Three Months

If you actually follow, sorry for getting your hopes up that this would become regular.

Seen on Amazon:
Bright Dead Things: Poems

I didn't realize Amazon had become a sort of dictionary, though I am holding out that Poems are Bright Things, and not Dead yet.

Sean Spicer, back in the news

It seems Mr. Spicer has made his way back into the news, parodying the press conferences that made him (in)famous.  What I wonder is how much he honestly regrets the lies he foisted upon America?  True, he had a new job, one at the summit of his profession, but in taking it he was expected to play the fool, which is not something I think he expected, and certainly not something that is traditionally associated with the position of White House Press Secretary.  Repeatedly he has said that it was an honor to serve in the Trump administration, but now he is saying he regrets comments (about crowd size) from his first press conference.  Is he saying it was an honor to lie for Trump, but now he regrets it?  Whatever he means, it seems like all good capitalists he is off to the speaking circuit to rake in big bucks, mouthing whatever mea culpas are required along the way.  Let us hope that at some point he actually apologizes to America for the obvious incompetence of his tenure in office.  It is not unreasonable to expect the Press Secretary of the President of the United States to give an honest account of a situation, especially when the White House version is so easily disproven.  There is a difference between spin and lying Mr. Spicer, and it is unfortunate that difference escapes you.

Resounding echoes in other poetry

From Frances Densmore's Chippewa Music:

The Sky Will Resound

it will resound finely
the sky
when I come making a noise


Because I read the Neruda first, this reminds me of something from The Book of Questions, it is here someplace, but let me transcribe it below, though I doubt it will make sense to anyone but me.

XLIX

When I see the sea once more
will the sea have seen ornate seen me?

Why do the waves ask me 
the same questions I ask them?

And why do they strike the rock
with so much wasted passion?

Don't they get tired of repeating
their declaration to the sand?


The sky resounding with the questions of the sea?  I am not sure what brought these two together in my mind, but I did think of the Neruda when I read Densmore piece.  Minds are odd and they forge connections were they will.  Densmore is the earlier work, so what reminding me of which should probably be reversed, but I read one well before I read the other, and that is the timetable I am working through.  I can say one thing with certainty though, the connection has nothing to do with alcohol, as there was no consumption of such.

Not poetry...

For whatever reason, no poetry in this entry.  I have been enjoying the poetry, and I find that placing those poems I like here does a nice job of collating them for future reference, as my books have all sorts of little post-it tags sticking out the sides of them, but I don't know what any of them are for, except to mark something I like.

Since our news cycle is impossibly fast these days, I don't even know how to keep this update on any but the most outrageous stories.  Twitter gets most of my attention for that these days, at least for the sharing part.  I still think this blog will be a bit of this and that, as long as I am doing a bit of this and that.  I have been reading poetry, mm romance novels, playing ESO, and tweeting out the news, which doesn't really make it sound like I am doing anything with my life, and that is probably true.

Poor Dreamspinner Press, they had a webpage malfunction that automatically added free shipping (to a trade show in Paris) and had to cancel orders.  Either inputting correct ship to addresses and billing was going to be to much of a burden, or they thought it would just be cleaning, so they did the cancel with a request to the buyer to place a new order.  I did, but I ordered less, such is the way things go when I am not browsing the internet for books at 3am.

I will probably move back into putting poems that grab my attention in here, at least for the time being, but I wanted to touch base, with however many readers I actually do have.

Poem on words...

This short one is called Horses, by Witter Bynner:

Horses

Words are hoops
Through which to leap upon meanings,
Which are horses' backs,
Bare, moving.

Like a reason to enjoy poetry... that sort of describes this one for me.  

Surprise translated from the Spanish

Here is a poem by Mario Melendez, translated from the Spanish by Eloisa Amezcua:

Future Memories

My sister woke me very early
that morning and told me
"Get up, you have to come see this
the ocean's filled with stars"
Delighted by the revelation
I dressed quickly and thought
if the ocean's filled with stars
I must take the first flight
and collect all the fish from the sky

I was caught off guard by the brilliant logic at the end, which it is, and reminded of how wonderful other cultural perspectives can be.  

This poem is from the September 2017 issue of Poetry.

Poetry, just because

I really didn't intend this to become a poetry blog or a place where I just posted poems that I liked, but that seems to be the direction it is inhabiting, at least temporarily.  This evening I came across a fun one by William Carlos Williams in which the words for me dance just like the title, "The Dance":

The Dance

In Breughel's great picture, The Kermess, 
the dancers go round, they go round and 
around, the squeal and the blare and the 
tweedle of bagpipes, a bugle and fiddles
tipping their bellies (round as the thick-
sided glasses whose wash they impound)
their hips and their bellies off balance
to turn them.  Kicking and rolling about
the Fair Grounds, swinging their butts, those
shanks must be sound to bear up under such
rollicking measures, prance as they dance
in Breughel's great picture, The Kermess.

Hopefully it brings a smile to you, as it did for me, my eyes flittering with all the repetitions, and enjoying the humor that I saw.

It's Labor Day, so let's post some Rumi

From "The Great Wagon":

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
...

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn’t make any sense.

Excerpt From: Coleman Barks. “The Essential Rumi - reissue.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-essential-rumi-reissue/id381183707?mt=11

Both are from the same poem, and initially I was only going to post the longer section, but I changed my mind and added the earlier bit.

Neglectful me

I have been using Twitter far too much, and not sharing any of what I read.  I did come across this one this past weekend:

The Poem

It discovers by night
what the day hid from it.
Sometimes it turns itself
into an animal.
In summer it takes long walks
by itself where meadows
fold back from ditches.
Once it stood still
in a quiet row of machines.
Who knows
what it is thinking?

Excerpt From: Donald Hall. “The Selected Poems of Donald Hall.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-selected-poems-of-donald-hall/id949386905?mt=11

The word for today is amorphous, which is one way to describe things, and which is one way this poem made me feel about poetry.

A Very Short Song, by Dorothy Parker

A Very Short Song
                  by Dorothy Parker

Once, when I was young and true,
     Someone left me sad --
Broke my brittle heart in two;
     And that was very bad.

Love is for unlucky folk,
     Love is but a curse.
Once there was a heart I broke;
     And that, I think, is worse.

I had told myself that I was done with my computer tonight, but then I ran across this gem from Dorothy Parker, so I had to share it.  There is something to be said about breaking someone's heart being worse than having your heart broken.

