- Celebrate:: Kool and the Gang
- Resolve: Willpower
- I need to:: Go to bed
- Call:: Me
- Token:: of Affection
- Brand:: Sear
- Comparison:: Shopping
- Far away:: Eyes (Girl with the...Rolling Stones)
- Artful:: Dodger
- Fantastic:: Voyage
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Off the top of my head...
Happy New Year from Al and Pamela
No, I have not dropped Harvey--this is my other love.
106
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light :
The year is dying in the night ;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow ;
The year is going, let him go ;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more ;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.
Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife ;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times ;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.
Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite ;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease ;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold ;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
(from In Memoriam)
106
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light :
The year is dying in the night ;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow ;
The year is going, let him go ;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more ;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.
Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife ;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times ;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.
Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite ;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease ;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold ;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
(from In Memoriam)
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
One of Harvey's Christmas Presents, in Jeopardy Format
Answer: Tennis racquets, and golf clubs, stocks, bonds, potted palms, 15,000 bottles of ale and stout, 800 cases of shelled walnuts, 30,000 eggs, five grand pianos, a case of gloves, a jeweled copy of the Rubaiyat, an automobile, a telephone switchboard, a bracelet with 'Amy' written on it in diamonds, shuffleboard sticks, a silver duck press, and an ice-making machine.
Question: What went down with the Titanic? (from Ice by Mariana Gosnell)
Question: What went down with the Titanic? (from Ice by Mariana Gosnell)
Work Meme
1) My uncle and my aunt were: both named Jewel.
2) Never in my life: will I get on a riding lawnmower (don't ask).
3) When I was five: I had been reading for 2 years.
5) I will never forget: how much I love my grandmother.
6) I once met: Freddie Mercury. Actually, I met him more than once.
7) There's this girl I know who: had poems accepted in 6 journals in 1 day.
8) Once, at a bar: I won a Bette Davis eyes contest, and I did not even know I was participating. (If this hadn't paid $50, we'd have had our phone turned off. This was back in the new-wave days).
9) By noon I'm usually: done with work for the day.
10) Last night: I saw King Kong. Adrian Brody has the most expressive eyes.
11) If I only had: the money, I would share it with others.
12) Next time I go to church, I: will listen to the choir.
13) Terry Schiavo: should have been allowed a dignified death.
14) What worries me most: is that my family will be ill.
15) When I turn my head left, I see: my dragonfly lamp.
16) When I turn my head right, I see: my husband and our daughter.
17) There is no number 17. It must be sponsoring Sesame Street.
18) What I miss most about the eighties: Dancing with my husband to the B52s.
19) If I were a character written by Shakespeare: I'd be one of the witches from that Scottish play.
20) By this time next year: I will be one year away from retirement from my first job.
21) A better name for me would be: Your Highness.
22) I have a hard time understanding: G. W. Bush.
23) If I ever go back to school I'll: be getting an MFA.
24) You know I like you if: I talk to you.
25) If I won an award, the first person I'd thank would be: Harvey.
26) Darwin, Mozart, Slim Pickens & Geraldine Ferraro: Beagle. Wolf. Catgut. Democrat.
27) Take my advice, never: Smoke.
28) My ideal breakfast is: Fried chicken, biscuits, and scrambled eggs.
29) A song I love, but do not have: Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals.
30) If you visit my hometown, I suggest: eating pulled pork barbeque.
31) Tulips, character flaws, microchips & track stars: Bulbs, bulbous, blindingly small, blindingly fast
32) Why won't anyone: impeach GWB?
33) If you spend the night at my house, don't: be surprised if a cat awakens you.
34) I'd stop my wedding for: nothing. I was married at the courthouse--the kiss lasted longer than the ceremony. Kim timed my wedding, and start to stop it was 47 seconds.
35) The world could do without: Alito on the Supreme Court.
36) I'd rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: vote Republican in a presidential election.
37) My favorite blondes are: my niece and nephew.
38) Paper clips are more useful than: paper cuts.
39) If I do anything well, it's: ESL transcription.
40) And by the way: A. Stoudemire is practicing basketball!
41) The last time I was drunk: I became engaged. That engagement lasted 2 days. The marriage that resulted (see #34) has lasted nearly 20 years.
2) Never in my life: will I get on a riding lawnmower (don't ask).
3) When I was five: I had been reading for 2 years.
5) I will never forget: how much I love my grandmother.
6) I once met: Freddie Mercury. Actually, I met him more than once.
7) There's this girl I know who: had poems accepted in 6 journals in 1 day.
8) Once, at a bar: I won a Bette Davis eyes contest, and I did not even know I was participating. (If this hadn't paid $50, we'd have had our phone turned off. This was back in the new-wave days).
9) By noon I'm usually: done with work for the day.
10) Last night: I saw King Kong. Adrian Brody has the most expressive eyes.
11) If I only had: the money, I would share it with others.
12) Next time I go to church, I: will listen to the choir.
13) Terry Schiavo: should have been allowed a dignified death.
14) What worries me most: is that my family will be ill.
15) When I turn my head left, I see: my dragonfly lamp.
16) When I turn my head right, I see: my husband and our daughter.
17) There is no number 17. It must be sponsoring Sesame Street.
18) What I miss most about the eighties: Dancing with my husband to the B52s.
19) If I were a character written by Shakespeare: I'd be one of the witches from that Scottish play.
20) By this time next year: I will be one year away from retirement from my first job.
21) A better name for me would be: Your Highness.
22) I have a hard time understanding: G. W. Bush.
