The Bookity Book & Tall Grass Salon

Good morning.

The Writer's Almanac for March 3, 2015

Today's poem is fun, and nicely done.

Lots of anniversaries are noted today: the opera Carmen was first performed, Time magazine was first published, "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven was first published, and The Star-Spangled Banner became the American national anthem. I once went to the fireworks display and celebration at Fort McHenry in Baltimore. Only once, though I lived in Baltimore for about seven years, in a nearby neighborhood too. It was a mob scene. I guess urban municipal fireworks on July Fourth are always mob scenes.

Let's celebrate explosion, yay?

Okay I know it isn't that, but it's close.

Today is also the birthday of Ira Glass who at one time produced the radio show All Things Considered, among other programs. And it's the birthday of poet James Merrill, who used his inheritance from Merrill Lynch to fund his career, and endow other artists and writers.

Very cute poem! Fun rhyme scheme, and with temps just below freezing today and three inches of snow predicted, I'm starting to believe that spring might actually be coming.

And the rule of thumb is that the seasons move south to north (or north to south in the winter) at a rate of five miles per day.

Oh? Five miles per day, huh? Cool tidbit.

Spring is due to turn up here on Friday. I've had my bike serviced specially, so it had better be here.

Are there any famous Lit Fic cyclists? None spring to mind.

Well, says here

“The bicycle, the bicycle surely, should always be the vehicle of novelists and poets,” proclaimed journalist and essayist Christopher Morley in his 1917 collection Parnassus on Wheels, and indeed a team of bicycle enthusiasts would be worthy of winning any Tour de Literature contest. Leo Tolstoy, Alfred Jarry, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Aldous Huxley, Bruno Schulz, Lu Xun, Simone de Beauvoir, Samuel Beckett, Naguib Mahfouz, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Henry Miller, Edward Gorey, Astrid Lindgren, William Saroyan, R. K. Narayan, Ernest Hemingway, Vladimir Nabokov, Chinua Achebe, Alan Sillitoe, Iris Murdoch, Rita Dove, William Stafford, and Seamus Heaney are but some of its luminaries. Writers from every continent have paid homage to cycling, describing the joy and sometime pain felt when mounting a machine known as a “silent steed” and a “two-wheeled dream with which to wield dreams.”

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Looks like you're in excellent company.

(I googled "Literary cyclists" and this came floating up. Cool article.)

Well, that Nabakov could pedal a a bit but he kept stopping to look at butterflies.

Sounds appropriate to me. I mean, it wasn't a race, so....

Good morning.

(quiet in here lately....)

The Writer's Almanac for March 4, 2015

The poem today initially seemed like a spoof or a light bit of jokey wordplay, right up until the end.

Vermont became a state on this day in 1791. It does sound like a good place to live, except for the winters.

Two presidents were inaugurated on this date: John Adams, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I wonder if Roosevelt's concealment of his difficulty walking would be appreciated today. It's always presented as a heroic act, and certainly it took a lot of strength. Have values changed enough toward acceptance that physical disability doesn't convey value, such that Roosevelt might behave differently now? (Stephen Hawking comes to mind....) (Please blame that awkward sentence on my semi-caffeinated condition at this hour.)

It's the birthday of author Thomas Stribling. I know I have heard of him but can't recall if I've read his work or what I might have read of his.

Not my favorite poem, but it was ok.

I think my grumpiness is starting to spread. All of the complaints about Octavia Butler's Imago, being hard to get into or how the ending sucks are making me see red. I've loved everything I've read by her so far, and I really feel like the book works perfectly as an ending to the Xenogenesis series. Lillith the human in the first book is female, the next two books follow her contruct/hybrid son, and construct/hybrid third gender child. And maybe it's just me, but I enjoyed the fact Imago's protag is neither male or female. It's refreshing. Like the fan theory that Andorians in Star Trek have four sexes, which is something I also like. Why should an alien species follow our own reproductive pattern, or human-alien hybrids? I can't think of a reason other than us knowing what works for us, and it doesn't follow inteligent life, if it does exist, follows the same pattern anyway.

I gave up seeing red over differences of opinion like that. I think I will live longer because of it. People will always be doing that, you know.

Kylabelle said:

I gave up seeing red over differences of opinion like that. I think I will live longer because of it. People will always be doing that, you know.

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Oh, I try. It's just sometimes that sort of foolishness just makes me annoyed. You can see the books getting more alien as the trilogy goes on. The third sex pov in the last book fits with that. I don't know why people insist on reading it knowing who the third protag is, and then complain. I try to avoid books I know have tropes or subgenres I don't like. Saves me time and disappointment.

I loved that trilogy for exactly those reasons. I had no idea where it was going either, at the time. I was really impressed with how real she was able to make such an alien situation.

People are going to complain about anything and everything. Seems to be hardwired.

Kylabelle said:

I loved that trilogy for exactly those reasons. I had no idea where it was going either, at the time. I was really impressed with how real she was able to make such an alien situation.

People are going to complain about anything and everything. Seems to be hardwired.

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True. But I feel like people read that book just to complain about the third Protag's sex. I can understand the ending being bothersome for people, though I loved it. Just not reading something you know youre going to hate, and whinging about it. To quote Spock, illogical.

The poem reminds me of the one a few weeks ago, where an idyllic 1950s life was portrayed with hints of storm clouds coming.

