Lindsay Bell

Strangers on the Bus

2011-06-20T19:38:00.000-05:00

I admire people who can chat up strangers; I am not one of them. No, I am abysmally awkward around strangers. I cannot connect on the weather, sports, or hangin out in hot tubs. I suppose, when it comes to social interaction, I want the forest, but can't stand all the damn trees. You, kid, scarcely 20, who tried to chat me up on the bus, have tossed me into a whirlwind of inadequacy. And you just

Would rather have the living make me

2010-07-06T08:50:00.001-05:00

Wishing I didn't have to wake up with the inevitable long weekend hangover (not literal, mind) and force myself in to work. However, work has a new place, portent and feeling for me now that I have left after the briefest stint in civil service. Suffice it to say, my heart wasn't in telecommunications, and I could not force it to be. That's the diplomatic version. If you'd like to hear the

Rock Lobster

2010-06-14T11:26:00.002-05:00

Rock Lobster fashioned by M. and I, 13 June 2010(Rock garden alongside Frisco Rec Path en route to Copper Mountain)If doing nothing is merely the musing of the poet, then I have not been at much leisure to muse. The Romantic MO often appears self-indulgent and contrary to that industrious spirit that is ordinary to the American condition, that is its standard, even. But I find it to be a work

Cultivation, Rumination, Inspiration, Other -tions

2010-05-25T19:58:00.003-05:00

So that job I mentioned in passing ended up panning out - I will be starting my preliminary, super-probational training on the 1st of June. I've never had to jump through so many hoops to get a job before, but I've also not had such an important job, so it makes sense. I'm nervous, but happy-excited, nonetheless.This afternoon, I had the pleasure of meeting with Nancy of Next Page Books in Frisco

Geocaching

2010-05-10T09:47:00.003-05:00

M. and I went on our first geocache adventure yesterday. I only recently discovered this past-time myself and have since been chomping at the bit to get out and partake of it. In researching our proximity to geocaches, we found that there are numerous caches within a mile of our condo, so we hiked out to find a couple of them yesterday.This was the first of the two, which M. spotted. I won't

A Case Study In Cognitive Dissonance

2010-05-07T10:17:00.003-05:00

The smells, the sights, even the mildly prickly temperatures with the redemption of a closer sun - it all seems so lovely, but for this damp cold blanket on the ground! Well, it is not to be bourne, saith Alphonsus.

Changing the Clock to Mountain

2010-04-28T08:28:00.004-05:00

I am now an official Chicago ex-pat. M. and I have rented a lovely little condo in the Wildernest section of Silverthorne, Colorado. Currently, I am nursing my morning coffee and staring out our deck at nothing but mountains, pine and aspen trees, dappled with snow (Snow!? That's April at 9,000 ft.) Better than staring at the brooding boxes yet to be unpacked. We arrived after a grueling 20-hour

H_NGM_N X y'all

2010-03-29T14:31:00.002-05:00

I'm in there, and in GREAT company. All around, really really proud of this one. Go thou and read!

How Now

2010-03-02T14:40:00.004-06:00

Brown Cow! Leave it to Eddie Izzard to actually try to SPEAK serviceable OE.Last weekend, I purchased a used copy of the Chickering translation of Beowulf, in the interest of bein groovy and learning to recite in OE. I still remember the first sentence of the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, as it is (and well should be) a rite of passage for any English major worth her salt (many thanks

Spinning Jenny 11ses!

2010-02-17T07:24:00.002-06:00

I just received my contributor's copies yesterday and IT IS LOVELY. I've only had a chance to read my own offering (about 10x) and Joshua Beckman's Tomaz Salamun translations (excellent, of course), but it promises to be a good train read. Best line thus far: In bars, it smells like Colorado. Thank you smoking ban for making that line plausible.Anyway - go thou and buy buy buy it!