23) If I ever go back to school I'll: be getting an MFA.
24) You know I like you if: I talk to you.
25) If I won an award, the first person I'd thank would be: Harvey.
26) Darwin, Mozart, Slim Pickens & Geraldine Ferraro: Beagle. Wolf. Catgut. Democrat.
27) Take my advice, never: Smoke.
28) My ideal breakfast is: Fried chicken, biscuits, and scrambled eggs.
29) A song I love, but do not have: Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals.
30) If you visit my hometown, I suggest: eating pulled pork barbeque.
31) Tulips, character flaws, microchips & track stars: Bulbs, bulbous, blindingly small, blindingly fast
32) Why won't anyone: impeach GWB?
33) If you spend the night at my house, don't: be surprised if a cat awakens you.
34) I'd stop my wedding for: nothing. I was married at the courthouse--the kiss lasted longer than the ceremony. Kim timed my wedding, and start to stop it was 47 seconds.
35) The world could do without: Alito on the Supreme Court.
36) I'd rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: vote Republican in a presidential election.
37) My favorite blondes are: my niece and nephew.
38) Paper clips are more useful than: paper cuts.
39) If I do anything well, it's: ESL transcription.
40) And by the way: A. Stoudemire is practicing basketball!
41) The last time I was drunk: I became engaged. That engagement lasted 2 days. The marriage that resulted (see #34) has lasted nearly 20 years.
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Subliminal Mutterings
- Virus:: Flu
- Poop: deck
- Smart:: aleck
- Agent:: 99
- Wrap:: it up, I'll take it
- Brass:: Trumpet
- Waste of time:: Makeup
- Suspicious:: Minds
- 360:: degrees
- Dummy:: LeVar Burton
Saturday, December 24, 2005
What's This? What's This?
| Your Christmas is Most Like: The Nightmare Before Christmas |
 Christmas was not a big deal for you growing up... And you're still trying to figure out what it all means. |
Happy Holidays to you and yours.
In the spirit of Christmas, I will share with you my recipe for the world's best (and easiest) French toast: No mess, no fuss, and absolutely delicious.
Here's the lengthy ingredient list:
1. Texas toast
2. Egg nog, poured into bowl
Take toast, dip in egg nog, and fry in butter till just brown enough.
Top with powdered sugar (optional) and/or syrup (also optional). Serve with bacon and mimosas, or just orange juice. A perfect Christmas morning breakfast.
This also is good with French bread, but Texas toast has the perfect consistency to soak up the egg nog.
Friday, December 23, 2005
"God Bless Us, Every One"
My former students are definitely included, especially T.B., who worked as a guard in a local prison. T.B. loved poetry, especially Elizabeth Bishop and T. S. Eliot, and gave me a copy of Eliot's Selected Poetry at the end of English 101. I opened it today and found a bookmark he had placed in an appropriate section. I'd never noticed this before. It marked the place of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," and T.B. had written on the back "A stirring poem! Merry Christmas, Ms. Johnson!"
And Merry Christmas to you, too, T.B., wherever you are. That's one of the best puns ever.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
"Is this a Cliche?" asks Dr. C. Dale Young.
Actually, it's what I look like when I'm not on steroids. See above.
See if you can spot the original poem...Exercise #2
COINS, OR LOOSE CHANGE
I knew a boy, there, where the large rocks
were green brocade in the ocean.
His words withheld, stingy as the clouds
that tarnished like coins--each book-ended
like hot-cold spigots--And those kisses!
He gave me nothing but an idyll
and how out-kissable was my heart...
Says who?
Now I'm unknown, alone
and where is he who said so little? How
to spend these pennies: Monday, Tuesday,
nothing but doldrums, the whole week now
thin as a dime. Truly I'm overdrawn—
As if I've ever been solvent...
I knew a boy, there, where the large rocks
were green brocade in the ocean.
His words withheld, stingy as the clouds
that tarnished like coins--each book-ended
like hot-cold spigots--And those kisses!
He gave me nothing but an idyll
and how out-kissable was my heart...
Says who?
Now I'm unknown, alone
and where is he who said so little? How
to spend these pennies: Monday, Tuesday,
nothing but doldrums, the whole week now
thin as a dime. Truly I'm overdrawn—
As if I've ever been solvent...
Meme-meme-meme-meme-meme (5 random facts)
1. I have a vintage dress in a crossword-puzzle print. It was my grandmother's and dates from the late 20s/early 30s. I think this dress started my obsession with Art Deco (See #2).
2. My Bakelite bracelet collection includes rhinestones, end-of-day, swirl, clasp, chain, polkadots, carved, apple-juice, tricolor, creamsicle, rope, and inlaid mother-of-pearl. Unfortunately, there's no Pierrot bracelet--at least not yet. Harvey and I also have a Bakelite radio that works.
3. Our 10-foot Christmas tree this year has over 2500 ornaments on it. This is not even half of Harvey's collection. He is a total Christmas fiend. When the sales clerks at Hallmark see him, they wish they were paid on commission. I've never met anyone else who loves holidays as he does. He likes to decorate for Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, Fourth of July--you name it, he celebrates it. Harvey even made me a pin for Groundhog Day.
4. My son and my daughter were both published authors before the age of 12. Daniel won a national contest for short fiction when he was 11.
5. I've caught a tiger shark before. I still cannot believe I landed it. It was a baby, but still--a SHARK?
QUOTE OF THE DAY: It's a jetski, what could possibly go wrong?
