLARY'S VOICE IS OUR VOICE AND SHE'S SPEAKING FOR ALL OF US:
We are the women of this nation. We Love our country. We raise our voices in one glorious defiant chorus.
We stand united in in our unwarvering support for Hillary Clinton.
There's a whole lotta "we" in there, isn't there?
Well, I've got news for you, WOMENCOUNT, "we" is not whom you are speaking for. You do not speak for the 53% of the women who are registered Republicans or Independents - you do not speak for the 85% of black women who have consistantly supported Obama's campaign - you do not speak for the women of every race, creed and color who support Senator Obama or Senator McCain - you do not speak for ME.
Our mothers and our grandmothers and our great-great grandmothers spent their whole lives trying to establish the right to their own voices, to make their own choices, to be their own person - they did not do so in order to have their female descendants follow blanket directives from anyone - and anyone includes other women. They did not labor hard and long in order to be lumped in with "all women" like so much meek meat hanging by a hook on a common wall.
You do not speak for me, WOMANCOUNT, nor do you speak for all women.
I resent your attempt to portray that you do. I resent it on behalf of myself and on behalf of women everywhere who do not blindly follow the crowd, who do not willingly wear blinders which tell them all things female are good and all things male are bad. I resent it on behalf of my daughter-in-laws who deserve to be treated as individuals, on behalf of my sons who do not need old stereotypes of women as a collective entity revisited and reinforced every time they open a newspaper or a magazine. I resent it on behalf of my mother and my grandmothers and my aunts and my great-aunts who made it a point to raise me to understand that I had a mind of my own and that it was trustworthy and solid and that no one would ever be able to take that away from me. I resent that the only group left that seems to be unable to accept that reality are other women.
On my own behalf, and on behalf of all the women who do not support Hillary or WOMANCOUNT, I'd like to say this much - you do not speak for us. Hillary does not speak for us. Other women do not speak for us.
We speak for ourselves.
This is a full page ad which recently appeared in several newspapers around the country. It was paid for by a group called WOMENCOUNT
Since the text is hard to read here I'll quote the major portions for ya:
HILLARY'S VOICE IS OUR VOICE AND SHE'S SPEAKING FOR ALL OF US:
We are the women of this nation. We Love our country. We raise our voices in one glorious defiant chorus.
We stand united in in our unwarvering support for Hillary Clinton.
There's a whole lotta "we" in there, isn't there?
Well, I've got news for you, WOMENCOUNT, "we" is not whom you are speaking for. You do not speak for the 53% of the women who are registered Republicans or Independents - you do not speak for the 85% of black women who have consistantly supported Obama's campaign - you do not speak for the women of every race, creed and color who support Senator Obama or Senator McCain - you do not speak for ME.
Our mothers and our grandmothers and our great-great grandmothers spent their whole lives trying to establish the right to their own voices, to make their own choices, to be their own person - they did not do so in order to have their female descendants follow blanket directives from anyone - and anyone includes other women. They did not labor hard and long in order to be lumped in with "all women" like so much meek meat hanging by a hook on a common wall.
You do not speak for me, WOMANCOUNT, nor do you speak for all women.
I resent your attempt to portray that you do. I resent it on behalf of myself and on behalf of women everywhere who do not blindly follow the crowd, who do not willingly wear blinders which tell them all things female are good and all things male are bad. I resent it on behalf of my daughter-in-laws who deserve to be treated as individuals, on behalf of my sons who do not need old stereotypes of women as a collective entity revisited and reinforced every time they open a newspaper or a magazine. I resent it on behalf of my mother and my grandmothers and my aunts and my great-aunts who made it a point to raise me to understand that I had a mind of my own and that it was trustworthy and solid and that no one would ever be able to take that away from me. I resent that the only group left that seems to be unable to accept that reality are other women.
On my own behalf, and on behalf of all the women who do not support Hillary or WOMANCOUNT, I'd like to say this much - you do not speak for us. Hillary does not speak for us. Other women do not speak for us.
We speak for ourselves.
What's Really Disgusting at Countrywide
The other day Angelo Mozilo, who happens to be the CEO of Countrywide Mortgage Company, received a letter from a homeowner asking for some help in avoiding foreclosure on his home of 16 years. Mr. Mozilo accidently hit "reply to sender" instead of e-mailing the following response to his staff, thus sending the following "here's what we can do to help our customers" message directly to the homeowner:
"This is unbelievable. Most of these letters now have the same wording. Obviously they are being counseled by some other person or by the Internet. Disgusting."
You think that's disgusting, Mr. Mozilo? I'll tell you what's disgusting:
According to congressional figures, in the third quarter of 2007 and in the fourth quarter of the same year, Mr. Mozilo received a $1.9 million salary. He also received $20 million in performance-based stock awards and sold $121 million in stock.
Now that's disgusting.
Entire article here
"This is unbelievable. Most of these letters now have the same wording. Obviously they are being counseled by some other person or by the Internet. Disgusting."
You think that's disgusting, Mr. Mozilo? I'll tell you what's disgusting:
According to congressional figures, in the third quarter of 2007 and in the fourth quarter of the same year, Mr. Mozilo received a $1.9 million salary. He also received $20 million in performance-based stock awards and sold $121 million in stock.
Now that's disgusting.
Entire article here
The Eratosphere Is Melting - Alternate Universe Address Here
Last time it was hackers who took the whole damn thing down - this time it's just slowly disappearing - one board at a time.
Global warming.
For those of you who need the alternate site address - here it is once again:
Eratosphere In Exile
Global warming.
For those of you who need the alternate site address - here it is once again:
Eratosphere In Exile
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Trees - Trees Never Reject You
This is one of my favorite trees here in Virginia. I have no idea what it is - only that it lives outside the entrance to work, it flowers in the spring and it has absolutely no bark whatsoever. What kind of tree has no bark?
Poetry Rejections
Poetry Magazine doesn't want me. The New Yorker doesn't want me. Extremely curt rejections from both. Neither of them seem interested in having me submit again, either.
On the other hand, Bumbershoot, the light annual edition of Umbrella, DOES want me. They think I'm funny even though I totally misread the call for submissions and sent them a parody rather than a witty encapsulation.
The editor took it anyhow.
I'm good with that.
On the other hand, Bumbershoot, the light annual edition of Umbrella, DOES want me. They think I'm funny even though I totally misread the call for submissions and sent them a parody rather than a witty encapsulation.
The editor took it anyhow.
I'm good with that.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
What Black Cats Do
"What did I do to the chair? What chair? Wasn't me - I've been laying here all day. I didn't touch your stinkin' chair. I'm pretty sure the bird did it."
Saturday, May 03, 2008
I've spent the day playing in my head with a haiku translation.
Blame Eratosphere and their attempt to revitalize their Translation Board.
This is what I came up with. Poor poor offering that it is.
Original Basho
Frog Haiku
Furu ike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto
Literal translation
Fu-ru (old) i-ke (pond) ya,
ka-wa-zu (frog) to-bi-ko-mu (jumping into)
mi-zu (water) no o-to (sound)
My version
millennial pond
silent shore - back-flipping frogs
piano water
Many more famous (and accurate) translations here.
Very interesting "stuff."
Blame Eratosphere and their attempt to revitalize their Translation Board.
This is what I came up with. Poor poor offering that it is.
Original Basho
Frog Haiku
Furu ike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto
Literal translation
Fu-ru (old) i-ke (pond) ya,
ka-wa-zu (frog) to-bi-ko-mu (jumping into)
mi-zu (water) no o-to (sound)
My version
millennial pond
silent shore - back-flipping frogs
piano water
Many more famous (and accurate) translations here.
Very interesting "stuff."
Friday, May 02, 2008
To Workshop or Not To Workshop
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
The Gospel According to The DMV
Ummmmm - do the words "separation of church and state" mean anything in Florida?
So far it's not law (or gospel) but it's a-comin' if some Florida lawmakers get their way.
Rep. Kelly Skidmore, who is a Catholic lawmaker who voted against it had this to say: "I believe the "I Believe" plate is inappropriate for the government to produce.
"It's not a road I want to go down. I don't want to see the Star of David next. I don't want to see a Torah next. None of that stuff is appropriate to me."
Personally, if they're gonna allow a Christian plate, they damn well better be prepared to allow Jewish plates and Muslim plates and Mormon plates and Bhuddist plates as well.
Because none of "their stuff" is appropriate for the likes of us, either.
Little Lies Don't Count When Hillary's Doing the Counting
Hillary says she's winning the popular election because............."as of today, I have received more votes by the people who have voted than anybody else, and I am proud of that. It's a very close race, but if you count, as I count, the 2.3 million people who voted in Michigan and Florida, then we are going to build on that."
Which would be well and fine if, several months ago, she had not entered into an agreement with Barak Obama, John Edwards and the entire Democratic Party that the cast-too-early-in-violation-of-party-rules votes in Michigan and Florida should not/would not/did not count. Hillary herself said "Michigan doesn't count for anything." Hillary was the only Democrat on the damn ballot in Michigan - Obama and Edwards having both had the decency to remove their names from an illegal primary election. Interestingly enough Demoocrats in Michigan had a choice between Hillary and "uncommitted" and "uncommitted" won 45% of the popular vote.
Read entire story here
Hopefully, it's going to be a moot point since Obama is projected to win in most of the remaining primarys and will not only maintain the correctly reported "popular vote" lead that he holds now but he will also overtake even Hillary's Michigan and Florida inflated count.
I just don't understand how, since she apparently has no problem breaking deals or going back on her word with her own party, people don't seem to think that she'd have a problem breaking deals or going back on her word with people/countries/governments in general.
Are her supporters that trusting or are they just that naive? Anyone who ever winced at the pity being poured upon a victimized Hillary when Bill finally 'fessed up, anyone who ever wondered how on earth a spouse could be so blindly unsuspecting, anyone who ever wondered how one person will not/cannot see their own betrayal coming - they all better be ready to not just sympathize with and/or admire Hillary's strength in the face of disgrace, but to BECOME Hillary.
Because if by some miracle she gets elected - it'll be her supporters turn in the dupe-chair.
LATE POST: More about the amazing flip-flopping, vote-mongering, mind-changing Hillary on Slate.