The Martyrdom of St. Valentine (and other romantic stories)

2010-02-07T10:16:00.002-06:00

You can thank Geoffrey Chaucer and Hallmark for Valentine's Day. Really, he was just a guy, maybe a bishop, maybe a number of bishops, who got his head chopped off maybe for refusing to adore a false idol, maybe? Anyway, the Catholics phased him out in 1969 but as with many things Catholic (ironically Catholic means universal), no one else really seemed to take note. You might say I loathe

The future is now

2010-01-02T18:38:00.003-06:00

2010 is here, Dick Clark is very shiny and orange and people are still trying to get away with wearing those doofy 200_ glasses, despite it being a new decade. Get the net, folks. M. and I spent NYE in Iowa for the second year in a row. Oddly, I saw more people that evening than I usually do on any given weekend in Chicago. I don't know that I should be admitting that in a public forum, but this

A wise woman (not me) once said

2009-12-16T10:35:00.002-06:00

You need a leg to stand on so the other can kick ass. And so, after a month of jobless freaking out, I've finally landed a gig! It's only part-time to start, but eventually, provided the economy cooperates, will become full-time.Other things are coming up roses as well, but I'll keep mum for the time being.

I stand by my previous statement

2009-12-12T08:23:00.003-06:00

As regards being a smartass to you on the internet. Be that as it may, I am not interested in a fire fight regarding Polanski. You will not change my mind, I will not change yours. If you agree with me, fabulous! And congratulations, you may happily claim the title of rational thinking human being that I have bestowed upon your head. No laurels necessary. You know, Caesar wore laurels to cover

Why are people still arguing about this?

2009-12-11T08:33:00.004-06:00

Apparently, there's an article being teased on the New Yorker that has called into question whether Samantha Geimer was, in fact, raped by Roman Polanski. I mean, really? Take away the fact that she said "no" multiple times (read the transcript if you haven't), take away the booze and the quaaludes, she was THIRTEEN YEARS OLD. READ: THIRTEEN YEAR OLDS CANNOT LEGALLY CONSENT TO SEX. But, the fact

Happy Birthday, Emily

2009-12-10T13:01:00.002-06:00

1106We do not know the time we lose - The awful moment isAnd takes its fundamental placeAmong the certainties - A firm appearance still inflatesThe card - the chance - the friend - The spectre of soliditiesWhose substances are sand -

Your laughter is great

2009-12-08T14:56:00.002-06:00

Thankfully, I have never experienced a reading like the one narrated by Jezebel writer Jenna. I'm not familiar with the poet in particular, but she sounds like a flarfist, and as such, reliant upon her delivery more so than a lot of more conventional poets. Which got me thinking more about poetry as performance. I mean, it is. Flarf or not, poetry is to be said. I never really consider a poem

I will always be a smartass to you on the internet

2009-12-04T10:50:00.003-06:00

I just can't help it. It's the introvert's balm. Mostly an impotent gesture, but really, what's a writer to do but shout into the void? Or sing, or croak, or whatever best reflects the mood of the moment.Aside from the above vagaries, I do have a few thoughts to share. On simultaneous submissions. I simultaneously submit. It's what I do, and it is a very very rare occasion indeed when I submit to

Do the wave

2009-11-30T08:31:00.003-06:00

So, I got an invitation to that Google Wave thing last night. I am still trying to figure out how exactly it is not email and whether these rumors of a Wave v. Email celebrity deathmatch are at all warranted. Input welcomed.Also, just in case there was any confusion on the subject, I do not speak Romanian. Also, I'd prefer not to opine on your poems if a) I don't know you from Adam; and b) you've

Reading, Reading

2009-11-17T11:30:00.004-06:00

I don't go to enough readings. I was hit with this profoundly obvious revelation while attending Elbowing Off the Stage at Manhattan's last night. To plug this little series: the few times I've been, it's been a joy. Beer+Unpretentious Poet-Crowd+Poetry=Greatness. The next one is Dec. 14th, if you're in the hood, and it will be a stunner, trust. Also! I'll (yes, little old me!) be reading this

Cory Doctorow's /Makers/

2009-11-16T09:25:00.003-06:00

I've been a simpering quietly gushing fan of BoingBoing blogger Cory Doctorow's for some time now, but I can't stay quiet for this one. By all means, check this out. This, my friends, is the future of fiction. If, unlike me, you've got some pennies to spare, kick a few into his coffer as well.