2. My Bakelite bracelet collection includes rhinestones, end-of-day, swirl, clasp, chain, polkadots, carved, apple-juice, tricolor, creamsicle, rope, and inlaid mother-of-pearl. Unfortunately, there's no Pierrot bracelet--at least not yet. Harvey and I also have a Bakelite radio that works.
3. Our 10-foot Christmas tree this year has over 2500 ornaments on it. This is not even half of Harvey's collection. He is a total Christmas fiend. When the sales clerks at Hallmark see him, they wish they were paid on commission. I've never met anyone else who loves holidays as he does. He likes to decorate for Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, Fourth of July--you name it, he celebrates it. Harvey even made me a pin for Groundhog Day.
4. My son and my daughter were both published authors before the age of 12. Daniel won a national contest for short fiction when he was 11.
5. I've caught a tiger shark before. I still cannot believe I landed it. It was a baby, but still--a SHARK?
QUOTE OF THE DAY: It's a jetski, what could possibly go wrong?
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Piaf Would be 90 today
Not much makes me cry, but this song does, every time.
I'm writing a story for the MFA program with this song intertwined.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Blame Canada
I've often thought this, but now I'm yelling it: TUCKER CARLSON IS AN ASS.
More than his statement on Canada is wrong here: I love my cousin, despite his mental challenges, and cannot believe that he'd use such phrases. Carlson's a condescending ass, moving rapidly toward bigot!
More than his statement on Canada is wrong here: I love my cousin, despite his mental challenges, and cannot believe that he'd use such phrases. Carlson's a condescending ass, moving rapidly toward bigot!
THE Day in Kentucky
This is the Big Day for all Kentucky hoops fans. I am in the distinct minority in the western end of the state, as I bleed RED, not BLUE.
I'm wearing my Got Pitino? sweatshirt in support of my favorite team, in any sport.
Friday, December 16, 2005
What Brain?
You are a mix of left and right brain oriented.
You're probably equally skilled at geometry and
algebra, and look at the whole picture but
notice a few specifics. You have a variety of
interests, and are generally good at everything
you try. Good for you. I'm sorry but if you get
this result, it's hard to be accurate with your
characteristics because it's somewhat vague.
Please rate if you liked it!
Are You More Left or Right Brain Oriented?
brought to you by Quizilla
I don't know if there is a side of my brain left! Yesterday, I awakened at 4 a.m. and finished revising my portfolio for workshop by 6:15. I had one good revision come out of this work, and it's a relief that these poems are turned in. I don't want to think about them for at least another day. As the printer was whirring nonstop for 20 minutes, I prodded my son awake, and we drove 30 minutes in silence (his choice), so that I could turn in my portfolio. After I ran up/down 7 flights of stairs (didn't know I had it in me, especially when wearing high heels) and returned to the car, he was back in chat mode. (I've learned not to talk to any member of my family until they've been up an hour. The only words permissible are "It's time to get up, here's some coffee, and here's lunch/gas/Scholastic Books money." I am only kind between the hours of 4 and 8 a.m., and they are only kind after 8 a.m. It's sort of a balance). He and I then went in to work at the local hospital, where we're employed by the same department. It's the first full day I've worked on-site since last Christmas, and it feels so strange to wear adult clothes (translation: a suit and slingbacks) and see how the workplace looks. It's great to see people with whom I worked closely for 14 years, yet it's such a disconnect to think that I did this every day, commuted, wore suits, makeup, drank rotten coffee....Treadmill, treadmill, treadmill. Our department had a 2-hour potluck lunch meeting, and then another meeting, and then I had to do Radiology transcription for 4 hours (my least favorite type, but at least it's fast).
After work, Daniel and I sped home in fear and terror because THERE'S A BAD MOON ON THE RISE! As we were in the cafeteria purchasing some of the above-stated bitter coffee for the ride home, Daniel and I were frightened by the Moon and Package Christmas sweater being worn by a co-worker. (See Poesy Galore for the full photo, which really does do this item the justice it deserves). This sweater has apparently made its way from the Eastern Seaboard to the Mississippi River. Watch out, Midwest!
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Ten things that bring me joy
1. My daughter's curls bobbing down her back. She has perfect (albeit tangle-prone) ringlets. She has good hair days, every day.
2. Seeing my son's face when he tried on the Hugo Boss suit that fit him perfectly (and also finding out it was $400 off). It's hard to remember he's a grownup and might actually want clothes for Christmas. (And glad at the time that he wasn't wearing the watch cap that seems attached to his head).
3. Watching my cats sleep, then stretch, then sleep some more. (This also brings me envy--I can't balance on the back of the love seat).
4. Seeing my husband's face lose its ivory cast and go back to a more normal pink color. (When Raleigh had to fill out a form for school--to write a descriptive paper--she answered PINK). If I can find the opening paragraph of WHY I AM A PINK GIRL, I will post it for AJPL, who will love it. It's hilarious and wise at the same time).
5. The Wizard of Oz, especially the witch, and finding out Margaret Hamilton was about 25 years old when she played that part. Since I'm nearly twice her age, I should be twice as good....That's my community theatre fantasy, to lead the flying monkeys.
6. Galway Kinnell. Jared Carter. Elizabeth Bishop. Emily Dickinson. And yes, since I've already been outed on this one--Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
7. My antique Santa postcard collection. It's truly a good one.
8. The rhymes in "I Wonder as I Wonder." Especially when Harvey sings it. I love to hear him sing. And the kids love to hear me listen to Christmas carols.
