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.

Gradual Discovery

Over on FB, there is someone I went to high school with, and he is on the opposite side of the political spectrum, which isn't an uncommon occurrence, especially considering I went to high school in Southern Indiana.  Regardless, he posted some story about Tom Brady being threatened with a public flogging if he didn't recant his friendship with Donald Trump.  I asked if he was serious about such a story, and then said that Tom Brady, like any entertainer, is allowed to speak his political views, and the fallout from them is between him and his fans, like it would be any entertainer.  The comment back was something about it being from the left, and he was confused.  I am not quite sure what happened, as I was there supporting someone's right to an opinion, and if they choose to be vocal about that opinion, then they should accept the fallout, and I didn't care whether the opinion was from the left or right.  I am not going to follow up comments on that chain because it really seems that even when I agree with this person, in this case allowing an entertainer the right to their opinion, I am somehow in the wrong by not condemning those who disagree with it?  I know my English isn't that bad, but for some reason I think we are speaking different languages.

[I do consider professional athletes entertainers, since they use their talents to entertain via sport.]

More Whitman

His Civil War poetry seems to strike a chord with me currently.  Here is another:

LONG, TOO LONG AMERICA.

Long, too long America,Traveling roads all even and peaceful you learn'd from joys and prosperity only,But now, ah now, to learn from crises of anguish, advancing, grappling with direst fate and recoiling not,And now to conceive and show to the world what your children en-masse really are,(For who except myself has yet conceiv'd what your children en-masse really are?)

- Whitman, Walt; Gilchrist, Anne (2014-02-20). The Complete Walt Whitman: Drum-Taps, Leaves of Grass, Patriotic Poems, Complete Prose Works, The Wound Dresser, Letters (Kindle Locations 1384-1393). Bybliotech. Kindle Edition.

I found something from "Paradise Lost" I intend to share as well, but since I had already posted this to FB, I figured it would make more sense to do this one today, with the other used at a later date. One nice thing about poetry is that it allows us to remember that what we face today is little but a different aspect of what has been faced in the past, no less pernicious, and no less unpleasant, but not something completely new.

Edit: I attempted to correct formatting on this but I didn't succeed. Rather than fuss with it forever, I am just going to leave it.

Walt's words work well

YEAR THAT TREMBLED AND REEL'D BENEATH ME.   

Year that trembled and reel'd beneath me! 
Your summer wind was warm enough, yet the air I breathed froze me, 
A thick gloom fell through the sunshine and darken'd me, 
Must I change my triumphant songs? said I to myself, 
Must I indeed learn to chant the cold dirges of the baffled? 
And sullen hymns of defeat?

          --Whitman, Walt; The Complete Walt Whitman: Drum-Taps, Leaves of Grass, Patriotic Poems, Complete Prose Works, The Wound Dresser, Letters (Kindle Locations 1292-1298). Bybliotech. Kindle Edition.

I came across this poem yesterday, and liked it, and thought it terribly apropos of the current situation.

Gilliflowers, again.

I still have 25% of the book to finish, but one thing I do like about this book is how Gilli portrays his own fight against acceptance of his epilepsy and his partners' acceptance and work on mitigating and minimizing its impact.  I doubt anyone wants to admit they have a condition as potentially debilitating as epilepsy is becoming more active rather than less as they grow older, so I can't fault Gilli in his single minded pursuit that it isn't that big a deal.  Personally, I wouldn't like the fuss over it either, so I genuinely get his point.  One thing about this book is that it takes place over a short period of time, and, since I haven't finished it, I have yet to find out how that plays out.  What I do appreciate about this memoir is how he portrays his denial of the condition while his lover impose ever more restrictive conditions to try and minimize it.  He isn't on board and he is in denial, but he wants the relationship and he respects his partners enough to make a go of it, and while not always pleasant, his attempts give the reader some insight into what is in his mind.  No one wants to be an epileptic, and no one wants to be seen as a medical condition rather than a person, so I am really hoping Gilli makes peace at some point before the end of this book, though from friends, and from a bit of HS English Lit (can we say foreshadowing), I am guessing he will have more than just his epilepsy to work through before the end.

For the record, I did go over to Smashwords and pick up the rest of his books, since his website mentions them first, rather than Amazon.