The Auto Tune Meme, with Weird Al

2009-11-13T09:35:00.002-06:00

PERSEVERE

2009-11-11T13:29:00.003-06:00

I WILL persevere, fear not, my little chippies!In fact, I am in the process of applying to library school. Me? Librarian? In the immortal words of Marty Feldman:Wait, I meant: It! Could! Work!I've been drumming my fingers over this possibility for a while now and most of what has kept me from pursuing it more seriously was the prospect of having to quit a full-time, well-paying, benefits-laden

3 YEARS LATER

2009-11-07T08:14:00.002-06:00

I have been called a "ninja of satire" by writers so famous you have never heard of them. I have been simultaneously the most mind-numbingly bored, under-utilized, under appreciated and wildly creative administrative assistant in the Western Hemisphere. I came, I saw, I put everyone on notice.I am. The Most Unemployed Woman in the World.____Thanks for bearing my self-involvement, y'all. This too

Since You Asked

2009-11-05T09:46:00.005-06:00

Cary Tennis strikes again!Sir, I hereby notify you, in this semi-public space, before these semi-trusted colleagues, that I disagree with you on every matter under the sun.Also, for the sake of posterity and because it was an unlikely moment of political wit on my part (these moments be so rare), I will reiterate:Mr. Stephen King, you need to give your state what-for. They're beating you at

Those Saw Movies Just Will NOT Go Away

2009-10-16T09:46:00.004-05:00

I am a little too pleased to see the same annoying argument about lyricism infecting the prosists of the world. Of course, I'm also fatigued at hearing the same lyric (as though it were some great monolith of the elite intelligentsia) v. narrative/pacing/humor(??)/whatever crap. Can we just say that great writing requires many of these "technologies" (because a novel with beautiful language and a

Ladies and Gentlemen, I Bring You MORE MEAT

2009-10-14T14:03:00.002-05:00

Collage artist Nicolas Lampert via Neatorama Which brings me to an actual point. About meat, and critical distance.Being that poets are not really lionized as cultural soothsayers these days (though ever we have been in eras past!), it strikes me that the poetry I find myself enjoying most on a visceral (if not critical) level is such that the poets take on a carefully controlled Poetic [Anti-]

And All the Hills Echo-ed

2009-10-09T15:07:00.004-05:00

via BoingBoing: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PARIS RECORDS.A great article chronicling the doings of this most "inexplicably" (agreed) obscure recording project. I was most impressed by the exquisite recording of Allen Ginsburg singing William Blake's "Nurse's Song." Do check it out! Also, I regret talking so much smack about Texas, as I keep finding lovely little things there lately.Happy Friday!

You Had Me At "Paintings of Meat"

2009-10-08T15:50:00.004-05:00

Victoria Reynolds! My vision! Muse! She paints meat wonderful neat: This one is called Reindeer Vivification. [Link] (via Neatorama via MAKE)

Perilously Close

2009-10-08T12:53:00.002-05:00

I've already begun chipping away at my back-to-school submissions frenzy. I don't like to spam submit. I don't like to submit to journals or zines I have not read and I don't do these things as a general rule. I must admit that I once did, but it did not result in my being published by any of those places, so I quit it. Still, in spite of the narrowing effect these standards have on my sub habits

Underemployed MFAs FTW

2009-10-05T09:43:00.005-05:00

This Lady is a riot and also correct. Take a moment and read for yourself.I, however, would argue that there IS a leper colony for MFAs. It is called the service industry....On an unrelated (or perhaps intimately related) note, I just finished my first reading of Gregory Orr's Poetry As Survival after a week of restless commuting, staved somewhat by the Anodyne of words. I have to say, I like it

Googly sonnets

2009-09-23T08:14:00.002-05:00

via HTMLGIANT, The Internet Is an English Sonnet randomly generates an - you guessed it - English sonnet based on your word selection and its fancypants search engine stylings. It's a great way to kill a few minutes, then you can say that you've actually written something today, because you *sort of* have. Here's mine - I call it "Child Beauty Pageant Contestant." Enjoy.Wow factor? That he

You Will Buy Me This T-Shirt Now

2009-09-17T08:37:00.003-05:00

C'mon, it's only $25.99.Rejections ARE hard, and I would like to share that fact with the world, thus dissipating the cloud of unknowing which inevitably forces them to cough up their souls and buy ridiculous automobiles.

Basterds, Inglorious and Otherwise (Spoiler Alert)

2009-09-16T12:45:00.004-05:00

NOTE: If you've not seen Inglorious Basterds and care about having it spoiled a little bit by a shitty non-reviewer, you can skip this one.I'm usually shy of commenting on film. This is mostly due to the fact that I don't have much of a memory for quipping or quoting, especially from movies. But that's not the substance of film - this much I know. I won't get that far into the movie v. film issue

Poe Archives Live!

