Technorati Tags: unconscious Mutterings,words
Unconscious Mutterings ~ link
Word & Thought Associations
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Sunday, October 05, 2008
Unconscious Mutterings Week 297
don't bother being poetical
A true poet does not bother to be poetical. Nor does a nursery gardener scent his roses. ~Jean Cocteau
Palin's Campaign Continues Disturbing Aspects
The polls have widened and the days till the election are fleeting. This morning I noticed further indication in the desperation of the McCain campaign as they have seen Sarah Palin out to deliver messages of unsubstantiated fear. Fear is what people often turn to when things are not going well in a campaign. Fear and innuendo becomes the hallmark of political desperation.
According to Reuters news service, Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin Palin told of supporters at a rally in Carson, California that, "There is a time when it's necessary to take the gloves off and that time is right now." Pain went on to a accuse Obama of "palling around with terrorists." The remarks were referencing a New York Times story referencing Bill Ayers, a former Vietnam War-era militant that served on a Charity Board along with Obama. The story went on to conclude that Ayers, now a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Obama were not close.
On the heels of the Katie Couric interview in which Palin was asked what she relied on to informs her she relayed that she read magazines and newspapers. When Couric inquired what publications, Palin offered not a single name. At the Carson rally she noted, "There has been a lot of interest in what I read, and what I read lately well, was reading my copy of today’s New York Times... OK, now I get to bring this up not to pick a fight, but it was there in the New York Times, so we're gonna talk about it."
It would appear that either Palin is intentionally misrepresenting the story, or she is skimming articles and has a comprehension issue. If it is the latter, I'm not attempting to suggest that Palin is a moron or anything, as I would expect her schedule these days is hectic and required a good deal of multi tasking. So if it the that latter, than she is perhaps not quite up to the riggers of the job. If in fact it is not the latter, it must be considered misrepresentation of this story to interject fear into the campaign in the final weeks. Saying there is a Friendship between Obama and Terrorists gets big headlines. The McCain campaign is wrong to suggest it. Be it lies or lack of competence. As evidenced by the stakes in this election this country can ill afford a President and Vice President of either stature.
Technorati Tags: Sarah Palin,Barack Obama,Campaign ethics,Sarah Palin's fitness to serve,McCain Campaign
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Letting Go (part two)
As a follow up to my initial "Letting Go" post, I've continued to contemplate the Andre Malraux quotation about what profound art requires. Revisiting the whole idea of abandonment of the control of certain powers (pertaining to art) when writing, I'm reminded of a common topic of discussion which often centers around poetry of the Beat era. There has been a school of through that many of the beat writers relied heavily upon their initial written inspiration. That a higher value seemed to be placed upon the minds first reflections and some writers were hesitant to mess much with original words committed to paper.
I cannot subscribe to the idea that such writing is never enhanced by revision, but I will agree that a mind that allows a truly uninhibited freedom to explore is a desirable foundation from which to begin any poetry.
The Spanish Poet Federico García Lora championed the idea that great art depended upon a vivid awareness of death, and an acknowledgment of the limitations of reason. Certainly one can draw distinct comparison between what Lora espoused and the later argument made by Andre Malraux and quoted in part one of this blog post.
I'm wanting to to find that unfettered awareness that sometimes can be hidden beneath the surface. I want to write without self censorship and then; I want to be able to work to shape this rough language into the best work while retaining the strength and power of what originally came to me.
Technorati Tags: Andre Malraux,Federico Garciaca
Friday, October 03, 2008
Victoria Chang Brings Her Poetry to Kansas City
In a reading before an appreciative crowd at the Central Branch of the Kansas City Public Library, Thursday night, California poet Victoria Chang shared poems from Her books, Circle and Salvinia Molesta.
Chang was the lead off guest of Park University's 2008-2009 Ethnic Voices Poetry Series. Her voice often on the dark side but not disparagingly so, offers a credible balance to a whole host of story lines including that of family history, the business world, relationships and more. While soft spoken, Victoria is quite accomplished with empowering words to their fullest.
It was another excellent Library Poetry Reading experience. The Central Branch Library has established quite a reputation now for poetry readings. The only downer for the night was the local bookseller Rainy Day Books which was advertised as being present was a no show. Instead a small handful of Victoria's book were swooped up right away and many wanting autographed copies were left in the cold.
And I still made it home in time for the debate. Wahoo!
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Visiting My Journal
Bumper Sticker seen tonight on car in Target parking lot: Spiritual people inspire me / Religious people scare me.
Few Journal Bits this week:
notes to self....
topics to inspire future poetry
- Grandma fishing at Muscle Fork
- the act of shaving
- peanut shells on the floor
- geese on the ball field
- pill routine
polite conversation drizzled us/two scoops of vanilla ice cream, side by side with chocolate syrup
flies behaving badly in a seedy joint
I should like to have been there./Been somewhere emotion ruled/even if to have been speechless/but in the body./To witness a pair of long exposed legs/and feel some kind of movement.//
the stakes in the garden lean from the westerly fall winds
Technorati Tags: journal bits. Michael Wells,life as a poet
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Decisions - Decisions
Victoria Chang
or
Tina Fey impersonator debates Joe Biden.
Victoria Chang is in town for a reading as part of 2008-2009 Park University Ethnic Voices Poetry Series. Going to be hard to pass on the Debate live, but I'll have to rush home and watch recording.
October 2, 2008
Kansas City Library
14 W. 10th Street -Kansas City, MO
Reception at 6:30pm
Presentation at 7:00 p.m.
Book signing follows
Chang's work has appeared in many literary journals, and she won a Ploughshares Cohen Award for best poem of the year. Her first book of poetry, Circle, won the Crab Orchard Review Award Series in Poetry and the Association of Asian American Book Studies Award and was also a finalist for the 2005 PEN Center USA Literary Award and the Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Award. The University of Georgia has just published her second book, Salvinia Molesta, and she edited the anthology, Asian American Poetry: the Next Generation.
Technorati Tags: Victoria Chang
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