9. Deep hand massages. Bliss, bliss, bliss. Maybe only a transcriptionist or a sculptor can appreciate how good this is, but "If your hands hurt, ain't nothing feeling good." (That's the start of a blues poem).
10. Any day without a lupus flare. Like this day, and the one before, and the one before, and the one before. 9 months this time. I don't want to take this for granted, but I will take this all I can get it.
2. Seeing my son's face when he tried on the Hugo Boss suit that fit him perfectly (and also finding out it was $400 off). It's hard to remember he's a grownup and might actually want clothes for Christmas. (And glad at the time that he wasn't wearing the watch cap that seems attached to his head).
3. Watching my cats sleep, then stretch, then sleep some more. (This also brings me envy--I can't balance on the back of the love seat).
4. Seeing my husband's face lose its ivory cast and go back to a more normal pink color. (When Raleigh had to fill out a form for school--to write a descriptive paper--she answered PINK). If I can find the opening paragraph of WHY I AM A PINK GIRL, I will post it for AJPL, who will love it. It's hilarious and wise at the same time).
5. The Wizard of Oz, especially the witch, and finding out Margaret Hamilton was about 25 years old when she played that part. Since I'm nearly twice her age, I should be twice as good....That's my community theatre fantasy, to lead the flying monkeys.
6. Galway Kinnell. Jared Carter. Elizabeth Bishop. Emily Dickinson. And yes, since I've already been outed on this one--Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
7. My antique Santa postcard collection. It's truly a good one.
8. The rhymes in "I Wonder as I Wonder." Especially when Harvey sings it. I love to hear him sing. And the kids love to hear me listen to Christmas carols.
9. Deep hand massages. Bliss, bliss, bliss. Maybe only a transcriptionist or a sculptor can appreciate how good this is, but "If your hands hurt, ain't nothing feeling good." (That's the start of a blues poem).
10. Any day without a lupus flare. Like this day, and the one before, and the one before, and the one before. 9 months this time. I don't want to take this for granted, but I will take this all I can get it.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
We're Going This Weekend!
I was never a LOTR person. I think I may be the White Witch--I am the only resident on Po-Blog Avenue who doesn't trust easily, and who doesn't hate to be alone. I guess every street needs one, just like the Cat Lady.
Our House Is a Very, Very Very Nice House
At No. 14, Po-Blog Avenue, I am looking out the window, and AJPL is the mad poet in the attic. (I invited him over, since he lives so far away!)
Come over and I will make you the best French toast you've ever had. (We live next door to the Love Shack).
Pamela, Harvey, Daniel, and Raleigh
Come over and I will make you the best French toast you've ever had. (We live next door to the Love Shack).
Pamela, Harvey, Daniel, and Raleigh
Monosyllabic Equation on Capital Punishment, for Christians Who Support State-Authorized Murder
"Thou shalt not kill" means: "Thou shalt not kill."
Don't you get it?
Don't you get it?
Central Ohio, from Western Kentucky with Love
I thought I'd try 5 minutes, every morning, as soon as I get up. Here's the first poem I read and the first imitation--like scales--that I tried to write.
------
From a Bus Window in Central Ohio, Just Before a Thunder Shower--James Wright
Cribs loaded with roughage huddle together
Before the north clouds.
The wind tiptoes between poplars.
The silver maple leaves squint
Toward the ground.
An old farmer, his scarlet face
Apologetic with whiskey, swings back a barn door
And calls a hundred black-and-white Holsteins
From the clover field.
------
From the Front Window in Western Kentucky, Just Before a SchoolBus Stops
Blondes buoyed by backpacks bundle together
Before the boulevard.
Stars unfurl above rooftops.
Wet snow drifts over
what's left of the lilies.
The young driver, her milky face
Muzzy in moonlight, moans open the bus door,
and motions them forward: seventeen steps
gone quick as grace notes.
------
From a Bus Window in Central Ohio, Just Before a Thunder Shower--James Wright
Cribs loaded with roughage huddle together
Before the north clouds.
The wind tiptoes between poplars.
The silver maple leaves squint
Toward the ground.
An old farmer, his scarlet face
Apologetic with whiskey, swings back a barn door
And calls a hundred black-and-white Holsteins
From the clover field.
------
From the Front Window in Western Kentucky, Just Before a SchoolBus Stops
Blondes buoyed by backpacks bundle together
Before the boulevard.
Stars unfurl above rooftops.
Wet snow drifts over
what's left of the lilies.
The young driver, her milky face
Muzzy in moonlight, moans open the bus door,
and motions them forward: seventeen steps
gone quick as grace notes.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Sad
Because of various reasons, I'm not going to be able to attend the low-residency MFA in January. I am very disappointed, but it's better for my family if I do not go.
Thanks for all your encouragement about applying.
Pamela
Thanks for all your encouragement about applying.
Pamela
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Automatic Writing
- Stalker:: Not again!
- Outrageous:: Aardvark
- Carrying:: Coals to Newcastle
- Spirited:: Discussion
- Oh!:: No, Mr. Bill...
- Grid:: Iron
- Country:: 'Tis of Thee
- Karen:: I miss you, Sis.
- Candles:: Three
- Relationship::Issues
Action, Reaction, and "It Goes Straight Through"--Authenticity
#861-Emily Dickinson
Split the Lark -- and you'll find the Music --
Bulb after Bulb, in Silver rolled --
Scantilly dealt to the Summer Morning
Saved for your Ear when Lutes be old.
Loose the Flood -- you shall find it patent --
Gush after Gush, reserved for you --
Scarlet Experiment! Sceptic Thomas!
Now, do you doubt that your Bird was true?
