After trawling through some dreaded html tutorials, I was able to approximate my intentions, so I posted a prose poem. The font turns out strange, but I actually like it.
Thanks to those who offered support, including one Hale True who is less than a year old and already knows more about computers than I do, mainly because it showed a tacit willingness to read such things.
Do check out Hale True's blog. There is video of him chasing a laser pointer. It made me laugh until I cried.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
I renounce evil powers.
I really liked this essay by Garrison Keillor. Perhaps we can celebrate an 'inner republican' day.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
oh my beautiful formatting!
Well.
This format won't allow my formatting, or at least not with the limited tools in my possession (e.g. "cut" and "paste") so until or unless I can figure out how to post my prose poems as I want them, you will be spared reading them.
This format won't allow my formatting, or at least not with the limited tools in my possession (e.g. "cut" and "paste") so until or unless I can figure out how to post my prose poems as I want them, you will be spared reading them.
An Introduction to the Prose Poem
I am trying to write a prose poem a day. Mostly I accomplish some phrasing and a page or two of notes that come together over the course of other days. As a strong draft emerges I will post it.
There is not an adequate definition of prose poetry for my own formal purposes, so I am attempting to define and illustrate with some rigidity my understanding of the form in this work. I do think that prose and poetry are distinct modes for writing and thinking, but believe that most texts are composed of both.
But the most important thing, as A-- reminded a few weeks ago, is to show up for work.
There is not an adequate definition of prose poetry for my own formal purposes, so I am attempting to define and illustrate with some rigidity my understanding of the form in this work. I do think that prose and poetry are distinct modes for writing and thinking, but believe that most texts are composed of both.
But the most important thing, as A-- reminded a few weeks ago, is to show up for work.
Monday, January 11, 2010
chia is a verb
This is a story by my college roommate. Some of you will recognize him.
It's a story about 'manscaping.'
To put this in context, one Halloween Gavon took a rented axe to my Furbie dressed in nothing but a pair of tighty whities with "I *heart* Phil Collins" written on the ass.
It's a story about 'manscaping.'
To put this in context, one Halloween Gavon took a rented axe to my Furbie dressed in nothing but a pair of tighty whities with "I *heart* Phil Collins" written on the ass.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Cybracero!
I'd like to recommend the movie Sleep Dealer to all fans of Science Fiction who also have a soft spot for labor & immigration issues. It is available on DVD.
The romantic interest/female lead is also easy on the eyes, but as we know from watching Mexican television, every woman under 50 is ridiculously attractive while every man over 30 looks like a mariachi, and if this is accurate, why they are crossing the border but we are staying here is beyond me.
Essentially, it shows a not too distant world where the global south can provide for the real American dream-- all the work without the workers. The Mexicans stay in Mexico, but telecommute to robots who pick oranges, do construction, drive cabs, etc.
The concept is top-notch, the story is occasionally maudlin, the acting is serviceable, and the direction often inspired.
--- I guess living down here has me grasping a little for friends. No reason to write this, really, save it approximates human contact. 'Hey, I saw an interesting move.' 'Really, what was it?' 'This odd Mexican sci-fi film...'
The romantic interest/female lead is also easy on the eyes, but as we know from watching Mexican television, every woman under 50 is ridiculously attractive while every man over 30 looks like a mariachi, and if this is accurate, why they are crossing the border but we are staying here is beyond me.
Essentially, it shows a not too distant world where the global south can provide for the real American dream-- all the work without the workers. The Mexicans stay in Mexico, but telecommute to robots who pick oranges, do construction, drive cabs, etc.
The concept is top-notch, the story is occasionally maudlin, the acting is serviceable, and the direction often inspired.
--- I guess living down here has me grasping a little for friends. No reason to write this, really, save it approximates human contact. 'Hey, I saw an interesting move.' 'Really, what was it?' 'This odd Mexican sci-fi film...'
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
wince noticeably
In my continued quest to make all my interests and areas of specialty outdated, arcane, or just very odd, I came across a book called:
The Complete Book of Absolutely Perfect Housekeeping by Elinor Goulding Smith.
We visited Olga's parents in College Station Texas (Happy New Year, by the way, and Merry Orthodox Christmas!) and the title leoparded out at me from their inset kitchen bookshelves. "Hey now," I says to myself I says, "that seems like a joke."
And it is. This little book came out in 1956 and the cover, by the fantastic cartoonist Roy Doty, depicts a proper young housewife in a neat red dress and white apron with one arm cast dramatically across her forehead and the other holding a gun to a miniature house of four disastrous rooms- a burning stove, tower of laundry, etc. Doty's illustrations run throughout.
I've been going through it in order to find something to quote, but the humor builds on itself so much that, taken out of context, I worry they are a little flat. That's a fairly ridiculous worry, now that I see it written out.
On dishwashing
"Here a pet comes into his own, and you may speed the work greatly by simply placing the dishes on the floor for a half hour or so, while the animal does his share. A dog or cat is the most useful type of pet for this work. Birds, goldfish and turtles fail to perform effectively at this task.