2009-09-11T16:05:00.002-05:00

UT Austin, you alone redeem the miserable cess pool that is the state of Texas. I'm going to have to do some serious geeking out over this collection. Happy Friday!

"Total Artwork"

2009-08-27T13:09:00.005-05:00

Don't f*&# with total!It sounds like a bran cereal collage. But it IS a collage of sorts, or more like a confluence. [Richard Wagner] wrote passionately about this theory in his 150-page essay, The Art-Work of the Future, referring to dance, tone, and poetry as the “three primeval sisters” without which no work of art is complete.Contemporary art in particular (culture in general) seems so

Speculative Poetry

2009-08-21T08:45:00.003-05:00

Having just read this marvelous Margaret Atwood interview, I must confess that I've only ever read The Handmaid's Tale and a smattering of her poetry. Yet, I find myself absolutely idolizing her acerbic wit, her congenial interviews, her unflagging curiousity, her soothing Canadian accent. She is definitely one who inspires me to read and write more and more with goals in mind - beyond the

Read This

2009-08-04T08:23:00.002-05:00

OtolithsI like them...I just rode my bike to work - about 12 miles all told, mostly along the Lakeshore Trail. It was lovely, peaceful, and challenging, as M. is a manimal and I was following his lead. Now, I'm bummed about a day in front of my computer, static. I might have to bounce around the office for a few minutes before setting to some actual work.

Shenanigans demystified

2009-07-29T11:35:00.002-05:00

via Boing Boing

Invisible Art(ist)

2009-07-27T10:38:00.002-05:00

via Daily Mail

The Etymology of Beer Labels

2009-07-24T13:51:00.003-05:00

via NeatoramaAnd here I always thought that PBR had won that blue ribbon at the Irony County Fair.

I think I just blew my own mind

2009-07-24T08:13:00.006-05:00

Ron Silliman re-iterates that old argument over what is the chewiest, least reducible tootsie roll center of the poem. Two options are presented: Image & Sound.Of course, he footnotes that it has long since been decided that poetry cannot be reduced to one thing. True enough! Poetry is like a jackaloupe. It takes a strong stomach, some bitchin taxidermy skills and the fortitude to withstand being

Repurposing

2009-07-23T08:38:00.003-05:00

Some crazy book art. The bookstore adverts look to be photoshopped, but everything else looks perfectly plausible.via Boing Boing

Experience is the mama of science

2009-07-22T10:33:00.003-05:00

Today is my birthday. Last night, M. presented me with a poem - the first and only attempt he's made at poetry-writing. To his credit, it seems he's absorbed a lot from the poetry (equal shares mine and not-mine) I've let him in on in the little over a year we've been together - it was really rather good! It warms the cockles of my heart truly to find that it is possible to win over a not-poet

Poetry, Meet Science

2009-07-17T08:32:00.000-05:00

Science, you are poetry.

In Which I Play the Broken Record

2009-07-16T10:49:00.004-05:00

Remind me to never, ever attempt to debate the stricture of gender roles on reality competition TV with anyone who loves reality competition TV ever again. I cannot help but get all didactic about it. And I really sort of hate reality TV of any stripe (although the competitive ones slightly less, as they at least seem to have a purpose behind their existence besides annoying the shit out of me).

POP!

2009-07-15T12:05:00.003-05:00

I have to love this Poets Off Poetry essay/poem by Erin Belieu. Although, I felt a little sad thinking about poetry as the musically-inclined-but-not-musically-gifted person's pursuit. Poetry is a musical pursuit in itself and, as Belieu enacts in her deftly examined appreciation for the Broadway standards of yore, it takes aural precision. Bonus points for the Pinsky inclusion.

More from the advice mines

2009-07-13T09:37:00.002-05:00

Written by Cary Tennis to a woman enabling her boyfriend to be a mooch: Dear Enabler,I dare you to let go of the rope.You say you're at the end of your rope. So close your eyes and picture the rope. Where is the rope? Is it in your hands or around your neck, or around your waist? What kind of rope is it?Follow the rope. How long is it? Where does it lead? Who's on the other end of it? Is it your

Hairy flarf

2009-07-10T08:41:00.004-05:00

Whatever your views on flarf (I haven't quite made up my mind yet), you cannot deny Sharon Mesmer's commitment. Readers of poetry note: audiences respond to commitment. And copious obscenities & pop culture references.

When should I just give up?

