Confession Tuesday - Indignant Edition

It’s lunch time on Tuesday and I’m off to the confessional. Are you following me?

Dear Reader:

During my years of active involvement in the Democratic Party I was exposed to an elected official who often said we must never lose the capacity to be indignant. I think it was likely a paraphrasing of someone else’s remarks but I thought about it then and again these past few days. At the time I first heard it, I believed it to a wise axiom, for when we become complacent with actions that are reprehensible we do ourselves a disservice.

I do confess that I have become tired of the bitter and hateful discourse that has come to pollute our daily lives. And it would be easy to say that enough is enough! Lighten up a little. But this axiom has come back to me recently and I confess that in particular that I am incensed by the recent remarks by Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) about the oil spilling (still) in the gulf. It seems Representative Young believes (and I quote) "This is not an environmental disaster, and I will say that again and again because it is a natural phenomenon." Perhaps Rep. Young believes this but drilling a deep sea well from a platform in the Gulf and suddenly after an explosion, the gushing of some 39 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf (and counting) has nothing natural about it. It is not a part of nature.

I confess that I'm also incensed by a political ad run by Rick Barber, a candidate for Congress in Alabama’s second district. The ad is a representation of Barber ranting on the Internal Revenue Service, Health Care, etc., and shows an angry Barber pounding his point all the while a pistol lay beside him as he preaches to our founding fathers. In the end, we hear the rather threatening phrase "Gather your armies." Barber’s ad is incites insurrection. He too may be indignant. But I confess that even indignation must be tempered with responsibility. At a time when many openly carry firearms strapped to their side in plain sight, even as drinking their coffee at Starbucks, there is a responsibility that comes with our political system that asks of each of us the civility that makes peaceful political change a desirable end of our democracy.

I confess that I did not intend to sound preachy today, but I stand by everything I’ve said.

I also confess I will not preach next Tuesday. Unless I get indignant again. ;)


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Linking to Another Place or Time

 

 

I love this quote from Merwin… it’s sort of how I see poetry. A poem can be the link between another place or time. It’s a stone.

"The story of each stone leads back to a mountain." — W.S. Merwin

 

Technorati Tags: poetry in theory

Klaus Update

[Klaus on the ride home tonight]

K-man (one of the many names Klaus has picked up over the years) is doing better in his recovery process. In case you missed it, Klaus sustained serious injuries about three weeks ago. We were fearful that he had a spinal cord injury because he suffered paralysis in his legs. He had feeling in them but for the most part was unable to control any movement in them. He is using them now, the front more then the back. He struggles to upright himself and has some range of motion as we do physical therapy with him.  He has his sassy attitude back.  He gets lots of attention because he still requires much help.  It’s so good to see his determination and yes at times his frustration because that tells me that he is pushing his limits. One day he’s going to be able to stand again all on his own.  Soon the cats food dish will not be safe.

Few Journal Bits

I feel like we’ve already had more rain this year than all of last. I wake up mornings and I wring out my water logged brain and reinsert it in my head cavity and start the round all over. It has become insane!

At the left is a shot of the evening sky – the view westward from our neighboring Target. Yes it appears to be clearing. Long term however, we have showers in the forecast again tomorrow and Tuesday.  Who knows beyond that. It’s just like Chinese water torture only on a larger scale.

Some writing success during the past week. Some things I’m happy with as draft starts.

A few journal bits from this past week-

• 6-13-10  “eyes of emerald / a woman’s face / lashes like passengers / lined at the rail of an ocean liner / waving as she departs”
• 6-11-10 “Oh my God Klaus has improved. Last night he was trying to get up on his own. He cannot yet stand on his own but we can actually see this happening in due time.”
• 6-09-10 “I am watching my to-do list grow faster than I can attack it.”  :(
• 6-07-10 “it was well within the probability / you don’t think of / even when the thought occurs / a buzz that you wave off”
• 6-07-10 “that’s where you were— / the wild card I never used / the coupon that stayed on the refrigerator / well past the expiration”
• 6-07-10 “you remained an uncashed coupon / till the day you expired”

Couple of quotes I saw this past week that spoke to me:

"The first task of the poet is to create the person who will write the poems." -  Stanley Kunitz  Thanks to Susan Rich

“The two most engaging powers of an author are, to make new things familiar, and familiar things new.” - Samuel Johnson

 

Technorati Tags: Journal Bits,Stanley Kunitz,Susan Rich,Samual Johnson

Unconscious Mutterings week 385

 

You Say…. I Think:

• Offense :: score
• Bench :: press
• Kissing :: lips
• Timely :: arrival
• Yellow ::  submarine
• Get up and go ::  got up and went
• Beer :: Ale
• Calories :: intake
• Blast :: from past
• Window :: platform

 

Get your own list here

Technorati Tags: Unconscious Mutterings,words

Confession Tuesday - Electronic edition

Sometimes it's not easy pulling together a confession a week. Not because I don't have anything to confess but because the things I have to confess these days are not the stuff tabloids are made of.  So if you care to, come along with me to the confessional.