Which would be well and fine if, several months ago, she had not entered into an agreement with Barak Obama, John Edwards and the entire Democratic Party that the cast-too-early-in-violation-of-party-rules votes in Michigan and Florida should not/would not/did not count. Hillary herself said "Michigan doesn't count for anything." Hillary was the only Democrat on the damn ballot in Michigan - Obama and Edwards having both had the decency to remove their names from an illegal primary election. Interestingly enough Demoocrats in Michigan had a choice between Hillary and "uncommitted" and "uncommitted" won 45% of the popular vote.
Read entire story here
Hopefully, it's going to be a moot point since Obama is projected to win in most of the remaining primarys and will not only maintain the correctly reported "popular vote" lead that he holds now but he will also overtake even Hillary's Michigan and Florida inflated count.
I just don't understand how, since she apparently has no problem breaking deals or going back on her word with her own party, people don't seem to think that she'd have a problem breaking deals or going back on her word with people/countries/governments in general.
Are her supporters that trusting or are they just that naive? Anyone who ever winced at the pity being poured upon a victimized Hillary when Bill finally 'fessed up, anyone who ever wondered how on earth a spouse could be so blindly unsuspecting, anyone who ever wondered how one person will not/cannot see their own betrayal coming - they all better be ready to not just sympathize with and/or admire Hillary's strength in the face of disgrace, but to BECOME Hillary.
Because if by some miracle she gets elected - it'll be her supporters turn in the dupe-chair.
LATE POST: More about the amazing flip-flopping, vote-mongering, mind-changing Hillary on Slate.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
The Moran Church and Mass Stupidity
Ok, I admit it, I am an elitist snob when it comes to grammar and spelling. Not so elitist that I can't deal with the occasional misspelled word or the inevitable typo (Lord knows I make them with amazing regularity) - but enough of one that it makes me cringe to read most of the "reader responses" which are attached to news-stories on The Internet.
Example:
Stupid is as stupid want to be. How sad to be so wanted to be looked at that you will damn neer kill your self hope you got your look at me fix.
33 words, right? And without even trying hard, I count 3 really simple-word spelling/compound word errors, 2 missing words and 4 missing punctuation marks.
That's 9 mistakes in 2 (should be 3) sentences. I'm not a math whiz but jeez - that's a lot!!
Here's one more -
Some body pissed in the gene pool...kids here all the crap and lies abaout drugs and religion....so they stop beliveing adults what is right and wrong.....so they get more stupid...Did youlisten to the stupid women who are so brainwashed in the MORAN CHURCH Polygamy cwenter...they are in mental out space........religion really is the cause for mass stupidity
Some body? Kids here? Abaout? beliveing? youlisten? cwenter? Mental out space?? MORAN CHURCH?
And this person is railing about mass stupidity??? Kinda makes you wonder what church he goes to, doesn't it?
It's so sad to think that these opinions and remarks are made not by 3rd graders but by adults....and most likely they are adults with decent jobs and what passes for reasonable intelligence in an oral setting. It's even sadder to think that the people writing these things believe that they may have a chance at swaying public opinion with their crudely spelled, badly worded and poorly punctuated pronouncements.
It's even sadder when you remember all of these remarks are being made on a computer - and all computers have a common function.
It's called spell-check. Learn it. Live it. Love it.
And with that - I am off for Passover in New Jersey.
Example:
Stupid is as stupid want to be. How sad to be so wanted to be looked at that you will damn neer kill your self hope you got your look at me fix.
33 words, right? And without even trying hard, I count 3 really simple-word spelling/compound word errors, 2 missing words and 4 missing punctuation marks.
That's 9 mistakes in 2 (should be 3) sentences. I'm not a math whiz but jeez - that's a lot!!
Here's one more -
Some body pissed in the gene pool...kids here all the crap and lies abaout drugs and religion....so they stop beliveing adults what is right and wrong.....so they get more stupid...Did youlisten to the stupid women who are so brainwashed in the MORAN CHURCH Polygamy cwenter...they are in mental out space........religion really is the cause for mass stupidity
Some body? Kids here? Abaout? beliveing? youlisten? cwenter? Mental out space?? MORAN CHURCH?
And this person is railing about mass stupidity??? Kinda makes you wonder what church he goes to, doesn't it?
It's so sad to think that these opinions and remarks are made not by 3rd graders but by adults....and most likely they are adults with decent jobs and what passes for reasonable intelligence in an oral setting. It's even sadder to think that the people writing these things believe that they may have a chance at swaying public opinion with their crudely spelled, badly worded and poorly punctuated pronouncements.
It's even sadder when you remember all of these remarks are being made on a computer - and all computers have a common function.
It's called spell-check. Learn it. Live it. Love it.
And with that - I am off for Passover in New Jersey.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Picking Up the Red Phone
The Excuses According to Bill:
" Hillary, one time late at night when she was exhausted, misstated and immediately apologized for it, what happened to her in Bosnia in 1995. Did y'all see all that? Oh, they blew it up..............
And you woulda thought, you know, that she'd robbed a bank the way they carried on about this. And some of them when they're 60 they'll forget something when they're tired at 11 at night, too."
Yep, Bill, you got it - this is surely the woman I want to be picking up the dreaded Red Phone at 3AM.
Poor Poor Tired Old Hillary. It's a damn good thing she's got Mr. Bill to look out for her.
Hell, he's so gallant he'd probably even answer the phone for her if it came to that.
Hopefully it doesn't.
Because, honestly, I don't like him any better than I like her.
Which is to say - not at all.
So much for the midwestern, middle aged, uneducated, blue-collar white woman theory.
" Hillary, one time late at night when she was exhausted, misstated and immediately apologized for it, what happened to her in Bosnia in 1995. Did y'all see all that? Oh, they blew it up..............
And you woulda thought, you know, that she'd robbed a bank the way they carried on about this. And some of them when they're 60 they'll forget something when they're tired at 11 at night, too."
Yep, Bill, you got it - this is surely the woman I want to be picking up the dreaded Red Phone at 3AM.
Poor Poor Tired Old Hillary. It's a damn good thing she's got Mr. Bill to look out for her.
Hell, he's so gallant he'd probably even answer the phone for her if it came to that.
Hopefully it doesn't.
Because, honestly, I don't like him any better than I like her.
Which is to say - not at all.
So much for the midwestern, middle aged, uneducated, blue-collar white woman theory.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Clintons, Lies and Videotape
Well, they've done it again. It's Bill backing up Hillary this time - just in case we'd forgotten the original Hillary-esque lie about her "war zone" experiences.
In spite of numerous rebuttals to Hilary's claim that her visit to Bosnia was the first visit made to a war zone by a presidental spouse since Eleanor Roosevelt's day - Bill Clinton once again "misspoke" the following: "And I think she was the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to go into a combat zone.
How 'bout the only thing Hillary and Eleanor have in common is a propensity to trust untrustworthy men - and Eleanor was smart enough to establish another residence once she found out about Frankie's affair with her staffer. The implied comparison stops there.
Besides that, does the name, Pat Nixon ring a bell?
How 'bout Viet Nam?
How 'bout "Pat Nixon visists Viet Nam" for those of you too young to put it all together by memory?
For that matter, how 'bout "Barbara Bush visits Saudia Arabia" a few weeks before Desert Storm hit the fan?
How 'bout comparing some "war zone" pictures?
How 'bout voting for Obama?
Or maybe even Pat Nixon.
In spite of numerous rebuttals to Hilary's claim that her visit to Bosnia was the first visit made to a war zone by a presidental spouse since Eleanor Roosevelt's day - Bill Clinton once again "misspoke" the following: "And I think she was the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to go into a combat zone.
How 'bout the only thing Hillary and Eleanor have in common is a propensity to trust untrustworthy men - and Eleanor was smart enough to establish another residence once she found out about Frankie's affair with her staffer. The implied comparison stops there.
Besides that, does the name, Pat Nixon ring a bell?
How 'bout Viet Nam?
How 'bout "Pat Nixon visists Viet Nam" for those of you too young to put it all together by memory?
For that matter, how 'bout "Barbara Bush visits Saudia Arabia" a few weeks before Desert Storm hit the fan?
How 'bout comparing some "war zone" pictures?
How 'bout voting for Obama?
Or maybe even Pat Nixon.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Sunday, April 06, 2008
We've spent the last 3 days in Massillon, Ohio attending the funeral of my last remaining paternal uncle. Until this past Thursday, I'd not been back in the area since 1976 or so. It's so strange to revisit a place where you spent a good deal of growing time. I thought I'd be totally lost, but I found myself recognizing things like churches and gas stations and spontaneously remembering how to get to my grandmother's old house where I'd spent two weeks of every childhood year.
I've changed - all of my relatives have changed - the landscape has changed - but the house, the house remains the same.
I've changed - all of my relatives have changed - the landscape has changed - but the house, the house remains the same.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
Eating Crow and Box Kitties
Oh hell, if I quit blogging, I've got to quit taking cat pictures....and then what would I do for fun?
Besides, once I calmed down, I found I HAD saved my sidebar information - just in case I lost it in the upgrade (which, of course, I did.) So, I spent a few hours converting hard-learned HTML back to plain English and eliminated a whole bunch of links and TA!DA!! a sidebar of sorts.
So - here's box kitty and I guess I'm back.
Thanks to everyone who wrote here or emailed me.....I appreciated your support.
Besides, once I calmed down, I found I HAD saved my sidebar information - just in case I lost it in the upgrade (which, of course, I did.) So, I spent a few hours converting hard-learned HTML back to plain English and eliminated a whole bunch of links and TA!DA!! a sidebar of sorts.
So - here's box kitty and I guess I'm back.
Thanks to everyone who wrote here or emailed me.....I appreciated your support.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Closing
This blog is closing.
I'm tired of "Updates" which wipe-out my sidebar. One of the only reasons I kept this going was because I liked having all those favorite links in the same place.
Once again, Blogger has destroyed them. I've replaced them numerous times over the years and I just can't seem to find the time or patience necessary to do so once again.
And so - I'm outa here.
Thanks to everyone who's ever read or commented here and I'll miss you.
It's time to move on.
Love ya,
Lo
I'm tired of "Updates" which wipe-out my sidebar. One of the only reasons I kept this going was because I liked having all those favorite links in the same place.
Once again, Blogger has destroyed them. I've replaced them numerous times over the years and I just can't seem to find the time or patience necessary to do so once again.
And so - I'm outa here.
Thanks to everyone who's ever read or commented here and I'll miss you.
It's time to move on.