2009-07-08T09:05:00.003-05:00

So, another of my somewhat secret, no longer so secret predilections: I love me some advice columns. Any old advice column will do - Dear Abby (though she frequently ruffles my feminist feathers), Dear Prudence (though she too gets under my skin with her frequent Emily Post referrals), Cary Tennis anachronistic Since You Asked column at Salon, Dan Savage and his delightful neologisms on Savage

LOLcat Wasteland

2009-07-07T13:08:00.003-05:00

Corprew Reed, via my po-friend, Steph, exactly what it sounds like.I know I shouldn't, but I kind of want to memorize it.

Memory and Mimesis, Fear of

2009-07-07T12:35:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, I was reading a few essays out of Radiant Lyre, a book of essays on lyric poetry that I've had lingering on my desk for some time, having every intention of reading it asap until I got derailed by some NY school poets. It happens. In any case, one essay on rhetoric in erotic poetry (think Shakespeare and Donne) touched on one of the first and few poems I have memorized - namely, Sonnet

New (to you) Poem!

2009-07-01T12:00:00.002-05:00

At DIAGRAM. Just reading the rest of the issue over my lunch break, but I can already see I'm in good company.It's good to have a home for that one. I feel like its publication brings even more solid, public closure to the chapter it represents for me. And it was definitely a cathartic piece to write in the first place. Like a gift from my psyche, reassurance - though far from therapy. I rarely

I couldn't say it much better

2009-06-27T19:26:00.003-05:00

Than this. Or this. Or this.Body-snarking is a form of hate speech. It is dehumanizing, and thus unacceptable. Ad hominem attacks are nothing new. Boycotting and shaming the perpetuators of these kind of attacks obviously will not stop them...in fact, it will probably garner this troll more hits, which is exactly his intent in causing this kerfuffle (also why I am not directly linking to any

2009-06-18T07:55:00.001-05:00

Feminism...didn't we already do that?

2009-06-03T08:55:00.005-05:00

Honor Moore just contributed an excellent article to Slate's new feministish blog Double X (whose name is not a little...um...lame? Nevertheless!): Poems have been integral to the women’s movement from the beginning—no surprise given that feminism has always understood language to be instrumental in maintaining oppressive power relations.I read this and thought, well put and roundly acknowledged

Happy Memorial Day!

2009-05-22T11:25:00.002-05:00

I hope this warms the COCKLES of your heart as it did mine.

Backcountry, Frontcountry, Maybe a Little Sidecountry

2009-05-18T10:50:00.009-05:00

Of note:I'm happy to say I've been Requited on these here interwebs. Thanks to Danielle for encouraging me to hook myself up there - it looks like some pretty things will be happening, and I'm pleased as punch to be one of the pretty things (if I say so myself). This week is looking to be the longest in the history of ever, in spite of its slight brevity (half day on Friday), because M. and I are

Pregnant Women ARE Smug

2009-05-13T11:15:00.002-05:00

Pregnant Women are Smug from Erika Lindhome on Vimeo.This has been floating around for a while, but I just now got around to taking a listen and I have to say - I kind of love these ladies.

Happy Friday!

2009-05-08T13:10:00.001-05:00

Photo via Boing Boing via Let's Be Friends

Cover Fail

2009-05-07T11:51:00.003-05:00

I'll let you just bask in this for a moment.

Seriously Though

2009-05-07T10:53:00.014-05:00

I am not as cognizant of my habits of syntax as I would like to be. Not being in an academic setting does this to me, I fear. Being entrenched in an office environment in which language is strictly point A to point B - not a source of play, but a means for the succinct (one hopes) transmission of useful information.I notice myself using the same several words or phrases over and over in poems,

My name is Lorraine, I like my lettuce Romaine

2009-05-06T13:31:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Everything is Terrible, this is now occupying a distracting and disturbing portion of my memory.Seriously, though. Yo Gabba Gabba is so much cooler.