Dear Reader-

I confess that after about a month, I love my Blackberry Tour. It was hard moving from a palm platform because I liked the platform. I also liked having a touch screen and I confess that up until about 10 days ago I would still try touching my screen which makes me feel a little goofy but I think I'm finally over that.

I like that it loads the Internet with greater speed than my previous phone. I like the assortment of applications available to me. Sprint Navigation is awesome! 

I confess there are some aspects of electronic things today that I am becoming more ambivalent about. I have been able to weed out a lot of my email with my phone before I ever get home to my laptop and I like that. But last Sunday I had a work related email that came in and I wanted to respond to it and at the same time I didn't. As a result I decided I'm not sure that I like getting my office email available to me 24/7.

I confess that in our family, I'm the text messaging weakling.  Each of my family member probably way out text me.  Two I know for a fact because I see their message counts on the bill. I don't even come close.

There have been multiple days that I have come home an not turned on my laptop during the past two months. That would have been unheard of not long ago.  I think three days in a row is my longest abstinence.

I confess that my blogging posts are down.  I also confess that I am less enamored by Facebook these days. It is mostly the privacy thing. I think their policy changes have been disingenuous and this really irks me. But there are other things as well. Still, I do appreciate the contact if even limited from many other artists and poets. So I'm not quite ready to pull the plug yet.

I think it is the Capricorn in me that likes electronic trinkets and phone applications. But I am somewhat restrained compared to some people I know.  As for my Blackberry, I can justify it by the functionality of its many features. The calender, camera, task lists besides phone itself are just a few of those things that provide value to me.

As we become more electronically conditioned as a society, I'm trying to pick and choose for what it's worth.

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It seems the train has pulled out... where are we going?

For several weeks now I have been thinking about the future of the printed word as we know it.  As the weeks have gone by I have collected in my mind a spider web of sorts of related thoughts that have attached themselves or become caught-up in in my flow of thought. Some of these thoughts have been fueled by things I've heard on NPR or read elsewhere but they all seem to collide with the issue of where the electronic age we are in is taking publication of creative material.

It stared with feeling that perhaps this latest wave of ebook apparatus has perhaps been gaining traction.  I've watched with interest the pricing of electronic books themselves seem to hover for the most part at the $10 mark. Given materials for electronic books are (paper, ink binding) are non-existent, this leaves a larger profit margin to work with up front. So a traditional publisher who has the electronic rights has nearly no production costs.  You put together the artwork and set up the file and zing!  Oh, right, it still has to be marketed. They won't be seen on traditional bookshelves in stores unless they have a companion print edition.  They will need to be marketed  (thought pause) electronically! It seems that there really is little expenditure needed in this process, so my question is, "will this be a better deal financially for the writers or the publishers/distributors?"

The ultimate cost that these books settle into like anything else will adjust themselves based upon the market demand.If ebooks become the norm of future publishing this really could change the scope of the economics associated with earning a living as a writer. It could vastly improve it, but I tend to think that will not be universal. Certainly those who've made a name for themselves could adequately market their product without a distributor and many others will have to accept what margins publishers offer or battle for attention amid what is clearly going to be an abundance material as anyone will be able to publish.

Yet where this is leading economically, epubishing that is, is not the only aspect of this that is on my mind. A recent NPR piece called to question what impact the Internet and utilizing  electronic devices is having on our reading abilities. The Shallows': This is your brain Online offers some interesting questions about our  reading habits and comprehension. Are we so accustomed to the Internet with pop ups and scrolling, throw in e-mail and searches; that we are dumbing up our reading skills and comprehension. Because we can say something in 140 words or less doesn't mean it is the best way to communicate ideas.

I have a lot of questions and concerns about the future of print in our society. Answers I'm lacking.



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