Charlie Cochet's "Thick & Thin"

I really should have mentioned this yesterday before chatting about Gilli.  Anyway, in Ms Cochet's latest THIRDS novella she does a nice job of wrapping things up prior to the next book, which is focused on a couple other than Dex & Sloane, who have been the main concern for most of the series,  though others have occasionally taken the spotlight.  I believe she mentioned something about wanting to separate this out so it didn't distract from that storyline, and I am glad she did.  If you have forgotten some of the details my friend Cheryl assures me that Ms Cochet does a nice job in recapping them for you.  I didn't have the same continuity issues, so I will say that Ms Cochet's recap did not distract from the story at hand.  This is a novella that plays out events that happened at the end of book 7, and sets up the next book to be relatively tidy, rather than distracting from that story with the revelations detailed here, because this book combined with the next would do nothing but distract from those details.  If I were cynical I could say it is a play for money, but I am not quite that bad, and I do think what happens in this story would seriously distract from whatever story she has set up for Seb & Hudson, and I think she was correct in her decision to make this its own story, however unconventional the storyline.  I would also advise that if you haven't read any of this series, then this is not the book to start with.  Start with book 1, "Hell & High Water" and if you like it, continue on, as this isn't a series that, as yet, I haven't seen quality issues with.  With the exception of two books, the series focuses on two main characters and is constantly developing the secondary characters, such as the aforementioned Seb & Hudson.  The books require a suspension of disbelief into Ms Cochet's scientific logic for shifters, and they also require you not to be squeamish when gay sex is described, but overall, for this sort of genre fiction, I think she does a marvelous job, and this novella does exactly what she expected, which is wrap up consequences from book 7 while prepping readers for book 9.  Due to the emotional rollercoaster these characters experience, I also don't see any issue breaking this out, because by doing so, Ms Cochet allowed the emotional requirements at the end of book 7 to shine as they needed, and not be lost in an epilogue.

So this isn't exactly a book review, but I did read it, and enjoy it, and would suggest it to others who have enjoyed the series.

Venting a little...

OK, let's get some ugliness off my chest.  First off, I do not think that everything President Obama did was wonderful.  Contrary to the Republicans though, I do not think his entire agenda was wrong and should be undone as quickly as possible.  Starting with medical care, do we live in a country that actually believes everyone doesn't deserve affordable medical care?  By affordable, I don't mean that getting cancer leaves you a choice of treatment which will bankrupt you, or choosing no treatment, because it will leave your family in better financial position.  I recall reading that "for profit" medical centers have a higher issue of welfare fraud than "non profit," and if this is true, perhaps the government is wrong in just looking at insurance as a solution.  (This link isn't the article I had in mind, which was read a bit ago, but shows the various medical frauds from 2015, both of the insurance industry and medicare.  It also doesn't say which are for profit or non profit.  Regardless, the amount of fraud is staggering.)  Since all the fraud mentioned in that article wasn't just against medicare, but also against insurance companies, it isn't something that can simply be put to government incompetence, as private industry has a problem with it as well.

Back to my original point, do we really want to live in a country that can't or won't provide basic medical care to people.  Broken bones happen, but for fast food workers or retail employees, if they don't happen at work, prior to the Affordable Care Act, they didn't make the money to pay for treatment without going into significant debt.  I know a lot of people bitch and moan about the minimum wage, but if you are working for it, there isn't much chance that you are saving anything, after rent, utilities, and food, and if you are saving for something, an accident will put you back at nothing, whether that money was for school, a vacation, or, ironically, helping out family with medical bills.  Republicans began to really get an earful after the election, and while they are still going to try and dismantle the programs, their voters at least have them doing it with a bit more thought and a bit less glee.  They care about the vote, not the voter, which is to say they don't really care.

Another gross example of not caring is Trump executive order on immigration.  He did not vet this with the agencies involved and he did not think about how it would impact our allies, or those living, working, and studying in this country.  He didn't care and just made his proclamation, with the fallout damaging pretty much everything.  Follow that up with his conversation with the Australian PM, in which he argued about a refugee agreement Obama had made.  The agreement, according to the Australian PM, was for 1250 refugees to be accepted in the US after proper vetting.  Trump was arguing 2000, which is a significant overstatement.  Trump does have a way of exaggerating things.  While the women's march was a scheduled event, last weekend's spontaneous airport protests were brought on by Trump's callous handling of immigration regulations.