More selections

A snippet from Tommy Pico's "Nature Poem" that I liked:

I look too much into the mirror of my worst self
so life feels like always breakin in a new pair of shoes

This is from a longer work, but I do like these lines.  For me, it describes those days when I don't feel put together right, and nothing seems to be going quite as I might hope.

While clicking about on my laptop, looking for something other than news to read, I discovered that I happened to have "Macbeth" and reading just a bit found:

Malcolm:

My liege,

They are not yet come back. But I have spoke

With one that saw him die: who did report

That very frankly he confess'd his treasons,

Implored your highness' pardon and set forth

A deep repentance: nothing in his life

Became him like the leaving it; he died

As one that had been studied in his death

To throw away the dearest thing he owed,

As 'twere a careless trifle.

I really liked the highlighted section of Malcolm's comment, as there is definitely the implication that someone was a total waste of breath.  

Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" and current events, part 1

I am hoping that this selection of comments on my various readings actually makes a bit of sense.  [All of the emphasis in the quotes is from the source text rather than my own.]

“Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first a patron, the last a punisher.”

Excerpt From: Thomas Paine. “Common Sense.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/wp2Kx.l

I do feel the Republicans, for whatever reason, are no longer trying to govern the wickedness, rather they are trying to legislate their wants on the general population.  Discussing healthcare, if the Healthcare Industry and Insurance industries weren’t so focused on maximizing profit, but instead focused on reasonable profit, then the whole rigamarole of the healthcare debate would be gone.  What would be a positive step in the current debate would be that in places where insurance companies have pulled out because costs did not allow enough profits (or lead to potential losses), then the government allows people to buy into Medicare at a reasonable price.  If the insurance industry truly has no interest in those markets, then there are no market forces that are impacted, but the citizens in such locations have access to at least one insurance option, even if it is just basic government coverage.

“Wherefore, laying aside all national pride and prejudice in favour of modes and forms, the plain truth is, that IT IS WHOLLY OWING TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE, AND NOT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE GOVERNMENT, that the crown is not as oppressive in England as in Turkey.”

Excerpt From: Thomas Paine. “Common Sense.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/wp2Kx.l

This quote struck me as so very timely, considering the current President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is working hard to become an autocrat.  While I find that particular power grab distasteful, I am more concerned about a potential power grab here, considering President Trump has such limited understanding of how our government has traditionally worked.  It really seemed to be a surprise to him that Executive Orders wouldn’t allow him to do everything he wanted.  I am most disheartened though by the number of folks who seem to think everything is fine (he has over a 35% approval rating, while not good, it indicates a large number who have no qualms with how he is running things) and that Trump is doing a stellar job, and they don’t realize his constant attacks on the press and judiciary are actually doing harm to our republic, because there are people who believe him whole-heartedly, even after all of his lies.

Both of those excerpts were from the first section of “Common Sense” on the general origins and design of government.  While I have finished the second section, on hereditary monarchy, as well, I did not find any quotes that I wanted to carry over to this effort.

I think as I work my way through Paine’s “Common Sense” there will be additional posts as appropriate.

Google, Blogger, and Thomas Paine

First things first, I was trying to compose this on my iPad, because I had it out and convenient, but after the app crashed three times, I gave up.  Is Google actually going to update the Blogger app, or are they trying to push everyone who doesn't use Android off the platform?  Anyway, rather than continue to get frustrated, I decided to boot up my laptop and see if I could finish what I attempted to start using the rather useless app.

Tonight I had decided to reread or at least review Thomas Paine's "Common Sense."  Of course, I can't get past the first paragraph before I find something pertinent to our current situation:

"...a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.  But the tumult soon subsides.  Time makes more converts than reason."

If the powers that be continually carp about "Fake News," eventually people begin to believe it is true, because it becomes "custom."  All I can say is that I hope it doesn't take too long for Time to makes its converts, before our country progresses too much further down this road of single (dysfunctional) party rule.

The above quote can actually be interpreted quite a few ways and can be used to argue that the compromise our country has frequently used to govern effectively is wrong, and if you listen to many of those who support the far right Republicans, they do believe that compromise is wrong.  I honestly believe compromise is pretty much baked into the Constitution, but then again I am sure there are some who would accuse me of "a long habit of not thinking."

Letters of Note: Volume 1 tidbits

How could any volume of significant letters be complete without something from Rilke's "Letters to a Young Poet."  The first of these letters is featured in this volume:

“Nobody can counsel and help you, nobody. Search for the reason that bids you write; find out whether it is spreading out its roots in the deepest places of your heart, acknowledge to yourself whether you would have to die if it were denied you to write.”

Excerpt From: Shaun Usher. “Letters of Note: Volume 1.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/gAzIX.l

That was an idea I liked when I originally read it in "Letters to a Young Poet" and as I came across it again, I decided to share.  While this blog isn't developing like a diary or even developing anything as coherent as a unifying theme (unless that theme is what currently has caught my attention), I do sort of like the idea of placing all these random bits that I enjoyed from other writers in one place, where I can share, and where maybe someone else will discover the quote, then explore any given author more fully on their own.

Next, we have Dorothy Parker, from a letter written while in the hospital.

“I am practically bursting with health, and the medical world, hitherto white with suspense, is entertaining high hopes—I love that locution—you can just see the high hopes, all dressed up, being taken to the Hippodrome and then to Maillard’s for tea. Or maybe you can’t—the hell with it.”

Excerpt From: Shaun Usher. “Letters of Note: Volume 1.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/gAzIX.l

And that is all I have right now, though in this day "high hopes" would look a bit different.

Trump and LGBTQ stuff

I guess it is touching that Caitlyn Jenner is still naive enough to believe Republicans when it comes to civil rights issues, but I doubt that was the only reason she sided with them.  Any amongst the the GLBTQ spectrum who voted for Trump, I hope you are enjoying what he has done with your trust.  Personally, I think his campaign and presidency has been an embarrassment to this country.  A large percentage of people decided they would really like to forgo the difficulties of compromise and working under the rules laid out by the Constitution and years of precedent, and the treasure the country was received is basically someone upset he can't rule by fiat like he does in his family business.  Kellyanne Conway complained about the ethics requirements for working in the government.  Seriously, if there are people turned off by the ethics requirements of serving in the government, perhaps they shouldn't be in the government.  The administration has surrounded itself with those willing to be abused by Trump (see Jeff Sessions and Sean Spicer) who for some reason believe that abuse is good for the country.  Now Trump is abusing those transgender who serve in the military, because while he never served, he doesn't think they should.  It is acceptable for the military to spend $84 million on Viagra and erectile disfunction, but the $8.4 million for transgender medical care is too much money, at least that is Trump's argument.  I honestly wonder if Trump didn't tweet that transgender and the military crap as a diversionary tactic from the ongoing healthcare debate in the Senate.