Love ya,
Lo
Friday, March 28, 2008
It's That Time of Year Again
Welcome to Washington - home of hundreds of Cherry Blossom Trees and millions of tourists - and no place to park for those of us forced by love and circumstances to actually live here.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Eratosphere In Exile
There is a Temporary 'Sphere here for those who can't live without it.....sign-up is quick, easy and free.
There is a recently published poem by Dan Halberstein here and if you like your poetry bloody-well rare and oozing satire, this is the kind of meaty stuff you can really sink your teeth into. (Read the poem and you'll understand.)
There is a newly-found poetry blog by G. H. Palmer here with all sorts of interesting opinions and links.
There is a contest winner announcement here but, alas, it is not me. I did make the first cut but lost it in the home stretch. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. (Which is only metaphorically true. The truth is, I've never been a bridesmaid and I've been a bride three times....which just goes to show you that I make a better wife than I do a poet.)
I recently noticed that Jessica Smith's Look/Touch blog which I used to link to and occasionally read before it went "private" has now gone semi-private (for lack of a better word) with a twist - the "private" parts are now available to the general public for a yearly fee of $6.00. People are puzzling over it here. Jessica herself explains it here although in the first link she does say that it's mainly for her "friends and fans." My question is - who charges their friends to read their private thoughts? I thought that's what made them friends in the first place - the fact that they are willing to listen to us rant about our problems for free. She also says she needs the money. I dunno - when I needed money, I went out and got a second job....I may have driven my friends crazy whining about how tired I was but at least I didn't charge them for the privilege.
Interesting concept, though....any opinions on personal blogs created on a free web server charging admission?
There is a recently published poem by Dan Halberstein here and if you like your poetry bloody-well rare and oozing satire, this is the kind of meaty stuff you can really sink your teeth into. (Read the poem and you'll understand.)
There is a newly-found poetry blog by G. H. Palmer here with all sorts of interesting opinions and links.
There is a contest winner announcement here but, alas, it is not me. I did make the first cut but lost it in the home stretch. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. (Which is only metaphorically true. The truth is, I've never been a bridesmaid and I've been a bride three times....which just goes to show you that I make a better wife than I do a poet.)
I recently noticed that Jessica Smith's Look/Touch blog which I used to link to and occasionally read before it went "private" has now gone semi-private (for lack of a better word) with a twist - the "private" parts are now available to the general public for a yearly fee of $6.00. People are puzzling over it here. Jessica herself explains it here although in the first link she does say that it's mainly for her "friends and fans." My question is - who charges their friends to read their private thoughts? I thought that's what made them friends in the first place - the fact that they are willing to listen to us rant about our problems for free. She also says she needs the money. I dunno - when I needed money, I went out and got a second job....I may have driven my friends crazy whining about how tired I was but at least I didn't charge them for the privilege.
Interesting concept, though....any opinions on personal blogs created on a free web server charging admission?
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Eratosphere Update
Since it appears that every other visitor here has been searching for information on "Eratosphere" I thought I'd perform a public service announcement for those people who, like myself, are lost without the old familiar Internet haunt.
The site was apparently hacked late Sunday/early Monday by someone calling himself some sort of Saudi-Hacker and serious damage to the server resulted from the attack.
There's much more detailed information available at Dr Whoop-Ass's Poetry Roundup. It's filled with technical terms like virus and corrupted and configuration and time bombs.
I have to admit, I understand viral entities like Ebola and SARS much better than I understand computer ones.
I understand enough, however, to know that both types are extremely dangerous and potentially deadly - and recovery from either is time consuming and filled with major difficulties and set-backs.
As of Monday evening, Alex sent word through an Erato-Mod that he was working virtually around the clock and had hopes of rebuilding the entire system and being back in business within a few days.
I have no idea what's involved in reconstructing an entire server but I don't imagine it's anything even remotely simple.
I have a new respect for Alex as well as for the word "addiction."
I'm jonesing.
The site was apparently hacked late Sunday/early Monday by someone calling himself some sort of Saudi-Hacker and serious damage to the server resulted from the attack.
There's much more detailed information available at Dr Whoop-Ass's Poetry Roundup. It's filled with technical terms like virus and corrupted and configuration and time bombs.
I have to admit, I understand viral entities like Ebola and SARS much better than I understand computer ones.
I understand enough, however, to know that both types are extremely dangerous and potentially deadly - and recovery from either is time consuming and filled with major difficulties and set-backs.
As of Monday evening, Alex sent word through an Erato-Mod that he was working virtually around the clock and had hopes of rebuilding the entire system and being back in business within a few days.
I have no idea what's involved in reconstructing an entire server but I don't imagine it's anything even remotely simple.
I have a new respect for Alex as well as for the word "addiction."
I'm jonesing.
Friday, March 07, 2008
The Consequences of Speaking Out Against Genital Mutilation
Am I think only one who's seeing an ugly connection between the death of this model and the disappearance of this one?
Two women, both former super-models, both childhood victims and well-known outspoken critics of female genital mutilation, and now one's dead, a victim of an unfortunate drowning "accident" (and this was a woman who lived, mind you, LIVED, on a houseboat - tell me she didn't know how to swim) and the other one suddenly gone "missing" - and both within mere weeks of one another?
Come on - give me a break. Where the hell are those guys from CSI when you need them? I hardly think this is all just so much coincidence, yanno? The question is - why aren't the police, or anyone else for that matter, questioning the possible link?
Never mind. What once was lost has now been found.
Two women, both former super-models, both childhood victims and well-known outspoken critics of female genital mutilation, and now one's dead, a victim of an unfortunate drowning "accident" (and this was a woman who lived, mind you, LIVED, on a houseboat - tell me she didn't know how to swim) and the other one suddenly gone "missing" - and both within mere weeks of one another?
Come on - give me a break. Where the hell are those guys from CSI when you need them? I hardly think this is all just so much coincidence, yanno? The question is - why aren't the police, or anyone else for that matter, questioning the possible link?
Never mind. What once was lost has now been found.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Monday, March 03, 2008
I'm a Grandma and.......
Time of Birth: 5:45PM
Weight: 8 pounds 7 ounces
Length: 21 inches
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Bright Blue
Name: To Be Announced
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Poetic Epiphany
I was talking with Dan last night and this morning and we were discussing what makes a poem work - or more specifically - what makes a "formal poem" work and I had the following epiphany.
It's not enough that the rhyme and meter kick us in the ass, the thought conveyed must also jump-start our brains and stop. our. hearts. at the same time.
All the mechanics in the poetry-world mean nothing without a thought behind it. It's something, god forgive me for saying so, but it's something many of the "New Formalists" don't always seem to grasp. It doesn't matter how many double-dactyls you can use or how clever your metrical substitutions, it's not enough if your iambic pentameter or your occasionally and casually introduced spondee is perfection personified, what matters is that you are able to use your metrical skills as a physical (and secondary) enhancement of your all-important cerebral ability.
A competent poem can say nothing brilliantly, but it'll be forgotten shortly after it's read - while the more memorable poem, the one which sticks in your head and haunts your soul, is the equally competent one which says something brilliantly.
Most poets today can master one or the other - but not both. The various free-versers (for lack of a better word) can sometimes conceive the most interesting thought and/or idea, but they cannot skillfully design the vehicle capable of transporting it to the final destination. The Formalists, (for lack of a better word) on the other hand, can design the most impeccable-appearing vehicles but they often appear incapable of filling the interior space with anything even remotely relevant or interesting.
The following poems and poets are proof-positive, though, that some poets are capable of doing both - and at least one editor, Kate Benedict, has an uncanny eye for recognizing it:
Prologue by Michael Cantor
It took me several reads to even realize there's not a word of true rhyme, internal or otherwise, in this absolutely stunning and metrically perfect poem - that's how perfect the metrics are and how strong the message. (There is, however, a brilliant use of sound in the ending words, stone, storm, bones and moon which may be what carries the melody so well.) The stand-alone ending line scares the crap out of me. It becomes an unforgettable line - which, in turn, makes the entire poem unforgettable.
In camera by Julie Carter
What can I say? The final image of a small, sometimes awkward little girl as a distant lone purple flower with arms just takes my breath away. The alliteration present in this poem is woven so skillfully that you barely see it happening - but Lord, can you feel it. Free verse DOES work. Here's proof.
Poor Dolores by Rose Poto.
Poor Dolores, indeed!! The imagery in this poem is both satisfying and striking - it hits you right between the eyes and almost blinds you. The rhyme is sparing but it's judiciously placed for maximum effect, the detailing exquisite, the last two lines, well, they're to die-for. We've all known Dolores - a few of us have been her, many more of us have been the girls crying in the stall. And that, my friends, is what makes this poem in particular stand out. A poem in which you recognize yourself is one of the greatest poems of all.
The Agnostic's Villanelle by Marilyn Taylor.
This poem was the catalyst for this post. When I first read this one, I was stunned enough to read it twice and then read it a third time - only out loud to Dan. It sparked a long conversation about what the poem meant or didn't mean. A discussion intriguing enough that I ended up enlisting Marilyn's help in "decoding" the poem. The concept here is simple enough - why would a god, any god, strike Milton blind and Beethoven deaf? Where is the mercy? What was the reasoning? Dan believes it happened for the same reason that Babel was destroyed - those that seek to attain perfection are bound to fail - but by God's design or by their own presumptiveness? Were Milton and Beethoven so stricken because God does not allow anyone to reach his own dizzying heights and they, perhaps, were getting dangerously close to perfection? Was it divine irony - or was it just that "simple twist of fate" that Bob Dylan speaks of? Regardless, this is one of the most thought provoking poems I've read in a long time. The form, the meter, the rhyme - it's well handled and finely executed - but the question it asks is what takes a complicated and difficult exercise in form and transforms it from the merely mechanical into the truly memorable.
If you think you've not got the time to peruse the entire Spring issue of Umbrella, peruse these four. I guarentee you'll want to read the rest.
One last thing - a word of warning to the editors and publishers of all online and print publications.
The bar has just been raised.
It's not enough that the rhyme and meter kick us in the ass, the thought conveyed must also jump-start our brains and stop. our. hearts. at the same time.
All the mechanics in the poetry-world mean nothing without a thought behind it. It's something, god forgive me for saying so, but it's something many of the "New Formalists" don't always seem to grasp. It doesn't matter how many double-dactyls you can use or how clever your metrical substitutions, it's not enough if your iambic pentameter or your occasionally and casually introduced spondee is perfection personified, what matters is that you are able to use your metrical skills as a physical (and secondary) enhancement of your all-important cerebral ability.
