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Resale Zine Issues 1-7
January 26, 2008
Anyone who has ever visited my home knows I keep a wide variety of reading materials in every room. Especially notable is the towering, leaning stack of various publications I pile on the back of the toilet. Probably not the best place to store things, for the sake of preservation, but it serves a useful purpose.
Whenever I get a new publication, I add it to the stack. Occasionally the stack will topple over (monk calls this a magalanche!) and reordering occurs in the restacking...and perhaps a little weeding out.
So it was that one day I chanced upon a zine of unknown origin atop the stack. I sat down to read it, and was engrossed in the world of a traveling, organic farming, witty conversation having woman named Amie. And all of her stick-people creations.
Now, I am not sure if I picked this up on a random zine-buying excursion...or maybe long ago. I didn't know if this was one that wormed its way out of my vintage zine collection, or perhaps I picked it up a couple of years ago at the small press conference. Maybe it was one of the lovelies in the surprise package sent to me by friends in New York, or perhaps it was sent in hopeful trade for one of the zines I have long since ceased publishing. There was no date. No context, really, other than the activities of the characters, and no connection to my life, other than absolute fascination.
So, I sent an email to zinestress and asked if there were more. I had issue 2, I think. I wanted to know what became of Amie and her band of random interesting friends. Amie was kind enough to write back, so I sent her some money for all of her back issues, as well as the forthcoming issue 8.
So it is that I now have the complete resale collection. It's really an amazingly simple story, but so wonderful. Amie has a way of picking the most important snippets out of conversations to weave an entire novel out of scant dialog. You really get to know the characters, and to understand their expressions, even though they are stick people. hahaha. She's truly a gifted storytelling, plus...it doesn't hurt that she has led a very interesting and diverse life - working at a carnival and on an organic farm. Living on a boat for awhile. But even still, it's the way she interacts with the people around her in every situation she is in that really makes the story special. You get the feeling that Amie could be the checker at a supermarket and still manage to extract the joy of living from the people she encounters.
It's truly a wonderful read, and I recommend them highly. If you want to order your very own copies of Resale zine, you can email Amie at: handwrittenisbetter at yahoo dot com. She'll give you the scoop on how much and how to get them. :)
Nothing Matters Except This Anthill
October 21, 2007
It has been an interesting weekend. Aside from a midnight movie on Friday, I have been focusing on doing art and cleaning the house and preparing for Coley's birthday party next week. I even canceled a date in part because I just don't want to be bothered with time constraints (and in part because, if I were to be bothered with them, the time constraint being suggested was wholly uninteresting to me, but that's another post altogether...one that I am trynig to restrain myself from writing, to be honest.)
At any rate, a little while ago, I brought in some laundry and was folding it on my bed when I noticed a tiny little jumping spider. He must've taken up residence in the laundry while it was out on the line. He leapt impossibly far to land on my laptop, and sat there, seeming to observe me as I went about my laundry folding, casting sidelong glances between the spider and the stupid self-help video I for some reason chose to watch from Netflix. And the spider started to build a web! Right in front of my eyes!
Well, needless to say, I quickly lost ALL interest in the video and watched the spider, instead. I giggled as he jumped cutely from the plastic tub on my little bedside table to the frame of the canvas that was leaning against the wall. Covering my mouth so as not to accidentally blow him to spider kingdom come with my exhalations of delight. I tried to even take a little video of him, but he was so tiny and my focusing skills are still embarrassingly inadequate, so I doubt it turned out well. And anyway, he seemed to have some degree of stage fright, because when I whipped out the camera all construction ceased and he just hung there on the end of a strand, twisting and looking, I am sure, like a tiny little booger on the end of a string through the lens of my camera. Oh well, I guess some things are best observed directly. I mean, I could probably rent a zillion videos made by professional documentarians and videographers that would depict spiderweb building, but how often to I get to observe it in my very own house?
So I guess I watched him building his web for about half an hour before he seemed to take a break and I lost interest in waiting for him to do something interesting again. The thought of sharing my bedroom with my spider friend is not thrilling to me, but I can't bring myself to remove him. I'm sure he'll vacate on his own at some point.
The cool thing is that later, when I had all but forgotten about my little 8-legged friend, I was reading the new issue of King Cat Comics and Stories, and John P had a couple of different comics in which he became so absorbed in observing life around him that, for that time, those little details were all that mattered. The first one depicted him squatting down to watch ants, without words save the last frame which contained a thought balloon of John saying "Nothing matters except tis anthill."
It's something I am really trying to put into practice, and can be a good exercise for everything from making sure you are fully present with people or just fully present to experience in general. It works for listening to silly kids' stories, observing bees and bugs in a bush, marking the miracle of clouds and birds in the sky, sex, productive conversation, and communing with spiders.