______
Split the Lark
by R.T. SMITH
"Split the lark, and you'll find the Music -
Bulb after Bulb, in Silver rolled - "
Emily Dickinson
Rend the song to splinters
the way it tears the air.
Trace it over meadows,
briars, spruce, the bristle
of crouching hares
until the source is clear -
a breast of softest yellow.
Then lure it to a snare,
sheer away the feathers'
delicate speckling,
the finest silk of skin.
Plunder with your fingers
the colours cloaked within
windpipe, jellies, heart
of the fallen meadowlark -
iris, ginger, veridian.
Savage as a raven's beak,
will you find the bliss
that engined into song -
What you thought the art
beyond counterfeit is gone.
Was it refined disguise
or a tithe of grace
made this bird a wonder,
perching amid oak leaves,
flourishing its skein
of honesty and laughter -
In scarlet experiment
your instrument is riven,
your palms a criminal-red
soiling morning grass.
Now, my skeptic, do you
still doubt your bird was true.
© Copyright R.T. Smith 1999
_______
"An artist treats the aesthetic medium as plastic material. Through imaginative play, he or she transmutes an inner world of thought and feeling into an autonomous creation. In the making of art, affect is often experienced by the artist in waves of actual bodily tension and release of implicit motion accompanied by excitation or discomfort or both. These affects become mysteriously embodied in the artwork, where their objective realization ultimately forms the dynamic balance of virtual implicit motion of tension and release that characterizes aesthetic structure. This structure, in turn, is conducive to stimulating in the spectator or listener responsive affect in the form of the implicit motion embodied in actual patterns of tension and release. This need not occur through the communication, whether conscious or unconscious, of the artist's own affects; rather, it most often comes about through the concordance between the patterns of tension and release that constitute the dynamic inner structures of both art and affect."
Gilbert J. Rose
Excerpted from Between Couch and Piano: Concerning Language and Form, published in American Imago
______
On authenticity--what I'm thinking of, inchoately, is dealing with the external world in a way that is true to the self...that is a signature of the self....that is "Thomas" with and without the skepticism.
Also, action and reaction--how the second poem above generates its energy from the first--yet it has a different authenticity.
Also action and reaction in terms of "It Goes Straight Through" and Frost's marvelous poem "Birches."
More on this later, when I can string together sentences.
Split the Lark -- and you'll find the Music --
Bulb after Bulb, in Silver rolled --
Scantilly dealt to the Summer Morning
Saved for your Ear when Lutes be old.
Loose the Flood -- you shall find it patent --
Gush after Gush, reserved for you --
Scarlet Experiment! Sceptic Thomas!
Now, do you doubt that your Bird was true?
______
Split the Lark
by R.T. SMITH
"Split the lark, and you'll find the Music -
Bulb after Bulb, in Silver rolled - "
Emily Dickinson
Rend the song to splinters
the way it tears the air.
Trace it over meadows,
briars, spruce, the bristle
of crouching hares
until the source is clear -
a breast of softest yellow.
Then lure it to a snare,
sheer away the feathers'
delicate speckling,
the finest silk of skin.
Plunder with your fingers
the colours cloaked within
windpipe, jellies, heart
of the fallen meadowlark -
iris, ginger, veridian.
Savage as a raven's beak,
will you find the bliss
that engined into song -
What you thought the art
beyond counterfeit is gone.
Was it refined disguise
or a tithe of grace
made this bird a wonder,
perching amid oak leaves,
flourishing its skein
of honesty and laughter -
In scarlet experiment
your instrument is riven,
your palms a criminal-red
soiling morning grass.
Now, my skeptic, do you
still doubt your bird was true.
© Copyright R.T. Smith 1999
_______
"An artist treats the aesthetic medium as plastic material. Through imaginative play, he or she transmutes an inner world of thought and feeling into an autonomous creation. In the making of art, affect is often experienced by the artist in waves of actual bodily tension and release of implicit motion accompanied by excitation or discomfort or both. These affects become mysteriously embodied in the artwork, where their objective realization ultimately forms the dynamic balance of virtual implicit motion of tension and release that characterizes aesthetic structure. This structure, in turn, is conducive to stimulating in the spectator or listener responsive affect in the form of the implicit motion embodied in actual patterns of tension and release. This need not occur through the communication, whether conscious or unconscious, of the artist's own affects; rather, it most often comes about through the concordance between the patterns of tension and release that constitute the dynamic inner structures of both art and affect."
Gilbert J. Rose
Excerpted from Between Couch and Piano: Concerning Language and Form, published in American Imago
______
On authenticity--what I'm thinking of, inchoately, is dealing with the external world in a way that is true to the self...that is a signature of the self....that is "Thomas" with and without the skepticism.
Also, action and reaction--how the second poem above generates its energy from the first--yet it has a different authenticity.
Also action and reaction in terms of "It Goes Straight Through" and Frost's marvelous poem "Birches."
More on this later, when I can string together sentences.
Friday, December 09, 2005
And the oboe, it is clearly understood...
"The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle. The chalice from the palace has the brew that is true."
"Listen! They broke the chalice from the palace and replaced it with the flagon with the figure of a dragon."
"Did you put the pellet with the poison in the vessel with the pestle?"
"No, the pellet with the poison is in the flagon with the dragon. The vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true."
My daughter and I are going to watch The Court Jester tonight. I marvel at Danny Kaye's virtuosity with language every time. I can memorize these lines, but there's no way I could recite them.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
There's Coffee All over the Screen
This is the truest and funniest video.