A competent poem can say nothing brilliantly, but it'll be forgotten shortly after it's read - while the more memorable poem, the one which sticks in your head and haunts your soul, is the equally competent one which says something brilliantly.
Most poets today can master one or the other - but not both. The various free-versers (for lack of a better word) can sometimes conceive the most interesting thought and/or idea, but they cannot skillfully design the vehicle capable of transporting it to the final destination. The Formalists, (for lack of a better word) on the other hand, can design the most impeccable-appearing vehicles but they often appear incapable of filling the interior space with anything even remotely relevant or interesting.
The following poems and poets are proof-positive, though, that some poets are capable of doing both - and at least one editor, Kate Benedict, has an uncanny eye for recognizing it:
Prologue by Michael Cantor
It took me several reads to even realize there's not a word of true rhyme, internal or otherwise, in this absolutely stunning and metrically perfect poem - that's how perfect the metrics are and how strong the message. (There is, however, a brilliant use of sound in the ending words, stone, storm, bones and moon which may be what carries the melody so well.) The stand-alone ending line scares the crap out of me. It becomes an unforgettable line - which, in turn, makes the entire poem unforgettable.
In camera by Julie Carter
What can I say? The final image of a small, sometimes awkward little girl as a distant lone purple flower with arms just takes my breath away. The alliteration present in this poem is woven so skillfully that you barely see it happening - but Lord, can you feel it. Free verse DOES work. Here's proof.
Poor Dolores by Rose Poto.
Poor Dolores, indeed!! The imagery in this poem is both satisfying and striking - it hits you right between the eyes and almost blinds you. The rhyme is sparing but it's judiciously placed for maximum effect, the detailing exquisite, the last two lines, well, they're to die-for. We've all known Dolores - a few of us have been her, many more of us have been the girls crying in the stall. And that, my friends, is what makes this poem in particular stand out. A poem in which you recognize yourself is one of the greatest poems of all.
The Agnostic's Villanelle by Marilyn Taylor.
This poem was the catalyst for this post. When I first read this one, I was stunned enough to read it twice and then read it a third time - only out loud to Dan. It sparked a long conversation about what the poem meant or didn't mean. A discussion intriguing enough that I ended up enlisting Marilyn's help in "decoding" the poem. The concept here is simple enough - why would a god, any god, strike Milton blind and Beethoven deaf? Where is the mercy? What was the reasoning? Dan believes it happened for the same reason that Babel was destroyed - those that seek to attain perfection are bound to fail - but by God's design or by their own presumptiveness? Were Milton and Beethoven so stricken because God does not allow anyone to reach his own dizzying heights and they, perhaps, were getting dangerously close to perfection? Was it divine irony - or was it just that "simple twist of fate" that Bob Dylan speaks of? Regardless, this is one of the most thought provoking poems I've read in a long time. The form, the meter, the rhyme - it's well handled and finely executed - but the question it asks is what takes a complicated and difficult exercise in form and transforms it from the merely mechanical into the truly memorable.
If you think you've not got the time to peruse the entire Spring issue of Umbrella, peruse these four. I guarentee you'll want to read the rest.
One last thing - a word of warning to the editors and publishers of all online and print publications.
The bar has just been raised.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Throwaway
Who'll show her where to go tonight
when all the warm stores shut their doors?
When all the walkways roll up tight,
Who'll show her where to go? Tonight
she's being baptized by streetlight.
Her heroes will become the whores
who'll show her where to go tonight
when all the warm stores shut their doors.
when all the warm stores shut their doors?
When all the walkways roll up tight,
Who'll show her where to go? Tonight
she's being baptized by streetlight.
Her heroes will become the whores
who'll show her where to go tonight
when all the warm stores shut their doors.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Michelle Mis-speaks
Don't get me wrong, I'm an Obama supporter all the way.
But for Michelle Obama to have said this was just plain stupid - regardless of what they're going to say she really meant.
It's fast becoming that first little nagging doubt in the back of my head.
I, like many other people, perhaps even like the majority of the people. tend to read "America" as "the American people" and regardless of how disgusted I sometimes get with American government, there are daily reminders of our capacity to show true American spirit and remind us of how proud we deserve to be of ourselves and one another.
Methinks Michelle ought to not let the campaign managers "explain what she really meant" and just bite the bullet and apologize.
But for Michelle Obama to have said this was just plain stupid - regardless of what they're going to say she really meant.
It's fast becoming that first little nagging doubt in the back of my head.
I, like many other people, perhaps even like the majority of the people. tend to read "America" as "the American people" and regardless of how disgusted I sometimes get with American government, there are daily reminders of our capacity to show true American spirit and remind us of how proud we deserve to be of ourselves and one another.
Methinks Michelle ought to not let the campaign managers "explain what she really meant" and just bite the bullet and apologize.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Of Babies and Boas
I dunno, call me old-fashioned and over-protective, but isn't a mom supposed to protect her children from things like snake venom and boa bites rather than take public delight in "baby's first bite"?
Thursday, February 07, 2008
"All Is Not Light" - or "Why I'm Not in the Mella-Camp"
Occasionally people who know me, or who know my poetry, will ask me why I don't submit anymore. I've usually only got vague answers for them because I'm not really sure myself.
Today, though, I remember the real reason behind my lack of enthusiasm for poetry magazines and for the editors of poetry magazines wihch has, God help me, filtered all the way down to the way I feel about poetry itself.
It all started 6 years ago with the infamous Poetry.com, of course.
And then along came the now defunct Foetry with it's unending and irritating tales of poetry-publishing shenanigans, not the least of which was The Tupelo Press/Jeffery Levine (Send-me-$35.00-please) debacle and the Lehman/Best American Poetry Series with it's rather incestuous sounding selection process.
More recently, there's this and there's this just in case all that other stuff wasn't enough to convince us (meaning me) that there is very little honor and very much nepotism in the publishing world.
Just in case I was in danger of changing my mind, however, one of "the good guys" (in my mind, anyhow, since I had never heard anything bad about him or his publication - if fact, on the contrary, I had always heard very good, very fair and complimentary things about him) has now fallen from the clay pedestal I'd once set him and a very few other editors upon.
It all came to Light over on Eratosphere on this thread started by a poet from North Dakota named Timothy Murphy.
For those of you who don't want to waste an hour reading the whole thread, I'll do a quick recap:
The well-known Murphy said, about Tom Mella, the editor of Light Magazine,
,John Mella's been awfully good to a lot of us. He doesn't accept email, so I'll email this in.
This is true, of course. They do not accept email submission. If you read their guidelines, there is no email address for submissions given and all submission information is paper based only.
Please be neat, submit letter-quality typescripts or clean photocopies, and a stamped self-addressed business (# 10) or manila-sized envelope (no post cards). Submissions that do not have sufficient postage for their return will be destroyed unread. There should be only one poem on each page, etc etc
Send contributions, queries, subscriptions, correspondence to:
LIGHT
The Editors
PO Box 7500
Chicago, Illinois 60680
No email address or instructions for it's usage was given on the submission page - no where, no how, no way.
Five hours later, the following announcement was posted on the thread:
This just in from Light Quarterly:
INSTANT DECISION: I LOVE IT! AND ACCEPT IT.. I'm sorry about your wheelchair. I'm glad you can still keep the sight steady. Write when you will or can. Glad you like the facelift of the mag. Still kicking, the old girl.
John
And so, this is a rather long and tedious way of saying, "In order to get an editor's attention, it's not how you write, it's not what you write, it's not how carefully you follow directions or how neatly you fold each submission or how much blood and sweat went into your poem or your preparation - it's about how well you already know them."
I'll take the high road here and go out on a limb - editors like that, editors who have rules for one set of people which do not apply to other sets of people, I don't think I really want to know them or to waste my time submitting poetry to them......at least Poetry.com is quickly up front about the way they do business - and as far as I know, they don't discriminate - they read all of the submissions the same way and they take everyone's money the same way - regardless of who they are - and they're not afraid or ashamed to say so.
I mean, fer God's sake, if you're going to make a practice of favoritism, at least have the decency to be quiet about it.
Today, though, I remember the real reason behind my lack of enthusiasm for poetry magazines and for the editors of poetry magazines wihch has, God help me, filtered all the way down to the way I feel about poetry itself.
It all started 6 years ago with the infamous Poetry.com, of course.
And then along came the now defunct Foetry with it's unending and irritating tales of poetry-publishing shenanigans, not the least of which was The Tupelo Press/Jeffery Levine (Send-me-$35.00-please) debacle and the Lehman/Best American Poetry Series with it's rather incestuous sounding selection process.
More recently, there's this and there's this just in case all that other stuff wasn't enough to convince us (meaning me) that there is very little honor and very much nepotism in the publishing world.
Just in case I was in danger of changing my mind, however, one of "the good guys" (in my mind, anyhow, since I had never heard anything bad about him or his publication - if fact, on the contrary, I had always heard very good, very fair and complimentary things about him) has now fallen from the clay pedestal I'd once set him and a very few other editors upon.
It all came to Light over on Eratosphere on this thread started by a poet from North Dakota named Timothy Murphy.
For those of you who don't want to waste an hour reading the whole thread, I'll do a quick recap:
The well-known Murphy said, about Tom Mella, the editor of Light Magazine,
,John Mella's been awfully good to a lot of us. He doesn't accept email, so I'll email this in.
This is true, of course. They do not accept email submission. If you read their guidelines, there is no email address for submissions given and all submission information is paper based only.
Please be neat, submit letter-quality typescripts or clean photocopies, and a stamped self-addressed business (# 10) or manila-sized envelope (no post cards). Submissions that do not have sufficient postage for their return will be destroyed unread. There should be only one poem on each page, etc etc
Send contributions, queries, subscriptions, correspondence to:
LIGHT
The Editors
PO Box 7500
Chicago, Illinois 60680
No email address or instructions for it's usage was given on the submission page - no where, no how, no way.
Five hours later, the following announcement was posted on the thread:
This just in from Light Quarterly:
INSTANT DECISION: I LOVE IT! AND ACCEPT IT.. I'm sorry about your wheelchair. I'm glad you can still keep the sight steady. Write when you will or can. Glad you like the facelift of the mag. Still kicking, the old girl.