I dunno. I've never been a huge fan of the idea of meditation or journeying inward for the sake of being inside myself. I find that I spend far too much time there anyway, and I get distracted from experiencing things by tending to return there for safety. Instead, I think it's nice to be fully outside of myself for a change. Not thinking about what came before or what comes next, but just enjoying what is in front of me.
Later, I was thinking about how this applied to art. About how artists take those tiny moments...or my favorite artists do, anyway...and make them neverending. I guess, the flip side is that some artists can take huge concepts and distill them down into something digestible. I like that, too. But right now, it seems like distilling things down oversimplifies things. I'd rather appreciate fleeting moments and tiny things. I'd rather that nothing matter except this anthill.
And I'm so thankful that there are people in this world like John P to remind me of that. :) <3
----------------
Now playing: Beauty Pill - the cigarette girl from the future
via FoxyTunes
Book Suggestions!
July 16, 2006
One of the things that went "down with the ship" when my hard drive crashed was my REALLY SUPER EXTRA LONG list of book suggestions for myself and the kids. So, I am creating a new one. Please send suggestions of your favorite books for grown-ups (I like politics, flowery prose, concrete metaphorical fiction (true stories with metaphorical implications) and anything having anything to do with the human condition and the various ways we deal with it - fiction or non-fiction. I am not terribly fond of science fiction, but will read it if it is done well (I even can barely read Ursula Leguin, because I can't keep track of made up words and names for things)), 9-14 year olds (Monk mostly likes science fictiony stuff. He loves the Pendragon series, the Redwall Series, and of course Lemony Snicket), and 5 year olds (Coley especially loves Shel Silverstein, poetry, and right now - books about the human body)!!! I will add them to my list.
Thanks :)
Keeping myself occupied...
July 4, 2006
Here's what I have been filling my senses with lately:
Eating:
the kids and I are cooking our way around the world with the Kids' Around the World Cookbook. It is amazing what they will eat when they have a hand in making it.
Reading:
I am reading The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin, the Sexual Life of Catherine M. by Catherine Millet, and The Gift of Fear by Gavin DeBecker. The kids and I are reading the second book in the Pendragon series, and Leaves of Grass.
Listening:
I am listening to a ton of stuff, but I am allowing myself to be heavily influenced by the musical tastes of the sole musician in Black Wax Machine. So lots of guitar stuff. Ethereal. Instrumental. Quavering and wavering. And Jimi Hendrix! Wow.
Watching:
I am working my way through all of the episodes of Futurama. Last week I watched the Boondocks Saints (I think is what it is called). I saw the Bjork movie the other night in the theater. Puffy Chair movie. I am sure there are things I can say about all of these, but I can't think of anything off of the top of my head.
Doing:
Mostly just a lot of sitting around thinking about cleaning up the place. Getting by. It has been a very lazy in practical things, active in my heartfelt pursuits kind of last few weeks. The kids and I play cards and go swimming a lot. I take my walks. Get embroiled in things. Have endless conversations in chat. My house is breaking. I am planning a maybe trip to chicago in the fall. Maybe. And I am dreaming of buying a mandolin, and a tattoo.
Thinking:
I am thinking about relationships and their parameters and rules. What I can accept and what I must reject - either by virtue of my own preferences or by virtue of my motherhood and the limits it places on my freedom. I hate to say it like that, but there is a certain amount of caution I must exercise when it comes to tripping around after love. It is, of course, up to me to define those limits. And I am thinking a lot about that. Also, the book. I am thinking about finding someone to help me select what goes in and what does not. And to help me with some decisions about future publishing ventures. I might just make the book more of an annual zine kind of thing. We will see.
Feeling:
Absolute and total bliss. Terror, to some extent. hahaha. Love - Deep and abiding and difficult to place or define. Panic about random little stupid things in my life. Contentment. A desire for order balanced with a seeming need to create disorder. Sexiness. A kind of restless laziness. Sure-footedness. Love.
that about describes where I'm at right now.
Happiness is a King Cat.
January 10, 2006
I haven't read them yet, but I got the two newest King Cats in my mailbox. Yay!
If you have never read King Cat Comics...you are missing out. You shouldn't be wasting your time reading my blog, either. Instead, you should be building shrines to the wonderfulness that is John P.
RedHeadDread has some children's book recommendations! Yay!
January 5, 2006
Not only does she have excellent taste in KidLit, she is a damn fine writer to boot!
The Penultimate Peril
November 15, 2005
One of the advantages of being taciturn is that it is rare for your words to get you into trouble. A taciturn writer, for instance, might produce only one short poem every ten years, which is unlikely to annoy anyone, whereas someone who writes twelve or thirteen books in a relatively short time is likely to find themselves hiding under the coffee table of a notorious villain, holding his breath, hoping nobody at the cocktail party will notice the trembling backgammon set, and wondering, as the inkstain spreads across the carpeting, if certain literary exercises have been entirely worthwhile."
