Blame it on Elder Scrolls Online

Sorry, this week has totally been a bust with regards to new posts, but I have been hanging out in Elder Scrolls Online (One Tamriel and all that), and in my efforts to level a character, I have neglected my blog.  Apologies to anyone regularly reading.

Focus would be nice

Looking over this blog there is a post referencing Carlos Pintado's "Nine Coins" and believe it or not I still have not finished it.  As such, it is my next goal, because I have way too much piled up in that chair, and the pile keeps getting bigger.

Anyway, after having spent the day in Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) doing their holiday quests, I decided to venture away from the computer.  In doing so, I found the poem "Roman Catalog" which has this final stanza:

The light would sometimes skim across him, shyly,
and I was the light
of a lamp about to go out.

This stanza is preceded by one mentioning a nude person and a wicked beast, which sets this one up nicely, but I like this stanza better.

IRL, by Tommy Pico

I forgot to mention in my earlier post that I finished Pico's "IRL" which was a fun read, well as fun a poetry is supposed to be.  It gave all the things a long poem should give you, warm fuzzies, delightful imagery, and the occasional punch to the gut.  On FB, I advised folks to add it to their reading lists, especially if it wasn't something they would normally read, and I will repeat that recommendation here.  It is a good thing I have plenty of books to read from now until April, when the second book is due.

Here is a link that should allow you to order in pdf or print.

Fragmentation (and assimilation)

Our country is supposed to be one big melting pot, and that probably worked fine never.  With our start we had the have and have-nots (slaves), and as time progressed, the have-nots moved to include the Irish, Polish, Jews, and Germans (not in that order).  The newer have-nots eventually assimilated, but the descendants of the slaves, in general, continued to be the have-nots.  We also began seeing asians and hispanics, many of which also assimilated, though as yet to not the same degree, as Chinatowns and hispanic neighborhoods in major cities attest, but give them time and eventually all will boil down into the pot.  Eventually they should all boil down into Americans, but for some reason, something has prompted the need for American to have a prefix, so now we don't have Americans, but we have Nationality/Ethnicity-Americans.  And while some of these Americans have merged seamlessly with the whole, many have not, and at the rate we are going, they won't.  For me, three groups stand out in this tapestry, African, Hispanic, and Native, as groups that still receive a disproportionate amount of bigotry, and oddly, those groups have been with us the longest.  I wish the answer was just as simple as "We are all Americans," but it isn't and until everyone, regardless of their hyphenate, is treated equally, we will continue to have problems.  At some point Euro-Americans need to get the point, and as long as they continue to believe they hold all the answers, while apparently holding none (since they don't discuss these things with the others), we will have discord.  That discord will only be amplified as Muslim-Americans are added to the mix, especially as they are being demonized, perhaps worse than the Irish.  Distrust of change is fine, but at some point that distrust needle should move forward, and how long is too long... slavery ended in this country over 150 years ago, the indigenous peoples were here before us, and after the Mexican-American war (which ended in 1848) the United States added a large hispanic population.

If assimilation is them giving up knowledge of their mother tongue and tossing their culture aside, then I would say the cost outweighs the benefits, but if assimilation means treating them fairly in the eyes of the law, perhaps we should try for that, because in this country the law is supposed to treat everyone fairly, even rich billionaires.

[This sort of rambled, but I am posting it anyway.]

What caught my eye recently (Poetry)

Perhaps I should wait until I finish them before writing about books, but I don't really want to, especially with poetry, and especially when I find a bit I want to share.  I should probably transcribe it into some notebook or whatever, but I am not doing that, I am sharing with anyone who cares to read it a few lines I liked:

Books are fallible, towers
of letters with the power
you give them.  It's heartbreaking
to watch your pillars fall
                                (IRL, p.70, Tommy Pico)

I'll keep my views to myself on this one, since I truly think everyone reads poetry differently, even those who claim not to get it, when they read it, may find something, even if that something is confusion.  Poetry is words, and I will be the first to say that I don't "get" all poetry, and if a poem doesn't grab my attention, then I will finish it, but not really look for other poems by that author.

There was something else I ran across sometime late last week.  Amongst other things I am hoping to finish up "The Best American Poetry (2015)" before the year ends.  There are a lot of gems in the book, but I really like "Body & Kentucky Bourbon" by Saeed Jones.  It started evocatively and just continued on:

In the dark, my mind's night, I go back
to your work-calloused hands, your body

an the memory of fields I no longer see.

If I am not careful, I would just type the whole poem (it is that good, and not really that long), but I am not sure the publisher would appreciate that.

Weekends mean work for me, so I don't get things updated here often then, if you are reading, don't get distressed with nothing new on those days.

Name calling and other 21st Century style political discussion

I am constantly amazed that Bill Clinton left office with a balanced budget in place, and did that while working with a Republican Congress.  What I have seen on so many comment posts about politics is they are filled with petty nicknames for the two parties which is just pathetic.  I have no love of Trump, personally I think he is a disaster, but just as I have had to listen streams of discontent with Obama over the past eight years, some coming from Trump himself, then I only think it is fair that Trump's supporters gird their loins and listen to the other side as well, even if you don't agree.  The name calling won't stop because for whatever reason it makes people feel good (I showed them I called them a name!), and the fact it makes everyone sound like they are in a schoolyard reduces the level of discourse.  I won't deny that it has always been a part of the discourse, but too often it seems to drown out the voices who bring valid points.  Frequently the counter argument is something to the effect of you (insert political party here) are so dumb you just don't get it, and to add another derail argument, "This is Fake News, so there is nothing to respond to."  Whatever the concern is it is Fake News, and if it is sourced from the government, "they can't be trusted."  The current level of discourse is such that no source is accurate or reliable.  Perhaps the left, with its general trust in government intelligence, though that intelligence has proven itself fallible, should just go out an make unfounded statements, the most egregious currently going around is about "millions of illegal voters for Clinton," a number I have seen rounded to three million, just to wipe out her popular vote margin of victory.  They repeat Trumps comments, but even Trump has no support on this one, and as pointed out by some folks, many of the states elections are run by Republicans, meaning that if there is this massive voter fraud, it was done with Republicans at the helm, which means Trump is condemning his own supporters (again, nothing new).