Government has almost always been accused of being cold and faceless, insisting on the regulations, regardless of if they made sense.  Trump is giving his face to this ugly bureaucracy by showing no care whatsoever for his actions or their consequences.  He has a steep learning curve, and he is still carping about Schwarzenegger and his "The Apprentice" ratings.

I guess that is it for now, though I may try to write something a bit later about something other than politics.  In my opinion, since private industry was unable to affordable insure all Americans, then the government does have the obligation to step in.  We are not a pure capitalist society, because if we were the robber barons and monopolists from the nineteenth & early twentieth century would still have their mini empires; instead, we are a mixed system, capitalist principles tempered by government restrictions, lest we live in a  polluted world working 80 hours weeks for below a living wage.  Americans are better than that, and our government needs to be as well.

Couldn't sleep (so I got out of bed and read)

I was having one of those nights, where I wanted to go to bed early, and if you work nights, 2:30am is early, but then couldn't sleep, and after an hour or so, I got up.  Chamomile tea seemed in order.  I did have a bit of it, and am on my second mug now, and I do think I will sleep fine once I finish it, and this entry.  Being all Trumped out, I opted not to focus my reading on current events, and instead picked up a semi-humorous memoir, "Gilliflowers," instead.  Gillibran Brown website can be found here.  Gilli is very effective at translating his smart mouth to the page, and as he calls out his more obvious exaggerations, it does serve as a device to make you wonder about the rest.  Anyway, being out of the UK and writing the books via blog means there are always new phrases I am not accustomed to, and he is kind enough to explain them.  There is also the fun of seeing words on the page that I haven't seen many recent writers use, during today's reading "slattern" caught my attention, and gave me a giggle.  Of course, what would comments about a book be without something political, and here is Gilli's view:

"I hate talking politics, especially with business people. The business class tends to view politics as something that should only relate to their personal profit margins, as opposed to something that should benefit mankind in general."

             - Brown, Gillibran (2012-09-19). Gilliflowers, Bonds of Affection, Memoirs of a Houseboy 2008 (p. 113). Houseboy Works/Gillibran Brown. Kindle Edition. 

Actually the author recently had a kerfuffle with readers when he voiced his displeasure with both Brexit and Trump -- just because he writes fiction, does not mean he isn't allowed his opinion, though some of his readers didn't appreciate him sharing that opinion.  Chiming in here, I am glad he expressed his opinion, as much as anything else because as a writer, writing is safe form of venting, so he doesn't keep all that frustration and feeling of impotence locked up.  It is why I share any number of articles regularly on Facebook & Google+, because it is a way to share my concerns.  His readers don't need to agree with him politically, just like you don't need to like the political beliefs of any actor or musician.  You might wish they would keep their trap shut, but don't call them names because they were sharing their views.

I think I will have to face that if I am actually going to write here regularly, this will be about what I am reading, whether poetry, gay fiction, or to some degree the news, though I will try to push that off to other social media.

Wow...

I am constantly amazed at how people view the world, or perhaps I should say view the world via the political/religious lens.  Facebook today took me into that uncomfortable territory where when I compared the fundamentalist sects of Christianity and Islam, I was told that is was basically irrelevant because a lot of Christian sects have reached out GLBTQ folks.  I am doing what I can to keep an open mind and argue reasonably, specifically mentioning that I said "fundamentalist" rather than referring to either as a whole, but it didn't seem to do any good, because the person I was conversing with thought I was stretching the fundamentalist aspect.  ISIL/ISIS is a fundamental sect of Islam, and comparing them to similar hate filled sects of Christianity is only proper.   Neither is accurately reflecting their faith, and both deserve to be discussed because of that.

I don't consider Mom's Methodist Church to be fundamentalist at all, so don't take my condemnation of that group as to being relevant to her or her faith.

Any ideas?