NPM (sorta) Fail

2009-05-04T11:40:00.005-05:00

You guys. April is over, so f%*& poetry. Isn't that just the way?Seriously though, I didn't adhere as strictly as I would have liked to the poem-a-day prescription, but I was surprised by how much I was able to write, without the aid of daily prompts (for the most part). And, considering I moved in the middle of it, and was without home internet for the last couple weeks of it...not bad, friends,

Carol Ann Duffy Named UK Poet Laureate

2009-05-01T08:40:00.002-05:00

Actually, she's their first woman poet laureate. Nice of you all to join us, Britain, in that magical layer of the multiverse wherein even teh ladeez can write amazing pomes!Case in point:Talent This is the word tightrope. Now imaginea man, inching across it in the spacebetween our thoughts. He holds our breath.There is no word net.You want him to fall, don't you?I guessed as much; he teeters

NPM 29

2009-04-29T17:52:00.004-05:00

I lifted the first line from the Margaret Atwood lectures I previously referenced. Upon listening, I can confirm they are well worth it. I may have to listen again and/or get a hold of the book, but definitely she shares a few insights with Anne Carson vis a vis the cultural significance of the notion of economy (Economy of the Unlost), though ultimately Atwood focuses more on our indebtedness to

Indebtedness

2009-04-29T11:40:00.004-05:00

I just read an item about a recent book of Margaret Atwood's being slated for translation into documentary film. The subject of this book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, as with most of Atwood's writing, is of great interest to me. Basically, the book was the result of a series of lectures she gave for the CBC. Firstly, Atwood has always been in my top ten, not just because hey,

NPM 28

2009-04-28T10:43:00.001-05:00

She's What You Might Call AttractiveNothing dangling from her ears,no flash or whistle eliciting,she is a return to modestypersonified, green stem,crimson rose reclosedto a pod of virtue.She shuffles flat across the dancefloor, deliberately out of step,as only a skillful dancerknows how to dancebadly onstage.She is so completely dense, youcould tie the universearound her waist,a watered silksash.

NPM 27

2009-04-27T16:41:00.003-05:00

Everything in this poem is true. That doesn't happen often in my poems. The end is a cop-out, I realize, but I'm getting lax about making points lately. Sometimes I prefer jokes.__________________El ZarapeMy family frequented a dirty littlerestaurant with the best enchiladasand the world's largest collectionof vintage beer cans, lining everyavailable wall in glass cases. Mostof the beers had been

NPM 26

2009-04-27T16:40:00.001-05:00

I really like writing list poems and I'm pretty okay at it. I hope to make this a series of some sort._________________Items Collected #1Box of Kleenex, blue with shells,a bee the size of a fist, six driedmarkers with chewable caps,purple terrycloth headbandwith embroidered pink phraseGet In Shape, Girl!, white cottontraining bra (never worn), sheetsand sheets of numbers writtenin the pursuit of

NPM 24

2009-04-24T14:22:00.003-05:00

I realize I'm skipping around a bit and have missed a number of these buggers, but I still have many boxes to unpack and no internet at home yet, so I'm struggling to keep up. Hopefully, I'll write a few this weekend and fill in the gaps on Monday.I missed writing an Earth Day poem, but I got Arbor Day. Although this poem has really nothing to do with its being Arbor Day, it was just a convenient

NPM 18

2009-04-22T08:45:00.000-05:00

getting aroundmaybe it's time for a new alarma new bomb a new device of somekind an adjustment in your salaryrequirements a new way to cleanyour teeth maybe it's time to getyour news by sitting on the paper(works for the cat) for osmosisfor elliptical arguments for gettingthat haggard look from exercisingtoo much for additional insuredsmaybe it's time for new socks youcan see the stitches in

NPM 17

2009-04-17T14:24:00.000-05:00

Did You Hear? We Won!A lady does not eat a lumberjack breakfastthough she must be familiar, appreciative of pancakes,show the requisite delight at maple-flavored baconand remain unaware of any and all bacon-related innuendoeswhich should pass for conversation. She will land facedown in these innuendoes, in theory,and this will be close enough to bukkake to save a lot of troublefor the internet.

Non Sequitir Friday: GERBIL TEA

2009-04-17T14:09:00.000-05:00

NPM 16

2009-04-16T09:52:00.000-05:00

Instead Of BuzzingYou said something about tidesand trains converging beingexemplary poetic material, whichis precisely why I will not writea poem about these things.Nor the wanton way your eyesbore into my eyes. Such thingsas movements of mass transit,of nature, of gazes, are workadayand thus finite. In light of alldreck that pummels our senses,the stuff of viral marketing,of pitching each new

NPM 14

2009-04-14T16:24:00.000-05:00

The Inner Workings of AmazonOn top of tit for tatWe've got to apologize for all thatRelating we've been doingPR must've missed the glitchWe've got to apologize for all thatSenseless assigning of rolesPR must've missed the glitchWe missed our target demographicSenselessly assinging rolesWith a hammer nailed us allBut we missed our targetAnd really fucked up our toesA hammer nailed us allTo this