Here is a link to a story from my Google+ feed that has comments that support much of what I have said (prompting this post).

Lionel Shriver (again)

A few months back I commented that I supported Lionel Shriver's assertion that fiction writers should be able to write what they would like.  I still believe that, though if I had known that she had actually shown up in a sombrero, there is a good chance I would have looked at her comments differently.  Obviously she wanted to cause an uproar and start a conversation, and it is debatable whether it could have been done as effectively without such an in your face visual.  I do think fiction writers should be able to write what they would like, but I also feel that if they do a poor job, and the community wronged expresses their opinions as to why, then the author should listen.  The commentary may or may not influence the author in future works, but listening and weighing those opinions allow an author to improve.  In The Guardian (UK), someone said she handled it crassly, but I honestly do think, as Trump proved, that an in your face so you can't ignore it approach is sometimes necessary.  The conversation was started; however gracelessly, and it is one that need to be broached.  We, as humans, regardless of race or creed, need to figure out how to get along, but with no conversation even begun, then there will be no road to resolution, and because it started a widespread discussion then it was a useful bit of theatrics.  Just because something is politically correct doesn't mean that it is effective, and for proof look at Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles," which is so politically incorrect, but still so terribly accurate with regards to the issues it explores-- in your face is sometimes what needs to be done, though it isn't comfortable, but it makes it harder to ignore and sweep under the carpet, or bury under polite terminology.

On a side note, the recent campaign had supporters of Trump saying they weren't racist, homophobic, or misogynist, but the fact that Trump's campaign was built, to some degree, on all three indicates that as a Trump supporter you are fine with those, even if you don't consider yourself a racist misogynist, or homophobe.  Clinton didn't run a campaign suggesting the government should move everything to private servers, and the government's internal watchdogs decided not to press charges for her perceived wrongs.  I don't pretend Clinton was the perfect candidate, but I still can't comprehend what was inherently wrong with her, because considering Trump, it wasn't her character, and considering the FBI basically cleared her on the email thing, it wasn't because there was dread over impending indictment, and considering her work as a Senator and as Secretary of State it wasn't because she was unqualified.  All that seems left is the female card, but I could be wrong and maybe there was something else (to do with the Clinton Foundation possibly?).  Anyway, my step-father's preferred candidate, one he called an idiot, is now president elect-- too bad I have no interest in supporting such a misogynistic, racist, and homophobe supporting bigot, so everyone will get at least four years of what I have listened to for the last eight.

Alt Right = Fascist Nincompoops

"Our lived experience is being a young, white person in 21st century America, [and] seeing your identity be demeaned.” -Richard B. Spencer (as quoted in the Atlantic)

I am not quite sure what he means by having your "white" identity demeaned.

Perhaps because I am gay I didn't notice my "white" identity being demeaned because
too many old white dudes were too busy telling me
     what I was allowed to do in my bedroom
     or who I was allowed to marry (which is still going on).
Perhaps I didn't notice it being demeaned because
I was paying too much attention to a war with Iraq,
    a war the US got into because old white men
    thought old white man thoughts.
Perhaps I didn't notice it being demeaned because
the banks took America for a ride
   raping the poor and enriching JP Morgan
   and Co (more old white men).
Perhaps I didn't notice it being demeaned because
not being a completely self-serving jerk off
   I was actually paying attention
   not lamenting with the old white men
            About times past, when the news didn't care about
            Lynching, Misogyny, Queers.
Perhaps I didn't notice it being demeaned because
while too many white folks -young & old- complain
  I have yet to figure out what they
  bemoan so loudly as to wish for the KKK to save the day.
Perhaps I didn't notice it being demeaned because
I believe Richard B Spencer is
  absolutely full of bullshit
  brandishing hate because he can.
Perhaps I didn't notice it being demeaned because
the "white" identity has never been demeaned--
  cultural sensitivity is not ranking cultures
  no one culture better than another (dunderheads all).
Perhaps I didn't notice it being demeaned because
while they voted for Trump, my parents
  also taught me to respect others
  though obviously that advice isn't for them.
             (Do as I say, not as I do--Mantra of parents everywhere.)
Perhaps I didn't notice it being demeaned because
I never felt demeaned because I am white
  no, but I have felt it because I am gay--
 


 

A Correlation too good not to post

As anyone looking at the photos of my book piles will attest, I generally have a bit much on the to read list.  Anyway, after I finished Smith's poetry earlier this evening, I picked up "Art in America," which is a series of essays, and which I started a few weeks back, reading something now and again as the mood struck.  Tonight, I was reading James Agee's "Introduction to Helen Levitt's A Way of Seeing,"  and what struck me most is that in much of Agee's description of photography, you could substitute internet and still be accurate.  All the hubbub over "Fake" news is what makes this section seem particularly important.