John
And so, this is a rather long and tedious way of saying, "In order to get an editor's attention, it's not how you write, it's not what you write, it's not how carefully you follow directions or how neatly you fold each submission or how much blood and sweat went into your poem or your preparation - it's about how well you already know them."
I'll take the high road here and go out on a limb - editors like that, editors who have rules for one set of people which do not apply to other sets of people, I don't think I really want to know them or to waste my time submitting poetry to them......at least Poetry.com is quickly up front about the way they do business - and as far as I know, they don't discriminate - they read all of the submissions the same way and they take everyone's money the same way - regardless of who they are - and they're not afraid or ashamed to say so.
I mean, fer God's sake, if you're going to make a practice of favoritism, at least have the decency to be quiet about it.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
It's a Cop's Life
With thanks to Kenny
Caution: Perhaps not for the faint-of-heart
Check out this video: Police why there are
Add to My Profile | More Videos
Caution: Perhaps not for the faint-of-heart
Check out this video: Police why there are
Add to My Profile | More Videos
Thursday, January 17, 2008
2007 NEMEROV AWARDED TO......
Michael Juster
for the third time!! Way to go, Michael.
Interestingly enough, I met Mike for the first time last Sunday. We had dinner together, along with Leesburg poet Claudia Gary Annis and her son.
Michael is a delightful man as well as a wonderful poet and the thrice-earned honor is well-deserved.
After dinner, the four of us went next door to Iota, in Arlington, Va., where Wordworks holds monthly poetry readings on the second Sunday of each month which are followed by an open mic period.
The readings are run by Miles David Moore and I highly recommmend the time and place to anyone in the area who's at all interested in poetry. There was a fair-sized crowd present, all of them friendly and polite, and the poetry was well-performed and equally well-received. Most of it was free verse, but a few people did get up and read some strictly formal verse and those poems were welcomed every bit as warmly as their unmetered and less constrained cousins were.
I even read!! Egged on by Michael and Claudia I somehow agreed to let Claudia list me for the open mic. It's an experience I plan to never repeat, but I am glad I did it the once. It gives new meaning to the words "grace" and "courage" - and it was a fairly safe way for me to discover that I am sadly lacking in both qualities.
In other words, I was scared to death and it showed. My legs shook, my arms shook, my hands shook, and worse of all, my voice shook. Badly. Very Badly.
I'll leave the "spoken word" to others from now on and be content to simply write the stuff without attempting to inflict it on others while confined to an enclosed space.
Without a doubt, though, I'll go back to listen.
Next month, February 10th, at 6PM. Be there!!
for the third time!! Way to go, Michael.
Interestingly enough, I met Mike for the first time last Sunday. We had dinner together, along with Leesburg poet Claudia Gary Annis and her son.
Michael is a delightful man as well as a wonderful poet and the thrice-earned honor is well-deserved.
After dinner, the four of us went next door to Iota, in Arlington, Va., where Wordworks holds monthly poetry readings on the second Sunday of each month which are followed by an open mic period.
The readings are run by Miles David Moore and I highly recommmend the time and place to anyone in the area who's at all interested in poetry. There was a fair-sized crowd present, all of them friendly and polite, and the poetry was well-performed and equally well-received. Most of it was free verse, but a few people did get up and read some strictly formal verse and those poems were welcomed every bit as warmly as their unmetered and less constrained cousins were.
I even read!! Egged on by Michael and Claudia I somehow agreed to let Claudia list me for the open mic. It's an experience I plan to never repeat, but I am glad I did it the once. It gives new meaning to the words "grace" and "courage" - and it was a fairly safe way for me to discover that I am sadly lacking in both qualities.
In other words, I was scared to death and it showed. My legs shook, my arms shook, my hands shook, and worse of all, my voice shook. Badly. Very Badly.
I'll leave the "spoken word" to others from now on and be content to simply write the stuff without attempting to inflict it on others while confined to an enclosed space.
Without a doubt, though, I'll go back to listen.
Next month, February 10th, at 6PM. Be there!!
Saturday, January 05, 2008
There's Only This
revision
There’s Only This
There is no graceful end in sight,
no peaceful dimming of the light;
no hand to hold; no gentle kiss
upon your brow. There's only this -
your own reflection in the night.
When fragile flesh and fear collide
and faith alone fails to ignite
a vision of eternal bliss,
there is no grace
your God can grant - no blessing bright
or beautiful. No spirit, sprite
or saviour shall appear. One hiss
of breath is all that still exists.
The end is ice. Cold. Bitter. White.
There is no grace.
There’s Only This
There is no graceful end in sight,
no peaceful dimming of the light;
no hand to hold; no gentle kiss
upon your brow. There's only this -
your own reflection in the night.
When fragile flesh and fear collide
and faith alone fails to ignite
a vision of eternal bliss,
there is no grace
your God can grant - no blessing bright
or beautiful. No spirit, sprite
or saviour shall appear. One hiss
of breath is all that still exists.
The end is ice. Cold. Bitter. White.
There is no grace.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Remember....
The girl of your dreams
is almost always some other guy's nightmare.
Damn - and I thought the stripper next door and I knew how to apply makeup!!
Poor Ex-Miss Arizona contestant. Poor ex-Miss Arizona' Contestant's ex-boyfiend.
is almost always some other guy's nightmare.
Damn - and I thought the stripper next door and I knew how to apply makeup!!
Poor Ex-Miss Arizona contestant. Poor ex-Miss Arizona' Contestant's ex-boyfiend.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Jesus Camp
I've been home sick for the last week which means my days and nights have been turned around. I sleep half the day and watch television half the night.
Somewhere around 2AM I was watching A&E and ran across Jesus Camp which I proceed to watch in it's entirety:
In spite of the fact that the camp itself has since been shut down, I'm feeling even sicker now. My reason is simple - why would anyone, Christian or otherwise, willfully cause a small child to cry?
Somewhere around 2AM I was watching A&E and ran across Jesus Camp which I proceed to watch in it's entirety:
In spite of the fact that the camp itself has since been shut down, I'm feeling even sicker now. My reason is simple - why would anyone, Christian or otherwise, willfully cause a small child to cry?
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Huckabee Reinterprets The Bible - What'll He Do To The Constitution?
Presidential wanna-be (and former minister,) Mike Huckabee, really needs to get his facts straight. If a Chrisitan candidate feels free to reinterpret and rearrange his church's bible, then God only knows what he'd be willing to do to his county's constitution.
According to CNN Huckabee recently gave a 30-minute sermon to the nearly full 5,500-seat auditorium at Cornerstone Church which focused on the Christmas story, which he said was the "remarkable story of an unwed teenage mother."
Excuse me, Mike, but check out the defination of "unwed mother" and then check out
Matthew 1:20-25
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife
25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her a firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
Where I come from, a girl is not quite an "unwed" mother if she's someone's wife.
I just love the way people rearrange stories sometimes.
Must be a Republican thing, yes?
According to CNN Huckabee recently gave a 30-minute sermon to the nearly full 5,500-seat auditorium at Cornerstone Church which focused on the Christmas story, which he said was the "remarkable story of an unwed teenage mother."
Excuse me, Mike, but check out the defination of "unwed mother" and then check out
Matthew 1:20-25
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife
25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her a firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
Where I come from, a girl is not quite an "unwed" mother if she's someone's wife.
I just love the way people rearrange stories sometimes.
Must be a Republican thing, yes?
Thursday, December 20, 2007
One Old Christmas Story, One New Christmas Poem
Behold the season's
greatest joy.
A small green tree
and a red-cheeked boy.
The Gift of the Magi O. Henry Coming Home Jim Hayes
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Pinsky Goes Public
Interesting "question and answer" discussion with former Poet Laureate, Robert Pinsky.
I especially like the part where he mentions C. Dale Young and Alicia Stallings. I don't know why, but I do. Maybe it's because I know Alicia through Eratosphere, West Chester and Formalista, and because I read C. Dale's blog often enough to feel downright chummy with him in a strictly-internet-sort-of-way.
Anyhow, it's a good read and you'd do well to check it out.
I especially like the part where he mentions C. Dale Young and Alicia Stallings. I don't know why, but I do. Maybe it's because I know Alicia through Eratosphere, West Chester and Formalista, and because I read C. Dale's blog often enough to feel downright chummy with him in a strictly-internet-sort-of-way.
Anyhow, it's a good read and you'd do well to check it out.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Dan and the Annual Swift Contest
Arghhh....Dan made the semi-finals for this year's Swift contest, but not the short-list. What's with those people??? It was really really good!!
Anyhow, you can read it here if you're interested. There's no names posted because it's a blind contest but now that he's out of the running, I think it's ok to acknowledge it. I don't know how it didn't make the final cut - I think it's brilliant.
Anyhow, you can read it here if you're interested. There's no names posted because it's a blind contest but now that he's out of the running, I think it's ok to acknowledge it. I don't know how it didn't make the final cut - I think it's brilliant.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Sean Taylor and the Quest for Appropriate Punishment
Four Arrested in Death of Sean Taylor
I'm glad they caught these guys. I'm glad one of them has already confessed. I hope they're punished appropriately. (I realize "appropriately" means different things to different people but I don't want to re-start the always ugly disagreement that Dan and I have over the death penalty.)
I do have a few small questions, however, and I hope some really smart prosecuting attorney questions the same things.
1) Why, if the 4 would-be burglars planned this home invasion around the premise that Sean Taylor was going to be away at the time they entered his home, did they carry a gun?
2) Did they think they had pre-knowledge that Jackie, his girlfriend, and Jackie, his daughter, were also going to be out of town playing in a football game? Because if not, then they already knew there was a better than average chance that someone, although maybe not Sean, was going to be home sleeping. That makes it even more sinister, in my humble opinion. Who breaks into a home knowing that only a young woman and a small child are going to be there?
3) Why, if their only intention was burglary, did they not leave the house immediately when they heard the bedroom door being locked? Obviously if a person is locking himself in he has no intention of coming back out. They'd have had more than enough time to make an escape before the police department was notified and on the way if they'd left as soon as they heard a noise and realized someone was home instead of continuing on their merry thieving way. Not only did they not try to beat feet and leave, they went to the opposite extreme, kicking in the bedroom door and firing two shots directly at Mr. Taylor. I don't know about you, but this does not sound like a bunch of kids out to do nothing more than steal a few valuables.