Lots of excerpts.

These are bits and pieces I read over the weekend that I liked.  They are from a variety of readings.

The uses of not

Thirty spokes

meet in the hub.

Where the wheel isn’t

is where it’s useful.

Hollowed out,

clay makes a pot.

Where the pot’s not

is where it’s useful.

Cut doors and windows

to make a room.

Where the room isn’t,

there’s room for you.

So the profit in what is

is in the use of what isn’t.

Excerpt From: Ursula K. Le Guin. “Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching.” Shambhala Publications. iBooks. 

This material may be protected by copyright.

I think why I like the Lao Tzu is probably pretty evident.  It has been a long time since I have read the Tao Te Ching, and this is a translation with commentary that I have not read before, so it is nice, and very much like poetry.

On to the next one.  I liked this bit from Rumi too:

Lo, I am with you always means when you look for God,

God is in the look of your eyes,

in the thought of looking, nearer to you than your self,

or things that have happened to you

There’s no need to go outside.

Excerpt From: Barks, Coleman. “The Essential Rumi - reissue.” HarperCollinsPublishers. iBooks. 

This material may be protected by copyright.

Moving towards more modern philosophers, I do like Camus, and this snippet is from his essay "State Terrorism and Irrational Terror": 

“Fascism is an act of contempt, in fact. Inversely, every form of contempt, if it intervenes in politics, prepares the way for, or establishes, Fascism.”

Excerpt From: Camus, Albert. “Albert Camus Collection.” iBooks. 

This material may be protected by copyright.

I think the Camus is highly relevant currently because while Trump obviously has contempt for everyone not him, his opponents need to remember not to hold him in contempt.  Those who ran against him in the elections seem to have held him in contempt, and see where it landed us.

This last bit describes just about anyone who reads.  In the text, it was mystery novels, but for certain readers it really could be anything.

“Whereas his taste in other books was rigorous, demanding to the point of narrow-mindedness, with these works he showed almost no discrimination whatsoever. When he was in the right mood, he had little trouble reading ten or twelve of them in a row. It was a kind of hunger that took hold of him, a craving for a special food, and he would not stop until he had eaten his fill.”

Excerpt From: Auster, Paul. “The New York Trilogy.” Penguin, 2017-04-14T17:03:10Z. iBooks. 

This material may be protected by copyright.

Youthful Frost

First, I am making the assumption that the Library of America edition of Robert Frost is in chronological order, or reasonably so.  Most of their collections at least make that effort, so I am taking it as a safe guess.  "Into My Own" is the first poem in A Boy's Will, and the last stanza caught my attention.  After leaving home, very few folks would encourage friends and family to find them later, with a bit of braggadocio regarding how little he has changed.

The last stanza a Robert Frost's "Into My Own":

They would not find me changed from him they knew--
Only more sure of all I thought was true.

If the above stanza did turn out to be true for him, and that after leaving home he truly only became more sure of what he already knew, then I don't know whether to be happy for him or sad.

Something from Rilke

This comes from Rainier Maria Rilke's "Duino Elegies" and is specifically from the ninth elegy, lines 36-38:

                          ...Is not the secret purpose
of this sly earth, in urging a pair of lovers,
just to make everything leap with ecstasy in them?

Nothing great in my own personal revelation interpretation, but it made me smile, and sometimes smiles are nice.

[This is from the JB Leishman and Stephen Spender translation.]

Inspector Clouseau vs. Donald Trump

With Trump visiting France for Bastille Day, I can't help be think for a better comparison of Trump's six months as President than Inspector Clouseau, since Trump seems to be just as accident prone, and just as determined to do it his way, oblivious of the consequences.  It is this apparent obliviousness that actually bothers me most.  I honestly do not believe that Trump has the best interests of the United States in his mind as he parades himself around the world, so he doesn't look beyond the pictures of him standing with other world leaders.  Seeing that he looks good in those pictures is all that really matters.  I have never received the visceral impression that the United States is so totally isolating itself as I am feeling now, and our world is too complex for that, though I don't think, aside from Twitter, Trump actually lives in today's world.

On a related note, I do hope the Republicans in Congress realize that dictatorships are made when you choose party over country, consistently overlooking glaringly questionable behavior, but making no effort to enforce accountability.

La Cage aux Folles

The French version "La Cage aux Folles" was released nearly forty years ago, in 1978, and watching it now, I find it interesting that so many of the social foibles that were lampooned then are still such bugaboos today.  I guess I find it interesting, that today, even after marriage is allowed in so many places, that there are government and religious sorts that could still be realistically slotted into the roles of the girls's parents.

Are we really surprised?

This latest from Trump:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/29/business/media/trump-mika-brzezinski-facelift.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

As Americans, can we be truly surprised that our President is issuing such inane and sexist comments?  I do recall telling my mother that I would try to be patient and let things work themselves out, but I lost patience with that when he started nominating his cabinet.  All I can say is that at least the office hasn't changed him, and he is still as infantile as he was prior to being elected.  I really hope that those in my family who voted for him are cringing, because while Twitter is good for venting, this is truly a series of inappropriate tweets from the man who is President.

More for Congressmen?

My brother and I often don't see eye to eye on politics, which is understandable within families.  I am not sure how he voted last year, but I know he really did not want to vote for Trump as of September, so if something happened afterwards that caused him to vote for the Orange Man, then so be it.  I think Chaffetz actually does his party a disfavor in asking for more money, because while paying for two residences can be expensive, it isn't as if it wasn't something that should have been thought about when running for office.  Let's face it, you choose to run for office, maybe more money (a housing stipend) would be a nice thing, but hey, isn't everyone after more money?

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/27/politics/jason-chaffetz-congress-housing-stipend-utah-governor/index.html

For this I had to look up "Rogers Group"

John Rogers was an American sculptor of the 19th century who created mass produced sculptures, normally featuring a small number of people in an everyday setting (for the time).