Your description of Xenogenesis has renewed my interest in the books. I got about halfway through the first book before I got distracted by other things (travel, three online courses at once(!) and other things). Yeah, I can see how you'd be annoyed at the criticism. I see what you mean how Butler is literary in that she is questioning how we relate to literature. Whereas I had restricted "literary" in my own mind to a style of writing, I'm seeing how challenging us to relate to literature differently ("books getting more alien as the trilogy goes on") is valid and pretty cool. I hope I write something like that someday. One thing about the public is we're fickle. We demand to be challenged on our terms, and our terms only.

Honestly, I had trouble getting into Xenogenesis because halfway into the first book it felt like she was still showing us this cool world she'd created rather than showing us a story. I was starting to get the idea of the story she was telling us, and it's a good story. But perhaps my meh and other's criticism are both based in the expectations we had going into it, just as you identified. That doesn't mean they're bad or worthless books, just that they didn't grab me. Knowing what I know now, I'm more interested in giving them another try.

Give em another go, Chris! They're well worth it, and I feel like part of the problem is that they ARE literary. Not so much on surface style, but pacing, the way they interact with other books of the genre and challenge preconcieved notions, how a great deal of the story is underneath the surface relying on subtext. Butler's work however tends to be marketed as SF, which likely is part of what hurts peoples impressions of them. It isn't straight SF or SF using more literary langauge, but SF that is Literary in every other way except surface language.

Good morning (barely -- AW was down most of the morning.)

The Writer's Almanac for March 5, 2015

A simple poem, with a look-again message.

It's the birthday of W.B. Yeats' patron, Lady Gregory, one of the leaders of the Irish Literary Revival.

Gerardus Mercator was born on this date. He's the fellow who invented the Mercator projection, for map making.


Ah, a couple interesting anniversaries also: The Nazi Party won a strong minority in the German parliament, that with alliances allowed it to create Hitler's dictatorship.

And the Homebrew Computer Club held its first meeting on this day a few years later. Well, forty some. That was the place Jobs and Wozniak, et al., got their start cooking up all this amazing stuff we take for granted until our favorite website goes down.

It's the anniversary of the Boston Massacre, and also the birthday of novelists Frank Norris, and Leslie Marmon Silko. I read Ceremony; I should read her others.

And, good morning.

*echoes*

The Writer's Almanac for March 6, 2015

Today's poem is going to require more than one read, for me.

And the rest of today's almanac is devoted to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whose birthday it is.

It's certainly got splendid imagery! Not sure if I like it though, because there's such a thing as the meaning/subtext being burried too deep. For me that's what this poem does.

*looks at clock*

I'm waiting on a package with shampoo bars in it today. Waiting is not my strong suit, I practically stalked the mailman on Wednesday waiting for my Qhemet Biologics products.

The poem almost seems like the transcript of a dream. I agree Lilith; it's buried too deep.

Interesting article, Kyla! I skimmed it (and will read it for real in a bit) but noted the part about when we wait, our brain tells us that more time has elapsed than actually has. I'm expecting to hear about a job this week, and I spent all yeasterday thinking it was Friday.

Kylabelle said:

Patience is not my favorite virtue.

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Patience is a virtue
Virtue is a grace
Grace is a little girl
With a dirty face.


(I can't for the life of me remember what book that comes from)

Good morning Kyla and to everyone else.

We're melting a bit here in the Foothills. I'm grateful for this, because Colorado is not good at cold. We're good at snow, but only as long s the snow does not overstay its welcome at a time -- like a frequent houseguest who knows to leave after three days. It has been particularly troubling for me because of the new puppy and his hesitance to poop when there is snow on his butt. I'm not sure it's fair to blame him for that.

Hiya, Matt, nice to see you. And no, not fair at all, poor pup.

I am very sick of snow and of course live in one of those places where shouldn't complain because we get so little compared to those who have *real* winters, LOL! Makes no nevermind, I am truly sick of it. This crop is gonna melt off tomorrow and Sunday, though. It hasta.

Chris, I only skimmed the article myself (ha!) but I did get the clue that gratitude seems to be the fastest way to reset that sped-up brain clock.

Priene, cute jingle.

Good morning.

The Writer's Almanac for March 7, 2015

The poem today raises for me the question we've raised before in other versions: what differentiates a poem from a well-written prose passage, in this instance a flash? Anyway, I loved it! Quite a journey in those few sentences.

And the rest of today's almanac is particularly rich. Starting with the birthdays of songwriter Townes Van Zandt, and novelist Robert Harris (adding to my "have heard of, must read" list) and continuing with a handful of intriguing and crucial anniversaries.

First, on this date in 1994 the Supreme Court ruled that parody is protected under "fair use". The plaintiff in that case (or was he the defendant, as originally he was sued?) is apparently considering running for political office in Florida. Huh.

Baseball's rules were changed on this date to define a game as comprising nine innings as opposed to 21 runs. Baseball has certainly been central to lots of stories, moreso I think than other team sports. What is it, about baseball?

It's the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, which was a signal turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. I read a headline yesterday that GOP leaders will not be attending the anniversary ceremonies occurring today. I didn't read the article so that's all I know about it.

And it was on this date that Robert Frost wrote "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." The one with the little horse.

Have a splendid day, everyone.

What's that american bloody Sunday? That's what was depicted in the film Selma right? Very moving stuff.