"It is probably well on the conservative side to estimate that during the past ten to fifteen years the camera has destroyed a thousand pairs of eyes, corrupted ten thousand, and seriously deceived a hundred thousand, for every one pair that it has opened, and taught."

That is the first bit that caught my attention.  Substitute internet for camera and the figures still likely match up.  The internet makes it incredibly easy to find something you can "believe," whether it is factual or not seems irrelevant, since, as the phrase goes, "it is on the internet."

"It is in fact hard to get the camera to tell the truth; yet it can be made to, in many ways and on many levels.  Some of the best photographs we are ever likely to see are innocent domestic snapshots, city postcards, and news and scientific photographs.  If we know how, moreover, we can enjoy and learn a great deal from essentially untrue photographs, such as studio portraits, movie romances, or the national and class types apotheosized in ads for insurance or feminine hygiene."

Again, replace camera with internet and this time replace photographs with websites.  Eventually you begin to see the picture that is being painted.  By website, I am referring to something lost in the ether, when the internet was newish and folks actually posted things on "their" website, rather than using Facebook or Google+.  Both of those allow some of that when you look at photos and ignore a newsfeed populated by friends rather than what the individual posted.  Facebook though, and I am guessing Google does it too, is automated enough that its hand in what can be posted can seem heavy, just recall the fracas over the Vietnamese girl Agent Orange picture when it surfaced in FB.  World famous photograph showing the horrors of war, but (until it reversed itself) FB thought it was pornography, because the girl was naked, and naked people are just not allowed.  In the age before that, if someone had complained, a computer would not have automatically censored the photo, which is why I mentioned the earlier age, before the hosting of "personal" websites actually became an act of giving all sorts of personal information to a corporate keeper.  (I am on both Google+ and Facebook, and realized Blogger is owned by Google, so I am not pretending anything or advising anyone to disconnect.)

Back to James Agee and what he said about photography.  I think the internet, for the casual peruser, can provide as much misinformation as a poorly cropped photo, where there are so many questions, it doesn't take much of a suggestion to answer them with nefarious suggestions.  Our last election cycle proved the truth of this.

Slow reading, but Poetry shouldn't be rush read

I finally finished Danez Smith's "[Insert] Boy" and was as impressed at the end as I was at the beginning.  Perhaps Neruda's "Book of Questions" wasn't the first, but in Smith's poem "Song of the Wreckage" he echoes Neruda with a series of questions.  The last three:

Who do the ants think has the best meat?

Please, will you show me something beautiful?

If I play dead, will I be acting my age?

While this Song near the end is one of the longest, if not the longest poem, in the book, I couldn't help stop and pause at these lines, especially the final one.  The entire collection deals with the gay black (african american) experience, and let me say, that his poems give an entire different light to the gay black versus gay white experience.  Aspects I could relate to, and others just moved me, and made me regret that we live in a society where such a loss of life is considered normal.  When this happened, I don't know, but too often the proof is in the newspapers, and it is an unpleasant truth, one that most Americans would pretend didn't exist.  While everyone is agreement that "Black Lives Matter," and most would argue the "ALL Lives Matter," what those people who insist on ALL are missing is that White Americans are much more "agreeable" to allowing a Black person die at the hands of the law or a vigilante than we are a White person, hence the emphasis that Black lives do matter, regardless of the indifference of Whites.  If it takes a protest to get notice, then by all means, get a protest going.  It is unfortunate that today's resurgence is just a repeat of history, and as a country we really haven't learned squat.

Before I head off to bed

I was wondering earlier today if my massive lapses in attention to this blog over the years weren't in part due to the fact that I get out of the habit of writing here.  Habits are hard to break, so I must not actually have managed to ever get into a proper one here, and I doubt that will change.  Tonight has been spent on the phone, playing Guild Wars 2, reading a Christmas romance short story, and adding a few more ornaments on the tree.  I think all of the family ornaments were hung earlier, but I hadn't put any reflective balls on it.  I think the frosted glass ornaments are pretty, and they give the tree an older feel than my plastic flamingo lights on the metallic champagne colored tree may actually deserve, but I have them, so I should use them.  I have a dozen or so medium gold balls to still hang, but that is probably tomorrow's project, and this entry is more to form habit than to share anything enlightening.

Back to the blog

I work weekends, so there is little chance I will update this on those days, unless it is before or after my twelve hour shift at work, and if it is after shift, I won't speak to how coherent any post is likely to be.  Anyway, today I received my order from Siglio Press.  Because the book I was interested in was fairly pricey, and I could get three + the one I wanted for $100, I opted to get the four.  I have started The Nancy Book, and the first essay was interesting, and my brief perusal of Joe Brainard's take on Nancy has also been fun, so if you have an interest in art from the late 60's to 70's, then I would suggest to take a gander.  One thing that struck me when I read the essay is that Joe apparently did not have much interest in making art for the investor market, so he quit rather than just produce for the sake of maximizing profits.  (The author did not put it quite this way, so you won't find that verbatim in the first essay.)

Other than that, I am still disappointed in our president-elect, and the closer we get to the inauguration, the less optimist I am, since he has yet to do anything that disproves my initial negative opinion of him, and if anything, he is increasing that bad opinion, but, hey, if he can disparage President Obama constantly for years, than certainly the populace has the ability to disparage Trump, right?  I think so, but it seems he gets a bit bent out of shape when others exercise their freedom of speech.