I have not spoken with Mom or my step-father since Thanksgiving.  Actually, I haven't spoken with my step-father since September, but Mom expressed her dismay at one of my FB posts, so we spoke, and though she didn't directly ask me, I did delete said message.  The message was one urging her to make sure her GLBTQ congregation members understood that regardless of the election, the Methodist church, and her parish in particular still valued them and wanted to be inclusive.  My step-father has a tendency to belabor a point, to such an extent the those at the other end find it uncomfortable, and this he did with some lesbian members of my mother's church.  She mentioned that they also brought up their points, but she also implied they were left in tears, and in such as state as they actually screamed at her when she tried to call and placate them after the election.  Truly, this is all a mess, since I never picked my step-father for one who would vote for someone he described as an "idiot" for president, most likely because he believed Hillary was "crooked."  Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

All of this said, I may actually get another call from Mom expressing discontent over this post, but this time, I don't really care.  While I have seen the Pope actually call out the recent refugee executive order as being un-Christian, I have not seen the leaders of her church do the same.  Perhaps if she wants to link me that, I will change my mind, but as I pointed out on someone's post, American Christianity is not about Christ helping the world, but it is about Christ helping me.



EDIT - I just went to the Methodist Church homepage, and they don't agree with Trump.  Here is a link.

For those visiting from the Ranch

I recently cross posted a link to my blog into a forum where I am a member.  The forum strives to be apolitical, since it can not be assumed that all reader of an MM forum have the same political beliefs. I respect the owners of the forum and enjoy their work enough that I have no issues with this.  If you are from the ranch and you want to avoid any of the posts here that may be political, then find the labels with Poetry, and you will be generally safe, as those either highlight my own poems or poetry that I have been reading.  On the other hand, if you don't mind my political leanings, then feel free to explore and comment as you will, and I will just hope that Google, the corporate overlord here, doesn't make that too onerous.  My Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ feeds are pretty much nothing but politics with the occasional breath of something else, so only follow me there if you won't be disturbed by links that illustrate my worldview.

Just before bed

I should probably not be writing this, just before bed,
because just before bed is when your brain
isn't quite thinking brainly sort of thoughts.

Just before bed your brain isn't thinking brainly thoughts,
because just before bed, it is already thinking
about the morrow, and what it holds,

Because we all, just before bed
Think about to-do lists and errands,
and how to make tomorrow better than today

Because we all, just before bed
Think about the day gone by
and wonder if it was a success?

Just before bed, because we all like that time
Just before bed.  Curl up with a book or
Cuddle with a spouse, just before bed.

Congress and Appeasement

I just posted something to my Twitter account about how Congress should recall Neville Chamberlain's policy of appeasement when they deal with Trump.  I really mean Congress as a whole, not just the Democrats.  McConnell ran a thorough policy of disruption during Obama's administration, and it is unfortunate that he did so, as I do think if the Republicans had been willing to work with Obama, then good things could have been accomplished, much like the Republican Congress worked with President Clinton and left the budget in good order when his term ended.  So far nothing that Trump has presented us with in the way of Executive Orders are actually appealing, and I am beginning to wonder if he thinks just because he issues them if they are valid.  For example, his wall order will come to naught if Congress never provides funding.  We should be glad of the line item veto has never passed constitutional muster.

Villanelle for Today, 25 January 2017

Something urges the writer to write
Meter, verse, free form or whatever,
To do such a thing, like a blight

Something urges the writer to write
Beyond hope of publishing ever,
To do such a thing, with such might

Something urges the writer to write
Mediocrity calling, verging on Palaver,
To do such a thing, it is his right

Something urges the writer to write
No Eternity summoned, now or forever
To do such a thing, beyond his sight

Something urges the writer to write
Diving muse or something less clever
To do such a thing, the writer's plight

Something urges the writer to write
Notes spastic, but truth, at least his, forever
To do such a thing, it is his right
To do such a thing, beyond his sight.

[The edit was because I had one stanza too few for a villanelle, so I had to add another.]

Did I Doom this?

I mentioned on Facebook that I have recently been active on my blog, for those who may still have the link.  I purposefully did not include a link, and I commented that I hoped my mention of the blog being active again would not curse me into inactivity.  If I had found something worthwhile in the translation, I would post something from Marcel Broodthaers' "My Ogre Book," but in truth it seemed a bit to disjointed and of a piece that removing a section didn't seem quite right, because they would have made even less sense out of context.  Anyway, his "Shadow Theater" is now on my reading list, and, after seeing Ocean Vuong's "Night Sky With Exit Wounds" on many year end lists, I did pick up a copy of my local bookstore (not Amazon), so, it too, is now on my reading list.