The Penultimate Peril, by Lemony Snicket, is the penultimate, which here means the twelfth book, responsible for the shuddering backgammon set beneath which the harried author of the divine series of Unfortunate Events is huddled.
It would be easy to pick this book apart as formulaic and trite, as the Baudelaires drag their tired, pseudo-victorian selves through another 13 penultimately perilous chapters, but, as it turns out, Snicket has turned form-ula into form-ulart - to the extent that three chapters within this larger screed are, themselves, entirely formulaic. Amazingly, the reader walks away without feeling ripped off or shortchanged.
The fact is, the formula works, and I certainly can't begrudge the author for not messing with a good thing, particularly when the author clearly demonstrates the appropriate degree of self-awareness indicated in the previously quoted passage.
In book the twelfth, the Baudelaire children gather with the wide array of villains and noble people they have met along the way, at the Hotel Denouement. An accidental death, a miscarriage of justice, and an apocryphal alliance ensue as the reader joyously romps through page upon page of delightful wordplay. We are reintroduced to such characters as the perpetual slave to "IN"-hood, Esme Squalor:
The rest of Esme's outfit, I regret to say, consisted of three large leaves of lettuce, attached to her body with tape. If you have ever seen the bathing garment known as the bikini, then you can guess wehre these pieces of lettuce were attached, and if you cannot guess then I advice you to ask someone of your acquaintance who is not as squeamish as I am about discussing the bodies of villainous women."
Amidst the intrigue, the delight, the formula, and the definitive asides are countless references to classical and pop literature and culture, as well as explanations and occasional gleeful debunkments of popular cliches, including the overarching theme of the ripple effect. Once again, Mr. Snicket approaches this variety of topics - good and evil, action and reaction, "noble enough," forgiveness, empowerment, and justice in ways that avoid condescension and both instruct and delight the audience, young and old alike. For this reason, I would say yes, Mr. Snicket, this particular literary exercise has, indeed, been entirely worthwhile. And, as I quietly mop up the spilled ink, and lean on the backgammon set to keep it steady & avoid betraying your hiding place, I thank you.
Grey Day Reading
October 7, 2005
This is what I am reading on this grey day:
- Moby Dick by: Herman Melville
- Teach Your Own by: John Holt
- Blacklisted News Secret Histories From Chicago to 1984 by the New Yippie Book Collection
- Where the Sidewalk Ends - Shel Silverstein (whenever Coley demands it, although he CLAIMS he can read EVERYTHING now.)
Oh, and one more greyday album selection would be Dreams Less Sweet by Psychic TV.
Monk is reading Bruce Coville's Book of Nightmares.
Cole is reading an old issue of PC Gamer magazine.
I ended up reading The Mustard Seed, Followed by How The Grinch Stole Christmas
October 4, 2005
(The Grinch was Coley's request) & actually, it was amazing how well these two stories complimented each other. In the middle of the Grinch, I paused and asked the children if the Grinch was looking for a mustard seed when he raided the homes of Whoville. They laughed. I asked what the Grinch was feeling. L said "anger." I read on & M interrupted me and said "Maybe the Grinch is JEALOUS."
Mission accomplished. But even further...what is the Who's place in that jealousy? Where does that jealousy come from? Could it be that jealousy is not the root emotion, but exclusion is the cause? Could the Whos have done more to include the grinch in their celebration? How is the Grinch like the woman in the mustard seed? At the beginning of the Mustard Seed story, they talk briefly about the fact that the woman was disregarded by her community until she had the child - how did that affect her response to the death of the child? Was she excluded as well? How were they ultimately reunited with themselves and their community?
It's amazing how rich things get when you have a group of thoughtful and engaged children to hang out with. Monk wanted to know if maybe Dr. Seuss was a Buddhist. I said "You know, a lot of things that Buddhist stories relate are universal, so they are things that can be revealed and experienced and recounted whether you are a Buddhist or not. I guess in that way, we are all Buddhists."
Yay.
Banned Book Week Meme
September 28, 2005
The Badge has a list of the hundred most challenged books, and has bolded the ones she has read. I'm going to do the same:
Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
Forever by Judy Blume
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Giver by Lois Lowry
It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Sex by Madonna
Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel (haven't read it, but it's definitely on my list)
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
The Goats by Brock Cole
Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
Blubber by Judy Blume
Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
Final Exit by Derek Humphry
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Pigman by Paul Zindel (Badger boy is currently reading this for school -- uh oh)
Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
Deenie by Judy Blume
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein (over, and over, and over again.)