Frank O'Hara

One of the things I found interesting about Joe LeSueur's book (Digressions) was how totally ordinary he made Frank O'Hara's creative process seem.  He doesn't describe any great bit of drama or rituals, but rather the matter of fact style of much of the poetry relays fairly accurately the matter of fact way in which they were written.  Much of his poetry was the poetry of his days, perhaps not so esoteric as Pound, but at least it is relatable.  We all watch tv, and we have all seen movies, as well as listen to music.

I wonder sometimes if the more esoteric an author get, does it seem the audience is smaller, or just more pompous because they "get" the author?  I do think poetry should be relatable, because if it requires too much specialized knowledge, then it won't have any sort of audience.

Today's Fresh Poem (brought to you by a bit of confusion)

Here you go, what is currently obsessing me:

Fucking stupid gay white boy

Totally stressing

Race, idiotic to worry about, but

Over-ruling everything

Can I say I just like a poem?

Without mentioning the author’s race,

sexuality, gender, or whatever?

NO, I don’t want all poets to be 

Silly white boys pouting,

Complaining, kvetching,

But if the poem speaks, SINGS!

What matter the details of the poet?

Check Google+ today

All my news is there, except perhaps some comments to family on FB, though I am trying to minimize my use of that platform.  Today I read a nice article about a Reagan appointed judge who made the effort to welcome new citizens after the election, regardless of the rhetoric from the press-elect.  There was also a bit about tribal mineral rights, and whether Trump would find a way to finagle them from the tribes.  I doubt Trump truly cares about this, but as a businessman, he could certainly be swayed into seeing how money could be made by screwing the tribes over yet again.

I still haven't decorated my tree, but such is life.

Poem (#badtrumppoetry)

I posted this earlier on Twitter, but thought I would share it here, since I wonder if any of my nine followers there actually saw or could read it.  For those who can't read my scrawl, here is the transcription:

Trump will have no come to Jesus moment
Regardless what the Right thinks
His Road to Damascus
Is peppered with the bodies of children
and ends
with friends Putin and Assad

Trump will eventually get good press
Regardless what the Press thinks
His White House press room (otherwise)
Is filled with doting sycophants
so ends
with capitulation for access

Trump already has a willing Congress
Seats bought and paid for,
Their support of Fear and Hate
Pushes a disenfranchising agenda
finally ending
the Hope of America's Promise

Truly, I can't judge poetry worth diddly, and would never judge mine, since I am not sure if what I wrote technically qualifies in anything other than the Dada sense.  I like this one, and thinks it does a fair job with my thoughts, though it doesn't have the gut punch this election brought, knowing those I care about are really ok with me being second class, knowing that for whatever reason they felt the best course for this country was to court hate and discord.  The founding father's of this country did compromise, it was how we ended up with some of the less savory aspects of our history, but they did at least compromise, something these past few years has shown me that the recent Republican Congress was unwilling to do, and by that unwillingness, I think they have damaged a fundamental aspect of our government, something that at least worked towards progress, even if in small steps.

Henry Miller's Beauford Delaney piece

Tree decoration isn't going well, but reading is just fine.  My "Art in America" anthology just gave me a refresher on why I enjoy Henry Miller's writing-- that man can convey his enthusiasm, almost like you can feel it.  It probably doesn't help that I also finished a bit more of IRL, and I don't know if Pico has read Miller, but that same sort of urgency is in both of them.  In this case, both of them seem to be saying that regardless of what life tosses you, create, and make something of it.  Too often today, and I am way to guilty of this, if life tosses me lemons, I will go play a video game or get lost in a book just to avoid it.  While I am not sure how much a blog entry is something created, especially a blog entry for a blog with less than a dozen views per entry, this is something.  More of a document of what I have read, what it sparked, what I avoided doing while reading (decorating the tree), or really anything.  Maybe by the end of the year I will actually manage a total of 350 postings, which considering the age of this blog, would be a milepost of phenomenal sorts.  Those years with no postings, just mark those as years when I read or gamed or generally just stuck my head in the sand.  With the way things are going now, that may end  up being the next four years too, unless I somehow manage to keep up with The Donald posts on Google+, since I have, for the time being, stopped posting anything on Facebook, unless it is to share some bit of silliness I posted on Instagram.  Writing is good for me, just to relieve a bit of stress going through my mind.  There are some days when the blog exists side by side with the journal, though that isn't very often now.

The most important thing about social media, and the one thing that will always be my Achilles' Heel is that you need to stay active, because once you stop being active, folks go elsewhere, even friends.

OMG! 1917? Really?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first use of the OMG acronym was in 1917, in a letter to Winston Churchill of all things.  "Letters of Note" reproduces the letter.  It surprised me that it preceded the internet and texting by so many years.  Since I am still working in "IRL,' mention of modern acronyms and other abbreviated versions of words seems fine.  I am still impressed with the book, and read a brief section tonight, as well as a bit more of "[Insert] boy," but tonight is setting up the Christmas tree, before I procrastinate until after the holiday, thereby skipping the project altogether.

Of poetry, I finally finished Joe LeSueur's "Digressions," whose title I shorten because I am too lazy to type the whole thing (or should that be keyboard the whole thing?).  I enjoyed the look into Frank O'Hara's poetry, as well as the picture of New York at that time.  It took me forever to read because I was only reading it at work, and purposefully only in small bits, like a poem at a time.  This book did do one of my favorite things for a memoir to do, which is spike my interest in other authors active at the time, and now I am contemplating ordering the works of Joe Brainard.

Aside from the tree, which still needs ornaments, today has mostly been reading from Dreamspinner Press' Advent Calendar annual event (which my browser won't open so I can link it).  "Krampus Hates Christmas" and "Matthew's Present" have been my favorites so far, followed by "The Orpheum Miracle."