My life is just like this without VPN.
My life is just like this without VPN.
A Word I Love; A Word Whose Misuse I Hate; A Stupid Rule
egophony (egoph·o·ny) (e-gof´o-ne) [Gr. aix goat + phōnē voice] increased resonance of voice sounds, with a high-pitched nasal or bleating quality, heard especially over lung tissue that is compressed or consolidated by pleural effusion. Called also bronchoegophony, egobronchophony, tragophonia, tragophony, and voix de Polichinelle. (from Dorland's Medical Dictionary)
Don't you just love goat-voice as a medical term? Seriously, when listening through a stethoscope the sounds of E's become A's--sort of like the body's own Search & Replace feature.
______
Thanks to A. D.'s rant on toboggan-as-hat, I have been listening (which is what I do for a living, with transcription/editing), and here's the word I found most mispronounced over the last week: C-A-R-A-M-E-L. Carmel is a city in California, not the sizzle and beautiful shade of burnt sugar. (Oh, I want to make a caramel pie, but that's just plain mean, with Harvey home from the hospital one day--I'll wait. I miss making food-food. Everyone here is on an oatmeal-for-dinner/snack kick. One more bowl of oatmeal found in the study, hardening into a stepping stone, and I may scream. But I digress...)
______
The two-space/one-space rule after an ending period is just ridiculous. In my opinion, the eye needs that white space (and so does the person who's reading, especially reading aloud). I don't deduct editing points either way, unless the transcriptionist is not consistent in his/her style. Personally, I am not going to start single-spacing after a sentence--but if the program itself does it for me, neither am I going to insert an extra space. I've been typing, with speed and usual accuracy, for 36 years (I taught myself when I was in 7th grade, on an ancient manual typewriter), and I just cannot change.
Don't you just love goat-voice as a medical term? Seriously, when listening through a stethoscope the sounds of E's become A's--sort of like the body's own Search & Replace feature.
______
Thanks to A. D.'s rant on toboggan-as-hat, I have been listening (which is what I do for a living, with transcription/editing), and here's the word I found most mispronounced over the last week: C-A-R-A-M-E-L. Carmel is a city in California, not the sizzle and beautiful shade of burnt sugar. (Oh, I want to make a caramel pie, but that's just plain mean, with Harvey home from the hospital one day--I'll wait. I miss making food-food. Everyone here is on an oatmeal-for-dinner/snack kick. One more bowl of oatmeal found in the study, hardening into a stepping stone, and I may scream. But I digress...)
______
The two-space/one-space rule after an ending period is just ridiculous. In my opinion, the eye needs that white space (and so does the person who's reading, especially reading aloud). I don't deduct editing points either way, unless the transcriptionist is not consistent in his/her style. Personally, I am not going to start single-spacing after a sentence--but if the program itself does it for me, neither am I going to insert an extra space. I've been typing, with speed and usual accuracy, for 36 years (I taught myself when I was in 7th grade, on an ancient manual typewriter), and I just cannot change.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Dear Santa
Skip the overalls and please bring me some Fleur d'interdit.
I have not been very good, but I have been better than I used to be.
Seriously, what a great list of gifts for the writer/writing student.
I have not been very good, but I have been better than I used to be.
Seriously, what a great list of gifts for the writer/writing student.
Equals Radius Squared
| You Are Cream Pie |
 You're the perfect combo of simplicity and divinity Those who like you live for understated pleasures |
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Let's Do The Time Warp Again
20 Years Ago: I have car trouble, and a friend with a friend stops to help me with my 1964 Chevy Impala. (Loved that car, by the way--it was the big as a whale from the B52s). Six weeks later, that friend of the friend and I will have our first date. Three months later, we will be married. My best friend has been dead of AIDS for 6 months. Not too many people in rural Kentucky think AIDS will ever affect them.
15 Years Ago: My son writes me a letter that he loves me "More than Worms, just like the song says." (The actual title was "More than Words," but who am I to quibble?) I post this on our refrigerator. My first short story is accepted, and I am paid $800.00. This will be the last remuneration I receive for many, many years. Another of my best friends dies of AIDS.
10 Years Ago: Harvey starts working full-time as a sculptor for a garden design firm. Daniel starts middle school. I am working in a very lucrative position in a hospital. I hate the whole corporateness of it. I don't feel I am helping anyone. I cannot think, much less read or write, anything. I enter into a prolonged baby-longing phase after having multiple miscarriages. The biological clock is ticking loudly. We buy our first house--a Craftsman cottage.
5 Years Ago: I transfer to a much less salary-oriented job, with the possibility of working at home in a year. (This does happen). My son falls in love for the first time. My daughter is in preschool. Harvey is teaching elementary school. We buy our 1888 Queen Anne via a telephone auction and move 2 blocks. This takes 6 months. My best friend moves away.
1 Year Ago: I start thinking about poetry again--seriously, and I start working on notes for a poem. Harvey encourages me to think about writing classes. Daniel's in his second year of college. Raleigh's in second grade. She writes an essay on how she loves me more than dogs. (I think I've been upgraded, species wise).
1 Day Ago: I am holding my husband's hand after he has 5 additional cardiac stents placed. He's only 41 and has had his first heart attack 6 weeks ago. The doctors say he will be perfect. I tend to agree with their prognosis, as I am still crazy about him. My MFA program starts in 30 days.
15 Years Ago: My son writes me a letter that he loves me "More than Worms, just like the song says." (The actual title was "More than Words," but who am I to quibble?) I post this on our refrigerator. My first short story is accepted, and I am paid $800.00. This will be the last remuneration I receive for many, many years. Another of my best friends dies of AIDS.