Here is "A Rogers Group" by Robert Frost:

A Rogers Group

How young and unassuming
They waited in the street,
With babies in their arms
And baggage at their fee.

A trolley car they hailed
Went by with clanging gong
Before they guessed the corner
They waited on was wrong.

And no one told them so
By way of traveler's aid,
No one was so far touched
By the Rogers Group they made.


This is one of those I liked, and I don't know if I would be one walking by or giving them advice.  I think it would depend on knowing more.  I have told a few drivers after they have parked in a no parking zone, that they should move their car, pointing the sign out to them, but I am less inclined to put my nose in people's business on the street without them asking first, as I will happily try and give directions if asked.

From the Gnostic Gospel of St. Thomas

If you couldn't tell, I read a lot, and a lot of different things.  Amongst the things currently on my reading list is "The Gnostic Gospels" which are those books expunged from "The Bible" for whatever reason.  Saying 34 from The Gospel of Thomas is:

Yeshua said,
If a blind person leads a blind person,
both will fall in a hole.

For some reason this saying speaks to me of much of the current situation in the United States.  I haven't figured out whether the blind person leading is Trump or Bannon or Trump's "base," but I do know someone isn't leading our country in a fashion appreciated by many.

Even Trump is flip-flopping on his direction, as a few weeks ago he lauded the House healthcare bill, while lately he described it as "mean."  I am not sure if this change was due to some bee in his ear, but it is one of his few policy changes I can agree with.  People shouldn't be punished financially for being born with allergies or anything else, but a healthcare bill that doesn't protect those with "pre-existing conditions" from higher charges is not really fair, especially when they did nothing to cause and can do nothing to cure said condition.

Campaigning Techniques

"It also failed to notice the surge in Labour support, because modern campaigning techniques require ever-narrower targeting of specific voters, and we were not talking to the people who decided to vote for Labour.”  -Nick Timothy 

The above quote is from a long article in Politico.  From this comment, I am reminded of the old saying, "missed the forest for the trees."  

Mannerbund and the alt-right

I have been reading "Gay Berlin," a book detailing gay history in Germany, written by Robert Beachy.  I am only about halfway through the book, but I have already come across Hans Bluher and his Mannerbund theory.  The other day, I was over reading at Slate.com, and came across this article on gays and the alt right which mentioned the Mannerbund.  It is interesting in how the Wandervogel, with their swearing allegiance to their leader (15 years before the Wiemar Republic), seemed to presage the Nationalist political parties doing the same to Hitler.  The Wandervogel was a bit like the Boy Scouts, and they didn't want to admit girls either, and they eventually tossed out their gay members (though they would not have used the word "gay").  I can see how the alt-right, by focusing any given groups fears onto muslims, would be able to co-opt some of those group members into their own ranks, especially if they downplayed the anti-gay or anti-whatever bias.  Hitler had a group of homosexuals working for him (Ernst Rohm, amongst them), at least until he decided to have them murdered on the Night of the Long Knives.

Sorry, this entry is a bit of a mess.  I think what I wanted to do was point out the Slate article and how it was interesting that I had just read about the Mannerbund in a book.  Somehow, I got a bit carried away and began discussing what is better covered in the Slate article.  So read that article, but I would also suggest reading something on the Mannerbund as well, as it is an interesting theory.  [Note: Wikipedia for whatever reason just lists Mannerbund as a secret society, which is not really what Bluher proposed when he created his theory.]  When I was looking for an article to link about the origins of the Mannerbund theory, I kept coming across alt-right web pages that like the theory, except the homosexual part of it, one even going so far as to suggest forming Mannerbunds so the geeky meme writers of the alt-right can meet women.

Ocean Vuong, from "Night Sky with Exit Wounds"

There is a poem earlier in this book ("Night Sky with Exit Wounds"), Torso of Air, that I liked quite a bit, but I am going to send you off to see if you can actually locate it elsewhere, since I wanted to quote from a different poem, Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong, right now:

... The most beautiful part of your body
is where it's headed. & remember,
loneliness is still time spent
with the world. ...

I did finish up the book tonight, and for whatever reason, that line about loneliness rather struck me.

My reading has been all over the place.  I actually restarted my kindle unlimited subscription since they were offering me another thirty day free trial.  I cancelled it and removed the books I had downloaded, after totally losing interest in three of the four books I had borrowed.  It occurred to me a day or two after reactivating the service that I really didn't want to spend all summer reading on my kindle.

Speaking of reading, and of poetry, I discovered Tommy Pico's newest effort was released back in May, so I ordered it from my local bookstore.  Upon returning home, I noticed, unlike his earlier work, this one was available in electronic format.  While I have poetry in electronic format, I think it is actually something I prefer in paper, so I didn't cancel any orders or even compare pricing.  What struck me as the funniest thing was that I found the book in the Apple iBooks store, but it never really registered, until after I got home from the bookstore, that it was actually available electronically.  My mind thinks small press and that means no electronic versions.  Obviously, I am wrong, and I am glad such works are available in a variety of formats.

Comey testifies and the British Election

Of course these two have nothing to do with each other, except that they occurred on the same day.  Comey seems to have done what was expected, which was raise all sorts of questions about Trump, while the Brits confounded everyone by seemingly depriving the Tories of the majority required to rule without a coalition.  (I said seemingly because not all the results are in just yet.)  If our constitution allowed for snap elections, I am sure someone could sweet-talk Trump into having one. Nothing like telling him that it will erase doubts about Russian meddling and such, play to his vanity and his sense that he needs to "win" without any doubts.

The one big surprise for today, from the Trump camp, was what appears to be a lack of Twittering during the testimony.  From the sound of it, his team did manage to get him off Twitter long enough to meet with some Christians (Faith and Freedom Coalition).

Presidential Stupidity

I have to say, I was embarrassed for this country when Donald Trump was elected President.  Now I can say that I am truly horrified that people expect me to recognize such an ignoramus as Head of State.  I can't imagine how Pope Francis  felt meeting him.  The Saudis and Israelis both give him the some notion that he is actually liked, but goodness knows if they mean it in any sort of true fashion.  Trump's obvious delight in ceremony and photo ops is the easiest way to get on his good side.  Hey Mr. Trump, we have a good photo op over here, just stand there and smile.  Being blinded by the light of the flash, he doesn't actually notice flash is all there is to what he has accomplished this trip.  The truly embarrassing event happened after he returned home and decided he though pulling out of the Paris Environmental Accords was a good idea.  How is it that after the pollution from the 70's, pollution that many of those who voted for Trump dealt with, is so quickly forgotten?  Too bad I can actually claim knowing folks who thought it was a good idea to vote for him, which is even worse when you actually consider they have a college education (degree in History anyone) and still voted for him.  Hopefully he won't destroy our country any further.  Trump's America First logic is actually destroying what was our pre-eminent spot in the world order.