While the dog or cat is completing his chore, you have your cue to retire for a minute to make a phone call or powder your nose, thus leaving things squarely up to your husband and children.
If this ruse won't work-- and it won't because they've all disappeared-- you may as well make up your mind that you're in for it... The hotter the water and the stronger the soap, the quicker the job will be done, and the quicker all the skin will slough off your hands. The trouble with dishwashing is that if you do it slowly you'll miss Groucho Marx but if you do it fast you'll break all the dishes. The latter is the less of the evils, and when you husband wonders why you're buying up so much new china you can honestly reply that you need it."
On Laundry
"First, throw away all your curtains. This will not only save washing and ironing time, but also taking down and putting up time, mending time, shopping time, starching time, etc. Second, throw away all your bedspreads. This will save hours of bedmaking time. They're awfully shabby anyway on account of the cat pulling off all the fringe. Third, throw away your table linens. They're old-fashioned.
You can't throw away all the clothing-- at least not if you're going to continue living in the same neighborhood-- but there are steps to be taken to cut down on the quantity. Every time you see one of your children taking a clean T-shirt, slap his hand. Every time your husband takes a clean pair of socks, wince noticeably. You might give up darning for a while, too. In time, they'll catch on all right. And you'll save hours of work."
And finally, Interior Decorating
"Sometimes accessories serve as conversation pieces. I don't know just what a conversation piece is for exactly, because if you and your guest can't think of anything to say to each other but 'My, what an interesting ashtray' it's my opinion that you shouldn't have invited the guest over in the first place. Why didn't you invite a friend over instead? Ashtrays are shaky foundations for an evening's conversation-- I don't care if they were part of a hubcab."
She wrote other books as well, a guide to child-rearing, and a book that includes these wonderful step-by-step instructions for building a Greek Temple.
Her husband seems a gem as well. Robert Paul Smith, author of Where Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing, a book advocating that children be left alone more, like they used to be, so that they could invent the world for themselves.
The book with the Greek Temple instructions is dedicated very humanely "to all the people, all over the world, who drop things."
The Complete Book of Absolutely Perfect Housekeeping by Elinor Goulding Smith.
We visited Olga's parents in College Station Texas (Happy New Year, by the way, and Merry Orthodox Christmas!) and the title leoparded out at me from their inset kitchen bookshelves. "Hey now," I says to myself I says, "that seems like a joke."
And it is. This little book came out in 1956 and the cover, by the fantastic cartoonist Roy Doty, depicts a proper young housewife in a neat red dress and white apron with one arm cast dramatically across her forehead and the other holding a gun to a miniature house of four disastrous rooms- a burning stove, tower of laundry, etc. Doty's illustrations run throughout.
I've been going through it in order to find something to quote, but the humor builds on itself so much that, taken out of context, I worry they are a little flat. That's a fairly ridiculous worry, now that I see it written out.
On dishwashing
"Here a pet comes into his own, and you may speed the work greatly by simply placing the dishes on the floor for a half hour or so, while the animal does his share. A dog or cat is the most useful type of pet for this work. Birds, goldfish and turtles fail to perform effectively at this task.
While the dog or cat is completing his chore, you have your cue to retire for a minute to make a phone call or powder your nose, thus leaving things squarely up to your husband and children.
If this ruse won't work-- and it won't because they've all disappeared-- you may as well make up your mind that you're in for it... The hotter the water and the stronger the soap, the quicker the job will be done, and the quicker all the skin will slough off your hands. The trouble with dishwashing is that if you do it slowly you'll miss Groucho Marx but if you do it fast you'll break all the dishes. The latter is the less of the evils, and when you husband wonders why you're buying up so much new china you can honestly reply that you need it."
On Laundry
"First, throw away all your curtains. This will not only save washing and ironing time, but also taking down and putting up time, mending time, shopping time, starching time, etc. Second, throw away all your bedspreads. This will save hours of bedmaking time. They're awfully shabby anyway on account of the cat pulling off all the fringe. Third, throw away your table linens. They're old-fashioned.
You can't throw away all the clothing-- at least not if you're going to continue living in the same neighborhood-- but there are steps to be taken to cut down on the quantity. Every time you see one of your children taking a clean T-shirt, slap his hand. Every time your husband takes a clean pair of socks, wince noticeably. You might give up darning for a while, too. In time, they'll catch on all right. And you'll save hours of work."
And finally, Interior Decorating
"Sometimes accessories serve as conversation pieces. I don't know just what a conversation piece is for exactly, because if you and your guest can't think of anything to say to each other but 'My, what an interesting ashtray' it's my opinion that you shouldn't have invited the guest over in the first place. Why didn't you invite a friend over instead? Ashtrays are shaky foundations for an evening's conversation-- I don't care if they were part of a hubcab."
She wrote other books as well, a guide to child-rearing, and a book that includes these wonderful step-by-step instructions for building a Greek Temple.
Her husband seems a gem as well. Robert Paul Smith, author of Where Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing, a book advocating that children be left alone more, like they used to be, so that they could invent the world for themselves.
The book with the Greek Temple instructions is dedicated very humanely "to all the people, all over the world, who drop things."
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