What a mess of genres and books.  Someday I may actually settle down again and focus on reading those things that are supposed to be good for me (read canon), but that was twenty years ago, and while I will mingle those books in, it will likely never be my main focus again.  There is too much out there, and too many things to sample and explore.

Edited to correct spelling of Joe Brainard's name.

Romney, Petraeus, and Trump

It is interesting to note that one of the candidates for U.S. Secretary of State under Donald Trump has been convicted of the same crimes he attributed to Secretary Clinton.  How is it that while he declaimed over and over about her handling of classified materials, he is actually considering nominating someone guilty of mishandling the same types of materials.  I am going to guess that he really has no problems with the issue, and that it was just a good campaign tool.  If you need any proof of Romney's assertion that Trump is a fraud and a con-man, then look no further.

Speaking of Romney, and what will no doubt become an infamous photo of his dinner with Trump, I hope any consideration of why even meeting Trump was on the drawing board is for the same reason after her hard campaign against Obama, Hillary Clinton accepted the position, one reason being because it was for the good of the republic.  I could be wrong, but I don't recall Clinton issuing any sort of apology over what was said during the campaign, and I truthfully hope that Romney is not required to make an apology prior to accepting a nomination (if it comes down to it).  Romney spoke the truth, and it is noble to put aside differences for the good of the republic, but he should not be asked to back down from those comments.  If he does chose to do so, then I hope working for Trump doesn't eat away at his self-esteem, having taken back his words, when Trump invariably tosses him under the bus, there won't be anything left.  He is in a difficult position, but not an unheard of position, but his first priority should be to his emotional self, and if Trump chooses to force an apology prior to nominating him, then I truly hope he tells Trump to get lost.  Colin Powell is a good man who was tossed under the bus by the administration he served (and he didn't even need to eat crow first), but it still cost him greatly.  I would hate to see this recent history repeat itself on another, especially one so out-spoken in his own party about the qualities of the President-elect.

Poetry, again.

I definitely would suggest Smith's "[Insert] Boy" though I do caution that just because I recommend it doesn't make it a pleasant read, rather it is more an insightful read, but one that for me, at least touches on aspects of my that I vaguely remember.  The section I just finished was that which dealt with his grandfather and the cancer that killed him, amongst other things.  It was powerful, perhaps because one of mine was similar, not in cause of death, but in how they lived their life.

On to something brighter, earlier today I also read a passage in "IRL" and the relationship the poet describes with his muse is truly something to read:

The influence of Muse
is not unlike being under
the influence, the way a poem
is spontaneously drunk
on Robert Graves.... (page 30)

Pico runs his lines into these incredible images, and these lines get to galloping along (almost galumphing, but not quite) stopping at unlikely places.

I am not finished with either book, but I am enjoying them, each for their own reasons, and there is probably a good chance I will have another poetry entry on my blog, though it isn't really all I read, just what has grabbed my attention lately.

Book Pile

While my kindle or iPad will both keep books a bit more organized than the chair I use for real books, I do rather enjoy sorting through to find what I want to read, and as you can see, this pile has everything from fantasy, to poetry, to Art essays.  I have always kept several books going at a time, though I think electronics allow that to get out of hand, since it is so easy to stop and start books there  and not realize how many you haven't finished.  If finishing them becomes a priority, perhaps I will do what a friend does and sort the electronic books with a "to read" category.

Poems being read

Over at FB, I tossed out enough junk to show my disapproval of Trump, who I really think is PT Barnum reincarnated.

Anyway, two of the poetry books I am reading right now, "[Insert] Boy" and "IRL" by Danez Smith and Tommy Pico, respectively, are both pretty incredible.  Smith does an gut punching job of connecting the reader with his reality, while Pico, his book being one long form poem, tosses so much to you, some you recognize, some not, because hey, I didn't grow up on a reservation, nor do I know as many dead people Jim Carroll (and Pico).  I have finished neither book, as each has me wanting to take a break, just to process, but both promise to be interesting, and perhaps I will manage to update when I have finished them.

Dark Horse

Reviving that theme of MM romance, this entry will be about Kate Sherwood's Dark Horse series.  Rather then a two person relationship, the primary relationship in this series is a menage a trois.  In all three books, I would say Dan is the main character, as each one seems to focus mostly on his journey.  The series is easy to summarize as beginning the relationship, working on the relationship, and continuing the relationship.  Because relationships are organic things, I did not want to say beginning, middle, end, because even if at the end of book three I felt these guys were solid, there is always something that can come up.  Aside from the main three books Ms Sherwood has created a plethora of side short stories, much like those for THIRDS, that fill in various blanks that are mentioned, but not explored, in the main novels.  I think in trying, and for the most part succeeding, in telling this story, and not focusing it solely on sex, Ms Sherwood did an excellent job of tackling an unconventional relationship.  The men are attracted to each other, and they do have sex, but that isn't all, and while some of it drama because well drama happens in books and that is why you read them, it didn't seem nearly as contrived as it could have been.  The story arcs seem to progress naturally between the books, with nothing so obvious as to make the reader wonder, where did that come from.  If I recall correctly, Ms Sherwood did mention somewhere that she is not a great advance planner, so I will give her a lot of credit for how well these three books interlock.  Anyway, if you are looking for an interesting series that deals with a non-traditional relationship, this is one I would suggest.  It isn't science fiction or fantasy, but rather romance, which is still a genre that require suspension of disbelief, though happening in the "real" world, makes that suspension more of a hope that such a relationship does actually exist.