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
Cujo by Stephen King
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
Fade by Robert Cormier
Guess What? by Mem Fox
The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Native Son by Richard Wright
Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
Jack by A.M. Homes
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
Carrie by Stephen King
Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
Family Secrets by Norma Klein
Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
The Dead Zone by Stephen King
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
Private Parts by Howard Stern
Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
Sex Education by Jenny Davis
The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
Now you go.
Perfect Example
September 23, 2005
I'm so excited that Perfect Example by John Porcellino will be re-released by drawn and quarterly next month. Particularly because I missed it the first time around:
Road trips, drunken concerts, and late-night make-out sessions all swirl together in this coming-of-age graphic novel by King Cat cartoonist John Porcellino. Tackling the pain and uncertainty of the pivotal summer before college, Porcellino's sad and beautiful story is drawn in his sincere, minimalist style. Deceptively and charmingly simple, Perfect Example is a collection of Porcellino’s self-published King Cat comics that have won over thousands of readers with its honesty, empathy and sincerity.
If you have never read any of John P's stuff, you really should. He's an excellent artist and a truly wonderful and inspiring person.
Relative to the Below, the Above, and the Beyond
July 25, 2005
This quote from Manhattan Transfer sums things up rather nicely:
Everything would be so much better if suddenly a bell rang and everybody told everybody else honestly what they did about it, how they lived, how they loved. It's hiding things makes them putrefy. By God it's horrible. As if life wasn't difficult enough without that." -John Dos Passos
I'm up for a book meme before bedtime
July 7, 2005
since you asked (I'm sorry it took me so long to find your request!)
Here's the meme:
Number of books I own: I have never actually even THOUGHT to count. Hundreds. Especially when you take the children's books and curriculum into account.
Last book I bought: I picked up Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich for 98 cents at Half Price books last Sunday.
Last book I read: I'm currently reading three books: How Children Fail by John Holt, Manhatten Transfer by John Dos Passos, and, erm, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Covey. I've read the last two before, but am re-reading to get a different sense out of them.
Books that Mean a Lot to me: Urgh. I hate questions like this. Here's a brief list.
- The Subterraneans by Jack Kerouac. I remember reading this in math class, holding my math textbook up and pretending to listen to the lecture while I was secretly crying my eyes out about Sal (was he Sal in that book?) and Mardou Fox.
- Narcissism and Death by Mariarosa Sclauzero, with Illustrations by Sue Coe. I was driven around Chicago one day while DEVOURING this book. I have read it several times since.
- Scripture of the Golden Eternity by Jack Kerouac. You just really have to read it.
- The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Gracy Llewellyn. Absolutely necessary.
- Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man by John Porcellino. Because he fucking rocks. That's why.
- Birthing From Within by Pam England. An essential on my list of impending motherhood books.
- Johnny Got his Gun by Dalton Trumbo. Definitely going on Monk's reading list as soon as I feel like he can handle it.
I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of them off of the top of my head. I'm sure I'll do this meme again some day and have totally different ideas.
I'm supposed to tag 5 people to do this meme. I'll tag the newbies first - let's hear from you Pansy, KC, Robert...and two more...how about FiveBlue and RHD, who always has such awesome suggestions, if she's not too busy with the new baby!
love love!
Better Late Than Never?
May 7, 2005
ex-lion tamer: book tag
Q1 - You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be [saved]?
Umm, this is a tough one. You know, the most important book I have read in the past five years was Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men. by Lundy Bancroft. I would have to say that. You never know when you are going to encounter an angry, controlling man. And, in spite of the fact that there are a zillion good fiction books out there that I would cry over losing, I think I would save that one.
Q2 - Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Oh, yeah. Many times. Probably the most intense crushes have been on Jack Kerouc, the fictional character invented by Jack Kerouac. Neal Cassady, too.
Q3 - The last book you bought is?
The last book I BOUGHT was The Island of the Blue Dolphins - I'm reading it to Monk.
Q4 - What are you currently reading?
The More You Watch, The Less You Know, by Danny Schechter; and The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
Q5 - Five books you would take to a deserted island?
I would probably want to take five books I haven't read yet, because I am not the type of person who reads books over and over again. So, the five books that I have not yet read that I would like to find time to read would be:
- Dorothy Allen - Trash
- Tony Morrison - Beloved
- Howard Zinn - A People's History of the United States & Voices of a People's History of the United States (I've read parts of each, but haven't read either all the way through)
- Arundhati Roy - The God of Small Things
- Dalai Lama - The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
You know, a desert island doesn't sound so bad about now...
Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man
March 24, 2005
I just got my copy of Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man, written by my dear old friend, John P. The picture above is not from that book, but it is about the best way I can describe John P's artwork and story telling. It's as refreshing, and as subtle, as a slight breeze through sheer curtains on a spring day. Thanks, John P. I wish there were more people in the world like you.