10 Years Ago: Harvey starts working full-time as a sculptor for a garden design firm. Daniel starts middle school. I am working in a very lucrative position in a hospital. I hate the whole corporateness of it. I don't feel I am helping anyone. I cannot think, much less read or write, anything. I enter into a prolonged baby-longing phase after having multiple miscarriages. The biological clock is ticking loudly. We buy our first house--a Craftsman cottage.
5 Years Ago: I transfer to a much less salary-oriented job, with the possibility of working at home in a year. (This does happen). My son falls in love for the first time. My daughter is in preschool. Harvey is teaching elementary school. We buy our 1888 Queen Anne via a telephone auction and move 2 blocks. This takes 6 months. My best friend moves away.
1 Year Ago: I start thinking about poetry again--seriously, and I start working on notes for a poem. Harvey encourages me to think about writing classes. Daniel's in his second year of college. Raleigh's in second grade. She writes an essay on how she loves me more than dogs. (I think I've been upgraded, species wise).
1 Day Ago: I am holding my husband's hand after he has 5 additional cardiac stents placed. He's only 41 and has had his first heart attack 6 weeks ago. The doctors say he will be perfect. I tend to agree with their prognosis, as I am still crazy about him. My MFA program starts in 30 days.
From Poetry Daily--Also from Kentucky
5. SPONSOR MESSAGE: LOW-RESIDENCY MFA IN CREATIVE WRITING AT
MURRAY STATE UNIVERSITY
An affordable MFA at one of Kentucky's most prominent public
universities. Offers specialization in fiction, poetry, and creative
nonfiction. Two-year, 48-credit-hour program, with 4 intensive 10-day
residencies. One-to-one study with prize-winning faculty. Situated near
The Land Between the Lakes national outdoor recreation area. For more
info, visit http://www.murraystate.edu/mfa or call 270-762-4723.
This, folks, is where I'm enrolled, starting in January. I am very excited.
________
Harvey went in for a routine test on Monday and ended up having 5 more stents put in. One of his coronary arteries had occluded on top of the first stent, and this one vessel required 4 additional stents. He's coming home tomorrow but has six more weeks of recuperation--just when he was ready to go back to school. So we have rehab take two. I am very grateful that he is going to be fine, but we had thought he was already well. Frustrating, to say the least. The odd thing about all of this is that he has had absolutely no chest pain at all.
I am going to say it again--please stop smoking. Please, please, please.
MURRAY STATE UNIVERSITY
An affordable MFA at one of Kentucky's most prominent public
universities. Offers specialization in fiction, poetry, and creative
nonfiction. Two-year, 48-credit-hour program, with 4 intensive 10-day
residencies. One-to-one study with prize-winning faculty. Situated near
The Land Between the Lakes national outdoor recreation area. For more
info, visit http://www.murraystate.edu/mfa or call 270-762-4723.
This, folks, is where I'm enrolled, starting in January. I am very excited.
________
Harvey went in for a routine test on Monday and ended up having 5 more stents put in. One of his coronary arteries had occluded on top of the first stent, and this one vessel required 4 additional stents. He's coming home tomorrow but has six more weeks of recuperation--just when he was ready to go back to school. So we have rehab take two. I am very grateful that he is going to be fine, but we had thought he was already well. Frustrating, to say the least. The odd thing about all of this is that he has had absolutely no chest pain at all.
I am going to say it again--please stop smoking. Please, please, please.
Monday, December 05, 2005
From Lorna Dee's Blog
- Amazing:: Amazon
- Delights:: Jenny Kissed Me (Leigh Hunt)
- Inspired:: Expired
- Disgusted:: Revolted (revolved?)
- You:: Me
- Vagina:: Gondola
- Palm:: Chiromancy
- Sweetheart:: Honey
- Guilt:: Innocence
- More to come:: Postscript
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Koudelka
After the post on Ironic Points of Light, I thought I'd paste my favorite photographs from Koudelka's Gypsies. I've owned this book for nearly 30 years. It's something I salvaged after my apartment burned. The cover is scorched and the book still smells of smoke, yet it's one of my treasures.
Saturday, December 03, 2005
I Ain't No Limburger
In college, I wasn't famous for much, but I was famous for this:
Everybody goes to parties
They dance this mess around
They do the Shu-ga-loo
Do the Shy Tuna
Do the Camel Walk
Do the Hip-o-crit
Ah-Hippy Hippy forward Hippy Hippy
Hippy Shake, Hippy Shake
Those were the days--yet somehow I don't think this is on the dancecard this time. We're invited to something formal--what do I do, what do I wear? I don't think my 1950s aqua prom dress is up for it....
At least my party personality (so distinct from my regular one) is still intact.
| You Are a Margarita |
 You aren't just the life of the party, you are the party! You mix a good drink, bust out some great music, and know how to get down. |
Only in a Small Town Could...
an angel, standing atop a John Deere tractor, sing Silent Night in clear soprano, right outside my front door.
Christmas and Football Combination Parade...
Christmas and Football Combination Parade...
Friday, December 02, 2005
Free Association
- Stuffed:: Shirt
- Armstrong:: Floor wax
- Bruise:: Continents, islands
- Content:: Satisfied with form
- Musical:: Notation
- Assistance:: Devices
- Scrambling:: Eggs
- Battle:: Royale
- Extended:: Metaphor
- Discount:: Dismiss
______________
MEME: PAMELA NEEDS
Instructions: Go to Google, type in "(your name) needs" and collect the first lines from the first page of hits.