Richard Aldington's "Childhood" part II

Something I read while at work yesterday, but I liked it, so here it is.  This is part II of Richard Aldington's "Childhood":

I've seen people put
A chrysalis in a match-box,
"To see," they told me, "what sort of moth would come."
But when it broke its shell
It slipped and stumbled and fell about its prison
And tried to climb to the light
For space to dry its wings.
That's how I was.
Somebody found my chrysalis
And shut it in a match-box.
My shrivelled wings were beaten,
Shed their colours in dusty scales
Before the box was opened
For the moth to fly.
And then it was too late,
Because the beauty a child has,
And the beautiful things it learns before its birth,
Were shed, like moth-scales, from me.

The Imagist Poets: A Collection of Imagist Poetry (Kindle Locations 176-181). A & L eBooks. Kindle Edition.

I haven't really read much of the Imagists as a group, or probably even realized I was reading an Imagist poet, since normally I end up reading whatever catches my eye at the time.  This kindle edition was bought strictly to increase my options for reading poetry on the go, and it was cheap.  I should get back to the poem though, or maybe I don't need to, this part says so much just by itself.  Just think of all the children with helicopter parents, whose blades have clipped the wings of their youth, and you get exactly what I think about with this poem.

Chaos Station, a bit of MM space opera

Mentioned in a post last week was the Chaos Station series by Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen.  If you enjoy a classic science fiction space opera sort of tale, then you will likely enjoy this, as long as you have no issues with the primary couple being male-male.  The books feature space battles, first contact with an alien race, and much more.  While couples outside of Flick and Zed are mentioned, the only couple you really get to know and observe (as a couple) are Flick and Zed, as the authors do a good job focusing on that, while not pretending that other couples don't exist.  The do exist, but aren't the focus of the series, so aside from interactions displaying those reactions, there is little focus on them as couples, though the characters may be fairly well developed outside of that situation. This series seems to have been designed to conclude in five parts, with an implied HEA, since after book four, it isn't something I would take for granted.  The short honeymoon tale they wrote afterwards is a nice light-hearted read, which is needed after what the authors put Flick and Zed through.  Each book here seems to focus on a specific issue, and that issue is mostly resolved within that book in relation to the major story arc, making the books easier to read.  I will need to reread to recall if the books end in a cliffhanger like the serials of old, but with all the books released, even if they do cliff hang, at least you can get the next if you liked the one you just finished.

I am not sure if I actually wrote a decent blog entry here, having worked all night, and I probably need to sleep, but I will post it anyway, because this was one series I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered.  I am going to hope for some future shorts with Flick and Zed, but if the authors plan another full length book or an additional series with these two, I really hope they plan it as well as they did this one, because then I know several people who will enjoy reading it.

More Neruda, but there is so much and it is so good.

Pablo Neruda isn't the only poet I read, but I guess with so much of his stuff around, I find that I read it frequently, so find all sorts of things to mention.

“That time was like never, and like always.
So we go there, where nothing is waiting;
we find everything waiting there.”

Excerpt From: Pablo Neruda. “The Poetry of Pablo Neruda.”

While I know romance novels are generally not well written, there are many that are, or if they are not, at least they contain something that will send you somewhere else looking for what they mentioned.  R. Cooper's "A Boy and His Dragon" mentions Neruda's love poetry, and while it isn't the reason I discovered Neruda, I rather like that "low" genre fiction can with reference poetry and if done well, it doesn't seem to be striving.  Oddly, though I don't think this poem was referenced in the book, it does fill in a good deal of the book.  When you go looking for nothing, you get everything, which is one way to look at love.  I think every blind date is gone into with low expectations, so if something is found, and if that something is everything, then there you have it.  I like this little fragment from Morning. Sonnet IV, 100 Love Sonnets, as it says something about more than love.

THIRDS

Earlier I posted about various series, and while I don't think I want every entry here to be about books, I do think I will use that earlier post as a launch point for some comments on the series, because if I can get the author another reader, that is a good thing.

Anyway, Charlie Cochet's THIRDS series is an alternate universe with shape shifters explained via science and germ warfare.  (Yes, I know I linked it earlier, but it only seems right to link it again, since this entry is focused on that series.)  So far the series is 7 books, with a few more in the pipeline, and a spin off focusing on the main couple in this series, Dex and Sloane.  Overall, what I like is that Ms Cochet has a full cast of recurring characters, the members of Destructive Delta, and that while most of the books focus on the Dex and Sloane relationship, there are others that focus on the other members, and most importantly, there is a healthy amount of showing the effects the primary relationship has on the rest of the team.  So many books focus on the couple without paying attention to how the coupling really impacts friends and family, and these books try to explore those relationships as well.  THIRDS is a paramilitary police organization, so the device that allows these character explorations is generally that of solving crimes, but as long as every crime is not the same, it gives the books plenty of situations to explore.  With the way things are going, Dex and Sloane will end up as a two man James Bond, and considering how many of those books are there, we readers should have plenty of time to watch their relationship, and the relationships of others on their team, blossom.  I really tried to give a general overview, and I hope that I didn't make it too general or broad, but I also didn't want to review each book or give the dreaded play by play review.  There are a lot of characters and multiple couples, but Dex and Sloane are at the heart of it all, which is why I only mentioned them, though I do like the others.