Trump and Comey

While I will not be the first to question James Comey's neutrality during the last election, and I will not be the first to question Trump's recent removal of him from his position, I do wonder why?  The common though is that Comey was a tool of the right, but I am beginning to think that while Comey may have been a tool, he did not appreciate the degree to which he was being used.  Whether or not his comments prior to the election actually swayed the result, many believe they did, so this is an irrelevant line of thought.  What actually occurs to me now is that Trump hasn't been able to get the media off the Russia trail, and, as such, can't bring the media into focus on Trump's agenda.  The flip side is that by firing Comey, Trump has diverted media attention from something else, but at this juncture, I am not sure what Trump is avoiding.  Many Americans already perceive that the recently passed (in the House) replacement for medical care is a farce, and no one is sure that with hospitals, insurance companies, and doctors against it who actually benefits from it (except maybe the wealthy).  Even this got sidetracked this last week with the firing, and, whether accurate or not, the comparisons to Nixon when he didn't get his way will tar Trump.  If there was truly nothing with Russia, then he should have let the investigations go along and finish their course, rather than adding fuel to the fire.  Trump wants the media to give him praise and accolades, but he doesn't really know how to do it from under the microscope that is the Presidency.

Perhaps Amazon needs to tweak its algorithms

Like everyone, I use Amazon, and while I was actually looking for some books for my niece, I found that Amazon was recommending this as a children's book:

If you do a bit of investigating, this is part of an adult MM romance series, and most definitely not appropriate for children.

What a week.

While our President managed not to start any new firestorms, it doesn't seem like he has been able to douse the old ones quite yet.  His wiretapping allegations seem to be going nowhere, as he has yet to be able to provide any proof, and his proposed budget helps little more than the military.  That said and done, I will likely wrap up.  I have been keeping abreast of the world, but there is so much media out there that if I don't have a personal spin on it, I don't see much reason to rehash it here, though I have been doing a bit of that on FB.

Speaking of FB, I seem to have managed to get someone's attention by posting a picture of a tin that contained "Jesus Saves" jellybeans.  I thought it a bit bizarre which is why I posted it, but for some reason my post with a comment that said little more than I found it with all the jellybeans gone was taken as something derogatory to Christianity.  My reply was that jellybeans had as little to do with the crucifixion as Christmas trees have to do with the birth of Christ was not commented upon.

Facebook and the internet

As the opening credits of the Holy Grail scroll by, moose and all, I am writing this.  It took me some time to make the decision that this movie was one that would only moderately distract me as I tried to write my blog post.  That said, coconuts blaring, I will continue on with this morning's thoughts.  Actually, they are more of yesterdays, but after percolating a bit, they get written today, and as such become today's posting.  That said, it occurred to me today how Facebook has become the sharing medium of choice.  People jot down their thoughts, post their pictures, and share news stories there, while blogs have become something a bit more focused in regards to theme.  People decide their blog will be about "something" like their exercise regimen or cooking experiments, and focus the blog on those.  Mine is still a sort of hodgepodge, with really old posts showing drawings, while the newer ones mention poetry, and throughout it all there has been a bit of my opinion on the news of the day.  I have posted many photos of art over on FB that did not get shared here, and I know people tend to post family all over the place there, as well as news articles they find interesting.  Facebook has in a way taken the place of the half-filled, periodic blogs that people otherwise busy might once have had.  In addition, with the share feature offered by so many news sites, there is a fair amount of news there as well, so people really don't need to venture away from there.  It is as if Facebook has become the new AOL with the walled garden being decided upon by their friends rather than a corporation.  If you have a limited amount of time in a day, all you need to do now is log into FB, check your feed, and then you think "you know what you need to know" for the day.  The newsfeed on FB has become the web, though factor in a few favorites as well, and people don't really explore past that.

With the spate of "fake" news everywhere, and the fact that people don't seem to be able to differentiate between fake, satire, and unfavorable is a sad reflection of our society.  The fact that FB hasn't traditionally cared if "fake" news fills the newsfeed or not reflects the short-sightedness of its managers, and the naïveté of the same, in thinking that people aren't influenced by what they see online.

Eventually I think folks will repeat the past when they broke away from AOL and invigorated all those sites that didn't try to "curate" the web for you.  Perhaps they will discover that in allowing their friends to be the curators they have missed out on too much.

John Donne's "The Message"

The Message

SEND home my long stray’d eyes to me, 
Which, O! too long have dwelt on thee; 
Yet since there they have learn’d such ill,   
   Such forced fashions,
   And false passions, 
     That they be
     Made by thee 
Fit for no good sight, keep them still. 

Send home my harmless heart again, 
Which no unworthy thought could stain; 
Which if it be taught by thine
   To make jestings
   Of protestings,
     And break both
     Word and oath, 
Keep it, for then ’tis none of mine. 

Yet send me back my heart and eyes, 
That I may know, and see thy lies, 
And may laugh and joy, when thou
   Art in anguish
   And dost languish
     For some one
     That will none, 
Or prove as false as thou art now.

                                -Donne, John (2012-09-14). Delphi Complete Poetical Works of John Donne
                                   (Kindle Locations 710-717). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.

I came across this over the weekend, and decided it was something I wanted to share, though I don't think spurning a lover is a poet is a good thing, since poems like this are the result.