And finally:
4) If this story is to be believed, at least two of the suspects had personal ties to Sean Taylor. Apparently Sean's sister dates (or has dated) a cousin of one of the suspects and he's been to at least one party at Sean's home and another of the suspects cuts Taylor's lawn and does other odd chores around the house for him. Having that sort of working-relationship with the owner of a house means that, at the very least, the would-be burglar could have, without attracting much suspicion, called the house with some bullshit story about wanting to come 'round and cut lawn, pick up sticks, dig up dirt or whatever it is handy-men are hired to do. Why wasn't that easily accomplished and not-hard-to-figure-out phone call made before the "nobody home, let's rob the place" plans were implemented and carried out? How many brain cells would making that one small, confirming phone call have taken?
And lastly, why - why would you bite the very hand that feeds you unless, of course, it really was personal?
As a recently married, middle-aged mother of grown children with a nice safe cushy job who's living in an upscale suburb of Washington D.C., I'm turning pretty mellow nowadays. I'm also a fairly recent convert to the idea of strict gun control, and like all fairly recent coverts to anything, I'm pretty gung-ho over the idea. However, I gotta be honest, the South-Side Chicago Ghetto-Child who still resides inside of me understands that the outcome of this whole thing most likely would have been entirely different had Sean Taylor kept a loaded shotgun instead of a shiny machete hidden under his bed.
But that's blood-lust and spectulation. Justice after-the-fact and appropriate punishment is all that's really left.
I have a son exactly the same age as Sean and a grandson just a wee bit older than Sean's baby, Jackie. I'm not talking street justice here, I'm talking mother justice, and I know exactly what sort of justice this particular mother finds sufficient.
I'm glad they caught these guys. I'm glad one of them has already confessed. I hope they're punished appropriately. (I realize "appropriately" means different things to different people but I don't want to re-start the always ugly disagreement that Dan and I have over the death penalty.)
I do have a few small questions, however, and I hope some really smart prosecuting attorney questions the same things.
1) Why, if the 4 would-be burglars planned this home invasion around the premise that Sean Taylor was going to be away at the time they entered his home, did they carry a gun?
2) Did they think they had pre-knowledge that Jackie, his girlfriend, and Jackie, his daughter, were also going to be out of town playing in a football game? Because if not, then they already knew there was a better than average chance that someone, although maybe not Sean, was going to be home sleeping. That makes it even more sinister, in my humble opinion. Who breaks into a home knowing that only a young woman and a small child are going to be there?
3) Why, if their only intention was burglary, did they not leave the house immediately when they heard the bedroom door being locked? Obviously if a person is locking himself in he has no intention of coming back out. They'd have had more than enough time to make an escape before the police department was notified and on the way if they'd left as soon as they heard a noise and realized someone was home instead of continuing on their merry thieving way. Not only did they not try to beat feet and leave, they went to the opposite extreme, kicking in the bedroom door and firing two shots directly at Mr. Taylor. I don't know about you, but this does not sound like a bunch of kids out to do nothing more than steal a few valuables.
And finally:
4) If this story is to be believed, at least two of the suspects had personal ties to Sean Taylor. Apparently Sean's sister dates (or has dated) a cousin of one of the suspects and he's been to at least one party at Sean's home and another of the suspects cuts Taylor's lawn and does other odd chores around the house for him. Having that sort of working-relationship with the owner of a house means that, at the very least, the would-be burglar could have, without attracting much suspicion, called the house with some bullshit story about wanting to come 'round and cut lawn, pick up sticks, dig up dirt or whatever it is handy-men are hired to do. Why wasn't that easily accomplished and not-hard-to-figure-out phone call made before the "nobody home, let's rob the place" plans were implemented and carried out? How many brain cells would making that one small, confirming phone call have taken?
And lastly, why - why would you bite the very hand that feeds you unless, of course, it really was personal?
As a recently married, middle-aged mother of grown children with a nice safe cushy job who's living in an upscale suburb of Washington D.C., I'm turning pretty mellow nowadays. I'm also a fairly recent convert to the idea of strict gun control, and like all fairly recent coverts to anything, I'm pretty gung-ho over the idea. However, I gotta be honest, the South-Side Chicago Ghetto-Child who still resides inside of me understands that the outcome of this whole thing most likely would have been entirely different had Sean Taylor kept a loaded shotgun instead of a shiny machete hidden under his bed.
But that's blood-lust and spectulation. Justice after-the-fact and appropriate punishment is all that's really left.
I have a son exactly the same age as Sean and a grandson just a wee bit older than Sean's baby, Jackie. I'm not talking street justice here, I'm talking mother justice, and I know exactly what sort of justice this particular mother finds sufficient.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Visiting the Local Animal Shelter
I am off (in spite of Dan's vigerous protests) to visit the Alexandria Animal Shelter in order to check out Kady the Jack Russell/Pug and Peaches, the Senegal Parrot. They are both approximately one year old and I think either one (or both) would make a good addition to our little "family."
Don't you agree?
Don't you agree?
Friday, November 23, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Why It's Sometimes Good to Be A Woman in America
Someone is beating and raping women in my immediate neighborhood. The first three assaults took place right outside my front door. There are warning notices plastered all over the inside of my condo building and the same print-outs are prominantly displayed on the walls of my office building down the street. The police are becoming more and more visable, especially early in the day when I leave for work. The word is out there and the entire community is rightously and rightfully outraged at these attacks on it's female citizens.
Springfield, Alexandria Masked Assaults Analyzed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A woman walking in the Springfield area of Fairfax County was sexually assaulted early Wednesday, and police are investigating whether the attack is linked to three recent similar incidents in Alexandria.
All four episodes occurred before dawn by a man with the same general description, Fairfax Officer Eddy J. Azcarate said. In Springfield, an 18-year-old woman walking in the 6900 block of Industrial Road about 5:45 a.m. was approached from behind, forced to a remote area and assaulted by a man in a black ski mask, police said.
In Alexandria, women walking alone between 5 and 6 a.m. were dragged off sidewalks and assaulted Aug. 31, Nov. 5 and Nov. 9. Detectives from Fairfax and Alexandria met yesterday to compare the cases, Azcarate said. The assailant in the most recent incident was described as being 5-foot-7 to 5-foot-10, with an average build, wearing a black ski mask, a black nylon jacket and bluejeans. The assailant in the second and third Alexandria attacks also wore a ski mask, Alexandria police said.
Quite a different scene than this one that's playing out in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Court Ups Punishment for Gang-Rape Victim
(CNN) -- A court in Saudi Arabia increased the punishment for a gang-rape victim after her lawyer won an appeal of the sentence for the rapists, the lawyer told CNN.
The 19-year-old victim was sentenced last year to 90 lashes for meeting with an unrelated male, a former friend from whom she was retrieving photographs. The seven rapists, who abducted the pair, received sentences ranging from 10 months to five years in prison.
The victim's attorney, Abdulrahman al-Lahim, contested the rapists' sentence, contending there is a fatwa, or edict under Islamic law, that considers such crimes Hiraba (sinful violent crime) and the punishment should be death.
"After a year, the preliminary court changed the punishment and made it two to nine years for the defendants," al-Lahim said of the new decision handed down Wednesday. "However, we were shocked that they also changed the victim's sentence to be six months in prison and 200 lashes."
The judges more than doubled the punishment for the victim because of "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media," according to a source quoted by Arab News, an English-language Middle Eastern daily newspaper.
As if that weren't enough punishment meted out - her lawyer's had his license to practice law revoked for even taking her case in the first place.
Don't worry, though, The United States is on top of things - or are they?
Read the article and you'll understand why we, as a country, really ought to be a lot more careful about whom we get into bed with.
Springfield, Alexandria Masked Assaults Analyzed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A woman walking in the Springfield area of Fairfax County was sexually assaulted early Wednesday, and police are investigating whether the attack is linked to three recent similar incidents in Alexandria.
All four episodes occurred before dawn by a man with the same general description, Fairfax Officer Eddy J. Azcarate said. In Springfield, an 18-year-old woman walking in the 6900 block of Industrial Road about 5:45 a.m. was approached from behind, forced to a remote area and assaulted by a man in a black ski mask, police said.
In Alexandria, women walking alone between 5 and 6 a.m. were dragged off sidewalks and assaulted Aug. 31, Nov. 5 and Nov. 9. Detectives from Fairfax and Alexandria met yesterday to compare the cases, Azcarate said. The assailant in the most recent incident was described as being 5-foot-7 to 5-foot-10, with an average build, wearing a black ski mask, a black nylon jacket and bluejeans. The assailant in the second and third Alexandria attacks also wore a ski mask, Alexandria police said.
Quite a different scene than this one that's playing out in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Court Ups Punishment for Gang-Rape Victim
(CNN) -- A court in Saudi Arabia increased the punishment for a gang-rape victim after her lawyer won an appeal of the sentence for the rapists, the lawyer told CNN.
The 19-year-old victim was sentenced last year to 90 lashes for meeting with an unrelated male, a former friend from whom she was retrieving photographs. The seven rapists, who abducted the pair, received sentences ranging from 10 months to five years in prison.
The victim's attorney, Abdulrahman al-Lahim, contested the rapists' sentence, contending there is a fatwa, or edict under Islamic law, that considers such crimes Hiraba (sinful violent crime) and the punishment should be death.
"After a year, the preliminary court changed the punishment and made it two to nine years for the defendants," al-Lahim said of the new decision handed down Wednesday. "However, we were shocked that they also changed the victim's sentence to be six months in prison and 200 lashes."
The judges more than doubled the punishment for the victim because of "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media," according to a source quoted by Arab News, an English-language Middle Eastern daily newspaper.
As if that weren't enough punishment meted out - her lawyer's had his license to practice law revoked for even taking her case in the first place.
Don't worry, though, The United States is on top of things - or are they?
Read the article and you'll understand why we, as a country, really ought to be a lot more careful about whom we get into bed with.
Monday, November 05, 2007
HATE TO WAIT??
This is marvelously helpful for those of you who hate wasting valuable time and cell phone minutes trying to get past the goddam automated telephone prompts and talk to a real live breathing thinking human being.
www.gethuman.com
God bless whoever had the time and patience to put this all together in one handy-dandy easy to navigate website.
www.gethuman.com
God bless whoever had the time and patience to put this all together in one handy-dandy easy to navigate website.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Search Words
Ok.....someone found this blog using the search words "Chinese Tufu Recipes With Cat" and someone else found it looking for "Spiders Named Lindsey."
