Mental To-Read Dump

I have many messes right now. My external life mirrors my internal and vice versa. Write it down, get it done, set it free.

Don De Lillo - White Noise, Underworld
Carson McCullers - Ballad of the Sad Cafe
Jeffrey Eugenides
Rohinton Mistry - A Fine Balance
Doris Lessing - The Golden Notebook
Philip Roth - The Plot Against America
Christopher Isherwood - The Berlin Stories
Lewis Nordan - Welcome to the Arrow-Catcher Fair
Elinor Lipman - The Way Men Act
Carol Shields - The Republic of Love
Elizabeth Hay - Late Nights on Air
Sara Jeanette Duncan
James Morris
Paul Scott
Iris Murdoch - A Severed Head, An Unofficial Rose
Jonathan Lethem - Amnesia Moon
Titles: An Unexpected Light, Travels in Afghanistan
David Goodis
Cornel Woolrich
Terence Blacker - Kill Your Darlings
Haim Ginott - Between Parent and Child
Howard Zinn
Marc Reising - Cadillac Desert

Why should I read poetry?

Yes, yes I took a minor in English, but had to be spoonfed meaning and interpretation in most poems surveyed in the curriculum, except for those lamenting the war dead or imagistically representing a brave, chaotic new world post-armistice.

It may be that my mind is not ruminative or patient enough to peel layers of meaning and intent in poems. Some poems are simple; others are difficult. My mind runs at a great pace, not necessarily in one direction at a time, so when I stop for a poetry break I'm not "ooh, I would like something difficult please." I'm wanting a playful diversion.

I either like how the words smash against each other by sound, or I like a vivid single image. My son's teacher shamelessly professes her love of poetry and loves to share that passion. Me, I read either Dorothy Parker's "Frustration" or Hart Crane's "Chaplinesque".

What brought this on? 8.3% of the US populace has read a poem in the last twelve months. If we agree that "Frustration" or "Chaplinesque" are poems (the latter most certainly qualifies), or include Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" then I'm one of the 8.3%. But seventeen years ago more like 17% of the populace read poems. Whose poems were being read? Whose poems do you read?

When I was reading poetry, back in my twenties, I read:
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Dorothy Parker
Charles Baudelaire
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Anne Sexton
Sylvia Plath
William Butler Yeats
William Carlos Williams

I even wrote poetry. No, I will not share. I have too much respect for my audience. But in this bleak and gloomy period, the only poems I've read are Wislawa Szymborska's and Homer's epic poem "The Iliad." Whom should I read? Is there a place for poetry nowadays among those out of school?

living with music: a weekly feature of NYT's online blogs

I discovered this today, while Googling "Chip Kidd," the Associate Art Director at Alfred A. Knopf, and author of two lively novels: The Cheese Monkeys and The Learners. The Living with Music blog feature lets writers share with the Net-surfing public songs they're currently listening to. Mr. Kidd, who'd released a music video with his band Artbreak ("Asymmetrical Girl") has a list I found accessible and tasteful.

I hope against probability that I'll come across an author's list, find her or his list stunningly agreeable, and devour the writing like so much pavlova. Or that he or she will nurture the same passion I have for an obscure artist and that shared connection will be the key to a wonderful new journey of the mind and spirit.

in case you were interested where I am these days

I was here on Friday and Saturday. More later.

Schoolchild rite of passage committed 8:17 am PST

Son enters kitchen with a clean sheet of paper. "This assignment is due today. Will you help me?"

Also, this morning found 38% of drivers with headlights off travelling through dense fog. As a Canadian who is used to automatic headlights, and who habitually turns on her lights regardless of time of day, I do not understand the "win" behind reducing visibility in inclement weather conditions. Can someone, pardon the pun, enlighten me?

top city

The Top City

I haven't been to Denver, so I can't comment on its placement, but I'm scratching my head to figure out how Seattle can beat out San Francisco for desirability. I was talking with my spouse last night about cities and desirability: mostly asking him how Mrs. such-and-such could manage living in his hometown.

Spouse: "She's spent her whole life there."
Me: "What about your mom?"
Spouse: "She grew up in Indiana. Don't worry, I won't make you move back to my hometown."
Me: "I can't understand how people manage there."
Spouse: "They're not from Vancouver."

I don't hate Seattle. The jobs are easier to get, real estate is cheaper (yes, if you look at Vancouver BC -- it's quite possible to get a house based on INCOME, and not INHERITANCE/NET WORTH here. In fact, house prices have fallen to where one house on our street is valued at $297,000.). I'm not getting the "I need to bring my gun to a mall despite the no-guns-allowed sign" gestalt, nor the "who needs rapid transit? gridlock is fabulous!" mindset of Seattle, but other than those I like where I am. San Francisco, though: excellent restaurants, nifty wharves, history, cable car transit, very walkable. Good city!

Feel a wee bit o' self-loathing today

I must learn to be a better hostess to people who are afraid of animals.
Two of my three cats streak for downstairs when strange sounds/smells/bipeds enter the house, one of them measures the height/entertainment value of the intruder(s) and acts accordingly. He jumped on the PTA president. I need to remember to contain the cat. He's normally a very gentle sort, he just likes his heights.

I was listening to the "Misery Hour" podcast today, hours after I saw the thermometer in the morning read -5.5C, and heard "April 5th" and wept at both the beauty of the song and the ugliness of winter...

evening update: I was able to perform friend duty this evening to someone in need I care about, so perhaps I am not so awful after all...