In addition to the books, Ms Cochet also has an active Goodreads community for this book, and does a good job of keeping readers engaged, perhaps most obviously by the THIRDS Thursdays flash fiction posts, where she responds to various reader prompts, and those prompts are frequently based on some event mentioned in the books, but not explored there, so the world she has created becomes that much richer.  Charlie Cochet's website, with links to the flash fiction posts and other news, can be found here.

MM Romance and series

I was chatting with a friend tonight on the phone and something came to my attention when we were discussing books.  It seems that most of the books I have suggested she read were part of a series of MM Romance.  These weren't the typical series with a different couple each book, but rather a series that focused on a couple for several books, some of the series mentioned were Kate Sherwood's Dark Horse, Lyn Gala's Aliens and Assimilation, the Chaos Station series by Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen, JC Owens' Gaven series, and Charlie Cochet's THIRDS.  The common denominator for all of these seemed to be that the authors gave the characters more than a single book to grow and develop.  Much of MM Romance gives a single short (80,000 words or so) book time to develop the relationship and wrap it into a happily ever after, that these series, with multiple books devoted to the characters actually give the reader more.  Everyone loves HEA books, but everyone also knows that the happily ever after is a work in progress.  After a few too many shifter books with knotting and an automatic HEA, I think readers deserve in depth view of relationships and the trials that form and strengthen them.  Not every series I mentioned is paranormal, but each works to detail the trials of the couple and how they overcome those obstacles.  Yes, all of them include sex, but that is not a reason to automatically remove them from consideration as good books.  I don't think Dex, from THIRDS, resembles Flick from Chaos Station any more than Liam resemble Gaven, and none of them resemble Dan or anyone from the Dark Horse series.  There isn't a resemblance here that says these folks are filling out a form and fitting in the characters.  All of them have proper motivations and all of these are explored during the course of the series, and I think what appears to be a common length restriction on MM Romance novels may actually do these authors a discredit, because the stories they write deserve to be longer, and I am pleased they take the effort to explore.

For the most part, links will be to the publisher site, but I think all are available on Amazon.

More on Pintado

Firstly, I found some of the poems from the collection I am reading online, here.  So if you like the one I transcribed earlier, there are others for you.

Of course I should have known that any recent book of poetry mentioning Alexandria would probably also reference others fascinated by the city, and low and behold, there is a poem about Lawrence Durrell, whose collection of novels making up The Alexandria Quartet I really enjoyed.  I must have given them away at some point, as I no longer have my paperbacks.

Between Cavafy and Durrell there is a poem for Musil, but he is not one of my authors, but I know someone who has read him.  Most German authors don't do much for me, which I am sure has something to do with the Tolstoy/Dostoyevski paradigm, that you will like one or the other, but not likely both.  I fall into the Tolstoy camp, but I have read enough Dostoyevski (given, some was Constance Garnett, but she didn't totally change the underlying story and mood) to know that he isn't my favorite.  Truth be told, while I like Tolstoy better, I am still not likely to pick up more books by either author.  Before my diversion into Russian authors, there was something about German authors, yes Musil is Austrian, but he writes in German, and how you are likely to like German literature or not, and I figured I tried enough German authors to just not bother with more, Musil came to my attention after my decision.  I still pick up the Thomas Mann I have in the house and make efforts to read a bit further this time, but haven't made much progress.

Carlos Pintado's "A Street in Alexandria"

I went looking to see if there was a translation of this poem online so I could link it, but there isn't, so hopefully this still counts as fair use.  It is from the collection "Nine Coins/Nueve monedas":

A Street in Alexandria

How could I miss, in this moment,

a youth walking beside me in Alexandria,

how he sees his shoulder knock against

my shoulder like ships driven by the tide,

and how that moment, barely noticed,

is eternal, beyond time as it passes

through golden desert sands.

How could I miss, just now,

that we could have been the ones, ages ago, 

who went to Constantine Cavafy's house

--lewd, lit with desire--

while the poet was out,

and remained there sadly, looking at the objects,

leafing through a book until we found

that poem, the one that speaks of two young men

walking in Alexandria, shoulders grazing,

glancing, just slightly, recognizing each other,

like ships driven by the tide.

(Translated by Hilary Vaughn Dobel.)  I did try to just choose part of the poem, but all the lines are too interconnected, and the poem too short, and the feeling was brought about by the whole, not just a line, so my attempts at a selection of the poem failed miserably, and it did the poet and the translator no favors, so I just transcribed all of it.

What I liked about the poem was the sense of continuity between poems, poets, places, and readers.  As a reader, I do enjoy books that take place in places I have visited or lived, and I also enjoy visiting places I have read about, so this poem, taking the circumstances and relating it to past events told by earlier writers, with of course the implication that it has been going on since time immemorial, and it will repeat itself as well, even if no one recalls these poems describing the event.

I hope that is not a hopelessly vague description of how and why I like the poem, but poetry was never my strong suit, though I do like it, and I do enjoy trying to share what I like (to all three of my readers).

Lionel Shriver's comments on "cultural appropriation"

Lionel Shriver gave an interesting keynote speech (text here) about writing.  I find it interesting because Kate Sherwood, a romance author I enjoy, has also recently commented that she doesn't feel comfortable writing a trans character because the trans community wouldn't appreciate it (my paraphrase).  I think it is important that authors are able to use anything without worrying about cultural appropriation, because as Ms Shriver pointed out, fiction will be little more than memoir if every writer can only draw from the well of personal experience, since outside of that would be "appropriation."  It seems she caused quite the stir, but overall, I would tend to agree with her.