You've got to love Google.
Really.
You've got to love Google.
Really.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Carol Frost - Poetry Magazine - Go There Now
Call me a formalistic heretic but this free verse poem is absolutely, without doubt, one of the best things I have read in eons.
Really.
Read it and weep.
Literally.
Really.
Read it and weep.
Literally.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Dare I say - Patriots???
By God, I think the
just might pull this one off!!!
edited to add after the start of the second half:
Or not.
just might pull this one off!!!
edited to add after the start of the second half:
Or not.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Poets, Pundits and Anti-Semitism
I'm not quite sure which one is more pathetic.
Anne Coulter
or
Leo Yankevich
One does it in the name of Christianity and the other does it - well, I'm not quite sure why he does it - because he can, I suppose.
Problem is, they both seem to think they're going to win friends and influence people with their cleverness and their ingenuousness. Someone ought to tell them just how unattractive, unimaginative and unbelievable they are.
Ugly combination, fear and ignorance, hey what?
Anne Coulter
or
Leo Yankevich
One does it in the name of Christianity and the other does it - well, I'm not quite sure why he does it - because he can, I suppose.
Problem is, they both seem to think they're going to win friends and influence people with their cleverness and their ingenuousness. Someone ought to tell them just how unattractive, unimaginative and unbelievable they are.
Ugly combination, fear and ignorance, hey what?
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Retraction
Last week I said this: Judging a person's character is different than judging that person's poetry. One should have no bearing on the other.
Today, after meeting poetic racism up-close and personal, I'm printing a public retraction.
I was wrong. It should have a bearing. We are morally responsible for what we write, for what we print, for what we publish, for where we publish, for who we publish and we are morally responsible for making the reasons for our choices known.
If we print the poetry of a known Nazi-sympathizer, if we print the poetry of a Holocaust denier, of a racist, of a bigot, if we give these people praise or even acknowledgement, if we give them even an inch of publicity - we give them a platform and we give them power. By publishing them, by bestowing awards on them, we give the rest of the world a chance to meet them and to embrace them. By virtue of our open-mindedness and our appreciation of art and by our own "acceptance" we make them acceptable.
By admitting them into our magazines and our publishing houses, we send the message to the rest of the world that we approve, not only of their poetry, but also of their beliefs - because, in the eyes of the world, it is damn near impossible to separate the heart of a poet from the heart of his poem.
If we do not speak up and tell the world what we feel we share responsibility for what happens as a result of our silence.
For anyone who thinks editors are not morally (and sometimes legally) responsible for what happens as a result of what they publish, I'd suggest reading up on Julius Streicher.
Today, after meeting poetic racism up-close and personal, I'm printing a public retraction.
I was wrong. It should have a bearing. We are morally responsible for what we write, for what we print, for what we publish, for where we publish, for who we publish and we are morally responsible for making the reasons for our choices known.
If we print the poetry of a known Nazi-sympathizer, if we print the poetry of a Holocaust denier, of a racist, of a bigot, if we give these people praise or even acknowledgement, if we give them even an inch of publicity - we give them a platform and we give them power. By publishing them, by bestowing awards on them, we give the rest of the world a chance to meet them and to embrace them. By virtue of our open-mindedness and our appreciation of art and by our own "acceptance" we make them acceptable.
By admitting them into our magazines and our publishing houses, we send the message to the rest of the world that we approve, not only of their poetry, but also of their beliefs - because, in the eyes of the world, it is damn near impossible to separate the heart of a poet from the heart of his poem.
If we do not speak up and tell the world what we feel we share responsibility for what happens as a result of our silence.
For anyone who thinks editors are not morally (and sometimes legally) responsible for what happens as a result of what they publish, I'd suggest reading up on Julius Streicher.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Someone's Playing Stupid on Wikipedia
Within the last 48 hours there was a crudely worded reference on a rather disgusting blog to a wonderfully talented female poet having twice won The Nemerov Sonnet award by virtue of possessing talents other than poetic.
Within the last 24 hours there was a post on the same blog which referred to another well-respected woman poet as a "poetasteress and hybrid human-cow" and which requested her to get off of her "bovine ass."
Knowing both of these ladies as well as I do, and knowing that virtually no one finds the obscure blog in question interesting enough to read very often, I tend to find this all rather amusing. For some reason, the farther from the truth one gets the funnier I find it. Maybe I'm just weird that way, but I think most people would agree with me. Lies and accusations are not humorous when there's a even a kernel of truth in them - but when they're totally outrageous they just can't be taken too damn seriously.
So that kind of childish stuff is just funny. The Internet's full of childish stupidity - the Law of Averages says some of it's got to be funny.
The flip side of the same law, however, says that some of the information which can be found, even on the same subject, will fall into the "not quite so humorous" catagory.
Something like this, for instance.
For one thing, Wikipedia is not some obscure blog. Rightly or wrongly, people from all walks of life use Wikipedia as a kind of Internet-Encyclopedia and they trust it. The fact that anyone would choose to deliberately include dishonest and/or misleading information is utterly unconscionable. The fact that it's gone unchallenged since last July is just ice on the disgusting cake.
For another thing, The Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award established in 1994, has always been one of the more prestegious and sought-after awards for formalist poets and The Formalist first published in 1990, was, from the first issue to the last, a first-rate and highly respected publication, as is the current benefactor/administrator of The Nemerov Sonnet Prize, Measure. To see any of them portrayed in any light other than favorable is just painful.
To further clarify things, neither publication is related (or akin) to the imaginary "It's Talon Time" or the very real "Highlights For Children" Nor was there an award given for "It's Talon Time, Bitch" by a fictitious Michael Plittman in 1993. The Nemerov, as stated above, was not even established until a year later - in 1994.
And just in case you didn't already know it - the judges for The Nemerov Award are now and have always been well-known and well-respected poets - not some secret tribunal committee composed of horse doctors.
I hate to ruin someone's childish fun, but I'm gonna notify both Wikipedia and Measure and hopefully this:
Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award was established in 1978 by The Formalist. The winner, usually selected from about 3,000 entrants, receives $1,000 and publication. Beginning in 2006 the winner will appear in It's Talon Time!, a successor publication akin to Highlights for Children also published in Evansville, Indiana.
The award is administered by a secret board of veterinarians.
will be gone soon.
It's my good deed for the day.
Besides that, I really do enjoy stomping the annoying little buzz of idiots. I'm such a taloning-telling little bitch that way.
Within the last 24 hours there was a post on the same blog which referred to another well-respected woman poet as a "poetasteress and hybrid human-cow" and which requested her to get off of her "bovine ass."
Knowing both of these ladies as well as I do, and knowing that virtually no one finds the obscure blog in question interesting enough to read very often, I tend to find this all rather amusing. For some reason, the farther from the truth one gets the funnier I find it. Maybe I'm just weird that way, but I think most people would agree with me. Lies and accusations are not humorous when there's a even a kernel of truth in them - but when they're totally outrageous they just can't be taken too damn seriously.
So that kind of childish stuff is just funny. The Internet's full of childish stupidity - the Law of Averages says some of it's got to be funny.
The flip side of the same law, however, says that some of the information which can be found, even on the same subject, will fall into the "not quite so humorous" catagory.
Something like this, for instance.
For one thing, Wikipedia is not some obscure blog. Rightly or wrongly, people from all walks of life use Wikipedia as a kind of Internet-Encyclopedia and they trust it. The fact that anyone would choose to deliberately include dishonest and/or misleading information is utterly unconscionable. The fact that it's gone unchallenged since last July is just ice on the disgusting cake.
For another thing, The Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award established in 1994, has always been one of the more prestegious and sought-after awards for formalist poets and The Formalist first published in 1990, was, from the first issue to the last, a first-rate and highly respected publication, as is the current benefactor/administrator of The Nemerov Sonnet Prize, Measure. To see any of them portrayed in any light other than favorable is just painful.
To further clarify things, neither publication is related (or akin) to the imaginary "It's Talon Time" or the very real "Highlights For Children" Nor was there an award given for "It's Talon Time, Bitch" by a fictitious Michael Plittman in 1993. The Nemerov, as stated above, was not even established until a year later - in 1994.
And just in case you didn't already know it - the judges for The Nemerov Award are now and have always been well-known and well-respected poets - not some secret tribunal committee composed of horse doctors.
I hate to ruin someone's childish fun, but I'm gonna notify both Wikipedia and Measure and hopefully this:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award was established in 1978 by The Formalist. The winner, usually selected from about 3,000 entrants, receives $1,000 and publication. Beginning in 2006 the winner will appear in It's Talon Time!, a successor publication akin to Highlights for Children also published in Evansville, Indiana.
The award is administered by a secret board of veterinarians.
will be gone soon.
It's my good deed for the day.
Besides that, I really do enjoy stomping the annoying little buzz of idiots. I'm such a taloning-telling little bitch that way.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Leaving the Live Poets Behind For a Moment -
Robert Graves may have been something of a fruitcake - what with his multi-colored goddesses and his strange affair with Laura Riding (who literally moved in with him and his first wife, Nancy and their family. A bizarre bit of threesome which eventually drove Laura into a failed suicide attempt before the first wife bowed out and Laura and Robert packed up and moved to Majorca. ) Still in all, as with countless other dead poets - he shines every bit as brightly today as he did all those long years ago.
However, knowing the history of Robert, Laura and Wife #1 - it kind of puts the following poem in a whole new (and somewhat creepy) light, doesn't it?
The Cool Web
Children are dumb to say how hot the day is,
How hot the scent is of the summer rose,
How dreadful the black wastes of evening sky,
How dreadful the tall soldiers drumming by.
But we have speech, to chill the angry day,
And speech, to dull the rose's cruel scent.
We spell away the overhanging night,
We spell away the soldiers and the fright.
There's a cool web of language winds us in,
Retreat from too much joy or too much fear:
We grow sea-green at last and coldly die
In brininess and volubility.
But if we let our tongues lose self-possession,
Throwing off language and its watery clasp
Before our death, instead of when death comes,
Facing the wide glare of the children's day,
Facing the rose, the dark sky and the drums,
We shall go mad no doubt and die that way.
Robert Graves
However, knowing the history of Robert, Laura and Wife #1 - it kind of puts the following poem in a whole new (and somewhat creepy) light, doesn't it?