The book is 12 dollars, and is just beautifully written, illustrated, designed and executed. I put it on my bookshelf right next to the last issue of "I'm Johnny and I don't give a fuck" that I got around to ordering. I can't wait to read it. You should get a copy, too.
I want to marry Lemony Snicket
January 15, 2005
For this and for so many other reasons.
Monk and I have decided that we are going to dedicate an upcoming potluck to The Series of Unfortunate Events. We are going to make Putanesca, Chilled Cucumber Soup, casserole, lasagna, enchiladas, and a number of other things the children eat in the books. Gum will also be served. I am even going to attempt to make parsley soda. hahaha.
It should be fun, and Monk is really psyched about it.
Zine Reviews!
December 29, 2004
In the interest of the previous post, and due to the fact that I've been wading through my piles and piles of zines lately, and have determined that I desperately miss that community, I have decided that I'm going to start doing sporadic zine reviews. Which means, for now, that when I finally get around to reading a zine, I'm going to write about it...in the future, I am hoping I can set aside time to actually solicit review copies so I can do a monthly or quarterly online review (of paper zines).
I just finished reading the road trip issue of 4 kids, 3 pets, 2 moms. It was lovely. Yantra and Sal took me with them on a zany adventure with their wonderful (and challenging!) family, and I learned a lot in the process. I especially enjoyed Yantra's essay on family, and the brief recap of the trip. If you want a copy, send $10 or $2 via paypal to yantra@community.hipmama.com, or I imagine you could e-mail and find out if you can send cash or check.
Also, I don't think it's too late to order Coleen's lovely mama calendar:
the mama calendar is a community building-consciousness raising resource by, of, about and for progressive, feminist mamas and their families, friends & allies everywhere. I've been publishing the mama calendar with a little help from my friends since 2003. if you enjoyed the hip mama community calendars of 2001 & 2002, then this is your sort of thing, because I made those, too.the calendar features a collage-ish blend of photos of mamas, babies,
children, dads, and friends, as well as a guide to mama-made zines,
alternative parenting resources, recipes, recipes for revolution, great dates in radical mama herstory, and of course, the artwork of ayun halliday & heather cushman-dowdee among others.
The New Being
May 27, 2004
By Kenneth Patchen
They'd make you believe that your problem is one of sex,
That men and women have mysteriously become
Strange and fearful to one another - sick, diseased, cold -
And that is true. But no loss of a father-image or of
Any other image, did this. Why don't you face the truth for once?
You have accepted the whole filthy, murderous swindle without
A word of protest, hated whomever you were told to hate,
Slaughtered whomever you were told to slaughter; you've lied,
Cheated, made the earth stink with your very presence - Why
Shouldn't you despise and hate one another? Why shouldn't
Your flesh crawl everytime you touch one another?
Why should you expect to make 'love' in a bed fouled with corpses?
Oh, you poor, weak little frauds, sucking around
Frantically for something to ease your guilt -
Why don't you face it?
Your birthright, liferight,
Deathright, and now your
Sexright, you've lost. What
Did you expect? How
Else could it be? You've
Made property and money your only gods -
Well, this is their rule,
This is what you wanted.
And now they'll wipe you out.
Why don't you face it?
Stop sucking around.
Your pet witch-doctors can't help you,
They're all sick from the same thing.
Your pompous intellectuals can't help you,
They're all sick from the same thing.
Your sly, vicious statesmen can't help you,
They're all sick from the same thing,
Why don't you face it?
No, your problem is not one of sex -
Your problem is that you have betrayed your animal
Into hands as cruel and bloody as your own.
Man is dead.
I don't know what kind of thing you are.
'O My Darling Troubles Heaven with her Loveliness
May 26, 2004
By Kenneth Patchen
O my darling troubles heaven
With her loveliness
She is made of such cloth
That the angels cry to see her
Little gods dwell where she moves
And their hands open golden boxes
For me to lie in
She is built of lilies and candy doves
And the youngest star wakens in her hair
She calls me with the music of silver bells
And at night we step into other worlds
Like birds flying through the red and yellow air
Of childhood
O she touches me with the tips of wonder
And the angels cuddle like sleepy kittens
At our side
(best. love poem. ever.)
What is the Beautiful?
May 26, 2004
by Kenneth Patchen
The narrowing line,
Walking on the burning ground,
The ledges of stone.
Owlfish wading near the horizon.
Unrest in the outer districts.
Pause.
And begin again.
Needles through the eye.
Bodies cracked open like nuts.
Must have a place.
Dog has a place.
Pause.
And begin again.
Tents in the sultry weather.
Rifles hate holds.
Who is right?
Was Christ?
Is it wrong to love all men?
Pause.
And begin again.
Contagion of murder.
But the small whip hits back.
This is my life, Caeser.
I think it is good to live.
Pause.