Results: Most have to do with Ms. Pamela Anderson. Some of the tamer ones are:
Pamela needs no introduction.
Pamela needs to get a few things off her chest.
Plastic Pamela needs sperm donor.
Grateful, Relieved, and Astonished
Grateful and Relieved: That he's going to be okay, better than okay.
Astonished, Part A: In six weeks, Harvey has done the following: Lost 40 pounds. Changed his diet completely. Exercised every day and has passed all his stress, cardiology and radiology tests. Used his time off to decorate our house for the holidays, to draw, paint, and sculpt, and to write an hilarious essay about growing up in San Diego. Oh, yes, and put up with me, 24-7, which is no easy task, especially while stopping smoking.
Astonished, Part B: That I don't tell him more often how much I love and appreciate him, what a great dad he is, and how he just cracks me the hell up constantly.
Astonished, Part C: That he WANTS TO GO BACK TO WORK, to 500 elementary school students and 20 grouchy high-school students, 2 weeks before Christmas (known in these parts as the internationally celebrated days of lethargy) because he misses these kids. His students have sent him hundreds of drawings and get well-cards. One of them said, COME RECUSE (sic) us from PE and get some ART back in our lifses.
Harvey, you have RECUSED me from sadness, taught me to trust, and put ART in my lifeses for 19 years. Just wanted you to know that.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Wallace Stevens and Yes/No, On/Off Switch
Here's a Stevens poem that I like.
The Well Dressed Man with a Beard
After the final no there comes a yes
And on that yes the future world depends.
No was the night. Yes is this present sun.
If the rejected things, the things denied,
Slid over the western cataract, yet one,
One only, one thing that was firm, even
No greater than a cricket's horn, no more
Than a thought to be rehearsed all day, a speech
Of the self that must sustain itself on speech,
One thing remaining, infallible, would be
Enough. Ah! douce campagna of that thing!
Ah! douce campagna, honey in the heart,
Green in the body, out of a petty phrase,
Out of a thing believed, a thing affirmed:
The form on the pillow humming while one sleeps,
The aureole above the humming house . . .
It can never be satisfied, the mind, never.
Wallace Stevens
_______
I've been reading Keats and Stevens in fits and starts this semester, and thinking about how poetry works through negation. In Keats, of course, there's the negative capability that defines Romanticism--which is "forever," which "will never pass into nothingness."
In Stevens (whom I think of as the AntiRomantic), nothing can exist without passing into its nothingness, into its opposite or its absence, without the tension between what is and what isn't contained in reality: No sun without moon, no what's real without what's not-real. (That's like a photograph's negative capability--from the opposite--the negative--the real is developed, and light affects both). The imagination is paramount, is supreme, and it is "never satisifed, the mind never."
All these knotty nots in Stevens' poetry are fascinating to me, and so is the the light that is Yes and the light that was/is No--which takes and reflects back the Yes of the sun. And it's not the "Great Yes" or the "Great No" of Cavafy, but the Yes and No of Stevens.
More on this later, after I've slept. I'll end with this quote from The Necessary Angel:
The acute intelligence of the imagination, the illimitable resources of its memory, its power to possess the moment it perceives--if we were speaking of light itself, and thinking of the relationship between objects and light, no further demonstration would be necessary. Like light, it adds nothing, except itself.
_____
And what does moonlighting in another sense have to do with Stevens' poetry and insurance as separate/intertwined careers--each also depending on Yes/No, On/Off?
The Well Dressed Man with a Beard
After the final no there comes a yes
And on that yes the future world depends.
No was the night. Yes is this present sun.
If the rejected things, the things denied,
Slid over the western cataract, yet one,
One only, one thing that was firm, even
No greater than a cricket's horn, no more
Than a thought to be rehearsed all day, a speech
Of the self that must sustain itself on speech,
One thing remaining, infallible, would be
Enough. Ah! douce campagna of that thing!
Ah! douce campagna, honey in the heart,
Green in the body, out of a petty phrase,
Out of a thing believed, a thing affirmed:
The form on the pillow humming while one sleeps,
The aureole above the humming house . . .
It can never be satisfied, the mind, never.
Wallace Stevens
_______
I've been reading Keats and Stevens in fits and starts this semester, and thinking about how poetry works through negation. In Keats, of course, there's the negative capability that defines Romanticism--which is "forever," which "will never pass into nothingness."
In Stevens (whom I think of as the AntiRomantic), nothing can exist without passing into its nothingness, into its opposite or its absence, without the tension between what is and what isn't contained in reality: No sun without moon, no what's real without what's not-real. (That's like a photograph's negative capability--from the opposite--the negative--the real is developed, and light affects both). The imagination is paramount, is supreme, and it is "never satisifed, the mind never."
All these knotty nots in Stevens' poetry are fascinating to me, and so is the the light that is Yes and the light that was/is No--which takes and reflects back the Yes of the sun. And it's not the "Great Yes" or the "Great No" of Cavafy, but the Yes and No of Stevens.
More on this later, after I've slept. I'll end with this quote from The Necessary Angel:
The acute intelligence of the imagination, the illimitable resources of its memory, its power to possess the moment it perceives--if we were speaking of light itself, and thinking of the relationship between objects and light, no further demonstration would be necessary. Like light, it adds nothing, except itself.
_____
And what does moonlighting in another sense have to do with Stevens' poetry and insurance as separate/intertwined careers--each also depending on Yes/No, On/Off?
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