Trump is at it again

The pattern has gotten incredibly obvious, though I am sure some will still refuse to see it.  While Trump had a moment of good press early in the week, by Friday his administration was mired in more Russian controversy, and Saturday Trump sent a flurry of tweets (Twitterstorm?) seeking to deflect attention away from his administration.  In this case, he got it into his mind that Obama had ordered wiretaps against him, and to judge by the headlines I have read so far, Obama is planning a coup or some such thing.  With luck, by Monday the news will be refocused on Russia, because at least one news story I saw also linked Trump's son-in-law into some of these meetings.  Maybe Trump really didn't know everyone around him was dealing with the Russians, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.  Trump is muckraking in order to deflect attention, and I really think Americans should have learned better by now.  One thing that the digital age does sort of ruin is the old ability of printed newspapers of burying stories inside the paper or even below the fold if they actually seem to merit attention, but not all the attention.  Since Trump tweeted it, the story will get attention, but the real story is not wiretaps, but the campaign contacts with Russia, and, with luck, the focus will return there quickly.  Bad press distresses Trump, so this really needs to keep moving forward.  There is a chance that Monday will bring more real news, but even then, the story with the Russians needs to play out and be investigated.  I don't even care if nothing is found, but there are enough questions to propriety that the truth is obfuscated, so a non-partisan investigation needs to be carried out.

Trigger Warnings

This topic is mostly because of a review I read for the book was Stolen Ink, but I don't recall if the review was on Amazon or Goodreads.  My understanding of a trigger warning is that you would normally put it in place if there is something traumatic that happens in a story, like rape, incest, domestic violence, abuse of some sort (drug, alcohol, or any of the physical that would fall under domestic violence), so that people sensitive to those issues know to avoid or are at least prepared when they read the work.  I have also seen authors specifically mention if something features intimate MM situations.

At the risk of sounding totally insensitive, and sometimes I am a bit blind to things, I am wondering if I am wrong with regards to what should be listed by an author as a trigger.  The review I am speaking of complains that the author of a MM urban fantasy/paranormal romance did not list as potential triggers the use of the phrase "spirit animal" and that two characters met in a bar and then went home together and had sex.  Neither of which seem to me to be something that would merit "trigger warnings" in my opinion because neither seem inherently likely to be traumatic.  The review mentions that the latter is just something she/he doesn't like, and she finds the former (the use of the phrase "spirit animal") to be offensive to native americans/first peoples, and that even though they are not used in reference to those people (it is used in reference to an elf's tattoo "companion"), she doesn't like the phrase, since it is appropriated from First Peoples' culture (and the writer gives no indication of being from that culture).  Is the reviewer just being sloppy in her terminology, am I being too literal?  I may have taken it too seriously, but I also think this is how something useful becomes something onerous.  I appreciate a warning that drug abuse or rape or something similarly unpleasant is in the storyline, but if such warnings are expected to cover everything potentially offensive to someone (rather than traumatic), then the blurb will be bloated to incomprehensibility, and the warnings will mean almost nothing.  Everyone has different dislikes, and perhaps a rephrasing of the review would be simplest, but I am just curious if I have totally misinterpreted what Trigger Warnings are actually for.  I mean if you are reading a book that is considered MM romance, and you don't like guys meeting and hooking up immediately after meeting at a bar, then it is probably the wrong genre to read anyway, at least in my experience.

Let me know if I am being insensitive, if the reviewer just chose the wrong phrase, if I have the proper concept of Trigger Warnings (or not).

[Cultural appropriation is a different matter altogether, but I think when artists and authors do it respectfully and it is something that fuels their growth or is an important part of a book, then it should be accepted.  Monet was inspired by Japanese woodcuts and Picasso by African tribal masks, and neither hid that inspiration.]

After all those words, my biggest issue is that I don't want something as potentially useful as those warnings to become just a list of what people have taken issue with because I think there is a chance it will limit an author's ability to be creative.  For the elf in question, his spirit animal was mentioned as a link to his people, so I don't see why the author should need to make up some new term for it, if such an understanding is already inherent in one available (and if the author had chosen "totem" as an alternative choice meaning much the same thing, but in my opinion a much more loaded word, then the reviewer would still have had an issue).  It is not a perfect correlation, but then it is urban fantasy, so that shouldn't be expected.  I guess I think authors, like artists (which authors are), deserve a great amount of freedom, and that readers should couch their expectations based on genre.  Many blurbs do mention common triggers, whether it be a reminder that it is an explicit MM tale or something a bit more serious like drug abuse or domestic violence, and I like that status quo, and I hope that my concept of what triggers are isn't totally fouled up.

Stopping now, before I write another several hundred words circling the same subject without making it any clearer.

Such a mess... sad!

I made mention over on FB about what is either Trump's latest disconnect with reality or else just his latest distraction.  Truly, only a bit of time will tell what this salvo, against Obama rather than the media, will actually reveal whatever the motivations.  If there is a good thing about it, then it would be that this is an interview and not a leak.  Mr. Trump has had more than enough leaks, though I look forward to each additional leak, and how it shows light on the workings (or malfunctions) of his administration.  I have always thought Donald Trump was little more than a showman in the PT Barnum model, and he has yet to prove me wrong.  At this point, his decision to pull out of the Press Dinner (due to his thin skin and dislike of their gall in actually reporting news unflattering to him) is likely a smart one, and John Oliver of The Daily Show commented that it was the best thing he has done since the inauguration.

The short film «Bald Guy» / «Skallamann»

Because sometimes you just need a smile.  Whether this version has subtitles or not is pretty irrelevant, as this is song and dance for no other reason but to have a good time, I mean they are singing about a guy making out with a bald guy.

Dorothy Parker and other things

Prior to sending my niece my old copy of "The Portable Dorothy Parker," I found some used books online and ordered them for myself.  Both came wrapped in plastic like comic books at a comic shop, and while I have already opened and read a few from the poetry book, I also look forward to exploring her short stories anew once I break into that one.  I currently have so much going on book-wise that I fear I will never make it through everything.

Farce President Trump is really making me hope that he can find some legal ground to deport me so I no longer am required to identify as an American.  The man is a terror to our allies and a blessing to our enemies.  If ISIS needs a recruiting tool, then Farce President Trump will step up and make himself and his hateful rhetoric available.  ISIS has never had a better spokesman than Trump.  Oh Allah's faithful, listen to the words of Trump, surely such a bigot will inspire you.

I need to start writing other things again.  These updates where I am nothing but a bit upset with things must be getting as boring to read as they are uninspiring to write.

ReHash of FB (Enemy of the People)

Oh man, I so want to keep using the phrase "Enemy of the People" just over and over ad nauseam, because really what else is there to do as a blogger, revel in the "Enemy of the People" status that Trump has bestowed upon you, and just keep going.  Truth or not, "Enemy of the People" is indeed the newest thing from Trump, and I will need to venture over to CafePress to get myself the appropriately marked coffee mug.