And begin again.
Perhaps the shapes will open.
Will flying fly?
Will singing have a song?
Will the shapes of evil fall?
Will the lives of men grow clean?
Will the power be fore good?
Will the power of man find its sun?
Will the power of man flame as a sun?
Will the poer of man turn against death?
Who is right?
Is war?
Pause.
And begin again.
A narow line.
Walking on the beautiful ground.
A ledge of fire.
It would take little to be free.
That no man hate another man,
Because he is black;
Because he is yellow;
Because he is white;
Or because he is English;
Or German;
Or rich;
Or poor;
Because we are everyman.
Pause.
And begin again.
It would take little to be free
That no man live at the expense of another.
Because no man can own what belongs to all.
Because no man can kill what all must use.
Because no man can lie when all are betrayed.
Because no man can hate when all are hated.
And begin again.
I know that the shapes will open.
Flying will fly, and singing will sing.
Because the only power of man is in good.
And all evil shall fail.
Because evil does not work,
Because the white man and the black man,
The Englishman and the German,
Are not real things.
They are only pictures of things.
Their shapes, like the shapes of the tree
And the flower, have no lives in names or signs;
They are their lives, and the real is in them.
And what is real shall have life always.
Pause.
I believe in the truth.
I believe that every good thought I have,
All men shall have.
I believe that what is best in me,
Shall be found in every man.
I believe that only the beautiful
Shall survive on the earth.
I believe that the perfect shape of everything
Has been prepared;
And, that we do not fit our own
Is of little consequence.
Man beckons to man on this terrible road.
I believe that we are going into the darkness now;
Hundreds of years will pass before the light
Shines over the world of all men...
And I am blinded by its splendor.
Pause.
And begin again
Another couple of Patchen Poems
May 25, 2004
Death Will Amuse Them
A little girl was given a new toy
That needed no winding and would never run down
As even the best of everything will
And all day she played with it
Following happily over the floor of heaven
Until finally it rolled under the feet of God Himself
Who said: 'You must give it back now.'
Then He pointed down at two soldiers who were staring up
Hopefully
'You see, it is a very popular toy.'
And He tossed it down to them
Whose eyes would stare up in earnest when they touched it.
-Kenneth Patchen
Have you Killed Your Man for Today?
In these hands, the cities; in my weather, the armies
Of better things than die
To the scaly music of war.
The different men, who are dead,
Had cunning; they sought green lives
In a world blacker than your world;
But you have nourished the taste of sickness
Until all other tastes are dull in your mouths;
It is only we who stand outside the steaming tents
Of hypocrisy and murder
Who are 'sick'-
This is the health you want.
Yours is the health of the pig which roots up
The vines that would give him food;
Ours is the sickness of the deer which is shot
Because it is the activity of hunters to shoot him.
In your hands, the cities; in my world, the marching
Of nobler feet than walk down a road
Deep with the corpses of every sane and beautiful thing.
-Kenneth Patchen
(one more)
Nice Day for a Lynching
The bloodhounds look like sad old judges
In a strange court. They point their noses
At the Negro jerking in the tight noose;
His feet spread crow-like above there
Honorable men who laugh as he chokes.
I don't know this black man.
I don't know these whit men.
But I know that one of my hands
Is black, and one white. I know that
One part of me is being strangled,
While another part horribly laughs.
Until it changes,
I shall be forever killing; and be killed.
-Kenneth Patchen
I DON'T WANT TO STARTLE YOU
May 24, 2004
I DON'T WANT TO STARTLE YOU but
they are going to kill most of us
I knew the General only by name of course.
I said Wartface what have you done with her?
I said You Dirtylouse tell me where she is now?
His duck-eyes shifted to the Gaurd. All right, Sam.
I saw a photograph of the old prick's wife on the desk;
Face smiling like a bag of money on a beggar's grave.
Who is that fat turd I said - he hit me with a jewelled fist.
While his man held me he put a lighted cigarette on my eyelid.
I smelt the burning flesh through his excellent perfume.
On the wall it said Democracy must be saved at all costs.
The floor was littered with letters of endorsement from liberals
And intellectuals: "your high ideals," "liberty," "juman justice."
Stalin's picture spotted between Hoover's and a group-shot of the DAR.
I brought my knee up suddenly and caught him in the nuts.
A little foam trickled from his flabby puss. All right, Sam.
They led me into a yard and through a city of iron cells.
I saw all the boys: Lenin, Trotsky, Nin, Pierce, Rosa Luxemburg...
Their eyes were confident, beautiful, unafraid...
We came finally to an immense hall protected by barbed wire
And machineguns: Hitler, Benny Mussolini, Roosevelt and all
The big and little wigs were at table, F.D.'s arm around Adolf,
Chiang-Kai-shek's around the Pope, all laughing fit to kill.