NPM 13

2009-04-13T13:49:00.001-05:00

Ode to Fingers The tips should be blue, as neon cold as they are - opalescent, long tender hooks. Meant to wind and coil with utmost efficiency. Stun basslines into submission, amazethe rest of you. Still, you are often caught in awkwardness, which I like. Take this morning, you were seen sporting a blue bandage, reporting that an errant machine jumped up and bit you. Machines, I say,

AMAZON FAIL

2009-04-13T08:11:00.014-05:00

Before I set to work catching up on my poem-a-day venture, I have to say that I came home to some disturbing (albeit not very surprising) news. I am late to this, but what can I say - I do not tweet (and I am no worse off for that fact).Apparently, Amazon has stripped rankings from GLBT and sex positive feminist works, as well as, ridiculously, D.H. Lawrence, deeming them "adult" (although Edward

NPM 12

2009-04-12T15:48:00.000-05:00

Yes, as a matter of fact, I DID delight in writing the two very bad puns in this one.________________FeastHave more - have seconds, thirds,fourths even. Have until you havenot, until your pants unbucklethemselves and you are mistakenfor gravid. Have soup, then havebread, then shake and demonstratethe food techtonics inside you.Have lemon pucker and habaneroshout. Dig your shoulders into

NPM 11

2009-04-11T18:25:00.002-05:00

Schrödinger's Cat My cat says, "I need neither freedom nor terror."My cat is a terrorist and a patriot.My cat is both alive and dead.The bomb at the fatal moment,both detonated and dud.He comports himself with wisdom and whimsy,wit and deference. My cat is cheeky,checks himself, though not often before he wrecks himself. His logic is circular,he does not chase his tail, rather the spacebetween

NPM 9

2009-04-09T10:06:00.004-05:00

That Big Old House Has RoachesShe expedited her ventures by staying putas a single particle may interfere with itself.All the doctors threw their hands up,unaccustomed to this quantum illogic. The seasons then belonged to her, cinnamonand gravy, drags from cigarettes a guest left,she, pinching the snubbed butts like bugs. Forefinger, thumb, carapace; she was chasteas the wind and whatever was

NPM 8

2009-04-08T10:14:00.000-05:00

Mass Transit Future tense dilatesthe wrought iron gate through whichwe pass to break even Forgiveness then isnot the latchkey kid waitingto fondle the hems of pastel pantsuits.It is the debt forgivenwe hype up and wish for, which saddles us downtownto count our steps for no otherreason than to conclude them.

NPM 7

2009-04-07T09:38:00.003-05:00

Today, apparently, is William Wordsworth's birthday. As not a particular fan of Wordsworth - strike me down, ye Gods, as ye must - I was pointed to this fact by a friend. On Facebook. Sigh. However, I took the opportunity to make an Oulipo out of one of his shorter pieces for today's poem. I used Wordcount as my guide, looked up the selected words (or in a couple of instances, variations of those

NPM 6

2009-04-06T11:27:00.002-05:00

Information TheoryThe egg's idea was to propagatestored inside us.Why does spring still surpriseout of skin?Yet we may compress himdefies limitations.A pod atop Everest.Of an intrepid man we saybit by bit we dissipateslaves to the information chickennataliedee.com

NPM 5

2009-04-05T13:00:00.001-05:00

Here are a few collaborative poems written with friends at Cuneen's (a nice divey-type bar on Devon and Newgard in Rogers Park) - two very loose renga (we like to call them that) and one exquisite corpse (which I may post here later). It was a gross snowy evening, but we were warmed by beer, poems and comraderie. Vive le vin nouveau! Thanks to Ben for typing them up!This may just have to become a

NPM 3

2009-04-03T10:32:00.004-05:00

Look out. Another haiku.ouch ouch ouch ouch ouchouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch - ouch ouch ouch my backCut me some slack here, I'm in not a little amount of pain. And yet, still devoted to the cause. If only in spirit.