I have matching chairs in my living room, one is for me, and one is for my books, and I have to say, if I don't get busy, the one for my books won't have space for anything new.  I could get it all electronically, but I do rather like holding a book, and flipping pages, that old-fashioned sort of nonsense which would likely get me nowhere if I ever have to look for a new job.

If I give my prose line breaks, does it become poetry?

The Arts

It is truly unfortunate, that as a whole, Americans don't see a value in The Arts.  Yes, I capitalized it, and I meant everything from Fine Arts (painting, sculpture, etc) to Performing Arts (Dance, Opera, and Theatre) to Musical Arts to Literary Arts (poetry, short stories, etc), and no doubt there is something I am missing, but my intentions likely include it as well.  Our new administration, both legislative and executive branches, have every intention of cutting off all federal funding for these organizations.

In the case of the executive branch, it is most likely because a good business case could not be made for them.  I am sure Mr. Trump liked "Hamilton" before Mr. Pence attended and the audience booed him, but Trump liked it because he was supposed to like it, it was talked about, it was sold out, and the tickets were hard to get, so how better to show how important you are than to go to the hottest ticket show in town, and I don't doubt that Mr. Trump provided Mr. Pence the tickets just to show his influence.  The fact that a fair number of artists don't like Mr. Trump and as showed during the "Hamilton" episode, neither do the audiences, but Mr. Trump has no desire to support anyone who won't flatter him.  If Narcissus wasn't already the origin figure for the word narcissist, then you would find Mr. Trump's photo in the dictionary, illustrating the definition.  Mr. Trump doesn't really see the value of the arts, how they expose people to new ideas, how they have the potential to expand horizons.  I will be the first to say that sometimes they get a bit too esoteric, but that doesn't make them bad (in truth, it tends to make me avoid certain poets or artists that I don't get), because what doesn't speak to me is very likely to speak to someone else, with a different background and with a different set experiences prior to experiencing the artwork in question.

For the Legislative Branch, I don't have quite so much sympathy.  The legislative branch wants to cut funding because they are a bunch of bitter folks who still want to fund nothing that President Obama found useful.  They don't like that NPR doesn't cover them with fawning praises, and they don't like art that challenges them; therefore, neither the NEA or NEH deserve any funding.  Stupid idiots.  I didn't like Ayn Rand when I tried reading "The Fountainhead" years ago, and I have even less desire to read any of her books knowing that Paul Ryan is a big fan.  Ugh... he will happily strip health care from his parents and then laugh while they drown in debt from big medical.

Monday mornings

My Monday mornings are actually nights, as I finish up my workweek and begin my weekend.  The last few Monday's I have spent cross-posting news stories to Twitter, Facebook, and Google+, though I know on none of those platforms do I actually have much of a following.  There is so much going on now it can be overwhelming.  The Women's March was a breath of much needed inspiration after the Inauguration the day before with the new President quote a Batman villain in his speech.  Saturday night and Sunday morning the new administration decided they were going to double-down on the Orwellian Newspeak/Doublespeak.  I wish I could laugh at how insipid it made them look, but on review my newsfeed on Facebook, it seems none of those people who voted for Trump actually seemed to care.  As I mentioned there, Lies in favor of the administration are "Alternative Facts," and accurate reporting is "Fake News," and for me this is so much bull.  I think every country with open elections is accustomed to a certain degree of political spin and manipulating the facts, but this wasn't just manipulation, it was downright dishonest, and so blatant that a blind man could see past it.

On another note, my last entry seemed to have alarmed folks, but that was probably because I was dreading the events of the day (the inauguration being foremost).  Writing and posting does a good job of getting those feeling expressed, as well as clearing my brain to think of something else.

Today

Just because I have been pretty decent at regular updates and what not.  Today I did spend a bit of time in Elder Scrolls Online.  I also spend time reading a bit of the most recent "Poetry" magazine, as well as some stuff in Marcel Broodthaers' " The Ogre Book."  If any of that reading would have lended itself to something to share, then I would have shared.

Anyway it is 6:45 am or thereabouts, so I am off to bed, but I did want something in here, since aside from an MMO, my other major activity has been tv, with both "Please Like Me" and "Dr. Who" getting my attention.