The Cool Web
Children are dumb to say how hot the day is,
How hot the scent is of the summer rose,
How dreadful the black wastes of evening sky,
How dreadful the tall soldiers drumming by.
But we have speech, to chill the angry day,
And speech, to dull the rose's cruel scent.
We spell away the overhanging night,
We spell away the soldiers and the fright.
There's a cool web of language winds us in,
Retreat from too much joy or too much fear:
We grow sea-green at last and coldly die
In brininess and volubility.
But if we let our tongues lose self-possession,
Throwing off language and its watery clasp
Before our death, instead of when death comes,
Facing the wide glare of the children's day,
Facing the rose, the dark sky and the drums,
We shall go mad no doubt and die that way.
Robert Graves
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Resignations and Accusations Reign
at The Poetry Society of America. Are we or are we not entering a period of McCarthyism and rampant unrepentant conservatism?
Not only that but just who in the hell is John Hollander and why haven't I heard of him before today?
Whoever-he-is, he apparently has made some remarks over the years which some voting board members considered to be racist. Other board members said they felt that such comments were not characteristic of Mr. Hollander’s views or had been misinterpreted. Mr. Louis-Dreyfus said that even if the comments were representative, they were irrelevant criteria for judging the Frost Medal, just as he would argue that Ezra Pound’s anti-Semitism should not detract from the literary appreciation of his work.
Mr. Louis-Dreyfus (whom I've also never heard of) runs an international commodities trading and shipping firm and dabbles (how the hell does one "dabble" anyhow? Either you do something or you don't) in writing poetry, said he resigned partly to protest what he regarded as an “exercise of gross reactionary thinking” among the other board members who left in the wake of the award to Mr. Hollander, a retired English professor at Yale.
Regardless of all that, I'm miffed because I thought I knew all the damn suspected and/or well-known bigots in the poetry world.
The point is - Mr. Louis-Dreyfus is right. Judging a person's character is different than judging that person's poetry. One should have no bearing on the other.
Be that as it may, I probably wouldn't buy a book of Mr. Hollander's poems for the same reason I wouldn't buy a portrait of a clown from John Wayne Gacy or stand in line at the book store to buy the latest copy of O. J. Simpson's new book (regardless of the fact that he won't ever collect any royalities from it) or wear a pair of Michael Vick running shoes or (although Dan disagrees with me) go stylishly jogging while sporting a light gray hoodie bearing the name of Bill Belichick or pay good money to listen to Don Imus on the newest pay-for-listen radio show - simply because there are too many other damn good clown portraits, novels, radio shows, running shoes, jogging hoodies and poetry books out there to choose from.
The way I figure it - why encourage stupidity when it's so simple (and so much cheaper) to avoid it?
Not only that but just who in the hell is John Hollander and why haven't I heard of him before today?
Whoever-he-is, he apparently has made some remarks over the years which some voting board members considered to be racist. Other board members said they felt that such comments were not characteristic of Mr. Hollander’s views or had been misinterpreted. Mr. Louis-Dreyfus said that even if the comments were representative, they were irrelevant criteria for judging the Frost Medal, just as he would argue that Ezra Pound’s anti-Semitism should not detract from the literary appreciation of his work.
Mr. Louis-Dreyfus (whom I've also never heard of) runs an international commodities trading and shipping firm and dabbles (how the hell does one "dabble" anyhow? Either you do something or you don't) in writing poetry, said he resigned partly to protest what he regarded as an “exercise of gross reactionary thinking” among the other board members who left in the wake of the award to Mr. Hollander, a retired English professor at Yale.
Regardless of all that, I'm miffed because I thought I knew all the damn suspected and/or well-known bigots in the poetry world.
The point is - Mr. Louis-Dreyfus is right. Judging a person's character is different than judging that person's poetry. One should have no bearing on the other.
Be that as it may, I probably wouldn't buy a book of Mr. Hollander's poems for the same reason I wouldn't buy a portrait of a clown from John Wayne Gacy or stand in line at the book store to buy the latest copy of O. J. Simpson's new book (regardless of the fact that he won't ever collect any royalities from it) or wear a pair of Michael Vick running shoes or (although Dan disagrees with me) go stylishly jogging while sporting a light gray hoodie bearing the name of Bill Belichick or pay good money to listen to Don Imus on the newest pay-for-listen radio show - simply because there are too many other damn good clown portraits, novels, radio shows, running shoes, jogging hoodies and poetry books out there to choose from.
The way I figure it - why encourage stupidity when it's so simple (and so much cheaper) to avoid it?
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
If You Think There's Honor In Poetry
read what Seth Abramson and Quincy Lehr have taken the time to write about Heather McHugh and Joesph Salemi. Then tell them both "Thank you." What a heart-breaking, myth-busting, gut-sickening confirmation of everything you've already suspected about the poetry world!!
Seth Abramson
and
Quincy Lehr
When you're done reading, ask me why I no longer care to submit poetry to anywhere or anyone.
Tell me if you're still comfortable doing it yourself.
Why do we tolerate this sort of crap in poetry? Would sports fans turn a blind eye if Bill Belichick suddenly pulled Tom Brady out of the QB position and stuck his recently-graduated-from-high-school nephew in the Super Bowl? Would we tolerate a member of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee awarding himself the prize? When President Bush consistantly appoints no one but his best friends and highest campaign contributors to high places, tell me, honestly, what is it that even his die-hard supporters understand explicitly?
I'll tell you what I think - I think that President Bush and his Republican cronies have nothing on The Live Poet's Society. Nothing at all.
Seth Abramson
and
Quincy Lehr
When you're done reading, ask me why I no longer care to submit poetry to anywhere or anyone.
Tell me if you're still comfortable doing it yourself.
Why do we tolerate this sort of crap in poetry? Would sports fans turn a blind eye if Bill Belichick suddenly pulled Tom Brady out of the QB position and stuck his recently-graduated-from-high-school nephew in the Super Bowl? Would we tolerate a member of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee awarding himself the prize? When President Bush consistantly appoints no one but his best friends and highest campaign contributors to high places, tell me, honestly, what is it that even his die-hard supporters understand explicitly?
I'll tell you what I think - I think that President Bush and his Republican cronies have nothing on The Live Poet's Society. Nothing at all.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
When Truth Outweighs Fiction
Interesting article from CNN on the real-time lives of several famous writers - including the fact that Thomas Hardy's heart might very well have been eaten by his housekeeper's cat and a pig's heart buried in its stead.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
What Hemingway, cummings, Hammett and Stein Have in Common
This is quite interesting. I have no idea what it means, but it's interesting.
I've got some thoughts, of course, but nothing's really formed enough for words as of yet.
My biggest wonder is this - what comes first? The fascination with death/chaos or the proximity to it? Do certain people end up writing about it after they've inadvertently seen too much of it or do they deliberately seek it out beforehand?
I've got some thoughts, of course, but nothing's really formed enough for words as of yet.
My biggest wonder is this - what comes first? The fascination with death/chaos or the proximity to it? Do certain people end up writing about it after they've inadvertently seen too much of it or do they deliberately seek it out beforehand?
Monday, September 17, 2007
Favorite Poems Ever
The Waste Land - Eliot
The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock - also Eliot
Buffalo Bill's - e e cummings
"Time Does Not Bring" - Millay
The Second Coming - Yeats
Alone (From Childhood's Hour) - Poe
A Refusal to Mourn the Death, By Fire, of a Child in London - Thomas
"When I Am Dead, My Dearest" - Christina Rossetti
To His Coy Mistress - Marvell
Song (Go and Catch a Falling Star) - Donne
Acquainted With the Night - Frost
Tyger - Blake
The Lady of Shalott - Tennyson
"Here Dead We Lie" - Houseman
Ballad of Reading Gaol - Wilde
Not Waving but Drowning - Stevie Smith
There seems to be a common denominator here - anyone care to guess what it is?
The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock - also Eliot
Buffalo Bill's - e e cummings
"Time Does Not Bring" - Millay
The Second Coming - Yeats
Alone (From Childhood's Hour) - Poe
A Refusal to Mourn the Death, By Fire, of a Child in London - Thomas
"When I Am Dead, My Dearest" - Christina Rossetti
To His Coy Mistress - Marvell
Song (Go and Catch a Falling Star) - Donne
Acquainted With the Night - Frost
Tyger - Blake
The Lady of Shalott - Tennyson
"Here Dead We Lie" - Houseman
Ballad of Reading Gaol - Wilde
Not Waving but Drowning - Stevie Smith
There seems to be a common denominator here - anyone care to guess what it is?
Sunday, September 16, 2007
No Winter Wheat For the Working Wicked
Ugh. Scratch the entry below. Dan and I will not be presenting anything come November. Reality bites and it bit us in the ass again. Work commitments prevent our running off on a poetry jaunt for a long weekend at that particular time. Sometimes having a job is just a minor annoyance and sometimes it really sucks.
On the plus side, we've promised ourselves a different weekend away - with no poetry commitments, no family commitments, no work commitments. We will commit to nothing but a decent hotel room with room service, a hot tub, a fifth of gin, a bottle of vermouth, a bunch of olives and one another. (I'd say a bottle of coconut scented bubble bath, too, but I tried that once in Pittsburgh and found out the hard way that bubbles and hot tub jets just don't mix well. Or rather, they mix way too well.)
Meanwhile, it's Sunday - are you ready for some football????
On the plus side, we've promised ourselves a different weekend away - with no poetry commitments, no family commitments, no work commitments. We will commit to nothing but a decent hotel room with room service, a hot tub, a fifth of gin, a bottle of vermouth, a bunch of olives and one another. (I'd say a bottle of coconut scented bubble bath, too, but I tried that once in Pittsburgh and found out the hard way that bubbles and hot tub jets just don't mix well. Or rather, they mix way too well.)
Meanwhile, it's Sunday - are you ready for some football????
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Winter Wheat Festival of Writing
It's offical, Dan and I will be jointly presenting a program at Winter Wheat Bowling Green University in Bowling Green Ohio, on November 10, 2007, tentatively called "Poetry By and For the Common Man" focusing on poetry written by poets without formal education. We also hope to offer discussion on how poets can still manage to obtain a poetic perspective without the benefit (or drawback) of a classroom setting.
It's a topic near and dear to my heart for obvious reasons and I'm excited to have the opportunity to share the concept.
It's a topic near and dear to my heart for obvious reasons and I'm excited to have the opportunity to share the concept.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