NPM 2

2009-04-02T10:32:00.007-05:00

Today's wank poem started its brief life as a villanelle. You can still see hints of it floating around, all free-range-like and crazy like molecules or Sal-Army browsing hipsters. But mostly, it just didn't work that way, so I'm satisfied with another run-o-the-mill free verse-type endeavor. This whole poem-a-day thing is really just about being more deliberate with my observations and ideas and

National Poetry Month

2009-04-01T13:00:00.005-05:00

For many months, it has been waiting to emerge, testifying nature's enduring sweetness. Finally, National Poetry Month commences. Like last year (though not documented here), I shall compose some kind of poem every day to celebrate. For like the noble roach, poetry will propogate, whether you like it or not.4.1.09 - Haiku of some kind:Inside the file rooma corpulent roach twitters -Spring is

Coffee's Cold

2009-03-27T08:58:00.005-05:00

For the past two weeks, at least, I have been without earbuds. While I have an iPod deck at work, I also share my office and hesitate to play much music, as my kind of listening day either consists of 1) listening to the same album over and over and over and over again or 2) constant shuffling, which can bring me from Django Reinhardt to Peaches to Stravinsky to The Weepies. I realize that

Why so often silent, cookie monster? Why a "sometimes food"?

2009-03-26T09:07:00.004-05:00

I can't recall for the life of me where I first encountered the sentiment (and for that I am entirely unapologetic, it is a very old idea), but so many women, myself included, eschew positions subject to public scrutiny out of fear of the stereotypes they themselves reinforce by remaining silent. You know, catty, bitchy, chatty airhead type, &c. The idea came up again yesterday or the day before

Dead Poets Reanimated

2009-01-07T15:37:00.005-06:00

It's been a long, isolated holiday season, y'all. Most people I talk to go through this phase - midwinter malaise, I'll call it. Is it the holiday travel? Hangovers? Seasonal affective disorder? For me, I think my social gland (this is all SCIENCE and COMPLETELY TRUE) gets fatigued from overexposure to other humans sharing too much of my genetic makeup. You know, all my illigitimate children.In

Novel Break!

2008-11-12T09:46:00.002-06:00

Oddly appropriate, as a giraffe does figure into my manuscript...Rocking steady at 18,869, BTW.

Nanowrimo

2008-11-05T15:27:00.000-06:00

8,797 words and counting.

Lulu

2008-11-03T16:52:00.001-06:00

Seeing this on Friday. Exciting! Berg is definitely one of my favorites.

The Museum of Stones by Carolyn Forché

2008-10-31T09:19:00.003-05:00

This is your museum of stones, assembled in matchbox and tin,collected from roadside, culvert, and viaduct, battlefield, threshing floor, basilica, abattoir,stones loosened by tanks in the streetsof a city whose earliest map was drawn in ink on linen,schoolyard stones in the hand of a corpse,pebble from Apollinaire’s oui,stone of the mind within uscarried from one silence to another,stone of

Consigned to Dance Over Pots and Pans

2008-10-30T11:44:00.004-05:00

Must read the book reviewed here.How much would we all be capable of if we weren't required to make our own ends meet? I've always felt sort of on the fence about translating into contemporary culture Woolf's sentiment about a room of one's own and sufficient money. Perhaps that waffling speaks to how truly priviledged I am? I do have a room of my own, after all, and a more than living wage. But

Self-evaluation

2008-10-28T14:39:00.006-05:00

I am simultaneously embarrassed and enthralled by my site meter. I do frequently check it, even when I haven't been posting and shouldn't by any rights expect humans to even stumble upon this blog, let alone deign to read it. I have decided that instead of sitting back, passively watching random traffic get lost and happen upon me like a dusty greasy spoon along old Route 66, I shall take a note

Kevin Barnes, please to being my babydaddy

2008-10-27T13:59:00.006-05:00

I fell in love with Of Montreal as a freshman in college (before the hipsters really got a hold of them, natch - though one could argue they've always been a hipsterish band, having come out of the indie scene of Athens, GA in the late 90s), when I was generally enamoured of neo-psychedelia for its unabashed Dada revival aesthetic (notice the Exquisite Corpse stylings in the vid) and buoyant,

John Hodgman via mental_floss

2008-10-24T13:43:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday!

Paper Skin, Novel, Fanciful Acronyms, Sarah Palin Playing the Flute Dreadfully

2008-10-23T09:18:00.015-05:00

...has no ill effects, even though it is very weird.The condition is called "articial uticaria" - plain ole uticaria is hives, so I'm guessing the "artificial" is in reference to its being somewhat controllable by the sufferer. How cool would it be to use your own skin as a notebook? You could even tell people how you're feeling without speaking or making an expression. I would simply write F***