Trump and his "Enemy of the People" were actually not my intention today, but after a few beers, it seemed a perfectly adequate topic.  As I said on FB, for a country that was founded by illegal immigrants, we seem to take a dim view on them today, which can even be construed in a worse fashion when you consider that Thanksgiving is supposed to be a holiday where we recognize those of the first peoples who lost so much when they showed the newcomers from across the see a bit of basic kindness.  Kindness you have to wonder if they are regretting when you consider the treaties broken and then the fact we want to shove the Dakota Access Pipeline onto them.  It really must be nice to be a caucasian who actually doesn't give a shit, and maybe someday I will become one of them, but it isn't now.

"Life Itself", the biopic

I am not sure how many people have seen the "Life Itself" biography currently playing on Netflix, but I would highly recommend it.  The film is fun and it gives a remarkable progression of how Roger Ebert changed as a man, and as he grew, both older and wiser.  For some of us, who remember the PBS series, don't always remember that he was unable to speak in his last years, and for someone known for both his written and spoken word, that couldn't have been easy.  One thing that constantly catches me off guard in the documentary is that you can see thru Roger's jaw, and that the surgeons basically left the jaw flap for nothing but aesthetic purposes.

I forgot

Since it seems President Trump approves of blogs as journalism (see those allowed into press conferences), then I guess, since I seldom approve or say nice things about him, I may have been elevated to an "enemy of the people" which seems to be his defacto term for the who publish unfavorable things about him.  I find it interesting that if Fox News isn't careful, they will be tarred with that brush as well.  It also sounds like Breitbart found one of its editors in trouble recently.  Considering how unpalatable I consider Milo, if he really is for that sort of thing, he really deserves to lose his publishing contract.  He likes to inflame people and he doesn't consider how he does it until it is too late.  The hit to the bank account may make him a bit more thoughtful, whether he really believes the crap he spews or not.

Before too many days go pass

I feel as if I don't get some sort of update here, then I will end up neglecting what so far is a pleasantly revitalized blog.  Anyway, this weekend at work, aside from work, I did manage to start Ocean Vuong's Night Sky with Exit Wounds, which is a book of poetry, rather than a novel.  While I haven't found something easy to share, I can say that it is powerful.  The poems in it so far don't seem good for me to take extracts from, but I refuse to try and copy whole pages, especially when I have to manually type them.

On a less esoteric scale, I also read Wolfmanny by Julia Talbot, of which I can say it was pleasant with an overdose of cute.  I really should have expected the cute, considering it dealt with a shifter manny taking care of five kids.  More than anything, if she plans to expand the series, then she set a good solid base, and hopefully there will be a bit less cute as things progress.  Not a bad mm romance, but one beset with the trials of child players stealing the scene.

I still need to get the John Donne posted over here, but that isn't for just now, and I am sure Mr. Donne did not mean polyamory when he wrote it, though in this day and age, it is something that can be read into the piece.

When Half the Poem is by a different Poet

I don't know if I am just slow, lazy, or moody about when I read the book, but I am still working on Carlos Pintado's Nine Coins/Nueve monedas.  Amongst those read today included "Portico":

I know that in my life's last moment,

that line of Walt Whitman's will come to me:

And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy

walks to his own funeral . . . 

Considering how many entries I have made regarding Whitman, it only seemed sensible to share this as well.

Just sneaking in a posting for today

Happy Valentine's Day, for those who enjoy the holiday.  I have been so perpetually single, that I no longer worry about it, and tend to forget about it.  No hard feelings with the holiday, just not something I have spent any time enjoying for a very long while.

I did do laundry today, which is what I consider my accomplishment for the day.  Clean clothing is a nice valentine to myself, and my co-workers will be pleased that my clothes don't bear that need to be cleaned stench (though I have a desk job, so that really isn't an issue).

That is pretty much it.  I seem to think the futility of posts like this is probably why this blog keeps going dormant.  If not the reason, it was probably a contributing factor, since I am sometimes one of those annoying all or nothing sorts.

Reminded of Neruda (and other thoughts)

In the February 6, 2017 issue of The New Yorker, I found a poem by Charles Simic that reminded me a great deal of Neruda's The Book of Questions.  I know I have quoted some of the Neruda poetry in the past, so I will spare myself more exercises in transcribing, since those poems are in a physical book for me, rather than electronic.  I think the fifth line of Simic's poem, "Does the sound of the surf remind it of itself?" is probably what the parallel most strongly to mind.

Aside from feeling vaguely unsettled, likely due to a lack of exercise in my daily regimen, there is little to report.  I spent the weekend at work, reading a bit of this and that as I had time.  I will say, electronic readers are great for allowing that, with John Donne (I am reminded there is a poem I wanted to share, but that will be another entry), John Milton, TE Lawrence, and Walt Whitman all authors that I read bits and pieces from.  I also did some browsing of the news, looking for anything I might have missed during the week.  From the latter, I did find this interesting piece in Slate in which the author talks about how the Trump administration is using calls of "Fake News" as a the equivalent of a schoolyard taunt to distract the media and put them on the defensive.

Synchronicity in Reading

Not long ago I read Donald Platt's poem "The Main Event," which is about a boxing match from 1962 between Benny "Kid" Paret and Emile Griffith.  The match is a grizzly affair with the referee stopping the match, a bit belatedly, as Paret is hung on the ropes and beaten ferociously.  Paret eventually dies.  I highly recommend the poem, and it can be found in The Best American Poetry 2015, though it was originally published in Southwest Review.

Shortly after reading this, as I was reading Tales of Beatnik Glory by Ed Sanders, I came across a chapter/short story that mentioned the same fight, "The AEC Sit-In."  The fight was used in a different way in the story, but I found it interesting that I read two unrelated works that just happened to mention the same unfortunate boxing match.

I guess the more you read, the more you discover these things, and I guess if i wanted to be properly clever I could compare and contrast the authors' use of the fight, but I don't care to be properly clever right now, as it is Monday morning, and I am winding down from work, and not mentally up for such an exercise after working all night.

I feel like I need to post

Oddly, I want to add something to the blog, but after waking up far too late today, I don't have that much to add, since I spent the day playing Elder Scrolls Online.  I thought I had gone to bed early enough last night, so that I would wake up at noon-ish or thereabouts, but instead, slept well until closer to 3p.  I need to renew my work ID and I thought if I were up at noon, then I could do it, without getting stuck in traffic and all that rot.  Now, regardless of snow or whatever, snow being why I did not renew it this past Monday morning, I will need to head over to the badging office Monday morning to take care of things.  The place isn't open on weekends, and it closes well before my start time on Fridays.  That is my vent on my over-sleeping, because I can't very well blame it on anything other than me not setting an alarm.

