Sunday, April 13, 2008

Poem of the Week: Tax Week 2008


Hey, just figured I needed to brighten this page up. Here's my selection for Poem of the week. It really expresses my longing for a little more city life. There are fewer love poems as beautiful.



Steps
FRANK O’HARA

How funny you are today New York
like Ginger Rogers in Swingtime
and St. Bridget’s steeple leaning a little to the left

here I have just jumped out of a bed full of V-days
(I got tired of D-days) and blue you there still
accepts me foolish and free
all I want is a room up there
and you in it
and even the traffic halt so thick is a way
for people to rub up against each other
and when their surgical appliances lock
they stay together
for the rest of the day (what a day)
I go by to check a slide and I say
that painting’s not so blue

where’s Lana Turner
she’s out eating
and Garbo’s backstage at the Met
everyone’s taking their coat off
so they can show a rib-cage to the rib-watchers
and the park’s full of dancers with their tights and shoes
in little bags
who are often mistaken for worker-outers at the West Side Y
why not
the Pittsburgh Pirates shout because they won
and in a sense we’re all winning
we’re alive

the apartment was vacated by a gay couple
who moved to the country for fun
they moved a day too soon
even the stabbings are helping the population explosion
though in the wrong country
and all those liars have left the UN
the Seagram Building’s no longer rivalled in interest
not that we need liquor (we just like it)

and the little box is out on the sidewalk
next to the delicatessen
so the old man can sit on it and drink beer
and get knocked off it by his wife later in the day
while the sun is still shining

oh god it’s wonderful
to get out of bed
and drink too much coffee
and smoke too many cigarettes
and love you so much

Notes from the First Hot Day in Bozeman

At work again and avoiding the usual important things I should be doing to close out the semester's end. Just figured I'd post some thoughts concerning the final academic paper of my undergraduate life. We must be getting close to the end, what 20 days left or so? Anyhow, the final paper is dealing with the duality of the America Literary Canon. I'm working with trauma theory and looking specifically at the master-slave dichotomony in the American experience. After looking at a book like Bloom's Western Canon and coming from a place like metro-Detroit you have to start realizing that there is fundamentally something amiss in conservative academic programs. Programs like the one here at Montana State University. Realistically, I've only studied about three writings by African Americans here: Ellison, Morrisson, and Kaufman. This is incredibly problematic at best. I've come to wonder if this is the norm across the educational board in this country. Thus the paper topic. 20 days to read and talk about all those voices left out in the canon. I'll keep the word informed as to my writings.

On the upside of things, I just found this great concert posted on CBC radio two's website. I encourage everyone to check out the show. It's free and if you like Afro-Soul, jazz, or R&B you should enjoy it. Her name is Melissa Laveaux and she now lives in gay ole' Paris:

http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/cod/concerts/20080229melis

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Ahh ... Montana Politics

I'm still a little muddled down in the fall out, but I just figured we had a little gathering here at MSU on Saturday night. Obscured somewhere behind the monster truck rally at the Brickbreden, we had our local chapter of the Republican party bring in David Horowtiz to give a little lecture to rich white folk out here. My jaw dropped suddenly when I showed up to work the next day to find his hate literature on my work desk. It's great to see that he deflect his ignorance temporarily away from America's educated and educators and onto the totality of Arab-American students. I wasn't aware (but thanks to the pamphlets I've now become acquainted with the fact) that some of the best brightest at MSU are secretly planning a Jihad. He stopped short of claiming they had sneaked the WMDs out of Iraq before coming to Bozeman, MT.
The really scarely thing wasn't just the propaganda left at the desk. Rather it was the non-chalantness that the all of the local media outlets have portrayed his visit as. Some might even say that were quite pleased with themselves in landing such a "fantastic" speaker. Our local State Representative (Mr. Rehberg) was even kind enough to attend the event. Yep, all of this dim shadow of ignorance stamping out any sort of light on the hill beacon that our school is suppose to play to the community. Nothing like selling fear, intolerance, and misunderstanding on a major public University grounds. Is this the great promise America is holding up for the world to see? I've contacted those that I should have. We'll see if anything
comes of it.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Quick Updates after a Prolonged Absence

This blog is now in line for a couple of important information updates. First and foremost is the pending move from the high alpine valley of Bozeman, Montana to the rolling lowlands of Bloomington, Indiana. My fiance and I will be moving there in May as I will begining my MFA in prose Fiction at IU this fall. This is, of course, a very cool thing. The Buddhist connection to Bloomington is pretty massive as is the quality of the people and program at IU. I'll be keeping the world informed as to any upcoming readings i may have.

Secondly, I recently achieved the cover shot on the Winter 2008 MacGuffin. Check it out at New Pages: http://www.newpages.com/magazineguide/newmags/newmags.htm. Full colour, it's pretty snazzy. I'm thinking the issue is available at bookstores around Michigan