As soon as a treaty was signed, out the window it went;
But how they fumbled at each other under the table!
I snatched up a menu:
Grilled Japanese Soldier On Toast
Fried Revolutionaries a la Dirty Joe
Roast Worker Free Style
Hamstrung Colonial Stew, British Special
Gassed Child's Breast, International Favorite
Wine list - Blood 1914, '15, '17, '23, '34, '36, '40 etc.
So much fresh meat I thought! A butchers' holiday...
The General paused to enjoy the floorshow:
On a raised platform little groups of people stood.
Flags told their nationality; orators told them what to do.
As the bands blared they rushed at each other with bayonet.
The dead and dying were dragged off and others brought on.
Sweat streamed from the orators; the musicians wobbled crazily.
The Big Shots were mad with joy, juggling in their seats like monkeys.
And they never get wise the General said as we moved on
Out in the air again...
A line of petty officials and war-pims waited before the door.
As we approached they drew aside respectfully to let the General in.
I heard a woman moaning and I knew what they wanted there.
Now do you know what we've done with her the General said.
To go mad or to die...
They forced me to watch as the General went up to her and
Her eyes were looking at me.
***
The Origin of Baseball
Someone had been walking in and out
Of the world without coming
To much decision about anything.
The sun seemed too hot most of the time.
There weren't enough birds around
And the hills had a silly look
When he got on top of one.
The girls in heaven, however, thought
Nothing of asking to see his watch
Like you would want someone to tell
A joke - "Time,"they'd say, "what's
That mean - Time?", laughing with the edges
Of their white mouths, like a flutter of paper
In a madhouse. And he'd stumble over
General Sherman or Elizabeth B.
Browning, muttering, "Can't you keep
Your big wings out of the aisle?" But down
Again, there'd be millions of people without
Enough to eat and men with guns just
Standing there shooting each other.
So he wanted to throw something
And he picked up a baseball.
-Kenneth Patchen
********
The Fox
Because the snow is deep
Without spot that white falling through white air
Because she limps a little - bleeds
Where they shot her
Because hunters have guns
And dogs have hangmen's legs
Because I'd like to take her in my arms
And tend her wound
Because she can't afford to die
Killing the young in her belly
I don't know what to say of a soldier's dying
Because there are no proportions in death.
-Kenneth Patchen
oK, I give up...
April 16, 2004
Lady Crumpet' is the proverbial straw, and this meme is the proverbial camel's back. I think. At any rate, I'm finally going to do the book meme that everyone is doing. Because I'm waiting for part two of my self-inflicted date to be underway.
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
Agile as a weasel, Monsieur le Ministre was on top of me: "It is impossible to love Frenchmen and not to hate Germans." (ee cummings - The Enormous Room)
Excerpt from Chuang Tzu: The Inner Chapters
October 30, 2003
"Li Chi was the beautiful daughter of a guard on the frontier border at Ai. When she was first captured by the Chin Army, her dress was bathed in tears. But then she found herself in the king's palace, sharing his fine bed and savoring imperial food, and pretty soon she wondered why she'd ever cried. So how do I know that the dead don't wonder why they'd ever clung to life?"
Covert Action Quarterly.
May 18, 2003
I like reading old issues of conspiracy theory magazines, because you get to find out that it wasn't actually a theory after all. It's EXACTLY the opposite of reading old issues of mainstream newspapers, because, you know, with the mainstream newspapers it's always later revealed to be UNtrue.
Anyway, I have this back issue of Covert Action Quarterly in my bathroom, and I'm slowly working my way through it. It's their post 9/11 issue, and it has tons of interesting stuff. I'll probably write about more of it once I'm done reading it and have time to research some of the articles further.
I added the Covert Action website to my information roll, though. There's an interesting article about the Congo up, and I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing yet, because it's LENGTHY...but I would like to when I am more clear-headed.
The Roaches Have No King by: Daniel Evan Weiss
June 29, 2002
An interesting idea for a book: cockroaches plot to rid themselves of their unwilling hosts new more tidy girlfriend. I could really do without the countless racial stereotypes (not to mention the sizism). I'm really only finishing this book because I have this weird thing about finishing every book I start. I do not recommend it.
Edited to add: I'm a few more chapters in now, and I cringe every page. I've convinced myself that I'm going to burn this book after I read it, but I still can't stop.
Eightball #6
June 24, 2002
I really love the black and white drawings and esoterical storylines. But my favorite feature has always been the random question/response from Duplex Planet.
Mothering May/June 2002
June 24, 2002
The racist editorial in the beginning (that I blogged about here) didn't get this issue off on the right foot, and really, it never recovered. I guess Mothering was great and inspirational when I was a new mom, and I hate to sound cynical or know-it-all-ish, but I've heard it all before. And I don't exactly like having to swallow it after the smarmy editorial.