Edit:  I have been reading more on this speech and the stir it caused, and while I will still support Shriver's assertion that fiction writers should be able to write what they wish, I will also say that if a writer is including a minority (sexual, ethnic, whatever) for no other reason than to check a tick box, then it probably better to not include said minority.  If there is a reason other than that to include said minority, for plotting or character development, then go right ahead and include them, but if, as a writer, you do a poor job with your character, then expect the criticism that comes with poor writing.  Everyone has different tastes and respecting those, while not necessarily agreeing with them, is one of the hallmarks of civilized society, the ability to agree to disagree.  Writers do care about their writing, and not every writer is going to accept critical reviews gracefully, but the chance of those reviews is an intricate part of publishing, so lash out, keep it civil, and make sure that your overall argument is not lost in the hoopla if your reaction goes viral.  I do think she made some valid points, but I think her argument is getting lost.  Fiction authors should be able to write the book they want to write, and if it is good, people will read it, and if it isn't, they won't.  Good or bad, it will likely get both sorts of reviews, and a writer needs to accept those, particularly if there is something in the book that borders (or is) controversial.

Obviously changed times

Tonight I was watching "That's Entertainment," which is a fairly interesting overview of MGM in its heyday.  Considering Disney's view of "Song of the South," one thing that I was surprised hadn't been edited out since the movie's premiere was a clip of Andy Rooney and Judy Garland in blackface.  While I wouldn't condone making a modern film with blackface, I do think it is important to remember and discuss why it may have been popular at one point in time.  I don't think that it is possible to deal with racism by ignoring and erasing these older representations, though they tend to be uncomfortable, so most would prefer they just not exist, which is very easy in this day and age.

Enough with the Harry Potter comparisons

I finished Aimee Carter's "Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den" last night, and one of the reviewers at Amazon made some comment about Harry Potter.  It seems that every book about adolescents, magic, and school gets that comparison.  Considering how little this book resembled Harry Potter in every other respect, it doesn't even seem like a good idea to make the comparison.  I did enjoy Simon Thorn and his determination to do what he felt was right, as well the fact he also tried to accept the consequences of his actions.  Just because an author starts with the above three mentioned components does not make it a Harry Potter knock-off, it is how the author progresses with those components, and how the author handles the plot.  The more components of Rowling's book that make it into the new author's work is really what makes a knock-off.  I enjoyed the fact that this author really only took two of those components to create this fast paced novel, since school was a totally negligible aspect.  Was there a special school? Yes. Did Simon attend this school? No, at least not as a regular student.  After all the action, it does seem that he will be attending in the future books, but the school will likely be fundamentally changed after the events of this book.  Anyway, I guess I have seen the Harry Potter comparison far too many times for it to actually mean anything, which is a bad thing.  Points of reference are nice, but this one has been so over-used in describing YA fantasy novels that it no longer means anything except that there will be adolescents, magic, and a school.

Interesting Month

It has been an interesting month.  Early in the month I ventured to my hometown to visit family, as it turned out, I had not been there in five years, since shortly before my father started chemo.  Anyway, I managed to visit my parents and grandparents, and due to other circumstances I spent a bit more time at home than originally planned, which worked well, since I saw my aunt, uncle, and cousins in that extended time.  Later in the month, on the 31st actually, I learned that one of my grandmothers had passed.  I don't think I have ever been so grateful to have made a trip home.  Since I normally tried to maximize my time with her, and this was no exception, I have good memories from that final trip.  The last meal we shared was at my favorite pizza place, and when I saw her last she was making  crispy bacon for my 2nd cousin one morning.  I managed to get a some more memories with her which was great, and for what it is worth, I think the family get-together after her funeral would have made her happy, with all of her grand-children and most of her great-grandchildren spending most of an afternoon sitting, chatting, taking pictures, and being a family brought together by grief, but one in which grief did not overwhelm.  Most of the great-grandchildren did not know those from the other side of the family, but several were willing to be adopted into the other's family by the end of the day.  While she wasn't there, her abiding belief in family permeated the day, and if there is any sort of tribute appropriate to her, that would be it, no one took greater pleasure in taking care of her family.

Still not here, regularly

As I doubt it is a surprise that I haven't posted since January, after last years record-breaking single blog post, I decided to toss something here, on a night that I am otherwise occupied with laundry.  I actually have a letter to write, but haven't gotten around to it just yet.  Aside from work, nothing really has been going on in my life, though the world is falling into a rather nasty state.  I guess the big thing holding me back there is it was a letter that had none of the humor and wry observations I normally expect from the correspondent, and I really don't relish replying with the boring tedium that makes up my day, since I haven't learned to play the Ukulele I bought in Hawai'i.

Ahh, the new year and more resolutions not to keep.  While not specifically spoken, I decided that this year I would read a bit more poetry.  To read more poetry means that you also reflect on and want to share that poetry, and I will attempt, though I doubt my efforts will last long, to update this blog a bit more regularly.

This evening I was reading Pablo Neruda's "The Book of Questions," translated by William O'Daly, and in poem VIII, I discovered the following lines:

Do tears not yet spilled
wait in small lakes?

Or are they invisible rivers
that run toward sadness?

I am still working out what I think of these lines, but I found them evocative, and wanted to post.

One thing that came to mind is the finite-ness of the small lake versus the perceived infinity of rivers, or the release of limited tears, like a dam overflowing due to a specific event, over the constant crying of someone who can not get over an event, whether loss of a loved one or some other traumatic event.

Perhaps not the most joyous thoughts for the new year, but when reading poetry randomly, rather than choosing a certain theme, you don't always get happy.