Silence = Death redux

Yesterday I was reading my Twitter feed, and author TJ Klune (who write MM romance) had mentioned that one of his readers had engaged him in conversation, mentioning that the reader was disappointed that TJ was anti-Trump.  TJ, in his comment on Twitter, said that he couldn't remain silent.  I replied to TJ some support, but then also added this slogan from ACT-UP, because I think it has gained a renewed use in the current political discourse.  If those of us who don't believe in Trump's lies don't mention it, and mention it frequently, then the death we will witness is that of our democracy.  The founding father's never said it would be easy, and Trump is the biggest bump in the road many of us have ever experienced.  I came of age in the 80's, when silence=death meant doing nothing in regards to AIDS research (and equal rights), and every decade that goes by I am still surprised I am around, not because I practice any dangerous sex acts, but because when I was sixteen, I really didn't think I would make thirty, and some I know, didn't.  While I think Trump really only cares about same sex marriage in regards to how it hits his company's bottom line, he knows his supporters are against it, so I think there is a good chance he will do what he can to make those voters happy, again, because he really doesn't care.  If you are looking for the epitome of if you don't support gay marriage, then don't have one, I think you are looking at Trump, but I also think he doesn't really care enough to make sure protections remain in place for those who do wish to be married.  Apathy in regards to everything but business is a good description of him.  I also think if people don't keep reminding everyone of the truth, then Trump, with his endless repetition of lies, will distort that truth (he lost the popular vote!) and eventually believe his distorted view.  I think there is an old phrase about something being repeated often enough and people begin believing it sort of thing.

I think everyone needs to remember and continue posting reminders and contradicting whatever lies (fake news) Trump is spreading (sad!), because if we don't we will allow the country to be brainwashed into whatever psycho realm it is that Trump inhabits, and that is not something the world needs now.

Sometimes a slow cooker just doesn't work

Actually I am going to cross post something I wrote for a forum (though it has nothing to do with crock-pots or slow-cookers).

Here is a bit of what took me as a non-sequitur.

Back home, having a long last name
    is like having a big dick, is like having a nice
cookie table.  My five aunts made hundreds
    of Greek cookies for my sister's wedding.

Sometimes you come across something that takes you aback.  Just an arresting collection of images and ideas. (Excerpt from Allison Davis' "The Heart of It All + A Free Beer")

I really do enjoy poetry, and I do love the oddities that authors use when composing poetry.  Good or bad I won't say, but since the poem ended up in the Best American (2016) compilations, I am going to say more thought it good than vulgar.

Wednesday night I launched something in my slow cooker (crock-pot), and while it was edible, it was also something I was unlikely to eat again, so I tossed the balance, much like I would probably do with this clam pizza.

Oh, and aside from dark chocolate M&M's, the bowl is something I made for a cold working class, in case anyone out there ever wonders what to do with such a thing, since it is too small for cereal.

Streep and Trump

I guess I just can't let yet another artist be declared over-rated without double checking for myself.  While I haven't flown out to see Hamilton, I did purchase Florence Foster Jenkins last night.  So far it is fun, and exactly the sort of entertainment I was looking for.

And here I decided to take a break from the screen

I have been online a reading news and posting to Twitter or Facebook for a good chunk of the evening, as I found articles that I enjoyed.  I decided to take a break, and picked up (again) Carlos Pintado's "Nine Coins/Nueve monedas" and found the poem, "Halfway through the poem" and here are the last lines:

Halfway through the poem, it seems something sacred
will force us to follow it down distant depths
where it opens the dreaming into what is dreamed.

I like the way that is phrased (in translation by Hilary Vaughn Dobel), and I like the sentiment, and how it reflects what I think is best when a poem can hit those notes and open the dreaming.  I frequently mention that poetry has the power to let the reader soar with it, and here the poet is reminding us that it allows us to dream with it as well.

Finally...

It has taken me long enough, but I finally finished putting in the billing arrangements to pay for two online news subscriptions that I regularly use, The New York Times and The Guardian UK.  I have been complaining to myself for too long that I need to subscribe, but have never put all the pieces in place, but now I managed to subscribe and only one will be billed monthly, and now I don't need to worry about how many NYTimes articles I read in a given month.  Like virtually everyone, I love the concept that "information want to be free" or whatever Google's earlier phrasing may have been, but one thing I do think has been lost is just who is paying for the information to get placed on the internet initially, prior to the reader being able to read it for free?  For the most part everyone pretends advertising pays for it all, even as various sites go under due to lack of said advertising and no other revenue streams in place.  As much as anything, I have avoided these two sites because I didn't like maxing my article limit or anything else that stopped me from reading whatever I liked.  I have no problem paying for the material, just had a problem of figuring out when was a good time to set up all the accounts (lazy if a lousy but convenient excuse).