Kids, Parents, and Power Struggles by: Mary Sheedy Kurcinka
June 9, 2002
I've read countless books on dealing with difficult situations with children and so far this is far and away the best. Normally, I get frustrated with books because they present these difficult scenarios in such an ideal way. I was won over by this book when, in the section that talked about taking a breather when things get rough, Kurcinka actually included advice on what to do when your child follows you and will not allow you to take a breather (because if I lock myself in the bathroom to avoid yelling, you can bet m will be on the other side of the door, pounding to get in!) And I actually was able to feel a great deal of empathy for m's sensitivity to being left alone, as I know he carries some weird baggage from his time in neonatal icu. So, that's my first step. To acknowledge those memories that m might not even fully remember, but that might be shaping his interactions with me and with the world.
There's a lot of stuff in here about validating a child's emotions, giving names to what a child is feeling and teaching a child how to appropriately express those feelings. And the author freely acknowledges that the information is equally important for adults. In fact, it's crucial that I, as a parent, learn how to express my emotions appropriately...because my example goes much much further towards teaching my children than my words ever will.
I have a lot of work to do...I'm glad I have this book as a guide.
Paths of Learning issue #9
June 5, 2002
A great educational resource, not strictly devoted to homeschooling, but favoring alternative education in general. Read more here, here, and here
Women of the Beat Generation by: Brenda Knight
May 28, 2002
Haven't even cracked it yet, but I'm sure it will be a good read.
Griffin and Sabine by Nick Bantock
May 27, 2002
OK, so I'm probably the last person on earth to actually read this book. I think L picked up the first two in this series for me many moons ago, and he recently BEGGED me to read them, saying that they were incredible, which is quite a compliment coming from the original cynic himself. But he's right. This is amazing.
While reading this, I'm so drawn to the idea of starting to write pen and ink letters again - with doodles in the margin. I was never a fan of mail art, because it always came across mass produced and impersonal, but this book is the most touching and beautiful form of mail art imaginable. Amazing read. Inspiring read. I Might just have to dig up a pen and some paint and start doodling.
Cool Beans! #13 The SF Eviction Issue
May 26, 2002
I don't think we got the free cd with this, because i"m pretty sure we got it used. For more information, go to the Cool Beans website.
I'm Johnny and I Don't Give a Fuck Zine #3
May 23, 2002
image stolen from more goat than goose
I've read this a few times before and I'll probably read it a few more times, until it falls apart. The issue that follows this is a big perfect-bound affair. This issue is at least 60 1/4 size pages detailing the life and times of a punk rocker in Canada. So so so so cool. Not sure if you can find this anymore, but if you can, you ought to snatch it right up.
Adbusters Issue 32
May 17, 2002
This is an awesome cover
OK, here's a secret...I never ever read magazines when they are current. I buy them, put them somewhere, finish reading the 156 other books I'm reading, and two years later I pick up the outdated magazine and read it cover to cover. Even the stories I'm not really interested in.
So I'm always thankful for timeless magazines like Adbusters.
Here's a link to some of the creative resistance pieces in this issue
Like Hell by Ben Foster
May 12, 2002
I can't believe it's taken me so long to get around to reading this book, but I finally am. I'll probably review it when I'm done.
Until then, you can let this review jade your opinion...
Punk Planet #46
May 10, 2002
Punk Planet #46
($3.95)
PO Box 464
Chicago, IL 60690
punkplanet@punkplanet.com
www.punkplanet.com
Woo Hoo! It's the "Art and Design" issue! A mammoth 168 page DIY/indie smorgasbord of punk delight! In-between the sheets you'll find interviews with Jaime Hernandez, Elliott Earls, and Nikki McClure just to name a few. Also served up are articles on DIY health and sex, and my personal favorite, a look at DIY comics! That one is a few pages long but I still wish it were more. Then of course there are the reviews. Music reviews, book reviews, and zine reviews. There're more Do-It-Yourselfers packed into Punk Planet than you could count on all of your appendages if you stood naked in the shower!
The down side: while Punk Planet manages to deliver a lot of useful and really interesting information, at times I feel overwhelmed by all of the ads! I didn't count `em all like I did with the genitalia in the comic reviews this month, but I'm sure the ads make up a big part of the total page count. I understand the ad count helps to keep the price lower which is a good thing for all us readers, but I swear if I see one more ad for Electric Frankenstein I'm going to buy the damn thing! (hmm?)
Okay, enough of that. Just wanted to vent a little. I'd still buy this rag even if the number of ads went up! Punk Planet goes all out to bring its readers the most comprehensive look at the DIY scene available. And it does an extraordinary job of it!
PS - At some point, I'll start writing my own reviews...until then, enjoy the linkage.