There might be something later when I have moved from checking out the day's news (yay! the courts upheld the stay) to reading the various books and magazines sitting around the house.  I still need to finish January's "Poetry" and have February's issue waiting in the wings.  There is also "Nine Coins" and the latest "Juxtapoz," not to mention Whitman, Ashberry, and the Library of America volume on Art in America.  So much to read, and I haven't even ventured into the fiction.

A link to a poem and thoughts (on what, I am not sure)

I found this great poem by Jameson Fitzpatrick in January's "Poetry" magazine, and I think you should give it a read.  I decided it would be too difficult to just take a section of it and post, so that is why I linked the whole thing.  Considering how things in this blog have progressed, linking it is likely political.

I was looking, but couldn't find it quickly, so I will either forget about it or search later for the line of Whitman I was seeking, one where he sees no difference in the young men sent to war by either side during the Civil War.  It will probably haunt me until I can find it and share it.

Speaking of Whitman, "Long, Too Long America" is one I transcribed onto my FB feed.  I got several likes, and then of course someone decided to make the poem political, and said the screaming was from liberals or some such thing.  After a calm comment from me about one beauty of poetry was that people could interpret it as they will, especially when the author is long gone.  This earned another response of some sort, and I eventually said:

The fact you immediately jumped to something derogatory and negative in your interpretation of the poem, while I was basically using it as a reminder that this country has been divided before, and that we made it through once, and will again, means we really don't see the world in the same way, and our perspectives aren't likely to jibe often. Whitman's war poetry is filled with the blood of young soldiers, and the horrors daily seen, and so there are lamentations also included, but there is also the hope that we will come out whole as a country, and this hope is what carries the poems.  

After that, there was little more to be said, and he did sort of apologize.  Perhaps we are so polarized because we not everyone is willing to compromise on their vision for this country, a country that has historically and consistently demonized immigrants, but has somehow managed to keep accepting them.  We are a country of immigrants, and to deny that is to deny history, and to claim that immigrants have always been openly accepted is also to deny history, since just prior to WWII the US refused to allow a ship of Jewish refugees to disembark.  History is dark and sometimes unpleasant, and though they claim it is written by the winners, we all lose if the other voices are completely silenced.  With the current methods terrorists seem to enjoy, I think a thorough vetting of immigrants is fair and just, and that vetting got even more thorough when it was discovered some were allowed into the country, only to have them attempt to send money to terrorist organizations.  Slowing the process down and increasing the scrutiny was a valid answer, banning people outright fleeing from countries at war is not a measured answer, it is a panic answer that does no good, but does manage to alienate our allies, and make life infinitely more difficult for those fleeing their homes.

Ironically, VP Pence is staunchly pro-life, but a dead three year old boy lying on a beach deserves nothing because he is muslim?  Something tells me that VP Pence is only pro-life if there is a chance the child will be brought up as a good Christian.

Gilli again... but it should be the end of it, until he publishes a new book

Gillibran Brown, houseboy and sub to two remarkably patient men.  I finished all of his published works this past weekend, though I have yet to completely read all of his website diaries.  The boy is an incredible mass of emotions fighting through his traditional upbringing to make themselves known.  While I don't actually expect a pleasant tome, the next book of his memoirs should be interesting as it will deal with his mother's passing and how he dealt with her request to sing her father's favorite song at her funeral.  Both of these were foreshadowed in the last two volumes, as well as how he deal with the box of memories she gifted him on her last Christmas.  All of that creates an emotional minefield for someone whose emotions carry on at a heightened level anyway, so I am curious as to how him and his men handled the situation.  Either he has removed the actual events from his blog, or he never reported them there, but I am curious.

A friend of mine mentioned that over on Goodreads there is a group of folk who discuss whether Gillibran Brown is actually a real person, and to them I have no solid reply, but instead think that it doesn't really matter.  While Gore Vidal meant the comment as a slight to Anais Nin, I do think that if Gillibran Brown doesn't exist exactly as he portrays himself in his memoirs, then his memoirs are indeed his greatest bit of fiction.  The Gilli portrayed has so many qualms and tends to be straight-forward with the reader as to what is going on in his mind, that even if everything is not as presented, everything was certainly as interesting as presented.  A good friend of mine has the ability to present the most everyday sort of story in such a fashion that you laugh out loud, so Gilli having the same ability wouldn't surprise me.

The last full book, dealing with Christmas at Leo's, I really thought showed a side of Gilli we haven't seen much.  I really enjoyed the interaction with Pat, who for lack of a better description could be termed an aging or aged queen.  Gilli reached out, Pat reached back, and I hope Pat shows up as a support in the next book, though, if based on real life, there is no telling if that will happen.  Pat has the experience and respect of the others so that when he defends Gilli, they actually listen.  While Gilli can be over the top, Pat being a sympathetic ear, and someone who I think Gilli connected with was a nice change, since Gilli does seem to have issues with so many people, and, even more remarkable, was that Gilli reached out even when he thought he had been dismissed by Pat.  While I hope to read more about how Gilli dealt with all the impending horrible events in his life, I hope for a respite from all of that with Pat showing some support for him.  Anyway, that is how I want things to play out, but life isn't always like that, so who know how his memoir will play out until he releases it.

A bit from "Paradise Lost"

As I was reading the news this past weekend, I came across this rather striking image.  Is it overblown or a premonition?  Only time will tell, but I also happened to be reading a bit more of "Paradise Lost" this weekend as well, and came across this near the end of book 1 in Milton's poem:

He spake: and to confirm his words, out-flew 
Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs 
Of mighty Cherubim; the sudden blaze   
Far round illumin’d hell: highly they rag’d 
Against the Highest, and fierce with grasped arms 
Clash’d on thir sounding 
Shields the din of war, 
Hurling defiance toward the vault of Heav’n.

          -Milton, John (2012-10-13). Delphi Complete Works of John Milton (Illustrated) (Kindle Locations 3025-3028). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.

This cover, in addition to how Trump has behaved towards the judiciary this past week, as well as his treatment of the press, and his general disregard for the US Constitution, I think compelled my brain to draw that comparison with Mammon.