Ariosto's Orlando Furioso

CANTO V 
1 
No creatures on the earth, no matter whether 
Of peaceful disposition, mild and kind, 
Or fierce and merciless as wintry weather, 
Are hostile to the females of their kind. 
The she-bear and her mate in sport together, 
The lion and the lioness, we find; 
The she-wolf and the wolf at peace appear; 
The heifer from the bull has naught to fear. 

2 
What dreadful plague, what fury of despair 
In our tormented bosoms now holds sway, 
That wives and husbands constantly we hear 
Wounding each other with the things they say? 
With scratching, bruising, tearing out of hair, 
Assault and battery, in bitter fray 
They drench with scalding tears the marriage-bed, 
And not tears only; sometimes blood is shed.

Ariosto, Ludovico (2006-11-30). Orlando Furioso: Part One: Pt. 1 (Classics) (p. 197). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. 

This is one of my project books, considering its length and such.  While the tale is about chivalry and knights and all that sort of fun stuff, the lines here about men attacking their women, and how that only seems to happen with mankind, I thought interesting.  Perhaps he hadn't really a great knowledge of the wild kingdom, or perhaps he just felt it unnecessary for his poem, but he doesn't make mention of the species (especially arachnid) where the female make a meal of the male after copulation.

Ranger Station Haven, by S.A. Stovall

Ranger Station Haven, by S.A. Stovall is a short story/novella in the Dreamspinner Advent Calendar for 2016, and I thought it deserved a bit of a mention.  Sometimes you find those stories that are make you laugh a bit, and perhaps hope that the author actually does a follow-up.  I think watching Carter and Owen learn to be fathers to Edmund and Luke could be enjoyable, especially if the author were able to incorporate the other children into the adventure, especially Justin, who seems to have been in the foster system too long to be healthy.  Not every story in the collection made me hope for more, and I doubt the story I would enjoy watching, that of Owen and Carter learning to be parents, would be ideal for everyone, it is something that would be fun to watch play out.  There is no reason a Christmas story can't be played out into something a bit more detailed.  Two park rangers adopting brothers, what could go wrong?

Marriage (and my changing opinion of it)

When I was younger, I thought "gay" marriage
would lead to nothing but "gay" divorce.

As a child of divorce, this made sense.

Then, as I got older, I learned marriage
wasn't just a pre-req for divorce.

As a child of divorce, what changed?

My father, who said he would never do it again,
married someone, someone he dated for years.

As a man of divorce, what changed?

Certainly not my mother,
happily remarried for 30 plus years.

As a man of divorce, what changed?

Cancer changed things, and my father,
being a man, didn't wish to burden his mother.

As a man of divorce, what changed?

His treatment should not be the burden
of the one who brought him into the world,

but rather, what changed?

Was his decision to let the woman,
The woman he had lived with for twenty years

Twenty plus years? what changed?

His decision that they should decide, together
what was to follow, and how to cope.

As a man of divorce, what changed?

He decided, after many years, to remarry.
Because their future was together.

As a child of divorce, what changed?

I learned that not all marriage
was strictly a divorce in the making.

As a child of divorce, what changed?

I learned that life happens, and
who you love requires a legal commitment.

As a child of divorce, what changed?

Her church doesn't recognize
Her commitment to him.

As a gay man, what changed?

Knowing my father's relationship
is valid legally, though not religiously.

As a gay man, what changed?

If I were in the same position, with one I loved,
then I would make the same choice as my father.

Kate Sherwood's Long Shadows

Before venturing into the book review, today has mostly been spent sleeping and playing Elder Scrolls Online.  I am still trying to get a character there up to 50, but it will be a bit.  After leaving the game, I looked around the kitchen for food.  Bachelor food is always interesting, but this wasn't frozen tonight, instead I found tortillas, salsa, maxi-blend cheese, and some bacon that I had already cooked.  Layering tortillas, salsa, chopped bacon, and cheese, then cooking them in the oven to warm everything up, and you have bacon tacos.  Surely not something to win an award, but it was quick and easy.

Anyway, after finishing my snack/dinner, I focused on finishing Kate Sherwood's newest "Long Shadows."  Over on Goodreads I mentioned that it was sort of a book-length prologue for her new series, and I will stick with that description.  She fleshes out the characters, covers a good deal of back story, and creates a current story where these are all explored, while wrapping the book up in a way that is not a cliff-hanger.  Yes, there are unanswered questions, but there need to be in order to set up the series.  Since there is nothing life-threatening left at the end, I don't consider it a cliff-hanger.  For those who like MM Romance, it is a reunion book, but one with no make up sex, even though Jericho and Wade haven't seen each other in fifteen years.  Sometimes a romance is even better when the set up is explored and the relationship is more fully developed, and this is what I think Ms Sherwood is aiming for -- creating a set of characters we like regardless of what happens in the bedroom.  Those two and Kayla (also a childhood friend), now the sheriff, will have an interesting time in the books ahead.  Riptide is the publisher, and while I don't know if they still have all four available as a bundle, I bought the set because I have enjoyed Ms Sherwood's previous work.

One last thing, Kayla is described as having been a tomboy in her youth, and here she is twice divorced, and here I am hoping the Ms Sherwood doesn't make her a lesbian, because a nice non-stereotypical woman in a role of responsibility, that is not a mother, is a nice to see.

Aeneid, Book VI, translated by Seamus Heaney

This is one I bought because I enjoy the work of the translator, because in all honesty, Virgil does not rank high amongst my favorites of the ancients.  This translation though, I did enjoy.  Perhaps it is just time, but I could clearly see where Dante pulled some ideas, which I don't recall noticing in whatever earlier reading I would have done in university.

Rather than "rosy-fingered Dawn" we have "Dawn in her rose-flushed chariot" which I rather like.  There is much to like here, even if you aren't a major fan of Virgil. (It is only one section of that big book, so it isn't quite that bad.)

Vagaries of Resolutions

Yep, with the New Year comes that inevitable question about what resolutions are you making.  I actually gave up on resolutions more than a few years ago, when I learned that what they were for me was a list of what I wouldn't accomplish that year.  Why they never got done is hard to say, since I am not sure if I kept track of what they were and when they died in any given year.

For me now, a resolution would need to be pretty specific, for example, if I said I intended to read more poetry, is that just more poems?  And if it isn't more poems, how do you factor in those book length works, one poem?  Again, if I were making that resolution, I would have to figure out how to qualify it so I could measure if I accomplished it.

Considering this blog, would a resolution be to write in it more than last year?  Would a better resolution to be to write in it more regularly than last year, regardless of total number of posts?  Again, it is a resolution too vague to actually be measurable, unless I wrote more entries over more months than I did in 2016.

I feel for one of the managers at work.  He is taller than me and decided his resolution would be losing 25 pounds in 13 weeks.  From what he said last night during the shift, he is planning on doing it by cutting his calorie intake to 1000 a day or something ridiculous.  Maybe it will work for him, but my hunch is he is doing himself more harm than good.

The main reason I don't do resolutions, is that life always gets involved, and when life is going on, then whether you get a blog entry done or not is totally irrelevant.  I like having the time to write, and I like being able to share what I am reading here.  I don't really write here to accomplish a specific goal, there is no overarching theme of my blog, like book reviews, current events, or some sort of project, but rather a running commentary of what I choose to share, and when I get a bit distracted or busy, well, then like last week, there is no sharing, though I did get a character from level 22 to level 37 last week, which was one reason I spent too much time online (ESO).

Ernest Cline's "The Importance of Being Ernest"

Over the weekend I finished Ernest Cline's book of poetry, "The Importance of Being Ernest."  Unfortunately it was not for me, though I can't say if it was his style or his subject matter, perhaps I am not the right sort, since I liked Knight Rider and the author was an Airwolf fan.  Maybe like Tolstoi or Dostoyevski, folks tend to like on or the other, but not both, and that difference shows up in other choices as well.  Anyway, it was an interesting read, but it never quite sang to me, and I never found those lines I felt compelled to share.  Poetry is so subjective that I will just say it wasn't my cup of tea, though I am sure it is someone's, since his verse did get published..

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.